14 hours after the Mojahedin's daring mortar attack against the regime's dreaded Intelligence Ministry, the mullahs admitted this morning to the attack. They falsely claimed, however, "realizing that the security ring around the Intelligence Ministry could not be penetrated, the assailants targeted the houses of ordinary people to intimidate and terrorize the public."

The regime's Intelligence Ministry is located in a tightly protected area at the site of the shah's secret police (SAVAK), also known as Baq-e Mehran. Ordinary people are banned from entering this area and all the buildings in this region are at the disposal of Intelligence Ministry agents who use them as safe houses to torture dissidents.

Thus, by fabricating such lies the mullahs are trying to counter the impact of the Mojahedin's successful operation among the public.

According to Mojahedin's Command HQ in Iran, two torture centers are in this district. The Ministry's training center, known as Imam Baqer University, is the area's northern zone. The Ministry's main complex which was shelled yesterday is surrounded by a five-meter-tall wall topped by barbed wires.

The security of this area is provided by flood lights and closed circuit cameras. Brick walls have been erected around all streets leading to this area from the south. In addition to mobile and foot patrols, plain clothes agents control the area.
 
 

Dissidents Claim A Mortar Raid in Tehran, The New York Times, February 1

LONDON, January 31 - The Iranian opposition group People's Mujahedeen said today that its members had attacked the headquarters of the Intelligence Ministry in Tehran with mortars…

Earlier, Iran's official news agency I.R.N.A., said an explosion had shaken northern Tehran today, smashing windows in a residential building…

The Mujahideen spokesman said the attack had been carried out in response to a recent wave of political murders in Iran. The Mujahideen took part in the Islamic revolution that toppled the Iranian monarchy 20 years ago, but soon fell out with the Islamic government set up by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
 
 

Rafsanjani Describes Factional Infighting As "Poison", Agence France Presse, February 1

TEHRAN - Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called on Iran's political factions to end their squabbling Monday, warning that disunity poses the biggest threat to the Islamic revolution as it marks its 20th anniversary.

Rafsanjani, a top adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, described the "endless bickering" between supporters of Mohammad Khatami and conservative hard-liners as "poison" and warned the rival factions against "any dissension."

"We must all ... close ranks and gather around the leader and the clergy," Rafsanjani told a crowd gathered at the south Tehran mausoleum of Khomeini.

"The enemy is aiming for the country's youth ... Those who are younger than 25 don't remember ... the developments that led to the revolution and the enemy is taking full advantage," he said.
 
 

Rafsanjani Calls Shahab-3 Missile a Major Achievement, Reuters, February 1

TEHRAN - … Since Khomeini's death in 1989, the long-term power of his legacy has come under increasing doubt as Iran struggles to confront a stumbling economy, the ravages of years of diplomatic exile and the uncertainty of an overwhelmingly young population, most born after the events of 1979.

Popular celebration of the "Ten-Day Dawn" were muffled somewhat by an alarming slide in the value of the Iranian currency, bringing home the depth of economic malaise. Traders said the rial sold at free rates of 8,700 to the dollar after losing 17 percent in a little more than a week.

Anxiety for the future was also summed up in remarks by former President Rafsanjani, who warned that enemies were trying to alienate Iran's large young generation from Khomeini's ideals.

"The enemy does not want the new generation to understand the achievements of the generation of the revolution. We should not let the propaganda contaminate the pure young generation," said Rafsanjani, still a powerful political figure.

He singled out the construction of Iran's medium-range Shehab-3 missile, test fired last summer, among the country's achievements since 1979.

"When America sees with its satellites our Shehab-3 with a range of 1,350 kilometers (850 miles), it is filled with dread and there is nothing it can do," said Rafsanjani, touching off chants of "Death to America."

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