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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 9, No. 36, 3 October 2006
A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
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HEADLINES:
* SHAKE-UP IN EXECUTIVE BRANCH
* STATE NEWS AGENCY GETS NEW BOSS
* TEHRAN TIGHTENS CLAMPS ON PRESS
* STATE MEDIA CONTROL EXTENDS TO PROVINCES, AIRWAVES
* STATE CONTROL OF INTERNET STRENGTHENED
* SURVEY QUANTIFIES DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN
* PARLIAMENTARIAN DEMANDS GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
* AZERI DISSIDENTS CAUSE CONCERN FOR REGIME
* NO RESOLUTION AT EU-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS
* NORWAY, FRANCE INVESTING BILLIONS IN IRANIAN ENERGY SECTOR
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SHAKE-UP IN EXECUTIVE BRANCH. Abdolreza Mesri, the parliamentary
representative from Kermanshah, was introduced by President Mahmud
Ahmadinejad on September 25 as the new welfare and social-security
minister, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Pending a
vote of confidence from the legislature, Mesri will succeed Parviz
Kazemi.
An anonymous ministry official told the Iranian Labor News
Agency (ILNA) that Kazemi was replaced because he allowed
subordinates to simultaneously hold leadership positions in
businesses. The source claimed Kazemi hired incompetents and that the
ministry did not report on its activities satisfactorily.
Presidential adviser Mujtaba Hashemi-Samareh has been
selected as the new deputy interior minister for parliamentary
affairs, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) and the Young
Journalists Club news agency reported on September 26. He will
continue to serve as a presidential adviser. Interior Minister
Hojatoleslam Purmohammadi had resisted the appointment, fearing that
Hashemi-Samareh would bypass him in his dealing with President
Ahmadinejad. (Bill Samii)
STATE NEWS AGENCY GETS NEW BOSS. Seyyed Jalal Fayazi was selected on
September 27 as the new managing director of the official Islamic
Republic News Agency, IRNA reported. Fayazi succeeds Ahmad
Khademolmelleh, who resigned the previous day over a dispute with
Islamic Culture and Guidance Minister Mohammad Hussein Safar-Harandi.
Fayazi previously served as editor in chief of the daily "Qods" and
was a leading member of the fundamentalist Islamic Revolution
Devotees' Society, of which President Ahmadinejad is a founder.
Fayazi now is associated with the Young Developers (Abadgaran-i
Javan), another hard-line political organization created earlier this
year.
Also on September 27, Safar-Harandi appointed Kaveh
Eshtehardi -- the former news director at the conservative Mehr News
Agency -- as the caretaker at "Iran" newspaper. "Iran" has been
closed since May on the grounds that its publication of a cartoon led
to riots by ethnic Azeris, and the trial of the editor and the
cartoonist on charges of acting against national security and
creating discord began recently. (Bill Samii)
TEHRAN TIGHTENS CLAMPS ON PRESS. Journalists in northern Iran's
Gilan Province issued a statement on September 23 calling on the
government to lift its recent ban on the daily "Sharq" newspaper. The
plea argued that "banning a paper is tantamount to its execution."
Such concerns are unlikely to resonate with President Ahmadinejad,
whose government has adopted an adversarial attitude toward the
media.
Not only is the state closing newspapers that it views as
insufficiently sympathetic to the government, but it is also
restricting the sources they can use and the way they can cover
specific subjects. The effort to shape the news is connected with
governmental concern over how the public might judge its diplomatic
efforts on the nuclear issue, as well as a desire to control
information relating to elections scheduled for December.
Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham said in
mid-August that some media outlets have launched a smear campaign
against the administration, and he called for legal action against
publishers of such "slanderous reports," the dailies "Farhang-i
Ashti" and "Hemayat" reported on August 20.
Elham made his complaints in a letter to Tehran prosecutor
Said Mortazavi.
'Look What You Have Done'
At a subsequent news conference, reporters asked Ahmadinejad
about government efforts to stifle criticism of his administration.
He responded by blaming the media: "Look at what you have done to Mr.
Elham to prompt him to respond in such a way. Mr. Elham likes you.
You put pressure prompting him to write a letter. This is nothing
compared to numerous false headlines which some people publish."
The administration's actions and statements suggest that
it does not expect any media criticism, despite journalists'
traditional watchdog function. Furthermore, it sees it as a duty for
the media to report positively on government actions. That explains
why, from the Ahmadinejad administration's perspective, national
newspapers can be divided into two camps.
Those in the first camp, presidential press adviser Ali Akbar
Javanfekr says, "consider themselves as the supporters and defenders
of the serving government and voice support for its policies and
strategies," "Farhang-i Ashti" reported on August 26. Those in the
second camp backed the reformist government of President Mohammad
Khatami (1997-2005) and now oppose the Ahmadinejad administration,
criticizing it and opposing its policies, Javanfekr continued. Mostly
connected with reformist parties, he said, they understate the
government's strengths, look for weaknesses in its plans, and
portray events in a negative light. "The nature and essence of these
media are based on the objective of sabotaging the government,"
Javanfekr said.
Bans And Closures
Some two weeks later, the government closed the daily "Sharq"
(East) and the monthlies "Nameh" (Letter), "Hafez," and "Khatereh."
The Press Supervisory Board explained that in August "Sharq" had been
given one month to appoint a new managing director and the newspaper
replied the following month with a request for more time, ISNA
reported on August 11. The ban resulted from the newspaper's
failure to "reform itself," as well as its publication of a cartoon
that purportedly insulted Ahmadinejad. The daily also was accused of
publishing articles that insulted "religious, political, and national
figures," and it was accused of "fomenting discord," IRNA reported on
September 12.
The closure of "Sharq" was particularly noteworthy because
the publication had taken a consistently defiant approach in its
reporting. Other newspapers were either openly pro-government or, if
critical, affiliated with pro-reform political groups but practicing
self-censorship.
The "Sharq" shutdown was not the Ahmadinejad presidency's
first salvo against the press. The Press Supervisory Board banned
"Karnameh" in mid-August for publishing articles allegedly offensive
to morality and chastity, and Managing Editor Negar Eskandarfar
received a suspended one-year prison sentence. The same day,
pro-reform activist and "Cheshmandaz" Managing Editor Lutfollah
Meysami was found guilty of insulting and libeling the police,
propagandizing against the system, and publishing materials that
damage the system and the country. This was not Meysami's first
run-in with the law, as he was summoned to court in September 2003
for allegedly publishing falsehoods.
At the end of August, the Tehran Public Court sentenced Issa
Saharkhiz, managing editor of the monthly "Aftab," to four years in
jail and barred him from press-related activities for five years.
Saharkhiz was found guilty of publishing anticonstitutional articles
and of propagandizing against the Islamic republic's political
system. He also was found guilty of libel and publishing lies against
the state broadcasting agency. The licenses of "Aftab" and sister
publication "Akhbar-i Eqtesadi" were revoked.
The state newspaper "Iran" was closed in May for publishing a
cartoon in its Friday edition that offended ethnic Azeris and led to
riots. It remains closed. The trial of "Iran" Editor Mehrdad Qasemfar
and cartoonist Mana Neyestani on charges of acting against national
security and creating discord began recently.
Restricting Sources
The Iranian government is not limiting itself to closing
media outlets due to their publication of materials that run afoul of
vague laws or cross undefined red lines. It has also acted
preemptively by advising publications on the subjects they can
discuss and the way in which they can cover them, and it also has
taken steps to limit the sources that publications can use in their
reporting.
In January, the Intelligence and Security Ministry and the
Islamic Culture and Guidance Ministry instructed two news agencies --
ISNA and ILNA -- to coordinate their reporting on summonses, arrests,
or prosecution of student and political activists with the
government, Radio Farda reported on January 12. Rezai Moini of
Reporters Without Borders told Radio Farda that this is a "silent"
and "informal" process, and, since being inaugurated the Ahmadinejad
administration has been telling the press how it can report.
In February, the Supreme National Security Council -- after
the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
called for referring Iran to the United Nations Security Council --
instructed publications to portray the matter in such a way that the
country's diplomatic efforts seem successful and the public is
not discouraged. In March, the Supreme National Security Council
warned editors-in-chief to avoid publishing political analysis that
differs from the country's official policy.
Then, in September, the Ministry of Islamic Culture and
Guidance reportedly provided publications with a list of 24 "reliable
and valid" agencies they could use as news sources. Use of
"suspicious" sources -- defined as those that criticize the
Ahmadinejad administration or downplay the country's
accomplishments in the last year -- was forbidden. The acceptable
news sources included the official Islamic Republic News Agency
(IRNA) and state radio and television (Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting, or IRIB), as well as the Fars, ILNA, ISNA, and Mehr
news agencies.
Sensitive Time
International press watchdogs and human rights organizations
-- including Amnesty International, Freedom House, Human Rights
Watch, and Reporters Without Borders -- have reported critically on
developments in Iran over the last year. In the last month, observers
have been especially outspoken about the state of the media.
Committee to Defend Press Freedom spokesman Mashallah Shamsolvaezin
warned that the country's press is facing one of the darkest
periods of the last century, Radio Farda reported on September 6.
After the "Sharq" closure, Expediency Council Chairman
Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said restricting the press is
harmful to the national interest and added that it is almost
impossible to restrict the dissemination of information nowadays, the
Mehr News Agency reported on September 13.
At least two factors explain the timing of the current media
crackdown. The delicate state of nuclear talks involving Iran and the
international community is one factor. If the Security Council
decides to impose sanctions on Iran, the government will want to
control the way Iranians are informed about this. It will seek to
cast blame on other parties and avoid taking responsibility for its
own diplomatic failings.
The fundamentalist Ahmadinejad administration seeks to
control all information relating to the December polls for the
Assembly of Experts and municipal councils, furthermore, so that the
government's ideological allies will be elected and criticism of
the flawed election process will be muted. (Bill Samii)
STATE MEDIA CONTROL EXTENDS TO PROVINCES, AIRWAVES. Iranian
government efforts to steer public perceptions through media
restrictions are not limited to mainstream newspapers in the capital.
Provincial publications and journalists face mounting official
pressure -- especially among those dealing with minority affairs.
Official provincial television broadcasts are changing, too, in a
campaign that coincides with a national campaign to curb access to
foreign satellite broadcasts.
President Ahmadinejad's administration is hardly an
innovator in trying to limit Iranians' access to information.
During predecessor Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami's eight
years in office, more than 100 press outlets were shut down; there
were frequent complaints regarding the hard-line preferences of
broadcast media; and, in 2003, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC) used powerful transmitters in the capital to block shortwave
signals. Events at that time were mostly connected with factional
domestic disputes.
But these most recent developments could be part of an effort
to direct reporting on the nuclear controversy and influence upcoming
elections to the Assembly of Experts and municipal councils,
scheduled for December 15.
The Periphery
Press closures and official persecution of journalists occurs
in the outlying provinces as well as in the capital, Tehran.
Cases affecting minorities are a particular concern for the
administration, which in the past year has seen increasing unrest in
regions inhabited by ethnic Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds, and
others. Tehran often blames such incidents on foreign agitators,
rather than trying to determine whether protesters have genuine
grievances.
A September 13 statement by Intelligence and Security
Minister Gholam Hussein Mohseni-Ejei is typical, in which he refers
to enemy plots in the provinces.
In the northwestern city of Sanandaj in October 2005, the
cases of three Iranian-Kurdish journalists -- Ejlal Qavami, Said
Saedi, and Roya Tolui -- were referred to the Revolutionary Court on
the charges of acting against national security. The three were
arrested after criticizing violent state suppression of unrest that
summer. Tolui, who was released on bail in early 2006, said she was
tortured into confessing while in jail. She escaped to the United
States in early 2006.
More recently, Mohammad Sadeq Kabudvand, managing editor of
the banned weekly "Payam-i Mardom," was summoned in mid-September to
begin a jail term after being charged with "publishing lies and
articles aimed at creating racial and tribal tension and discord."
Published in Kurdish and Persian, "Payam-i Mardom" was distributed in
the Kurdish regions of Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and West
Azerbaijan provinces.
In southwestern Khuzestan Province, which is home to many
members of the ethnic Arab minority, the daily "Hamsayeha" was banned
in February on the grounds that it contributed to ethnic discord and
encouraged acts that were potentially harmful to the government.
A more recent incident occurred in the southwestern Bushehr
Province. The weekly "Nasir-i Bushehr" reported on August 20 that the
provincial governor-general had banned its correspondents from his
office. The weekly accused political hard-liners of using any means
at their disposable to criticize former President Khatami's
pro-reform administration but being unable nowadays to "even tolerate
a simple criticism made by their own party." The weekly accused the
current administration of using "security, judicial, and media
institutions" to block reforms.
Six journalists were arrested in northwestern Iran in late
May following demonstrations by ethnic Azeris. The arrested
individuals include "Ava-yi Ardabil" Editor Vahid Daragahi, and Ali
Hamed Iman, who was writing for local publications and was managing
editor of the now-banned "Shams-i Tabriz" newspaper. Also detained
were Ali Nazari and Reza Kazemi, editor and managing editor,
respectively, of the weekly "Araz."
Stoking A Fire?
In a recent report for The Century Foundation, a
public-policy research group that focuses on challenges facing the
United States, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner asserts
that unrest involving Iranian minorities should be seen in the
context of U.S. military plans. The author -- who has taught strategy
and military operations at the National War College and elsewhere --
writes that the United States is "trying to establish contacts with
ethnic minorities" in Iran. He takes at face value an Iranian
ambassador's claim that militants captured in the southeast
confessed to working with the United States. The author also suggests
that "the United States is...directly involved in supporting groups
inside the Kurdish area of Iran," although he does not source that
allegation, and he repeats Tehran's claim that the United States
shot down Iranian military aircraft on two separate occasions in
2006.
Recent statements by Iranian Islamic Culture and Guidance
Minister Hussein Safar-Harandi suggested that the Iranian government
harbors similar fears -- and could exploit them to justify repressive
measures against minorities, according to "Kayhan" on September 4.
Safar-Harandi claimed that Iran's enemies "have on their agenda
the creation of tension and introduction of ethnic issues." He argued
that "the ballyhoo on ethnic issues" was "partly supported by foreign
intelligence service." Safar-Harandi concluded that the press "would
follow the enemy's plans unwontedly" if it was "not alert."
Provincial Television
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting has 27 provincial
television networks. Minority groups occasionally decry both the
quality of the programs, which sometimes use disparaging ethnic
stereotypes, and their quantity, saying there is insufficient use of
minority languages.
In an apparent effort to address such criticism, Khuzestan
provincial television announced in mid-July that it would increase
its Arabic-language programming. The station's managing director
(identified as Mr. Assefi) said programs were under review and
audience reaction would be gauged, provincial television reported on
July 15.
In August, the director-general of state broadcasting's
provincial news and information department (identified as Mr.
Elmolhoda) vowed that reporting from the provinces would be improved,
Khuzestan provincial television reported on August 24. He said there
should be greater commentary and reporting from provincial news
centers.
Limiting TV Access
Television has significant reach in Iran. In a recent poll,
more than 90 percent of the population said it watched television the
previous day -- that compared with just 30 percent who listened to
radio and 31 percent who read a newspaper. More than 90 percent
identified local television stations as one of their top three news
sources.
There is no private television in Iran. State television has
seven channels that broadcast domestically, and Network 3 -- the
Youth Network -- is believed to be the most popular because it
provides sports and light entertainment.
To get more entertainment and access something other than the
official news, many Iranians enjoy watching satellite broadcasts --
although possession of the equipment has been illegal since the
mid-1990s.
Iran's legislature began consideration of a new bill on
satellite-reception equipment in the spring. The draft would make
producing, importing, or distributing such equipment illegal. It
would also authorize the police and the IRGC's Basij to
confiscate the equipment, and allow the creation of a domestic cable
network that would rebroadcast satellite programs that do not
contravene what authorities regard as "the values and principles of
the Islamic and national culture."
Confiscation of dishes in Tehran got under way in August, and
there were reports of confiscations in provincial cities -- including
Isfahan, Rasht, Sanandaj, and Shiraz -- in July. On September 7 in
the southern city of Abadan, police announced that they had
confiscated more than 100 sets of satellite-receiving equipment, Fars
News Agency reported.
In conjunction with these steps, the Iranian government has
made it illegal to cooperate with any Persian-language satellite
channel. The Islamic Culture and Guidance Ministry announced that ban
in late August -- proscribing interviews, advertisements, or any
other form of participation and warning that violators will be
prosecuted. (Bill Samii)
STATE CONTROL OF INTERNET STRENGTHENED. Media-freedom watchdog
Reporters Without Borders announced on September 28 that Advar News
(www.advarnews.org), a website connected with the Office for
Strengthening Unity student group, has been closed since a raid on
its offices by security personnel on September 19. The raid occurred
a little more than a week after an Iranian official announced that
the government is filtering public access to more than 10 million
websites. This admission underlines President Ahmadinejad's
adversarial relationship with the media and his administration's
attitude towards the free flow of information. It also shows that
Iranians are turning to other sources for information to the censored
print media and the bland broadcast media.
Ali Akbar Javanfekr, the presidential press adviser, said in
a recent interview that government agencies are setting up websites
because of shortcomings with traditional news outlets, "Farhang-i
Ashti" reported on August 26. "The existing mass media organs,
particularly the current newspapers, are not able to meet [state
agencies'] needs and demands for the dissemination of news and
information to the public," he said.
This suggests a grudging foray into governmental
transparency, but the Ahmadinejad administration is not about to let
the Internet become an open forum, and it got involved filtering the
Internet in late 2005. Forty-eight legislators wrote to Islamic
Culture and Guidance Minister Mohammad Hussein Safar-Harandi in
mid-December to complain about the increased blocking of websites,
and 12 legislators wrote to Ahmadinejad to request the removal of
filters on "permitted" websites. At the end of the month, legislators
called on Communication and Information Technology Minister Mohammad
Suleimani to explain the legal grounds for blocking access to some
sites.
Ramazanali Sadeqzadeh, a legislator from the northern city of
Rasht, explained that a small committee in the Supreme Cultural
Revolution Council monitors the filtering of websites, "Etemad-i
Melli" reported on January 26. The committee consists of personnel
from the Intelligence and Security Ministry, the Islamic Culture and
Guidance Ministry, and Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, and its
decision to filter a site is relayed to the Communication and
Information Technology Ministry.
President Ahmadinejad's fundamentalist administration did
not initiate efforts to filter the Internet, which in fact got under
way during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005). At that
time, however, control of Internet activities was initially connected
with the state's effort to reverse losses in revenues, and only
later was it related to control of information and expression.
In May 2001, many Internet cafes in Tehran were closed on the
grounds that they did not have permits. The authorities claimed that
the cafes were immoral, but it became apparent that the closures were
connected with Iranians' use of the Internet to make low-cost
international telephone calls. Some Internet cafes were offering
long-distance calls at 350-500 rials ($.20-.29 at the official rate
at the time, $.04-.06 at the unofficial rate) per minute, which meant
that the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone was losing
significant revenues.
Two years later, in June 2003, the creation of an official
filtering committee was announced and, within a month, there were
complaints that hosting sites for Persian language weblogs (blogs)
were being blocked. Forty deputies said in August 2003 that the post,
telegraph, and telephone minister must answer their questions about
the filtering of certain websites, which they claimed was being done
selectively and is a factional problem.
The Communication and Information Technology Ministry
announced in May 2006 the creation of a central filtering site.
According to initial reports, this facility would block access to
unauthorized websites, identify Internet users, and keep a record of
the sites they visit. The system administrator would have access to
this information.
The ministry subsequently denied that the filtering facility
could identify users and track their browsing habits, and it stressed
that it only wants to block access to pornography. There also were
acknowledgements that the previous methodology was imperfect, and a
"filtering databank" would be more precise and make fewer mistakes.
Ismail Radkani, the director-general for management and
technical support at the state Information Technology Company,
announced on September 11 that more than 10 million websites are
being filtered, the Iranian Communication and Information Technology
News Agency website reported. The majority of filtered sites either
contain immoral material or are proxy servers used to bypass
filtering, Radkani said, adding that the filtering software database
is updated automatically on a daily basis.
The Iranian government cannot refute the popularity of the
Internet. Therefore, the government is setting up Internet kiosks in
Isfahan and other cities. Each kiosk has a monitor and an industrial
keyboard, and people use them with a prepaid calling card at a cost
of 100 rials (less than $.02) per minute. Communications and
Information Technology Minister Suleimani announced on April 19,
furthermore, that a "national" Internet will be established this
year, state television reported.
Nevertheless, the government's closure of websites in
Iran and its blocking access to websites outside the country reveal
how much it seeks to control public perceptions. This could be
because the government wants to shape how people attribute
responsibility as Iran sinks into isolation because of the nuclear
issue, or it could be because the fundamentalist administration wants
like-minded candidates to fare well in elections scheduled for
December. (Bill Samii)
SURVEY QUANTIFIES DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN. A recent survey found that
in the March 21, 2005-March 20, 2006 year, there were more than 800
protests and other demonstrations in Iran, Alborz News Agency
reported on September 24. Some 71 percent of these events were
labor-related, slightly more than 10 percent involved unspecified
social issues, nearly 10 percent were student demonstrations, some 7
percent were political, and the rest involved cultural issues.
A demonstration in Tehran on September 24 organized by the
families of four women facing the death penalty was dispersed by
security personnel before it could begin, Radio Farda and ILNA
reported. The demonstrators gathered in front of the UN office in
Tehran to protest the pending execution of Kobra Rahmanpur, who was
convicted of killing her mother-in-law in 2000. She pled self-defense
and there was an alleged history of domestic abuse, but the
victim's son -- Rahmanpur's husband -- requested the carrying
out of the death sentence.
Human rights expert Mohammad Majidi told Radio Farda that
security personnel actually outnumbered the demonstrators, and many
of the demonstrators were arrested. (Bill Samii)
PARLIAMENTARIAN DEMANDS GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY. Hussein Nushabadi
said in Tehran on September 24 that the people expect the
country's chief executive to apprise them of his
administration's performance, ISNA reported. Their demands should
be met and they should know how cabinet members have performed.
Therefore, Nushabadi said, the government must produce a performance
report and submit it to the press. In this way the public can see for
itself that "the president is bravely present on all scenes and acts
firmly when public organizations need reshaping or refocusing." The
president should change cabinet members if there are shortcomings, he
said, because if he does not do so the legislature would be forced to
act. Nushabadi said the administration has done well in its first
year, although it raised expectations unreasonably by promising to
solve problems quickly. In some areas, he said, the government has
not reached 10 percent of its objectives. (Bill Samii)
AZERI DISSIDENTS CAUSE CONCERN FOR REGIME. As the Iranian government
continues repression of the Azeri minority, recent developments in
the Republic of Azerbaijan are sure to contribute to its concern.
In the Iranian city of Urumiyeh on September 24, security
personnel used force to break up a demonstration, arresting 15 people
and injuring two or three others, Turan news agency reported on
September 26. The demonstrators were calling for the use of Turkish
in educational facilities and the declaration of Turkish as an
official language. Currently, Persian is the official language,
although the use of minority tongues is permitted.
Participants in an international forum in Baku focusing on
the national movement of ethnic Azeris in Iran issued a statement on
September 12 calling on ethnic Azeri officials in Iran to "demand
that the Iranian government ensure the rights and freedoms of ethnic
Azeris in Iran," according to the Trend news agency. A related appeal
was also adopted calling on Azeris to "mobilize" in support of "the
national movement in southern Azerbaijan." The forum was attended by
representatives of nongovernmental organizations, civic groups, and
officials of several political parties.
In a September 16 meeting in Baku, Azerbaijani National
Independence Party Chairman Ayaz Rustamov signed a cooperative
agreement with Saleh Ibrahim, a representative of the Iran-based
Southern Azerbaijan Independence Party, Turan reported. The agreement
pledged cooperation in seeking the "establishment of a united
Azerbaijan and the formation of a democratic and law-governed
society," and vowed to pursue "joint measures against the Iranian
government's chauvinistic policy of national discrimination and
assimilation" against ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran.
Azerbaijani police forcibly dispersed on September 25 a
demonstration at the Iranian Embassy in Baku, ANS-TV and Turan
reported. The demonstration was organized to protest Iran's
violation of "the rights and freedoms of ethnic Azeris living in
Iran" and to show support for the National Liberation Movement of
Southern Azerbaijan, but police quickly broke up the rally and
arrested at least 10 participants. The demonstrators were also
prevented from presenting a petition to the Iranian Embassy calling
for the release of ethnic Azeris who were recently arrested at public
rallies in Iran. The petition also demanded that restrictions on
Azeri-language instruction be repealed. (Bill Samii, Richard
Giragosian)
NO RESOLUTION AT EU-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS. According to anonymous German
diplomats, Britain, France, and Germany are willing to resume talks
with Iran even if it does not suspend uranium-enrichment activities,
the weekly "Der Spiegel" reported, as cited by Reuters on September
23. An international proposal submitted to Iran in June offered
several incentives in exchange for a suspension and improved
cooperation with international inspectors, and UN Security Council
Resolution 1696 of July 31 made a similar demand regarding
enrichment. Tehran has rejected this demand. "Der Spiegel" added that
Washington will not participate in such talks until enrichment
activities are suspended.
Speaking to reporters in New York on September 21, U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States rejects
any conditions Iran might put forward regarding its nuclear program,
according to the State Department website. "Iran has been told by the
international community through a Security Council resolution that
they should suspend and if they suspend the negotiations can begin,"
she said. An anonymous "senior [U.S.] administration official" has
said that Washington has agreed to a new, early October, deadline for
a suspension of enrichment, "The Washington Post" reported.
Gholamreza Aqazadeh-Khoi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy
Organization, arrived in Moscow on September 25 and met with Russian
Federal Atomic Energy Agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko, Radio Farda and
Fars News Agency reported. The two did not answer reporters'
questions afterward, but beforehand they said they would discuss
bilateral ties, international diplomacy relating to the Iranian
nuclear program, and the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The Bushehr
facility's commissioning is scheduled for September 2007.
During the trip to Moscow, Aqazadeh said Iranian personnel
can complete building the plant if the Russians cannot do so. He
noted that the design has undergone many changes over the years.
Originally designed by Siemens in the 1970s, the plant was modified
by Russians after they took over from Germans, who refused to
continue work. Aqazadeh said Iran has no other choice but to turn to
the Russians, ISNA reported. Aqazadeh stressed Iran's need for
nuclear power, saying that high oil prices make nuclear power the
only economical choice. He added that the Energy Ministry has
conducted studies on power generation and these will be made public
in a month.
Upon his return to Tehran, Aqazadeh-Khoi said completion of
the Bushehr nuclear power plant will take place in September 2007 and
fuel for the facility will be delivered by March 2007, Iranian radio
reported on September 27.
In Berlin on September 28, EU High Representative for Common
Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and Iranian Supreme
National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani sounded optimistic
at a press conference following two days of meetings on Iran's
nuclear program. Both said that talks will continue, RFE/RL reported.
"Today, we talked about the procedures of the negotiations. And we
have almost come to a conclusion. We do hope to be able to embark on
the main negotiations as soon as possible." Solana echoed this theme,
noting "important progress" and adding that "some important issues"
remain unresolved.
The suspension of uranium enrichment, which is one of the
international community's demands of Iran, is out of the
question, said Supreme National Security Council Deputy Secretary
Gholamreza Rahmani-Fazli, state television reported on September 28.
Raising this possibility, he said, represents "psychological
warfare." (Bill Samii)
NORWAY, FRANCE INVESTING BILLIONS IN IRANIAN ENERGY SECTOR. National
Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Managing Director Gholam Hussein Nozari
announced on September 18 the signing one day earlier of a contract
with a Norwegian firm called Hydro Zagros, IRNA reported. Hydro
Zagros Oil and Gas is the name under which Norsk Hydro operates in
Iran, and the contract is for exploration and development of a block
in the Khoramabad oil field. Nozari said Hydro Zagros will invest
$49.5 million in the project. NIOC and the Societe General Bank of
France will sign a $2.7 billion financing agreement for projects in
the South Pars oil and gas field on September 20, Fars News Agency
reported on September 18, citing that day's "Tehran Times." (Bill
Samii)
************************************ *********************
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
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RAD IO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
_________________________________________ ____________________
RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 9, No. 36, 3 October 2006
A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL's Newsline Team
******************************************** ****************
HEADLINES:
* SHAKE-UP IN EXECUTIVE BRANCH
* STATE NEWS AGENCY GETS NEW BOSS
* TEHRAN TIGHTENS CLAMPS ON PRESS
* STATE MEDIA CONTROL EXTENDS TO PROVINCES, AIRWAVES
* STATE CONTROL OF INTERNET STRENGTHENED
* SURVEY QUANTIFIES DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN
* PARLIAMENTARIAN DEMANDS GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
* AZERI DISSIDENTS CAUSE CONCERN FOR REGIME
* NO RESOLUTION AT EU-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS
* NORWAY, FRANCE INVESTING BILLIONS IN IRANIAN ENERGY SECTOR
******************************************* *****************
SHAKE-UP IN EXECUTIVE BRANCH. Abdolreza Mesri, the parliamentary
representative from Kermanshah, was introduced by President Mahmud
Ahmadinejad on September 25 as the new welfare and social-security
minister, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. Pending a
vote of confidence from the legislature, Mesri will succeed Parviz
Kazemi.
An anonymous ministry official told the Iranian Labor News
Agency (ILNA) that Kazemi was replaced because he allowed
subordinates to simultaneously hold leadership positions in
businesses. The source claimed Kazemi hired incompetents and that the
ministry did not report on its activities satisfactorily.
Presidential adviser Mujtaba Hashemi-Samareh has been
selected as the new deputy interior minister for parliamentary
affairs, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) and the Young
Journalists Club news agency reported on September 26. He will
continue to serve as a presidential adviser. Interior Minister
Hojatoleslam Purmohammadi had resisted the appointment, fearing that
Hashemi-Samareh would bypass him in his dealing with President
Ahmadinejad. (Bill Samii)
STATE NEWS AGENCY GETS NEW BOSS. Seyyed Jalal Fayazi was selected on
September 27 as the new managing director of the official Islamic
Republic News Agency, IRNA reported. Fayazi succeeds Ahmad
Khademolmelleh, who resigned the previous day over a dispute with
Islamic Culture and Guidance Minister Mohammad Hussein Safar-Harandi.
Fayazi previously served as editor in chief of the daily "Qods" and
was a leading member of the fundamentalist Islamic Revolution
Devotees' Society, of which President Ahmadinejad is a founder.
Fayazi now is associated with the Young Developers (Abadgaran-i
Javan), another hard-line political organization created earlier this
year.
Also on September 27, Safar-Harandi appointed Kaveh
Eshtehardi -- the former news director at the conservative Mehr News
Agency -- as the caretaker at "Iran" newspaper. "Iran" has been
closed since May on the grounds that its publication of a cartoon led
to riots by ethnic Azeris, and the trial of the editor and the
cartoonist on charges of acting against national security and
creating discord began recently. (Bill Samii)
TEHRAN TIGHTENS CLAMPS ON PRESS. Journalists in northern Iran's
Gilan Province issued a statement on September 23 calling on the
government to lift its recent ban on the daily "Sharq" newspaper. The
plea argued that "banning a paper is tantamount to its execution."
Such concerns are unlikely to resonate with President Ahmadinejad,
whose government has adopted an adversarial attitude toward the
media.
Not only is the state closing newspapers that it views as
insufficiently sympathetic to the government, but it is also
restricting the sources they can use and the way they can cover
specific subjects. The effort to shape the news is connected with
governmental concern over how the public might judge its diplomatic
efforts on the nuclear issue, as well as a desire to control
information relating to elections scheduled for December.
Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham said in
mid-August that some media outlets have launched a smear campaign
against the administration, and he called for legal action against
publishers of such "slanderous reports," the dailies "Farhang-i
Ashti" and "Hemayat" reported on August 20.
Elham made his complaints in a letter to Tehran prosecutor
Said Mortazavi.
'Look What You Have Done'
At a subsequent news conference, reporters asked Ahmadinejad
about government efforts to stifle criticism of his administration.
He responded by blaming the media: "Look at what you have done to Mr.
Elham to prompt him to respond in such a way. Mr. Elham likes you.
You put pressure prompting him to write a letter. This is nothing
compared to numerous false headlines which some people publish."
The administration's actions and statements suggest that
it does not expect any media criticism, despite journalists'
traditional watchdog function. Furthermore, it sees it as a duty for
the media to report positively on government actions. That explains
why, from the Ahmadinejad administration's perspective, national
newspapers can be divided into two camps.
Those in the first camp, presidential press adviser Ali Akbar
Javanfekr says, "consider themselves as the supporters and defenders
of the serving government and voice support for its policies and
strategies," "Farhang-i Ashti" reported on August 26. Those in the
second camp backed the reformist government of President Mohammad
Khatami (1997-2005) and now oppose the Ahmadinejad administration,
criticizing it and opposing its policies, Javanfekr continued. Mostly
connected with reformist parties, he said, they understate the
government's strengths, look for weaknesses in its plans, and
portray events in a negative light. "The nature and essence of these
media are based on the objective of sabotaging the government,"
Javanfekr said.
Bans And Closures
Some two weeks later, the government closed the daily "Sharq"
(East) and the monthlies "Nameh" (Letter), "Hafez," and "Khatereh."
The Press Supervisory Board explained that in August "Sharq" had been
given one month to appoint a new managing director and the newspaper
replied the following month with a request for more time, ISNA
reported on August 11. The ban resulted from the newspaper's
failure to "reform itself," as well as its publication of a cartoon
that purportedly insulted Ahmadinejad. The daily also was accused of
publishing articles that insulted "religious, political, and national
figures," and it was accused of "fomenting discord," IRNA reported on
September 12.
The closure of "Sharq" was particularly noteworthy because
the publication had taken a consistently defiant approach in its
reporting. Other newspapers were either openly pro-government or, if
critical, affiliated with pro-reform political groups but practicing
self-censorship.
The "Sharq" shutdown was not the Ahmadinejad presidency's
first salvo against the press. The Press Supervisory Board banned
"Karnameh" in mid-August for publishing articles allegedly offensive
to morality and chastity, and Managing Editor Negar Eskandarfar
received a suspended one-year prison sentence. The same day,
pro-reform activist and "Cheshmandaz" Managing Editor Lutfollah
Meysami was found guilty of insulting and libeling the police,
propagandizing against the system, and publishing materials that
damage the system and the country. This was not Meysami's first
run-in with the law, as he was summoned to court in September 2003
for allegedly publishing falsehoods.
At the end of August, the Tehran Public Court sentenced Issa
Saharkhiz, managing editor of the monthly "Aftab," to four years in
jail and barred him from press-related activities for five years.
Saharkhiz was found guilty of publishing anticonstitutional articles
and of propagandizing against the Islamic republic's political
system. He also was found guilty of libel and publishing lies against
the state broadcasting agency. The licenses of "Aftab" and sister
publication "Akhbar-i Eqtesadi" were revoked.
The state newspaper "Iran" was closed in May for publishing a
cartoon in its Friday edition that offended ethnic Azeris and led to
riots. It remains closed. The trial of "Iran" Editor Mehrdad Qasemfar
and cartoonist Mana Neyestani on charges of acting against national
security and creating discord began recently.
Restricting Sources
The Iranian government is not limiting itself to closing
media outlets due to their publication of materials that run afoul of
vague laws or cross undefined red lines. It has also acted
preemptively by advising publications on the subjects they can
discuss and the way in which they can cover them, and it also has
taken steps to limit the sources that publications can use in their
reporting.
In January, the Intelligence and Security Ministry and the
Islamic Culture and Guidance Ministry instructed two news agencies --
ISNA and ILNA -- to coordinate their reporting on summonses, arrests,
or prosecution of student and political activists with the
government, Radio Farda reported on January 12. Rezai Moini of
Reporters Without Borders told Radio Farda that this is a "silent"
and "informal" process, and, since being inaugurated the Ahmadinejad
administration has been telling the press how it can report.
In February, the Supreme National Security Council -- after
the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
called for referring Iran to the United Nations Security Council --
instructed publications to portray the matter in such a way that the
country's diplomatic efforts seem successful and the public is
not discouraged. In March, the Supreme National Security Council
warned editors-in-chief to avoid publishing political analysis that
differs from the country's official policy.
Then, in September, the Ministry of Islamic Culture and
Guidance reportedly provided publications with a list of 24 "reliable
and valid" agencies they could use as news sources. Use of
"suspicious" sources -- defined as those that criticize the
Ahmadinejad administration or downplay the country's
accomplishments in the last year -- was forbidden. The acceptable
news sources included the official Islamic Republic News Agency
(IRNA) and state radio and television (Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting, or IRIB), as well as the Fars, ILNA, ISNA, and Mehr
news agencies.
Sensitive Time
International press watchdogs and human rights organizations
-- including Amnesty International, Freedom House, Human Rights
Watch, and Reporters Without Borders -- have reported critically on
developments in Iran over the last year. In the last month, observers
have been especially outspoken about the state of the media.
Committee to Defend Press Freedom spokesman Mashallah Shamsolvaezin
warned that the country's press is facing one of the darkest
periods of the last century, Radio Farda reported on September 6.
After the "Sharq" closure, Expediency Council Chairman
Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said restricting the press is
harmful to the national interest and added that it is almost
impossible to restrict the dissemination of information nowadays, the
Mehr News Agency reported on September 13.
At least two factors explain the timing of the current media
crackdown. The delicate state of nuclear talks involving Iran and the
international community is one factor. If the Security Council
decides to impose sanctions on Iran, the government will want to
control the way Iranians are informed about this. It will seek to
cast blame on other parties and avoid taking responsibility for its
own diplomatic failings.
The fundamentalist Ahmadinejad administration seeks to
control all information relating to the December polls for the
Assembly of Experts and municipal councils, furthermore, so that the
government's ideological allies will be elected and criticism of
the flawed election process will be muted. (Bill Samii)
STATE MEDIA CONTROL EXTENDS TO PROVINCES, AIRWAVES. Iranian
government efforts to steer public perceptions through media
restrictions are not limited to mainstream newspapers in the capital.
Provincial publications and journalists face mounting official
pressure -- especially among those dealing with minority affairs.
Official provincial television broadcasts are changing, too, in a
campaign that coincides with a national campaign to curb access to
foreign satellite broadcasts.
President Ahmadinejad's administration is hardly an
innovator in trying to limit Iranians' access to information.
During predecessor Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami's eight
years in office, more than 100 press outlets were shut down; there
were frequent complaints regarding the hard-line preferences of
broadcast media; and, in 2003, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC) used powerful transmitters in the capital to block shortwave
signals. Events at that time were mostly connected with factional
domestic disputes.
But these most recent developments could be part of an effort
to direct reporting on the nuclear controversy and influence upcoming
elections to the Assembly of Experts and municipal councils,
scheduled for December 15.
The Periphery
Press closures and official persecution of journalists occurs
in the outlying provinces as well as in the capital, Tehran.
Cases affecting minorities are a particular concern for the
administration, which in the past year has seen increasing unrest in
regions inhabited by ethnic Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds, and
others. Tehran often blames such incidents on foreign agitators,
rather than trying to determine whether protesters have genuine
grievances.
A September 13 statement by Intelligence and Security
Minister Gholam Hussein Mohseni-Ejei is typical, in which he refers
to enemy plots in the provinces.
In the northwestern city of Sanandaj in October 2005, the
cases of three Iranian-Kurdish journalists -- Ejlal Qavami, Said
Saedi, and Roya Tolui -- were referred to the Revolutionary Court on
the charges of acting against national security. The three were
arrested after criticizing violent state suppression of unrest that
summer. Tolui, who was released on bail in early 2006, said she was
tortured into confessing while in jail. She escaped to the United
States in early 2006.
More recently, Mohammad Sadeq Kabudvand, managing editor of
the banned weekly "Payam-i Mardom," was summoned in mid-September to
begin a jail term after being charged with "publishing lies and
articles aimed at creating racial and tribal tension and discord."
Published in Kurdish and Persian, "Payam-i Mardom" was distributed in
the Kurdish regions of Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and West
Azerbaijan provinces.
In southwestern Khuzestan Province, which is home to many
members of the ethnic Arab minority, the daily "Hamsayeha" was banned
in February on the grounds that it contributed to ethnic discord and
encouraged acts that were potentially harmful to the government.
A more recent incident occurred in the southwestern Bushehr
Province. The weekly "Nasir-i Bushehr" reported on August 20 that the
provincial governor-general had banned its correspondents from his
office. The weekly accused political hard-liners of using any means
at their disposable to criticize former President Khatami's
pro-reform administration but being unable nowadays to "even tolerate
a simple criticism made by their own party." The weekly accused the
current administration of using "security, judicial, and media
institutions" to block reforms.
Six journalists were arrested in northwestern Iran in late
May following demonstrations by ethnic Azeris. The arrested
individuals include "Ava-yi Ardabil" Editor Vahid Daragahi, and Ali
Hamed Iman, who was writing for local publications and was managing
editor of the now-banned "Shams-i Tabriz" newspaper. Also detained
were Ali Nazari and Reza Kazemi, editor and managing editor,
respectively, of the weekly "Araz."
Stoking A Fire?
In a recent report for The Century Foundation, a
public-policy research group that focuses on challenges facing the
United States, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner asserts
that unrest involving Iranian minorities should be seen in the
context of U.S. military plans. The author -- who has taught strategy
and military operations at the National War College and elsewhere --
writes that the United States is "trying to establish contacts with
ethnic minorities" in Iran. He takes at face value an Iranian
ambassador's claim that militants captured in the southeast
confessed to working with the United States. The author also suggests
that "the United States is...directly involved in supporting groups
inside the Kurdish area of Iran," although he does not source that
allegation, and he repeats Tehran's claim that the United States
shot down Iranian military aircraft on two separate occasions in
2006.
Recent statements by Iranian Islamic Culture and Guidance
Minister Hussein Safar-Harandi suggested that the Iranian government
harbors similar fears -- and could exploit them to justify repressive
measures against minorities, according to "Kayhan" on September 4.
Safar-Harandi claimed that Iran's enemies "have on their agenda
the creation of tension and introduction of ethnic issues." He argued
that "the ballyhoo on ethnic issues" was "partly supported by foreign
intelligence service." Safar-Harandi concluded that the press "would
follow the enemy's plans unwontedly" if it was "not alert."
Provincial Television
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting has 27 provincial
television networks. Minority groups occasionally decry both the
quality of the programs, which sometimes use disparaging ethnic
stereotypes, and their quantity, saying there is insufficient use of
minority languages.
In an apparent effort to address such criticism, Khuzestan
provincial television announced in mid-July that it would increase
its Arabic-language programming. The station's managing director
(identified as Mr. Assefi) said programs were under review and
audience reaction would be gauged, provincial television reported on
July 15.
In August, the director-general of state broadcasting's
provincial news and information department (identified as Mr.
Elmolhoda) vowed that reporting from the provinces would be improved,
Khuzestan provincial television reported on August 24. He said there
should be greater commentary and reporting from provincial news
centers.
Limiting TV Access
Television has significant reach in Iran. In a recent poll,
more than 90 percent of the population said it watched television the
previous day -- that compared with just 30 percent who listened to
radio and 31 percent who read a newspaper. More than 90 percent
identified local television stations as one of their top three news
sources.
There is no private television in Iran. State television has
seven channels that broadcast domestically, and Network 3 -- the
Youth Network -- is believed to be the most popular because it
provides sports and light entertainment.
To get more entertainment and access something other than the
official news, many Iranians enjoy watching satellite broadcasts --
although possession of the equipment has been illegal since the
mid-1990s.
Iran's legislature began consideration of a new bill on
satellite-reception equipment in the spring. The draft would make
producing, importing, or distributing such equipment illegal. It
would also authorize the police and the IRGC's Basij to
confiscate the equipment, and allow the creation of a domestic cable
network that would rebroadcast satellite programs that do not
contravene what authorities regard as "the values and principles of
the Islamic and national culture."
Confiscation of dishes in Tehran got under way in August, and
there were reports of confiscations in provincial cities -- including
Isfahan, Rasht, Sanandaj, and Shiraz -- in July. On September 7 in
the southern city of Abadan, police announced that they had
confiscated more than 100 sets of satellite-receiving equipment, Fars
News Agency reported.
In conjunction with these steps, the Iranian government has
made it illegal to cooperate with any Persian-language satellite
channel. The Islamic Culture and Guidance Ministry announced that ban
in late August -- proscribing interviews, advertisements, or any
other form of participation and warning that violators will be
prosecuted. (Bill Samii)
STATE CONTROL OF INTERNET STRENGTHENED. Media-freedom watchdog
Reporters Without Borders announced on September 28 that Advar News
(www.advarnews.org), a website connected with the Office for
Strengthening Unity student group, has been closed since a raid on
its offices by security personnel on September 19. The raid occurred
a little more than a week after an Iranian official announced that
the government is filtering public access to more than 10 million
websites. This admission underlines President Ahmadinejad's
adversarial relationship with the media and his administration's
attitude towards the free flow of information. It also shows that
Iranians are turning to other sources for information to the censored
print media and the bland broadcast media.
Ali Akbar Javanfekr, the presidential press adviser, said in
a recent interview that government agencies are setting up websites
because of shortcomings with traditional news outlets, "Farhang-i
Ashti" reported on August 26. "The existing mass media organs,
particularly the current newspapers, are not able to meet [state
agencies'] needs and demands for the dissemination of news and
information to the public," he said.
This suggests a grudging foray into governmental
transparency, but the Ahmadinejad administration is not about to let
the Internet become an open forum, and it got involved filtering the
Internet in late 2005. Forty-eight legislators wrote to Islamic
Culture and Guidance Minister Mohammad Hussein Safar-Harandi in
mid-December to complain about the increased blocking of websites,
and 12 legislators wrote to Ahmadinejad to request the removal of
filters on "permitted" websites. At the end of the month, legislators
called on Communication and Information Technology Minister Mohammad
Suleimani to explain the legal grounds for blocking access to some
sites.
Ramazanali Sadeqzadeh, a legislator from the northern city of
Rasht, explained that a small committee in the Supreme Cultural
Revolution Council monitors the filtering of websites, "Etemad-i
Melli" reported on January 26. The committee consists of personnel
from the Intelligence and Security Ministry, the Islamic Culture and
Guidance Ministry, and Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, and its
decision to filter a site is relayed to the Communication and
Information Technology Ministry.
President Ahmadinejad's fundamentalist administration did
not initiate efforts to filter the Internet, which in fact got under
way during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005). At that
time, however, control of Internet activities was initially connected
with the state's effort to reverse losses in revenues, and only
later was it related to control of information and expression.
In May 2001, many Internet cafes in Tehran were closed on the
grounds that they did not have permits. The authorities claimed that
the cafes were immoral, but it became apparent that the closures were
connected with Iranians' use of the Internet to make low-cost
international telephone calls. Some Internet cafes were offering
long-distance calls at 350-500 rials ($.20-.29 at the official rate
at the time, $.04-.06 at the unofficial rate) per minute, which meant
that the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone was losing
significant revenues.
Two years later, in June 2003, the creation of an official
filtering committee was announced and, within a month, there were
complaints that hosting sites for Persian language weblogs (blogs)
were being blocked. Forty deputies said in August 2003 that the post,
telegraph, and telephone minister must answer their questions about
the filtering of certain websites, which they claimed was being done
selectively and is a factional problem.
The Communication and Information Technology Ministry
announced in May 2006 the creation of a central filtering site.
According to initial reports, this facility would block access to
unauthorized websites, identify Internet users, and keep a record of
the sites they visit. The system administrator would have access to
this information.
The ministry subsequently denied that the filtering facility
could identify users and track their browsing habits, and it stressed
that it only wants to block access to pornography. There also were
acknowledgements that the previous methodology was imperfect, and a
"filtering databank" would be more precise and make fewer mistakes.
Ismail Radkani, the director-general for management and
technical support at the state Information Technology Company,
announced on September 11 that more than 10 million websites are
being filtered, the Iranian Communication and Information Technology
News Agency website reported. The majority of filtered sites either
contain immoral material or are proxy servers used to bypass
filtering, Radkani said, adding that the filtering software database
is updated automatically on a daily basis.
The Iranian government cannot refute the popularity of the
Internet. Therefore, the government is setting up Internet kiosks in
Isfahan and other cities. Each kiosk has a monitor and an industrial
keyboard, and people use them with a prepaid calling card at a cost
of 100 rials (less than $.02) per minute. Communications and
Information Technology Minister Suleimani announced on April 19,
furthermore, that a "national" Internet will be established this
year, state television reported.
Nevertheless, the government's closure of websites in
Iran and its blocking access to websites outside the country reveal
how much it seeks to control public perceptions. This could be
because the government wants to shape how people attribute
responsibility as Iran sinks into isolation because of the nuclear
issue, or it could be because the fundamentalist administration wants
like-minded candidates to fare well in elections scheduled for
December. (Bill Samii)
SURVEY QUANTIFIES DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN. A recent survey found that
in the March 21, 2005-March 20, 2006 year, there were more than 800
protests and other demonstrations in Iran, Alborz News Agency
reported on September 24. Some 71 percent of these events were
labor-related, slightly more than 10 percent involved unspecified
social issues, nearly 10 percent were student demonstrations, some 7
percent were political, and the rest involved cultural issues.
A demonstration in Tehran on September 24 organized by the
families of four women facing the death penalty was dispersed by
security personnel before it could begin, Radio Farda and ILNA
reported. The demonstrators gathered in front of the UN office in
Tehran to protest the pending execution of Kobra Rahmanpur, who was
convicted of killing her mother-in-law in 2000. She pled self-defense
and there was an alleged history of domestic abuse, but the
victim's son -- Rahmanpur's husband -- requested the carrying
out of the death sentence.
Human rights expert Mohammad Majidi told Radio Farda that
security personnel actually outnumbered the demonstrators, and many
of the demonstrators were arrested. (Bill Samii)
PARLIAMENTARIAN DEMANDS GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY. Hussein Nushabadi
said in Tehran on September 24 that the people expect the
country's chief executive to apprise them of his
administration's performance, ISNA reported. Their demands should
be met and they should know how cabinet members have performed.
Therefore, Nushabadi said, the government must produce a performance
report and submit it to the press. In this way the public can see for
itself that "the president is bravely present on all scenes and acts
firmly when public organizations need reshaping or refocusing." The
president should change cabinet members if there are shortcomings, he
said, because if he does not do so the legislature would be forced to
act. Nushabadi said the administration has done well in its first
year, although it raised expectations unreasonably by promising to
solve problems quickly. In some areas, he said, the government has
not reached 10 percent of its objectives. (Bill Samii)
AZERI DISSIDENTS CAUSE CONCERN FOR REGIME. As the Iranian government
continues repression of the Azeri minority, recent developments in
the Republic of Azerbaijan are sure to contribute to its concern.
In the Iranian city of Urumiyeh on September 24, security
personnel used force to break up a demonstration, arresting 15 people
and injuring two or three others, Turan news agency reported on
September 26. The demonstrators were calling for the use of Turkish
in educational facilities and the declaration of Turkish as an
official language. Currently, Persian is the official language,
although the use of minority tongues is permitted.
Participants in an international forum in Baku focusing on
the national movement of ethnic Azeris in Iran issued a statement on
September 12 calling on ethnic Azeri officials in Iran to "demand
that the Iranian government ensure the rights and freedoms of ethnic
Azeris in Iran," according to the Trend news agency. A related appeal
was also adopted calling on Azeris to "mobilize" in support of "the
national movement in southern Azerbaijan." The forum was attended by
representatives of nongovernmental organizations, civic groups, and
officials of several political parties.
In a September 16 meeting in Baku, Azerbaijani National
Independence Party Chairman Ayaz Rustamov signed a cooperative
agreement with Saleh Ibrahim, a representative of the Iran-based
Southern Azerbaijan Independence Party, Turan reported. The agreement
pledged cooperation in seeking the "establishment of a united
Azerbaijan and the formation of a democratic and law-governed
society," and vowed to pursue "joint measures against the Iranian
government's chauvinistic policy of national discrimination and
assimilation" against ethnic Azerbaijanis in Iran.
Azerbaijani police forcibly dispersed on September 25 a
demonstration at the Iranian Embassy in Baku, ANS-TV and Turan
reported. The demonstration was organized to protest Iran's
violation of "the rights and freedoms of ethnic Azeris living in
Iran" and to show support for the National Liberation Movement of
Southern Azerbaijan, but police quickly broke up the rally and
arrested at least 10 participants. The demonstrators were also
prevented from presenting a petition to the Iranian Embassy calling
for the release of ethnic Azeris who were recently arrested at public
rallies in Iran. The petition also demanded that restrictions on
Azeri-language instruction be repealed. (Bill Samii, Richard
Giragosian)
NO RESOLUTION AT EU-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS. According to anonymous German
diplomats, Britain, France, and Germany are willing to resume talks
with Iran even if it does not suspend uranium-enrichment activities,
the weekly "Der Spiegel" reported, as cited by Reuters on September
23. An international proposal submitted to Iran in June offered
several incentives in exchange for a suspension and improved
cooperation with international inspectors, and UN Security Council
Resolution 1696 of July 31 made a similar demand regarding
enrichment. Tehran has rejected this demand. "Der Spiegel" added that
Washington will not participate in such talks until enrichment
activities are suspended.
Speaking to reporters in New York on September 21, U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States rejects
any conditions Iran might put forward regarding its nuclear program,
according to the State Department website. "Iran has been told by the
international community through a Security Council resolution that
they should suspend and if they suspend the negotiations can begin,"
she said. An anonymous "senior [U.S.] administration official" has
said that Washington has agreed to a new, early October, deadline for
a suspension of enrichment, "The Washington Post" reported.
Gholamreza Aqazadeh-Khoi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy
Organization, arrived in Moscow on September 25 and met with Russian
Federal Atomic Energy Agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko, Radio Farda and
Fars News Agency reported. The two did not answer reporters'
questions afterward, but beforehand they said they would discuss
bilateral ties, international diplomacy relating to the Iranian
nuclear program, and the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The Bushehr
facility's commissioning is scheduled for September 2007.
During the trip to Moscow, Aqazadeh said Iranian personnel
can complete building the plant if the Russians cannot do so. He
noted that the design has undergone many changes over the years.
Originally designed by Siemens in the 1970s, the plant was modified
by Russians after they took over from Germans, who refused to
continue work. Aqazadeh said Iran has no other choice but to turn to
the Russians, ISNA reported. Aqazadeh stressed Iran's need for
nuclear power, saying that high oil prices make nuclear power the
only economical choice. He added that the Energy Ministry has
conducted studies on power generation and these will be made public
in a month.
Upon his return to Tehran, Aqazadeh-Khoi said completion of
the Bushehr nuclear power plant will take place in September 2007 and
fuel for the facility will be delivered by March 2007, Iranian radio
reported on September 27.
In Berlin on September 28, EU High Representative for Common
Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and Iranian Supreme
National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani sounded optimistic
at a press conference following two days of meetings on Iran's
nuclear program. Both said that talks will continue, RFE/RL reported.
"Today, we talked about the procedures of the negotiations. And we
have almost come to a conclusion. We do hope to be able to embark on
the main negotiations as soon as possible." Solana echoed this theme,
noting "important progress" and adding that "some important issues"
remain unresolved.
The suspension of uranium enrichment, which is one of the
international community's demands of Iran, is out of the
question, said Supreme National Security Council Deputy Secretary
Gholamreza Rahmani-Fazli, state television reported on September 28.
Raising this possibility, he said, represents "psychological
warfare." (Bill Samii)
NORWAY, FRANCE INVESTING BILLIONS IN IRANIAN ENERGY SECTOR. National
Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Managing Director Gholam Hussein Nozari
announced on September 18 the signing one day earlier of a contract
with a Norwegian firm called Hydro Zagros, IRNA reported. Hydro
Zagros Oil and Gas is the name under which Norsk Hydro operates in
Iran, and the contract is for exploration and development of a block
in the Khoramabad oil field. Nozari said Hydro Zagros will invest
$49.5 million in the project. NIOC and the Societe General Bank of
France will sign a $2.7 billion financing agreement for projects in
the South Pars oil and gas field on September 20, Fars News Agency
reported on September 18, citing that day's "Tehran Times." (Bill
Samii)
************************************ *********************
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
The "RFE/RL Iran Report" is a weekly prepared by A. William Samii on
the basis of materials from RFE/RL broadcast services, RFE/RL
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