Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiWednesday, August 13, 2003
<b>Atomic Energy Chief Sees Progress in IAEA-Iran Contacts</b>
• Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should reach “positive” results by September over Iran's signing of the additional protocol to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, according to Iran's atomic energy organization chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who said Iran was pleased with the talks in Tehran with two IAEA delegations, and was satisfied that IAEA's chief Mohammed Elbaradei's September report to the IAEA board of governors would reflect Iran's concerns. Aghazadeh said Iran did not intend to withdraw from the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty. (Amir Armin)
• Japanese foreign minister asked Iran to sign the additional protocol. (Bijan Farhoodi)
<b>Jailed Journalist Health Worries Trade Union</b>
• The journalists' trade union, a reformists-affiliated organization, said jailed journalist Akbar Ganji's health worries his family and colleagues, and asked the Evin prison authorities to allow Ganji's family to visit him in hospital. (Maryam Ahmadi)
• US officials fear that Israel might unilaterally act to take out Iran's nuclear facilities, writes Jim Hoagland in the <i>Washington Post</i>. (Behnam Nateghi, Alireza Taheri)
<b>Guardians Council Rejects Election Law Reform Bill, Again</b>
• The conservative Guardians Council rejected a revised version of the Majles legislation to reform the election law. President Khatami said the bill will not be sent to the Expediency Council for arbitration. MP Jafar Golbaz, spokesman of the Majles national security and foreign relations committee, said it is time to hold a referendum on the election law. The election reform bill sought to end the Guardians Council's power to vet applicants for candidacy in the Majles elections. (Maryam Ahmadi)
<b>Special Report: Political Parties and Dictorship</b>
• President Khatami said in his speech yesterday to delegations from 850 youth NGOs that in Iran political parties are recognized by personalities, not ideologies. Frankfurt-based leftist anti-regime commentator <b>Mehdi Khanbana-Tehrani</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that lack of basic freedoms and rejection of any political formation opposed to the Islamic regime prevents the growth of political parties. He adds that in today's Iran, the people who are not considered “insider” by the regime cannot enjoy freedom of speech. He says in contemporary Iran, before and after the Islamic revolution, political parties existed only in name, and were created not at the grass roots, but by high level officials. He says president Khatami and the pro-reform party created by his brother Mohammad-Reza failed in the past six years because of their conservative approach. He predicts that the Khatami's party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, which now represents the government and the majority of Majles MPs, will turn into an opposition party after the 2004 elections. (Shahran Tabari)
<b>Guardians Council Rejects Ratification of 1979 UN Convention on Women's Rights and Ban of Torture</b>
• The conservative Guardians Council rejected a Majles legislation that would have given partial approval to the anti-discrimination measures in the 1979 UN convention on women's rights. The rejected bill did not amount to full ratification of the convention; however the Guardians saw it as undermining the strict interpretation of Islamic law. The Guardians also rejected Majles ratification of the UN convention to ban all forms of torture. Paris-based lawyer and human rights advocate <b>Farhad Ameli</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Iran was within its rights not to join or ratify the UN conventions. However, he adds, history shows that most countries that have joined UN conventions, such as the convention to reduce fossil fuel emissions, did not pass the necessary laws required to comply. He says the rejection of the UN conventions by the Guardians Council does not mean that torture is legal in Iran or women can be discriminated against, since there are other international conventions, such as the human rights charter, which Iran has signed, that legally bind Iran to ban torture and all forms of discrimination, including against women. (Mehdi Khalaji)
• Tehran-based lawyer and human rights advocate <b>Mohammad-Hossein Aghasi</b> accuses the Majles of insincerity, because the approval of the bill had been done with the full knowledge that it would be rejected. He tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that even if the Guardians Council had approved the Majles bill, it would have had no impact on the plight of women in Iran, because the Majles had added a few clauses to the bill that exempted the Islamic discrimination against women. The inequality of women in inheritance, blood money, right to travel, custody of children and other forms of Islamic discrimination against women, would have continued, despite the ratification of the UN convention. He adds that for conservative clerics the discrimination against women is an example of Islamic fairness. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
<b>Majles Budget and Planning Committee Votes against “Illegal” Ports</b>
• The Majles budget and planning committee asked the government to stop the operation of “illegal” ports used by religious-economic institutions to import goods without paying duties. The committee summoned transportation minister Ahmad Khorram to its next meeting in order to explain the continued operation of more then 40 ports, which were created during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war for importing weapons and other necessary goods, but are used by various organizations to import restricted foreign goods that are popular with Iranian consumers. (Arash Qavidel, Tehran)
<b>Khatami Rejects US Request to Interrogate Iran's Al Qaeda Detainees</b>
• When asked what Iran's response was to the US demand to interrogate senior Al Qaeda members who live in “safe houses” provided by Iranian government, President Khatami simply said “no.” (Alireza Taheri)
<b>Khatami Admits His Reform Plan Failed</b>
• In a speech to representatives of 850 NGOs serving the young people, President Khatami admitted that his reform plans failed. It appears that the rejection of Khatami's bills to expand presidential powers and reform the election law, has set the stage for the crushing defeat of pro-reform politicians in the upcoming Majles election. (Mehdi Khalaji)
<b>Majority of Iranians Consider Jobs More Important than Politics</b>
• In a poll conducted by the culture ministry, 90 percent of respondents said they considered the employment crisis to be more important than political issues. The poll, the results of which will be published in a few days, also showed that 68 percent of the respondents pay little or no attention to politics, 74 percent believe that out-of-wedlock sexual relations have become common and widespread, 47 percent complained about lack of attention to religion and 81 percent complained about theft, 52 percent complained about lack of security and 93 percent complained of high prices. (Arash Qavidel)
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مريم احمدي (راديوفردا): رئيس سازمان انرژي اتمي ايران پيش بيني مي کند که در گزارش ماه سپتامبر به سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي درباره ايران، مطالب مثبتي در ارتباط با پروتکل الحاقي به پيمان منع گسترش جنگ افزارهاي اتمي گنجانده شده باشد. غلامرضا آقازاده در پايان نشست هيئت دولت در روز چهارشنبه، به خبرنگاران گفت: کار هيئت بازرسي در ايران پايان يافته است و هيئت همه نکات مورد نظر ايران را در گزارش ماه سپتامبر به اجلاس هيئت مديره سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي گنجانده است.
امير آرمين (راديوفردا): به گفته غلامرضا آقازاده، سرپرست سازمان انرژي اتمي ايران، خروج از پيمان منع گسترش سلاح هاي هسته اي در دستور کار دولت ايران قرار ندارد و هيچ چنين مسئله اي مطرح نشده است. غلامرضا آقازاده که در پايان جلسه هفتگي هيئت دولت با خبرنگاران گفتگو مي کرد، رضايت خود را از نتيجه سفرهاي هيئت کارشناسان سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي به ايران ابراز داشت و گفت: به نظر مي رسد که هيچ سوال يا نکته اي براي آنان بي پاسخ نمانده است.
سرپرست سازمان انرژي اتمي ايران در پاسخ به اين سوال که آيا کارشناسان حقوقي سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي نگراني هاي ايران در مورد پيوستن به پروتکل الحاقي پيمان منع گسترش را بر طرف کرده اند، گفت: برخي ابهام ها تا حدودي بر طرف شده است، اما دو طرف معتقدند که گفتگوها بايد ادامه يابد. غلامرضا آقازاده گفت که تيم اعزامي سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي، روز سه شنبه به کار خود در ايران پايان داد و تهران از تمام مفاد گزارش آنها استقبال کرده است. اين گزارش در جلسه هيئت مديره سازمان در ماه سپتامبر عرضه خواهد شد.
غلامرضا آقازاده گفت: ايران به پروتکل الحاقي با ديد مثبت مي نگرد و تمام گفتگوهاي جاري با هدف بر طرف کردن ابهام ها صورت مي گيرد. آيا ايران هيچ پيش شرطي براي پيوستن به پروتکل الحاقي تعيين کرده است؟ غلامرضا آقازاده در پاسخ به اين سوال گفت که شرط و شروط مهم نيستند. آنچه که ايران طالب آن است، شفافيت در تعهدات هر دو طرف است.
سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي، ايالات متحده آمريکا، اتحاديه اروپا و بسياري از کشورهاي ديگر از جمهوري اسلامي خواسته اند که پروتکل الحاقي را امضاء کند. اين پروتکل، بازرسي هاي سرزده از تاسيسات هسته اي ايران را براي سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي ممکن مي سازد. آمريکا مي گويد که ايران تحت پوشش برنامه هسته اي غير نظامي، قصد توليد بمب اتمي را دارد، اما ايران منکر اين موضوع استو
35 عضو هيئت مدير سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي قرار است پس از بررسي گزارش محمد البرادعي، رئيس سازمان، تصميم خود را درباره فعاليت هاي انرژي اتمي ايران اتخاذ کنند. غلامرضا آقازاده، رئيس سازمان انرژي اتمي جمهوري اسلامي روز چهارشنبه گفت که كار هيات بازرسي سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي در ايران پايان يافت و هيات همه نکات مورد نظر جمهوري اسلامي را در گزارش ماه سپتامبر به اجلاس هيات مديره سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي گنجاند. وي گفت که خروج از پيمان منع گسترش سلاح هاي هسته اي در دستور کار دولت جمهوري اسلامي قرار ندارد. غلامرضا آقازاده رضايت خود را از نتيجه سفرهاي هيات هاي کارشناسان سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي به ايران ابراز داشت و گفت که به نظر مي رسد که هيچ سئوال يا نکته اي براي آنان بي پاسخ نمانده است. غلامرضا آقازاده گفت که ايران به پروتکل الحاقي با ديد مثبت مي نگرد و تمام گفتگوهاي جاري با هدف بر طرف کردن ابهام ها صورت مي گيرد. وي گفت که آنچه که جمهوري اسلامي طالب آن است، شفافيت در تعهدات هر دو طرف است.
