TEHRAN - Conservatives in Iran have stepped up pressure on reformists with Sunday papers revealing an alleged meeting between prominent supporters of Mohammad Khatami and a number of western diplomats.

The Tehran Times claimed that Culture Minister Ataollah Mohajerani, one of the chief targets of the conservatives, and former Tehran mayor Gholamhossein Karbaschi were among those attending a dinner with several western ambassadors in a villa in a upper-class suburb of Tehran.

One of the diplomats mentioned in the press denied that such a meeting had taken place.

The report prompted MP Mohammad-Reza Moalemi to ask Khatami to "elucidate" the affair of a "secret meeting" between top state officials and foreign diplomats.

Another body, the Islamic Bazaar Association, also sent Khatami a letter asking him to confirm that the meeting had taken place, and explain why Mohajerani and Karbaschi had taken part.

"It is said that the question of the presidential election (due in 2001) was raised and some ambassadors expressed support for Mr. Mohajerani's candidacy," said the letter said, a copy of which was published in the Ressalat newspaper Sunday.
 

Iran's Domestic Issues Will Not Be Influenced By Other Countries, State-controlled Tehran Times, May 7

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamidreza Asefi said here Saturday that Iran's domestic issues will not be influenced by opinions expressed by foreign officials.

Asefi, who was responding to statements made Friday by the U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on the trial of Jews accused of espionage, added that reviewing cases of espionage is not an exception to the above-mentioned rule.

Albright had hinted that the outcome of the trial could result in international reproach of Iran.
 

Majlis Deputy Motion For Prosecution of U.S. Secretary of State, Afarinesh (State-Controlled Publication), May 4

Kamal Daneshyar, a Majlis deputy, has floored a motion for the summary trial in Iran of the American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

The deputy alleges that Albright had "interfered with our internal affairs and should be prosecuted by the Judiciary."
 

Turkey Suspects Blame Iranians, Associated Press, May 7

ANKARA - Three suspected Islamic militants arrested in a 1993 car bombing that killed a prominent journalist have blamed the slaying on Iranians, media reports said Sunday.

The three suspects are among nine people arrested in Istanbul Saturday for the killing of Ugur Mumcu. Mumcu, an outspoken critic of Islamic fundamentalism, died when a bomb placed under his car blew up as he turned on the ignition on Jan. 24, 1993.

Milliyet newspaper said the three confessed to police that they handed over C4 explosive to two Iranians at the scene and watched the Iranians plant the bomb under Mumcu's car. Sabah newspaper said there was speculations that the Turks might have sold the bomb to the two Iranians for $500,000.

Authorities here regularly accuse Iran of fueling Islamic fundamentalism in Turkey. Milliyet said the nine suspects in the Mumcu case have been linked to a small underground Islamic group, Tevhid-Selam, which aims to establish an Islamic rule in this secular but predominantly Muslim country.
 

News Bites

Reuters, May 8 - Two more suspects in Iran's Jewish spy trial acknowledged on Monday working for Israel, setting up a possible collision between the Islamic republic and the West. The developments at the fourth hearing in the closely-watched case were certain to exacerbate a growing row between Iran and its critics over the fate of the 13 accused Iranian Jews.

Agence France Presse, May 6 – An Iranian journalist jailed for articles linking Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to the murders of several dissidents is in solitary confinement and not allowed to see his lawyer, his wife charged in Saturday's press. Another paper said late last month that Ganji had been transferred to a section of Tehran's Evin prison normally set aside for drug addicts and dealers.

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