BRIEF ON IRAN No. 289 Tuesday, November 7, 1995 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran 3421 M Street NW #1032 Washington, DC 20007 Mullahs: "Youths, A Serious Danger," Iran's State-run Television, November 3 In Friday's sermon, Amini [the representative of mullahs' leader] in city of Qom said: "... I am aware of the youths and schools situation. This danger is a serious danger... They will be taken. They will take these flower-like dears. Then we will regret it and will be sad... We must prevent this. The education system has a great role in the war with this cultural aggression and colonialism culture... Do not think that these dears just go to school and come back easily. Do you know how it is now? Do you know what their friends do to them? You don't know what is distributed among them. Protection is necessary..." Insulting Authorities Would Be Punished by Flogging, Agence France Presse, November 6 TEHRAN - According to a law that was passed by the Iranian parliament on Sunday, from now on any insult to main authorities in Iran will be punished by up to 74 lashes or six months in prison. These punishments will be ruled against those who orally or in writing insult the following officials: President, Vice President, Chief of Judiciary System, Ministers, Parliament's Representatives, Members of Guardian Council, and Members of Assembly of Experts.... Iran Newspaper Editor to Be Whipped, Jailed, Reuters, November 2 TEHRAN - A court in Iran has sentenced a newspaper editor to 20 lashes and six months in jail on charges including slander, but a ban on his paper has been withdrawn, a weekly magazine said. The court in the holy city of Mashhad passed the sentence against Mohammad Sadeq Javadi Hessari, editor of the provincial daily Tous, after convicting him of slander and divulging secrets, the weekly Asr-e Ma (Our Era) said in its latest issue.... The Treachery of the Ayatollahs, Agence France Presse, November 6 PARIS - The Treachery of the Ayatollahs [La Trahison des Ayatollahs], written by Yves Bonnet, former director of French information and anti-espionage, is a critic to side tracking Islam by Iran's mullahs. The author says from now on "the objective of mullahs is this: to expand their rule by resorting to Islam and terrorism in a region from Lebanon to Algeria." Mr. Bonnet believes that "the period for critical dialogue," that started between European Union and Iran since 1992, is completely over. Mr. Bonnet also supports "confronting the extremist Islam that is ante-thesis of tolerant Islam," which satisfies "the expectation many of Islamic and Arab countries." In the back cover of the book, a picture of the author with Mr. Massoud Rajavi, the leader of People's Mojahedin, the main armed opposition of Khomeini regime is published.... Iran Supports Terrorists, Derails Mideast Peace Process, Reuters, November 5 ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto flies to Tehran on Monday to try to nourish political and economic ties with a touchy neighbor.... The United States has politely rebuffed the idea that Pakistan could mediate between Tehran and Washington. "Iran is a supporter of terrorist groups. They have tried to derail the Mideast peace process, so we are maintaining our distance and our policy of isolation," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robin Raphel said in Islamabad last week.... Iran Says Rabin Death Weakens Israel, United Press International, November 6 The semi-official Tehran Times said Monday the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was "the will of providence" and weakened the Jewish state. The newspaper, quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency, said Saturday's assassination would show to the leaders of world Zionism that the pioneers "of the occupation of Palestinian territories had left the arena one after another and, consequently, the primary drive to establish a Jewish state through the annexation of Palestinian land has been much weakened.".... Another English-language newspaper, the Iran News, said .... Those expressing their regret over Rabin's death... "completely ignored the long list of terrorist actions Rabin carried out during his entire life," the latest one being the assassination of the Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shkaki, who was killed by unidentified gunmen in Malta last month.