
.
RFE: Labor Protests Held In Several Iranian Cities
IND: The Greens need to capitalize on this discontent and show the workers a way forward.
A series of labor protests have taken place in several Iranian cities this week, RFE/RL’s Radio Farda reports.
Protests and strikes have been held in recent months over unpaid salaries and other work-related demands, but the past few weeks have seen an exceptional amount of such actions.
About 1,300 workers at a pipe factory in Saveh, about 100 kilometers southwest of Tehran, held a work stoppage for several hours earlier this week after not receiving their paychecks for more than a month.
Some 400 workers at a factory in the western city of Arak held a demonstration this week because many people said they had not been paid in six months.
An estimated 700 workers at the Alborz Tire factory in Eslamshahr, outside of Tehran, also held protests last week over salary delays.
On February 3, 150 municipal workers in the far western city of Andimeshk protested 13 months of salary delays. One protester told RFE/RL: “The police arrested two of the workers but they were released the next day. Four other workers were summoned by authorities and eight others were fired.”
Sadeq Karegar, an Iranian union activist living in Norway, told RFE/RL that unpaid wages are not the only issue driving workers’ unrest. Living conditions are worsening, too, he said.
“It’s a matter of hunger,” Karegar said. “[The workers] either must resign themselves to death, poverty, and hardship or they must resist [and protest]. And it’s obvious that when faced with a choice between life and death, one will choose life.”
Guardian: US dismisses Iranian claims of nuclear agreement
Western officials have disputed claims by Iran’s foreign minister that his country is “approaching a final agreement” in its nuclear programme.
Manouchehr Mottaki told a security conference in Munich yesterday that Iran was “serious” about making progress on a deal agreed in principle last October to swap most of its enriched uranium stockpile for fuel rods to use in nuclear power stations. Governments in Europe and the US fear the stockpile could be refined to make nuclear weapons.
But despite Mottaki’s assurances, the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, today dismissed the idea that a deal was close and said it might be time to push forward with sanctions.
“The reality is they’ve done nothing to assure the international community” or “to stop their progress toward (building) a nuclear weapon,” Gates said.
“And therefore various nations need to think about whether it is time for a different tack.”
Gates, who is in Ankara for talks with the Turkish government, said that in his discussions with Turkey and other allies he had sought to underscore the threat Iran poses to them. The Washington Post’s coverage of same here.
TB: Mousavi and Martyrdom
Columbia University professor Hamid Dabashi considers Iran’s Green Movement a civil rights struggle. Others contend that there is a revolution under way aimed at radically altering the country’s political landscape. The latter opinion largely rests on the many parallels between today’s protest movement and that of the Iranian Revolution that swept away the monarchy more than thirty years ago.
Eight months after presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and large segments of society decried the June 12th presidential election results as fraudulent and launched a sustained protest movement, countless reasons abound as to why the movement is not yet a bona fide revolution. The focus here is on only one such reason: The ironic impact of the physical presence of the movement’s leadership in Iran, which effectively inhibits Mousavi’s ability to elevate the movement to its political potential.
For as long as Mousavi remains in Iran, it will prevent him–as it did Khomeini half a century ago–from realizing his full leadership potential. He will continue to keep his rhetoric confined to the system parameters, which is a limitation that some of his more radical supporters abhor as they demand the removal of the non-republican governmental institutions.
The Islamic regime will not transfigure Mousavi into a martyr by arresting and trying him for sedition, nor will they exile him so that he can speak freely and escalate his rhetoric to revolutionary heights. By holding him in Iran, subject to interminable threats, chilling statements, and constant harassment, the government ensures that Mousavi and his movement are limited in scope and potential. And although the Green Movement has revealed a highly decentralized organizational model, effective leadership is, nevertheless, critical to its ability to negotiate an outcome that produces dividends, revolutionary or otherwise.
IND: A very interesting analysis but, unfortunately, none of the other opposition activists/leaders who have come abroad have managed thus far to rally the opposition around them, Ganji, Ebadi, Sazegara, etc. Some say coming abroad actually may be counterproductive because it makes it more difficult to maintain connections with supporters back in Iran. But things could be different for Mr. Mousavi.
BBC: Iraq election triggers US-Iran power struggle IND: Another example of why a democratic Iran is absolutely critical for America’s success in Iraq.
Preparations for the Iraqi parliamentary elections have been thrown into chaos by a row over whether or not to uphold a ban on hundreds of candidates, because of alleged links to Saddam Hussein’s outlawed Baath Party.
The start date for campaigning has been postponed and the Iraqi parliament will hold an emergency session on Sunday to debate the issue.
The dispute reflects both the sectarian fault-lines within Iraq and geopolitical tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Amid the multitude of different Arab parties and coalitions competing for seats in this election, it is possible to discern two more or less distinct political directions.
One draws its support broadly from Iraq’s majority Shia population and is to a greater or lesser extent sympathetic to the government in Tehran.
The other relies largely on Sunni Arabs and secularists whose policies range from Iraqi and pan-Arab nationalism to open nostalgia for the relative stability of the Saddam-era.
The roughly 500 politicians at the centre of this row include both Shia and Sunnis.
But the Commission which has drawn up the list is headed by a Shia with close ties to Iran.
The White House is now focused on its timetable for withdrawal: all US combat troops are due to be pulled out by this September in preparation for a full military departure by the end of 2011.
What impact will that have on American influence in Iraq? The answer depends on what kind of government the people elect in March.
Iraq has become a key battleground for geopolitical power between the United States and Iran.
Each side wants the new administration to be sympathetic to its aims. But the continuing tensions that exist between Tehran and Washington may make those aims mutually exclusive.
Reuters: Iran’s police vow no tolerance towards protesters
Iranian police will show no more tolerance towards anti-government protesters, the force’s chief was quoted as saying on Saturday, in a warning to the opposition ahead of possible new demonstrations next week.
“Now that the different dimensions of the sedition are clear, we won’t show any more tolerance,” police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam said, the ILNA news agency reported.
“Police will act firmly to defend the society’s security and those who break the law will be dealt with severely,” he said.
Moghaddam also reiterated a warning against the use of emails and sms messages to spread the word of new protests, making clear police were monitoring such means of communication.
“The new technologies allow us to identify conspirators and those who are violating the law, without having to control all people individually,” he said.
CNN: Report – Iran opens two missile plants
Two new missile production plants opened in Iran on Saturday.
The inauguration of the production lines for the anti-helicopter Qaem missile, and the anti-armor Toofan-5 (Hurricane) missile, came three days after Iran test-launched a rocket capable of carrying a satellite, a launch deemed a “provocative act” by Washington.
The Defense Ministry told Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency that both missiles have “high penetration and destructive powers.”
By mass producing and delivering these modern arms, Iran’s department of defense aims to increase its ground and air defenses, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
“Toofan 5 is one of the most advanced missiles. It has two warheads which can destroy tanks and other armored vehicles,” Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi told Fars.
The Qaem is a “missile which can destroy targets in the air traveling at low speed and at low altitude, especially assault helicopters,” Vahidi added.
The laser guided anti-helicopter Qaem rocket is designed to resist enemy actions in electronic warfare.
FT: Balli unit settles with US over Iran aircraft
A unit of Balli Group plc, the UK company which claims to be one of the world’s largest privately held commodity traders, pleaded guilty on Friday to criminal charges that it illegally exported a commercial Boeing 747 from the US to Iran.
Under a plea agreement with the Justice Department, Balli Aviation will pay $15m in criminal and civil fines and be placed on corporate probation. The penalty marks one of the largest fines paid for an export violation.
According to its website, Balli Group is headquartered in the UK and has sales exceeding $1bn. It is run by chairman Vahid Alaghband, and joint chief executives Nasser Alaghband and Hossein Adle. Lord Lamont, who served as chancellor of the exchequer under Prime Minister John Major, is named on its website as a non-executive director.
Under the terms of the plea deal, both Balli Aviation and Balli Group were denied export privileges for five years, though the Justice Department said the penalty would be suspended if no more export violations occurred and the groups paid the civil penalty.
According to charges filed in a US district court in Washington, from October 2005 to October 2008, Balli Aviation conspired to export three Boeing 747s from the US to Iran without obtaining a required export license from US government officials. The court document states that the company, through its subsidiary, Blue Sky Companies, purchased the US aircraft with financing it obtained from an Iranian airline. Balli Aviation then violated a Temporary Denial Order issued by the US Commerce Department on March 17, 2008, that prohibited the group from conducting any transaction involving Export Administration Regulations.
Reuters: Iran discovers new oil and gas fields – report
Iran’s oil minister announced on Saturday the discoveries of an oil field and a gas field, estimating the total value of their reserves at $85 billion, a semi-official news agency reported.
Massoud Mirkazemi said the newly-discovered oil field called Soumar was located in the western Kermanshah province.
“This new oil field has reserves of 475 million barrels of oil, of which 70 million barrels are recoverable,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
“If we value the recoverable oil at $70 dollars a barrel, the estimated value of the newly-discovered oil at this field would be $5 billion,” he said.
The gas field called Halgan was located about 70 km north of the Gulf port of Assaluyeh, he said, adding its daily output could reach some 50 million cubic metres over a two-decade period.
“If we reckon the value of every cubic metre of gas at around 30 U.S. cents, the value of the discovered gas in this field will be around $80 billion,” he said, without saying when production might start.
ICHR Iran: A Ferdowsi University student is moved into criminal ward
It is been said that the transfer of this student activist from Ferdowsi University to the ward of dangerous criminals is the result of illegal intimidation to extract televised confessions.
BBC: Q&A: Iran and the nuclear issue