Back to Brief on Iran
French members of the Bahai faith said on Tuesday they feared three more of their co-religionists might be about to be executed in Iran.
"After the execution of Tuesday, July 21...we have learned that three other Bahais also held at Mashad prison might undergo the same fate," a statement said.
The French Bahais said last week that Ruhu'llah Rawhani, a 52-year-old father of four had been hanged, charged with converting a Muslim to the Bahai religion.
Khatami Advocates Production And Stockpiling of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Iran Zamin News Agency, July 27
The Washington, D.C. representative office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said in a statement issued today that during the cabinet session last night, mullahs' President Mohammad Khatami lauded those involved in research, production and testing of Shahab-3 missile which has a range of 1,300 km. He said that production of these kinds of weapons was the "natural right" of the clerical regime.
Khatami also stressed that the policy of "détente" which he has pronounced since becoming the president, must be separated from efforts to produce and stockpile weapons of mass destruction.
The NCR representative in the United States said: "The production of Shahab-3 missile, which is capable of carrying nuclear and chemical warheads, and Khatami's emphasis on continuing efforts in this respect unveil the regime's ominous fundamentalist and expansionist policies."
The NCR representative added: "The stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction, like the clerical regime's leaders' reaffirmation that the fatwa to murder Salman Rushdie cannot be revoked and the continuing execution of opponents and members of religious minorities demonstrate the extent to which the policy of "détente" championed by Khatami and propaganda by some Western circles about the moderation of the ruling theocracy are removed from reality. They are only a pretext to justify trade contracts and political dealings with the mullahs' illegitimate regime."
Iran Arrests Newspaper Director, The Associated Press, July 29
Iranian police have arrested the managing director of a newspaper that printed an anonymous letter criticizing the late Ruhollah Khomeini, official media reported Wednesday.
The letter, written by an anonymous woman, referred to the 1980-88 war with Iraq.
"When I think of Khomeini, all that comes to mind are the horrifying sounds of the midnight bombs that used to fall on Tehran, and the blood of thousands of innocent young Iranians who died in that war,'' the letter said.
Protesting Iranian Claims Abuse, The Associated Press, July 29
A student leader said he was beaten and detained by security men to prevent him from speaking at a rally at Tehran University.
Manouchehr Mohammadi said he was kicked and punched by five intelligence agents and university guards Tuesday, and then hauled away to a police station, where he was held for five hours.
"They let me go ... and then warned me not to tell anyone about it," Mohammadi said today. He had cuts and bruises on his neck, but was otherwise all right.
Tensions have been high in Iran amid a growing confrontation between Khatami and religious hard-liners determined to keep their grip on power.
Early Warning, Excerpts from A Wall Street Journal Editorial, July 29
When the history books on the 21st century are written, the Shehab-3 may show up on a list of early warning signs that schoolchildren memorize about great catastrophes. The medium-range ballistic missile that Iran tested last week is just that--a warning that the missile threat is here and now, not years away. The coming catastrophe is a ballistic missile attack on an undefended U.S. or U.S. ally by a rogue nation….
The security and defense experts on the Rumsfeld Commission noted that North Korea is developing missiles with a 6,200-mile range…and that Iran is seeking missile components that could result in weapons with similar range, able to hit Pennsylvania or Minnesota. That information is from the unclassified version of the report. The general public doesn't get to hear about the really scary stuff….
Meanwhile, two-dozen countries are hard at work on improvements to their ballistic-missile capabilities and North Korea is exporting do-it-yourself Nodong missile kits like the one that Iran used to build Shehab-3.… Is anyone seriously going to propose that the way to keep more Iranian Shehab-3s from being produced is to invite the ayatollahs for a stay at Geneva's finest hotels and a long meeting of the minds across a green baize table?
What prospect is there at all that Iran will "agree," much less comply with any commitment to give up what it now has?…