RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
_________________________________________ ____________________
RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 8, No. 37, 20 September 2005
A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL’s Newsline Team
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HEADLINES:
* AHMADINEJAD ADDRESSES UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY TWICE, AFTER
RECEIVING U.S. VISA WAIVER
* TEHRAN DENIES PURSUIT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
* NUCLEAR WATCHDOG WANTS NO ACTION ON IRAN
* TEHRAN STRESSES PERCEIVED NUCLEAR RIGHTS
* NEW SECURITY MEASURES NOT WELCOMED BY ALL
* NATIONAL AND MILITARY LEADERS TALK TO REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS
* SUPREME LEADER CALLS FOR GOVERNMENTAL UNITY
* AHMADINEJAD MAKES MORE APPOINTMENTS
* NEW GROUND FORCES CHIEF AND IDEOLOGIST APPOINTED
* BUS DRIVERS ARRESTED, JOURNALIST JAILED
* NO JAIL VISITS FOR DISSIDENT, SAYS WIFE
* ARMENIA MOVES FORWARD ON GAS PIPELINE TO IRAN
* PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD LEADER VISITS IRAN
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AHMADINEJAD ADDRESSES UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY TWICE… President Mahmud
Ahmadinejad left for New York on 13 September, state television
reported. Before leaving Tehran, Ahmadinejad suggested this would be
an opportunity to discuss the contentious nuclear issue, saying: “We
believe that nuclear energy is a divine gift. It…belongs to all
nations and all people. All of the people on the surface of the Earth
have the right to use this clean energy.”
Supreme National Security Council official Ali Aqamohammadi
said on 13 September that Ahmadinejad would probably submit his
suggestions on how to proceed on the atomic front, the Iranian
Students News Agency (ISNA) reported. “Naturally we cannot know what
promises to be an innovative idea, but we have heard a few things and
have an idea what the framework of his talks will be. However, he
will reveal the plan,” Aqamohammadi said, adding that rejection of
the plan will hurt those who have benefited from dialogue with Iran.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on 14
September, Ahmadinejad criticized the United States, saying the host
of the event should not have special privileges. Two channels of
Iranian state television, as well as Iranian satellite television and
state radio, broadcast the speech live. Ahmadinejad complained that
neither an Islamic nor an African state has a permanent seat on the
UN Security Council. He also expressed concern about a breakdown in
spirituality and morality, and described unilateralism as a “vicious
malady.” “Unilateralism, production and use of weapons of mass
destruction, intimidations, resort to the threat or use of force, and
imposition of destructive wars on peoples for the sake of security
and prosperity of a few powers” mean that the UN must try to
institutionalize justice, Ahmadinejad said.
The U.S. delegation was not in the assembly hall to hear
Ahmadinejad’s stinging comments, news agencies reported.
Ahmadinejad announced the Iranian position on the nuclear
issue in a 17 September speech to the General Assembly (for the full
text of the speech, see
).
Predictably, he preceded the discussion of the nuclear issue by
denouncing the United States. “The Islamic Revolution toppled a
regime, which had been put in place through a coup, and supported by
those who claim to be advocates of democracy and human rights,
thwarted the aspirations of the nation for development and progress
for 25 years through intimidation and torture of the populace and
submission and subservience to outsiders.”
Ahmadinejad accused the United States of violating the
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, arming “the Zionist occupation
regime with WMDs [weapons of mass destruction],” and trying to block
other countries’ access to nuclear technology.
Ahmadinejad accused the United States of supporting Al-Qaeda
and hinted at a conspiracy in which the United States was behind the
terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.
After going on in this way for some time, Ahmadinejad got to
the point. “Peaceful use of nuclear energy without possession of
nuclear fuel cycle is an empty proposition,” he said. “In accordance
with our religious principles, pursuit of nuclear weapons is
prohibited.” He went on to express concern about the creation of a
nuclear “apartheid.” He called for a nuclear-weapons-free Middle
East.
As a confidence-building measure, Ahmadinejad said, Iran is
willing to partner with public and private groups in its
uranium-enrichment program. He added that Iran will continue to
cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, he
dismissed promises that other countries will be the source of fuel
for the Iranian nuclear program.
Ahmadinejad returned to Iran on 18 September. (Bill Samii)
…AFTER RECEIVING U.S. VISA WAIVER. The State Department announced
that the United States had waived regulations banning suspected
terrorists from entering its territory and given Iranian President
Ahmadinejad a visa to attend the UN General Assembly in New York,
Radio Farda and the “Los Angeles Times” reported on 8 September.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington
on 7 September that Iran’s UN mission applied for a visa on 5
August, allowing Ahmadinejad to attend events around the opening of
the 60th session of the UN General Assembly on 13-18 September, and
the U.S. consulate in Berne, Switzerland, issued the visa on 6
September, the State Department website reported.
McCormack added that while Ahmadinejad would have been
refused a visa for what the United States suspects are past
terrorism-related activities, in accordance with the Immigration and
Nationality Act, his ineligibility has been waived by the Department
of Homeland Security at the request of the State Department. The visa
“in no way indicates a change of U.S. views or policy toward the
Iranian government,” McCormack stressed. U.S. officials believe
Ahmadinejad might have been among a gang of radical students who took
U.S. diplomats in Tehran hostage in November 1979, a charge Iran
rejects.
A number of expatriate Iranians protested outside the UN
building on 14 September against Ahmadinejad’s presence, Radio
Farda reported. Approximately 1,500 people from various exile
opposition groups — royalists, constitutionalists, the Mujahedin
Khalq Organization, the Green Party of Iran — waved placards and
chanted different slogans. The protesters expressed opposition to the
Iranian nuclear program and the country’s purported support for
international terrorism, and they called for political prisoners’
freedom. Their overriding sentiment was that they do not accept
Ahmadinejad as Iran’s representative, Radio Farda reported.
Among the protesters outside the Iranian mission to the UN in
New York were Barry Rosen and Kevin Hermening, Radio Farda reported
on 15 September. Rosen is a former U.S. government official and
Hermening is a former U.S. Marine who were held hostage in Iran when
the U.S. Embassy was seized by militants. In a press conference the
day before, former UN Rapporteur on Human Rights Manuchehr Ganji said
that President Ahmadinejad was involved in the interrogation of the
hostages, as did another former hostage, Colonel Dave Roeder. (Bill
Samii, Vahid Sepehri)
TEHRAN DENIES PURSUIT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Nuclear weapons do not have
a role in Iranian defense policy, Minister of Defense and Armed
Forces Logistics Mustafa Mohammad Najjar said on 15 September, state
radio reported. Najjar explained that Iran insists on the acquisition
of nuclear technology so it can produce energy.
In New York, President Ahmadinejad told Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Tehran is willing to transfer
nuclear technology to other Islamic states, the Islamic Republic News
Agency (IRNA) reported. Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran has no
interest in nuclear weapons. (Bill Samii)
NUCLEAR WATCHDOG WANTS NO ACTION ON IRAN. Muhammad el-Baradei,
director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is
asking the United States to give Iran another opportunity to cease
alleged nuclear-weapons-related activities, AFP reported on 15
September, citing anonymous diplomats. Reuters reported the day
before that the IAEA suspects that referring Iran to the UN Security
Council will lead to divisions within the council. An anonymous
diplomat suggested a three-to-four-week delay would be “in
everybody’s favor.” El-Baradei reportedly told U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice that the IAEA governing board could set a
deadline for Iran to resume the suspension of its nuclear activities.
Tehran, however, has told the IAEA it will cooperate only if it can
enrich uranium, Reuters reported.
The United States would like to see immediate action by the
UN Security Council, but its efforts to persuade other countries are
not going well, the “Financial Times” reported on 15 September.
Neither China nor India have made any commitments in this regard,
according to the newspaper.
Earlier in the week, U.S. Energy Department officials made a
presentation to IAEA officials and governing board members that
purportedly shows evidence of Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons,
“The Washington Post” and ABC News reported on 14 September (to view
the presentation, go to
().
The presentation describes Iran’s violations of nuclear
safeguards and a pattern of concealment. The U.S. presentation
rejects Iranian claims that the nuclear program is for power
generation and argues that it is on the scale of a weapons program.
Furthermore, Tehran has submitted a 131-page response to
el-Baradei’s earlier report on the Iranian nuclear program, IRNA
reported on 13 September. The IAEA report called for greater
cooperation and transparency on Iran’s part, and it referred to
some specific concerns (see “RFE/RL Iran Report,” 5 September 2005).
The Iranian response stressed Tehran’s belief that the issue has
become politicized and said the IAEA is being swayed by a propaganda
campaign. The response referred to efforts to divert attention from
recent violations of the Nonproliferation Treaty by other countries,
the proliferation of nuclear warheads, and the purported Israeli
threat.
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told Radio Farda on 7
September that its recent report will be a reference for the IAEA
board of governors when it meets on 19 September to discuss
Iran’s program. She said Iranian officials have cooperated with
IAEA inspectors, but they should cooperate more, and give the agency
access to all “places, documents, and people” able to clarify
persistent questions such as the source of traces of highly enriched
uranium found on certain nuclear components in Iran. Iran has said
they came from Pakistan with the equipment. Fleming said this cannot
be ascertained, adding that there has been much progress made on
discovering the source of the traces, Radio Farda reported. (Bill
Samii, Vahid Sepehri)
TEHRAN STRESSES PERCEIVED NUCLEAR RIGHTS. Iran’s ranking nuclear
negotiator, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani,
stressed in Islamabad on 7 September that Iran will not halt its
nuclear program, but it is prepared to hold talks to alleviate
international concerns, news agencies reported the same day. On his
return from Pakistan, Larijani said that Iran “is not trying to
expand” the number of parties negotiating over its nuclear program,
and the IAEA remains its formal negotiating partner, ISNA reported on
8 September. He said third-party proposals “can be useful or
helpful,” but “Iran’s conduct is that everything should be in its
place, and we face the [IAEA] in this case,” ISNA reported.
In meetings with Pakistani officials, Larijani said, they
stated their acceptance of Iran’s “natural right” to have a
peaceful nuclear program. “I have no doubt that brotherly and Muslim
Pakistan is by our side,” he said. But Larijani also conveyed
“concern” to Pakistani officials over their recent contacts with
Iranian foe Israel. “I stated my concern” at the contacts, Larijani
said according to ISNA, and “stated my reasons, and I think they have
taken on board our perspective.” The foreign ministers of Pakistan
and Israel met in Istanbul on 1 September in the first high-level
meeting since those two states emerged in the mid-20th century, AFP
reported on 7 September.
In Tehran on 7 September, Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki
said that “nobody” should overlook “the rights of the Iranian people”
in negotiations over Iran’s contested nuclear program, ISNA
reported. He said after a meeting with foreign envoys that “no
organization can deprive us of our rights, against international
laws,” referring to Western pressures on Iran to once more suspend
all nuclear-fuel production and related activities, and negotiate
over its program. He said that “there is a rational and clear view
based on international laws that one cannot tell a country its
duties, but deprive it of its rights.”
Iran says that, within the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,
it has the right to make fuel for what it says is a civilian program.
Mottaki said the Ahmadinejad government gives great importance to
justice, and in foreign relations that means “a balance between
rights and duties” for countries signing up to international
treaties. Iran may reconsider certain bilateral agreements, he added,
as some parts have yet to be implemented, ISNA reported.
Mottaki told the press in Tehran on 11 September that Iran
will not reseal a uranium-ore-conversion plant in Isfahan, central
Iran, in response to Western demands to halt all fuel production and
related activities, and he warned that nobody will win if Iran’s
dossier is referred to the UN Security Council, agencies reported the
same day. Given Iran’s “transparent activities and clear
cooperation” with the IAEA, he said, “we see no juridical or legal
reasons” for a UN referral, and “our positions will be clear in that
regard,” ISNA reported. Going to the UN Security Council would be
“political,” he said, and would initiate “a lose-lose game, and we
prefer this not to happen.” He described a “win-win” situation as an
international community assured of the peaceful nature of Iran’s
nuclear program, and Iran being able to exercise what it says is the
right to make nuclear fuel for power stations it has yet to build.
Iran, he said, welcomes the “unconditional” resumption of talks on
its dossier, ISNA reported.
Mottaki said on 12 September that Iran’s nuclear policy
is entirely clear, and if its “natural right” to have a peaceful
program is recognized, “we respect the right of the international
community to be assured of the peaceful nature” of its activities,
ISNA reported the same day, citing an interview with Turkish
television. He dismissed as unlikely the threat of U.S. strikes on
Iranian nuclear installations. “The Americans threaten all the
world…. We do not believe a military attack is likely, but if that
happens, our response will be firm and painful.”
Mottaki said Western concerns about Iran’s program are
only partly to do with fears over its abuse for military objectives.
“The second part of the issue is that they are not inclined to have a
developing state become a first-class state” and attain advanced
nuclear technology “with numerous applications” for a country, he
said. Mottaki said Iran’s nuclear policy is based on the “duty”
it feels to reassure the international community that its program is
strictly civilian, ISNA reported. (Vahid Sepehri)
NEW SECURITY MEASURES NOT WELCOMED BY ALL. Recent steps by Iran’s
new government under President Ahmadinejad demonstrate the rightward
drift in the country’s affairs that became apparent in the months
preceding the June 2005 presidential election. These steps include
the appointment of provincial governors-general with a security
background, as well as a crackdown on social malefactors. The impact
of the provincial appointments will be felt for years to come,
whereas pressure in Tehran is likely to ease off.
Provincial Appointments
Interior Minister Mustafa Purmohammadi said in the 14
September “Iran” that the selection of provincial governors-general
will begin the next week and will only take place after consultations
with legislators and local Friday-prayer leaders. He said most of the
officials will be replaced. “Iran” reported that definite changes
include the governors from Fars, Isfahan, Khorasan Razavi, Markazi
(Central), Mazandaran, Sistan va Baluchistan, and Tehran provinces.
An anonymous Interior Ministry official said he had no knowledge of
the possibility that individuals with links to intelligence and
security agencies will be selected.
Parliamentarians’ reactions to this news varied. On the
one hand, an unnamed representative from Urumiyeh said in “Kayhan” of
14 September that Purmohammadi has shown his sensitivity to
individuals’ qualifications rather than politics in making his
choices.
On the other hand, Tabriz parliamentary representative
Mohammad Hussein Farhangi accused Purmohammadi of appointing former
officials of intelligence and security agencies as provincial
governors-general, “Iran,” “Aftab-i Yazd” and “Mardom Salari”
reported on 14 September. “At the present juncture, some intelligence
and security personalities are among the favorites to become future
governors-general,” Farhangi said. He advised against this, saying:
“The interior minister must heed the demands of the parliamentary
deputies about not employing people with intelligence and security
links and background as government officials [in the provinces],
otherwise he will certainly encounter problems in the future.”
The issue prompted two legislators to submit their
resignations. Iranshahr parliamentary representative Golmohammad
Bameri said on 14 September that he had resigned, ILNA reported.
Bameri said he was protesting Purmohammadi’s failure to
coordinate his appointment of new governors-general with the
legislature. Zahedan parliamentary representative Peyman Foruzesh
resigned the same day to protest Purmohammadi’s appointment of a
new governor for Sistan va Baluchistan Province. Foruzesh complained
that the interior minister had not fulfilled his promise to
coordinate his choices with legislators and local Friday-prayer
leaders.
The Interior Ministry’s appointment of new
governors-general will have an enduring impact. The new officials
could stay in place for at least eight years — the length of two
presidential terms. The Interior Ministry runs the elections, so the
new officials could have a profound influence on voting for members
of the Assembly of Experts (2006 and 2014), legislature (2008 and
2012), executive branch (2009 and 2013), and municipal councils (2007
and 2011). Even though President Ahmadinejad has promised to
decentralize governmental affairs, these appointments suggest an
effort by the central government to exert greater influence in the
periphery.
In The Capital
While events affecting the provinces are still developing,
security measures in the capital are already under way. Justice
Minister and judiciary spokesman Jamal Karimirad told reporters on 6
September that a crackdown on people who disrupt security in Tehran
has begun, “Jomhuri-yi Islami,” “Aftab-i Yazd,” and Radio Farda
reported. “This plan, which has been put together by the office of
the Tehran prosecutor-general, will be implemented for a period of 20
days with the cooperation and coordination of the relevant organs,
such as the Law Enforcement Force, the Intelligence Ministry, the
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and the Basij force.
Karimirad described the individuals who would suffer as a
result of this campaign: “The elements who flex their muscles and
show off their power by the use of knives and daggers; the thugs and
the mob engaging in extortion and bullying; threatening actions and
behaviors; attempts to create fear and tension in the society;
disruption of public order and safety; acts of sabotage; those
involved in selling, buying, possessing, or carrying unlawful
weapons; abduction; and gang interfighting and violence.” The
harassment of women, sexual assaults and other sorts of lewd
behavior, the establishment of brothels and gambling houses, drinking
alcohol publicly or public drunkenness, and the sales or purchase of
drugs are to be targeted as well.
Tehran police chief Morteza Talai described the type of
criminals one encounters in the capital, “Jomhuri-yi Islami” reported
on 7 September. One group carries scimitars and goes to different
parts of the city to commit random acts of aggression. A second
group, known as “lumpens,” gets drunk in public and engages in rowdy
behavior. A third group, he said, has the talent and potential for
membership in the second group.
The judicial police will be tasked with maintaining public
security in Tehran once it is equipped, financed, and ready to work,
Radio Farda reported on 10 September. Tehran judiciary official
Mahmud Mirkuhi said the force enjoys greater powers than the ordinary
police. Judicial police patrols include a judge who can convict and
sentence a person on the spot, and oversee his or her punishment,
Radio Farda reported.
One of the security measures described by police chief Ismail
Ahmadi-Moghaddam is action against “joy caravans” — cars filled with
celebrating relatives driving behind a newly wed couple, Radio Farda
reported on 11 September. He termed the celebrants “louts” and a
traffic nuisance. Radio Farda cited Moghaddam as telling the daily
“Jomhuri-yi Islami” that such celebrations block Tehran traffic and
lead to acts of “moral corruption” like dancing and alcohol
consumption.
Tehran’s provincial judicial chief Abbas Ali Alizadeh
told the press on 12 September that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei has ordered the judiciary to give a “firm response” to
“louts” and criminals, Fars reported the same day. Khamenei has
ordered “God’s laws” to be implemented against criminals, after
reading a report on crime that he found “shocking,” Fars reported. In
an undated letter to judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud
Hashemi-Shahrudi, Khamenei ordered authorities to combat crime “as
vigorously as possible,” and to give “mischievous” people “the
harshest punishments set by God.”
Alizadeh said he showed Khamenei’s letter to a judge who
recently asked him what to do with a man charged with forcibly taking
money from people and cutting off someone’s hand. That
“criminal,” Alizadeh said, must be considered a man “spreading
corruption on Earth,” a charge applicable to various activities and
possibly punishable by death in Iran.
Just as legislators have mixed responses to possible
security-related assignments in the provinces, their enthusiasm about
this social crackdown is mixed.
Musa Al-Reza Servati, a member of parliament’s Social
Affairs Committee, has urged Iranians to show a certain “balance”
when celebrating, “Aftab-i Yazd” reported on 12 September.
“Unfortunately in Iran people go beyond accepted norms for the
slightest celebration,” he said, adding that the Islamic Culture and
Guidance Ministry should define what type of celebrations are
acceptable.
But Social Affairs Committee head Abdolreza Mesri said that
“it is much more necessary” for police to deal with armed criminals
that block city streets than with “joy caravans,” according to
“Aftab-i Yazd.” People can wait a little for a street celebration,
and “share in the joy of people around them, but waiting in traffic
for hours because a man with a knife has blocked the street is
impossible,” “Aftab-i Yazd” quoted him as saying.
The security-related developments in Tehran will not have as
enduring impact as those in the provinces. The crackdown in the
capital is scheduled to last just 20 days. Furthermore, the
government routinely implements such measures, especially at the
beginning of the school year. Therefore, there could be an easing of
pressure over time. (Bill Samii, Vahid Sepehri)
NATIONAL AND MILITARY LEADERS TALK TO REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS. Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a 14 September speech in Tehran
at a conference of Islamic Revolution Guards Corp (IRGC) commanders
that everybody is expected to be pious and patient when confronted by
hardship, IRNA reported. He added that one must resist temptation and
show restraint when one is trying to fulfill the obligations defined
by God. The country’s officials, he continued, must be
spiritually pure and morally upright.
IRGC commander Yahya Rahim-Safavi told the audience
beforehand that the June presidential election showed that the nation
supports revolutionary values, state television reported. Discussing
Iraq and regional developments, Rahim-Safavi said, “America’s
incompetence in crisis management in the region has become more
obvious recently.” He described the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a
defeat for the United States.
Speaker of parliament Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel spoke on the
afternoon of 14 July, IRNA reported, saying U.S. policy is demagogic
and hypocritical. Its hidden objective is to control world oil
resources, he said, and its strategic aim is world domination. Talk
of spreading democracy is just a cover for these goals. He said the
United States uses cultural tools — books, films, NGOs, satellite
television — as well as economic and military ones to influence
other countries.
The next day, Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics
Mustafa Mohammad Najjar told the conference that his ministry has
presented its plans to the legislature, ILNA reported. Among the
objectives in the plan are budget increases, a stronger air-defense
capability, attention to the ministry’s research and industries,
and information security. He also mentioned greater unity between the
armed forces headquarters and the ministry, as well as the
elimination of duplication. To compensate for budget shortfalls, he
said, Iran will export more goods. Najjar said some of the military
industries will be relocated in order to create jobs.
Brigadier General Ali Akbar Ahmadian said in a 15 September
speech at the IRGC conference, “We have formulated a new and
evolutionary strategic management system in the corps,” ISNA
reported. Once Supreme Leader Khamenei approves this system, relevant
plans will be distributed to all branches of the armed forces.
Ahmadian mentioned long-term plans and programs, and added that the
IRGC’s Imam Hussein University will implement the strategic
training programs. He did not provide any details on the system,
plans, or programs. (Bill Samii)
SUPREME LEADER CALLS FOR GOVERNMENTAL UNITY. Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei said in Tehran on 8 September that senior clerics and
politicians must support the government and end outstanding rivalries
that stem from the June presidential polls, given what he described
as foreign hostility to Iran’s government, ISNA reported the same
day. Khamenei told the Assembly of Experts, a body of clerics
ostensibly charged with supervising Khamenei’s performance, that
the primary duty of politicians is to preserve “unity and cohesion”
and end “the disagreements and offenses” of the elections. He added
that “this duty pertains above all to those with a higher status in
society, and those who work against society’s unity cannot be the
friends” of Iranians and their government, ISNA added.
The election results upset some candidates, including
Expediency Council Chairman Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who alleged
he was the victim of a campaign of vilification, and Mehdi Karrubi,
who denounced malpractice at polling stations. Former President
Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami has also recently warned that
unspecified reactionaries and religious bigots are returning to
positions of power.
Khamenei said the government should not be undermined “for
certain expectations or grudges,” while “religious elites” must
counter the “organized effort” of “the enemies of the revolution” to
weaken Iran’s religion and political system. (Vahid Sepehri)
AHMADINEJAD MAKES MORE APPOINTMENTS. President Ahmadinejad has
appointed his brother, Davud Ahmadinejad, as his adviser and chief of
the presidential inspectorate, state radio reported on 13 September.
State radio noted that presidents tend to appoint close relatives to
this position — Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami selected his brother,
Ali, and Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani selected his son,
Mohsen.
In addition, Ahmadinejad has selected Fada Hussein Maleki as
secretary of the Drug Control Headquarters and Tehran municipal
council head Mehdi Chamran as a special adviser, IRNA reported on 13
September.
Ahmadinejad will appoint Tehran municipal council member
Masud Zaribafan as his spokesman, Mehr News Agency reported on 12
September, citing an anonymous “informed source.” Zaribafan is a
member of two hard-line political organizations, the Islamic
Revolution Devotees Society (Jamiyat-i Isargaran-i Inqilab-i Islami)
and the Islamic Iran Developers Coalition (Etelaf-i Abadgaran-i
Iran-i Islami). Zaribafan was mayor of Mahabad and deputy governor of
Kurdistan Province.
Ahmadinejad appointed Parviz Davudi as his first vice
president on 10 September, IRNA reported.
Separately, Foreign Minister Mottaki appointed Muhammad Reza
Baqeri as deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs; Mehdi
Safari for Asia, Pacific, and Commonwealth of Independent States
affairs; and Said Jalili for European and American affairs, “Aftab-i
Yazd” reported on 12 September. (Bill Samii, Vahid Sepehri)
NEW GROUND FORCES CHIEF AND IDEOLOGIST APPOINTED. Supreme Leader
Khamenei appointed Major General Ataollah Salehi the head of
Iran’s regular ground forces on 11 September, replacing Muhammad
Salimi, “Aftab-i Yazd” reported the next day. Salehi entered the army
in 1967, helped organize revolutionary “committees” in Isfahan during
the 1979 revolution, and more recently ran the personnel and
inspectorate departments at the armed forces joint headquarters, Fars
reported on 12 September. Salimi now serves as a “special adviser” to
Khamenei, IRNA reported on 11 September.
Meanwhile, Hojatoleslam Seyyed Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem has
been appointed deputy head of the armed forces’
political-ideological department, “Iran” reported. The former head of
the department, Seyyed Reza Akrami, will serve as a senior adviser to
the political-ideological department. (Bill Samii, Vahid Sepehri)
BUS DRIVERS ARRESTED, JOURNALIST JAILED. An unspecified number of
Tehran bus drivers were arrested after driving on 7 September with
their lights turned on to protest against unpaid or insufficient
wages, Radio Farda and “Aftab-i Yazd” reported on 8 September.
Company managers said they have paid wages owed to drivers and blamed
the drivers’ union for fanning discontent, Radio Farda reported.
Union member Mansur Hayat-Gheibi told Radio Farda that managers have
had some protesting drivers arrested and others sacked.
Separately, a journalist is in jail in Arak, central Iran,
for charges relating to previous press activities even though the
plaintiffs have withdrawn their original complaint, Radio Farda
reported on 8 September. Masud Bastani is being kept in the general
criminal population, and the Arak judiciary has rejected his request
for transfer to a Tehran jail where political and press prisoners are
kept, Radio Farda reported, quoting Tehran-based journalist Muhammad
Reza Ruhbakhsh.
Ruhbakhsh said the Arak judiciary has also convicted Bastani
of violating an earlier conviction, which carried a five-year ban on
press activities, by recently reporting on a Tehran protest, and the
court is expected to hand him another sentence. This conviction and
Bastani’s detention are illegal, Ruhbakhsh claimed, but he
currently has no attorney.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Jamal Karimi-Rad said in Tehran
on 6 September that the judiciary is ready to present parliament with
a bill to define political offenses, “Aftab-i Yazd” reported on 7
September. Iran often jails dissidents or politicians on charges such
as subversion or making false allegations, and is unlikely to
consider them political dissidents. Karimi-Rad said the five-year
development plan starting in 2006 requires the judiciary to define
political offenses. A similar bill was passed by the last parliament,
but rejected by the Guardians Council, a body of mostly conservative
jurists that confirms the legality of legislation (see “RFE/RL Iran
Report,” 31 December 2001). (Vahid Sepehri)
NO JAIL VISITS FOR DISSIDENT, SAYS WIFE. Paris-based Reporters
Without Borders on 6 September criticized the Iranian judiciary’s
decision to send back to jail dissident Akbar Ganji, who was on
hunger strike to protest his detention , Radio Farda reported on 7
September. Ganji ended his 70-day hunger strike on 22 August and left
hospital on 3 September, Reporters Without Borders reported on its
website. The judiciary, it added, has apparently broken a promise to
let Ganji recover at home.
Masumeh Shafii, Ganji’s wife, told Radio Farda on 11
September that she has not been allowed to visit her husband or speak
to him for a week. She said she now believes he is being kept in a
special wing outside the prison chief’s authority, though prison
authorities have told her he is being held in an ordinary cell. Every
time she calls, she said, she is told “he is in a meeting, or in the
wing, unavailable, or call in half an hour…tomorrow morning, or in
the afternoon.” She said she would “no longer keep quiet,” and has
written a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging him to ask
visiting President Ahmadinejad “to respect justice regarding
[dissident prisoners], including Mr. Ganji.” She handed the letter to
the UN representative office in Tehran on 11 September, Radio Farda
reported.
Shafii told Radio Farda on 13 September that she has not seen
or heard from her husband for 18 days. Justice Minister Jamal
Karimirad, who serves as the judiciary spokesman, said on 12
September that Ganji is being kept in a shared cell at Evin prison
while he recuperates, Radio Farda reported on 13 September. However,
Tehran prisons chief Sohrab Suleimani has said that Ganji is in
medical quarantine. If Ganji is in quarantine, Shafii asked, what
kind of quarantine does not allow him to use the telephone? Shafii
told Radio Farda that prison authorities have sent Ganji to solitary
confinement. Whenever she asks about her husband, she continued, the
authorities refer her to Tehran chief prosecutor Said Mortazavi.
(Bill Samii, Vahid Sepehri)
ARMENIA MOVES FORWARD ON GAS PIPELINE TO IRAN. Armenian Energy
Minister Armen Movsisian announced on 13 September that the
government has formally granted permission for the Iranian company
Sanir to continue construction of the second section of a natural-gas
pipeline connecting Armenia and Iran, Arminfo reported. Construction
of the first section of the new Armenia-Iran gas pipeline is under
way and the Armenian government is still engaged in an
environmental-impact study of the full route. Energy Minister
Movsisian also reported that the Iranian MAP group will complete the
fifth energy unit of Armenia’s Razdan thermal power plant. The
first significant bilateral agreement on the 140-kilometer
Armenia-Iran gas pipeline was reached in September 2001 (see “RFE/RL
Newsline,” 13 September 2001). (Richard Giragosian)
PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD LEADER VISITS IRAN. Palestinian Islamic
Jihad leader Ramadan Abdallah Shallah met in Tehran on 13 September
with Expediency Council Chairman Hashemi-Rafsanjani, Mehr News Agency
reported. Hashemi-Rafsanjani told his guest that the provision of
spiritual and political support is part of Iranian policy. He added
that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is a sign of Israeli weakness
when confronted by Palestinian resistance, and warned of anti-Islamic
U.S. and Israeli conspiracies. Shallah said resistance will continue.
Shallah met with Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, in Tehran on 9 September, IRNA reported on 10 September.
Khomeini said the Palestinian issue was a major concern of his
grandfather’s. (Bill Samii)
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Copyright (c) 2005. 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. It is distributed every Monday.
Direct comments to A. William Samii at [email protected].
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