BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 338
Tuesday, January 30, 1996

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


Iranian Ship Fires Missile in Gulf, NBC Nightly News, January 29

        NBC has learned of a new military threat from Iran.  US officials
say that three weeks ago an Iranian ship in the Persian Gulf fired a
missile hitting a barge 10 miles away.  That missile made in China has
a 60 miles range, allowing Iran to threaten shipping throughout the
Gulf where 20% of American oil is transported.


Mullahs Assume New Role in Lebanon, Agence France Presse, January
28

        Intelligence information from Lebanon indicates that Iranian
Revolutionary Gaurds Corp, that backs Lebenese Hezbolah... is going to
have a restructured command....
        Iranian Gaurds whose number during 1985-1990 has reached
thousands, now are only supervising training of hezbollah ranks and
coordinate the activities of social organizations in Lebanon....
        According to informed sources, the task of new command is to
"coordinate" Tehran's policy in response to new regional events.  It is
suggested that these changes are taking place following the progress in
negotioations between Syria ans Israel.  This also happens after
suppport of Damescus from Persian Gulf [Arab] countries against Iran...


Iranian Film Portraits Iran's Social Ills, The New York Times, January
28

        When Razieh, 7, disobeying her mother, goes to watch some
snake charmers, a neighborhood woman chides her for being where
girls aren't supposed to be....
        Like many current Iranian films, "The White Balloon'' creeps to
the very edge of what Iran's censors consider good to watch. Just
beneath the surface of its deceptively simple story lies a catalogue of
Iranian social ills, among them poverty, the tension between the pre-
and post-revolutionary generation, racial prejudice and even hints of
child abuse....
        The action takes place on the eve of the Persian feast of Nowruz.
After the revolution, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, trying to
elevate the importance of religious holidays, discouraged observance
of this pre-Islamic New Year festival.
        But Shiite Islam's gloomy commemorations of martyrdom
couldn't vanquish Nowruz. Despite harassment, Iranians clung to their
joyful spring feast, which takes place on the equinox. These days it is
observed with as much verve as ever....
        The film works almost flawlessly at its superficial level, re-
creating the ardent intensity of childhood in a sometimes oblivious
adult world.
        But there is so much more going on here. Each of Razieh's
encounters contains a small, ominous aside. Together these add up to a
profile of the quiet desperation of ordinary Iranian lives in a society
ravaged by revolution, war and international isolation....
        Economic hardship is explored again when Razieh meets a lonely
young conscript from the provinces who can't get home for New Year
because he lacks the bus fare. Other social pressures emerge. An
elderly tailor is intimidated by a young client of the post-
revolutionary generation who knows how to use the new system
against the old-timers.


Bahrain Officials Point the Fingers at Iran in Recent Unrest, The New
York Times, January 28

        MANAMA, Bahrain - After a resurgence of civil unrest in the
Shiite Muslim villages that surround this capital, a leading member of
the Sunni Muslim ruling family said Saturday that the government
was determined to put an end to the violence "once and for all.''...
        ... Manama government has suspected Teheran of trying to stir
up trouble among Bahrain's Shiites since Islamic militants took power
in Iran in 1979.
        ... the daily Iran News said on Monday that Bahrain was using
Teheran as a scapegoat to justify its refusal to grant political rights to
its people....
        But other regional leaders, including President Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt, have suggested foreign involvement in the unrest here, and
today Sheik Khalifa came as close as any Bahraini official has to
publicly pointing the finger at Tehran.
        "These people had studied in Iran,'' the prime minister said in
describing many of those under arrest. "What did they study, how
they have been trained, how they have been contacted, their
confessions - all this will come out in court.''...