BRIEF ON IRAN, No. 173 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran Monday, May 22, 1995 3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007 Dissidents Accuse Iran Of Two Murders, United Press International, May 19 LONDON - An Iranian dissident group, the People's Mojahedin, Friday accused Iran of sponsoring the assassination of two women in its organization in Iraq, sources with the dissidents said.... The slain women - Effat Haddad, 32 and mother of four, and Fereshteh Esfandiari, 35 ... - were slain by submachine gun fire while driving in a car, the sources said. The organization's supporters staged 16 protests Friday over the slayings in 14 Western countries and turned over petitions to several presidents and prime ministers demanding the closure of Iranian diplomatic missions, the statement said. Iran's government 'has continuously used its embassies and diplomatic facilities in various countries for terrorist activities,' the statement said.... Iranian Exiles Protest Over Baghdad Killings, Reuters, May 19 GENEVA - Iranian exiles on Friday delivered a protest to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso, over the killing of two women members of a group fighting the government in Tehran. The protest was delivered after a brief demonstration by the exiles, which coincided with similar actions in other European cities, outside the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the U.N.'s European headquarters. The exile Mujahideen Khalq organization has blamed what it calls 'terrorist diplomats' in the Iranian embassy in Baghdad for the death of the women when gunmen opened fire on the vehicle in which they were traveling there on Wednesday.... In a resolution delivered to Ayala Lasso, who is based in Geneva, the protesters said they were demanding the expulsion of the 'suppressive terrorist regime' of Iran from the U.N., a spokesman for the group said. Iran Economic Reform Torpedoed After Rial Crisis, Reuters, May 21 TEHRAN - A currency crisis has forced beleaguered Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani into a U-turn that has torpedoed his economic liberalization, businessmen and diplomats said. They said the effect of a new foreign exchange system which came into effect on Sunday is to ditch more than five years of hesitant efforts to put the economy on a free-market footing. The political fallout is perhaps a final loss of credibility for the pragmatist president who brought Iran hopes of renewed riches after the punishing 1980-88 war with Iraq, they added.... 'It's almost like a lame duck situation. Rafsanjani now has much reduced scope to move in the next two years,' a diplomat in Tehran said. From Sunday the central bank will set the official rate at 3,000-3030 rials to the dollar, compared with the 7,000 rials offered earlier this month by Tehran street changers. Dealing at anything other than this rate announced on May 17 was banned and illegal money changers were warned they could face the death penalty. And three months into the country's second five-year plan, diplomats said vested interests in the clerically-led administration may strangle any reform until after 1997.... The latest collapse in the currency came after President Bill Clinton ordered a tightening of a U.S. trade embargo on Iran to strangle what he charges is a government steeped on terrorism and a threat to its U.S.- allied neighbors. 'Things have got worse...Three years ago there was a lot of positive feeling. A lot of trade was going on, reasonable economic growth and the exchange rate was under control,' a diplomat said. The government's debt obligations will eat up to a third of annual oil revenues over each of the next five years. Iran will have to find around $5 billion to pay off rescheduled loans next year when the Iranian budget for March 95-96 predicts oil revenue of $13.5 billion, bankers estimate. Imports of some $10 billion will also need to be financed from limited hard currency reserves while government subsidies on basic commodities continue to drain the state budget.... The privatization of state industries has reached an impasse, foreign investment is deterred by a lack of clear regulation and local traders still complain about the traditional power of the religious foundations. 'You have to have a connection with the mullahs for the best deals. You can't do anything without them,' a businessman said.... A frequent comment by businessmen here is why should they invest in industry and commerce when they can make more money buying and selling dollars.