BRIEF  ON  IRAN,ÝÅNo. 244
        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran
        Friday, September 1, 1995



        3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007


Nuclear Ambitions, Tehran Radio, August 25

        Rafsanjani's speech in the Exhibition on Government's
Achievements: "We cannot discuss the nuclear energy very
much, but I assure you that we presently have very strong
foundations in the country and have trained very good
experts...."


Regime's Troop Concentration on Western Borders, Al-
Shargh Al-Awsat, August 26

        In a new development, Iran strengthened its forces
stationed near Iraqi border.... Knowledgeable sources in
Tehran said that segments of the Hamzeh Unit of the
Revolutionary Guards  are stationed along the Iraqi border,
near the city of Mandali.
        In the meantime, Iran has moved parts of the heavy
artillery and armored personnel carrier units of its 88th
division toward the west of Kermanshah....
        These movements which are not officially announced
by the Iranian government, includes 25,000 soldiers of the
"rapid deployment force" which Iran has recently formed
as an attachment to the Revolutionary Guards Corps.  These
forces are supported by 80 combat helicopters which
shows that Iran is planning for a big military operation.
        Opponents of the Iranian regime say the build-up of
these forces is related to Iranian military's readiness for
attacking opposition bases inside the Iraqi borders....


S.Africa Says Iran Oil Deal Signed in Tehran, Reuters,
August 31

        CAPE TOWN - South Africa and Iran on Thursday
signed the first part of an oil storage and marketing deal
that could earn South Africa about 50 million rand ($13.6
million) a year, an official said.
        Mineral and Energy Affairs Ministry spokesman
Roland Darroll said in Cape Town the deal allowing Iran to
store about 15 million barrels of oil at Saldanha Bay, north
of Cape Town, was signed in Tehran....
        "The storage deal was signed by (Central Energy
Fund general manager) Kobus van Zyl today, but the
marketing part of the deal has still to be negotiated," he
said.
        Darroll said the two parts of the deal were inter-
dependent and would be implemented together....
        The oil deal has been criticized by the United States
which accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorism and of trying to
build weapons of mass destruction....


Dire Social Conditions Under Mullahs, Iran Zamin, August
22

        MARAND, Iran - Living only 10 kms from the Aras
River, the residents of Hadishahr suffer from severe water
shortages. Presently, they can consume water only at
nights and are deprived of it the rest of the day. Some
three months ago, residents of Hadishahr clashed with the
city officials and protested, demanding the resolution of
this problem, but no actions have been taken ever since


Mullahs' Supreme Court Extricates Former Member of
Majlis, Reuters, August 31

        TEHRAN -        ...The daily Akhbar quoted head of
Supreme Court Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammadi Gilani
as saying the court affirmed the 1993 lower court ruling
against [former member of Majlis] Jalaleddin Farsi,
rejecting an appeal by the victim's family that wanted him
executed for murder.
        Farsi, a one-time presidential candidate, will have to
pay "diyeh," or blood money, to the family of Mohammad
Reza Rezakhani.
        Rezakhani was a retired health ministry official,
whom Farsi shot three years ago after he objected to Farsi
shooting partridges.
        The case was the first trial of a member of Iran's
Islamic elite on a serious common crime. It attracted great
public interest as a test of the fairness of the justice
system.
        In April, judicial officials set the cash value of blood
money at between 36.3 million rials ($12,100 at the official
exchange rate) to 92.3 million rials ($30,800).