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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)


April 2003 Iran Special Weapons News



  • RFE/RL Iran Report, Volume 6, Number 18 28 Apr 2003 -- TEHRAN DENIES COMMUNICATING WITH WASHINGTON / TEHRAN AND WASHINGTON SHARE CONCERNS ABOUT IRAQ / IRGC CONDEMNS HOSTAGE RESCUE MISSION / MERRYMAKING IRANIAN OFFICIALS ANNOY LOCALS / GOVERNMENT TAKING ITS TIME TO CHOOSE NEW CENTRAL-BANK HEAD / IRAN PLANS 30 NEW TOWNS / EU, WORLD BANK DEMAND IRAN ACT ON MONEY LAUNDERING / WEAK ECONOMY AND HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT WORRY TEHRAN / IRAN-U.A.E. GAS DEAL INKED / SUPREME LEADER PRAISES INSPECTORS / HEALTH OFFICIALS DENY REPORTS OF SARS DEATH IN IRAN / KHATAMI DENOUNCES SATELLITE-BROADCAST JAMMING / FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER URGES IRAN TO ACCEPT WIDER NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS / IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS ALL JEWS JAILED FOR SPYING ARE NOW FREE / IRANIAN ACTRESS SENTENCED FOR KISS ON STAGE / MUJAHEDIN KHALQ TERRORISTS MAY SURVIVE WAR / THOUSANDS OF SHIA CONGREGATE IN KARBALA / COALITION FORCES CRACKING DOWN ON IRAN-BACKED IRAQI SHIA CLERICS? / RETURNING ARAB VOLUNTEERS FACE RESTRICTIONS
  • U.S. Urges Serious Consequences For Non-Proliferation Treaty Violators Washington File 28 Apr 2003 -- A leading U.S. government nuclear nonproliferation official urged "serious consequences for those who violate their NPT commitments" and described Iran's nuclear program as a "fundamental challenge" at an international conference in Geneva April 28.
  • U-S / N-P-T VOA 28 Apr 2003 -- The United States says that North Korea, Iran, and several other countries have cheated on their obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
  • PENTAGON / IRAN VOA 25 Apr 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said again the United States will not allow the establishment of a pro-Iranian government in Iraq.
  • EDITORIAL: IRAN WARNED NOT TO MEDDLE IN IRAQ VOA 25 Apr 2003 -- The United States has warned Iran not to interfere as the Iraqi people move to set up a new government. The warning comes amid press reports that Iranian-trained agents have crossed into southern Iraq and are working in Najaf, Karbala, Basra, and other cities. The agents are said to include members of the Badr Brigade, an Iraqi exile group based in Iran, as well as some of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
  • EDITORIAL: NO TO THE IRANIAN MODEL VOA 25 Apr 2003 -- Shia Muslims from across Iraq gathered in the Iraqi city of Karbala [KAHR-bah-LAH] this week to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. As many as a million people traveled to Karbala, most of them on foot, to observe Arbaeen [ahr-bah-een], one of Shia Islam's holiest days. It was the first time in thirty years that Iraqi or other Shiites could freely make the pilgrimage, which was banned by Saddam Hussein's regime.
  • PENTAGON / RUMSFELD /IRAN VOA 24 Apr 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he believes most Iraqis do not want Iranian influence in their country's internal affairs and favor a representative, non-dictatorial government
  • BUSH IRAN - IRAQ VOA 24 Apr 2003 -- President Bush says he hopes Iran will stay out of Iraq, and will not try to gain influence over its Shi'ite Muslim majority. Mr. Bush says the United States will do all it can to encourage Tehran to cooperate.
  • IRAQ/IRAN VOA 24 Apr 2003 -- The U-S official handling Iraq's reconstruction is expressing concern about growing Iranian influence in the country.
  • White House Warns Against Iranian Interference in Iraq Washington File 23 Apr 2003 -- The White House said it has made it clear to Iran it would oppose any outside organization's interference in Iraq as that country embarks on its "road to democracy."
  • PENTAGON / IRAN VOA 23 Apr 2003 -- U-S military officials say they are closely watching apparent efforts by Iran to influence the formation of the post-Saddam Hussein government in Iraq.
  • As Shi'ites Rise, Washington Acknowledges Talks With Iran RFE/L 23 Apr 2003 -- Some Iraqi Shiites have been calling for an Islamic state similar to Iran. Washington says it won't allow such a development, but acknowledged yesterday that it is quietly talking with Tehran, which has close ties to key Iraqi Shi'ite groups.
  • BUSH / IRAN VOA 23 Apr 2003 -- The Bush administration has warned Iran against sending agents into southern Iraq. A U-S newspaper says Iranian-trained agents are already in southern Iraq promoting friendly relations with Shiite clerics.
  • RFE/RL Iran Report, Volume 6, Number 17 21 Apr 2003 -- KHATAMI REJECTS REFERENDUM ON RELATIONS WITH U.S. / EXPEDIENCY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN CRITICIZES COALITION / IRAN DOES NOT WANT U.S. TO CONSIDER IT AN ENEMY / TEHRAN REJECTS NON-IRAQI ADMINISTRATION / U.S. NEGOTIATING WITH MUJAHEDIN KHALQ ORGANIZATION / SURVEY: MOST TEHRAN RESIDENTS DISTRUST U.S. GOVERNMENT / APPEALS COURT REDUCES POLLSTERS' SENTENCES / ANOTHER DEMONSTRATION AT BRITISH EMBASSY IN TEHRAN / AGHAJARI GETS LEAVE EXTENSION / IRANIAN SATELLITE RECEIVER BAN COULD BE BYPASSED / SHI'A CLERICS ASSERT CONTROL IN BAGHDAD, NAJAF, KARBALA / CONTINUING RIVALRY IN SHI'A COMMUNITY / POSITIVE RESULTS FOR FIRST POSTWAR OPPOSITION MEETING / DA'WAH STAKES A CLAIM IN IRAQ / SCIRI CALLS FOR COMMITMENT TO IRANIAN GUIDELINES / NEW IRAQI GROUPS PLEDGE TO FIGHT COALITION / LEBANESE SHI'A TO FOLLOW IRANIAN LEAD ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS / IRAN HELPS DISPLACED IRAQIS / UN ISSUES WARNING ON AFGHAN NARCOTICS RESURGENCE
  • BYMAN-IRAN AND SYRIA VOA 17 Apr 2003 -- Joining us now, Professor Daniel Byman, of Georgetown University's Security Studies Program. Dr. Byman is also a Senior Fellow at the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution here in Washington. Thanks for joining us. A lot to talk about. I would like to focus on Iran and Syria for our segment.
  • IRAQ/IRAN FACTION VOA 17 Apr 2003 -- The U-S military says it has been conducting air operations against a major Iranian rebel group that has been based in Iraq for more than a decade.
  • Transcript: State's Bolton Says Iraq a Lesson for Syria, Libya, Iran Washington File 16 Apr 2003 -- "The United States is very concerned that states seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction give up that quest, and that they live within the commitments that they've made in such things as the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the chemical weapons convention, and the biological weapons convention," said the State Department's John Bolton in an interview with Radio Sawa.
  • U.S. Has No Further War Plans, Powell Says Washington File 15 Apr 2003 -- Despite serious concerns about weapons of mass destruction in Syria and Iran, the United States has no plans for further military action in the region, says Secretary of State Colin Powell.
  • RFE/RL Iran Report, Volume 6, Number 16 14 Apr 2003 -- KHAMENEI ACCUSES COALITION OF COLONIALISM... / ...AND ENCOURAGES IRAQI RESISTANCE / IRANIAN PRESIDENT CRITICIZES U.S. PLANS FOR IRAQ / IRANIAN OFFICIALS OBJECT TO DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ / IRANIAN REFORMISTS CRITICIZE ANTI-U.S. RHETORIC / BIASED IRANIAN WAR COVERAGE DISCUSSED / IRANIAN TELEVISION BROADCASTING TO IRAQ / CHARNEL HOUSE NEAR BASRA CONTAINS IRANIAN REMAINS / IRAQI REFUGEES DANCE IN THE STREETS OF TEHRAN / IRAQI SHIA AND A POST-SADDAM IRAQ / MURDER IN THE MOSQUE / TEHRAN-SCIRI RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC / DA'WAH DESCRIBES ITS ROLE AGAINST SADDAM AND IN THE FUTURE / IRAN REOPENS KHORRAMSHAHR PORT / MKO RETURNING TO IRAN AS COALITION BOMBS ITS IRAQI POSITIONS / AGHAJARI ON HOME LEAVE / CLASHES IN SOUTHERN TEHRAN / JOURNALISTS IN COURT... / ...WHILE ANOTHER FILES APPEAL / TEHRAN GROWS UNCOMFORTABLE FOR BRITISH / IRANIAN STUDENTS PROTEST OUTSIDE U.K. AND SWISS EMBASSIES / COALITION ROCKET REPORTEDLY KILLS BOY IN KHUZESTAN / HIZBALLAH AND IRAQ
  • IRAQ/IRAN VOA 13 Apr 2003 -- Iran has maintained, what it calls, a neutral position with regard to the war in Iraq. But given its historical and religious connections with the country, some political experts say it is just a matter of time before Tehran will attempt to gain political influence in Iraq.
  • Iraqi Muslims Should Not Cooperate with Foreign Rule 11 Apr 2003 -- The Leader of Muslims, His Eminence Ayatullah al-Uzma Hajj Seyed Ali Khamene'i (d.) has asked Iraqi Muslims not to cooperate with foreign rule and said: "Today, if anyone assists foreign forces to consolidate their rule in Iraq, this will be recorded in the history of Iraq as a shameful stain for any individual or any group that does it." Addressing Iraqi Muslims in Arabic in the second khutbah of Friday-prayers on 11 April, Ayatollah Khamene'i said: "The American and British claim that they are giving freedom to the Iraqi people is a travesty. In reality, they are acting to secure control of Iraq, its oil and the Middle East and they are trying to suppress the Palestinian intifada. They are also trying to bury the Islamic revival. The appointment of a foreign ruler in Iraq is a humiliation for freedom and popular sovereignty in Iraq. They are scheming to obliterate Iraq's Islamic identity and nationalism and to turn it into a springboard for American domination of all the Middle East and its valuable human and material resources. ... we will not be neutral in the confrontation between the occupiers and the Iraqi people."
  • RFE/RL Iran Report, Volume 6, Number 15 07 Apr 2003 -- KHATAMI DENOUNCES U.S.-LED WAR ON IRAQ / IRANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS WAR COULD BENEFIT IRAN / IRANIAN STANCE DISAPPOINTS IRAQI OFFICIAL / TEHRAN BLAMES COALITION FOR IRANIAN JOURNALIST'S DEATH / IRANIAN AYATOLLAHS CONDEMN WAR ON IRAQ / CONFUSION OVER IRAQI AYATOLLAH'S POSSIBLE FATWA / OFFICIAL IRANIAN WAR COVERAGE EXPOSES BIAS / ALL ROADS LEAD TO BAGHDAD -- EXCEPT THOSE OF IRANIAN VOLUNTEERS / SYRIA DISMISSES U.S. ACCUSATIONS OF INTERFERENCE IN IRAQ / PALESTINIAN RADICALS DEDICATE TERRORIST ACTS TO IRAQ / LEBANESE SHIA DISCUSS U.S. INTEREST IN IRAQ AND REGION / IRAQI OPPOSITION MEETS AS SADDAM ISSUES WARNING / GUARDIANS COUNCIL REJECTS KHATAMI'S ELECTION LAW / PENTAGON TO BLACKLIST COMPANIES INVESTING IN IRAN'S ENERGY SECTOR... / ...WHILE BRITAIN RELAXES SCRUTINY OF EXPORTS / STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN



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