In this way, while the clerical regime was trying to deny that Mojahedin's military units had shelled the Intelligence Ministry, it was nevertheless compelled to admit that the Ministry was indeed the target of the Mojahedin's operation.
The mullahs also falsely claimed that Mojahedin's operation had "shattered the windows of several houses and vehicles." In a dispatch two hours after the incident, however, the regime's official news agency, IRNA, had quoted its reporter on the scene who said: "This incident shattered windows of one residential building."
By fabricating such lies, the mullahs are thus trying to counter the impact of the Mojahedin's successful operation among the public. Tehran residents in the capital's northern and eastern districts, who last night heard the successive sounds of explosion pounding the mullahs' main headquarters of espionage, torture and murder, called the Mojahedin centers or their relatives abroad to give them the good news.
The clerical regime's Intelligence Ministry is located in a tightly protected area at the site of the shah's secret police (SAVAK), also known as Baq-e Mehran. Ordinary people are banned from entering this area and all the buildings in this region are at the disposal of Intelligence Ministry agents who use them as safe houses to torture dissidents.
According to Mojahedin's Command HQ in Iran, two torture centers are in this district -- one located at the end of Massoud Ave. (across from Hamid Alley, north of the Ministry), and the other, the headquarters of the State Security Force located on Sa'eid Street (northeast of the Intelligence Ministry's protected area). The Intelligence MinistryÕs training center, known as Imam Baqer University, is the area's northern zone. The Intelligence Ministry's main complex which was shelled yesterday is surrounded by a five-meter-tall wall topped by barbed wires.
The security of this area is provided by flood lights and closed circuit cameras. Brick walls have been erected around all streets leading to this area from the south. In addition to mobile and foot patrols, plain clothes agents control the area.
In an urgent meeting after the attack, the regime's officials emphasized that what really happened should not be reported by the media. If it were revealed that the Mojahedin were able to infiltrate the Intelligence Ministry zone and launch a mortar attack against its buildings," they argued, "the credibility of the state as a whole would be undermined."
This explains why the regime kept silent for 12 hours between its first and second news reports on this incident. The identical reports published in the state run dailies this morning also indicate that the text has been dictated by the Intelligence Ministry.
People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran
February 1, 1999
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