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Payvand Iran News Archive

Home News News Archive Sports News Interesting Sites Directory Persian Calendar Bookstore Archive	April 2003 Dramatic raid on Iranian-born man's house just 'licensing issue,' investigators say Last week Ali and Nancy Mohseni had just risen from bed and were in the kitchen of their Fort Bend County home when the doorbell rang. "It was not a neighbor selling cookies," Nancy Mohseni, 65, recalled Tuesday. -Houston Chronicle, TX - 4/30/03 Iranian Mujahedin Takes Multiple Hits The outlawed Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition group the State Department has designated as an international terrorist organization because of its close ties to the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, is reeling from the one-two punch delivered by the United States this month. -Kenneth R. Timmerman, Insight - 4/30/03 Iranian MP to face court over prison claims Tehran's justice department said it would be forced to act on its "legal duty" if Ali Akbar Mousavi Khoeni, a former student activist, failed to answer a court subpoena for spreading "false statements" to a team of UN monitors, newspapers reported yesterday. -Guardian - 4/30/03 Workers in Iran protest working conditions, capitalism on May Day About 2,000 workers from Tehran staged a sit-in at the Tehran Labor House on Wednesday, on the eve of May Day, to protest working conditions, wages and privatization - 4/30/03 The gaping hole in Iraq In other words, the US and Britain have ripped a big hole in Iraq and it is Shia Islam, backed in part by Iran, which is stepping through it. General Garner may demand that there be no "out of country" influence on the new Iraq - apparently forgetting that he and his fellow Americans are hardly native-born Baghdadis - but this is the fast-emerging reality. -Guardian - 4/30/03 Rumsfeld's visit to Iraq marred by fresh shooting Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, was on Wednesday facing rising criticism of the way his troops are policing Iraq as he visited the country for the first time in 20 years to mark the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. -Financial Times - 4/30/03 Letter from Saddam: Dear President Bush Tips for President Bush on understanding and running Iraq from one who, in retrospect, knows. -Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times - 4/30/03 Sheibani appointed as new governor for Central Bank of Iran : report Born in the central city of Yazd, Sheibani, 54, has a Ph.D. in Economics and is a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics of Tehran University. He has also served as the CBI deputy governor and secretary general for some 14 years. - 4/30/03 Turkey: Ankara Cuts Russian Gas, Courts Iran Turkey has stopped buying Russian gas from the recently opened Blue Stream pipeline across the Black Sea, raising doubts about Ankara's policies and whether the $3.2 billion project was ever needed at all. -RFE - 4/30/03 Kennedy warns on nuclear tests Senator Edward Kennedy yesterday warned that the Bush administration was preparing to restart the testing of nuclear weapons so it could develop a new generation of bunker-busting bombs and tactical "mini-nukes", potentially triggering a new arms race. -Guardian - 4/30/03 Iran rejects new US accusations of seeking nuclear programs "These repeated accusations are to distract public opinion from the US intention of building small size atomic bombs," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted as saying Wednesday. -AFP - 4/30/03 Rafsanjani: US hypocrisy appears with army commander coming to terms with MKO Rafsanjani said that (with signing an agreement with the MKO terrorist organization in Iraq), the Americans indicated their insincerity in the international campaign against terrorism. - 4/30/03 EU, Iran satisfied after new round of bilateral talks The European Union and Iran pronounced themselves satisfied with progress made on trade and political issues during a tenth round of bilateral talks, the Greek EU presidency said in a statement released late on Tuesday. -EU Business - 4/30/03 America signs deal with terror group AMERICAN forces in Iraq have signed a ceasefire agreement with an Iranian opposition group that the United States lists as a terrorist organisation, a surprise move that has greatly concerned officials in Britain and Tehran. -TIMES, UK - 4/30/03 From Bible to Babylon Of course, there never was a Persian emperor named Ahasueres. This name is something between the historical Xerxes (Khshayarsha) and Artaxerxes (Artakhshathra, later Ardeshir), and, there is absolutely no historical reference to a queen Esther (today's Hadassah, but more probably a name derived from Astarte or Ishtar). That notwithstanding, the story found its way into the latter chapters of the Hebrew Bible sometime around the second century A. D., during the roman occupation of the region. -Kam Zarrabi - 4/30/03 The Emergence of a New Axis: Los Angeles/Tel Aviv/Tehran However, President Bush is only half right, because while it is true that an Axis does exist, it does not, in my opinion, consist of Iraq, Iran and North Korea (Iraq is off the axis anyway!). Rather, it consists of the supporters of the Pahlavi dynasty, mainly in Los Angeles; Ariel Sharon and company in Tel Aviv, and the right-wing reactionaries in Tehran. Strange bedfellows? Not really, if we just consider for a moment what these people wish for our beloved Iran. -Dr. Mohammad Sahimi - 4/29/03 US has no better friend than Iran!: What to do with the MKO cult? Now that US forces are in Iraq, the big questions is what will be the fate of the Iraq-based People's Mujahedin (MKO), a supposedly Iranian opposition group? -Ali Moayedian - 4/29/03 American Forces Reach Cease-Fire With Terror Group American forces in Iraq have signed a cease-fire with an Iranian opposition group the United States has designated a terrorist organization, and expect it to surrender soon with some of its arms, American military officials said today. -New York Times - 4/29/03 Israeli Calls for 'Regime Change' in Iran, Syria The Israeli ambassador in Washington called for "regime change" in Iran and Syria on Monday through diplomatic isolation, economic sanctions and what he called "psychological pressure." -Reuters - 4/29/03 Iran's stance on Caspian Sea unchanged: Kharrazi Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi stressed in Baku on Monday that Iran's stance on a legal regime to govern disposition of the resources of the Caspian Sea has not changed - 4/29/03 Monster.com gives NIAC written guarantee on partial retraction of policy After negotiating with Monster.com on the retraction of their policy, NIAC requested that written guarantees be provided that Monster.com would change the policy of excluding educational experience in Iran from their standard resume forms by the middle of next week. -NIAC - 4/29/03 How to Mix Politics With Religion Twenty-four years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini outmaneuvered Iran's religious establishment, his spiritual disciples in Iraq are attempting a similar clerical coup d'etat. In Iraq before Saddam Hussein, as in Iran before the Islamic revolution of 1979, Shiite clerics often had political influence. But they generally respected the age-old Shiite doctrine that clerics should keep their distance from politics. -New York Times - 4/29/03 Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad appointed new Tehran mayor: press The Tehran City Council (TCC) has appointed Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad as the mayor of the 12-million-strong megapolis, press said Tuesday. - 4/29/03 Spain wins world-Asia champions' futsal friendly against Iran Defending world and Asian futsal champions, Spain and Iran, played a friendly in Santander on Monday that was won by the host side - 4/29/03 Iraqi Delegates agree new talks on government The biggest Shia opposition group, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which has its headquarters in Iran, sent a low-level group but said it had come to discuss civil administration issues such as security, water, and electricity rather than the formation of a government. -Guardian - 4/29/03 Iran: Judiciary takes up reform, appoints prosecutor general judiciary has adopted a key reform, appointing high-profile judge Saeed Mortazavi as the prosecutor general of public and revolutionary courts in Tehran in order to fend off criticism that the judge also acted as the prosecutor in trials. - 4/29/03 Entry-Exit program might end The Bush administration may be ready to end a controversial registration program that has required tens of thousands of foreign visitors from the Middle East and Asia to report to federal immigration offices to be photographed, fingerprinted and interviewed, White House officials said yesterday. -San Diego Union Tribune - 4/29/03 Iranian Kurds Hopeful After Regime Change The fall of Saddam Hussein's regime offers hope to thousands of refugees in a camp outside Baghdad — where they were forgotten, they say, after fleeing the borderland between Iran and Iraq 23 years ago. -AP - 4/29/03 US pulls out of Saudi Arabia The United States has said that virtually all its troops, except some training personnel, are to be pulled out of Saudi Arabia. -BBC - 4/29/03 Sex Education for Girls is Iran's New Revolution in the Making When Iranian health expert Somayeh Faraji began explaining the anatomy of a woman's sex organs, some of the students at Khoshraftar Secondary School covered their faces with their head-to-toe black chadors, others smiled shyly and bit their lips, and the rest blushed. -AP - 4/29/03 Israeli envoy urges regime change in Syria and Iran Israel's ambassador to the US called for "regime change" in Iran and Syria yesterday as players in the Middle East staked out their positions before a crucial Palestinian vote that is expected to trigger publication of the American-backed "road map" to peace. -Guardian - 4/29/03 Anger Mounts After U.S. Troops Kill 13 Iraqi Protesters U.S. soldiers killed at least 13 Iraqi civilians who marched on a school west of Baghdad to demand the troops leave the building and get out of Iraq, doctors and witnesses said on Tuesday. -Common Dreams - 4/29/03 Blair warns Tehran over Iraq and Mideast plan Tony Blair on Monday added his voice to US pressure on Iran's hardline clerics not to undermine the process of building a new government in Iraq or the "road map" to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. -Financial Times - 4/29/03 Iranian News Channel Makes Inroads in Iraq As the power gradually comes back on in Baghdad, Iraqis are tuning into television for the first time in several weeks. News is starting to stream into teahouses, barbershops and living rooms, but it is not coming from Iraq, or even America. It is coming from Iran. -New York Times - 4/29/03 U.S. Official Urges Iran Nuke Inspections "Despite professions of transparency and peaceful intent, Iran is going down the same path of denial and deception that handicapped international inspections in North Korea and Iraq," said John Wolf, U.S. assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation. -AP - 4/29/03 Iran's Parliament Speaker sees progress in Guardian Council's okaying twin bills Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi said on Tuesday that the parliament is working with the Guardian Council to make a breakthrough in ratifying the twin bills President Mohammad Khatami had introduced last year - 4/29/03 Iran's longest serving political prisoner sent back to jail Abbas Amir-Entezam, who has spent most of the last 24 years in jail after being found guilty of espionage and treason shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, had been freed on bail to undergo medical treatment over a year ago. -Jang - 4/28/03 IRAN: Special report on the changing role of women The importance of changes that have taken place for women in Iran under theleadership of President Mohammed Khatami varies depending upon who you talk to in this deeply Islamic country. While some positive steps have been taken much more needs to be done, according to female activists in the nation. -IRIN - 4/28/03 Nuclear Dominoes If North Korea, then why not Iran? That's the geo-puzzler of the week after the Bush administration - with the help of China - finally began talks with North Korea about its not-so-secret nuclear program. -Christian Science Monitor - 4/28/03 Iran FM spokesman: MKO issue not a political case "The United States and Europe should take into account the fact that the issue of Mujahedeen is a military-security case and is not a political one at all as some countries believe," Asefi told reporters at his weekly press briefing. - 4/28/03 Iran-Based SCIRI Says Likely to Go to Iraq Meeting An Iran-based Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim group said on Sunday it would probably attend a meeting of prominent Iraqis and U.S. officials in Baghdad on Monday after boycotting an initial meeting earlier this month. -Reuters - 4/28/03 Mahdavikia named "Player of the Week" in German Bundesliga The bi-weekly Kicker Sports magazine named Monday Iranian forward Mehdi Mahdavikia "Player of the Week" in the German Bundesliga following his superb performance in Hamburg's 4-0 rout over lowly Nuremberg - 4/28/03 Baha'i International Community disappointed over lack of Iran resolution at the UN The Bahá'í International Community today expressed deep disappointment that the UN Commission on Human Rights failed this year to put forward or adopt any kind of resolution on the human rights situation in Iran. - 4/28/03 Youth official says organized "lumpenism" threatening Iran Director of Iran's National Youth Organization, Morteza Mir-Baqeri, on Sunday cautioned about an increasing threat of organized "lumpenism" among Iranian youth, and called for measures to prevent the dilemma - 4/28/03 Revealed: How the Road to War was Paved with Lies Intelligence agencies accuse Bush and Blair of distorting and fabricating evidence in rush to war -Common Dreams - 4/28/03 Commentary: 'Vote Koran' President George W. Bush applauds the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiite religious demonstrators with their "U.S. Go Home" banners as long-suppressed expressions of religious freedom. We must be careful not to confuse religious freedom with religious enslavement, democratic ideals with autocratic realities. -UPI - 4/28/03 Iran behind deadly suicide bombing in Israel Monday's edition of the Yediot Aharanot daily quoted security sources as saying Iran's Revolutionary Guards sponsored the attack jointly claimed by two armed groups -AFP - 4/28/03 US hosts new Iraq meeting About 300 delegates, representing various religious, political and ethnic groups, are taking part in the conference to discuss the formation of an interim government for Iraq. -BBC - 4/28/03 Iranian FM visits Baku: Iran and Azerbaijan call for further cooperation Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, heading a delegation, arrived here on Monday on the first leg of a three-nation Caucasus tour which will also take him to Georgia and Armenia. - 4/28/03 Iran Tries to Avoid Row with U.S. Over Iraq Iranian leaders have made a flurry of comments suggesting that they are prepared to engage more constructively with their long-time arch-enemy the United States after its swift seizure of power in neighboring Iraq. -Reuters - 4/28/03 'Peaceful' Nuclear Power Fuels Spread of Weapons North Korea announces it has nuclear weapons and could make more, and analysts say South Korea, Japan and Taiwan could follow. Iran is building a plant to enrich uranium, possibly for a bomb, and experts say Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria and even postwar Iraq, depending on its new government, could be next. -Common Dreams - 4/28/03 Britain Sees No Iran Influence on Iraq The commander of British forces in the Persian Gulf said Monday he saw no sign the Iranian government was meddling in Iraqi affairs, despite U.S. claims to the contrary. -AP - 4/28/03 Russia to buy back spent nuclear fuel burnt in Iranian reactor In an attempt to convince the world in its non-proliferation commitments and Russian public in the fact that spent nuclear fuel is a valuable resource, Russian Minister for Nuclear Energy says Russia will pay Iran for the return of spent fuel from Bushehr nuclear power plant. -Bellona - 4/27/03 U.S. warns and reaches out to Iran The U.S. government was scrambling Thursday to bring the principal Iranian-backed opposition group into the fold of a future transition government for Iraq, while warning Tehran not to interfere in the country's internal affairs. -UPI - 4/27/03 Iran: We Don't Seek Conflict With U.S. Iran's government said Saturday it is neither seeking "friction" with Washington over Iraq's future government nor pushing for a religious administration in Baghdad. -AP - 4/27/03 Democracy in Iraq will benefit the entire region: Iranian analyst "The present circumstances in Iraq creates a historic opportunity for bilateral Iran-Iraq legal ties to be reviewed and reiterated upon," said As'ad Ardalan, an expert in international law who spoke here concerning the legal aspects of the war in Iraq. - 4/27/03 Project to computerize Iran's Mashhad city to go on stream The University of Science and Technology has announced a plan to computerize Mashhad city and make it one of the world's most modern cities, Mashhad Mayor Ahamd Norouzi said here Sunday - 4/27/03 Airline fiasco prompts Iranian professor to seek $800,000 in reparations An Iranian law professor who received an absolute discharge this year after he was convicted of mischief for using the word "explode" on an airplane has asked the provincial justice ministry for $800,000 in reparations. -Gazette, Canada - 4/27/03 Kurdish official says Iranian POWs buried in mass grave near Mosul Saddam Hussein's forces buried up to 300 Iranian prisoners of war in a mass grave on the edge of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, an Iraqi Kurdish official claimed. -AFP - 4/27/03 Tony Blair's diplomacy of intolerance Much will depend on what the US does next. As one British official in Brussels says "if the US invades Iran, Syria or North Korea, then Blair really will have an existential choice to make". -Guardian - 4/27/03 Anti-U.S. Protests After Iraqi Arms Dump Carnage At least 12 Iraqis died on Saturday when an arms dump exploded on the edge of Baghdad, sending rockets scything into nearby houses. Residents blamed the Americans for the carnage. -Reuters - 4/27/03 Baghdad prayers show strength of Shia leaders Local leaders of Iraq's Shia Muslims demonstrated the strength of their influence in Baghdad yesterday as more than 100,000 people attended Friday prayers at one of their mosques in the capital. -Financial Times - 4/27/03 Expert warns against ecstasy abuse prevalence in Iran An expert working with the State Welfare Organization on Saturday warned against the prevalence of the ecstasy abuse and polydrug consumption in Iran - 4/27/03 In a land without law or leaders, militant Islam threatens to rule Liberation from terror will bring democracy, the White House promises. Yet power could go, not to the people, but to the clerics -Guardian - 4/27/03 Iranian cyclist to resume peace tour Reza Baluchi, the Iranian bicyclist whose world peace tour was interrupted by an immigration arrest in Arizona, plans to resume his odyssey Sunday with a departure from the Phoenix Civic Plaza. -Arizona Republic - 4/27/03 Israelis in a Shiite Land: Hard Lessons From Lebanon The Israeli experience in southern Lebanon, where the occupation dragged on for two decades, offers an experience to learn from — however imprecise the parallels are — as Americans seek cooperation from Shiites in southern Iraq. -New York Times - 4/27/03 Iranians move in to shape Iraq Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that Iran has dispatched "organized elements" to Iraq in a bid to influence the creation of an Islamist system. -Washington Times - 4/27/03 Iraqi Shiites Leave Iran to Study at Home Shiite clerics are streaming from Iran to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, Iraq's major Shiite teaching centers, in the wake of Saddam Hussein's downfall. -AP - 4/27/03 Tribunal outraged by Iranian MP's claims that pollsters were tortured Tehran Justice Department has denounced an MP's allegations about the torture and mistreatment of two pollsters and threatened to take action if he fails to show up in court - 4/27/03 Monster backpedals on listings purge Monster.com, the popular career Web site, has partially backed away from a decision to limit which nations could be listed on résumés and job postings. -CNET - 4/26/03 MP Mousavi Khoeini: Source of jamming satellites in Iran identified Deputy chairman of Telecommunication Commission in the Iranian Parliament, Ali-Akbar Mousavi Khoeini, has said that a certain organization has been identified as the source of signals being transmitted from Tehran to jam satellite broadcasts - 4/26/03 Iranian MP Mousavi Khoeini may be arrested soon: report The Persian-language newspaper `Toss'e' quoted an official at the Administrative Court as saying that Mousavi Khoeini had been summoned to answer charges of spreading rumor and slandering a certain state institution. - 4/26/03 Deadly arms blasts rock Baghdad At least six people have died in a series of explosions at an arms dump on the edge of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. -BBC - 4/26/03 Reports of Weapons 'Greatly Exaggerated' WHY have American and British Forces not found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? The most plausible answer is that there are none, in the true sense of the word, even though forces are likely eventually to come across some very unpleasant weapons created by Saddam Hussein. -Common Dreams - 4/26/03 Chalk up 'Blackboards' as typical Iranian cinema Makhmalbaf's naturalistic drama observes two teachers whose paths part after an ominous helicopter flies overhead. The rocky trails have no signs, but this intriguing road movie burdens the peddlers with an awkward metaphor to haul from scene to scene. -Chicago Sun-Times - 4/26/03 North Korea's nuclear boast defies belief South Korea and Japan expressed disbelief and dismay yesterday at the news that their paranoid, impoverished and belligerent neighbour North Korea had declared itself the latest member of the nuclear weapons club. -Guardian - 4/26/03 Winning peace in Iraq and Iran The best defense against the Iranian destabilization of Iraq is to help the people of Iran use political means to liberate themselves from their dictatorship. Polls and partially open elections reveal that more than 80 percent of Iranians completely reject the extremist Shi'ite clerical regime. -Washington Times - 4/26/03 US seeks UN backing over Iraq The United States is working on proposals for a new United Nations Security Council resolution to address the changed situation in Iraq, American diplomatic sources say. -BBC - 4/26/03 Top Iranian clerics blast US presence in Iraq Conservative clerics assert Iraqi right to Islamic rule, accuse US of only seeking oil, protection of Israel. -Middle East Online - 4/26/03 Iran president to visit Lebanon next month Iranian President Mohammad Khatami is to visit Lebanon May 12, which would make him the most senior Iranian official to visit the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution -AFP - 4/26/03 Cleric in Iran Says Shiites Must Act A religious edict issued in Iran (on April 8 by Kadhem al-Husseini al-Haeri, an Iraqi-born cleric based in the Iranian holy city of Qum) and distributed to Shiite mullahs in Iraq calls on them "to seize the first possible opportunity to fill the power vacuum in the administration of Iraqi cities." -New York Times - 4/26/03 Oil Minister says Iran to raise oil output to 5 million barrels a day Iran will raise its oil production capacity to five million barrels a day in two years from the current level of four million barrels a day, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in Tehran on Saturday - 4/26/03 Initial NIAC victory against Monster.com On Friday April 25, Monster.com called our office and made an oral commitment to change the policy of excluding educational experience in Iran from their standard resume forms by the middle of next week. We are proud to announce that the pressure has been working, but we believe that more is needed. -NIAC - 4/26/03 The U.S. Should Heed the Lessons of Iran in Iraq By its widely opposed invasion of Iraq, the United States fulfilled one of the fondest dreams of the late Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini - the destruction of the regime of Saddam Hussein. The American military presence could help realize another of his aspirations as well - an Islamic revolution in neighboring Iraq. -- R.K. Ramazani, AScribe - 4/26/03 US May Use Mujahideen Rebels in Tensions with Iran After years of shunning the Iraq-based People's Mujahideen as "terrorists," the United States might use Iran's main rebel group to pressure Tehran as tensions rise between the two countries over post-Saddam Iraq. -Reuters - 4/26/03 US-MKO deal a breach of Bush's anti-terrorism campaign: daily `Iran Daily' on Saturday expressed shock at Washington's shocking deal with the shunned Iraq-based terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO), saying it is a breach of President Bush's anti-terrorism campaign - 4/26/03 US says Iran will not "hijack" Iraqi democracy US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld strongly warned Tehran against interfering in Iraq, echoing mounting US concerns that Iran was using Iraq's majority Shiite community to try to replace Saddam Hussein's regime with an Iranian-style Islamic republic. -AFP - 4/26/03 U.S. Shouldn't Confront Nervous but Open Iran Any attempt by the United States to launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran, one of the original members of President George W. Bush's "axis of evil," will be counterproductive and harmful to American interests. Instead of threatening, bullying or chastising Iran for developing a nuclear weapons program, the United States should adopt a variation of the North Korean model and seek to engage the Islamic Republic in multilateral talks. -Najmedin Meshkati and Dariush Zahedi, Newsday - 4/26/03 US Bridles as UN's Kofi Annan Calls It 'Occupying Power' UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called today on the U.S.-led coalition to respect international law as the "occupying power" in Iraq, drawing immediate ire from U.S. officials. -Common Dreams - 4/25/03 Keep out of town hall, Kut tells US troops Throughout southern Iraq confrontation between Shia Muslims and the US forces is rising. In Baghdad and most small towns it is still only a battle of words, but in Kut and its province, Wasit, it has gone further. -Guardian - 4/25/03 America's Goofy plan This week another dangerous dictatorship has been added to the axis of evil. Forget Syria, North Korea and Iran, the next rogue state on the United States' hit list appears to be France. Colin Powell declared on Wednesday that France will have to "face the consequences" of failing to back the United States on the UN security council and all-out war can now only be a matter of time. -Guardian - 4/25/03 Analysis: The Iran factor Tension between Iran and the United States has risen over recent days over allegations of Iranian interference in southern Iraq. -BBC - 4/25/03 Laughter: The Music of Absurdity of Existence "Girls should never laugh loudly!" This is one of the first things that our fathers - fearful of their daughter's fate in a third world traditionalist country with its ethics and morality encoded in their 'collective unconscious' or 'genetic pool' no matter how educated and 'modern' they 'think' they are... -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 4/25/03 IRAN: Focus on family planning The Islamic Republic of Iran is often perceived by the outside world as a very conservative, closed society when it comes to social issues. However, the country boasts one of the best family planning programmes in the region. -IRIN - 4/25/03 Monster.com Draws Criticism For Rule on Sanctioned Nations Monster.com, the nation's largest online job service, is drawing fire for a policy that bars its job-seeking customers from applying for work in countries under U.S. sanctions and denies its services to residents of those countries. -Wall Street Journal - 4/25/03 Iran angered at possible U.S. deal The U.S. Central Command on Tuesday did use the words "negotiation" and "ceasefire" when speaking of U.S. troops and the MKO. "However, there's discussion that's ongoing right now to determine exactly what the condition and what the status will be and how we'll handle them. It's premature for me to describe exactly what that will be at this point." -UPI - 4/25/03 Iran, EU to hold 10th 'comprehensive dialogue' meeting in Athens The tenth meeting of 'comprehensive dialogue' between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the European Union will be held in Athens on Tuesday under the current EU Presidency of Greece - 4/25/03 US accuses Iran of stirring up protests The US demonstrated its unease at the level of anti-American protests in Iraq yesterday when it accused Iran of fomenting trouble among the country's majority Shia Muslims. -Guardian - 4/25/03 Rumsfeld rejects 'cleric-led' rule In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr Rumsfeld said: "If you're suggesting, how would we feel about an Iranian-type government with a few clerics running everything in the country, the answer is: That isn't going to happen." -BBC - 4/25/03 Bush warns Iraq may have destroyed arms, says Iran should stay out Also Thursday Bush told NBC television in his first exclusive interview since the war in Iraq began that he hoped Iran "will cooperate" with US appeals to stay out of southern Iraq, and vowed to "work with the world" to encourage Tehran to do so. -AFP - 4/25/03 France, Iran stress UN role in post-Saddam Iraq Iran and France on Thursday underscored the role of the United Nations in post-Saddam Iraq, with President Mohammad Khatami warning of many problems if Iraq's fate is not immediately left to its people to decide - 4/25/03 France sees progress on nuclear issue, human rights in Iran France's Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said during a visit to Tehran that he had seen progress in Iran on two major bones of contention -- the nuclear issue and human rights. -AFP - 4/25/03 Monster.com's resume purge draws fire Job-hunters at Monster.com who happened to go to school in Syria or Iran may be in for an unpleasant surprise on Thursday. -CNET - 4/24/03 Eastern skepticism, Western optimism "... they've become cynics- as cynical a people as I have known in the decade I've spent writing about south Asia and the Middle East. " Christopher de Bellaigue writes about Iranians in his 'Happy new year from Tehran' in Guardian. -Hooman Moradmand - 4/24/03 Films of the Iranian Diaspora at Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago From April 18 through 27, we present the series Films of the Iranian Diaspora. All of the films are Chicago premieres, and two are world premieres, including the short drama CHRYSALIS by Chicago filmmaker Hossein Khandan and THE SACRED CYPRESS by Tandees Tanavoli. Six of the eleven films to be screened are directed by women. - 4/24/03 France Urges Iran to Allow Tighter IAEA Checks The French foreign minister urged Iran on Thursday to accept stricter international inspections of its nuclear program, which Washington has said is geared toward producing atomic weapons. -Reuters - 4/24/03 Pilgrims Threaten Jihad Against American Forces The Shia pilgrimage to Karbala, one of the most potent and symbolic in recent Iraqi history, took on a strident political and martial note yesterday with demands for the establishment of an Islamic state and threats of a jihad against the "American occupiers". -Common Dreams - 4/24/03 Iranians feistier than Iraqis These events provide insight into which of the two countries, Iran or Iraq, may actually establish a lasting democracy. In Iraq, Saddam was toppled without a popular rebellion. In Iran, there are signs that, with time, the people may bring down the dictatorship. -USA Today - 4/24/03 Israel seeks pipeline for Iraqi oil US discusses plan to pump fuel to its regional ally and solve energy headache at a stroke -Guardian - 4/24/03 Pilgrimage continues for Iraqi Shiites deported to Iran A new, different pilgrimage started for dozens of Iraqis deported more than 20 years ago from this Shiite Muslim holy city (Karbala) to Iran by Saddam Hussein's regime. -AFP - 4/24/03 Resurgence of the Shias US and British politicians predicted before the war that indigenous Iraqi leaders would emerge to fill the post-Saddam, post-Ba'athist power vacuum. That process is now indeed gathering pace but with results both unanticipated and potentially inimical to coalition plans. -Guardian - 4/24/03 Iraq: As Shi'ites Rise, Washington Acknowledges Talks With Iran Some Iraqi Shiites have been calling for an Islamic state similar to Iran. Washington says it won't allow such a development, but acknowledged yesterday that it is quietly talking with Tehran, which has close ties to key Iraqi Shi'ite groups. -RFE - 4/24/03 Turkmenistan to increase oil exploitation in Caspian Sea ten-fold The Turkmen mass media also quoted Niyazov as saying that besides three Russian oil companies, with which Turkmenistan is signing cooperation contracts, there are Iranian firms with which his country plans to cooperate in exploitation of its hydrocarbon resorts in the caspian Sea. - 4/24/03 After Saddam's fall, Israel ponders how to deal with threat from Iran Israeli leaders are concerned that Iran could emerge strengthened from Iraq's defeat and continue to promote terror while developing nuclear weapons that could pose a threat to Israel's very existence. -Jerusalem Post - 4/24/03 Fundraising Event by Bay Area Iranian-American Voter Association (May 18 in San Francisco) Six months ago, a group of concerned Iranian-Americans got together and established the Bay Area Iranian-American Voter Association (baivoter.org). As a non-partisan, nonprofit, volunteer organization, we set out to encourage and facilitate the informed and active participation of Iranian-Americans in the democratic process. - 4/24/03 All Iraninan Jews jailed for Israel spying free: Kharazi Iran sought to close a controversial chapter involving a group of Iranian Jews jailed nearly three years ago for spying for Israel, with the foreign minister announcing that all those convicted are now free. -AFP - 4/24/03 Weblogs Unite to Protest Detained Iranian Blogger Persian, U.S. blogospheres come together. Another journalist is detained by the Iranian government in Tehran. Seems like the same old story of a crackdown on independent media by a hard-line administration. But this time, the detainee, Sina Motallebi, is different. -Online Journalism Review - 4/24/03 People's Mujahedeen say US accord keeps them armed and fighting Iran A ceasefire agreement reached with US forces allows the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen guerrillas to keep their arms while maintaining their war against the Iranian government, a spokesman for the group said. -AFP - 4/24/03 Monster.com's Targeting of People with Iranian Backgrounds and Experiences Iranian-American Executives have urged NIAC to encourage Iranian-American employers and employees to notify Monster.com of a possible boycott in order to prevent Monster’s actions from becoming common practice in corporate America. - 4/24/03 Iran rejects US accusations of interference in Iraq, alarmed over deal with opposition group Iran angrily rejected United States allegations of interference in Iraq, warning its troops not to cross into Iran and voicing alarm over a deal between the US military and the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen opposition group. -AFP - 4/24/03 US warns Iran against actions in Iraq The United States said it has warned Iran against "any outside interference" in Iraq amid concerns that Tehran has sent agents there, perhaps to push its brand of Islamic government. -AFP - 4/24/03 Support for Release of Iranian Pollsters World research organisations ESOMAR, EFAMRO and WAPOR have this week joined forces in the case of two Iranian survey researchers arrested earlier this month and have addressed the matter to the EU Government, the United Nations, the Iranian Government and other international bodies in order to release the Iranian pollsters. -Daily Research News, UK - 4/23/03 Official: Russia To Supply Nuclear Fuel To Iran - Tass Russia plans to supply nuclear fuel for the power plant currently under construction in Bushehr, Iran, and to take the irradiated fuel back for recycling, Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev told a news conference at Itar-Tass headquarters Tuesday, Itar-Tass reported. -Dow Jones - 4/23/03 Iran's Parliament Speaker hopes Saddam fall will serve a lesson "How good it would be if the story of Saddam and his pressures on the (Iraqi) people served a lesson to rogue powers who are intoxicated with their force," he said during an open session of the parliament. - 4/23/03 In a Hotbed of Shiite Passion, Clerics Jockey for Leadership The Shiites, who account for at least 60 percent of Iraq's population of about 25 million, will play a major, if not dominant role in any democratic system here. Sunni Muslims make up about 37 percent of the population, and Christians and others make up the remaining 3 percent. The United States hopes to win the Shiites' support and block Iranian influence. -New York Times - 4/23/03 Parsis split over marriage rule A recent resolution passed by the religious leaders of India's Parsis has divided the community. They have decreed that any Parsi man marrying outside the community will cease to be recognised as one of its members. -BBC - 4/23/03 Americans accused of turning blind eye to killings by Kurds A bitter conflict is unfolding in northern Iraq between two minority communities, with the Americans accused of turning a blind eye to killings and ethnic cleansing. -Independent - 4/23/03 Analysis: Shia's role in new Iraq Over the last few days, the sense of exuberance among the Iraqi Shia has been palpable. Comprising some 60% of all Iraqis but long ruled by a Sunni elite, the Shia have long felt themselves to be an underclass. -BBC - 4/23/03 Replicas of stone tablets from Hamedan Ganjnameh installed Replicas of two stone tablets in cuneiform belonging to Darius and Khashayar-Shah from Achamenid dynasty known as `Ganjnameh Cuneiform Tablets' were recently installed at Hegmataneh in the city of Hamedan, western Iran - 4/23/03 Job Site Drops Disfavored Nations In what it described as an effort to comply with government regulations, Monster.com will soon begin deleting certain references on users' resumes to nations not in good diplomatic standing with the United States. -Wired - 4/23/03 Blix: 'US Undermined Inspectors' American officials tried to discredit the work of inspectors in Iraq to further their own case for war, the chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has charged. -Common Dreams - 4/23/03 More water flows into Iran through Hirmand river The recent rainfalls in Afghanistan have raised the water flowing to Iran's border via Hirmand river to over 350 cubic meters per second - 4/23/03 Shiite pilgrims to US: 'Thanks. Please go now.' But just as Iraq's long-repressed Shiite majority enjoy a religious reawakening, the scale of the event is a show of strength for Shiite clergy who are moving quickly to fill the vacuum left by Mr. Hussein before American forces do. -Christian Science Monitor - 4/23/03 Shias stage anti-US protest in Iraq Protests against the US presence in Iraq have been staged by Shias in the central city of Karbala at the climax of a pilgrimage that has attracted up to one million people. -BBC - 4/23/03 Paris The most distinguishing aspect of my grandmother's house was her huge Jasmine flower pots. In the evenings when we cleaned the yard and put carpet on the large bench there to sit and enjoy the evening air and have fresh fruit or tea, the smell of jasmine would take our breath away. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 4/23/03 Hastert puts Syria and Iran on notice America’s third-highest elected official issued a stern warning to Iraqi neighbors Iran and Syria from the military’s European headquarters in Germany on Tuesday. -Stars and Stripes - 4/23/03 NIAC questions monster.com's reading of Iran sanctions Monster.com, the world’s largest online job search and career management company, will delete the word “Iran,” along with the names of six other countries—Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria—from its standard format for resumes. -NIAC - 4/23/03 Why the Mullahs Love a Revolution This vacuum is reminiscent of what happened in Iran in February 1979. The 440,000-strong military of the pro-American shah disintegrated quickly, as did the police force and the Savak, the notorious secret police. Into that vacuum stepped the Islamic Revolutionary Komitehs, run by Shiite clerics operating from the local mosques. -New York Times - 4/23/03 After that Kaveh Left... During the last month of Shah's regime, he lost his camera once, and that was when we were summoned to Bagh Shah for an interrogation by an officer who told us that there was going to be a military coup the next day and we were all going to be killed. With a kind of sincerity originating from his professionalism, Kaveh Golestan asked whether he could take pictures of the coming event. -Masoud Behnoud, Tehran - 4/23/03 Iran's Parliament Speaker: Consensus emerging with Guardian Council on new election law Karroubi said that the issue will be resolved if the Guardian Council reaches the point that the new election law will serve national interest. - 4/23/03 Iran Opposition Has Few Postwar Options The United States invaded Iraq to dislodge terrorists it said Saddam was harboring, as well as topple him and destroy any biological, chemical or nuclear weapons he was hiding. The Mujahedeen Khalq may be the biggest catch the U.S. military has so far made in the hunt for terrorists. -AP - 4/23/03 Khatami, Karroubi order action to check jamming satellites in Iran President Mohammad Khatami and Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi in a directive have called for identifying and taking actions against those responsible for a reported project in Tehran to jam satellite broadcasts, IRNA reported from Tehran. - 4/22/03 Iraq-based Iranian opposition welcomes "ceasefire" with US In a statement received here by AFP, Massoud Rajavi said: "We welcome the signing of a ceasefire agreement with the US forces ... although, we have not been firing at anyone and were in fact not a party to this war." -AFP - 4/22/03 US troops kill Baghdad lions Four starving lions which dug their way out of a Baghdad zoo have been shot dead by American soldiers, the military says. -BBC - 4/22/03 Rumsfeld Calls for Regime Change in North Korea A secret Donald Rumsfeld memorandum calling for regime change in North Korea was leaked yesterday, opening a fresh foreign policy split in the Bush administration. -Daily Telegraph, UK - 4/22/03 MSNBC Reveals Facts on Israel's Weapons of Mass Destruction Here is MSNBC, giving us more information on Israel's weapons of mass destruction (WMD)than I've seen in any left-wing or peace-activist news source. Here is the mainstream U.S. media, that beast we love to hate, giving us a story that gives away the store. -Common Dreams - 4/22/03 Tensions ease as Syria signals co-operation Tensions between the US and Syria appeared to ease on Sunday after President George W. Bush said he had seen "positive signs" from the country that it would co-operate in the hunt for fleeing Iraqi officials. -Financial Times - 4/22/03 Iraqi Shia pilgrimage nears climax Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims have gathered in the central Iraqi city of Karbala for the climax of a religious pilgrimage that has been banned for a quarter of a century. -BBC - 4/22/03 Iran Won't Back U.S.-Installed Iraq Gov't Iran said Monday it will not support a U.S.-installed government in Iraq. It also said some Iraqi opposition groups will not accept an American-led administration but could support one set up "under United Nations auspices." -AP - 4/22/03 Kiss gets Iranian actress suspended sentence of 74 lashes Kheirandish sparked protests from religious hardliners last November after kissing Ali Zamani on the forehead and shaking his hand when handing him an award for best film maker at a film festival in Yazd. -AFP - 4/22/03 Voices from the depths of ignorance As the Persian poem goes, "The ignorant who is ignorant of his own ignorance, remains forever trapped in compounded oblivion." Or, bliss, as I would call it! But, add power to ignorance, and you get a dangerous concoction that, as that power grows, more potentially dangerous it gets. -Kam Zarrabi - 4/22/03 French FM arriving in Iran on Wednesday The French foreign minister, who is visiting the country on the invitation of his Iranian counterpart, will hold talks with high-ranking Iranian officials to broaden and consolidate mutual relations and pursue regional and international consultations between the two countries, Asefi said. - 4/22/03 Iran signs 25-year contract to sell gas to UAE: official Iran has signed a 25-year agreement to sell over 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas per day to the United Arab Emirates, a senior official for gas exports said in Tehran on Tuesday. - 4/22/03 UNESCO approves Avicenna international award Based on the approval of UNESCO executive council, Avicenna international biennial prize will be awarded to the most outstanding achievement made on `Ethics in Science' jointly by Iran and UNESCO. - 4/22/03 Iran and the New Iraq: Convergence and Divergence in Interests Iranians have mixed emotions about the situation in Iraq. Both the government and the people are glad to see the tyranny of Saddam Hussein ended. Besides Iraqis and Kurds, Iranians suffered most from Saddam’s atrocities. However, many concerns and points of friction undermine Iran’s joy about Saddam’s disappearance. -Eurasianet - 4/22/03 Iran as Potential US Wheat Market Late last week, representatives from Iran's flour milling industry met with officers of U.S. Wheat Associates. In the post-Iraq war environment, there's renewed interest among U.S. wheat producers in reestablishing trade ties with Iran as well as Iraq. How reasonable is it to think that the US might succeed in that effort? -DTN - 4/22/03 'Echoes in Blue' Showcases Iranian Art Although Iran is in the midst of a struggle between its reform-minded president, Mohammad Khatami, and its hard-line clerical rulers, the exhibit's curators — both Iranian exiles — hope to puncture the American stereotype that Iranians are narrow-minded Islamic fundamentalists. -AP - 4/22/03 Iran's Reza Pahlavi: A Puppet of the USA and Israel? The omnipresent neo-conservative kingmakers are at it again, this time with the eloquent and dashing Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, eldest son of the former enigmatic Iranian King of Kings, Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi, who ruled Iran from 1941 until his exile in 1979. The rest, as the clichÈ goes, is a history well known to the world. -John Stanton, CounterPunch - 4/22/03 Iran's Isfahani Armenians commemorate Resurrection Day At present, around 12,000 Armenian followers of Jesus Christ, reside in Isfahan province, of whom 7,000 live in the ancient historical district of Julfa. - 4/21/03 Jordan Refuses Asylum to Iranians and Palestinians Hundreds of Iranian Kurds have fled to the Jordanian border from a refugee camp in central Iraq because they fear their lives are in danger, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Sunday. -Reuters - 4/21/03 Hi-tech site may quit Victoria A HI-TECH company has been banned from exporting a machine to Iran because it could be used to develop weapons of mass destruction. The banned machine was ordered by the Amir Kabir University in Tehran for research purposes. -Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia - 4/21/03 Shia Muslims pour into Karbala The roads leading to Karbala are lined with pilgrims. The columns, sometimes five or six abreast, stretch for at least 100 kilometres (60 miles). -BBC - 4/21/03 Antiwar Movement Tries to Find a Meaningful Message On Tuesday, the leaders of the antiwar coalition Win Without War will gather for a two-day retreat outside New York City to discuss their group's future now that the war has ended. One of the items on the agenda: Should it change its name to Win Without Wars? -New York Times - 4/21/03 Wanted: Arms for young Ali Doctors treating the badly injured Iraqi boy Ali Ismail Abbas are searching for the best possible artificial limbs to help him regain as normal a life as possible. -BBC - 4/21/03 Iranian Journalist Held Over Interviews Sina Motallebi was taken to jail after he responded to a summons Saturday to report to a police station for interrogation, Farnaz Ghazizadeh told The Associated Press. She said police promised to release her husband in two days, but she believed he would be held longer. -AP - 4/21/03 Jay Garner arrives in Baghdad Meanwhile Barbara Bodine, the US coordinator for central Iraq who is travelling with Gen Garner, has said the US does not recognise Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi as Baghdad's new mayor. -Guardian - 4/21/03 US 'to keep bases in Iraq' The US is planning a long-term military presence in Iraq, in a move which will dramatically extend American power in the region and spread dismay and fear among its opponents across the Arab world. -Guardian - 4/21/03 To the Wolves? Iranian immigrants being detained in prisons post-9/11 say the U.S. government is conducting a secretive and unorthodox program of letting Iranian officials interview them--with the hope of sending them back to Iran, where many fear they will be harmed -Metroactive - 4/21/03 From the streets of Britain, to fighting against Iran Critics and some former members of the group, which preaches a mix of Marxist and Islamic ideology, have called it a cult which separates couples and families from each other is led by a charismatic woman named Maryam Rajavi, the second wife of the leader Massoud Rajavi. -Scotsman, UK - 4/21/03 Iranian blogger/journalist Sina Motallebi arrested Sina Motallebi, well-known blogger and journalist was arrested this morning. He is accused of threatening the national security by giving interviews to Persian language radios outside Iran, wrtiting articles both in newspapers and his weblog. -Hossein Derakhshan - 4/21/03 Iran to speed up privatization of airports Managing Director of Iran Airport Organization Nourollah Rezaei Niyaraki Said in Shiraz, Fars province, on Sunday that with ceding much of airport affairs to the private sector the government's role in the management of airports will be greatly reduced - 4/21/03 Iran to participate in world wrestling competitions in US President of Iran's Wrestling Federation Mohammad-Reza Taleqani said in Qazvin on Sunday that Iran will participate in the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling in New York in September - 4/21/03 The National Arts Club presents ECHOES IN BLUE: An exhibition of contemporary Iranian paintings (April 15-29 in New York) ECHOES IN BLUE is an exhibition of Iranian paintings displayed to introduce the American public to the work of contemporary Iranian artists. - 4/21/03 Iran cleansing policy: Monster.com confuses sanction with censor! In order for Monster to comply with applicable U.S. federal and state regulations, we will be removing the Sanctioned Countries from the site. Your resume included one (or more) of the Sanctioned Countries. Therefore, your resume will be altered, removing all Sanctioned Countries from your resume(s). - 4/21/03 Interview: Mohaddes elaborates on National Iranian Oil Company exploration projects With nearly 17 per cent of the world's gas reserves and 9 per cent of its oil reserves, Iran lays claim to a large number of untapped and unexplored oil and gas fields, which have the potential to attract international oil companies (IOC) to the country. -Iran Energy Focus - 4/21/03 Shining a Light Into the Darkness of Iranian-U.S. Relations Of all the black holes in America’s foreign relations few have been darker than Iran.How to understand a country that overthrew an autocrat in the name of freedom and then produced a theocracy whose human rights abuses make the shah’s look mild?... -By Charles W. Nass and Henry Precht, retired U.S. foreign service officers - 4/21/03 A Friendly Move Towards the 'Great Satan' An interview with a key Iranian leader published in a magazine two months ahead of schedule raises new questions about Iranian relations with the United States. -IPS - 4/21/03 U.S. Takes on Mujahedeen Militia in Iraq Several days of bombing killed at least seven fighters, destroyed 15 to 20 tanks, numerous vehicles, equipment and a barracks in the center of Camp Ashraf, Mujahedeen officials said. -AP - 4/20/03 Iranian Exiles March in Washington Over Iraq Raids Some 500 supporters of an Iraq-based Iranian rebel group marched through downtown Washington on Saturday calling on the international community to halt what they said were Iran's attacks on their bases and attempts to infiltrate Iraqi cities. -Reuters - 4/20/03 Iranian exiles rally for regime change in their homeland Several thousand supporters of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran gathered on the National Mall, as other Iranian exiles took to the streets in Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Madrid, Toronto, Vancouver, British Columbia, and other cities. -Boston Globe - 4/20/03 The Iranian Connection Tehran’s agents have poured into southern Iraq, where anti-American sentiment is spreading among the Shiites -Newsweek - 4/20/03 Give us back our democracy Americans have been cheated and lied to on matters of the gravest constitutional importance -Guardian - 4/20/03 Israeli army accused of targeting TV man killed in West Bank A TV cameraman for the Associated Press news agency died in the West Bank yesterday after he was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier. An eyewitness accused the soldier of deliberately targeting a group of journalists, saying he carefully took aim at them and fired a single shot. -Independent - 4/20/03 Iraqis Ponder Islamic State Amid Power Vacuum What is not clear is how many people support the clerics purely out of a short-term desire for order and how many have a serious interest in establishing Islamic rule like in neighboring Iran, analysts say. -Reuters - 4/20/03 New role for mosques in Iraq Northern Baghdad is gridlocked, with thousands of cars blocking the route to one of the city's major Islamic shrines - petrol supplies must be improving at least, even if there is still no electricity or water, and anarchy rules many streets. -BBC - 4/20/03 Tremor jolts Iran's Yazd province An earthquake with an intensity of 3.5 degrees on the open-ended Richter scale jolted Behabad in Yazd province on Saturday - 4/20/03 Two Dissident Iranian Women Fall by the Wayside On August 18, 1994, the legendary Iranian singer Marzieh turned her back on her country. As a gesture of protest against the increasingly repressive Islamic regime in Tehran, she joined the armed Iranian armed opposition movement, Mujahideen I-Khalq, throwing in her lot with its leader and commander, Maryam Rajavi. -Debka File - 4/20/03 Exhibition of Iranian paintings receives warm welcome in New York An exhibition of modern paintings by contemporary Iranian artists that opened in New York on Saturday received an exceptionally warm welcome by New York art enthusiasts on its first day - 4/20/03 FILM: A voice in the desert After six months of being declined a visa to the United States, Kurdish film director Bahman Ghobadi has finally gained entry - to promote his new movie, "Marooned in Iraq," which records Saddam Hussein's atrocities against the Iraqi Kurds through a Kurdish musician's eyes. It opens in New York on Friday. -New York Post - 4/20/03 Middle East ministers discuss war aftermath The talks in Riyadh were the first opportunity since the war for neighbouring countries Turkey, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, as well as Egypt and Bahrain, to discuss ties with the future authorities in Baghdad. -Financial Times - 4/19/03 Porous Iraq-Iran border poses security risk Vanished are the men who once guarded the Iraqi side of this border crossing to Iran, Baghdad's historic foe. Their place in the guards' barracks has been taken by a pack of stray dogs. -AP - 4/19/03 Iran tones down calls for cut in OPEC oil output Iran wants a reduction in OPEC oil output from May 1 only if there is an urgent market need for one, Oil Minister Bijan Namadar Zanghaneh said in an apparent toning down of earlier calls for a second quarter cut. -AFP - 4/19/03 Shia pilgrims head for Karbala Tens of thousands of Iraqi Shias are making their way towards the holy city of Karbala on a pilgrimage that was banned under the government of Saddam Hussein. -BBC - 4/19/03 Cleric Assumes a Bully Pulpit Try as they might, the American military commanders here cannot outfox Sayed Abbas. Mr. Abbas, 52, was the first to arrive at city hall last week after Kut fell to the Americans. A Shiite Muslim preacher, he immediately declared himself the elected mayor of the city, though no election seems to have taken place. -New York Times - 4/19/03 4.0 Quake shakes Isfahan province An earthquake measuring four degrees on the open-ended Richter scale jolted Naein in the central province of Isfahan on Friday - 4/19/03 Power struggle in Iraqi town US forces in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut are holding talks with local leaders to try to resolve a dispute over who is in power after the town hall was taken over by an Iranian-backed Muslim cleric. -BBC - 4/19/03 Iran: Samira Makhmalbaf's film on Afghanistan confirmed for Cannes Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf will present her new feature film "At Five in the Afternoon" at Cannes Film Festival to open in May, the press reported here on Saturday. - 4/19/03 Outspoken Iranian journalist Aghajari returns to jail after spending leave Outspoken university professor and journalist, Hashem Aghajari, has returned to jail in the western Iranian city of Hamedan at the end of his prison leave, an informed source at the justice department here told IRNA Saturday. - 4/19/03 Khamenei: Islamic Republic of Iran's Broadcasting should work in line with public demand In a meeting with the IRIB Supervisory Board, the Supreme Leader said that the Islamic Republic of Iran takes into account the demands of the people and recommended that the IRIB should appreciate the agenda of the government system in its different programs. - 4/19/03 One Step Forward, Direction Uncertain Bush administration officials said yesterday they are pleased by Iran's willingness to cooperate with U.S. requests during the war with neighboring Iraq -- a decision perhaps smoothed by the administration's bombing of Iranian opposition fighters based in Iraq. But it is unclear if this "good behavior" signals a thaw in relations with the Islamic republic. -Washington Post - 4/18/03 Iranian exiles present dilemma: If group goes homw, execution likely An Iranian exile group long protected by Saddam Hussein's regime has agreed to surrender to U.S. forces, raising a difficult question about whether its members will be sent back to Iran. The surrender pact, which was reached Tuesday with U.S. special forces, covers 3,000 fighters and 7,000 relatives. -Mercury News - 4/18/03 Iran hopes peace will prevail: Khatami "We seek a world with no weapons of mass destruction," Khatami said, adding "Our sensitive region must be free from such weapons through the contribution of all regional countries." - 4/18/03 First U.N. Aid Convoy from Iran Crosses Into Iraq A U.N. aid convoy carrying drinking water for parched Iraqis drove into Iraq from Iran on Friday, the first time such aid had crossed the border since the two countries fought a bitter war in the 1980s. -Reuters - 4/18/03 We all lost a friend; his name is Kaveh Golestan There is nothing one can say to ease the pain. They know we love them and our hearts are with them, and when I sent an e-mail stating this the reply I got from Kaveh's dear sister was this: do not stand at my grave and weep... -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 4/18/03 Iranian Nationalists and the Nuclear Issue There is a hotly debated issue in the Iranian intellectual community these days that have immense implications for the future of our nation. The issue is the Islamic Republic’s stubborn and somewhat secretive efforts to construct and implement nuclear power plants. -Mohsen Moshfegh - 4/18/03 Anti-US Protest Flares After Baghdad Prayers Muslims poured out of mosques and into the streets after the first Friday prayers in a U.S.-controlled Baghdad, calling for an Islamic state to be established. Carrying Korans, prayer mats and banners, tens of thousands marched in the city's biggest protest since U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein over a week ago -- a protest unthinkable under the former president. -Common Dreams - 4/18/03 Oil price up after Iran calls on OPEC to tighten taps Oil prices rose after Iran called on fellow members of the industry cartel OPEC to agree to cut production when they meet next week, in an attempt to halt a price slide. -AFP - 4/18/03 Exiled Shiite Chief: Iraqis Should Rebel The exiled leader of the biggest Iraqi opposition group called Thursday on Iraqis to converge in the Shiite holy city of Karbala to oppose a U.S.-led interim administration and defend Iraq's independence. -AP - 4/18/03 U.S. Wheat Officials Work Iranian Market In a renewed effort to do business with the millers of Iran, U.S. Wheat Associates met with an Iranian trade delegation in Toronto. -Crop Decisions - 4/18/03 US Readies Security for Shi'ite Pilgrimage in Iraq The U.S. military said Thursday it would take "appropriate" security measures next week when hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims are expected to converge on the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala in a highly charged pilgrimage. -Reuters - 4/18/03 Former U.S. Official Says CIA Aided Iraqi Baathists If the United States succeeds in shepherding the creation of a postwar Iraqi government, it won't be the first time that Washington has played a primary role in changing the country's rulers.-Reuters - 4/18/03 Turkmenistan: UN Human Rights Commission Condemns Turkmen Abuses For First Time The United Nations Human Rights Commission has passed a resolution condemning Turkmenistan for a range of abuses including torture and political and religious repression. -RFE - 4/18/03 Chariots of fire No sooner has Baghdad fallen than our screaming little warmongers are at it again, their blood lust never satisfied - go get Syria, go get Iran, go get Libya. Let's shoot another peacenik in the head. What exactly is their Passover dream - "Next year in someone else's country?" -Ha'aretz, Israel - 4/18/03 Bush Cultural Advisers Quit Over Iraq Museum Theft Two cultural advisers to the Bush administration have resigned in protest over the failure of U.S. forces to prevent the wholesale looting of priceless treasures from Baghdad's antiquities museum. -Common Dreams - 4/18/03 Stigma of Defeat Envelops Hussein's Home Town in Iraq Not a single picture of Saddam Hussein here in his hometown has been brought down or damaged. His image looms large at every traffic light and intersection in the city, and smaller posters of him hang from lamp posts. His statue, sitting on a horse, is intact in town square. -Farnaz Fassihi, WSJ - 4/18/03 With Saddam gone, Iraqis feel free to vent bitterness over Iran war Saddam Hussein's regime always told its people that the brutal 1980-1988 conflict with Iraq's eastern neighbour was a great triumph. But now Iraqis in Basra feel free to debunk the myth of the original Gulf War, one of the longest of the 20th century and one whose death toll of hundreds of thousands dwarfed that of the latest conflict. -AFP - 4/18/03 Has war inspired global conciliation? Apparently nothing succeeds politically like success militarily. The show of America's awesome firepower in Iraq seems to have induced other "axis of evil" potential adversaries to act, or at least talk, in more conciliatory terms. -Christian Science Monitor - 4/18/03 Fall of Hussein Could Lead to a Shift in Center, Focus of Shiite Muslims The fall of Saddam Hussein's regime is likely to lead to the reemergence of the holiest site in Shiite Islam, the Iraqi city of Najaf, and foster a more moderate form of the religion that could challenge the authority of Iran's Islamic Republic among the world's 170 million Shiites, religious scholars say. -Azadeh Moaveni, Times - 4/18/03 Iran not worried about being next US target: FM "We do not have such a concern (about war in Iran) because the situation in Iraq was a total different story," Kharazi said Friday as he arrived in Riyadh for a one-day conference of Iraq's neighbors. -AFP - 4/18/03 Saddam's Fall May Prompt Conciliatory Measures in Iran Iranian leaders have come to realize that, barring a serious re-examination of their relationship toward the United States, a confrontation between the two countries may be inevitable. Aside from the most radical elements, most Iranian leaders appear ready to open long-deferred dialogue with the Bush administration – fully aware that they may have to make major concessions. -Eurasianet - 4/18/03 The lessons of Iran WHEN STATUES FALL: Twenty-four years ago, another Middle East dictator was toppled, notes SAEED RAHNEMA , but the outcome wasn't exactly as planned -Globe & Mail, Canada - 4/17/03 Iraqi dissident residing in Iran chosen as interim Baghdad governor Muhammad Mohsen al-Zubaidi, an Iraqi dissident who used to live in Iran, was chosen as the head of the interim local government of Baghdad upon his return to Iraq - 4/17/03 Iran negotiating probable return of MKO members home: official The official rang out a clear warning against sheltering members of the terrorist group, calling on world countries to extradite senior leaders of MKO. - 4/17/03 Rezazadeh named `Weightlifter of the World in 2002' International Weightlifting Federation on Wednesday named Iran's Hossein Rezazadeh as `Weightlifter of the World in 2002' - 4/17/03 Key Shia leader returns to Iraq Abdelaziz Hakim is believed to be the first Iranian-backed Shia leader to return to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. -BBC - 4/17/03 Iran calls for OPEC to cut oil output Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanghaneh has called for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut production in the second quarter to prevent a fall in world oil prices. -AFP - 4/17/03 Tough talks loom over Iraq oil French President Jacques Chirac has said it is up to the UN to decide when and how to lift trade sanctions against Iraq, as diplomatic moves intensify over the future of Iraqi oil. -BBC - 4/17/03 Clinton Blasts US Approach to International Affairs Former US President Bill Clinton blasted US foreign policy adopted in the wake of the September 11 attacks, arguing the United States cannot kill, jail or occupy all of its adversaries. -AFP - 4/17/03 Iran feeling the heat To say that Iran has mixed feelings about the U.S.-led victory in Iraq is a considerable understatement. -Globe & Mail, Canada - 4/17/03 Dancing to Sharon's Beat: The Road to Unilateral Pre-emption When Messrs. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld and their aides decided to make Arik Sharon's foreign, security and military policy America's foreign, security and military policy, they may not have foreseen where this would take us. -CounterPunch - 4/17/03 Why Syria is America's new target Israel's last strategic opponent can turn occupied Iraq into a quagmire -Guardian - 4/17/03 Iran Exiles to Protest at Attacks on Bases in Iraq The Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran -- political wing of the armed People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran -- plans marches at noon local time in London, Washington, Paris, Cologne, Brussels, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo. -Reuters - 4/17/03 'Smart weapon' of satellite TV can change Iran A free press -- not tanks and bullets -- is the key to overthrowing the conservative mullahs in Iran and spreading democracy, tolerance and peace in the Middle East. A free press can undermine even the most repressive of dictatorships. -Reza Ladjevardian, Houston Chronicle - 4/17/03 Official says investments risk in Iran has been lowered An official of the Economy and Finance Ministry Ali Khorsandian said in Tehran on Wednesday that research conducted by the ministry points to a lowering of investments risk and an improved atmosphere for investments in the country - 4/17/03 Out of Touch: Back in the Mosque in Tehran! During my trip to Iran last summer, one of the places I visited was a small mosque in Tehran. A very old distant relative had passed away a week before, and a memorial for her was being held in the mosque. As we headed for the mosque, the other male relatives in the party told me about the plan: We will go in and sit and when the mullah shows up we'll get up and leave! -Ali Moayedian - 4/17/03 President Khatami will not back down on bid to boost power Last Tuesday, the Iranian parliament gave its final blessing to the last articles of the bill on presidential power, enabling the president to warn any of the three constitutional powers against any violation and mete out punishment if his warnings are not heeded. - 4/17/03 U.S. Bombs Iranian Guerrilla Forces Based in Iraq A senior American military officer said the United States had "bombed the heck" out of at least two of the Mujahedeen group's bases, including its military headquarters at Camp Ashraf, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. It was not clear today whether the attacks were intended in any way as a thank-you gesture by the United States for Iran's policy of noninterference in the war in Iraq. -New York Times - 4/17/03 Iran attacks US and braces for nuclear dispute The fear among some western diplomats and analysts is that the increasingly belligerent stance of Washington towards Iran and Syria may backfire and push Tehran to speed up its weapons programme. Mr Khatami yesterday made a point of rallying to Syria's side. -Guardian - 4/17/03 Referendum on Iran-US ties senseless: Khatami Pointing to bilateral relations between Iran and the United States, Khatami said, "We are never in favor of tension. The US behaved very badly with Iran and if we feel this trend has changed, a new chapter may open for taking strides toward a better direction." - 4/16/03 Iran’s Azeri Question: What Does Iran’s Largest Ethnic Minority Want? Iranian Azeris, who comprise at least one-quarter of Iran’s population and possibly more, are attracting increased interest from US policy-makers, especially those who are interested in promoting "regime change" in Tehran. Some American analysts view Iranian Azeris as a potential source of instability for Tehran. -Afshin Molavi, Eurasianet - 4/16/03 LOST FOREVER: The National Museum of Baghdad The National Museum at Baghdad was one of the most important Antiquity museums in the world, if not the most important. The Cradle of Civilization as it is often called, Mesopotamia (meaning between two rivers, present day Iraq) has been the earliest center of urban civilization, and the museum contained some of the most important items signifying the genius of mankind. -Massoume Price - 4/16/03 Iran sends strong message to US about Syria Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council warns any US action against Syria would be prelude to action against Iran. -MEO - 4/16/03 Rising Tensions Between Kurds, Arabs Underscore U.S. Hurdles Concerns about ethnic cleansing have worried U.S. planners since the beginning of the war. Rising tensions between Kurds, Arabs and Turkomans underscore the challenges ahead for the U.S. as it takes over civil control of this region. -Farnaz Fassihi, WSJ - 4/16/03 Hundreds of U.S. Soldiers Emerge as Conscientious Objectors Although only a handful of them have gone public, at least several hundred U.S. soldiers have applied for conscientious objector (CO) status since January, says a rights group. -Common Dreams - 4/16/03 US troops move 114 Iranian refugees to Jordanian border no-man's land: UNHCR US troops have ecorted 114 Iranian refugees from Al-Tash camp west of Baghdad to a no-man's land on the Jordan-Iraq border, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. -AFP - 4/16/03 Mujahedeen Claims Attacks by Iran Forces An Iranian opposition group based in Iraq claims that elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards crossed the border into Iraq and clashed with its fighters, killing 28 and abducting some of the wounded. -AP - 4/16/03 Turkmenistan exports of gas to Iran up 18 percent in Q1, 2003 Turkmenistan has exported over two billion cubic meters (m3) of gas to Iran during the first quarter of 2003, registering a 18.3 percent rise compared to the same period last year - 4/16/03 Russian-Turkmen Pacts Mark Strategic Shift for Moscow in Central Asia Russia and Turkmenistan have reached two deals – one on long-term energy exports, the other on bilateral security – that may have a broad impact on Central Asian geopolitics. -Eurasianet - 4/16/03 The nightmare scenario: freedom to choose rule by the ayatollahs Western diplomats and academics have been warning Washington and London for years that the fall of Saddam could be accompanied by a rise in Shia power. Washington opted to take the risk and may yet have to live with the consequences. -Guardian - 4/16/03 At least 10 killed in Mosul shooting, US denies accusations it is to blame At least 10 people were shot dead and scores wounded in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul, a hospital doctor said, with witnesses claiming US troops had opened fire on a crowd after it turned against an American-installed local governor. -AFP - 4/16/03 Iranian singer Marzieh among 70 People's Mujahedeen stuck at Jordan border More than 70 members of Iran's opposition People's Mujahedeen, including a prominent Iranian singer, have been stuck for more than 48 hours in no man's land on Jordan's border with Iraq -AFP - 4/16/03 US Appears to Tone Down Rhetoric Toward Syria, Iran "There is no list, there is no war plan right now to go attack someone else either for the purpose of overthrowing their leadership or for the purpose of imposing democratic values, Powell told reporters. -Reuters - 4/16/03 Iran Won't Recognize U.S.-Led Iraq Gov't Iranian President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites) said Wednesday his country will not recognize a U.S.-installed interim administration in Iraq and will support Syria if it is attacked. -AP - 4/16/03 Two children killed in mine explosion in Marivan, Iran Two Marivani children, Barzan Rahimi, 8, and Mohammad Hassani, 10, were killed at the outskirts of their village stepping on a landmine planted early 1980s by the counter-revolutionary groups who stood up against the central government - 4/16/03 Bombing wipes out camps of Iran rebels COALITION aircraft have destroyed camps in Iraq of the People’s Mujahidin (MKO), the main Iranian armed opposition group, British diplomats in Tehran said yesterday. -Times, UK - 4/16/03 Iranian Hard-liner Says U.S. Must 'Reward' Tehran "If America takes a wiser approach toward Iran, it will reach better results. But if it expects Iran to step back and not ask for rewards, it's clear that we cannot reach any conclusion," Rezaei, secretary of the Expediency Council, Iran's top arbitration body, told a news conference. -Reuters - 4/16/03 Iran ready to provide electricity to Iraq: MP "Considering that there is currently a power vacuum in Iraq, Iran is ready to conclude an agreement with the UN or its affiliated organizations to transfer electricity to Iraq," Yari said during a meeting with members of a UN delegation here. - 4/15/03 So, Who's Next? The government of Iran has supported terrorism in the past — it is, with Syria, a supporter of Lebanon's Hizballah — and has long coveted nuclear weapons. In principle, the mullahs of Tehran should be quaking in their sandals. Indeed, one State Department official says a debate is emerging within the Administration along the lines of, When do we start shifting our policy toward isolating Iran and toward bringing down that regime as well? The most likely answer is, Not anytime soon. -TIME - 4/15/03 Article 90 Commission report triggers scuffle in Iran's Parliament A report by the Parliamanet (Majlis) Article 90 Commission on a complaint by Ebrahim Yazdi and several other members of the so-called "religious-nationalist" group on Tuesday triggered a scuffle at the chamber - 4/15/03 Large Protests Greet US-Backed Talks on Post-Saddam Iraq Around 20,000 demonstrators converged on the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah to protest US-brokered talks aimed at sketching out a post-Saddam Hussein administration. -AFP - 4/15/03 Iran's U.S. Policy After the Fall of Baghdad: Khamenei's Hostility Versus Rafsanjani's Pragmatism While Khamenei continues to make hostile statements about the U.S., former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who currently heads the powerful conservative Expediency Council, took a realistic view of the new circumstances and showed pragmatism. -MEMRI - 4/15/03 Iran - Patten calls for "concrete improvements" The EU has given its strongest indication to date that Iran's slow progress in improving human rights is jeopardising EU-Iran relations. -EU Observer - 4/15/03 First unmanned helicopter manufactured in Iran Iranian inventor Akbar Akhonzadeh has successfully manufactured the first unmanned helicopter in the country - 4/15/03 Occupational Hazard Many of the Arab states don't like us. Neither do the Persians in Iran, and for good reason. In the 1950s and '60s, we supported Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran, even though he was the Saddam Hussein of his time and ruled by torture and murder. -San Francisco Chronicle - 4/15/03 Iraq's post-war future under scrutiny United States officials are meeting representatives of exiled Iraqi opposition groups and local tribal and religious leaders in a drive to establish a new government in Iraq. But the Iranian-based Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), is boycotting the meeting in protest at the US role. -BBC - 4/15/03 Robert Fisk: Would President Assad invite a cruise missile to his palace? So now Syria is in America's gunsights. First it's Iraq, Israel's most powerful enemy, possessor of weapons of mass destruction – none of which has been found. Now it's Syria, Israel's second most powerful enemy, possessor of weapons of mass destruction, or so President George Bush Junior tells us. No word of that possessor of real weapons of mass destruction, Israel -Independent - 4/15/03 Iranian MP lambastes Foreign Ministry for failure over UN Resolution 598 "None of the articles of the resolution has been implemented and the ministry should respond to the Iranian nation for this shortcoming," `Tehran Times' quoted MP Elaheh Koulaei as saying. - 4/15/03 Armed Shia on streets in first sign of power tussle But the mobilisation of Shia by the Najaf hierarchy sends a signal to Washington that an organised alternative power structure already exists in Iraq, whatever coalition of exiles and local politicians emerges from meetings this week. Some local Shia clerics made it clear yesterday that they wanted to see Iraq become an Islamic republic. -Guardian - 4/15/03 Bush vetoes Syria war plan The White House has privately ruled out suggestions that the US should go to war against Syria following its military success in Iraq, and has blocked preliminary planning for such a campaign in the Pentagon, the Guardian learned yesterday. - 4/15/03 Are Americans the New Mongols of the Mideast? In 1248, the forces of the Mongol chieftain Hulagu Khan invaded Baghdad and laid waste to the city. Sumerian, Babylonian, Mesopotamian, Assyrian, Ninevehan, Islamic Arab, and other historical relics of Iraq's storied past were destroyed by the invading Mongols. -CounterPunch - 4/15/03 Iran: Supreme Leader will decide on "blood money" for non-Muslims - Guardian Council The supervisory Guardian Council (GC) has once again rejected a Parliament (Majlis) bill on equal "blood money", or diyeh, for non-Muslim nationals, stressing that the fate of the issue is yet to be determined by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei - 4/15/03 EVENT: An evening with Dr. Esmail Khoi, a renowned Iranian poet Sunday, April 20th in Berkeley, California. Esmail Khoi is a leading Iranian poet living in exile. Born in 1938, he was educated in Iran and England, and began his career in Iran as a lecturer in philosophy. - 4/15/03 Attar Neishabouri's poems manifest themselves in plastic arts The exhibition opened at Seemorgh (Phoenix) Culture House in the city of Neishabour, northeastern Iran, on Monday, where 130 artworks are showcased in a row manifesting a group of birds flying towards the mythological Phoenix. - 4/15/03 Isfahan wins world's Robocup third title The Isfahan University of Technology on Saturday finished third in the world's Robocup entitled `German Open 2003' - 4/15/03 Book: PERSEPOLIS: The Story of a Childhood Says author Marjane Satrapi, "[Iran] has been discussed mostly in connection with fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. As an Iranian who has lived more than half my life in Iran, I know this image is far from the truth... -Pantheon Books - 4/15/03 "The Wondrous World of Sadegh Hedayat" Iranian Writer, Critic, Intellectual Who would have thought that a conference on Sadegh Hedayat could be enjoyable, interesting, informative and enlightening all at the same time. The finale of major world events for Hedayat's centenary took place in Oxford England last month. -Syma Sayyah, Tehran - 4/15/03 Iranian woman Poupeh Mahdavinader to travel around the world by bike Journey's Motto: In the name of love, friendship and global peace - 4/15/03 UK 'grateful' to Iran's stance during Iraq war, says Straw British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Monday contrasted Iran's position on the US-led war against Iraq with that of Syria, which has been warned by Washington not to harbour fleeing members of Saddam Hussein's regime - 4/14/03 Looters plunder in minutes Iraq's millennia-old legacy Iraq has been called one giant historic site, and for 80 years its national Museum has been the repository of irreplaceable records and collections of ancient art and artifacts from the country's Babylonian, Assyrian, and Mesopotamian past. The ransacking has caused incalculable loss to Iraq's, and the world's, cultural heritage, experts say. -Christian Science Monitor - 4/14/03 Iran to try any possible Iraqi leaders entering Iran Iran said Monday it will arrest and prosecute any element of Iraq's Baath regime, including its leaders, who possibly cross into the Iranian territory - 4/14/03 Siege of Shia cleric ends Around 50 armed men had gathered at the house of Ayatollah Mirza Ali Sistani on Saturday demanding him to leave the country within 48 hours. -BBC - 4/14/03 No SARS yet reported in Iran: official An official at Iran's Ministry of Health has said that no case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic has been reported in the Islamic Republic yet - 4/14/03 Rout Proves Anti-War Point Sometimes the United States and its allies are wrong, and the rest of the world is right. -Toronto Star - 4/14/03 Small successes outweighed Confusion, looting and tension about Syria overshadow the few achievements of this war -Guardian - 4/14/03 In Iraq's north, fears that disorder could spur ethnic strife The night Kirkuk fell, a man named Natham Arif died. He was an ethnic Turkmen. -Christian Science Monitor - 4/14/03 Iran will not accept US-led government Iran will not recognise an American-led government in Iraq and will restrict its relations to trade ties even though it welcomes the change in the Baghdad regime, says a leading member of parliament. -Financial Times - 4/14/03 Relax! You Might Not Be Next It seems that these days, people and politicians in most Middle Eastern countries believe that their country is the next target of U.S. regime-change. -Nader Habibi - 4/14/03 Iran troops and rebel mujahideen clash in Iraq An Iranian opposition group based in Iraq has lost 10 of its fighters in clashes with Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards who crossed into Iraq, where the group is based. -AP - 4/14/03 Iran ranks second in the 4th Asian Juniors Volleyball India stole the show in the 4th Asian Juniors Volleyball Championships as it defeated Iran in the final in Vishahkapatnam on Sunday. - 4/14/03 Iran: The Country Next Door When Saddam developed a nuclear bomb, we responded with total war. How do we respond if Iran does the same? Morley Safer reports from Iran. -CBS 60 Minutes - 4/14/03 Paradigm Shift in the Middle East in Full Gear Jubilant, appreciative Iraqi populace have emerged in massive numbers in the urban centers of the country now that they have by and large accepted the passage of one political era with the anticipation of the development of a "modern" replacement governing system. -Davood N. Rahni - 4/14/03 Iran's Judiciary says no Jewish spies released yet The Judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham has said that none of the Iranian Jews who have been arrested on espionage charges have been released yet - 4/14/03 Iran's varsity freestyle wrestling team wins Spanish Grand Prix title Freestyle wrestling team of Iran's Islamic Azad University (IAU) stood top in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday - 4/14/03 Iran's economic delegation meets Iranian expatriates in Washington Iran's economic delegation currently visiting the United States to attend the spring meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) conferred with a number of outstanding Iranian expatriates including economists, tradesmen, technical experts and university professors - 4/14/03 Lead cleric threatened by radicals "Total terror reigns in Najaf," said Ayatollah Abulqasim Dibaji, a cleric based in Kuwait. Ayatollah Sistani's aides suggested the faction was trying to rid Najaf of all Iranian-linked Shia leaders. Ayatollah Sistani himself was born in Iran. "They went to his house and told him to leave Najaf because he is not Arab," MrBudairi said. He said other ayatollahs had also been told to leave Najaf. -Guardian - 4/14/03 Daily profers China model for resumption of Iran-US ties `Iran News' on Sunday suggested that Iran can use the China experience to end its long-running antagonistic standoff with the United States instead of a plebiscite as recently proposed by Expediency Council (EC) chief Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani - 4/13/03 Syria could be next, warns Washington The move is part of Washington's efforts to persuade Israel to support a new peace settlement with the Palestinians. Washington has promised Israel that it will take 'all effective action' to cut off Syria's support for Hizbollah - implying a military strike if necessary, sources in the Bush administration have told The Observer . - 4/13/03 Iranian Baluchis bag Belgium taekwondo golds A team from Sistan-Baluchestan province, southeastern Iran, snatched three gold medals in the 21st international taekwondo Open of Belgium on Saturday - 4/13/03 Sharon hints at 'settlement' deal Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has indicated he is willing to remove some Jewish settlements in the West Bank for peace with the Palestinians. -BBC - 4/13/03 Iran Warns U.S., Britain Over Fate of POWs in Iraq Iran will hold U.S. and British forces responsible for the well-being of any Iranian prisoners of war who might still be in Iraqi jails from the 1980-88 conflict, the official IRNA news agency said on Sunday. - 4/13/03 Iranian wrestlers win two golds in Spain Two freestyle wrestlers of Iran's Islamic Azad University (IAU) on Saturday snatched two gold medals in Spain's Grand Prix - 4/13/03 A civilisation torn to pieces Baghdad, reports Robert Fisk, is a city at war with itself, at the mercy of thieves and gunmen. And, in the city's most important museum, something truly terrible has taken place -Independent - 4/13/03 Iran's leader urges Iraqis to stop anarchy Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Sunday called on Iraqi people to observe "brotherhood" and avoid lawlessness -UPI - 4/13/03 Iran native helps span culture gaps As a young teenager, Nat Nehdar crossed oceans and continents alone to reach America from his native Iran, which may explain why his public access channel television show is called "Crossing Bridges." -Pasadena Star-News, CA - 4/13/03 Powell dismisses talk of puppet leadership The Najaf home of Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's top Shia Muslim cleric, has been surrounded by armed members of a radical group who have threatened to attack him unless he leaves the country within 48 hours. -Guardian - 4/13/03 Israel to U.S.: Now deal with Syria and Iran Israel will suggest that the United States also take care of Iran and Syria because of their support for terror and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. Israel will point out the support of Syria and Iran for Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers an important target in the war against international terrorism. -Ha'aretz - 4/13/03 Volleyball: Iran eases past China, sets up final clash with India Defending champion Iran breezed past the Chinese side in the semifinal of the 4th Asian Juniors Volleyball Championships on Saturday, throwing the gauntlet for the finalist India - 4/13/03 Shiite Shift in Iran Probable For 25 years, Iran and its top religious leader, the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, have defined Shiite Islam for its 120 million followers and for the world. But the liberation of Najaf -- Shiite Islam's holiest city -- by U.S. forces now threatens to weaken Iran's influence. -Knight Ridder News Service - 4/13/03 Hidden Knives and Ambition Shroud Killing at Holy Shrine Rumors and intrigue swirled here today in a crowd of angry men milling around Iraq's holiest mosque two days after a prominent cleric was assassinated, but the truth of what happened remains a mystery. -New York Times - 4/13/03 British Minister flies out to Syria and Iran Mike O'Brien, the Foreign Office minister, will visit Syria and Iran this week to reassure both countries that they are not next on the list of targets for military action. -Telegraph, UK - 4/13/03 Iran's former president sets off new debate on ties with US Comments by Iran's powerful former president on mechanisms to resume ties with the United States have been taken by some as a sign that the war in Iraq has jolted the Islamic republic into serious discussion over the decades-old problem. -AFP - 4/13/03 Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet: America must keep game in bounds But perhaps Iraq's most precarious frontier remains its boundary with Iran. Since the rule of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the early 20th century, important cities such as Baghdad changed hands numerous times between the Ottoman and Persian Empires...Even if President Bush had not singled out Iran as one leg of the Axis of Evil, that nation would have many reasons to possibly intervene in post-Saddam politics. -Alameda Times-Star, CA - 4/13/03 Iranian appeals court commutes prison sentences of pollsters An appeals court in Tehran has commuted prison terms of pollsters Hossein Ali Qazian and Abbas Abdi, whose publication of a polling to say most Iranians favored normal ties with US, triggered a tumult - 4/13/03 Iranian woman cyclist touring round the world to promote peace An Iranian woman, who intends to pedal round the world to promote peace and friendship, met in Vatican City on Friday with Vatican officials in a symbolic gesture of understanding between Islam and Christianity - 4/12/03 Azeri Separatist Meets Policy Makers in Washington The Central Asia-Caucuses Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) presented a panel discussion entitled “Iran, Iranian-Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan after the Iraq-Iran War,” on Wednesday evening. -NIAC - 4/12/03 Free to do bad things On one of the bleakest days since the invasion began, US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday shrugged off turmoil and looting in Iraq as signs of the people's freedom. -Guardian - 4/12/03 Baghdad curfew 'planned' American forces in Baghdad want to introduce a dusk-to-dawn curfew to try to put a stop to looting which has swept the city for the past four days. -BBC - 4/12/03 Iran hammers Taiwan in Asian volleyball, waltzes to last four Defending champion Iran drubbed Taiwan on Friday, advancing to the last four of the 4th Asian Juniors Volleyball Championships - 4/12/03 Robert Fisk: I sat on Saddam's throne and surveyed the dark chamber where terror was dispensed Did I sit on President Saddam's throne? Of course I did. There is something dark in all our souls that demands an understanding of evil rather than good, because, I suppose, we are more fascinated by the machinery of cruelty and power than we are by angels. -Independent - 4/12/03 The Real War - On American Democracy In the midst of news of foreign wars, Americans are beginning to wake up to the real war being waged here at home. It is, however, a confused awakening. -Common Dreams - 4/12/03 Iran's Student Parliament to open today: daily According to the `Tehran Times' daily, the deputies chosen in a three-phase election by 4 million secondary-level students will swear in today to follow up on the demands of 20 million students. - 4/12/03 R. James Woolsey: War-hungry non-combatant Former CIA Director beats the drums for World War IV - 4/12/03 Mob Kills 2 Leaders at Shiite Shrine According to Khoei's nephew in Iran, the mob initially intended to kill just Haidar Rafaii, who had been appointed custodian of the mosque by Saddam Hussein. -Times - 4/12/03 Briton critical after Israel shooting A British peace activist shot and wounded during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip is in a critical condition. -BBC - 4/12/03 Rising resistance to US call on World Bank The US administration is meeting rising resistance to its plan to start the international financial institutions working on reconstruction in Iraq, with opposition building among the World Bank's other shareholder countries. -Financial Times - 4/12/03 U.S. Plans to Run Iraqi Oil for A While It is uncertain how long the United States would operate Iraq's oil industry, the country's main source of revenue. U.S. officials say they want to turn over Iraqi ministries to Iraqis as quickly as possible. -Common Dreams - 4/12/03 Profile: Ahmed Chalabi - the saviour of Iraq, or a chancer whose time has come? But the crossfire between the Pentagon of Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz and Colin Powell's State Department masks competing visions of the future of the entire Middle East and Arab world. For the Pentagon and its neo-conservative outriders, Chalabi is the future. For the State Department, he is a charlatan, the repository of extravagant hopes that will end in tears. -Independent - 4/12/03 Weapons teams scour Iraq Britain and the United States have bypassed the United Nations to establish a secret team of inspectors to resume the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It is a sign of the desperation in London and Washington to find a "smoking gun" to justify the war that the Anglo-American team has already conducted three inspections in the past two weeks. -Guardian - 4/12/03 Iran: Supervisory official slams Khatami's bill, vows to block it An official of the supervisory Guardians Council lashed out Friday at President Mohammad Khatami's bill on propping up presidential powers, describing it dangerously "unconstitutional" and pledging to veto it - 4/12/03 Russia tells US officials nuclear coop with Iran will continue Russia's Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev has played down US fears that Russian construction of a nuclear power plant in Iran may trigger proliferation and made it clear that Moscow would continue its nuclear cooperation with Iran - 4/12/03 EU, Iran wrap up second round of political dialogue European Union and Iranian officials Thursday evening in Brussels wrapped up the second round of a political dialogue with a commitment to deepen cooperation on the bilateral, regional and international level - 4/12/03 Are tyrants shocked, awed or stocking up on nukes? The US wants to intimidate 'axis of evil' countries, but the plan could backfire -Guardian - 4/12/03 Britain withdraws Tehran trade fair backing The British government has withdrawn official backing for a delegation of companies attending an oil and gas fair in Tehran next week, in a move that highlights its growing fears that UK interests could be attacked in Iran. -Financial Times - 4/12/03 Hard-Liners in Iran Worry About U.S. Influence in Iraq "Hard-liners want to provoke the United States against Iran," a senior Iranian official said. "If the Americans start seriously threatening Iran, that gives them an excuse to crush reforms." -Times - 4/12/03 Iran Rebels Say 18 Fighters Killed in Iraq Iran's main rebel group, the People's Mujahideen, said on Saturday 18 of its fighters were killed and 43 wounded in attacks by "Iranian agents" on their camps in Iraq last week. -Reuters - 4/12/03 Iran: Rafsanjani proposes referendum for resumption of ties with US Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in Tehran on Saturday Iran's resumption of ties with the US could be put to a referendum - 4/12/03 Ukrainian delegation in Iran to discuss building aircraft: report A Ukrainian delegation flew to Iran Friday to discuss more construction of An-140 aircraft in the Islamic Republic despite last December setback for the aviation company in which 44 of its specialists were killed in an air crash during a similar trip - 4/12/03 1,526 Executed in 2002 Amnesty International recorded 1,060 executions in China and 113 executions in Iran, but the true number was believed to be much higher in both countries. Seventy-one people were executed in the USA, up from 66 in 2001 - 4/12/03 Once-Jailed Cleric Seeks Major Changes in Iran After he spent 18 months in prison for asserting that terrorism has no justification under Islamic law, Kadivar left to study in the United States. Upon hearing of his mentor’s (Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri) imminent release, he made plans to return to the religious center of Qom, Iran. He spoke to EurasiaNet in New York. - 4/11/03 Supreme leader says Iran happy about ouster of Saddam Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Friday said Iranians, like the Iraqis, are happy to see Saddam Hussein ousted, but they strongly condemn the killing of Iraqi civilians by the US-British troops - 4/11/03 Iran divided between joy and anxiety following Saddam's fall "They tell us that Syria is the next target, but according to our reports Iran could well follow," Khatami was quoted as saying at a closed-door meeting of government officials and members of parliament. -AFP - 4/11/03 Some see victory extending beyond Iraq While U.S. officials emphasize the enormity of the tasks that need to be completed in Iraq, some administration supporters already are proclaiming the birth of a new historical period and suggesting that regime change in Iraq could be followed soon by Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. -USA Today - 4/11/03 NIAC Workshop on Civic Participation in Chicago (Sat. April 26) What makes certain individuals more influential than others? What makes certain communities more influential than others? How can the Iranian-American community translate its vast resources into influence, in order to defend its civil rights? - 4/11/03 200 Iraqis Storm Their Embassy in Iran About 200 Iraqis stormed their embassy in the Iranian capital Friday morning, smashing photographs of Saddam Hussein and shouting against both the missing Iraqi leader and the possibility the United States would run the government that replaces him. About 60 people were arrested. -AP - 4/11/03 Saddam Hussein's neighbours fear they may be next in the line of fire THE fall of Baghdad sent shockwaves through the Middle East, where some of Iraq’s neighbours fear that their regimes could be next. -TIMES, UK - 4/11/03 Chaos as Mosul falls to Kurds Widespread looting has broken out in the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul, after the Iraqi army abandoned the city to US-backed Kurdish fighters. -BBC - 4/11/03 Anti-War Groups Scout Out New Role The American anti-war movement, which ballooned in recent months to its largest since the Vietnam War, is reevaluating its tactics and revising its message for the end of fighting in Iraq, but many national organizers say it is bound to lose some momentum. -Common Dreams - 4/11/03 Pentagon defends Chalabi but won't 'anoint' him The U.S. Defense Department defended the credibility of Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi on Thursday but said it did not intend to "anoint" him as the leader of Iraq. -Reuters - 4/11/03 Why Kirkuk is key Kirkuk is the centre of the country's oil industry and key to the stabilisation of the north of Iraq. -BBC - 4/11/03 Murder of Shia cleric is blow to US plans US hopes of bringing stable government to southern Iraq suffered a serious setback yesterday when unknown assailants killed Abdulmajid al-Khoi, a prominent Shia cleric who had returned to the holy city of Najaf barely two weeks ago after more than a decade in exile. -Financial Times - 4/11/03 Pro-U.S. Shiite cleric 'assassinated' Seyyed Abdelmajid al-Khoei was assassinated in the Shiite holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq, the report said. On Tuesday, Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency carried an interview with Khoei, which was interpreted in the West as a rare conciliatory gesture toward the United States by Iran. -UPI - 4/11/03 Fears for the future Following 24 hours of victory celebrations in Baghdad, there are fears today that the war, far from ending, could simply be moving into a far more intractable low-intensity phase in which bunker-busting bombs and other hi-tech weapons are of little use. -Guardian - 4/11/03 The future of America's imperial reach Show of force in Iraq may lead to more preemptive ventures - or force US into an age of restraint. -Christian Science Monitor - 4/11/03 A look at Golestan province's internationally protected lagoons The complex of Golestan province internationally protected lagoons is located in the extensive Torkman Sahra plain near the common border of Iran and Turkmenistan in Dashli-Boroun district. - 4/11/03 Struggle for Order Begins in Iraq As Rival Forces Jockey for Power As order struggled to emerge in Iraq's three main regions, north, central and south, the contours of the challenges ahead were emerging as well: What role will returned exiles play in Iraq's future?... -Farnaz Fassihi, Wall Street Journal - 4/11/03 Regimes who worry that they will be next Fears that Iraq may not be the last American target have been raised by bellicose statements from the Pentagon and US neo-conservatives directed against other members of the "axis of evil" and the so-called "states of concern". -Guardian - 4/11/03 US Treasury says aid to Iran may not be effective The World Bank on Wednesday approved a $20 million loan for Iran. The U.S. representative at the World Bank voted against the loan. The bank has said it plans to lend up to $755 million to Iran in the next two years. -Reuters - 4/11/03 Short Story: The Rain Gol-Agha lowered the wick of the oil lamp and put it on the stairs. His glance toward the sky broke and fell. Kuchak Khanoum, who had just spread the straw sofreh (table-cloth) on the ground and was sitting next to it, had her hand under her chin. When she saw Gol-Agha, she said, "So you are here." -Akbar Raadi - 4/10/03 IMF sees strong Middle East growth this year Economic growth in the Middle East will be strong this year despite the conflict in Iraq, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. The fund is expecting Middle Eastern economies to expand 5.1 percent this year, up from 3.9 percent in 2002. -Reuters - 4/10/03 Turkey, Iran Both Seek Friendship in Uncertain Times As American-led troops take control in Iraq, the Turkish government that declined to host them is pursuing alliances elsewhere in the region. Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi paid a sudden visit to Turkey on April 6, following US Secretary of State Colin Powell by four days. -Eurasianet - 4/10/03 A foe of Iraq war talks of Iran, N. Korea threat Howard Dean vaulted to prominence as a Democratic presidential contender by opposing war with Iraq, but yesterday the former governor of Vermont said he would not rule out using military force to disarm North Korea or Iran if they have, or move to obtain, nuclear weapons. -Boston Globe - 4/10/03 Robert Fisk: A day that began with shellfire ended with a once-oppressed people walking like giants The great Lebanese poet Kalil Gibran once wrote that he pitied the nation that welcomed its tyrants with trumpetings and dismissed them with hootings of derision. And the people of Baghdad performed this same deadly ritual yesterday, forgetting that they – or their parents – had behaved in identical fashion when the Arab Socialist Baath Party destroyed the previous dictatorship of Iraq's generals and princes. -Independent - 4/10/03 Symbolic in more ways than one The toppling of a giant Baghdad statue of Saddam Hussein, and the part the US played in it, provided plenty to think about, says Brian Whitaker -Guardian - 4/10/03 Iraq's weapons 'must be found' In an interview with Spanish daily El Pais, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix hinted he believed Iraq's contended possession of weapons of mass destruction had served as a pretext for a US-led invasion. "There is evidence this war was planned well in advance," he said. -BBC - 4/10/03 Dances With Wolfowitz Wolfowitz of Arabia and the other administration hawks are thrilled with U.S. hawkishness. When Mr. Wolfowitz was on "Meet the Press" on Sunday his aides sat in the green room watching the monitor and high-fiving their boss's performance. -New York Times - 4/10/03 'Black day' in Arab world There may be excited crowds welcoming the Americans in Baghdad, but for many in the Arab world this is still a black day. -BBC - 4/10/03 Kurds occupy oil city Kirkuk Kurds later went on a looting spree in the city, she said - and coalition forces are also witnessing widespread looting in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra. The BBC's Rageh Omaar in Baghdad says civil order has broken down - 4/10/03 Central Asia: Efforts Under Way To Bring Region Up To Speed With The Internet Central Asia lacks much of the infrastructure needed to introduce the public to the Internet. In addition to a simple lack of computers, the region suffers from a poor telecommunications system, and Internet connection costs are prohibitively expensive. -RFE - 4/10/03 Iran's Kharrazi Says 'Mistake' for U.S. to Run Iraq Iran's foreign minister has said the United States is making a strategic mistake by putting in place a U.S.-led administration in Iraq. -Reuters - 4/10/03 Heed lesson of Iraq, US warns The US administration on Wednesday warned other countries intent on developing weapons of mass destruction - such as Iran, Syria, and North Korea - to "draw the appropriate lesson from Iraq". -Financial Times - 4/10/03 EU-Iran political dialogue in Brussels enters second round EU says negotiations with Iran "constructive and promising" - 4/10/03 Hawks Set Sights on Iran, Syria as Baghdad Falls Emboldened by the U.S. military's apparent quick rout of Iraqi forces, conservative hawks in America are setting their sights on regime change in Iran and Syria. -Reuters - 4/10/03 Iran's Iraqi Refugees Celebrate U.S. in Baghdad Jubilant Iraqi refugees danced, threw flowers and gave sweets to passers-by in Tehran late on Wednesday, celebrating the sweep by U.S. troops into the heart of Baghdad, witnesses said. -Reuters - 4/10/03 Response to Ms. Azizi "Letter From Iran - Why a Left-Leaning Feminist Backs the Pentagon" I read your article posted on Pacific News Service. While I understand some of the frustrations you are experiencing, I was horrified by the solution you had suggested, i.e. a foreign military invasion of Iran. Below are my reasons why I think this is a terrible idea. -Ramin Hojati - 4/10/03 Britain Seeks to Engage Iran and Syria Over Iraq Britain said on Thursday it was continuing to engage with Iraq's neighbors Syria and Iran, a message that cut across hard-line warnings to both states from hawks in Washington. -Reuters - 4/10/03 Powell denies US plans to wage war against Syria, Iran US Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to assuage fears in Syria and Iran that the United States might be planning military action against them, saying recent US warnings do not mean that "war is coming" to these countries. -AFP - 4/10/03 Time to Rethink US Foreign Policy Towards Iran American foreign policy has reached a crossroads that obliges us to rethink how diplomatic lines are drawn. The allies we choose today, particularly in the Middle East, will have a pronounced impact on our future well-being and security. Regrettably, we are bypassing a golden opportunity with the most unthinkable of allies - Iran. -Baha Hariri - 4/9/03 Tracing the roots of America's war in Iraq 'Neocon' architects of a muscular US policy eye more regime changes in the region. -Christian Science Monitor - 4/9/03 Quick Iraq War May Presage More Pressure on Iran Iran's joy at the likely fall of its hated neighbor Saddam Hussein is tempered by the realization that its other arch-foe, the United States, is likely to intensify pressure for change in the Islamic Republic. -Reuters - 4/9/03 Iranian cleric says embassy seizures "radical acts" of the past Cleric and journalist Taha Hashemi has lashed out at what he described as "radical acts" by certain groups during recent anti-war rallies in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, warning that such measures could harm the Islamic Republic - 4/9/03 Poem: My brother is on the plane This poem may speak to the diaspora of Iranians, whose family members/friends are stretched apart in all corners of the world. It is simply about "jaa-e-khaali," as we say, that a person leaves behind; a kind of silence settles then, as we drive a dear one back to the airport, and wave them goodbye. -Leylanaz Shajii - 4/9/03 Iranian Official says Guardian Council's approbatory supervision against people's rights The Secretary General of Iran's Mardomsalari (Democracy) Party, Mostafa Kavakebian, here on Wednesday said the approbatory supervision, as practiced by the Guardian Council (GC) for qualifying elections candidates, contradicts the rights of people - 4/9/03 Islamist group wiped out in northern Iraq -- with a little help from Iran US forces have wiped out an alleged al-Qaeda-linked group in northern Iraq with help from their Kurdish allies -- but also their Iranian foes who have sealed off the Islamist militants' only exit. -AFP - 4/9/03 The Big News When I hear people defending US military attack on Iraq because of their hatred of Saddam Hussein (and the interesting point is that it seems those Iranians who were not here during Iran-Iraq war appear more revengeful than the majority of us who lived that war), I feel overwhelmed by a feeling of grief. -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 4/9/03 The Future of Regime Change: Wallowing in Hypocrisy Ayatollahs in Iran must find Saddam's departure at the hands of his erstwhile sponsors a truly sweet form of poetic justice. But they cannot ignore the ticking of the clock. Saddam's departure will soon reduce the membership of the axis of evil to just North Korea and Iran. -CounterPunch - 4/9/03 Trip to Iran turned into a life's ordeal Author Betty Mahmoody tells of struggle for freedom -The News Journal, Delaware - 4/9/03 Teenager killed in rocket blast in southwest Iran A 13-year-old Iranian boy was killed Tuesday afternoon after a rocket, apparently fired by either British or US troops, hit a suburb in the southwestern city of Abadan near the Iraqi city of Basra - 4/9/03 The Pentagon's (CIA) Man in Iraq Toward the start of the second Persian Gulf War, I found myself in a room with R. James Woolsey, CIA chief during the first two years of the Clinton administration. A television was turned on, and we both watched a news report on the latest development in the North Korea nuclear drama. -The Nation - 4/9/03 UK troops appoint Basra 'mayor' The unnamed cleric will head a committee of local people to run Iraq's second city, where the British have overcome most Iraqi resistance. -BBC - 4/9/03 Iranian Students Denounce U.S., Saddam Hundreds of Iranian students chanted ``Death to Saddam'' as well as ``Death to America'' while throwing eggs, tomatoes and firecrackers at the British Embassy in Tehran before being dispersed by police Tuesday. -AP - 4/9/03 FILM: Special Preview Screening of "Marooned in Iraq" by Bahman Ghobadi on April 18 in New York Asia Society and Asian CineVision Present a special preview screening of Marooned in Iraq, a film by Bahman Ghobadi - 4/9/03 Exiled leader returning to Iraq The leader of Iraq's main Shi'ite opposition group, Ayatollah Mohammad-Baqer Hakim, has said he is going to return home after living in exile in neighbouring Iran for more than two decades. -BBC - 4/9/03 US-backed militia terrorises town Hay Al Ansar, on the outskirts of Najaf in Iraq, was glad to be rid of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party government, when the city was seized by US forces last week. But they appear to be just as terrified, if not more so, of their new rulers - a little-known Iraqi militia backed by the US special forces and headquartered in a compound nearby. -Financial Times - 4/9/03 Is this the end? There's looting and celebration in Baghdad, but the battle may not yet be over -Guardian - 4/9/03 Bush Sees Limited Role for U.N. in Postwar Iraq President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain pledged today to grant the United Nations a "vital role" in post-war Iraq, but Mr. Bush described that role as largely humanitarian and advisory rather than one central to overseeing the country and eventually establishing a new government. -New York Times - 4/9/03 Iran endorses U.S. claim on Iraqi shrines Iran has made a rare conciliatory gesture towards the United States by endorsing the U.S. statement that coalition forces had not damaged the Shiite religion's two holiest shrines in Iraq. -UPI - 4/9/03 Iran not next in U.S. firing line - vice president A top Iranian official said on Tuesday he did not expect the United States to turn its military might on Iran after the war in Iraq was over, but Washington had other ways to put pressure on Tehran. -Reuters - 4/9/03 Do not read too much into US threats against Iran, says Blair British Prime Minister Tony Blair Wednesday played down US military threats against Iran and Syria, suggesting that too much should not be read into the warnings to extend the Iraq war - 4/9/03 REALPOLITIK; Sociology 101B! For Israel to feel totally secure against any potential aggression from outside, it must remain the region's unchallenged nuclear power. The thought that Iran could someday be in a position to develop nuclear weapons of its own, worries Israeli leaders. If any nuclear parity evolves between Israel and Iran, Israel's invulnerability become neutralized - this, Israel cannot tolerate. -Kam Zarrabi - 4/9/03 Senator asks $50M to aid Iran dissidents A leading member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to introduce legislation Wednesday authorizing $50 million a year to aid democratic activists inside Iran seeking a peaceful end to that country's regime. -UPI - 4/9/03 Iran's Parliament Approves Khatami Reform Bill Iran's pro-reform parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would give President Mohammad Khatami greater authority over his conservative rivals, parliamentarians said. -Reuters - 4/8/03 Women’s rights at stake A dramatic development shocked most delegates and observers on the last day of the 47th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. Only half an hour before the 15-day session was to end, Iran’s representative, supported by delegates from Egypt and Sudan, rose to register his government’s objection to paragraph (o) -Women’s Feature Service - 4/8/03 Supervising board criticizes Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting for pro-Iraq reporting of war The supervising board of state TV has criticized the network for biased reporting of the Iraqi crisis in favor of the Iraqi regime, cautioning that this could threaten Iran's interests - 4/8/03 It Is US Despite the seemingly easily available answers, some questions are perpetually asked. Why does a community not grow and reach political maturity? Why do despots continuously rule a nation? I believe the answer is simple; it is us who foster and promote these kinds of unprincipled tyrants to behave the way they do by being apathetic, oblivious, passive, and inactive. -Hamid Zangeneh - 4/8/03 Letter from an Iranian-American employee of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee am a young Iranian American woman and an employee of ADSF. One of my interests is building ties between the Iranian American and Arab American communities. ADCSF is a civil rights organization working on issues from INS Special Registration, hate violence and racial profiling, to the support of Palestinian people, to organizing efforts against the war. -Bahar Mirhosseini - 4/8/03 Mixed Feelings About War on Iran-Iraq Border For more than two weeks now the battle raging in southern Iraq around the city of Basra, 30 miles away, has shaken the people of Abadan out of their beds, illuminated the night sky with terrifying flashes and sent many fleeing for safety. -Reuters - 4/8/03 Firecrackers set off outside British embassy in Iran Dozens of suspected Islamists demonstrating against the US-led war in Iraq set off firecrackers outside the British Embassy in Tehran, witnesses said. -AFP - 4/8/03 Turkey denies shift in foreign policy Turkey on Monday insisted that a flurry of contacts with Iran and Syria over the war in neighbouring Iraq did not mean it was forming a tripartite grouping with countries viewed with suspicion by the US. -Financial Times - 4/8/03 Robert Fisk: It seemed as if Baghdad would fall within hours Amid the crack of gunfire and the tracer streaking across the river, and the huge oil fires that the Iraqis lit to give them cover to retreat, one had to look away – to the great river bridges further north, into the pale green waters of that most ancient of rivers – to realise that a Western army on a moral crusade had broken through to the heart of an Arab city for the first time since General Allenby marched into Jerusalem in 1918. -Independent - 4/8/03 Second journalist dies after hotel strike The US admitted it had made "a grave mistake" bombing al-Jazeera and said it had opened fire on the Palestine Hotel after coming under attack from snipers. But that account has been dismissed as "absurd" by journalists working out of the hotel. -Guardian - 4/8/03 Suspected execution site actually a morgue An Iraqi warehouse full of skeletal human remains appears to have been a repatriation facility for soldiers killed during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, not a torture chamber or execution site. -Canada.com - 4/8/03 The postwar challenge will be hardest In the coming days, the eyes of the world will be focused on the battle for Baghdad. It is impossible to predict the duration and the intensity of the battle but its outcome is certain: ultimately the US and its coalition partners will prevail. But success depends on much more than the result of that military engagement. -Financial Times - 4/8/03 Frostbitten militants give up struggle Denied entry into neighbouring Iran, scores of Islamic militants who had retreated into the mountains during recent attacks by US forces are trudging through snow and across fields to surrender to Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. -Age - 4/8/03 Exiled Shia leader plans to return Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, who was tortured and imprisoned by the Ba'ath party regime and was a target for assassination, has decided to move back to Iraq, his spokesman told the Guardian. - 4/8/03 Speculation mounts over Saddam's fate A warplane has destroyed a house in Baghdad that US officials say they believe was being used by Saddam Hussein and his sons -Guardian - 4/8/03 Clash of the administration titans Old rivals Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld square off in a new battle over how to rebuild a post-Saddam Iraq -CNN - 4/8/03 Bringing change in Iran requires keeping our eyes on the ball! After centuries of harboring anti-Jewish sentiments in our hearts and souls and decades of blaming Israel for everything from the price of tea in China to the plague in Europe, it is not enough to deal with this issue in a passive approach. It is incumbent upon us to take some affirmative action to rid ourselves of this intellectual disease. -Mohsen Moshfegh - 4/8/03 Iran Stands Trial in 1983 Suicide Bombing in Beirut Iran did not send a representative to court, a practice it has followed in all such cases. The defense table in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge John D. Bates was empty yesterday, except for a water pitcher and a blank computer terminal. -Washington Post - 4/8/03 Outspoken Iranian intellectual Hashem Aghajari meets parliament speaker University professor Hashem Aghajari, who was initially given a death sentence for blasphemy, went to the Parliament in Tehran on Tuesday to thank Speaker Mehdi Karroubi for trying to secure his release from prison - 4/8/03 Call to unite in support of House Resolution 59, which calls for the opening of U.S.-Iran relations I am writing to you with deep concern regarding a debate currently being held in Congress that will greatly determine the future of U.S.-Iranian relations for years to come. What makes this debate so important is that President Bush's policy toward Iran is yet to be decided. Therefore, Congress could potentially have a great deal of influence on the route he takes. -Ali Scotten - 4/8/03 Iran-US Relations: A Cold, Fragile Peace Many analysts say the issue that most bitterly divides the United States and Iran is Israel. Washington accuses Iran of supporting terrorist groups that attack Israel, while Tehran accuses the United States of "blind support" for Israel at the expense of other regional countries. In fact, according to several analysts, the Israel-Iran rivalry will most probably drive Iran-US relations for the foreseeable future. -Afshin Molavi, Eurasianet - 4/8/03 US fears evil motives over EU links with Iran The rift between the US and Europe over Iran has seldom been more stark. While Washington warns Tehran of reprisals if it joins the war in Iraq, the EU continues to engage with a country that President George W. Bush has described as part of an "axis of evil". -Financial Times - 4/7/03 Iranian MPs lash out at IRIB for "biased" coverage of Iraqi crisis Still, many believe that the TV, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), has been to a large extent in favor of the Iraqi regime in covering the crisis, with several others regretting that the institution was turning a blind eye to the fact that Iraq had imposed an eight-year bloody war on Iran. - 4/7/03 Iran says Iraq-based armed opposition defecting in face of US-led invasion Scores of militants from Iran's Iraq-based armed opposition have defected and returned home in the face of the US-led onslaught of their Baghdad backers, Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said. -AFP - 4/7/03 Quake relief, rescue bases to be set up in Tehran province Managing Director of Tehran province Red Crescent Society (TRCS) Hamid-Reza Dehqan predicted on Monday that in case of occurrence of earthquake in Tehran, 10 outlets and suburban relief and rescue bases will extend their relief services to the quake-hit citizens - 4/7/03 EU says dialogue process with Iran going well The third round of EU-Iran negotiations on a trade and cooperation (TCA) agreement that begins in Brussels Tuesday will cover detailed discussions on issues related with justice and home affairs and science and technology. - 4/7/03 Iraqi opposition force in S Iraq The deployment, which is said to have begun on Friday night, will move about 1,000 men to a base in southern Iraq controlled by coalition forces. The force is under the control of the Iraqi National Congress and its leader, Ahmed Chalabi, who will accompany his troops into Iraq. -BBC - 4/7/03 Blind Iranian judoists win two golds in France Iran's poor-sighted and blind judokas bagged two gold, one silver, and one bronze medals in an international tournament in France on Sunday. In men's team competitions, Iran finished runner-up. - 4/7/03 While Many Islamic Fighters Surrender, Kurds Remain Wary Mr. Talabani said hundreds of militants had been taken into custody by Iranian intelligence officials at border crossings. He said he had asked Iran to extradite them all. -New York Times - 4/7/03 Robert Fisk: The Allied grip tightens on Baghdad On the streets, grim evidence of a bloody battle -Independent - 4/7/03 British forces 'find Chemical Ali's body' British forces today claimed to have found the body of Ali Hassan al-Majid, the man known as Chemical Ali after ordering a poison gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds in 1988. -Guardian - 4/7/03 Streets littered with Iraqi corpses as troops close in on the centre of Kerbala American ground forces closed in on the centre of the Shia holy city of Kerbala yesterday, sending tanks through the streets and directing artillery fire on to sniper positions. Smoke canisters screened infantry advances. -Guardian - 4/7/03 US troops storm central Baghdad American tanks and armoured vehicles have penetrated deep into the centre of the Iraqi capital, raiding President Saddam Hussein's main palace and attacking several other sites. -BBC - 4/7/03 Message in a movie No one could sit through Michael Winterbottom's acclaimed film "In This World" without feeling sympathetic to its hero, an Afghan teenager who embarks on an epic journey to London in search of a better life. But will it change anyone's mind about asylum? -Guardian - 4/7/03 Iran finishes runner-up in Bulgaria's wrestling `Dan Kolov Cup' All-star freestyle wrestling team of Golestan, the representative of Iran, stood second in an international tournament, Dan Kolov Cup, held in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, on Sunday - 4/7/03 Israeli and Russian Official Hint Bushehr May Be Targeted During Iraqi War Of all the middle-eastern thorns currently vexing the side of the US administration, one, in theory, would seem easy to eradicate, especially under cover of the more intense than expected US-led war to bring down Saddam Hussein. That thorn is the Russian-built, $800m light water reactor in the Iranian port town of Bushehr, located just 300 kilometres across the Persian Gulf from the battlefields in southern Iraq. -Bellona - 4/7/03 Iran's Parliament empowers president to stop court proceedings Iran's Parliament on Sunday passed a legislation empowering the president to stop implementation of a verdict or legal proceedings at the court of justice whenever he deems them to be contrary to constitutional provisions - 4/6/03 BBC cameraman's last moments On Wednesday 2 April, BBC cameraman Kaveh Golestan was killed and producer Stuart Hughes injured by landmines near Kifri in northern Iraq. BBC correspondent Jim Muir, who was with them, sent this account of the incident. - 4/6/03 Iran FM arrives in Turkey for talks on Iraq, Kurdish factions Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi arrived here for talks with Turkish leaders on the war in Iraq and joint concerns about Kurdish factions in north of the country -AFP - 4/6/03 Iran's outspoken intellectual Hashem Aghajari given home leave: source Hashem Aghajari, an outspoken university professor who has escaped death sentence once, has gone on temporary home leave from prison in the western Iranian city of Hamedan - 4/6/03 US defence department will take lead after war, White House insists The US yesterday relegated the United Nations to a supporting role in the creation of apost-Saddam government in Iraq, leaving it to the US-led coalition to take the lead. -Financial Times - 4/6/03 US Undermined Arms Control System That Was Already Deadlocked The Bush administration's war to disarm Iraq and its increasingly unilateral approach to international disputes, say arms control experts, are helping to paralyze one of the most hopeful products of the post-World War II era: the global arms control and disarmament movement. -Common Dreams - 4/6/03 British troops advance into Basra Basra, Iraq's second city, is today facing its biggest assault since the war began, with reports that British troops have reached the Ba'ath party headquarters. -Guardian - 4/6/03 Human remains 'are Iranian soldiers Human remains found in an abandoned Iraqi military base are those of Iranian soldiers killed in the Iran-Iraq war, an Iranian general has said. -BBC - 4/6/03 The Battle of Baghdad The Iraqi bodies were piled high in the pick-up truck in front of me, army boots hanging over the tailboard, a soldier with a rifle sitting beside them. Beside the highway, a squad of troops was stacking grenades as the ground beneath us vibrated with the impact of US air strikes. The area was called Qadisiya. It was Iraq's last front line. -Robert Fisk, Independent - 4/6/03 U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman Hosts Reza Pahlavi of Iran "The people of Iran are good people with a rich cultural history, but they are suffocating under a repressive regime that supports terrorism," said Sherman. "The United States needs to lead civilized nations in an organized effort against the clerical regime, for the benefit of human rights, as well as bringing an end to the regime's pursuit of nuclear weapons, and its support of terrorism." - 4/6/03 Australia would not follow Americans into Iran or Syria, says Downer The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said yesterday that Australia would not be involved in any United States-led military action in Iran or Syria, if Washington chose that path. -Sydney Morning Herald - 4/6/03 Narges Mohammadi's appeal referred to Revolutionary Court: lawyer Mohammadi, the wife of political dissident Taqi Rahmani, has already received a one-year term for charges of insulting state officials following her interviews with the press about the imprisonment of her husband. - 4/6/03 Karroubi hopes Iran's Parliament will not refer bill on elections to Expediency Council Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karroubi on Sunday expressed hope that the bill on an amendment to the election law would not be referred to the Expediency Council (EC) for arbitration - 4/6/03 Iran's Kharrazi Shrugs Off U.S. Warnings on Iraq "These warnings from America are nothing new. U.S. policy in the region is, 'You are either with us or against us.' We have heard these warnings from America for years," Kharrazi told reporters after talks with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.-Reuters - 4/6/03 Iran-based opposition says Baghdad Shiites to stay put until Saddam toppled The main Iraqi Shiite Muslim opposition group vowed that Shiites in Baghdad would stay out of the conflict, as US-led troops were closing in on the Iraqi capital. -AFP - 4/5/03 From Baghdad to Damascus Last Sunday, Rumsfeld predicted that after his warning to the Syrians, “My guess is that they’ll be more careful.” But on Thursday, when asked whether he had seen any signs of change, he replied, “Syria is continuing to conduct itself the way it was prior to the time I said what I said.” -MSNBC - 4/5/03 US forces 'in Baghdad' The US military said today its troops would continue moving into Baghdad as and when it chose, but that the war against Saddam Hussein's forces was "far from over". -Guardian - 4/5/03 Turf War Rages in Washington Over Who Will Rule Iraq The Bush administration was scrambling to finalize an interim government for post-war Iraq yesterday, amid a turf war pitting the Pentagon and the Vice-President's office against the State Department and Congress in Washington. -Common Dreams - 4/5/03 The spectre of Beirut An "invasion" brings to Arab minds images of Israel, a US ally still occupying Arab lands. Iraqi prisoners of war are compared by Arabs to Palestinians captured through Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. -Financial Times - 4/5/03 CIA Releases More Records From Noah's Ark Insight has obtained additional records concerning the Freedom of Information Act request it filed three years ago concerning the federal government's "Noah's Ark" file. - 4/5/03 Iran TV channel targets Iraq A new 24-hour Arabic-language television channel called Al-Alam - "The World" - is broadcasting to Iraq from neighbouring Iran. -BBC - 4/5/03 EU reiterates that MKO a terrorist group The European Union has reiterated that the Iranian Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) remains a terrorist group - 4/5/03 Some UK Embassy Staff Leave Iran After Truck Blast Some British embassy staff and their family members have left Iran in recent days after a suspicious truck blast and a number of bomb treats at the diplomatic compound in Tehran, a UK diplomat said on Saturday. -Reuters - 4/5/03 Saddam was not always Washington's 'demon' Evil tyrant" or tactical ally? Saddam Hussein has been both to the United States over the past 20 years, depending on where it saw its interests. -Reuters - 4/5/03 Young People Try to Contribute During War Sarah Abedi, a teen from southern California, is helping raise money for Iraqi families. For Abedi, motivation to help has come partly from stories about war and political upheaval told by her parents, who fled Iran during the revolution there in the 1970s. -Guardian - 4/5/03 Iranian Immigrant Jailed Despite Efforts By Immigration Officials Masoud Khoshnevis, 41, is a legal immigrant and an engineer for a San Diego road construction company. He has been detained since early February, when Iranian immigrants across the country were told to register at immigration offices, according to the Los Angeles Times. - 4/5/03 Some 500,000 Afghan migrants to return home from Iran The tripartite Afghan repatriation agreement was jointly signed by Iran, Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland on March 3, 2002 and became effective in Iran on April 9. - 4/5/03 Iraq War Prompts Most Central Asian Leaders to Reevaluate US Ties Concern appears to be growing in Central Asia that US action in Iraq will do more to destabilize the region than to promote prosperity. -Eurasianet - 4/5/03 Report: Powell Refutes Syria-Iran Claims Iraq should be ruled by its own people and American forces will not invade Syria and Iran after liberating Baghdad, Secretary of State Colin Powell was quoted as saying in an interview published Saturday. -AP - 4/5/03 President voices Iran's concern about Iraq war in meeting with Spanish FM President Mohammad Khatami and visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio on Saturday exchanged views about Tehran-Madrid relations and the current developments in the region - 4/5/03 U.S. Has No Plans to Attack Syria, Iran -Blair British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday the United States had absolutely no plans to attack Syria and Iran, which have been warned by Washington over their alleged involvement in Iraq. -Reuters - 4/4/03 Clerics' blessing sought for Shia uprising US military spokesmen in Qatar said the Najaf-based Grand Ayatollah Sistani, the highest Shia authority in Iraq, has issued an official proclamation ordering the local population to [remain] calm and not interfere with coalition forces". -Financial Times - 4/4/03 Confusion shrouds Shia 'fatwa' Confusion now shrouds a US claim on Thursday that Iraq's supreme Shia Muslim cleric had issued a religious decree calling on the populace not to impede coalition forces. -BBC - 4/4/03 Rumsfeld Complains Syria Still Helping Iraq "But I have not seen anything recently on the part of Iran that ... is terribly disturbing," Rumsfeld said. -Reuters - 4/4/03 What We Do Now: A Peace Agenda As the Bush Administration continues its illegal and unjust military invasion of Iraq, we must steel ourselves for the difficult days that lie ahead. We must also recognize that our work for peace has only just begun. -Nation - 4/4/03 Privatise this war! The following article is reprinted from the journal of the Washington Freedom Association, which has been hugely influential in shaping George Bush's foreign policy due to its uncompromising far-right Republican outlook in easy-to-read large print. -Guardian - 4/4/03 Iran says US more threatening than Iraq, never wants US victory Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said the Islamic Republic is strongly against the ongoing war on Iraq, and voiced concern that the threats posed by the US to Iran are far greater than those by Saddam and the Baathist regime of Iraq. - 4/4/03 Iran pays tribute to dead BBC cameraman Iran paid tribute to Iranian freelance cameraman Kaveh Golestan, who was killed in a landmine blast while working in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq for the BBC. -AFP - 4/4/03 Turkey Juggles U.S., Iran and Syria Ties Over Iraq As the U.S.-led war on Iraq gathers heat, Turkey is juggling its close ties to Washington with high-level contacts with Iran and Syria, both fiercely opposed to the war and deeply mistrusted by the United States. -Reuters - 4/4/03 Kurdish diary: The opposition senses change These are confusing times for the Iraqi opposition to Saddam Hussein, and I came to Dokan expecting to find the Iraqi National Congress downbeat. The US state department has again been spinning against the INC leader, Ahmed Chalabi, whom they have long resented despite his long-standing backing from the Pentagon and ability to coax financial support from the US Congress. -Financial Times - 4/4/03 Shell re-starts 60,000 bpd Soroosh field off Iran Shell had suspended production at Soroosh on March 18, citing worries over the looming war in neighbouring Iraq. Soroosh is close to Iraqi territorial waters. -Reuters - 4/4/03 A picture of a lost journalist Kaveh Golestan (pictured), Iran's most renowned photo-journalist, was killed by a landmine in northern Iraq on Wednesday at the age of 52 . He was an artist and inspiration to a new generation of photographers who were not even born when he covered the 1979 Islamic revolution. -Guy Dinmore, Financial Times - 4/4/03 Kaveh Golestan: 1950-2003 I first sought out Kaveh's father in 1946 when, as an eager young foreign correspondent, I was having difficulty getting into Soviet-occupied Iranian Azerbaijan, then the top story of the cold war in the Middle East. Ibrahim was the 25-year-old editor of the paper produced by Tudeh, the Soviet-manipulated leftwing nationalist party. -Andrew Roth, Guardian - 4/4/03 Mixed Feelings About War on Iran-Iraq Border For more than two weeks now the battle raging in southern Iraq around the city of Basra, 30 miles away, has shaken the people of Abadan out of their beds, illuminated the night sky with terrifying flashes and sent many fleeing for safety. -Reuters - 4/4/03 Congress, State spar over Iran exile group A long-simmering dispute between the State Department and dozens of members of Congress broke into the open this week after a report that an Iranian exile group was fighting in Iraq on behalf of Saddam Hussein. -Washington Times - 4/4/03 Iran's President invites foreign investment in Kish projects President Mohammad Khatami on Thursday called on Iranians living abroad to give the economy a boost by investing in Kish Island's development projects - 4/4/03 U.S.: Iran will infiltrate 5 Iraqi cities Iran's senior leadership decided last month to send irregular paramilitary units across their border with Iraq to harass American soldiers once Saddam Hussein's regime fell, according to U.S. intelligence reports. -UPI - 4/4/03 A tribute to Kaveh Golestan The ambulance carrying Kaveh Golestan's body snaked into the scenic mountains of Northern Iraq toward the Iranian border yesterday. At the various checkpoints along the way, the Peshmerga guards stepped aside to let our convoy pass and gave salute to a man they did not know. But perhaps they did know one thing: That the journalist had died in honor. He had died while telling the world stories about their people. He had died doing what he loved best. As far as they were concerned, he was a hero and worthy of a hero's salutation. -Farnaz Fassihi - 4/4/03 Renowned Iranian photo-journalist killed in Iraq's Kurdistan Renowned Iranian cameraman and photo-journalist, Kaveh Golestan got killed while working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Iraq's Kurdistan Province - 4/3/03 Straw distances UK from threats to Syria and Iran Britain distanced itself from US sabre rattling yesterday, insisting it would have "nothing to do" with threats from Washington against Iran and Syria and announcing a relaxation of export controls on dual-use civilian and military equipment for Iran. -Guardian - 4/3/03 Quiet Cooperation as U.S., Iran Battle Common Enemy Despite their declared enmity and public clashes over terrorism and nuclear reactors, Tehran and Washington have been quietly cooperating in waging the war on their common enemy, Saddam Hussein. -Forward - 4/3/03 Traditional symbolic day of Sizdeh Bedar is observed nationwide in Iran On the 13th day (Sizdeh Bedar) of the New Iranian Year (started March 21), known as the Nature Day, people have been pouring into parks, mountain slopes, recreational centers on Wednesday morning to spend the day in the nature, according to an ancient tradition - 4/3/03 Sociology 101A In a perfect world the ideal and the practical are one and the same. As the species of life evolved on our planet, success in the struggle for survival depended on the effectiveness of each species' tools and methods of control and dominance; whatever worked and by whatever means. There was no good or bad, moral or immoral, legal or illegal, until a self-conscious species showed up on the scene. -Kam Zarrabi - 4/3/03 Farmer (in California) goes nuts for pistachios 'WHEN I was growing up in Iran," reminisces pistachio farmer Ahmad Dalvi, "we would spend hours sitting around shelling 'green,' or unripe, pistachios. We liked to smash them up and mix them with feta cheese, then eat them spread on lavosh or pita bread. I sell green pistachios because they have a lot of childhood memories for me." -Alameda Times-Star - 4/3/03 Iran's Khatami Warns Iraq War Will Fuel Extremism "With this war you are giving a green light to extremist movements and violence-seekers to answer back your violence with violence." "The result of this war is the death of innocent people and circulating and strengthening extremism and violence," he said. -Reuters - 4/3/03 Mesopotamia. Babylon. The Tigris and Euphrates How many children, in how many classrooms, over how many centuries, have hang-glided through the past, transported on the wings of these words? And now the bombs are falling, incinerating and humiliating that ancient civilization -Common Dreams - 4/3/03 School Year Opens New World for Afghan Children For the first time in his young life, Afghan Zabiollah, a one-time refugee, washer boy and carpet maker, is going to school. -Reuters - 4/3/03 Intel, former employee to face off in high court Often questioned about why he has kept after Intel, Hamidi views the company's attack on him as an attack on the freedom he sought when he fled Iran in the late 1970s to become a U.S. citizen. -San Jose Mercury - 4/3/03 War memories haunt Turkey's Kurds In southeastern Turkey, the US invasion of Iraq is viewed with mixed emotions -Christian Science Monitor - 4/3/03 Kaveh Golestan, BBC cameraman, dies in Iraq after stepping on a landmine Mr Golestan was a Pulitzer-prize winning freelance cameraman who worked for the BBC's Tehran bureau. "Kaveh Golestan was an outstanding photojournalist who had worked in support of freedom of expression in his native Iran and elsewhere and was well known to many western news organisations. He is survived by a wife and a 19-year-old son. -BBC - 4/3/03 ConocoPhillips cuts deal to review of Iran, Syria work As part of the deal announced Wednesday, Conoco Chief Executive Jim Mulva is charged with creating a plan to ensure his company's activities comply with the letter and spirit of U.S. government restrictions on business activities in "sensitive countries." -Reuters - 4/3/03 Iraqis fear Americans may run country after war Among the more bizarre elements of US plans is the suggestion that James Woolsey, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, should be considered for the top job in the administration of Iraq. -Financial Times - 4/3/03 US and EU clash over UN Iraq role Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schrôder, told the German parliament today that "reconstruction is much more than repairing buildings, oil wells and infrastructure". "The real reconstruction of the society won't be achieved with a few contracts for companies," he said. "It is vital that reconstruction is organised under the auspices of the United Nations." -Guardian - 4/3/03 Caspian: Turkmenistan, Iran Appear To Agree On Approach For Dividing Sea Turkmenistan and Iran appear to have agreed on an approach for dividing the Caspian Sea that could slow progress toward a five-nation settlement instead of speeding it up. -RFE - 4/3/03 Iranian Reformists Back Hardliners Against War Back in March Mostafa Boroumandi, a self-made tycoon, could not wait for the war in Iraq to begin. For Boroumandi, as for many progressive people in Teheran, this would be a move to break a pattern of repressive regimes in the region. Today he speaks a different language. -IPS - 4/3/03 Lessons from the fall of ancient Babylon But it was a prize of unsurpassed richness when, in 539BC, the Persian king Cyrus besieged the city. Herodotus tells us that Cyrus was on the point of giving up when a soldier suggested diverting the Euphrates north of the city until it became so shallow that the Persians could enter Babylon along the river bed under its mighty walls. That was the first capture of Babylon - an example of lateral thinking that the Americans could take heed of as they attack Baghdad.-Financial Times - 4/3/03 Hardliners snub plan for free elections in Iran Iran's hardliners have launched a serious challenge to reformers by rejecting a plan to hold free parliamentary elections. -Financial Times - 4/3/03 Key Iran reform bill rejected by conservative-controlled watchdog A key reform bill passed by Iranian MPs in a bid to end the conservative stranglehold over President Mohammad Khatami's legislative agenda has been rejected by a constitutional watchdog body controlled by his opponents. -AFP - 4/2/03 Iran: Tehran Walks A Tightrope In Iraqi Conflict While officially opposing the U.S.-led war on Iraq, Iran simultaneously appears to have reached a tacit understanding with Washington. RFE/RL looks at what lies behind Iran's practical neutrality in the conflict in neighboring Iraq. - 4/2/03 Letter From Iran - Why a Left-Leaning Feminist Backs the Pentagon When does living in a colony look better than life in an independent nation? An Iranian American woman, educated in the West and now living in Tehran with her two children, is rooting for the United States in its war in Iraq. -PNS - 4/2/03 Iran's Sept. 11 theories and feelings about Iraq While the U.S. was building up its forces in February for a war with Iraq, I decided to visit my old country, one of Iraq's neighbors, Iran. I had not been back in over 20 years. In so many ways I was a stranger in a place where I was born. Everywhere I went, people wanted me to tell them "the real story" behind the attack on the World Trade Center. -Ramin Talaie, Downtown Express - 4/2/03 Restoration of Neishabour historical site Under the reign of Taherian dynasty, Neishabour was once the capital city of Iran. A myriad of archaic monuments and sites remaining from the historical city, whose population exceeded two million, consist of Ahangaran, Sabz-Poushan, Tarbabad and Madreseh hills as well as Tappeh and Shdyakh canals. - 4/2/03 British Military Critical of US Troops' Heavy-Handed Style with Civilians General Sir Mike Jackson, the head of the army, drove home the point at a press conference in London on Friday. "We have a very considerable hearts and minds challenge," he said, adding: "We are not interested in gratuitous violence." -Common Dreams - 4/2/03 Spring Production of Les Ballets Persans The Ballet and Song Concert of La Femme (The Woman) - Stockholm Concert Hall, 4 May 2003 - 4/2/03 IRAN: Students enrol for degree in human rights The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has assisted the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran to establish MA and PhD degree courses in human rights, and also to establish the Centre for Human Rights Studies. The facility, which will also function as a national think-tank on human rights issues, was inaugurated in January 2001. - 4/2/03 Wider still and wider: American tactics are helping Saddam Threatening the neighbours is hardly the best way to rally Muslim support, or at least to elicit Muslim and Arab understanding, for America's cause in Iraq. But in recent days, senior Bush administration figures have gone out of their way to warn Syria, Iran and others of unspecified unpleasant consequences should they in any way interpose themselves between Washington and its objectives. -Guardian - 4/2/03 Saudis revive exile plan for Saddam With Arab public opinion enraged by the war and rulers worried that a long conflict would destabilise the rest of the region and fuel a surge in terrorism, all governments are under pressure to appear to be seeking an end to the US-led invasion. -Financial Times - 4/2/03 Iran Worries of Damage to Iraqi Shrines With U.S. forces at the gates of Karbala and Najaf, there's growing fear that any damage to the gold-domed shrines of the two holiest Shiite Muslim cities could inflame Shiite feelings worldwide, particularly in Iran. -AP - 4/2/03 Iran Stops Volunteers at Iraqi Border Iran is preventing its citizens from crossing the border into Iraq to fight for President Saddam Hussein, saying that would violate its neutral status. -AP - 4/2/03 Power returns after large parts of Iran were blacked out Power returned to the Iranian capital and several northern cities early Wednesday after a blackout of several hours due to a technical problem. -AP - 4/2/03 Iran ‘terrorist’ group finds support on Hill Some members of Congress are refusing to drop their support of a Middle Eastern group, even though the State Department says its terrorist fighters are attacking U.S. and coalition troops in southern Iraq. “They’re a combatant,” said Greg Sullivan, a spokesman for the State Department’s Near East Affairs bureau. “They’re being targeted. -The Hill, DC - 4/2/03 Straw: UK will not attack Syria or Iran Britain would have "nothing whatever" to do with military action against Syria or Iran, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, signalled today. "Iran is an emerging democracy and there would be no case whatsoever for taking any kind of action." -Guardian - 4/2/03 Daughter of Iran Revolution Struggles Against the Veil When it comes to credentials in Iran's Islamic Republic, Zahra Eshraghi's are cast in gold. Her grandfather was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the cleric who overthrew a king and led a revolution in the name of Islam. Her husband's brother is the reformist president, Mohammad Khatami. And her husband, Mohammad Reza Khatami, is the head of the reformist wing of Parliament. -New York Times - 4/2/03 The Caspian Sea in the 21st Century The Persian section of the VOA has recently talked to one of our frequent contributors, Dr. Bahman Aghai Diba regarding his newly published book: "The Caspian Sea in the 21st Century". Here is the translation of the points discussed in the interview, which was broadcasted on four parts on 24th and 25th of Feb. 2003. - 4/2/03 'Sizdeh-be Dar' -- A symbolic day in history of Iran "According to stories recorded in ancient books on the 13th day of the New Iranian Year, on such a day Iranians used to pray for spring rainfalls" - 4/1/03 Iran hopes US coalition will destroy Mujahedeen Iran may have condemned the war raging just over the border in Iraq, but it is nevertheless hoping that the US-led coalition forces will knock out the leading Iranian armed opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen. -AFP - 4/1/03 After Iraq, Bush to halt Iran nuke program When war ends in Iraq, the Bush administration will give "extremely high priority" to halting a secret nuclear weapons program in neighboring Iran, a senior administration official said Monday. -Knight Ridder Newspapers - 4/1/03 Iran rejects Powell's terrorism accusations as baseless The US unwavering support of Israel's state terrorism is a clear proof of US's double standards on defining, identifying and combating terrorism, Asefi underlined. - 4/1/03 EU says dialogue with Iran to continue The EU Tuesday underlined that the US threats against Syria and Iran will have no affect on Brussels' ties with the two Middle Eastern countries - 4/1/03 Iranian Student Foundation celebrates Norouz The Iranian Student Foundation brought a further celebration of Norouz, the Iranian/Persian New Year, to the Red Barn on Saturday night through events which involved music, dance, and of course, free Iranian food. -Louisville Cardinal - 4/1/03 Momeni Foundation accepting scholarship applications for 2003-2004 academic year All students of Iranian descent who are planning to attend college, or are currently attending college are eligible to apply. - 4/1/03 Iraqi Shiites in Iran await Saddam's fall Thousands of Iraqi Shiites who fled into Iran to escape repression by Saddam Hussein are poised to return home if he is dethroned, with some bringing extra baggage: strong anti-American sentiment. -AP - 4/1/03 Iran-based Arabic channel wins Baghdad viewers An Iranian-based Arabic television news station opposed to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraqis drawing viewers in Baghdad where it offers residents analternative to the government's propaganda machine. -Reuters - 4/1/03 Why 2003 is not 1991 Iraq's Shi'ite majority was thought so hostile to Saddam's Sunni-led regime that they would welcome invasion. Reality is more complex -Guardian - 4/1/03 Berating the Generals: The Siege of Washington Myers, on two occasions, appeared to differ with Rumsfeld. One was on the issue of Iran's conduct during the war. Myers said Iran had done nothing to make him unhappy. Rumsfeld, however, chastised Iran for supporting and training Iraqi Shia militia in Iraq. In a few days, Rumsfeld obliquely warned both Iran and Syria of the potential for U.S. retaliation against them. -CounterPunch - 4/1/03 Rice lays out US vision on Mideast Condoleezza Rice, US national security adviser, on Monday reiterated Washington's stern warnings to Syria and Iran, and spoke of President George W.Bush's vision of spreading democracy through the Middle East. -Financial Times - 4/1/03 UK Beefs Up Iran Security After Truck Hits Embassy Iranian officials said initial evidence suggested that the crash and fire, in which the driver was killed, was an accident. -Reuters - 4/1/03 US draws up secret plan to impose new regime on Iraq A disagreement has broken out at a senior level within the Bush administration over a new government that the US is secretly planning in Kuwait to rule Iraq in the immediate period after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. -Common Dreams - 4/1/03 U.S. Anti-War Movement Breaks Ranks with the '60s Peace vigils and rallies against war in Iraq are taking place out in U.S. towns and cities, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants. Participants in current anti-war protests cut across the spectrum of ages, races and backgrounds and include many who would consider themselves mainstream Americans. -Common Dreams - 4/1/03 Arab League Warns U.S. Over Syria and Iran Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Monday any U.S. military action against Syria or Iran would wreak havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere. -Reuters - 4/1/03 Truck smashes into UK's Iran embassy A pick-up truck has crashed into a compound wall of the British embassy in Tehran, killing the driver. The vehicle, which was carrying two 50-gallon drums of petrol, instantly exploded in flames, according to witnesses. -BBC - 4/1/03 Analysis: US warns Syria and Iran The United States has raised the stakes in the Middle East by warning Syria and Iran not to get involved in the Iraq war, and to follow what Secretary of State Colin Powell called "acceptable patterns of behaviour". -BBC - 4/1/03 Happy new year from Tehran If Iranians aren't excited by the prospect of Saddam's fall, it's because they've become cynics - as cynical a people as I have known in the decade I've spent writing about south Asia and the Middle East. The defeat suffered by President Muhammad Khatami's reform movement, illustrated by its terrible showing in last month's council elections, was the last nail in the coffin of Iranian innocence. -Guardian - 4/1/03 Iranian Policy-Makers Walk on Thin Ice as War Rages Across the Border In Abadan, a southwestern Iranian city known for its gentle breezes from the Arvand River, a group of Iranians gather each night to watch the fighting just across the border in Iraq. Meanwhile, in the Iranian capital of Tehran, policy-makers are also watching the war closely – with decidedly mixed feelings. -Afshin Molavi, Eurasianet - 4/1/03 © Copyright 2009 NetNative (All Rights Reserved)