BERLIN - Opposition mounted sharply Wednesday to a visit to Germany by Mohammed Khatami set for next week, when national and regional parliamentary members called for its cancellation.

A total of 175 members of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, as well as 300 members of German regional parliaments, have backed a call to cancel the visit, German deputies and Iranian opposition activists told a news conference.

The German deputies supported the stand of the Iranian opposition-in-exile, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which plans demonstrations against the visit, Khatami's first to Germany since he became head of state.

The deputies issued a joint statement declaring that Khatami's visit to Germany "neither serves the interests of human rights in Iran nor friendship between the people of both countries."

"Canceling the visit by the president of the religious dictatorship ruling Iran is a litmus test of our country's commitment to the principles of democracy and human rights," the deputies' joint statement said.

As propaganda minister and cabinet spokesman in 1988, Khatami had "vigorously endorsed" an order by the then-spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, for the massacre of 30,000 prisoners of the opposition People's Mojahedin, the statement charged.

The deputies said Khatami has remained silent in the face of recent repression in Iran, including the closure of 17 publications and the arrest of journalists and intellectuals. He has "continued to kow-tow to the theocratic state," they charged.

Admissions by government officials of election fraud and ballot-rigging should also dash illusions about a liberalization of the regime under Khatami, the deputies' statement said.

Summary executions, torture and punishment by amputation have continued under his rule, it added.
 

Antigovernment Demonstration Erupts In Iran's Major Port City, Iran Zamin News Agency, July 5

Several thousand residents in the southwestern port city of Abadan gathered this morning outside the governor's office to protest against high levels of salt in the city's drinking water, which has made it undrinkable in the past few days.

State security forces were ordered by the city's governor to disperse the protesters. When they used force to do so, violent clashes erupted between infuriated demonstrators and the mullahs' repressive forces. Protesters attacked police stations, government buildings and banks, smashing their windows. Several patrol cars belonging to security forces were set on fire, while demonstrators burnt car tires on the streets.

Crowds of demonstrators in groups of several hundred continued hit -and-run battles throughout the day with Revolutionary Guards and security forces in different parts of the city.

In the course of these clashes, the Revolutionary Guards and special anti-riot units opened fire on defenseless demonstrators, killing at least four and wounding many more. A 17-year-old was among those killed. The city's governor, Nazemi, admitted today that at least 20 protesters have been arrested.

[Agence France Presse: Violent protests broke out in the Iranian city of Abadan Wednesday over the lack of drinking water, television reported. "Protesters broke shop windows and set fire to tires to show their anger," the television report said.]
 

Thousands of People Stage Anti-Mullahs Uprising, Iran Zamin News Agency, July 5

In the wake of the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy by agents of the mullahs' regime in the western city of Piranshahr, thousands of infuriated residents staged antigovernment demonstrations that began on Monday evening and went on throughout Tuesday.

Clashes began at 9:30 p.m. local time on Monday, when a 12-year-old boy, Ako, was harassed by an armed gang of intelligence agents of the mullahs' regime. The gang is led by Abbas Bablagha, a notorious and detested agent working for the regime's Intelligence Ministry and the Revolutionary Guards' Bassij. Bablagha has 40 armed men in his gang.

Chanting "Down with mullahs' rule," the crowd attacked the headquarters of repressive agencies as well as the municipality building, the city hall, Khomeini's Committee, and other government buildings, turning Piranshahr into a liberated city.

The security forces attacked the crowd and opened fire on them. At least two young men, one aged 20, were killed of gunshot wounds one in the abdomen and the other his head.

[Agence France Presse: Violent clashes lasting 13 hours broke out in the Kurdish-dominated Iranian town of Piranshahr, after a youth was killed, television here reported Tuesday.

["The clashes (which started Monday) carried on Tuesday morning and groups of people attacked and damaged public buildings," the television report said.]

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