Back to Brief on Iran
One of the salient evidences of sloppy journalistic thinking is the misapplication of linguistic categories. It should be obvious that the word "conservative" cannot be applied both to an authoritarian theocracy and a democratic system.
One of the commonest misuses of language is describing tyrannical regimes as "conservative."…
I have before me the State Department's 1997 report on Iran's human rights practices since the Shi'a Muslim clergy took over the 1997 populist revolution. These are some of its dismal conclusions, all of them in pointed contradistinction to what conservatism stands for:
- "Systematic abuses include extrajudicial killings and summary executions, disappearances, widespread use of torture and other degrading treatment; harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrests and detention; unfair trials; infringement on citizens' privacy; and restriction of freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, religion and movement."
- Women face legal and social discrimination.
- The government discriminates against minorities and restricts workers rights.
- Members of the Bahai faith are persecuted. Since 1979, more than 200 Bahais have been executed because of their faith and hundreds more are in jail or awaiting execution. Ayatollah Yazdi, head of the judiciary, in 1996 defined Bahaism as an espionage organization.
- The fatwa calling for the murder of Salman Rushdie or anyone associated with his book :"The Satanic Versus" still stands.
- "Oppression of evangelical Christians continued in 1997."
I urge the New York Times and Reuters foreign editors to e-mail to their correspondents a copy of the State Department's report on Iran and tell them to try other adjectives, like turbaned tyrants, radicals, theocrats.…
Catastrophe Caused by Government's Unbridled Lumbering - Majlis Member, Hamshahri Daily, August 4
The member of Majlis from Fouman region [in the northern province of Guilan, the site of the recent unprecedented flood] said: "The flood was so powerful that even within a 15 kilometer radius pieces of human bodies and parts of destroyed vehicles were found.
"This is while no trace of disappeared heavy vehicles, such as trucks and mini-busses, has been found. During the latest search missions, the only things found were pieces of bodies of the people who were disappeared due to the flood."
He added that the uncontrolled and profiteering cutting of trees in the province by government owned companies has resulted in such a terrible flood.
Iran Pre-Sells Oil To Raise Finances for Economic Deficits, Reuter, August 3
TEHRAN - Iran will sell over $2 billion worth of its oil on a pre-financing basis to compensate for a slump in international crude prices, a senior Central Bank official said in remarks published on Monday.
Mohammad-Jafar Mojarrad, foreign exchange deputy of the central bank, told Kar va Kargar newspaper that Iran had already sold $1.2 billion of its oil.
Iran relies on oil exports for nearly 90 percent of all foreign exchange earnings pumping some 3.6 million bpd of which it sells about 2.3 million bpd.
Iran's Foreign Debt At $12 Billion-Central Bank, Reuter, August 5
Tehran—Iran's foreign debt totaled $12.1 billion by the close of the year which ended March 20, including $3.289 billion in short-term and $8.828 billion in medium- and long-term undertakings, the Central Bank of Iran reported.
"Considering contingent obligations, including the opened letters of credit not yet consigned and future interest, total external obligations (actual and contingent) amounted to $24.4 billion" by March 20, the bank said in a report published in the daily Iran News on Wednesday.
Mullahs' Regime Poses "Gravest Threat", Barak, The Associated Press, August 5
WASHINGTON—Former Israeli general and current politician Ehud Barak is visiting the United States.
Barak, describing the Palestinians as the weakest militarily of Israel's Arab neighbors, said Iran and Islamic fundamentalists posed the gravest threat to Israel. Reaching a compromise agreement with the Palestinian Authority would make it harder for Iran to use the dispute as leverage against Israel, he said.