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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 9, No. 20, 5 June 2006
A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
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HEADLINES:
* TEHRAN RESPONDS TO U.S. OFFER OF DIRECT TALKS
* IRANIAN AUTHORITIES DETAIN STUDENT ACTIVISTS
* IRANIAN OFFICIALS BLAME FOREIGN POWERS FOR NORTHWESTERN UNREST
* CARTOON PROTESTS POINT TO GROWING FRUSTRATION AMONG AZERIS
* AFGHAN PRESIDENT MEETS IRANIAN LEADERS
* TAJIK OFFICIALS ALLEGE MILITANTS TRAINED IN IRAN
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TEHRAN RESPONDS TO U.S. OFFER OF DIRECT TALKS. One day after the
United States outlined its willingness to participate in talks
between its EU allies and Iran on the nuclear issue, foreign
ministers from the so-called 5+1 group (China, France, Russia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany) on June 1
decided on a package of "carrots and sticks" for Tehran. The proposal
is aimed at encouraging Iran to halt the most highly disputed aspects
of its nuclear program.
Yet Tehran has declared its disinterest in negotiating with
Washington, and proposals that it suspend uranium-enrichment and
reprocessing activities -- on which the United States conditioned its
participation -- probably will be rejected. Tehran may believe that
it has made irreversible progress and it can withstand international
sanctions, but Iranian officials have painted themselves into a
corner through repeated appeals to nationalism on the nuclear issue.
If Tehran reverses course now, it will be difficult to explain that
reversal to the Iranian people.
American Initiative
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on May 31 called on
Tehran to "immediately" suspend its uranium-enrichment and
reprocessing activities, cooperate fully with the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and implement the Additional Protocol of
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Rice mentioned greater
economic cooperation as an incentive, as well as a continuing
reliance on diplomacy to resolve the issue.
As soon as Iran fulfills these conditions, Rice said, "the
United States will come to the table with our EU-3 colleagues and
meet with Iran's representatives." The U.S. message was conveyed
to the Iranian government through the Swiss ambassador in Tehran and
through the Iranian representative at the United Nations.
Iranian state radio on May 31 described the U.S. overture as
a victory for Iran, asserting that "Washington is under immense
pressure by the American elite and other governments to hold
negotiations with Iran."
"Although it was difficult for the American authorities to
shift their policies and they are severely under the influence of the
Zionist lobby in their decisions, the fact that they agreed to enter
talks with Iran is a clear sign that their previous allegations
against Iran were untrue," the broadcaster continued.
State radio concluded by saying Washington must accept
Iran's decisive regional role because of Tehran's nuclear
achievements, its national solidarity, and its economic progress.
The rapporteur for the legislature's national-security
and foreign policy committee, Kazem Jalali, called Washington's
initial impulse a positive development, the Iranian Students News
Agency (ISNA) reported. But Jalali warned that its preconditions are
unsuitable, adding that the suspension of enrichment activities is
out of the question.
A June 1 headline in "Kayhan," the daily newspaper associated
with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office, announced
the offer as "America's Need Under The Mantle Of A Concession To
Iran."
Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki on June 1 rejected
Rice's proposal as nothing new, according to Radio Farda.
Describing Rice's statement as "ramblings," Mottaki accused
Washington of trying "to cover up [U.S.] crimes in Iraq."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said on
June 1 that there are no obstacles to such talks if they take place
without preconditions, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
reported. He added that the U.S. proposal included nothing new and
fails to respect Iran's rights under the NPT. The spokesman also
responded to Rice's charge that Iran supports terrorism, saying
the terrorism issue turns a spotlight on U.S. relations with Israel
and Washington's reactions to what he called Israeli crimes
against Palestinians.
State media remained seemingly unimpressed by the U.S. offer.
The director of the government's Islamic Republic News Agency,
Ahmad Khademolmelleh, accused U.S. officials of using their influence
over global media to "play games" in an effort to divert world public
opinion from the realities of Iran's peaceful nuclear program. A
state-television commentator said the U.S. preconditions bespeak a
lack of seriousness about possible negotiations. Washington, he said,
is merely "trying to convince others that it has shown flexibility."
Iranian commentators and political officials are likely to
formulate their own responses after the Tehran Friday Prayers sermon
of June 2 clarifies the views of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei. Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said in Malaysia
on May 30 that Iran is ready to resume nuclear negotiations with
Europe but is not interested in direct talks with the United States.
He cited what he dubbed "the bad temperament of the Americans,"
according to AFP. ITAR-TASS quoted Mottaki as saying that Iran is
willing to hold talks with Washington once the U.S. attitude changes.
Substitute prayer leader Hojatoleslam Ahmad Khatami said
during his sermon at the Tehran Friday Prayers on June 2 that
Washington's proposal to participate in nuclear talks with Iran
is not very significant, state radio reported. Khatami noted the U.S.
call for Iran to cease its uranium enrichment and reprocessing
activities, although he mischaracterized the offer as "the U.S. would
sit at the negotiating table if Iran were to stop all its nuclear
activities." Khatami went on to say the abandoning of Iran's
nuclear activities has been a long-standing U.S. objective. "This has
been their wish for the past 27 years - a wish that has been
continuously unfulfilled," he said.
'Carrots And Sticks'
In Vienna, meanwhile, the 5+1 group has agreed on a package
of "carrots and sticks" intended to persuade Iran to halt uranium
enrichment. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said on June 1
that the parties to the agreement "believe [the proposals] offer Iran
the chance to reach a negotiated agreement based on cooperation,"
according to Reuters.
Beckett went on to say that efforts to bring punitive action
against Iran in the UN Security Council will be suspended if Tehran
complies with IAEA demands that it suspend its uranium enrichment and
reprocessing activities. On the other hand, she warned, "further
steps" will be taken if Iran fails to take the desired steps.
Possible sanctions described by AFP on May 30 include an embargo on
goods relating to Iran's nuclear and missile programs, travel
restrictions for associated individuals, and a ban on Iranians
studying these fields. There also could be travel freezes for Iranian
officials and the blocking of assets belonging to the regime and its
officials.
Iranian officials have repeatedly asserted that they will not
forego uranium enrichment. Foreign Ministry spokesman Assefi said on
May 30 that the six countries meeting in Vienna on June 1 should not
expect Iran to do anything beyond that which is required by the NPT.
He said Iran will not suspend its nuclear research -- which is how
Iran defines its relatively limited uranium-enrichment activities.
Iran currently has a cascade of 164 centrifuges, and Assefi noted
that in some cases 3,000 centrifuges are used for research. Assefi
also noted that Iran does not recognize international limits on the
percentage to which it may enrich uranium.
Supreme Leader Khamenei told legislators in a May 28 speech
that Iranian scientists' accomplishments in the nuclear field
have guaranteed the country's energy supplies. Any reversals in
this field will be a complete loss for Iran, he said, as he praised
the legislature's approval of a bill to halt voluntary suspension
of enrichment activities if Iran is referred to the UN Security
Council.
In a June 3 speech at the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, father of Iran's Islamic revolution, President Mahmud
Ahmadinejad said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked him to take
his time and not publicize details on the proposal, state television
reported. Ahmadinejad said Iran will reveal all the details
eventually, and it also "will record all the talks word for word" to
keep people apprised.
Iran's ultimate decision, Ahmadinejad continued, will be
based on the national interest. Iran is willing to negotiate, but it
consider its "nuclear rights - the use of the technology of nuclear
fuel production and nuclear technology for peaceful purposes - to be
part of our self-evident and legal rights and we will not negotiate
about our self-evident rights with anyone." Possible topics for
negotiation, he continued, are "mutual concerns," world peace, and
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. (Bill Samii)
IRANIAN AUTHORITIES DETAIN STUDENT ACTIVISTS. As unrest among ethnic
Azeris in Iran settles down, disturbances involving university
students are picking up. In the past week several student leaders
have been detained by plainclothes security personnel and are being
held at unknown locations. Such incidents follow protests triggered
by the Iranian government's increasing interference in campus
affairs. There are roughly 2.4 million university students in Iran,
and student affairs will therefore have an impact on national
politics for some time.
Plainclothes And Disappearances
The Iranian government's involvement in university
affairs includes dismissing popular professors, appointing
unqualified individuals to administrative positions, and manipulating
student elections. The most recent incidents involve the detention of
student activists by security forces. Much is made of these forces
being in plainclothes -- rather than in uniform -- because this makes
it difficult to determine the security institution with which they
are affiliated. Similarly, the detainees are frequently held
incommunicado at unknown locations.
Student activists told Radio Farda that on the morning of May
31 plainclothes security forces detained Abdullah Momeni, spokesman
of the majority wing of the Office for Strengthening Unity (Daftar-i
Tahkim-i Vahdat, DTV). Reza Delbari, another DTV member, told Radio
Farda that the security forces have been after the organization's
members for some time. The security forces, he continued, see no need
to operate within a legal framework because any action on the part of
the students prompts a disproportionate reaction.
On the same day, students at the Amir Kabir University of
Technology in Tehran held a lunchtime rally to protest the detention
of two classmates, ISNA reported. Yashar Qajar, the head of the
Islamic Students Union at Amir Kabir University, and blogger Abed
Tavancheh, who wrote about recent campus protests on his weblog, were
detained the previous week.
Student Abbas Hakimzadeh told Radio Farda on May 30 that
there is no news of Qajar's whereabouts and no one answers calls
to his mobile telephone. The authorities told Tavancheh's family
that he would be released after answering a few questions, Hakimzadeh
said, but that was days ago. Hakimzadeh claims that the University
Basij wants to bring the hard-line pressure group Ansar-i Hizbullah
onto the campus. Hakimzadeh predicted that the situation will quiet
down with the approach of exams and the summer holiday.
A Week Of Unrest
The detentions in Tehran follow violent demonstrations at
Tehran University and Amir Kabir University on May 22-23.
Demonstrating students at Tehran University objected to "the
prevalence of a police atmosphere at the university," "Mardom Salari"
reported on May 23. This has been a concern for some time. Last
November there were accusations of universities becoming "garrisons"
if the personnel responsible for physical security of the facilities
were given more extensive powers that might relate to
intelligence-gathering. More recently, students objected to plans to
bury veterans of the Iran-Iraq war on campuses.
Tehran police chief Morteza Talai said on May 24 that some
20-30 people were behind the previous night's unrest at Tehran
University, and he estimated that some of these people were not
students, IRNA reported. Eyewitnesses reported some injuries and
damage to parked vehicles, and Talai said 40 police were hurt.
Students told Radio Farda that some students are missing and others
were injured when police and paramilitaries attacked them.
Tehran police spokesman Mohammad Turang said on May 26 that
eight people were arrested for damaging dormitories. Turang referred
to "thugs" who make trouble, and added that foreigners are involved:
"Investigations show that a current from outside the university was
involved in the recent turmoil in the Tehran University dormitory. It
seems that these people are related to foreign sources."
Tehran was not the only place where disturbances involving
university students occurred during the last week in May. Students at
Chamran University in Ahvaz and at Kermanshah University complained
of interference in campus elections. The ones in Ahvaz also
complained that university authorities would not allow outside
speakers who were critical of the government, ISNA reported on May
23. Kermanshah University students also complained that the
university authorities refused to permit a seminar at which
pro-reform politicians would discuss the economic situation, "Aftab-i
Yazd" reported on May 23.
In other incidents, students in Kerman reported cases of
harassment, students in Zanjan and other places demonstrated over the
publication of the "cockroach" cartoon deemed insulting to Azeris,
and those in Shiraz reported restrictions on their activities.
The protests continued in the last days of the month.
Students at the Iran University of Medical Sciences staged a sit-in
on May 29 to protest against the refusal of the chancellor's
office to permit elections for the Islamic Students Union. Students
Union head Mustafa Vafai said efforts to hold the election began
seven months ago. He added that on May 28 the union was advised that
it cannot hold elections until its activities conform with "the
regulations regarding Islamic organizations." Vafai said the union
was told at an earlier meeting that its Student Day rallies, its
statements on the 2005 presidential election, and its publications
are objectionable.
Anger Over Election Interference
The main concern at Amir Kabir University related to
elections in the DTV, which now has two wings -- the more radical
majority in the Neshast-i Allameh and the more traditional minority
in the Neshast-i Shiraz (on student politics in Iran, see "Youth
Movement Has Untapped Potential").
Members of the two DTV wings got in a brawl at Amir Kabir
University on May 22, state television reported. The next day, the
conservative "Kayhan" newspaper reported that the Allameh wing was
trying to hold an illegal election and its members attacked another
student group.
The Shiraz wing of the DTV at Amir Kabir University submitted
a letter to the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology in
which it claimed that the other wing is trying to dominate the
student organization, "Kayhan" reported on May 23. It accused the
rival group of "denying the Islamic nature of Islamic associations
and questioning the principles of the Islamic Revolution and the
religion of Islam." It added that the Allameh wing has "been taking
positions in conflict with the Iranian nation's national
interests and in accordance with the country's foreign enemies at
different junctures and during the country's political crises."
The letter added, "they invite foreigners to interfere and meddle in
Iran's internal affairs."
Two University of Tehran students who were members of the DTV
central council explained in a letter to university Chancellor
Ayatollah Abbas Ali Amid-Zanjani that because neither wing of the DTV
could gain a majority in campus elections in spring 2005, they signed
an agreement in which five of the traditionalists and four of the
reformers would serve on the student council. Since that time,
however, the traditionalists have squeezed out the reformers, "Sharq"
reported on May 30. (Bill Samii)
IRANIAN OFFICIALS BLAME FOREIGN POWERS FOR NORTHWESTERN UNREST. As
unrest among ethnic Azeris in Iran continues for the third week
following the publication in the official "Iran" newspaper of a
cartoon showing an Azeri-speaking cockroach, Iranian officials are
accusing foreign powers of fomenting the unrest. Government spokesman
Gholam Hussein Elham said on May 29 that foreigners are encouraging
ethnic differences in an effort to undermine national security, state
radio reported. Such efforts will fail, he continued, because "Iran
has been able to create a united Islamic identity and culture by
respecting the ethnic identities, values, cultures and languages."
Elham added, "The people in this country are united, especially in
Azerbaijan."
Ali Nikzad, governor of Ardabil Province, also said on May 29
that foreigners are behind the unrest, Fars News Agency reported.
Many residents of Ardabil are ethnic Azeris and, Nikzad added, "Some
people arrested after recent disturbances were neither from the city
of Ardabil nor from the province. They were unknown people supported
by foreign [intelligence] services."
President Ahmadinejad told the cabinet in Tehran on May 28
that Iran's enemies are trying to incite ethnic unrest because
Iran will not back down on the nuclear issue, the Iranian Labor News
Agency (ILNA) reported.
Supreme Leader Khamenei made a similar accusation in a speech
to legislators on May 28, state television reported. He said, "The
last arrow in the quiver of the enemy against the Iranian nation and
the Islamic Republic is to sow tension and stir ethnic and religious
unrest."
Interior Minister Mustafa Pur-Mohammadi told a May 30 seminar
of provincial governors-general that the United States is behind
recent incidents of unrest in northwestern Iran, ISNA reported. "With
information available to us," Pur-Mohammadi said, "Americans would
leave no stone unturned in order to create division in the country."
Pur-Mohammadi charged that "our enemies have plans for every small or
major incident in the country," adding, "The American government is
trying to exert more pressure on Iran and create more obstacles and
predicaments for the country."
In the Republic of Azerbaijan, meanwhile, four organizations
-- the Movement for the National Revival of Southern Azerbaijan,
"Whole Azerbaijan," and both wings of the World Congress of
Azerbaijanis -- have formed a committee to support ethnic Azeris in
Iran, day.az reported on June 1. Opposition politicians from several
political parties attended the meeting; National Democratic Party
Chairman Iskander Hamidov advocated sending a parliament delegation
to Iran to assess the situation there. (Bill Samii, Liz Fuller)
CARTOON PROTESTS POINT TO GROWING FRUSTRATION AMONG AZERIS. The past
few days have seen a string of deadly protests in predominantly Azeri
northwestern Iran. What officially triggered the turmoil was the
publication in the May 19 weekly supplement to the Tehran-based
"Iran" newspaper of a controversial cartoon showing an Azeri-speaking
cockroach. Although "Iran" is a government-owned periodical,
authorities blame alleged "enemies of the country" -- a term
generally used to describe the United States, Israel, and Britain --
for the ethnic unrest. But regional observers believe the
controversial cartoon served as a catalyst for Iran's Azeris to
press anew for social, economic, and political demands.
The publication of the controversial cartoon prompted a swift
response from Iran's central authorities.
Cabinet ministers condemned the caricature, describing it as
"an offense to the Iranian people as a whole."
A Foreign Plot?
On May 23 -- the day after the first protests broke out in
Tabriz -- the country's judiciary ordered the indefinite closure
of "Iran" and the arrest of its editor in chief and its cartoonist.
But this did not help defuse tensions in the northwest.
As new protests were reported, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad
alleged in a May 25 television address that the unrest was part of a
foreign plot aimed at disrupting Tehran's efforts to acquire
"peaceful nuclear technology."
On May 28, it was the turn of the country's supreme
leader to enter the fray.
In an address to Iran's parliament, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei suggested a link between developments in the northwest and a
recent announcement that U.S. President George W. Bush's
administration is seeking a multimillion-dollar bill in Congress to
promote democracy in Iran.
"This tumult -- these ethnic and religious instigations --
are the last arrow left in the quiver of the enemies of the
People's Islamic Republic of Iran," he said. "They are wrong when
they plan to spend money with a view to stirring ethnic groups,
social classes, and the youth. As a rule their plans are based on a
wrong assessment of the situation. And now they've decided to
turn to Azerbaijan."
Stirring Up Arabs And Kurds, Too
This is not the first time Iranian authorities have blamed
domestic unrest on foreign countries.
Tehran accused Britain last year of instigating bomb attacks
in the southwestern Khuzestan Province, a region with a large Arab
population. It also blamed the United States for allegedly stoking
unrest among ethnic Kurds.
Touraj Atabaki teaches at the International Institute of
Social History in Amsterdam. This expert on Iran's Azeri minority
says there might be some truth behind Iran's claims of a foreign
plot. Yet, he tells RFE/RL he believes responsibility for the unrest
lies first and foremost with the central government.
"Of course one cannot confirm that foreign agencies or
[individuals] from [neighboring] Azerbaijan or Turkey, or from the
U.S., are involved," he said. "This is very difficult to [make such
accusations]. There might be some foreign involvement. But one can
neither confirm nor deny this. Yet, the [approach] of the Iranian
[authorities] toward social protests is very security-oriented and
based on conspiracy theories. They immediately come to the conclusion
that protests are instigated by foreign powers and they don't
want to see the social, local [reasons] of these protests."
Ever since Tehran quelled the short-lived autonomous
government of Tabriz in 1946, Azeris -- who make up to one quarter of
the country's population -- have been demanding more rights in
line with Iran's Constitution.
In the late 1990s, President Mohammad Khatami introduced
reforms aimed at giving ethnic minorities more control of their
respective regions' political life. But Atabaki says Ahmadinejad,
who took office in August of last year, is in the process of
reversing this policy.
Ahmadinejad Reverses Policy
"What Khatami did was to try to bring more local people into
the political establishment. Governors, mayors, and local officers
were elected or appointed from [amongst] various ethnic groups and
that was a trend that started some eight years ago. But now, [under]
the presidency of Ahmadinejad, we see that those officials who were
appointed [over] the past eight years [are being] replaced with
people coming from [other] geographic areas. Those are mostly people
who have links with the Revolutionary Guard."
Ali Hamed-Iman is the director of "Shams-e Tabrizi," a
reformist electronic newspaper that has its office in the capital of
East Azerbaijan Province. He tells Radio Farda the controversial
cartoon served as a catalyst for the country's Azeris.
"This caricature became an excuse for Turkic-speaking
students and people all across Iran," Hamed-Iman said. "It was a
spark that blew up the gunpowder of the Azerbaijani national
movement. It was like a knife stuck in the back of the [Azeri]
people, or to put it differently, in the back of the Azerbaijani
national movement."
That Azeri protests are going beyond the cartoon controversy
is confirmed by reports from Tehran.
As Khamenei was preparing to address the legislature on May
28, dozens of Azeris marched on the parliament before being dispersed
by police. Iran's student news agency (ISNA) said they were
demanding that their language be taught in Iranian schools and that
an Azeri-language television channel be established.
Difficult To Determine Meanwhile, what really happened in
Iran's northwest remains shrouded in secrecy.
Authorities initially said the protests were limited to
Tabriz and that one person was wounded and another 54 people arrested
during the unrest.
Subsequent reports, however, suggest the disturbances were on
a much broader scale.
On May 28, the top security officer of West Azerbaijan
Province, General Hassan Karami, said four people were killed in the
town of Naqadeh, some 150 kilometers southeast of Tabriz.
Various Accounts Offered This official death toll pales in
comparison to that given by the Southern Azerbaijan National
Awakening Movement (Guney Azerbaycan Milli Oyanis Harekati -- or
GAMOH).
The Baku-based GAMOH advocates unification of Azeris living
on both sides of the Araxes River, which separates Iran from
Azerbaijan.
The group says unrest spread across Iran's north and that
deadly clashes in Tabriz, Urumiyeh, Ardabil, Maragheh, Zanjan, Khoy,
Bukan, and other towns left at least 20 dead and scores of wounded.
It also claims security forces made hundreds of arrests and sustained
a few casualties at the hands of protesters.
The World Azeri Congress last week released a list of
casualties that indicated that some of the deadliest clashes took
place in Sulduz (Fesanduz, in Persian), a town GAMOH claims fell
briefly into the hands of insurgents.
Given the political agenda of those two organizations,
independent observers may find it hard to give credence to their
claims.
Yet, Atabaki -- who has just returned from Iran -- says the
protest movement "is spreading everywhere" and has reached Farsabad,
near the border with Azerbaijan. He also says the government seems
unable -- or unwilling -- to respond to the unrest other than through
coercion.
"They have mobilized mobs against the crowds that took to the
streets," Atabaki said. "They also started mass repression, [with]
arrests and imprisonments. They think this is the best way to tackle
the crisis. The point is that the government did not expect such a
[protest] movement, [that it would develop] on such a scale."
(Jean-Christophe Peuch)
AFGHAN PRESIDENT MEETS IRANIAN LEADERS. Afghan President Hamid Karzai
visited Tehran from May 27-28, Iranian news agencies reported. The
Afghan delegation included national security adviser Zalmay Rasul,
Agriculture Minister Obaidullah Ramin, acting Culture and Information
Minister Sayyed Makhdum Rahin, acting Economy Minister Amin Farhang,
Energy, Water, and Power Minister Mohammad Ismail Khan, Foreign
Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Interior Minister Moqbal Zarar, Public
Works Minister Surab Ali Safari, and Transportation Minister
Enayatullah Qasemi, IRNA reported. Governors from Farah, Herat, and
Nimroz provinces, which border Iran, were also in the delegation.
After his first meting with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad,
Karzai said Afghanistan would like to expand its trade and economic
relations with Iran, IRNA reported, and he noted Iranian
contributions to his country's reconstruction.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Karzai that
American and European interference in Afghan affairs is harmful to
Afghan progress, Fars news Agency reported. Khamenei also referred to
the flow of narcotics from Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium
producer, and the continuing dispute over the quantity of water from
Afghanistan's Helmand River that flows into Iran's Sistan va
Baluchistan Province.
Karzai also met with parliament speaker Gholam Ali
Haddad-Adel and Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki.
Also during the visit, agreements and memorandums regarding
prisoner exchanges and criminal extraditions, railway construction,
and cooperation in other fields were signed. (Bill Samii)
TAJIK OFFICIALS ALLEGE MILITANTS TRAINED IN IRAN. Zokir Nazarov,
deputy prosecutor of Sughd Province, told a meeting of provincial
security officials on May 27 that terrorists trained in Iran are
threatening Tajikistan's security, RFE/RL's Tajik Service
reported. "In the course of investigating the murder of the Nov
(Spitamen) District head, the security services identified a large,
centralized group of terrorists," Nazarov said. He added that group
members "polished their terrorist skills in military schools in Qom,
Iran. Apart from the individuals who have been detained, there are
more than 400 other individuals from the group trained in Qom with
various specializations who are active in Sughd Province."
Akipress.org reported that Tajik officials believe Islamic Movement
of Uzbekistan (IMU) members from this group were responsible for the
recent incursion by armed militants from Tajikistan into Kyrgyzstan.
(Daniel Kimmage)
**************************************** *****************
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
The "RFE/RL Iran Report" is a weekly prepared by A. William Samii on
the basis of materials from RFE/RL broadcast services, RFE/RL
Newsline, and other news services. It is distributed every Monday.
Direct comments to A. William Samii at [email protected].
For information on reprints, see:
http://www.rferl.org/about/content/request.as p
Back issues are online at http://www.rferl.org/reports/iran-report/
_________________________________________ ____________________
RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 9, No. 20, 5 June 2006
A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
******************************************** ****************
HEADLINES:
* TEHRAN RESPONDS TO U.S. OFFER OF DIRECT TALKS
* IRANIAN AUTHORITIES DETAIN STUDENT ACTIVISTS
* IRANIAN OFFICIALS BLAME FOREIGN POWERS FOR NORTHWESTERN UNREST
* CARTOON PROTESTS POINT TO GROWING FRUSTRATION AMONG AZERIS
* AFGHAN PRESIDENT MEETS IRANIAN LEADERS
* TAJIK OFFICIALS ALLEGE MILITANTS TRAINED IN IRAN
********************************************* ***************
TEHRAN RESPONDS TO U.S. OFFER OF DIRECT TALKS. One day after the
United States outlined its willingness to participate in talks
between its EU allies and Iran on the nuclear issue, foreign
ministers from the so-called 5+1 group (China, France, Russia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany) on June 1
decided on a package of "carrots and sticks" for Tehran. The proposal
is aimed at encouraging Iran to halt the most highly disputed aspects
of its nuclear program.
Yet Tehran has declared its disinterest in negotiating with
Washington, and proposals that it suspend uranium-enrichment and
reprocessing activities -- on which the United States conditioned its
participation -- probably will be rejected. Tehran may believe that
it has made irreversible progress and it can withstand international
sanctions, but Iranian officials have painted themselves into a
corner through repeated appeals to nationalism on the nuclear issue.
If Tehran reverses course now, it will be difficult to explain that
reversal to the Iranian people.
American Initiative
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on May 31 called on
Tehran to "immediately" suspend its uranium-enrichment and
reprocessing activities, cooperate fully with the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and implement the Additional Protocol of
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Rice mentioned greater
economic cooperation as an incentive, as well as a continuing
reliance on diplomacy to resolve the issue.
As soon as Iran fulfills these conditions, Rice said, "the
United States will come to the table with our EU-3 colleagues and
meet with Iran's representatives." The U.S. message was conveyed
to the Iranian government through the Swiss ambassador in Tehran and
through the Iranian representative at the United Nations.
Iranian state radio on May 31 described the U.S. overture as
a victory for Iran, asserting that "Washington is under immense
pressure by the American elite and other governments to hold
negotiations with Iran."
"Although it was difficult for the American authorities to
shift their policies and they are severely under the influence of the
Zionist lobby in their decisions, the fact that they agreed to enter
talks with Iran is a clear sign that their previous allegations
against Iran were untrue," the broadcaster continued.
State radio concluded by saying Washington must accept
Iran's decisive regional role because of Tehran's nuclear
achievements, its national solidarity, and its economic progress.
The rapporteur for the legislature's national-security
and foreign policy committee, Kazem Jalali, called Washington's
initial impulse a positive development, the Iranian Students News
Agency (ISNA) reported. But Jalali warned that its preconditions are
unsuitable, adding that the suspension of enrichment activities is
out of the question.
A June 1 headline in "Kayhan," the daily newspaper associated
with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office, announced
the offer as "America's Need Under The Mantle Of A Concession To
Iran."
Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki on June 1 rejected
Rice's proposal as nothing new, according to Radio Farda.
Describing Rice's statement as "ramblings," Mottaki accused
Washington of trying "to cover up [U.S.] crimes in Iraq."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said on
June 1 that there are no obstacles to such talks if they take place
without preconditions, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
reported. He added that the U.S. proposal included nothing new and
fails to respect Iran's rights under the NPT. The spokesman also
responded to Rice's charge that Iran supports terrorism, saying
the terrorism issue turns a spotlight on U.S. relations with Israel
and Washington's reactions to what he called Israeli crimes
against Palestinians.
State media remained seemingly unimpressed by the U.S. offer.
The director of the government's Islamic Republic News Agency,
Ahmad Khademolmelleh, accused U.S. officials of using their influence
over global media to "play games" in an effort to divert world public
opinion from the realities of Iran's peaceful nuclear program. A
state-television commentator said the U.S. preconditions bespeak a
lack of seriousness about possible negotiations. Washington, he said,
is merely "trying to convince others that it has shown flexibility."
Iranian commentators and political officials are likely to
formulate their own responses after the Tehran Friday Prayers sermon
of June 2 clarifies the views of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei. Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said in Malaysia
on May 30 that Iran is ready to resume nuclear negotiations with
Europe but is not interested in direct talks with the United States.
He cited what he dubbed "the bad temperament of the Americans,"
according to AFP. ITAR-TASS quoted Mottaki as saying that Iran is
willing to hold talks with Washington once the U.S. attitude changes.
Substitute prayer leader Hojatoleslam Ahmad Khatami said
during his sermon at the Tehran Friday Prayers on June 2 that
Washington's proposal to participate in nuclear talks with Iran
is not very significant, state radio reported. Khatami noted the U.S.
call for Iran to cease its uranium enrichment and reprocessing
activities, although he mischaracterized the offer as "the U.S. would
sit at the negotiating table if Iran were to stop all its nuclear
activities." Khatami went on to say the abandoning of Iran's
nuclear activities has been a long-standing U.S. objective. "This has
been their wish for the past 27 years - a wish that has been
continuously unfulfilled," he said.
'Carrots And Sticks'
In Vienna, meanwhile, the 5+1 group has agreed on a package
of "carrots and sticks" intended to persuade Iran to halt uranium
enrichment. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said on June 1
that the parties to the agreement "believe [the proposals] offer Iran
the chance to reach a negotiated agreement based on cooperation,"
according to Reuters.
Beckett went on to say that efforts to bring punitive action
against Iran in the UN Security Council will be suspended if Tehran
complies with IAEA demands that it suspend its uranium enrichment and
reprocessing activities. On the other hand, she warned, "further
steps" will be taken if Iran fails to take the desired steps.
Possible sanctions described by AFP on May 30 include an embargo on
goods relating to Iran's nuclear and missile programs, travel
restrictions for associated individuals, and a ban on Iranians
studying these fields. There also could be travel freezes for Iranian
officials and the blocking of assets belonging to the regime and its
officials.
Iranian officials have repeatedly asserted that they will not
forego uranium enrichment. Foreign Ministry spokesman Assefi said on
May 30 that the six countries meeting in Vienna on June 1 should not
expect Iran to do anything beyond that which is required by the NPT.
He said Iran will not suspend its nuclear research -- which is how
Iran defines its relatively limited uranium-enrichment activities.
Iran currently has a cascade of 164 centrifuges, and Assefi noted
that in some cases 3,000 centrifuges are used for research. Assefi
also noted that Iran does not recognize international limits on the
percentage to which it may enrich uranium.
Supreme Leader Khamenei told legislators in a May 28 speech
that Iranian scientists' accomplishments in the nuclear field
have guaranteed the country's energy supplies. Any reversals in
this field will be a complete loss for Iran, he said, as he praised
the legislature's approval of a bill to halt voluntary suspension
of enrichment activities if Iran is referred to the UN Security
Council.
In a June 3 speech at the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, father of Iran's Islamic revolution, President Mahmud
Ahmadinejad said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked him to take
his time and not publicize details on the proposal, state television
reported. Ahmadinejad said Iran will reveal all the details
eventually, and it also "will record all the talks word for word" to
keep people apprised.
Iran's ultimate decision, Ahmadinejad continued, will be
based on the national interest. Iran is willing to negotiate, but it
consider its "nuclear rights - the use of the technology of nuclear
fuel production and nuclear technology for peaceful purposes - to be
part of our self-evident and legal rights and we will not negotiate
about our self-evident rights with anyone." Possible topics for
negotiation, he continued, are "mutual concerns," world peace, and
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. (Bill Samii)
IRANIAN AUTHORITIES DETAIN STUDENT ACTIVISTS. As unrest among ethnic
Azeris in Iran settles down, disturbances involving university
students are picking up. In the past week several student leaders
have been detained by plainclothes security personnel and are being
held at unknown locations. Such incidents follow protests triggered
by the Iranian government's increasing interference in campus
affairs. There are roughly 2.4 million university students in Iran,
and student affairs will therefore have an impact on national
politics for some time.
Plainclothes And Disappearances
The Iranian government's involvement in university
affairs includes dismissing popular professors, appointing
unqualified individuals to administrative positions, and manipulating
student elections. The most recent incidents involve the detention of
student activists by security forces. Much is made of these forces
being in plainclothes -- rather than in uniform -- because this makes
it difficult to determine the security institution with which they
are affiliated. Similarly, the detainees are frequently held
incommunicado at unknown locations.
Student activists told Radio Farda that on the morning of May
31 plainclothes security forces detained Abdullah Momeni, spokesman
of the majority wing of the Office for Strengthening Unity (Daftar-i
Tahkim-i Vahdat, DTV). Reza Delbari, another DTV member, told Radio
Farda that the security forces have been after the organization's
members for some time. The security forces, he continued, see no need
to operate within a legal framework because any action on the part of
the students prompts a disproportionate reaction.
On the same day, students at the Amir Kabir University of
Technology in Tehran held a lunchtime rally to protest the detention
of two classmates, ISNA reported. Yashar Qajar, the head of the
Islamic Students Union at Amir Kabir University, and blogger Abed
Tavancheh, who wrote about recent campus protests on his weblog, were
detained the previous week.
Student Abbas Hakimzadeh told Radio Farda on May 30 that
there is no news of Qajar's whereabouts and no one answers calls
to his mobile telephone. The authorities told Tavancheh's family
that he would be released after answering a few questions, Hakimzadeh
said, but that was days ago. Hakimzadeh claims that the University
Basij wants to bring the hard-line pressure group Ansar-i Hizbullah
onto the campus. Hakimzadeh predicted that the situation will quiet
down with the approach of exams and the summer holiday.
A Week Of Unrest
The detentions in Tehran follow violent demonstrations at
Tehran University and Amir Kabir University on May 22-23.
Demonstrating students at Tehran University objected to "the
prevalence of a police atmosphere at the university," "Mardom Salari"
reported on May 23. This has been a concern for some time. Last
November there were accusations of universities becoming "garrisons"
if the personnel responsible for physical security of the facilities
were given more extensive powers that might relate to
intelligence-gathering. More recently, students objected to plans to
bury veterans of the Iran-Iraq war on campuses.
Tehran police chief Morteza Talai said on May 24 that some
20-30 people were behind the previous night's unrest at Tehran
University, and he estimated that some of these people were not
students, IRNA reported. Eyewitnesses reported some injuries and
damage to parked vehicles, and Talai said 40 police were hurt.
Students told Radio Farda that some students are missing and others
were injured when police and paramilitaries attacked them.
Tehran police spokesman Mohammad Turang said on May 26 that
eight people were arrested for damaging dormitories. Turang referred
to "thugs" who make trouble, and added that foreigners are involved:
"Investigations show that a current from outside the university was
involved in the recent turmoil in the Tehran University dormitory. It
seems that these people are related to foreign sources."
Tehran was not the only place where disturbances involving
university students occurred during the last week in May. Students at
Chamran University in Ahvaz and at Kermanshah University complained
of interference in campus elections. The ones in Ahvaz also
complained that university authorities would not allow outside
speakers who were critical of the government, ISNA reported on May
23. Kermanshah University students also complained that the
university authorities refused to permit a seminar at which
pro-reform politicians would discuss the economic situation, "Aftab-i
Yazd" reported on May 23.
In other incidents, students in Kerman reported cases of
harassment, students in Zanjan and other places demonstrated over the
publication of the "cockroach" cartoon deemed insulting to Azeris,
and those in Shiraz reported restrictions on their activities.
The protests continued in the last days of the month.
Students at the Iran University of Medical Sciences staged a sit-in
on May 29 to protest against the refusal of the chancellor's
office to permit elections for the Islamic Students Union. Students
Union head Mustafa Vafai said efforts to hold the election began
seven months ago. He added that on May 28 the union was advised that
it cannot hold elections until its activities conform with "the
regulations regarding Islamic organizations." Vafai said the union
was told at an earlier meeting that its Student Day rallies, its
statements on the 2005 presidential election, and its publications
are objectionable.
Anger Over Election Interference
The main concern at Amir Kabir University related to
elections in the DTV, which now has two wings -- the more radical
majority in the Neshast-i Allameh and the more traditional minority
in the Neshast-i Shiraz (on student politics in Iran, see "Youth
Movement Has Untapped Potential").
Members of the two DTV wings got in a brawl at Amir Kabir
University on May 22, state television reported. The next day, the
conservative "Kayhan" newspaper reported that the Allameh wing was
trying to hold an illegal election and its members attacked another
student group.
The Shiraz wing of the DTV at Amir Kabir University submitted
a letter to the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology in
which it claimed that the other wing is trying to dominate the
student organization, "Kayhan" reported on May 23. It accused the
rival group of "denying the Islamic nature of Islamic associations
and questioning the principles of the Islamic Revolution and the
religion of Islam." It added that the Allameh wing has "been taking
positions in conflict with the Iranian nation's national
interests and in accordance with the country's foreign enemies at
different junctures and during the country's political crises."
The letter added, "they invite foreigners to interfere and meddle in
Iran's internal affairs."
Two University of Tehran students who were members of the DTV
central council explained in a letter to university Chancellor
Ayatollah Abbas Ali Amid-Zanjani that because neither wing of the DTV
could gain a majority in campus elections in spring 2005, they signed
an agreement in which five of the traditionalists and four of the
reformers would serve on the student council. Since that time,
however, the traditionalists have squeezed out the reformers, "Sharq"
reported on May 30. (Bill Samii)
IRANIAN OFFICIALS BLAME FOREIGN POWERS FOR NORTHWESTERN UNREST. As
unrest among ethnic Azeris in Iran continues for the third week
following the publication in the official "Iran" newspaper of a
cartoon showing an Azeri-speaking cockroach, Iranian officials are
accusing foreign powers of fomenting the unrest. Government spokesman
Gholam Hussein Elham said on May 29 that foreigners are encouraging
ethnic differences in an effort to undermine national security, state
radio reported. Such efforts will fail, he continued, because "Iran
has been able to create a united Islamic identity and culture by
respecting the ethnic identities, values, cultures and languages."
Elham added, "The people in this country are united, especially in
Azerbaijan."
Ali Nikzad, governor of Ardabil Province, also said on May 29
that foreigners are behind the unrest, Fars News Agency reported.
Many residents of Ardabil are ethnic Azeris and, Nikzad added, "Some
people arrested after recent disturbances were neither from the city
of Ardabil nor from the province. They were unknown people supported
by foreign [intelligence] services."
President Ahmadinejad told the cabinet in Tehran on May 28
that Iran's enemies are trying to incite ethnic unrest because
Iran will not back down on the nuclear issue, the Iranian Labor News
Agency (ILNA) reported.
Supreme Leader Khamenei made a similar accusation in a speech
to legislators on May 28, state television reported. He said, "The
last arrow in the quiver of the enemy against the Iranian nation and
the Islamic Republic is to sow tension and stir ethnic and religious
unrest."
Interior Minister Mustafa Pur-Mohammadi told a May 30 seminar
of provincial governors-general that the United States is behind
recent incidents of unrest in northwestern Iran, ISNA reported. "With
information available to us," Pur-Mohammadi said, "Americans would
leave no stone unturned in order to create division in the country."
Pur-Mohammadi charged that "our enemies have plans for every small or
major incident in the country," adding, "The American government is
trying to exert more pressure on Iran and create more obstacles and
predicaments for the country."
In the Republic of Azerbaijan, meanwhile, four organizations
-- the Movement for the National Revival of Southern Azerbaijan,
"Whole Azerbaijan," and both wings of the World Congress of
Azerbaijanis -- have formed a committee to support ethnic Azeris in
Iran, day.az reported on June 1. Opposition politicians from several
political parties attended the meeting; National Democratic Party
Chairman Iskander Hamidov advocated sending a parliament delegation
to Iran to assess the situation there. (Bill Samii, Liz Fuller)
CARTOON PROTESTS POINT TO GROWING FRUSTRATION AMONG AZERIS. The past
few days have seen a string of deadly protests in predominantly Azeri
northwestern Iran. What officially triggered the turmoil was the
publication in the May 19 weekly supplement to the Tehran-based
"Iran" newspaper of a controversial cartoon showing an Azeri-speaking
cockroach. Although "Iran" is a government-owned periodical,
authorities blame alleged "enemies of the country" -- a term
generally used to describe the United States, Israel, and Britain --
for the ethnic unrest. But regional observers believe the
controversial cartoon served as a catalyst for Iran's Azeris to
press anew for social, economic, and political demands.
The publication of the controversial cartoon prompted a swift
response from Iran's central authorities.
Cabinet ministers condemned the caricature, describing it as
"an offense to the Iranian people as a whole."
A Foreign Plot?
On May 23 -- the day after the first protests broke out in
Tabriz -- the country's judiciary ordered the indefinite closure
of "Iran" and the arrest of its editor in chief and its cartoonist.
But this did not help defuse tensions in the northwest.
As new protests were reported, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad
alleged in a May 25 television address that the unrest was part of a
foreign plot aimed at disrupting Tehran's efforts to acquire
"peaceful nuclear technology."
On May 28, it was the turn of the country's supreme
leader to enter the fray.
In an address to Iran's parliament, Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei suggested a link between developments in the northwest and a
recent announcement that U.S. President George W. Bush's
administration is seeking a multimillion-dollar bill in Congress to
promote democracy in Iran.
"This tumult -- these ethnic and religious instigations --
are the last arrow left in the quiver of the enemies of the
People's Islamic Republic of Iran," he said. "They are wrong when
they plan to spend money with a view to stirring ethnic groups,
social classes, and the youth. As a rule their plans are based on a
wrong assessment of the situation. And now they've decided to
turn to Azerbaijan."
Stirring Up Arabs And Kurds, Too
This is not the first time Iranian authorities have blamed
domestic unrest on foreign countries.
Tehran accused Britain last year of instigating bomb attacks
in the southwestern Khuzestan Province, a region with a large Arab
population. It also blamed the United States for allegedly stoking
unrest among ethnic Kurds.
Touraj Atabaki teaches at the International Institute of
Social History in Amsterdam. This expert on Iran's Azeri minority
says there might be some truth behind Iran's claims of a foreign
plot. Yet, he tells RFE/RL he believes responsibility for the unrest
lies first and foremost with the central government.
"Of course one cannot confirm that foreign agencies or
[individuals] from [neighboring] Azerbaijan or Turkey, or from the
U.S., are involved," he said. "This is very difficult to [make such
accusations]. There might be some foreign involvement. But one can
neither confirm nor deny this. Yet, the [approach] of the Iranian
[authorities] toward social protests is very security-oriented and
based on conspiracy theories. They immediately come to the conclusion
that protests are instigated by foreign powers and they don't
want to see the social, local [reasons] of these protests."
Ever since Tehran quelled the short-lived autonomous
government of Tabriz in 1946, Azeris -- who make up to one quarter of
the country's population -- have been demanding more rights in
line with Iran's Constitution.
In the late 1990s, President Mohammad Khatami introduced
reforms aimed at giving ethnic minorities more control of their
respective regions' political life. But Atabaki says Ahmadinejad,
who took office in August of last year, is in the process of
reversing this policy.
Ahmadinejad Reverses Policy
"What Khatami did was to try to bring more local people into
the political establishment. Governors, mayors, and local officers
were elected or appointed from [amongst] various ethnic groups and
that was a trend that started some eight years ago. But now, [under]
the presidency of Ahmadinejad, we see that those officials who were
appointed [over] the past eight years [are being] replaced with
people coming from [other] geographic areas. Those are mostly people
who have links with the Revolutionary Guard."
Ali Hamed-Iman is the director of "Shams-e Tabrizi," a
reformist electronic newspaper that has its office in the capital of
East Azerbaijan Province. He tells Radio Farda the controversial
cartoon served as a catalyst for the country's Azeris.
"This caricature became an excuse for Turkic-speaking
students and people all across Iran," Hamed-Iman said. "It was a
spark that blew up the gunpowder of the Azerbaijani national
movement. It was like a knife stuck in the back of the [Azeri]
people, or to put it differently, in the back of the Azerbaijani
national movement."
That Azeri protests are going beyond the cartoon controversy
is confirmed by reports from Tehran.
As Khamenei was preparing to address the legislature on May
28, dozens of Azeris marched on the parliament before being dispersed
by police. Iran's student news agency (ISNA) said they were
demanding that their language be taught in Iranian schools and that
an Azeri-language television channel be established.
Difficult To Determine Meanwhile, what really happened in
Iran's northwest remains shrouded in secrecy.
Authorities initially said the protests were limited to
Tabriz and that one person was wounded and another 54 people arrested
during the unrest.
Subsequent reports, however, suggest the disturbances were on
a much broader scale.
On May 28, the top security officer of West Azerbaijan
Province, General Hassan Karami, said four people were killed in the
town of Naqadeh, some 150 kilometers southeast of Tabriz.
Various Accounts Offered This official death toll pales in
comparison to that given by the Southern Azerbaijan National
Awakening Movement (Guney Azerbaycan Milli Oyanis Harekati -- or
GAMOH).
The Baku-based GAMOH advocates unification of Azeris living
on both sides of the Araxes River, which separates Iran from
Azerbaijan.
The group says unrest spread across Iran's north and that
deadly clashes in Tabriz, Urumiyeh, Ardabil, Maragheh, Zanjan, Khoy,
Bukan, and other towns left at least 20 dead and scores of wounded.
It also claims security forces made hundreds of arrests and sustained
a few casualties at the hands of protesters.
The World Azeri Congress last week released a list of
casualties that indicated that some of the deadliest clashes took
place in Sulduz (Fesanduz, in Persian), a town GAMOH claims fell
briefly into the hands of insurgents.
Given the political agenda of those two organizations,
independent observers may find it hard to give credence to their
claims.
Yet, Atabaki -- who has just returned from Iran -- says the
protest movement "is spreading everywhere" and has reached Farsabad,
near the border with Azerbaijan. He also says the government seems
unable -- or unwilling -- to respond to the unrest other than through
coercion.
"They have mobilized mobs against the crowds that took to the
streets," Atabaki said. "They also started mass repression, [with]
arrests and imprisonments. They think this is the best way to tackle
the crisis. The point is that the government did not expect such a
[protest] movement, [that it would develop] on such a scale."
(Jean-Christophe Peuch)
AFGHAN PRESIDENT MEETS IRANIAN LEADERS. Afghan President Hamid Karzai
visited Tehran from May 27-28, Iranian news agencies reported. The
Afghan delegation included national security adviser Zalmay Rasul,
Agriculture Minister Obaidullah Ramin, acting Culture and Information
Minister Sayyed Makhdum Rahin, acting Economy Minister Amin Farhang,
Energy, Water, and Power Minister Mohammad Ismail Khan, Foreign
Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Interior Minister Moqbal Zarar, Public
Works Minister Surab Ali Safari, and Transportation Minister
Enayatullah Qasemi, IRNA reported. Governors from Farah, Herat, and
Nimroz provinces, which border Iran, were also in the delegation.
After his first meting with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad,
Karzai said Afghanistan would like to expand its trade and economic
relations with Iran, IRNA reported, and he noted Iranian
contributions to his country's reconstruction.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Karzai that
American and European interference in Afghan affairs is harmful to
Afghan progress, Fars news Agency reported. Khamenei also referred to
the flow of narcotics from Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium
producer, and the continuing dispute over the quantity of water from
Afghanistan's Helmand River that flows into Iran's Sistan va
Baluchistan Province.
Karzai also met with parliament speaker Gholam Ali
Haddad-Adel and Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki.
Also during the visit, agreements and memorandums regarding
prisoner exchanges and criminal extraditions, railway construction,
and cooperation in other fields were signed. (Bill Samii)
TAJIK OFFICIALS ALLEGE MILITANTS TRAINED IN IRAN. Zokir Nazarov,
deputy prosecutor of Sughd Province, told a meeting of provincial
security officials on May 27 that terrorists trained in Iran are
threatening Tajikistan's security, RFE/RL's Tajik Service
reported. "In the course of investigating the murder of the Nov
(Spitamen) District head, the security services identified a large,
centralized group of terrorists," Nazarov said. He added that group
members "polished their terrorist skills in military schools in Qom,
Iran. Apart from the individuals who have been detained, there are
more than 400 other individuals from the group trained in Qom with
various specializations who are active in Sughd Province."
Akipress.org reported that Tajik officials believe Islamic Movement
of Uzbekistan (IMU) members from this group were responsible for the
recent incursion by armed militants from Tajikistan into Kyrgyzstan.
(Daniel Kimmage)
**************************************** *****************
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
The "RFE/RL Iran Report" is a weekly prepared by A. William Samii on
the basis of materials from RFE/RL broadcast services, RFE/RL
Newsline, and other news services. It is distributed every Monday.
Direct comments to A. William Samii at [email protected].
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