Executions

Hamshahri, organ of Tehran's municipality, Dec. 21- Three persons were hanged in southwestern Iran on the charge of drug trafficking. Fereydoun Hassanvand, Ali Khajeh and Haji Hossein were hanged in a special camp for addicts near Khorramabad.

Iran, Dec. 9 - Six men charged with murder were executed in Tehran's Qasr prison.

NCR secretariat, Dec. 22 - "The Union of the Revolutionaries of Iranian Kurdistan," a dissident Iranian Kurdish group announced that on December 7, 1996, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Iraq attacked the residences of this group, 30 kms from Sulaymania (Iraqi Kurdistan). They captured six unarmed members of the Revolutionaries' Union and took them to Salam Garrison in Sulaymania. The corpses of these individuals were found near Sulaymania bearing scars of torture and subsequent execution.

The victims were Ali Mohammadi from Boukan, Nasser Heydar-Abadi from Kermanshah, Mostafa Aminpour from Boukan, Ahmad Rava from Marivan, Keyvan Hedayat Vaziri from Marivan, and Kamal Zangiband from Sanandaj. This atrocity was carried out on the orders of PUK leadership by the forces of PUK Hamrain division who were also accompanied by an intelligence organ and representatives of PUK politburo, the statement of the Union of Revolutionaries of Iranian Kurdistan said.

Crackdown on women

AFP, Dec. 16 - Agence France Presse observed that the Iranian Security forces rounded up some ten women in Tehran because their outfits did not comply with the Islamic dress-code. At the northern Tehran's Vanak Square, four plainclothes policemen forced several women into the mini buses of the Security Forces. Some of them had their hair showing from underneath their scarves. Others were wearing colorful scarves and some wore a light makeup...

Two women were released after signing a form. The rest were taken to the Security Forces Commissioner for Social Corruption.

Poisonous Internet

AFP, December 20 - The Friday prayer leader of Tehran assailed the Internet and described it as a "dangerous poison which harms one's mentality and morality...."

Mohammad Jannati is a member of the Iranian Council of Guardians and one of the five Friday prayer leaders of Tehran. He believes that "the Internet should be restricted to researchers and scientists, alone... because it is more poisonous than poison."

Trying to scare Mojahedin supporters

Kermanshah radio, Dec. 16 - The Muslim people of Javanrood took part in a glorious march this morning to say that they are appalled at the conspiracies of the World Arrogance and the agents who sow discord. The governor, the clergy, the families of martyrs, the wounded and the disabled soldiers in the [Iran-Iraq] war, teachers, students and other sectors of the people of Javanrood participated. While passing through the main streets of the city, they chanted "death to America," "death to Israel," and "death to the [Mojahedin]." They strongly condemned the futile efforts of counter revolutionary groups and renewed their pledge to continue in the path of the late Imam [Khomeini]. [Kermanshah was rocked early in December by extensive protests across the province. The uprising was sparked by the mysterious death of a Sunni leader in Kermanshah, but was carried on by supporters of the Mojahedin and massive participation of the residents of most cities.]

Missing writer suddenly turned up

Reuters, Dec. 20, Tehran - An Iranian journalist who was "missing" for almost two months turned up at Tehran Airport on Friday and said he had been in Germany dealing with family problems.

Sarkuhi, the editor of the monthly Adineh, said he kept his arrival in Germany a secret because he and his wife -- who lives in Germany -- had "problems" and he was trying to arrange to take custody of their children. When journalists asked to see Sarkuhi's passport, he said he had given it to someone in Turkmenistan to help him secure a Canadian visa.

Israeli radio, Dec. 21 - German officials strongly denied that Sarkouhi had ever entered Germany. The German officials added: Had Sarkouhi ever been in Germany and then travelled from there by plane to Turkmanistan, the officials of the Bonn government would have known about it... Foreign reporters who had been invited to the press conference last night at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport privately said that the event was a pre-arranged show and Sarkouhi had been forced into making those statements.

Israeli radio, Dec. 20 - According to the report of IPS news agency, the Iranian writer and journalist, Faraj Sarkouhi, has been seen in one of the most dreadful prisons of the Islamic Republic, which is usually used to detain those on the death row. Faraj Sarkouhi is in Prison 336... which belongs to the Ministry of Intelligence and is located in central Tehran.

World record in accidents

Hamshahri, Dec. 17 - With 5,000 dead, 4,000 injured, and 205,000 driving accidents on the roads, Iran held the world's record in 1996.

Who is responsible for Ozone layer?

Iran Zamin news agency, Dec. 22 - According to a report published by Salam daily, the representative of Bandar Abbas in Majlis, Abbassi, opposed the Iranian regime's participation in the international seminars on the condition of the Ozone layer. He said: This Ozone layer, I don't know what is it, where is it, how much is it, and who's responsible for it? The chair of the agricultural committee said the Britain and Copenhagen are. The hell with both of them. Why should we pay for the damage of the Ozone layer? First, those who have damaged it must investigate, knit and sew, neatly and orderly, cover it with cement and reinforced concrete. Only then, they can come and ask us to become a member for further research. This subject presently has nothing to do with the Islamic Republic.

Mullahs developing long-range missiles

Reuters, Dec. 20, Bonn - A German newspaper said Iran was developing missiles based on the Russian Scud and North Korean Nadong systems with a range of 5,500 km (3,500 miles).

Quoting unidentified western intelligence services, the Bild daily said the missiles were capable of hitting targets in Europe from bases in Iran and could carry a 770 kg (1,700 lb) payload of poison gas or bacteria. Klaus Rose, the chairman of the German parliament's defence committee, said the report could be true. "It is a genuine threat," Rose told Saar radio. "The reports are credible."

FOREIGN

Rafsanjani and his daughter discomfort Turks

Reuters, Dec. 18 - Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani visits neighboring Turkey on Thursday to strengthen ties despite U.S. efforts to isolate Iran. The visit, which is at the invitation of Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, is significant in terms of economic, political and regional cooperation, Iranian newspapers said.

AFP, Dec. 19 - The [National Council of Resistance of Iran] issued a statement and publicly denounced Ankara's welcoming of the Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi whom they described as "criminal."

In this statement, the [NCR President], Massoud Rajavi, reiterated, "Shaking the blood stained hands of Iran's ruling dictators is against the highest interests of the Iranian people and a blatant affront to the people of both countries. Mr. Rajavi warned Turkey against "expanding relations with the illegitimate clerical regime of Iran, particularly in the fields of military and intelligence." He said: "The government of Turkey will not benefit from tying its political future in the region to the destiny of the criminal rulers of Iran."

The Washington Post, Dec. 22 - NATO member Turkey today signed several accords with Iran designed to bolster trade between the neighboring countries, ignoring a U.S. call to isolate Tehran....

The visit by the Iranian brought to the surface a certain discomfort on the part of many secular Turks who do not approve of Erbakan's overtures to Iran and Libya...

Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh, created some commotion among secular Turks by stating that "Ankara resembles Iran during the last years of the shah." A legislator from the center-right coalition partner True Path Party, Ali Riza Gonul, protested, saying that "a guest should respect the hospitality shown to her" and that her remarks "were of a very distressing nature."...

Germany to revise Iran policy

Israeli radio, Dec. 20 - In an interview with the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, the German Foreign Minister said: Following the demonstrations staged in Tehran in front of the German Embassy and after the threats issued in Tehran against the officials of the German Judiciary, strong protests are heard in Germany in recent months. Some even demand a halt to the critical dialogue and a severance of all ties with Iran... It is possible that after [the Mykonos] trial, Germany would have to make new conclusions about its relations with Iran. The German Foreign Minister condemned the intimidations of the Islamic regime of Iran and said such attempts will not affect the government and Judiciary of that country.

Primakov's visit condemned

NCR secretariat, Paris, Dec. 23 - The NCR condemns the trip to Tehran by the Foreign Minister of Russia and that country's sales of arms to the mullahs' religious, terrorist dictatorship. Russian officials announced their decision recently to step up arms sales to the illegitimate regime ruling Iran. While the regime is surrounded by numerous economic and political crises and finds itself incapable of confronting the growing numbers of popular acts of resistance, Russian arms are the best help it can receive for realizing its ominous objectives of escalating domestic repression and exporting fundamentalism and crises beyond its borders.

Dhahran bombing

Time, Dec. 23 - The 40 in custody for the Dhahran attack belong to the kingdom's Shi'ite minority. And the Shi'ite suspects bring with them the specter of a greater menace - Iran, the center of Shi'ism that lies about 160 miles across the gulf. Indeed, the Saudis believe Tehran is the true perpetrator of the Dhahran incident. They have turned over evidence to Washington, which is now considering the investigation's credibility and weighing the cost of retaliating against the Iranians....

Most of the 40 Shi'ites arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack have visited Iran. Some have been in Iranian-supported Hizballah training camps in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Many traveled between Syria, Iran and the Bekaa on false passports. With the help of FBI forensics experts, the explosive for the blast has been traced to the Lebanese Hizballah. The alleged Shi'ite driver of the truck used in the bombing is in custody. The bombmaker, a Lebanese Shi'ite linked to the Hizballah in Lebanon has been identified and is believed to be in Iran. So is the leader of the Saudis Hizballah, the secret organization the Saudis uncovered after the Dhahran bombing. The Saudis believe all this points to Tehran.

A dangerous force to be contained

AP, Dec. 19, Washington - In a year-end foreign policy report, Secretary of State Warren Christopher called for a continuing U.S. tough line against Iran until, he said, Tehran stops supporting terrorists and seeking weapons of mass destruction. "I regard them as a dangerous force in the world scene, one that the United States has to act to contain," Christopher said.

BRIEF

Mullahs' ploys and true plight of Iranian women

The clerical regime has been trying for some time now, to put up a different image of itself, one that respects women and promotes their active involvement in national and international affairs. The latest measure was the appointment of a woman as mayor of one of Tehran's districts. Earlier was a proposal for the formation of "a special committee on women and family" in the Majlis and also the assignment of a woman to head a women's department in the Foriegn Ministry.

The fact that women's department is fit into the Foreign Ministry vividly bespeaks of the theatrical nature of such acts and their sole consumption for propaganda in other countries. More interesting, however, is to see whether these measures had any effect on the plight and real-life situation of women in Iran?

The first such gesture of the mullahs came in 1993 with the appointment of an advisor for Rafsanjani in women's affairs. At the U.N. Fourth World Conference in Beijing, the same Mrs. "advisor-to-the-President" headed a delegation which vehemently opposed the principle of women's "equality." Though her efforts failed due to extensive international opposition, she won a reputation for being the only woman who had gone to Beijing to work against women.

More recently, in an interview with the BBC radio, Mrs. "head-of-the-women's-department in the Foriegn Ministry" remarked, "The problem in our country is that men provide for every thing, and therefore, women do not feel the need to have an occupation of their own!!!" This logic obviously exonerates the mullahs and blames the Iranian women who eliminate themselves from the social scene by not wanting to work.

The question arises that if women enjoy so ideal a life in Iran, why are they so rebellious? Why still after 17 years, they do not comply with the government dress code, such a trivial matter? Why did the clerical parliament had to pass a new law in July legalizing the punishment of women who show a thread of hair? The new law penalizes women with a fine of between 50,000 and 500,000 rials and imprisonment from 10 days to two months. This is while non-veiling is already banned and punishable by 74 lashes of the whip. At the same time, the pretext for the majority of dismissals of women from work is this same charge of improper veiling.

Only a few months ago, Hizballah mobs (who are on the Interior Ministry's payroll), attacked an all women's recreation center and beat them up. This happened after a "grand ayatollah" announced that it is forbidden for women to do bicycling, sailing and jogging.

These days, another wave of arrests has been launched, rounding up women for the color and style of their scarves, wearing make up, etc. They are imprisoned and humiliated in the most degrading manners. In one case, an 18 year old college student who had been harassed by Guards for improper veiling on her way home, suffered heart attack and died a few hours later. In many cases, married women are raped in the Guards Coprs detention centers and commit suicide after being released.

Last Spring, the body of a popular Iranian writer, Ghazaleh Alizadeh, 48, was found hanging from a tree in the forests of northern Iran. She used to speak out in her writings against the pressures women endure in Iran's male dominated society under a theocratic rule.

Yet the regime's female officials do not speak about such pain and suffering. Instead, they are delegated the responsibilty of justifying and endorsing the mullahs' misogynous behavior. The comments made by Rafsanjani's daughter in Turkey, which appalled all the Turks and Iranians as well, reflects the narrow mentality and worldview of the women the clerical regime touts as advocates of women's rights.

But what is the reason for such theatrics, and why does the misogynous regime have to pretend otherwise?

The history of the mullahs' efforts to change their image goes back to 1993 after the Iranian Resistance's Parliament, the NCR, elected a woman, Maryam Rajavi, as President for the transitional period after the overthrow of the Khomeini regime. This was a devastating blow and the most effective challenge to the misogynous mullahs, as a Muslim woman now led the anti-fundamentalist movement against them. The NCR's move arouse massive support in Iran, especially among women.

In the past three years, Mrs. Rajavi's messages have been distributed throughout Iran by the resistance's sympathizers, and her posters posted in crowded thoroughfares while the penalty for doing so under the mullahs' absolute repression is execution. Her public speeches have been beamed into Iran via satellite. The first time was on June 16, 1995, when she addressed a gathering in Dortmund, Germany, in a speech entitled, "Freedom". In her speech she warned the mullahs: "With all your reactionary and medieval savagery, misogyny and oppression, you have done all you could do to Irnaian women, but I warn you to beware of the day when this tremendous historic force is set free... Then you will see how you and your backwardness will be uprooted by these free women. You mullahs have chosen this, with your unspeakable crimes against women, and you cannot avoid being swept from Iranian history by these same liberated women." Mrs. Rajavi also announced a 16-article Charter of Fundamental Freedoms for Future Iran which put great emphasis on women's rights.

But the breakthrough came after Mrs. Rajavi's speech before a 25,000-strong gathering on June 21, 1996, in London: "Women: Voice of the Oppressed." This event was also beamed into Iran, live via satellite. Visitors from Iran say there is hardly any one who has not watched this program. Today, Maryam Rajavi's name is visibly seen on many seats in the buses and trains and on the walls around the cities where the absolute majority of Iranians secretly register their true vote. This is what threatens the mullahs after years of naked suppression of women and legislation of anti-women laws. And this is what has forced them into taking cosmetic measures contradictory to their nature, which cannot mislead anyone.

News on Iran wishes all of you very happy holidays and a successful New Year.

News on Iran will resume its publication on January 6, 1997.

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