A public disagreement has broken out in Iran between the Intelligence Ministry and the judiciary over the handling of the assassination attempt on a leading reformist figure last month…

The original arrests were made by the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence unit.

However, the suspects ended up being held and interrogated by the Intelligence Ministry.

But the judiciary, which had appointed a special judge to investigate the case, asked for the men to be handed over to it, hinting that they might have been subjected to physical pressure by the ministry.

They have now been handed over but not without protest. The Intelligence Minister, Ali Younesi, wrote publicly to President Mohammad Khatami, asking him to set up a commission to examine the insinuations made against his ministry.

It is partly a legal dispute but not without political ramifications.

The Musharekat party… issued a statement accusing the judiciary of trying to speed up the case to head off a deeper inquiry which might uncover the masterminds behind the operation, who the reformists believe are connected to the right wing.

But conservative circles have blamed the assassination attempt on splits within the reformist movement.

They now accuse the reformists of trying to spin out the investigation so they can continue spreading tendentious rumours.
 

Further Death Threats, (Pro-Khatami Daily) Azad, April 6

Sedighe Vasmaqi, Speaker of the Tehran City Council, said: "The head of the Tehran City Council received death threats a few days after the assassination attempt on Said Hajjarian… The death squad relayed a message to chairman Rahmatollah Khosravi of the council, singling him out as the next murder victim after the attempted murder of Hajjarian…"
 

Khatami's Brother Charged With Libel, Agence France Presse, April 5

TEHRAN - Mohammad-Reza Khatami, brother of Mohammad Khatami, was formally charged with libel Wednesday in his capacity as head of the daily Mosharekat.

Press court judge Said Mortazavi bailed him in the sum of 16,666 dollars at the official rate of exchange, pending trial, after four hours of questioning.

Kahatami told journalists that his accusers included the police, the state broadcasting company and the watchdog Council of Guardians, all conservative-dominated bodies. Another complainant was a mullah from the holy city of Qom, he added.
 

The Continuation Of America's Hostility, Jomhuri Eslami (State-Controlled Daily), April 6

...The repercussions of Madeleine Albright's remarks assumed new dimensions this week. The truth is that with her interference-seeking remarks, Albright once again showed Washington's hostility towards Iran, and proved that Washington is still not willing to learn from the past.

Of course, Albright pointed at some of America's crimes and treason against the Iranian nation, but did not even verbally apologize for those (crimes). Instead, to stress America's hostile policies towards Iran, she repeated Washington's accusations against Iran, showing that even at the peak of America's efforts to open the doors of negotiation with Iran-which apparently should be accompanied by a peaceful gesture-Washington is still beating the drum of hostility and repeats the same past hostile stance.
 

Further Blow at Khatami's Economic Plan, Reuters, April 6

TEHRAN - Iran's outgoing parliament has rejected proposals from Mohammad Khatami to allow private insurance firms and foreign investment in mines, newspapers reported on Thursday.

The move was a further blow to Khatami's efforts to introduce wide-ranging privatization under a five-year economic plan. Parliament earlier voted to drop other key reforms in the plan after the powerful conservative-led Guardian Council opposed them as unconstitutional.

Deputies voted on Wednesday to drop one of the plan's measures allowing foreign and private Iranian companies to develop mines, and a second which would have authorized private insurance firms while maintaining overall state control.

Parliament had earlier endorsed a move by the council, without whose approval laws cannot take effect, to block reforms that would have ended the state monopoly on banks, railways, telecommunications and other major industries. 

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