WASHINGTON - An Iranian opposition group branded by the State Department as a terrorist organization charged Tehran Monday with using the US decision in an aggressive campaign to discredit it….

"The Iranian regime is taking full advantage of the State Department list to terrorize the Iranian exile community and justify suppression inside Iran," said Alireza Jafarzadeh, spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, whose main member is the People's Mujahedeen.

"In this way, they want to silence any voice of dissent abroad and pave the way to further terrorist operations," Jafarzadeh said.

Tehran has launched a public relations blitz through Farsi-language media to reach the Iranian exile community and publicize the US decision to blacklist the People's Mujahedeen, he said.

The campaign is aimed at intimidating Iranian exiles to prevent them from cooperating with the opposition, he added.

The Iranian opposition spokesman maintained that the United States had included the group on the terrorist list as a sign of goodwill towards Tehran, which had repeatedly called for action against the group.

The move was seen as a signal to moderate President Mohammad Khatami, who defeated a conservative rival in elections in May, prompting policymakers in Washington to reconsider the approach to Iran.

But Jafarzadeh predicted that the "overture" would fail and that the United States would not succeed in modifying Iran's behavior.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mahmud Mohammadi was quoted in newspaper reports last week as saying that Tehran welcomed the decision to include the group, which has bases in Iraq, on the list but he called for action to back up the decision.

Jafarzadeh said he did not expect the office of the People's Mujahedeen in Washington to close down and insisted that the list would not affect the group's activities in the United States….

[A statement by the Press Office of the Mojahedin in Washington said: "Contrary to the expectations of the mullahs and their agents, the State Department's action resulted in a wave of solidarity with the Iranian Resistance and the Mojahedin, especially among Iranians residing in the United States. Even those groups of Iranians who did not agree with all the policies and view points of the Mojahedin have also expressed support for the Iranian Resistance and offered cooperation."]

Appeasement Emboldens the Mullahs to Demand More, Iran's State News Agency, IRNA, October 16

TEHRAN - The English daily 'Kayhan International' Thursday commenting on Washington's recent move listing the anti-Iran Mujahideen Khalq Organization as a terrorist group, said that one must tread cautiously over this U.S. overture before drawing hasty conclusions.

The Editorial stated that there is more to the U.S. gesture than meets the eye, adding that the move ''is just a sop, perhaps to get into Iran's good books.'' Does the move ''mean that the Islamic Republic, which the U.S. has all along labeled a 'terrorist state', is no longer on the U.S. political and economic list?'' questioned the paper. Washington must clarify this and a host of other issues besetting Iran-U.S. relations, which snapped in 1980….

If U.S. wants to refine and polish up ties with Iran, it must take up a solid confidence-building measure, concluded the daily.

Canada to Extend Long-Term Credit to Iran, Agence France Presse, October 18 

TEHRAN - Canada is to send an economic delegation to Iran this week to sign an accord on long-term credit to the Islamic republic, Iran's official news agency IRNA said Saturday.

The Islamic republic has normal relations with Canada and the two countries have cooperated on a number of industrial projects, notably a 520-million-dollar paper plant in the northern city of Sari.

Iran is burdened with a foreign debt of around 16.8 billion dollars along with 15.8 billion dollars in "commitments," goods and services purchased but not yet received.

Force 5.5 Earthquake Hits Southeastern Iran, Reuter, October 20

TEHRAN - An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale hit Iran's southeastern province of Kerman on Monday, but there have been no reports of casualties or damage, the official news agency IRNA said.

The quake hit the areas around the town of Baft, 885 km (550 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran, at 9:41 am local time (0611 GMT), the agency said.

Force four and five earthquakes are powerful enough to cause heavy damage in a populated area….

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