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Sunday, December 29, 1996

Headlines:

-- Iranian forces on high alert
-- Europe moving closer to U.S. position
-- Iran-US in International court
-- China plans more Internet limits
-- Speak French or shutup
-- "Lost & Found" up to date--
-- Recording Persian for the blind
-- Davoodi's prize
-- Artist online: Yari Ostovany

From: Reza F. Bourghani <davood@ix.netcom.com>

Iran Braces to Get Blamed for Bombing of U.S. Site

Persian Gulf: Troops go on alert, PR effort kicks into gear as report on attack at Saudi complex nears release.

By ROBIN WRIGHT Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Dec 24, 1996

WASHINGTON--Iranian forces deployed in and along the Persian Gulf have gone on high alert in anticipation of a U.S. military strike, retaliating for Iran's alleged role in the June bombing of American airmen in Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The move is part of a "concerted Iranian effort" in recent days to try to control the damage from a Saudi-led campaign to finger Iran for the terrorist bombing that killed 19 U.S. airmen at Dhahran's Khobar Towers military housing complex, a senior Pentagon official said.

Since the weekend, Iran's navy has been put on alert, as have troops based on disputed Abu Musa and Tunb islands near the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the Gulf's oil exports pass en route to the outside world, the sources added.

"They seem to be very spun up," a senior administration official said. "We assume they're trying to put out an exculpatory set of statements preemptively" to lessen the damage of open public accusations and to prevent American retaliation.

Saudi officials have been hinting for weeks that a final report on the Khobar bombing, naming specific suspects and their sponsors, is imminent. And Pentagon sources have said contingency plans for strikes against Iranian military targets have been formulated in the event an Iranian link is proved.

The other half of Iran's campaign is a public relations offensive. On Monday, Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani announced that his government had intelligence proving that Saudis carried out the Khobar bombing...

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To see full text, go to:

//www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/NATION/t000112553.html

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From: Cyrus Mansouri <CMansouri@msn.com>

Europe grows more uneasy with Iran; Could move closer to U.S. position on sanctions

From Correspondent Ralph Begleiter December 24, 1996

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States and its European allies may be moving toward separate turning points that could lead to new confrontation with the government of Iran...

For the United States, it's the Khobar Towers military housing bombing [in Saudi Arabia]. For Germany, its the aftermath of a 1992 massacre of three Kurdish Iranian dissidents in a Berlin restaurant. And for Israel and the United States, it's a recent upsurge in new weapons supplies from Iran to southern Lebanon...

Europeans have kept open a dialogue with Tehran, partly because of Europe's dependence on Persian Gulf oil and business with Iran. The Europeans think U.S. sanctions are too harsh an approach, perhaps even pushing Iran's religious leaders to support more terrorism.

But if Iran is held responsible for terrorism in Germany and Saudi Arabia, the United States could be more successful in launching not only a unilateral response, but an international effort to punish the Tehran government.

***

To see full text, go to:

//cnn.com/WORLD/9612/24/iran.sanctions/index.html

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From: Reza F. Bourghani <davood@ix.netcom.com>

International court fixes deadline for US in row with Iran

Form wire services

THE HAGUE, Dec 24 - The International Court of Justice in The Hague on Tuesday fixed a deadline of June 23, 1997 for the United States to file a counter-statement in a case with Iran which dates back to the late 1980s.

The International Court of Justice declared itself competent earlier this month to rule in a conflict opposing Iran and the United States over the destruction by US warships of three Iranian oil rigs.

In late 1987 and early 1988, during the Iran-Iraq conflict, US warships destroyed three Iranian oil platforms in the Gulf.

Washington claimed that these platforms served as bases for military operations against international assets based in the Gulf.

But Tehran said the destruction was not justified and that the United States intended to cause "maximum damage" to the Iranian economy.

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Thursday, December 26, 1996 11:41 am EST

BEIJING (AP) -- China said Thursday it plans to strengthen its already strict controls over the Internet. The China Consumers Daily, an official newspaper, did not provide details on the stepped-up controls.

But they are apparently part of government efforts to combat pornography and ``cultural rubbish'' -- a term Chinese authorities use for things they consider unhealthy or politically suspect.

China already controls access to the worldwide computer network. Internet users were required earlier this year to register with police and warned that laws against pornography, social disturbances and breaches of state security apply online...

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To see full text, go to:

//wp1.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19961226/V000907-122696-idx.html

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French Groups Sue to Bar English-Only Internet Sites

By Anne Swardson Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, December 24, 1996; Page A01

PARIS - Officials in the United States and many other countries worry about what the Internet says, whether material on it is obscene or otherwise inappropriate.

In France, the worry is over what language the Internet speaks. When it doesn't speak French, that is.

In the latest effort to make the Internet French-friendly, the guardians of the French language are suing the American sponsors of an English-only site on the World Wide Web. Reason: The material on it is not also available in French...

***

To see full text, go to:

//wp1.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/europe/dec/24/georgia.htm

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The Lost & Found section in THE IRANIAN online magazine has been updated with new messages.

We have also made this service easier to use. You can search names alphabetically.

Go to:

//iranian.com/Dec96/LostFound/index.html

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From: A subscriber

A lady called me a while back from the non-profit Recording for the Blind organization and was looking for volunteers in the Washington, DC area to help record some Persian material.

The woman's name is Melina (sp?). Her phone is (202) 244-8990.

Could you pass it on to your email list. Maybe someone would be interested in helping.

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From: Nader Davoodi <saham@neda.net> via Reza F. Bourghani <davood@ix.netcom.com>

Remember voting for Nader Davoodi's photo in Agfa's online photo competition? Here's his thank-you note for his third-place prize:

Dear Friend,

Salam

Fortunately, I received a very proffesional camera from Agfa two days ago. You can take it and take photos with it, whenever you want. This is your part of this award!!

Another good news is receiving second Golden Medal in Asahi Shimbon's Photo Contest. Two in a row.

Nader

***

To see Davoodi's award-winning photo, go to:

//www.agfaphoto.com/gallery/currentgallery/pictureofmonth.html

Davoodi has another entry in the Agfa Gallery photo competition. Take a look at his photo of Qashqaie nomads and if you like it, vote for him again.

To see the photo (no. 9) and voting instructions, go to:

//www.agfaphoto.com/gallery/currentgallery/index.html

***

To see Davoodi's photos of New York in THE IRANIAN, go to:

//iranian.com/Nov95/Davoodi.html

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"In my work I try to touch the poetics of existence through a dialogue, a fugue, between the within and the without, seeking a resonance born of the friction between the two, leading to a peeling away of overlapping layers of perception..."

-- Yari Ostovany, artist, San Francisco

Take a look at Yari's paintings at:

//www.slip.net/~yari/

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