Back to Brief on Iran
[Excerpts from an article by columnist Michele Landsberg's]
Iran turns a smiling face to the world. The new "moderate'' president, Mohammad Khatami, hopes for "dialogue'' with Americans, previously known as Satanic enemies.
But in the past year there have been at least 199 executions in Iran, after notoriously unfair trials. In April, the U.N. commission on human rights rebuked Iran for the worsening human rights situation under Khatami…
Meanwhile, behind the veil of distance, the chief prosecutor of Iran still insists that "blasphemous'' author Salman Rushdie must be murdered. Amnesty International reiterates the "appalling record'' of political assassinations of dissidents who had fled abroad, only to meet their government murderers in foreign streets.
In the winter just past, travel articles rhapsodized about the "new, safe'' Iran with all its exotic sights and treasures, notably including "women draped in black chadors, gliding along . . . contributing to its Oriental mystique.'' In April, Iran imposed strict sex segregation on all hospitals, risking the health of 30 million women for whom there are not enough female doctors. It is illegal for the press to discuss the rights of women, or to feature a photo of a woman - even heavily veiled - on the front page. As for that well-known "Oriental mystique'' of the chador, is it all the more exotic because of the brutal floggings meted out to women who dare lift a corner of their state-enforced clothing?
Iran's smiling new face of moderation is all Wizard of Oz stuff, smoke and mirrors and sleight of hand. While the hype makes the front pages of the Western press, the back pages carry smaller, more ominous stories.
Homosexuality is punishable by "cleaving in two.''
At least seven people have been stoned to death in public - the punishment for voluntary sex outside of marriage - since Khatami's election. The size of the stones to be used is carefully prescribed in order to inflict the most lingering and gruesomely painful death. A woman who revived in the morgue was hospitalized and nursed back to health - presumably to face death by stoning once more.
Caught between the outward smiles and true cruelty of the Khatami regime are an estimated 3,000 Iranians in our midst who have been refused asylum in Canada.
It's fair to say that many of these 3,000 men, women and children, if deported, are in imminent peril of arbitrary arrest, torture and even death. Canada may barter their lives for increased profit from trade…
Senior Mullah Welcomes Pakistani Nuclear Tests, Agence France Presse, June 5
TEHRAN - Iran's top judicial official, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, welcomed on Friday the nuclear tests carried out by fellow Islamic nation Pakistan, saying they helped provide "equilibrium with Israel."
"Today, the region, and notably the Islamic world, has a power which can be a source of equilibrium with Israel and its nuclear power," Yazdi said in an address during Friday prayers.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi also said this week during visits to Islamabad and New Delhi that Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear power could serve as a deterrent against Israel.
Iran Needs "Islamic Bomb," Says Paper, Reuter, June 8
TEHRAN - Iran needs a nuclear capability of its own to protect its national security, a newspaper said.
"As one of the pioneering Islamist states in the world, Iran's need for an 'Islamic bomb' is quite clear...," the Persian daily Kar-va-Kargar said in a commentary.
"Considering the nuclear capability of India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and the Zionist regime (Israel), Iran's geopolitical situation demands a revision in this regard," Kar-va-Kargar said on Monday.
Desecration of "Islamic Sanctities" Won't Be Tolerated, State-Run IRNA, June 7
The chairman of the Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Ali Meshkini, here on Friday cautioned about activities of some who have taken advantage of the freedom in the country to desecrate the sanctities of the nation.
In his sermon as the Friday prayer leader of the city of Qom, Meshkini warned that any violation of the Islamic laws would be dealt with severely.
Calling on the government not to tolerate any desecration of Islamic sanctities, Ayatollah Meshkini said ''the government should not tolerate slogans, pictures and statements which aggravate the pains of the bereaved family of martyrs and clergies.''
He further rejected as mere lies the claims of divisions between the people and clergies, between the Majlis and government and between universities and seminaries.
There are some who claim that the youth
no longer possesses the enthusiasm it displayed during the Iraqi imposed
war, Ayatollah Meshkini said.