Velayati Again Declares Death Decree for Rushdie Valid, Iran Zamin News Agency, July 12 

Yesterday in Mali, Ali Akbar Velayati, Foreign Minister of the mullahs' regime, reaffirmed that the fatwa to kill Salman Rushdie was still valid. He urged all Muslims throughout the world to carry out the decree.

Velayati's remarks confirm that the export of terrorism and fundamentalism are intertwined with the nature of this regime and that any notion of change or reform within it is but a mirage.

These brazen comments also demonstrate the extent to which placating policies toward Iran's ruling mullahs have emboldened them in export of terrorism.

Rushdie Death Edict Cannot Be Changed - Iran MP, Reuter, July 12 

DUBAI - An Iranian parliamentarian has said the death edict, or fatwa, against British author Salman Rushdie for alleged blasphemy cannot be changed.

The deputy chairman of parliament's foreign affairs committee, Mahmoud Do'a'i, said Friday "the death sentence on Rushdie, the apostate, was an unchangeable religious decree" accepted by all Muslim Sunni and Shi'ite scholars, Iran television reported.

He made the remarks in response to a call by former French culture minister Jack Lang for Europe to step up pressure on Tehran to drop the edict, said the television, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC).

U.S. Senator Criticizes German Bank Loan to Iran, Dow Jones News, July 11 

NEW YORK - A U.S. senator has told a German bank that its potential $90 million loan to an Iranian company violates the 'spirit' of U.S. restrictions on investing in Iran...

The bank has reportedly agreed to lend the money to the Offshore Engineering and Construction Co. to develop the Soroush field in the Persian Gulf, Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., wrote to Friedel Neuber, chairman of the bank's managing board.

D'Amato wrote that the loan would help Iran's oil sector raise money, which in turn would enable it to improve its nuclear programs and terrorist networks.

Tehran Daily Says Iran Loser in Europe Ties, Reuter, July 12

TEHRAN - Iran's president-elect should forge closer ties with Asia and Africa rather than solely depend on Europe because Tehran was the loser in that relationship, an Iranian newspaper said Saturday.

"At the surface level our foreign ministry envisages that it is the winner of the game. But at a deeper level we should have enough courage to accept that we have been the losers in this game (with Europe)," the English-language Tehran Times said.

The criticism appeared to urge President-elect Mohammad Khatami, who takes office in August, to change the country's foreign minister since 1981, Ali Akbar Velayati.

Commentary 

Iranian authorities recently announced that they have charged writer Faraj Sarkuhi with espionage and will put him on trial. Mr. Sarkuhi, editor of the monthly magazine Adineh, was arrested earlier this year. He had been active in efforts to obtain more Press freedom for Iranians. As the United Nations Human Rights Commission has pointed out, Mr. Sarkuhi's case is one of many examples of the Iranian government's "harassment and intimidation of writers and journalists seeking to exercise their freedom of expression." In the past two years, the government has shut down several newspapers and magazines, and a number of journalists have been sentenced to prison, flogging, or both.

Iran has been criticized for denying freedom of religion, expression and assembly; for injustices in its judicial system; and for the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including amputation. The UN Human Rights Commission has deplored the continuation of Iranian threats against the life of British author Salman Rushdie and others associated with his work. It has called on Iranian officials to "refrain from violence against members of the Iranian opposition living abroad and to cooperate wholeheartedly with the authorities of other countries in investigating and prosecuting offenses reported by them." And it has called attention to the lack of equal rights for Iranian women.

The denial of religious freedom by Iran’s Islamic government is of special concern. There have been grave violations of the Rights of Iran’s Baha’is, as well as discrimination against other religious minorities, including Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians. As the UN Human Rights Commission has made clear, Iran should respect freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and all other internationally recognized rights.

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