10 Times More Evidence in Swiss Assassination Than in German Case, Associated Press, June 13

BERN, Switzerland - Swiss lawmakers are accusing Iran's government of involvement in a 1990 political assassination in Switzerland, saying the evidence is even stronger than that of a similar case in Germany...

Swiss authorities accuse Mohsen Sharif Esfahani and Ahmad Taheri in the slaying of Kazem Rajavi, a senior member of the Baghdad-based Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen Khalq...

Swiss lawmakers did not detail the evidence in the Swiss case. Eugen David, chairman of the Parliamentary Group for Human Rights, would say only that there was 10 times more evidence than in the German case.

Killers Must Be Handed Over, Iran Zamin News Agency, June 14

Last Thursday a statement issued by a majority in the Federal Parliament of Switzerland called for "a reconsideration of the case of the assassination of Professor Kazem Rajavi."

Reacting hastily through its embassy in Bern, the clerical regime denied "the accusations by the Mojahedin terrorist group in the Swiss media," "reproved" the majority members of the Swiss Parliament.

In a statement, the National Council of Resistance President Massoud Rajavi said: Instead of denying the facts, the ruling theocracy must hand over to the Swiss Judiciary the two killers, who were returned to Tehran, as well as 11 other identified terrorists involved in the assassination.

Skeptical on Iran, Reuter, June 14

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen met Saudi Arabia's King Fahd on Saturday and told reporters Washington was "hopeful but skeptical" that Iran would give up its support of international terrorism following a recent election.

But he also said that the United States would not soften its hard-line policy toward Iran unless there were signs it had changed its attitude toward the West and its opposition to the Middle East peace process.

Agent For Change in Iran? The Washington Times, June 13

Excerpts from an article by Arnold Beichman, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.

The Iranian election May 23 has inspired a wave of hope in Washington and other Western capitals that the election of a "moderate" president of Iran my herald a reconciliation with the targets of Iran's theocratic-terrorist revolution. Are these hopes misplaced or realistic?

There are 10 criteria by which we will be able to judge whether Iran's new president Sayad Mohammed Khatami, 54, who takes office in August has the power and the will to reverse the ayatollist 8-year-old-hate-America foreign policy:

(1) In a new governing Cabinet who will hold the two crucial posts -- the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry?
(2) Nullification of the fatwa that has condemned Salman Rushdie to death.
(3) Dissolution of the Revolutionary Guards Qods Force which carries out extraterritorial terrorist actions ordered by Iran.
(4) Permit extradition of two Iranian terrorists wanted by Swiss authorities for the assassination of Kazem Rajavi, a human rights advocate. Such an action would make credible any Tehran announcement that it would not longer engage in terrorism.
(5) End attempts to produce or procure weapons of mass destruction, including missile launchers pointed at Saudi Arabia.
(6) End interference in the affairs of other countries, especially in the Middle East.
(7) End active opposition to the Israeli-PLO peace process by ending subsidies and other aid to terrorist groups responsible for suicide bombings and guerrilla raids along the Lebanese border

The above are standards for testing Iran's foreign policy. Domestically, I would offer these criteria:

(8) Allow freedom of press, assembly and religion and introduce a rule of law.
(9) Allow Iranian women equality with men in social, political and cultural spheres.
(10) End the tyranny of the "religious" police so as to allow women to choose freely how they dress and where they can work.

It could be argued that it would take another revolution for President-elect Khatami, described as a middle-of-the-roader, to meet one or all of these standards. True, but what other method exists by which to judge whether tomorrow's Iran is friend or foe? For example, on July 7, 1991, Mr. Khatami was quoted in the Iran newspaper, Ressalat, as follows:

"Where do we look in drawing up our strategy? To expanding and extending the revolution or to preserving the country? We must definitely focus on extension and expansion."...

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