BRIEF ON IRAN
        No. 335
        Thursday, January 25, 1996


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



Persecution of Christian by Mullahs, Associated Press, January
23

        WASHINGTON - A coalition of politically influential
Christian groups is urging President Clinton to confront what
they consider pervasive persecution of Christians around the
world...
        A statement released Tuesday by the National Association
of Evangelicals said three leaders of Iran's 80,000-strong
Christian community were murdered last year, one after a
religious edict known as a fatwa was issued calling for his
death...


Mullahs' Recruiting of Terrorists in U.S., 20/20, ABC Television,
January 19

        Barbara Walters: The story  you are about to hear has
never been told before. It involves one of this country's
staunchest enemies, and an insidious plot to turn young
Americans into international assassins. Unbelievably, the plot
worked. Tonight, for the first, time, you will  hear the
extraordinary account of a man born and raised right here in
America, wanted now around the world as a hit man for Iran....
        Tom Jerrolds: It was a political assassination in the heart
of the nation's capital. The murder made headlines worldwide,
because it involved Iran, a country in turmoil, that under the
leadership of the radical Ayatollah Khomeini, was holding
Americans hostage. In Washington, former Iranian  embassy
official, Ali Tabatabai, was the leading opponent of Khomeini....
He was frequently on television, advocating Washington's point
of view: the Ayatollah should be overthrown. That ended in
1980, when Tabatabai was gunned down, in cold blood, at the
front door of his home. The assassin has eluded capture for
more than 15 years, and never spoken about the notorious
case, until we found him and asked him about the murder....
        Jerrolds:  The police knew David Bellfield, who had taken
the Islamic name Daoud Salaoudin, was the killer, but they
never got their man. The assassin vanished into the mysterious
and complex world of the Middle East, working with the radical
government that was still holding American embassy officials
hostage.... Authorities now believe that other young, black
American men were recruited by Iran, from colleges or prisons,
and they all went through the same transformation. They
adopted the Islamic faith, and through religious radicals, were
persuaded that if necessary, it was a duty to kill for their
spiritual leader, the Imam....
        Salaoudin fled to Iran, the country which he says had
provided the money and orders for the assassination. Salaoudin
was only one of several such operatives. According to these
police intelligence reports, obtained by 20/20. The supporters
of the ayatollah had established a training and recruiting
program within the U.S. for home-grown terrorists....
        Jerrolds:  Is that possible? Iran ordering crimes in the U.S.
Listen to Salaoudin's description of the death order on
Tabatabai.
        Q: How was the decision made, then, to carry it out?
        Salaoudin: I assumed that the decision came from what
was the Revolutionary Council in Iran, in Tehran. That's my
assumption.
        Q: Who told you that this man needed to be killed. Was he
one of several people on a list?
        Salaoudin: No, there was an Iranian friend of mine, who
told me about this order. He just said "order from the Imam."
And that Mr. Tabatabai had been chosen. I was presented with
other names too....
        Jerrolds:  And authorities are convinced that while he's
been on the run, Salaoudin has closely collaborated not only
with his Iranian handlers on the Revolutionary Council, but
plotted acts of terror with other young American men who
have fled to Iran and other Islamic countries....


Tehran's Revolutionary Guards A Threat to Peace in Bosnia,
Washington Post, January 24

        The United Sates yesterday threatened to halt military
and financial aid to the Muslim-led Bosnian government unless
it releases all Serb prisoners and expels Iranian guerrilla
fighters who have remained in the country in violation of the
Dayton agreement.
        ...Some U.S. officials are accusing Muslim leaders of
playing a "double game" by attempting to continue a military
relationship with Iran even as they receive support from the
United States....
        U.S. officials insist they will not permit radical states such
as Iran, Algeria or Libya to play any role in the [training]
program.
        One well-place U.S. official said some Bosnian government
leaders, who could be "on the Iranian payroll," appeared to
think they could get arms from both Iran and the United
States.
        [The New York Times reported that American forces in
Bosnia have heightened security after intelligence reports
suggested that the militant Muslim groups were planning
attacks against American targets in Bosnia.
        [The reports said the attacks were intended as retaliation
for the life sentence given to Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman by a
Federal judge in New York this month.]