BRIEF ON IRAN
        No. 368
        Wednesday, March 13, 1996


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



Tehran's Role in Middle East Terrorism, CBS Evening News,
March 12

        Dan Rather: Tom, as you know, the United States and
Israel charge that Iran is involved in helping Hamas in
terrorism. The Iranian side of that story?
        Tom Fenton [from Tehran]: President Rafsanjani claims
that Iran gives nothing but moral support to Hamas but you
have to realize that it doesn't take a lot of money or a lot of
training to get a young man to strap some explosives on himself
and get him to blow himself up on a bus. It's primarily
brainwashing and that's where Iran comes in. This country has
been preaching the cult of martyrdom now for the last
seventeen years.
        Rather: Tom, you've been following Iran since the days of
the late shah. What changes are you seeing today, particularly
I'm interested in what changes you see since the last time you
were there.
        Fenton: Well, since the last time I was here, the economy
has gone from bad to worse. Half the population lives in poverty
and there have been riots in a number of Iranian cities in the
last few years. There was a major riot just outside of Tehran not
so long ago and there was one reportedly last week in
northwestern Iran. You are beginning to see signs here of the
sort of discontent that you could feel in the last years of the
shah.


Iran Protests, Associated Press, March 12

        NICOSIA - Anti-riot police opened fire on protesters in
northwestern Iran last week, killing 27 people and injuring 80,
according to Iran's main opposition group....
        In a statement issued Monday in Paris, the group said
10,000 people gathered outside city hall in Bonab and began
shouting anti-government slogans. When Iranian security forces
intervened, the demonstrators smashed the windows of banks
and government buildings, the statement said.
        Mujahedeen said security forces then opened fire on the
crowd, killing 27 and wounding 80. The mob killed two
policemen, the statement said....


Dissidents Urge Summit Press Tehran, Associated Press, March
12

        PARIS - An Iranian opposition group on Tuesday urged
the anti-terrorism summit in Egypt this week to adopt "a firm
and practical policy" against Iran, which it called "the
fountainhead of terrorism."
        In a telegram to heads of state attending Wednesday's
conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Massoud Rajavi, president of the
NAtional Council of Resistance of Iran, faulted the European
policy of maintaining ties with Tehran.
        Rajavi cited such "placating policies as 'transforming the
regime through economic ties,' or 'critical dialogue,' which in
practice have utterly failed,"....
        "Peace and stability will only come with the overthrow of
this regime and the establishment of freedom and democracy in
Iran," the statement said.
        Rajavi called for an end to "critical dialogue" and for trade
sanctions against Tehran...
Iran Media Slams Egypt Summit, Continues to Laud Israel
Bombing, Reuters, March 12

        TEHRAN - Iranian newspapers on Tuesday blasted the
"Summit of Peacemakers" in Egypt, saying the meeting aimed to
boost the morale of "Israel's criminal leaders" in their fight
against Palestinian militants.
        "The recent blows by Palestinian revolutionaries against
the occupiers have been so effective that Israel has lost its
power of judgment...Therefore U.S. Zionist circles are acting
today to boost the morale of Israel's criminal leaders," the daily
Jomhuri Eslami said....
        "Israel and America are trying in vain to link this great
movement seeking martyrdom to (states) outside the borders of
Palestine," the hardline daily said in reference to suicide
bombers who believe they die as Islamic martyrs....


Bonn Says Iran Must Condemn Hamas Bomb Blasts, Reuters,
March 12

        BONN - German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel on Tuesday
urged Iran to condemn Hamas bomb attacks in Israel and said
Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had not gone far
enough by castigating terrorism in general.
        "Rafsanjani's statements are not sufficient," Kinkel told
reporters in reaction to the Iranian leader's comments on
Monday. "Iran must clearly distance itself from Hamas acts of
terror."...
        Iran is militantly opposed to Israel and openly
sympathizes with Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for a
recent spate of four bombings which killed 58 people in the
Jewish state.