BRIEF ON IRAN
        No. 302
        Wednesday, November 29, 1995


        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran
        3421 M Street, NW, #1032
        Washington, DC 20007



Rafsanjani's Budget: An Open Admission of His Policy Failures,
from a statement by NCR, November 28

        News agencies reported that Rafsanjani presented the
regime's 1375 fiscal year budget (March 1996 to March 1997)
to the Majlis (parliament). Many economic experts described
the budget as a sign of the country's severe economic crisis
and the continuation of the accelerating trend of stagflation at
the time when the regime faces a $50 billion foreign debt.
        Even when taking into account the official and publicly
announced rate of inflation of 56.3%, this year's budget shows
a 12% decline. Although, foreign observers in Tehran put the
real inflation rate at 100%.
        The 30% increase in the defense and the suppressive
forces budget relative to last year is particularly significant
because it clearly reflects the persistence of a policy of
repression and more weapons' purchases by the regime.
Besides, all ministries have been instructed to deposit part of
their budget into an account that is set up for the regime's
suppressive forces, including the Bassij.
        In his speech to the Majlis, Rafsanjani tacitly
acknowledged that the U.S. trade boycott has created problems
for the regime such as difficulties in the production and sale of
oil.
        The budget clearly demonstrates the total failure of
Rafsanjani's economic policies. In light of the 10% drop in oil
revenues and the significant increase in indirect taxes, next
year, the Iranian people will have to endure even greater
economic pressures which will foment more discontent and
social unrest.


Secret Sales of Weapons to Iran, Associated Press, November
28

        LONDON - Last year, Poland sold 34 tanks to Iran, France
exported 42 armored combat vehicles to Nigeria, and Ukraine
shipped 56 air-to-air missiles to China.
        Until this month, these were secrets.
        They are among 59 previously unknown arms deals
disclosed in the latest U.N. Register of Conventional Arms,
according to a new analysis....
        For the first time, Russia did not submit information on
its arms transfers, despite intense pressure. However, eight
days after the register's publication Oct. 31, Moscow made a
late submission....
        The most important revelation in Russia's late submission
was a previously unknown shipment of 94 missiles or missile
launchers to Iran last year, [the scholars at the University of
Bradford who analyzed the register] said.
        This is very sensitive, they explained, because Russia
agreed not to sign any new export agreements with Iran as
part of a deal with the United States....


Dole: Missile Proliferation, Fundamentalism and Terrorism,
Greatest Threats to Israel, United Press International,
November 28

        WASHINGTON - Senate Republican leader Bob Dole called
Tuesday for the United States and Israel to formalize and
deepen their military alliance as a bulwark against rogue
states in the Middle East....
        Dole said the ongoing peace process had created a new
environment in the region but he warned there were still
dangers to the Jewish state and U.S. forces in the region. He
said ballistic missile proliferation, radical fundamentalism and
terrorism formed the greatest threats.
        "For Israel, even in the event of a comprehensive peace
with its neighbors, the threat of attack by long-range missiles
from Iran, Iraq, Libya and others may actually grow," Dole
said....


Tehran's Ambassador in Germany: Rafsanjani Rightly Called
Rabin's Assassination "Divine Revenge", Reuters, Nov. 22

        BONN - Iran's ambassador to Bonn called on the German
parliament on Wednesday to apologize for declaring that its
Foreign Minister would be unwelcome at a German-sponsored
Islam conference that was later postponed....
        Ambassador Houssein Mousavian told the Express daily
that Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had
rightly called Rabin's murder "divine revenge" for the killing of
Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shqaqi in Malta last month....
        "... I would like the German parliament to apologize to us
for this false charge against our president."...
        Postponing the conference was an embarrassing setback
for the "critical dialogue" that Germany, Tehran's main western
trade partner, maintains with Iran despite objections from
Bonn's Western allies....