BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 1614
Monday, April 9, 2001
Representative Office of
The National  Council of Resistance of Iran
Washington, DC


Mullahs' Intelligence and Security Forces In Western Iran Attacked, Iran Zamin News Agency, April 8

At 2:00 am on Sunday, Mojahedin's operational units in Ilam Province launched a heavy attack with 107mm multiple rocket launchers against a headquarters of the State Security Forces (SSF) and positions of the Army's 84th Division in Dehloran, the Mojahedin Command inside Iran reported. Heavy damages were inflicted on the targets.

The attack was in response to yesterday's arrests in Tehran of individuals on charges of "actions aimed at toppling the regime" and "siding with the Mojahedin."

The judiciary announced yesterday that following the "discovery of a nationalist-religious network that was aiming to topple the state" it had arrested a number of other "elements of the outlawed Freedom Movement grouplet" in Tehran and other cities.

Evidently, these detainees can in no way be accused of working to topple the regime. The arrests only aimed to instill an atmosphere of terror and intimidation and claim new victims as presidential election approaches.

In another attack, around 9:00 am this morning, Mojahedin's operational units in Ilam set up an ambush and booby trap for the regime's intelligence and military patrols in Nassirian region.

A number of enemy agents were killed or wounded and their vehicles were destroyed as the result of successive explosions.

Operation Spring 13 was in response to the suppression of people and widespread arrest of young people in Bukan, West Azerbaijan Province.

On March 20, a group of people were injured and a large number of young people were arrested in clashes between SSF and young people in this city.
 

Revolution Court Announces Arrest of "Counter-Revolutionary Figures", IRNA (State News Agency), April 7

TEHRAN - The Tehran Revolutionary Court in a statement said some members of the outlawed Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) and counter-revolutionary figures backing this political camp had been arrested Saturday.

It said the arrests of these dissidents followed the recent crackdown on the nationalist-religious alliance.

It further said the arrested figures were among those who tried to overthrow the Islamic system of Iran through creating troubles and tensions in the society and cooperating with the opposition abroad.
 

Former RGC Commander in Chief: Iran on Verge of Upheaval, Agence France Presse, April 6

TEHRAN - Mohsen Rezaei, a leading conservative said Friday that his country was on the brink of upheaval as it headed for elections scheduled for June 8.

"Iranian society is on the verge of economic, cultural and administrative upheaval," Mohsen Rezaie said, in a report carried by the state-run news agency IRNA.

"If President Khatami is willing to run for the next election and gain success in the next four years, he should give priority to another motto and program," he added, without elaborating on the type of upheaval he expected.

"If President Khatami is able to move a step forward and address the most basic questions of the society, especially the ones in the field of economy and culture, it would be better for him to come to the scene again," said Rezaie, who has urged Khatami not to run.

Rezaie is secretary of the Expediency Council, the powerful arbitration board chaired by former president Hashemi-Rafsanjani.
 

Khatami's New Year Message "Sad And Depressing", Ominous Alliances Continue, Tehran Times (State-Controlled Daily), April 8

TEHRAN - During the first cabinet meeting of the New Year held at the President's Office last Wednesday, the Industries and Mines Minister, Es'haq Jahangiri, told President Seyed Mohammad Khatami that he thought the president's New Year message to the people had a sad and depressing undertone…

The president's refusal so far to state clearly his final intention and decision with regard to his candidacy for a second term not only has given rise to unfounded rumors but has also created an atmosphere of uncertainty in the country which could turn into precariousness and insecurity….

The TEHRAN TIMES had previously announced that certain groups and individuals belonging to the 2nd Khordad Front have asked the Head of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to consider becoming a candidate if Khatami should finally decide not to run. Although this report was denied at the time, it has now become apparent that Hashemi Rafsanjani is indeed being pressured to become a candidate.

The 2nd Khordad Front, which had used every opportunity to attack Hashemi Rafsanjani after the last presidential election, finally changed tactics, and it is now frantically trying to appease him. The front does not want any animosity to exist should Rafsanjani become president.


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