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CNN Live At Daybreak

International News Desk

Aired June 16, 2003 - 05:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about Iran now, because there is a lot going on there this morning. There are those student protests and also the nuclear question.
Our senior international editor David Clinch joins us now to talk about those issues.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol.

Good morning.

I mean Israel and Iraq taking up chunks of our time. But a story we're keeping a very close eye on in Iran. We've been watching protests there in the streets for the last six nights in a row, some of them very violent, some of them very dramatic. These are young students from the universities in central Tehran. They've got a lot of issues on their mind.

But in the midst of these demonstrations, they're shouting some very dramatic protests against the clerical leaders, the conservative leadership in Iran. We've talked a lot about how there are two leaderships in Iran, the democratically elected and the clerical. They're saying some very, very damning things about the clerical leadership.

We have a reporter in there now. We'll be covering the story for the next few days.

COSTELLO: Oh, we got a reporter into Iran?

CLINCH: Kasanaji (ph) managed to get in. They don't like us very much but they have let us in. We're going to do our best to cover the story. It's very difficult even to get these pictures out, for these cameramen, very dangerous.

COSTELLO: Well, I was just going to ask you, where the security forces came from, from the conservative faction of the government or not so?

CLINCH: Well, there are, again, as everything in Iran, very complicated. There's the official security forces and then there are these vigilante groups who represent the clerics in some way, although unofficially. The clerics always say they have nothing to do with them, but they turn up and they beat the students up. They've been doing that on a nightly basis.

COSTELLO: And then they go away. It's very odd. CLINCH: Absolutely. It's a very interesting game. We're watching it very closely. It hasn't ever -- I mean we've watched this over the years and it hasn't ever passed that point of no return. President Bush expressing support yesterday for these demonstrations. The Iranians today calling that interference and issuing a specific condemnation of President Bush's comments.

COSTELLO: And, actually, wouldn't that kind of make it harder for the students, because they don't really want Iranians to think that their protests are U.S.-backed in any way?

CLINCH: Very difficult for both President Khatami himself and these students. It's a very difficult issue for them. They want to condemn the clerics, but they are very reluctant to be seen to be too close to the U.S. administration. So a very delicate balance.

COSTELLO: And in the midst of all this is the nuclear question.

CLINCH: Absolutely. The IAEA meeting in Vienna today, as we have discussed, tremendously complicated. I was just listening to the IAEA woman, spokeswoman speaking on CNN International. They, the IAEA, want to play it very delicately. They think the Iranians will come round and let them look where they, the IAEA, want to look.

COSTELLO: They do?

CLINCH: Well, they think they will. But there are two different issues. The U.S. doesn't see it just as an issue of inspections and technical issues. They think Iran, again, the clerical, the conservative part of Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. And they want now, early in the process, to get Iran stopped because what they don't want is the other issue the IAEA is discussing today in North Korea, where it's too late. The weapons are already being built. It becomes much more complicated. The U.S. being very aggressive in the Iranian issue in terms of the nuclear weapons. They want that program to be stopped now.

COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, many thanks.

CLINCH: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 16, 2003 - 05:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about Iran now, because there is a lot going on there this morning. There are those student protests and also the nuclear question.
Our senior international editor David Clinch joins us now to talk about those issues.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Yes, Carol.

Good morning.

I mean Israel and Iraq taking up chunks of our time. But a story we're keeping a very close eye on in Iran. We've been watching protests there in the streets for the last six nights in a row, some of them very violent, some of them very dramatic. These are young students from the universities in central Tehran. They've got a lot of issues on their mind.

But in the midst of these demonstrations, they're shouting some very dramatic protests against the clerical leaders, the conservative leadership in Iran. We've talked a lot about how there are two leaderships in Iran, the democratically elected and the clerical. They're saying some very, very damning things about the clerical leadership.

We have a reporter in there now. We'll be covering the story for the next few days.

COSTELLO: Oh, we got a reporter into Iran?

CLINCH: Kasanaji (ph) managed to get in. They don't like us very much but they have let us in. We're going to do our best to cover the story. It's very difficult even to get these pictures out, for these cameramen, very dangerous.

COSTELLO: Well, I was just going to ask you, where the security forces came from, from the conservative faction of the government or not so?

CLINCH: Well, there are, again, as everything in Iran, very complicated. There's the official security forces and then there are these vigilante groups who represent the clerics in some way, although unofficially. The clerics always say they have nothing to do with them, but they turn up and they beat the students up. They've been doing that on a nightly basis.

COSTELLO: And then they go away. It's very odd. CLINCH: Absolutely. It's a very interesting game. We're watching it very closely. It hasn't ever -- I mean we've watched this over the years and it hasn't ever passed that point of no return. President Bush expressing support yesterday for these demonstrations. The Iranians today calling that interference and issuing a specific condemnation of President Bush's comments.

COSTELLO: And, actually, wouldn't that kind of make it harder for the students, because they don't really want Iranians to think that their protests are U.S.-backed in any way?

CLINCH: Very difficult for both President Khatami himself and these students. It's a very difficult issue for them. They want to condemn the clerics, but they are very reluctant to be seen to be too close to the U.S. administration. So a very delicate balance.

COSTELLO: And in the midst of all this is the nuclear question.

CLINCH: Absolutely. The IAEA meeting in Vienna today, as we have discussed, tremendously complicated. I was just listening to the IAEA woman, spokeswoman speaking on CNN International. They, the IAEA, want to play it very delicately. They think the Iranians will come round and let them look where they, the IAEA, want to look.

COSTELLO: They do?

CLINCH: Well, they think they will. But there are two different issues. The U.S. doesn't see it just as an issue of inspections and technical issues. They think Iran, again, the clerical, the conservative part of Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. And they want now, early in the process, to get Iran stopped because what they don't want is the other issue the IAEA is discussing today in North Korea, where it's too late. The weapons are already being built. It becomes much more complicated. The U.S. being very aggressive in the Iranian issue in terms of the nuclear weapons. They want that program to be stopped now.

COSTELLO: All right, David Clinch, many thanks.

CLINCH: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com