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Weekly Commentary
In Iran, Year
Ends with a Big Bang
The arrival of the spring on Sunday marked the start of the
Iranian New Year, Norouz, and last week, on the eve of the New
Year, Iranians made another brave stand against the tyrants
ruling their country, reaffirming the view that the seeming calm
in Iran’s political space is very superficial.
The occasion was Chahar-shanbesouri (Festival of fire),
that is celebrated on the last Tuesday of the year in the
Iranian calendar. The celebrations quickly turned into an
opportunity for the people to display their deep seethed disdain
of the ruling mullahs. Tehran and other cities became the scene
of major anti-regime protests, the largest, perhaps, since the
July 1999 student uprising, according to reports from Iran.
Despite a general ban on Chahar-Shanbehsouri, the restive
population defied the regime and took to the streets.
Eyewitnesses reported the burning of full-sized effigies of the
mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Mohammad Khatami.
The authorities brought in the State Security Forces, which the
protester defied and clashed with in several districts in the
Iranian capital. Repeating a line from the time of anti-Shah
revolution some 26 years ago, Tehranis were chanting, “Guns,
tanks, Bassijs are no longer effective.”
The Guardian reported from Tehran, “At first the ear-splitting
explosions, blazing bonfires and choking stench of teargas could
have been mistaken for the prelude to a new Iranian revolution.”
Highlighting the anti-regime overtone of the festivities, the
daily added that “subversion… hung heavy in the air... No one
present seemed in any doubt about the political undercurrents.”
"This is a way for people to use their national traditions to
show their opposition to the regime," said a man called Reza.
Another young Iranian told the newspaper that "We hate their
brand of Islam because it spills blood, [we want a political
system which is] democratic, with a separation between religion
and politics ... We will sacrifice our lives for democracy and
freedom."
The state news agency in Iran, IRNA, reported that the police
used tear gas in more than four locations in Tehran. "Special
police forces on motorbikes attacked the crowd. While fleeing
women and children fell and some were injured," IRNA reported.
In central city of Isfahan, a witness told Reuters, “men in
black leather jackets seized a group of nine boys and young men…
rammed them against a wall and smash their faces and shoulders
with batons.” A woman screamed hysterically as one of the
religious vigilantes in a motorcycle-helmet dragged a battered
teenager into an unmarked car, Reuters reported.
The year-end nationwide acts of protest against the clerical
regime reaffirm the assertion that the apparent calm in Iran’s
political landscape is only skin-deep. The restive population,
exploiting national occasions, has time after time displayed its
desire for the overthrow of the ruling theocracy.
These acts of popular defiance confirm that far from being
apathetic, Iran’s younger generation, the main engine of
political and social change and the vanguard of Iran’s democracy
movement, is actively seeking different ways of challenging the
regime.
No doubt, with active diplomatic and political support, we could
empower this movement to expand and intensify its anti-regime
campaign. This support, however, would be meaningful and
effectual only if implemented in the framework of a
comprehensive Iran policy, which revolves around a pivotal role
for the Iranian people and the democratic opposition as a
realistic actor of change.
Early March, President George W. Bush declared at the National
Defense University, "The advance of hope in the Middle
East...requires new thinking in the capitals of great
democracies - including Washington, D.C. By now it should be
clear that decades of excusing and accommodating tyranny, in the
pursuit of stability, have only led to injustice and instability
and tragedy... And our duty is now clear: For the sake of our
long-term security, all free nations must stand with the forces
of democracy and justice.”
As Iran’s nuclear clock continues to tick, we must work to
ensure that the clock for the regime change by Iranians ticks
even faster. Ultimately, a democratic and secular government in
Iran would remove the regional and global security threats posed
by the current terror-sponsoring, theocratic regime.
(USADI)
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Denver Post
March
20, 2005
In Iran, a time for
courage
Excerpts from an article by Faezeh
Sami
This is a time to celebrate the
acts of courage. This is a time to reflect on progress we've
made. This is a time to call for change. This is a time to
salute the women around the world who have strived for freedom
and equality.
Iranian women have faced the darkest period of their history in
the last three decades and wish to prevent the same thing
happening to the women of Iraq.
A quarter century ago, Islamic vigilantes empowered by Ayatollah
Khomeini's misogynistic decrees targeted Iranian women. Those
who did not adhere to Islamic "veiling" were subject to the
harshest treatments, including burning their faces with acid.
In Iraq, a pamphlet recently found on a campus declared: "Any
girl student who does not wear a veil and who wears Western
clothing will have her face burned with chemicals." Last
October, Rana Faud, a student from Mustansiriya University, was
abducted as she was leaving the campus. Within an hour, the
young woman, still dressed in blue jeans, was found unconscious
but unharmed. Even non-Muslim students feel obligated to wear
the veil…
Iranian women have paid a heavy price for their struggle against
fundamentalism. Tens of thousands of women have been executed in
Iran since 1979. Women played a very active role in voicing
their rights. Women who have been involved in demonstrations
have been arrested and imprisoned merely for participating. At
least 14 women have been stoned to death since President
Mohammad Khatami took office in 1997. The suicide rate in Iran
is one of the highest in the world. According to the Research
Committee of the Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran (www.wfafi.org),
75 percent of suicides are women. Of those, 81 percent are
between 15 and 31 years old.
It is time for a change. A global fight is needed against the
threat of Islamic fundamentalism. The answer to end all
oppression is democracy. The continuous violations of human
rights in Iran, particularly against women, must be opposed.
Courageous efforts must be made in order to side with Iranian
people. The U.S. and Europe must speak in one voice when it
comes to defending women's rights and human rights in general.
The Western world must respect Iranians for their struggle for
democracy. We have one simple request: Freedom and equality...
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The Sunday Telegraph
March 20, 2005
Iran plans secret
'nuclear university' to train scientists
The Iranian government has given approval for the establishment
of a secret nuclear research centre to train its scientists in
all aspects of atomic technology, The Telegraph can reveal.
Recent reports received by Western intelligence show that
Teheran has recently approved the establishment of a faculty of
applied nuclear engineering that will be attached to the Atomic
Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI).
The faculty will provide post-graduate courses for Iranian
scientists in nuclear engineering and the production of nuclear
materials.
Intelligence officials believe that the creation of the facility
is yet further evidence that Iran is involved in a clandestine
programme to build nuclear weapons…
The establishment of Iran's first post-graduate nuclear research
faculty is seen as evidence that the Iranians are pressing ahead
with their secret programme to become self-sufficient in the
production of nuclear weapons.
"If the Iranians were really serious about only developing
nuclear technology for peaceful means, there would be no need
for a facility like this," said a senior Western security
official. "It suggests that they do not want to share their
nuclear expertise with the outside world."
The disclosure that Iran is setting up the nuclear research
facility follows last week's revelation that Ukraine exported 12
cruise missiles to Teheran in 2001. The X-55 cruise missiles are
designed to carry nuclear warheads and have a range of 1,800
miles, enabling Iran to attack Israel and Nato targets in
southern Europe…
All students participating in the new Iranian nuclear research
courses will first be required to undergo a thorough security
vetting process conducted by security officials from Iran's
Revolutionary Guards, who will have overall control of the
facility.
The main purpose of the complex, which will operate as a branch
of Teheran University, is to make Iran's nuclear industry
completely self-sufficient.
At present most Iranian students are required to travel abroad
for advanced studies in nuclear technology, where they are kept
under strict supervision. By making the new facility part of
Teheran University, Iranian officials hope that it will not be
liable to inspection by IAEA officials.
Associated Press
March
22, 2005
Iran Opposition
Group Wants Off List
LONDON - An Iranian opposition group on Tuesday called on the
British government to remove the People's Mujahedeen militia
from a list of terrorist organizations.
The Mujahedeen regard themselves as legitimate opposition to the
hardline clerical regime in Tehran and claim that Britain, along
with the European Union and the United States, classify them as
terrorists to appease the Iranian government. British officials
deny the allegation.
"This unjust designation is a grave breach of the principles of
democracy and human rights," said Maryam Rajavi, co-leader of
the group's political wing, the National Council of Resistance
of Iran.
The council is backed by several British parliamentarians and
lawyers, who gathered in London Tuesday calling for the
proscription to be lifted.
Addressing the conference via video link from Paris, Rajavi
accused Britain, France and Germany of using the Mujahedeen as a
bargaining chip during negotiations with Iran over it nuclear
program.
She said the so-called EU-3 had assured Tehran that the group
would stay on the terrorist list, as long as Iran's suspension
of uranium enrichment activities continued.
"The proscription of the People's Mujahedeen remains a blot on
the democratic landscape," said lawyer Stephen Grosz, calling
for the group to be removed from the list of individuals and
organizations whose assets are frozen.
The group's military activities have calmed in recent years, and
through the NCRI has tried to bolster its image.
Britain's Foreign Office on Tuesday denied that the status of
the Mujahedeen was a negotiating chip between the EU-3 and
Tehran. A spokesman said that given the group's violent campaign
against the government in Tehran, there was nothing to suggest
the terrorist label should be lifted.
Investor's Business
Daily
Mar 14, 2005
The Last Carrot
President Bush has decided to give appeasement a chance to fail.
That may please Europeans and the mullahs, but how will it play
with the Iranian people?
Those people, of course, are not allowed to answer that question
openly and honestly. But in light of what is going on all over
the Middle East, we would not be surprised if they were getting
more restless with their life under a theocratic tyranny.
It also wouldn't surprise us if they judged the U.S., Britain,
France and Germany to be a bit behind the curve.
Despite all the democratic ferment in the region, Western powers
are treating Iran's regime as not only legitimate but long-term.
Rather than sanctioning and isolating the mullahs for their
long-standing clandestine nuclear program and their support of
terrorism, Europe wants to buy their good behavior with economic
favors. Bush agreed last week to go along with the Europeans.
The White House dropped objections to letting Iran join the
World Trade Organization, and it will allow Iran to buy civilian
aircraft parts.
Just hours after the White House announced this policy shift,
Iran's foreign ministry dismissed it as an empty gesture…
Actually getting Iran to change, or even to admit past nuclear
cheating, will require sterner steps. Few seem to doubt that.
And the administration points out that the Europeans are on
board for this next phase, at least up to a point. The Euros
have agreed that, if Iran balks, the issue would then be
referred to the United Nations…
If nothing else, continued Iranian defiance or stalling should
help discredit the idea of appeasement and bolster the argument
for a tougher stand…
Beyond military threats, the mullocracy is watching core parts
of its terror empire start to crumble. Key ally Syria is being
driven out of Lebanon, where it has sponsored the Iran-backed
terror group Hezbollah. The Syrian regime itself is beginning to
look shaky. The emerging government of Iraq also could seriously
weaken the Iranian dictatorship by setting a subversive example:
a state that is Islamic and Shiite, yet also democratic and
reasonably free.
All this means that the U.S. can get plenty of help if it wants
to weaken the current Iran government and help the Iranian
people replace it with a democracy. But is that what the
administration really wants to do? The president has said,
repeatedly, that he supports the Iranians in their quest for
freedom.
On the other hand, he has at least temporarily taken what's
called the "realist" view -- that dealing with the present
Tehran government is a safer bet than trying to get it changed.
Bush has thrown it a carrot, but it should be the last one. From
here on, he should stick more consistently with the premise that
the future of the Middle East lies with the people, not the
dictators.
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