More than 540 members of the Iranian Resistance's parliament, the National Council of Resistance, ended a two-day, plenary session after 24 hours of debate.

In a key statement issued at the end of the session, the NCR vowed to establish democracy and popular rule in Iran, emphasizing that this could only be achieved through the overthrow of the mullahs' inhuman regime in its entirety through armed struggle coupled with all other forms of social and political campaigns.

The NCR statement, with 15 articles arranged in three sections, stated that in the recent Majlis election, "Khamenei lost his favorite Majlis, but Khatami failed to win his favorite Majlis as an efficient institution that would help him realize his objectives. The two factions discredited each other."

"The scandalous defeat of Rafsanjani, the kingmaker in the clerical regime in the past two decades, clearly reflects the state of the ruling clique in general and is another sign that the regime is on its last legs," the NCR statement added.

The statement pointed out that the sixth Majlis displays the vulnerable, weak and fragile state of the clerical regime. The winners in such a situation are the Iranian people and the NCR, which has consistently advocated a free and fair election on the basis of popular rule and under UN supervision.

The NCR statement gave a balance sheet of the Resistance's activities since the previous session of the Council in April 1999, which included 100 remarkable military operations in Tehran and the provinces, three nationwide political and publicity campaign covering 600 cities, and 270 demonstations in different countries in support of the Resistance.

The NCR concluded unanimously that the Resistance's operations inside Iran have been undermining the mullahs' regime in its entirety, and the Khamenei faction in particular, while exacerbating the clerical rulers' internal strife and opening up new opportunities for the social movement of the Iranian people. The NCR further assessed that these operations have greatly limited the Khamenei faction's ability to suppress and contain Khatami and his entourage. Had it not been for these operations, Khamenei would have easily eliminated Khatami and his faction from the political scene.

The NCR statement said the rise of popular movement with radical slogans against the ruling mullahs and attacks on government buildings by the people in protest demonstrations show that this struggle is not in line with Khatami's objectives, but against the clerical dictatorship in its entirety. That is why the Khatami faction is constantly calling on the people to maintain silence and condemns radical slogans in protest demonstrations.
 

Death Sentence Possible For Iran Jews, Associated Press, June 25

TEHRAN - An Iranian judiciary official said that death sentences are possible for the 13 Iranian Jews accused of spying for Israel, despite comments to the contrary by officials close to the case.

If they are convicted of spying, "according to the law, they are eligible to be sentenced to both death or prison terms," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted prosecutor Ayatollah Morteza Moqtadae as saying.
 

Media Crackdown Defended, Associated Press, June 25

TEHRAN - Iran's judiciary closed another newspaper Sunday and defended its media crackdown as a way of upholding the country's Islamic principles.

Bayan became the 19th newspaper ordered to shut down in the past two months. Its closure coincided with a Tehran Justice Ministry statement responding to a letter from 151 lawmakers that had urged an end to such measures, saying they had tarnished Iran's reputation at home and abroad.

The statement, published Sunday in the daily Jomhuri Eslami, said the judiciary is obligated to enforce the views of Islamic experts, including Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The judiciary considers it an obligation ... to ease their concerns about the media attacks against religious sanctities and the attempts at undermining Islamic principles," the statement said.

"If the country and the judiciary were to seek international approval, we would have to eradicate our religious government and establish a secular, liberal political system, which was what the banned newspapers had been trying to do," it said.
 

Influential Cleric Opposes UN Document On Women, Agence France Presse, June 24

TEHRAN - An influential cleric has denounced Iran's ratification of a UN document that encourages more education for girls and condemns violence against women.

"I say it very clearly that it is religiously forbidden to adhere to these documents," Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi told the Saturday edition of Yalessarat, a conservative weekly.

The cleric believes the decisions made by the women's rights conference earlier this month in New York are "incompatible with Islam."

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