BRIEF ON IRAN NO. 247 Thursday, September 7, 1995 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran 3421 M Street NW #1032 Washington, DC 20007 Mullahs: Equality is an Unrealistic Concept, IRNA, September 4 On Monday a newspaper wrote that... there must be a clear line between the role of women at home and in the society. The English language daily, Iran News, commenting on the NGO forum, in its editorial wrote that this conference has a wide range of issues for discussions, the most important of which is "Equality."... This editorial suggests that West's understanding from equality may not be appropriate in other parts of the world... and adds that the final resolution of this conference... is again emphasizing on equality that is absolutely unacceptable to those countries who follow true Islamic principles... Decline of Rug Exports, BBC, September 2 It seems that despite supports by the Iranian government and the Center for Development for the fourth rug exhibition, that was held last week in Tehran, no desired result has been achieved. And the rug exporters have not demonstrated much tendency to buy rugs. Meanwhile, according to Agence France Presse Iranian customs' authorities have announced that during first trimester of the current year the supply of export rugs has amounted to only 400 million dollars. This is while the value of Iranian rug exports in previous year for the same period has been about 600 million dollars. The total earning of the government from rug exports for last year has been 1.8 billion dollars. But considering the lack of enthusiasm for Tehran's rug exhibition and that most participants say the sale of this year would not even reach half of last year's, many experts believe that this figure will decline tremendously... Mullahs' Expansionism: Muslims' Wealth Belongs to All Muslims, State-run Radio, September 2 [Excerpts from Friday sermon in Kermanshah province, western Iran.] What has happened to the Muslims? Everything they have is provided to the world oppressor, who dispatches forces to Persian Gulf through its political games. Muslims' wealth belongs to all Muslims. Saudi's oil is not for the Saudi nation, it is for all Muslims. Kuwait's oil belongs to all Muslims. The wealth of Muslim countries must be used for the good of Islam and Muslims... Once the situation is a bit calmed down, again U.S. will conspire with Saddam and make a pretend move from Iraq to Kuwait... so that U.S. makes a move and fortifies its military bases in Muslim countries... Iran Concerned About Neighbors' Sovereignty?!, Reuters, September 6 ... The official IRNA news agency said the officials were preparing a meeting due in Iran on Friday of the foreign ministers of the three states, which are all neighbors of Iraq. Foreign ministry adviser Ali Khorram said after Tuesday's meeting in Tehran that the officials "expressed deep concern over the current events in Iraq and studied the issue of foreign interference in Iraq's internal affairs."... Turkey, Syria and Iran have sizable Kurdish minorities related to Iraq's own three million Kurdish population which is already living in autonomy, protected by a Western ban on flights by the Baghdad government in northern Iraq... Iraq Reaches Out to Neighbors, But Worried About Iran's Intentions, Reuters, September 6 Iraq, striving to break loose from its political and economic isolation, is asking its neighbors help it fight crippling U.N. trade sanctions. The government in Baghdad has made calls for normalization of ties with former enemies -- Syria and Iran... For the third day running, the official press urged Iran to reconsider what it termed its hostile attitude towards Iraq "for the service of the Moslem peoples of the two countries." "Today, Iran should prove its good intentions to establish good neighborly relations with Iraq," said the English language daily Baghdad Observer in an editorial... Syria, Iran and Turkey routinely affirm their commitment to Iraq's territorial sovereignty and opposition to any foreign intervention in its internal affairs. But they all host Iraqi opposition leaders too... Shi'ite Iran has been historically linked to coreligionists in Iraq, where the key Shi'ite shrines of Najaf and Kerbala are located.