A suspected Iranian Government connection to the bombs that exploded near the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam was being investigated yesterday as FBI officers hunted for evidence after last week's two attacks which killed more than 250 people.

The focus was on four Iranian diplomats, all alleged by opponents of the Tehran regime to have links with state-sponsored terrorism. Two of the envoys, Kazem Tabatabai, Iranian Ambassador in Nairobi, and Ahmad Dargahi,
his Cultural Attaché, left the Kenyan capital about two weeks before the bomb explosions. This was confirmed by the Iranian Embassy.

It was also claimed that Ali Saghaian, the Ambassador in Dar es Salaam, and Muhammad-Javad Tashkiri, his Cultural Attaché, left Tanzania about the same time....

Last night a spokesman for the Iranian Embassy in Dar es Salaam said Mr. Saghaian was still in the Tanzanian capital but was not available for interview. A different embassy official confirmed, however, that Mr. Taskhiri was out of the country....

A US Embassy spokesman in Nairobi said: "The issue of Iran has come up. Iran is on the list of four or five main suspects."
 

Mullahs' Suspicious Activities in Kenya and Tanzania, Iran Zamin News Agency, August 13

The Committee on Counter-terrorism of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in a statement disclosed details suspicious movements by diplomats of Tehran's clerical regime prior to the August 7 explosions. The statement said:

Kazem Tabatabai, the Iranian regime's ambassador in Kenya was hastily recalled to Tehran on July 15, 1998 for a two-month stint. Tabatabai returned to Tehran on July 18, three weeks before the explosion via an Iran Air flight from Nairobi.

In the same manner, Ahmad Dargahi, the mullahs' cultural attaché in Kenya, left Nairobi for Tehran on July 25. During the same period, Mohammad-Javad Taskhiri, the regime's cultural attaché in Tanzania departed Dar es Salaam for Tehran.

The three diplomat-terrorists had been involved for a long time in planning and preparing for terrorist activities in Iraq, Jordan, Tanzania and Kenya.

They recently had several meetings in Tehran with Kamal Kharrazi, the mullahs' Foreign Minister; Mohammad Sadr, deputy Foreign Minister; and Ghorban Oghli, Director General for the Ministry's African Affairs.

Ghorban Oghli, the mullahs' former ambassador in Algeria, has been heavily involved in organizing the mullahs' extra-territorial terrorist networks.
 

Iran on List of Suspects in Bombings, The Irish Times, August 13

A prominent Iranian opposition group claims leading Iranian diplomats are involved in terrorist activities, David Orr writes.

The departure of four Iranian diplomats from Kenya and Tanzania shortly before the US embassies were bombed has raised suspicions of Iran's involvement in last week's twin terrorist attacks.

The ambassadors and their cultural attaches, who have been connected with terrorism elsewhere in the world, all left East Africa at about the same time.

The Iranian embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam confirmed the diplomats were not there, but were expected back shortly.
 

Khamenei Demands Crack Down on Women, U.S. News & World Report, August 17

The day after the Iranian soccer team's defeat of the United States in the World Cup brought thousands of men and women dancing into the streets of Tehran, spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a secret meeting with senior officials that it was time "to crack down on any wanton behavior by Iranian women."...
 

... And the Mullahs' Majlis Delivers, Iran Zamin News Agency, August 13

The mullahs' Majlis passed a bill, yesterday, "prohibiting the publication of any material in the media that would give rise to conflict between the genders on the basis of a defense of women's rights contradictory to religious values."

On the basis of this bill, the mullahs' misogynous regime will condemn advocates of women's equality to imprisonment and lashing according to article 698 of the law on "Islamic punishments."

The action by the Majlis demonstrates that the propaganda by some domestic and international circles concerning improvement in the situation of women and respect for freedom of expression during Mohammad Khatami's tenure is
totally hallow and baseless.

 
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