Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiThursday, September 05, 2003
<b>US-Iran Relations after Iran's Signing the Additional Protocol</b>
• It is not clear that the crisis will end if Iran signs the additional protocol to the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The US may find more pretexts against Iran, foreign minister Kamal Kharazi said. The US concern is that Iran can secretly continue its nuclear activities, despite the additional protocol, author of <i>Deadly Arsenals: Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction</i> Joseph Cirincione</b>, nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Foundation, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Signing of the additional protocol by Iran can persuade the US to have a regional approach towards this issue, because there are other countries in the region which also have nuclear weapons, or countries like Syria that are pursuing chemical weapons. (Maryam Ahmadi)
• US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asked Iran and Syria to stop the flow of terrorists into Iraq. (Bahman Bastani, Masoud Malek)
<b>US Reluctant to Include Iran in the Multinational Forces</b>
• The US seeks multinational forces, including soldiers from Turkey, Pakistan and India, to establish peace and stability in Iraq. Even though there may be elements within the administration who call for the use of Iranian troops in Iraq, Washington would not be willing to involve Iran, policy analyst at Carnegie Endowment for international peace <b>Miriam Rajkumar</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Amir Armin)
<b>UK-Iran Relations after Drive-by Shooting at the British Embassy</b>
• In the aftermath of the drive-by shooting at the British embassy in Tehran, Britain closed the embassy and asked non-essential staff and their dependents to leave Iran voluntarily. In a phone conversation with British foreign secretary Jack Straw, Iran's foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi warned that the arrest in London of Iran's former ambassador to Argentina Hadi Soleimanpour could have a destructive impact on Iran-UK relations. The British foreign office cannot order the British courts to release Soleimanpour, and it is up to Argentina to recall its extradition request, <b>Lord Peter Temple-Morris</b>, a member of the British parliament's House of Lords and chairman of the Iran-Britain chamber of commerce tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. He adds that the departure of Iran's ambassador to Britain would have little effect on the two countries' relations. (Shahran Tabari, London)
• The policy of “critical engagement” does not mean that Britain holds any illusions about the Islamic Republic, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today. He added that the critical engagement would continue if Iran does not end its support for terrorist organizations and stop its nuclear weapons program. (Shahran Tabari, London)
• Britain asked its non-essential staff to leave Iran. (Mahmonir Rahimi)
<b>Special Report: Review of the Week</b>
• In today's special report, Tehran University political science professor <b>Sadeq Zibakalam</b>, Paris-based activist <b>Ahmad Salamatian</b> and Paris-based education commentator <b>Said Peyvandi</b>, comment on the week's main news, including the Majles rejection of President Khatami's candidate to replace the resigning higher education minister Mostafa Moin, the failure of the Majles impeachment of the education minister Morteza Hajji, and the new UK-Iran tensions. (Mehdi Khalaji)
<b>German Human Rights Advocates Campaign to Prevent Stoning of a Woman in Iran</b>
• Human rights advocates in Germany appealed to German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to use his influence in Iran and the EU to prevent the stoning of Shahnaz, 35, condemned to death by stoning by an Islamic court in Iran. In a one-day seminar in Düsseldorf a number of human rights organizations expressed concern over stoning punishment in Islamic countries. (Sharam Mirian, Cologne)
<b>EU to Pressure Iran on Human Rights</b>
• As the next round of negotiations between Iran and the EU on human rights on September 24 and 25 nears, the European parliament in a resolution called for substantial talks on human rights with a number of countries, including Iran. The EU had asked Iran to show real improvement in respect for human rights, Paris-based human rights advocate </b>Abdolkarim Lahiji</b>, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. He adds that Iran agreed last year to invite four UN Human Rights Commission special reporters, each specializing in a different field such as prisons, freedom of speech, women and arbitrary arrests, and to participate in three forums on human rights in Brussels. Iran also agreed to join UN human rights conventions, including the conventions to end all forms of discrimination against women and to ban all forms of torture. Unfortunately, he adds, the score of the Islamic government on all of these issues is below zero. Of the four proposed special reporters, only one was invited, and his report and recommendations on prison conditions and arbitrary arrests were completely ignored. The conservative Guardians Council rejected Iran's joining the rights conventions. In practice, there has been no improvement, he says. He adds that the next scheduled forum, the last of the three, will focus on freedom of speech. He adds after this forum, that human rights organizations plan to ask the EU to reconsider its policy towards Iran. He calls for a UN German Assembly resolution to monitor human rights conditions in Iran. (Shireen Famili)
<b>Pilgrims Risk Their Lives to Cross Iran-Iraq Borer</b>
• Thousand of Iranian pilgrims arrive in Najaf and Karbala every week by risking their lives to cross the Iran-Iraq border, Paris daily le <i>Figaro</i>'s correspondent in Baghdad <b>Delfin Minui</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Jean Khakzad)
<b>Amnesty International Names September 1st after Victims of Iran Mass Executions</b>
• Responding to the campaign by the Los Angeles-based anti-regime party “Mehr-e Iran,” Amnesty International named September 1st after the victims of the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners in Iran, Mehr-e Iran's founding member <b>Homayoun Mobasseri</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Firouzeh Khatibi)
<b>Nurses Protest in front of the Healthcare Ministry</b>
• A group of nurses protested against their poor working conditions and low wages in a demonstration in front of the healthcare ministry. The action was called by “Khane-ye Paraster (House of Nurses),” a trade organization. (Keyvan Hosseini)
<b>Student Activists in Prison</b>
• Father of student activist and a founding member of the Democratic Front Farzad Hamidi tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that his son is being held in Qasr prison, in a rat and insect-infested cellblock that he shares with common criminals. The wife of Mehdi Aminzadeah, another student activist and board member of the association of the Islamic student councils, tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that she was allowed to visit her husband 78 days after his arrest, 70 days of which he spent in solitary confinement. (Masud Malek)
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مريم احمدي (راديو فردا): وزير امور خارجه ايران گفته است: معلوم نيست اگر ايران سند الحاقي به پيمان منع گسترش جنگ افزارهاي هسته اي را امضا کند، اين امضا به منزله پايان بحران باشد و آمريکا از بهانه جويي عليه جمهوري اسلامي دست بردارد. سوال آقاي خرازي را با جوزف سيرينسيونه Joseph Cirincione، کارشناس مسائل هسته اي در بنياد کارنگي در واشنگتن در ميان گذاشتيم. آقاي سيرينسيونه مي گويد:
جوزف سيرينسيونه(کارشناس مسائل هسته اي در بنياد کارنگي، واشنگتن): بيشتر کشورها بر تشويق ايران به امضاي پروتکل الحاقي تمرکز کرده اند که به بازرسان سازمان بين المللي انرژي اتمي اجازه مي دهد دسترسي بيشتري به تاسيسات هسته اي ايران داشته باشند. شايد اين براي راضي کردن آمريکا کافي نباشد، نگراني آمريکا اين است که ايران باز هم مي تواند به طور غير قانوني به برنامه خود در زمينه برخورداري از توانايي هاي توليد اورانيوم و حتي پلوتونيوم ادامه دهد، در آينده از پيمان منع گسترش سلاح هاي هسته اي خارج شود، و اقدام به توليد سلاح هاي هسته اي بکند. فکر مي کنم ايالات متحده مي خواهد ايران تضمين بدهد که برنامه غني سازي اورانيوم را متوقف مي کند. تا زماني که آمريکا چنين تضميني را از سوي ايران نداشته باشد، فکر نمي کنم از تلاش هاي خود در اين زمينه دست بکشد.
م.ا: در اين صورت ايران چه مي تواند بکند؟
جوزف سيرينسيونه: مطمئنا امضاي پروتکل يک گام مثبت از سوي ايران است، صداقت ايران را نشان مي دهد، و مسائل زيادي را حل مي کند. مسئله دوم اين است که امضاي پروتکل مي تواند آمريکا را تشويق کند که با اين موضوع در سطح منطقه اي برخورد کند. چون مسئله فقط اين نيست که ايران مي خواهد سلاح هسته اي داشته باشد. کشورهاي ديگري هم در منطقه هستند ( مثل اسرائيل) که سلاح هاي هسته اي دارند يا مثل سوريه که برنامه هاي ديگري مثل سلاح هاي شيميايي را دارد. بايد براي اين مسائل يک راه حل منطقه اي پيدا کرد، نه راه حلي که صرفا بر ايران متمرکز باشد.
م.ا: مي گوييم: ايران هم همين را مي خواهد، موضع واشنگتن در اين زمينه چيست؟ آقاي سيونه پاسخ مي دهد:
جوزف سيرينسيونه: آمريکا از مدت ها پيش معتقد بوده است که راه حل اين قضيه خاور ميانه اي است که در آن سلاح هاي کشتار جمعي وجود نداشته باشد. مشکل اين است که آمريکا نيروي سياسي زيادي را صرف اين مسئله نکرده است. اگر ايران پروتکل الحاقي را امضا کند، آمريکا در زمينه اصرار داشتن بر خاور ميانه عاري از سلاح هاي کشتار جمعي و مطرح کردن مسئله در سطح منطقه اي، در موضع بهتري خواهد بود.
م.ا: در پاسخ به اين پرسش که خواست آمريکا دائر بر دست برداشتن ايران از حمايت از تروريسم و کارشکني نکردن در روند صلح خاورميانه، در اين بحران چه جايگاهي دارد، آقاي سيرينسيونه مي گويد:
جوزف سيرينسيونه: در آمريکا صداهاي متعددي وجود دارد و همه هم خواست هاي خود را دارند. برخي مي خواهند دولت ايران از حمايت از حماس و حزب الله دست بردارد، اما واقعيت اين است که اين گروه ها و القاعده از يک مقوله نيستند و هيچ يک از اين گروه ها به ايالات متحده حمله نکرده اند و در حمله هاي تروريستي عليه آمريکا درگير نبوده اند. بنابراين فکر نمي کنم ايران بتواند در اين زمينه آمريکا را راضي کند، هرچند اين مسئله از سوي آمريکا به عنوان يک درخواست بسيار جدي مطرح نشده است. بيشتر نگراني هاي آمريکا عمدتا بر تلاش ايران به منظور غني سازي اورانيوم متمرکز است. وزير امور خارجه جمهوري اسلامي گفت معلوم نيست اگر ايران سند الحاقي را امضا کند، بحران تمام شود و آمريکا از بهانه جويي عليه جمهوري اسلامي دست بردارد. جوزف سيرينسيونه Joseph Cirincione، کارشناس مسائل هسته اي در بنياد کارنگي در واشنگتن و مولف كتاب Deadly Arsenals: Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction در مصاحبه با راديو فردامي گويد: نگراني آمريکا اين است که ايران، عليرغم امضاي پروتكل الحاقي، باز هم مي تواند به طور غير قانوني به كار خود ادامه دهد. وي مي افزايد: امضاي پروتکل الحاقي توسط ايران مي تواند آمريکا را تشويق کند که با اين موضوع در سطح منطقه اي برخورد کند، زيرا کشورهاي ديگري هم در منطقه هستند که سلاح هاي هسته اي دارند يا مثل سوريه برنامه تسليحات شيميائي را دنبال مي كنند.
