Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [5/15-5/21] major news events regarding Iran.

Iran's Presidential Elections:

• IranMania reported that a leading reformist has warned voter apathy and an undemocratic election would give rise to large-scale crises at the national and international levels.
• Businessday.co.za reported that Iran’s presidential frontrunner Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his family are increasingly targets for attacks over money and morality.
• Reuters reported that Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, an architect of the Islamic revolution, said, "Iranians would not vote in large numbers on June 17."
• The New York Times reported that Rafsanjani said he wanted to repair relations with the United States. But the U.S. has to do the repairing.
• Iran va Jahan said "Mullah Rafsanjani is the living personification of Hutzpah!"
• The Brooding Persian, an Iranian blogger provided a brief history of Iranian elections.
• BBC News reported that more than 500 politicians and intellectuals in Iran have announced that they will not take part in the presidential election next month.
• BBC News reported that a record 1,010 people have registered to run in Iran's presidential election next month.

The EU3 Negotiations with Iran:

Saturday -

• IranMania reported that EU3 diplomatic sources said that no final decision has yet been taken on the venue of next week's talks.
• Reuters reported that Iran doused hope of compromise in nuclear talks.
  

Thursday -

• The Associated Press reported that Iran will endure U.N. economic sanctions rather than give up nuclear fuel development.

Wednesday -

• Reuters the U.S. and Britain vowed on Tuesday to remain united in curbing Iran's nuclear programs.
• Agence France-Presse reports that Iran said regarding reaching an agreement in emergency nuclear talks with the EU3, "There is not a very big chance for an agreement."
• ICHarrow.co.uk reported that Mr Straw said it was clear what Tehran had to do, but not whether it would do it, saying "I hope but I cannot predict that the negotiations at the beginning of next week will be fruitful."

Monday -

• The Washington Times asked, "Is Tehran Toying with Europe?"

Last Sunday -

• Tehran Times reported that Iran-EU talks cannot continue without resumption of some nuclear activities.
• China Daily reported that French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier confirmed that a meeting between the Iran and the EU3 on Tehran's nuclear program would take place in the coming days.

Iran's trouble making outside of Iran:

• The Washington Times in an Op-Ed said that Hezbollah is believed to have cells in at least 10 U.S. cities.
• Iran Focus reported that Tehran fueled Muslim feelings over alleged desecration of Quran at Guantanamo Bay. Agence France-Presse.

Iran's Nuclear Program:

• Reuters reported that Iran has been using front companies to skirt international export controls and purchase a graphite compound that can be used in nuclear and conventional arms.
• Reuters reported that Iran's parliament voted to oblige the government to develop a nuclear fuel cycle.

Iran's military:

• United Press International reported that Iran's military is focusing on asymmetric warfare and nuclear weapons because its conventional armed forces are outdated.
• IranMania reported Iran has developed advanced cannons.
• The American Thinker provided a brief review of activities and statements concerning Iran’s existing capacities.

US Policy and Iran:

• The Associated Press reported that the State Department says there will be no new economic incentives for Iran.
• U.S. Department of State said "The United States hopes for better relations with Iran, but the onus is on the government in Tehran to change its policies..."
• The Associated Press reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran's leaders "should not consider themselves immune" to the changes taking place in the region.
• The Los Angeles Times reported that a senior State Department official said they saw no signs that current disarmament efforts would deter the country's rulers from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
• The Committee to Protect Bloggers discussed U.S. Congressman Christopher Cox's bill called the Global Internet Freedom Act.

Human Rights/Freedom of the press inside of Iran:

• The Globe and Mail reported that a doctor who treated Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi has reportedly been arrested by Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
• Radio Free Europe reported that journalist Akbar Ganji announced he has begun "an unlimited hunger strike" to protest against his imprisonment.
• Iran Press Service reported that Iranian journalists are threatening to stop reporting parliament news.
• Amnesty International reports that the trial of 36-year-old Iranian woman, Afsaneh Norouzi, was unfair.
• The Globe and Mail reported that Canada will further limit diplomatic contacts with Iran to push for a new investigation into the death of a Canadian photojournalist.

Popular struggle for freedom inside of Iran:

• Iran Focus reported that dozens of workers in Mashad gathered outside the provincial headquarters of the Department of Labour, protesting overdue wages.
• Iranian Student News Agency published photos of an Iranian student protest.
• Iran Press Service reports an Iranian activists as saying, “People are expecting something to happen; something like in Ukraine...”
  

Popular struggle for freedom outside of Iran:

• Anjomane Padeshahi launched Operation Thunder One in Brussels, a protest operation designed to shame the European governments support for Iran. I have included an update with photos.
• SMCCDI's website is back online.
• The Iran Freedom Foundation (IFF) launched the Iran Freedom Walk, a 200-mile journey by foot aimed at promoting awareness and solidarity between the people of America and Iran.
  

Iran and the world community:

• Janes Defense Weekly reported that "For Iran, close and secret ties with Syrian intelligence and military officials will enable Tehran ... the possibility of promoting a coup in Syria ..."
• Reuters reported that Iran's foreign minister pledged on Tuesday that his country would act to stop insurgents crossing into Iraq. Iraq the Model doesn't think so.
• WorldTribune.com reported that China has dismissed U.S. sanctions and apparently believes it can more than compensate for lost U.S. business by continuing to export missile components and technology to Iran.
• CNN.com reported that Iran's foreign minister arrived in Baghdad for talks with top Iraqi officials.
• Tehran Times reported that Iran and Saudi Arabia expand ties.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Iranian President Khatami tells neighbors not to fear 'a powerful Iran.'

Must Read reports in the Mainstream Media:

• Saul Singer of the Jerusalem Post asked, "Is invasion America's only means to topple rogue regimes?"
• Newsweek reported that the MEK hurts its dissident members.
• The Guardian reported, "Tehran's Conservative Bazaar Now Reject the Whole System."
• Saul Singer of the Jerusalem Post says,"Iran is Pivotal."

Strange Reports:

• The Pennisula reported that Iran's state television network has embarked on giving the Iranian public a crash course in the joys of atomic power.
• Washington Times reported on Hooshang Amirahmadi, a U.S. citizen, president of the American Iranian Council, and now a Iranian presidential candidate. Iranian opposition groups claim "the AIC has been accommodating the Iranian theocracy."

The Experts:

• Voice of America News reported that a new book by Anthony Cordesman details Iran's military capabilities and its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.
• The Washington Institute for Near East Policy reported on "Nuclear Dangers in the Middle East: Threats and Responses."
• Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi reported that agents and spies of the terrorist regime mill about among us freely here in Washington, deceiving well-meaning and usually very under-informed Westerners with their lies. They infiltrate opposition movements active in the West; they bribe journalists and politicians to spin their lies.
• Amir Taheri warned the U.S. against the fashionable idea is that the Western democracies should seek a strategic alliance with Islamist parties.
• The National Review Online came out in support of the 60000000.com's referendum movement.

And finally, The Quote of the Week:

The NY Sun reported that Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights lawyer who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize said:

"We must take care that Western countries not take advantage of democracy and human rights and use these concepts as a license to attack other countries."

Saturday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 5.21.2005:

Iran douses hope of compromise in nuclear talks

Reuters:

Iran said on Saturday it had not considered a proposal that Russia enrich uranium for it -- an idea floated as a way out of a deadlock in talks with the EU over Tehran's nuclear program.

Britain, France and Germany were due to resume talks with Iran next week, aiming to persuade it to abandon uranium enrichment -- a process needed to make nuclear bombs -- in return for economic incentives.

Though Tehran has said repeatedly that it will not give up uranium enrichment, diplomats said one idea being floated was for Russia to temporarily enrich uranium for Iran. READ MORE

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Iran Focus reports that dozens of workers in Mashad gathered outside the provincial headquarters of the Department of Labour, protesting overdue wages.
• IranMania reports that EU3 diplomatic sources said that no final decision has yet been taken on the venue of next week's talks.
• The Washington Times in an Op-Ed says that Hezbollah is believed to have cells in at least 10 U.S. cities.
• Adnkronos International reports that the body search and interrogation of a Dutch lawmaker at Tehran airport has prompted her colleagues to request the recall of their ambassador in Iran.
• The American Thinker provides a brief review of activities and statements concerning Iran’s existing capacities.
• IranMania reports that a leading reformist has warned voter apathy and an undemocratic election would give rise to large-scale crises at the national and international levels.
• Islamic Republic News Agency reports that Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister met with the head of China's Aerospace Organization to discuss Iran's joint satellite project with China.
• Voice of America News reports that a new book by Anthony Cordesman details Iran's military capabilities and its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.
• The Ledger reports that the Iraqi government publicly acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that Iraq was the aggressor in 1980 when it touched off a bloody eight-year war with Iran.
• Radio Free Europe reports that journalist Akbar Ganji announced he has begun "an unlimited hunger strike" to protest against his imprisonment.
• Globe and Mail reports that a doctor who treated Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi has reportedly been arrested by Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
• And finally, The Committee to Protect Bloggers is discussing U.S. Congressman Christopher Cox's bill called the Global Internet Freedom Act.

Iran douses hope of compromise in nuclear talks

Reuters:

Iran said on Saturday it had not considered a proposal that Russia enrich uranium for it -- an idea floated as a way out of a deadlock in talks with the EU over Tehran's nuclear program.

Britain, France and Germany were due to resume talks with Iran next week, aiming to persuade it to abandon uranium enrichment -- a process needed to make nuclear bombs -- in return for economic incentives.

Though Tehran has said repeatedly that it will not give up uranium enrichment, diplomats said one idea being floated was for Russia to temporarily enrich uranium for Iran. READ MORE

The diplomats, who declined to be named, said the proposal would buy time for the EU-Iran talks to continue.

"We have not discussed it yet," Ali Aghamohammadi of Iran's Supreme National Security Council told Reuters.

Aghamohammadi also contested comments by diplomats that Iran proposed the idea of having Russia enrich uranium.

"The idea was from Russia," he said.

But Moscow denied the idea had been proposed by Russia.

"I do not have any information that that we have suggested supplying Iran with fuel," a spokesman for the Russian Atomic Energy Agency said.

Under the proposal, Tehran would process uranium ore mined in its central deserts into uranium hexafluoride gas. This would then be exported and pumped into Russian centrifuges to enrich it into atomic fuel for Iran. ...

Iran foundry workers protest back wages

Iran Focus:

Dozens of workers from Zob Rekord Foundry in Mashad (provincial capital of Iran’s north-eastern province of Khorrasan Razavi) gathered outside the provincial headquarters of the Department of Labour, protesting overdue wages.

The protestors numbering some 75 people complained that authorities had failed to ensure that they receive their salaries.

The workers said that they had not received their salaries for work done over the past three months or their New Years’ bonuses which they were entitled to receive

.

Venue of next week Iran-EU talks still undecided

IranMania:

EU diplomatic sources said that no final decision has yet been taken on the venue of next week's talks between officials of Iran and the EU big three of France, Germany and Britain. READ MORE

Earlier reports indicated that the Iranian and EU officials would meet in Brussels on May 23.

However, EU sources told IRNA that debates over the venue of the talks are still continuing as Brussels will host EU foreign ministers for their regular monthly meeting May 22-23.

The Iran-EU meeting will be held upon the last week request of France, Germany and Britain to hold emergency talks with Iran over the latest developments in its nuclear energy program.

Iran has agreed to the request and announced that the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani will meet foreign ministers of the EU-trio for talks on the issue.

Hezbollah in America

The Washington Times, Op-Ed:

Aside from al Qaeda, no terrorist group has killed more Americans than Hezbollah, which is bankrolled by Iran to the tune of at least $100 million a year. Hezbollah's main theaters of operation are Lebanon, its home country (where it killed hundreds of Americans during the 1980s), and the West Bank and Gaza, where it helps Palestinian rejectionists target Israel. But the group is active in the United States as well. Hezbollah is believed to have cells in at least 10 U.S. cities. READ MORE

Although the organization has yet to launch an attack on U.S. soil, its U.S. activities are far from benign. Its work in this country has two major purposes: One is to raise money and smuggle arms to Hezbollah fighters, often by criminal activities ranging from credit-card fraud to cigarette smuggling; and the other is to conduct surveillance behind enemy lines, with a possible eye toward launching attacks on U.S. targets in the event of an armed conflict between the United States and Tehran. Like his backers in Iran, Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah routinely denounces the United States and Israel as his organization's main enemies. Given the events of September 11, and given Hezbollah's own record of kidnapping, torturing and killing Americans when it has had the opportunity, we ignore the group's operations in this country at our peril.

Outside of metropolitan Detroit, last month's arrest of Nemr Ali Rahal, a 41-year-old businessman, at his Dearborn home on charges of smuggling funds to Hezbollah, went largely unreported by the news media around the United States. But the story deserves our attention. In Mr. Rahal's house, agents found a videotape of a Hezbollah rally he attended in Lebanon three years ago. The FBI said it found $600 worth of change in buckets in the Rahal home, and that he said the money was meant to go to "orphans" -- the children of suicide bombers. Mr. Rahal has been charged with stealing more than $400,000 by means of credit-card fraud. When Mr. Rahal returned Feb. 9 from a trip to Canada, Customs agents found traces of explosives on his passport.

In March, Mahmoud Kourani of Dearborn pleaded guilty to providing material support for Hezbollah. He will be sentenced next month. Kourani (whose brother is Hezbollah's chief of military security in southern Lebanon) is an illegal alien who sneaked into the United States from Mexico in February 2001.

Federal authorities have repeatedly arrested suspected Hezbollah operatives for attempting to smuggle night-vision goggles and other military equipment to the organization. One suspect, arrested in 1998, skipped bail and fled to Lebanon before returning to the United States last year to face federal charges. In 2003, a federal court convicted a Hezbollah cell based in Charlotte, N.C., on charges of aiding Hezbollah by operating a cigarette-smuggling ring. The leader of that group, Mohammed Hammoud, received 155 years in prison.

Iran: Alleged Manhandling of Dutch MP Sparks Diplomatic Incident

Adnkronos International:

The body search and interrogation of a Dutch lawmaker at Tehran airport has prompted her colleagues in the Dutch parliament to request the Netherlands government to recall the country's ambassador in Iran.

Farah Karimi, a Dutch Green Party MP of Iranian origin travelled to Iran to meet with local women's and human rights groups, but was stopped by airport security who allegedly shoved and threatened her, seized her cell phone, diary and other documents.

She was also detained for questioning before being finally allowed to fly home. The Iranian government has denied any responsibility for the incident and has refused a Dutch request for a formal apology to Karimi.

Iran's military challenge

The American Thinker:

The last week’s lethal anti-American demonstrations in many countries across the Islamic world, with about 15 people killed during an protest in Afghanistan, serve as yet another reminder of the widespread Muslim hostility faced by the United States. Muslim clerics are masters of inspiring and manipulating Muslim people’s emotion against West. Nowhere more so than in Iran.

Iran also maintains a substantial military establishment. A brief review of activities and statements concerning Iran’s existing capacities is in order, especially given the looming threat of development of nuclear weapons for these forces. READ MORE

Iran’s Defense and Intelligence Capabilities

On May 7, Iran’s Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani elaborated the strategic principles of Iran’s Defense Ministry for the future:

1) Self-sufficiency in weapons production;
2) Modern industrial research and development;
3) Preparation for post-modern war;
4) Resisting surprise attacks;
5) Mobilizing social forces;
6) Waging asymmetrical warfare.

On May 15, Commander of the Navy Rear Admiral Abbas Mohtaj said Iran has developed advanced cannons and different types of missiles. He noted that the Iranian naval forces are present along the Sea of Oman, Persian Gulf and Hormuz Strait. He added “The Navy supports national interests with its full might.”

The Navy commander explained that “Unity-84” war-games were held in an area covering 12,000 square miles in the Sea of Oman and the open seas of the northern Indian Ocean. He went on to say that “In this drill, the surface, undersea and aerial units of the Navy displayed their might and grandeur.” Admiral Mohtaj also said that the exercise served as the yardstick for testing the abilities of local forces in the design, manufacture and mass production of undersea vessels. “We successfully launched torpedoes from land and undersea, as well as undersea-to-undersea torpedoes,” he said.

Iran's army includes 350,000 active-duty soldiers and 220,000 conscripts. The elite Revolutionary Guards number 120,000, many of them draftees. The Navy and Air Force total 70,000 men. The armed forces have about 2,000 tanks, 300 combat aircraft, three submarines, hundreds of helicopters, and at least a dozen Russian-made Scud missile launchers of the type Hussein used against Israel during the 1991 Gulf War. Iran also has an undetermined number of Shahab missiles based on North Korean designs that have ranges of about 1,500 miles.

Iran's security forces include a number of intelligence agencies with extensive overseas experience and assets, specialists say. Iran's highly classified Quds forces, which answer directly to Iranian leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are believed to have operations in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Turkey, the Persian Gulf, Central Asia, and North Africa, as well as Europe and North America.

Iran’s Nuclear Activities:

On Monday, Iran said it will give the European Union a last chance to salvage a nuclear deal at talks on May 23 before it resumes nuclear activities.

On May 15, the Iranian Parliament [Majlis] approved a bill on access to peaceful nuclear technology. Of 205 votes, 188 were in favor of the bill. Over 50 MPs, who called for review of the second reading of the bill, argued that nuclear negotiations will apparently fail since Europe did not fulfill its commitments. They criticized the Europeans for showing no goodwill since they paid no heed to Iran's proposals, which have allowed all-out supervision by Europe and even regular IAEA inspections.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said that Iran hopes to find a formula which would guarantee its rights in the next round of nuclear talks with Europe due to be held next week. In the meantime, Mohammad Saeedi, the deputy director for international affairs of the Iran Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO), said that Iranian officials are insisting on the resumption of nuclear activities because no more time must be lost and the country’s experts cannot be kept waiting any longer.

The U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the U.N. Security Council might become deadlocked if the United States and Britain ask the powerful panel to penalize Iran over its nuclear program. He said China and Russia might veto any action to impose sanctions on Iran in light of their close ties with Tehran. On May 14, Italy said will oppose sending Iran’s nuclear case to the UN Security Council and imposing sanction against Tehran.

Khatami and Sadr

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami asserted on May 15 that the presence of the US troops in the region constitutes a real threat to peace and security in the region. ‏ ‏ In the meantime, chairman of the Iran’s Parliament, Ali Hadad Adel lashed out at the US military presence in the region and said that the goal of combating terrorism had turned into a US pretext to invade the countries of the region. ‏It is interesting to know that Moqtada al Sadr also criticized the American-led occupation and called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Sadr said “The Occupier is trying to make up a sectarian war between the Sunnis and Shiites.”

While Iran’s capabilities are not even remotely comparable to those of the United States, they do represent a serious presence, under the command of an implacable foe. As Iran’s nuclear ambitions come closer to realization, they cannot be ignored.

"Voter apathy can trigger crises in Iran": IIPF

IranMania:

A leading reformist has warned of major crises in case voter turnout in the June 17 presidential election is low, Iran Daily reported.

Secretary of Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) Mohammad Reza Khatami told a public gathering in the city of Garmsar late on Tuesday that voter apathy and an undemocratic election would give rise to large-scale crises at the national and international levels.

“It is very important that the next president be elected through a popular mandate,“ he said, adding that otherwise the US and Europe would use it to pressure Iran. ...

Iran and China survey ground for aerospace cooperation

Islamic Republic News Agency:

Visiting Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Seyed Ahmad Mo'tamedi met and conferred with head of China's Aerospace Organization Sun Lee Yan in Beijing on Friday.

Mo'tamedi who has arrived in Beijing for a two-day visit earlier Friday, said during the meeting that Iran's joint satellite project with China and Thailand is on the top of his agenda for talks with Chinese officials. READ MORE

He said, "Despite the fact that Iran's Aerospace Organization is a relatively newly established institute, it has the tough task of designing and manufacturing research satellites at the top of its priorities and that is a field in which we can have broad cooperation with our Chinese partners."

He considered the joint trilateral satellite project among Iran, China, and Thailand, as a "prelude to Tehran-Beijing broad-scale aerospace cooperation," asking for expansion of the dimensions of such joint activities.

He said, "Iran is also willing to launch a regional research cooperation with China that can be focussed around the axes of designing and launching satellites for long distance surveillance, subterranean resources, agrometeorology, and aerospace training in both countries' universities in the framework of the BOAO Forum for Asia (BFA).

According to the head of Iran's Aerospace Organization, Iran is seriously pursuing its space engineering activities and "Cooperation with China, a country with valuable experience in the field, is of utmost importance for Tehran."

Head of China's Aerospace Organization Sun Lee Yan, too, during the meeting referred to last year's trip of Iran's deputy Communications and Information Technology Minister and head of the country's Aerospace Organization at the time, Seyed Hassan Shafti to China, arguing, "The level of Beijing-Tehran cooperation in manufacturing a small satellite is quite satisfactory for China." Iran's Aerospace Organization's first practical move following its establishment in the year 2000, has been getting engaged in designing and manufacturing of a small multi-mission satellite (SMMS) in the framework of a pact signed with China and Thailand, that would be launched by 2006.

The Chinese official said, "The Iranian and chinese officials have proceeded satisfactorily in various phases of designing and manufacturing that SMMS, and beijing is quite please with the cooperation."

He added, "China relies on its fifty-year endeavor in aerospace engineering, during which we have gained valuable experience in designing, manufacturing, and launching satellites, and is now ready to cooperate with Iran in the fields of research, agrometeorology, and surveillance satellites."

Sun Lee Yan, emphasizing Beijing's will to continue bilateral aerospace activities with Tehran, said, "China can also cooperate with Iran in training the expert personnel needed in aerospace engineering."

Iran started its scientific aerospace cooperation with China, one of the world's poles in aerospace technology, following the establishment of its Aerospace Organization in 2000, that is a state body, functioning under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

China has successfully launched forty satellites and airships ever since 1996 and is planning to launch over 100 more scientific, research and surveillance satellites by the year 2020.

Iran's Nuclear Program Could Lead to Confrontation

Voice of America News:

Iran's nuclear program, combined with its efforts to develop long-range ballistic missiles, could create the serious threat of a potential military confrontation involving Tehran, the United States and Israel. In a new book, Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, details Iran's military capabilities and its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. READ MORE

Mr. Cordesman is formerly the director of intelligence assessment for the Secretary of Defense and is now a senior military analyst specializing in countries in the Middle East.

His latest book on Iran's military capabilities agrees with the Bush administration's accusation that Tehran is trying to develop nuclear arms.

"There is almost certainly a nuclear weapons program now,” he said. “Much of the nuclear tests and development effort that you see in Iran simply makes no sense as peaceful research. We are not certain that Iran got the same Chinese nuclear weapons design that Libya did, but it seems highly likely that it did."

The Iranian government says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, and will only be used to generate electricity.

However, Mr. Cordesman says Iran's well-known program to build long-range missiles is a strong indication the country is seeking nuclear weapons.

"There is virtually no technical justification for building them unless you are going to put a nuclear warhead on them,” he added. “That means basically, that whatever the intent is we see this as perhaps the most expensive, physically known declared program in Iranian military activity, its purpose is either nuclear or to act as a rather expensive exercise in terror weapons."

In his book, Mr. Cordesman says most experts feel Iran has the basic technology needed to build a nuclear bomb, but lacks any rapid route to develop weapons-grade uranium or plutonium.

Mr. Cordesman says even though Iran may be years away from being able to build a bomb and a missile system to deliver it, there is still the possibility of pre-emptive strikes and a military conflict. "There are serious prospects of potential confrontation here,” he noted. “One over Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons, where neither U.S. nor Israeli military options can be ignored. The problems of tension and encirclement and what Iran may or may not do in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Next week Britain, France and Germany are expected to hold their latest round of talks with Iran to try and convince Tehran to curtail its nuclear activities.

The talks come after Iran announced plans to resume enriching uranium, which could be used for nuclear weapons.

If the negotiations break down, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions on Iran.

Iraqi Government, in Statement With Iran, Admits Fault for 1980's War

The Ledger:

In a move that is likely to inflame further Sunni Arab resentments, the Iraqi government publicly acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that Iraq was the aggressor in 1980 when it touched off a bloody eight-year war with Iran. READ MORE

In a joint statement at the end of a three-day visit by the Iranian foreign minister, Kamal Kharazi, the new Shiite-led Iraqi government said that Saddam Hussein, the overthrown Iraqi leader, and other officials in his government must be put on trial for committing "military aggression against the people of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait," as well as crimes against humanity and war crimes.

It was an effort to bring to a close the bitter legacy of the war in which nearly a million people were estimated to have died and tens of thousands more were displaced as refugees.

An Iraqi Foreign Ministry official who helped write the communiqué, Labeed Abbawi, said the admission was intended not as an acknowledgement of guilt on the part of the Iraqi state or people, who also suffered staggering casualties in the war. Rather, he said, it was meant to lay the responsibility for the war squarely on Mr. Hussein and other leaders of his government, many of whom face trials later this year for their roles in the killing of Iraqis.

"The file of the war, we want to put it behind us," he said. "We want to open a new path of cooperation."

Even so, it was a gesture of warmth toward Iran, which has long sought formal recognition of Iraq's use of chemical weapons against it during the war, and underscored how the political landscape here has shifted, with Iraqi Shiites, many of whom spent years in exile in Iran, now running the government.

The statement is not likely to sit well with Iraq's Sunni Arabs, who ran the country for decades but have been largely left out of the National Assembly, which will draft the new Iraqi constitution, since boycotting national elections in January. Shiites control the government for the first time in modern Iraqi history, and Sunni Arabs, isolated politically, have begun to chafe under their rule.

Sunni resentment has hardened recently, with a leading Sunni cleric accusing a government militia, made up largely of Shiites, of carrying out mosque raids and killings. On Thursday, two Sunni groups called for the temporary closing of dozens of Baghdad mosques as a protest.

"People will not accept it," said Saleh Mutlak, a member of the National Dialogue Council, a coalition of Sunni Arab political leaders, of the admission of responsibility for the war. "It looks like these people want to pay back the favor that Iran did for them," he said, referring to Iraq's new government.

Historians still debate the precise reasons for the start of the war between the two countries in 1980. It began during the Iranian revolution, and some experts say the new Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, agitated for a religious war to incite Iraq's large Shiite population to rebellion.

Others have accused Mr. Hussein of starting the war, saying he was seeking to capitalize on the chaos in Iran to overturn a 1975 agreement that fixed what he considered an unjust border in the Shatt al Arab, the waterway the two countries share at its southern end, and to seize the oil-rich Iranian province of Khuzestan.

A United Nations investigation after the war effectively assigned responsibility for the start of the war to Mr. Hussein, said Farideh Farhi, a professor of Iranian politics at the University of Hawaii, but Iran's claims of huge sums in war reparations unresolved.

Ms. Farhi said the statement Thursday appeared to be directed more at Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons against Iran, an issue very important to Iranians. As the Iraqis drew up guidelines for the trials of Mr. Hussein and other Baath Party leaders, they decided not to extend prosecution to any crime perpetrated outside Iraq's borders, and Iranians want international recognition that they suffered under Iraqi gas and chemical weapons attacks.

"The issue for Iranians is not whether or not Iraq is identified as the aggressor," she said. "That was something that had been settled before. The issue that is not settled for them is the issue of war crimes. During the time the Iraqis were using chemical weapons on Iran, the international community was not willing to take a side on that issue."

Underscoring Iran's ties to the religious leadership in Iraq, Mr. Kharazi called on the Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy city of Najaf on Thursday. The Iranian minister's visit began on Tuesday, just two days after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Iraq. ...

In another sign of just how far the relationship between Iraq and Iran has progressed since the administration of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was sworn in, the communiqué said Iran had agreed to open consulates in Basra and Karbala, Shiite-dominated cities in southern and south central Iraq. For its part, Iraq will open consulates in Kermanshah and Khorramshahr, cities in western Iran near the Iraqi border.

The communiqué pledged border security improvements, condemned Israel and, in a clear appeal to Iraq's Sunni Arabs, called for the participation of all nationalities and sects in the new government.

RSF: Akbar Ganji goes on hunger strike : "No one should be imprisoned - not even for a second - for expressing an opinion."

Radio Free Europe:

Journalist Akbar Ganji announced yesterday in a statement issued through his lawyer, Youssef Molai, that he has begun "an unlimited hunger strike" to protest against his imprisonment, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Reporters Without Borders reacted by warning the Iranian authorities that they will held responsible for any deterioration in his already poor state of health.

"It is insane that a hunger strike is the only recourse for imprisoned journalists who are trying to obtain their rights as detainees, including the right to make phone calls or to be let out of the prison for short periods," the press freedom organization said. "Ganji's case is serious because he has not even been able to have the treatment which is required by his condition and which has been recommended by his doctors."

Ganji said in his statement : "I protest against my illegal and unjust imprisonment, all the more so because I cannot even pursue my treatment outside Evin prison. I am beginning an unlimited hunger strike this evening. No one should be imprisoned - not even for a second - for expressing an opinion." READ MORE

Akbar Ganji is seriously ill after five years in prison

Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji, who completes his fifth year in Tehran's Evin prison tomorrow, is seriously ill and should be granted an immediate and unconditional release, Reporters Without Borders said today.

"Ganji is one of Iran's leading journalists and, at the same time, the one who has been imprisoned for the longest period," the press freedom organization said. "We call on the judicial authorities to stop ignoring the prison doctors, who have been saying for three years that he needs to be let out of prison for treatment. His condition requires immediate hospitalization and the Iranian authorities will be held responsible for their criminal attitude."

Reporters Without Borders added : "Ganji was imprisoned five years ago and is being denied his rights as a prisoner now because he criticised the impunity prevailing in Iran in his articles and because he participated in the pro-reform debate."

Ganji, who worked on the daily paper Sobh-e-Emrooz, was arrested on 22 April 2000 after appearing before the press court accused of writing that leading figures, including former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and former intelligence minister Ali Fallahian, had been involved in the murder of opponents and intellectuals in late 1998. He was also accused of taking part in a conference in Berlin about reform in Iran which the government charged was "anti-Islamic."

He was sentenced on 13 January 2001 to 10 years in prison but the appeal court reduced this to six months on 15 May 2001. However on 15 July 2001, the supreme court quashed the May sentence on technical grounds and imposed a six-year jail sentence.

He is being held in solitary confinement and, unlike other political prisoners, is not allowed to phone his wife, and is rarely allowed to leave the prison, although the law permits this. In the course of his five years in prison, he has been allowed only 40 day-passes, most of them for medical appointments. Hospital doctors have recommended that he be hospitalized for back problems and asthma, which has got worse because of his prison conditions, but the judicial authorities continue to block this. His lawyer, Nobel peace laureate Shirin Edabi, has voiced great concern about his state of health.

The repression meanwhile continues in Iran. Several journalists were summoned for questioning in March by different judicial and security authorities. Kivan Samimi, the editor of the monthly Nameh, was summoned on 30 March by a Tehran court. Mohamad Javad Roh of the daily newspaper Shargh was summoned several times and was threatened over his articles about the elections.

A human rights organization recently formed by journalists in the western province of Kurdistan has reported a major crackdown on the press there and said 14 journalists were summoned by courts in the city of Sanandaj.

Those who were summoned are Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand, Ejlal Ghavami, Tonya Kabovand, Namo Hedayati, Yosef Azizi, Kaveh Hosinpanahi, Jahangir Hashemi, Jamshid Vaziri, Hasan Amini and Majid Mohamadi of the weekly Payam-e mardom-e Kurdestan, Roya Tolou, the editor of the weekly Resan, Abdolah Sohrabi, the publisher of the weekly Rouj Halat, and Saman Solimani, its editor, and Hossin Ahmadinyazi, the editor or the weekly Asoo.

They have all been accused of "publishing false news and publicity against the regime" and "attacking national security."

Over 15 years ago, Reporters without Borders created its "Sponsorship Programme" and called upon the international media to select and support an imprisoned journalist. More than two hundreds news staffs around the globe are thus sponsoring colleagues by regularly petitioning authorities for their release and by publicising their situations so that their cases will not be forgotten. Currently, Akbar Ganji is sponsored by Le Devoir, Nice-Matin, La Montagne.

MD who treated Kazemi reportedly held in Iran

Jeff Sallot, Globe and Mail:

A doctor who treated Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in the intensive care unit of a Tehran hospital has reportedly been arrested by Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The doctor's life may be in jeopardy because he can testify about the severity of the head wounds and other injuries the photojournalist suffered while she was in the custody of Iranian authorities, Stephan Hachemi, Ms. Kazemi's son, said yesterday.

"This is another attempt by the Iranian government to hide the facts about my mother's murder," he said. READ MORE

The Canadian government said it is trying to get more information about the doctor's apparent arrest.

"If it is true that he has information relevant to Ms. Kazemi's case, we call upon the Iranian authorities to bring it forward and examine it in the investigation and new trial which her family and we have requested," said Marie-Christine Lilkoff, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The doctor, Hadi Sepherlou, was reportedly arrested at his apartment in Tehran last Sunday, just 24 hours before an Iranian court heard an appeal by the Kazemi family lawyer to reopen the case.

Ms. Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian dual national, died in July of 2003 after 17 days in custody in Iran. Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew says the 54-year-old was murdered.

At first, Iranian authorities said she had suffered a stroke. But an Iranian presidential commission found she had died of a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage. Another physician who treated her, and has since fled the country, Shahram Azam, says she appeared to have been tortured and raped.

Like Dr. Azam, Dr. Sepherlou "asked a lot of questions about what happened to this woman. He was really shocked by her condition," Mr. Hachemi said.

The son said he received information about Dr. Sepherlou's disappearance from some of his medical colleagues who became concerned when the physician did not report for work this week at the hospital.

The colleagues went to his apartment and were told by neighbours that plainclothes officers of the Revolutionary Guard, carrying guns and walkie-talkies, arrested Dr. Sepherlou on Sunday. The officers also took documents, books and the doctor's computer.

The medical colleagues then made the rounds to various government security offices, but were unable to get any information about Dr. Sepherlou, Mr. Hachemi said. All signs indicate that this is another attempt to cover up his mother's murder "and to try to intimidate others" who know about the case, he added.

News of Dr. Sepherlou's disappearance began circulating among exiles on Persian-language Internet sites several days ago. But the physician was not identified by name. One website said the doctor had photos and X-rays of Ms. Kazemi and that the Canadian embassy had granted him an immigration visa. But Ms. Lilkoff said the doctor had not been in contact with the embassy.

Global Internet Freedom Act

The Committee to Protect Bloggers is discussing U.S. Congressman Christopher Cox's bill called the Global Internet Freedom Act, introduced in 2002.

The Act's purpose is "to adopt an effective and robust global Internet freedom policy" and "to establish an office within the International Broadcasting Bureau with the sole mission of countering Internet jamming and blocking by repressive regimes." Here is a summary of the bill:

The Bill is H.R.5524
Title: To develop and deploy technologies to defeat Internet jamming and censorship.
Sponsor: Rep Cox, Christopher [CA-47] (introduced 10/2/2002) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 10/2/2002 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on International Relations.SUMMARY AS OF:
10/2/2002--Introduced.

Global Internet Freedom Act - Establishes in the International Broadcasting Bureau the Office of Global Internet Freedom to develop and implement a comprehensive global strategy to combat state-sponsored and state-directed Internet jamming and persecution of those who use the Internet. Requires an annual report from the Office to Congress on the status of state interference with Internet use and of U.S. efforts to counter such interference.

Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should: (1) denounce governments that restrict, censor, ban, and block access to information on the Internet; (2) direct the U.S. Representative to the United Nations to submit a resolution condemning such actions; and (3) deploy technologies aimed at defeating state-directed Internet censorship and the persecution of those who use the Internet. FULL TEXT

It appears the bill is stuck in the House Committee on International Relations. Write Congressman Cox, and members of the International Relations committee and ask them to support the bill and hold hearings soon.

Attention Iranian Readers: Until then, AnonBlog just posted a second draft of its guide to anonymous internet blogging.

Friday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 5.20.2005:

Iran smuggling graphite compound for nukes-exile
Louis Charbonnea, Reuters:

Iran has been using front companies to skirt international export controls and purchase a graphite compound that can be used in nuclear and conventional arms, an Iranian exile said on Friday.

The latest allegation from Alireza Jafarzadeh, an Iranian dissident who has reported accurately on Iran's hidden nuclear facilities and activities in the past, ...

"Iran has been smuggling into the country a key material that is important to build a nuclear bomb," said Jafarzadeh ...

Jafarzadeh said the controlled substance is a graphite compound called ceramic matrix composite. READ MORE

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Saul Singer of the Jerusalem Post asks, "Is invasion America's only means to topple rogue regimes?"
• Tehran Times reports that further EU3 are uncertain and that Iran will never entrust foreigners with enriching its processed nuclear products.
• Iran Press Service reports that Iranian journalists are threatening to stop reporting parliament news.
• United Press International reports that Iran's military is focusing on asymmetric warfare and nuclear weapons because its conventional armed forces are outdated.
• The Los Angeles Times reports that a senior State Department official said they saw no signs that current disarmament efforts would deter the country's rulers from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
• Reuters reports that Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, an architect of the Islamic revolution, told Reuters Iranians would not vote in large numbers on June 17.
• Businessday.co.za reports that Iran’s presidential race is turning nasty, with frontrunner Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his family increasingly targets for attacks over money and morality.
• U.S. Department of State said "The United States hopes for better relations with Iran, but the onus is on the government in Tehran to change its policies..."
• The Associated Press reports that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran's leaders "should not consider themselves immune" to the changes taking place in the region.
• Associated Press reports that the State Department says there will be no new economic incentives for Iran.
• The Pennisula reports that Iran's state television network has embarked on giving the Iranian public a crash course in the joys of atomic power.
• And finally, Rafsanjani, desperate to appeal to Iranian young voters had a photo session with non-traditional Iranian youth.

Iran smuggling graphite compound for nukes-exile

Louis Charbonnea, Reuters:

Iran has been using front companies to skirt international export controls and purchase a graphite compound that can be used in nuclear and conventional arms, an Iranian exile said on Friday.

The latest allegation from Alireza Jafarzadeh, an Iranian dissident who has reported accurately on Iran's hidden nuclear facilities and activities in the past, comes days before the European Union meets Iran's top nuclear negotiator in Geneva to persuade Tehran not to resume sensitive atomic work.

"Iran has been smuggling into the country a key material that is important to build a nuclear bomb," said Jafarzadeh, who was a spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) before it was listed as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. State Department and its Washington offices were shut down.

Speaking to Reuters from Washington where he runs a consulting firm, Jafarzadeh said the controlled substance is a graphite compound called ceramic matrix composite. READ MORE

"Iran is smuggling it into the country for its nuclear weapons programme," Jafarzadeh said, adding that Iran was also trying to manufacture the substance itself.

He said his information came from "well-placed sources inside Iran".

"Iran has been bypassing export controls with the help of front companies, including one in Dubai," Jafarzadeh said. He said some of the graphite was purchased in China and that the end users were linked to Iran's defence industry.

Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment. Tehran rejects U.S. allegations that its nuclear energy programme is a front to develop nuclear weapons, saying it is only interested in the peaceful generation of electricity.

Graphite has numerous civilian uses, such as in the production of steel. However, it also has uses in conventional and nuclear missiles -- such as the preparation of shells or casings for weapons-grade uranium used in nuclear warheads.

CRITICAL FOR WEAPONS SYSTEMS

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, ceramic matrix composites are strictly controlled substances that are critical for weapons systems technologies.

The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been investigating Iran's nuclear programme for over two years. It has found many hidden activities that could be linked to arms but no clear proof Tehran has a secret atom bomb programme.

Iran hid the most sensitive parts of its atomic programme -- including its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz -- from the IAEA for 18 years until Jafarzadeh exposed them in August 2002.

IAEA officials were not available for comment.

Some non-proliferation analysts, such as former U.N. weapons inspector David Albright, have said Jafarzadeh and the NCRI always time their allegations to coincide with an EU-Iran meetings or IAEA board meetings.

Jafarzadeh rejected this criticism.

"Do these people want me to keep silent because there are negotiations with Iran? ... I put out information when I get it," Jafarzadeh said.

The EU's big three -- France, Britain and Germany -- have a meeting with Iran in Geneva on Wednesday, EU diplomats told Reuters. The EU hopes to persuade Iran to continue its freeze of sensitive nuclear work to avert an international crisis.

The toppling business

Saul Singer, Jerusalem Post:

Last week I argued that Iran is a pivotal test for the Bush Doctrine because it is the leading supporter of terrorism, is racing to obtain nuclear weapons, and threatens Iraq's democratic future. The US, therefore, cannot afford to bypass Iran even if it were to push democracy more aggressively in places like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria.

Iran poses the most important test for George Bush's foreign policy revolution in another sense: Is invasion America's only means to topple rogue regimes? Is America still in the toppling business at all? READ MORE

There is a strong case that the military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with the reordering of American priorities, have already set off a revolutionary process in the Arab world. As Fouad Ajami quoted a Kuwaiti merchant saying: "George W. Bush has unleashed a tsunami on this region." A senior Jordanian politico explained Beirut Spring to Ajami: "The people in the streets... knew that Bush would not permit a massive crackdown by the men in Damascus."

The impression given is that with a little patience, the dominoes will continue to fall. This may well be the case. But the theory that the US can more or less passively reap what it has courageously sown implies that the other side remains static. This is hardly the case, given that each regime will always be more motivated to survive than the US is to topple it.

The Financial Times, commenting on America's democracy push last week, noted dryly: "Arab despots in any case believe the West will take fright once it sees that the victors of democracy are Islamists. Hamas, Hizbullah and the Da'awa are making big advances in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq, as would the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere if it were allowed to do so."

This precise concern, of course, drove the now supposedly defunct pre-9/11 mind-set, which feared not only "instability" in general, but what democracy would bring. Even if such fears should not have been an excuse for propping up dictatorships, neither can they be dismissed as trivial, and opponents of Bush's democracy revolution can be counted on to magnify them at every opportunity.

But there is an even greater stumbling block to this revolution than the danger of anti-democratic forces taking advantage of it. What is missing is a set of policy tools to fill the vast gap between talking up democracy at conferences and sending in the 82nd Airborne.

THE OPEN secret is that the invasion phase of the Bush Doctrine is essentially over. True, the threat of force is now more credible than it was. Yes, there is the amazing development that an American president has to convince allies, not that the US meant business, but that there would not be more invasions in the near future.

At a deeper level, however, dictatorships draw contradictory lessons from vigorous US action: both that it could happen to them, and that it won't because Americans quickly tire of war, change leaders, or otherwise divert their attention.

As Amir Taheri pointed out in our pages yesterday, the debate within Iranian leadership is whether to confront America more aggressively, not about pulling back. "The [revolutionary] guard commanders believe that Bush's campaign for democracy in the Muslim world is primarily aimed at Iran and should be thwarted by engaging the US in low-intensity warfare wherever possible," Taheri writes.

After Bush, Iranian generals think, the US will "revert to the defensive posture it had maintained in the Middle East since the Carter administration in the 1970s."

The salient question here is not so much what Iran decides to do, but its conclusion that, with its military arrows exhausted, the US has no other arrows in its quiver.

Bush's second inaugural address was the manifesto of the freedom tsunami of which the Kuwait merchant spoke. "The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world... So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."

Four months later, Bush's ringing goal stands, but the world is waiting to see what it really means. He described the task as an "urgent requirement," but also as "the work of generations" and an "ultimate" goal. Which is it, and how will it be accomplished?

Iran is the place where these questions will be answered, one way or the other, because it is where the war against Islamist terrorism and a people's struggle for freedom most potently intersect. If the US is unwilling or unable to help a people that is champing at the bit to free itself, then all dictators and their victims will conclude that, now that the invasions are done, there is nothing the US can do but sit back and wait.

Bush said: "When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."

In Iran, perhaps soon, we will find out whether he meant in the future and in theory, or now and in practice.

Official rejects reports Iran proposed Russia enrich its processed uranium and further EU3 talks uncertain

Tehran Times:

Iran will never entrust foreigners with enriching its processed nuclear products, an Iranian nuclear official said on Friday. READ MORE

Rejecting reports that Iran has proposed that Russia enrich the uranium it has converted, the official told the Mehr News Agency that the reports by the Western media are only psychological operations being carried out against Iran prior to the meeting between Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani and the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany, and France next week.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that Iran would never halt activities at any of its nuclear sites or abandon its nuclear program, even if it is temporarily delayed due to certain concerns.

No government or country besides the Iranian nation can decide about Iran’s national nuclear energy program, he added.

“If Iran intended to entrust others with making decisions about its strategic nuclear programs, it would never have entered the heavy and intensive process of nuclear talks (with Europe).

“In the talks, we have always stressed that enrichment for peaceful purposes is Iran’s red line in negotiations. Therefore, Iran’s only reason for processing nuclear products is to continue with the enrichment process,” he explained.

The official said Iran hopes that Russia will live up to its commitments to supply the nuclear fuel required for the Bushehr nuclear power plant and to build confidence between the two sides, “although we are not very pleased with Moscow’s approach toward Tehran’s nuclear program.” ...

On Thursday, nuclear negotiator Hossein Musavian spelled out Tehran's decision and also cautioned that it was "not certain" that the crisis talks will take place next week with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany.

The holding of the talks, he said, were subject to experts from both sides reaching a "mutually acceptable" basis of an agreement over the coming days.

Musavian said that if both sides failed to agree, uranium conversion work at a plant near the central city of Isfahan could restart before Iran's June 17 presidential election.

"For the meeting to take place, the experts must arrive at the basis of a mutually acceptable accord so there is a chance of finding a solution. This is not yet the case," he added. He said that "if there is no accord, it is possible that Iran resumes its activities at Isfahan before the presidential elections." The official also said that if there was an accord, Iran "could maintain the suspension of our enrichment activities at Natanz for several months." ...

But no incentives will persuade Iran to abandon its plans to enrich fuel, said Musavian. ...

France Calls Iran Nuclear Talks 'Fragile'

ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press:

European-led talks aimed at getting Iran to abandon nuclear activities are "very fragile," with negotiators discussing economic, technical and political cooperation, France's foreign minister said Monday. READ MORE

Michel Barnier would not elaborate on the proposals in an interview with The Associated Press. But he said talks range over issues including economic, technical and commercial cooperation, Iran's wish to join the World Trade Organization and political dialogue.

"We are in negotiations that are very fragile and complex. We are advancing with our eyes open," Barnier said. "European proposals are very serious and should be understood as such" by Iran.

The Europeans have been pressing Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment activities in exchange for economic aid and technical support. Enriched uranium can be used to produce energy or nuclear weapons.

Iran maintains its nuclear activities are meant to generate electricity, but the United States maintains they are part of a weapons program.

Officials from France, Britain and Germany, acting on behalf of the 25-nation European Union, are expected to meet with Iranian officials next week. The talks will likely take place Wednesday in Geneva, French officials said. ...

Iranian Journalists Menace the Parliament with News Boycott

Iran Press Service:

Relations between the press and the Parliament further deteriorated as for the second time since its inauguration last February 2005, the Iranian press has erupted against the conservatives-controlled Majles, with parliament correspondents menacing to stop reporting Majles' news.

The new row between the press and the parliament started after on Tuesday 17 May 2005, an influent member of the House, namely Mr. Mehdi Kouchekzadeh of Tehran, attacked the correspondent of the independent “Sharq” daily, accusing him of “deliberate dissemination of lies with the aim of destroying him and some other members of the Abadgaran (Developers) faction”. READ MORE

“After taking the journalist by the chin and dragging him in the corridor, Mr. Kouchekzadeh then insulted him with the most vulgar words”, the press reported on Wednesday, calling on the Speaker, Mr. Qolam’ali Haddad Adel to invite his troops to order.

What has angered more the press is that Mr. Kouchekzadeh is a member of the Article 90 Committee of the Majles, the very one that deals with human rights, in charge of protecting people’s rights against abuses by the regime’s powers.

About 2 months ago, the Board of the Majles barred Ms. Masih Ali Nezhad, a correspondent for the pro-reform daily “Hambastegi” and the Labourers news agency ILNA after she had revealed year’s end pocket money and other advantages lawmakers had received, amounting to billions of Rials (thousands of US Dollars).

The revelations had astonished the public, mostly because the new members of the Majles, the majority of them conservatives and coming from the lower class of the society, had pledged to live humble, refusing any gratuities and “friendly” financial help from different foundations.

However, ignoring all the protests and uproars from both the press and the public, The Parliament, instead of reinstating Ms. Ali Nezhad, suspended her press card definitively, accusing the journalist of “lack of politeness and decency”, failing to explain how she had failed in observing the House’s decency rules.

“In case insults and physical attacks from the lawmakers to correspondents continues at the Majles, the press would boycott parliamentary news for an unlimited period of time”, warned Mr. Masha’allah Shamsolva’ezin, the spokesman for the Association for the Defence of Press Freedom, in reaction to the last case of clashes between conservative lawmakers and journalists.

“This is not the first time that journalists are subject to insults and physical attacks by officials in official place and what is more unfortunate is the silence of the Board of the Majles, particularly the Speaker”, he told the official news agency IRNA, describing this latest case of dispute between the Majles and the press as “utterly intolerable and inadmissible”.

As the Association of Professional Journalists protested to the Board of the Majles, urging an immediate investigation and apology from the aggressive lawmaker, the Islamic Culture and Guidance Ministry, while condemning the assault of the lawmaker on the newsman, also regretted the incident, observing that under existing laws, “journalists have not their proper place in the society and are not protected as they should be”.

In their letter to Majles Speaker, several chief and senior editors of newspapers, weeklies and news agencies, observing that all the Majles correspondents present during the clash have confirmed both the physical attack and verbal abuses and insults of Mr. Kouchekzadeh against the correspondent of Sharq said the press in its entirety would not accept such kind of incidents be repeated.

After a short period of relatively freedom at the beginning of President Mohammad Khatami’s first mandate, Iranian independent and pro-reform press was ruthlessly decapitated. On the orders of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i, the leader of the Islamic Republic, “awarded” by the Paris-based press watchdog Reporter Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) as “one of the world’s most dangerous predators of press freedom”, more than 120 titles, including dailies, weeklies and monthlies were shut down, hundreds of journalists became unemployed and dozens of them jailed, silenced or left Iran.