BRIEF  ON  IRAN, No. 177
        Friday, May 26, 1995
        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran



        3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007


Iranian Official Visits To Boost Ties to Bosnia, Croatia,
Associated Press, May 25

        ZAGREB - Iran's vice president arrived Thursday on
a visit aimed at boosting relations with Croatia and Bosnia.
        The visit by Iranian Vice President Hassan Habibi,
the highest-ranking Iranian leader to visit the region since
war broke out in 1991, is intended to increase Iran's
influence in the Balkans....
        Iran has strong relations with the Muslim-led
government in Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, and has
sought greater influence in the Balkans, launching a joint
peace initiative with Greece and Bosnia.
        Iran has signed economic deals with Croatia, but has
conditioned them on Croatia's support for a shaky Muslim-
Croat political and military union in neighboring Bosnia.
One is a $200 million deal for Croatia to build a dozen
ships for Iran's mercantile fleet in exchange for crude oil
from Iran....


White House Official Doubts Yeltsin Will Visit Iran,
Associated Press, May 25

        WASHINGTON - President Clinton's national security
adviser said Thursday he doubts that Russian President
Boris Yeltsin intends to visit Iran, despite a report to the
contrary.
        "I don't believe he's going to be (going),"  Anthony
Lake said in a meeting with reporters.  "I'd heard that he
was not going. We'll see."
        On Monday, the Islamic Republic News Agency
quoted the Russian ambassador to Tehran, Sergei
Tretiakov, as saying Yeltsin would visit Iran to bolster ties
and promote regional cooperation....


Iran-EU Rushdie Deal Delayed, Reuters, May 25

        NICOSIA - Britain is waiting for a formal response
from Tehran saying it will not carry out the death order
against British author Salman Rushdie in return for a
European Union deal to improve relations, the Iranian
news agency IRNA said on Thursday....
        Iran says no one can withdraw the death edict, or
fatwa, issued in February 1989 by the late Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini....
        The EU launched the move in April to get the Iranian
authorities to lift the fatwa imposed against the Indian-
born author by seeking guarantees for his safety in each
European state in return for better trade, economic and
political relations.
        IRNA said U.S. pressures on EU members was also
delaying the agreement. Iran has moved to distance itself
from the fatwa as part of what diplomats see as a
concerted effort by Tehran to woo friends and break out
of U.S.-engineered isolation.


Mullahs' Disputes with Gulf States, Reuters, May 24

        DUBAI - ... A territorial dispute with the United
Arab Emirates over three Iranian-controlled island at the
mouth of the Gulf has hung heavily over relations with
Arab neighbors, an Arab diplomat said.
        "The Gulf states have not sided with the U.S. because
they are keen to maintain stability in the Gulf but their
patience is being tried," he said of Iran's refusal so far to
accept a UAE proposal to take the dispute to international
arbitration.
        Diplomats said this could backfire for Iran because
the UAE, especially the free port of Dubai, remains Iran's
main window to the outside world.


Iran Developers Raze 1,000-Year-Old Wall, Reuters, May
25

        NICOSIA - ... Developers razed a section of the 11th-
century wall to avoid zoning laws limiting the style and
size of buildings that can be built near historic sites, it
said.
        The city wall, built under the dynasty of the Seljuks
that ruled from the 11th to the 13th century, is 15 meters
(yards) high, six meters wide and nine kms (5.5 miles)
long.
        Newspapers said last month that a 315-year-old
building housing a public bath in the historic city of
Isfahan was destroyed and turned into a car park....