BRIEF ON IRAN
        Representative Office of
        The National Council of Resistance of Iran
        No. 353
        Wednesday, February 21, 1996



        3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007


Iranians Asked To Pick Revolutionaries, United Press
International, February 20

        ATHENS - ...[Khomeini's successor] Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei called on his countrymen Tuesday to vote for
"brave, faithful and revolutionary individuals" in elections
to the 270-member Parliament....
        Over the past few weeks several prominent figures in
Iran have announced intentions to form political parties
after the elections. The latest to do so was Information
Minister Mohammed Reyshahri, whose ministry coordinates
intelligence operations in the country....
        [Radio Israel reported that Reyshahri's newly created
group announced its socio-political program on Monday.
        [In an interview with Keyhan, Reyshahri said the goal
of his group is to create a strong and inclusive organization
for forces loyal to the ideals of the regime's leaders.]
        Sunday, an official of the Culture and Islamic Guidance
Ministry announced that candidates, or groups supporting
them, would be required to obtain licenses to print
electioneering handbills, brochures and posters....
        Earlier, Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mostafa
Mirsalim said the newspapers Kayhan, Ettelaat and
Hamshahri would not be permitted to "print anything that
might be construed as campaign (material) for the
elections."...


Iran Looks to Russia to Modernize Weapons, Report Says,
Dow Jones, February 20

        MOSCOW - Iran has shown interest in buying more
Russian weapons to modernize its arsenals after purchasing
about $420 million worth of arms from Moscow in 1994-95,
officials said, reports the Associated Press.
        A representative of Rosvooruzheniye, the Russian
state-run arms trading monopoly, told the ITAR-Tass news
agency that Tehran wanted a "long-term cooperation" with
Russia on arms supplies.
        The official, speaking on condition of anonymity while
on a trip to Teheran, did not give any details of the
negotiations currently under way or unveil the expected
amount of new contracts.
        He said, however, that reports putting Russian
weapons sales to Tehran at $400 million in 1994 were
"approximately correct."...
        Among other weapons, Russia has provided Iran with
sophisticated Mig-29 and Su-25 combat jets, S-200 anti-
aircraft missiles, two diesel-powered submarines, and has
also sold a license for the production of T-72 battle tanks
and BMP-2 armored infantry vehicles.
        Moscow is considering supplying the third submarine
to Iran this year, if the "financial aspects of the deal are
settled," ITAR-Tass quoted the official as saying....
        The United States and other Western countries are
concerned that the Russian weapons sold to the
fundamentalist Iranian government could destabilize the
situation in the region....
        In a separate deal that raised Western objections,
Moscow has agreed to help build a nuclear reactor near the
Iranian city of Bushehr for $800 million. The contract calls
for the reactor to be finished by August 2000....


Fear of Mullahs' Nuclear Disaster, Radio Israel, February 19

        Quoting Bahraini intelligence officials, the Italian daily
Corriere Della Sera reported that the Arab Emirates of the
Persian Gulf region are concerned about consequences of
Iran's nuclear plants.
        They are afraid that the plants may result in a nuclear
disaster in the Middle East.
        The Italian daily wrote that Iran's Arab neighbors are
concerned about another Chernobyl in the region,
jeopardizing their health and security.
        Corriere Della Sera reported that in order to save
money, Iran's Islamic government has ordered the Russian
specialists to expedite completion of the plants, and since
the Russians do not take necessary safety precautions, a
nuclear disaster might be inevitable.


Iran Will Not Drop Rushdie's Death Sentence, CNN, February
18

        TEHRAN - Iran's foreign minister says his country
will not remove its death sentence for British writer Salman
Rushdie for alleged blasphemy but won't do anything to
enforce the policy, either.
        "In its negotiations with European countries ... the
(Iranian) foreign ministry has stressed the validity of Imam
Khomeini's fatwa and the impossibility of its withdrawal,"
Ali Akbar Velayati told the English-language daily Iran
News Sunday
        The European Union has called on Iran to abide by
international law and drop the death sentence ....