Today, January 26, at 11:00 a.m., the Washington, DC office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran will hold a press conference in the Madison Hotel to reveal new information on the Tehran regime's program to produce biological weapons.

This information will expose details on the various agencies involved, the extent of technical assistance and equipment provided by foreign countries, goals and problems encountered by the clerical regime.
 
 

Police Break Up Tehran Rally, Agence France Presse, January 23

TEHRAN - Police forcibly dispersed a demonstration here on Saturday in memory of two writers who were murdered in Iran last month, witnesses said.

Several hundred people had taken part in the rally in front of the Hassan Mosque in north Tehran, where they had earlier gathered to commemorate the 40th day since the deaths of Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad Pouyandeh.

Police beat up some protesters with batons, among them relatives of the writers, after they began shouting: "Down with the Dictatorship," and other slogans against the regime, witnesses said.

The mourners poured into the street after they were denied their request to have their eight speakers deliver speeches in memory of the writers.
 
 

Explosion at Tehran Newspaper Office, BBC World Service, January 25

An Iranian newspaper renowned for its criticism of the conservative clergy has been attacked by unidentified assailants.

The official news agency said two men on a motorbike threw a stun grenade at the newspaper's offices in Tehran, shattering windows and slightly injuring two reporters.

An anonymous phone caller said that next time it would be a bomb. The editor said the paper would come out as usual on Tuesday.

The newspaper was launched about two months ago by the former Interior minister, Abdollah Nouri, who angered conservatives in the government and was removed from office…
 
 

Daily Ordered Closed For Two Weeks, Agence France Presse, January 23

TEHRAN - A newspaper run by a daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been banned for two weeks for allegedly defaming a security official, the daily announced Saturday.

Zan daily, run by Faezeh Hashemi, has been plagued by several lawsuits, mainly one filed by police security chief General Mohammad Naghdi after he was accused by the daily of participating in an attack on two senior government officials by Islamic extremists in September.
 
 

20 Years After Mullahs' Rule, Iran's "Disinherited" Still Victims of Economic Woes, Agence France Presse, January 26

TEHRAN - Millions of "disinherited" Iranians, in whose name the 1979 Islamic Revolution took place, are the hardest hit by the country's economic crisis on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the upheaval.

Iran's have-nots, supposedly the regime's main support base, are today facing a growing decline in their purchasing power as the country's economic recession deepens.

Parliament approved last week a 75-percent increase in the prices of domestic fuel, in a move which is likely to further push up the rate of inflation.

Most here agree that low-income earners, who makes up the bulk of the country's 60 million population, are bearing the brunt of the economic woes gripping the country.

Economic indicators are all in the red this year following a dramatic fall in crude prices, the country's main source of hard currency.

According to Western experts, the Iranian economy is expected to grow by a negligible 0.5 percent next fiscal year, which begins on March 21, although the inflation rate hovers around 40 percent.

Facing a budget deficit of 6.3 billion dollars this year, the government is hard pressed to pay back foreign creditors as its external debt is set to climb from 21 billion dollars presently to 22.3 billion dollars at the end of the year 2000.

The steady drop in the rate of rial against major foreign currencies is another ominous sign of the present state of the economy.

But despite the economic hardship, the country is gearing up to spend lavishly on February 1-11 celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and the Iranian new year a month later.

Back to Brief on Iran