WASHINGTON - The chairman of a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday urged support for Iran's pro-democracy student movement following recent demonstrations, saying there was no evidence that Mohammad Khatami had produced changes in Iran's strict Islamic policies.

"The recent uprisings were the results of oppressive internal policies and dashed hopes for more freedom which President Khatami had promised," said Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Near Eastern and Asian affairs.

"What with Khatami's disappointing message to the students that 'deviations will be repressed with force and determination' and the ongoing arrests and threats of execution on charges of which these students are clearly innocent, it appears that the so-called moderation of Iranian policy is but wishful thinking on the part of the West," he told a meeting of the subcommittee.

Members of the influential Senate subcommittee seemed to take a tough line, rejecting the idea of rapprochement, at least for the time being.

"Any attempt at dialogue would be greatly misunderstood," said Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey. He said "the students might feel abandoned" if a recent U.S. move to ease sanctions against Iran gained momentum.

Brownback advised against silence, saying the Iranian students "need a reaffirmation of the principles that this nation believes in: democracy, rule of law, and freedom of expression for all." [A related report by the Associated Press quoted Senator Brownback as saying: "I cannot think of a policy that is more likely to cause the Iranian public to believe that the U.S. is a guilty partner in the recent uprisings."]
 

Students Say Arrests, Beatings Persist, Reuters, July 22

TEHRAN - A student body said on Thursday that its members were still being subjected to arrests, beatings and forced confessions, despite official statements that the detention of students in connection with recent unrest had stopped. The Student Council of the Tehran University Dormitories, formed in the heat of this month's protests, said in a statement that Council members and students at large were being detained illegally, subjected to abuse and forced to sign false confessions. "We have reports that people have been arrested merely for being students, and after hours of interrogation, along with beatings, they were forced to sign confessions with their eyes closed," the council said in a faxed statement. The Council said seven of its own elected members, along with others belonging to recognized university organizations, were missing and presumed held by security forces.
 

Mullahs' Regime is Training Hamas for Attacks, Reuter, July 22

JERUSALEM - The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas pledged on Thursday to renew "Jihad operations" against Israel -- a term it uses to refer to guerrilla attacks.

The statement coincided with Israeli allegations that Iran was training Hamas guerrillas to carry out attacks on Israel.

The Israeli army said on Thursday that Iran, which backs anti-Israeli guerrilla groups, has trained Hamas guerrillas near Tehran for several years to carry out attacks on Israel.

A military court has indicted two Hamas members from Gaza, Mohammad Khalaf and Ismail al-Ja'bari, for carrying out illegal activities for Hamas including training in Iran, the army said.

The daily Ha'aretz newspaper said the training camp was run by Islamic Revolutionary Guards under the control of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
 
 

Growing Disenchantment With Khatami, Detroit Free Press, July 22

... Iranians are frustrated by their fears and angry that they cannot speak their minds freely. And they dare not give Western reporters their full names.

Many despise the Islamic clerics who still hold sway over Iran's judiciary and police. They want to know why the Iranian economy hasn't been bolstered by trade ties to the West, despite promises by the leadership to open up the economy.

Above all, they want to know why their leaders ignore popular aspirations... It was this frustration that spilled out recently in Iran's worst rioting since the Islamic revolution of 1979...

Although few say so publicly, many Iranians believe it is time to scrap the entire concept of an Islamic state and set up a democracy with strict separation of state and religion. ..

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