More than 200 House members urged the Clinton administration yesterday to escalate its pressure on Islamic fundamentalist Iran and called on Europe to join the United States in a tougher approach to the Tehran regime.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, and Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat, released a statement signed by 222 members of Congress that they said would be sent to President Clinton.

"The time has come for a unified effort to isolate the Tehran regime," the statement declared….

"The recent elections in Iran brings no change," Rep. Ros-Lehtinen said.

She suggested that the United States support the pro-democracy National Council of Resistance, led by President-elect Maryam Rajavi…

Iranian Resistance Denounces Participation of EU in Mullahs' Inauguration, Iran Zamin News Agency, July 24 

The National Council of Resistance of Iran in a statement denounced "the gesture by foreign ministers of the European Union over the participation of their ambassadors in the inauguration of the mullahs' new president."

"Pinning hope on this regime's moderation or reform is but an illusion," The statement added. Khatami, the clerics' new president, in his previous speeches has indicated that the survival of the clerical theocracy depends on "expansionism," or export of fundamentalism. In 1989, Khatami emphasized that the only solution to the problem of Salman Rushdie is his execution.

U.S. Suspicious of Iran's Actions, Associated Press, July 22 

WASHINGTON - The United States suspects Iran's motives in seeking to develop relations with eight newly independent nations in the Caucasus and central Asia that were once part of the Soviet Union, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

"We have all too much experience with Iranian support for terrorism, efforts to obtain weapons by all possible means and other unacceptable behavior, not to be deeply concerned," Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstadt told the Senate Foreign Relations committee….

Eizenstadt said that while neighboring Iran might have some ties with these countries, "a political vacuum would only give Iran the opportunity to fill it."…

U.S. Sanctions' Chilling Effect on Investments in Iran, Voice of America, July 23 

The Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives held hearings Wednesday to assess the impact of year-old Iran-Libya sanctions act… State Department officials testified that the sanctions are having an effect but they still want to see European cooperation.

The Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs told the Committee that sanctions are having what he called a chilling effect on foreign investments in Iran's oil and gas industry. David Welch acknowledged they were discouraged by the lack of cooperation from European allies on economic pressures to get Iran to change its behavior...

Welch: "Some of these behaviors are quite threatening to our national security interests… We would have better success were we not acting unilaterally. We have had some cooperation, in some areas very good cooperation from our friends and allies around the world. There is more that could be done there."

When questioned about U.S. actions against allies who are still Investing more than 40 million dollars in Iran's oil and gas industries, State Department officials told the Committee they were still evaluating German and French bank loans to determine if they violate the sanctions guidelines….

Safeguarding the Borders!, State-run News Agency, IRNA, July 22 

The grand military exercise of the Army code-named "Velayat" will be performed in the suburbs of the holy city of Qom, in southern Tehran, on Thursday and Friday with the participation of 150,000 Army personnel and in an area of 5,400 square kilometers….

Commander of the Air Force General Habib Baqaei said that such a grand military exercise is being held for the first time in the Iranian history….

He said that "Velayat" military exercise would be held in accordance with the guidelines of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and in order to display the combat power of the Ground Forces in safeguarding the borders.

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