As the clerical regime's election masquerade draws closer, in a press conference yesterday, Hashemi Rafsanjani endorsed mullahs' Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his policies.

Defending the Special Court for the Clergy, Rafsanjani said: "This court was formed on the basis of the Imam's belief and decision..."

Rafsanjani ridiculed Khatami's rhetoric about "political development" and claimed that his own tenure as President was the era of dramatic "cultural and political development." Replying to a question that "your mayor [Gholamhossein Karbaschi], and your Interior Minister are imprisoned" and "many journalists are awaiting prison sentences," Rafsanjani said these matters "are not in contradiction" with political development.

Rafsanjani also blamed the serial political murders on Khatami. "Those arrested in the case of serial killings were not appointed during my tenure and the murders did not take place during my presidency," he said.

He tacitly acknowledged that the Ministry of Intelligence was using business firms as cover for its terrorist activities. Rafsanjani said: "On the basis of its by-laws and duties," this Ministry "has set up businesses which act as cover for its intelligence work and uses them to be present in areas where it deems necessary."

These comments make it abundantly clear that Rafsanjani's election to the Majlis and his appointment as the Majlis Speaker would be a major blow to Khatami.
 

Horrific Crimes by A Commander of Revolutionary Guards, Iran Zamin News Agency, December 22

A trial in Tehran has shed light on some of the horrific crimes committed by Esma'il Eftekhari, a Revolutionary Guards Commander who headed the Guards' strike force in Tehran's 12th district, came to light during his trial in Tehran.

Witnesses said that Eftekhari and other Revolutionary Guards members had abducted three young girls, raped and murdered them and left their nude bodies in remote areas on the outskirts of Tehran.
 

Country Is Like A Huge Powder Keg, State-Controlled Daily Arya, December 16

Not understanding social developments and trying to impose a particular set of values on the populace by one of the ruling factions is threatening national security and causing crisis, noted Ali Rabi'i, the head of the Supreme National Security Council's Secretariat.

Rabi'i added that investigations into the riots in recent years in Mashad, Islam-shahr, Qazvin, Arak, Zanjan, Shiraz and the student dormitory incidents in Tehran, as well as the events in Tehran following Iran-Australia soccer match, showed that there was no evidence of tyrannical (foreign) involvement, which is the cause for alarm.

Should we agree with the assessment by Rabi'I, we can only say: "The country is like a huge powder keg that only needs an effective spark."
 

Foreign Loan Accountability, State-Controlled Daily Iran News, December 21

Last week in an interview, Dr. Assali, the head of the Office for Macro Economics in the Plan and Budget Organization (PBO) had remarked that there was no information regarding the manner in which foreign loans received in previous years had been spent!

Much to everyone's dismay, this statement was made at a time when the country had incurred a staggering 30-40 billion dollars in foreign loans in the past few years. As a matter of fact, our banks are still heavily burdened with making repayments on the principal and the interest of the loans.

It's no secret that in recent years Iran has had to reschedule the repayment of these debts several times due to the plummeting oil prices.

By and Large, considering the sensitivity of the public opinion and the fact that future foreign loans are inevitable, we must endeavor to keep a close eye on their movements so as to have convincing answers at the time of reckoning. It has been predicted that the country would incur $20 billion in additional foreign debt during the Third Economic Plan. This makes a thorough examination of the role foreign debts played in the country during the first and second Plans [during Rafsanjani's presidency] mandatory.
 

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