IRAN: AUGUST 2005 NEWS

Photo: More powerful successors to the  Iranian Shahab-3 missile could launch satellites—and nuclear weapons.

Are Iranian nukes inevitable?

Iran’s proclaimed desire to launch a satellite sometime this year seems to indicate that they see their rockets as something more than just glorified Scuds...Read the full article.

 

Rafsanjani:  "Our people are not going to allow their nuclear rights to be seized."

Photo: Work restarted at Isfahan this week.

US President George W Bush says he still has not ruled out the option of using force against Iran, after it resumed work on its nuclear program. He said he was working on a diplomatic solution, but was skeptical that one could be found. The UN's atomic watchdog has called on Iran to halt nuclear fuel development...Read the full article.

Iran's new ultra-conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been confirmed in office, following his surprise election victory in July.

Photo: The incoming president denies being a hostage-taker.

 

His endorsement came as Tehran said it hoped to restart its controversial nuclear activities on Wednesday. One of his first challenges will be a row with the US and EU, which want an end to Iran's nuclear program. The former mayor of Tehran succeeds reformist Mohammad Khatami, who leaves office after eight years in power. Following his endorsement by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 49-year-old President Ahmadinejad said he will lobby for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction around the world and for international justice. Nuclear row: With Mr Ahmadinejad in power it means an end to the reform period in Iran - hardliners now control all the institutions of power, says the BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran.

Photo: Mr Ahmadinejad is a former Revolutionary Guard.

But our correspondent says he inherits what looks set to be a major foreign policy crisis, triggered by Iran's decision this week to resume conversion of uranium. A spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council said a request by the UN's nuclear watchdog to wait a week to allow surveillance systems to be installed was unacceptable. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Ali Aghamohammadi said Iranian experts and UN inspectors were at work at the plant near Isfahan in central Iran. "They are doing the executive work and we hope that today we will be able to restart the activities," he told reporters. "One week is not acceptable for Iran for the installation of equipment." Tehran suspended all uranium conversion and enrichment activities in November, but has always insisted the suspension was temporary. Enriched uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power stations, but can also provide material for nuclear weapons. The move prompted warnings from the international community urging Iran to rethink and warning of serious consequences, including referral to the UN Security Council. Iran says it has a right to a peaceful nuclear program. The US believes it is seeking nuclear weapons. EU negotiators are due to submit shortly full proposals for nuclear, economic and political co-operation with Iran, provided it ends all nuclear activities. 'Tehran's hero': On Saturday, Mr Ahmadinejad will take the oath of office in parliament. Mr Ahmadinejad was a little-known figure on the international stage before the election, our correspondent says. Few thought he was a frontrunner, he says, but he won in a run-off by a huge margin of 10m votes. Mr Ahmadinejad is a former Revolutionary Guard and was most recently the mayor of Tehran. But since winning the elections, Mr Ahmadinejad has been plagued by stories that he has a shady past, adds our correspondent. He was accused of taking US diplomats hostage after the Islamic revolution as a student, and faced allegations of being involved in the killing of a Kurdish opposition leader. He has denied the accusations and his supporters say this is part of a smear campaign against the president-elect orchestrated by the West.

Gunman assassinates Iranian judge who tried hunger-striking journalist. TEHRAN, Iran - A gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed a judge Tuesday in central Tehran and then sped off, a judiciary spokesman said. Judge Masoud Moqadasi handled a case against an investigative reporter jailed in 2000 for reporting that intelligence officials murdered five Iranian dissidents in 1998, judiciary spokesman Jamal Karimirad said. The journalist Akbar Ganji remains in jail. Iran's Intelligence Ministry later blamed the murders of the dissidents on "rogue agents" in the secret service. As the judge drove away from his office, the gunman sped up to Moqadasi's car on a motorcycle and sprayed it with rifle fire and then fled, Karimirad told The Associated Press. Moqadasi headed the Tehran judiciary complex and specialized in cases of social vice, Karimirad told The Associated Press. Police Chief Morteza Talaei said a motive for the killing was unclear, and police would look at Moqadasi's past cases for clues. No one has claimed responsibility. After overseeing Ganji's first trial in the Third Branch of the Revolutionary Court, Moqadasi sentenced the journalist to 10 years in prison and five years in exile in southern Iran for violating national security by releasing classified information. That sentence was reduced to six months in jail in a second judgment in a different court. But when a top judiciary official objected, Iran's supreme court changed the sentence to six years. Ganji has already served more than five years in prison. Ganji, who is on a hunger strike and drinks only tea and water, is being treated in Tehran's Milad Hospital under police guard. His wife, Masoumeh Shafiei, said last week he has lost a lot of weight and is in delicate health.

IRAN: JUNE-JULY 2005 NEWS

BREAKING NEWS. TERRORISM SPECIAL REPORT  

SECOND REPORT

Iran recruits suicide bombers against Israel, the Jews and the USA. An advertisement in the  Iranian press has called for people to come forward for "martyrdom operations" against the enemies of Islam.: Israel, the Jews and the United States. The message focused on the  necessity of eliminating Israel and fighting the Jews worldwide. A large segment of the advertisement preached the urgent need of establishing Islam as "the only religion" in the world. It is published by an institute managed by one of Iran's most conservative and radical clerics, Ayatollah Masbah Yazdi, who has declared his support for Iran's new President, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. The advertisement calls for men and women to enlist with the "Martyrdom Lovers' Headquarters". It says the idea is to achieve "all-out readiness" against the enemies of Islam - and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Those who are picked will be specially trained for their missions in different divisions in every province. To apply, all that is needed are photographs, a form and a copy of a birth certificate. Symbolic: This is not the first time Iranians have registered for suicide missions - though in Islam a clear distinction is made between ordinary suicide and martyrdom for a religious cause. Several people have signed up with different organizations to defend the holy shrines in Iraq and the rights of Palestinians. But in practice, their pledges are merely symbolic and it is highly unlikely that they would actually go on suicide missions. One function was held earlier this year to honor dead Palestinian women suicide bombers, and a huge mural in central Tehran still depicts one Palestinian woman who had two children, yet chose to die.

Iran: Campaign to Recruit Suicide Bombers Spreading

Photo: "It is a short distance to Karbala" ... "registration for martyrdom operations", as written on this Iranian poster appearing at Shiraz University campus.

Iranian domestic media and opposition websites have provided new details about Iran's ongoing campaign to recruit suicide bombers and have suggested the campaign is spreading throughout the country. Media have also reported statements by Iran's leaders encouraging the suicide bomber campaign.  This week,  the weekly Ya Lesarat , the organ of the Iranian Ansar-e Hizballah [supporters of Hizballah], published an extensive report on the 2 June meeting organized by the General Staff for Glorification of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign to recruit "martyrdom seekers."  According to the weekly, a Majlis deputy from Tehran, Mehdi Kuchekzadeh, spoke on the martyrdom culture and "declared his readiness to become a martyr seeker."  The paper said General Salami, deputy commander of operations at the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Joint Chiefs of Staff Headquarters, appeared in full military uniform. He declared that the "Global Arrogance [the US and its allies] would come to its knees in the face of martyrdom operations, despite its technological superiority."  Ya Lesarat also reported that "charismatic" speaker Hasan 'Abbasi, the director of the Centre for Doctrinal Studies of Security Across Frontiers, an IRGC Imam Hussein University institution, gave the "most effective" presentation. According to the weekly, 'Abbasi said: "The West needs to know that we cannot stop our youth, and there will remain no security for the Jewish and Christian worlds . . . We will not and cannot stop the disruption of the present order." Before his departure, Dr. 'Abbasi "filled out the form to become a martyr."  Ya Lesarat also reported that IRGC General Sa'id Qasemi and Hojjat ol-Eslam Hamid Sabzevari addressed the gathering. Sabzevari spoke on the "religious basis and justification for seeking martyrdom." In addition, the weekly interviewed Mohammad 'Ali Samadi, an organizer of the campaign, who characterized the campaign as "global" in nature, embracing "all Islamic movements and both Shia and Sunni Muslims," and identified the "US, Israel, and their lackeys" as the targets of the "martyrs."

 Ya Lesarat also carried an interview with Mrs. Foruz Raja'eifar, the director of the recruitment campaign. A former US Embassy hostage taker, Raja'eifar stressed that "through this event, we are sending a message both to the Islamic world and its enemies." Raja'eifar is the editor of the hardline publication Sobhe-e Dukoheh , directed by the prominent Iranian Hizballah figure Masoud Dehnamaki. Raja'eifar had also expounded on the campaign in a 2 June interview with Hamshahri, the daily of Tehran Municipality. In that interview, she stressed the need to "adopt martyrdom-seeking as a strategic struggle, educate the Iranian youth until it becomes a fundamental cultural movement, and defend its religious and legal basis." She added that martyrs "don't lose anything but gain God's Paradise and eternal joy."  ILNA also carried a report on the 2 June meeting, pointing out that IRGC deputy commander Salami spoke on "martyrdom and military and security strategies," while Hasan 'Abbasi addressed "martyrdom as the last weapon." It also reported the presence of IRGC General Sa'id Qasemi (4 June).

Media Report Campaign Spreading

Since the 2 June meeting, Iranian media and opposition websites have offered further insights into the campaign to recruit suicide bombers. According to the opposition website R ouydad , located at www.rouydad.info , the General Staff for Glorification of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign issued a statement on 18 June declaring that they are ready to move like "burning arrows targeting the heart of Americans." The statement added that "Iranian Muslim youth have their own special method to respond to the enemy."  The opposition website Peiknet suggested that posters for the campaign, which it said "involves the Basij and Hizballah elements," have been appearing at Shiraz University campus. The posters announce a campaign to recruit bombers by the Basij forces, headed by an individual named Puryazdanparast ( www.peiknet.com, 23 June). The poster reads: "It is a short distance to Karbala" and "registration for martyrdom operations." Pictures of President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Sharon are featured on the poster.  Opposition websites are carrying the application to register to become a suicide bomber. The application provides options for attacking Coalition forces in Iraq, Israel, and author Salman Rushdi, condemned to death by Imam Khomeyni in 1989 for writing Satanic Verses. The first reference to the General Staff for Glorification of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign was observed in February when, according to the daily Jomhuri-ye Eslami , the group offered a ,000 reward for the "killing of British novelist Salman Rushdi" (16 February).

Leaders Support Suicide Bomber Campaign

Opposition websites have also reported Iranian leadership support for the campaign. -- The Gooya news website reported that Hashemi-Rafsanjani spoke about "the capacity and preparation of mosques for organizing Kafanpushan [literally shroud wearers, those ready to be martyred]" at the same meeting where a member of the General Staff for Glorification of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign "referred to the Japanese kamikaze during WWII and stressed that they should have targeted the civilians" ( www.gooya.com, 22 June).  -- The opposition website Peiknet reported on 8 June that Mayor of Tehran Ahmadinejad is one of the principal forces behind the campaign. [In recent weeks, a number of conservative dailies, including Resalat , have been widely promoting Ahmadinejad as the next President of Iran.]  -- Reporting on the suicide bomber recruitment campaign, the Rouydad website wrote that "Mohammad Mohammadi Golpaygani, the chief of staff of Leader Khamene'i, declared at a mosque in the western Province of Ilam that the Leader has soldiers in the four corners of the Earth who are ready to sacrifice their lives for him, and some of them live in the United States" ( www.rouydad.info , 14 June).  In an unusual move, the 13 June Keyhan , the hardline semi-official daily directed by Hussein Shariatmadari, representative of Leader Khamene'i, carried an unsigned editorial which called for a decisive stance against the West, similar to "Imam Khomeyni's handling of the Salman Rushdi affair." It added, "It is not right to think of defense and ignore operating deep in their land . . . and waging Islamic resistance." The editorial stressed that "we need to make them understand that we can disrupt their security, not necessarily with military action but with Basij [mobilization but also a reference to the Islamic militia in Iran] and concentrated effort . . . we can challenge them deep in their homeland." Encouraging action on the part of the "lovers of Velayat [Leader Khamene'i]," Keyhan urged them to get their cue from "his hints" [eshareh: love-glance] and not wait for his orders and "assignment of duties to the detriment of the religion, nation, and country." [Editorials in Kehyan are usually signed by Hussein Shariatmadari or his deputies.]

 

Election Aftershock in Corporate Iran. By Stanley Reid and Babak Pirooz  in Tehran, Iran

The President-elect is anti-capitalist and anti-West, so investment may suffer

TEHRAN, Iran. The Iranian business community is still reeling. Most executives favored the pro-business Hashemi Rafsanjani in the Islamic Republic's June 24 presidential contest and expected him to win. Instead, the candidate of the hardliners, Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, triumphed by a landslide. Now the business community is trying to figure out what the conservative victory means for them. "I have stopped shaving, taking showers, and wearing ties," jokes one depressed executive, referring to the scruffy neo-revolutionary style. Ahmadinejad's win, with 62% of the vote, could well be a watershed for Iranian politics. It signals the end of the reform era that began when Rafsanjani first won the presidency in 1988. Rafsanjani's two terms, followed by outgoing President Mohammed Khatami's two, marked a gradual opening to the West and a relaxing of the Islamic Republic's social strictures. On the eve of this election, the business elite hoped that the Islamic regime, with its interference in peoples' lives and its xenophobia, was fading into the background. Rafsanjani was their man: a thoroughly flexible mullah who even hinted at reestablishing relations with the U.S. His election might have triggered an investment boom.  Instead of Rafsanjani, a new generation of hard-line Islamists, many with military backgrounds, has come to the fore. Ahmadinejad, a 49-year-old former revolutionary guard suspicious of outsiders, capitalists, and technocrats, typifies this breed of leader. Not a mullah, he is nonetheless close to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  He struck a popular chord by criticizing the ruling elite as corrupt. Ahmadinejad's winning margin reflects disgust among Iranians with the elite's tendency to self-enrichment. Iranians saw him as the best hope to stamp out corruption and redistribute the country's oil wealth.

Photo: Iran President-Elect, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Many ordinary Iranians also approve of Ahmadinejad's nationalist streak. But his election increases the risk of confrontation with the U.S. and Europe on everything from Iran's nuclear program to political developments in neighboring Iraq. While he won't be directly in charge of Iran's nuclear efforts, which come under Khamenei's umbrella, Ahmadinejad's ascendancy is likely to bolster the hardliners who want Iran to take a tougher stance on nukes. That's bad news for the Europeans, who are trying to come up with a deal by the end of July to entice Iran to give up its nuclear fuel cycle permanently. The rhetoric from both Tehran and Washington may intensify, pushing oil prices even higher. Ahmadinejad's Islamic socialist economic approach could also deal a blow to a country that badly needs private investment and foreign technology. Economic growth, which has hovered around 7% annually in the past two years, dipped below 5% recently as companies worried about the election and tension with the U.S. In his first press conference, on June 26, Ahmadinejad tried to calm the jittery business community. "The country is in need of progress, and for this reason we will support the stock market," he told reporters. But he had campaigned on a populist platform, blaming the emergence of private banks and Iran's very modest privatization program for increasing the income gap between rich and poor.

BLOATED DEFICIT

Now, economists worry that the new President will adopt irresponsible policies, offering big government handouts while discouraging investment. Giveaways are already at worrisome levels: Some $20 billion a year is spent to subsidize fuel and power. The budget deficit hit 7.8% of gross domestic product for the fiscal year ending in March, 2005. "[Ahmadinejad] doesn't have a program," says Hadi Zonooz, an assistant economics professor at Allameh Tabataba'i University in Tehran. "He is just pretending to protect the poor people." Certainly, executives are concerned that the investment climate could deteriorate. Entrepreneurs such as Tehran-based Shahriar Besharat have discovered that they can make serious money in Iran's fast-growing market of nearly 70 million consumers. Three years ago he established one of Iran's first bottled-water operations with French partner Groupe Castel. Revenues have reached about $30 million, and sales could grow even faster than the current 40% to 50% per annum if Besharat could find managers to staff a new plant. Now he plans to wait and see what kinds of policies emerge from the new government before expanding further. So do other industrialists and their foreign partners, who were laying the groundwork before the election for major investments totaling hundreds of million dollars. But big new projects won't go forward until companies know whether Ahmadinejad's skepticism of Western-style capitalism holds -- or whether he realizes the country sorely needs capital and knowhow to create enough economic growth to bring down 15% to 20% unemployment. "Everyone familiar with Iran knows we have a huge amount of potential," says Masoud Nili, head of the economics department at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. "It all depends on how sensible our policies are." Some investors are betting pragmatism will prevail. Marcus Gerhardt, a London financier, is raising $50 million to $100 million for his new private equity Turquoise Fund to pour into Iranian companies. He has lined up Iranian industrialists and financial specialists to help him identify targets, and found interest among investors in the Gulf. Gerhardt plans to move ahead despite the election result. "The pressure is now on the conservatives to deliver" better economic performance and jobs, he says. But that may be wishful thinking. At the least, Tehran's new political lineup means uncertainty. The conservatives seem determined to settle scores at the Oil Ministry, which they have long considered corrupt. Rafsanjani allies, including Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, are likely to go, analysts say. In the short term, oil and gas production, which accounts for about 25% of gross domestic product, will likely stay at current levels. But over the longer term, projects could be delayed, hitting output. Just how much Ahmadinejad plans to rock the boat will become clearer as he prepares to assume power on Aug. 4. Although he served as Tehran's mayor for two years and before that as governor-general of the city of Ardabil, his track record is undistinguished. The son of a blacksmith, Ahmadinejad portrays himself as a simple man. However, he holds bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering and a PhD. in traffic management -- though he has failed to tame the traffic in Iran's capital. In Tehran, Ahmadinejad is mainly known for his public relations skills -- he frequently held meetings with local citizens. His broader experience is limited. Still, as long as oil prices hold up, Iran's new President will likely have the wherewithal to buy social peace with ever-larger subsidies. If oil earnings collapse and he fails to encourage investment, Ahmadinejad may wind up just as unpopular as the rival he defeated. Source: IranVaJahan.

ANSAR HIZBOULLAH: A NEW IRANIAN TERRORIST PARTY IN SOUTHERN LEBANON. By Theodore Asli, World Jewish News Agency Foreign Correspondent in Lebanon.

A new terrorist paramilitary party has surfaced this week in the cities of Saida, Sour and Baalbeck in Lebanon. The "ANSAR HIZBOULLAH" is a fanatic Fundamentalist Iranian group financed by Iran and Al Qaeda former leadership in Southern Lebanon and Ras Beirut in Lebanon. It was reported to the World Jewish News Agency that Mohammad Al Rifai, 52 year old, an Alaouit Shiite Muslim from Baalbeck, Lebanon is the new mastermind of the party.  His first lieutenant is a Lebanese Muslim Sunnite, Abdel Kareem Al Rayess, 46 year old from Bourg Al Barajneh, a Muslim stronghold located in the suburbs of Beirut, and  which hosted 2 PLO military training camps between 1974 and 1999. Al Rifai is a Muslim Lebanese born in Baalbeck and educated in Damascus, Syria. Once upon a time, he was the hand-to-hand combat military instructor of "JAYCH LOUBNAN AL ARABI", The Army of Arab Lebanon, created in 1975 by Sunnis and Shiites Muslims and the PLO and financed by Syria's Hafez Al Assad. ANSAR HIZBOULLAH is currently offering $100,000 to any Muslim who captures an Israeli soldier, dead or alive. A top Israeli military official said that the Palestinian insurgents in Gaza and Ramallah are circulating  brochures and  instruction on how to kidnap an Israeli soldier. Some of the pamphlets and instruction sheets were seized by the IDF in the West Bank and Gaza. Last week, "AL AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADE" official spokesman told the World Jewish News Agency that "JIBHAT AL SHOUHA'DA" (FRONT OF MARTYRS), a division of the Al Aqsa Brigade has captured 2 Israeli soldiers. And early this week, Fateh insurgents in a wide open public conference in Gaza told foreign correspondents that ANSAR HIZBOULLAH will pay $100,000 to any person who kidnaps an Israeli soldier. Suleiman Fathi, one of the insurgents told us: " The two captured Israeli soldiers were caught like a dog in Nablus. This is just the beginning. Wait and see..."