Back to Brief on Iran
TEHRAN - A veteran Iranian political figure and his wife were found stabbed to death at their home, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.
It quoted police as saying Dariush Forouhar, former labor minister and head of the small Iran Nation Party, and his wife Parvaneh were found dead at their home in Tehran. Several prominent exiled Iranian opposition figures have been assassinated since 1979.
Iranian Resistance Leader Suspects Authorities in
Murder, Reuters, November 23
WASHINGTON - The leader of the main Iranian opposition in exile on Monday pointed his finger at the Iranian government for the murder in Tehran of Dariush Forouhar and his wife. "The assassination bore all the hallmarks of similar terrorist crimes committed by the mullahs' regime in the past," said Massoud Rajavi, leader of the Mujahideen Khalq group.
A statement by the National Council of Resistance said Rajavi condemned the murder of Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh, who were found stabbed to death at home on Sunday.
"The murder [of someone like Darioush Forouhar, who was a former minister in the clerical regime and was involved in no serious activity against the regime], once again laid bare the demagogic, false claims made by (Iranian President Mohammad) Khatami about the 'rule of law' and 'civil society'," he added.
The Mujahideen broke with the Iranian government shortly after the Islamic revolution of 1979. It has a well-armed force on the Iranian border.
The main theme of its current message is that Khatami's election last year has brought no change to Iranian policy.
American Tourists Attacked in Iran, Associated Press, November 23
TEHRAN - Assailants shouting anti-American slogans and wielding stones and iron rods attacked a bus carrying U.S. tourists, the Iran News reported Monday.
The attack happened Saturday morning as the group arrived at the Esteglal Hotel in northern Tehran where they were staying, the paper said.
The London-based Arabic daily said its office in Tehran received an anonymous phone call from someone speaking on behalf of the Fedayeen Islam, or "Volunteers for Martyrdom for Islam," claiming it carried out the attack.
"This is a lesson and a warning to those spies," the paper quoted the caller as saying.
"This was an operation against U.S. spies and a warning to the officials who invited them," its statement said, apparently referring to President Mohammad Khatami's call for cultural exchanges between Americans and Iranians.
The Fedayeen Islam was active before the 1979 Islamic revolution. It had not been heard of in years until earlier this month, when it threatened to kill any American hostages from the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover if they ever returned to Iran.
2.5 Sq. Meters Per Prisoner, State News Agency (IRNA), November 23
Head of Iran's prison organization, Morteza Bakhtiari, said here Sunday that the amount of space in Iran's prisons does not meet the standards and a huge sum must be spent to reach the standards. He said that a space of more than 2.5 sq. meters exist for each prisoner in the country while it should be 17.5 sq. meters according to standards
Iran with 160,000 prisoners is in need of at least 417,000 sq. meters of space, he said, adding the laws of arrest and detention must be reconsidered in order to lower the number of prisoners.
According to Bakhtiari there are 217 prisons in the country.
Argentina Bomb Witness to Testify, Associated Press, November 22
RIO DE JANEIRO - A key witness in the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires will testify before a Brazilian federal judge this week, reports said. Wilson dos Santos, a Brazilian citizen, is believed to have information about the 1992 bombing of the Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which killed 86 people. Dos Santos, who is under police protection, was tracked down in Brazil last week.
Dos Santos originally testified that he alerted Argentine officials four months before the bombing that the attack was in the works. He said they did not take him seriously. He reportedly said knew about the plans through an Iranian girlfriend with links to a terrorist group.