BRIEF  ON  IRAN
        No. 170
        Wednesday, May 17, 1995


        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran
        3421 M Street NW #1032
        Washington, DC 20007


"Mastermind Of International Terrorism Says He's Victim Of
Terrorism," From a statement issued by the Press Office of
the People's Mojahedin of Iran - Washington, D.C., May 16

        "A Mojahedin spokesman described Rafsanjani's
interview with ABC Television, in which the mullahs'
president claimed his regime was a victim of terrorism, as
the 'ludicrous assertions of a criminal responsible for
countless crimes in Iran and abroad.'  The spokesman added:
        "Rafsanjani has repeatedly promoted the policy of
suppression and terror in Iran and abroad. He is convinced
that one must rule through fear and terror. Since 1981, he
has been directly responsible for 100,000 executions of
Iranian citizens, murdered for their political beliefs. In the
prisons of the regime whose executive branch he heads,
150,000 prisoners of conscience have been subjected to the
most savage tortures.
        "Rafsanjani is also directly responsible for more than
100 of the terrorist operations carried out by the Khomeini
regime. Since he took office as president, the number of
terrorist operations by Iran has doubled. Rafsanjani has
repeatedly endorsed the death decree for British author
Salman Rushdie, emphasizing that it must be carried out. He
had a direct role in the explosion of the U.S. marine barracks
in Lebanon, and has officially and publicly condoned that act,
while Rafiqdoust, his brother-in-law, has stated that the
explosives used to blow up the barracks had been sent from
Iran.
        "Rafsanjani has officially announced that he firmly
backs opposition to Middle East peace. He directs the
terrorist operations around the world and in the Middle East
to sabotage the peace process...."


"Christopher Dismisses Iran Weapons Denial," Reuters, May
16

        "WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Warren
Christopher Tuesday dismissed as 'totally unconvincing'
denials by Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
that Tehran was trying to acquire nuclear weapons....
        "Christopher said if the Iranians wanted to show they
were sincere, 'they should stop the effort to acquire nuclear
technology and thus end any suspicion that they are going to
have a nuclear weapons program.'
        "He said Washington had supplied several countries
with 'some quite sensitive intelligence which establishes to
my satisfaction ... that (the Iranians) are involved in the
steps leading to a nuclear weapons program.'
        "Christopher also called on Tehran to stop attempts to
'project terror around the world' and to undermine the
Middle East peace process. Rafsanjani also denied the
terrorism charge in his television interview."


"Russia Says No Decision Yet On Iran Nuclear Deal," Reuters,
May 16

        "MOSCOW - Moscow will not decide whether to push
ahead with a deal to sell nuclear technology to Iran until a
joint Russian-U.S. commission reports on the issue, Foreign
Minister Andrei Kozyrev said on Tuesday.
        "'For now, a final decision is not being taken and
discussion is (still) under way,' Kozyrev told reporters at the
headquarters of Russia's Interfax news agency.
        "Kozyrev's remarks contrasted with comments last
Friday by Nuclear Energy Minister Viktor Mikhailov which
suggested Russia was moving forward with plans to sell
nuclear reactors to Iran despite a decision to refer the deal to
the joint commission...."


"When Is An Ally?," The New York Times, May 16

        "...What is an ally? Who are America's? And when? Full
time? Or as temps, now and then?...
        "The questions rise out of Iran's plans to produce
nuclear power that could be used for nuclear weaponry.  The
U.S. believes making Iran an economic outcast would stop
Tehran....
        "Iran now says it is not building one nuclear plant.  It
plans to build ten over the next two decades....
        "A nuclear Iran would be a threat to the Persian Gulf
states, Israel and Turkey and every other object on its hate
list, headed of course by the U.S.  Would Iran supply nuclear
weapons to its protégé terrorist groups? The mere possibility
would hugely increase their power....
        "President Clinton did what his predecessors did not: he
ordered an embargo on American trade with Iran.  That
removed Iran from the American market, and a burden of
hypocrisy from the U.S....
        "Next month at a meeting in Halifax of major industrial
nations, including Russia, the U.S. will try again to convince
them to join in economic measures against Iran.
        "But they should also be told that if President Clinton
fails, either he or Congress will bar imports into the U.S. of
companies that do business with Iran...."