Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSaturday, August 16, 2003
<b>Higher Education Minister Gives Discrimination as Reason for his Resignation</b>
• Minister of higher education Mostafa Moin said his resignation was to protest the management system in the country, which was riddled with discrimination, suspicion, and violence against the citizens and the university community. He added that his resignation was a direct reaction to the Guardians Council's rejection of his bill to restructure the higher education ministry and the universities' management, particularly, making university presidency an elected office answerable to the board of trustees. He also protested against the interference of the supreme cultural revolution council with the decisions of both the Majles and the higher education ministry. However, he said until he was offered another position he would stay on, and would never turn his back to the Islamic revolution. (Mahmonir Rahimi)
<b>American Domination is Intellectual, not Political, Says Modern Islamist</b>
• If America has any domination, it is in the realm of culture and thought, and US politicians are in fact conduits of the ideas developed by American thinkers, said modern Islamic theoretician Abdolkarim Soroush on his return to Iran after a year in the US and Britain in an interview published by the official news agency IRNA. He said we are not prophets, and no one hears divine verses. He said to hear the voice of God, one should listen to the people. He added that “religious modernism,” termed “Roshanfekri Dini (religious enlightenment), served the people by assuring them they can keep their religious beliefs and believe in democracy too. He said in a letter to President Khatami he condemned the violent suppression of pro-democracy students. (Mehdi Khalaji)
<b>Future of State Terrorism: Plight of Libya</b>
• Libya announced that it would pay $2.7 billion to the relatives of the victims of the 1988 terrorist bombing of the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed all 270 on board. This is in addition to the price Libya has paid in the form of lost revenues as a result of international economic sanctions. Commentator <b>Ehsan Naraqi</b>, sociologist and former advisor to the head of UNESCO, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Libya's admittance of guilt over the Lockerbie bombing is a good step forward for all governments who think they can attain their rights through sponsoring terrorist acts. Glasgow University's international relations professor <b>Reza Taqizadeh</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that Libya's move was a radical, but realistic, attempt to rejoin the international community. The cost of the sanctions was higher than admitting and paying damages. (Jean Khakzad)
<b>US Bans Mojahedeen Political Offices</b>
• The US banned the political wing of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) and froze its assets, by adding it to its list of international terrorist organizations. The move outlaws the National Council of Resistance and would make it illegal for US citizens to support or make a donation to the organization. It was announced in a notice in the Federal Register signed by Secretary of State Colin Powell. (Masoud Malek, Alireza Taheri)
• The US action was a form of ransom payment to Iran, says <b>Karim Qasim</b> a London-based member of the National Resistance Council. He claims that MKO has denounced terrorism. (Shahran Tabari)
<b>PA Intercepts Iran's Donation to the Islamic Jihad</b>
• The Palestinian Authority's interior minister Muhammad Dahlan ordered $3 million in Iranian funds wired for the extremist Palestinian group the Islamic Jihad to be appropriated for the benefit of a Palestinian charity. (Jamshid Chalangi)
<b>Goods Smuggling Grows by 65 Percent in One Year</b>
• Illegal imports of products from consumer electronics to car parts increased by 65 percent during the past year, according to police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibf. The cost of illegal imports matches Iran's income from non-oil exports. Inferior quality of Iranian goods, high custom duties for legal imports and the ban on police presence at the exits of Free Trade Zones, contributed to the growth of smuggling. (Farin Asemi)
<b>Survey Says 1.25 Million Girls Never Marry</b>
• Some 1.25 million Iranian women in their 20s are unlikely to marry because of a shortage of men, according to a survey published Saturday. (Farin Asemi)
<b>Families of Jailed Nationalist-Religious Activists Visit Majles Speaker</b>
• Families and relatives of nationalist-religious coalition activists Hoda Saber, Reza Alijani, Taqi Rahmani and Ahmad Teryani met with Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi to express their concern about the health and wellbeing of their loved ones in jail. (Keyvan Hosseini)
<b>Expediency Council's Press Policy is Debatable, Says Independent Journalist</b>
• Independent journalist Said Haqi, who was consulted by the Expediency Council in drafting the Council's comprehensive press policy, told the state-owned news agency ISNA that the final policy plan can be interpreted differently by the conservatives and reformists. (Mehdi Khalaji)
<b>Islamic Student Councils Members Protest Slow Release of Jailed Students</b>
• In a statement issued in Tehran on Friday, members of the Tehran council of the association of Islamic student councils complained against the slow process of the release of jailed student activist. It said the ruling clerics were determined to move as fast as possible on the road to self destruction. (Nima Tamadon)
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شهران طبري (راديو فردا): دکتر مصطفي معين، وزير علوم، تحقيقات، و فناوري جمهوري اسلامي در دولت محمد خاتمي بر تصميم خود براي استعفا پافشاري کرد و گفت اين استعفا بيشتر به معناي انتقاد و اعتراض به فضاي سياسي و مديريتي کشور که مبتني بر سوء زن، تبعيض، و عام و خاص کردن شهروندان و نگاه امنيتي و توطئه اي و خشونت نسبت به دانشگاه و دانشجو است داده شده. ماه منير رحيمي گزارش بيشتر:
ماه منير رحيمي (راديو فردا): به گزارش خبرگزاري رسمي جمهوري اسلامي ايران (IRNA) مصطفي معين، وزير علوم، تحقيقات، و فناوري ايران، اظهار اميدواري کرد که پس از اظهار نظر رئيس جمهوري درباره استعفاي وي، متن آن را منتشر کند، اما راجع به دليل کناره گيريش از وزارت علوم گفت: وقتي ما براي ايجاد تحول ساختاري در نظام علمي و تکنولوژي کشور شش سال تلاش مي کنيم و در نهايت متاسفانه لايحه قانوني ما را به خاطر اشکالات شکلي و تداخلي که با وظايفي نظير وظايف شوراي عالي انقلاب فرهنگي دارد زير پا گذاشته مي شود، طبيعي است که من به عنوان اعتراض ترک مسئوليت کنم.
آقاي معين اضافه کرد: يک لحظه فرصت سوزي ما باعث عقب افتادگي کشور از قافله دانش و تمدن جهاني خواهد بود. وي در بخش ديگري از سخنانش، با خبرنگاران، با اشاره به وجود نهادهاي موازي که گاه با انگيزه هاي غير علمي، سياسي، و جناحي خود را ذيحق مي دانند و استقلال دانشگاه را به خطر مي اندازند گفت: در جامعه اي که علم و عقل و يا دانش و خرد در نظام ارزش گذاري اجتماعي از ارزش و منزلت برخوردار نباشد، طبيعي است که نهادهاي علمي (يعني دانشگاه و دانشگاهي و دانشجو) از حرمت، منزلت، و ارزشمندي برخوردار نباشند. اما معين به گفته خود او، تا زماني که مسئول جديدي تعيين نشده است کار را رها نمي کند.
آقاي معين به نفل از آيت الله خميني، بنيانگذار جمهوري اسلامي، گفت: هيچ کس با چنين انقلابي و نظام اسلامي و مردمي در هيچ زماني قهر نخواهد کرد. مصطفي معين، وزير علوم، که از تيرماه گذشته استعفاي خود را به رئيس جمهوري داده، نخستين وزيري نيست که از دولت محمد خاتمي کناره گيري مي کند. پيشتر عبدالله نوري وزارت کشور و عطاء الله مهاجراني، وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامي را ترک کرده بودند. مصطفي معين وزير علوم بماند يا نه؟ اين پرسش همچنان باقي است که مرز وظايف و مسئوليتهاي شوراي عالي انقلاب فرهنگي و ديگر نهادهاي موازي با وزارت علوم کجا است و نيز پذيرش دانشجو خارج از کنکور سراسري و ادامه تحصيل در سطوح عالي در بخش خصوصي به کجا خواهد انجاميد؟ مسئله اي که نا آراميهاي اخير در ايران را دامن زده است. دکتر مصطفي معين، وزير علوم، تحقيقات، و فناوري جمهوري اسلامي در دولت محمد خاتمي بر تصميم خود براي استعفا پافشاري کرد و گفت اين استعفا بيشتر به معناي انتقاد و اعتراض به فضاي سياسي و مديريتي کشور که مبتني بر سوء زن، تبعيض، و عام و خاص کردن شهروندان و نگاه امنيتي و توطئه اي و خشونت نسبت به دانشگاه و دانشجو است داده شده. مصطفي معين، راجع به دليل کناره گيريش از وزارت علوم گفت: وقتي ما براي ايجاد تحول ساختاري در نظام علمي و تکنولوژي کشور شش سال تلاش مي کنيم و در نهايت متاسفانه لايحه قانوني ما را به خاطر اشکالات شکلي و تداخلي که با وظايفي نظير وظايف شوراي عالي انقلاب فرهنگي دارد زير پا گذاشته مي شود، طبيعي است که من به عنوان اعتراض ترک مسئوليت کنم. آقاي معين اضافه کرد: يک لحظه فرصت سوزي ما باعث عقب افتادگي کشور از قافله دانش و تمدن جهاني خواهد بود.
