Back to Brief on Iran
CAIRO - Iran's rebel group
said Sunday it carried out an attack on government security forces in northern
Tehran in response to the death of one of six rebels killed by
government forces.
The Mojahedin Khalq said in the statement the attack was in "memory" of one of three women killed, identified as Zohreh Fakhr, 38.
In a statement issued in Paris, the Mojahedin said they fired RPG-18 rocket-propelled grenades on a headquarters of state security forces in Tehran's Sohrevardi street, causing damage and five casualties among Iran's Revolutionary Guards personnel.
Witnesses in Tehran reported hearing a loud explosion near a police station at around 8 p.m. local time, when the attack was reported.
The Mojahedin said the building
was used in the 1980s for the torture and killings of rebel supporters.
Mojahedin Report Dozens Killed in Clash with Government, AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, APRIL 13
NICOSIA - The People's Mojahedin said Friday it had killed numerous Iranian government forces in a clash in the western region of Kermanshah. In a statement faxed to AFP in Nicosia, the Mojahedin said the clash began overnight, with its forces firing machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades against members of the elite Revolutionary Guards and security and intelligence services.
The statement said "dozens" of government fighters were killed, as were four Mujahedeen guerrillas. The Mojahedin also reported to have fired rockets Friday morning at military bases in Ilam province.
[Reuters: The Mojahedin,
which aims to topple Iran's Islamic government, said an all-woman Mojahedin
unit launched rockets at troops and police forces outside the
town of Eslamabad-e Gharb
on Friday afternoon.
[Other clashes occurred earlier
outside the provincial capital Kermanshah and the nearby province of Ilam,
it said.]
Iranian Democracy Group Calls on Canada to Act Against Human Rights Abuses, CANADIAN PRESS, APRIL 14
OTTAWA - Supporters of an Iranian democratic group are calling on Canada to take a harder line against Iran after recent arrests of dissidents in that country.
About 150 protesters shouted slogans, carried placards and waved flags in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs on Saturday afternoon.
"We are asking the Canadian government to take a firmer policy against the Iranian regime," said one organizer.
The protesters, representing the National Council of Resistance of Iran, were scheduled to present their resolution to a Foreign Affairs official following the rally.
He said Canada and other countries could impose trade restrictions on Iran to pressure the government to release the dissidents.
Other participants wanted
to see more drastic measures taken. "We condemn the new wave of executions,
torture and arrests in Iran. Mulah's leaders must be tried
in an international tribunal,"
read a large banner.
Rafsanjani Calls for Unity Ahead of Election, AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, APRIL 13
TEHRAN - Former president
Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani called Friday for an end to the political conflicts
that have been raging in Iran, less than two months before a
closely watched presidential
election.
"It is certainly normal for
there to be differences in ideas and taste. But the national forces must
not be wasted in political conflicts," Rafsanjani said in a Friday
sermon.
Rafsanjani, who now heads the powerful Expediency Council arbitration authority, called for Iran's presidency, parliament and judiciary to work together.
"It would be regrettable
if officials, who are paid, waste their time in quarrels that have nothing
to do with our priorities," Rafsanjani said, in a likely swipe at the
reformists.
Iran Begins Four Days of War Games, ASSOCIATED PRESS, APRIL 13
TEHRAN (AP) - Iran on Friday began four days of naval and air force exercises in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and Sea of Oman, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Code-named Unity-80, the
war games involved Iranian-built submarines and other naval ships. The
exercises are aimed at making operational a naval base on the Sea of
Oman, IRNA reported.