Editor's note:

In light of the importance of the Berlin court verdict, this week's News on Iran is devoted to reports in the world media about the case and its international repercussions.

Court finds Tehran leaders guilty

AP, Apr. 10 - In a ruling expected to strain Europe's relations with Iran, a German court found Thursday that the assassination of an Iranian-Kurdish opposition figure in Berlin was ordered by the "highest state levels" in Tehran.

Presiding Judge Frithjof Kubsch said: "The Iranian political leadership is responsible," adding that its goal was to eliminate political dissidents.

Prosecutors contended that Iran's powerful spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani had personally ordered the killings.

About 600 Iranian dissidents outside the courtroom cheered and danced when they heard the verdict. They called for an end to trade with Iran, carrying signs such as: "Stop the murderous regime in Iran."

"There is now absolutely no justification for the continuation of the `critical dialogue' policy and for the appeasement of this regime," said Massoud Rajavi, chairman of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

2,000 Iranians demand halt in critical dialogue

NCR Secretariat, Apr. 10 - Simultaneous with the Berlin court verdict, this morning 2,000 Iranians held a demonstration in Berlin. The event was held upon the invitation of the Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Germany.

Ms. Zohreh Akhyani, the newly-appointed NCR representative in Germany said in her speech: "The verdict by the court to condemn Khomeini's regime is doubtless a turning point in the international community's censure of the mullahs. Critical dialogue and placating policies have failed. Ties with this regime must be severed and sanctions must be imposed on it."

The demonstration ended with the presentation of a resolution which read in part: "We call on Germany to close down the Iranian regime's embassy in Bonn, the nerve center for conspiracies and terrorism against Iranian dissidents abroad. We also demand that the regime's diplomat-terrorists be expelled so that the security of Iranian refugees and opponents would be guaranteed."

Berlin Verdict: Maryam Rajavi comments

NCR Secretariat, Apr. 10 - The Iranian Resistance's President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi had the following comment after the Berlin court issued its verdict today: This verdict is a testament to the illegitimacy of the mullahs ruling Iran in the international arena. This regime has to date been condemned 39 times by the United Nations for the flagrant violations of human rights and the execution of 100,000 political prisoners.

Mrs. Rajavi stressed: The export of terrorism and fundamentalism is inherent to the illegitimate dictatorship ruling Iran. In the final stage of its rule and desperate in the face of the Iranian people's just Resistance, the regime will only intensify such conduct. Thus, safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East region and curbing the mullahs' state-sponsored terrorism requires a decision by the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions against this regime.

Mrs. Rajavi added: Doubtless, the Iranian people and their Resistance will overthrow the clerical regime. All that we are telling the mullahs' international interlocutors is that they should condemn the mullahs' terrorism and suppression, halt trade, stop the policy of appeasement and critical dialogue with the regime.

Mykonos Affair: Massoud Rajavi's reaction

AFP, Apr. 10 - The National Council of Resistance of Iran, headed by Massoud Rajavi, demanded on Thursday in Geneva that the Commission of Human Rights decisively condemn the Tehran regime for perpetrating acts of terrorism abroad.

In a statement to the Commission, Massoud Rajavi, the Mojahedin leader and the President of the National Council of Resistance said that "for the first time a court in Europe had confirmed the role of Ali Khamenei and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in state-sponsored terrorism.

"There is no justification whatsoever for the EU to continue the policy of critical dialogue with Iran," stressed the NCR, demanding for the immediate imposition of economic sanctions against the Iranian regime.

EU postpones critical dialogue, recalls envoys

AFP, Apr. 10 - The Dutch President of the European Union announced that the member countries had decided to recall their ambassadors from Iran and postpone critical dialogue with Tehran. The decision was reached during the meeting of the political directors of the foreign ministries of 15 EU countries in Brussels. In a statement, the President of the EU invited member states to recall their ambassadors to engage in coordinated consultation about the future of EU's relations with Tehran. He said that there was no basis for continuing critical dialogue with Iran, adding that on April 29, the meeting of the foreign ministers must decide on "a number of appropriate actions."

Rajavi: EU's actions needed but insufficient

NCR Secretariat, Apr. 10 - Welcoming the decision by Germany and the European Union to postpone critical dialogue and recall diplomatic representatives from Iran, Massoud Rajavi said: Although these actions are necessary, they are out of proportion to the severity of the regime's crimes.

The time has come for the European Union to immediately sever its economic and diplomatic ties with this religious, terrorist dictatorship. This is the only way to leash the mullahs' unbridled terrorism.

Bonn expels Iran diplomats

Reuters, April 10 - Germany ordered four Iranian diplomats out of the country on Thursday after a court accused Iran's leaders of ordering the killing of exiled Kurdish dissidents in Berlin and indicated its highest leaders were involved.

Accusing Iran of a "flagrant violation of international law," Germany called its own ambassador home for consultations and said it would no longer take part in a "critical dialogue" with Iran which it has stubbornly defended against criticism from allies.

Presiding judge Frithjof Kubsch had said in his ruling that the assassination of four Kurdish Iranian leaders in 1992 was ordered by a secret special operations committee whose members included Iran's president, its religious leader, Intelligence Minister and the head of foreign policy.

Outside the court, opposition groups demonstrated separately. Massoud Rajavi, leader of the Iranian National Council of Resistance exile group, sent a message.

"For years, there has hardly been any doubt about the role of the criminal mullah regime's leadership in terrorist acts," he said. "Now a European court has for the first time named Khamenei and Rafsanjani as the masterminds of the attack in Berlin and Tehran's state terrorism.

Iranian resistance demands harsher penalties

AP, Apr. 11 - An Iranian resistance organization demanded Friday that the 15 European Union nations sever all ties with Iran now that a German court has ruled the Tehran government is involved in terrorism.

Mohammad Mohaddessin, a spokesman for the Paris-based National Council Resistance of Iran, said Friday the EU should completely break off diplomatic and trade relations with Iran and permanently scrap its "critical dialogue" policy.

Mohaddessin reiterated allegations that Iran's embassy in Bonn has coordinated a series of attacks in western Europe against exiled resistance figures.

"If you allowed the regime to have two diplomats in this country, at least one of them - if not both - would be a terrorist," he told reporters.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran is a government-in-exile formed by six opposition factions and hundreds of individuals.

Naghdi's case must be reopened

AFP, Apr. 10 - The Iranian opposition called on Italy Friday to open the case in the 1993 assassination in Rome of Mohammad Hossein Naghdi, an Iranian Resistance's official. In a statement to the media, the NCR President Massoud Rajavi said: "Now there are no doubts about the role of the leaders of the mullahs' religious, terrorist dictatorship in the murder of Iranian dissidents abroad."

Rajavi added: " The government of Italy must therefore reopen the case of the March 16, 1993 assassination by Tehran's terrorists of Mohammad Hossien Naghdi, the NCR representative in Italy. It must seek legal recourse against Hamid Parandeh, a regime's diplomat-terrorist who played a key role in this murder while on official duty in Italy."

A former opponent of the shah's regime, Naghdi joined the NCR while heading the regime's embassy in Italy.

Mullahs denounce ruling, EU action

DW radio (Germany), Apr. 12 - The Iranian parliament has demanded a full reconsideration of its economic and political ties with the Federal Republic of Germany.

The deputy speaker of the parliament, Hassan Rowhani, said that all investments and other contract with Germany must be canceled. Reacting to the EU and other countries which recalled their envoys from Tehran, the Iranian government is contemplating to recall its ambassadors from these countries. Several thousand demonstrated in front of the German embassy in Tehran on Sunday, burning the German flag and pelting the building with eggs and tomatoes.

Mullahs intimidation, threats denounced

NCR Secretariat, Apr. 12 - Today, the mullahs' regime staged a demonstration by its agents and operatives in front of the German embassy in Tehran.

The action was intended to intimidate and threaten Germany and other European Union members in order to weaken their resolve in adopting firm action against the regime. The NCR condemns the mullahs' desperate schemes and calls on the European Union to remain firm and immediately sever its diplomatic and trade ties with Khomeini's anti-human regime.

Justice vs. diplomacy

Le Monde, April 13-14 - Well done, Justice Ministry of Germany! In the wave of reactions to the verdict issued on Thursday, April 10, by a Court in Berlin, the judges who fearlessly indicted the real criminals in the 1992 murder of four Iranian Kurdish dissidents in Berlin, were not appreciated enough. Convicted is the government of Iran and who cares if this matter will panic Bonn and its accomplice in the European Union. Justice had to be implemented and it was. A single blossom, however, won't bring Spring! There are a number of recent examples which unfortunately prove that in cases on terrorism, rarely do investigations lead to trials. At the same time, the trials end up whitewashing the hands of the masterminds. The investigations conducted in Vienna, Austria, after the assassination of three other Iranian Kurdish officials in 1989, did not produce any concrete outcome. Three individuals, including an Iranian diplomat, who were suspected of involvement in the 1993 murder in Rome of another Iranian dissident, Mohammad Naghdi, were not tried due to lack of sufficient evidence.

Ever since Charles Pasqua, the former French Interior Minister, realized that under the name of "French state interests" it could send back to their country two Iranians pursued by the Swiss Judiciary for the murder of another opponent of the Tehran regime, Kazem Rajavi, investigations by the Swiss officials did not get any where. It might be imagined that "state interests" have something to do with threats of retaliation. The judges and government of Germany, however, were also under Iranian pressures and threats. This did not make them cave in...

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