BRIEF  ON  IRAN, No. 280
        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran
        Wednesday, October 25, 1995



        3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007


Russia Quashes Reports of Grachev Visit to Iran, Reuters,
October 24

        MOSCOW - Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev
will not visit Iran  this year as had been reported, his
spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
        "The minister has no firm plans to visit Iran," Yelena
Agapova told Reuters. "He might  go there but definitely not
this year."
        Itar-Tass news agency last week quoted a military
spokesman as saying Grachev had  accepted an invitation
from Iranian ambassador Mehdi Safari for a visit which was
likely  to take place before the end of the year.
        Russia is at odds with the West over its contracts to
build three reactors at Iran's  Bushehr nuclear power plant.
The United States and others say Tehran might use the
technology to build a nuclear arsenal....


Tehran Cleric Says Iran Is Not Isolated, United Press
International, October 20

        ATHENS - Iranian President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani launched a  fresh verbal attack on the United
States Friday....
        "We really are not isolated. If anyone is isolated, it is
the United States," he told a cheering crowd of supporters.
        Rafsanjani's remarks were the latest in a series of
verbal assaults by Iran's ruling  clerics on the United
States....
        Earlier, Secretary of State Warren Christopher was
involved in efforts to isolate Iran  economically, accusing
Tehran of supporting international terrorism and launching
a  program to acquire nuclear weapons....
Marzieh, Congressional Record, Congressman Ed. Towns'
Comments, October 18

        Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in
honoring Marzieh, legendary singer of Iran. The news
media has reported the smashing success of Marzieh,
grande dame of Iranian music, at her concert in California
on September 30. You will recall that Marzieh began her
tour of the United States with a brief stop in Washington,
where many members, including myself, had the great
pleasure of meeting her at a reception and dinner here on
the hill. The sellout crowd of over 3,000 at Hollywood's
Pantages Theatre gave her a tremendous welcome and one
after another of her songs prompted standing ovations.
        Marzieh is, of course, renowned among her people not
only for her tremendous talent and career, spanning half a
century, but for her commitment to democracy and human
rights in her troubled homeland, Iran. The civil rights
movement in this country was sustained with freedom
songs and songs of praise. Marzieh has brought a new voice
for Iran, a voice which has helped to preserve Persian
musical traditions and a voice which now lends itself to the
battle for freedom and justice in Iran.
        Just as the freedom songs of the 1960's carried the
messages of the civil rights movement, Marzieh's melodic
tones will carry the message of the resistance against the
repressive regime in Iran. At 71, Marzieh is already a
musical icon, but with her courageous decision last year to
leave her oppressed homeland after 15 years of silence and
meet with the Iranian Resistance's President-elect, Mrs.
Maryam Rajavi, in Paris, she has become much more: A true
champion of her people. As Mrs. Rajavi's advisor on the arts
and culture, I am sure that Marzieh will play a significant
role in reviving the world renowned legacy of Persian art
and music.
        I send Marzieh my congratulations on her great
success on the west coast, and my best wishes on her
continuing work on behalf of the National Council of
Resistance of Iran.


Mullahs' Atrocious Crimes, From a statement issued by the
Secretariat of the NCR - Paris, October 24

        The regime's press revealed last week that one of the
courts of the mullahs' anti-human regime in Isfahan
(central Iran) condemned a young girl to two terms of life
imprisonment and the blinding of both eyes.
        At the same time, reports from Ahwaz (southwestern
Iran) say a man was publicly hanged from a construction
crane on October 16 at Naderi intersection, a busy
thoroughfare. On the same day, three men were also
publicly hanged in three different locations in Shiraz
(southern Iran).
        Suffering from internal isolation and beset by popular
protests, the mullahs' illegitimate regime makes the news of
such atrocious and medieval punishments public to create
an atmosphere of fear and terrorize the society.
        The Iranian Resistance hereby calls on the United
Nations General Assembly and all human rights
organizations and advocates to take practical and binding
measures to defend the fundamental rights of the people of
Iran.