TEHRAN - Iran's top security body said last month's police attack at Tehran university that sparked six days of riots was a "blunder" but cleared Iran's police chief of any wrongdoing, newspapers reported Sunday.

The much-awaited report from the Supreme National Security Council stressed the attack "was not ordered by the highest police command" and cleared Iran's chief of police, General Hedayat Lotfian, of any involvement.

The students bore some of the blame for their "provocative attitude" during the "illegal demonstration," the report said.

The report also minimized the damage at the university, countering claims by school officials.

[According to Reuters: "The commander of the law enforcement forces General Hedayotallah Lotfian did not issue any orders for the entry of the forces into Tehran University campus," the report said.

Lotfian earlier told the assembly he would resign if the probe found him guilty. But the general defended the right of his force to enter the dormitories, saying they were provoked by the students.

{According to Associated Press: The special committee that investigated the raid said in a 34-page report that law enforcement officers allowed vigilantes to attack the students in the dormitory.

However, the government inquiry cleared police chief Hedayat Lotfian, whose dismissal the student protesters had demanded, of any wrongdoing.]
 
 

Four European Tourists Kidnapped in Iran, Associated Press, August 15

DUBAI - Kidnappers seized four European tourists and an Iranian from a dining room at a hotel in central Iran, a witness and the official Iranian news agency said Sunday.

The tourists -- three Spaniards and an Italian -- and the Iranian were abducted Saturday night in Kerman, 550 miles southeast of Tehran, the Islamic Republic News Agency said.

Neither the identities nor the motive of the kidnappers was known, the agency said. This is at least the third mysterious attack on foreigners in Iran this year.

In other attacks on foreigners this year, IRNA reported in February that an armed robber kidnapped and killed a German banker in the central city of Kashan, about 440 miles north of Kerman.

In June, three Italians were abducted in southwestern Iran and freed unharmed after a week in captivity. The reasons for the kidnapping were never disclosed, nor were any details offered on how it was resolved.

Iran has been trying to promote tourism to boost its faltering economy. Yet while the country offers a wealth of Persian palaces, Islamic mosques and bazaars selling exquisite handicrafts, tourism brought in only $270 million in 1997, according to government figures.

The industry received another blow in November when militants shouting anti-U.S. slogans attacked a bus carrying American tourists in Tehran. The government condemned the attack, which was thought to have been triggered by reports that the Americans were government officials or CIA agents posing as tourists.
 
 

Hard-line Cleric Appointed to Powerful Council, Reuters, Aug 15

TEHRAN - Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed the hardline former head of Iran's judiciary to an influential clerical oversight body on Sunday.

Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, in his late 60s, was appointed to the Guardian Council, a conservative-controlled body vetting electoral candidates and ensuring laws passed by parliament conforms to Islamic laws and the country's constitution.

He will swap jobs with the more moderate Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi, 51, who replaced Yazdi at the judiciary on Saturday.

Yazdi's appointment to the Guardian Council is likely to toughen its conservative line at a time the body, composed of six clerics and six jurists, is criticized by pro-reform groups for taking sides with hard-liners opposed to President Mohammad Khatami.

Pro-reform groups have welcomed Yazdi's departure from the judiciary, hoping that the soft-spoken Hashemi will reform the judicial system plagued by charges of inefficiency and corruption.]
 
 

Iran Must Not Buy American Agriculture Products, State-Controlled Tehran Times, August 16

... As far as Iran's national interest is concerned, the country should not import agriculture products in medium-term...

However, should there be short-term and emergency requirement to import certain agriculture products, surely the national interests should endorse the green light for the import of such imports from the countries with whom Iran has amicable relations.
 

Back to Brief on Iran