June 13, 2000: Join FDI Executive Director Kenneth R. Timmerman on Pars TV in Los Angeles, commenting on the death of Syrian President Hafez al Assad and the situation in Iran. This live call-in show begins at 5-6PM Pacific time. Studio line: 818-708-6666.
May 20, 2000: FDI Executive Director Timmerssman explains his proposed "Iran Asset Recovery Act" to a conference in Los Angeles on Human Rights Violations in Iran, sponsored by MEHR Iran (Mission for the Establishment of Human Rights in Iran).
April 24, 2000: Press closures and arrests show limits of Khatami reforms. See also the commentary by FDI Director and former U.S. Senate candidate Kenneth Timmerman on Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's recent opening toward the Islamic Republic that appeared in the April 14 edition of The Forward.
January 16, 2000: Selections from the
December issue of The Iran Brief are now available on-line.
Highlights: An analysis of contradictory moves by the U.S., as
President Clinton seeks to open relations with the Islamic Republic
as part of his "legacy" as president; new information on the 1998
"serial murders" of Iranian dissidents; Europe takes the lead in
criticizing Tehrarednew.gifn for jailing
reformist cleric Abdallah Nouri; evidence of recent Iranian
government terrorism; and a blocked shipment of weapons production
gear from China.
January 10, 2000: The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is in mourning over the death yesterday in Paris of board member Mehdi Rouhani, from pancreatic cancer. Ayatollah Rouhani, the leader of the Shiite Muslim community in Europe and an outspoken opponent of the Tehran regime, was 67. He died at home, surrounded by his immediate family.Over his long and distinguished career, Dr. Rouhani constantly emphasized religious tolerance, and sought to build bridges among the world's great Monotheistic religions.
Dec. 9, 1999: Selections from the November issue of The Iran Brief are now available on-line. Highlights: President Khatami's deal-signing trip to France; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk's critical speech of Iran to the Asia Society, and U.S. intelligence reports on new Russian and South African nuclear sales to Iran
Nov. 21, 1999: Today we commemorate a sad day in Iranian history, with the first anniversary of the brutal murders of the most prominent leaders of the secular opposition in Iran, Parvaneh and Darioush Forouhar. FDI urges all lovers of freedom, regardless of their creed, to say a prayer today for the Forouhars and their quest for freedom in Iran. We pray that their deaths may have not been in vain, but will serve the great cause of freedom and democracy for all Iranians.
Nov 11, 1999: Selections from the October issue of The Iran Brief are now available on-line. Our top story: U.S. talks to Iran. A senior U.S. official has held talks with an "authorized representative" of the government of Iran; and so far, news of the meetings has failed to set off a firestorm in Tehran. We also cover the arrest of Hamas leaders in Jordan, the visit of the Greek defense minister to Iran, and the cancellation by Canada of the sale of a fusion reactor, only days after the proposed sale was revealed by The Iran Brief.
Oct. 7, 1999: Posted written testimony before the House International Relations Committee on how top U.S. government officials allowed Russia to help build Iran's missile programs. At the same time, links to earlier articles on Strobe Talbott, and in the Wall Street Journal, were added.
Oct. 5, 1999: Selections from the September issue of The Iran Brief are now available on-line. Our top story: Iran to buy nuclear fusion plant from Canada.: Why is Iran spending close to $50 million to buy a research reactor that has no commercial use? We also detail back-room negotiations by an Iranian Jewish intermediary in London, Hamid Sabi ("Plot Thickens around Iranian Jews"),and more. Also check out our Books & Articles section for new articles on China, and U.S. export control policy.
Sept. 20, 1999: Just four days later the European Parliament calls for the suspension of all high-level visits to protest the death sentences against pro-democracy students and against Iranian Jews, Austrian president Thomas Klestil arrives in Tehran to sign new commercial contracts with the regime.(Iran Brief subscribers will find more in our Oct. 1999 issue.)
Sept. 13, 1999: Forty-nine persons were convicted in a secret trial for their role in the student riots that rocked Tehran in July, and four of them were sentenced to death, the head of the Revolutionary Court said in a statement released to the hard-line Jomhouri-e Eslami daily on Sept. 13.
Sept. 9, 1999: Selections from the August issue of The Iran Brief are now available on-line. Our top story is a round-up of the latest news: Regime cracks down on pro-democracy protests. See also excerpts from our report on U.S.-Russia nuclear talks, and our prediction, published in early August, that Vladimir Putin would become President Yeltsin's latest Prime Minister (He was appointed less than one week later).
August 9, 1999: Fom the July issue of The Iran Brief. We carried an exclusive investigation exposing Mujahedin fund-raising in Holland, and recent MEK campaign to buy influence in the U.S. Congress. We continued coverage of the Forouhar murders with a report on the death of Saed Emami: Forouhar assassin gets suicided (Emami shod shahid vajebi).
August 5, 1999: Writing in today's Wall Street Journal Europe, FDI Executive Director Kenneth Timmerman tells the astonishing story of how President Khatami abandoned the very people who voted for him, putting survival of the regime of absolute clerical rule ahead of freedom.
July 23, 1999: FDI has issued an Action Memorandum, calling on the Islamic Republic authorities to immediately and unconditionally release student leaders Manouchehr Mohammadi and Gholamreza Mohajeri-Nezhad and all others arrested during the recent protests. FDI believes that without coordinated international pressure the regime will be encouraged to arrest more student leaders, and calls on freedom-loving people everywhere to unite in protesting these arrests.
July 19, 1999: Keyhan newspaper in Tehran revealed today a "secret" petition signed by top IRGC commanders that was sent to President Khatami on July 12, warning him to back off on his reform program "before it is too late," Reuters reported. "Our patience is at an end. We do not feel it is our duty to show any more tolerance," the officers wrote. Among the 24 signatories were the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards Corp land, sea and air forces. "Mr. President, if you don't take a revolutionary decision today, and fail to abide by your Islamic and nationalistic duty, tomorrow will be too late and the damage done will be irreparable and beyond imagination," Kayhan quoted the letter as saying. Khatami responded publicly by denouncing the student protestors (see July 14, 1999 entry), and calling for them to end the protests.
July 18, 1999: The Intelligence Minister announced on Sunday that it had arrested student leaders Manouchehr Mohammadi and Gholamreza Mohajeri-Nezhad today, and accused them of conspiring with "with the help of the counter-revolution and of the so-called human rights circles" to plan the recent student protests. Relatives of both men expressed fear that they could be executed under Iran's tough 1996 espionage law. Seyyed Javad Emami and Hasan Zare'zadeh Ardeshir, of the Central Committee of the Student's Islamic Association, and Mohammad Salamati, the secretary of the Student's United Front , were also reportedly arrested according to the Paris-based Iran Press Service.
July 17, 1999: Overseas Iranians, under the umbrella of the Alliance for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran, plan to protest today in Washington, DC and march to the White House. A similar protest will be held in Bonn, Germany. Click here for scheduled times and places and contact numbers
July 16, 1999: Protests against the regime attempt to suppress pro-democracy demonstrations are being planned for today and tomorrow by overseas Iranians around the world. Click here for scheduled times and places and contact numbers. Also see an oped from the Washington Times urging Congress to take action against the Russian Space Agency for its assistance to Iran's long-range missile programs.
July 15, 1999: FDI Director Kenneth R. Timmerman says the pro-democracy protests are "the beginning of the beginning of the end" of absolute clerical rule in Iran in today's Washington Times Read the slogans of the Iranian students. In the Washington Post, former Tehran University professor Azar Nafisi explains to an American audience why President Khatami is no friend of the pro-democracy movement, and has joined forces with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene'i against the students. Meanwhile, in a new statement from London Amnesty International calls on the Tehran authorities to "guarantee fundamental rights" of all Iranians, and to "investigate fully and partially" the killing of students by pro-regime militias and law enforcement forces.Human Rights Watch has also written to Ayatollah Khamene'i, condemning the assault on Iranian students.
July 14, 1999: In testimony before the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee of the House Science Committee, Kenneth R. Timmerman reveals the existence of Iran's latest missile, the multi-stage, nuclear-capable Kosar, which could give Iran the capability of reaching the continental United States for the first time. Read the Washington Times and the Reuters reports on the Kosar missile.
July 13, 1999: Because of the pace of events inside Iran, we have created a special page to track the pro-democracy protests and the regime crack-down against the student movement.
July 9, 1999: Tehran uses PKK to split Iraqi opposition. Exclusive: Iran has stepped up its support for the PKK, and now hosts an estimated 6,000 to0 10,000 PKK fighters. Iraqi opposition groups say Iran is using the PKK to attack their positions inside Iraq. From the June 1999 issue of The Iran Brief.
July 8, 1999: The BBC reported last night from Tehran that hard-liners in Tehran have closed Salam newspaper, a leading supporter of the reform movement. Earlier in the day, the Majlis passed on first reading a sweeping new law which would legalize the crackdown on the reformist press that has been underway for the past few months. A court ordered Salam to cease publication after a complaint from the Intelligence Ministry over the printing of a secret ministry report about an alleged hardline plot to muzzle the country's pro-reform press, the BBC reported.
July 6, 1999: The Iranian Student Movement for Democracy (formerly known as the Islamic Student Movement) called a demonstration beginning at 2PM local time today in front of the United Nations office in Tehran, to protest the arrest of Heshmatollah Tabarzadi and Hossein Kashani. They also condemned the crackdown on the press and the failure of President Khatami to oppose it. Read the Amnesty International appeal regarding the Tabarzadi and Kashani arrest here. According to a fax received from the group in Tehran, three of the demonstration leaders were immediately arrested by the authorities and taken to an unknown location. They were identified as: Mohamad Massod Salamati, Seyed Djavad Emamil, and Parviz Safari. Reports indicated that several other students, as well as a reporter trying to take pictures of the arrests, were also seized.
Tabarzadi's former newsletter, Payam-e Daneshjou, earned the ire of IRI leaders by exposing some of the regime's dirtiest secrets. See "Rulers of Rafsanjan," from The June 1996 issue of The Iran Brief.
June 7, 1999: U.S. partially lifts sanctions. The State Department announced it was exempting food and medicine from the Iran trade embargo, but on the same day denied a license to Mobil to carry out oil swaps. While seeking to loosen trade restrictions, the Clinton administration is carefully weighing its overtures to Tehran. Note: Iran Brief postings on this site are delayed by 30 days, since the newsletter is reserved for commercial subscribers.See also "Is Iran-Saudi Détente Underway," from the Wall Street Journal, May 20, 1999.
May 14, 1999: Uploaded Change in Iran and Challenges for U.S. policy makers, a presentation at the Library of Congress, January 8, 199; May 5, 1999 article on Iran's new sea-launch missiles from the Washington Times; April 18, 1999 article on former Defense Secretary William Perry and his dubious ties to the Chinese communist government.
May 11, 1999: Uploaded Florida Splendid China, from the March 1999 issue of The American Spectator, and "Destroy His Weapons, Then Oust Saddam," Boston Globe, Nov. 14, 1998.
May 6, 1999: In addition to posting Red Star Over Washington on the Chinese spying scandal, we have updated our archive of Action Memoranda in the Human Rights section, which had been wiped out by hackers last year. Those interested can now access the earliest FDI warnings of persecution of Kurds, Bahai's, Balouchis, and opposition Shiite clerics.
April 5, 1999: Mujahedin visa fraud ring. Exclusive: court documents filed in Los Angeles expose a massive alien smuggling ring and a document forgery shop apparently run by the opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq. Computer records seized at the MEK's document shop showed they had brought in 22,000 Iranians since 1983.
March 8, 1999 Showdown in Tehran: Khatami plays his cards. Exclusive Iran Brief sources reveal the inside workings of Khatami's sweeping victory in the Feb. 26 local council elections, and the ongoing showdown with hard-liners.
Feb. 23, 1999: "Unlimited Offense: Iran's Response to the Missile Threat," paper presented at Military Strategy in the Age of Ballistic Missiles, Washington, DC, Feb. 23, 1999
Feb. 8, 1999: Khatami warned to back off: Exclusive sources from inside Iran report on the tumultuous meetings between top regime power-brokers and President Khatami, in which they warned him to drop his investigation into the murder of dissident writers and politicians, or face arrest and trial.
Dec. 24, 1998: A fire at our Internet provider wiped out our server. We are gradually restoring current files and archival material.
Dec. 12, 1998: Some 300 Iranian-Americans gathered in Washington, DC today to protest the murder of Iranian dissidents inside Iran. Organized by the Alliance for Human Rights in Iran, an adhoc group formed after the murder of Darioush and Parvarneh Forouhar, the group marched through Saturday late afternoon traffic some two miles from Georgetown University to the downtown headquarters of the United Nations to present petitions calling for a impartial, international investigation into the Forouhar murders.
Dec. 11, 1998: FDI's Executive Director writes about the recent attacks against American businessmen in Tehran in the Wall Street Journal.
Dec. 9, 1998: 220 Members of the U.S. Congress appear to have signed on to a letter supporting the People's Mujahedin of Iran. But how many of them are aware of the group's long track record of anti-U.S. terrorism and support from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein? FDI has sent an appeal to Congress to reconsider support for a group that will only divide Iran and bring further bloodshed.
Dec. 7, 1998: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty began its Farsi-language broadcasts to Iran on October 31. But instead of promoting democracy in Iran the new radio, run by a U.S. government intelligence analyst, has become a champion of Iranian president Hojjat-ol eslam Mohammad Khatami. Read an analysis of the Radio's recent broadcasts in the most recent issue of the Iran Brief.
Nov. 22, 1998: Leading Iranian opposition leader brutally murdered in Tehran. The regime claims it has opened an investigation to find the killers, but the style of killing is identical to the execution of other dissidents.FDI calls on the international community to rethink its relations to Tehraan.
Nov. 12, 1998: FDI writes to President Clinton, asking him to intervene with the Government of France to seek the release of an Iranian opposition activist imprisoned in France at the demand of Tehran.
Nov. 3, 1998: FDI responds again to pro-Mujahedin propaganda in the Washington Times, recounting Massoud Radjavi's alliance with Ayatollah Khomeini and exposing his "anti-Americanism-cum-Marxist Third World liberation theory that would make Josef Stalin and Patrice Lumumba proud."
Oct. 9, 1998: the French government has imprisoned an Iranian opposition activist in Paris, allegedly on libel charges filed by the Islamic Republic of Iran's French embassy and by the Paris resident of the Iranian intelligence service. The Foundation has sent official inquiries to the Government of France, which until now have remained without a reply, as to the actual charges against Mr. Fahimi. Unofficially, the French say the activist from the Iranian People's Fedayeen Guerrillas, has been jailed for terrorist activities. While not supporting the Fedayeen (or any other opposition group, FDI has protested the French action as incompatible with France's historic support for huma rights. Today, the Fedayeen held a demonstration in front of the French embassy in Brussels, and are planning a series of similar actions i Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Madrid in the coming days.
Oct. 6, 1998: Despite President Khatami's repeated pledges to promote free speech and to respect the rights of Iranian minorities, recent actions by the Islamic Republic have sent disturbing signs that either Khatami has been disingenuous, or that he is powerless. The Iran Brief reports in its October 1998 issue on a series of attacks against Iranian journalists, and the recent spate of arrests of Iranian Baha'is.
August 13, 1998: Washington Times editorial by FDI Director, exposing the pro-regime political views of the new director of Radio Free Iran, the freedom radio funded by the U.S. Congress that begins broadcasting in Farsi from Prague in October.
June 22, 1998: FDI director Kenneth R. Timmerman warns in a Washington Times editorial that U.S. decision not to impose sanctions on Total and Gazprom for pumping investment into Iran's natural gas industry will have disastrous consequences for U.S. credibility, and will shore up the most radical elements in the Iranian regime. June 1998 issue of The Iran Brief posted for subscribers.
June 3, 1998: Link to The Iran Brief.
May 28, 1998: FDI has been hacked and all our files deleted. We have informed the FBI, which is now conducting an investigation. We invite visitors to judge for themselves who might have been responsible for this criminal action. Our positions in favor of democratic change in Iran and against totalitarian groups is well-known and evident from our public statements. We will be re-posting material from our site as soon as possible. Please come back frequently as we make new material available.
May 22, 1998: FDI Director Kenneth R. Timmerman writes on the Mujahedin's ties to Saddam Hussein in The Washington Times.
May 5, 1998: We've uploaded sections from the State Department's April 1998 annual report on terrorism relating to Iran. Patterns of Global Terrorism 1997: Overview of State-sponsored terrorism (April 1998 report). The Group profiles section includes information on Iranian-government backed groups, and on the opposition People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran, aka the Mujahedin-e Khalq.
May 2, 1998: FDI Board member Ayatollah Mehdi Rouhani welcomes Khatami, but warns U.S. government analysts of rushing into relations with the Tehran regime.
Jan. 12, 1998: We've updated the files in the Government of Iran section. Here you will find a complete list of Khatami's cabinet, members of the National Security Council, as well as the official and ex officio powers behind the throne who sit on Rafsanjani's Council of Expediency and Discernment. Also included are the members of the Judicial branch and a complete listing of Majlis members.
Jan. 9, 1998: Khatami seeks end to sanctions, not dialogue. FDI's reaction to President Mohammad Khatami's speech on CNN. See also the latest United Nations report on the human rights situation in Iran, which has not improved in any significant manner since Khatami assumed power in August 1997.
Dec. 9, 1997: Iran's Sparring Ayatollahs. Op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal by FDI Executive editor Kenneth R. Timmerman, on the recent attacks on and arrest of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, and the growing opposition to the regime from the traditional clergy.
Dec. 4, 1997: Attacks against senior clerics are only the beginning. Grand Ayatollahs Montazeri and Azari-Qomi may be put on trial for treason, but they will only be the first as an open schism erupts inside Iran's clergy.
July 30, 1997: In memorium: Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Rouhani. FDI mourns the death of one of Iran's most senior Shiite clerics, whose brother claims he was murdered by the regime because he failed to endorse clerical rule.
July 28, 1997: "Writer's fate tests Iran and Europe," editorial from the Wall Street Journal Europe by FDI Executive Director on the jailing of Iranian writer Faraj Sarkuhi and Khatemi's responsibility for his fate.
July 23, 1997: FDI Warns Congressmen about Iranian Mujahidin, a statement about the latest Congressional letter in support of the MEK. See also the full text of FDI's letter to Congressional signatories.
July 7, 1997: Secret document from May 1984, revealing Mohammad Khatemi's role in the Islamic Republic's international terrorism networks.
Iranian writer Faraj Sarkuhi put on trial for espionage; regime releases new figures on prison population; Khatemi's cabinet; and more....
June 6, 1997: "Vox Populi in Iran," Washington Post
June 3, 1997:
May 29, 1997: Newswire 48 and Human Rights Watch report on Iranian elections
May 29, 1997: Re-posted back issues of the FDI Newswire.
May 27, 1997: "Iran's Vote: A Good Start, Nothing More," Wall Street Journal-Europe (op-ed page), May 27, 1997, by Kenneth R. Timmerman
May 25, 1997: FDI statement on the Iranian presidential elections.
May 22, 1997:
May 19, 1997: Newswire 47
May 6, 1997: Created page with News on FDI Activities, and reformatted and posted back material, including:
May 5, 1997: "Islamic Republic of Iran Interest Section in Washington, DC, The IranBrief, May 5, 1997, and FDI Newswire 45
April 24, 1997: FDI calls on Europe to reduce Iranian government intelligence presence. and Newswire 44
April 17, 1997: Newswire 43
April 10, 1997: Mykonos verdict confirms Tehran's terror
March 21, 1997: FDI statement on U.S. sanctions
