Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiMonday, November 24, 2003
<b>MPs Blast Supreme Leader and Human Rights Violations</b>
• The problem is not only the Guardians Council's vetting power over the election candidates, pro-reform MP Ali-Akbar Musavi-Khoeini said today in an unprecedented speech at the Majles, in which he blasted the Supreme Leader and the regime's constitution, which gives the Supreme Leader the power to indirectly select the members of the Council of Experts, who are officially charged with selecting the Supreme Leader and monitor his conduct. As their Majles term nears its end, reformist politicians have begun to openly criticize the system, in what appears to be their swan songs. (Alireza Taheri)
• The regime is responsible for the human rights violations that are rightfully being criticized by the international bodies, Isfahan MP Ahmad Shirzad said in a speech at the Majles. Conservative MPs silenced him before he could finish his speech. He said the regime chose the most unreasonable and ambitious ways for gaining nuclear technology. The documents and evidence presented in the international bodies against Iran are not reported in the domestic press, he added. Those who jailed critics and killed Canadian-Iranian photojournalist during interrogation, offered foreign press the evidence for condemning Iran's government as one of the most oppressive and undemocratic, he added. (Nima Tamadon)
<b>Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Businessman in Corruption Case</b>
• The Islamic judiciary's supreme court will decide the fate of Shahram Jazayeri, a 30-year old wealthy businessman, who was charged with enriching himself through payoffs to the regime's high-level officials and their kin, within the next 20 days, according to judiciary spokesman Mohammad Sadeq Al-e Mohammad. We need a law that would ask officials and authorities the source of their assets, lawyer and university professor Hossein Askari-Rad said, in an interview with state-owned “students” news agency ISNA. According to our laws, the president and his cabinet must declare their assets in detail before taking office, Tehran-based lawyer and human rights activist Mohammad Ali Dadkhah told ISNA. But an official may transfer cash or property to others while in office, to avoid detection, he added. (Maryam Ahmadi)
<b>Human Rights Organizations Welcome UN Resolution on Rights Violations</b>
• In separate statements, Iranian human rights advocacy organizations in the US, Canada and Europe welcome the Canadian-sponsored UN General Assembly draft resolution condemning the Islamic government's human rights violations. (Maryam Aghvami, Toronto)-
• Judiciary spokesperson Gholam-Hosseini Elham expressed anger at Canada for sponsoring the UN resolution. He called the Canadian judicial system the “most backward and racist” system in the world. (Ali Sajjadi)
<b>Head of Iraqi Governing Council Pleads Iran for Pardon of MKO Members</b>
• In meetings with authorities in Tehran, head of the Iraqi Governing Council Jalal Talabani asked Iran to pardon members of Iraq-based anti-regime group the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), so that they can now return to their country, Talabani said in a press conference in Baghdad. The US and the EU consider the MKO a terrorist organization and the Iraqi people are aware of MKO's cooperation with Saddam's regime, but now we are faced with a humanitarian problem, Talabani added. [Nearly 4,000 disarmed MKO soldiers live in a camp under the supervision of coalition forces.] (Payman Pezhman, Baghdad)
<b>Iran Offers to Help Rebuild Iraq's Oil Industry</b>
• Iran is willing to provide assistance for rebuilding Iraq's defunct oil industry, oil minister Bijan Namdar-Zangeneh said today in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart in Tehran. (Ali Sajjadi)
<b>US Criticizes New IAEA Draft Resolution on Iran</b>
• France, Germany and Britain on Monday circulated a third draft of an UN International Atomic Energy Agency's resolution condemning Iran's 18-year concealment of parts of its atomic program, but the US found the new draft too weak. The IAEA's board of governors is to meet on Iran next Wednesday again. Washington is still pushing for the sharpening of the draft's language and demands a clear warning given to Iran that continuation of any secret nuclear activity will be referred to the UN Security Council for sanctions. (Ali Sajjadi)
• Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will personally lead the coordinated efforts by Mossad and other intelligence agencies to try to stop Iranian advance towards building nuclear weapons, the daily <i>Haaretz</i> reported. (Siavash Ardalan)
<b>The Fifth Anniversary of Serial Murders</b>
• <b>Said Mokhtari</b>, son of murdered poet Mohammad Mokhtari spoke about his father's killing last night in Berlin at a ceremony to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 1998 serial murders of dissidents by intelligence ministry agents. The regime has tried to reduce the serial murders, which were parts of a plot against freedom of speech, to simple, street crimes, he tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Parviz Mardani)
• The plotters of the serial murders have not been brought to justice yet, Paris-based press freedom advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) said a statement. RSF is a party to complaints against Iran at international human rights bodies, such as the UN Human Rights Commission, RSF spokesman <b>Mohammad Reza Moeini</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>.(Bahman Bastani)
• The serial murders remain on the society's conscience as wounds that won't heal by the passage of time, wrote jailed lawyer of the victims' families Naser Zarafshan in a message from prison on the anniversary of the murders of nationalist activists Parvaneh and Dariush Forouhar and writers Mohammad Mokhatari and Mohammad-Jafar Poyandeh. (Nima Tamadon)
<b>Ministry Increases Oil Reserves Estimate</b>
• Crude oil reserve estimate rose by 36 percent, to 50 billions barrels, the oil ministry announced today. This claim as an effort to request a higher production quota from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Paris-based oil expert and former Iranian National Oil Company official <b>Parviz Mina</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> . (Fariba Mavedat)
<b>Iran Restraints Hezbollah in Iraq, NYT Says</b>
• Iran is restraining Hezbollah, which has established a significant presence in Iraq, from attacking American troops. Arab security officials believe Hezbollah has sent a security team of up to 90 members to Iraq. Some American officials believe Iran is seeking a channel to open a quiet dialogue with Bush Administration, writes the <i>New York Times</i>. (Shahram Tabari, London)
Talks between Italy and Iran
• Italian ambassador to Iran Roberto Tuscano met today with head of ghd Majles national security and foreign relations committee Mohsen Mirdamadi in an effort to soften the tension rising from the EU support for the UN General Assembly draft resolution condemning Iran's human rights violations. Iran cancelled a scheduled visit by Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini for the same reason. (Mina Baharmast)
<b>Good Smuggling Cases Rise by 40 Percent</b>
• Iranian customs officials said currently they are facing well over 45 thousand cases of smuggling goods, an increase of 40 percent since same time last year. The value of confiscated goods exceeds 952 billion rials, roughly equivalent of 90 million dollars. (Arash Qavidel)
<b>No Prisoners of War Left in Iran, Says Egypt</b>
• Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Maher, warding off criticism by the Egyptian MPs, said Iran has released all the Egyptian prisoners of war it had captured during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Earlier, in a letter to Maher, the MPs had claimed that there are still thousands of Egyptian citizens being held in Iran, and demanded their release. (Farideh Rahbar)
<b>Export of Drinking Water to Kuwait</b>
• Iranian and Kuwaiti officials are finalizing an agreement in Tehran today for exporting to Kuwait 900,000 cubic meters per day fresh water from the Karkheh river in the southern province of Khuzestan. Negotiations on the deal began in 2001. The water transfer project is expected to start next year, and continue for 30 years. Kuwait suffers from chronic shortage of water and price for drinking water in summer time reaches as high as $7 a bottle. (Farideh Rahbar)
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بهمن باستاني (راديو فردا): امروز مجلس شوراي اسلامي ايران بعد از نطق پيش از دستور احمد شيرزاد، نماينده اصفهان و عضو ائتلاف دوم خرداد متشنج شد. آقاي شيرزاد انتقاد گسترده جامعه جهاني از نقض حقوق بشر و برنامه هسته اي جمهوري اسلامي ايران را بر حق دانست و مسئوليت اصلي اين موضعگيري را به رفتار حاكميت در ايران ارتباط داد. البته نطق اين نماينده مجلس با فرياد اعتراض برخي نمايندگان و از جمله مهدي كروبي، رئيس مجلس ناتمام ماند، اما فضاي مجلس ششم را بار ديگر دگرگون كرد.
نيما تمدن (راديو فردا): «مدعي بوديم رهبر معنوي جهان هستيم، تمام توده هاي محروم چشم اميد به ما دوخته اند، از مظلومان جهان حمايت مي كنيم، سردمدار اخلاق و انسانيت در جوامع خشونت زده امروز هستيم. به جاي سلاحهاي مرگبار ضد انساني بر ايمان و ايثارگري جوانانمان تكيه داريم. مي گفتيم رژيمي هستيم كه قدرتمان ريشه در قلوب مردم دارد، به جاي داغ و درفش از نفوذ كلام معنوي بهره مي بريم، در حكومت ما فاصله اي ميان رهبران و مردم نيست و همبستگي مردم به حاكميت، ضامن شكست تمام توطئه ها است. مي گفتيم راه نويني براي بشريت به ارمغان اورده ايم، اما امروز از ما چهره رژيمي ساخته اند خشن، سركوبگر و بريده از مردم، متكي بر قدرت نظامي و ابزار سركوب. رژيمي كه هيچ سخن انتقادآميزي را بر نمي تابد و روز به روز مرزهاي خطوط قرمز آن گسترش مي يابد».
احمد شيرزاد، با اين مقدمه در نطق امروز خود ادامه داد:«تصوير امروز حكومت ايران در ذهن جامعه جهاني، گره خورده با تروريستها و سركوبگر با افزار دين است». رئيس كميسيون آموزش و تحقيقات مجلس با اشاره به تيتر چند روز قبل بعضي روزنامه هاي اروپايي كه نوشته بودند: «جمهوري اسلامي 19 سال به جهانيان دروغ گفت»، خطاب به ديگر همتايان خود در مجلس شوراي اسلامي ادامه داد: مي توان تمام اين تبليغات را به رسانه هاي صهيونيستي نسبت داد. مي توان هميشه آنها را توطئه هاي استكبار جهاني دانست و داد از مظلوميت جمهوري اسلامي زد. مي توان كماكان خود را محور خوبيهاي جهان پنداشت و تمامي اتهامات را به دشمني دشمن منسوب كرد، اما يك نكته بسيار ساده اين ميان وجود دارد. آنها سرنخها، دم خروسها و مدارك و مستنداتي از ما دارند كه آنها را در ادعاهايشان محق جلوه مي دهد. اين مدارك و مستندات نوعا در داخل منعكس نمي شود.
آقاي شيرزاد كه خود دكتراي فيزيك دارد و در اين رشته استاد دانشگاه بوده است، امروز اعلام كرد: جمهوري اسلامي با طراحي پروژه هاي بلندپروازانه بي هدف، نامعقولترين و نامتعارفترين شيوه ها را براي دستيابي به فن آوري هسته اي برگزيد. وي همچنين خطاب به بخشي از حاكميت در ايران كه محافظه كار خوانده مي شوند و قدرت اصلي را در دست دارند، گفت: آن زمان كه مستانه به صحنه آمدند و همگان را متهم به توطئه كردند، دانشجويان، روشنفكران و روزنامه نگاران را به زندان افكندند، زهرا كاظمي را در زندان كشتند، بر هفته ها و ماهها محروميت زندانيان در سلولهاي انفرادي حكم راندند، بايد چنين روزي را پيش بيني مي كردند كه به دست خود، مستندات رژيمي سركوبگر، ناقض حقوق بشر، مخالف آزادي بيان و غير دموكراتيك را به رسانه هاي استكباري و صهيونيستي پيشكش كردند.
كمي پس از رسيدن نطق احمد شيرزاد به اين سخنان بود كه اعتراض شماري از نمايندگان مجلس و حتي رئيس مجلس بالا گرفت و ناطق از سخن باز ايستاد. مهدي كروبي كه رياست جلسه را بر عهده داشت، اگرچه نطق آقاي شيرزاد را ناتمام گذاشت، اما اجازه نشستن به اين نماينده را نيز نداد و با لحني عصباني از او درباره سخناني كه گفته، بازخواست كرد. اعتراضات و تشنج، همچنان تا پايان كار امروز مجلس ادامه داشت و موافقان و مخالفان نظرات آقاي شيرزاد هريك به طرح نظرات خود مي پرداختند. امروز مجلس شوراي اسلامي پس از نطق پيش از دستور احمد شيرزاد، نماينده اصفهان و عضو ائتلاف دوم خرداد متشنج شد. آقاي شيرزاد انتقاد گسترده جامعه جهاني از نقض حقوق بشر و برنامه هسته اي جمهوري اسلامي را بر حق دانست و مسئوليت اصلي اين موضعگيري را به رفتار حاكميت در ايران ارتباط داد. نطق اين نماينده مجلس با فرياد اعتراض برخي نمايندگان و از جمله مهدي كروبي، رئيس مجلس ناتمام ماند، اما فضاي مجلس ششم را بار ديگر دگرگون كرد.
