BRIEF  ON  IRAN, No. 182, Monday, June 5, 1995
        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran


        3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007


Iranian Pilot Flees to Northern Iraq-Opposition, Reuters,
June 2 and 3

        BAGHDAD - An Iranian army pilot has fled to
northern Iraq in his helicopter and is seeking asylum
with the United Nations in the Kurdish-controlled region,
the Iranian opposition group Mujahideen Khalq said on
Friday.
        "An Iranian pilot officer of the regime's Army Air
Corps, ...fled to Iraqi Kurdistan with his helicopter on
Wednesday, May 31, and sought asylum from the United
Nations officials in the city of Sulaimaniya," the group
said in a statement.
        The helicopter crashed while landing near the U.N.
office in the Kurdish rebel stronghold of Sulaymaniya.
Tehran was trying to get the pilot back and Iraqi rebel
Kurds had already handed the crashed helicopter back to
Iran, the Mujahideen said....
        The United Nations confirmed on Saturday that an
Iranian army pilot had fled to northern Iraq in his
helicopter....
        A statement issued by the Iranian opposition group
Mujahideen Khalq on Saturday identified the pilot as
Khalil Farman. It said he carried the rank of colonel in the
Kermanshah Group of the Army Air Corps.
        "Colonel Farman...flew without any other crew
member and sought refuge at the U.N. headquarters in
Iraqi Kurdistan," the statement given to Reuters in
Baghdad said....

Iran, North Korea to Expand Cooperation, Reuters, June 2

        NICOSIA - Iran and North Korea have agreed to
strengthen their ties after a visit this week to Tehran by
the North Korean foreign minister, the Iranian news
agency IRNA said.
        Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati and
North Korean Foreign Minister Kim Yong-nam have signed
a letter of understanding to develop cooperation between
the two states, the agency said on Thursday night.
        It did not give details of the accord.
        On Tuesday, Kim asked Iran to help his country
develop its oil refineries. Islamic Iran and communist
North Korea have maintained close ties, partly in face of
pressure from the United States which has accused both
states of sponsoring terrorism.
        Tehran relied on Pyongyang as a main source of
weapons during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.


Rushdie's Death Would End Problem-Iran, Reuters, June 1

        NICOSIA - Iran's parliament speaker Ali Akbar
Nateq-Nouri was quoted as saying that British author
Salman Rushdie could ease strained relations between
Iran and the West by dying a natural death.
        "If he (Rushdie) dies himself our and your problem
will be resolved," the official Iranian news agency IRNA
quoted Nateq- Nouri as saying when asked by a reporter
if the author of the controversial novel "The Satanic
Verses" should die....
        Iran has repeatedly said the edict, a main obstacle
to improved ties with West, cannot be withdrawn....


Iran Remembers Khomeini, Raps U.S., United Press
International, June 4

         LONDON - Iranian President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani has attacked U.S. economic sanctions against
his country...
         In a dispatch monitored in London, IRNA said
Rafsanjani was addressing a large gathering Saturday on
the eve of the 6th death anniversary of Iran's spiritual
leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini....
          "Arrogant powers who intend to undermine the
relationship between the people and the Imam
(Khomeini) were also making a big blunder. The Islamic
revolution will be everlasting,"  he said.
         The Iranian leader also criticized the West's
perception of the Iranian revolution.
          "The United States and the West are making a big
mistake in comparing the Islamic revolution of Iran with
materialistic revolutions in other countries,"  he said....