BRIEF ON IRAN Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran No. 332 Monday, January 22, 1996 3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007 Three Iranian Sailors Seek Asylum In Australia, Reuters, January 20 CANBERRA - Three Iranian sailors who abandoned their Iranian bulk grain carrier off the Western Australian coast earlier this week will formally seek asylum in Australia, an official said on Saturday. The three men, who have not been identified, jumped on Wednesday from the carrier, Iran Taleghani, took to a life boat and spent 12 hours in the Southern Ocean off Western Australia's southern coast before becoming seasick and returning to the ship. Australian officials then stepped in and removed them from the Iran-bound ship off the coast near Perth on Thursday night after the ship's owners asked for the men to be put on a plane back to Iran. "We had a meeting with them last night and they decided that they would formally seek asylum," a spokesman for the Department of Immigration told Reuters. He said their applications would be assessed over the next six to eight weeks to see whether they were justified in fearing retribution on their return to Iran and therefore were eligible for asylum.... Mullahs' Revolutionary Guards Planning to Remain in Bosnia, The Washington Post, January 21 More than 200 foreign Islamic fighters remain in Bosnia, even as the deadline for their departure passed last week, according to U.S. officials who continue to view the armed foreigners as a potential threat to U.S. and other NATO troops enforcing peace in the Balkans. Hundreds of other Islamic fighters, who had backed the mostly Muslim Bosnian army since the war erupted four years ago, left Bosnia in recent weeks... But a sizable group of Iranian Revolutionary Guards and additional mercenaries from across the Islamic world have stayed in Bosnia looking to change their official status to make them exempt from the Dayton provisions, U.S. officials said.... Although the [Islamic fighters] have not threatened U.S. forces in Bosnia, they have tangled with British and Croatian forces. U.S. officials view them as inherently hostile to American troops and others in the international force.... Of particular interest is a contingent of 150 to 250 Iranian Revolutionary Guards who have served primarily in Bosnia as military trainers. Their base camp is in Fojnica, about 30 miles northwest of Sarajevo. "There are some concerns that the Iranians and Bosnians are now trying to create a new status for the Guards, designating them civilian teachers instead of military trainers," said a U.S. military officer responsible for monitoring the region.... President Mubarak Supports Sanctions against Iranian Regime, Iran Zamin News Agency, January 21 In an interview with French Le Figaro, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak supported the U.S. economic sanctions against the Iranian regime and said that the sanctions aim to curb Iran's support of terrorism. In the interview, the Egyptian President stated that Tehran government continues to support terrorism and fundamentalist groups. He added that sanctions can be removed when Iran stops supporting terrorist groups. Iran Dismisses Arafat's Election Victory, Reuters, January 21 NICOSIA - Iran on Sunday dismissed Yasser Arafat's victory in Palestinian general elections and said the vote showed the shaky foundations of his self-rule authority.... "Despite Western propaganda, one cannot take the results of these elections as a criterion for the legitimacy of the PLO and the compromisers among the Palestinian people," said the State-run Tehran radio, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).... Iran's Islamic leaders say Israel has no right to exist and strongly oppose Arafat's peace deal with the Jewish state.... "That demonstrates very well the shakiness of the foundations of the self-rule establishment and, on the other hand, the legitimacy of the combatant groups among the people of Palestine," the radio said....