Wilson Center holds forum on prospects for an Iranian nuclear deal

The Woodrow Wilson Center held a forum on January 11 entitled, “Prospects for an Iranian Nuclear Deal,” with an expert on the subject, Gary Samore, Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, serving as the main speaker

Iran is still a few years away from being able to produce nuclear weapons, Samore said. He doesn’t expect that it could happen until somewhere between 2010 and 2015.

Regarding the political dimension of the situation, Samore, said this comes down to a clash of international interests rather than simply good versus evil is not about good or evil. Balance of power is usually how such a clash is solved, he maintained. Samore said that when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Iran became fearful, but now the balance of power has shifted and Iran realizes that it holds a good position in the region. Now, with oil at such a high price, Tehran has the ability to absorb its domestic support.

Nether Russia or China wants Iran to build nuclear weapons, Samore said, but he argues that since they have come to terms with the fact that Pakistan has nuclear capabilities they can do the same with Iran. However, Samore argued that the Western powers have another view, and do not trust Iran. As the situation stands now, though, China and Russia will continue to buy oil and trade with Iran, he stated.

On the topic of resolving the predicament with Iran, Samore stressed the importance of correctly packaging the deal. All suggestions are going to be read in Tehran, which will make it more difficult and weaken the U.S. position, he said. Furthermore, any talks with Tehran, will be viewed by American allies as weakening the US position, and indicating an acceptance of Iran. In addition, Samore maintained that it is not even certain that a deal is possible, saying that Iran will not settle for less then what they started with. Given these potential outcomes, there are different ways of approaching the deal, with the removal of sanctions one option. However, if the U.S. chooses to move in the other direction, anti-American hostility could increase.

Samore stressed that the U.S. must collaborate with other nations to apply pressure on Tehran, but added that this will be difficult as Iran is privy to this strategy. He also cautioned that with negotiations going forward, Iran will make promises that it will not keep. According to Samore, a large burden rests on the administration of the next American president, with the Bush administration now in its “lame duck” period.

Explaining Iran’s view of the situation, Samore said that Tehran asserts that it needs nuclear power programs for regional security. However, he stated that the country must not be allowed to develop these programs. “We can not trust their intentions,” Samore cautioned. Additionally, if Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, other countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt would want to do the same. This sentiment might even extend to countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, Samore added.

Samore also explained that Israel feels the most threatened by Iran’s nuclear programs and are in favor of U.S. intervention. As of today, an Israeli attack on Iran is more likely than an U.S. one, he said.

Germany deports Iranian convicted of murder

An alleged Iranian secret agent, Kazem Darabi, who was convicted for the 1992 murders of four Kurdish dissidents in Berlin, was deported from Germany on Monday, German officials said, according to Agence France-Presse. Darabi’s accomplice, Abbas Rhayel, was also deported last week after serving 15 years.

Darabi and Rhayel’s trial caused a diplomatic crisis between Europe and Iran after German judges found the killings to be based on orders from Tehran. Relations between Germany and Iran deteriorated after the verdict because Iran was furious about being fingered for sponsoring terrorism.

According to German law, life sentences are reviewed every 15 years, however, the court ruled Darabi would stay in prison longer due to the severity of the crime.

Wolfgang Wieland, a member of Germany’s opposition Greens who handled secondary charges brought against Darabi and Rhayel during their trial, criticized the decision, saying, “It will be interpreted by Iran not as generosity on the part of the West but as weakness.”

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Iranian students hold rare protest against government crackdown

Iranian students protested at Tehran University on Sunday against a government crackdown on activists, The Associated Press reported the same day. It was the second demonstration in less than a week.

One witness, Mehdi Arabshahi, said the protest lasted more than two hours as students rallied against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hardline administration.

“Students chanted against policies by Ahmadinejad’s administration, which is imposing pressures on the universities and detaining activists,” Arabshahi said.

A protest at Tehran University last week resulted in the arrest of 33 students and activists, including four women, a left-wing student group reported.

Iran’s students were previously the power base for Iran’s reform movement, but have faced pressure from Ahmadinejad’s government, resulting in fewer anti-government protests.

State media also reported that the Intelligence Ministry had detained a group of activists who had planned to hold an illegal gathering at Tehran University, although it did not say how many were arrested, or when.

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Activist speaks out against possible attack on Iran

The idea of attacking Iran must be condemned by the international community, Iranian human rights activist and journalist Akbar Ganji said Tuesday, CanWest News Service reported the same day.

“Beating the drum of war, even as a theoretical possibility, places the Iranian people at a crossroads,” he said. “This is exactly what the Islamic republic’s fundamentalist rulers hope to see.”

In 2000, Ganji was arrested in Iran under charges of “propaganda against the regime and its institutions” after writing a series of articles that connected government officials and senior conservative clerics with the killings of scholars and dissidents in 1998.

Ganji condemned the idea of placing economic sanctions on Iran, saying they will only hurt Iranians, not cause any change in the policies of the government.

He also reprimanded the United States on its “double standards” in making agreements with dictators, and for making military threats that are unjustified.

Bombing Iranian infrastructure won’t improve democracy, security or human rights in the country, Ganji says, “But it will certainly enflame fundamentalism both in Iran and the region.”

For the full article, click here.

Woodrow Wilson Center hosts book talk meeting: 'United States versus Iran: Another Cold War'

The Woodrow Wilson Center today welcomed Ray Tayekh, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss his book Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic.

Tayekh began the discussion by noting how peculiar Iran is in being able to keep its ideology so intact, compared to countries such as China. He explained that Ayatollah Khomeini, in establishing the government after the revolution, cultivated a cadre and created institutions which would ensure the ideology’s survival. Because the government is a variation of political Shi’ism it is difficult to renounce because it crosses into religion, Tayekh said. While it is easy to become an ex-Marxist, he explained, becoming an ex-Shia is apostasy.

Because there are unelected institutions in the government who are supposed to be the realization of God’s will on earth, democracy accountability does not mean much in Iran, Tayekh said.

The U.S. and Iran have “a distinctly emotional relationship,” Tayekh said, which can be seen from the propaganda each country uses against the other. Tayekh believes the turning points in the U.S.-Iran relationship occurred first for Iran in 1953, when a U.S.-endorsed coup established a pro-Western monarchy in the government, and for the U.S. with the hostage situation in 1979. Since then, Tayekh believes there have been two opportunities for the relationship between the countries to change, the first being the arrival of the reform movement in Iran in 1997 and the second being the Afghanistan crisis in 2001.

Tayekh also discussed the relationship between Iran and Iraq. He said that historic tensions have had more to do with domestic ideology than territorial disputes, citing how when both countries had pro-Western monarchies in power, conflicts could be resolved. Tayekh also believes the personalities of the leaders of these countries, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Khomeini in Iran, contributed to the tensions. He also said that the conflicts in the Gulf are a result of Iran-Iraq tensions.

In discussing Israel, Tayekh said that Iran’s stance towards the country is based not only on religious differences, but also strategic national interests. The conflict is an affirmation of Iran’s revolutionary ideology, he said. Even though Iran and Israel are not geographically close to one another, Tayekh said Iran has a strategic reach to Israel through Hezbollah. Iran’s approach to Israel has also changed, Tayekh explained, saying that the country used to believe that whatever was acceptable to the Palestinians was acceptable to Iran. The rejection of the Annapolis conference by Iran shows, however, that the country would rather face isolation, even if the Arabs approve it.

Iran’s nuclear capabilities were also discussed, in light of recent reports that the country has not been developing nuclear weapons. Tayekh, who said he never considered Iran to be an immediate nuclear emergency, said the Islamic Republic did nothing illegal in its nuclear program except to not notify the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of their nuclear facilities. Tayekh believes the reason for Iran’s decision not to declare its nuclear facilities was due to U.S. antagonism. He said that any facility Iran declared would have been subject to retribution. At this point, he said, Iran would not develop weapons because the country would not want to embarrass IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who has supported Iran in its nuclear development. As for Iran not giving ElBaradei what he needs, Tayekh attributes it to Iran’s suspicion of foreign countries and international institutions. According to him, Iran has put itself “in a crisis that was largely their own making.”

Kurds blamed for terror attacks in Iran

The Iranian government has blamed a bomb explosion on December 1 in the city of Sanandaj – located in Iranian Kurdistan – on guerillas from the Party of Free Life of Iranian Kurdistan, or PJAK, according to Newsmax.com.

Sources in Iran, however, have indicated the bombing was carried out by agent provocateurs under orders from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.

Calling the allegations, “an Iranian fabrication,” PJAK denied having any involvement with the explosion.

“PJAK does not carry out operations against civilians,” said Saif Badrakhan, a PJAK liaison representative in Washington, D.C. “Iran is behind this kind of operation to terrorize the Kurdish population.”

Sources in Iran said that Tehran plans to challenge Europe to expel or arrest PJAK leaders in the coming weeks. Iran’s main target is reportedly PJAK President Rahman Haj-Ahmadi, who has lived in Germany for 35 years and has German citizenship. Iran hopes to convince the European Union and United States to crack down on PJAK as part of an anti-terror campaign.

According to Ahmadi, PJAK is considered a threat by the Iranian government because of its plans to overthrow the clerical regime in favor of a secular government, and its support for equality between men and women.

For the full article, click here.

Another 'one millions signatures' campaign activist arrested in Iran

Women’s rights activist Jelve Javaheri, a member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, was arrested in Iran on Saturday, Payvand News reported Monday.

After spending several hours in interrogation, Javaheri was charged with “inciting public opinion, propaganda against the state, and publication of false information” through the Campaign’s news site, Change for Equality. She has been transferred to Evin Prison, where fellow One Million Signatures Campaign activist Maryam Hosseinkhah has been detained for two weeks.

Javaheri is the fourth campaign activist arrested since October.

The Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development and Peace (WLP) posted a human rights alert Monday condemning the Iranian government’s repression of civil society. WLP is offering support to Iranian women’s rights activists by urging interested parties to write letters to leading Iranian officials protesting the recent arrests.

For the Payvand article, click here.
For the Women’s Learning Partnership news alert, click here.

Iranian Supreme Court orders new investigation into death of journalist

A new investigation has been launched – by an order from the Iranian Supreme Court – into the death of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who was killed in Tehran in 2003, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Alireza Jamshidi, spokesman for the court, said that the court objected to the 2004 acquittal of the intelligence agent accused of killing Kazemi. “The Supreme Court found flaws,” he said, adding that it had questioned the investigation by a different court. “It has sent the case to a new court for investigation.”

Kazemi was arrested while taking pictures outside of Tehran’s Evin Prison. At first, authorities claimed she had died of a stroke, but they then said she had fallen and hit her head.

In the first trial, intelligence agent Muhammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi was charged and acquitted of semi-intentional murder, however, lawyers of the Kazemi family believe he was just a scapegoat. They have accused prison official, Muhammad Bakhshi, of inflicting the final blow.

In the Canadian Parliament, Helena Guergis, the secretary of state for foreign affairs, supported the new investigation, saying “Iran has an obligation to the Kazemi family to ensure that the perpetrators of this terrible crime are brought to justice and the rights of the family are upheld.”

For the full article, click here.

Human rights group condemns Iran for crackdown on activists

The rights group of Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi has reported a noticeable increase in pressure from the Iranian government on student activists, unionists and teachers in the past few months, Agence France-Presse reported Monday.

“We are pained to say that the ninth government has further tightened the space for political, unionist, press and student activists despite its populist slogans,” The Centre for Defenders of Human Rights, a small group of rights lawyers led by Ebadi, stated in its latest report.

Protests have been held by students at universities in Tehran regarding the detention of three of their peers for the publication of images deemed offensive to Islam in student publications.

Teachers also staged protests earlier this year over their working conditions, under which they receive a basic wage of between 200 and 300 dollars a month.

Along with arrests, many professors have been fired for “alternative thinking” and hundreds of students have been banned from studying for “political or ideological reasons.”

The Centre also expressed concern over the treatment of the Baha’i minority, who are considered to be apostates by the government and do not receive any of the rights awarded to minority Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians.

For the full story, click here.

Iran reprimands Saudi Arabia for participation in Middle East peace talks

Saudi Arabia’s participation in this week’s U.S.-hosted Middle East peace talks has drawn the ire of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Agence France-Presse reported today.

“The U.S. government, which is an accomplice to Zionist crimes, cannot play the role of savior by hosting the Annapolis conference,” Ahmadinejad told Saudi King Abdullah.

In a telephone conversation with King Abdullah, Ahmadinejad said that he wished Saudi Arabia was not attending the conference with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The conference will be the first time the kingdom will meet with Israel to discuss a peace agreement.

More than a dozen Arab countries have stated they will be sending representatives, including Israeli adversary Syria, a chief ally of Iran. Iraq has not confirmed its presence, and representatives from the Islamist Hamas movement will not be attending.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the conference, predicting that it was “doomed to failure.”

Non-recognition of Israel is one of Iran’s main ideological themes. In response to the meeting, Ahmadinejad has invited leaders of Palestinian factions to Tehran.

The conference will be held Tuesday in Annapolis near Washington, D.C.

For the full story, click here.

Iranian activists among ‘human rights defenders’ selected for protection in international campaign

Front Line, and Ireland-based human rights group, and The Body Shop Ireland, on Monday launched an action campaign to protect at-risk human rights activists around the globe.

The campaign, “Protect One Empower a Thousand,” focuses on a group of human rights defenders in six countries living under threat because of their activities.

Among the defenders are lawyer Saleh Kamrani and journalist Sa’id Metinpour, both of Iran. Kamrani and Metinpour, both active in defending the rights of Iran’s Azerbaijani minority, have been detained in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison since their arrests in late August of this year. Neither man has been charged, brought to trial or allowed access to an attorney; Metinpour has reportedly been subjected to torture and ill-treatment.

The campaign also focuses on rights defenders from Honduras, Uzbekistan, Serbia, West Papua and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

To take action on behalf of the human rights defenders, click here.
For more information on Mr. Kamrani and Mr. Metinpour, click here.

Iran holds trial for French filmmaker

According to Reporters Without Borders, French-Iranian filmmaker Mehrnoushe Solouki appeared in a closed-door trial because of her documentary regarding the Iraq-Iran war, The Associated Press reported Monday.

A graduate student at Quebec University, Solouki is charged with the intent to commit propaganda. She was arrested in February, and released in March, although she was barred from leaving Iran.

Authorities became aware of Solouki’s work after she started investigating a mass grave outside Tehran containing bodies of people executed by the government in 1988.

The French Foreign Ministry has repeatedly expressed concern about Solouki’s case and is in contact with her lawyer in Iran. There has been no comment about the trial from Iranian officials.

For the Associated Press article, click here.
For the Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty article, click here.

Women's rights activist arrested in Iran

Maryam Hosseikhah was arrested November 18 under charges of “acting against Iran’s national security,” and publishing false information on the Women’s Cultural Center and the One Million Signatures Campaign websites, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty reported Monday.

“Maryam and some of her friends were writing on these websites,” Hosseikhah’s husband Shahab Mirzayi said. “The issues are not political, they're social issues – they’re engaged in bringing equality for men and women. They want to take a draft law to the parliament. What they’re doing is legal and transparent. Unfortunately they’re facing these actions – it’s not clear why they’re being treated like this.”

Iran has increased pressure on women’s rights activists and members of the One Million Signatures Campaign. Two members of the campaign, Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi, were arrested in September and October, while activist Delaram Ali recently had her prison sentence suspended for participating in a protest.

Human rights groups have called on Iran to stop pressuring these activists.

For the full story, click here.

Human Rights Watch calls for suspension of Iranian activist's sentence

Human Rights Watch is urging Iran to suspend a two and a half year prison sentence against women’s rights activist Delaram Ali. The group also wants Tehran to free 10 other students and activists being held for their participation in demonstrations, All Headline News reported Monday.

Ali, who works with the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality, was charged with “acting against national security” and “advertising against the system.” She was originally sentenced to two years and 10 months, as well as 10 lashes. An appeals court later upheld the conviction, but reduced the sentence to two and a half years.

“Women's rights activists, student activists – no one who criticizes the government is safe in Iran,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said. “These arrests should be seen as a sign of the Ahmadinejad administration’s utter desperation and insecurity about the basis of its own popular support in the country.”

For the full story, click here.

Death sentence for Kurdish journalist upheld in Iran

A death sentence for Kurdish dissident journalist Adnan Hassanpour was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court, Hassanpour’s lawyer said November 9, according to Reuters. Fellow journalist, Abdolvahed ‘Hiva’ Botimar, who was sentenced to death at the same time as Hassanpour, has had his case referred to a lower court.

Hassanpour and Botimar received death sentences in July for mounting an “armed struggle against the system,” which is a capital crime. According to Iran’s judiciary, the charges are unrelated to their profession.

“Hassanpour’s charges are various, including giving classified military information to incompetent figures, having contact with foreigners and espionage,” Hassanpour’s lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht said. Nikbakht plans to appeal the sentence.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the death sentences “show how little Iran is bothered by international humanitarian law. They also show how determined it is to use every possible means to silence the most outspoken journalists and human rights activists.”

Under Iranian law, all execution orders must be upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court.

For the full article, click here.

Iranian female activist's sentence upheld in appeals court

An Iranian appeals court upheld the sentence for young female activist Delaram Ali, who was arrested for participating in a women’s rights protest last year, Agence France-Presse reported Monday.

Ali was originally sentenced to 28 months in prison, and 10 lashes, but her lawyer – who has not been officially informed of the verdict – said: “We have understood that a jail sentence of two years and four months has been upheld and the flogging has been dropped.”

Five other women who organized the protest were given shorter sentences earlier this year.

Police who were accused of beating up the women when they broke up the protest were cleared of charges last month.

Speaking on the “unfair” verdict, Nobel peace laureate and human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi said: “Delaram was beaten at this gathering and broke her arm. We pressed charges against the police, but in the end the police were acquitted and Delaram was sentenced to jail.”

For the full story, click here.

Student leader arrested in Iran

Ali Azizi, a senior member of the main Islamic students’ association, was arrested by Iranian authorities, Agence France-Presse reported today. No reason has been given for his arrest.

“Agents came to our house on Sunday and arrested my son,” his mother said. “I have had no news of my son since his arrest.”

According to the ISNA news agency, students held a protest on Sunday for the release of three of their peers, while shouting slogans against officials. This was the third demonstration to be held since the students were charged with printing anti-Islamic images.

The new demonstrations come a month after students protested President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Tehran University.

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Five more hanged in Iran, total executions for year climbs to 249

Iran held executions for four men convicted of drug trafficking in the southern Hormozgan Province, and a man convicted of murder in the city of Isfahan, Agence France-Presse reported Sunday.

According to an AFP count, the total executions for 2007 have reached at least 249. Executions in the country have increased dramatically in the past few months as a campaign said to boost security and promote virtue in society is enforced.

Reports did not say if the executions were held in public.

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Iranians mark 28th anniversary of seizure of U.S. embassy

Thousands of young Iranians gathered outside the site of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran on Sunday to celebrate the 28th anniversary of its takeover by student radicals, Agence France-Presse reported the same day.

Those gathered shouted slogans such as “Death to America! Death to Israel!” and wore bibs depicting the burning of American and Israeli flags.

“By being here I am doing my religious duty, and by being here I am saying I hate the bullying powers, especially the United States and Israel,” 18-year-old seminary student Esmaeel Mohammadi said.

In a keynote address, Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi called the seizure “a great and glorious event” that continues to inspire the Iranian people.

The seizure, which occurred on November 4, 1979, caused the United States to break off diplomatic ties with Iran. Many of the leading participants in the seizure such as Massoumeh Ebtekar, Abbas Abdi, and Mohsen Mirdamadi have become reformists highly critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s conservative government.

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Iranian official pressed by Afghanistan on death penalty, refugees

Afghanistan said it called Iran’s representative to Kabul on Thursday to discuss refugee repatriation and reports of Afghan minors being sentenced to death for drug smuggling, Agence France-Presse reported today.

In border provinces, it is not unusual for there to be executions of drug smugglers of Afghan origin. An unconfirmed report included a case of a 17-year-old hanged for smuggling 1.5 kilograms, or 3 pounds, of heroin.

“These children are being misused by drug smugglers and their conviction is contrary to human rights, international standards and the very good relations between two countries,” said Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Kabir Farahi.

Farahi also brought up the issue of forced repatriation of Afghan refugees in border areas, especially regarding those with legal documents.

“At this time Afghanistan does not have the ability to absorb refugee groups. We want the Iranian authorities to revise their decision on this issue,” he said.

About 160,000 unregistered refugees and 6,500 registered refugees have been returned by Iran this year.

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