In a message to the Iranian people, Mr. Massoud Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance, said that statements by 2,000 parliamentarians condemning the mullahs' regime and supporting the Iranian Resistance showed the world that there was a legitimate and viable alternative to the Tehran regime in the form of the NCR.

Mr. Rajavi's statement, issued by the NCR's Paris office, added that the international expression of support showed that despite all the efforts to legitimize ties with the mullahs, the international public detests all ties and deals with the ruling religious, terrorist dictatorship in Iran.

The NCR President added: "The international solidarity of 2,000 members of parliament with the Iranian Resistance and comments by their representatives at the October 29 seminar in London and the letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton by a majority of the members of Congress on October 28 displayed their firm opposition to the inclusion of the People's Mojahedin Organization in the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organizations. In this way, the clerical regime's conspiracy failed miserably."

Noting that the London seminar's resolution and the parliamentary statements generally demanded a revision of trade ties with Tehran's clerical regime, Mr. Rajavi stressed that the Iranian Resistance's 16-year call to boycott the Khomeini regime was receiving increasing support.

The NCR President noted: "This Resistance has repeatedly declared its readiness to take part in free and fair presidential elections under the auspices of the United Nations…. We have said time and again that the operations of the Mojahedin and National Liberation Army have never targeted civilians or non-military targets. The Iranian Resistance only conducts its activities inside Iran and against officials and agents of suppression, repression, torture and execution."

Mr. Rajavi emphasized: "Anyone or any organ, anywhere in the world, including the U.S. State Department, which tags the Iranian Resistance and the Mojahedin as terrorist possesses no documents, proof or classified reports to prove its accusation. If the State Department has any documents or evidence in this respect, we ask that they be made public immediately. Let's not forget that senior U.S. administration officials confirmed that this accusation and the inclusion of the Mojahedin in the aforesaid list had no basis other than sending a signal to Khatami and offering a 'goodwill gesture' to the mullahs."

Iranians Burn U.S. Flags, Associated Press, November 4 

Tehran—Thousands of Iranian protesters burned American flags and beat effigies of Uncle Sam before setting them ablaze on Tuesday, the 18th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy.

The government celebrates the anniversary as if it were a religious feast. The day began with school bells pealing and students trooping outside to chant "death to America" and "death to Israel."

Speakers at the rally told the 30,000 demonstrators that their presence showed there was no chance that Iran would moderate its hostility toward the United States.

"Demonstrators, remember that the U.S. warships are in the (Persian) Gulf," said rally leader Mahmoud Mortezaifar. "You must shout loud enough for your cries of `death to America' to ring throughout the Gulf."…

Parliament Speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri told the crowd they had struck a blow against Washington's hopes that the new president, Mohammad Khatami, would improve relations. "They were hoping that the new government would be lenient toward the United States, but now they see that we remain as anti-American as ever," said Nateq-Nouri….

Investing in Terror - Excerpts from an article by Senator Sam Brownback, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Near East and South Asian Affairs, The Washington Times, November 3 

In the foreign policy arena, there are few hard and fast rules. One of them is this: American investors should not fund Iranian ballistic and nuclear missile development. And yet, that is essentially the deal that the Russian company Gazprom will be offering to unsuspecting American investors when it launches a new convertible bond this month….

[Iran's] South Pars deal [with Gazprom] poses two big problems. First, by providing a steady stream of new revenues, it will help finance Tehran's nuclear ambitions and terrorist activities…

Second, the deal runs afoul of the Iran-Libya Sanction Act (ILSA)… ILSA's underlying premise is simple: Assisting Iran's energy sector means financing a campaign against Mideast peace and stability.

Strangely enough, this appears to be exactly what our "allies" are ready to do….

We should not stand by and watch U.S. retirement dollars bankroll an enterprise that subsidizes barbarism in the Middle East and is a threat to world peace. Trading peace for profit is a lousy investment.

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