Iran's recent parliamentary elections -in which the "reformists" appear to have routed the "conservatives" - are likely to hurt, not help, any rapprochement between the U.S. and Iran… Khatami… doesn't want to end the U.S.-Iranian confrontation. Properly understood, his call for a "dialogue of civilizations" means nearly the opposite.

In the West, Khatami is hailed as an approachable reformer. Yet his speeches and books make clear that his intentions toward the U.S. aren't friendly. … He wants to borrow from the West so that Muslims can defy the West's (that is, America's) power. He wants to give Iranians more spiritual maneuvering room so that they can compete and triumph…

As the clerical regime slowly gives ground to democratic forces, real anti-American hostility may increase. The Iranian hard core may even return to terrorism against the U.S…
 

U.S. Top General Says Mullahs' Regime "Still the Most Dangerous" in Region, The Bloomberg News, February 28

Iran continues to develop ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets as far away as southern Europe in spite of a reform coalition's triumph in recent elections, according to the region's top U.S. general.

"The threat is there and growing," U.S. Central Command commandant Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni told Bloomberg News. He said Iran is proceeding with development of medium- and long-range missiles.

"We haven't seen any attempt on their part to modify or curtail their intention to develop both systems," Zinni said.

Zinni's remarks highlight that even though "moderates" are gaining a foothold in Iranian politics, all factions see it in the country's national interest to develop missiles, said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East specialist for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service….

Zinni told an Air Force Association air warfare symposium in Orlando that the U.S. shouldn't overreact to the Iranian election results. "They are still the most dangerous nation in the region," Zinni said.

"Iran is a country that is going to come to an internal confrontation between the moderates and hardliners -- it's inevitable," Zinni said. "The form of that confrontation is a question -- will it be violent. Will we see the universities riot? Will we see demonstrations on the street. Will you see quiet confrontation?"
 

Hundreds of Workers Demonstrate Outside Majlis, Agence France Presse, February 28

TEHRAN - Some 500 Iranian workers rallied outside the parliament Monday to protest at a new law passed at the weekend enabling employers with fewer than five staff to strip them of social security.

A statement from the Labor Center said the law, which still has to be approved by the watchdog Council of Guardians as conforming to the constitution, was a serious blow to job security.

The measure allows bosses of small firms to escape paying social security charges for their workers or to sack employees summarily.

News Bites

Sobh-e Emrouz (State-sponsored daily), February 27: "Most political activists and experts believe, on the basis of reliable documents and accounts, that if the vote count had been precise and free of rigging, the thirtieth and the thirty-first candidates in Tehran would have swapped their places. Thus, Hashemi Rafsanjani would have been among the eliminated candidates."

Fat'h (State-sponsored daily), February 27: If Rafsanjani is sent into the Majlis, even as the thirtieth person, the Islamic Republic will face a serious peril and a crisis of legitimacy… Indeed, both the state and Rafsanjani will receive fatal blows."

Sobh-e Emrouz (State-sponsored daily), February 26: News of electoral fraud and rigging are widespread and being told and retold every day. History will remember them in its fluid memory.

Fat'h (State-sponsored daily), February 26: News and reports from the election headquarters in the Interior Ministry and the May 23rd Front speak of widespread rigging to prevent the fall of Hashemi and to keep him in the thirtieth slot.

Iran Zamin News Agency, February 28: On Thursday, February 24, young people in the city of Takestan (western Iran), threw petrol bombs at a car belonging to Rajab Rahmani, the Majlis deputy from this area who has retained his Majlis seat through widespread rigging and vote fixing.

The deputy governor of the city of Shabestar, Ismail Mirzaii, in northwestern Iran was arrested in the wake of huge rigging and cheating.

Mullah Gholamreza Hassani, the Friday prayers leader of Orumieh (capital of northwest Iran province of West Azerbaijan) told his congregation on Friday: "There are 518,000 people who have the right to vote in this constituency, but less than 3,000 actually voted."

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