Monday, March 15, 2004

Iran Reverses Ban On UN Nuclear Inspections

•The Islamic government said Monday it will allow the resumption of UN nuclear inspections, reversing last week's decision to indefinitely suspend the inspections. Secretary of the supreme national security council Hassan Rowhani said Iran will definitely reach an agreement with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency on resumption of the inspections. Rowhani suspended the inspections last week after the IAEA circulated a draft resolution criticizing Iran for incomplete disclosure of its nuclear program. IAEA chief ElBaradei, who is Washington for meeting with President Bush, said the Islamic Republic has informed him that it is ready to receive inspectors at the end of March. (Jean Khakzad)

•Japan urged the Islamic Republic to cooperate with the IAEA, according to a high level Japanese government spokesman, as Rowhani arrived in Tokyo for a three-day official visit. (Jamshid Chalangi)

•The three-month deadline given to Iran by the IAEA is like an ultimatum, and it appears that Iran has to comply with the commitments it has made under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and its additional protocol, Tehran University international relations professor Davood Hermidas Bavand tells Radio Farda. (Tara Atefi)

Supreme Leader Bans Labor Strikes

•Any action that weakens the holy Islamic Republic system is not permissible, the Supreme Leader said responding to a question put to him by the state-run labor news agency ILNA about legitimacy of labor strikes. Workers should go through legal channels to settle wage disputes with employers, he said. (Siavash Ardalan)

•Our labor laws do not specifically allow strikes, but we, at labor organizations, believe that trade strikes are a legitimate means to press for our demands, Tehran-based labor activist Isa Kamali tells Radio Farda. Non-political strikes strengthen the government, they don't weaken it, because they provide a day for settling labor's disputes, just as Imam Khomeini had said, he adds. Even the Majles MPs went on strike to press their demands, he says. We are hoping to non-political legitimize labor strikes, he says. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)

•We demand to bring the minimum wage closer to the floor of living expenses set by the government at 2 million rials per months, secretary of the association of Islamic labor councils Alireza Heydari tells Radio Farda. The minimum wage at the moment is 850,000 rials per month, he says, adding that the representatives of the employers say they are ready to increase the minimum wage only at the rate of inflation, he adds. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)

Expediency Council to Arbitrate on Use of Surplus Funds

•The Expediency Council, headed by former president Hashemi-Rafsanjani, will arbitrate the dispute between the reformist Majles and the conservative Guardians Council over the Khatami government's bill to spend $6.5 billion from oil revenue surplus account. The account, officially called “foreign exchange reserve fund,” was set up four years ago to receive surplus oil income as a hedge against sudden fluctuations in oil revenue. The government argues that it needs the funds to supplement its budget in the upcoming fiscal year in order to pay for incomplete development projects, but the conservatives charge that the move would deplete the account, and defeat its purpose, and has been motivated by revenge over the reformists' defeat in the Majles elections. Meanwhile, no agreement appears to exist among the authorities about the balance held in the fund. Head of management and plan organization Mohammad Sattari put it at $10 billion, but director of macro economy planning under Sattari said the balance was $6.7 billion to $7.2 billion. Meanwhile, minister of economy and finance Tahmasb Mazeheri said questions questions about the surplus account's balance should be directed to the central bank, which he said was responsible for it. (Fereydoun Khavand, Paris)

Unrest Over Reversal of Babolsar-Fereydounkenar Election Results

•Riots erupted in the Caspian area city of Fereydounkenar after the Guardians Council switched the winner of February 20 Majles elections by canceling three ballot boxes. The switch gave the Fereydounkenar and Babolsar Majles seat to a conservative candidate, who is from Babolsar. In Fereydounkenar, demonstrators ransacked and set fire to the house of the city's Friday prayer leader, who represents the Supreme Leader, according to governor Mohammad Ali Panjehgardan, who blamed the TV announcement of the vote switch for the riots. The demonstrators closed the Babolsar-Fereydounkenar bridge, in order to block access to Babolsar, a local journalist tells Radio Farda. The police fired on demonstrators, many people were wounded, and many were arrested, he adds. The Islamic Propaganda organization's local offices, a building used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC), and an Islamic saving and loan bank were damaged, and several buses and cars were set on fire, he adds. The state-run “students” news agency reported that demonstrators destroyed a building used by the Basij, a voluntary unit of the IRGC, threw two police kiosks in to the river, and damaged the 14th Precinct, where officers barricaded themselves behind sandbags. The special anti-riot police units used teargas against the crowds, ISNA said. The special forces took control of the area, Mazandaran provincial governor Hosseini-Nezhad said. (Mahmonir Rahimi)

•The Guardians Council nullified three ballot boxes from Fereydounkenar, whereby reversing the election win of reformist candidate Dr. Hojatollah Rouhi in favor of conservative MP Meqdad Najafnezhad, local journalist Hossein Kabir tells Radio Farda. Rouhi's supporters attacked the home of Friday prayer leader, and police and IRGC stations. The police retaliated in a non-peaceful manner and as a result, a wounded demonstrator died last night in the Fereydounkenar hospital, he adds. The Mazandaran provincial governor said the demonstrators were not necessarily anti-regime. He and other authorities support the demonstrators' protest, he adds. The authoritarians not only banned 2,400 reformists from standing in the elections, but now cancel the election results which they don't like, he says. Last night calm had returned to the city, but the news of a demonstrator's death might trigger more unrest, he adds. (Mahmonir Rahimi)

Iran Telecom Collects 20 Trillion Rials from Mobile Phone Applicants

•More than 5.6 million people each paid 4.4 million rials to apply for mobile phones, helping the Iran Telecom to raise more than 20 trillion rials, the largest advance ever collected from consumers, Tehran-based journalist Maryam Mohammadi tells Radio Farda. The move has sucked money out of the market, threatening many trades with recession, she adds. The consumer was particularly flushed with cash, since the Telecom's move had been timed with the payment of end-of-the-year bonuses, she adds. Of course, she says, Iran Telecom has no way of providing all the applicants with mobile phone service anytime soon. (Farin Asemi)

Khatami Wasted Opportunities, Pro-Reform Thinker Tells Boston Globe

In a lengthy piece on pro-reform Islamic modernist thinker Abdolkarim Soroush, the Boston Globe writes:

•Soroush who considers Khatami a friend, believes the president squandered the hopes reformists had vested in him. "I think he lost some of the best opportunities for reform in our society," Soroush says. "He was a very, very powerful man because he had more than 20 million votes." But Khatami was a cautious ruler, refraining even from criticizing such obvious abuses as the beating of students and closing down of newspapers, Soroush laments. (Fariba Mavedat)

Judiciary Bans Tabarestan Weekly

•The local Mazandaran weekly Tabarestan was banned after it likened conservative officials to long bearded goats who do not respect the democratic rights of the sheep, and destroy orchards by eating the roots of the trees. (Nima Tamadon)

Shirin Ebadi at the World Labor Organization

•Radio Farda airs portions of 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi's speech at the World Labor Organization in Geneva during the inaugural ceremonies of the International Women's Day. (Mahmonir Rahimi)

Iran, Afghanistan Cooperate On Fight Against Drug Trafficking

•Based on agreements between the two countries, Britain and the UN, Iran will build 25 border stations along Afghanistan border, as well as the necessary roads and facilities, the EU will supply the budget needed for training border patrols, and the UN will also help in administrating the project, Afghanistan interior minister Ali Ahmad Jalali tells Radio Farda after a meeting in Tehran with interior minister Abdolvahed Mousavi_Lari. Of these, 10 stations have already been built in the Heart province, he adds. Afghan and Iranian border guards will conduct joint patrols, he adds. (Behruz Nikzat)

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