The National Council of Resistance of Iran issued a statement yesterday quoting reports from Iran as saying that subsequent to behind-the-scene deals among the regime’s internal factions, Khatami has agreed that a number of those involved in the recent political killings be released.

Mohammad Sharifzadeh, an Intelligence Ministry deputy director general, is among those freed. Two other key perpetrators of the recent killings used the Ministry’s facilities to escape from Iran to another country. One of them uses the pseudonym Hamid A’alami.

The NCR stated that the release of these criminals renders futile any expectation that the clerics would conduct investigations implicating their own officials and called for the dispatch to Iran of an international fact-finding mission to investigate these murders and identify the real masterminds and perpetrators.
 
 

Tenet Warns of Iran's Weapons Program, The Washington Times, February 3

CIA Director George Tenet said yesterday that Russia has increased its help to Iran for producing longer-range missiles that could carry weapons of mass destruction, and he questioned Moscow's secure hold on its own nuclear arsenal….

"Expertise and material from Russia has continued to assist the Iranian missile effort," Mr. Tenet said. "This assistance is continuing as we speak, and there is no doubt that it will play a crucial role in Iran's ability to develop more sophisticated and longer-range missiles."

Last year, Iran conducted its first test of the Shabab-3, modeled after North Korea's medium-range Nodong missile and having a range of 800 miles. Mr. Tenet said that with continued foreign aid, Iran could drastically cut the time it takes to deploy an intercontinental missile capable of hitting the United States….
 
 

State-sponsored Terrorism Continues under Khatami—Tenet, Voice of America, February 2

…[Director George Tenet] also touched briefly on the issue of state-sponsored terrorism, especially by Iran. While not accusing the Tehran government of backing Mr. Bin Laden, Mr. Tenet did say he sees no significant reduction in Iran's support for terrorism, despite the election of President Mohammad Khatami.

"But hardliners, such as the supreme leader, continue to view terrorism as a legitimate tool of Iranian policy, and they still control the institutions that can implement it."
 
 

Khatami's Foreign Ministry Draws "Red Line" at Negotiations With US, Agence France Presse, February 3

Iran draws a "red line" at negotiations with the United States which is just as clear cut as the bar on relations with Israel, the foreign ministry said here Wednesday.

"This red line is clear: no relations with the Zionist regime (Israel) and no dialogue with the United States," ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.

Iran "considers the Zionist regime as illegitimate and rules out any negotiations with the United States because of their hostile attitude," he told the official IRNA news agency.

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned against any "compromise" with the United States on Tuesday saying that it went against the teachings of the 20-year-old Islamic revolution.
 
 

"Enemy Awaits Behind The Doors", State-run Tehran Radio, January 29

Imami Kashani, Tehran's provisional Friday Prayer leader: God forbidden, should there be dissension among us in the country, this would lead to our defeat. Enemy is awaiting behind Iran's border... The enemy has banked on our unity, on one hand, and has focused on the leadership on the other hand. The enemy talks of despotism and says if the power is concentrated it would lead to dictatorship.. At the beginning of the revolution, it was the same case. Northern cities of the country, for example, were filled with graffiti's by the Mojahedin...
 
 

Iranian Magazine's License Revoked, The Associated Press, February 3

An Iranian court has revoked the license of a liberal monthly magazine and fined its managing director, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

The court found Gholamhussein Zakeri, director of Adineh magazine, guilty of "insult and dissemination of lies and corrupt articles," the agency Tuesday quoted an official with the Tehran justice department as saying.

Authorities in Iran's judiciary have shut down six publications in recent months and arrested six journalists for allegedly publishing lies.

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