BRIEF  ON  IRAN, No. 217
        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran
        Wednesday, July 26, 1995





Workers at Tehran Mercedes Factory Protest, Reuters, July
25

        NICOSIA - Workers at a Mercedes assembly plant in
Iran have been holding a protest over wages and benefits
since Saturday, the newspaper Salam said on Tuesday.
        It said a large number of workers at the state-run
Khavar company were holding a sit-in at the factory in a
Tehran suburb to demand a pay rise and to protest
against the loss of free lunches and other benefits.
        The Khavar Industrial Group, one of Iran's largest
truck makers, assembles Mercedes trucks under license
from the German engineering group Daimler-Benz....


Tehran Applauds Terrorist Bombing in Israel, Reuters,
July 25

        NICOSIA - Iran, commenting on the bombing of a
bus near Tel Aviv, said on Tuesday attacks inside Israel
struck a blow to the Middle East peace process and
prevented fighting among Palestinian groups.
        State-run Tehran radio said in a commentary:
"Operations by Palestinian groups outside the (Palestinian)
self-rule area... prevent fighting among Palestinians"
while Israel wanted to turn its conflict with the
Palestinians into a feud between Palestinian groups.
        The radio was commenting on the killing of five
Israelis by an Islamic suicide bomber who blew up a bus
on Monday in Ramat Gan, north of Tel Aviv.
        "Every explosion in Tel Aviv...shakes the foundations
of the process of compromise,"  the radio said in reference
to the Middle East peace process.
        Operations inside Israel  "put on display the power
of the militant Palestinian groups at the same time that
they prevent confrontation among Palestinian forces,"  it
added.
        The United States and Israel accuse Iran of
supporting terrorism and subverting Middle East peace.
Washington has imposed a trade ban on the Islamic
republic and urged other nations to isolate it....


Exports Suffer Because of Government's Financial Policies,
Reuters, July 24

        The strict currency rules have hurt [Iran's] exports,
dealers and businessmen said on Monday....
        Iran banned free currency exchange in May, setting
a fixed rate of 3,000 rials to the dollar, and assigned state
security forces to fight black market changers.
        The currency had fallen to as low as 7,000 against
the dollar after the United States announced a trade ban
against Iran for what Washington said was a program to
develop nuclear arms and its support of terrorism...
        Exports have been hurt from new regulations
requiring exporters to exchange all their hard cash income
in banks at official rates, businessmen said....
        Official figures on the fall in exports were not
available but some deputies warned in Parliament last
week that the problem was serious and urged the
government to dealt with it immediately.


Economic Policies Causing Further Turmoil in Iran, Radio
Israel, July 22

        According to the reports from Tehran after some
relative stability in the price of gold, the increase in price
of gold, including the so called Freedom Spring gold coins,
is resumed.
        An article in today's daily Salaam says that the
recession in trade and industrial sectors, created by recent
policies of the government, is dangerous for Iran.  This
will inevitably reduce the national production, intensify
the  unemployment and halt the investments that
consequently will not be easy to replicate....


Bomb Explosion Kills Pro-Israeli Militiaman, Injures 3
Others, Associated Press, July 25

        TYRE, Lebanon - Iranian-backed guerrillas exploded
two roadside bombs in south Lebanon today, killing one
Israeli-allied militiaman and wounding three others,
security sources said....