BRIEF  ON  IRAN, No. 224
        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran

        Friday, August 4, 1995



        3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007


French Lawmaker Says Iran Seeks Export Terror, Calls for
More Support for Democratic Opposition, Reuters, August
3

        PARIS - ... "State terrorism...has progressively
declined in recent years. A notable exception is Iran," said
Yves Bonnet, a member of France's National Assembly.
        Bonnet urged more support for the democratic
Iranian opposition, which has bases in neighboring Iraq,
and predicted the Iranian government could not last
many more years.
        At a news conference to launch his book, "The
Treachery of the Ayatollahs," Bonnet accused Tehran of
trying to fund and supply arms to Moslem
fundamentalists, notably in Algeria and Egypt as well as
in the newly-created Palestinian self-rule areas.
        He also said western countries including France
were misguided in their so-called "critical dialogue" with
Iran aimed at encouraging reforms.
        It was illusory to expect Iran to soften policies such
as a religious death order against British author Salman
Rushdie for his novel "The Satanic Verses," he said.


U.S. Envoy Unhappy with S.African-Iran Oil Deal, Reuters,
August 3

        JOHANNESBURG - U.S. ambassador Princeton Lyman
said on Thursday Washington had a problem with South
Africa's oil storage deal with Iran but that relations
between the two countries were otherwise excellent....
        "The problem we have...is that we have found that
Iran is contributing actively to undermining the peace
process in the Middle East, that it is actively seeking to
develop a nuclear capability, and that we have urged
other countries not to provide economic benefits to a
country that is so doing," Lyman said....
        "We feel that Iran should not get economic benefits
so we put our own economic limitations on Iran and we've
urged others not to fill that gap, and this deal sort of gives
Iran an economic opportunity,"  Lyman said....


Internal Power Struggle Intensifies, Reuters, August 3

        NICOSIA - Iranian sources said Thursday that
Iranian security forces had arrested scores of supporters
of a conservative senior Muslim cleric who has criticized
the government's religious policies.
        Scores of students and followers of Ayatollah
Mohammad Sadeq Rowhani were arrested Tuesday when
they gathered in front of the cleric's house in the holy city
of Qom to protest police pressures on the cleric, one source
said....

Decisive Approach to Iran's Issue, Saudi Al-Majala,
London, July 16-22

        Has the American administration decisively
specified its plan and begun a serious work for toppling
the ruling regime in Tehran by various military and
political means? ... International observers are in complete
agreement that the Washington - Tehran confrontation,
despite the efforts by the Iranian leaders to soften the
environment between the two countries, will intensify...
        In recent years, the Congress' position on Iran has
witnessed significant changes and has gone beyond State
Department stance.  And forced Clinton to toughen his
official position towards Iran...
        Nevertheless, the Congress continues to pressure
President Clinton to bring the issue of Iranian sanctions to
Security Council to internationalize this matter and speed
up the fall of Tehran regime.
        The observers do not see that too distant...
        A new step that U.S. Congress has taken in the
framework of its announced war with Iran demonstrates
itself in the "Bill of Free Iran Radio" program.  The U.S.
Congress will discuss on that soon....
        ...  Parallel to this the Congress will move towards
support and activating the Iranian opposition in U.S.
which is represented by the National Council of Resistance
of Iran.  This council includes many organizations...