Almost a week after the mortar attack on the general command HQ of the Revolutionary Guards and the mullahs' propaganda about "civilians" being wounded in the attack, the state-run daily, Kayhan, admitted on Saturday that Mohammad-Mehdi Chizari, who was wounded in the operation, was "an engineer in the (Revolutionary Guards' paramilitary) Bassij."

Chizari, a Revolutionary Guards officer, was transferred to Sarollah Garrison two years ago. His elder brother is a senior Revolutionary Guards commander and is among the commanders of the bodyguards of mullahs' Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The regime's officials and newspapers initially claimed that Chizari was a "gardener" in a residential compound near Sarollah Garrison! In a statement a day after the attack, the Mojahedin divulged Chizari's true identity.

In a separate development, Hashem Aghajari, a close aide to Khatami, wrote in a Tehran daily: "The use of mortars, unlike handguns, needs a security umbrella and a great deal of protection. The Mojahedin Organization mounted this mortar attack by taking advantage of the weakness of our intelligence services. It is also possible that the Mojahedin have infiltrated some of our internal agencies." (Ham-Mihan daily, March 18)

On March 16, Asr-e Ma, a weekly belonging to one of the groupings in Khatami's faction, wrote: "Mortar attack in the city of Tehran, the epicenter of the country, are no simple matters and cannot be dismissed as militarily trivial, particularly if they have hit important and sensitive targets such as the central apparatus of the state including the Presidential office, the State Exigency Council, the Ministry of Intelligence, and the headquarters of Sarollah Garrison. How can one overlook such acts? How is it that after two years, not even a trace of the perpetrators of the mortar attacks has been found? Are we facing a sort of penetration of our security and police apparatus by the Mojahedin?"
 

Mullahs Refuse Accused Jews to Choose Lawyers, Agence France Presse, March 16

NEW YORK - A judge in the Iranian city of Shiraz, who will preside over the trial of 13 Jews on espionage charges, has refused to let them choose their own lawyers, according to a Jewish advocacy group based here.
 

Assassin's Bullet Targets Khatami's Faction, Reuters, March 14

TEHRAN - The attempt on Sunday on the life of Saeed Hajjarian has left the former intelligence officer fighting for his life with a bullet lodged inches from his spine.

But, say commentators, the trauma to Khatami's bid for a civil society may prove equally damaging.

"When Khatami's reformist government cannot protect the most prominent personalities of the reform movement then how can it be expected to carry the heavy weight of the reform project on its shoulders?" said editor Mashallah Shamsolvaezin.

Even before the shooting, which has threatened to propel simmering factional rivalry towards open conflict, the glow had begun to wear off last month's parliamentary polls.

Newspapers have reported the Guardian Council has annulled the electoral victories of five pro-reform MPs, with as many as 40 more disqualification under review.

The same panel also intervened to stop a recount in Tehran that critics say would have cost a leading conservative his seat.

So far the government's reaction has been measured. The public may not be as forgiving. Voters in the central town of Gachsaran and two nearby areas took to the streets this week after word spread the Guardians had nullified their votes. Banks, government offices and shops were damaged.

There were also protests in the Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas, where two reformist deputies were apparently disqualified. More disqualifications, say analysts, could spark greater unrest.
 

Army Garrisons to Be Moved Out of Cities, Associated Press, March 14

TEHRAN - The Iranian army will embark on a plan to move its garrisons from cities to suburbs, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported Tuesday.

The announcement came a day after a mortar attack that targeted a military base in the Iranian capital of Tehran. The Mujahedeen Khalq opposition group claimed responsibility for the attack.

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