Minister of Roads and Transportation Ahmad Khorram is scheduled to face the impeachment motion signed by 116 conservative MPs from the majority faction on Oct. 3. Most lawmakers predict Khorram will face a tough time in winning the vote of confidence.
Khorram displayed a great deal of resistance against the conservative forces during the course of inauguration of Imam Khomeini Airport and implementation of the contract signed with the Turkish company TAV. Some believe Khorram is now paying the price for that resistance.
The impeachment plan contains six articles and will soon be put on the Majlis agenda. Signatories maintain Khorram is not a good manager, indifferent toward the technical and scientific capabilities of the domestic workforce, concluded contracts without abiding by the legalities, marred the credibility of the Islamic system during the airport's inauguration and that he and several of his senior managers are corrupt.
According to experts, given the governing atmosphere in the parliament, Khorram does not have a good chance of maintaining his post.
Ahmad Tavakkoli, a distinguished conservative MP, noted that the majority of lawmakers wish to impeach Khorram and the situation might change only if Khorram accepts the terms and conditions set by the legislators.
A survey of MPs reveals that a majority intends to vote against Khorram. However, seasoned lawmakers maintain impeaching Khorram entails high political costs and privileges intended by the MPs must be acquired without impeachment. This is essentially why a special committee was formed to hold talks with Khorram. This committee tabled its demands, particularly urging Khorram to sack several of his managers and revoke the contract with TAV. The committee members blamed the high death toll of road accidents on the Roads Ministry's mismanagement. They called on Khorram to present a plan for curbing road accidents and also allow the Majlis to exercise greater supervision over his ministry's expenditures.
A week after the committee convened, Khorram declared he needs more time to study their demands in detail and could not respond immediately. Ultimately the committee failed in its mission and impeachment was mooted.
Although the Majlis has no difficulty in impeaching a minister, it seems that the Majlis majority faction faces numerous problems in impeaching Khorram. The most important of these problems will emerge on the day of impeachment. When Khorram is being impeached, the public opinion would assume that the conservative-dominated Majlis wants to sack a member of President Mohammad Khatami's administration who did not succumb to their demands. If the impeachment eventually results in Khorram being sacked, then the Seventh Majlis will be further accused of politicizing the state of affairs.
At any rate, the people's judgment in this respect also depends on how Khorram defends himself.
Meanwhile, Khorram has declared that in the Imam Khomeini Airport affair he remained silent because of expedience, but some wrongly presumed his silence is due to his incapability in defending his ministry's performance. But now that the parliament has asked him to elaborate on his position and intends to impeach him, he will make public all the information pertaining to the airport affair.
In a recent interview, Khorram said, "Based on the stance of the MPs, over 2,000 ministry managers have been accused of financial corruption. I have also been accused of misusing public funds. Under such a poisonous climate, I will take the opportunity to reveal the truth."
Not only Khorram but also the rest of the Khatami administration thinks that the performance of the Roads Ministry has been acceptable. Government Spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh has said, "Nobody can deny that we have a large number of road accidents every year and nobody can ignore the unfavorable conditions of the air fleet. But the question is whether Khorram is responsible for these problems or other parameters are involved"'
On the whole, the Khatami administration is not pleased with the Majlis approach of impeaching Khorram. Perhaps one could say that the most serious reaction is evident from the anger seen on President Khatami's face during related discussions. In his most recent interview with reporters, the chief executive complained about the Majlis performance.
Now that about eight months are remaining to the next presidential race, it is possible that Khatami would refrain from introducing a new minister if Khorram is sacked. Khatami could remain content with introducing a provisional acting minister. This is perhaps why circles close to the government believe Behzad Nabavi, one of the vanguards of the reform movement, could be Khatami's choice for running the Roads Ministry till the presidential race. If this is what happens, then the conservatives would not have gained anything by impeaching Khorram.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

TEHRAN, Sept. 28--Chairman of State Expediency Council (SEC) Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said the torture and murder of 30 people, mostly children, by two serial murderers should not be attributed to the entire Pakdasht residents, expressing his sympathy to the victims of the tragedy.
Addressing the commemoration ceremony for 450 martyrs from southeastern Tehran areas of Pakdasht and Parchin, Rafsanjani praised the Pakdasht people's struggle and sacrifice during the 1980-88 war imposed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
He also said Parchin will turn into Iran's defense hub in the future.
"The Parchin area is in the vicinity of Pakdasht in Tehran province and has been a logistical (military) base for Iranian soldiers during the war," he said, adding that Parchin will be turned into Iran's 'defense heart' in the future.
In response to the remarks of US President George Bush that Iran does not need nuclear energy because of its oil reserves, Rafsanjani said Iran is certainly entitled to have access to nuclear technology.
Speaking on the sidelines of a visit to Mamlou Dam Project currently under construction in Parchin, he added that even the US had plenty of oil when it launched its nuclear activity.
"Today many countries make use of nuclear energy," he added.
Asked about the Americans' remarks in the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting on Iran's nuclear activities in Parchin, he denounced such claims as nonsense.
Rafsanjani dismissed the US claim about the experiments conducted by Iran on rockets in the area during the Iraq-imposed war and said, "Such tests could not have been conducted in the vicinity of residential areas in Pakdasht, Varamin and Tehran. These claims are baseless and sound funny to experts."

Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi

TEHRAN, Sept. 28--Judiciary has instructed public prosecutors all over the country to set up headquarters for fighting social maladies and unusual crimes, said deputy judiciary chief, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi.
In an interview with ISNA on Tuesday, Raisi added that the task will be carried out with the help of police and security forces, noting that the focus of operations will be prevention rather than confrontation.
He stressed the role of public prosecutors for reining in social offenses and said most crimes are rooted in poverty, unemployment and spread of unethical behaviors.
This, said the official, also makes all executive bodies responsible for devising methods to diminish social misdeeds, "one way would be through promotion of moral and ethical values".
Raisi said to relieve courts of the large number of cases that are highly time-consuming, Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi plans to set up special councils assigned to resolve family and financial disputes.
The judiciary official also said a bill on prevention of crimes has been worked out by the judiciary and submitted to the government for approval. He urged the cabinet to study the bill without delay.
Raisi announced that the judiciary spokesman will be appointed next week.

TEHRAN, Sept. 28--Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi said here Tuesday the West's massive cultural invasion aimed at depriving Muslims of their Islamic culture is a major problem.
In a meeting with the visiting Bahraini Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Islamic Affairs Abdullah bin Khaled Al-Khalifa, Shahroudi said the emergence of extremist moves in the form of groups such as Al-Qaeda is another major problem, IRNA reported.
The judiciary chief called for cooperation among Shiite and Sunni scholars to solve the problems facing the Muslim world. He said exchange of visits between the two countries' senior officials and exchange of experience between the two sides will help establish closer cooperation between the two Muslim countries.
Voicing satisfaction over his current visit to Tehran, Al-Khalifa called for expansion of all-out bilateral relations.
He also urged establishment of solidarity among all Muslim countries and urged Muslims to refrain from discord.
Meanwhile, Al-Khalifa conferred here Monday with Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed-Jamei on expansion of cooperation between Muslim countries.
"Legal issues between countries should not harm relations between Islamic countries," Masjed-Jamei said.
According to the ministry's Public Relations Office, Masjed-Jamei said the most significant issues in the Muslim world consists of the issue of Israel, freedom of Palestine and occupation of Iraq which requires collective cooperation among Muslim countries.
"Some knowingly or unknowingly raise unfounded claims which strain relations between Islamic countries," he said.
The Bahraini minister, for his part, voiced his country's readiness to further broaden ties between the two countries and called for further exchange of visits by religious, scientific and cultural figures.
Holding cultural weeks, promoting Persian-language courses, holding joint seminars for cultural, scientific and historical personalities and exchanging views on cinematic affairs were also discussed by the two ministers.
Al-Khalifa arrived in Tehran last Saturday on a one-week visit.

Ahmad Shirzad

TEHRAN, Sept. 28--Since academics know the government is not capable of implementing too many reforms, they do not expect anything from the government, a member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front said.
Ahmad Shirzad, a former MP, also told ISNA Tuesday that this lack of expectation neither means satisfaction nor dissatisfaction over the government's performance.
"Almost everyone believes that the government cannot bring about changes. A recent double-urgency bill by Majlis according to which the government is entitled to obtain the legislature's permission for its contracts with foreign companies struck a heavy blow on the government. This bill has further weakened the government," he said.
Asked about the demands of academics, Shirzad responded by saying that their most important demand is academic freedom.