Iran: February 16, 2004

Archives

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

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close