Heard in Iran This Week
on Radio Farda
(Washington, DC -- December 6, 2007) This past week Radio Farda reported on the following issues and more:
* Reaction to the latest U.S. intelligence assessment of Iran's nuclear program
* More arrests of women's rights and student activists
* Commemorating the 1998 "chain murders" of Iranian dissidents
Radio Farda Airs Analyses of New U.S. Estimate of Iran's Nuclear Efforts...
December 5 -- U.S. Ambassador to the IAEA Gregory Schulte told Radio Farda [text in Persian: http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/12/05/o2_schulte_us_iaea.html] "the NIE [National Intelligence Estimate] still points out that Iran continues to enrich uranium enrichment with no obvious civil requirement." During a separate interview on December 4, Iran expert Shahram Chubin said [text in Persian: http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/12/04/f1_NIE_interview.html] release of the NIE will encourage European countries to urge the U.S. to seek a solution that "allows Iran some enrichment and... more intrusive inspections."
...Focuses on New Activist Arrests...
* December 4 -- Radio Farda spoke to Reporters Without Borders' spokesman Reza Moini [audio in Persian: https://audio.rferl.org/ch21/2007/12/04/20071204-150000-FRD-program.mp3] after the arrest of women's rights activist Jelveh Javaheri, the fourth One Million Signature campaign organizer to be detained since October.
* December 4 -- A student activist told Radio Farda [text in Persian: http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/12/04/f9_leftwin_student.html] that security forces arrested a number of students who organized a rally at Tehran University in honor of Student's Day, including a political science student who took refuge in a law faculty classroom. One day earlier, Radio Farda had aired a statement [text in Persian: http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/12/03/f3_students_leftwing.html] by the left-wing "Libertarian and Egalitarian Students" group calling for a rally the next day.
...Interviews Son of 1998 Dissident Murders Victim...
November 29 -- To commemorate the 1998 "chain murders" of dissident Iranian intellectuals, Radio Farda aired an interview with the son of murdered writer Mohammad Mokhtari [text in Persian: http://www.radiofarda.com/Article/2007/11/29/f2_Mokhtari_Poyandeh.html].
...Presents "Viewpoints" on Annapolis Summit
Tehran-based academic Hassan Hashemian, journalist Mashallah Shamsolvaezin and Radio Israel Iran expert Menashe Amir discussed the outlook for Middle East peace on November 30 during Radio Farda's weekly roundtable program [audio in Persian: https://audio.rferl.org/ch21/2007/11/30/20071130-150000-FRD-program.mp3].
RFE/RL Analysis
Tehran Seizes on U.S. Nuclear Turnaround
December 4 -- Rare is a U.S. intelligence report that seems to strike joy in the hearts of Iranian leaders. RFE/RL gathers analyst views from Iran on how a new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which concludes that Iran is not currently at work on a nuclear weapons program, appears to have done just that.
Women Reject the 'Little Miseries'
December 5 -- RFE/RL talks to women's rights activists In Iran about how their colleagues from across Iran are rallying to defend women who are the victims of daily abuses of their human rights -- and how authorities are cracking down on this grassroots movement.
For more on these and other stories about Iran, please visit:
http://www.radiofarda.com -- Radio Farda's Persian-language website
http://www.rferl.org/reports/iran-report/default.asp -- "RFE/RL Iran Report" weekly analysis
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/iran.html -- RFE/RL English-language coverage of Iran
Radio Farda, a joint project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and
Voice of America (VOA), is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week news service.