Beyond Roxana Saberi: Javed Iqbal Jailed in US for Al-Manar News Broadcasts

This week Javed Iqbal, a Pakistani citizen and US resident, was jailed for six years for carrying the broadcasts of al-Manar, the television channel affiliated with the Lebanese political movement Hezbollah.

Iqbal, through his New York-based company HDTV Ltd, broadcast al-Manar for several months between 2005 and 2006 to paying customers. For prosecutors, this made him "Hezbollah's man in New York City". A second defendant connected with HDTV Ltd, Saleh Elahwal, has pled guilty and awaits sentencing.

Al-Manar is an established broadcaster in the Middle East, and its footage has been used by other outlets such as Fox and CNN. (I have been interviewed for their English-language programmes and follow their news output closely.) However, US authorities added al-Manar to its list of terrorist organisations in 2004, warning that that anyone who "solicits funds or other things of value for al-Manar" would be prosecuted. Other countries, including France and Canada, also imposed a ban, although the channel is easily accessed via the Internet.

Apart from a brief article by Adam Liptak in The New York Times in October 2007, there has been no attention to the case in the US.

Beyond Roxana Saberi: The Arrest of Esha Momeni in Iran

Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, jailed for eight years on espionage charges in Iran, is now entering the second week of a hunger strike. Understandably, given her work for Western media and the building drama, her situation is now daily news. Beyond those headlines, however, there are other cases of individuals imprisoned --- in Iran and the US --- as part of  political manoeuvring.

Last October, California State University graduate student Esha Momeni (pictured) was detained in Tehran's Evin Prison. Momeni, an Iranian-American dual national, was researching her thesis on the women's rights movement in Iran when she was picked up by the authorities. Campaigners for Momeini, who was suffering from kidneystones, claimed that she received no medical care and that her lawyer and family cannot see her.

Momeni was initally charged with a traffic violation, but with other women's rights activists, she was later charged with "endangering national security" as "agents of Western powers". She probably crossed the line when her research included the filming of a documentary on the activists,

Momeni was released on 10 November when her bail of approximately $200,000 was met by the deeds to her family’s apartment. She is still barred from leaving Iran or from pursuing any research in connection with her Master's thesis.

Reading Mahmoud in Tehran: Ahmadinejad Engages (and Wins) in US Television Interview

Video and Transcript: Iran’s Ahmadinejad on ABC’s This Week (26 April)

ABC News, after its posturing earlier in the week over the Roxana Saberi case, finally broadcast the substance of its interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday.

This time, the signals are significant. Behind the rhetoric, Ahmadinejad made clear: no short-term breakthroughs, primarily because of June's Presidential elections, but the path is being laid for long-term talks. And, in preparation for those talks, Iran is reshaping the issues on the table: the priority is not Tehran's nuclear programme but a meaningful approach --- in which Tehran plays an accepted and significant role --- towards Palestinian statehood.

Even the fact that an interview took place carries weight. The last time that a crew from a major US network visited Iran was last autumn, for NBC's Today Show, and their stay did not include an audience with the President. The granting of the visas to ABC, plus 30 minutes face-time with Ahmadinejad, is an acceptance of engagement.

Which was not to say that the President was going to make the process easy. Responding to ABC's framing of Obama offering "a new relationship", Ahmadinejad gave the assurance, "We are calling for peace and security for all," but then put the burden of symbolic concession on the US:

In the past 29 years, different U.S. administrations have opposed the Iranian people. Now they say that we have given up that enmity....An administration which, up until yesterday, was saying that I’m going to kill you, and today says that I’m not going to kill you?

Ahmadinejad backed this up with the clever reminder that he had made the first step to reconciliation: "I sent a congratulatory message to Mr. Obama [when he was elected President]....I am yet to receive a response."

Doing this, the President could present an Iran biding its time to consider the possible change in US approach. On the proposed direct talks over Iran's nuclear programme, he said, "Planning needs to be made, and some timetables need to be set....Many new issues have been added to the agenda, so to speak, and we are reconsidering our proposed package."

ABC's George Stephanopoulos, turned into a teenager wanting his allowance now, begged, "Why not sit down right now with the U.S. and the European powers to discuss the nuclear program?.... Tell me your proposal....I just want to know, when will Iran sit down with the United States and the European powers to discuss the nuclear program?", which only reinforced Ahmadinejad's play-it-cool position:

We should just have a clear-cut framework for talks. The agenda should be clear.

This, however, was not just a case of a President stalling or holding the line. Turning around Stephanopoulos' bumbling presentation of the standard charges of Iran's anti-Israel policy and Holocaust denial, Ahmadinejad put forth Tehran's defence of rights and a just solution for Palestine:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why do you insist on questioning the Holocaust even when it’s established as an historical fact, and even when politicians here in Iran worry that that kind of talk isolates Iran?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): I’m going to talk about that as well. Don’t be hasty. I have posed two questions over the Holocaust. My first question was, if the Holocaust happened, where did it take place? In Europe. Why should they make amends in Palestine? The Palestinian people had no role to play in the Holocaust. They had no role, for that matter, in the Second World War. Racism happened in Europe, but amends are made in Palestine?

Perhaps more significantly, Ahmadinejad knocked back Stephanopoulos' next attempt clubbing --- Iran will never recognise Israel --- with this response:

AHMADINEJAD: we are asking for the legal rights of the Palestinian people. What we are saying is that the Palestinian people, like other peoples, have the right to determine their own fate....Nobody should interfere. Allow the Palestinian people to decide for themselves. Whatever they decide....

STEPHANOPOULOS: If the Palestinians sign an agreement with Israel, will Iran support it?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Whatever decision they take is fine with us. We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that. We think that this is the right of the Palestinian people.

It will be interesting to see how the President's interview is received within Iran, but my reading is that he successfully balanced the need to hold open the door to US-Iran engagement while putting off any substantive discussions during his bid for re-election. Washington undoubtedly recognises this; the immediate issue is whether it accepts this and holds off on any pressure against Tehran.

Then the interesting part begins. As Ahmadinejad tries to hold office, the US is making its (so far stuttering) move for a Middle Eastern reconfiguration in which Iran looks in from the outside --- that is why the Obama Administration needs a substantive advance on both Israel-Syria and Israel-Palestine talks.

Ahmadinejad's most important message, therefore, was: You can't keep us out. And, indeed, if the US makes little progress before July --- whether or not he still is President of Iran --- he might be right.

Video and Transcript: Iran's Ahmadinejad on ABC's This Week (26 April)

Latest Post: Ahmadinejad Engages (and Wins) in US Television Interview

VIDEO (PART 1 OF 2)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMwdlOk2wMw[/youtube]

VIDEO (PART 2 OF 2)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77eeYWxbqWQ[/youtube]

SPEAKERS: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST

PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN

STEPHANOPOULOS: During the last administration, no other world leader next to you was as critical of the American administration as [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez. Yet, look at this picture right here. Is this a picture that you would like to see, you and President Obama? And what do you think the Iranian people would think of you and President Obama meeting, shaking hands, engaging in conversation?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Well, we are calling for peace and security for all. We would like international relations to be based on just this and friendship. Wherever a hostile relationship turns into friendship, that would make us happy.

STEPHANOPOULOS: President Obama says that’s exactly what he wants right now. He says he wants a new beginning in a relationship with Iran. He sent a message to the Iranian people on the occasion of the Novruz holiday, where he called Iran a great civilization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Very best wishes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: He talked about the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he signaled that he wasn’t interested in regime change, and he talked about his vision for the United States/Iranian relationship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It’s a future where the old divisions are overcome, where you and all of your neighbors and the wider world can live in greater security and greater peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you share that vision?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): You need to appreciate that the American administration, 29 years ago, unilaterally cut its relations with Iran. In the past 29 years, different U.S. administrations have opposed the Iranian people.

Now they say that we have given up that enmity. That’s fine. We have welcomed such comments. But an administration which, up until yesterday, was saying that I’m going to kill you, and today says that I’m not going to kill you?

STEPHANOPOULOS: So there is change, though. What will Iran do in response? The United States has said that the United States is ready to talk with Iran and the other great powers -- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. Are you prepared to sit down at those talks without preconditions?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Well, previously, first of all, I sent a congratulatory message to Mr. Obama. This was a major decision, although the Iranian people were very much dismayed with the conduct of previous U.S. administrations, and I was criticized here at home in Iran.

Nevertheless, I did that. I am yet to receive a response.

With the European group and the American group, we will talk. We have announced as much, that we are going to negotiate. But...

STEPHANOPOULOS: When will you join those talks?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): ... again, based on justice and mutual respect.

Well, after everything is said and done -- well, planning needs to be made, and some timetables need to be set. We believe in talking, in negotiating, based on sincerity and respect and justice. But the U.S. administration severed its relations with us.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But that was the past administration. And now President Obama said he is prepared to sit down, along with the other European powers, without any preconditions. And it sounds to me as if you’re suggesting now Iran is the one with the preconditions, echoing, in fact, the policy of the last U.S. administration.

Are there preconditions or not? Why not sit down right now with the U.S. and the European powers to discuss the nuclear program?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Last year we proposed a package of proposals for talks. Everyone knows that in this year many changes, developments have unfolded on the international stage. Many new issues have been added to the agenda, so to speak, and we are reconsidering our proposed package. We are adding new issues to the realm, if you will, of the talks. And we are going to make that public as soon as possible. We are always ready to talk...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why not now?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): ... with no preconditions.

What should I do?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Tell me your proposal.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Should I share that with you, sir?

STEPHANOPOULOS: The world, American viewers.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): We are going to do that officially. We think that we should prepare the ground so that all states and peoples can have their say.

We are ready to contribute to international security, peace, and global friendship and global disarmament.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You say you want to talk on the basis of respect. The president has expressed his respect for the Islamic Republic of Iran, and he said he is ready to talk. I just want to know, when will Iran sit down with the United States and the European powers to discuss the nuclear program?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Well, the nuclear issue of ours is a special issue. We think that the nuclear issue needs to be resolved in the context of the agency and regulations.

We are just utilizing our legal rights.

I have no reservations when it comes to talking.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you’re ready to talk without preconditions?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): No, no. We should just have a clear-cut framework for talks. The agenda should be clear.

But so far we have only heard this from the media, the newspapers, that they’re interested in talking. And obviously, they’re going to receive a response from the papers.

I was fully expecting Mr. Obama to participate in the Geneva Conference. What issue is more important than racial discrimination? The United Nations has organized...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes, sir, since you bring that up...

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): ... such a conference. I don’t think or believe that Mr. Obama supports racism. However, the gentleman should have been there and should have condemned outright racism and racial discrimination.

This is a good possibility for talks and cooperation. We should all cooperate with one another to help racism to go away from the international...

STEPHANOPOULOS: What he doesn’t agree...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... with, if I may (inaudible), is the idea that Israel is a racist state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I found many of the statements that President Ahmadinejad made, particularly those directed at Israel, to be appalling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And, frankly, many in the West look at your speech in Geneva, and they wonder whether you really do want a better relationship with the West when you deny that there was a Holocaust when it’s an established historical fact. They believe that you’re not showing respect for the West and the beliefs of the West.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Well, I was talking against the Zionist regime in the racism conference. The first proviso for successful talks would be to give the other party the freedom to speak. Mr. Obama has the right to have his own opinion, obviously.

He is ready to express his points of view. But the Geneva conference had been organized to combat racism, to oppose racism. My point of view is that the Zionist regime is the manifestation of racism.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yet when you speak at that conference, Western diplomats walk out. Even the U.N. secretary-general condemns your remarks.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): That’s fine. That’s fine. They are free to have their own points of view. Why do they want to deny me my ideas?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Why do you insist on questioning the Holocaust even when it’s established as an historical fact, and even when politicians here in Iran worry that that kind of talk isolates Iran?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): I’m going to talk about that as well. Don’t be hasty. I have posed two questions over the Holocaust. My first question was, if the Holocaust happened, where did it take place? In Europe. Why should they make amends in Palestine? The Palestinian people had no role to play in the Holocaust. They had no role, for that matter, in the Second World War. Racism happened in Europe, but amends are made in Palestine?

My second question about the Holocaust. If this is indeed a historical event, why do they want to turn it into a holy thing? And nobody should be allowed to ask any questions about that? Nobody study it, research it, permitted to research it. Why?

STEPHANOPOULOS: It’s the most studied historical event in history. AHMADINEJAD (through translator): If this is a historically documented event, why do Western states show so much sensitivity towards a historical event?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s talk about...

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): (inaudible) the lid to be taken off.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s talk about what’s happening right now.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): I am asking them to permit studies.

STEPHANOPOULOS: President Obama has appointed Senator George Mitchell to help negotiate a peace between Israel and Palestine. Do you support that effort?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Well, we are asking for the legal rights of the Palestinian people. What we are saying is that the Palestinian people, like other peoples, have the right to determine their own fate. Muslims, Christians and Jews alike. We should -- they should allow them to engage in elections, free elections and a free referendum to determine for themselves their own fate. We must not repeat the mistakes of the past.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you believe President Obama’s new effort is repeating the mistakes of the past?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Well, I am yet to have a clear idea about Mr. Obama’s Palestinian policy. However, the gentleman’s support of the massacre of Gazans and support for the criminals who were responsible for that atrocity was a major mistake on the part of the gentleman.

I think that if Mr. Obama wants to help with the Palestinian issue, he has to move in accordance with justice, fair play. And also, again, I am calling for the right for the Palestinians to determine their own fate.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If the Palestinian people negotiate an agreement with Israel and the Palestinian people vote and support that agreement, a two-state solution, will Iran support it?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Nobody should interfere. Allow the Palestinian people to decide for themselves. Whatever they decide.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That’s all I’m asking. So if they choose a two- state solution...

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): It is the right of all human beings.

STEPHANOPOULOS: ... with Israel, that’s fine?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Well, what we are saying is that you and us should not determine the course of things beforehand. Allow the Palestinian people to make their own decisions.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But if they choose a two-state solution, if they choose to recognize Israel’s existence, Iran will as well?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Let me approach this from another perspective. If the Palestinian people decide that the Zionist regime needs to leave all Palestinian lands, would the American administration accept their decision?

STEPHANOPOULOS: I’ll ask them. But I’m asking you if they decide to say Israel should exist and (inaudible) Israel, would Iran support that?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Can I ask you questions as well?

STEPHANOPOULOS: I’m not part of the American government. I’ll put that question to the American government, but I have a question for you as president of Iran.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): That’s fine.

STEPHANOPOULOS: If the Palestinians sign an agreement with Israel, will Iran support it?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Whatever decision they take is fine with us. We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that. We think that this is the right of the Palestinian people.

However, we fully expect other states to do so as well. The U.S. administration, European governments. The right to determine their fate by the Palestinians should be respected by all of them.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask you one final question. You are up for election on June 12th. If you are successful in this reelection, what is your hope for the Iranian-U.S. relationship over the next four years?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Well, Iran and U.S. relations are dependent on the decision taken by the U.S. administration. Mr. Obama sends us messages of friendship, but in the communique issued by the five plus one, enmity can be seen. So this is a dual route, if you will.

I have sent a message to Mr. Obama myself. We welcome change. We are praying to the Almighty for that. And we will help to bring change about.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. President, thank you very much for your time.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): Thank you. Good luck. And please convey my regards to the American people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANOPOULOS: President Ahmadinejad in Iran.

Living the Bubble Life in Miami

The “great” American signer Jimmy Buffett wrote and sang of Margaritaville, a place where oblivion was the default position. Why Mr. Buffett is often referred to as “great” defeats me, but as he has a recording contract and I do not, I’d better leave this question alone. Indeed, I'll consider his oblivion.

Some nights ago, I was sitting at Sundowners, a bar/restaurant in Key Largo in Florida. I was the designated driver, hence no margaritas for me, but the setting was perfect, the food ambrosia, and even the plain iced water was nirvana. I watched, mesmerized, as the sun dipped into the ocean. It was good to know that, at my venerable age, I could still see a distance of 93 million miles.

My wife and I had been visiting our eldest daughter, who works for the Miami City Ballet. She was raised to think independently, but she has taken the idea too far: we did not tell her to have such thoughts 5,000 miles away from us. Nor did we expect that she would embrace a “bubble existence” in this city.

Still, her decision meant we could attend a performance at the interestingly named and fabulously comfortable Arsht Centre. I have witnessed my fair share of ballets over the years but would make no claim to being a connoisseur. However, my wife is. In her view, MCB can rival any ballet company in the world.

What astonished me was the audience. Maybe they weren’t as sophisticated as those attending Covent Garden or La Scala. Maybe there was spontaneous applause after an extraordinary solo or duet, when the piece had not ended. But the Miami audience dressed to kill. Men in jackets and ties, women in beautiful cocktail gowns, children dressed so smartly. I felt a little embarrassed as I was in slacks and a (very smart) T shirt. In my 30 years of visits to Miam, the dress code has always been casual or ‘down’. What has happened here?

Our visit coincided with Spring Week, which now seems to last a month. Coming back to the hotel on our first night, four young ladies sat in the Lounge, each one more beautiful than the other. I asked my wife whether I might have a chance of getting a date with one of them if I was forty years younger, fifty pounds lighter, and sixty times as funny. It took her no time to reply, “Not so much.”

At this time, Miami Beach is more replete with pulchritude than normal. Pretty girls and good-looking boys abound. The attraction is sunshine, the beach, and each other but, perhaps, subliminally, they seek the bubble existence after the rigours of college.

So there has been little conversation about the economy or Obama’s European trip. However, the decision by the Iowa state legislature to lift the ban on same-sex marriage attracted much attention. Not to be outdone in publicity, the Vermont Governor vetoed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, setting the stage for an override vote in the legislature. Thus, these two states will be the centre of attraction for Miami Beach’s substantial gay community, gearing up for the Gay Pride Parade.

CNN, too, seem to have caught the bubble mood. After the Obamas’ tour of Europe, I expected some close analysis, but last night, a deadly serious Wolf Blitzer introduced a section on Michelle Obama. Was this related to her duties as First Lady, or FLOTUS, as they like to call her here? Not really. The piece was devoted to Mrs Obama’s wardrobe and the way she covered her upper arms.

Before I am accused of mockery or cynicism, I happen to think that a society that is willing to take on awkward topics like same sex marriage, abortion and even creationism has to be applauded. As Aaron Sorkin wrote, “America is an experiment in advanced citizenship.” The political debates in UK seem sterile and passive by comparison. Nevertheless, I am relieved the talking heads on Newsnight are not getting involved in Mrs. Obama's wardrobe.

Miami Beach may lack realism but it certainly has life. I regret that my daughter has chosen to live here, rather than stay in UK. For the sake of an extra hour or so in an aircraft, I might have preferred that she had moved to Portland or San Francisco. However, when one is young and the world still resembles an oyster, when total reality has yet to hit, when annual sunshine --- give or take a hurricane or two --- is the staple diet, maybe the bubble that is Miami Beach is not so bad.