The Algiers Accords, dated Jan. 19, 1981, are an agreement between the United States and Iran that was part of the resolution of the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-1981. -- It pledges non-interference in Iranian affairs, "directly or indirectly, politically or militarily." -- On Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported that Iran intended to take legal action against the United States for failing to respect the accord and funding opposition groups in Iran.[1] -- AP also reported the story, noting that Venezuela and Kyrgyzstan were two other areas where the U.S. was showing an interest in promoting "democracy."[2] ...
1.
Middle East News
IRAN TAKES ACTION AGAINST U.S. FOR FUNDING OPPOSITION
Al Jazeera
April 12, 2005
http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=7877
Iran vowed on Monday to take legal action against the United States government for funding the opposition groups in the country.
"The American government has been allocating funds for interference in Iran's domestic affairs for years," government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh told reporters.
"Our country and the regime are stable enough not to be disturbed by such measures. However, such acts are against international norms and law. The foreign ministry will take necessary legal action" against the U.S., he added.
Washington on the other hand, has defended its plans to provide three million dollars to promote “democracy and human rights” in Iran.
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher confirmed on Monday that the U.S. government has appropriated three million dollars to finance "educational institutions, humanitarian groups, non-governmental organizations and individuals inside Iran to support the advancement of democracy and human rights," said a statement posted Friday on the Website of the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
The spokesman, moreover, repeated Washington’s continuous claims that supporting “democracy and human rights” around the world is something that the United States seeks everywhere.
Washington already spends nearly USD 15 million a year on radio and TV broadcasts into Iran in the Persian language. But it hasn’t given money directly to the Iranian government or U.S. organizations to work in Iran due to long-standing hostility and a U.S. prohibition on spending money there.
Earlier, Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Javad Zarif condemned Washington's plan to promote "democracy in his country" as "a clear violation of the Algiers accords", according to IRNA.
He said Iran "has the option" of complaining to a special court in the Netherlands.
Under the Algiers agreement, the United States pledged "not to intervene directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs."
2.
AP Breaking News
U.S. FUNDS TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN IRAN
By George Geddes
Associated Press
April 11, 2005
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/04/11/national/w125013D70.DTL
The United States is openly attempting to promote democracy in Iran for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution, budgeting $3 million for groups there that are willing to work toward that goal.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said non-governmental educational and other groups inside Iran are eligible to compete for the funds. Humanitarian groups also may compete, he said.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, called the plan "a clear violation" of a 1981 U.S-Iranian agreement, according to USA Today, which first reported the story.
That agreement, signed in Algiers, freed the 52 U.S. Embassy employees who were held hostage in Tehran for 444 days.
Boucher denied that the funding violates of the agreement.
Under the accord, the United States pledged "not to intervene directly or indirectly, politically or militarily in Iran's internal affairs."
It is not clear whether approval of the funding was linked to Iran's presidential election in June. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami will step down after two terms in office.
The United States does not consider Iran's elections a fair test of public sentiment because only devout Islamists are allowed to run for office. It also has maintained consistently that U.S. pro-democracy activities abroad are nonpartisan and do not constitute intervention.
These activities normally include voter education and workshops on electoral rights.
Some governments have contended that such activities have the effect of supporting the opposition. These include Venezuela and the government that ruled Kyrgyzstan until last month when it was deposed.
Hostility between the United States and Iran has not abated since the hostage crisis of 1979. U.S. suspicion that Iran is developing nuclear weapons is just one of many sources of friction.
Aside from Cuba, Iran is the only country with which the United States does not maintain a political dialogue.
Iran has not been a U.S. aid recipient, although the Islamic government did accept U.S. assistance following a major earthquake in 2002.
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