Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect, and Mr. Massoud Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance's Leader, took part in a ceremony at an NLA basecamp yesterday, marking Eid Al-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadhan.

Congratulating the Eid Al-Fitr, Mrs. Rajavi pointed to the clerical regime’s admission to the role of the Intelligence Ministry in the recent political murders, and urged intervention by the international community and the United Nations as well as the prosecution of the regime’s leaders as enemies of humanity in an international tribunal. She said: The clerical regime must be boycotted and its representatives expelled from international forums.

In his address to the gathering of NLA combatants, Mr. Rajavi underscored that the Iranian Resistance has always called for free and fair elections for a constituent assembly or presidency on the basis of the people’s sovereignty and under the auspices of the United Nations. But the mullahs will never submit to such an election.

Mr. Rajavi added: We are seeking to overthrow the clerical regime, which has usurped the rights of the Iranian people, in its entirety. No force, power or government can impede the realization of the Iranian people’s will. The National Liberation Army of Iran is the guarantee for the Iranian people’s sovereignty, the Iranian Resistance’s leader emphasized.
 
 

Cabinet Bans Head of Broadcast Network, Associated Press, January 19

TEHRAN - The head of Iran's state television has been banned from attending Cabinet sessions for airing a broadcast that blamed supporters of the country's president for a string of recent slayings, newspapers reported Tuesday.

Ataollah Mohajerani, minister of culture and the government's spokesman, demanded a public apology from Ali Larijani, who heads the country's radio and TV network.

Larijani is not a minister but sat in on Cabinet sessions in his capacity as head of the broadcast network.

In a broadcast on state television last week, Ruhollah Hosseinian, a former deputy intelligence minister, said the killings were carried out by Khatami's supporters.
 
 

Supporters of Dissident Iranian Cleric Arrested, Agence France Presse, January 19

TEHRAN - Several supporters of dissident Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the disgraced former heir to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, have been arrested in the central city of Esfahan, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

"Several people were arrested after shouting slogans in favor of Ayatollah Montazeri," said the radical newspaper Salam.

It said the arrests took place on Monday after prayers for Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

A pro-Khatami government newspaper, Sobh-e-Emrooz (This Morning), reported Sunday that several Khatami supporters had been arrested in Esfahan, including a former top military commander during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
 
 

Explosions Kill Four Outside Tehran, Agence France Presse, January 19

TEHRAN - Four people were killed and three others wounded Tuesday when two unidentified "objects" blew up in Karaj, west of Tehran, the official IRNA news agency said.

The first explosion, at an industrial site about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Tehran, killed brothers Khalil and Mohsen Najafi and a third person, Afsar Rahbar.

In the second blast, Mohammad Afsar, a soldier guarding the same site, was killed and two others under his command were wounded, IRNA said without giving further details.
 
 

Political Overtures in Disguise, United Press International, January 19

WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration is considering whether to grant Niki Trading Co. an exemption from sanctions to broker the sale of $500 million of grains to Iran.

The election of Khatami brought some cultural and sports exchanges, but it has failed to produce the warming in relations or improvement in Iranian behavior for which the Clinton administration had hoped. U.S. intelligence officials say Iran is still supporting terrorism, pursuing nuclear arms and violating Western standards of human rights.

Despite those assessments, U.S. officials say the Clinton administration has been swayed toward approving the grain sale.

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