aknoon

Majlis Gives New Powers to Supreme Leader

2008-12-14T00:07:00.000-08:00

Supervising Powerful Institutions is Getting More Difficult

The Islamic Republic Majlis passed new legislation emphasizing the ban on investigating the ‎Guardian Council, the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts and conditioning ‎investigations of other institutions to be under the authority of the Supreme Leader.

The legislation was passed after the Guardian Council struck down a bill passed by the eighth ‎Majlis in October over the same issue.

As a result, the Majlis, which had previously voluntarily banned itself from investigating ‎institutions under the Supreme Leader's authority, amended Section 7 of Article 198 of the ‎Majlis internal rules as such: "Investigation does not extend to the Guardian Council, the ‎Assembly of Experts, the Expediency Council and cases considered by the judiciary, and with ‎respect to institutions under the Supreme Leader's authority, the possibility of Majlis ‎investigation is conditional on the Supreme Leader's consent."

The recent action by Majlis lawmakers takes place after the eighth Majlis had previously banned ‎itself from investigating the Guardian Council, the Expediency Council and the Assembly of ‎Experts. Meanwhile, the amendment to the Majlis internal rules does not take into account this ‎limitation.

News Agencies reported the following of the method of passage of this limitation by the Majlis: ‎‎"The Guardian Council, in light of problems identified with previous Majlis legislation, had ‎requested the implementation of certain limitations in scope of institutions subject to ‎investigation," and "the eighth Majlis Principalist majority passed the recent bill to address the ‎Guardian Council's concerns."

The eighth Majlis added a Section to Article 198 of internal rules on that very day allowing ‎investigation of institutions under Supreme Leader's authority with his consent.

One day after the legislation was passed by the Majlis, Etemad daily reported, "Several ‎lawmakers protested the revision in Majlis internal rules in the hallways because these ‎lawmakers believed that the Guardian Council must not be exempt from investigation. The ‎Majlis elects at least 6 of the Council's 12 members and as a result must have the right to ‎supervise the Council."

Other than the three institutions, Guardian Council, Assembly of Experts and Expediency ‎Council, which are fully outside the scope of Majlis investigation, military institutions such as ‎the Revolutionary Guards, army and State Security Forces, as well as the radio and television ‎network, judiciary, Foundation for the Downtrodden (one of the largest economic cartels in the ‎Middle East), special court for the clergy, Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution and other ‎similar institutions are among those that fall under the Supreme Leader's direct authority and ‎require his consent to be subject to investigation by the Majlis.

Among these institutions, the special court of the clergy and the Supreme Council for Cultural ‎Revolution are two institutions not mentioned at all by the Islamic Republic Constitution and ‎never authorized by the Majlis.

The action by the majority conservative lawmakers in the Majlis took place despite the fact that ‎the Majlis has never conducted an investigation of the Guardian Council, the Expediency ‎Council or the Assembly of Experts. In addition, budgetary considerations and information ‎regarding the armed forces are fully secret and Majlis lawmakers are aware only of the official ‎budgetary allocation as part of the annual budget bill. So far, no reports have been published of ‎the method of expenditure of these budgetary allocations or other resources by the Majlis. ‎

A New Image of Women in Iranian Cinema?

2006-01-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

Iran's hard-line Cultural Revolution Council has prepared a so-called plan to restrict the presence of women in cinema. The body is aiming at offering a model religious and national image of Iranian women in cinema. In its meeting last week with Iran's ultra-fundamentalist president, the social and cultural committee of the Council decided to implement a plan for an "improved presence of women in cinema" in less than a month and inform all the government institutions of this.

This measure comes along with other restricting policies on movie productions that have recently been adopted by the Council. Keeping a tight rein on the presence of women in cinema comes after a recent decision by Saffar Harandi, the fundamentalist Minister of Culture banning women to stay on their jobs after 6:00 pm. Many women's rights activist had warned of new restrictions on women's lives. The decision followed strong media reactions which initially forced the Ministry's general director to withdraw the statement. But in his televised interview, the fundamentalist Minister raised the issue again and even defended it.

In his statement, Harandi refers to the key role of women in the promotion of an Islamic society and the necessity of their presence in “the warm atmosphere of the family” to play the important role of a wife and a mother.

The media has not yet been informed of the details of the new plan. The Ministry Internet website however, reports that it is going to improve the presence and image of Iranian women based on high religious and national values.

For the past two decades, Iranian women have established numerous powerful social movements. These movements which are the fruits of tireless efforts of women, have ignored government restrictions and have benefited from comprehensive methods to attain their social rights. And even though the idea of the "decent housewive" has long been favored by the rulers, the reality of Iranian society is a different story that has forced even the fundamentalists to withdraw their extremist views. Such withdrawal was well manifested in the recent presidential election where even hard-line Ahmadinejad could not open reveal his true ideas on women’s rights during his campaign, even though he doesn't appear to feel obliged to fulfill his election promises.

Last August, the Council formed a committee consisting of different ministries and government bodies to promote the culture of piety among women. The national dress code plan was another initiative to restrict women's rights and one can assume how such plans will impose further barriers in the social lives of Iranian women.

NGO Crackdown in Iran

2006-01-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

Iran's hardline Interior Ministry has decided to control and crackdown the NGOs by preparing a list of groups that it claims are planning to overthrow the Islamic regime. Conservative Qods daily has exposed a plan by the ministry to deal with Iranian NGOs. Based on Qod’s report, the Interior Ministry has accused some NGOs of misusing money, supporting members of the former government of Khatami and secretly communicating with foreign agents.

During the last days of President Mohammad Khatami's reform government, Ashraf Boroujerdi, social affairs deputy at the Interior Ministry had stressed the existence of plans to fight NGOs and their so-called activities against Iran's national security.

It seems that through the news regarding the interior ministry's list of NGOs, the fundamentalist and hardline government of Ahmadinejad is exposing its strategies aimed at slaughtering the NGOs.

With 20 million votes, Khatami became the first president after the revolution who regularly and systematically emphasized on the establishment of a civil society in Iran. Eight years ago the media and political analysts took note of the call for the establishment and institutionalization of a civil society in Iran. In order to institutionalize the reform movement in Iran, Khatami's aides advised him to pay more attention to non-political and civil institutions and paved the way for the formation of NGOs that blossomed in Iran's short-live reform period. A Ministry of Interior official asserts that more than 10,000 active NGOs were established during Khatami's eight-year presidential term. During the last months of Khatami's government, the interference of semi-military and security shadow groups, prevented the activities of many NGOs while also intimidating activists through interrogations and even arrests.

But things have come a long way and have changed drastically since the victory of the current hardline administration. Instead of strengthening the status of the NGO, some government officials today call for strengthening the religious and Islamic organizations. In the same light, the new government has shown a familiar intolerance towards the media and non-government political and student organizations, threatening them with closures and suspension of activity.

A number of media editors too have expressed their concerns over the crackdown of NGOs and have called the pressures a plot to limit the free flow of information between Iranian institutions that operate in the global intellectual arena.

This confrontational attitude and policies have raised the concerns of social activists as well. They believe these intuitions will form the foundations for social and civil justice, and eventually pave the way for people's participation to protect their rights and interests.

Ahmadinejad's hard-line government does not believe in NGOs and prefers to provide the masses with ideology and rather than with modern organized organizations. The plot to crackdown such activities revealed itself when the government announced its plan to formally review the legal files of the NGOs.

A Serial Murderer of Women?

2006-01-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Following the murder of three more women, in separate incidents, in Tehran, Iranian families are again troubled by the events. The murdered women, Mitra, Mina and Shohreh are the recent victims of serial killings in Tehran. One wonders if the killing of women that has been going on in other Iranian cities has now moved to Tehran. During the last two months, bodies of two young girls murdered by knife stabs were found on Tehran highways. Police calls the killings serial because there is a similar pattern in all of them.

The commander of Tehran’s law enforcement force has said that all three victims were dressed in formal outfits and their bodies show no signs of any resistance. He added that the crime scenes indicated that the victims were threatened to death by their murderers and had been tied with red ropes, finally killed by knife stabs to their necks.

Similar killings had occurred in the past two decades and the truth behind those murders was never revealed. In the period between 1980 and 1984, 43 women were killed. In the early years of Iran's 1979 revolution, bodies of female victims that were killed by white rope around their necks were found in Oroumieh, Tabriz, Karaj, Tehran and Lahijan. Five years after those murders, a man who had confessed to 43 murders committed suicide in prison.

The murder of 19 women in the religious city of Mashad in the summer of 2000 was one of the most controversial serial killings in Iran. Investigators claimed that the murderer who had killed the 19 women in a period of one year had strong religious beliefs. Officials announced that the criminal had claimed that his motivation for the murder of the women was to combat moral corruption. He was put on trial and hanged in the summer of 2001.

In the mid-90s, “Night Owl” was the most controversial serial murderer of Tehrani women. He was later charged with killing 9 females in the west of Tehran. He eventually accepted responsibility for the murders, was put on trial and hanged while the reality behind his motives was never revealed to the public and media, as he was reported to have had some connection to certain government offices from where he obtained the photographs of the women victims. One of the bizarre aspects of the trial was that some of the ultra-conservative newspapers were sympathetic to the murderer on the justification that what he was doing was fighting immoral women.

The three recent victims are all from well-off Tehran families and police suspects that because all three worked for Gold Quest Company, all three had their computers stolen, and all had put separate ads in the morning newspapers for the sale of their houses, the murders are connected and the criminals must be the same individuals.

Officials have not provided media with additional details of the killings to clarify some of the mysteries of the case. The ambiguities however have caught the attention of the media and some have focused on the history and details of earlier murders of women for clues. Fifteen years ago when Salam newspaper first reported suspicious elements in the murders of women at the time, the press was not keen on following the cases up. But since the revelations of the serial killings of the Ministry of Intelligence about ten years ago, such murders are now reported as being organized murders. While such a conclusion has never been officially supported, the fact that the case of one of them, an air stewardess by the name of Fatemeh Ghaem-Maghami whose body was found inside her car on Passdaran Avenue, was never pursued raised more questions of possible involvement of some organizations in the murder.

Resumption of Press Crackdowns

2006-01-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

The suspension of Asia daily and Baran Nour (Rain Light) biweekly by the order of the ultra-hardline new agency overseeing the Iranian press has deeply disturbed the local media. The newspaper was closed last week on charges of printing photographs of the founder of the German Burda clothing journal.

The press has once again been coming under pressure from officials of the Ministry of Guidance whose agents have called journalists and editors of newspapers asking them or threatening them to stay in line with official policies. These threats and meddlings have been protested by the professional guilds and human rights groups in Iran.

In recent years, the conservative judiciary had shut down tens of publications and the suspension of Asia is perhaps a sign of the return to those pre-reform days. In 1997, the election of reform-minded Mohammad Khatami as president helped Iran’s press experience a short-lived flourishing period of freedom that was later reversed through the harsh crackdowns by the judiciary. When Hossein Saffar Harandi, a former editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper was appointed the new Minister of Culture, observers had warned that knowing his views on the press, a crackdown would almost certainly follow. Four months to that day, the first closures attest to those predictions.

Before 1997, press supervision was in the hands of the Press Monitoring Board, which used its powers to shut down many publications. Then the judiciary took the initiative of revoking publication licences and shutting down newspapers. Now, the duty seems to have fallen back onto the Ministry of Culture.

Heyate Nezarate Bar Matbuat or the Press Monitoring Board at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is officially responsible for issuing operational licenses or permits for newspapers. The Board is made up of a judge appointed by the head of the judiciary, the Minister of Culture or his representative, a managing media editor selected by the media, a university professor appointed by the Minister of Higher Education, a religious teacher appointed by the Qom Theological School, and a member of the Cultural Revolution Council. The Minister of Culture chairs the board.

The supervisory board is considered one of the main tools of press crackdown in Iran. Even though it enjoyed less power and influence during Khatami’s moderate government,
it was behind the mass closures of publications during the same period, thanks to the militant press judge and with the help of the hardline judiciary. During Khatami’s 8-year presidency that is considered moderate and where open and intense battles raged between moderates and hardline conservatives, each invalidated and challenged the efforts of the other camp to curtail its goals. More than a 100 publications were shut during the period and more than 1337 journalists were prosecuted, many seeing prison terms.

The recent press crackdown, conducted by the government and not the judiciary, is proof that Ahmadinejad’s hardline government has not toleration for a critical press.

The closure of Asia has once again brought on the controversy as to who can shut down a publication, the Press Monitoring Board or the Judiciary.

A senior lawyer told Rooz that the Board has no legal jurisdiction to suspend publications, adding that all it can do is to refer what it considers to be violations on the part of a publication to a court of law, in which it may request the revocation or suspension of a license. Nemat Ahmadi, the lawyer for some of the suspended publications actually goes even further and argues that Iran’s press law is against the constitution and that the suspension of newspapers is an illegal punishment. Tehran judiciary deputy, on the other hand, contends that the country’s constitution allows the judiciary to prevent violations of the press on its own initiative. Reza Jaafari says: “The law allows government agencies to punish perpetrators in order to prevent violations, even though these reprimands are different from what the judiciary can exercise.”

These days there is now even talk of creating a board to oversee the work of news agencies, which is most likely going to be used, or misused, in the similar fashion that the current Press Monitoring Board has been dealt with.

Government to Control Attire

2006-01-18T20:06:00.000-08:00

A member of Cultural Committee of the Majlis (Iran’s Parliament) says a committee in the Ministry of Culture plans to control Iranian fashion and clothes people wear. The creation of this committee gains importance because radical and conservative newspapers including the Jomhurie Eslami voiced complaints about what Iranian women wore in the West Asia sports competitions in Doha during the first 10 days of December.

The ultra hardline daily claims that people were upset when they saw photos of Iranian women runners in the press and on internet sites. “The wearing of extremely tight clothes and those with short sleeves by Iranian female athletes focused the attention of foreign media on them, leading to extensive reporting of the issue,” wrote Jomhurie Eslami. It criticized Iranian sports officials for allowing this to happen.

Following the Jomhurie Eslami report, Mohammad Rahbar, the ultra-conservative cleric and Majlis MP from Isfahan who has taken up the task of designing a uniform dress for Iranians also criticized the tight outfits and public participation of women who in his words wore clothing that “reveals the feminine features of the human body” to outsiders. He also warns textile manufacturers and distributors of women’s clothing to take his advice seriously and not undermine the culture of society.

Imposing a dress code has a long history in Iran. It began seventy years ago when women were forced to remove their hejab (prescribed clothing in Islam that covers everything except the face of a woman in public). But history has shown that Iranian women are very fashion conscious and thus strive to be fashionable while the government’s efforts to cover them up has not had much success in internalizing its code. During the last three decades the Islamic Republic has taken every measure to force Iranian women to wear or observe the Hejab. But to little avail. More recently, the arrests and punishments of those who did not fully practice the dress code have waned as women continue to defy the morals police and the imposed official dress code.

Despite the warnings by individuals who have read their history on the reactions to such practices, the plan to come up with an official Islamic dress code and control the way Iranian’s follow fashion has once again emerged on the agenda of the fundamentalist Majlis MPs. Even common folk nowadays say that the days when governments dictated their taste onto the public have long gone, and that the new efforts will be as unsuccessful as the earlier ones. Analysts point out that even the generation of Iranians who grew up after the Islamic revolution and was witness to the hejab, in addition to the constant propaganda on the issue, does not accept the government imposition.

Many observers believe that the events of the last 5 years in Iran, ranging from the students crackdown to the imprisonment of political activists, show that the government has been trying to copy the Chinese model of social control. What is happening now regarding women’s clothing was predicted by many when the new hardline administration that is supported by conservative clerics won the elections in June 2005.

A conservative female MP recently stressed that the Majlis committee will support clothing manufacturers that follow the dress codes in their clothing products. She appears confident that the plan to present a national Islamic dress code will be welcomed by Iranians which will be presented to the public through permanent and seasonal fashion exhibitions with an eye on all Muslim countries, not just Iran.

Rahbar warns that the dress code will be enforced in schools, universities, and work places, and that everyone will be obliged to observe them. He believes that Iranian girls have become street dolls which he says has no foundation, and thus legitimacy, in Iranian or Islamic culture. He scorns Iranian men's indifference that allows women to dress the way they do and believes the forthcoming dress code program will eradicate the moral corruption in society.

Strikes Follow Police Arrests

2006-01-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

Three days after ten Sherkate Vahed (the company that provides bus services to Tehran) employees and members of the workers union were arrested, Tehran on Sunday witnessed one of it’s the largest workers protests since two decades ago. News agencies reported the number of participants to be anything between 2,000 to 5,000 and said the strike paralyzed the city’s transportation life. Following the strike, the judiciary released some of the detainees. But new arrests were later claimed by some of those released.

Following the resumption of the work of the workers syndicate of Sherkate Vahed, some of its leaders were arrested in Tehran last week. Mansour Osanloo, the union worker and Ibrahim Madadi, Alizad Hossein, Akbar Yagoobi, Re Boorboor, Hamid Reza Rezaifar, Javad Kefayati, Seyed Javad Sidvand, and Morteza Kasari are among those who remain detained. The arrests began on Thursday morning and continued throughout the day as police rounded up the activitists at their home or anywhere it would find them. They have been charged with creating an illegal syndicate.

The next day, many syndicate members staged a sit-in in front of the syndicate offices and other leaders called on the workers to start a strike in support of the arrested union members and refrain from going to work.

The Sherkate Vahed workers syndicate was born in 1989. It remained banned for the next 25 years but resumed its work just one year ago. When Sherkate Vahed fired 18 union employees last year, the union protested the move. In the words of Ibrahim Madadi, the deputy teamster who is now under arrest, the syndicate protested the firing on the grounds that what the workers were requesting was the promised but unfulfilled rights of the workers. Sherkate Vahed workers used other means to communicate their discontent and demands. For example on designated dates, they kept their bus headlights on during the day – an unusual practice in Iran. They also held talks with Sherkate Vahed managers, but were threatened and violently confronted. “We continued to be denied our overtime payments, were subjected to unnecessary change of assignments or bus routes, were denied due promotions, were repeatedly summoned, etc,” Madadi said.

When company mangers refused to reinstate the fired workers, more workers joined the union as they saw it pushing for their interests. Then Sherkate Vahed managers called in law enforcement officials to stop the activities of the syndicate.

On Thursday morning when security agents went to arrest eight union leaders, the press was told that the arrests were because these individuals had formed an illegal workers union. Other workers and their leaders hoped that those arrested would soon be released, which turned out differently: six more were arrested immediately. This led the syndicate leaders and the members to conclude that arresting syndicate leaders must have been on the agenda of higher government officials. These arrests followed the many strikes by workers who had not been paid for months in the past.

Sherkate Vahed workers syndicate was particularly interesting to officials because their methods of expressing their demands and protests were being copied by other worker groups. They used all non-violent means available to them simultaneously, rather than in succession. They used their lights, did not take tickets from passengers, filed suits in courts, wrote letters to government officials, held sit-ins, etc to attract the attention of others in their struggle. These measures made the union more popular in the eyes of the workers which in return weakened the effectiveness of the government unions or workers associations.

Contrary to the days when arrests of political and social activists, journalists, writers, etc were supported by other sections of society, this time the strike of the bus drivers was not widely supported, even though a few other guilds expressed their solidarity with striking workers.

Iran’s writer’s guild released a statement of support for the striking workers, condemning the arrest of the union leaders and workers. In the statement it reveled that syndicate members had been beaten up in their offices earlier because of their syndicate work, some were stabbed and one worker even had his tongue cut in the brawl that followed. The statement calls on the Iranian nation to join them in their drive to attain the right of association for all sections of society.

Daftare Tahkim Vahdat, the largest student organization too issued a statement of support for the workers and their syndicate, calling on officials to release the imprisoned workers.

Mohammad Seyf, a renown lawyer in Tehran and a member of the Kanoone Modafean Hogooge Bashar (Center for the Defense of Human Rights) told the press that the cause for the arrest of the union members is not acceptable. “No court has ruled that the Sherkate Vahed syndicate was illegal, therefore to arrest people on that charge is in itself a violation,” he said. “Until such a court ruling is make, the syndicate is legal.” It should be noted that the 25 year ban on the activities of the syndicate too was not the product of a court of law after a hearing and a fair trial, i.e. the due process of law, but due to mafia tactics on part of authorities.

Tehran’s newspapers published the news of the workers strike only after Tehran City Council chairman, Chamran, announced that the demands of the workers were not just professional, but also had political content. He also claimed, contrary to what workers have said, that all the dues of the Sherkate Vahed workers had been paid. It should be noted that the chairman is a former military commander who enjoys the status of presidential advisor to president Ahmadinejad. “The syndicate is illegal, even though the proper response to it did not take place some 6 or 7 years ago,” he said. He confirmed that the strike had created transportation problems for the city, despite the efforts of the company to bring in back-up drivers. But he also distanced himself from the actual arrests and the way they were carried out by saying the City Council had nothing to do with it and is not responsible for the way the strikers were handled. According to him, the decision to arrest the workers was made at the Provincial level.

Political observes have noted that this is the most serious confrontation between workers and government officials during the last two decades. In the past most of the official attacks were against cultural organizations and so this is the first violent handling of an association which comprises workers blue-color workers. He doubted this measure would produce the desired results the government was after.

A workers activists told Rooz that even though workers movement remained passive during the last two decades, it continued its life nevertheless. “The existence of millions of dissatisfied workers is like having a box of explosives ready to be ignited. It is not wise to push things to shove at this time especially as the workers were testing the promises of the new president’s calls for justice,” he said

Tehran’s Pollution Crisis

2005-12-14T03:27:00.000-08:00

Optimistic figures indicate that Tehran’s air pollution has killed 107 Tehrani residents during the last month. The emergency situation in Tehran’s pollution has forced millions of its residents to stay home for days during the year, while the chairman of Tehran’s City Council believes that the crisis is the effect of a serious environmental phenomenon.

The executive director of Tehran’s biggest cemetery says that the death rate due to air pollution has increased four times in comparison to last year’s figures. But the problem is not confined to Tehran alone and exists in most major cities of Iran. Isfahan’s top official on the environment recently had issued a warning about the critical air pollution situation that is looming over that large city.

Economy specialists contend that every time government or city officials announce a high-pollution day, thus closing schools and other organizations whose members may be at health risk, the city’s businessmen loose about 1000 billion Rials a day. Some urban planning experts attribute the current catastrophic situation to the years when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the Mayor of Tehran.

Tehran’s air pollution has now turned into a very serious, dangerous and critical problem for its residents. Just last week alone, the pollution levels in Tehran were so high and dangerous that authorities were forced to close down schools, which lead to the cancellation of many public events for a few days.

Hundreds of Tehrani residents were transferred to hospitals because of the air pollution that produced heart, lungs and respiratory problems during the 5-day emergency period in the city. In this regard, the head of Tehran’s Emergency Unit said that during a 24-hour period, 283 heart and respiratory patients had been treated in the emergency unit. He added that there was an increase of 30 to 40 percent in the number of patients referred to the unit during the period.

An official in Tehran’s Medical Science University also has said that around 5 to 9 thousands Tehranis die due to air pollution every year. Political observers blame the city council officials and Tehran mayors for the critical situation that has lead to the death of hundreds of its residents during the last month. They assert that city officials have been neglecting the pollution problem while they spent large amounts of the city’s budget on election campaigning for the president which has seated many city council officials in key and high positions of Ahmadinejad’s government.

Because of the harsh and suppressive atmosphere since the new administration,
environmentalist NGOs too have been silent over the issue in recent months. Critics of independent NGOs have jumped on the bandwagon and using the pollution crises allege that these bodies had never played a successful role and thus should be controlled by the government.

In the words of many Tehranis, as the pollution crisis in Tehran grows in magnitude, they too breathe more death than oxygen with every passing day. Iranian automobile factories continue to manufacture sub-standard vehicles while government officials are focused on one crises and the other with the goal of simply holding to their positions and power.

The Mystery of the Serial Murders

2005-12-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

The 20 days from November 19, 1998 that witnessed the murders of Dariush Foruhar, Parvaneh Foruhar, Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Jafar Puyandeh, among others, resulted in a huge wave of domestic and international disgust for the perpetrators of the murders of Iranian dissidents. So heartless and brutal were these crimes that even some authorities inside the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, not exactly known for its respect for human rights, denounced them as hideous methods for dealing with dissidents. Today, that aversion still exists, while no punishment has gone to those responsible for the murders.

After the revelation of the serial murders and on pressure from president Khatami, the Ministry of Intelligence put the responsibility of this scandal and tragedy on certain “rogue, deviant, and unauthorized colleagues of the Ministry,” as announced in its statement of early January 1999. The announcement also made reference to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible in the Ministry, who “had undoubtedly been under the influence of covert individuals and who perpetrated these crimes to fulfill foreign interests.” The statement also undertook to root out these elements and assured the Iranian nation that it would destroy the remnants of the band responsible for the deeds.

Seven years have now passed but the public feels that not only have the perpetrators and those behind the murders not been identified to the public, the remaining undercover individuals have actually returned to official positions and have been responsible for other violent policies in the country, such as the attack on Tehran University dormitory, the arrest and detention of political activists, journalists, and web bloggers. Even the assassination of Saeed Hajjarian and murder of Zahra Kazemi have been carried out by them.

Akbar Ganji who relentlessly investigated the serial murders and exposed the executioners and saved the lives of many dissidents thereof, has now been behind bars for six years. Nasser Zarafashan, the attorney for the families of the survivors of the serial killings, remains in prison since three years ago for following up the issue. And this is not to mention the many journalists and writers who have been silenced and threatened not to write again after they published some aspect of the serial murders.

And even though calls were made by political activists including Akbar Ganji for the creation of a national commission to investigate all aspects of the murders, such a group was never formed, and instead a commission was created to investigate the murders of Dariush and Parvaneh Foruhar, Mohammad Mokhtari, and Mohammad Jaafar Puyandeh only.

Some observers have said that the plans to get rid of dissidents in the Islamic Republic began in 1988 with the murder of Dr Kazem Sami, the Minister of Health during the liberal administration of Mehdi Bazargan, the first Prime Minister after the 1979 revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Nobody assumed the responsibility for this murder, until finally a person who had been accused of the crime was said to have committed suicide in a public bathhouse.

The list of names of those who were the victims of the Ministry of Intelligence’s murders is long and perhaps even not fully known. But here are the names of some of the best known dissidents that were found dead or announced to have died.

Dr Kazem Sami, Seyed Khosrow Besharati (a religious critic), Dr Tafati and his wife, Saeed Sirjani (writer), Hossein Barazandeh, molla Mohammad Rabii (a.k.a. Mamusta Rabii, a Friday prayer leader in Kermanshah), Mamusta Faroogh Farsad (of Saghez), sheikh Mohammad Ziyai (Friday prayer leader of Bandar Abbas), Molavi Abdol-Malek Molazadeh and Molavi Jamshid-zehi (Sunni clerics in Baluchistan province), Molavi Abdol-Melk, Dr Ahmad Mirin Sayad (university professor), Kazemi (a Sunni university professor), Dr Abdolaziz Bajd (university professor in Zahedan), Ahmad Mir Alayi (writer and translator), Dibaj and Mikailian (Christian priests in Isfahan), Fakhr al-sadat Borghei, Javad Safar, Jalal Mobinzadeh, Zahra Eftekhari, Morteza Alian Najafabadi, Amir Gafoori, Saeed Mahmud Milani (Amir Gafoori’s sister’s husband), Majid Ranjbar of Mashhad is the only victim who escaped an attempt on his life, Faraj Sarekuhi (writer) is another person who escaped an attempt on his life, Dr Ahmad Tafazoli (of Tehran), Manoutchehr Sanei (an adjudant of the Shah who worked at a History institute in Tehran) and his wife (Firuzeh Salar Kalantari), Dr Gafar Hosseini (university professor and a member of the writers guild), Ibrahim Zalzadeh (publisher of Ebtekar publishing company), Abbas Navai (a former political prisoner),Hamid Hajizadeh (poet and writer from Kerman) along with his 9-year old son, Piruz Davani (political activist), Dariush (political activist) and Parvaneh Foruhar

2005-12-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

Islamicizing Schools: A Step towards Security-based Education

With the appointment of Mahmoud Farshidi as Iran’s new Minister of Education, some hardline religious officials began talking about Islamicizing schools books. Mohsen Ghara’ati, a conservative religious preacher and television personality was among the fist to set the media stage for turning schools books more Islamic. Just a few days ago, the cleric Ghara’ati criticized the texts used in universities and high schools. He said that the content of these books are not welcome by the faithful youth, a reference to ultra-conservative youth.
Since the early days of the revolution in 1979, Ghara’ati has played different roles in the writing of religious school books. In his meetings with officials of the Cultural Revolution Council, he criticized former ministers and religious teachers for their negligence of the issue.
The new Minister of Education has asked senior religious teachers in Qom to support him in Islamizing the schools. Changing the content of school curricula appears to be another project of the new hardline-conservative government in Tehran, after the unpopular appointments of a cleric to head Tehran University.
Farshidi has recommended that a group of senior religious scholars in Qom and educational experts form a committee to meticulously review all schoolbooks. Political observers are skeptical about how many people will actually take up the call and work on the project. They also point out that the new policy could turn out to be just a pretext for purging the many government employees who while not even active in any sense, hold views that are different from those of the hardliners or religious conservatists. Iran’s government employees comprise a large number of middle class individuals who look at their job as a job, and do not get engaged in politics. Observers fear that Islamization is an excuse of the president’s men whose goal is to replace many high and middle ranking government staff with their own to ensure compliance and total obedience in the bureaucracy.
Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran has witnessed two waves of Islamization in schools and universities. The first wave aimed at revolutionizing and Islamicizing the schools came a few days after the collapse of the ancient regime. The angry ideological waves of people washed away thousands of teachers from their work. The sackings were the biggest ideological and human purge in a governmental department.
Many experts have expressed their concerns over the current measures. An education expert says that the Islamization of educational institutions that began with the universities can have dangerous long term effects on the country's educational system and could deepen the existing identity crisis among Iranian youth.
Only time can tell whether the Islamization of schools will lead to Islamic and religious education of the youth. The first wave of Islamization of educational institutions showed that the result was the birth and growth of an un-Islamic generation of Iranian youth. During the last presidential elections, candidates focused more on religious freedoms rather than emphasis religious principles and values.

Islamicizing Schools: A Step towards Security-based Education

Naked Censorship

2005-11-01T00:55:00.000-08:00

Many Iranian publishers and writers believe that there are signs that Hussein Saffar Harandi, the new hardline Minister of Culture has launched a new wave of censorship on books while new restrictions and pressures are on the rise in cultural activities. Specifically, a good number of books have recently been denied reprint permits. By the order of the newly appointed ultraconservative minister, in addition to denying reprint permits, a number of new books have also been denied permits for publications. While some for and level of censorship had existed in Iran during the last two decades, the current bans or non-issuance of permits is rather unprecedented in scope and content. The body responsible for determining what is to be printed or reprinted is the "Book Supervising Council" at the Ministry of Culture. Observers have interpreted this unprecedented decision to be an official censorship war on books.

link Despite the historic censorship, there have also been short periods when books were completely free from any government censorship and control. With the Islamic Revolution of ۱۹۷۹, Iran's book and publishing industry has witnessed its dark ages of censorship, even though there were similar periods in the past as well. Contrary to the current situation, Khatami's Culture Minister Ataollah Mohajerani cut on the level and scope of censorship that had long existed in Iran. But that honeymoon did not last long. Soon after Mohajerani's resignation, censorship on books increased and the judiciary imposed its controls on anything that was published. Furthermore, many writers and publishers were summoned and some were even sent to prison. Recent reports indicated that books by such prominent authors as Sadegh Hedayat are now banned from being published in Iran by virtue of denial of reprint permits. A Tehrani publisher expressed concern about even more steps to censor and control the publishing industry in the near future since the government is now more homogeneous and streamlined in its ideology and leadership. He says when previous officials from the Ministry of Culture were worried about the public's reactions to something, they openly talked about imposing censorship on books. In the recent cases, public opinion does not seem to play a role and the censorship measures are merely ideological in nature. Observers have warned that if the current wave of book censorship does not lead to any protests from the public, NGOs and activists, then one should expect longer list of banned books from the government.

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Do Not Search, Access Denied

2005-10-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

The news coming from Iran indicates that new controls and obstacles are on their way for the Iranian scientific and research communities in their access to the international scientific community websites. Reporters Without Borders issued a statement condemning the Iranian government in its efforts to increase its control of the Internet, including its efforts to set up a new online censorship system through Delta Global company. The report specifically says that these new measures are because of the “ideological hardening in the Iranian government and a desire by the new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to centralize authority.? This report comes at a time when filtering is on the rise in Iran, even for websites that are run by the right wing groups. One such website is Baztab owned by Mohsen Rezai currently the secretary of the powerful State Expediency Council and a former Passdaran Revolutionary Guards commander, sent shock waves even among right wing circles in Iran, but also indicating the intense power struggle going on in the country. The first news website, Emrouz (meaning Today) was put up in the summer of 2001 by the reformers in Iran. It was launched at a time when Isfahan’s Friday Prayer, ayatollah Taheri resigned from h is position and there were no newspapers to report on his views. Conservatists soon saw the power of the Internet in this regard and launched their own site, Dariche (meaning an opening or gateway). In those days, the growth in the number of such sites and the way they operated, denied the government any controls over them. So they were free to operate and publish as they pleased. As newspapers got closed by the Judiciary in Iran, more and more news websites were launched with rapidly increasing readerage. As the government continued its crackdown on students, on newspapers and on dissidents, the role of these Internet sites became critical to the reformers and opposition groups inside Iran. So displeasing were the sites to the government that it approached foreign companies to help it block their access. For example a Chinese company was approached to do just this at the height of the student unrest in ۲۰۰۳. They succeeded in filtering scores of news websites. So after that, some ۲۱ webloggers and journalists were arrested by the Judiciary as well. But the result was even more aggressive work by the bloggers. But the imprisoned journalists soon became an international headache for the government as numerous international organizations supported the rights of these webloggers and condemned the Iranian regime for its suppressive policies. When Ahmadinejad came to power, this issue was high on his agenda. During the June 2005 presidential elections, two moderate candidates, Mostafa Moin and cleric Mehdi Karoubi used the Internet and weblogs to publicize their viewpoints, when they were denied equal access to the state radio and TV. Right wing groups in Iran were of course alarmed that their controls were not having the intended results and people still heard the voices of the opposition and dissidents. Once these hardliners and right wingers won the presidential race through Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, their efforts to further filter dissident websites intensified rapidly. An Internet analyst says that currently some ۷ million Iranians have access to the Internet, which is a very large number compared to just ۲ years ago. Since last year alone, ۵۱۴ towns, as opposed to ۱۲۱, have access to Internet data. In just a few years, it is estimated that ۵۰ percent of Iranians will be able to connect to the global cyber community. The problem of course is not just that news sites are filtered by the government. More recently websites specializing in women’s affairs too have been cut off. www.womeniniran.com, www.irwomen.com, www.womeniw.com are just a few examples. These websites disseminated social news and the denial of access to them has prompted them to write to international bodies protesting the move of the Iranian government. Parasto Dokuhi, a writer for one of these sites says “our site has been filtered out because we use the word women a lot. We are forced to create proxies, but they still catch up with us.? What is now even more alarming is that scientific websites are the target as well. This too has intensified with Ahmadinejad’s arrival. Lookspire.co, farstec.com, flickr.com are examples of such filtered out sites. One internet user said he tried a few keywords in Google and was rather surprised to see that he was denied access to many sites that he used to regularly visit. This concern even infuriated the official political community when Baztab website was shut down, with a message that it was filtered by the order of Iran’s Judiciary. Political analysts and observers point to this event more than any other to show that the power struggle is reaching new heights within the regime where even current officials are denied the means to express their opinions if their opinions differ from what the government wants to propagate. The words of Reza Rashidi the CEO of Fanavari company in Iran ring a bell when he says that if there are sites that have been unjustly filtered out, they should be reported to the company which will take every measure to restore its accessibility. In short, websites are not innocent, unless proven otherwise.

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No News of Freedom of Imprisoned Students

2005-10-24T00:45:00.000-07:00

Not only does it seems that the Iran’s hardline Judiciary officials have no plans to release imprisoned students arrested and jailed since July ۱۹۹۸, but are even applying new and greater pressure on student movements and groups. Ali Afshari's six year prison term is a token of this brutal attitude towards students. Afshari was arrested on charges of promoting civil disobedience. The fact that many students have recently been summoned to courts and have been accused of acting against national security or fermenting public discontent indicates that there is an atmosphere of insecurity and fear between the government and the country’s students.

In a meeting with the Minister of Science and Technology, the head of the ultra-conservative Judiciary promised - on the surface and in public – to provide Islamic compassion and forgiveness to students. But with no action coming, i.e. no release of imprisoned students, the hope that the families of these students had in their hearts have been rapidly fading into oblivion.

s are concluding that this was just a public relations stint to reduce international pressure on Iran. New students continue to be arrested and quietly tried without a jury. Hadi Esmaielzadeh, a University Law Professor says that according to Iran's Constitution all political crimes should be reviewed in public courts in the presence of a jury. Anything else is illegal and unacceptable, according to him. But where are the ears. But while the Iranian government refuses to re

When Iran was under severe international pressure over its nuclear program and to a lesser degree over its dismal human rights record, particularly the hunger strike of investigative journalist Akbar Ganji, the head of Iran’s Judiciary branch Hashemi Shahroudi ordered imprisoned students to be released. But with the passage of several weeks and no releases, political observe
rlease its political prisoners and end its aggressive and inhuman practices, it is also paying a high price in terms of its domestic and international reputation. International Human Rights organizations, during the past five years, have focused on Iran and have also been repeatedly requesting Iranian officials to release the imprisoned students, naming many by name. Domestically and even at international human rights rallies, their names and photos are regularly displayed. So while certain officials may seem to be in favor of releasing political and particularly student prisoners, there are those who oppose it and they seem to have the upper hand in this power struggle.

Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a lawyer for many jailed students recently said in an interview that while Iran's National Security Council and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution had both expressly approved the notion that imprisoned students should not face trials, courts continue to bring them before judges and sentence them after a short trial.

Perhaps a Tehrani student activist puts it succinctly when he says that a glance at president Ahmadinejad’s record in his policies towards students and political prisoners, throws floodlight on the meaning of the term “kindness? that the president has been using as a cornerstone of his policies.

Press or Satellite Broadcasts?

2005-10-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

Hussein Saffar Harandi, the new hard-line radical Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance is once again attacking the pro-reform media in Iran. He believes that many legal parties are misusing the press as their party spokemedia and are hide behind civil institutions such as the press. The ultra-conservative Minister calls on these parties to establish their own transparent, organized and independent media. He added that his Ministry will assist these groups to get the required licenses. Harandi's made these comment to the members of the "Association of Moslem Journalists", and is a reminder that the reform-minded groups do not have a mouthpiece in Iran.In his first press briefing, Alireza Mokhtarpour, the deputy for press affairs at the Ministry also said that some of Iran's political parties did not have official newspapers and so the press inevitably bears the burden of all the groups and ideas on its shoulders. Since 2000, more than 120 publications have been banned in Iran with hundreds of journalists facing judicial proceedings. International organizations working on the freedom of press have identified Iran as being the largest prison for journalists in the Middle East.Mokhtarpour is not a known figure among journalists but he has a notorious record during Mostafa Mirsalimâ€™s days as the Minister of Culture. He was the executive manager of "Special Book Bureau" in the ministry and is noted to have considerably increased book censorship in Iran. It was during his management that many writers were banned from writing.The new extremist Culture Minister has also announced his objection to having 20 publications with the same ideology. In reaction to such recent statements by government officials, some political parties have announced their intentions to use satellite radio and television stations, which are under such strict control as the press media are.Saffar Harandi is a hardliner who is said to know how to fight "cultural imperialism" and confront modern thoughts and liberalism, both of which are considered Western ideas. During his vote of confidence before the Majlis (Parliament) he told the deputies that he wanted to "revive the press". And knowing his confrontational record, reformists are not optimistic about the future of the press in Iran. â€œRevivalï¿½? in Harandiâ€™s terminology most likely means regression and curtailment of the freedom of press, as his thoughts indicate.Many political analysts believe that instead of promising a brighter future for Iran's press, the new Culture Minister comments have been targeting the reform minded groups. They believe he is trying hard to talk the reformers out of using satellite radio and televisions for their broadcasts.Changes in the structure of publications such as Iran and Hamshahri are proof of the enormous transformations in the press in Iran. Iran's official news agency IRNA, and the student news agency ISNA both have new conservative editor-in-chiefs. With such appointments, the Iranian media is in control of extremist right-wing conservatives. Under the current atmosphere, the reformist press is taking a very cautious approach to its work and interests in order to avoid being shut down.

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SMS Revolution

2005-10-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

Blocking SMS (Short Message Service) is a new communications instrument that is taken very seriously by the new Iranian government and those in the Ministry of Communications. In order to confront and control SMS messaging and the relevant communications technology, president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his hard-line government ministers have seriously decided to take the necessary measures to limit the use of a technology that at critical junctures can be used by the government's critics and opposition groups. Iranian authorities believe that they have successfully completed their efforts to block internet access and have cracked down on web bloggers, so now they are turning their attention to SMS messaging. Supporters of restricting SMS make jokes and comments to mock the new president and other senior government officials. Officials in Iran's Telecommunication sector, on the other hand, while making huge sums of money from SMS services warn that of the negative consequences of such restrictions on the public and say the impact of this on the economy of the country's telecommunication sector are still not known. In his televised election campaigns Ahmadinejad depicted SMS as a tool used to destroy his image. Records of internet filtering and serious crackdown on the press during the presidential election campaign proved that Ahmadinejad was right on his criticism about SMS message. So SMS was certainly an important election tool. SMS was used earlier too to persuade people to boycott the last parliamentary (Majlis) elections. In those days, no government official seriously talked about controlling this media. But SMS fever during the recent presidential election forced Ahmadinejad to file a complaint with the Judiciary. A close ally of Ahmadinejad had said that SMS telephone and satellite messages are aimed at destroying his image. In reaction to Ahmadinejad and his camp's allegations over the “misuse�? of SMS, Iran's Minister of Communications and Technology denied such accusations but acknowledged that his ministry can not control the flow of messages in this media. There are various ways to size the SMS users. By one account, the government has spent ۳۴ million Rials to activate the network for some 700,000 subscribers. It is estimated that at the end of the current Iranian year, this amount will reach 170 million Rials with 8, 500,000subscribers. Legal experts believe by controlling SMS, officials are really entering people's private spheres. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a lawyer in Tehran believes SMS messaging is a private conversation between two people and no judicial authority is allowed to control it. He believes that it is in fact illegal and unconstitutional.

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Warning to Ahmadinejad

2005-10-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

General criticism over what are claimed to be president Ahmadinejad’s appointments of his family members to government posts is mounting. This criticism also includes the appointment of individuals to second government position where conflict of interest situations become an issue. But with the words of Zaribafan, a member of the Abadgaran group who is also a cabinet secretary in Ahmadinejad’s government, the issue has moved into the hardliners camp itself. Mohammad Nabi Habibi, the secretary general of the Motalefeh Party (Islamic Coalition Party) and Kerman MP Movahedi Kermani who hold the powerful position of being the Leader’s representative in the Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps, joined the criticism over recent appointments.

resident Ahmadinejad has undoubtedly installed many of his family members into high government positions. After the Majlis approval of his cabinet choices, some ministers too began appointing their family members and close friends to high government posts. In his letter to cleric Moslehi who is the Leader’s representative in the Baseej civil defense organization (Niruye Moghavemate Baseej), Kermani requested that Moslehi devote his full time to the Baseej. Translation: do not hold any other positions. A copy of the letter was delivered to the news agency by Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps which writes “In reference to the Commander in Chief ayatollah Khamenei’s specific instructions banning second jobs in the armed forces and the relevant laws in this regard, your appointment to the post of advisor to the president for clerical affairs will in practice disrupt both responsibilities. Since you have chosen to continue your responsibilities at the Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps, you should devote your full time and energy to this endeavor and represent the Leader at the Baseej.�?

P This letter is unique as it is the very first time since Ahmadinejad’s presidency that an official has taken a public position on dual jobs in the government.

first few years in the life of the new republic after the victory of the 1979 revolution. The best example of this is when some of ayatollah Khomeini’s close associates called on him to appoint his son Ahmad as Prime Minister, he strongly condemned this on grounds of nepotism. But since 1999, this tradition has returned. Hashemi Rafsanjani too during his presidency gave key government posts to some of his close associates and relatives. Mohammad Hashemi, the president’s brother at the National Iranian Radio and Television and Ali Hashemi, another brother, at the oil ministry are examples of this deviation from a revolutionary principle. Even his daughter, Faezeh was given a high profile government position. With that, many again began to openly complain and criticize the president. This became an Achilles’ heel for Rafsanjani in the latter part of his ۲nd term. Even president Mohammad Khatami appointed some of his close associates to key government positions. Ali Khatami, his brother, was appointed to the special Presidential Inspector’s Office, who in his second presidency became his Chief of Staff. It has been a normal practice in Iran to use such nepotism to criticize ruling circles as being elitist and not revolutionary. Ahmadinejad strives to be recognized as a another Rajai - a school-teacher who became the first prime minister of Iran (after the provisional government of Mehd

Event though such appointments are not new in Iran, they used to be seen negatively as symbols of “hereditary�? posts (such as the monarchy vs. the republic) the
i Bazargan). This is an effort to be seen by the public as the down-to-earth president and thus from amongst them. During his presidential campaign, he had repeatedly stated that he would “end the domination of family relatives over the wealth and oil industry? in the country. On the eve of the runoff vote, he told some 150 Majlis (Parliament) deputies “I shall separate rents and family control over the country’s wealth and the mafia and tribal power from oil, and would even give my life for this.�? To be recalled is that Ahmadinejad made justice and the end of discrimination to be his key slogans and goals during the elections and had said “When the pyramids of power get established, no room is left for freedom. Then, they control the media and narrow life so much that people’s voice is not heard and the country suffers as a result.?

r technocrats. “I am certain there are many such people in Iran,? he would affirm. But even the words ended when he set foot in the presidential palace. When just a month ago the news spread that the president’s brother Dawood Ahmadinejad was appointed to head the Presidential Special Inspectors Office, opinion spread that Ahmadinejad had played a successful game at presenting himself to look like Rajai. Soon many of Ahmadinejad’s former allies and buddies were appointed to the newly opened up position: positions that normally would require years of hard work and experience to attain. This state of affair was highlighted when the president announced the names of his entourage to attend the UN General Assembly meeting. Criticism followed and even the ultra-conservative and hardline newspaper Kayhan politely criticized the team. Some of the names on the list belonged to Ahmadinejad’s friends from the days when he was the Mayor of Tehran and had absolutely nothing to do with the UN, forei

He also stressed “With holding hands between people, we must destroy the thick wall that now divides people from the government and also the this privileged class that has deformed all relations and values. We have come to serve the ordinary people, which is what the country now needs. With the support of people, we can run the country better. Apparently some think I have entered a no-entry zone by joining the presidential race.? “When injustice spreads in the country and there are over two million unemployed how can one talk of culture,? Ahmadinejad continued in a reference to what was former president Khatami’s principal field of focus. Another promise that Ahmadinejad made during his campaigning was that if elected, he would replace the current managers of government-run companies with “clean, brave, professional, efficient and popul
agn policy, or the mission of the delegation. By this time, so displeased were other officials and prominent politicians that Ahmadinejad gave a position to one of these individuals: Zaribafan was appointed to become the secretary of the cabinet. Last month the list of managers for government run companies was announced. As the list of the president’s friends grew longer, so did the list of those who criticized him for nepotism. Abbas Salimi Namin, a former high ranking official was one of the voices of criticism on this from day one. This time he did not write Ahmadinejad and instead chose Ahmad Janati, the secretary of the powerful Guardians Council. In the letter he criticized the double appointments and the conflict of interest that this created. He also criticized Janati for allowing his own son, Ali to be appointed as a deputy minister at the Interior Ministry. In his letter he also mentions Golam Hossein Elham who has appointed to be the president’s Chief of Staff, while holding his position as a jurisprudent in the powerful Guardians Council.

ntry warned that “today the government and the Majlis need the ideologues even more than before the elections.? He then criticized the calls for proportionate seating in Tehran’s Municipality, which he said would lead to problems if implemented. Political observers predict that if president Ahmadinejad does not take corrective measures against the current accusations of nepotism, he would face even stronger protests from amongst his own ranks. The publication of the letter written by the Leader’s representative in Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps should be interpreted as a warning to the president, they say, as such business is normally handled outside public purview.

Another person who has voiced his objection to the current nepotism is Ahmad Tavakoli, the director of Majlis’s (Parliament) Research Center. He has called such two responsibilities by the same person to be illegal. Soon after his criticism, Sobh Sadegh, the magazine of the Leader in Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps wrote “Despite the president’s promises and criticism, during his election campaigning, of the practice of appointing the same person to positions where conflict of interest arises, these days we hear of individuals who as members of the Municipality, also hold government posts, where even the Minister of Justice is the new spokesman for the Judiciary.? “The promised goals of smaller government have all but gone and the current practices herald an even larger government,? it wrote.

Zaribafan’s words not only took the issue to the hardliners camp but even changed it from mere criticism into open protests. Mohammad Nabi Habibi from the Motalefe group (Islamic Coalition Party) which is the oldest religious right-wing association in the country warned that “today the government and the Majlis need the ideologues even more than before the elections.? He then criticized the calls for proportionate seating in Tehran’s Municipality, which he said would lead to problems if implemented. Political observers predict that if president Ahmadinejad does not take corrective measures against the current accusations of nepotism, he would face even stronger protests from amongst his own ranks. The publication of the letter written by the Leader’s representative in Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps should be interpreted as a warning to the president, they say, as such business is normally handled outside public purview.

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Gasoline, the Silent Bomb

2005-10-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

The Iranian government has offered a new bill to the parliament (Majlis) to increase the price of gasoline in an effort to increase its income for possible economic sanctions that may be coming if Iran’s nuclear case goes to the U.N. Security Council. At the same time, the Ministry of Intelligence has once again sent a 10-year old report to the country's National Security Council. The report that was prepared during Hashemi Rafsanjani's presidency, reviews possibilities of civil uprising in case of an increase in gasoline price. Ten years ago, following Islamshahr civil unrests, Rafsanjani's government decided not to remove the fuel subsidies that caused the riots. Reports from Tehran indicate that two meetings between high ranking intelligence authorities and those from the National Security Council have reviewed the crisis. It is also reported that Majlis MPs have been advised not to veto the gas price hike bill. Such measures bring to light what a political sociologist, who has requested to remain anonymous, has anticipated. According to him, if and when imposed economic sanctions hit Iran, gasoline imports could halt and the result would definitely be civil unrest. The first part of this bill was ratified with 171 affirmative votes from the MPs that support the new ultra-conservative government. The bill allows the government to use $1.5 million of its foreign reserve funds to compensate its budget deficit to import gasoline. The second part of the bill is a crucial one that allows the government to impose two gasoline rates to cut its import and balance the gasoline consumption in the country. Ahmadinejad's election promises to eradicate poverty in the country and improve Iranians living standards can not be fulfilled when the government announces gasoline price hikes. While Iran is one of the world's largest oil exporters, its daily consumption of more than 60 million liters of gasoline has turned Iran into one of the largest gasoline importers in the world. Iranian refineries produce an average of 38.5 million liters of gasoline per day. The country also imports about 26 million liters of gasoline per day, which are expected to rise to 30 million. But despite the considerable increase in gasoline consumption, the country has not increased its domestic production of gasoline. A senior expert in Iran's planning organization says that before Iran's 1979 revolution, the country not only was needless of gasoline imports but even exported more than 600,000 liters per day to its neighbors. Amir Mohebian, a conservative analyst criticizes the Ministry of Oil's officials and their approach towards gasoline crisis and believes that gasoline is Iran's weak point that United States is using to put more pressure on Iran and the impact of the sanctions over the country's possible social unrest. Under tremendous international pressure of possible economic sanctions, Iran has once again forced Ahmadinejad's economists to confront the crisis. During Khatami's presidency, conservative Abadgaran supporters tried to establish a fixed rate for gasoline in a measure to attract public's interest. An Ahmadinejad economic expert told Rooz that a strategic product is turning into a social bomb. This is bomb that is trying to prevent Iran's nuclear activities.

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Offensive Against Human Rights Groups

2005-10-14T00:14:00.000-07:00

Along with the publication of the report on the violations of human rights in Iran during the last quarter by Tehran-based Kanoon Modafean Hogooge Bashar (Center for the Defense of Human Rights), the visitation rights of political prisoner Abdolfatah Soltani’s family with him were cancelled and another prominent lawyer and member of the Center, Ali Dadkhah, was subpoenad to a court in Tehran, herald new efforts to silence this legal organization. After appearing before the ۷th branch of Tehran Prosecutor’s office, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, one of the active members of the Center told reporters that judiciary officials had asked him to provide them with names of two individuals who had held a sit-in in front of Even prison and who were calling for the release of political prisoners. During the recent years many human rights activists and advocates, including defense attorneys who stood up to defend imprisoned political activists, journalists, and students have themselves been the subject of attacks, arrests and threats by certain official organizations. Some of them such as Nasser Zarafshan, the attorney for the families of the victims of the Intelligence Ministry’s serial killers continues to be detained in prison. This time, however, it appears that the defenders of human rights are being targeted directly. The Center for the Defense of Human Rights was established about four years ago. Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, as a cofounder of the Center says at the time “our goal is to work within the law and we are not an underground group or party and do not consider ourselves above the law.�? With that as their frame of mind, they made a formal request from the Ministry of the Interior, as the law requires for an operating license. Till today, they have not received one. “Even though the provisions of the constitution do not require professional organizations to have a license if they simply wish to operate without utilizing government services, we made a formal request for one even though we did not wish to use government’s services,�? she clarifies. “Our request and activities were even discussed in the Majlis (Parliament) Committee for Article ۱۰ of the constitution.�? Even though the Center’s request was made at a time when former president Khatami was the head of the executive branch of government, and his policy had been to strengthen NGOs, an operating license was not issued to it, and so its fate was like that of other human rights and professional organizations such as the Kanoone Nevisandegan (Iranian Writer’s Association). Not issuing a license to the Center which in the words of political observers was an indication of the negative view officials held on the group, had another meaning to the Center members. They knew very well that their activities that included taking positions against the violations of human rights, the provision of free defense for the victims of human right violations and political activists, and assistance to the families of ideological and political prisoners would bring more resistance from the government which would have to paid for. But despite this, none of them ever suspected that one day they would be accused of espionage, which is precisely what attorney Abdul Fattah Soltani who was defending imprisoned journalist Akbar Ganji was initially accused of soon after his arrest earlier this year. Subsequent events in the country and the world did not improve the situation. Soon other members of the Center too faced similar accusations, and furthermore, pressures from official agencies increased as well. Two years ago when the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo awarded its annual Peace award to Shirin Ebadi, who was not only a founding and active member of the Center but had also been a prisoner herself because of her defense of Amir Farshad Ebrahimi, a vigilante who had initially participated in the student suppressions but later changed faith and exposed the group and its inner workings, even Mohammad Khatami could hide his displeasure. The wide support and welcome that Ebadi received from the public and even Majlis (Parliament) deputies and official reformers, brought this fear to those opposing reformers that soon there would be a new union between reformers and the advocates of human rights which would only complicate their goals. Human rights constitute one of the three problems that the Islamic Republic has with the outside world, the others being its nuclear policy and support for terrorist groups. While Ebadi and other members of the Center such as Mohammad Sharif, Mohammad Seyfzadeh, and Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, had been under pressure right from the day Ebadi was awarded the Nobel peace prize, the Center became the object of serious intimidations after its lawyers began taking up the defense of prominent arrest and imprisonment cases such as the murder of Iranian-Canadian photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi and other Iranian journalists. A few months ago, in the course of the retrial of Zahra Kazemi’s case, Soltani asked “Why have the witnesses withdrawn their earlier testimony regarding the murder of Zahra Kazemi?�? He then insisted that while Kazemi’s murder had taken place “in a security building under the watch of closed-circuit cameras, the sentence says that the murderers could not be found.�? He even further and said that the letter of the Ministry of Intelligence says that “officials of the Intelligence Ministry have offered to recreate the crime scene to prove their innocence, if they receive sufficient protection for their lives. What power is out there involved in this case that requires officials of the Ministry to request protection for their lives?�? “How can someone inflict a fatal punch on to someone in the presence of ۲۰ other people without being identified?�? Soon after these words, Soltani was arrested and all the efforts of his colleagues to free him have not freed this lawyer. Just two months after the new hardliners came to presidential power, they began to prevent the work of the Center. A news item that appeared in Kayhan newspaper was the start of their operations. They made new accusations against Ebadi and Soltani regarding Ganji’s case and thus tried to exert pressure on the Center. Observers interpret the current call of the judiciary for Dadkhah to appear before the Tehran prosecutor and the continuation of the detention of Soltani are recent measures to increase the pressure on the Center and its activities. They explain that the hardliners who now control all the three branches of government in Iran but are also under intense international pressure on three key issues that includes human rights, they wish to crush this group to end the pressure that they feel is coming because of the Center. Political observers believe that because the new conservatists view everything from a security perspective, they will do everything to shut down all the NGOs and especially those advocating human rights, just as they did with the Iranian Writers’ Association.