رئيس جمهوري آمريكا گفت مردم ايران خواسته هاي خود را براي يك ايران آزاد ابراز مي كنند

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Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSunday, June 15, 2003 Bush Sees Yearning for Freedom in Iran Protests • In his clearest comment so far in support of the demonstrations that have broken out on campuses and streets around Iran, US President George Bush said on Sunday in Kennebunkport, Maine, “This is the beginning of people expressing themselves toward a free Iran, which I think is positive.” (Homayoun Majd, Washington) Officials React to US Support for Protestors • Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi says the US officials ignore millions who welcome the Supreme Leader and other regime officials in their trips around the country, and instead focus on the protests of a few. Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi said Iranians are united against US pressures. He added that, unlike Iran, where people elected their president, in the US it was the judiciary that selected the president. (Fariba Mavedat, Prague) 284 Reformists and Intellectuals Blast Supreme Leader's “Absolute Power” • High ranking cleric Ayatollah Hosseinali Montazeri and jailed history professor Hashem Aghajari, who had been sentenced to death for criticizing the clerical rule joined a group of 284 intellectuals, including prominent writers, journalists, reformist politicians and clerics, who issued an open letter to the Supreme Leader on Sunday, calling his “acting as divine, absolute power… a clear apostasy.” “Iran's unpopular and economically failing Islamic dictatorship now faces serious challenges from several directions, writes The New York Times. (Homayoun Majd, Washington) Armed Security Forces Intimate Thousands Gathered on the Sixth Night of Anti-Regime Protests • Thousands of Tehran residents in cars and on foot poured into the streets and highways surrounding the Tehran University dorms for the sixth night in a row, but were intimated by hundreds of policemen and thousands of paramilitary security force Ansar-e Hezbollah, who had lined up alongside main streets, journalist Arash Qavidel tells Radio Farda in a live report from Tehran just before midnight on Sunday. For the first time since the start of nightly student-led anti-regime demonstrations, the Ansar appeared in uniform vests displaying police insignia. In their vest pockets, they carried spray canisters of what they say was a “dangerous” gas. Also for the first time, the black Toyota Land Cruisers of the elite police force “Special Unit (Yekan-e Vizheh)” patrolled the streets around the university campus. (Leili Sadr, Washington) • Weblog writers, mostly university students, report on the violent attacks of the plainclothes security forces on their campuses. Scores of bloggers confirmed a Radio Farda eyewitness report on attacks by paramilitary Ansar-e Hezbollah on women. (Behnam Nateghi, New York) • The Supreme Leader's “Death to America” slogans has turned to “Death to Khamenei” during recent student protests that shook Tehran, writes London's Independent. The Financial Times quotes former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said Tehran would support the Middle East peace process if US stops supporting student protesters. The week-long protests prove the depth of discontent within the Iranian society, writes the Sunday Times. (Shahram Tabari, London) • Daughter of a man who was arrested yesterday for interfering with the beating of a student in front of his home in Tehran's Kooye Nevisandegan tells Radio Farda that security forces did not tell the family where they took her father. She says she witnessed the attack of 500 armed Basiji forces on nearly 100 students in the Shahid Beheshti (Melli) University campus. (Mahmonir Rahimi, Prague) • Nearly 100 bearded, club-wielding security forces beat young men and women gathered in the main square of Gohardasht, a suburban town near Karaj, according to a resident, who tells Radio Farda that the young people gathered around 9 PM, responding to an announcement distributed the day before. (Jean Khakzad, Prague) • In separate interviews with Radio Farda, two eye-witnesses describe the plainclothes security forces' attack on demonstrators in Mashhad and Isfahan. (Mahmonir Rahimi, Prague) • Tehran prosecutor said the arrested demonstrators were criminals acting on directions they received from foreign-based TV stations to foment chaos. (Mahmonir Rahimi, Prague) • The Tehran Council of the association of Islamic student councils Daftar-e Tahkim Vahdat supported the student protests in a statement issued on Saturday. (Jamshid Zand) IAEA Chief to Report on Iran's Nuclear Programs • IAEA chief Muhammad Elbaradei will officially present to the UN organization's board of governors his report on Iran's nuclear programs. IAEA's board may pass a resolution that would give Iran a deadline to answer questions about its nuclear intentions, Gary Seymour, a senior analyst at the London-based think-tank International Institute for Strategic Studies says. He tells Radio Farda that the IAEA board may also pressure Iran to sign on the additional safeguard protocols that would allow unannounced inspections of Iran's nuclear sites. He adds that it is alarming that both ruling factions of the Islamic regime agree on the benefits of a nuclear program. (Shahran Tabari, London) • On the eve of the official release of IAEA's report on Iran's nuclear programs, Russian officials are concerned that Iran may actually have developed a secret uranium enriching program. (Amir Armin) Majles Speaker Asks the Judiciary to Prosecute Conservative Cleric Yazdi for Alleging Officials of Taking US Bribes • Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi said during a speech in the open session of the Majles today that the judiciary should prosecute conservative cleric Ayatollah Mohammd-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, who said in a Tehran Friday prayer last week that US has distributed $500 million among government officials in Iran. Qom-based reformist commentator Dr. Akbar Karami tells Radio Farda that Karrubi has always aligned himself with the conservatives and, in spite of his statement at the Majles, is not expected to pursue the matter. (Mahmonir Rahimi, Prague) University Campuses Erupt in Protest across Iran • While Tehran was relatively calm on Saturday night, people joined student protests and clashed with plainclothes paramilitary force Ansar-e Hezbollah in several major cities across Iran. In Shiraz a 24 year student died of knife wounds in the hospital. In Karaj, three students were slashed after the Ansar stormed their campus. In Tehran, where hundreds were arrested or wounded, the judiciary issued an arrest warrant for Said Asgar, an Ansar commander, based on a police complaint. (Mehdi Khalaji, Prague) Stocks Drop in Tehran Exchange • Stockholders sold their holdings on the news of growing student unrest, causing a drop of 87 units in the Tehran stock index. Shares of 70 companies of the total 115 fell. (Arash Qavidel, Tehran) Saudi Foreign Minister Arrives in Tehran • Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Feisal arrived in Tehran for what was officially described as “talks with Iranian officials.” However, reportedly he will take delivery of detained Saudi al-Qaeda members. (Camellia Entekhabi-Fard, Washington) Judiciary Arrests Two Nationalist-Religious Activists for “Provoking the Students • Tehran revolutionary prosecutor Said Mortazavi issued arrest warrants for liberal nationalist-religious coalition members Taqi Rahmani and Reza Alijani on charges of “provoking” the student protestors. (Jean Khakzad, Prague) • The liberal nationalist-religious opposition's weak support for the student protestors will not make its members immune to the regime's pressures, says Said Ardeshiri a member of Kerman University Islamic student council. He tells Radio Farda that without leadership from a credible, nationalist opposition, the student demonstrations would not achieve much. Another Kerman student, who has been summoned to court to answer charges against him by security organs, tells Radio Farda that he will refuse to appear in court, since, according to the law, only university tribunals have jurisdiction over such complains against students. (Mahmonir Rahimi, Prague) همايون مجد (راديوفردا): آقاي بوش که در شهر کن بانکپورت Kennebunkport در ايالت مين Maine با خبرنگاران سخن مي گفت، اعتراضها و تظاهراتي را که در تهران و ديگر شهرهاي ايران جريان دارد، گامي مثبت در راه آزادي و آغاز روندي ناميد که در آن مردم خواسته هاي خود را براي يک ايران آزاد ابراز مي کنند. آقاي بوش آزادي را انگيزه اي نيرومند خواند و گفت که به باور او آزادي روزي بر همه جا حاکم خواهد شد. رئيس جمهوري آمريکا اين نظر را يک روز پس از آن ابراز داشت که کاخ سفيد، تندروهاي اسلام گرا و اعضاي گروههاي فشار و انصار حزب الله را که به طرفداران دمکراسي در تهران و نقاط ديگر حمله مي کنند محکوم کرد و از دولت جمهوري اسلامي خواست کساني را که زنداني شده اند آزاد کند. کاخ سفيد در بيانيه اي گزارشهايي را که از دستگيري تظاهر کنندگان و عمليات تحريک کننده نيروهاي رژيم عليه دانشجويان منتشر مي شود نگران کننده خواند و از مقامات جمهوري اسلامي خواست از حقوق انساني دانشجويان حفاظت کنند و گفت که ايرانيان همانند مردم سراسر جهان حق دارند درباره سرنوشت خود تصميم بگيرند و آمريکا از آرمان آنها براي برخورداري از آزادي حمايت مي کند و اميدوار است صداي مردم ايران و شوق و آرمان آنها براي آزادي و حکومت قانون شنيده شود. کاخ سفيد اين بيانيه را پس از آن منتشر کرد که آيت الله خامنه اي، رهبر جمهوري اسلامي گفت که نيروهاي امنيتي به کساني که او آنها را مزدوران دشمن ناميد رحم نخواهند کرد. روزنامه افراطي جمهوري اسلامي نيز نا آراميها را ناشي از توطئه آمريکا عليه ايران دانست. جرج بوش، رئيس جمهوري آمريكا، طي سخناني در شهر کن بانکپورت Kennebunkport در ايالت مين Maine، اعتراضها و تظاهراتي را که در تهران و ديگر شهرهاي ايران جريان دارد، را گامي مثبت در راه آزادي و آغاز روندي ناميد که در آن مردم خواسته هاي خود را براي يک ايران آزاد ابراز مي کنند. آقاي بوش آزادي را انگيزه اي نيرومند خواند و گفت که به باور او آزادي روزي بر همه جا حاکم خواهد شد.