Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSunday, November 01, 2003
<b>IAEA Asks Iran for Letter on Additional Protocol</b>
• The UN International Atomic Energy asked Iran to send a letter confirming the agreement to sign the additional protocol to the UN nuclear non-proliferation treaty. “Iran needs to come clean and fully comply with its international obligations,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that the IAEA must ensure that all its demands have been met by Tehran. Boucher called on board members not to come to any conclusion on whether Iran has complied with IAEA demands until they hear a report by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei. “We expect that all will withhold their judgment whether Iran fully meets the board's requirements until they see the director-general's report, including ourselves,” he added. (Jamshid Zand, Maryam Ahmadi)
• Nearly 2000 hard-liners staged a demonstration against Iran's agreement to sign the additional protocol to the NPT. The demonstrators shouted “Independence! No Capitulation! No Surrender!” (Leyli Sadr)
• The demonstrations against Iran's agreement to sign the additional protocol is due to a misunderstanding, Tehran and London universities professor <b>Pirouz Mojtahedi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The agreement has been compared to the1826-28 Turkmenchai treaty that gave big chunks of Iran's territory to Russia, he adds. (Alireza Taheri)
<b>UN Security Council to Evaluate Iran's al-Qaeda List</b>
• The UN Security Council's committee monitoring sanctions on Taliban and al Qaeda will evaluate the list of 225 suspected al-Qaeda members Iran says it has or had in custody in order to impose sanctions on them. (Alireza Taheri)
<b>Jailed Student Goes Under Operation</b>
• The Evin prison authorities transferred student activist Akbar Mohammadi, jailed since 1998, to the Taleqani hospital for a stomach operation. Mohammadi's hunger strike in protest against the arrest of his father, sister and uncle last year caused him a stomach infection, member of the central council of the independent opposition group Iran Democratic Front (Jebhe-ye Demokratik-e Iran) <b>Ali Sarmadi</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. His family has asked the authorities to allow their son to be treated in a private hospital at their expense, but their request was turned down, he adds. (Jamshid Zand)
<b>Foreign Ministry Denies Negotiations Offer to Israel</b>
• Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi denied an Israeli newspaper's report that Iran has secretly offered to negotiate with Israel. Ha'aretz daily had reported that the Israeli cabinet was studying Iran's offer. (Amir Armin)
<b>Iranian Asylum Seekers Demonstrate in Ankara</b>
• A group of Iranian asylum seekers staged a sit-in demonstration in front of the offices of the UN high commission for the refugees in Ankara. The group demands to be admitted in a European country, a spokesman for the UNHCR said, adding that Turkey maintains that the Iranians have entered the country illegally and must be deported to Iran, he added. (Masoud Malek)
<b>Majles Calls for Renewed Investigation in Kazemi's Death</b>
• A new, independent commission needs to be appointed, preferably by the supreme national security council, to probe into the death in custody of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, head of the Majles legal committee, Qazvin MP Naser Qavami, said, after the release of the Majles complaints committee's report, which blasted the Tehran judiciary's handling of the investigation. Tehran MP Ali Shakuri-Rad said the only legal way to continue the investigation into Kazemi's death would be to suspend Tehran prosecutor Said Mortazavi, whom the Majles accused of involvement in Kazemi's death and an attempt to cover up its cause. (Maryam Ahmadi)
• The Majles complaints committee recommended that the case against the Tehran prosecutor be referred to the disciplinary court for the judges. (Mehdi Khalaji)
<b>Impeachment of Communications Minister</b>
• The Majles will on Tuesday review the request of 56 MPs who have signed a letter calling for the impeachment of the communications minister Ahmad Motamedi. Poor quality of Iran's mobile phone service, lack of success in eliminating phone and internet services' monopolies, delay in the renovation of the country's telecom network and filtering of political and news websites are among the topics about which the MPs plan to question the minister during the impeachment hearing. (Fariba Mavedat)
<b>Daughter of the Serial Murders' Victims Returns to Iran for Anniversary</b>
• In an open letter issued before her arrival in Tehran to attend the fifth anniversary of her parents' murder, Parastu Forouhar, daughter of Parvaneh and Dariush Forouhar, victims of the 1998 serial murders of dissidents by intelligence ministry agents, wrote that nearly everyone who attended last year's memorial ceremony has been summoned for questioning by the judiciary. Last year's ceremony, which was attended by a large crowd, turned into an anti-regime street demonstration, after plainclothes security agents attacked the crowd. In her letter, Parastu Forouhar added that no attention has been paid by the authorities to her letter of complaint against Ayatollah Dori Najaf-abadi, former intelligence minister, even though the four agents who confessed to the killings mentioned his role in the murders in their testimonies. (Keyvan Hosseini)
<b>Human Rights Defenders Criticize Nobel Laureate for Her Position on Islam</b>
• Some human rights advocates criticized Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi for her statement that Islam and human rights can be compatible. Her defenders say since Ms. Ebadi operates within Iranian laws, and needs to base her activities on the assumption that there is no contradiction between Islamic beliefs and human rights. Her critics say that the Nobel Peace Prize offered her a historical opportunity to speak on behalf of the silent social movement in Iran, and that she needs to defend human rights, not Islam. Human rights advocates worry that instead of promoting an inclusive front for human rights defenders, Ms. Ebadi's position, which reflects that of pro-Khatami reformists within the regime, would divide the country's human rights defenders. Some of her critics fear that the reformists within the regime, who have lost their social standing, would try to exploit Ms. Ebadi for their own political gain. (Mehdi Khalaji)
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فريبا مودت (راديو فردا): به گفته يكي از مسئولان بلند پايه سازمان ملل متحد، شوراي امنيت آن سازمان فهرست نام 225 تني را كه جمهوري اسلامي عرضه كرده است، بررسي خواهد كرد. اين عده به عضويت در شبكه القاعده متهم هستند.
عليرضا طاهري(راديو فردا): شوراي امنيت سازمان ملل كه 15 عضو دارد، تصميم خواهد گرفت كه نام اين 220 مشكوك به عضويت در القاعده و طالبان را به فهرست نام كساني بي افزايد كه بايد داراييهايشان مصادره شود، از هرگونه سفر و خريد و فروش سلاح نيز محروم شوند يا نه.
هرالدو مونيوز، دبير كل شيليائي كميته نظارت بر تحريم شبكه القاعده و جنبش طالبان، شامگاه گذشته گفت: فهرستي كه جمهوري اسلامي به ما داده، فهرستي به راستي چشمگير است و هم اكنون گرم ترجمه آن از فارسي وعربي هستيم. فهرستي كه ايران عرضه كرده است، در برگيرنده نام 147 تني است كه در ايران بازداشت و به كشورهاي محل اقامتشان مسترد شده اند. 78 تن ديگري كه نام آنها در فهرست ياد شده جاي دارد، به گفته هرالدو مونيوز، همچنان احتمالا در ايران در بازداشت به سر مي برند.
پيشتر حميدرضا آصفي، سخنگوي وزارت امور خارجه جمهوري اسلامي از بازگرداندن همه 225 تن مظنون به عضويت در شبكه القاعده خبر داده بود، اما هرالدو مونيوز اكنون به ادامه بازداشت عده اي از اين مظنونان در ايران اشاره مي كند.
حميدرضا آصفي به سازمان ملل متحد همچنين گزارش داده است نزديك به 2300 تن كه بين اكتبر 2002 و ژوئيه 2003 ميلادي از مرز پاكستان به درون ايران رخنه كرده بودند، به پاكستان بازگردانده شدند. هرالدو مونيوز مي گويد: در گزارش جمهوري اسلامي روشن كه آيا اين 2300 تن نيز با شبكه القاعده يا جنبش طالبان پيوند داشته اند يا نه و نيز آيا صرفا پناهجوي بودند؟ علي يونسي، وزير اطلاعات جمهوري اسلامي نخستين بار ماه ژوئيه گذشته تاييد كرد كه شمار زيادي از عوامل ريز و درشت شبكه القاعده در ايران زنداني هستند. اما چندي بعد حميدرضا آصفي، سخنگوي وزارت خارجه جمهوري اسلامي، خبر حضور عوامل شاخص القاعده را در ايران نادرست خواند.
آمريكا روز چهارشنبه گذشته اعلام كرد براي گفتگو با جمهوري اسلامي در دايره اي محدود آمادگي دارد. اما چنين گفتگوهايي به اين شرط انجام خواهد شد كه تهران همه مظنونان به مشاركت در عمليات تروريستي را مسترد كند. در مقابل عبدالله رمضان زاده، سخنگوي دولت محمد خاتمي گفت: اگر واشنگتن خواهان روابط بهتر با تهران است، بايد از ايراد اين اتهام دست بردارد كه جمهوري اسلامي از تروريسم پشتيباني مي كند.
هرالدو مونيوز هم اكنون گرم ديدار چند كشور از جمله افغانستان، امارات متحده عربي، سنگاپور و اندونزي است. او در اين سفر تاثيرات تحريم القاعده و طالبان را ارزيابي مي كند. شوراي امنيت سازمان ملل، فهرست نام 225 تني را كه جمهوري اسلامي عرضه كرده است، بررسي خواهد كرد. اين عده به عضويت در شبكه القاعده متهم هستند. شوراي امنيت تصميم خواهد گرفت كه نام اين 220 مشكوك به عضويت در القاعده و طالبان را به فهرست نام كساني بيافزايد كه بايد دارائي هايشان مصادره شود، از هرگونه سفر و خريد و فروش سلاح نيز محروم شوند. هرالدو مونيوز، دبير كل شيليائي كميته نظارت بر تحريم شبكه القاعده و جنبش طالبان، شامگاه گذشته گفت: فهرستي كه جمهوري اسلامي به ما داده، فهرستي به راستي چشمگير است و هم اكنون گرم ترجمه آن از فارسي وعربي هستيم. فهرستي كه ايران عرضه كرده است، در برگيرنده نام 147 تني است كه در ايران بازداشت و به كشورهاي محل اقامتشان مسترد شده اند. 78 تن ديگري كه نام آنها در فهرست ياد شده جاي دارد، همچنان احتمالا در ايران در بازداشت به سر مي برند.
