PALATINATE | Tuesday 22nd February 2011
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News Durham Wikileaks revelations
The best of the comments from palatinate.org.uk
“It seems a terrible shame that Durham University is turning the way of all big business. Corrupt, greedy and morally bankrupt.” - Chris McQuillan
Former academic avoids extradition Sarah Ingrams
A former Durham University academic’s extradition has been delayed for political reasons, a leaked US diplomatic cable obtained by The Northern Echo reveals. Accused of plotting to smuggle military equipment to Iran, Nostratollah Tajik’s expulsion from the UK may have been delayed to avoid disrupting sensitive nuclear talks with Iran, according to the cable released by Wikileaks. But this is at odds with ministerial statements passed to the House of Lords four months after the cable was sent. Allegedly, the extradition was simply a judicial process and the only consideration was whether Mr Tajik’s human rights would be breached. A former member of staff at Durham University’s Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Mr Tajik was arrested at his home in Coxhoe, Durham in 2006, following an undercover string operation by US agents posing as arms dealers. The US government wanted to extradite Mr Tajik, Iranian ambassador to Jordan from 1999 to 2003, on the basis of allegations that he had tried to buy army night-vision goggles to export illegally to Iran. Mr Tajik’s lawyers denied any terrorist connections. They used all legal avenues to block his extradition until October 2008 when they argued that Mr Tajik’s heart problems meant he was too ill to leave the country. And Mr Tajik remains on bail as Home Secretaries repeatedly have not approved his extradition. The leaked cable suggests that political considerations have caused the delay. Originally prepared for Washington by the US Embassy in London in October 2009, the cable came ahead of US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s visit to London for talks with Gordon Brown. It was intended to pinpoint topics likely to be discussed. In a section on Iran, it states: “UK officials may also raise the issue of Nosratollah Tajik”. “Tajik has exhausted all judicial appeals in the UK and all that stands in the way of the extradition is approval by the Home Secretary”. “Before approving the extradition, the UK wants to be sure the timing is right and will not interfere with our joint efforts [...] to engage with Iran”. Spokesmen for the US Embassy in London and the Home Office refused to comment on the cables. This revelation is the latest in a series of Wikileaks exposures about Durham University’s connections with Iran.
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Durham News
www.palatinate.org.uk “I personally feel that this is a spectacular way of moving past cuts imposed by our own government and finding funding elsewhere.” - Anonymous
“Helping Iranian and USA politicians understand each other better sounds like quite a good thing too.” - Kevin
Wikileaks shines a light on Durham’s ‘research’ projects Daniel Johnson & Jack Battersby
U
.S. Government secret funding, Wikileaks embassy cables and gathering information on and promoting democracy in Iran are not usually things that are associated with the Durham bubble. However, when an anonymous reader e-mailed Palatinate on Friday 4th February making us aware of the cable, the bizarre became reality. Originally, the cable was published on The Daily Telegraph website as part of their ongoing release of U.S. Embassy cables. However, within the space of two days, there was no sign of the cable. When Palatinate called the Telegraph
news desk, they were unable to tell us anything about the their decision to take it down. It is unclear how long this has been University practice. In spite of their denial of any wrongdoing, it is unlikely that any of the participants in the seminars were aware of how the seminars were funded, raising serious questions over transparency and student welfare. In spite of our almost daily requests, no-one from the University has been made available to talk to Palatinate about the story. What has become clear, however, is that a number of senior academics within the University have fostered extremely close ties with both the U.S State Department and high ranking
academics, clerics, journalists and officials in Iran. Dr Ali M. Pedram, Director of the Durham University Governance Initiative (DGI), the body responsible for
$400,000
How much Durham is believed to have received from the U.S. State Department for the seminars
organising the seminars, is frequently mentioned in the cable. He is described in the transcript as ‘a key Embassy London contact’, and is behind at least five of the proposals de-
Former Durham academic Dr. Molavi was released from Iranian prison last month, after conflicting reports regarding his whereabouts Daniel Johnson & Rowena Caine
Dr Reza Molavi, former director of the Centre for Iranian Studies (CIS), is believed to have been released from Iranian jail roughly a month ago, but there remains confusion about his arrest. According to friends of Dr Molavi, who wish to remain anonymous, it is believed that he was held in solitary confinement. He was arrested at the Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran in April 2010. Reports suggest that he is suffered from several physical illnesses in prison. A Durham University spokesperson said: “Dr Molavi was an honorary research fellow of the School of Government and International Affairs
and a College tutor at the University. His role included acting as a director of Durham University’s Centre for Iranian Studies. Dr Molavi resigned from these posts with effect from May 2010 having earlier returned to Iran for family reasons. “The University was made aware last year of Dr Molavi’s arrest in Tehran and continues to maintain contact with Dr Molavi’s family”. Dr Molavi made several TV appearances during the 2009 Iranian presidential elections and wrote an article in The Independent. In an article published in June 2009, Molavi wrote: “The official result of the Iranian election has left Iranians as well as Iran-watchers in the West baffled, disgusted and bewil-
dered. Perhaps from the start, however, Mirhossein Mousavi was destined to fail”. He was also involved in the last controversy over accepting money from Iran, when CIS received £5,000 to run a seminar in Durham, which invited a number of pro-regime speakers to the University. It is believed that Dr Molavi returned to Iran after his mother passed away, and he was due to take up an academic post in Iran around the time of his arrest. A friend of Molavi informed Palatinate that they believe he was set up in some way. Molavi is now currently in Tehran with his wife, but confusion remains over the circumstances surrounding his arrest.
tailed in the cable. Dr Anoush Ehteshami, Durham University Dean of Internationalisation and a member of the Centre for Iranian Studies, has fostered a close relationship with ‘Poloff’, a so-called “Iran Watcher” for the United States. It is not entirely clear how many of these seminars took place, but they appear to have been varied in their nature and purpose. The seminars come under a U.S. programme entitled: “Iran: Democracy Small Grants Proposals Recommended For Funding”, and so a number of the events are aimed at promoting reform in Iran by bringing over students “from some of Iran’s leading (and, by definition, socially and politically conservative) seminaries”. Other projects were aimed at “the convening in Durham of a number of Iranian local officials, from municipal councils and other locally-elected (vice centrally-appointed), sub national bodies in Iran”. The University denies any accusations of wrongdoing, insisting that the seminars are in line with ethical research practices. Opinion amongst the student body remains divided. Some have been deeply critical of the University for the lack of transparency surrounding the projects. One comment on the Palatinate website said: “Transparency and strong ethics are what’s needed, not more secrecy and poor decision making”. Others have accepted that this kind of funding is not only valuable, but is simply part of the modern day international relations. “And the University of Durham receiving funding from the US State Dept in order to conduct research into aspects of Iranian socio-cultural and political life is wrong how, exactly? If it allows the West a window into the dynamics of Iranian society, what is the problem?” To see the full Wikileaks cable, visit: www.palatinate.org.uk.
From the cable: “Durham University’s demonstrated access to academic and civil institutions, reinforced by Dr Pedram’s apparently successful creation of political cover with IRI authorities for Iranian participants, gives this proposal the strongest prospects of broad, meaningful Iranian participation given the restrictive current political conditions in Iran. The apparent strength of Pedram’s political cover was also apparenty in his recruitment to participate, in the April 2007 Durham University Workshop on Public Diplomacy, the IRGC-linked academic and cleric Hesamuddin Ashena. Pedram’s success in establishing political cover, was further indicated by Ashena’s appointment in November 2007 as spokesman for the Iran National Security Council.”