Author: Nalbandian Albert

HSBC HOLDINGS TO EXPAND ACTIVITIES IN ARMENIA

ARMINFO News Agency
September 23, 2006 Saturday

President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan received President and CEO of
HSBC Holdings plc. Stephen K.Green and the delegation accompanying
him, Saturday.

The presidential press-service reports the parties as discussing the
activity and plans of HSBC in Armenia, as well as the bank’s entry
into the country’s insurance market.

Robert Kocharyan mentioned that the bank’s credit portfolio has
occupied an important place in the economy of Armenia. At the same
time, he thinks that the banks should further take active steps towards
strengthening of the country’s financial sector. In his turn, Stephen
K. Green said that HSBC Holdings is currently working to expand its
activity in Armenia.

At present, HSBC is Adviser to Greek OTE in the sale of the latter’s
90% stake in ArmenTel company.

According to the ranking of Armenia’s commercial banks prepared by
Arminfo rating service, HSBC Bank Armenia ranks the first in the
country’s banking system with its $170.7 mln assets for June 30 2006.

As to crediting, the bank occupies the third place ($55.6 mln, 33%
of total assets). As to the share of economy crediting in the bank’s
crediting portfolio (over 55%, $30.8 mln), it is in the third place.

The bank is a leader in the market of mortgage crediting – $17.6 mln.

The bank completed the current year with $3,5 mln net profit, taking
the first place in the banking system of Armenia due to this indicator.

LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOTELS HINDERS DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN ARMENIA,
ATDA REPRESENTATIVE SAYS

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 20 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Since September 18, two 30-second
commercials about Armenia are broadcast three times a day on CNN.

Mekhak Apresian, Head of the Tourism Department of the RA Ministry
of Trade and Economic Development, stated this during a discussion on
tourism problems at the 2nd Armenia-Diaspra economic forum. According
to him, the main purpose of demonstrating these commercials is to
create abroad an image of Armenia as a country attractive for tourists.

During the discussion, Syuzanna Azoyan, marketing director of the
Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA), spoke about obstacles to
tourism in Armenia and the marzes. It was noted that human resources,
a high level of services, comfortable transport and reliable
infrastructures are needed for developing tourism in Armenia. "The
most important problem in Yerevan is lack of affordable hotels and
motels," S. Azoyan noted. In his words, there are no affordable hotels
in Yerevan, while the need for hotels is especially urgent in marzes.

S. Azoyan noted that the ATDA is currently taking measures to extend
the limited tourist season in Armenia and to develop adventure
tourism. "There are great opportunities in Armenia for developing
winter tourism. And our mountains are very convenient for adventure
tourism," the ATDA representative said.

To recap, in 2005, revenues of the tourism sector made 6% of GDP, and
since 2001, the average annual growth of tourism has made about 25%.

"NATION, STATE, IDENTITY IN 21ST CENTURY" THEME TO BE DISCUSSED IN ARMENIA-DIASPORA FORUM ON SEPTEMBER 19

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 19 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The
Armenia-Diaspora forum continued its works on September 19. As Vartan
Oskanian, the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs stated, the discussions
at the conference will be dedicated to the "Nation, State, Identity
in the 21st Century" theme. The Fatherland-Diaspora mutual relations
from the practical viewpoint as well as the problem of emigration
and repatriation will also be touched upon. Vartan Oskanian also
stated that the discussions will be dedicated to "Diaspora in 2020"
theme on early September 20. Particularly, the discussions will be
on the issue of what kind we expect to see Diaspora in 2020.

WHERE JAZZ, SHOW BUSINESS AND POLITICS CONVERGE
By Ben Ratliff

New York Times
Published: September 19, 2006

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 – The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, now
20 years old, has a private face and a public one, and there is a
dissonance between them.

Bill Crandall for The New York Times
Tigran Hamasyan performing at the Thelonious Monk International Piano
Competition, which he won.

The private one involves a small postgraduate program in jazz
performance, operating out of the University of Southern California,
presided over by the trumpeter and educator Terence Blanchard. The
public one is an annual jazz contest and a sparkly, self-celebrating
concert, usually recorded for television, buttressed with top-ranking
federal government officials and famous nonjazz performers.

There is a point at which pop’s intersection with jazz is a good idea:
their histories are intertwined, and each can renew the other’s
aesthetic resources. And there is a point at which the federal
government’s intersection with jazz makes sense, like the State
Department’s 50-year history of sponsoring jazz tours in foreign
countries. Past those points – and some of the events around the Monk
Institute’s Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition,
last weekend, kept going past them – a spectator starts to wonder
what the institute’s real purpose is.

Nevertheless, the semifinals of the Monk Institute’s annual
competition, which happened Saturday afternoon in the auditorium at the
Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, remain a fascinating index
of what young jazz musicians in the mainstream are sounding like,
and of what judges choose to reward year by year. The contest is
open to musicians under 30, and this year the instrument was piano;
the heavy-duty contest judges were Herbie Hancock, Andrew Hill,
Danilo Perez, Renee Rosnes, Billy Taylor and Randy Weston.

The winner was Tigran Hamasyan, a 19-year old Armenian pianist
currently studying at the University of Southern California, though
as an undergraduate, not within the Monk Institute program. His
performances, in both the semifinals and the finals, were intensely
searching, and stubborn in their intuitive force: jazz, for him,
is about constantly moving around the rhythmic accents in a piece
of music so that nearly every bar seems to be in a different time
signature from the last.

His concept of style, as he revealed in the standards "Cherokee" and
"Solar," had something to do with Keith Jarrett (as did the sound
of so many other pianists in the contest), with his long-phrased,
almost intemperate melodic improvising; it had to do with Mr.

Hancock, too, and his sense of order and harmonic vocabulary. But
Mr. Hamasyan’s particular kind of nonstop rhythmic reshuffling seemed
his own.

Those who lost were piles of promise. Victor Gould, an 18-year-old
with a lovely, mysterious sense of time, drifted around "You and
the Night and the Music," leaving phrases half-turned and drawing
out the house rhythm section, the bassist Rodney Whitaker and the
drummer Carl Allen, to help him finish phrases. Aaron Parks, 22,
who has been heard for four years in Mr.

Blanchard’s band, used strong arrangement ideas and leaned hard on
solo-piano performance to show the judges what he could do.

And Gerald Clayton from California, also 22 and the son of the bassist
John Clayton, came to destroy: his playing had huge, authoritative
presence, an Oscar Peterson-like style, highly controlled touch and
dynamics and rhapsodic, episodic soloing. (The audience broke into
applause during his solo.)

Had he won, it would have cast a different light on the whole
enterprise. Any musician can use the $20,000 prize money (half of it
earmarked for some kind of academic study), but Mr. Clayton seemed
fully formed.

Mr. Hamasyan was, excitingly, not.

At what point will jazz just crumble under the weight of the
glib encomiums paid to it? During Sunday night’s gala concert at
the Kennedy Center, former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
talked about how "the power of jazz enhances our cultural diplomacy,"
and another former secretary of state, Colin L. Powell, theorized
that the qualities that made effective international relations were
"the same as those that create a good jazz band."

On Thursday night, at a half-hour White House performance presented
by the institute, with the president and the first lady as hosts –
which will be seen in February on PBS – Laura Bush gave a speech about
jazz as "an American cultural treasure." No art should have to live
up to such cliches.

Sunday’s concert included a short, tenebrous duet between Mr. Hancock
and Wayne Shorter, as well as a number by Mr. Blanchard’s students
from the Monk Institute graduate program, playing adventurously in
up-to-the-minute mainstream jazz idioms.

But the institute saves prime spots for showboaters who aren’t
necessarily jazz performers. Anita Baker, at Thursday night’s event,
sang "My Funny Valentine" before the president, and on Sunday Stevie
Wonder was awarded the institute’s Maria Fisher Founder’s Award for
public service. Flanked by Ms. Albright and Mr.

Powell – in the kind of surreal tableau this event provides annually –
Mr. Wonder dedicated the award to his mother. "I don’t think she was a
Republican," he added, impulsively. "I’m just trying to keep it real."

Then he performed a drawn-out version of the standard "Midnight Sun,"
playing harmonica and singing. The rest of the band was Mr. Hancock
on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums and Mr.

Blanchard on trumpet. (Not bad.) But it became overly eccentric,
and Mr. Wonder tried some awkward scat singing; despite the booming
power of his voice, the performance fell apart.

The program for the finals competition and gala concert recycled
old news clips implying that record-company bidding wars follow the
announcement of the winner. This is not true: the bigger labels are
barely signing new jazz artists these days, and the excellent last
two winners, the singer Gretchen Parlato and the guitarist Lage Lund,
have yet to cut much of a profile.

But whatever happens to Mr. Hamasyan, the contest brought him around
people like the judges and the contest’s rhythm section, and brought
them around him.

That’s good enough.

Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian
16 Sep 06

REFERRAL TO UN TO SLOW DOWN KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS – ARMENIAN MINISTER

Yerevan, 16 September: The initiative of GUAM [Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan and Moldova] to discuss "frozen" conflicts at the UN
General Assembly is a new challenge for Armenia, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan told journalists after the annual meeting of
Armenian ambassadors today.

He said this initiative envisages some qualitative and quantitative
changes in the format of discussions on the problem. "We are not only
dealing with Azerbaijan here, but also with four different countries
which, in turn, have their friends, which expands the circule of
interests," the Armenian foreign minister said.

He said that this requires more active diplomatic efforts. At the
same time, the minister pointed out that if a resolution is put up
for debate, Armenia will be able to achieve an acceptable
formulation. "But generally speaking, we think that this initiative
diverts attention from the main goal – the Minsk process, and might
even slows it down," the minister said.

The minister added that there are serious prospects for a positive
result in the Minsk process. "Perhaps, this is the reason. The
pressure on Azerbaijan is growing, and they are trying to divert
attention. According to my impression from the latest meeting, what
the co-chairmen want is to ‘revive’ the document that is on the
negotiating table regarding which we had expressed our positive
opinion. In fact, Azerbaijan’s activity at the UN coincides with the
co-chairmen’s activity to ‘revive’ the document and achieve positive
changes by the end of the year," the minister pointed out.

"If process is referred to the UN, Karabakh should definitely be
involved in it," Oskanyan said.

[Passage omitted: Oskanyan spoke about the UN’s work and UN
resolutions on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict]

AZG Armenian Daily #177, 16/09/2006

Karabakh issue

`FROZEN CONFLICTS’ NEVERTHELESS ON UN AGENDA

After the presentation of "Ways of Settling Nagorno Karabakh Conflict"
book at the National Assembly on September 14, foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian answered journalists’ questions.

First, he spoke about sending Armenian peacekeepers to Lebanon. In his
words, there is no decision at this moment as is not clear what tack
the participating forces will carry out. Before the last Israeli
hostilities in Lebanon, Beirut asked Armenia to send bomb-disposal
specialists as Armenia has experience in this sphere. Later, when
Israel will provide maps of mined territories and the situation will
be put under control, Armenia can help in this sphere.

To a remark that it’s the Armenian community’s request to see Armenian
peacekeepers in Lebanon, the FM said: "There are many other factors,
too. We consider the community’s call and we are in a dialogue with
community representatives. I’m sure that a right decision will be
taken at the end. Such issues are not an end in itself. Our going
there should serve a distinct purpose. As soon as this purpose is
specified, Armenian government will take its decision."

Mr. Oskanian informed that different countries have officially applied
to Armenia to take part in peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. That issue
is currently being discussed.

When will the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers meet? The
co-chairs are seriously discussing the prospects of FM’s meeting but
again we insisted that these meetings should not be an end in
itself. We are ready to meet at any moment but we need the right and
favorable atmosphere in order to produce results. Azerbaijan is
constantly trying to divert the focus from the Minsk Group. This is a
fact. You know that the UN Chief Committee turned down GUAM’s "Frozen
Conflicts" proposal, but the General Assembly put it on the UN agenda
with one prevailing vote. Here we have a situation when the spotlight
shifts from the Minsk process, that’s why the meeting of FMs is under
question until there is clear understanding what direction the Minsk
processes will take. Azerbaijan makes every effort to deface the
content of Minsk Group documents most of which have been agreed on,
including the issue of self-determination. Azerbaijan probably wants
to step back, and diverting attention from Minsk process in favor of
the UN seems a way out for them. Therefore, we need to asses the new
situation and only after that decide what our next steps will be.

To daily Azg’s remark that Arkadi Ghukasian thinks that our diplomacy
should get more active as Azerbaijani diplomacy is attacking, Vartan
Oskanian said: "I don’t know who is attacking and who is
defending. Generally speaking, I don’t think our results are bad; I
don’t feel the need of changing our strategy."

By Marietta Khachatrian

THERE ARE TWO SUSPECTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE MURDER

A1+
[12:18 pm] 14 September, 2006

Yesterday two people were arrested in connection with the murder of
Shahen Hovasapyan, the head of the Operative Investigation Department
of the State Tax Agency.

Sona Truzyan, press secretary of the General Prosecutor’s Office,
told A1+ this information.

One of the suspects is Armen Virabyan, head of the 7th Operative
Investigative Department. The other suspect is Armen Virabyan’s father
who also works in the State Tax Agency. By the way, Armen Virabyan
formerly worked in police forces and is nicknamed "Shvarts."

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
_________________________________________ ____________________
RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 9, No. 34, 13 September 2006

A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL’s Newsline Team

******************************************** ****************
HEADLINES:
* U.S. PRESIDENT ISSUES WARNING ABOUT IRANIAN INTENTIONS
* AHMADINEJAD ADDRESSES BUSH AT RELIGIOUS CONFERENCE
* KHATAMI CRITICIZES U.S. DURING CHICAGO VISIT
* IRAN UNCOMPROMISING ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM
* IRAQI OFFICIAL MEETS IRANIAN LEADERS IN TEHRAN
* NEW EQUIPMENT TESTED DURING WAR GAMES
* LEBANON RECONSTRUCTION INTERESTS IRAN
* CONTRADICTORY PERSPECTIVES ON BACKING FOR NASRALLAH
* CAUSE OF POLITICAL PRISONER’S DEATH DISPUTED
* SATELLITE DISH CONFISCATION SPREADS
* FREEDOM HOUSE DESCRIBES IRAN AS ‘NOT FREE’
* IRAN’S DRUG PROBLEM GOES BEYOND AFGHAN DELUGE
******************************************* *****************

U.S. PRESIDENT ISSUES WARNING ABOUT IRANIAN INTENTIONS. The White
House released the U.S. "National Strategy for Combating Terrorism"
on September 5, and a few hours later, President George W. Bush,
speaking at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, discussed
Iran’s alleged role in terrorism, according to Radio Farda and
the presidential website.
Bush said, "the Iranian regime has clear aims" that he
described as driving the United States out of the region, destroying
Israel, and dominating the Middle East. Those goals have led Iran to
fund and arm Hizballah, Bush said. He also accused "the Iranian
regime and its terrorist proxies" of a willingness to kill Americans,
alleged efforts to do so in connection with Lebanese Hizballah and
with Saudi Hizballah, and what his administration believes is
Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
"The international community has made a reasonable proposal
to Iran’s leaders, and given them the opportunity to set their
nation on a better course," he said in a reference to an offer made
to Tehran in June but seemingly rejected in August. Bush warned
Iran’s leaders against isolating the country and harming its
economy through their actions.
Bush said in his September 5 speech that both Shi’ite
extremists — which he described as having "taken control of a major
power, the nation of Iran," in 1979 — and Sunni extremists "seek to
impose a dark vision of violent Islamic radicalism across the Middle
East," the White House website reported.
Bush referred to a "global struggle" and cited his
administration’s "National Strategy for Combating Terrorism."
That document refers to Iran several times. It says Iran "continue[s]
to harbor terrorists at home and sponsor terrorist activity abroad."
The strategy states that U.S. sanctions against Iran are meant to end
its state sponsorship of terrorists. The document alleges roles by
the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence
and Security in the planning of and support for operations by Hamas,
Hizballah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as Tehran’s
failure to "account for and bring to justice senior [Al-Qaeda]
members it detained in 2003."
The document adds, "Most troubling is the potential
WMD-terrorism nexus that emanates from Tehran."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said on
September 6 that Bush’s comments about Iran in the previous
day’s speech were "repetitive and baseless," the Islamic Republic
News Agency (IRNA) reported. Such claims are meant to counter
Iran’s reasonable and determined effort to protect its rights,
Assefi said. The U.S. presence in Iraq contributes to terrorism
there, Assefi claimed, adding, "There is now the general belief that
the terrorist moves in Iraq take place under U.S. direction and
support."
Assefi also hinted at U.S. responsibility for the September
11, 2001, attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, saying, "On
the threshold of the anniversary of the September 11 explosion of the
twin towers and five years after the event, which is still ambiguous,
the U.S. officials intend to justify their failure and blunder."
Assefi urged Bush to accept his Iranian counterpart’s
invitation to engage in a televised debate (see "RFE/RL Iran Report,"
September 4, 2006). (Bill Samii)

AHMADINEJAD ADDRESSES BUSH AT RELIGIOUS CONFERENCE. Iranian President
Mahmud Ahmadinejad gave the opening speech at the second
International Conference on Mahdaviyat Doctrine in Tehran on
September 6, IRNA and Fars News Agency reported. The purpose of the
conference is to "promote the culture and thoughts of the last imam
of the age and last descendant of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH [peace
be upon him]) infallible household — Imam Mahdi [may God hasten his
reappearance]."
The Mahdi is the Shi’a’s 12th imam and went into
occultation some 1,200 years ago; his reappearance is supposed to
restore justice before the end of the world. Ahmadinejad’s
affinity for these beliefs has been noted by some observers (see
"RFE/RL Iran Report," December 19, 2005, and July 18, 2006).
A sign of Ahmadinejad’s beliefs was his statement in the
speech: "Today is the day when we invite humanity to the only true
path and course because there is no other path." He also referred to
his earlier invitation to President Bush to debate him, saying,
"we’re ready to assess the problems of the world in a
face-to-face debate and to think of solutions for them and to allow
humanity to choose; of course, it must be uncensored." (Bill Samii)

KHATAMI CRITICIZES U.S. DURING CHICAGO VISIT. Former Iranian
President Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami told CNN during a September 3
visit to Chicago that international terrorism is the result of U.S.
foreign policy, and he warned that those policies will contribute to
regional "extremism." Khatami is in Iran for a two-week visit; the
last U.S. president to visit Iran was Jimmy Carter some 30 years ago.
Khatami had a message for President Bush: "I would tell him that the
United States, with all of its might and resources, can, side by side
with the good people of the Middle East, bring about a new experience
and the creation of democracy and the advancement of democracy, even
though the way to democracy may have been slow originating in the
Mideast." He called for an end to threatening language, and said
Iranians fear the United States will attack their country. (Bill
Samii)

UN CHIEF CALLS FOR IRANIAN COOPERATION. UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan during a September 7 press conference in Madrid urged the
Islamic Republic to be more cooperative with efforts to determine the
status of its nuclear program, RFE/RL reported. "I think we should
insist that Iran reassures the international community that its
intention is [peaceful], it has no hidden agenda as it says," he
said. "But, if that is the case, it has the responsibility to take
steps to reassure all of us that their intentions are peaceful and
remove that cloud of uncertainty and doubt that surrounds their
[nuclear] program." Annan made similar points during a September 6
press conference in Ankara, RFE/RL reported. "I have urged Iran to do
whatever it can to reassure the international community that indeed
its intentions are peaceful and find ways and means through complete
openness to the inspectors of the [International Atomic Energy
Agency] to remove the cloud of doubt that surrounds its intentions."
(Bill Samii)

IRAN UNCOMPROMISING ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM. UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan visited Iran on September 2 and 3, Radio Farda and other news
agencies reported. After meeting with President Ahmadinejad on
September 3, Annan said at a press conference with Foreign Minister
Manuchehr Mottaki that he was told Iran will not stop its
uranium-enrichment program but is willing to enter negotiations
regarding the nuclear program.
Mottaki described Security Council Resolution 1696 of late
July, which calls on Iran to halt its enrichment and reprocessing
activities, as politically motivated and the result of pressure from
the United States and Britain.
Annan also noted that Ahmadinejad restated Iran’s backing
for Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the recent
Israel-Hizballah conflict. Tehran has not agreed to back the
disarmament of Hizballah, Annan’s aides said, according to "The
New York Times." The aides described Ahmadinejad as "confident,
brash, and uncompromising" and eager to show that the United States
and Britain are "fading powers paying a price for meddling in the
Middle East."
Part of the continuing efforts to persuade Iran to suspend
its uranium-enrichment and -reprocessing activities in exchange for
various incentives and in order to avoid international sanctions
would be a meeting between Iranian Supreme National Security Council
Secretary Ali Larijani and EU High Representative for Common Foreign
and Security Policy Javier Solana. Tehran responded to an
international proposal addressing these issues with a lengthy
counterproposal, and the meeting would be an opportunity to discuss
what anonymous diplomats told AFP on September 5 is an "at best,
unclear" Iranian text.
Anonymous diplomats said on September 5 that the meeting
probably would take place on September 6 in Vienna, AFP reported.
Vienna’s "Der Standard" daily issued a similar report on
September 5, but EU spokeswoman Christina Gallach would not confirm
the possibility, according to the paper.
The Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency,
Ali Asqar Soltanieh, said on September 6 that talks between Iran and
the EU regarding the nuclear issue have been postponed, AP reported.
Soltanieh said, "Both sides are arranging for a couple of days
later." Soltanieh ascribed the delay to "a procedural matter."
In Tehran, Foreign Minister Mottaki said on September 6 that
Iran-EU talks are welcome, Mehr News Agency reported. He said the two
sides are determining a convenient date.
Larijani said on September 7 in Madrid that Tehran is
determined to "hold serious and constructive talks" with the
so-called 5+1 group on a range of issues, IRNA reported. This refers
to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China,
France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), plus
Germany, which in June offered Iran a package of incentives in
exchange for its suspending uranium-enrichment and -reprocessing
activities and cooperating more fully with nuclear.
Larijani met with Italian Premier Romano Prodi on September
8.
Larijani expressed optimism about an upcoming meeting with
Javier Solana. Solana said on September 7 that the meeting would take
place on September 9, AP reported. He did not disclose the location.
A document drawn up by France, Germany, and Britain and sent
to dozens of other countries reveals doubts about Tehran’s
intentions, AP reported on September 6. The 5+1 group met in Berlin
on September 6 to discuss the Iranian problem, and the document
warned, "The Iranian goal obviously is to split the international
community." It adds that Iran wants to "draw us into a process of
talks about talks, on Iranian terms, while making no commitments of
its own while continuing with its enrichment program."
Larijani and Solana met in Vienna on September 9. (Bill
Samii)

LEGISLATURE MOVES TO BLOCK NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS. The legislature’s
National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has approved the
general outlines of a bill that would suspend international
inspectors’ access to Iranian nuclear sites, IRNA reported on
September 5. Shahrud’s Kazem Jalali, the committee’s
rapporteur, explained, "The single article bill urges the government
to call off all [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspections of
the Iranian nuclear sites and facilities as soon as UN Security
Council embarks on imposing restrictions on Iran," Fars News Agency
reported. (Bill Samii)

IRAQI OFFICIAL MEETS IRANIAN LEADERS IN TEHRAN. President Ahmadinejad
told visiting Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih on September 6
that insecurity in Iraq is harmful to Iran, the Mehr News Agency
reported. He said the "occupation forces" encourage this insecurity
as a justification for their continued presence.
Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Ali Akbar
Hashemi-Rafsanjani told Salih that the development of a free,
independent, and Islamic Iraq will benefit the entire region, IRNA
reported. Hashemi-Rafsanjani added, "Meanwhile, the chaos in Iraq and
interference of foreign troops in the country’s internal affairs
are the main cause of the insecurity in all regional states." He
called for the withdrawal of occupation troops.
Salih said at a press conference with Foreign Minister
Mottaki on September 5 that the two neighbors are keen on
strengthening relations, the Mehr News Agency reported. They already
enjoy cordial ties, he added. Salih also noted the need for a
regional "compromise" between Baghdad, Tehran, and Washington.
Mottaki also denied that Iran is interfering in Iraqi affairs. (Bill
Samii)

NEW EQUIPMENT TESTED DURING WAR GAMES. The Zarbat-i Zolfaqar war
games, which began on August 19, are continuing, with the firing of a
modified Hawk missile from a U.S.-manufactured F-14 aircraft on
September 4, state television reported. During this third stage of
the exercises, antiaircraft artillery, missiles, surface-to-air
weapons, and electronic countermeasures were tested. A deputy
commander of the army, identified as Brigadier General Amin, said the
navigation systems of enemy missiles were disrupted using equipment
developed by the Iranian air force and Defense Ministry.
Iranian air force jets successfully fired laser-guided bombs
on September 6, the Fars News Agency reported. The test took place in
northwestern Iran during the fifth stage of the Zarbat-i Zolfaqar war
games. The domestically made Saqeh fighter jet also flew in these
exercises. Brigadier General Javad Mohammadian, the spokesman of the
war games, said the Saqeh provides close-air support and can carry
bombs, rockets, and missiles, Fars reported.
Major General Ataollah Salehi, speaking in Shabestar, East
Azerbaijan Province, explained that external threats are the reason
for the exercises, IRNA reported. Salehi is commander of the regular
army. (Bill Samii)

IRAN ANNOUNCES AEROSPACE DEVELOPMENTS. Rasul Peighambari, the
managing director of the Negin Pars Company, said on September 4 that
his firm has developed radar-deflecting and radar-absorbing paints,
Mehr News Agency reported. Seven tons of camouflage and 50 tons of
antiradar paint have been produced so far, he said, and Iran no
longer needs to import such products.
One day earlier, Mohammad Islami, the head of the defense
industry’s training and education institute, said his
organization and the Shahid Beheshti University have successfully
collaborated in building a "nondestructive laser testing system for
testing thermal and mechanical effects on satellites in space, as
well as designing and building a plasma thruster," ILNA reported.
Islami explained, "Thrusters are little engines that are used for
controlling and correcting the movement of dynamic systems such as
satellites." (Bill Samii)

LEBANON RECONSTRUCTION INTERESTS IRAN. Parliament speaker Gholam-Ali
Haddad-Adel said during a September 4 phone conversation with his
Lebanese counterpart, Nabih Berri, that Iran is ready to lend a hand
in rebuilding Lebanon, IRNA reported. Haddad-Adel also said
Israel’s blockade of Lebanon is a violation of UN Security
Council Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the one-month
conflict triggered by Hizballah’s cross-border raid and
kidnapping of Israeli soldiers on July 12. Haddad-Adel added, "The
occupying regime of Qods [Israel] thrives on bloodshed, violations of
international rules and regulations, and the massacre of defenseless
women and children."
Iranian Vice President for Executive Affairs Ali Saidlu,
Minister of Housing and Urban Development Mohammad Saidi-Kia, and a
delegation of other Iranian officials arrived in Beirut on August 29,
Hizballah’s Al-Manar television and IRNA reported. During a press
conference later that day, Saidlu pledged Iran’s assistance in
reconstructing Lebanon and said delegations from "a number of Iranian
municipalities that enjoy good financial status" — such as Tehran,
Mashhad, and Isfahan — could contribute, Al-Manar reported. (Bill
Samii)

CONTRADICTORY PERSPECTIVES ON BACKING FOR NASRALLAH. Israeli Interior
Minister Avi Dichter said in an interview published in Turin’s
"La Stampa" on September 4 that Hizballah Secretary-General Hassan
Nasrallah acted contrary to Iranian desires by attacking Israel
hastily, and Hizballah gained nothing worthwhile in the conflict.
Therefore, he continued, "Nasrallah is in trouble." Dichter pointed
at Iranian support for Hamas and Hizballah, as well as its alleged
pursuit of a nuclear weapon and intention to "use it in order to
destroy us and to beat the entire West." "Ahmadinejad truly is the
new Hitler," Dichter said, adding that Ahmadinejad wants to attack
Israel, but he recognizes "attacking Israel is no joke."
Grand Ayatollah Lotfullah Safi-Golpayegani has a different
perspective, "Kayhan" reported on September 3. "The Hizballah in
Lebanon and its secretary-general, Hojatoleslam val-Moslemin Seyyed
Hassan Nasrallah, are a source of pride for the Islamic world," he
said. Safi-Golpayegani criticized those who passed religious decrees
against Hizballah’s actions during the conflict with Israel and
accused them of siding with Israel indirectly. (Bill Samii)

AHMADINEJAD ADVISES STUDENTS TO REJECT LIBERAL THINKING, RECTORS TO
AVOID POLITICS. President Ahmadinejad told students in Tehran on
September 5 — National Youth Day — that they must object to liberal
thinking in the universities, state radio reported. "Today’s
young students, in universities, must shout at the president:
‘Sir, why does this secular gentleman [lecturer] come and, if I
say something contrary to what he says, penalize me in my
marks?’" Ahmadinejad said. "In other words, young students must
shout against a liberal economy, against liberal thinking."
Ahmadinejad further advised university heads to avoid politics. (Bill
Samii)

CAUSE OF POLITICAL PRISONER’S DEATH DISPUTED. Mujahedin Khalq
Organization (MEK) sympathizer Valiollah Feyz-Mahdavi died on
September 6 in Tehran’s Shariati Hospital, Radio Farda reported,
citing Iranian websites. Feyz-Mahdavi was sentenced to death for
possession of explosives and confined at Rajai-Shahr Prison in Karaj,
and fellow detainees told Radio Farda that he fell ill on September
2, nine days after beginning a hunger strike. Prison officials denied
that he was on a hunger strike, saying instead that Feyz-Mahdavi
attempted suicide.
Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, one of Feyz-Mahdavi’s lawyers, told
Radio Farda that other detainees told him his client got sick during
his hunger strike, was taken to the prison infirmary, and then taken
to the hospital. Subsequently, the attorney continued, news of his
being brain dead was released, and then of his death. It was not in
Feyz-Mahdavi’s nature to kill himself, Dadkhah continued, and it
is difficult to commit suicide in prison. He asked "who are the
witnesses to the suicide attempt?" Dadkhah suggested that his client
died because he did not receive medical attention. (Bill Samii)

SATELLITE DISH CONFISCATION SPREADS. The social affairs and guidance
office of the Abadan police department announced on September 7 that
police in the southern city have confiscated more than 100 sets of
satellite receiving equipment, Fars News Agency reported. The
operation is continuing. Satellite receiving equipment is illegal in
Iran but is tolerated; police intermittently confiscate the
equipment, particularly when it is displayed too obviously. The most
recent round of dish seizures began in August. Brigadier General
Mehdi Mohammadifard, the deputy police chief for parliamentary
affairs explained on August 29 that police do not enter private
homes, "they merely deal with visible and explicit offenses," Mehr
News Agency. He said this is in connection with a 1994 law.
The Abadan legal effort applies to more than satellite
equipment, according to Fars, and the police department’s social
affairs and guidance office said, "Recently a number of residents
have been carrying dogs in their cars." Locals were instructed not to
transport their dogs this way, and they were warned that drivers
would be stopped and turned over to the judiciary. Muslims consider
dogs to be unclean. (Bill Samii)

FREEDOM HOUSE DESCRIBES IRAN AS ‘NOT FREE.’ Freedom House
released its annual "Freedom in the World 2006" report on September
7, Radio Farda reported, and Iran was classified as "not free." Iran
received scores of six out of seven for both political rights and for
civil liberties — seven is the least-free rating. 192 countries and
14 select territories were surveyed for the report.
Radio Farda goes on to report that in a recent issue of a
British magazine called "The New Statesman," Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei is cited in a series about "The world’s top 10
dictators." The report, by the University of St Andrew’s Ali
Ansari, notes Khamenei’s authoritarianism, as well as
contributions to that process by the judiciary and the Guardians
Council in its electoral vetting. (Bill Samii)

TEHRAN ACTS TO MEET GASOLINE SHORTFALL. Abbas Kazemi, managing
director of the Tehran Refinery, announced on September 6 that his
facility currently produces 82 octane gasoline and it soon will
produce 90 octane gasoline, Mehr News Agency reported. He added that
this development will increase Tehran Refinery’s output by
500,000 liters, although he did not provide a timeframe.
Two days earlier, government spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham
said Iran’s policy is to import gasoline to meet shortfalls, IRNA
reported. The government also is considering ways to reduce gasoline
consumption, he said, including promoting mass-transit systems and
possibly the use of natural gas in vehicles. (Bill Samii)

IRAN’S DRUG PROBLEM GOES BEYOND AFGHAN DELUGE. The head of the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) called the past year’s rise in
Afghan opium cultivation "very alarming" when he presented his report
to the Afghan government on September 2. Neighboring Iran is the
global leader in opium seizures, and the recent rise in opium
production is likely to be reflected in higher seizure rates.
Iran’s drug problem is not merely supply-driven, however, with
domestic opium cultivation making a return and the popularity of
synthetic drugs on the upswing.
The UNODC reported in 2005 that some 60 percent of the
opiates (opium, morphine, and heroin) produced in Afghanistan leave
that country via Iran. It makes sense that climbing production
figures more recently would be reflected in higher seizure rates.
While there are no cumulative data available yet for the year,
partial reports nationally and from the provinces support the UNODC
contention.

Officials See Problem

The chief of Iran’s national police force, General Ismail
Ahmadi-Moqaddam, said at the end of August that the seizure of 145
tons of drugs nationwide in the first five months of the Iranian year
(which began on March 21) marks a 29 percent increase over the same
period last year, IRNA reported on August 29.
Reports from the provinces support the police chief’s
assertion. The police chief in East Azerbaijan Province, Brigadier
Mohammad-Ali Nosrati, said earlier in August that seizures in his
area in March-July were up 488 percent, ILNA reported on July 31 and
IRNA on August 11. Heroin seizures topped the list, he said. Nosrati
added that the number of arrests for drug dealing had more than
doubled (a 132 percent increase).
Authorities reported increased drug seizures and many arrests
in the southwestern Ilam Province and the Western Azerbaijan
Province. In both provinces, authorities also reported significant
numbers of arrests for smuggling, dealing, and drug abuse —
including a jump of more than 50 percent in Ilam’s abuse
statistic.

Growing Opium Cultivation

Tehran tends to look at domestic drug abuse as a
supply-driven issue that can be addressed mainly through interdiction
and law enforcement. But a resurgence of domestic opium cultivation
suggests that the problem is more complicated.
Ayatollah Mohieddin Haeri-Shirazi, a provincial
representative for Iran’s supreme leader, warned in early July
that forests in southern Fars Province are being converted into
opium-poppy farms, "Kayhan" reported on July 2. He did not attempt to
explain the phenomenon.
But joblessness and other economic woes — as well as
governmental failures — were cited earlier this year to explain
resurgent opium cultivation in Kohkiluyeh va Boirahmad Province.

…And Other Drugs

Opiates originating in Afghanistan are not the only illicit
drugs that Iranians are using. Ecstasy (MDMA) was once smuggled into
Iran from Europe, but is now frequently produced locally. Other "club
drugs" — such as GHB, Ketamine, LSD, methamphetamines (crank), and
Rohypnol — also appear to be gaining in popularity.
Sniffer dogs in Semnan Province, east of Tehran, uncovered 24
kilograms of concentrated heroin — known in Iran as "crystal" —
during two vehicle inspections in Shahrud in late August, the Baztab
website reported on August 24.
The head of the Justice Department and local public
prosecutor in the northeastern city of Nishabur, Hojatoleslam Abbas
Ali Fakhrara, said in late June that young people are increasingly
turning to ecstasy and crystal, "Khayyam Nameh" reported on July 13.
Counternarcotics experts speculate that the crystallized
heroin is smoked. It is highly addictive because it is also highly
concentrated — 15 to 20 kilograms of opium are required for 1
kilogram of crystal, while the normal opium-to-heroin ratio tends to
be 10:1.

Emphasis On Interdiction

Tehran’s emphasis on supply-interdiction versus
demand-reduction has undergone changes in recent years. Each approach
has its proponents. Initially, the government had a law-and-order
approach that considered any drug-related offense a serious crime.
Penalties for narcotics trafficking were heavy — possession of more
than 30 grams of heroin or 5 kilograms of opium could result in the
death penalty. More than 10,000 narcotics traffickers and drug users
have been executed in recent decades in Iran, and hundreds more
currently face execution. Addicts were arrested and jailed.
This approach filled prisons, but addiction rates continued
to rise as the average age of drug users fell. The strategy changed
during the latter years of Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami’s
presidency (1997-2005), and an increasing amount of the drug-control
budget was shifted to demand-reduction efforts and to treating
addicts.
Authorities have also emphasized interrupting the flow of
drugs from Afghanistan. They claim millions of dollars were spent on
building static defenses along the 1,800-kilometer border with
Afghanistan and Pakistan. Such efforts are continuing. National
police chief Ahmadi-Moqaddam said in late July that "Iran intends to
close 400 kilometers of its eastern borders" by mid-December (the end
of Azar), Fars News Agency reported on July 27. Ahmadi-Moqaddam
touted authorities’ use of "physical measures and…human
resources, [and] electronic and aerial devices."
Within a month, Ahmadi-Moqaddam said 100 kilometers of the
southeastern border in Sistan va Baluchistan had been sealed, state
radio reported on August 19. He added that work was "progressing
fast."
The creation in April in the same province of a base for
coordinating police, military, and other security agencies is part of
the effort. Rasul-i Akram base’s deputy commander, General Qasem
Rezai, said in early August that some 100 bulldozers and other heavy
equipment are involved with sealing the eastern border, "Jomhuri-yi
Islami" reported on August 10. As he listed the number of patrols
initiated by the base, as well as the number of arrests and seizures,
the deputy commander claimed that while bandits are no longer safe,
locals have a greater sense of security.
A parliamentary representative from the southeastern city of
Zahedan, Hussein Ali Shahriari, has expressed doubts about the
effectiveness of the Rasul-i Akram base, "Kargozaran" reported on
August 15. Shahriari called it a "major strategic mistake" to believe
that a single base could salvage the security situation in the
regions. He blamed a lack of police officers, and said much more is
required to solve the problem. Shahriari cited poverty and
unemployment among the culprits, and said investors fear the risk in
the same areas. He lamented that "expecting the government to do
something to make the private sector active and create job
opportunities and wealth is apparently a vague dream that will never
be fulfilled."

Demand Reduction

Iran’s state Welfare Organization’s prevention and
addiction-treatment department claims that 8 percent of the
population is addicted to drugs, "Mardom-Salari" reported on June 22.
An official in the same department, Mehrdad Ehterami, noted that Iran
sees 90,000 new drug addicts every year, with more than 180,000
people treated for addiction in the state or private sector. He
listed 51 government facilities, 457 private outpatient centers, and
an additional 26 transition centers that exist to combat the problem.
The provincial prosecutor in Ardabil is a critic of existing
drug-control policies. Hojatoleslam Rabii argues that the activities
of the Drug Control Headquarters and the police are not coordinated,
according to "Hemayat" on July 30. He claims legislation is
contradictory, with "drug addiction…regarded as a crime" while
"addicts are portrayed as patients who must be cured." Rabii contends
that attempts to control drug trafficking must be more focused or
investment to cure addicts increased. Harsh sentences alone for drug
traffickers won’t work, he says.
Clearly, the Iranian government recognizes the extent of the
drug problem it faces. Still, it does not appear to have decided on a
preferred approach. The head of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters,
Fada Hussein Maleki, insisted in early August that his organization
and the Expediency Council have formulated general counternarcotics
policies, and that they have been referred to Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for his approval, "Hemayat" reported on August
2.
Iranian officials no doubt hope that once that happens, they
might reverse the current trend of rising drug abuse. (Bill Samii)

****************************************** ***************
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

The "RFE/RL Iran Report" is a weekly prepared by A. William Samii on
the basis of materials from RFE/RL broadcast services, RFE/RL
Newsline, and other news services.

Direct comments to A. William Samii at [email protected].
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CRISIS DAYS IN UN
By Gayane Movsisian

Yerkir.am
September 08, 2006

The Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations over Karabakh have stalled
in a critical stage. Yerevan has not yet made a decision over a
meeting of foreign ministers that mediators propose to hold in Paris
or London. But such meeting may never take place if Azerbaijan’s
initiative to shift the issue to the United States take a turn that
might harm Armenia.

In July, Azerbaijan sent a letter to the UN with accusations that
Armenian-controlled territories were subjected to arson. Later, a draft
resolution was sent which this time dealt not only with alleged arsons;
the draft called the UN to reaffirm Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

More recently, a joint request by the member states of GUAM (Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) asked the UN General Assembly to include
in its agenda an issue dealing with the "frozen conflicts on the
territory of GUAM states.

" The issue, according to the UN web site, has been included on the
preliminary agenda.

This has encouraged Baku make self-confident statements. "The issue may
even be included on the agenda without a vote," Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamediarov said. He also added that OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs are working with Armenia and UN secretary to work out the
text of the draft resolution.

Vladimir Karapetian, the acting press secretary of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, said that the negotiations are almost over and that
the draft may be presented to the UN on September 7. We believe the
language of the draft would fit us, Karapetian added.

Recently, Foreign Minister Oskanian said he thought the UN would
not make new steps taking into account that negotiations have been
going on under the OSCE auspice. The discussion of the issue in the
UN makes no sense but it may be included in the agenda, Oskanian said.

Minister Oskanian will represent Armenia at the General Assembly and
is scheduled to make a speech on September 25. He is also expected
to meet with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, particularly with
Mathew Bryza. The Azeri minister is also scheduled to meet with the
mediators. A meeting between Oskanian and Mamediarov has not been
scheduled yet.

AZERI PRESSURE GROUP DESCRIBES RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS’ VISIT TO ARMENIA AS "BETRAYAL"

Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 12 2006

Baku, 11 September: The Civic Solidarity youth organization has
demanded that 10 "enemies of the people" be stripped of Azerbaijani
citizenship for their recent visit to Armenia within the Camp of
Mutual Understanding project. Those enemies are the head of the
Azerbaijani National Committee of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly,
Arzu Abdullayeva, rights activists Nigar Abdullayeva, Rana Yuzbasova
and Fidan Mammadova and journalists Seymur Baycan, Ismayil Abdulazimov
and Xamis Masimov.

The cause of such a strong reaction is a visit by these individuals
to the Gughark camp in Armenia.

The youth organization said in a statement that the camp hosted a
meeting of representatives of Armenian and Azerbaijan youth at the
initiative of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly and that representatives
of Nagornyy Karabakh also attended the meeting. The authors of the
statement believe that a visit to Armenia is "a betrayal" and demand
that government agencies strip these people of Azerbaijani citizenship,
confiscate their passports and expel from the country international
organizations that prepare such projects.

In turn, the Azerbaijani National Committee of the Helsinki Citizens’
Assembly issued a statement denying these accusations. International
law rejects xenophobia – eternal enmity between nations. The
accusations voiced against the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly are aimed
at casting a shadow on the organization’s activity, the statement said.