BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 770
Monday, October 27, 1997
Representative Office of
The National Council of Resistance of Iran
Washington, DC
STRASBOURG - About 250 members of the European Parliament have urged the European Union to keep its ambassadors out of Iran, back the country's opposition and prevent Tehran obtaining nuclear weapons.
In a statement sent to the EU presidency and Commission, they said the EU should conduct a strong policy in support of those fighting for democracy in Iran.
"We call for the adoption of firm policies by the EU with the aim of bringing pressure to bear on the Iranian authorities to end the oppression of all Iranian citizens, to prevent them from acquiring nuclear arms..." it said.
It was signed by deputies from across the political spectrum representing more than a third of the parliament's membership.
It said the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran and its president-elect, Maryam Rajavi, had put forward ideas which could "reestablish democracy and human rights in Iran and peace and stability in the Middle East."
The statement by the Euro-MPs said it was clear, nearly five months after presidential elections in Iran, that nothing had changed. "The new government is in reality no different from its predecessors," it said.
"It still advocates the same policies: repression inside Iran and the export of crisis and the violation of international law abroad.
Iran's Opposition Says One Killed in Iraq Attack, Reuter, October 26
BAGHDAD - An Iraq-based Iranian exile opposition group said on Sunday Iranian agents killed one of its members in an ambush on a convoy of vehicles northeast of Baghdad…
The attackers were hiding in palm groves in the area and fired at Mujahideen cars as they drove past, the group said in a statement given to reporters.
The Mujahideen, Iran's main opposition group, blamed what it called "the terrorists of the Iranian embassy in Baghdad which plans and executes these terrorist attacks."
The statement quoted the group leader, Massoud Rajavi, as urging the Iraqi government to "arrest and prosecute the terrorists and close down the Iranian embassy in Baghdad."
On September 29, eight Iranian warplanes raided two of the organization's camps inside Iraq.
[Agence France Presse in a report from Baghdad said: " It was the 14 such assassination outside Iran since Mohammad Khatami took office as Iranian president in August, the Mujahedeen alleged in a statement. The group called on Iraqi authorities to hunt down the assailants and put them on trial, as well as to close down the Iranian embassy in Baghdad. ]
Iran Stones Six to Death, Associated Press, October 26
TEHRAN - Three men and three women have been stoned to death in public in northern Iran after a court found them guilty of adultery and prostitution, a newspaper reported Sunday.
The report said the stoning was carried out by local citizens in public in town near the Caspian Sea.
Under Iran's Islamic laws, prostitution and adultery are illegal and punishable by death.
Algeria Dismisses Iran Mediation, Reuter, October 25
PARIS - Algeria on Saturday decried Iran's repeated offers to mediate in its internal conflict, accusing Tehran of supporting Moslem rebels in the north African country.
"The Algerian people do not forget that terrorism in Algeria has found in the Iranian regime all the necessary support to carry out its cowardly and hatred action." "The latest Iranian statements deserve only one answer: contempt," the Foreign ministry said.
Call for Change of Islamic Conference Site, Iran Zamin News Agency, October 26
In separate letters to the leaders of Islamic countries, the NCR President Massoud Rajavi called on them not to participate in the Islamic Conference session in Tehran.
Mr. Rajavi added: How could the conference of Islamic leaders be held in a country whose rulers create discord among Muslims and cause bloodshed and fratricide - against the teachings of Islam - and are involved in export of chaos and insecurity abroad and to other Islamic countries.
The NCR President urged the leaders of Islamic countries to change the site of the upcoming session of the Islamic Conference and not allow the Khomeini regime to use the summit for its sinister objectives against Islam and Iran.