Back to Brief on Iran
On the eve of the G8 summit in Cologne, Germany, Mr. Massoud Rajavi, President of the NCR, sent a letter to the Leaders of the Industrialized countries.
He called on G8 leaders to condemn the clerical regime's human rights abuses, export of terrorism, the use of weapons of mass destruction, especially the heinous terrorist crime on June 9 and the missile attack on June 10 against the Iranian Resistance. He also urged them to refrain from and cut off trade and diplomatic ties with Iran's rulers.
Mr. Rajavi underscored that a policy of conciliation and appeasement toward the mullahs' regime by a number of Western countries on the pretext that Khatami is a "moderate" has further emboldened the regime to export terrorism and use weapons of mass destruction.
NCR President stressed that during
Khatami's two-year tenure, there have been 420 announced executions, 10
cases of stoning in public, 34 assassinations of dissidents abroad and
47 political murders inside the country.
New Round of Factional Fighting, Agence France Presse, June 12
TEHRAN - The international outcry over the arrest of 13 Jews on charges of espionage has given Iranian conservatives a new stick to beat the rival faction.
"Washington's support for these spies shows that the United States remains the enemy of the Iranian people," wrote Saturday's Jomhuri-Eslami.
"This should be a lesson for those in Iran who support a resumption of relations with the United States," it said, in an implicit attack on those close to President Mohammad Khatami.
Papers close to Khatami also ran the story of the arrest of the Jews on their front pages on Saturday.
"The spies of the Zionist regime will soon be put on trial," said the daily Salam, one of the main pro-Khatami papers.
The arrest of the Jews is all the more embarrassing for Khatami in that it appears to be in the hands of two sectors of the regime -- the intelligence service and the judicial system -- that he has very little authority over.
The affair has also enhanced the image
of the intelligence ministry, badly tarnished at the end of last year when
its agents were found to have been involved in the murder of a number of
liberal intellectuals.
"Put Them Up Against a Wall and Shoot Them," Agence France Presse, June 11
TEHRAN - Iran's judicial chief warned Friday that 13 Jews charged with spying for Israel risk execution.
As angry worshippers at weekly Moslem prayers called for blood, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi insisted it was a case of "treason" and the 13 suspects would be tried and sentenced in accordance with Islamic law.
The crowds of worshippers chanted demands for the speedy trial and execution of the 13, with one speaker urging the judicial authorities to "put them up against a wall and shoot them."
Khatami has made no direct comment on the affair.
[The National Council of Resistance
of Iran, in a statement issued on June 8, strongly condemned "the arrest
of Iranian Jews and the ruthless policy of persecution and suppression
of religious minorities who have lived in peace and tranquillity in Iran
throughout its ancient history before the mullahs came to power."]
Scuds Hit Opposition Base, Pinkerton Global Intelligence Services (Internet Edition), June 11
On June 10, 1999, the opposition Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization sent a communiqué to PGIS claiming, "At around 8:30 p.m. this evening, the Iranian clerical regime launched Scud-B missiles, a banned weapon of mass destruction, on the National Liberation Army's Ashraf base camp"… Subsequent press reports confirmed at least three missiles struck the base, located just inside the Iraqi border…
… A senior US State Department
official stated that Iran is a victim of… [Mujahedin] terrorism.
That statement may have sent a signal to Iran that it has a green light
to conduct operations against the… [Mujahedin].
Iraq Protests to U.N. Chief over Iran's Missile Attack, Xinhua, June 14
BAGHDAD - Iraq protested to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan Monday over Iran's recent missile attacks on Iraq, urging the U.N. to pressure Tehran to stop "aggressive acts" against Iraq.
In a letter to Annan, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said that Iran's recent aggressive acts is a dangerous escalation that threatens Iraq's sincere efforts to maintain good-neighbor relations based on mutual respect for sovereignty, the Iraqi News Agency reported.