During the fifty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the UN Third Committee adopted a strongly-worded resolution condemning the continuing violations of human rights in Iran by the mullahs' religious, terrorist dictatorship, including "the large and increasing number of executions," torture and inhuman punishment, "stoning, amputation and public executions," discrimination against religious minorities, and "the lack of full and equal enjoyment of women of human rights."

Mr. Massoud Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said by adopting this resolution, the world community acknowledges the fact that the illusions about moderation of the regime are but a mirage and that its factions are in no way different from one another so far as suppression and export of terrorism are concerned.

In its resolution, the Third Committee instructs the clerical regime "to take effective measures to eliminate human rights violations against women, including all discrimination in law and in practice," and "refrain from violence against members of the Iranian opposition living abroad."

Iranian Opposition Sees Chance in Internal Conflict, Reuter, November 25 

WASHINGTON - An Iranian opposition group in exile said Tuesday the political turmoil over clerical rule in Iran was the beginning of the end for the system, which has prevailed since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

"This is the start of a set of developments that will only highlight internal conflicts, weakening the regime and providing an opportunity to overthrow it," said Alireza Jafarzadeh of the opposition's parliament-in-exile.

Jafarzadeh said this month's conflict in Iran was a battle between supporters and opponents of velayet-e-faqih, the principle that clerical authority rules supreme.

The present supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, faces unprecedented challenges to his authority by critics ranging from senior Shiite Muslim clerics to liberal opposition members, political analysts say.

"It has elevated to uncontrollable levels and touched on the vital and crucial issue of velayat-e-faqih. It's so hot an issue that even the Council of Experts pronounced on it," said Jafarzadeh, who is close to the Iraqi-based armed opposition movement the Mujahideen Khalq.

The spokesman said the attitude of recently elected President Mohammad Khatami vindicated the Mujahideen's view that the elections this year did not mean real change.

"Khatami has started to tilt towards Khamenei. He's forgotten about freedom of speech and all that. That shows that any move towards freedom will have to come from outside the regime. Otherwise it ends in repression." Some Western commentators saw the election of Khatami, reputedly a moderate, but so far Khatami has not brought about significant reform.

Jafarzadeh said the Mujahideen would be the obvious beneficiaries of any political crisis in Tehran and had already stepped up their military activities.

"Once the level of internal dissent rises, it will make the situation ripe for the National Liberation Army of Iran to intervene. It is the only force that can take advantage of the situation," he said. The Mojahideen said on November 1 that they had carried out 637 military operations inside Iran so far in the year, almost half of them in the previous two months.

Rafsanjani's Fear of Factional Infighting, Agence France Presse, November 24 

TEHRAN - Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warned on Monday that factional fighting in Iran would signal "death for democracy" and appealed to political groups to settle their disputes peacefully.

"During my tenure, I tried not to cause any problems. But even then different groups were at each other's throats. I wasn't happy, but sometimes not even I could do anything about it," Rafsanjani said.

Rafsanjani's appeal came in the wake of a campaign by Islamic conservatives to discredit a dissident cleric, Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who last week challenged the constitutional legitimacy of the supreme leader.

Rafsanjani slammed the critics of the supreme leader, saying they were manipulated by the "enemy."

"There are so many other issues to discuss. Why do you insult the sacred values of the people. It is obvious they will not tolerate it," he said. He said, however, that the political infighting "does not threaten the regime, although it causes trouble for it."

Earlier Monday, another cleric called for a truce in the factional fighting in a bid to ease tension ahead of a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) here next month.

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