Back to Brief on Iran
The state controlled 15th of Khordad Foundation issued a call yesterday, "urging all freedom-loving people the world over to carry out the verdict to execute Salman Rushdie."
In its new call, published in a number of state dailies, including Jomhouri Islami of September 10, the Foundation emphasized that "it has made no decisions to cancel the reward." Headed by Hassan Sane'i, a close associate of Khatami, the Foundation has set a $2.5 million reward for the murder of Salman Rushdie.
The action comes several days prior to the scheduled trip to London by Ali Ahani, the Director General for Western Europe in the mullahs' Foreign Ministry. He is planning to hold talks with British officials about "issues of mutual interest."
Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of NCR's Foreign Affairs Committee, condemned the anti-Islamic and anti-human fatwa. He said: Reiterating the need to murder Rushdie by the clerical regime is, before anything else, the consequence of the placating policies of European countries, particularly the United Kingdom, toward the theocracy ruling Iran. The policy of appeasement has emboldened the mullahs in continuing their suppressive and terrorist policies.
In Its Third Day, Strike in Isfahan Bazaar Spreads, Iran Zamin News Agency, September 11
In its third day, the strike in Isfahan Bazaar spread as many other shopping malls and stores joined the strikers yesterday.
Isfahan's Grand Bazaar was shot down on Tuesday in protest to the clerical regime's suppressive policies and unbearable pressures on petty businesses as most bazaaries did not go to work.
Shop owners in Isfahan's major shopping malls, such as Sepahan and Enqelab as well as Mellat and Goldsmiths' bazaars, four major business centers in the city, joined the strikers on Thursday. Thousands of shops are now closed down.
The situation in Isfahan Bazaar is reported to be tense. Fearing the spread of strike and antigovernment demonstrations, the mullahs' regime has stationed large groups of Revolutionary Guards, Intelligence Ministry agents and club-wielders in different areas of the city.
Mullahs Continue Efforts to Undermine Regional Stability,
Agence France Presse, September 13
TEHRAN - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami met Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem here Sunday and condemned Turkey's military cooperation with Israel, saying it "shocked the Moslem world."
"Turkey should not need to cooperate with a country which has displayed its aggressive nature ... and whose presence in the region is harmful to everyone," Iranian television quoted Khatami as saying.
Cem, who arrived here Saturday for a three-day visit, responded that "relations between Turkey and Israel are not aimed at the interests of any of the countries in the region," the television said.
He is expected to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharazi focused on the tensions between Iran and the Taliban over the situation in Afghanistan.
The Cem-Kharazi meeting is also expected to focus on the Kurdish question. Turkey accused Iran last week of backing Kurdish rebels fighting Ankara.
Turkey and Iran only recently put their relations back on an even keel following a rupture caused by remarks of support for Islamists in Turkey by Iranian diplomats.
Israel Calls on Russia to Halt Technology Transfer, Reuter, September 13
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Russia's new Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov on Sunday to help stop the transfer of arms technology in the region.
Israel and the United States have repeatedly urged Russia to withhold the sale of rockets, nuclear technology and technical assistance to Iran.
"I hope that you will use your influence to stem the flow of dual-use technologies, equipment and know-how, which will further destabilize the region in general and pose an existential threat to Israel, if left unchecked," Netanyahu wrote in a congratulatory note to Primakov.
In July Iran test-fired a missile with a range of 1,300 km (800 miles). The Shehab-3 could strike Israel, Saudi Arabia and portions of Russia, as well as Turkey.
An Israeli military source said at the time that a prototype of the Shehab-3 would be ready in 1999 if Russian aid to Iran continued unhindered. The source said the missile could possibly carry non-conventional warheads.