BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 355
Friday, February 23, 1996

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


Iran Rebels Ask Turkey to Close Iranian Embassy, Reuters, February
22


        PARIS - An Iranian opposition group accused Tehran's agents on
Thursday of killing one of its members and a supporter in Istanbul
and urged Ankara to close down all Iranian diplomatic offices in
Turkey.
        "It is time for the Turkish government to immediately...put an
end to the free rein enjoyed by the terrorist diplomats of the (Iranian)
regime against Iranian refugees and asylum-seekers," said Massoud
Radjavi, president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran....
        "It is certain that Tuesday's murders were planned and executed
by the embassy of the (Iranian) regime in this country," Radjavi said
in the statement....


Iran Abducted Dissident in Germany, Associated Press, February 16

        An Iranian opposition group ... accused the Tehran government
of organizing the kidnap and torture of an Iranian dissident living in
Germany.
        Bonn police have said the 28-year-old victim told them he was
abducted at gun point near Bonn Feb. 2 by four Farsi-speaking men
who locked him up in a basement for two days and mistreated him.
The man told investigators he escaped when his captors stopped at a
gas station while trying to transfer him to another location.
        Police said the man had serious wounds, mainly on his back.
Ebrahim Zakeri, a member of the Iranian National Resistance Council,
accused the Iranian secret service of carrying out the kidnapping.
        Zakeri told reporters Friday that the dissident had spent time in
a terrorist training camp in Iran before breaking with the regime and
fleeing to Germany, where he has applied for asylum....
        Zakeri charged that the Iranian embassies in Bonn and the Dutch
capital, The Hague, were involved in the abduction.
        Mohammed Mohadessin, another Council member, criticized
Germany's policy of refusing to isolate Tehran. "The appeasement
policy and the concessions of the German government to the regime
and the comprehensive economic ties encourage the mullahs to
commit further terrorist acts," he told the news conference.
        Mohadessin called on Germany to close all Iranian diplomatic
offices in the country, saying they were bases for spying on and
terrorizing Iranian dissidents.


Mullahs' Groups Trade Charges in Run-up to March Vote, Reuters,
February 22

        TEHRAN - Iranian political groups and officials have traded
charges over lack of impartiality and illegal campaigning in the run-up
to parliamentary elections on March 8....
        Newspapers have accused unnamed candidates of breaking
election rules by appearing in public with officials or sports figures,
and speaking at religious events, including funerals.
        The Guardian Council said candidates would be screened for their
belief in Islam, Iran's Islamic system of government, including the
principle that the state is headed by a supreme spiritual leader.
        Under Iran's election rules, the announcement of election lists
and campaigning can only start on February 29 and last for a week
until the day before the vote, during which all campaigning is banned.


Perry: NATO Monitoring Mercenaries, United Press International,
February 22

        The Bosnian government may still be violating the Dayton accord
by allowing organized foreign mercenaries to remain in Bosnia-
Herzegovina, U.S. officials said Thursday....
        "We are maintaining surveillance of areas where we think there
may be Iranians located or areas where we think there may be
terrorist operations," U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry told
reporters Thursday....
        NATO forces in Bosnia last week detained three Iranians after a
raid on their residence uncovered bomb-making equipment and
diagrams of Western military installations in the Balkans. The
Iranians, one of whom U.S. officials said carried a diplomatic passport,
were expelled by the Bosnian government....
        Roughly 1,000 Islamic fighters, mostly from Iran, fought side-
by-side with Bosnian forces during the nearly four-year Balkan war....


Mullahs Call Terrorist Training, "Humanitarian," Reuters, February 22

        GENEVA - Iranians were involved in humanitarian work in
Bosnia and none of them were "fighters," Foreign Minister Ali Akbar
Velayati said on Thursday....
        On Wednesday, Bosnian Croat police were reported to have
detained at least seven Iranians who, the Croatia's state news agency
HINA said in Belgrade, were suspected of spreading "the principles of
Islamic revolution."....