Week in Review

DoctorZin provides a review of this past week's [4/30/06 - 5/06/06] major news events regarding Iran. (The reports are listed in chronological order, not by importance) READ MORE

Iran's Nuclear Program & The UN Security Council.

• Telegraph reported that Iran is developing an advanced centrifuge that would allow it to accelerate its controversial uranium enrichment program.
• The Age reported that an Iranian official said Iran has enriched uranium to more than 4 per cent, a level higher than Iran previously acknowledged.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House rejected Iran's offer to allow United Nations inspectors to resume snap inspections of its nuclear facilities, but only if the dispute again went before the U.N. nuclear monitor.
• The Washington Post reported that Condoleezza Rice said the Iranians "had plenty of time to cooperate. I think they're playing games."
• ITV reported that former US Secretary of State Colin Powell believes Iran is braced to deal with any sanctions the United Nations and that the Security Council was only likely to be able to agree on a "quite limited" range of such measures.
• The Jerusalem Post reported that Yevgeny Primakov, former Russian prime minister and foreign minister, said "An air strike on Iran would most certainly bring about very serious consequences... and the Arab regimes might find it very difficult to survive."
• Rooz Online reported that a former Iranian intelligence minister blamed former president Mohammad Khatami, for not allowing Iran to hide its nuclear activities.
• ITV reported that Jack Straw said his government will ask the United Nations to increase the pressure on Iran.
• The NY Times reported that Iran and the United States have begun to reveal new strategies in their nuclear dispute which is increasingly resembles a cold-war deception and brinkmanship.
• The New York Times reported that President George W. Bush spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin to convince Russia that the U.N. Security Council must take tougher action to curb Iran's nuclear program. No details given.
• USA Today reported that Iran denounced the United States for contemplating possible nuclear strikes against Iranian targets and urged the United Nations to take urgent action.
• The Washington Times reported that Iranian agents were accused yesterday of masterminding a bomb attack that killed three Italian soldiers in Iraq last week.
• The Washington Times reported that Israel has told the Bush administration that Iran is closer to having a nuclear weapon than was previously thought.
• The New York Times reported that the United States, Britain and France have drafted a binding Security Council resolution requiring Iran to stop key nuclear activities. The Americans and the Europeans want to move swiftly.
• Reuters reported that Iran's foreign minister claimed that Russia and China had officially informed Tehran they would not support sanctions or military action over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
• The Financial Times reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will urge US President George W. Bush not to press too quickly for international sanctions against Iran in their meeting.
• Forbes reported that Iran said it had found uranium ore at three new sites in the center of the country.
• Reuters reported that the United States, Britain and France prepared on Wednesday to brief the U.N. Security Council on a draft resolution aimed at pressuring Iran.
• ABC News reported that Britain and France introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution Wednesday demanding that Iran abandon its uranium enrichment program. Detail included.
• Bloomberg reported that Iranian scientists have increased their enrichment of uranium to a 4.8 percent concentration.
• Zaman.com reported that Iran is stocking provisions amid a possible UN embargo.
• The Los Angeles Times reported that as the U.N. Security Council meets this week to discuss how best to stop Iran's march toward nuclear weapons capability, Russia has the potential to serve as a bridge between the West and the Islamic Republic. This is "a moment of truth for Russia."
• The Financial Times reported that Russia’s stance on Iran’s nuclear program took centre stage on Thursday, as the United States and the European Union sought to win Moscow’s support for a hard-hitting United Nations Security Council. The Russian government fears the US has a hidden agenda: the goal of regime change.
• iii.co.uk reported that Iran now has the know-how to mass-produce centrifuges used to enrich uranium. Enrichment is seen as a "breakout capacity" which, once mastered, makes manufacturing nuclear weapons possible.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that while the U.S. and European governments are working in lock step to get a fresh United Nations Security Council resolution against Iran, what they aren't talking about publicly is where they diverge.
• Yahoo News reported that French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said military action against Iran over its nuclear program "is not the solution", but he added Iran required a "firm" response by the international community.
• Guardian reported the removal of UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw from Tony Blair's cabinet. Iran was the key to the demotion of Jack Straw from foreign secretary.
• Reuters reported that U.S. Ambassador John Bolton challenged Russia and China to come up with legal alternatives to break the impasse on a draft U.N. resolution ordering Iran to suspend its nuclear program, before Monday's meeting of foreign ministers from Germany and the five permanent Security Council members.
• Al Jezeera reported that the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, responded to remarks from Manouchehr Mottaki, his Iranian counterpart, that Russia and China "had officially told us ... [of] their opposition to sanctions and military attacks" against the Islamic Republic. Lavrov said: "We have made no such announcements."
• WRAL.com reported that Vice President Dick Cheney said that Iran should follow the example the Central Asian set several years ago in renouncing nuclear weapons.
• Rooz Online reported that on the eve of the Security Council's decision on Iran, Tehran is changing its tone.
• YNet News reported that the Iranian president called the prospect that his country would face a Western strike "a joke."

The International Workers Day Demonstrations in Tehran.

• DoctorZin published an extensive report on thousands of Iranians that joined in the May Day or International Workers Day march to express their anger at the Iranian regime's failure to listen to their needs. Photos of the demonstrators with translations and first hand reports.
• Iran Press News published an update on the May Day demonstrations. According to reports between 18 to 20,000 people participated in the demonstrations. They chanted: "Incompetent labor minister, resign, resign, strike, strike...is our absolute right" or "Imprisoned worker must be freed" or "Let go of the Palestinians and start thinking about us." A must read.
• Rooz Online reported on the May Day demonstrations, the protesting workers rushed to the area that was reserved for reporters and there chanted their slogans, and called for greater media attention to their problems and criticized them for failing to do so. They reported one police man was heard saying, “What a shame that they have instructed us not to do anything that would make you angry.”
  

Ahmadinejad's Administration.

• Iran Press News reported that four of Ahmadinejad’s ministers being dismissed.
• Yahoo News reported that Iranians will vote November 17th for the powerful Assembly of Experts which is tasked with appointing or ousting the republic's leader.
  

Ahmadinejad tries to score points with Iranian women.

• The New York Times reported that despite the objections of senior clerics and conservative members of Parliament, Ahmadinejad has decided to permit women to attend games in Iran's stadiums for the first time in nearly three decades.
• Rooz Online reported parallels between the battle outside Iran to find a compromise on the country’s nuclear dispute, and the debate inside country about women’s Islamic dress.

Islamic Republic's offers kinder, gentler oppression to its citizens?

• Rooz Online reported that the commander of Tehran police says his forces have reprimanded 10,000 men and women in greater Tehran streets in the past week for violating the Islamic dress code.
• Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi published a translation of the instructions the chief of Tehran’s Law Enforcement Forces gave regarding improperly attired women. A must read. Photo.
• Rooz Online reported that Iranian Security Forces will soon able to identify every Internet user in the country and log their access to Internet sites.
• Rooz Online reported examples of government economic policies that are creating despair among the Iranian people.
• Rooz Online reported on a controversy the supreme Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps commander created when he allegedly said the Baseej paramilitary forces should never interfere in the lives of people.
  

Iran's Dissidents.

• Iran Press News confirmed a 3-year prison sentence for blogger and ex-editor of Gilan’eh Emrooz.
  

The Other Unrest inside of Iran.

• Rooz Online reported on recent demonstrations by Tehrani teachers protesting their grave living conditions and chanting "Better living conditions and dignity are our absolute rights". The regime's mantra that "nuclear power is our absolute right" is backfiring on the regime as it reminds people of other human rights the regime suppresses.

Human Rights and Freedom of the Press in Iran.

• Rooz Online reported that Iran's hard-line Sepah-e Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps has launched a new project to use intelligent jamming to block specific satellite channels and broadcasts beamed into Iran.
• Iran Focus reported that dozens of Iranian Sufi's and their lawyers have been sentenced to jail and flogging.
• The Scotsman reported that a prominent Iranian philosopher, Ramin Jahanbegloo, has been arrested on suspicion of espionage. Ramin also holds Canadian citizenship.
• Radio Free Europe reported that human rights activists have expressed concern about the "intensifying repression" and the worsening of the situation regarding freedom of expression in Iran since the government of hard-line Ahmadinejad took office in August 2005.
• Human Rights Watch demanded that immediate release of one of Iran’s most prominent scholars, Ramin Jahanbegloo from Iranian custody.
• Khaleej Times reported that the European Union on Friday expressed "serious concern" about the human rights situation in Iran. The statement said they were particularly worried about 10 executions carried out at Iran's Evin prison on April 19 and the indictment of human rights defender Abdolfattah Soltani.
• Rooz Online reported that the news of the arrest and detention of Iranian-Canadian scholar and researcher, Ramin Jahanbeglou, has stirred serious concerns among intellectuals that former intelligence agents are again targeting them.
• The Toronto Star reported that Iranian-Canadian academic Ramin Jahanbegeloo has been hospitalized for a medical condition, not for any mistreatment. Why was he arrested? Is it because "he is a philosopher of non-violence," who did his Ph.D. thesis on Mahatma Gandhi?
• Philadelphia Inquirer reported that concern is rising over Baha'is in Iran.
  

Rumors of War.

• Yahoo News reported that Israel will be Iran's first target in response to any "evil" act by the United States, a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said.
• InsightMag reported that Vice President Dick Cheney has privately warned that the United States might not be ready to attack Iran.
  

Support for Internal Regime Change in Iran.

• Human Events published an interview with Reza Pahlavi, son of the late Shah of Iran, who hopes in the next few months to finalize the organization of a movement aimed at overthrowing the Islamic regime in Tehran and replacing it with a democratic government. A very interesting read.
• Hosein Bagherzadeh, Iran Press Service offered one measure that Iran's pro-democracy forces would welcome is for the international community to open the file on human rights record of the Islamic Republic and start proceedings, in an international criminal court, against those responsible for crimes against humanity.
• U.S. Department of State released a statement of support for the Iranian people in a statement - The Iranian Regime: A Challenge to the World.
• Iranian Solidarity Council issued a statement saying they "categorically and unequivocally condemns any military action" against Iran, but that their goal is the complete removal of the current regime.
• David Horovitz, The Jerusalem Post published an excellent report on what Iranian opposition groups are seeking to bring down the ayatollahs of Iran.
  

Iran's Military.

• Iran Focus reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader appointed Brigadier General Morteza Rezai, a senior military intelligence official, as the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp.
• Iran Focus reported that Iran said that the Gulf region was no longer safe for the "enemy."
• MEMRI published videos and translations of an interview with Iranian Army Chief of Joint Staff General Abdorrahim Musavi who said: "We make our submarines ourselves ... that will serve us in battle with the enemy... with America. ... America's military power is greatly overestimated."
• Bloomberg reported that Iran may be planning to respond to a strike against Iran's nuclear program with an effort to choke off oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
  

Iran takes first step to it's "Oil Bourse:" The "financial equivalent of a nuclear strike?"

• Business Week reported that Iran is establishing an oil market denominated in euros, a plan analysts described as highly unlikely to materialize but which in theory could have serious consequences for the U.S. economy.
  

Iran's economy in serious trouble.

• The New York Times reported that Ahmadinejad's plans to move Iran's increasing oil wealth among its citizens may be doing more to irritate political and economic tensions than to soothe them.
• Economic Times reported that Pakistan and Iran plan to leave India in the cold and their sign oil deal on their own.
  

Iran's Troublemaking world wide.

• Iran Press News reported that the worldwide suicide-bomber internet registration website is now operational again, after having been banned off of U.S. servers.
  

Iran's Troublemaking in Iraq.

• The Jerusalem Post reported that the Iraqi government said that Iranian artillery fired more than 180 shells into northern Iraq, targeting Kurdish rebel bases.
• Telegraph reported that a multi-charged roadside bomb, developed by Hizbollah in Lebanon, is being used against British and American soldiers by Iraqi insurgents linked to Iran.
• Eli Lake, The NY Sun reported that Iraq's Defense Ministry issued a stern warning to Iran to end security sweeps and mortar attacks in Iraq.
• The Financial Times reported that Iraqi Kurdish officials reported Iranian artillery were again shelling of positions held by fighters of the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) inside Iraq.
• The Scotsman reported that a Kurdish rebel commander threatened to launch a a guerrilla war if Turkey or Iran attacked guerrilla bases inside Iraq.
• BBC News reported that Iraq has expressed concern about troop build-ups by both Iranian and Turkish forces along their borders with Iraq and a number of cross-border bombardments by Iranian troops along Iraq's north-east border.
  

Iran vs. Israel.

• YNet reported that Israel’s Earth Remote Observation Satellite, Eros B, started sending high-quality snapshots to its earth station, with a focus on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
  

US/Iran talks?

• Mehran Riazaty reported that Iran’s National Security Council Secretary, Ali Larijani said there is no need to negotiate with Great Satan, adding that Iran never asked to talk with the U.S. on Iraq.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com argued that Senator Lugar is falling for one of the oldest tricks in the Ayatollah’s book by calling for direct talks with Iran.
• TurkishPress.com reported that the White House again rejected the idea of one-on-one talks with Iran saying: "This is not a bilateral issue between the regime and the United States, this is an issue between the regime and the international community."
  

Arabs send a message to Ahmadinejad: cool it.

• SanLuisObispo.com reported that Arab diplomats said the emir of Qatar, on a visit to Iran, carried a private message: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad needed to cool his rhetoric and cooperate with the international community. It didn't go well.
• Reuters reported that Gulf Arab countries have a number of public and private concerns about the nuclear program in Iran.
• Al Jazeera reported that Gulf Arab leaders have called on Iran to do more to show it was not trying to obtain an atom bomb, thereby saving the region from another war.
  

Iran and the International community.

• Miscelaneas de Cuba reported that Cuba continues to cement a long-standing alliance with Iran and policymakers in Washington and the European Union alike should be concerned.
• The Times reported that the thorniest dilemma facing Germany as it prepares to host the World Cup is what to do about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s hardline President, if he insists on coming to watch his team play next month.
• Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post reported that Ahmadinejad made a friendly gesture to Germany, part of a general charm offensive on his part towards Germany.
• Iran Focus reported that a prominent Arab daily accused Iran of trying to establish a “strategic position” in the Gulf region by dominating Iraq.
  

Must Read reports.

• Joshua Muravchik, Bitter Lemons International an AEI scholar argued that the confrontation between Iran and the United States over Iran's nuclear program is likely to end in US air strikes against Tehran's nuclear facilities.
• Joshua Muravchik, IslamOnline.net mapped out the various foreign policy schools of thought inside the United States, and offers a historical description of the various schools of thought.
• Nile Gardiner and Joseph Loconte, Boston.com see parallels between Germany in 1938 and Iran of 2006.
• The Washington Times reminded us that every US administration has been burnt in negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
• BBC News visited "Tehrangeles" where around half of estimated 1.65 million Iranian diaspora live in the US.
• The New York Times sees parallels between Iran's radical's use of the 1979 taking of the US Embassy in Tehran and its current effort to create a new crisis with the US over its nuclear program.
• David Horovitz, The Jerusalem Post published an excellent report on what Iranian opposition groups are seeking to bring down the ayatollahs of Iran.
• MEMRI.org reported that a Saudi Cleric claims: 'America is Now Disappearing From the Hearts [of the Middle East] ... Whereas Islam is Growing Even Within America.' A response.
  

The Experts.

• Patrick Clawson, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy argued that the West has more options with Iran than just the extremes, attack or appease.
• Dennis Ross, The Washington Post wants the US to join the EU talks with Iran.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman, FrontPageMagazine.com argued that Senator Lugar is falling for one of the oldest tricks in the Ayatollah’s book by calling for direct talks with Iran.
• Victor Davis Hanson, RealClearPolitics argued that the current Western strategy on Iran is designed to give Iran enough rope to hang itself.
• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat pondered whether we should take Iran's recent interest in direct talks with the US seriously.
  

Photos, cartoons and videos.

• Cox & Forkum published a cartoon: Dicey.
• BBC World Service released an audio interview with Reza Pahlavi.
• MEMRI published videos and translations of an interview with Iranian Army Chief of Joint Staff General Abdorrahim Musavi who said: "We make our submarines ourselves ... that will serve us in battle with the enemy... with America. ... America's military power is greatly overestimated."
• MEMRI.org reported that a Saudi Cleric claims: 'America is Now Disappearing From the Hearts [of the Middle East] ... Whereas Islam is Growing Even Within America.' A response.

The Quote of the Week.

MEMRI published videos and translations of an interview with Iranian Army Chief of Joint Staff General Abdorrahim Musavi who said:

"We make our submarines ourselves ... that will serve us in battle with the enemy... with America. ... America's military power is greatly overestimated."

Tags: iran, news, iraq, nuclear, military,

Sunday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 5.7.2006:

Gulf countries express fears over Iran.

• Reuters reported that Gulf Arab countries have a number of public and private concerns about the nuclear program in Iran.
• Al Jazeera reported that Gulf Arab leaders have called on Iran to do more to show it was not trying to obtain an atom bomb, thereby saving the region from another war.

As the UNSC ponders its Iran resolution...

• Rooz Online reported that on the eve of the Security Council's decision on Iran, Tehran is changing its tone.
• InsightMag reported that Vice President Dick Cheney has privately warned that the United States might not be ready to attack Iran.
• YNet News reported that the Iranian president called the prospect that his country would face a Western strike "a joke."

Will Iran have a new Supreme Leader later this year?

• Yahoo News reported that Iranians will vote November 17th for the powerful Assembly of Experts which is tasked with appointing or ousting the republic's leader.

More on the arrest of Jahanbeglou.

• Rooz Online reported that the news of the arrest and detention of Iranian-Canadian scholar and researcher, Ramin Jahanbeglou, has stirred serious concerns among intellectuals that former intelligence agents are again targeting them.
• The Toronto Star reported that Iranian-Canadian academic Ramin Jahanbegeloo has been hospitalized for a medical condition, not for any mistreatment. Why was he arrested? Is it because "he is a philosopher of non-violence," who did his Ph.D. thesis on Mahatma Gandhi?
  

What Iranian opposition groups want from the West.

• David Horovitz, The Jerusalem Post published an excellent report on what Iranian opposition groups are seeking to bring down the ayatollahs of Iran.
  

Tehran protests turn regime's mantra "nuclear power is our absolute right" against the regime.

• Rooz Online reported on recent demonstrations by Tehrani teachers protesting their grave living conditions and chanting "Better living conditions and dignity are our absolute rights". The regime's mantra that "nuclear power is our absolute right" is backfiring on the regime as it reminds people of other human rights the regime suppresses.
  

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

• BBC News reported that Iraq has expressed concern about troop build-ups by both Iranian and Turkish forces along their borders with Iraq and a number of cross-border bombardments by Iranian troops along Iraq's north-east border.
• Rooz Online reported parallels between the battle outside Iran to find a compromise on the country’s nuclear dispute, and the debate inside country about women’s Islamic dress.
• Philadelphia Inquirer reported that concern is rising over Baha'is in Iran.
• BBC World Service released an audio interview with Reza Pahlavi.
• MEMRI.org reported that a Saudi Cleric claims: 'America is Now Disappearing From the Hearts [of the Middle East] ... Whereas Islam is Growing Even Within America.' A response.
  

Tags: iran, news, iraq, nuclear, military,

Iran's leader: Talk of US strike a joke

YNet News:

The possibility that Israel would assassinate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is "only a rumor," Iran's Intelligence Minister Mohseni Ejei said Saturday, stressing that "there has been no change in the president's security arrangements."

The Iranian president himself commented on the prospect that his country would face a Western strike, and called it "a joke." READ MORE

Speaking at a press conference at the Iranian embassy in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, Ahmadinejad stated: "I recommend to all those who write about a possible American strike in Iran to open a map and see what size Iran is, where it is located and what its history is. Some think this is psychological warfare, but I think this is a joke."

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards official, Admiral Muhammad Ibrahim Dakhani, said several days ago that if attacked by the United States, Tehran would make Israel its first target for retaliation.

"Israel will be the first target we will move against in the event America carries out a vicious action against us," he said.

Undoing the ayatollahs

David Horovitz, The Jerusalem Post:

In early 1906, disgusted by the incompetent and corrupt behavior of their shah, Muzaffar ad-Din, Persian merchants and religious leaders began agitating for the drastic curtailment of his authority. Though unsurprisingly reluctant to legislate his own demise, within months the shah had been obliged by the sheer weight of protests and strikes to assent to what amounted to a constitutional revolution. An elected assembly was allowed to convene that fall, it drew up a mandate for an elected and representative parliament, and the shah signed the whole package into law on December 30. He died, marginalized by his own forced hand, just a few days afterwards.

A hundred years later, the Bush administration is aiming for a repeat performance, against a far more sophisticated oppressor. Even as it passes domestic legislation designed to isolate Iran, and tries to push the United Nations toward toughening sanctions, the US has also moved to allocate funds for a process of democratization there. Tens of millions of dollars are to be spent on improved satellite TV broadcasts into the country, student outreach initiatives, educational and cultural programs and the like. Although the aim of such spending is not specifically stated, it is entirely plain: to encourage the kind of internal dissent that put paid to Muzaffar ad-Din a century ago and that, ideally sooner rather than later, will lead today's opposition groups in Iran to overthrow the ayatollahs.

Some analysts, in the US and beyond, claim that dissident groups are poised to hit the streets, ready to put their lives on the line in the kinds of mass numbers that would overwhelm the regime, and that only the absence of a clearer green light from the United States is holding them back. There is talk of progress toward an unprecedented unifying of Iranian opposition groups - monarchists, communists et al, possibly around Reza Pahlavi, son of the late, last shah - ahead of a planned large-scale campaign of civil disobedience this summer.

Others, more skeptical, assert that opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Islamist government are weak, afraid and disunited, and that, 27 years after the revolution that brought it to power, the Iranian leadership is eminently capable of thwarting whatever protests can be mustered.

In Washington a few days ago, I met with a longtime Iranian-born opposition activist who, among other efforts, is a member of the National Union for Democracy in Iran, a three-year-old, US-based opposition group which seeks, it says, "to promote a strategy of nonviolent political defiance to the rule of the dictatorial theocracy in Iran, and set the conditions for a transparent national referendum," under which Iranians would "determine their future form of government in a free, fair and democratic manner." The group has good ideas but, he readily acknowledged, next to no resources, a common affliction among such organizations. READ MORE

The activist, who asked that key parts of our conversation be presented anonymously and who therefore I will not name, left Iran shortly before the revolution to study and has been in the US ever since. He is thoroughly familiar with the variety of opposition groups seeking the ouster of the mullahs - including the oft-touted effort by Pahlavi to unite many such factions and galvanize the kind of concerted protests that disunity and infighting have hitherto prevented.

He painted a complex picture of an Iranian populace at once overwhelmingly resentful of the regime and deeply dispirited over the prospects of removing it. He argued that it could take as few as 10,000 protesters, holding firm for just a few hours, to open the floodgates and bring the masses out onto the streets, but he also detailed the relative ease with which the regime has quelled nascent such protests.

Where he was categorical and unequivocal was in expounding the depth of the Iranian government's anti-Western mind-set, the absurdity of the delusion that it contained any genuine reformist elements within its ranks and the scope of the danger it poses should it go unchecked. If the Western policymakers grappling with Iran, its aims and its nuclear drive are sleeping at night, he said simply, "then they are fools."

There are those who argue that the only way to tackle Ahmadinejad and the regime is from within - via regime change born of popular dissent. Is that your sense, and is there an opposition movement capable of doing this?

If you compare the cases of Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, it gets ever more complex. Afghanistan was a simple military takeover. Iraq needs a mixture of military action and politics. Iran is mostly politics.

We need to formulate a political solution for Iran that is mostly organized from the outside because it is impossible to organize inside Iran. You have cells inside Iran which can give information, but the message should be articulated from outside to inside - to create a revolution inside Iran.

But before we get too far into this, I need to give you some history.

In 1906, there was a constitutional revolution to modernize Iran. People wanted progress. Reza Pahlavi's grandfather, [the first shah,] created a solid central government, with enough authority to have one uniform nation. His father, Mohammad, the last shah, implemented economic reform. But the social and political reform, which was the most complicated, was not carried out.

The 1979 Islamic revolution was a reaction against modernity, against the West, a retreat backwards hundreds of years. The Islamic regime is a way of thinking that opposes the West, modernity, individual liberty and freedom. It aims to defeat the West and make the entire world Muslim. This goal is contained in the Iranian constitution [which speaks of the army's "ideological mission of jihad… to extend the sovereignty of God's law throughout the world"].

At first, the people of Iran supported the revolution because they were afraid of modernity; it created an identity crisis. Five minutes after the regime was in power, they realized their mistake, realized that religion is not an answer for politics. The people are now, for the most part, completely opposed to the regime. And the regime needs crisis after crisis - whether it is taking American diplomats hostage, war with Saddam, Salman Rushdie - to distract attention from its inability to deliver.

The Islamic regime is very sophisticated. They have a lot of money. And they are ruthless. You have a lot of political prisoners. They have rewritten history. They lie to people. They have turned the nuclear issue into a national right, but give no voice to the individual rights of the people of Iran.

But the people voted for Ahmadinejad last summer, no?

The people have totally lost faith in the regime. They don't participate in elections. They know it is meaningless.

They did not choose Ahmadinejad. The election was a total fraud. The turnout was far, far lower than claimed. Some of those from poor neighborhoods, south of Teheran, did vote for Ahmadinejad - but not in nearly as high numbers as the regime claimed. Ahmadinejad was also supported by the Revolutionary Guards. These are the same thugs who fought to keep the regime in power.

But you have to realize, in any case, that they're all the same - Ahmadinejad, Khatami [the president from 1997-2005], Rafsanjani [the defeated candidate and president from 1989-97], whoever. The regime should be viewed as one team. There may be individual rivalries, but they all unite against outside threats. The Karine A [Gaza-bound shipment of Iranian arms] sailed during the rule of the supposedly reformist Khatami. His time marked the worst killings of writers and intellectuals, the greatest number of prisoners. Khatami was Ahmadinejad with a smiling face, pursuing the same policies. He also called for the destruction of Israel.

Everybody who knows the regime knows that it is impossible for it to reform from within. Remember, the legislators cannot even write laws. They can only propose laws. Ultimately it is [supreme Iranian spiritual leader Ali] Khamenei, who is unelected, who can accept or reject moves proposed by the Iranian parliament.

How badly are the people faring, economically? How angry are they at Ahmadinejad over that?

They are financially pressured. But Iranians are like Easterners; they put up with hardship. And Ahmadinejad is helping to some extent; he is distributing oil revenues, among his supporters. He has been traveling ever since he was elected to every corner of the country. He asked for a discretionary budget, which is against the Iranian constitution. There was a fight for a few weeks in the Iranian parliament but then he got it. When he visits a town he immediately sits down with the elders of the revolutionary structure - not the government agencies - and allocates funds for various projects. The money does not go to the local government, but to the Revolutionary Guards, the mosques, the religious leaders.

Again, then, what is the potential for internal dissent?

It has to be cultivated. But the opposition leaders haven't really stepped up to the plate. Those who truly don't like this regime and really want the regime to go, they don't have a political message beyond that. Hating the regime is not sufficient. You need to have a plan for what happens next. They lack that. And they are so disunited.

The people have given up. If there is a good incentive, they could come into the street again. If they believe something can change. But they say "President Bush told us to come out, so did Reza Pahlavi, so did all the opposition leaders. We came to the streets and nothing happened. Our friends were beaten up. A lot of our friends are in jail. We kept our end of the bargain; nobody else kept theirs."

I'll give you a recent example. In the last few months, the bus drivers have [twice] gone on strike, seeking a legal right to protest and to boost salaries and working conditions. Others might have joined. But the regime suppressed the protests after a few days. It brought in poor people to drive the buses and it beat up the drivers and their families. [Hundreds were arrested.] The leader, Mansour Ossanlu, is still in jail. What did America do? Mr. John Sweeney, the president of the Teamsters Union, wrote two nasty letters to Ahmadinejad. That was it.

The [minor] soccer protests [that broke out whenever Iran played qualifying matches at home ahead of this summer's World Cup] are also an indicator that the people will use any opportunity to show their hatred of the regime, any opportunity for women to take off the veil, for boys and girls to kiss in the street.

In 1999, when the Khatami government shut down a pro-reform newspaper, there were much bigger protests [initiated on the campus of Teheran University]. The first students who came out were beaten up. More students joined them. It continued for seven or eight days until the regime had completely beaten everybody up. Some of them were condemned to death. They were tortured and are still in jail. The torture and suppression was so savage, and the support from outside and from within Iran was so small, that they all got discouraged. We need to keep the fire going.

The message from those outside, particularly America, has to be that they will be with the Iranian people to the end. They must send the right message into Iran.

[US-sponsored] Radio Farda and Voice of America are a joke. They don't even have entertainment value. People in Iran need to feel in their bones that America is with them and behind them. The teachers, nurses, health care and students unions are all semi-organized. If the right message is sent, if there is some organization outside, they will regroup.

There also has to be moral and financial help for the opposition outside Iran. The regime has millions. The opposition doesn't have any kind of serious money. Here in Washington you have organizations that purport to be genuine American-Iranian student groups but are actually lobbying for the regime, with 10 or 15 staff. Effective. Well-financed. The opposition has no such resources.

How could you keep protest going?

It starts with small groups of students gathering at different strategic locations at the university and all starting to sing the national anthem at the same time. Other students join them. Some guards come and beat them, there's a small fight, and then other students come. If the number rises above 10,000 and the protest lasts more than four hours, then the regime cannot sustain itself.

As few as that?

Yes, because people would quickly join en masse. Everyone is waiting to join something.

After [former Chilean president] Pinochet got arrested in England, when it became certain that nobody could free him, the first Chilean women immediately came out and said they had been raped in Chilean prisons. Quickly, then, a massive wave of the women who were raped under Pinochet's regime came out and talked. People start to come out when they feel they can safely do so. Similarly, once the floodgates are open in Iran, you will see a massive explosion.

You also see the hatred of the regime in the number of people who have run away from the country. I know many, many people who have risked their lives to flee Iran. Some are living illegally in Turkey, Bulgaria. They drown in major rivers trying to cross to Europe. In the first Turkish cities across the Iranian border, there are huge populations of Iranian refugees, who are prepared to live in horrible conditions, just to flee Iran.

What kind of access do Iranians have to the West?

In the 1980s, there was a single opposition newspaper out of London. Then we had the first opposition radio station in Los Angeles, only for the US. Then, about 10 years ago, that radio station was able to broadcast into Teheran for two hours a day, and that created some hope among Iranians that now they were connected. Then the first TV station, broadcasting to the US and Europe, realized by accident that it was being picked up in Iran. Somebody called in to the station, and said he was watching from Iran. The broadcaster said "I don't believe you." He picked up an orange and said, "What am I holding?" The caller said "An orange."

Many more satellite TV stations have followed, 28 all told now, but they don't carry the same hope. At first, everyone was euphoric over the simple fact of communication. But now half the stations are full of sexy video clips and music, for the younger generation. Even the political ones are not really heavy in terms of content.

And the regime has also invested in TV, to muddy the water and create conflicting messages. Like I said, it is sophisticated. It used Khatami's "reformist" presidency, for instance, to create more confusion among already confused opposition forces. Half the opposition supported Khatami at first.

Now the regime is moving to block satellite broadcasts. It is centralizing the Internet in order to block it. Radio? Voice of Israel is actually among the most respected… I should add that many educated Iranians see Israel as the only hope. They know that Israel sold spare parts to the Islamic regime during the Iran-Iraq war. But they understand that the issue then was the territorial integrity of Iran. They respect Israel as having relentlessly and consistently opposed the Iranian regime.

As for the phone, well, people can phone in and out. The regime cannot check every telephone line. And even the well-known political figures can use phone cards from restaurants.

How worried should the West be by the nuclear drive and horrible rhetoric?

Extremely worried. They should not be sleeping at night. If they are sleeping at night they are fools. They should take Ahmadinejad at face value. This is no rhetoric for political consumption, or domestic consumption, or international consumption. He means what he says and says what he means. And when I say "he" I mean "they" - the regime.

If they had a nuclear capability would they use it?

I would say so, yes.

Unprovoked?

They would make good use of it, in their aim to defeat the West.

How does Hamas fit into this mind-set?

As an operational arm of the Islamist regime - financially, politically.

Where does this desire to take over the world come from? Retreating from modernity is one thing, but taking over the world? Why the effort to defeat the West? Is this a religious imperative?

Judaism is more conducive to modernity. It does not close the mind. It encourages debate. I am Muslim-born, but Islam is the most rigid faith. Islam paralyzes the brain.

And when the West looks for moderate Islam…?

There is a way. There is no single definition of Islam. Iran, potentially, could reformulate Islam, if the opposition can unite and bring together enough scholars. Iran could bring the entire Islamic world into the modern era.

As things stand, Ahmadinejad and Khamenei have one particular interpretation of Islam, and they find sufficient ideological justification in their interpretation of Islamic texts for their hatred of the West and their desire to destroy it.

This is a war between two opposing ideologies that only one can survive. There can be no coexistence. Therefore the West needs to defeat this ideology completely, and it should do this by supporting the people of Iran to overthrow the Islamic regime, create a democratic definition of Islam, institutionalize that, and then spread it through the other Islamic countries. Otherwise Western civilization is in grave danger.

We should take this regime seriously and try to end it as quickly as possible. We should not only focus on the nuclear program. What about biological weapons, a single bottle poured into a lake? It's a mindset. There are so many ways that they can harm the West.

And you're not advocating a military response?

Definitely not military. It is a conflict for hearts and minds. A war, yes, but an intellectual one. Here's one obvious way to wage it: Members of the regime have changed the face of Toronto. They buy big gigantic houses, cash, and they get Canadian residency permits, hoping that if things change they can come to Canada. Rafsanjani is rumored to own half of Toronto. Perhaps the Treasury should confiscate those assets.

Here's another: Stop the flow of oil into Iran. Iran is a net importer of refined oil products. The transportation system will collapse within a few months and the regime with it.

But Russia and China won't go along with that.

In a worst case scenario where Russia and China help the regime, the most important weapon is again the people. If we can trigger the people of Iran to revolt, Russia and China can't stop that. Everything comes back to triggering the revolt by the people of Iran.

A must read.

GCC seeks Iran nuclear guarantees

Al Jazeera:

Gulf Arab leaders have called on Iran to do more to show it was not trying to obtain an atom bomb, thereby saving the region from another war.

Gulf Arab countries, wary of Iran’s power since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, share US concern about the prospect of Iran having a nuclear bomb but fear another military conflict in the region after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. READ MORE

Gulf Arabs are also worried about the possible environmental effects of a US attack on Iran's nuclear plant at Bushehr on the opposite side of the Gulf, or of leakage from unmonitored Iranian sites.

"We appreciate Iran's efforts to reassure the region over its programme," Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, United Arab Emirates foreign minister, said after a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on Saturday.

"But for the sake of stability and to avoid any environmental disaster, there needs to be more Iranian guarantees and we are trying to ensure this."

Mediator role?

The minister declined to say whether the political and economic alliance, comprising Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE, might try to use its close links to Washington to mediate in the dispute.

Abdullah said Iran had "commitments" to its Gulf Arab neighbours as well as the international community to ease concern over its nuclear plans.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and has vowed revenge if attacked by the United States or US ally Israel.

"We hope this crisis will be brought to an end through peaceful dialogue and (Iran) co-operating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Abdul-Rahman al-Attiya, GCC secretary-general, said after the Riyadh talks, attended by leaders of major oil-exporting nations.

The one-day summit took place as France and Britain, with US backing, drafted a UN resolution demanding a halt to Iran's nuclear fuel programme.

Veto option

Russia and China, which have vetoes on Security Council resolutions, may oppose sanctions against Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil exporter. The GCC states have not said what their position on sanctions would be.

Popular concern over a nuclear Iran in the Arab world is mainly limited to the Gulf region. Iran's pro-Palestinian rhetoric plays well to Arab publics who view their governments as doing little to stand up to US backing for Israel.

Arab countries bordering Israel are at least as concerned about Israel's suspected nuclear arsenal.

"These (Gulf Arab) countries do not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, but they also do not want it taken by force," said Saudi political analyst Dawoud al-Shiryan.

Gulf countries, particularly heavyweight Saudi Arabia, fear pressure on them to follow in Iran's footsteps if it obtains the bomb - challenging the quietist ethos of Gulf states and their alliance with Washington.

Gulf Arab fears over Iran's nuclear program

Reuters:

Gulf Arab countries have a number of public and private concerns about the nuclear programme of their more populous neighbour Iran, which is neither Arab nor Sunni Muslim.

Here are some of them:

• Gulf countries, led by Saudi Arabia, fear a resurgence of Iranian revolutionary zeal and power in the region under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This would clash with the close U.S. alliance rulers of Gulf Arab states enjoy and could politicise their Shi'ite populations.
• If Iran's nuclear ambitions provoke U.S. military action, it will upset a region already reeling from the after-effects of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. This would strain the U.S. alliance of Gulf governments whose populations, as in the rest of the Arab world, oppose U.S. interference in the region, especially its support for Israel against the Palestinians.
• If Iran obtains nuclear weapons there will likely be popular pressure on Gulf countries, particularly Arab heavyweight Saudi Arabia, to follow suit. This again would challenge the quietist ethos of Gulf states and their alliance with Washington.
• Gulf Arab countries fear the environmental and economic fall-out of any U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran -- its nuclear plant at Bushehr lies directly across the narrow Gulf waterway.

Iraq warns on Iran border moves

Jim Muir, BBC News:

Iraq has expressed concern about troop build-ups by both Iranian and Turkish forces along their borders with Iraq.

Outgoing Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iran had been told of Iraqi concerns but said his country wanted to resolve any problems through dialogue.

On the formation of Iraq's new government, Mr Zebari expressed scepticism that including Sunni leaders could help to reduce violence.

It is hoped a new government will be announced within the next week.

Recent weeks have seen a number of cross-border bombardments by Iranian troops along Iraq's north-east border, directed against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups taking refuge in the Iraqi Kurdish area. READ MORE

Turkish troops have also staged a build-up along their common border with Iraq.

Mr Zebari played down the border tensions.

He saw the troop build-ups by both Turkey and Iran as an expression of concern about the possibility of chaos in Iraq if the national unity government - still being put together - does not work.

Mr Zebari himself was sceptical about the ability of the Sunni leaders involved to help reduce the Sunni-based insurgency.

"Iraq is not Northern Ireland, where you have the Sinn Fein, the IRA. Here the conditions are very different and more difficult," he said.

The prime minister designate, Nouri Maliki, hopes to announce the new government within the next week.

But wrangling is still going on over the distribution of jobs between the different factions.

Saudi Cleric: 'America is Now Disappearing From the Hearts... Whereas Islam is Growing Even Within America'

MEMRI.org:

On April 19, 2006, Saudi Islamist cleric Sheikh Dr. Nasser Al-'Omar appeared on Al-Jazeera delivering a lecture on jihad. In it, he said, "The Islamic nation now faces a great phase of jihad," and added "There are places where jihad is proper - Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, Kashmir, and the Philippines." He also told his audience that the U.S. was "disappearing" - echoing his statement on Al-Majd TV on June 13, 2004 that "America is collapsing," and that Muslims "must be patient."

In November 2004, Dr. Al-'Omar made headlines as one of the 26 signatories of a fatwa supporting the Iraqi resistance. On December 17, 2004, he explained, in an interview for the PBS program Frontline, why he was opposed to eliminating anti-Western and antisemitic teachings from Saudi schoolbooks. [1]

According to a March 13, 2006 Reuters report, Al-'Omar hosted a reception for a Hamas delegation, led by Khaled Mash'al, in Riyadh on March 12, 2006. The report also stated that according to Al-'Omar's website (www.almoslim.net, hosted in Canada [2] ) the reception was also attended by prominent clerics and Islamists - some of whom had served prison terms for their suspected support of Al-Qaeda or for criticizing the Saudi government. [3]

The following is the transcript of excerpts from the lecture by Sheikh Dr. Nasser bin Suleiman Al-'Omar, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on April 19, 2006. To view the video click here. READ MORE

It is followed by the transcript of his appearance on Al-Majd TV, which aired on June 13, 2004.
To view the video click here.

"[A] U.S. Congressman... Said: 'The 21st Century is the Century of Islam, Which Will Offer an Opportunity for Peace in the World'"

Dr. Nasser bin Suleiman Al-'Omar: "Listen to this report, which was submitted by the American intelligence to the American officials, regarding the religion of Islam, which some think is defeated or weak today. According to the report, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Muslims will soon become one-third of the world's population. Conversion to Islam increased significantly following 9/11.

"In addition, U.S. Congressman John Morlan [sic] said: 'The 21st century is the century of Islam, which will offer an opportunity for peace in the world.' There is no doubt that it is Islam that will bring peace, and not the U.N., America, Russia, or anyone else."

[…]

"How Can You Call Upon Us to Abolish the Clash of Civilizations, While America Violently Attacks Muslims... in All Corners of the World?"

"What do the people who call for coexistence with the West say? They call for the abolishment of the so-called 'clash of civilizations.' How can you call upon us to abolish the clash of civilizations, while America violently attacks Muslims in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in all corners of the world?

"What the Jews are doing in Palestine... Look at what is happening in Palestine. How can anyone claim coexistence with such people is possible? This contradicts the Koranic verse: 'They will not stop fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can.'"

[…]

"Thirty years ago, some of the brothers who are still alive recall the pan-Arabist and Ba'thist slogans. The voice of Islam was barely heard in Palestine. What is happening now? A great transformation. After all the peace plans, the recurrent betrayals, and so on, Hamas, which has raised the banner of jihad, along with all its brothers in Palestine, won these elections, which stunned the whole world.

[…]

"Is the America of today the America of yesterday? Twenty or 30 years ago, many of our sons were dazzled by America, believing it to be the country of democracy, justice and liberty. Is that the reality today?

"What liberty are they talking about, when America acts violently in all corners of the world, in Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya and Afghanistan?

"What democracy? It did not come to our countries for the sake of liberty and democracy. What did they do when Hamas won the elections? Where is their democracy? Where is their liberty?"

[…]

"25,000 Have Converted to Islam Every Year Since 9/11"

"America is now disappearing from the hearts, within America itself and elsewhere, whereas Islam is growing even within America, my brothers. Islam is making steady progress in America. 25,000 people have converted to Islam every year since 9/11, and an even larger figure was mentioned in The New York Times."

[…]

"As for the casualties in Iraq - brothers, America is now in a predicament. You follow the media. America is looking for a way out. Yes, I am aware of the harsh reality. I am aware of what is happening to our Muslim brothers in Iraq, and I'm referring especially to the Sunni Arabs, against whom all have conspired, and who have been deserted by their closest friends.

Nevertheless, according to the statistics, the number of American and allied casualties during the last pilgrimage month - and this figure came from one of the news agencies, and I've checked it with several of Iraq's religious scholars, who confirmed it... There have been more than 40,000 American and Western casualties in three years.

"Do not believe the American reports. According to America it had around 2000 casualties, but in fact, the casualties number 40,000 or more."

The Americans are Dumping Their Casualties in the Tigris and Euphrates, and Iraqi Clerics Have Asked Me for a Fatwa about Eating the Fish

"By Allah, a number of Iraqi religious scholars came to me, and said: 'We have a problem.' What was the problem? They said: There have been so many American casualties that they loaded them on trucks and threw them away in the desert. But because the number of casualties was so high... The Iraqi scholars were asking me for a fatwa. They asked me to issue a fatwa on the following question: 'Because there were so many casualties, the Americans began to throw them into the Tigris and the Euphrates. The fish have eaten from the flesh of the American and have gotten fat. Are we permitted to eat these fish or not?' Yes. This is the truth, brothers.

"If they report about three operations in Iraq - in reality there are no fewer than 60-70 operations every day."

[…]

"The Islamic Nation Now Faces a Great Phase of Jihad"

"The Islamic nation now faces a great phase of jihad, unlike anything we knew 50 years ago. Fifty years ago, jihad was attributed only to a few individuals in Palestine, and in some other Muslims areas. Following the events of Afghanistan, the nation has embraced jihad. Young and old, men and women - everyone is talking about jihad.

"Whoever is familiar with the Sunna and the Hadith knows that a battle against the enemies of Allah awaits on the horizon, in which the Muslims will be victorious. This is confirmed by the reliable hadiths, as well as by reality.

"But some young people wish to expedite this, and because of their love for jihad, get involved in things that are not jihad. As I've said, all these minor battles, which took place in certain Muslim countries, only delay the victory. This diverts the strife and calamity into the lands of the Muslims, instead of aiming them directly at the enemies.

"Yes, there are places where jihad is proper - in Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, Kashmir, and the Philippines. There are many places where jihad is undoubtedly proper."

Al-'Omar in Al-Majd TV Interview, June 13, 2004

"America is collapsing from within. Where are America's principles of justice and democracy? Ask Sheikh Suleiman. Is America now, with its reputation and status, the same America of 30 years ago - the source of hope for many people?

"Islam is advancing according to a steady plan, to the point that tens of thousands of Muslims have joined the American army and Islam is the second largest religion in America."

[…]

"Today, America is defeated. I have no doubt, not even for a minute, that America is on its way to destruction. But as Ibn Khaldoun said, just as it takes decades for nations to rise, it takes them decades to collapse. They don't collapse overnight.

"Because Communist Russia opposed reality, it collapsed immediately. America may not collapse this way. It will be destroyed gradually. America will be destroyed. But we must be patient."

[1] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saud/interviews/alomar.html During the interview, he said: "Did we ever interfere in the American curriculum, which includes direct hostility to Muslims, Muslim people and specifically to the Kingdom?... America is interfering in our religion, in our traditions and in our privacies... America did not grasp our curriculum as it should [and] trusted opposing people from within the Muslim circle."

[2] almoslim.net is hosted by Almina Multimedia Services, www.amanah.com, in Ottawa, Canada.

[3] http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11456225.htm

This article stirred quite a debate and Alan Peters edited responses to it here.

Canadian Academic in Iranian Prison Clinic

Graham Fraser, The Toronto Star:

Iranian-Canadian academic Ramin Jahanbegeloo has been hospitalized for a medical condition, not for any mistreatment in prison, a friend said yesterday. Jahanbegeloo, who was recently arrested and detained in Tehran, has been hospitalized in the prison clinic, Shahram Kholdi, a Canadian-Iranian who studied under Jahanbegeloo at the University of Toronto, told the Toronto Star.

"Ramin is hypoglycemic," said Kholdi, now a graduate teaching fellow at the University of Manchester, England. "That's why he was hospitalized. There was a decrease in his blood sugar."

Jahanbegeloo, who has joint Canadian and Iranian citizenship, taught at U of T for several years. Kholdi took courses from him while doing his master's degree in political science.

"He was a very approachable teacher, very engaging and extremely popular," Kholdi said, adding that many students had expressed support for his staying at U of T, but Jahanbegeloo had decided there was a lot of work to be done in Iran.

"He is a philosopher of non-violence," he said, pointing out he had done his Ph.D. thesis on Mahatma Gandhi. "He has practised what he preached. That is why we were caught off-guard when he was arrested." READ MORE

Maryam Aghvami, a Toronto friend, stressed that Jahanbegeloo was not a partisan person.

"He wasn't political at all," she said. "He wasn't affiliated with any group or party. He was into ... very civil and non-violent ways to democracy for Iran. He loves Iran."

Reports that he had been hospitalized led many to fear he might have been mistreated while in custody. Canadians are still haunted by the memory of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in July 2003 after having been taken into custody in Tehran. A doctor who saw her testified later he had seen unmistakable signs of torture.

News of Jahanbegeloo's arrest emerged after he failed to show up a week ago at a conference in Belgium. Those who know him and are familiar with the approach the Iranian regime has taken toward those it sees as a threat have been walking on eggshells, trying to ensure their comments do not make his situation worse.

Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), a friend of Jahanbegeloo, stressed he must not be seen as a dissident.

"Ramin went back to Iran because he loves his country," he told the Star. "He can't be construed as an enemy of the regime, or in the service of a foreign country. ... It's a million miles from the truth."

He said Jahanbegeloo works for a non-governmental organization that specializes in promoting dialogue between Persian and non-Persian culture.

Jason Kenney, the parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said yesterday he could not reveal any information about the case.

"We are in contact with the Iranian officials. It's a delicate matter," he told reporters. "Canadians can rest assured that this government will actively and appropriately defend the interests of Canadians abroad ... but we're being very careful not to discuss details both for reasons of prudence as well as Privacy Act reasons."

Additional articles by Graham Fraser