BRIEF  ON  IRAN, No. 220
        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran
        Monday, July 31, 1995



        3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007


Three Injured in Car Bomb Explosions in Tehran,
Associated Press, July 30

        NICOSIA, Cyprus - Two car bombs exploded within
minutes of each other Saturday night in Tehran, injuring
three people, Iran's state-run news agency reported.
        Both blasts were in central Tehran.
        The first shattered windows and damaged cars.
About 20 minutes later, another went off, injuring three
pedestrians and damaging buildings....
        Tehran routinely blames the violence on the
opposition group Mujahedeen Khalq, based in Iraq.
        The group denied any involvement in the latest
blasts Sunday.


Mojahedin Strongly Condemn Bomb Explosions in Central
Tehran, From a statement issued by the press office of the
People's Mojahedin of Iran-Paris, July 30

        In an absolutely fabricated  report, the Khomeini
regime's news agency, IRNA, attributed last night's bomb
explosions in Tehran to the Mojahedin.
        A Mojahedin press spokesman condemned the
explosions, adding: This is not the first time that the
Khomeini regime attributes such crimes to the Iranian
Resistance in a bid to tarnish the Resistance's image.
        The spokesman noted: The regime is facing different
internal crises and social upheavals nationwide. On the
other hand, the Iranian Resistance and its President-elect
have encountered widespread support among Iranians in
and out of Iran. Under such circumstances, this anti-
human regime finds itself in need of such falsifications.
        The spokesman stressed: The Khomeini regime is the
only party benefiting from this criminal act.  Previously,
the regime's operatives had planted bombs in public
places.  The Mojahedin press spokesman reiterated that
the Mojahedin always condemn any action that would
endanger lives of innocent civilians.


Iranian Radical Vows Rushdie Will Be Killed, Reuters, July
30

        TEHRAN - ... "The day will come when Moslems will
kill Salman Rushdie and when we will carry out
the...Imam's (Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini) order," Ali
Akbar Mohtashemi, a cleric known for his fiery rhetoric,
was quoted by Salam newspaper as saying....
        Mohtashemi ... also blasted "sinister moves by
infamous elements and certain internal centers (of power)
to nullify the death edict," Salam said.
        He was referring to recent contacts between the
European Union and Iran aimed at offering Tehran better
trade and political links in return for assurances that it
would not carry out the fatwa.
        The deal fell through last month apparently after
Iran refused to give a written commitment to the EU on
Rushdie's safety....
        Mohtashemi was Iran's ambassador to Syria in the
early 1980s, where he helped set up Lebanon's Shi'ite
militant Hizbollah party....


Prices Continue to Rise, Abrar, July 27

        People ask: Why is it that when most of the
government official repeatedly announce that prices of all
goods have declined, no one speaks of continued high cost
of foodstuff.
        People are right.  While the currency exchange rates
are declined by 40 percent, the price of foodstuff is still
high.
        When one dollar was equal to 700 toumans, one kilo
of chicken used to cost 450 toumans and red meat was
750 toumans.  Now that one dollar is equal to 300
toumans, chicken costs more than 450 toumans a kilo and
red meat costs 1,000 toumans.  Most people go home
empty-handed.