Riots in southern Iranian

NCR secretariat, August 15 - Riots erupted for a week in the towns of Nayriz and Abadeh-Tashk in the southern Iranian province of Fars as people protested against the clerical regime's policies, according to reports from the province. Several people were killed, more than 100 wounded, and several hundred others were arrested. At least 10 Revolutionary Guards and Intelligence Ministry agents were severely wounded in the clashes.

The demonstrations and clashes reached their peak on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 12 and 13. The people of Nayriz, chanting "Down with Khamenei" and "Down with Velayat-e Faqih", ransacked and set fire to many government centers including the governor's office. The shopkeepers in Nayriz had closed down their shops in an anti-government protest since several days earlier. Fearing the spread of uprisings to other cities, the Director of Intelligence and the Governor of Fars Province went to Nayriz on Tuesday to oversee the situation. More than 3,000 Guards were dispatched from nearby cities to the site of unrest to suppress the people.

Those injured include a large number of women and children. A 4-year-old child, Saeid Yazdani Parast, was shot in the thigh and abdomen in the arms of his mother, Sakineh Dalir, 34, who was herself shot in the chest. Abbas Imani, 12, Farajollah Imani, 14, Reza Bayki, 14, were also wounded. Some of the injured are in critical condition. The city's hospitals are filled with the injured and many are cared for in houses.

In the midnight of Tuesday, Intelligence Ministry agents raided the residences of several people charging that they had led the demonstrations. In a report filed for Tehran by the Intelligence Department of Fars Province it was said that a group of the Mojahedin had come to Nayriz from nearby cities to organize this demonstration.

Unrest and scattered clashes continue in Nayriz and Abadeh-Tashk. Fearing the outbreak of further protests, the regime' officials have refrained from holding the planned funeral services for the remains of 24 of the Iran-Iraq war dead.

Ex-prisoners rearrested, murdered

NCR secretariat, August 14 - The mullahs' regime has re-arrested many former political prisoners in Tehran and other cities over the past several months, reports from Iran say.

Some of these prisoners most of whom had served 10 to 15 years in jail, have either disappeared or been murdered by agents of the regime's Intelligence Ministry in staged accidents.

Fearing the spread of the nationwide Resistance, the regime has been trying to maintain control through such inhuman activities. Despite these suppressive measures, however, the activities of the Resistance forces across the country and the tide of youths joining the National Liberation Army continue to spread everyday.

Attorney executed

AFP, August 12 - The Iranian armed opposition announced on Tuesday that "the execution of Mohammad Assadi, only one week after Khatami's presidency, is yet another indication that change and reform are but a mirage in this medieval dictatorship." The statement was issued by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The International Federation of Human Rights League and the League to Defend Human Rights in Iran, announced on Monday August 9 that Assadi, former attorney of Tehran's courts who had been arrested in 1993 for the sixth time since 1979, had been executed.

Iranian Kurds murdered in Iraqi Kurdistan

AFP, August 15 - According to a statement from the National Council of Resistance, two members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, Ghaleb Alizadeh and Anjad Mowlawi, were murdered in the center of the city of Solaymania, northeast Iraq which is out of Baghdad's control. Another resident of Solaymania was killed by the mullahs' terrorists and four others were wounded. The NCR urged human rights organizations to condemn this crime and pointed out that the incident had taken place in the second week of Khatami's presidency.

Kurdish refugee kidnapped, killed

Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, August 14 - An Iranian Kurdish refugee residing in the city of Solaymania, Iraqi Kurdistan, was kidnapped by terrorists of the Islamic regime. The lifeless body of Ibrahim Gagoli, from the Iranian city of Marivan, was found a few days later in the town of Panjvin.

Young woman escapes stoning death

AFP, August 12 - Kayhan daily reported that a 20-year-old Iranian woman came back to life in the hospital's mortuary after being stoned. The young woman who was not identified, had been condemned to death by stoning. The Coroner confirmed the girl's death, but she began breathing in the mortuary.

Iranian asylum seekers told to leave Holland

AFP, August 16, The Hague - The National Council of Resistance "strongly" condemned the Dutch officials' expulsion of a number of Iranian refugees. The NCR Representative office in a statement issued in The Hague protested the policy of restricting the acceptance of Iranian refugees and their expulsion from the Netherlands. The NCR believes that the refugees would be in jeopardy should they be deported. The NCR said: "The Dutch government is responsible for the safety and security of the asylum seekers...."

Wym Kok, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, said on Friday that as long as their health is not in suitable conditions, the asylum seekers will not be expelled. He gave assurances that the Dutch officials are reviewing the situation of human rights in Iran. Mrs. Elizabeth Schmidt, Minister of Justice and member of Parliament will soon examine the various aspects of the policy of the Government on the acceptance of Iranian asylum seekers.

Fasting Iranians Demand Political Asylum

AP, August 14, Amsterdam - ...Amir Amiry and Majid Masseri, who fled persecution in their native Iran, began hunger strikes after the Dutch government ordered their deportation...

Today, Amiry marks his 62nd day without food; Masseri is in his fifth week of fasting, including a 10-day stretch without water.

The plight of the two, who are semiconscious and nearing death, has kindled debate in the Netherlands about whether the country is abandoning its tradition of taking in the desperate and the downcast....

Another 25 Iranians have launched hunger strikes recently in solidarity with the two men...

Both Masseri and Amiry, 27, say they face imprisonment, torture or death if they return to Iran....

The Dutch Foreign Ministry said it based its deportation order on its belief that the political and human rights situation in Iran is improving under a new, more moderate government. Amnesty International and others question that....

After Rushdie's Book, An Art Collection?, Sunday Telegraph, August 10 - Iran's mullahs want to humiliate their oil-rich Arab neighbors by publicly burning a multi-million-dollar collection of paintings commissioned during the Gulf war. Iran claims that the collection, which includes portraits of all the main Gulf leaders, is an offence to Islam....

Teheran has offered to pay an estimated £5 million for the collection, now stored in the Monte Carlo studios of the Italian painter Andrew VicariÉ. Speaking last week at his studio, Vicari said he had never expected his work to cause such a furor. "Burning them, for me, would be the same as someone having an image of me and then sticking pins in it," he said.

Let's stop Iran's arms purchases

Deutsche Welle radio, August 12 - The Frankfurter Allgemeine devoted its editorial to the policy of Germany towards Iran. It wrote: Europeans are paying back the price of their mistake in thinking that the mullahs' regime could be influenced by gestures. Now, those who believed that critical dialogue with the Iranian rulers is not possible and that they must be embargoed seem right. This is a historic humiliation that Iran is now doing what the Europeans were long not willing to do collectively. Before the new Iranian president presents his cabinet to the parliament, the road was blocked to a new beginning in Iran-Europe relations. Just for the same reason that Germany has had special relations with Iran for the past several decades, it cannot tolerate this new humiliation and do away with it with diplomacy. The time has come specially for closing down the Iranian offices for purchase of arms in Germany. One must have the Iranian rulers understand, clearly and unambiguously, that the government of Germany is no longer willing to tolerate to be pushed around.

Another wishful dream?

Deutsche Welle Radio, August 13 - In any event, the list of Khatami's ministers, that should be approved by the Islamic Majlis, is the first compromise between him and the parliament. This, in a way, indicates the strategy for future policies. Already it can be assumed that the policies of Iranian government will not change significantly from the past.

In the past, Rafsanjani was told to be advocate of modernizing the Iranian society and rapprochement with the Western world. He was told to be interested in cultural and especially economic freedom. But, eventually it was proven that all of that was but a wish and dream...

Therefore, even if Rafsanjani had true democratic intentions, he must not have been able to convince the conservatives. And most likely, his successor, Khatami, too, will be no more successful than him.

There are indications to that effect. Now, at the inception of his presidency, we already know that the foreign policy and Iranian security is determined by Khamenei [clerics' spiritual leader], and it is the president's responsibility to execute his decisions and views.

Under these circumstances, removing a hard-liner and controversial minister such as Fallahyian will not have much effectÉ Similarly nominating the ambassador to U.N., Kamal Kharrazi, for foreign ministerÉ will not lead to a new era in Iran-U.S. relationship...

Based on all of these, we can envision that the conservatives will not allow the new president to demonstrate independence...

This opposition does not necessarily have to be shown by rejecting his suggested nominees at Majlis, where conservatives hold the majority. They will further limit the scope of president's authority whenever deemed necessary...

Where are the women?

Frankfurter Rundschaw, August 13 - And where are the women who were supposed to occupy government seats? So, women are like animals who are only good for vote and for theatrics (as deputy to the president). In the previous elections, they were not approved to run for presidency. As ministers, they will not be tolerated by the parliament and will only endanger Khatami's all-man platoon. Is this worth it? This is a good question for women, whose systematic suppression is the main nucleus of the mullahs' regime.

No change in mullahs' policies under Khatami

AFP, August 12 - The main Iranian opposition movement said Khatami's new cabinet introduced to the Majlis "will continue and step up the regime's 18-year policy of repression and terrorism." Massoud Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance, said in a statement: More than 16 of Khatami's cabinet members are affiliated with the Assembly of Combatant Clerics (Majma-e Rouhanion-e Mobarez, formerly known as the Line of the Imam [Khomeini]). This faction holds the most totalitarian views on domestic policy, export of terrorism, and state-controlled economy and has demonstrated hysteric enmity to western countries. Rajavi pointed to conservative deputy, Dorri Najaf-Abadi nominated as Minister of Intelligence, and said that with this choice, the Ministry continues to remain under Khamenei's control.

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