Saturday, November 30, 2002

Mirdamadi Calls for Serial Murders Trial

* Mirdamadi, head of the Majles national security and foreign relations committee, said that the serial murders of dissidents by intelligence ministry officials is a project that is not yet finished. He said those charged with providing security threatened the lives of citizens. He called for a public trial of the murders. A Tehran military court sentenced to 10 years in jail four intelligence ministry agents who confessed to the killings.

German Translators and Siamak Pourzand Leave Jail on Furlough

* Mohsen Dadr and Khalil Rostamkhani, two German translators who were jailed for their work on the Berlin conference, were released on furlough along with veteran journalist Siamak Pourzand. The supreme court stayed Mohsen Sadr's 10-year sentence, but reduced Rostamkhani's to eight. Last week during his meeting in Berlin with foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi, the Speaker of the German parliament called for the release of Rostamkhani and Sadr, who worked for the German embassy in Tehran. Rostamkhani's wife, Roshanak Dariush, under an arrest warrant in Iran for her role in the Berlin conference, tells RFE/RL from her home in Berlin, where she is receiving chemotherapy treatment for brain cancer, that she hopes her husband would be freed from jail on humanitarian grounds in order to go to Berlin to take care of her and their son. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)

Pro-US Iran

* German daily Die Zeit writes that more than any Muslim country, Iran's population is pro-American. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)

Khatami's Deputy on Factional Endgame

* Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, President Khatami's legislative affairs deputy, told Rome's La Republica that the factional dispute in Iran has reached its final stage. He likened the conservatives' attacks on student demonstrators to the Taliban bombing of the Buddha statues in Bamian, Afghanistan. (Ahmad Ra'fat, Rome)

Bar Association to File a Complaint Against Deputy Judiciary Chief

* The bar association will file a complaint in the special court for the clergy against Ayatollah Hasan Mar'ashi, deputy chief of the judiciary. In a speech to the Judiciary's own legal trainees, Mar'ashi last month called Iranian lawyers a bunch of extortionists. In a meeting called by the society of independent lawyers it was suggested that lawyers individually file complaints against Mar'ashi, but Tehran lawyer Mohammad-Ali Dadkhah tells RFE/RL that the bar association will file a complaint, but it would not prevent individual lawyers from filing complaints. He suggests that Mar'ashi needs a good lawyer. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)

Citizenship for Alien Husbands of Iranian Women

* Tehran MP Fatemeh Haqiqatju said a bill under deliberation at several Majles committees would give Iranian citizenship to alien husbands of Iranian women. Tehran-lawyer Mohammad-Reza Aghasi tells RFE/RL that unlike alien wives of Iranian men who are automatically eligible for Iranian citizenship, alien husbands of Iranian women cannot become citizens under any condition. As a result, thousands of children of such marriages are being denied access to Iranian schools. (Shireen Famili)

Asharq-ol-Owsat: Change in Iran

* London's Saudi-financed Asharq-ol-Owsat writes that Iranians demand and expect change in their country. (Farideh Rahbar, Cairo)

Iran-Egypt Relations

* President Khatami's advisor Ali Rabi called for full diplomatic relations between Iran and Egypt and said those who oppose such ties do not understand their importance. (Jamshid Chalangi, Cairo)

Caspian Sea Legal Regime Conference in Baku

* Representatives of the Caspian littoral countries are scheduled to meet in Baku in mid-December to discuss the terms of a convention on the Caspian Sea legal regime. The Russian foreign ministry sent a delegation to Tehran to discuss the Iran-Russia dispute over the division of Caspian resources. (Mani Kasravi, Moscow)

Civil Society and Human Rights

* One criticism conservatives raised against President Khatami's bill to expand presidential powers is that it violates the constitutional principle of the independence of the three branches of government. But lawyer and human rights advocate Mehrangiz Kar says according to the Islamic Republic constitution, the three branches of government are not independent, since they are all one way or another under the control of the Supreme Leader.