BAGHDAD - The Iranian opposition group Mujahideen Khalq said Iranian warplanes had attacked one of its bases inside the Iraqi border on Tuesday but were beaten off.

"At about 9 a.m. this morning, the clerical regime launched an air strike on Camp Anzali...near the city of Jalawla, but the attacking fighter-bombers were fended off by the camp's air defense units and forced to flee before they could carry out their mission," said a statement. Jalawla is about 35 miles from the border with Iran.

The statement said that minutes before the attack, two Pilatus reconnaissance planes had flown over the camp.

A later statement by the group said Mujahideen had foiled an attack by gunmen at their camp west of Baghdad on Tuesday.

In a second faxed statement, the group said the attackers had driven to the camp in a white automobile and fired at a security patrol.

"The terrorists opened fire indiscriminately, seriously wounding an Iraqi civilian in the face," the statement said adding that the attackers fled when the group returned fire.

[Mojahedin reported in a statement that: This was the 86th terrorist attack by the clerical regime against the Iranian Resistance in Iraqi territory since 1993. Thirty-five of these operations have been carried out during Khatami’s tenure.]

The statement said the leader of the group, Massoud Rajavi, urged "the U.N. Secretary-General and the Security Council to condemn this flagrant act of aggression and outrageous violation of the council's resolutions."
 

More Volatile Periods Ahead, The New York Times, March 14

… As Iranians absorbed the shock of the two attacks, it became clear that last month's parliamentary election, far from settling Iran's political future, has in some ways moved the country into a still more volatile period… Now, the country faces still more uncertainty. Apart from what the attack on Mr. Hajjarian may say about the willingness of Islamic hard-liners to turn to violence in their bid to hang on to power, even the election victory may mean less than seemed at first. Last week, a conservative-dominated supervisory body, the Council of Guardians, threw out the election of three reform candidates who won seats in provincial cities, without any attempt to explain the action. Reformers were left to worry that further disqualification may follow.

Beyond this, the prospect of a second round of voting on April 21… and a further period of weeks after that before the new Parliament meets, has left the country facing an extended period in which both reformers and conservatives have been left to maneuver and calculate how a new power alignment will work. Iranian political experts, in telephone conversations today, said they viewed the situation as primed for trouble, and feared that the attacks of the last two days might be only a prelude to others…
 

Message of Hajjarian's Assassination, Sobh-E Emrooz (Pro-Khatami daily), March13

…The most important message of this event (Saeed Hajjarian’s assassination) is this: Reformists should not think that they have won; Mr. Khatami should not think that he can advance reforms… People should not think that they could fulfill their demands for the change... Shooting Hajjarian is shooting at the core of reforms and at all the mottoes of Khatami and in fact at Khatami himself.

This attitude either leads to violent reactions, or drags some people into passivity. It should be proved that reforms are only a puppet show. People should be alert that either way is desirable for the planners of the assassination.

At the international level, the main message of the planners of the assassination to the European governments and the more realistic factions of America is that reforms are impossible in the framework of the existing system.
 

Men Plead Guilty To Arms Sales To Iran, Reuters, March 14

TOKYO - Two Japanese businessmen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of illegally exporting military parts to Iran in 1995, Japanese media reported.

Prosecutors said the two men -- Ichiro Takahashi, 63, and Tsuneo Ishida, 67 -- shipped the parts for anti-tank rocket launchers to Iran after receiving orders for sighting devices used in rocket launchers from the state-run Iran Electrics Industries (IEI).

Japanese police sources said evidence had been found that the Iranian embassy in Tokyo had made an advance payment of 6.1 million yen ($57,800) in 1994 to the Japanese firm.

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