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The National Council of Resistance of Iran issued a statement on Tuesday indicating that simultaneous with the week of protest against Khatami’s visit to France, held on the initiative of the People’s Mojahedin of Iran in France and many important European countries and in North America, so far 12,000 French citizens have signed a petition addressed to Jacques Chirac, President of France, underscoring the need to cancel Khatami’s visit to that country, calling on him to condemn the flagrant and systematic human rights abuses in Iran.
According to the statement on Tuesday afternoon, a delegation from the Iranian Resistance forwarded the petition and the signatures of French citizens to the Elysée Palace.
Moreover, a number of distinguished French personalities including, Mrs. Lucie Aubrac, Pr. Albert Jacquard, Mr. Léon Schuartzenberg, Mgr. Jacques Gaillot, Mr. Pierre Bercis, wrote letters or signed statements addressed to President Chirac, stressing that receiving the mullahs’ President is unacceptable and that France must take a firm position vis-à-vis the Tehran regime.
The petition reads in part: "In December the United Nations General Assembly and in October the European Parliament condemned the increasing and alarming trend of executions in Iran. At the same time, eight dissidents and writers were either abducted or heinously murdered. Eight were stoned to death and 28 GN="JUSTIFY"> [Australian Oil Company] BHP chief executive officer Mr. Paul Anderson, an American citizen, could be personally liable to US domestic penalties if the company pursues business opportunities in Iran's lucrative petroleum sector….
BHP is considering constructing a pipeline from Iran's South Pars offshore gas field to neighboring Pakistan, though the company says the project has been deferred by recent gas discoveries in Pakistan.
One obstacle to BHP's building the pipeline is the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of 1996, which provides for US sanctions against foreign companies investing more than $US40 million ($63.5 million) in Iran's petroleum industry.
Washington accuses Tehran of seeking
to acquire weapons of mass destruction and supporting international terrorism…
Iran's Disparate Economy, The Wall Street Journal, March 26
…Last month, the black-market value of the Iranian rial fell to 8,000 to the dollar, compared with an official rate of 3,000 to the dollar….
Iran now relies on oil for 95% of its foreign exchange, according to Akbar Karbassian, Lecturer at the Iran Institute of Banking in Tehran. Iran relies on oil and gas for 70% of its budget, he says. Thought the budget for the new year is officially balanced on the strength of tax increases, Mr. Karbassian thinks there is still a huge hidden deficit….