Back to Brief on Iran
The National Council of Resistance of Iran strongly condemned the United States' removal of the mullahs' medieval regime from the list of countries involved in the production and trafficking of drugs.
An NCR statement said: "The clerical regime is removed from the black list while its leaders have accumulated enormous wealth in the past two decades through sale of drugs. They run many international drug trafficking networks actively engaged in transferring drugs from Asia to Europe.
"Despite massive executions of drug smugglers not affiliated with the regime's factions, the number of addicts has continuously increased. According to the official statistics, there are at least five million addicts in Iran today, 60 per cent of whom are under 30 years of age.
"These painful realities, about which relevant US officials are aware, show that the removal of the clerical regime from the list of countries producing or trafficking drugs is politically motivated and designed to appease the mullahs' dictatorship," said the statement.
Students Question Khatami's Resolve for Reform, Reuters, December 7
TEHRAN - President Mohammad Khatami on Monday told raucous students clamoring for decisive reform of Iran's Islamic system to be patient and tolerant in the face of mounting attacks by conservatives.
Khatami was addressing a Students' Day gathering at Tehran's Sharif Technical University, fielding impassioned questions about his campaign to forge a pluralistic "civil society" under the rule of law.
But the occasional note of exasperation from the students, chosen by lot, suggested parts of the influential university movement were beginning to chafe at his message of tolerance.
Students sang and chanted slogans, beating their feet in time. Iran's students have historically helped lead protest movements against autocratic central authority.
At Least 25 Arrested In Protest against Entire Mullahs' Regime, Iran Zamin News Agency, December 8
Following Khatami's speech at Tehran's Sharif Industrial University, yesterday, some 15,000 students, a majority of whom did not attend the meeting, staged a protest march. Chanting "death to despotism" and "free all political prisoners," the protesters demanded the overthrow of the clerical regime in its entirety.
On the orders of the Ministry of the Interior, the State Security Force and units of the Guards Corps, equipped with shields and truncheons clashed with the students. At least 25 students were arrested and transferred to an unknown location.
Before Khatami's speech and during the march, the students sang "O' Iran", the official anthem of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and displayed their opposition to the theocratic regime ruling Iran.
Last week, in a large gathering of National Liberation Army commanders and combatants, NCR President Massoud Rajavi declared that internal conflicts between the regime's rival factions after the Assembly of Experts elections will escalate even more, expediting the overthrow of the clerical regime. "Every thing will be settled before Khatami's second term," Mr. Rajavi added.
"Plunged into Violent Internal Crises", Agence France Presse, December 8
TEHRAN - On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran is a country of seeming contradictions.
The year 1999 is shaping up to be full of events to remind the public of the principles -- or restrictions -- shaping their lives, and many believe it could also turn out to be a year of unpredictable change.
In February, the Islamic Republic will mark the 20th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and the toppling of the Shah.
Revolution loyalists will also commemorate the 10th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 death of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and the 10th anniversary of his fatwa condemning the British author Salman Rushdie.
As it gears up for the three anniversaries, "Iran is being plunged into a violent internal crisis, unprecedented since Khomeini's death," said a Western diplomat in Tehran.
Independent of the quarrels taking place at the top, Iranian society is gradually undergoing changes of its own.
The Islamic regime is proud to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the revolution, but 1999 could also prove a troubling year for Iranians, who are growing ever more discontented with economic hardship.
Indeed, talk of inflation, unemployment and recession is all one hears in collective taxis in Tehran on the eve of the anniversaries.