According to state-controlled daily Salaam, Hossein Barazandeh was kidnapped while returning home from a Koran recital session. He was subsequently killed. His body was found the next day morning according to Salaam.

The daily reported the account of the killing quoting Barazandeh's wife and added that she had no success after repeated contacts with legal authorities. The government officials even refused to give her a copy of the medical examiner's report.
 
 

More Death Threats, Agence France Presse, January 20

TEHRAN—An Iranian political figure said Wednesday he had been receiving death threats in the wake of the recent spate of murders of dissidents and intellectuals in Iran.

Habibollah Peyman sent a letter to Interior Minister Abdul-Vahed Musavi Lari saying he had received threats that he would be shot in the head, newspapers reported.

The 55-year-old writer said his family had also been threatened in mysterious letters and phone calls.

The death warnings follow similar threats against other critics.

Reza Alijani, editor of the political and economic monthly Iran-e-Farda, said last week he had been warned by the shadowy group describing itself as Fedayeen (Devotees) of Pure Islam that he would be killed if he granted interviews to foreign radio stations.

The group had claimed responsibility for the December murders of two writers, Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Pouyandeh, and the assassination in November of Dariush Foruhar and his wife.

The murders have led to political squabbling following the announcement that intelligence ministry agents were involved.
 
 

Mutilated Body Found, Iran Zamin News Agency, January 20

According to reports from the town of Najaf-abad in Isfahan province, a severely tortured and mutilated body of a man was found in that town last week.

Part of the body which, was thrown near a park close to a school, was found by students. The local people say that they cannot recognize the man as someone who was from that town.
 
 

MPs Reject Bill To Liberalize Car Imports, Reuter, January 17

TEHRAN—Iran's parliament on Sunday defeated a bill that would have removed a virtual ban on car imports into the country.

In a session broadcast on Tehran radio, deputies voted against a budget item which would have allowed car imports subject to heavy customs duties.

Deputies opposed the bill, saying the imports would hurt Iran's state-run car producers, drain already low hard currency reserves and promote luxury consumption.
 
 

Government Raises Petrol Prices by Seventy-five Percent, BBC World Service, January 20

The Iranian parliament has approved a seventy-five per cent increase in the price of petrol from March.

The increase is part of the government's strict austerity budget aimed at cutting spending following the sharp fall in oil prices which have reduced its revenues.
 
 

Iran's Long-range Missile Program on Schedule, Reuter, January 20

Iran has delayed a second test launch of its Shehab-3 surface-to-surface missile, an Israeli defense official said on Wednesday.

But the official said the Iranian missile program was still on schedule and the Shehab-3 would probably be operational by next year.

Iran first tested the missile last July. Its 1,300 km (800 mile) range puts Israel among the countries within its reach.

The Israeli official said the July 22 missile test showed most of its systems worked.

Iran is also planning more sophisticated versions of the missile which could carry nuclear warheads, the official said.

He said Iran could have enough fissile material within seven years to build at least one nuclear device.

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