Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiWednesday, July 30, 2003
<b>Bush Hopeful to Resolve Iran's Nuclear “Issue” Peacefully</b>
• In his press conference today at the White House, US President George Bush said an Iran armed with nuclear weapons would be a threat to the Middle East. However, he said he was hopeful that the issue of Iran's nuclear program could be resolved peacefully, with the EU, Russia and others joining the US in telling Iran that “they should not develop a nuclear weapon.” While saying that “all options remain on the table,” he added, “I really believe that we can solve this issue peacefully.” President Bush welcomed Iran's claim that it holds several senior al Qaeda elements. “ Now, that's positive,” he said, “I would rather them be held somewhere other than out moving around plotting and planning.” President Bush urged Iran to turn over al Qaeda members to the countries that have requested their extradition. (Bijan Farhoodi)
<b>America Stands by Frustrated Iranians Desperate for Freedom, Bush Says</b>
• President Bush said today in his White House press conference that the US stands by the Iranians' struggle for freedom. He thanked Iranians living in the US for keeping people inside Iran informed through e-mail and phone contacts, and by satellite TV. He said, “The people of Iran are interested in freedom, and we stand by their side. We stand on the side of those who are desperate for freedom in Iran. We understand their frustrations in living in a society that is totalitarian in nature. And now is the time for the world to come together to send a clear message. President Bush said, “We've got a lot of our fellow citizens who are in e-mail contact, phone contact with people who live throughout Iran, and I want to thank them for that.” He added, “Interestingly enough, there's a TV station that I think people have read about that's broadcast out of L.A. by one of our citizens. He or she has footed the bill. It's widely watched.”
<b>IAEA to Advise Iran on Legal Aspects of the Additional NPT Protocol</b>
• The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) will send a team of legal experts to Tehran to advise Islamic officials on the additional protocol of the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty, foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi said. Another team from the IAEA will conduct fresh inspections in Iran's new nuclear sites for their September 8 report to IAEA's board of governors, IAEA's Vienna-based spokesperson Melissa Fleming said. (Leyla Arman)
• Moscow is inundated with the constant US pressures about Iran-Russia nuclear cooperation, but US allies continue to equip Iran with advance nuclear technology, Russian minister of atomic energy Alexander Rumyantsev complained in an interview with Moscow daily <i>Vremia</i>. (Mani Kasravi, Moscow)
• Iran has two secret facilities for enriching uranium, and authorities altered the operations before the scheduled visit of the IAEA inspectors, armed, anti-regime opposition grop Mojahedin Khalq Oragnization (MKO) spokesman Mohammad Mohadesin said in an interview with London Arabic daily <i>Asharq-ol-Awsat</i>. (Bijan Farhoodi)
<b>Mother Says Authorities Forced Her to Bury Kazemi in Iran</b>
• Mother of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in custody of head injuries she suffered during interrogation, told Tehran pro-Khatami daily <i>Yas-e Now</i> that authorities forced her to agree to have her daughter buriedin her hometown Shiraz, instead of sending her body to Canada for autopsy, as her grandson had requested. (Baktash Khamsehpour)
• Kazemi's mother Ezat told <i>Yas-e Now</i> that she saw marks and bruises on her daughter's face and body. She said, in the two weeks that her daughter was in a coma before her death, she stayed in Tehran with a friend of her daughter, where four or five officials visited her every day, and forced her, with threats and promises, to agree to her daughter's burial in Iran. She said they wanted to bury her and get rid of her. (Mahmonir Rahimi)
• Paris-based human rights lawyer <b>Abdolkarim Lahiji</b>, who is a legal advisor to Kazemi's son Stephan Hasehmi, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Ms. Ezat Kazemi, who lives in Shiraz, told her grandson on the phone that armed agents visited her during her stay in Tehran, and forced her to sign a document that she could not read, but understood to mean that she would file no complaints in her daughter's death and would agree to bury her in Iran. He adds that the grandmother asked her grandson, who was expecting to receive his mother's body in Canada, for forgiveness. (Alireza Taheri)
• Cabinet spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh rejected Kazemi's mother's remarks about bruises and marks on her Zahra Kazemi's face and body, and said coroner's report and health minister M. Pezeshkian's report did not mention such remarks. (Alireza Taheri)
• Vice president for legal and legislative affairs Mohammad-Ali Abtahi said today that in its probe of Kazemi's death, the special presidential commission did not say that the blow to the head from which Kazemi died was intentional, accidental, or self-inflicted. Interior minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari said Kazemi's family refused government's offer of further medical examination of the body. Tehran reformist MP Jamileh Kadivar, spokesperson of the Majles special investigative commission on Kazemi's death, said the blow to Ms. Kazemi's head must have been a “technical” blow that required skill. (Leyli Sadr)
• After meeting with Canadian foreign affairs minister Bill Graham, a lawyer representing Ms. Kazemi's son Stephan Hashemi said the family plans to request that the UN Human Rights Commission investigate her death. Toronto-based human rights activist <b>Morteza Abdalian</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the Islamic regime will free the five arrested agents, just as it freed the four intelligence ministry agents who were convicted in the 1998 serial murders of political dissidents. Because Canadian officials have little knowledge about Iran's system, they think now that judge Mortazavi stepped aside, another judge would investigate Kazemi's murder, whereas all Iranian officials are doing is to try to postpone or slowdown the process, until it gets forgotten. (Maryam Aqvami, Toronto)
<b>Iran Replaces Iraq in Backing Palestinian Terrorists, Charges Israel</b>
• Israel officials who accompanied Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in his Washington visit, told US officials that they have evidence indicating that Iran has replaced Iraq in supporting suicide bombers of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a bid to derail the peace process and end the fragile one-month old seize fire. (Ebrahim Biparva)
• Israel charged that Iran provides $50,000 reward to the families of Palestinian suicide bomers. (Ardavan Niknam)
<b>Moscow Caspian Talks Fail</b>
• Representatives of the Caspian littoral countries failed to reach an agreement in last week's Moscow talks. Marine law expert and Caspian scholar <b>Bahman Aghai-Diba</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the four other countries are forcing Iran to enter into bilateral and tri-lateral agreements which primarily benefits Moscow, providing it with access to the largest seabed and virtual monopoly in the Caspian shipping. (Ardavan Niknam)
<b>Two Iranian Rowing Team Members Defect to Germany</b>
• German newspapers reported that after the defection of two Iranian rowing team members in Augsburg, Germany, they were sent to Munich to be processed. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)
<b>Iran Plans to Export Cars to Turkey</b>
• Turkish businessmen expressed interest in importing the new Iranian-made car “Samand,” while the manufacturer Iran-Khodrow is faced with technical difficulties in production, and lack of after sale services troubles Iranian buyers of the hybrid four-door sedans. Tehran-based auto industry analyst <b>Dariush Mohajer</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that major international car manufacturers maintain large presence in Turkey, with which Samand would have to compete. Additionally, Turkey's auto industry took in $6 billion for exporting its products. He adds that Samand maybe a nice car, but its price needs to be competitive and it should meet European standards in order to sell in Turkey. (Keyvan Hosseini)
<b>US Haggles Secretly with Iran on Extradition of Al Qaeda Members</b>
• U.S. officials are now working quietly with allies on deals to transfer to third countries and then eventually into American hands the senior al Qaeda members who are believed to be in Iran, reports Newsweek in its August 4 issue. (Nima Tamadon)
<b>Agents Interrogate Award-Winning Film Director</b>
• Intelligence and security officials summoned award-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi for interrogation repeatedly during the past week, and accused him of showing a dark image of the Islamic regime in his films <i>Circle</i>, winner of the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, and <i>The Red Gold</i>, which Panahi had smuggled out of Iran for screening in international film festivals. Head of Venice Film Festival said it is not surprising for the Islamic officials to start dealing with filmmakers after journalists, reports independent news agency AND Kronos. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome)
<b>Reactions to Higher Education Minister's Resignation</b>
• Pro-reform university heads and student organizations issued statements of regret in reaction to higher education minister Mostafa Moin's resignation over the rejection by Guardians Council of his Majles-approved bill to restructure the ministry, but conservative newspapers and the student units of the paramilitary security force Basij called the resignation a political ploy. (Arash Qavidel, Tehran)
<b>Press Court Summons Official Newspaper's Editor</b>
• Two branches of the Tehran judiciary's branch that prosecutes government employees summoned Abdol Rasoul Vesal, managing editor of official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)'s morning newspaper <i>Iran</i> to answer charges of “disseminating falsehoods.” One branch released him on bail pending trial and he asked two-week's extension from the other branch to collect evidence in response to a civil suit filed in Damavand. (Jean Khakzad)
<b>CPJ Calls for Release of Iranian “TV Journalists” in Iraq</b>
• New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement calling for the release of two Iranian government employees who were arrested by coalition forces in southern Iraq for security violations on July 2. Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said on Tuesday that the two were “documentary filmmakers,” who worked for the state radio-TV monopoly. A coalition forces spokesman said in Baghdad yesterday that the activities of Said Abutaleb and Soheil Karimi did not match their claim. (Amir-Mossadeq Katouzian)
<b>Families of Arrested Student Activists Meet Majles Speaker</b>
• The relatives of the detained central council members of the association of Islamic student councils (Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat) met with Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi to ask him to intervene on their behalf. Seven leaders of the formerly pro-government Islamic student organization were arrested in last month's pro-democracy demonstrations, during which the Dafter announced that it no longer supports the clerical rule. (Jean Khakzad)
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مريم احمدي (راديو فردا): در كنفرانس مطبوعاتي امروز پرزيدنت بوش در باغ گل سرخ در كاخ سفيد، خبرنگاري به رئيس جمهوري آمريكا، اين موضوع را يادآور شد كه ايران يكي از كشورهاي سه گانه محور شرارت است و گفت با هشدارهايي كه به برخي از كشورها داده ايم كه بايد مواظب اعمالشان باشند، آيا ما اكنون در مراحل اوليه حركت به سوي جنگ در ايران قرار داريم يا اينكه ايران از لحاظ نحوه برخورد، بيشتر در همان طبقه بندي كره شمالي قرار دارد كه منظور مذاكره براي حل مسئله هسته اي آن كشور بود. آقاي بوش در پاسخ گفت:
بيژن فرهودي (راديو فردا): به ياد مي آورم كه بلافاصله پس از جنگ در عراق، از قلم هاي برخي از نويسندگان اين جملات بر روي كاغذها آمد كه الان آنها آماده براي حمله به سوريه يا ايران ميشوند. رئيس جمهوري آمريكا گفت: راه به سوي تمام گزينه ها باز است. فكر ميكنم بهترين برخورد براي برخورد با مقامات ايراني در اين زمان اين است كه ديگران را متقاعد ساخت كه هم صدا با ما اعلام كنند كه توليد يك سلاح هسته اي، به نفع آنها نيست.
پرزيدنت بوش افزود: من معتقدم كه يك ايران آزاد بر زندگي مردم ايران اثر خواهد گذاشت. مايلم در اينجا از ايرانيان مقيم آمريكا، بويژه لس آنجلس، قدرداني كنم. بسياري از هموطنان ما با ايرانيان از تماس اي ميل يا تلفن در تماس بودند كه ميخواهم از آنها به خاطر اين كار سپاسگزاري كنم. جالب اينجا است كه در لس آنجلس يك فرستنده تلويزيوني است كه حتما درباره آن خوانده ايد كه توسط يكي از شهروندان ما اداره مي شود و او هزينه آنرا پرداخت ميكند، اين تلويزيون در ايران بسيار بيننده دارد. مردم ايران علاقه مند هستند كه آزاد باشند و ما در كنار آنهاييم. ما در كنار كساني هستيم كه در ايران شديدا دنبال آزادي اند. ما استيصال آنها را درك ميكنيم كه در جامعه اي زندگي ميكنند كه ماهيت استبدادي و خودكامي دارد.
پرزيدنت بوش گفت: اكنون زمان آن است كه جهان، يك صدا و متحد، پيام روشني به ايران بفرستند. من در مزرعه ام با آقاي برلوسكوني، نخست وزير ايتاليا صحبت كردم و به او گفتم كه اتحاديه اروپا، همراه با آمريكا، پيام بسيار روشني به ايران بفرستد. همينطور در سفر به روسيه، به دوستم ولاديمير پوتين گوشزد كردم كه بايد مواظب اشتياق ايران براي دستيابي به سلاح اتمي باشد.
فكر ميكنم در اين زمينه به پيشرفتهايي دست يافته ايم. من جدا معتقدم كه ما ميتوانيم اين مسئله را به صورت مسالمت آميز حل كنيم. اين مسئله اي است كه به تلاشهاي جمعي و هماهنگ، توسط كشورهاي مختلف جهان، بويژه اروپا، باز دارد. اين كشورها بايد با آمريكا همكاري كرده و با دولت ايران در اينباره صريحا صحبت كنند.
پرزيدنت بوش افزود: نكته جالب ديگر در مورد ايران اين است كه آنها اعضاي القاعده را در اختيار دارند و خودشان به اين موضوع اعتراف كرده اند. اين تحول مثبتي است كه اين دسته از اعضاي القاعده با كسي در تماس نيستند، من ترجيح ميدهم كه آنها در جايي نگهداري شوند، تا آنكه به اين سو و آنسو رفته و براي انجام حملات، توطئه چيني كنند. اميدوارم مقامات ايراني به تقاضاي كشورهاي همسايه خود گوش دهند و آنها را تحويل دهند. برخي از كشورهايي كه اين اعضاي القاعده، اتباع آنها هستند، خواستار استرداد آنها شده اند. اين براي ايران مفيد خواهد بود كه چنين تصميمي اتخاذ كند. جرج بوش، رئيس جمهوري آمريکا در يک کنفرانس مطبوعاتي در کاخ سفيد اظهار داشت که جمهوري اسلامي مسلح به سلاح اتمي، تهديدي براي خاورميانه خواهد بود. آقاي بوش گفت: وجود يک عراق آزاد به مردم ايران نيز کمک خواهد کرد که آزادي خود را به دست آورند. رئيس جمهوري آمريکا گفت: مردم ايران به آزادي علاقه دارند و ما استيصال آنها را درک مي کنيم. آنها تحت حکومت رژيمي خودکامه هستند. آقاي بوش گفت: من به اتحاديه اروپا گفتم که بايد پيام روشني به حکومت ايران بفرستد. آنها بايد مواظب تلاش هاي جمهوري اسلامي براي توليد بمب هسته اي باشند. فکر مي کنم مي توانيم اين مسئله را با کمک کشورهاي جهان، به ويژه اروپا حل کنيم.
