RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
_________________________________________ ____________________
RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 9, No. 19, 29 May 2006
A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL’s Newsline Team
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HEADLINES:
* TEHRAN DISMISSES HUMAN RIGHTS CRITICISM
* WRITERS, BUS DRIVERS EXPRESS CONCERNS
* AUTHORITIES IN NORTHWEST CLASH WITH AZERI DEMONSTRATORS, AS
JOURNALISTS ARRESTED AND NEWSPAPER CLOSED, AND FOREIGNERS BLAMED
* VIOLENCE ERUPTS ON TEHRAN CAMPUSES
* INTERIOR MINISTER THREATENED WITH INTERPELLATION AFTER
KILLINGS IN SOUTHEAST, WHICH ARE PINNED ON FOREIGNERS
* HIZBALLAH LEADER ACKNOWLEDGES IRANIAN AND SYRIAN ASSISTANCE
* NEWEST UN RESOLUTION ON LEBANON ANGERS SYRIA, HIZBALLAH, IRAN
* TEHRAN OPEN TO UNCONDITIONAL TALKS WITH WASHINGTON
* IRANIAN OFFICIALS REMAIN FIRM ON ENRICHMENT
* TEHRAN, WASHINGTON DISAGREE ON NEED FOR IRAQ TALKS
* IRAN STAGES WAR GAMES AND TESTS INTERMEDIATE-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILE
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TEHRAN DISMISSES HUMAN RIGHTS CRITICISM. Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hamid Reza Assefi on May 24 rejected a critical report on Iran from
international human rights watchdog Amnesty International, THE
Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
Amnesty International’s most recent annual report, which
was released on May 23, questions the detention of individuals in
secret facilities and suggests that there could be “considerably”
more than the 94 executions that officials claim. It also refers to
“scores of political prisoners,” and it notes “hundreds” of arrests
of people in minority areas. The report highlights repression of
Arabs and Kurds, as well as arrests of Baha’is and Christian
converts. Women’s rights activists, according to the Amnesty
International report, have been subject to arrest, torture, and other
forms of ill treatment.
Assefi said the Amnesty International report is based on
information fabricated by opposition groups. He added, “The Islamic
Republic of Iran respects human rights on the basis of religious
beliefs and in line with the process of political and social
development. It has made great achievements in this respect.” (Bill
Samii)
MORE THAN 50 BAHA’IS ARRESTED. Fifty-four mostly young members of
the Baha’i faith were arrested in the city of Shiraz on May 19,
the Baha’i International Community announced on May 24.
Simultaneously, six Baha’i households were raided and property —
including computers, books, and documents — was seized. The charges
against the Baha’is are not known. Bani Dugal, principal
representative of the Baha’i International Community to the
United Nations, was quoted as saying that more than 125 Baha’is
have been arrested since January 2005, although not all of them
remain in detention. Dugal described these developments as “religious
persecution.” In addition to arrests and detentions, state radio and
television broadcast critical information about the Baha’is, and
the “Kayhan” newspaper, which is connected with Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office, has published more than 30
anti-Baha’i articles. (Bill Samii)
IRANIAN WRITERS, BUS DRIVERS EXPRESS CONCERNS. A group of 621 writers
and activists have signed an open letter urging the release of
Iranian-Canadian scholar Ramin Jahanbegloo, who was reportedly
detained on espionage-related charges, Radio Farda reported on May
14. The letter says the charges against Jahanbegloo are confused and
asks how a writer could obtain confidential information. The
signatories ask the Iranian government if it is proud of its hostile
reputation toward writers, and how it can speak of peace and dialogue
abroad when it treats its writers this way. Former Tehran University
dean Mohammad Maleki told Radio Farda on May 14 that the Iranian
government resorts to arrests “whenever it wishes to create fear
among activists.”
Separately, an Iran-based rights group run by Nobel Peace
Prize winner Shirin Ebadi expressed concern on May 14 over
Jahanbegloo’s arrest, AFP reported. The Defenders of Human Rights
Center issued a statement expressing concern over the arrest and
“list of accusations” made against Jahanbegloo.
Employees of Tehran’s main bus company have written to
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad asking for the government to respect
their rights as workers, which they say are enshrined in Iran’s
constitution, domestic laws, and international treaties, Radio Farda
reported on May 17. The signatories state that they are not political
but want the right to form an independent trade union. Many of the
company’s workers went on strike in December over wages and the
arrest of colleagues (see “RFE/RL Iran Report,” January 9 and
February 6, 2006). In the new letter, the bus drivers ask the
president to pressure the Labor Ministry to change labor laws and
allow the formation of independent unions, observing that this is a
legal commitment for Iran pursuant to international treaties it has
signed, Radio Farda reported.
Separately, nine women reportedly beaten by police at a
Tehran demonstration to mark International Women’s Day in March
(see “RFE/RL Iran Report,” March 14, 2006) and six witnesses are
taking police to court over the incident, Radio Farda reported on May
17. Participant Khadijeh Moqaddam told Radio Farda the gathering was
peaceful and legal. She said Shirin Ebadi will represent the
plaintiffs. (Vahid Sepehri)
AUTHORITIES IN NORTHWEST CLASH WITH AZERI DEMONSTRATORS… A cartoon
published in the Islamic Republic News Agency’s “Iran” on May 12
has deeply offended Iran’s Azeri minority, which makes up roughly
one-quarter of the total population. The cartoon depicts a boy
variously repeating “cockroach” in Persian before a giant bug in
front of him asks “What?” in Azeri.
Davud Khoda Karami, secretary of the Islamic Society of
Students at the University of Zanjan, said in the April 21 issue of
“Aftab-i Yazd” that a student sit-in over the cartoon led to the
university’s closure. He added that campus protests took place in
Ardabil and Hamedan, as well as Tabriz, Tehran, Urumieh, and Zanjan.
Thousands of people in Tabriz demonstrated on May 23 against
the cartoon’s publication, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA)
reported. Many members of Iran’s Azeri minority live in the
northwest. Chanting demonstrators marched on the East Azerbaijan
Province governor-general’s office, and students at the other end
of the city chanted slogans relating to the rights of Azeri speakers.
The city’s bazaar was closed already, and shopkeepers joined the
demonstrators. Police dispersed the crowd with teargas. The
provincial police chief, General Mohammad Ali Nosrati, attributed
some of the unrest to provocateurs, and he said guilty parties would
be dealt with severely, Fars News Agency reported. Nosrati noted that
there had been some arrests.
There has been no confirmation of the suggestion by Oqtay
Tabrizly, a member of the National Revival Movement of Southern
Azerbaijan, to Azerbaijan’s private Lider television on May 23
that 14 ethnic Azeris were killed amid the protests in Tabriz and
another 400 arrested. Radio Farda reported on May 23 that one
demonstrator has been injured; RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service
reported early on May 24 that more than 50 people were injured in the
clashes but did not suggest that any protesters were killed.
Azerbaijan’s Turan news agency quoted unidentified sources in
Tabriz on May 23 as claiming that up to 20 people were killed and
more than 50 wounded — along with at least 200 arrested — during
the demonstrations.
Referring to ongoing disturbances in Tabriz and Urumieh,
national police chief Ismail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said on May 24 that
approximately 60 people have been arrested, the Iranian Students News
Agency (ISNA) reported. He mentioned that “a number of compatriots as
well as law-enforcement personnel have been injured in Tabriz,” but
nobody was killed. Turan news agency on May 24, however, cited
“unofficial reports” of 10 demonstrators being killed in Urumieh
after they raised the flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Turan
also claimed there were deaths in Mahabad. These latter allegations
are unconfirmed, and several Azeri sources in Tabriz said no one was
killed there during demonstrations.
Iran’s ambassador in Baku, Afshar Suleimani, said on May
24 that nobody has been killed, APA News Agency reported. Reports
about it “are nothing but a lie,” he added.
An unconfirmed report from the Turan news agency on 25 May
described “tens of thousands” of Iranians staging a protest rally in
the city of Parsabad. Turan went on to claim that security forces
fired on the demonstrators and killed four of them, after which the
protesters set several banks and schools ablaze. Those reports have
not been confirmed. (Bill Samii)
….AS JOURNALISTS ARRESTED AND NEWSPAPER CLOSED… Following unrest
in northwestern Iran after the daily “Iran” published a cartoon that
insulted the country’s large Azeri minority, the paper’s
Friday supplement editor, Mehrdad Qassemfar, and cartoonist Mana
Neyestani are being held in Evin Prison, Reporters Without Borders
(RSF) announced on May 24. The press freedom organization demanded
their release, describing the two as “convenient scapegoats for a
government that has been scared by large-scale protests.”
National police chief Ismail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said on May 24
that the publication of the cartoon was malicious, ISNA reported. He
added that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council met the
previous day and decided the responsible parties should be arrested.
The staff of the since banned “Iran” newspaper defended its
two colleagues in a May 24 statement: “we attest that all those
involved in the creation of the cartoon are among colleagues who
truly care and attach great importance to national solidarity and had
no intention of fomenting discord,” IRNA reported.
RSF described Iran as the Middle East country that has
imprisoned the most journalists, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Khamenei and President Mahmud Ahmadinejad are on RSF’s list of
press freedom predators. (Bill Samii)
….AND FOREIGNERS BLAMED. President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said in a May
25 speech in Tehran that an unnamed enemy is trying to undermine
national unity, ILNA reported. He added that this will not work,
saying, “Today, and with total awareness, people are thwarting the
enemy plots to create ethnic discord, and continuing their progress
in maintaining their national unity.”
During a one-day visit to southwestern Khuzestan Province on
May 24, Ahmadinejad said the United States and its allies are behind
the continuing unrest in the country, state television reported. When
the alleged “enemy” failed to stop Iran from “acquiring nuclear
energy,” he said, they turned to other means. “Today — by creating
discord, despondency, and division — they intend to prevent the
realization of all the rights of the Iranian nation,” he said.
In Tehran on the same day, Expediency Council Chairman
Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said unidentified “hegemonic
powers” are stirring up ethnic strife in an effort to hinder the
advancement of developing countries, Mehr News Agency reported.
Hashemi-Rafsanjani was speaking at a conference on Cultural Diversity
and National Solidarity. Deputy parliament speaker Mohammad Reza
Bahonar, former Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani, and former
Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi were also there and each spoke about
ethnicity.
Parliamentarian Imad Afruq said U.S. agents in Iran are
trying to stir up discord, Fars News Agency reported, and he also
blamed pan-Turkists. (Bill Samii)
VIOLENCE ERUPTS ON TEHRAN CAMPUSES. Tehran police chief Morteza Talai
said on May 24 that some 20-30 people were behind the previous
night’s unrest at Tehran University, and he estimated that some
of these people were not students, IRNA reported. Eyewitnesses
reported some injuries and damage to parked vehicles, and Talai said
40 police were hurt. Demonstrations also took place at Amir Kabir
University. Students told Radio Farda that some students are missing
and others were injured when police and paramilitaries attacked them.
Students have been angered over the last few months by the
government’s interference in campus affairs. Such steps include
the dismissal of numerous professors and the replacement of
successful and popular administrators with clerics deemed
unqualified. Students also are angry over the interference of the
Basij in student council elections. They did not make it clear if
this is the University Basij, which is the largest student
organization, or the Basij Resistance Force, which is an arm of the
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. (Bill Samii)
INTERIOR MINISTER THREATENED WITH INTERPELLATION AFTER KILLINGS IN
SOUTHEAST… Bandits shot and killed 12 passengers traveling between
Bam and Kerman in southeastern Iran on May 13, news agencies reported
on May 14. An estimated 30 bandits, dressed in police uniforms and
ethnic Baluchi clothing, reportedly blocked traffic after 8 p.m., and
ordered passengers out of four cars before tying them up and shooting
them, ILNA and Fars News Agency reported, citing Kerman Province
Governor Muhammad Raufinejad and a 14-year-old survivor.
Kerman’s deputy governor for security affairs, Abolqasem
Nasrollahi, told ILNA on May 14 that there was no evidence that a
militant group perpetrated the killing. State television quoted him
as saying that six of the bandits were later killed, Reuters reported
on May 14.
Interior Minister Mustafa Pur-Mohammadi said on May 14 that
it was “blind banditry and a commandeered mission” comparable to
previous incidents (see “RFE/RL Iran Report,” May 5, 2006).
Nevertheless, the legislature is unhappy with the Interior
Ministry’s inability to handle such problems. “More than 100
legislators” are apparently ready to sign a motion to interrogate and
perhaps sack Pur-Mohammadi for reasons including insecurity in the
country, ILNA reported on May 14, citing an unnamed legislator. On
May 14, deputy speaker of parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar said the
authorities should consider asking troops to help police with border
security, ILNA reported.
Tehran representative Imad Afrugh said on May 15 that “the
responsibility for all the insecurity in the country lies with the
interior minister, and he must answer for this,” ILNA reported.
Afrugh said it is not acceptable that bandits could “so easily move
around, block the road, and provoke such a calamity,” referring to
the recent attack. “Power brings responsibility,” he said.
Legislators have reportedly been asked to sign a motion to question
Pur-Mohammadi in parliament, though legislator Elias Naderan said on
May 15 that this initiative is not directly related to the recent
incident, ILNA reported.
Separately, the reformist Democracy Party issued a statement
in Tehran on May 15, saying the ministry should deal with “terrorist
incidents,” not busy itself altering election regulations “under the
influence of certain right-wing legislators,” ISNA reported. Iranians
expect the ministry to assure their security, it stated, especially
“given the appointment of experienced security and military forces to
various positions in that ministry.” It added, “if the…minister is
unable to assure the people’s security, he should resign.”
Pur-Mohammadi said on May 15 that Iran will deal with “people
who create insecurity” or “engage in terrorist activities, and we
shall act to stop them,” ILNA reported. He said security forces need
more resources to strengthen security and curb banditry along
Iran’s frontiers. He noted that about half of Iran’s frontier
is not controlled. Pur-Mohammadi said even troops would “need
equipment, bases, and roads to safeguard borders,” and “a lack of
necessary resources” is the main problem in creating security. He
said that “terrorist activities and organized crime” are threatening
Islamic states, and “the enemy has bluntly declared it is waging a
soft war against [Iran], but we shall make vigorous efforts to
counter their actions.” He said the government plans to have full
control of Iranian borders within four years, ILNA reported.
Kerman’s deputy governor-general for political and
security affairs, Abolqasem Nasrollahi, announced on May 19 that the
leader of the gang responsible for the previous week’s killings
has been wounded, Fars News Agency reported. Government forces are in
close pursuit of the attackers in Sistan va Baluchistan Province,
Nasrollahi said, adding, “The [Islamic Revolution] Guards Corps, the
Basij, and the [police] backed by the Army Aviation Corps are
seriously pursuing the operation for the arrest of the perpetrators
and for purging the area of bandits, and we will have some very good
news for the people soon.” The public relations office of the
Ministry of Intelligence and Security announced on May 19 that its
personnel in Kerman Province have broken up two gangs responsible for
kidnappings and weapons smuggling, ILNA reported. All 18 gang members
were reportedly arrested. (Bill Samii, Vahid Sepehri)
….WHICH ARE PINNED ON FOREIGNERS. Prosecutor-General Qorban Ali
Dori-Najafabadi said in Tehran on May 17 that Iran and Pakistan must
cooperate to catch “the regional elements” he blamed for banditry on
Iran’s frontiers, ISNA reported. “There is a current in [eastern
Iran] called Zarqawi and similar groups, and without a doubt the
backing and provocation of foreigners are behind them,” he said.
These currents “also exist in Pakistan,” Dori-Najafabadi added. He
urged “friendly forces,” presumably in Pakistan, not to support them
“directly or indirectly” as “that would serve neither their
interests, nor those of their country or the region.” He claimed that
Iran is in a “delicate” situation, because the United States “intends
to create problems for Iran this year.” He said it would distract
Iran with problems in the east “so it cannot attain its other aims in
the region.”
Hojatoleslam Erami, the Friday Prayer leader in Meymeh,
Isfahan Province, alleged in his May 19 sermon that the United States
was behind the killings that took place earlier in the week (see
above), provincial television reported, and he urged the central
government to control the borders more effectively.
Military forces participating in the Eqtedar war games in
Kerman, Sistan va Baluchistan, and South Khorasan provinces allegedly
have found evidence of foreign involvement in provincial violence,
Iranian state radio reported on May 20. Police and Guards Corps
personnel attacked a “bandits’ base” in the Pir Suran heights of
Sistan va Baluchistan Province and discovered documents that reveal
U.S. and British involvement in recent violent incidents in the
eastern part of the country.
The deputy commander of the Rasulallah military base in
southwestern Iran, a brigadier general identified as Rezai, announced
on May 25 that five “bandits” were killed and two others arrested in
connection with a violent attack on the Bam-Kerman road recently,
state television reported. Rezai said in “Iran” newspaper on May 23
that although the police can control the roads near the Sistan va
Baluchistan Province border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, “full
control over the roads at night is not going to be possible.” Rezai
claimed that all of the 100 bandit groups operating in the region are
based in other countries, and said the national police force is
seeking permission to cross into other countries while in hot
pursuit. The establishment of security in the southeast, Rezai
continued, depends on the area’s economy. (Bill Samii, Vahid
Sepehri)
IRAN WEARY OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Interior Minister Mustafa
Pur-Mohammadi said in Tehran on May 23 that foreigners residing in
Iran illegally should be repatriated promptly, state television
reported. Pur-Mohammadi noted that some of the countries bordering
Iran do not control their frontiers, and stronger border measures are
a priority for the Iranian government. Referring to the influx of
people displaced by regional wars, he said: “We have carried the
heaviest burden of Afghanistan’s domestic crisis on our
shoulders. We have carried the heaviest burden of the Iraqi crisis on
our shoulders. We have even carried the burden of the crises in other
countries in the past two or three decades.”
The director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Foreign
Nationals Office, identified only as “Husseini,” was quoted as saying
that visas are given out too readily and few immigrants are willing
to leave Iran. “For your information, the Foreign Ministry gave visas
to 510,000 Afghans in 1384 [2005] and more than one-third had not
returned by the end of their visa period,” Husseini said. (Bill
Samii)
JORDANIAN LEGISLATOR CALLS IRAN A ‘THREAT.’ Jordanian
parliament speaker Abd-al-Hadi al-Majali said in Amman recently that
Iran is a threat to Jordanian security and stability, “Al-Arab
al-Yawm” reported on May 25. Iran “threatens national security by
seeking to destabilize security in Jordan rather than to overthrow
the regime,” he added. Whether or not Iran is attacked — presumably
because of its disputed nuclear program — Jordan is in danger,
according to al-Majali. “Jordan will be harmed by Iran whether it is
hit or not,” he said. Al-Majali also expressed concern about Iranian
activities in Iraq, saying, “Accurate information confirms that the
Iranian intelligence service is occupying most of southern Iraq.”
(Bill Samii)
IRANIAN GROUPS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIANS, HAMAS. Foruz
Rajaifar, secretary-general of the Commemoration Headquarters for the
Martyrs of Islam’s World Movement, claimed at a May 20 conference
at the University of Tehran that 35 Jews resident outside Iran have
registered as volunteers for martyrdom operations (suicide bombings),
Mehr News Agency reported. Rajaifar said a new martyrdom-seeking unit
would be named on May 25, adding, “This unit has been named after
martyr Nader Mahdavi, who was martyred when he rammed his speedboat
into an American frigate in the Persian Gulf.”
The Student Movement for Justice and the Students Committee
for the Support of Palestine have established a fund to aid the
Hamas-led Palestinian government, Fars News Agency reported on May
19. The United States, EU, and Israel are withholding financial
support from the Palestinian Authority until Hamas recognizes
Israel’s right to exist and renounces violence; Tehran has
pledged to support the Palestinians financially. (Bill Samii)
NEW IRANIAN AMBASSADOR ARRIVES IN BEIRUT. Mohammad Reza
Rauf-Sheibani, the new Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, arrived in
Beirut on May 19, “Al-Nahar” reported the next day. Born in 1961 in
Mashhad, Sheibani headed the Iranian mission in Damascus from 1997 to
2001, then dealt with Middle East affairs at the Foreign Ministry
and, before his current posting, headed the Iranian interests section
in Cairo. President Ahmadinejad told Sheibani in a May 16 meeting in
Tehran that Iranian-Lebanese relations must expand, IRNA reported.
(Bill Samii)
LEBANESE NOTE IRANIAN INTERFERENCE IN THEIR AFFAIRS. The Maronite
patriarch in Lebanon, Nasrallah Butrus Sfayr, discussed other
countries’ interference in his country’s affairs in a May 20
interview with Al-Arabiyah television. Asked about his earlier
allegations against Iran and Syria, Sfayr said, “The Lebanese are not
left alone to solve their problems.” He continued, “There are those
who provide funds and weapons and there are those who support one
party against another.” On May 19 in Moscow, Lebanese legislator Saad
Hariri, son of slain former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, also noted
Iranian and Syrian interference in his country’s affairs,
Interfax reported. “We will not accept interference in our internal
affairs by Syria, or Iran, or any other state,” he said. (Bill Samii)
HIZBALLAH LEADER ACKNOWLEDGES IRANIAN AND SYRIAN ASSISTANCE. The
secretary-general of Lebanese Hizballah, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah,
acknowledged support from Iran and Syria in a May 25 speech in Tyre,
Al-Manar Television reported. The speech was given at a rally called
the “Festival of Resistance and Victory” held to commemorate the
sixth anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon.
Nasrallah described the end of Israeli occupation as an event that
destroyed the “Zionists’ legendary image.” He noted the
contribution of Hizballah “martyrs” who gave their lives in this
effort, and he also noted “martyrs” of the Lebanese and Syrian
armies, as well as Palestinian “martyrs.” Nasrallah praised Iran for
its “key” role in aiding the “resistance.” “I thank especially Syria
under the leadership of late Hafiz al-Assad,” he added, before citing
President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian people, and the Syrian
military. (Bill Samii)
NEWEST UN RESOLUTION ON LEBANON ANGERS SYRIA, HIZBALLAH, IRAN. A new
UN Security Council resolution notes Syria’s negative influence
on Lebanese affairs, and it indirectly refers to Iranian influence.
Damascus and Tehran — as well as the radical Islamic group Hizballah
— have criticized the resolution, while it got a mixed reception in
Lebanon and Washington welcomed it.
Some of the demands of a previous resolution, such as the
withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, have already been realized,
so it is not unreasonable to expect that aspects of the new one will
eventually reach fruition. It is unlikely to be a rapid or smooth
process, however, as groups with contending interests are involved.
The U.S. State Department’s coordinator for
counterterrorism, Ambassador Henry Crumpton, announced during a May
23 press conference in Beirut, “I am here to explain aspects of U.S.
counterterrorism policy of concern to Lebanese decision-makers, and
to answer their questions in detail,” Beirut’s “The Daily Star”
reported on May 24. Crumpton went on to refer to the new Security
Council resolution that relates to Lebanon.
Singling Out Hizballah, Syria, Iran
France, Great Britain, and the United States drafted
Resolution 1680, and the 15-member Security Council adopted it on May
17, voting 13-0 with Russia and China abstaining.
The resolution builds on Resolution 1559 of 2004, which calls
for the disarming of the country’s militias. An April 2006 UN
report on the implementation of Resolution 1559 noted that Hizballah
is “the most significant Lebanese militia,” and there has been no
“noticeable change” in its capabilities. Hizballah and its supporters
argue that it is a resistance organization, rather than a militia,
and it therefore does not have to disarm.
In a reference to the military capabilities of institutions
that are not under government control, Resolution 1680 states that
that the Security Council “called for further efforts to disband and
disarm all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias and to fully restore
the Lebanese government’s control over all its territory.”
Resolution 1680 also refers to another part of the April UN
report on the implementation of Resolution 1559, which specifically
calls for “cooperation of all other relevant parties, including Syria
and Iran.” According to the new resolution, the Security Council
“reiterates also its call on all concerned states and parties as
mentioned in the report, to cooperate fully with the government of
Lebanon, the Security Council, and the secretary-general to achieve
this goal [of implementing 1559].”
Resolution 1680 singles out Damascus, calling on it to
resolve border controversies with Beirut, to establish a permanent
diplomatic relationship with Beirut, and to control the movement of
arms into Lebanon.
“The United States is very pleased with the passage of
Resolution 1680,” U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said, adding
that the resolution refers to the roles of Syria and Iran in
Lebanon’s stability. “It makes clear that the burden is now on
Syria to respond to Lebanon’s request for border delineation and
the full exchange of diplomatic relations. It clearly says to Syria
that it needs to do more to stop the flow of weapons across the
Syrian-Lebanese border.”
‘International Interference’
Damascus, on the other hand, dismissed Resolution 1680. An
official Syrian Foreign Ministry statement on May 17 said the
resolution’s discussion of border demarcation and Damascus-Beirut
diplomatic ties is a form of interference in member states’
bilateral affairs, SANA reported. It added that the two countries are
already discussing border issues and complained that the report does
not note the positive things Syria has done. Damascus went on to
complain of Israeli violations of the Lebanese border, and it
questioned the resolution’s failure to mention them.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said at a May 18
press conference in Damascus that Resolution 1680 is against
international law and represents international interference in
bilateral Damascus-Beirut relations, SANA reported.
The same day, Mottaki met with Hizballah Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas Political Bureau chief Khalid Mish’al,
according to IRNA.
Deflecting Attention From Israel
Hizballah — considered by many Western countries a terrorist
organization — also reacted angrily to the resolution. A statement
read out on Hizballah’s Al-Manar television on May 18 complained
that Resolution 1680 did not mention Israeli violations of Lebanese
sovereignty. It also viewed the resolution as an effort to create
tension between Syria and Lebanon.
Four days later, legislator Muhammad Raad, who heads the
pro-Hizballah Loyalty to the Resistance bloc in the Lebanese
parliament, denounced the resolution, Al-Manar reported. “Why are
ties with Syria strained?” Raad asked. “Because some wanted to
decrease the level of enmity towards Israel, so they embodied Syria
as the new enemy.” He went on to say that the resolution will not
affect Hizballah’s arms, “The Daily Star” reported on May 23.
It is too early to see any results from the latest Security
Council resolution, but U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
seems optimistic. Regarding Hizballah’s disarmament, she said the
Lebanese are aware of their “obligations,” Al-Arabiyah television
reported on May 23. “I believe that they will indeed undertake those
obligations and those obligations include the disarming of militias.”
But Rice also preached patience, saying: “this is a transitional
period and we understand that. And so allowing Lebanon to work on
this is very important.” (Bill Samii)
CLERIC DEPLORES FLATTERY OF AHMADINEJAD AS EXCESSIVE. Iranian
politicians have generally welcomed President Ahmadinejad’s May 8
letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, but more recent, extravagant
praise by a senior conservative cleric has prompted reactions by
several legislators and a response by the reformist former parliament
speaker Mehdi Karrubi. Karrubi wrote on May 16 to Ayatollah Ahmad
Jannati — head of the Guardians Council, a body that oversees
elections and is considered conservative in sympathies — to convey
his “amazement” at Jannati’s description of Ahmadinejad’s
letter as “divine inspiration.” Jannati said in a sermon on May 12
that “children should read [Ahmadinejad’s letter], it should be
read in schools and universities, and [state television] should
repeatedly read it out,” ISNA reported on May 16. “When was such a
letter written…that could have amazed everyone quite like this?”
Jannati asked. Karrubi wrote that no president since 1979 has been
given such extravagant praise, ISNA reported on May 16. His remarks,
he wrote, “make me truly feel that the republic…the clergy’s
reputation and…people’s beliefs are threatened.” (Vahid
Sepehri)
TEHRAN OPEN TO UNCONDITIONAL TALKS WITH WASHINGTON. U.S. State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on May 25 that foreign
ministers from the permanent Security Council member states plus
Germany will meet in Europe late next week to discuss a plan to
resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, Reuters reported. China, France,
Great Britain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany are
expected to try to work out details of incentives and disincentives
that might be offered to Iran in connection with curbing its nuclear
activities.
According to “The New York Times,” the White House declared
on May 24 that it is relying on the diplomatic process to resolve the
Iranian nuclear crisis, rather than entering into a direct dialogue
with the Islamic Republic. The paper quoted White House and State
Department spokesmen leaving open the possibility of direct talks in
the future.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said on May 24
that Tehran is ready to hold talks with Washington if there are no
preconditions, IRNA reported. Furthermore, anonymous diplomats in
Vienna told AFP on May 24 that Supreme National Security Council
Secretary Ali Larijani told International Atomic Energy Agency
Director-General Muhammad el-Baradei that Tehran wants to discuss the
nuclear issue with Washington. Larijani demanded the absence of
preconditions, such as foregoing uranium enrichment. Tehran-based
analyst Said Laylaz said similar requests have been conveyed through
Indonesia, Kuwait, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “The
Washington Post” reported on May 24.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister and current
foreign-policy adviser to the supreme leader, told a seminar in
Tehran on May 18 that this is a good time for Iran to “haggle” with
the United States, because Iran enjoys a stronger regional position,
with friendly forces in power or key positions in neighboring Iraq
and Afghanistan, ISNA reported. “We have at no time until now had
such powerful means for haggling [nor] the influence we have now in
Iraq and Palestine,” he said. “Now that we have the power to haggle,
why do we not haggle?” He said Iran’s official policy on Iraq is
“reconstruction,” and Iraq’s dismemberment does not serve Iranian
interests.
Separately, a liberal opposition group, the National Front,
has issued a statement calling on Iran’s government to engage in
direct talks with the United States, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda
reported on May 18. Group member and statement signatory Davud
Hermidas-Bavand told Radio Farda that Iran’s national interests
make this dialogue necessary. The United States, he said, has
effectively thwarted Iranian interests abroad, and forced it to make
costly concessions to certain states. (Bill Samii, Vahid Sepehri)
IRANIAN OFFICIALS REMAIN FIRM ON ENRICHMENT. Iranian officials
reiterated on May 14 that Iran has a right to enrich uranium as part
of the nuclear-fuel production process, news agencies reported the
same day. President Ahmadinejad said on his return from Indonesia
that Iran will not exchange its nuclear “rights” for incentives that
European states are expected to propose, AP reported.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Assefi said in Tehran on May 14
that proposals made to Iran must rest on “two bases” — namely, the
recognition of “Iran’s rights” and assurances of “the means of
exercising those rights” — the daily “Aftab-i Yazd” reported on May
15. The rights “are entirely clear on the basis of the NPT [Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty] and consist of having peaceful nuclear
technology in all its aspects.” He said dealing with Iran’s
dossier outside the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is
unjustified and “useless,” so “we expect this dossier to return to
its main place.” Assefi said “negotiations and negotiations” are the
only solution to the current impasse. “If the other side thinks it
can attain results with pressures and threats, it is mistaken,” he
said.
Foreign Minister Mottaki said in a meeting with the British
and French ambassadors and a German charge d’affaires in Tehran
on May 15 that Iran would “certainly” reject any EU proposal that
includes “any demand for a suspension or halt” to fuel-making or
related activities in its nuclear program, ISNA reported the same
day. EU officials met in Brussels on May 15 to discuss the deal the
EU would offer Iran to curb its nuclear program. Mottaki said in
Tehran that Iran’s recent advances in enrichment and related
technology are “an evident reality and irreversible,” and the EU
would have to make proposals “on the basis of realities,” ISNA
reported.
Separately, Iranian parliamentarians visited the Natanz
nuclear plant on May 15, Mehr reported. Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a
member of the parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy
Committee, said Iran’s enrichment progress “has been highly
notable compared to last year,” and Iran will soon announce “more
news” on technological progress. Iran, he added, will hold onto its
achievements, and “nuclear research in Iran cannot be suspended with
any deal, treaty, or protocol.”
On May 17, President Ahmadinejad emphatically rejected any EU
incentives designed to persuade Iran to restrict its nuclear program,
saying that “no factor will be able to deprive [Iran] of its nuclear
rights, and we shall not accept any suspension or halt,” ILNA
reported the same day. He told a crowd in Arak, central Iran, that
Iran is no “4-year-old child” to give up “gold” for “a few nuts and a
chocolate,” ILNA reported. “We want nothing more than our legal
right,” Ahmadinejad said, adding that if nuclear power “is a good
thing,” then “legally it is for everyone.” Iran, he added, will not
be cowed by the threat of a “stick over our head.” He urged Western
states not to allow their conduct to discredit the UN nuclear
inspectorate and deter states from joining the NPT. (Vahid Sepehri)
TEHRAN, WASHINGTON DISAGREE ON NEED FOR IRAQ TALKS. Foreign Minister
Mottaki arrived in Baghdad on May 26 for talks with Iraqi officials,
international media reported. Mottaki met with Foreign Minister
Hoshyar Zebari to discuss “various aspects of the bilateral relations
between the two countries and the means to promote them in the
interest of the two neighboring peoples,” according to an Iraqi
Foreign Ministry statement.
Mottaki was also scheduled to meet with President Jalal
Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, as well as a number of
parliamentarians. Mottaki’s visit is the second high-level visit
by an Iranian official to Iraq since the fall of the Hussein regime;
former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi visited Iraq in May 2005.
One day earlier, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, the Iranian ambassador
in Baghdad, expressed the hope that the Mottaki’s visit will mark
the beginning of a new era in Iran-Iraq relations, IRNA reported.
Mottaki met with Zebari on May 22 in Tehran. An Iranian
Foreign Ministry statement following that meeting announced
Tehran’s willingness to host a meeting of foreign ministers from
the countries neighboring Iraq, Fars News Agency reported.
The previous day in Baghdad, Zebari met with Iranian
Ambassador Kazemi-Qomi and expressed an interest in the expansion of
bilateral relations, IRNA reported.
Meanwhile, a May 21 report in “Al-Sharq al-Awsat” suggested
that representatives of Supreme Leader Khamenei and the Iranian
Embassy in Baghdad are trying to influence the composition of Prime
Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki’s cabinet. The Iranians
reportedly wanted Interior Minister Bayan Jabr to retain his
position, and, barring this, they wanted Ahmad Chalabi to serve as
interior minister. The appointment of any Iraqi who participated in
the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War also has met with opposition from Tehran,
according to the anonymous Iranian source quoted by “Al-Sharq
al-Awsat.” A source close to the Iranian military said Tehran does
not want former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to have any position with
security responsibilities, whereas allies of Expediency Council
Chairman Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani want to invite Allawi
to Tehran for discussions. Allawi reportedly rejected the invitation.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said in Baghdad on
May 21 that the United States is interested in discussing Iraqi
affairs with Iran, AP reported. Washington reportedly first suggested
such talks in October, and Tehran indicated its willingness in
mid-March. Khalilzad told AP that the talks have not taken place yet
in order to avoid any impression that Tehran and Washington “got
together to decide the government in Iraq.” “We have a lot of issues
to discuss with them with regard to our concerns and what we envision
for Iraq, and [are] prepared to listen to their concerns,” he added.
Khalilzad expressed unhappiness with the Iranian provision of arms
and money to Iraqi militias, as well as “other negative actions that
do take place by the Iranian regime in Iraq.”
Ambassador Kazemi-Qomi said on May 14 that the U.S.-Iran
talks on Iraqi affairs are canceled, IRNA reported. He explained that
such talks are pointless because Iran-Iraq issues can be resolved
bilaterally. Kazemi-Qomi also expressed skepticism about
Washington’s motives, saying, “We seek neither conflict nor
compromise from the talks with the U.S. while Washington has had
unspecific objectives.” (Kathleen Ridolfo, Bill Samii)
IRAN STAGES WAR GAMES AND TESTS INTERMEDIATE-RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILE.
Iran staged another test of the Shihab-3 1,300-kilometer-range
ballistic missile on the night of May 23, “The Jerusalem Post”
reported, citing Israel Radio. Israeli military officials are unclear
on the significance of the test but speculated that it is connected
with Lebanese Hizballah’s commemoration of the Israeli withdrawal
from south Lebanon six years ago.
Three-day war games in the northern Persian Gulf began on May
21, IRNA reported. Codenamed “851,” the exercises mark the 24th
anniversary of the liberation of Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq
War. Iranian naval official Mohammad-Taqi Hejazi noted the exercises
will include amphibious operations.
“Noble Prophet” — the early-April war games in the Persian
Gulf, Straits of Hormuz, and Sea of Oman — caused international
consternation because they featured Iran’s testing of new types
of missiles (see “RFE/RL Iran Report,” 10 April 2006). (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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