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International reaction to the Mykonos verdict on April 10 has beenwidely reported, so we will only summarize it here.
• All EU countries except Greece recalled their ambassadorsfrom Tehran
• Germany expelled four Islamic Republic diplomats (Tehranresponded in kind), and announced it was calling off its "criticaldialogue" with Tehran.
• Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also recalled itsambassadors (Tehran announced it would halt all purchases from NewZealand... although the New Zealand government discovered noneexisted) [International Iran Times 4/18]
• The U.S. called for a tougher EU policy toward Iran.
• Germany's state prosecutor has opened a new file on ForeignMinister Velayati that could eventually lead to a court-issuedinternational arrest warrant against him.
• EU Foreign Ministers are scheduled to meet on April 29 todecide on further actions.
• In contrast to most reactions in Germany, former Economicsminister Juergen Moellemann, a Free Democrat, has called for astrengthening of the dialogue with Iran, saying that a Berlin judgecould not decide policy towards other states.
• Austria is contemplating reopening the investigation intothe murder of Sharafkindi's predecessor as KDPI Secretary General,Abdulrahman Qassemlou, who was killed by Iranian government agents inJuly 1989 in Vienna. Following a statement by FDI Executive DirectorKenneth Timmerman on Austrian radio on April 11, the oppositionLiberal Forum demanded that a special parliamentary committeeinvestigate the 1989 killings. [AP 4/13]
• Frances D'Souza, the chair of the International Rushdiedefense committees and the executive director of the human rightsgroup Article 19, wrote to the Europe's Council of Ministers urgingthem to contemplate Europe-wide sanctions against Tehran. "The onlyway in order to make it quite clear to Iran that you mean businessand that you will not tolerate terrorism anymore is by discussingsanctions," she said. [Reuters 4/11]
Shoreh Baddii, the widow of one of the Kurdish victims of theMykonos killings, praised the German court for highlighting the roleof the Islamic Republic political leadership in ordering thekillings, and said that exiled Iranians would now feel safer inGermany. She called the verdict "a great victory for Germanjustice....This victory is not only a victory for us, but a victoryfor all democratically-minded people in this country." [AFP4/10]
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah AliKhamene'i, has called the Mykonos trial a "U.S. puppet show,co-starring the Zionist propaganda machine and intelligence service,"the state-run Tehran press reports.
"Germany has left behind a very bitter experience and it shouldpay the price of its mistake. Germany has lost something it cannotregain easily, and that is the Iranian nation and government's trustin Germany's sincerity,'' Khamene'i said.
The Berlin court's action was "a mockery of justice" and had "novalue in the eyes of the Islamic Republic," the Leader told militarycommanders on the eve of Army Day, which is April 18.
The reaction of certain European countries to the Mykonos affairwas "very bad," Ayatollah Khamene'i said. "The Foreign Ministry hasbeen instructed to carefully register the behavior of thosegovernments in this meaningless show, so that it can be recorded inthe history of the Iranian people.'' [Iran News 4/17]
In a separate statement, contained in an official three-pageletter from Foreign Minister Velayati distributed to foreignambassadors in Tehran on April 17, he called the Mykonos verdict"unfair, ex-parte, biased and illegal... The abnormal and unjudicialbehavior of the court renders the ruling null and void. It is only apolitical tool to be exploited to distort Iran's image." [IranNews 4/17]
The Iranian Majlis held a special closed session on April 13 toreview Iran's relations with the European Union. Hassan Rouhani, thedeputy speaker of the Majlis, said the government had canceled aplanned visit by an Australian economic delegation. In a speechbroadcast by Iranian television, Rouhani threatened that "withoutdoubt, it [EU's actions against Iran] will be replied in kindby Iran." [AP 4/13]
He urged the government to "press the Germans for compensation"for huge contracts placed with German companies by the Shah andcanceled by Khomeini, including a 300 million DM contract to purchaseGerman submarines, and the 18 billion DM contract with Siemens forthe Bushehr nuclear power plant. He also called for the cancellationof Iranian investment in eastern Germany. He did not mention thebillions of DM Iran owes to German financial institutions. [IranPress Service, 4/13]
In Lebanon, former Hezbollah secretary general Sobhi Toufaili hascalled on the Lebanese government to expel the German ambassador toLebanon, to protest the Mykonos court decision. He said that Lebanonshould retaliate similarly to all countries who took action againstTehran in response to the Mykonos verdict. [UPI 4/13]
FDI has received reports from sources in Tehran that three - andpossibly ten - Baha'is have been executed in recent weeks. We willprovide additional information as it becomes available.
Four Baha'is were known to have been sentenced to death in 1996for apostasy (see FDI Newswire #24). In late February, the head ofthe Islamic Revolutionary Courts, Gholam Hoseyn Rahbarpour, said thatof them had been convicted not of apostasy but of spying for Israel.He named them as Musa Talebi and Zabihollah Mahrami, but did not makeclear whether they had actually been executed. [See FDI Newswire#37]
The Islamic Republic has outlawed the Baha'i sect and declaredthat anyone professing the Baha'i faith is an Israeli spy.
Iranian war veterans claiming to be victims of Iraqi poison gasattacks during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) held a protest marchfrom Ferdowsi Square to the German embassy on April 16, Iran Newsreported from Tehran. The veterans, some of them in wheelchairs, havebeen encouraged to file complaints with the Justice Departmentagainst German firms that supplied Iraq with poison gas componentsand technology in the 1980s. [Iran News 4/17]
On Friday, Deputy Majlis speaker Hassan Rohani asked the veteransto call off their sit-in in front of the German embassy, which hadbeen in progress since Wednesday, asking them to leave the case up tothe Majlis. [IRNA 4/18]
The head of the Judiciary branch, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, saidin Tehran on Friday that the Islamic Republic was preparing to suethe German companies, and warned that the Islamic Republic "has thenames of all the German officials who were personally involved inissuing export licenses for those chemicals to Iraq." [IRNA4/18]
The head of the Center for Victims of Chemical Warfare at theBonyad-e Mostazafan va Janbazan, Hamid Sohrab-pour, said that 118Iranian veterans have died since 1991 from illnesses resulting fromCW attacks during the war. The Center estimates some 100,000 personswere victims of poison gas attacks. Sohrab-pour said that 1,500 ofthem are still receiving constant medication. [IRNA 4/17]
The deputy head of the Bonyad-e Mostazafan, Dr. Farzad Panahi,said the Islamic Republic had spent "tens of millions of dollars" toclean up toxic waste after Iraqi gas attacks and to send some 500seriously-wounded victims to foreign countries for special treatment.[IRNA 4/18]
Iran has executed 13 people who were convicted of drug smugglingand killing several police agents during clashes.
The men were executed in seven cities in the southeastern provinceof Sistan-Balouchistan, which lies on the border with Pakistan andAfghanistan. The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, whichannounced the executions, provided no further details as to wherethey were carried out or the names of those executed. It noted,however, that government law enforcement agents had seized 1,540pounds of opium on Sunday during an "armed encounter" with"smugglers" in Sistan va Balouchistan province. [IRNA4/13]
More than 1,000 people have been executed under tough new drugenforcement laws took effect in 1989.
FDI believes that the total lack of information provided by thegovernment on these executions, however, raises strong suspicionsthat the regime may be using the drug laws as a vehicle for executingpolitical opponents.
As we reported in last week's Newswire, the KDPI has claimed that60 Iranian Kurdish dissidents have been poisoned using thallium innorthern Iraq.
Now an Iraqi Health Ministry undersecretary, Shawky Marcus, hasconfirmed that not 60 but 85 Iranian Kurds were being treated inBaghdad hospitals for poisoning. He accused the Iranian regime ofhaving contaminated their food with thallium. [Reuter,4/13]
Houshang Golshiri, chairman of the banned Iranian Writers'Association, has been permitted to leave Iran for Europe, accordingto the Frankfurter Rundschau. The paper said he was now in Amsterdamand plans to travel to Germany, where he has been awarded afour-month grant from the Boell Foundation, which is close to theGreens. Golshiri had to wait nearly six months for an opportunity toleave the country. In a letter of thanks to the Swedish Pen Club,Golshiri demanded on behalf of his colleagues "the complete printingof all works of all writers, without any ifs and buts ofcensorship."
The case of his imprisoned colleague Faraj Sarkuhi has recentlydrawn attention to the escalating persecution of writers andintellectuals, who are trying to find positions independent of theregime in Iran. [Frankfurt/Main Frankfurter Rundschau in German,4/5]
The editor of the daily Tus was convicted on April 6 of violatingthe press law and has been barred from practicing journalism for tenyears, because of a dispute with the Mashad Religious school.
The press court in Mashad found Mohammad Sadegh Javadi-Hessarguilty of spreading "false information" and determined that "thecontinuation of his activities will be detrimental to nationalunity," citing a February 1997 article in which he quipped that thecountry's public universities were more Islamic than its seminaries.
Already in 1995, Javadi-Hessar was jailed briefly for articlesthat "insulted" officials, and his paper has been suspended onoccasion since that time. [IRNA 4/8]
The United Nations Human rights Commission voted on April 15 26-7to condemn the Islamic Republic for its record of killing Iraniandissidents overseas. 19 members of the commission abstained.
The resolution, introduced by the Netherlands on behalf of theEuropean Union, also demanded that Tehran "provide satisfactorywritten assurances that it does not support or incite threats to thelife of Mr. Rushdie," and deplored the increase in the bounty offeredto Rushdie's killers by the 15th Khordad Foundation.
The resolution also cited "torture and cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment, including amputation and public executions."Tehran's ambassador to the conference, Bozorg-mehr Ziaran, said theresolution was based on "misinformation." [International IranTimes, 4/18]
Tehran has received praise for its treatment of human rightsissues from an unusual source: the Communist government of thePeople's Republic of China. During a trip to Beijing this week,Deputy Foreign Minister Allaedin Boroujerdi was reportedly told bythe head of the Foreign Commission of the Chinese National Congressthat "the proximity of views of Iran and China on internationalissues, especially human rights, is beneficial for both countries."[Iran News 4/16]
31,000 polling stations have been designated across Iran, deputyinterior minister Alireza Tabesh said last week. The campaignofficially begins on May 10, after the Council of Guardians rules onthe eligibility of the 12 candidates, who are required to officiallyregister on April 24. The first round of elections is scheduled forMay 23. [IRNA 4/11]
Mostafa Mirsalim, Minister of Islamic Culture and Guidance, hasbanned Iran's social, artistic, literary, cultural, sports, and laborsocieties, as well as Islamic associations, from any involvement inpolitical issues. His cabinet decree was seen in the Tehran press asa setback for presidential candidate Khatami, who has been vigorouslycourting non-governmental and cultural groups with pledges ofcultural and political openness.
Mirsalim specifically banned social groups which must obtainpermits from the government from supporting electoral candidates andany campaign activities. "If such groups embark on politicalactivities the results will be crude and will create disruption anddivision among their constituent members."
Referring to the point that recently some presidential candidateshave resorted to artistic groups, such as calligraphers and filmdirectors in efforts to win popular support, he said: "This move is anew deviation which, during this round of presidential electionsmight become worse unless the vigilance of the members of socialgroups as well as the country's administrator prevents it."[Akbar 4/6]
One group (and one candidate) appeared unaffected by the ban. Onthe same day as Mirsalim's decree, the conservative Jameh-eRouhaniat-e Mobarez (Military Clerics Society) released a statementfrom its branches in Shiraz and Kerman, announcing their support forthe presidential candidacy of Majlis Speaker 'Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri,the regime's hand-picked candidate to succeed Mr. Rafsanjani.[Tehran Times, 4/6]
The state-controlled media has been giving extensive coverageNateq-Nouri's doings as of late, treating his every utterance andribbon-cutting ceremony as a state occasion.
For the first time in Iranian history, a woman has declared hercandidacy for the highest elected office in the land. On April 15,Ms. Azam Taleghani, daughter of the late Ayatollah Mohammad Taleghaniand a well-known political activist, declared she sought approvalfrom the Council of Guardians to run for president. Ms. Taleghaniheads the Society of Islamic Women, and is editor in chief of amagazine called Payam-e Hajar. [Hamshahri 4/15]
The evening of her announcement, the BBC's Persian service askedMs. Taleghani whether she felt her candidacy would be approved."Article 110 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran doesnot say that only men can be candidates for President," she said. "Iam waiting to see what will be the reaction of the Council ofGuardians." [BBC Persian Service 4/15]
In a gesture lost on no one, Majlis speaker Nateq-Nouri headed forMoscow on April 10, the day of the Mykonos verdict, and won a strongendorsement from Russian President "We have good, positivecooperation with Iran, which shows a tendency to grow," Yeltsin said.Yeltsin was seconded by Gennadi Seleznyov, speaker of the RussianDuma and a Communist Party member, who called the Islamic Republicleadership "far-sighted." He added: "Iran like Russia does not seethe need for NATO enlargement, is opposed to a unipolar worldsubordinate to U.S. interests."
Presidential hopeful Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri gushed that "relationsbetween Russia and Iran are becoming so close for the first time inthe past 100 years." [Moscow Interfax, April 10]
Appearing in "Fox News Sunday" last week, House Speaker NewGingrich said that the United States should "consider very seriously"military action against "certain very high-value targets in Iran" ifthere is strong evidence linking a senior Iranian government officialto a group of Shiite Muslims suspected of bombing a U.S. militarycompound in Saudi Arabia last year. "We have to take whatever stepsare necessary to convince Iran that state-sponsored terrorism is notacceptable," he said. The indirect killing of Americans is still anact of war." [Fox News 4/13]
Gingrich was responding to new allegations that an senior IRGCofficer, Brigadier Ahmad Sharifi, had met two years before the KhobarTowers bombing with a Saudi Shiite arrested on March 18 in Canada,and may have coordinated the attack. Intelligence sources quoted bythe Washington Post noted that "the evidence of Iranian links to theSaudi Shiites suspected in the Khobar bombing includes bank checkssigned by Sharifi." [WP 4/13]
Apparently in a ruse to deflect attention from the Mykonosverdict, Islamic Republic diplomats in Uruguay are claiming that theyhave been victims of a terrorist attack at the hands of Israeliintelligence agents. "It was a Zionist attack," Tehran's ambassadorMohammad Ali Sarmadi claimed.
But the Uruguayan police doubts any attack ever took place.
"The administrative officer of the Iranian Embassy, who wasallegedly attacked by two individuals, is Iran's former wrestlingchampion and has desert warfare training," one of the Uruguayaninvestigators told the local press in Montevideo. "This man runsthree to four kilometers every day and is very fit." He added: "Hewould have killed both attackers in a second." The wrestler, 49-yearold Amir Haghjoo, 49, claimed he was hit on the head with a fullbottle of mineral water. The police investigator noted that Haghjoowas nearly bald, and yet had "not even a scratch" on his head.
He also claimed he was attacked with a barbecue knife. Saidinvestigators: "What kind of expert terrorist would park his escapevehicle on the other side of Artigas Boulevard."
Iranian Ambassador Mohamed 'Ali Sarmadi told the press that theUruguayan Police had arrested three suspects for the alleged April 4incident, but police said they had no suspects and no clues "except anickname the Iranian official said he overheard." [Montevideo ElPais in Spanish 4/8]
The United Nations Information Center said on April 7 notes thatIran's population will reach 109.5 million by the year 2015, and top170 million by 2050. The latest figures released by the UnitedNations put the Iranian population at 69,975,000 in 1996, of whom 46%are under the age of 15 and only 4% are 65 or older.
The UN said that during 1990-1995 Iran's population grew annuallyat a rate of 2.9%, with 38 life births per 1,000 . The death ratestood at 7 per 1,000, which is extremely low when compared to otherdeveloping countries, although this appears to be due primarily tothe youth of the population, not the Iranian health care system. Theaverage life expectancy is 67 years, while the infant mortality rateis 43 per 1,000 live births. [IRNA 4/7]