TEHRAN, Aug 22 (AFP) - Iran's new top judge has appointed two more
> conservatives to key judiciary posts in his first week since taking
office,
> the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday.
> Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi tapped former intelligence ministry
chief
> Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi as head of Iran's administrative court, a
> powerful tribunal which hears cases involving state officials and also
> maintains oversight powers on the disbursement of government funds.
> He replaces Ayatollah Abolfazl Mussavi-Tabrizi, who was named
> Hashemi-Shahrudi's top legal advisor, IRNA said.
> Dorri-Najafabadi resigned as intelligence chief earlier this year after
the
> assassination of several leading dissidents and intellectuals, which was
> blamed on a group of rogue intelligence officers.
> The new judiciary chief, who took office on Tuesday, two days later
> reappointed leading conservatives in their posts as prosecutor general and
> supreme court president, and re-shuffled other members of Iran's
> conservative-dominated judiciary to key deputy positions.
> Ayatollah Morteza Moqtadai will remain prosecutor general and Ayatollah
> Mohammad Mohammadi-Ghilani is to stay on as head of Iran's supreme court,
> state radio reported.
> Hashemi-Shahrudi has pledged to steer the judiciary clear of any political
> and factional disputes and has vowed to reform the nation's courts in
> accordance with a request from President Mohammad Khatami.
WAS THE SUICIDE OF THE AUTHOR OF THE MURDERS THE WORK
> OF VAJEBI?
>
> PARIS 28TH June (IPS) With the exception of few hard
> liners and their press, no one in Iran accepted the
> declaration
> of the Armed Forces Judiciary Head that Mr. Sa'id
> Emami, alias Eslami, a former Deputy Information
> (Intelligence)
> Minister officially identified as the "mastermind"
> behind the recent chain murder of prominent political
> and
> intellectual dissidents committed suicide by absorbing
> a depilatory product.
>
> The conservatives who control the Judiciary have also
> indicated that Mr. Emami could have been an agent of
> the Israeli
> secret services Mosad.
>
> That raised the question in the independent press and
> the public opinion of how come that more than 300
> people, some of
> tem high ranking officials of the Intelligence
> Ministry and religious conservative dignitaries took
> part in commemoration
> ceremonies held for a man accused of working for
> foreign intelligence services?
>
> One of the most notorious personality seen at the
> ceremonies was the hojatoleslam Ruhollah Hoseininan, a
> representative
> of the leader Ali Khameneh'i who, days after the
> Intelligence Ministry confessed that it's own agents
> had carried the
> assassinations, suggested in a television program that
> the murderers are pro-Khatami elements.
>
> Explaining his presence, Mr. Hoseinian described Emami
> as a "good and faithful Muslim", adding that he could
> well
> be assassinated by the same Israeli and foreign
> services that had infiltrated the Intelligence and
> security
> administration of the Islamic Republic.
>
> But the general opinion, as expressed by the
> pro-reform press, is that he was killed in order to
> hide for ever the identities of
> the real culprits, particularly those high ranking
> clerics who issued the religious orders for the murder
> as well as those who
> carried out the orders.
>
> Although the hojatoleslam Mohammad Niazi, the Armed
> Forces Prosecutor in charge of the murders case did
> not
> named the incriminated depilatory product, but it is
> understood that he was talking about Vajebi, an old
> and very
> popular Iranian-made, herbal-based powder used for
> removing hairs, especially from sensitive parts of the
> body.
>
> Vajeb also means necessary, compulsory, a matter of
> must. Was it vajeb to do this? means was it necessary
> to do this?
>
> Not believing the officials is an old practising
> Iranian national sport. Hence their acute sense of
> satirical humour.
>
> Mr. Ebrahim Nabavi is one of the best-known present
> Iranian satirical writers working with the pro-reform
> daily "Neshat"
> printed in Tehran.
>
> The article entitled "Was the Suicide of the Author of
> the Murders Due to Vajebi? Which can also be
> translated as "Was the
> Suicide of the Author of the Murders Necessary?" was
> published in the 22 of June issue of Neshat. **
>
> WAS THE SUICIDE OF THE AUTHOR OF THE MURDERS THE WORK
> OF VAJEBI?
>
> By Seyyed Ebrahim Nabavi
>
> Because the people has all the correct information and
> for this reason, they ask detailed questions; and
> because the suicide
> of the masterminds is a must in most case, therefore,
> it is necessary to answer the following 4 answers
> questions:
>
> First Question: Why the investigation on the recent
> murders has taken so long?
>
> - Because the bathroom was out of order;
>
> - Because the longue (bath apron) was not ready;
>
> - Because the soap was lost;
>
> - Because Sa'id Emami did not want to take a bath.
>
> Secon question: Who were involved in the recent
> murders?
>
> - The agents were involved and had names;
>
> - Those who ordered but didn't had names;
>
> - The murderers and the murdered and had names;
>
> - The instigators but didn't had names.
>
> Third question: Who were the real murderers involved
> in these events?
>
> - The uncontrolled elements, The Zionists and the
> imperialist agents;
>
> - The imperialist agents, the Zionists and the
> uncontrolled elements;
>
> - The Zionists, the imperialist agents and the
> uncontrolled elements;
>
> - All the 3 answers are right.
>
> Fourth Question: When the evidence was brought that
> the mastermind was connected to foreign powers?
>
> - While suiciding;
>
> - After suiciding;
>
> - Between finishing taking bath and starting to
> suicide;
>
> - None of those.
>
> Fifth Question: Why the investigations on recent
> murders became more complicated?
>
> - Because a longer rope was used;
>
> - Because it was already complicated and was supposed
> to ease but didn't;
>
> - Because it was necessary to become more complicated;
>
>
> - Because it was complicated from the start.
>
> Sixth Question: What are the methods that can be used
> to suicide in a bathroom?
>
> - Jumping down from the shower head;
>
> - Swallowing the sang pa (literally foot stone, or
> pumice-stone, widely used in Iran to rub feet);
>
> - Suffocating from the hot water steam;
>
> - To slip in the bath;
>
> - Other methods.
>
> Seventh Question: Was the suicide of the mastermind of
> the murders due to Vajebi (or: Was it necessary?)
>
> - Yes it was due to Vajebi (or: yes, it was a must);
>
> - No, it was a necessary thing;
>
> - No, it was a possible way;
>
> - It is possible.
>
> Eighth Question: What are the methods to avoid
> suicide?
>
> - Usual Surveillance method but useless;
>
> - Special Surveillance method but useless;
>
> - Very Special Surveillance method but useless;
>
> - Extreme Special surveillance but useless.
>
> All those answering to all questions will receive a
> one-meter of rope as award.
>
> Moral Conclusion: Extreme complication is due to
> extreme naivety. ENDS NABAVI IN NESHAT 2869919
>
> ** IPS offers sincere thanks to AboutIran that helped
> in the translation of Mr. Nabavi's article
Iran Daneshjoo Organization News Service -
> > http://www.iran-daneshjoo.org
> >
> > SMCCDI: Press Release
> > 8/20/1999
> >
> > Urgent Action Required
> >
> > Detained Students and Human Rights Activists
> >
> > The contradictory announcements from the officials
> > of the Islamic
> > Republic Regime with respect to the fate of the
> > arrested students and
> > human rights activists seems to point to a well
> > coordinated and well
> > orchestrated campaign of mis-information and deceit
> > by the Islamic
> > Republic Regime to create a division between the
> > students and the
> > people on the one hand; And to set the stage for
> > long imprisonments and
> > possible executions of the students and human rights
> > activists on the
> > other.
> >
> > It is the moral duty of all the Iranian People , all
> > over the World to
> > expose this ominous campaign and to voice their
> > opposition to the
> > continuous campaign of terror by the Islamic
> > Republic Regime.
> >
> > Furthermore, we request from all Freedom Loving
> > People of the World and
> > the Free World Leaders to follow the example of the
> > International
> > Organizations as like as Amnesty International,
> > Human Rights Watch and
> > specially the US Senators (Resolution of 8/04/1999)
> > in condemning the
> > violations of the Human Rights in Iran and to impose
> > the maximum
> > pressure
> > on The officials of the Islamic Republic Regime for
> > the immediate and
> > unconditional release of all Arrested students and
> > political activists.
> >
> > In closing, we're publishing a list of 154 detained
> > Iranian Citizens and
> > we declare holding the officials of the today's
> > regime of Iran
> > responsible for their safety and freedom.
> >
> > 1) Abbas Karami
> > 2) Abdolbaghi Kashani
> > 3) Abol Fazl Olfat
> > 4) Afshin Bagheri
> > 5) Afshin Mehdi Zadeh
> > 6) Afshin Tajian
> > 7) Ahmad Ahmadi Khalaji
> > 8) Ahmad Baghbi
> > 9) Ahmad Darvish
> > 10)Ahmad Tahmassebi
> > 11) Ahmad Yadollahi
> > 12) Akbar Mohamadi
> > 13) Ali Hamidi
> > 14) Ali Heydari
> > 15) Ali Kalbassi
> > 16) Ali Mehri
> > 17) Ali Mohamadi
> > 18) Ali Mozam
> > 19) Ali Panahi
> > 20) Ali Reza Mehrabian
> > 21) Ali Reza Sheikh Mostafa i
> > 22) Ali Sharif
> > 23) Ali Tavakoli
> > 24) Alireza Zamani
> > 25) Amin Ali Poor
> > 26) Amin Na-imi
> > 27) Amir Reza Baghbanpoor
> > 28) Amir Reza safdari
> > 29) Amir Saeed Jahani
> > 30) Amir Said Jahani
> > 31) Amrollah Mir Ghasemi
> > 32) Anahita Najafi
> > 33) Arash Laridjani
> > 34) Arman Tadj Bakhsh
> > 35) Babak Payran
> > 36) Bahram Namazi
> > 37) Behieh Gilaani
> > 38) Behrooz Ashtari Mohamad Soofi
> > 39) Darioush Moradi
> > 40) Darioush Ramezani
> > 41) Davood Movahedi
> > 42) Davoud Ahmadi Mounes (Armin)
> > 43) Djavad Ghahremani
> > 44) Eghbal Karimian
> > 45) Elahe Ramezani
> > 46) Elaheh Emir Entezam
> > 47) Esmaeil Moftizadeh
> > 48) Faramarz Beigi
> > 49) Faramarz Jafari
> > 50) Farhad Amin Khoram Loo
> > 51) Farhad Khasti
> > 52) Farima Kolahi
> > 53) Farkhonde Sar Zadeh
> > 54) Farshid Zarin Khat
> > 55) Farzin Mokhber
> > 56) Forough Bahmanpour
> > 57) Ghassem Amin Khoram Loo
> > 58) Gholam Reza Mohadjeri Nejad
> > 59) Ghorban Ali Hadji
> > 60) Golaleh Ahmadi
> > 61) Hajir Farokh Tchi
> > 62) Hajir Palatchi
> > 63) Hamid Aghajani
> > 64) Hamid Mansoori
> > 65) Hamid Reza Zarifi Nia
> > 66) Hamid Samandar
> > 67) Hassan Zare Zadeh
> > 68) Hooman Karbassi
> > 69) Hooman Omrani
> > 70) Hossein Ghadyani
> > 71) Hossein Zahmatkash
> > 72) Jalil Yekrangi
> > 73) Javad Ghahremani
> > 74) Kamelia Entekhabi-Fard
> > 75) Kamran Alam Beigi
> > 76) Kaveh Jaberi
> > 77) Kazem Shokri
> > 78) Khaled Rostam Zadeh Bookani
> > 79) Khalil Alizadeh
> > 80) Khosrow Seif
> > 81) Kyanoosh Amin Poor
> > 82) Kyanoosh Jahan Poor
> > 83) Loghman Karbassi
> > 84) Majid Deldar
> > 85) Majid Maroot
> > 86) Maloos Radnia (Mariam Shansy)
> > 87) Mandana Arjomand
> > 88) Manouchehr Mohamadi
> > 89) Maryam Danaii Broomand
> > 90) Maryam Taadi
> > 91) Massod Mofidi Khame
> > 92) Mazdak Kark Yaraghi
> > 92) Mehdi Bazazadeh
> > 93) Mehdi Eftekhar Zadeh
> > 94) Mehdi Fakhr Zadeh
> > 95) Mehdi Saghi Pirooz
> > 96) Mehdi Zahed Ghavi
> > 97) Mehran Abdolbaghi
> > 98) Mehran Gorkani
> > 99) Mehrnoosh Rostamian
> > 100) Minoo Khadivar
> > 101) Mir Mohamad Reza Heydari
> > 102) Mir Reza Heydari
> > 103) Mitra Ershadi
> > 104) Mohamad Eghbal Kazerooni
> > 105) Mohamad Esmail Naderi
> > 106) Mohamad Hosseini
> > 107) Mohamad Khobazan
> > 108) Mohamad Massod Salamati
> > 109) Mohamad Mehdi Shariati
> > 110) Mohamad Mohamadi Ghomi
> > 111) Mohamad Rashidi
> > 112) Mohamad Reza Heydari
> > 113) Mohamad Reza Karbassi
> > 114) Mohamad Reza Nosrat
> > 115) Mohammad Ghandi
> > 116) Mohammad Majidi
> > 117) Mohammad Moossavi
> > 118) Mohammad Reza Kasraii
> > 119) Mohammad Salary
> > 120) Mohsen Nassiri Poor
> > 121) Mohsen Rastegar
> > 122) Mohsen Zarifian
> > 123) Mohssen Abedi
> > 124) Moossa Agha i
> > 125) Morteza Hadadi
> > 126) Mostafa Abdollahi
> > 127) Nader Shokri
> > 128) Nasser Babani Razeghi
> > 129) Nima Sharifi
> > 130) Oroodj Amiri
> > 131) Parviz Safari
> > 132) Peyman Roodje i
> > 133) Razgar Ghaderpoor Eghdam
> > 134) Reza Amidi
> > 135) Reza Azzizi
> > 136) Reza Derakhshande
> > 137) Reza Sharifi
> > 138) Rooz Beh Farahani Poor
> > 139) Roozbeh Gordji Bayani
> > 140) Roozbeh Ghader Poor Eghdam
> > 141) Saeed Ahmadi
> > 142) Saeed Balootchi
> > 143) Safar Heidari
> > 144) Said Rassoolian
> > 145) Samad Mousavi
> > 146) Seyed Djavad Emami
> > 147) Seyed Mohamad Hosseini
> > 148) Shaban Ansari
> > 149) Shahram Asghar Nia
> > 150) Shirin Shah Hosseini
> > 151) Sima Ashna
> > 152) Youssef Bijari
> > 153) Youssef Reza i
> > 154) Zohre Assad Poor
> >
> >
> > The Student Movement Coordination Committee for
> > Democracy in Iran.
> > www.iran-daneshjoo.org
Cabinet seeks to retain March 19 as a public holiday tehran, aug. 18, irna
> -- oil minister bijan namdar zanganeh announced here wednesday that the
> government and majlis deputies will present a bill to the majlis seeking
to
> retain march 20, oil industry nationalization day, as a public holiday.
> talking to reporters after the cabinet session, namdar zanganeh said that
> following discussions held between the cabinet members and the majlis
> speaker, it was decided that a number of majlis deputies will present a
> draft to the full house to retain march 20 as a public holiday. the
> government will concurrently present a bill accepting all financial burden
> arising from the said holiday, he added. the constitution stipulates that
> any bill presented to the majlis should not entail any financial
> implications. the decision seeking to retain march 20 as a public holiday
> comes two days after the majlis voted to abolish the holiday on that day.
> earlier the majlis voted on tuesday to amend the bill on determination of
> the country's official holidays in which it declared the martyrdom
> anniversary of hadrat fatemeh zahra (as), the noble daughter of the holy
> prophet of islam (pbuh), which falls on september 14 this year, as a
public
> holiday while cancelling march 20 from the list of holidays. the oil
> minister termed march 20, the day on which the country's oil industry was
> nationalized in 1953, as a glorious and most honorable day in the nation's
> history.
Iran Denies Receiving Message from U.S.
TEHRAN (Aug. 18) XINHUA - Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday "categorically" denied a newspaper report that its bitter
enemy the U.S. has sent a message to Iran via Oman.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported that an informed source at the ministry here rejected the report carried by the
English-language daily Tehran Times as "baseless."
The newspaper Wednesday quoted an unnamed Foreign Ministry source as saying "this is the first time Washington sends its message
via Oman, while earlier it used to send all its messages through Swiss Embassy, which takes care of U.S. interests in Iran.
Tehran Times said the message was probably related to regional issues, but it did not elaborate.
The U.S. severed its diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980 after radical students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took
embassy staff hostage in the heydays of the Islamic Revolution.
There have been improvements in the atmosphere between the two arch-enemies since Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric,
became president two years ago. The most recent move by the U.S. is the lifting of a ban on the sale of food and medicine to Iran.
Shell Seen on Verge of Iran Deal despite Sanctions
DUBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch/Shell, front runner for an $850 million oilfield deal in Iran, does not consider the threat of
U.S. sanctions an obstacle to investing in the project, an industry source said on Wednesday.
"Shell would go ahead with the Soroush and Nowruz project. American sanctions are a concern but Shell will seek a waiver.
Besides, other companies have made deals in Iran and Shell expects it would get the same treatment they did," said the source.
Shell has made an integrated proposal to jointly develop both fields and is said by industry sources to be poised to take on the
project, expected to require $850 million in capital.
"Shell has reached the advanced stage of negotiations and is eager to close out," the industry source said.
International oil firms have become increasingly aggressive in seeking multi-million dollar deals in Iran despite pressure from
Washington, which has an economic and political campaign to isolate Iran.
The United States' 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act ILSA threatens penalties against any non-U.S. firm investing over $20 million a
year in Iran's energy sector.
But international firms were encouraged last year when Washington agreed not to apply sanctions against French oil major Total,
which went ahead with a $2 billion gas exploration contract in Iran in 1997.
Shell has said that based on that waiver, it was confident that the U.S. would adopt a similar position on the Anglo-Dutch giant in
Iran.
In March, the United States said it will examine a new $1 billion oil deal between Iran and French oil firm Elf Aquitaine
and Italy's ENI.
The United States has accused Iran of sponsoring international terrorism and seeking to develop weapons of mass destruction,
charges denied by Tehran.
A deal with Shell would boost Iran's bid to lure major foreign capital and technology to rejuvenate its ageing oil fields.
"Companies in the oil industry are watching the Soroush deal to see if Shell goes ahead if it wins the contract," said an official from
a major oil firm.
The industry source said that even if ILSA was imposed against a company, the procedure would require a great deal of time, easing
concerns over punitive action by Washington.
An Iranian oil source declined to comment on whether the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has yet recommended Shell as the
best company for the Soroush and Nowruz projects to the Supreme Economic Council, which must approve any contracts.
"We are in the final stages of the process," he told Reuters.
Iran last year tantalised foreign firms by offering over 40 projects worth some $8 billion in its biggest energy opening in 20 years.
TEHRAN, Aug 17 (AFP) - Iran's security council report on last month's
> police attack at Tehran university that sparked six days of bloody riots
> was incomplete and evasive, MPs and school officials charged Tuesday.
> "One feels they are veiling many of the realities," MP Hamid-Reza Taraqi
> told a newspaper after the Supreme National Security Council charged seven
> police officers with the "blunder" in its report on Saturday.
> "Such statements only heighten the ambiguity and make people more
> pessimistic and less likely to trust what they have to say," he told the
> Sobh-e-Emrouz daily.
> MP Bagher Mussavi Jahan-Abad told the paper that the publication of the
> report was a "positive act" but added that "many of the issues have not
> been addressed."
> Tehran university's board of directors published a statement in the
> moderate daily charging there was insufficient information on those who
had
> carried out the "merciless beating" of the students.
> The Council report blamed Tehran's city police chief and six junior
> officers, as well as Islamic militants and an unspecified number of
> anti-riot police, for executing the bloody attack.
> The school directors also ridiculed the report's claim that students were
> responsible for provoking security forces and Islamic militants during the
> "illegal" demonstration.
> "The Council presented it as if the security forces were polite and
correct
> and the students did not respond properly," it said.
> The attack set off six days of unrest in Tehran, the worst here since the
> aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution, as well as violent clashes
> between students and security forces in the provincial capital of Tabriz.
> Three people were killed and three others wounded in the unrest, according
> to official figures, but students and newspapers have given sharply
> different accounts.
> Moderate papers said at least five people died and dozens were injured,
> many of whom they said were later abducted from Tehran hospitals by the
> secret police.
> Tabriz university's Islamic students council said earlier this month that
> at least 15 people were shot at the school, including three women, and
> others savagely beaten after police and Islamic militants attacked a
> student sit-in.
> It said some 80 students had already been injured by stones, clubs and
> knives when security forces opened fire into the crowd.
> Iranian MPs on Tuesday presented a controversial draft bill that would ban
> military and security forces from entering university campuses.
ANKARA, TURKEY -- Under pressure from Turkey, Iran on Friday agreed to
join
> the Turks in launching simultaneous military operations against Kurdish
> rebels.
> The agreement, which followed three days of intense talks, was aimed at
> easing tensions between the two neighbors.
> The agreement calls for Iran and Turkey to increase their cooperation in
the
> fight against the guerrillas, who have been waging a 15-year battle for
> autonomy in Turkey's southeast. It also says the two nations will set up a
> hot line between their military commanders to coordinate attacks.
> Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem praised the deal as a crucial step.
> "It is a very important agreement; it creates (binding) rules to our
> cooperation," Cem said. "We expect Iran to turn this written document into
> acts."
> Turkey claims that the Kurdistan Workers Party, known as PKK, launches
> cross-border operations against Turkey from its bases in Iraq, Iran and
> Syria. Iran has repeatedly denied that it allows Kurd fighters on its
soil.
> Despite the agreement, Turkey failed to get a guarantee from Iran that it
> would extradite leading PKK commanders, including Osman Ocalan, the
brother
> of convicted PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
> "This agreement is a success for Turkey on the Iranian front after one of
the
> Syrian front," said Sami Kohen, a commentator for Turkey's daily Milliyet.
> Turkey pressured Syria into ousting the rebels from its territory with the
> threat of military action in October.
>
TEHRAN, Aug 16 (AFP) - One of the Westerners kidnapped in southeastern
Iran
> Sunday has called up the local law enforcement office and reported that
they
> are all well, a provincial official said Monday.
> However, Mohammad Ali Karimi of Kerman province security service told the
> official IRNA news agency that the police had gleaned no further details
"due
> to the inability of the law enforcement personnel to speak a foreign
> language."
> He said "necessary measures" had been taken to ensure the release of the
four
> Westerners and one Iranian who were seized.
> Village elders and a local tribal chief had been asked to intervene, he
said.
> Earlier, the interior ministry confirmed it had identified the drug
> traffickers who kidnapped the five.
> "The principal kidnappers have been identified, and we hope to resolve
this
> matter as soon as possible," Interior Minister Abdol-Vahed Mussavi-Lari
said,
> quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
> He confirmed earlier reports that the kidnappers, who abducted three
> Spaniards, an Italian and their Iranian guide at gunpoint from their hotel
in
> the southeastern city of Kerman, were drug traffickers.
> Security forces said all routes in and out of Kerman province were under
> police surveillance.
> An official at the Spanish embassy here said the kidnappers may be trying
to
> exchange the hostages for two colleagues who were arrested after a
shootout
> with Iranian security forces left five other gang members dead.
> "That could be the motive," trade attache Juan Carlos Gafo told Spanish
> national radio RNE.
> The Kayhan daily reported that the two in detention were top leaders in a
> "major" drug trafficking network. The Kerman region is the site of regular
> clashes between security forces and smugglers bringing drugs from
> neighbouring Afghanistan and Pakistan.
> Security forces identified the Spanish hostages as Joaquin Fernandez, 70,
and
> 57-year-old Cosme Puerto, both priests, as well 34-year-old Pedro Garcia.
> They said the Italian hostage is Massimo Cattabriga while the Iran paper
> (eds: correct) identified the tour guide as Rahmatollah Soleimani.
> The group were abducted by three men and two women with automatic weapons
at
> their Kerman hotel on Saturday.
> Another tour guide in Kerman said the three Spaniards were having dinner
when
> the attackers entered the hotel and took them hostage.
> "Then they went and got the Italian in his hotel room," he told AFP.
> Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi on Sunday condemned the "ugly
and
> inhumane act" and vowed the five would be freed soon.
> Officials at the Italian embassy said a team had been immediately
dispatched
> to Kerman while Iran's national tourism board said a three-way committee
> including representatives from the interior and foreign affairs ministries
> had been formed to address the matter.
> In June, three Italians were kidnapped in the town of Bam, also located in
> Kerman province. They were released a week later after Iranian authorities
> intervened to negotiate with the kidnappers.
TEHRAN, Aug 16 (AFP) - Iranian opposition leaders called on President
> Mohammad Khatami in an open letter to end the "wave" of arrests connected
> to last month's bloody unrest in the capital, newspapers reported Monday.
> Some 125 politicians and students, most linked to the nationalist
> opposition, denounced the "ongoing wave of student arrests" and asked
> Khatami to "intervene to determine the fate of those who have disappeared
> or been jailed," the moderate Neshat paper said.
> Earlier this month the Iran Freedom Movement (IFM), banned but tolerated
by
> the authorities, also sent Khatami an open letter denouncing the arrests
as
> a "campaign of terror" aimed at ending the pro-reform student movement.
> "Students who have been released say that their interrogation focussed on
> their possible links with the IFM or circles close to the opposition," the
> letter said.
> It charged that "the wave of arrests under way among students is aimed at
> wiping out the student movement in Iran."
> Four leading figures with another opposition group, the Iran People's
Party
> (IPP), were among the more than 1,400 people arrested in connection with
> the unrest, the worst here since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic
revolution.
> The secular nationalist IPP was founded by Dariush Foruhar, a leading
> opposition figure who was assassinated along with his wife late last year.
> Riots erupted in Tehran and the provincial capital of Tabriz after
security
> forces and Islamic hardliners attacked a student protest at Tehran
> university against the closure of a leading pro-reform newspaper.
> Three people died and three others were wounded, according to official
> fiugres, while newspapers said at least five people were killed and dozens
> wounded, many of whom they said were later abducted from hospital by the
> secret police.
> Iranian MPs on Monday voted to call for a parliamentary inquiry into the
> unrest, the first step before the legislature can establish its own
> committee to investigate the incidents.
> On Saturday Iran's highest security body, the Supreme National Security
> Council, cleared Iran's police chief of any wrongdoing in its final report
> on the university attack.
> It blamed the Tehran police chief and six deputies, along with an
> unidentified number of anti-riot police and civilian Islamic militants,
for
> staging the attack
TEHRAN, Aug 16 (AFP) - The Iranian parliament approved Monday a bill
> abolishing the annual public holiday marking the anniversary of Tehran's
> nationalisation of the oil industry in 1951.
> The move to scrap the March 19 holiday, which celebrated the end of
British
> colonial influence over Iran, immediately provoked indignation among
> nationalist circles.
> The pro-government Ettelaat paper described it as "an insult to the people
> of Iran and their anti-colonial struggle."
> The holiday had existed for nearly 50 years, since nationalist prime
> minister Mohammad Mossadegh wrested control of the country's oil resources
> from Britain after a long struggle.
> Relations with Britain, which had been strained for 10 years, have
improved
> recently, after the Iranian government undertook not to try to implement
> the death sentence against British writer Salman Rushdie pronounced by
> Iran's former spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The two sides
> exchanged ambassadors in May.
> Celebrations of the oil nationalisation anniversary had fallen somewhat
> into abeyance for many years, partly because it coincides with the eve of
> the Iranian new year. The new year is already a major holiday in the
country.
> Parliament authorised the government to declare a new holiday on September
> 14, the anniversary of the death of Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet
> Mohammad.
> It also approved government plans to declare public holidays on
> anniversaries of important dates in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The Times - London
> August 16 1999
> Hardline Iranian cleric out, then in
> FROM MICHAEL THEODOULOU IN TEHRAN
> AN UNPOPULAR hardline cleric in Iran was appointed to
> a powerful body that screens candidates for elections
> yesterday. Moderates had been celebrating his removal as
> head of the judiciary a day earlier. The moves are typical of
> the see-saw struggles ahead of parliamentary elections next
> February.
> Ayatollah Mohammed Yazdi had used the courts as a
> weapon against the reform movement, with many liberal
> journalists and moderate Islamic intellectuals jailed under his
> regime. The head of the judiciary since 1989, Ayatollah
> Yazdi is representative of Iran's old guard who are out of
> touch with the country's young population. Many still
> remember his tirade against masturbation a few years ago.
> His new posting at the 12-man Guardian Council bodes ill
> for the moderates who hope to take control of parliament
> from the hardliners.
> Yet reformers had other cause to cheer at the weekend, with
> the release of a report on a raid on a student dormitory that
> ignited the worst unrest since the early days of the 1979
> revolution. The report named seven senior police officers
> who are to stand trial for the July 9 raid. However, it
> exonerated Iran's hardline police chief, Hedayat Lotfian, whose sacking
was
> one of the students' early demands.
TEHRAN, Aug 12 (Reuters) - President Mohammad Khatami said on
> Thursday his government had identified those behind last month's brutal
> attack on pro-democracy students and would shortly reveal the results of
> its investigation.
> The moderate president told student groups that officials acting beyond
> their own authority, as well as ``non-military personnel'' -- an apparent
> reference to hardline vigilantes -- were to blame for the assault on the
> Tehran student hostels July 8-9.
> The attack left hundreds injured and at least two dead, sparking the worst
> unrest since the consolidation of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Student
> leaders say six others are missing and still unaccounted for.
> ``In investigating this issue we have held hundreds of hours of meetings,
> scores of people have been interviewed, hundreds of documents have
> been reviewed and the culprits have been identified,'' Khatami said in
> remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency.
> ``We will very soon issue a statement and react against the
> violence-mongers,'' he said, without setting any date or deadline.
> The attack on the students by police and hardline vigilantes touched off a
> week of unrest that culminated on July 12-13 in street riots in Tehran and
> provoked the worst crisis of Khatami's two years in office.
> Scattered violence erupted in other cities.
> His hardline rivals used the incident to suggest the government was
> moving too fast on social and political reform and was undermining the
> tenets of the Islamic republic.
> Reformist allies, meanwhile, have demanded swift identification and
> public trial of those responsible for the initial assault on the student
> hostels.
> Many have also demanded the hardline police chief resign over the affair
> and a permanent crack-down on the so-called pressure groups, shadowy
> hardline gangs that routinely disrupt pro-reform rallies, speeches and
> gatherings.
> ``We have found the root causes for the dormitory incident. Some forces
> who acted outside their authority and also some non-military personel
> who were at the scene and who caused the events to erupt have also been
> identified,'' the president told the students, which included the full
> political spectrum, from pro-reform to religious traditionalists.
> ``The violence-mongers are trying to remove the dynamism from life and
> impose a deadly atmosphere on our society.''
> Khatami, who denounced the post-attack violence on 'deviant elements'
> among the broader student movement, also told the students they must not
> allow their own natural political differences to degenerate into open
> conflict.
The Economist
> August 14, 1999, U.S. Edition
> Iran's economy
> Ailing, still
> Tehran
> EXACTLY a year ago, President Muhammad Khatami set out to salvage
> Iran's sick economy by way of an ill-defined recovery programme. He
> promised to improve conditions for foreign investment, increase non-oil
> exports, accelerate privatisation and reduce red tape. The hope was to
> give people a better life and, also, to disarm his conservative critics,
> who use Iran's weak economy as a weapon to beat off political
> and cultural liberalisation. So far, he has failed in both aims,
> frustrated by bad luck, official mismanagement and the limits to his
> authority.
> Iran's economy has suffered most from the fluctuating price of oil, the
> source of more than 80% of its hard-currency earnings and around half
> its total revenue. Last year (Iran's year runs from mid-March) the
> government faced a revenue shortfall of $6 billion, or one-third of the
> state budget, and was forced to suspend most of its development
> projects. The recent rise in oil prices will help with current expenses,
> including wages for millions of public servants, and also with the
> annual payments of $5 billion-6 billion that Mr Khatami's government
> must dish out to service the huge foreign debts it inherited from the
> previous administration.
> Iran's worst drought in 30 years has also taken a toll, despite the
> recent rains. The damage to farming, which employs about a quarter of
> the workforce, is estimated at $1 billion. Economic growth this year is
> unlikely to reach 2% and anyhow will be far below the 5% average
> predicted at the beginning of the second five-year development plan,
> which ends in March. All this has had a disastrous effect on the
> country's chronic unemployment, officially rated at 14% but believed to
> be much higher. Half of Iran's
> 60m-plus people are aged under 20, and up to 1m reach working-age each
> year.
> Efforts to make the government more efficient barely touch the surface
> of bureaucratic mismanagement and corruption. As ever, the government
> pays lip service to economic liberalisation, but has neither the courage
> nor the authority to free itself of the commitment to pay billions of
> dollars in direct and indirect subsidies: prices of basic goods such as
> fuel, bread and medicine are ridiculously low.
> There is endless talk of encouraging non-oil exports. But good
> intentions are frustrated by erratic official policy, a severe cash
> shortage and strict labour laws. Many factories are operating at a
> fraction of their capacity because they are unable to import spare parts
> or raw materials. This causes periodic shortages of essential goods.
> Making matters worse, the price regulations discourage businessmen from
> investing. Producers find it hard to plan far ahead since the
> authorities keep changing their minds and issuing contradictory orders.
> Onion growers, for instance, were recently told by the commerce ministry
> to halt exports at once in an effort to lower prices at home.
> But the biggest obstacle to economic recovery is political indecision,
> especially concerning foreign policy. Mr Khatami and his allies argue
> that economic prosperity depends on political reform. Their conservative
> opponents disagree, claiming that the president is expanding political
> and social freedoms at the expense of the economy. This split within the
> establishment makes it almost impossible for the government to take a
> decision and stick to it.
> The conservatives vehemently resist any major shift from the xenophobic
> outlook of the revolutionary years. Above all, they oppose any serious
> easing of the laws on foreign ownership of property. This, together with
> restrictive labour regulations, means that there is little non-oil
> foreign direct investment in Iran, except for pilot projects in the
> free-trade zones. Several European countries, encouraged by Mr Khatami's
> leanings, have sent trade delegations to Iran. But most of these visits
> amount to little more than tourism -- and there have been none since the
> recent student riots in Tehran.
> There is, indeed, growing interest in investing in Iranian energy,
> partly because here the state can always find a way to skirt undesirable
> laws. But some would-be oil investors are held back by the half-threat
> of American sanctions. Many Iranians believe that normal relations with
> the United States are the key to economic recovery. Mr Khatami probably
> agrees but, so far, he has not dared go beyond tentative verbalovertures.
> The Guardian (London)
> August 13, 1999
> Islamic vigilantes enforce dress code on tourists
> BY: Geneive Abdo in Tehran
> Islamic vigilantes harassed tourists and beat Iranians, some of whom
> were later detained by police, as they watched the eclipse in the town
> of Isfahan, for failing to comply with the Islamic dress code.
> Iranian consulates had issued visas ahead of the eclipse in record time
> across the globe. Special Pasdaran units, in starched uniforms,
> patrolled the streets of Isfahan and plainclothes police guarded hotel
> lobbies.
> But religious vigilantes, or hizbollahis, targeted women who refused to
> wear overcoats or who tied their headscarves loosely, exposing too much
> hair.
> Some were arrested by hardline police, as the tourists gathered in Imam
> Khomeini square in central Isfahan. Under Iran's Islamic code, women
> must cover their hair and wear ankle-length overcoats to disguise their
> shape.
> A group of about 30 hizbollahis chanted 'Death to America" and other
> slogans against the style of dress of the female tourists, according to
> Iran media. The Ansar-e Hizbollah, in a statement issued yesterday,
> denied attacking or harassing anyone.
> Many foreign women and Iranians who came to watch the eclipse failed to
> wear long overcoats.
> 'I was shocked at the way foreign tourists dressed here," said Allen
> Fenton, a 65-year-old British tourist. 'The women were not wearing
> overcoats. They should not come here dressed like this."
> Emily, an American from Florida, said she was given specific
> instructions by the tour company sponsoring her trip. 'We were told to
> wear socks with our sandals," she said.
> Roya, an Iranian national from Los Angeles, said she came to Iran for
> the first time in 18 years, and was warned not to bend the rules. 'I was
> told not to wear makeup, to wrap my scarf fully around my hair. I did
> this and I haven't had any problems," she said.
> >From Paris to Brittany to the peaceful southwest, the search was on
> yesterday for 'wacko' Paco Rabanne, the fashion
> designer-turned-soothsayer, writes Jon Henley in Paris.
> Rabanne predicted large parts of France would disappear in balls of fire
> during Wednesday's eclipse and seems rather reluctant to admit he got it
> wrong.
> Despite the sleuthing of dozens of reporters, Rabanne, whose
> best-selling book, 1999: Fire from Heaven, warned that the space station
> Mir would fall disastrously from the skies on August 11, wrecking much
> of Paris and causing considerable collateral damage to several towns and
> villages in the picturesque southwestern region of Gers, appeared to
> have disappeared.
> 'He's not here, honest," the concierge at his holiday home in Huelgoat,
> Brittany, told Le Figaro newspaper.
> Outside his Paris boutique some 200 people gathered soon after noon on
> Wednesday for a survivors' cocktail to celebrate the non-arrival of what
> became known as 'la Pacolypse'. 'He's surely died of shame," said one
> woman. 'Panicking all those people like that."
L.A. Times Friday, August 13, 1999 Movie Review 'Leila' Tells a Powerful
> Tale of Lives Bound by Tradition By KEVIN THOMAS, Times Staff Writer
> "Leila" is the latest in a long line of superb films that have placed
> Dariush Mehrjui in the front ranks of filmmakers not only in his native
> Iran but in international contemporary cinema. For more than 30 years,
> Mehrjui, a UCLA alumnus, has depicted the harshness of life in his native
> country with an unflinching yet detached power that frequently verges on
> the poetic. "Leila" deceptively fits comfortably within the universal
genre
> of socially conscious drama but is as eloquent and devastating as anything
> he has ever done. When we meet Leila (Leila Hatami) and Reza (Ali
Mosaffa),
> they strike us as much like any affluent, attractive young couple, deeply
> in love, with a bright future ahead of them and already living in a
> spacious, smartly designed contemporary-style home in Tehran. Their views
> seem as modern and liberated as their decor; Reza steadfastly insists that
> it matters not in the least that his wife is unable to conceive, and they
> reject adoption as well as the more drastic measures available to them to
> attempt to have a child, although they might well have not so decisively
> dismissed artificial insemination if they had had an inkling of what lay
> ahead of them. They don't reckon with the implacability of Reza's mother
> (Jamileh Sheikhi) in her determination that her son have children. She has
> the shamelessness of the truly ignorant as she begins to bear down on her
> daughter-in-law, tapping into her guilt over being unable to fulfill her
> childbearing duties as a traditional wife. It would be a mistake to write
> off the mother merely as a monster, as destructive as she is, for she is
as
> much a victim of the tradition as those she unleashes it upon in such a
> crushing manner. With a psychological validity that is all the more
> terrifying for being so utterly persuasive, Leila, weighed down by her
> mother-in-law's incessant pressure, starts convincing herself that her
love
> for her husband can and must be strong enough for her to withstand him
> taking into their home a second wife who can give him an heir. The irony
> here is that just about everyone else in Reza's family is outraged at
> Leila's worsening plight and arguing that the couple should stand up to
the
> overbearing matriarch. That neither can do so in any meaningful way
reveals
> the full and overwhelming force that tradition--embedded in a rigid, even
> distorted reading of religious beliefs--continues to exert on Iranian
> society. Even so, Mehrjui is too wise to judge, trusting instead to the
> sheer power of illuminating the predicament of the young couple, so very
> well played by Hatami and Mosaffa. * Unrated. Times guidelines: adult
> themes and situations. 'Leila' Leila Hatami: Leila Ali Mosaffa: Reza
> Jamileh Sheikhi: Reza's mother Amir Pievar: Reza's father A First Run
> Features release of a Mehrjui & Farazmand production. Director Dariush
> Mehrjui. Producers Mehrjui and Faramarz Farazmand. Screenplay by Mahnaz
> Ansarian and Mehrjui. Cinematographer Mahmud Klari. Editor Mustafa
> Kherqepush. Music Keivan Jahanshahi. Art director Faryar Javaherian. In
> Farsi, with English subtitles. Running time: 2 hours, 9 minutes.
> Exclusively at the Music Hall, 9036 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310)
> 274-6869.
Iran reform setback as parliament upholds screening of candidates
> TEHRAN, Aug 11 (AFP) - Iran's conservatives tightened their hold on the
> political process here Wednesday after parliament upheld the right of the
> conservative-dominated Council of Guardians to screen all candidates for
> public office.
> The move is a setback for reformist supporters of President Mohammad
Khatami
> ahead of next spring's key parliamentary elections as the Council blocked
> thousands of candidates, almost all moderates, from standing in last
> February's municipal polls.
> Parliamentary debate was spirited as the legislature approved a measure
> upholding the supervisory powers of the Council, which checks political
> candidates to assure their ideological faithfulness to the Islamic
> revolution.
> The measure was quickly presented to the legislature after reformist MPs
and
> pro-Khatami officials in the government attempted to draft a bill that
would
> have ended the pre-screening of candidates.
> Moderate MPs agreed to a compromise under which rejected candidates would
be
> able to demand a written explanation of the reasons from the Council,
> although it was unclear if such a move was in reformists' interests.
> Under the new rules the Council could then make public its written
> rejections, meaning popular candidates blocked from standing could be
> publicly denounced as ideologically suspect.
> Even political hopefuls at the town council level are thoroughly screened
by
> the Council, which eliminates candidates who have served prison sentences
as
> well as those deemed unfit on religious, moral or ideological grounds.
> The 12-man panel also ensures new legislation in parliament accords with
> both Islamic law and the Iranian constitution.
> Wednesday's vote is a blow to Khatami's supporters ahead of next
February's
> elections, in which reformists and moderates are hoping to end the
> conservative majority in the 270-seat legislature.
> The council, formed in 1980 by order of the Islamic republic's founder,
the
> late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, blocked several candidates from the 1997
> presidential election in which Khatami defeated current conservative
> parliamentary speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri.
> In February it ruled out thousands from standing in municipal elections,
the
> first since the 1979 Islamic revolution, that were a centrepiece of
> Khatami's reform programme.
> Most of those were Khatami supporters, including a large number of women
who
> had helped bring him to office in 1997.
> On Tuesday the reformist president issued a strong call for Iranian women
to
> take a greater role in the Islamic republic's political affairs.
> "The view that maintains women are handicapped is not a desirable one, as
> there is no difference between men and women in Islam from the standpoint
of
> human values," he said in a speech calling for more civic and
> non-governmental organisations to support women.
> "Even if women are engaged as homemakers and don't take on outside
> responsibilities, facilities should be institutionalised for their active
> presence in the political and social arena," he said.
> The president said Iran needed "modern and dynamic ideas" and insisted
that
> "women be present and active in civic affairs."
U.S. Sells the Most Arms
> Developing Nations Buy Most Weapons
> By David Ruppe
> ABCNEWS.com
> (photo)-The United States maintains dominance in world arms sales.
> Other contenders include Germany and France. (Paolo Cocco/REUTERS)
> N E W Y O R K, Aug. 6 - Weapons sales, while still lower than early
> this decade, ticked up last year. And the United States remains the
> world's top seller.
> Worldwide arms sales in 1998 reached $23 billion, as opposed to the
> $30+ billion levels achieved earlier in the decade, according to this
> year's Congressional Research Service report on arms sales, a copy of
> which was obtained by ABCNEWS.com.
> The 1998 total "is substantially lower than most years since 1991 - the
> period overlapping the end of the Cold War and the years of
> post-Persian Gulf War rearmament," says the report, authored by CRS
> arms trade specialist Richard Grimmett using U.S. government data.
> The 1997 total had been the lowest for the decade, just $21.4 billion,
> the report showed.
> World arms sales have significantly declined since earlier in the
> decade. Last year's $23 billion was larger than the $21.4 billion worth
> in 1997, but lower than the all-time high of $37.4 billion in
> 1993.(Thomas Schmid/ABCNEWS.com)
> U.S. on Top
> As it has nearly every year over the past decade, the United States led
> the world in new arms sales contracts and deliveries in 1998, both
> worldwide and to developing countries, signing about $7.1 billion and
> $4.6 billion in contracts, respectively.
> In 1998, the Pentagon actually delivered $10.5 billion in arms
> worldwide, $7.8 billion of that to developing countries. Strong sales
> during and after the 1991 Persian Gulf War were an important factor.
> "It is a testament to American prowess in this area that, without a
> major arms deal last year, the U.S. still leads the world in sales,"
> said Tom Cardamone, director of the arms trade project for the
> education fund of the Council for a Livable World, a group that works
> to reform military spending.
> And this year, Cardamone says, U.S. sales could shoot much higher.
> He notes two major deals close to being signed for F-16 fighter jets
> and equipment - 80 to the United Arab Emirates and 50 to Israel -
> valued at $10.5 billion.
> "Last year's sales were basically for spare parts," Cardamone noted.
> Assuming those sales will continue," he added, "the Pentagon could be
> in for a banner year."
>
> Mainly to Poorer Countries
> European countries, as usual, came in behind the United States, but in
> a surprising show, Germany ranked second in 1998, selling $5.5 billion
> worth of weapons. France sold $3 billion and Britain $1.2 billion.
> Developing nations continued to be the main purchasers of the world's
> exported arms in 1998, signing for $13.2 billion, or 57.3 percent of
> the world's new arms deals.
> Though developing countries bought a smaller value of weapons in 1998
> than during any year since the Gulf War, some say that is still too
> much.
> "Countries that are among the word's poorest spend hundreds of millions
> of dollars buying tanks, jet fighters and small arms," U.S. Secretary
> of State Madeleine Albright lamented in a speech last month.
> Indeed, Bangladesh - a country where over one quarter the population
> earns less than $1 per day - last month announced it was buying eight
> new MiG-29 advanced fighter planes from Russia at a cost of $124
> million.
> Middle East Leads Pack
> The biggest share of sales to the developing world went to countries in
> the Middle East in 1998, and the major sellers were the United States,
> European countries and Russia.
> Over the past four years, Middle East countries have imported 176
> supersonic combat aircraft, over 1,300 tanks and self-propelled guns,
> over 3,000 armored vehicles, 180 helicopters and hundreds of missiles
> of all types, the report said.
> The United States alone delivered 1,284 surface-to-air missiles, 874
> tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,727 armored vehicles and 126 fighter
> aircraft to the region.
> In the past four years, "the United States, Russia and France have
> dominated the arms market in the developing world," the report noted.
> Saudis Top Buyer
> Saudi Arabia continues to be the developing world's top buyer of
> weaponry, ordering $2.7 billion worth in 1998. The United Arab Emirates
> ranked second with $2.5 billion and Malaysia third with $2.1 billion.
> Since 1991, the Saudis have purchased more than $32 billion worth of
> weapons, more than any other developing country, mainly from the United
> States just after the Gulf War.
> Billions Not Counted
> The totals in the report do not actually represent all American arms
> exports, but only those made through the Pentagon's export program.
> Through a separate program, the State Department also licenses U.S.
> companies to export weapons directly to foreign buyers - on the order
> of more than $20 billion per year. In 1998 the total of licenses
> approved was $26 billion, but the number of deals actually signed can
> be much less.
> But because the department does not tally the value of deals and
> deliveries made with those licenses, no more in-depth figures are
> available, and many calculations in the report are not definitive.
ANKARA, Aug 9 (AFP) - Iran on Monday handed over two Turkish soldiers it
> was holding captive to Turkish authorities at the Kapikoy border gate
ahead
> of a security meeting between the two countries in Turkey, the Anatolia
> news agency reported.
> A Turkish delegation from the province's Baskale town flew to the border
> gate in the eastern Anatolian province of Van by helicopter to oversee the
> handover of the two soldiers at 3:00 p.m. (1200 GMT), the report said.
> "Our soldiers are in good condition. We will take them back to their
> barracks in Baskale," the governor of the town, Sevket Cinbir, told
Anatolia.
> The two soldiers had been detained by Iran in late July after crossing the
> border to Iranian territory.
> Tehran said the detained troops were part of a bigger group that tried to
> penetrate the region of Qator and were repulsed by the Iranian armed
forces
> on July 23.
> But Ankara insisted from the outset that the soldiers had crossed the
> border unintentionally and demanded their immediate release.
> Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said last week that the two
soldiers
> would be released as a sign of good intentions following Turkey's
> assurances that the border violation was unintentional.
> The soldiers' release marked a decrease in tension between the two
> neighbours following a mounting war of words in recent weeks.
> Iran accused Turkish warplanes of bombing the Piranshahr region on July
18,
> killing five people and wounding 10 others.
> But Turkey insisted it bombed northern Iraq, not Iran, and in turn accused
> Iran of supporting rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighting
> against the Ankara government.
> Turkey is expected to bring up its accusations of Iranian support for the
> PKK during a two-day security meeting with an Iranian delegation, headed
by
> Deputy Interior Minister Gulem Hussein Bolandiyan, which opens Tuesday.
> "We are holding meetings on resolving the problems with Iran over the PKK.
> We are very sensitive on this issue," Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
> told reporters Monday.
> The Turkish interior ministry said in a written statement that the Ankara
> meeting would focus on accelerating the existing mechanisms to ensure
> security cooperation between the two countries.
President: Decentralization, First Step Towards Development
>
> TEHRAN President Mohammad Khatami said here Sunday that while the
> administration protects the social systems, it should not regard the human
> being as means and expect him only to work. Making the remark in the
> opening ceremony of a conference on administrative system and development,
> the president pointed to the characteristics of the totalitarian
> governments which considered themselves as something superior to the whole
> society and stressed that in such systems ordinary people had to surrender
> to the grandeurs and superiority of the government.
>
> He offered a definition of administration saying that as far as wisdom
> develops in the society, the power of choice becomes extensive and the
> administration is required to the prepare grounds for promotion of wisdom
> and will.
>
> Pointing out that management should rely on the values prevalent in a
> certain society and set up regulations based on conditions of that
> particular society, President Khatami also said that the administration
> should work to create mental and spiritual motive in every individual so
> that they will think that what they do is like worshipping, the social
> system belongs to them and their services will eventually benefit
themselves.
>
> He termed as very efficient and powerful the management system of the two
> five-year development plans which coincided with the war years and the
> terrorist actions perpetrated against the Islamic Republic and said they
> could serve as valuable sources of experiences in compiling the third
> five-year economic development plan.
>
> The president stressed the need for decentralization as the first step
> towards development and said formation of city councils served this
> purpose. (IRNA)
World: Middle East
>
> Iran retaliates in war of words
>
> Honorary Guards mark the anniversary in Baghdad
>
> Iran has hit back at President Saddam Hussein following the Iraqi leader's
> verbal attack on his arch enemy on Sunday.
>
> The war of words between the neighbouring states erupted on Sunday on the
> 11th anniversary of the end of the eight-year war between them.
>
> In his anniversary speech, Saddam Hussein accused Iran of detaining
> thousands of Iraqi prisoners and refusing to register them with
> international agencies
>
> Iran's foreign ministry was quick to retaliate. On Monday, a spokesman
told
> the Iranian press: "Unfortunately, the head of the Iraqi Government is not
> prepared to put aside his irrational behaviour in relations with other
> countries."
>
> Iran's press also reacted to the speech. The Iran Daily reports: "No
> nations in the world have suffered from the madness of their respective
> neighbours as have the states surrounding Iraq.
>
>
> "He has wielded his sword with all the finesse of a blind drunkard", it
added.
>
> The conservative Tehran Times described Saddam Hussein as a "pest" warning
> him against taking up armed conflict against the Islamic republic. It
added
> that Iran was "militarily strong enough to sever the hands of any
intruder".
>
> Warning of force
>
> Speaking on Iraqi TV on Sunday, Saddam Hussein accused Iran of deceiving
> Baghdad over sheltering military aircraft during the Gulf War.
>
> He said Iran tortured and murdered Iraqi PoWs "simply for not betraying
> their country".
>
> He warned that Iraq "does not hesitate to use force when it becomes the
> only way to show the righteousness of its cause or when reason fails to
> convince those who are wrong".
>
>
> The president also attacked Iran over the aircraft which the Iraqis left
> for safe keeping in Iran at the start of the 1991 Gulf War, and which
> remain in Iran.
>
> Iran says it has 22 Iraqi aircraft and has offered to give them to the
> United Nations if requested to do so.
>
> "Great Victory Day" marks the end of the war which claimed nearly one
> million lives.
>
> Iraq says it has evidence that 13,000 Iraqis are still captive in Iran.
For
> its part, Iran says Iraq still has nearly 3,000 of its citizens.
>
> Both sides deny that they hold any more prisoners of war, although this
has
> not prevented regular exchanges of prisoners. Bodies of war victims are
> also regularly handed over, and the next exchange is expected on 23
August.
>
> Deteriorating ties
>
>
> The BBC's Jon Leyne says the Iraqi leader's speech may mark a new
> deterioration in relations between them, despite some small improvements
> over the last couple of years.
>
> The two governments have not normalised relations, and diplomatic ties are
> only at charge d'affaires level.
>
> Saddam Hussein's speech was preceded by condemnations of Iran in the
> official Iraqi media.
>
> The official al-Iraq daily warned that the battles of the 1980-88 war may
> be over, "but the hatred persists".
>
> A defeated Iran is "waiting for the chance to stab us in the back", the
> newspaper added.
>
> Missile attack
>
> Both Iran and Iraq are still thought to harbour opposition groups hostile
> to the opposing governments.
>
> In June, Iran fired Scud missiles into a camp in Iraq run by the main
armed
> Iranian opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen, injuring six Iraqis.
>
> The remaining hatred between Baghdad and Tehran is tempered by their
common
> hostility to the United States, and the fear of either government of
> becoming further isolated in some diplomatic realignment.
rafsanjani calls college students as greatest national assets
> tehran, aug. 9, irna -- chairman of the national expediency council
> hojatoleslam akbar hashemi rafsanjani told a group of college
> educators here sunday that college students are the greatest national
> assets, and to humiliate them or to question their moral uprightness
> would be to cast doubt on the value and the merits of their future
> accomplishments.
> hojatoleslam rafsanjani who was addressing an assembly of the
> trustees of the university jihad, and its chairman, and directors of
> the research centers of the university jihad said college and
> universities must promote academic freedoms.
> he said the university jihad was an indigenous creation in iran
> without any duplicate in any foreign country.
> in the same meeting, chairman of he university jihad of iran dr.
> ali montazeri presented a report of the performance of the u.j. in
> academic and research areas.
Sacramento-area Iranians rally to back jailed students' demands for
freedom
 
By Kevin Yamamura
Bee Staff Writer
(Published Aug. 7, 1999)
 
About 50 Iranian Americans in the Sacramento area on Friday protested the treatment that the Iranian government has imposed on students demonstrating for
more freedom.
 
In a rally at the Capitol, the Sacramento Pro-Freedom Assembly of Iranians called for the release of all Iranian students being held as political prisoners. The
noontime speeches, in Persian and English, marked one of the first political events organized for Sacramento's growing community of 15,000 Iranian
Americans.
 
Unrest erupted in Iran last month when university students marched to protest the passage of tough press laws and the closure of a popular newspaper. At
least five people died in Iran's worst internal turmoil since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
 
"We are here to support the recent Iranian student movement for freedom and changes in political structure," said Mohammad Abadooz, a leader of the newly
founded Pro-Freedom Assembly. "We're trying to make other human rights and international organizations hear us. We're trying to make the Iranian
government know that the students are not alone."
 
While tepid U.S.-Iranian relations make it difficult for U.S. leaders to lobby for the students' release, organizers said they want human rights activists to take
up the cause to increase international pressure on the hard-line faction in Iran.
 
"We hope that whatever people support freedom in all countries find us and see us and get our concern to whomever can push the government of Iran," said
Mohammad Sadri.
 
Shadieh Mirmobiny, co-publisher of the Persian Cultural Review, said the area's Iranian community has doubled in size in the last decade.
Iran engulfed by wave of repression By GENEIVE ABDO TEHERAN, THURSDAY A
> daunting wave of silent repression unseen for years is engulfing Iran
after
> the democracy demonstrations that ended in violence last month. Laws being
> drafted will further restrict freedom of speech and the press in order to
> ``protect Islamic values''. Newspaper editors are being arrested and
> prosecuted. Students say they are being detained, blindfolded, beaten and
> forced to confess to serious offences as a result of their demonstrations.
> The judiciary has drafted a broad ``political crimes'' bill that makes
> almost all contact between Iranians and foreigners illegal. The crackdown
> raises questions about whether President Mohammad Khatami will remain
> strong enough to continue the reforms he has put into effect since 1997.
It
> also increases the likelihood that students seeking political and social
> reform will take to the streets again when classes resume late next month.
> The hard-line ayatollah who heads the judiciary, Mohammed Yazdi, is behind
> the political crimes bill, which was presented to the Cabinet on Monday.
> Ayatollah Yazdi wants such crimes defined in law as action ``against the
> sovereignty of the Islamic republic, the political system or the political
> and social rights of the people'' - phrasing so broad that it could cover
> almost anything. The provisions of the draft press law include making it
> illegal for journalists to criticise the police or disseminate information
> considered as weakening the armed forces or national security. The head of
> the press court - appointed by Ayatollah Yazdi - served notice on Monday
> that he was prepared to prosecute any journalist charged with insulting
> Islamic or revolutionary values. This marks a change: the existing law, as
> enforced, penalises a publication's managing director and not an
individual
> journalist. The authorities are already taking action in response to the
> student unrest. Many students are being tried in the revolutionary court
> instead of the police courts, where they would receive lighter sentences.
> Gholamhossein Rahbarpour, head of Teheran's revolutionary courts, said
last
> week that 1500 people had been arrested in connection with the July
unrest.
> He said most had been released on bail pending trial. The publisher of
> Salam, the popular daily newspaper whose banning on 7 July prompted the
> peaceful rally which led to the attack on the students, was convicted last
> week of publishing secret documents and misleading public opinion. The
> court suspended prison terms totalling three-and-a-half years against the
> publisher, Mohammad Mousavi-Khoeiniha, in light of his ``revolutionary
> credentials''. Instead he was ordered to pay fines totalling 23 million
> rials ($A11,660). GUARDIAN, REUTERS
Iranian Islamic militia in ends manoeuvres
> The Iranian volunteer Islamic militia, the Basiji, has ended two days of
> manoeuvres outside the capital, Teheran, with prayers given by the supreme
> leader and armed forces chief, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
> Correspondents say the manoeuvres were staged as a show of strength by
> conservatives following the pro-democracy demonstrations held in Teheran
last
> month.
> The volunteer militia was widely accused of beating pro-democracy student
> protesters during the demonstrations. The Basiji was founded by the
> revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini at the start of the 1980-88
Iran-Iraq
> war to organise popular resistance to Iraqi troops, and now numbers some
five
> million members.
TEHRAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Iran has lifted a two-decade ban on the import
of
> Western musical instruments, which it has long seen as decadent and
corrupt,
> a newspaper said Wednesday.
> The moderate Iran newspaper said a state organization affiliated with the
> Culture Ministry had given the green light for the import of Western
> instruments such as flutes, pianos, classical guitars, harps, drums,
> saxophones and organs.
> Western music had been regarded as ``decadent and corrupt'' by Iran's
> conservative leadership for many years after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
> But moderate Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has made efforts to
promote
> greater cultural freedom, and Western music, especially the classical
genre,
> has seen a revival in Iran.
> Classical music concerts are generally sold out in advance and tickets are
> hard to find on the black market.
> Iran's youth also listens to bootleg copies of Western pop music. Iranian
> teenagers can be seen wearing T-shirts of their favorite Western bands
like
> the Backstreet Boys, Pink Floyd and Metallica.
> Reuters/Variety
>
Teheran (dpa) - Iran 's state-run IRIB television
> > has
> > banned promoting a controversial feminist film
> > currently a big hit in Teheran's movie theatres,
> > Teheran press reports said Wednesday.
> >
> > ``Two Women'' by female director Tahmineh Milani had
> > been routinely promoted by IRIB as all
> > domestically-produced films are - but this was
> > suddenly stopped with no explanation, Manateq Azad
> > daily said.
> >
> > Posters throughout the capital for the film were
> > also
> > reported to have been torn down. The film deals with
> > the legal status of women in Iran .
> >
> > An official of the Islamic Propaganda Office, which
> > promotes Iran 's motion pictures, told the reformist
> > daily Neshat that one reason for the IRIB ban might
> > be
> > sequences showing the Teheran University dormitory,
> > venue of student unrest last month.
> >
> > ``Two Women'' portrays, on one hand, a modern woman
> > from Teheran who goes to university and decides her
> > own fate, and on the other a woman brought up in
> > traditional values whose family members decide her
> > fate and who must fight to get an academic
> > education.
> >
> > The latter goes to Teheran to study, but despite her
> > success is forced by her father to return to her
> > provincial home and marry a man who forbids her to
> > do
> > anything she wants without his permission.
> >
> > After the husband is killed in a fight, she returns
> > to
> > the freedom of Teheran with her friend, the first
> > woman.
> >
> > Tahmineh Milani, whose other films also focus on the
> > legal and social plight of Iranian women, has been
> > invited by a U.S. film association to visit the
> > United
> > States.
> >
> > The award-winning ``Two Women'' was an instant box
> > office hit with turnover reaching almost 2 billion
> > Rials (670,000 dollars) in less than three weeks.
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
> August 6, 1999, Friday, CONSTITUTION EDITION
> Family hid news from loved ones in Iran
> BY: Diane R. Stepp, Staff
> Eight time zones away in Tehran, Iran, friends of Jamshid Havash's
> family tried vainly to keep him alive last week by sacrificing some
> livestock and giving the meat to the poor.
> "It's a custom in our country when someone is in very much danger. It's
> a way of thanking God that he is still alive," said brother-in-law Mori
> Sarshar, a Shiite Muslim.
> They didn't know their appeal could do no good. Havash was already dead,
> cut down July 29 in the Buckhead shootings on the floor of Momentum
> Securities.
> His wife, Roya, and daughter, Tannaz, 7, were visiting relatives in
> Tehran when the fatal gunshots rang out. They learned only Wednesday
> night --- six days after the shooting when they arrived back in Atlanta
> ---that Havash was dead.
> "We told (Roya) that Jamshid had been shot, that he was in a coma," said
> Sarshar. "We knew it would take a long time to get home, a 20-hour
> flight from Tehran, and we wanted to give them some hope." Havash's
> mother also came to what she believed would be her son's bedside.
> Instead, they would attend his funeral the next morning.
> More than 150 family members and mourners attended the traditional
> Muslim service Thursday at Roswell Funeral Home on Mansell Road.
> >From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, there will be another opportunity to
> remember and mourn Havash at a memorial service at the Westin Hotel on
> Concourse Parkway in Dunwoody.
> Thursday's funeral service was led by a mullah who offered prayers in
> Farsi and Arabic and read from the Koran.
> Friends and relatives carried Havash to his grave in Green Lawn Cemetery
> in a wood coffin borne on their shoulders. As they proceeded, they
> stopped to place the coffin on the ground three times "to acquaint him
> with the ground he will be buried in," explained Saeid Sadri, a
> professor of architecture at Georgia Tech who attended the funeral.
> Traditionally Iranians are not buried in coffins, but are wrapped in
> cloth, said Sadri, "but wood which is degradable is also acceptable."
> Havash's wife and mother wept openly as family and friends filled the
> grave with soil, then poured water on it for purification and placed
> their fingers on top of the grave while offering prayer.
> "She is still in shock. It's totally unbelievable. We never, ever
> dreamed something like this would happen," said Havash's niece, Leyla
> Sarshar, 22, a student at Georgia State University who helped break the
> news to Roya Havash.
> As improbable as Havash's death seemed, Sarshar said she believes her
> uncle was fated to die in the way he did, shot in the back in
> circumstances no one could imagine.
> "From the day he was born, it was predetermined. If you don't believe
> that, you're bound to go crazy," she said.
> Events of the summer reinforce Sarshar's belief. Havash had planned to
> travel to Tehran with his wife and daughter in late June, she said, but
> changed his mind at the last minute.
> New business ventures kept him home --- the start-up of his own
> environmental engineering consulting firm and a residential
> home-building enterprise. Few realized Havash was also day trading
> stocks. "It may have been the first time he was there. He had just
> started day trading," said Sarshar.
> On the day of the shooting, a 3 p.m. appointment to look at property
> that would have placed him far from Buckhead fell through. "He would
> have been at Momentum in the morning, instead," said Sarshar. "It was
> almost like an invitation to death."
> Havash, 44, "was no ordinary man. He was a leader in our community,"
> said Sarshar. "He was a disciplined and well-educated man who earned a
> bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and two graduate degrees from
> Georgia Tech."
> John Oster, an environmental consultant with Lockwood Greene
> Technologies, worked side by side with Havash for more than 10 years.
> Havash had been a senior engineer until he left a few months ago to
> begin his own firm.
> One of the many projects they worked on together, Oster said, was
> designing a waste water treatment plant for a Coca-Cola syrup plant on
> the Amazon River in Manaus, Brazil.
> His longtime co-worker remembers Havash as a sports fan who relished
> reading the newspaper sports pages.
> Oster remembers, too, Havash's generosity. "Few people ever realized it,
> but he would slip money to people like the cafeteria workers who needed
> it," he said.
> Havash and many of his close-knit family members fled Iran in the late
> 1970s during the political upheaval that led to the overthrow of Shah
> Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. "That brought most of us here," said Sarshar.
> Havash's two sisters, Shahnaz Cangari and Shahla Khosravi, and their
> families and many of Roya's relatives live in the Roswell and Dunwoody
> area. A brother, Amir Havash, recently returned to Tehran. They are part
> of an Iranian community in metro Atlanta that is estimated to number
> more than 16, 000, said Sadri, the Georgia Tech faculty member.
> Last week's shooting was not the first time disaster has visited the
> Havash family. Sixteen months ago a tornado that ripped through Dunwoody
> destroyed the new two-story European-style home the Havash family had
> saved to build.
> After more than a year of rebuilding, the family moved back in about two
> months ago.
> Even though that part of their life has been fixed, Tannaz, who does not
> know her father is dead, knows something is again wrong.
> "She asked why her daddy wasn't at the airport to meet her," Sarsharsaid.
TEHRAN, July 28 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami condemned the
> bloody riots that rocked Tehran this month as a "declaration of war"
> against his democratic reforms and said he expected more crises to come.
> But he also smoothed over the bitter power struggle surrounding his reform
> agenda as an "illusion," insisting that he was united with the clerical
> regime behind the principles of the Islamic revolution.
> The unrest was "a development against national security and peace" and "a
> declaration of war against your president," Khatami said Tuesday in the
> western city of Hamedan (eds: correct), in a speech widely reprinted in
> the Tehran press.
> He called the six days of disturbances, which erupted after police and
> Islamic hardliners cracked down on a university protest over the regime's
> closure of a pro-Khatami newspaper, "an insult to the political system."
> Khatami pledged justice for the students, who were reportedly attacked by
> Islamic militants wielding clubs and chains as security forces allowed the
> violence to unfold.
> "All persons and elements responsible for the recent riots in Tehran will
> get tough punishment no matter who they are," he said.
> Khatami made the surprising admission that he had been expecting trouble
> after the serial murders of several dissident intellectuals last year that
> authorities blamed on a rogue member of the secret police.
> "We knew the discovery of this matter would have tremendously negative
> effects. I was expecting the crises and in fact I still am," the president
> said.
> Yet he also came down firmly on the side of the regime's powerful security
> apparatus, stressing that the clashes "should not lead to the insulting or
> weakening of the forces of law and order."
> "Security is the basis of freedom," he said, taking pains to stress that
> democratic reforms and the rule of law -- both hallmarks of his political
> agenda since his 1997 election -- were not incompatible.
> In what his supporters are likely to see as a disappointing retreat,
> Khatami praised the massive government-organised rally that marked the end
> of the pro-reform student demonstrations as a show of "national unity."
> Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that the rally, for which tens
> of thousands of people were bussed in by the government the day after the
> riots ended, was a sign of unity behind supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
> Khamenei.
> "There is no split between the government, the presidency and the supreme
> leader," Khatami said, glossing over the factional rivalry which has
> stemmed from fierce conservative and hardline opposition to his reforms.
> Any appearance of a political schism between reformists and conservatives
> was, he said, an "illusion."
> But there can be no illusion about the vicious struggle taking place as
> students and Khatami supporters remain frustrated by the glacial pace of
> reforms, which have been stymied by conservatives in the government.
> The pro-reform press that flourished after he took office two years ago
> has since been the target of a relentless crackdown.
> Three major reform papers have been closed down since beginning of the
> year and the director of Salam, whose closure sparked the student
> demonstrations, was found guilty of a sweeping array of charges Sunday
> that will surely mean the paper is banned for years, if not permanently.
> Dozens of moderate journalists have been arrested or brought in for
> questioning by the conservative-dominated judiciary and it is now a rare
> week in which another pro-reform paper does not come under attack.
> Meanwhile state television has repeatedly been broadcasting videotaped
> "confessions" of student activists accused of being "counter-
> revolutionaries."
> Khatami stressed Tuesday that the strict principles of the 1979 Islamic
> revolution which today provide the judicial reasoning for the crackdown
> remain at the heart of Iranian society.
> The revolution, he said, was "a revolution of freedom, laws and
> compassion, a revolution of kindness and smiles."
TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - Student activists from across Iran gathered in
> Tehran Thursday to chart a ``legal and democratic'' campaign to demand
> that those behind a bloody attack on a pro-democracy rally be punished.
> Buses carrying members of university Islamic associations from around the
> country arrived on the outskirts of the capital for a closed-door
> planning session.
> Organizers said they expected between 350-500 students to take part in
> the conference, called in response to six days of student unrest and
> street riots that began with an attack on the Tehran University
> dormitories by police and Islamic vigilantes.
> ``This is a meeting to work out our strategies following up the students'
> demands in the most legal and democratic way possible,'' said Morteza
> Ahmadi, one of the organizers.
> ``We are not seeking any violence,'' Ahmadi said.
> Student leaders, struggling to keep pace with their rank and file, are
> demanding the identification and punishment of all participants in the
> attack on the dormitory, which student leaders say killed one person and
> injured more than 200. At least five others are missing and still
> unaccounted for.
> They are also seeking the dismissal and punishment of the hard-line
> national police chief and what they called a ``very serious guarantee''
> that police and security forces would be barred from entering the
> universities or related areas.
> The immediate failure of the authorities, including moderate President
> Mohammad Khatami, to address these demands fed rising frustrations that
> eventually exploded through the streets of central Tehran on July 13.
> The violence prompted a tough crackdown by security forces, a ban on
> future protests and the arrests of activists and ordinary students alike.
> It also cast doubts over the future of the social and political reforms
> of Khatami, elected in 1997 with overwhelming support of young people,
> women and Islamic intellectuals.
> Earlier this week commanders of the Revolutionary Guards openly
> criticised Khatami for being soft on the protesters and failing to defend
> Iran's Islamic system, raising fears in some quarters of a possible
> hard-line coup d'etat.
> Meanwhile, student activists say the security forces have maintained
> their pressure on the universities.
> A pro-democracy student body said its members had been targeted by
> continued waves of arrests, beatings and forced confessions, despite
> official statements that the detention of students had ended.
> The Student Council of the Tehran University Dormitories, formed in the
> heat of this month's protests, said in a statement that members of the
> council and students at large were being detained illegally, subjected to
> abuse and forced to sign false confessions.
> ``We have reports that people have been arrested merely for being
> students, and after hours of interrogation, along with beatings, they
> were forced to sign confessions with their eyes closed,'' the council
> said in a faxed statement.
> The Council said seven of its own elected members, along with others
> belonging to recognized university organizations, were missing and
> presumed held by security forces.
> ``Is it acceptable that merely because you are working with an official
> student organization you would be arrested illegally?'' said the
> statement, which called on top government officials to intervene and halt
> the arrests.
> Earlier this week the secret police announced that those students
> arrested during the unrest and its aftermath who were not identified as
> belonging to subversive groups had all been released.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - An Iranian pro-democracy student group
> accused authorities today of continuing arrests, beatings and forced
> confessions, despite official statements that political detentions had
> stopped.
> The Council of Student Protesters, which speaks for pro-democracy
> demonstrators who earlier this month staged six days of protests, said in
a
> statement that ``a wave of arrests'' had begun after a crackdown on the
> demonstrations.
> ``Some people have been arrested merely for being students. After being
> interrogated for hours, they were beaten and forced to sign confessions
> blindfolded,'' the group said in the statement published in the Hamshahri
> daily, seen on the Internet in Dubai.
> The group added that seven of its own members and students belonging to
other
> university organizations were missing and believed held by security
forces.
> Iran's Intelligence Ministry said earlier this week that students arrested
in
> the unrest who were not identified as members of subversive groups had all
> been released. Authorities said 750 of the 1,200 people arrested have been
> released.
> Also today, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari accused what he
> described as Iran's enemies of trying to undermine the government of
Iranian
> President Mohammad Khatami.
> ``We should not put pressure on the people and limit their legal freedoms
> under the pretext of maintaining security in the country,'' said Lari, a
> moderate cleric aligned with Khatami.
> ``The government is determined to strongly proceed with its social
plans,''
> Lari was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency.
> At least three people were killed in the weeklong violence that began July
9
> with police and hard-line vigilantes storming a Tehran University
dormitory
> after a peaceful rally against hard-liners in the Islamic government. It
led
> to demonstrations and clashes with the police as the protests spread to
eight
> other major cities.
>
IRAN: B2 rating reflects weak economy
> By Arkady Ostrovsky in London
> The Financial Times
> July 22, 1999
> In its first annual report on Iran, Moody's, the rating agency, said
> Iran's junk bond B2 credit rating reflected its weak economy and a lack
> of consistency in its reform process.
> Moody's said the country's weak economic structure, which depends
> heavily on oil exports, is prone to balance of payment crises because of
> the volatility in oil prices.
> Iran has twice rescheduled its bilateral debt to other governments in
> the past decade as a result of a decline in oil prices and the lack of
> external financing.
> Iran exports about 2.5m barrels of crude oil a day out of production of
> 3.6m of barrels a day. However, oil output has been restricted by Opec's
> 3.4m b/d limit.
> "Non-oil exports have performed poorly - the low quality of its output,
> narrowness of the range of products and the ban on Iranian imports
> imposed by the US have been mainly responsible," Moody's says.
> The report says Iran's hopes of raising economic growth to 6 per cent a
> year are too optimistic. It could reach 4 per cent if it managed to
> attract foreign funds.
> The inflow of foreign funds, however, depends on Iran's improving
> external economic relations and domestic political changes. 


Other news on: "Your Comments Page"

Lobby Congress on coma care

NEW YORK-Iran times Jamshid Ghajar, the Iranian American Physician who saved the life of a young woman beaten savagely in New York's Central Park last year, is calling on the American Public to pressure hospitals and Congress to adopt standards that ensure victims of head injury trauma get proper attention during the critical period they are in comas.
Many media articles have referred to the woman's recovery as a miracle worked by a magic doctor. But Dr. Ghajar says the recovery was not a miracle but "good science."
Ghajar told Parade magazine all he did was monitor the woman's brain constantly and drain fluid whenever there was a pressure build-up. This should be standard procedure for brain injuries, he said, but unfortunately it is not.
Ghajar's medical work will be featured in the Public Broad casting Service's (PBS) popular television series Nova when it airs an episode called "Coma" Tuesday, October 7.
Ghajar said that he found in a 1991 survey of 260 U.S. Trauma treatment centers that 70 percent did not follow the constant monitoring procedure on a routine basis.
Ghajar said that there is a 50 percent death rate among head injury patients when the monitoring and draining of fluid is not constant. In contrast, the death rate among those who are monitored is under 30 percent.
"Patients who are dying could have received this therapy," said Ghajar. "All it requires of the Physicians is more of their time."
Ghajar encouraged people you pressure their state legislatures to adopt the American Association of Neurological Surgeons' Guidelines for trauma centers and to urge Congress to finance a national trauma center network to help ensure head injury patient no matter where they live.
As for the pianist beaten and left for dead in Central Park, "She is playing the piano again. "Ghajar said. "If you saw her on the street, she'd looked entirely normal." 
Back to TOP

Student: College expelled me for being Iranian

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin An Iranian - American woman is sing Marquette University on grounds that she was dismissed from dental school because of her ethnicity and Muslim religion.
Behnaz Nonahal said she had completed her first year of dental school at Marquette University in 1993-94 with a grade point average of 3.578, ranking 10th out of 71 students.
Subsequently, she alleged, she was harassed by professors and school administrators. It was made clear, according to her suit, "that she was being so treated because of her race."
Nonahal alleges that one professor told her she had to go to a local bar if she wanted good grades. The same instructor allegedly made "rude sexual remarks" against her religion.
Furthermore, alleged Nonahal, professors warned her "repeatedly" to avoid other Iranian students who complained of discrimination at the dental school and warned her not to "challenge the system."
Nonahal said she began to get poor grades following these incidents of verbal harassment. In June 1997, she
was dismissed from the dental school and had her eligibility for financial aid terminated.
Nonahal, who has become a U.S. Citizen, said the harassment was directed against her solely because of her national origin and her Muslim faith. Officials at Marquette declined to comment on the merits of her lawsuit, saying that they had not seen a complete copy of it. 
Back to TOP

Rivazfars have their day in court

ALBANY, New York- The War Between the States of Florida and New York made it to the top court in New York last week as lawyers debated whether a New York court could stop a Florida court from ordering Sayeh and Arash Rivazfar to live with their mother in Florida.
The issue involves the U.S. Constitution, which says that the courts of one state must give "full faith and credit" to the judicial proceedigns of every other state. The case might end up in the U.S. Supreme Court, which, ironically, was hearing a case on the very same issue on the very same day.
Sayeh Rivazfar won't be impacted by the decision. She turned 18 Friday, two days after the court case was argued. She is now an adult. But her younger brother, Arash, 14, is a minor whose future lies in the hands of the court system.
Sayeh and Arash refused to visit their mother, Pat Pafford, in Florida. They are supported by their father, Ahmad Rivazfar, of greece, New York, who could go to jail as the responsible adult.
Because the father refused to force the children to visit their mother as laid out in the child custody settlement some years ago, a Florida court earlier this year reversed custody and ordered the children permanently returned to the mother.
The children and their dad have gone into the New York courts, which have split on the issue. The seven-member New York Court of Appeals, the supreme court of New York, heard the case Wednesday but will not make a ruling for about a month.
In general, states have always deferred to the state that conducted the original custody hearing, in this case, Florida. But New York's judges didn't tip their hand and spent most of their time trying to pole holes in both sides' arguments.
"We'd be the first of the 50 states to open that door," commented judge Richard Wesley. But later Wesley said, "This is not the usual mom-and-da-don't -like-each-other case...
Why shouldn't New York have an interest in protecting these children?"
In the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices conducted themselves similarly. The case involves and injunction by a Michigan court barring one "expert witness" from appearing in any cases against General Motors. Justice Stephen Breyer said that to define"full faith and credit" narrowly would open up a multitude of tough cases, ranging, he said, from antitrust to child custody.
Justice Ruthe Bader Ginsburg, on the other hand, said that defining "full faith and credit" in the broadest way was equivalent to saying "Michigan rules the world."
Sayeh Rivazfar and her dad sat at the back of the New York courtroom as their case was argued there.
"It's very difficult that you have to come to such a high-level court to be able to stay where you feel safe and loved." She told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
Crystal Spencer, l lawyer for Sayeh's mother, said, 'When Sayeh matures a little bit, when she removes herself from the glare of the cameras, when she removes herself from the influence of her father, she will realize that these last two years have not been what they appear to be."
The case is unique because a decade ago Sayeh was kidnaped from her mother's home, raped, slashed and left for dead by a man she describes as her mother's boyfriend. It was shortly after that attack that the Florida court gave the father custody of the children with visitation rights for the mother. 
Back to TOP

U.S. Visas snarl Kiarostami

by Vida Ghaffari

WASHINGTON-Visa problems have complicated planned visits to the United States by director Abbas Kiarostami-and forced him to scuttle one.
The problem appears to be, in part, the tough new U.S. approach to visas for Iranian, which require a wait of up to 15 days in Europe before a visa is issued. But Kiarostami's own "whirling dervish" approach to travel may have complicated things.
Kiarostami planned to attend three film events in the United States in September and October. But in between each, he planned travel elsewhere.
That meant three entries to the United States over four weeks. It didn't pan out that way.
The first worked out fine. Kiarostami visited the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado over the Labor Day weekend.
Muffy Deslaurier, director of administration of the Telluride Film Festival, told the Iran Times, "The Taste of Cherry' was screened and there was an excellent turnout. Tom Luddy, the co-director of the festival arranged for Mr. Kiarostami to at tend. He was instrumental in getting the proper information to the visa people."
When asked if Kiarostami had any problems getting to the United States, Luddy told the Iran Times, "He had some difficulties because the embassy in Paris told him to go to Turkey from now on for a visa. Obviously, they did give it to him, because he's actually been here in this country. Of course, we'd love to have him back, but we have no plans set right now."
After Telluride, Kiarostami left the United States and was scheduled to attend film festivals in Sarajevo and Toronto. Dorna Khazeni, who served as his translator, told the Iran Times. "From what Mr. Kiarostami told me, I believe he was planning to go to the film festivals in Sarajevo and Toronto, but it turned out that he couldn't go. We often have cancellations when we invite Iranian film makers here.
"Last year, we presented 'Gabbeh,' and invited (Mohsen) Makhmalbaf, but he had to cancel his visit. The year before that, we had "The White Balloon' and invited (Jafar) Panahi, but he had to cancel as well. We did a lot of work this time for Kiarostami to attend. We talked to officials at the State Department. It was terrible that one of the greatest living film makers around was treated so disrespectfully at the Paris consulate."
Kiarostami planned to come back for a screening of his films at the Harvard Film Archive but ran afoul of more visa problems.
The theater manager at the Harvard Film Archive told the Iran Times, "We found out all this on really short notice. For his first scheduled visit (to the Film Archive), he couldn't make it, because of difficulties in obtaining his visa. Mr. Kiarostami went to Paris to get his visa and was delayed there. He was really put through the rignger. It was very traumatic for him. He was interrogated the whole nine yards. People wrote letters on his behalf to get him here. We used quite a few connections to get him and we just kept waiting to hear when he would arrive."
Harvard rescheduled its screening to give time for the visa to come through, but Kiarostami chose to accept the Desica award in Rome instead. "You never really know in these situations," the Harvard theater manager said.
But then it was back to the United States for Kiarostami's second, nee third, appearance this one at he New York Film Festival last week. Kiarostami didn't have the kind of problems the people at the Harvard Film Archive described.
"At the present time, he's in Iran working on his next film, said Khazeni.
Sophie Gluch, one of his publicists for, "The Taste of Cherry says that when Kiarostami returns to Iran, he goes into seclusion and is hard to locate. 
Back to TOP

Peykan beats Rolls, Mercedes

PARIS-Don't mock the modest Peykan! In the hard-driving Beijing-to-Paris road race, the three Peykans ended up in fifth, sixth and seventh place out of 66 finishers.
The Iranian team placed third over all, after the American and British teams.
It was a remarkable showing for the plucky and much-maligned Peykan.
The race was only the second held on the 16,000 kilometer Beijing-to-Paris route. The previous race was held in 1907.
At one point, after completing the grueling trip across the Himalayas and subcontinent, a Peykan held first place. But once the racers faced quality roads, the Peykans slipped a bit.
First place went to a 1942 Willys Jeep.
The race began in Tiananmen Square September 6 with 99 cars. The only requirement was that entries must be more than 25 years old. The oldest was a 1907 La France.
The race ended Saturday with 66 cars surviving.
After finishing the rush across Asia, the drivers voted Iran as having the best highways up to that point, according to Briton John Stuttard, who drove a pink Rolls Royce.
  
Back to TOP

Is Hollywood Ever Going to reconsider its Campaign

of Hate and Defamation of Iranians?

IADA ACTION ALERT: OCT 6, 1997
THE PEACEMAKER from Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Studio, which is being
screened nationally and internationally, contains hate provoking swear
words against Iran and against all Iranians by reason of ethnic origin.
Unfortunately, the use of this type of degrading terminology continues
to fuel the fire of misunderstanding, and hostility toward Iranian-Americans.
Evidently, in one scene, while tracking a truck with the stolen nuclear
bombs, the hero of the story says: "It's five miles from fucking Iran."
DreamWorks claim that "the script matches the character of a rough,
profanity spouting military man" is at best sophomoric and at worst a diversionary
tactic and very unconvincing. One may question why while confronting an
assorted so-called 'terrorist' nations and groups, the 'hero' of the movie reserves this
type of epithet for Iran and Iranians.
Furthermore, few moments later, referring to a captured Harvard-educated
Moslem scientist the 'hero' exclaims: "We educate half the world's terrorists."
By casting a very serious suspicion on the integrity and loyalty of
thousands if not tens of thousands of sorely needed foreign-born students,
scientists and technologists in America, is this movie advocating a form of
educational and professional Apartheid in our society? Dreamworks, should remember
that immigrant students have contributed greatly to American science,
technology and society.
If DreamWorks is attempting to express its anger or frustration with
respect to events of the international political arena, we ask them to note that
this form of expression leaves innocent bystanders as victims. Furthermore,
this type of production undermines the foundation of American society as the
great melting pot.
The concern of the Iranian-American community continues to be the
ill-aimed demonization of Iranians and Iranian culture. Unfortunately we, as
members of and contributors to American society, face the social consequences of
these dehumanizing and anger provoking products of the 'entertainment'
industry, everyday.
Just a couple of years ago, Mr. Spielberg held a 'sensitivity training
lecture' for some disadvantaged kids, when they chuckled inappropriately at a sad
part of one of his movies. We, simply, hope that he would extend the same
courtesy in reverse to the Iranian-Americans and show his readiness to listen to
them and learn about their deep concerns on his and other movie industry's
productions.
 
We ask Mr. Steven Spielberg and the director Mimi Leder to:
1. Revise the explicit & insulting lines of the Peacemakers' script for
video publication.
2. Consider the consequences of using fiction and film as the medium for
education and the forum for debate of real social issues. Does this
type of production promote understanding and critical thinking or does it
help foster paranoia and hatred among this country's citizens?
3. Publicly apologies to the Iranian Community.
4. Affirm their commitment to discuss their misperceptions and lack of
sensitivity with respect to people of Iranian Heritage, with
Iranian-American groups.
We demand they notify Iranian Anti-Defamation Alliance of this
commitment.
Iranian Anti-Defamation Alliance
iada@aol.com
P.O. Box 21607, Oakland, CA 94620-1607
 
We ask the Iranian-American Community at Large to please contact
Mr. Steven Spielberg and Ms. Mimi Leder, please be polite but firm:
 
DreamWorks Studio 100 Universal City Plaza Bldg. 477 Universal City, CA
91608
Phone: (818) 733-7000 C/O Mr. Mike Vollman (Field Marketing Director)
Phone: (818) 733-6892 Fax #: (818) 733-6995
Email: mvollman@dreamworks.com
Web page: http://www.pepsi.com/main/nav/master_fspeacemaker.html
 
Pepsi has sponsored this movie on its website: You can visit Pepsi at
http://www.pepsico.com/
Let Pepsi know that their sponsoring The Peacemaker, effects your
decision to be a Pepsi Consumer by emailing Pepsi at: webmaster@pepsi.com
Please help IADA, your all-volunteer non-partisan organization of
Iranian-Americans, to serve our community better by volunteering your skills and time
in our common cause.
 
Iranian Anti-Defamation Alliance
P.O. Box 21607, Oakland, CA 94620-1607
Email: iada@aol.com 
Back to TOP

Puncher get three golds and two silvers in Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Malasia-Iranian boxers pulled down three gold medals and two silvers in the 19th Asian Boxing Champion ships this week.
In the medal standings, Iran came in second to Uzbekistan with Thailand a close third and Kazakhstan a distant fourth.
Asian boxing has 12 weight divisions. Iranian boxers came in first or second in five of those divisions.
In the over-91 kilos division, Mohammad Reza Samadi won gold by defeating Harpal Singh of India.
In 71 kilos, Esfandiyar Mohammadi won gold by defeating Berdiev of Uzbekistan.
At 63.5 kilos, Babak Moghimi won gold by defeating Akelpavaev of Kyrgyzstan.
At 57 kilos, Bjian Batmani won silve after losing in the finals to Turgunov of Uzbekistan.
At 54 kilos, Akbar Ahadi took the silver after losing in the finals to Sontaya Wongprates of Thailand.
The Uzbeks won three golds and four silvers to Iran's three golds and two silvers. The Thais won four golds but no silvers. 
Back to TOP

Grapplers finish third in world meet

KRASNOYARSK, Russia-Iran bagged two gold medals and a bronze at the 1997 world freestyle wrestling championships held in a city deep in Siberia that was closed to foreigners until just five years ago.
In terms of point scores, the Iranian team came in third. Russia led far and away with 61 points, followed by Ukraine with 43 and Iran with 40.
In the medals table, Iran came in second to Russia. Both had two golds; neither had a silver; Russia had two bronzes to Iran's one. The United States, Turkey and Cuba tied for third place with one gold and one silver apiece.
Especially pleasing to some of the authorities in Tehran was the fact that one of the Iranian golds was won with the defeat of an American wrestler.
Abbas Haj-Kenari bagged the gold in the 63-kilo division by defeating Cary Kolat of the United States 4-2. Haj-Kenari took a quick 3-0 lead. Kolat fought back to make the