Iran: February 16, 2004

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reformers won only 65 seats. 

 

Islamic conservatives have apparently decided to take a hard line. The Islamic religious leaders have decided to not allow reform candidates to run for parliament seats, including those who are already in parliament. This means that voters will have very few reform candidates to vote for and a conservative majority will take over parliament. With no official voice, reformers will have only the street, and violence, as an outlet. Islamic conservatives feel that, with control of the police, the military and para-military organizations, they can defeat with force and reformer attempt to take power. 

The Islamic conservatives who control the nuclear power program announced that they would sell nuclear fuel freely on the world market, in defiance of world opinion or international nuclear regulatory organizations. 

The government says that it has arrested 130 members of al Qaeda, but will not turn them over to the nations they come from, or anyone else. While the Iranian government denies that it supports terrorism, it is known to maintain terrorist training camps and openly supports Islamic radical terrorists in northern Iraq (Ansar al Islam) and Lebanon (Hizbollah). Al Qaeda members are thought to be receiving the same kind of support, although not

 

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