BRIEF ON IRAN No. 384 Thursday, April 4, 1996 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran 3421 M Street NW #1032 Washington, DC 20007 Mullahs' Negative Response Necessitates Decisiveness in Place of Critical Dialogue, from a statement by NCR, April 3 The mullahs' regime "has remained adamant on its position" during the meeting with the Troika representatives in Tehran, news agencies reported. This was also evident in comments by the regime's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, later broadcast by the state radio. Earlier, different officials of the European Union member- states had made it clear that if the regime did not change its position, the continuation of critical dialogue could not be justified. With the insistence of the mullahs' religious, terrorist dictatorship on the export of terrorism and fundamentalism and opposition to Middle East peace, adopting a decisive policy in place of critical dialogue becomes necessary. The Iranian Resistance calls for a comprehensive arms, oil and technological embargo against the Tehran regime. Any effort to overlook the regime's defiant position concerning the demands of the Troika delegation, in bid to justify continued placating of the mullahs, is tantamount to sacrificing the most fundamental ethical principles before petty economic interests. It will only embolden the mullahs to intensify their terrorist crimes. On the eve of departure to Tehran of the Troika representatives, Mr. Massoud Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, warned about the regime's negative response wrapped in "deceit and obfuscation" to evade explicit condemnation of terrorism. Mr. Rajavi called on the EU to adopt a decisive policy and thereby not allow the mullahs to take further advantage of diplomatic ties with and assistance by the European countries to advance their expansionist and fundamentalist policies. Mullahs Denounce Mideast Peace, Refuse to Condemn Israel Bombings, Reuters, April 3 TEHRAN - ...[Foreign Minister] Velayati repeated Iran's rejection of the Middle East peace process as unjust towards the Palestinians in his talks with the troika of senior officials from Italy, Spain and Ireland that arrived in Tehran on Tuesday, the radio said. In Rome, diplomats said the delegation would tell the Iranian government that the future of its dialogue with Europe depended on a firm condemnation of "terrorism."... EU countries, many with close trade ties with Iran, have faced pressure from Israel and the United States to isolate Tehran following the latest bombings in Israel.... Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week rejected terrorism charges against Iran but vowed that Tehran would resist any pressures to support the peace process, which he denounced as a "compromise between a lamb and a wolf." [In another story, Reuters reported that: German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel was quoted on Wednesday as saying Iran must denounce terrorism and commit itself clearly to the Middle East peace process at talks with a European Union delegation in Tehran.... ["Iran must distance itself from the Hamas terror attacks. It must unambiguously support the Middle East peace process and distance itself from terror overall," Kinkel told Wednesday's edition of the Cologne Stadt-Anzeiger daily. "That must be the least one can expect."] Iran Relaxes Currency Rules in Free Trade Zones, Reuters, April 3 TEHRAN - Iran has relaxed tough foreign exchange rules in free trade zones in an attempt to attract much-needed foreign investment, newspapers said on Wednesday.... The new rules allow the free transfer abroad and into Iran of hard currency from the trade zones but transfers into the zones from the rest of the country will remain subject to tight state controls, it said.... Iran banned free currency exchange last May after the rial fell to as low as 7,000 to the dollar in the wake of a United States trade and investment ban against the Islamic republic.... The new law has yet to be approved by the clergy-based Guardian Council which vets laws passed by parliament for conformity with Islam and the constitution.