Bill Samii

September 20, 2005

Iran: Wrangle Continues Over Diploma Mill

In his 16 September Friday Prayer sermon in Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati demanded to know why nothing has been done about the case of the American University in Hawaii. Approximately one year ago, Iranian legal officials reported that the American University of Hawaii, a diploma mill with headquarters in the United States, was issuing degrees --> /features/features_Article.aspx?m=09&y=2004&id=D526607D-299E-40CD-A6DF-6324A396767A that the government did not recognize.

September 18, 2005

Iran: New Security Measures Not Welcomed By All

Police will be keeping an eye on everything from criminals to wedding parties Recent steps by Iran's new government under President Mahmud Ahmadinejad demonstrate the rightward drift in the country's affairs that became apparent in the months preceding June's presidential election. These steps include the appointment of provincial governors-general with a security background, as well as a crackdown on social malefactors. The impact of the provincial appointments will be felt for years to come, whereas pressure in Tehran is likely to ease off.

September 07, 2005

Iran/Afghanistan: Still No Resolution For Century-Old Water Dispute

Iranian farmers are dependent on the Hirmand River for agriculture Iran and Afghanistan have been involved in a long-running dispute over access to the Hirmand River (a.k.a. Helmand River), which originates in mountains northwest of Kabul and flows some 1,000 kilometers before reaching Iran. Its waters are essential for farmers in Afghanistan, but it feeds into Lake Hamun and is also important to farmers in Iran's southeastern Sistan va Baluchistan Province.

September 06, 2005

Iran: Who Watches The Watchers?

Has the security service become more or less accountable since the shah was deposed? Iran has had a formal intelligence and security organization since 1957, but during the monarchy little was heard about it in the national media other than the names of its directors -- Teimur Bakhtiar, Hassan Pakravan, Nematollah Nassiri, and Nasser Moghaddam. The National Organization for Intelligence and Security (Sazeman-i Ettelaat va Amniyat-i Keshvar, SAVAK) was dreaded, particularly because of the activities of its domestic security branch, Department 3, which had a reputation for torture and other human rights abuses.

September 01, 2005

Iran: Political System Undergoes Major Changes

It was apparent even before Iran's presidential election in June that the country's party system was undergoing changes. Disputes among the reformist and centrist parties reflected disagreements over how extensively they would operate within the political system, the proper response to the disqualification of reformist parliamentary and presidential candidates, and the reaction to widespread and ultimately decisive fraud in the presidential election. Rifts in the hard-line parties had as much to do with generational discord as they did with ideological and strategic disputes. Such discord continues to roil Iranian politics, and international observers are better served by focusing on these developments and their long-term impact than on futile arguments over how to persuade Iran to discontinue its nuclear activities.

August 26, 2005

Iran: A Slimmed-Down Cabinet Gets To Work

Ahmadinejad at the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini on 25 August President Mahmud Ahmadinejad chaired the first session of his new cabinet on 25 August in Mashhad at the shrine of Imam Reza, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. "We have come to such a holy place to be inspired before rendering services to the nation," Ahmadinejad told journalists at the Mashhad airport before the meeting.

August 23, 2005

Archive: Iran's New President Outlines His Program

In a speech to the legislature on 21 August, newly installed Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad laid out his plans for the next four years, and legislators then began debating the men Ahmadinejad <a href="/featuresarticle/2005/08/304595f0-a4f6-4575-9f05-16b24b18fb90.html ">proposed as cabinet ministers</a> one week earlier. Each prospective minister will have 30 minutes to address parliament, and the entire process might continue until 25 August. Legislators' comments in the last week indicate that three to six of the nominees will encounter resistance (see <a href="/featuresarticle/2005/08/df1ac3f6-b3bf-489c-8db3-2855a321e26e.html">"Politicians Skeptical Of President's Obscure Cabinet Choices."</a>).

August 17, 2005

Iran: Blaming British For Arab Unrest Has Historical Roots

Southwestern Iran -- home to many ethnic Arabs (3 percent of the total population of approximately 68 million) -- has witnessed violent unrest in recent months. Most of Iran's crude-oil reserves are located in giant onshore fields in this part of country, so the regime is particularly sensitive about developments there.

August 17, 2005

Iran: Kurdish Grievances Remain A Thorny Issue

Kurdish leaders say Tehran has not paid sufficient attention to the economic sitution of Kurds Iran's ministers of the interior, of intelligence and security, and of defense will come to the legislature on 17 August to describe steps they have taken to reestablish order and security in the country's predominantly Kurdish northwestern provinces, according to Fars News Agency on 13 August. Legislators are likely to be disappointed.

August 15, 2005

Iran: President's Hard-Line Cabinet Choice Could Face Resistance

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad on 14 August submitted a list of 21 proposed cabinet members to the legislature for approval. Parliament has until 21 August to hold its vote.

August 09, 2005

Iran: Nuclear Decision Making Undergoes Changes

Recent announcements from Tehran about new President Mahmud Ahmadinejad making personnel changes in the Supreme National Security Council and the Foreign Ministry raise questions about the future of the country's international relations, generally, and the course of its nuclear decision making, specifically. Such personnel changes could have a visible impact on Iran's negotiations with other countries and in its public facade. In practical terms, however, decision making and policy setting in Iran is very complex, and its consensual nature precludes one person from causing a complete reversal.

August 08, 2005

Iran/Iraq: Renewed Speculation About Tehran And Instability In Iraq

The aftermath of a bomb attack in Baghdad last month "One of the biggest one-week death tolls for U.S. forces in Iraq and a continuing surge in killings of Iraqi forces and civilians showed that the insurgency is increasing its lethality and expanding its scope," "The Washington Post" reported on 7 August, citing U.S. and Iraqi officials and casualty counts. There are indications Iran could be contributing to that rising body count. --> /featuresarticle/2005/8/E82673DC-723A-4955-91AC-F8F4D0F7BC3D.html

July 30, 2005

Iran: Tehran Struggles To Push Ahead With India Pipeline

Iran's South Pars gas field (file photo) Officials in Iran are eager to get under way with a proposed gas pipeline to Pakistan and India that has been the subject of talks for more than a decade. Initial discussions among the participating countries concerning a 2,600-kilometer, overland natural-gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan to India began in the early 1990s.

July 24, 2005

Iran: A Cabinet Position Not Enough For Some

President-elect Ahmadinejad folowing his election victory Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will officially confirm Mahmud Ahmadinejad as president on 3 August, IRNA reported on 17 July, and Ahmadinejad will be sworn in on 6 August. The new president will have 15 days to introduce his proposed cabinet members to the parliament for approval, according to parliamentarian Hamid Reza Haji-Babai.

July 22, 2005

Iran: Country Faces Agitated Kurdish Population

Iraqi President Talabani's election served to galvanize Kurds around the region Unrest among Kurds living in western Iran, which has been continuing for several weeks, has prompted a government investigation that began on 20 July. This comes on the heels of low levels of Kurdish participation in the June presidential election, which may be indicative of their sense of exclusion from the country's politics. The Kurds are not promoting separatism, and the central government may find that meeting their demands will be more effective than arrests and violence in settling the unrest.

July 18, 2005

Iran: Country's Drug Problems Appear To Be Worsening

Iranian authorities, in an annual rite, burn some 50 tons of drugs in mid-2004 18 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The use of narcotics, particularly opium, has always been a problem in Iran. Tehran eventually eradicated opium crops in the country; but having Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, as a neighbor means that the problem not only persists but is getting worse. Opiates are not the only issue, as Iranians' use of cannabis and synthetic drugs is increasing.

July 09, 2005

Iran: Ambiguous Response To London Bombings

Tehran's reaction to the 7 July terrorist attacks in London is following a pattern seen before, and what this pattern shows is that the government projects an earnest and civilized facade to the outside world. At the same time, Tehran is highly critical of the outside world in messages to its domestic audience, and it tends to pin the blame on the victims. A precedent for this reaction, albeit on a different scale, was Tehran's response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

July 07, 2005

Iran: Will The New President Have A Big Tent?

How many of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's (pictured) supporters will be in the new Iranian government? President-elect Mahmud Ahmadinejad will be sworn in on 4 August, and a formal inauguration at the legislature will take place one day earlier. In the meantime, Ahmadinejad must select a cabinet. Ahmadinejad says ideology and politics will not determine his choices and he has met with individuals from the hard-line and reform factions. His choices are a sign of what one can expect from his presidency.

June 30, 2005

Iran: Do The Presidential Vote Numbers Really Add Up?

Iranian women voting in the second round on 24 June The Guardians Council, the body tasked with supervising Iranian elections, announced on 29 June its endorsement of the second round of the Iranian presidential election five days earlier, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported. Yet analysis of election data -- available at the Interior Ministry website (http://www.moi.ir) -- reveals what appear to be glaring irregularities and raises questions. The data also shed light on provincial interests.

June 26, 2005

Iran: A New Paradigm And New Math

Ahmadinejad's posters in Tehran The victory of Mahmud Ahmadinejad in Iran's 24 June presidential election represents the ascendance of the country's second postrevolution generation and the return of the common man to the country's politics. Although it is irrelevant now, because Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has congratulated the winner and effectively endorsed his mandate, Interior Ministry data raises questions about the election. Furthermore, there were complaints of fraud and interference.