In a large gathering at a basecamp of the National Liberation Army of Iran, Mr. Massoud Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and Commander in Chief of the National Liberation Army, discussed political developments in Iran, particularly in the past six months.

He emphasized that as far as the clerical regime is concerned, everything will be settled before the next presidential elections in May 2001. NLA's responsibilities and its readiness in the current phase were also addressed in this gathering.

Mr. Rajavi noted that since the regime lacks the capacity to reform, in tactical and practical terms any attack by Khamenei against the Khatami's faction, and in strategic terms, any attack by Khatami against Khamenei's faction are to the Resistance's favor.

The Resistance's leader added: Contrary to some claims, Mojahedin's military operations have aggravated the ruling factions' contradictions and undermined the clerical regime in its totality, particularly the dominant faction.

Mr. Rajavi said that in the past year, Mojahedin's military operations have given a sense of direction to society's developments and prompted the youths to take up armed resistance and join the NLA as the sole path to national liberation… The task before them, today, is to overthrow the theocracy ruling Iran in its totality.
 
 

Iran To Stage War Games Near Iraq, Associated Press, May 17

DUBAI - More than 8,000 Iranian troops will stage war games near the Iranian border with Iraq this month, the Iranian news agency reported Monday.

It quoted a senior military commander as saying the ground and air forces of the Revolutionary Guards will stage 10 days of war games in western Khuzestan province, which borders Iraq. The maneuvers would use live fire, he said.

Tensions between Iran and Iraq have been high since Iran's Iraq-based Mujahedeen Khalq rebels claimed responsibility last month for killing Brig. Ali Sayyad Shirazi, a senior military commander, in Tehran.

Iran has vowed to avenge the killing. The Mujahedeen Khalq say they fear an Iranian strike against their military bases in Iraq.
 
 

Khatami's Mixed Massages, The New York Times, May 17

CAIRO - Iran's president met Sunday in Saudi Arabia with the kingdom's crown prince….

To many Iranian conservatives, Saudi Arabia and its neighbors are little more than outposts of Western imperialism. The result, midway through a three-nation trip, has been something of a at the logical policy of détente implies leaving aside or watering down revolutionary principles and ideals when it comes to the country's foreign policy."

"Maintaining our principles and a clear anti-Zionist line have been, are and will remain among the most serious guidelines of our foreign policy," it said.
 

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