Back to Brief on Iran
TEHRAN - A group of Islamic hardliners attacked a car carrying a group of Americans visiting Iran on Saturday, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Kayhan daily said a group of people chanting "death to America" assaulted the vehicle near the Esteqlal hotel in northern Tehran, where the Americans had been staying.
They broke the windows of the car, but none of the occupants was hurt.
The 13 Americans decided to cut their trip short and left Tehran for Washington on Saturday night.
The visit by the Americans had stirred up a controversy in the Islamic republic, with conservative politicians and hardline newspapers accusing them of being spies disguised as tourists.
In an article Sunday headlined "What are America's Political Agents Doing in Tehran?" the fundamentalist Jomhuri Islami said the group of Americans included several "senior CIA officials."
Jomhuri and several other hardline newspapers accused the visitors of seeking to gather political information, while others said they were in Iran to explore investment opportunities and hold talks with officials.
"Realities of Iranian Society", Mullahs' Style, Voice of America, November 19
A U.N. panel adopted a resolution this week denouncing Iran for continuing violations of human rights…
The resolution expresses concern about arbitrary executions, torture, and forms of inhuman punishment in Iran, including stoning and amputation. The resolution was approved by the U.N. General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee. It is similar to a resolution passed by the U.N General Assembly last year….
Iranian diplomats are criticizing the resolution, saying it is out of touch with the realities of Iranian society…
But a leading Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance, is applauding the resolution. A member of that group, former Iranian diplomat Parviz Khazai, says the resolution draws attention to the growing gap between what Iranian authorities say outside their borders and what they do within them.
"The situation is worsening. But the facade the regime tries to present outside the country is entirely some other thing. And I think this is very misleading that the international community would not realize that whatever they say outside Iran is one thing, but what they do indeed inside the country, is entirely some other thing."
Mr. Khazai says there has been an increase in executions and torture in Iran over the last year. He says the government has failed to do everything within its means to remove the threats of death against British author Salman Rushdie.
Iran's Islamic Militia to Stage "Urban Maneuvers", Agence France Presse, November 21
TEHRAN - Around half a million Islamic militants will stage "urban maneuvers" in Iran's cities this week to test their ability to respond to internal unrest, press reports said Saturday.
During the operation, the paramilitary Islamic volunteers known as Basijis will increase security across the country and are expected to set up road blocks and launch searches for drugs, weapons and even young couples deemed to have "illicit" relations.
The maneuvers, due to start Thursday, are designed to "strengthen the volunteer force's cohesion and boost operational capacities," a senior Basij commander told the conservative Jomhuri Islami newspaper.
The Basijis were created in the 1980s on the orders of Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to defend the Islamic revolution against internal and external enemies.
They were strengthened in 1993 following rioting in several Iranian cities that put considerable strain on the country's security forces.
The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, General Rahim Safavi, who also heads the Basijis, said they have some four million male and female members at 30,000 bases around the country.
In a move designed to keep a closer watch on students, whose increasingly outspoken protests in recent months have exasperated conservative politicians, parliament passed a law this month strengthening the Basiji presence on university campuses.