Friday, November 29, 2002

Jerusalem Day Demonstrations

* Hundreds of thousands marched Friday in Tehran in support of the Palestinians on the official Jerusalem Day. In addition to slogans against Israel and the US, the march was marked by domestic politics. The large-scale turnout of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and Basij Corps represented a show of force by the conservatives in reaction to two weeks of reformist student rallies. (Siavash Ardalan)

Lawyer to Appeal Death Sentence without Aghajari's Agreement

* Hashem Aghajari's lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said today that he will appeal his client's death sentence before the official deadline without consultation with his client, who refuses to appeal his sentence. Tehran lawyer Ahmad Bashiri tells RFE/RL that a lawyer can do everything he deems necessary to defend his client, except what is explicitly prohibited by the client. (Golnaz Esfandiari)

Jailed Student Goes on Hunger Strike to Protest Three-Year Detention

* The Student United Front (Jebheh-ye Mottahed-e Daneshjui), a unofficial student organization, reported that jailed student Mehrdad Lohrasbi, who was arrested after the 1999 student unrest, went on hunger strike last week to protest his three-year detention. The Student United Front's spokesman Hasan Zarehzadeh tells RFE/RL that Lohrasbi demands a public trial with lawyer and jury, and wants to be either freed or released on furlough. (Golnaz Esfandiari)

Economist: Revolt against Revolution

* The London weekly Economist asks if the student protests can be the start of a greater anti-regime move by the people, and concludes that Iranians do not wish to go against the bullets. (Shahran Tabari)

Al-Ahram on Iran-US Relations

* The Cairo daily Al-Ahram says Tehran, confronted by a possible US-led regime change in Iraq, is ready to reverse its positions on Israel and US and the question of the Palestinians, and is even willing to follow the US on other issues. (Farideh Rahbar, Cairo)

Frankfurter Allgemeine: Tehran's Active Neutrality

* The Frankfurter Allgemeine reviews Iran's policy of "active neutrality" vis-…-vis a possible US attack on Iraq. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)

Buy-Back Oil Contracts

* Tehran-based economist Ali Rashidi tells RFE/RL that the oil ministry's buy-back contracts could turn into a drain on Iran's economy, since there is a guarantee for the amount of oil due to the foreign investor. He says France's Total is already receiving 200,000 barrels of oil per day from Iran's output, since its own production in the Pars field is lower than the guaranteed amount. He says the buy-back contracts have not resulted in any meaningful transfer of technology to Iran, since it is the foreign investor that operates the technology, nor have they benefited the domestic job market. Some predict that the buy-back contracts will impose a hefty annual payment on Iran's future generations, but the oil minister is happy that with these contracts he managed to stake Iran's claim on the Persian Gulf oil and gas fields that are mutually owned with the UAE and that the UAE is heavily exploiting. (Fereydoun Zarnegar)

Civil Society and Human Rights

* Lawyer and human rights advocate Mehrangiz Kar says the bill on press and political trials' jury selection process, which the Guardians Council rejected one more time, has turned into a key factional dispute. She says the right to juried trials conflicts with the Islamic principle of the primacy of the judge, and is yet another contradiction inherent in the Islamic Republic constitution which tries to merge modern institutions based on individualism with the Islamic tradition.

Law Leaves Widows Penniless for 130 Days

* Tehran lawyer Mohammad-Hussein Aghasi tells RFE/RL that the civil code is clear that a widow cannot receive any support from her husband's estate for 130 days after his death. But according to the constitution, the government through its Welfare Organization (Sazeman-e Behzisti) should provide for widows during this period. However, the government's resources are spread too thin and many widows receive nothing. (Shireen Famili)