BRIEF ON IRAN
        No. 334
        Wednesday, January 24, 1996


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


Turkey Seizes Arms Bound for Lebanon, United Press
International, Jan. 23

      ANKARA - Turkish security forces have seized six trucks
carrying a large quantity of arms to Lebanon, the Turkish
Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
       The trucks came from Iran and carried a "substantial
number" of AK-47 assault rifles, TNT explosives, mortar and
rocket-propelled grenade shells, and an anti-aircraft gun, a
Foreign Ministry official told United Press International.
       The ministry has asked the ambassadors of Iran and
Syria, where the trucks were going on their way to Lebanon,
who the intended recipient of the arms was, but no reply has
been received, the official said.
       The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is known to get
support from Iran.


Germany's Kinkel Plans Controversial Tehran Trip, Reuters,
Jan. 23

       BONN - German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, pursuing a
controversial policy known as "critical dialogue" with Tehran,
plans to visit Iran, his ministry said on Tuesday...
       Kinkel's policy of pursuing close German ties with Iran is
viewed with suspicion in Washington and has also been
bitterly opposed at home.
       His plans for an Islamic conference were left in tatters
last November when the German parliament voted to exclude
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, after Tehran
praised the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin.
       The rare defeat for the government prompted Kinkel to
postpone the conference.


Rushdie Condemns German Deals with Mullahs, Reuters,
Jan.22

       BONN - In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine on
Monday, British writer Salman Rushdie urged Bonn to force
Tehran to lift the religious edict declared by Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989....
       Rushdie said he thought Germany held the key to settling
the problem and was openly skeptical of its motives in only
dealing with it within the EU.
       "Germany maintains more economic ties with Iran than
any other European country," he said. "I have to ask, why
really? Why is there this almost enthusiastic support for this
regime?"...
       Rushdie called on Germany and the EU to exert their
economic leverage on Iran to force the issue.
       "The bigger the stick, the better the effect," he said.
Freedom of Opinion and Suffrage, Mullahs Style, Tehran
State-run Radio

Excerpts from Tehran's Friday prayer sermon by Chief
Justice Mohammad Yazdi, Jan. 19:

       The argument is over who has the right for legislation?
Who must decide on the laws? Who determine what to say and
what not to say? Who can say whether this book is allowed to
be published or not? Who can say whether this demonstration
can take place or not? Who can tell us whether we can leave
the country or not? The main argument is that human life
naturally deems the necessity of obeying some law. But who
makes this law? Our difference with the world is rooted here,
over this very issue. The world says it is these very same
people who must legislate and decide the rules and limits...
       In our regime, however, the judicial apparatus is
supervised by the Vali-e Amr (Guardian of all affairs). Not
only the responsibility of the judicial system, but those of the
entire regime rests with the Vali-e Amr. We do respect the
popular suffrage... But we say that it is not credible. Why?
Because we regard the popular suffrage as subordinate to the
will of God... It does not matter if it is a majority vote or a
consensus. As long as the suffrage counters the will of God, it
does not count....

Excerpts from Tehran's Friday prayer sermon by Mullah
Javad Amoli, January 13:

       Satan lives deep in the mind.... Books, pens, actions, and
expressions about the Islamic regime, sometimes about the
separation of church and state, or about the separation of
science and religion, or religion and wisdom, etc., all present a
perverted Islam, saying that ours is not presentable... The one
who wages war on God today, was an opponent yesterday, and
used to be just a dissident the day before. Dissent never
remains as a difference of opinion. The difference is a
legitimate spring board for opposition. And opposition is an
ominous tool for waging war on God....