DOMESTIC

Hundreds arrested for celebrating Nowrooz

AFP, Mar. 18 - AFP correspondent saw that hundreds of Iranian youths who were trying to celebrate "Chahar Shanbeh Souri" (the last Tuesday before the new Iranian year, were arrested in northern Tehran by the Police who sometimes used force. In the Shahrak-e Gharb township, a residential area in northwest Tehran, the police and the Bassij forces arrested countless nuber of young men.

20 oil workers still in jail

Iran Zamin, Mar. 17 - Alireza Mahjoob, a Majlis deputy said that 20 of the oil workers who had been arrested during the protest action last month are still in detention and await trial. In his words, they may be sentenced to lashing. Mahjoob added that those awaiting sentencing face the prospects of being fired.

Appealing for information

State radio (Kermanshah), Mar. 18 - The public relations department of the local Intelligence Ministry in Kermanshah province called on the aware and the ever-present people in the province and those visiting for Nowrooz holidays can call the department on a 24-hour basis to report any suspicious activities.

Intelligence Minister meets Sunni leaders

Tehran radio, Mar. 18 - Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian emphasized the need for strengthening unity between Muslims and confronting groups affiliated with foreign powers. Talking to a delegation of Sunni clergymen in the western province of Kermanshah, he explained the schemes by the enemies of Islam to cause division among Muslims. He also lauded the useful role of religious leaders in neutralizing these conspiracies.

Armed Forces ready to head off hostile action

Tehran radio, Mar. 18 - A military official of the Islamic Republic of Iran today declared the complete readiness of Iran's armed forces to defend the country's existence and warned against any hostile action affecting the territorial integrity of the nation.

No more 100 & 200 rial bills

Radio Israel, Mar. 22 - The Iranian currency rial has lost so much of its value that the central bank decided to no longer print 100 and 200 rial bills. Only coins worth that much will be minted. Bills of 50,000 rials and higher will be printed.

3,000 attend anti-fundamentalist meeting in Denmark

ANSA, MAR. 17 - More than 3,000 Iranian dissidents and many Danish citizens took part in a meeting against the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism that is fomented by the Tehran regime. Held at a theater in the Danish Capital, the gathering ended with a powerful performance by Marzieh, "Iran's Nightingale."

With half-a-century of artistic background, Marzieh was silenced for 15 years under the mullahs' reign. He left the country in 1994 and joined the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Paris.

The event, focused on the rights of women and a video-taped address by Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance's President-elect was shown in which she stressed upon "women's fundamental role in overthrowing the clerical regime and bringing democracy to Iran."

Later, Fereshteh Yeganeh, NCR's general secretary addressed the rally and referred to the "brutality of the mullahs which was in no way related to Islam." Many women Danish officials and personalities also spoke and called for a "decisive international policy in support of Iranian women in their struggle against Islamic fundamentalism."

INTERNATIONAL

Norway calls for sanctions against mullahs

AFP, Mar. 19 - In a speech before the United Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Jan Egeland, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, called for international economic sanctions against Iran. Referring to the "fatwa" against the British author Salman Rushdie, for whose murder, Hassan Sane'i, an official of a religious foundation has set a 2.5-million-dollar reward, Egeland said: "I believe the time has come for a joint and coordinated international action."

Norway's boycott call welcomed

NCR Secretariat, Mar. 20 - In a speech at the current session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Jan Egeland, Norway's deputy Foreign Minister, condemned the violations of human rights in Iran and called on the international community to institute trade sanctions against the clerical regime. The National Council of Resistance lauds Mr. Egeland's courageous remarks and calls on other European countries to follow Norway's lead.

As the Iranian Resistance had stressed from the start, in the past five years, the placating policy of critical dialogue not only failed to change the clerics' conduct, but further emboldened them in continuing the suppression and the export of terrorism.

Mullahs fire back at Norway

Tehran radio, Mar. 23 - Following a call by the Norwegian deputy Foreign Minister to boycott Iran, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said that this demand was unrealistic and beyond Norway's political clout around the world. He added: such hostile comments do not add to Norway's credibility. It is rather a pursuit of the Zionist's regime's hostilities against Islam and Muslims. The spokesman warned that Norway must know that it could not confront the world of Islam.

Swedish MPs call for talks with opposition

BBC radio, Mar. 19 - In a press conference at the Swedish parliament, Bengt Silverstrand, from the ruling Social Democratic Party and the spokesman for the Committee to Defend Democracy and Human Rights in Iran, consisting of all seven Swedish parties, said that the committee was trying to convince Swedish officials and other parliaments to engage in dialogue with different Iranian exile groups to defend democracy in Iran.

Silverstrand said that committee members intend to convince their own parties that the time has come for Sweden to adopt a tougher policy against Iran and as a first step convince neighboring countries such as Denmark, Norway and Finland and later other European counties, to consider the institution of sanctions against Iran.

Committee members said that they would not limit themselves to a trade embargo, but for diplomatic and political pressures as well.

Berlin trial verdict due April 10

AFP, Mar. 21 - A Justice department spokesman stated that the verdict for those suspected of killing four Iranian Kurdish dissidents in Berlin which could have a profound impact in the relations between Bonn and Tehran will be issued April 10. In its indictment, the German Federal Prosecutor's Office has accused Ali Khamenei, the Iranian regime's leader, of issuing the order to kill the four opponents.

Fundamentalists hold multi-nation meeting

Al-Ordon, Mar. 18 - Sources revealed that Iran uses Kuwaiti territory to hold meetings among Islamic fundamentalists to devise plans to attack the Gulf states and interests of the United States. Reports indicate that Islamic societies from Persian Gulf states, Iran and Lebanon have held meetings in Kuwait, Austria, Lebanon and Dubai. The simultaneous meetings were chaired by Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian.

FEATURE

March 21 marked Nowrooz, the New Iranian year. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance's President-elect, and Massoud Rajavi, the Resistance's leader, issued messages on the occasion. We chose the excerpts for this week's feature.

Rajavi: New Iranian year the year of major developments in Iran, Mullahs' end closer than ever

On the occasion of the Iranian new year and the start of spring, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance's President-elect, and Mr. Massoud Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance's leader, attended a celebration at one of the bases of the National Liberation Army of Iran.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi said: With this army and the Iranian people's support for it, I can clearly see the triumph of democracy, peace and justice over suppression, ignorance and poverty. She added: In the free Iran of tomorrow there will be no killings, repression and discrimination against women and religious and ethnic minorities. The Iran of tomorrow will be the symbol of fraternity, friendship and prosperity; it will herald peace and coexistence in the entire region and the world.

Mrs. Rajavi called on the youth who can carry arms to join the NLA in order to expedite the realization of this noble ideal. She stressed that the NLA was the most precious treasure in the history of the Iranian people and their answer to the inhuman mullahs. No obstacle can stand in the way of its combatants' iron will in their quest for victory, Mrs. Rajavi emphasized.

Mr. Massoud Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance's leader, referred to the increasing wave of young people who are leaving through the borders to join the NLA. He also noted the combat readiness of the army and the Iranian people's active cooperation with the Mojahedin combatants across the country. Mr. Rajavi stated: These realities convince us that the end of this regime has become closer than ever before and that the new Iranian year would be the year of major developments in our country.

The Iranian Resistance's leader reiterated that in the year that just ended, 168 cases of protests, strikes, military operations and extensive clashes between the people and the Guards had been recorded in which different sectors of society, including workers, students, pupils, the educational staff and civil servants actively participated. He also recalled that two polls conducted by the Iranian Resistance inside the country last year had indicated that more than two-thirds of the Iranian people support this resistance and its President-elect. Mr. Rajavi concluded that the time had come to combine the NLA with social activities and that the road for the regime's overthrow was paved for the NLA as never before.

Mr. Rajavi described the past year as one of the worst years of the mullahs' rule in which executions rose three-fold, arrests increased 200% in the last three months of the year relevant to the preceding months, and new laws were adopted to suppress Iranian women. Foreign journalists repeatedly reported about the assaults, beatings and arrests of Iranian women in the streets of Tehran by the Pasdaran. The assassinations of dissidents abroad also increased 300%.

The Iranian Resistance's leader noted the regime's increasing isolation internationally and the growing support for sanctions against the regime among European countries. He said today cracks have appeared in critical dialogue as the official policy of the European Union. Addressing all international interlocutors who have still pinned hope on the regime due to their economic interests, Mr. Rajavi emphasized that the illegitimate dictatorship had no future and that any political and economic investment in this regime was doomed to failure and against the highest interests of the Iranian people.

He added: The time has come for the international community to identify Iran and her future with the Iranian Resistance and its President-elect who enjoys the support of the absolute majority of the Iranian people.

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