BRIEF ON IRAN
        No. 399
        Thursday, April 25, 1996


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



U.N. Rights Body Hits Iran Over Exile Murders, Reuters, April
24

        GENEVA - The United Nations Commission on Human
Rights Wednesday deplored assassinations of Iranian exiles
and called on Tehran to refrain from activities aimed at
opposition figures outside the country.
        The strictures were issued in a resolution, which also
expressed concern at what it said was the continuation of
human rights violations in Iran, approved by 24 votes to
seven with 20 abstentions in the 53-member body.
        The resolution was largely drafted by European Union
countries with strong support from the United States and won
support in the voting from Russia and several other former
communist states as well as many Latin American countries....
        The resolution ... said the body "deplores the continuing
violence against Iranians outside the Islamic Republic of
Iran...."
        Iranian exiles say Tehran agents have killed many of its
opponents abroad over the past few years, including in the
latest incident shooting a woman member of the opposition
"National Council of Resistance" in Turkey in February.
        The resolution ... reaffirmed that governments "are
accountable for assassinations and attacks by their agents"
against people living in other states....


Mr. Rajavi: Human Rights Commission's Condemn-ation of
Mullahs Confirms Need To Expel Regime from World
Community, from a statement by NCR, April 24

        ...Mr. Massoud Rajavi, President of the National Council of
Resistance, said: Although the resolution [adopted today by the
U.N. Human Rights Commission] addresses only a glimpse of
the mullahs' horrific crimes, it again demonstrates that
suppression and terrorism are indispensable to this
illegitimate theocracy which is incapable of reform....
        The NCR President extended his gratitude to those
countries which persevered in the face of conspiracies by the
regime and its allies, rejected any concessions to the medieval
dictatorship and underscored the need to uphold unalienable
human rights principles....
        Mr. Rajavi said: The mullahs top the list of human rights
abusers the worldover and have emerged as the primary
threat to regional peace and tranquillity. Thus, the
international community must go beyond passing resolutions
of condemnation and refer the issue of human rights violations
in Iran to the UN Security Council for making practical
decisions such as trade sanctions.
        The NCR President urged the European countries to stop
making concessions to the medieval tyranny on the pretext of
critical dialogue. He called upon them to refrain from economic
dealings with the mullahs and thereby prevent them from
utilizing Iran's national wealth for suppressing the people and
exporting turmoil and chaos to the region and the world....
Iran MPs Vow Confrontation with U.S., Israel, Reuters, April 24

        TEHRAN - Newly-elected conservatives forming the
largest bloc in Iran's influential parliament vowed on
Wednesday continued "confrontation" with the United States
and Israel.
        Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a leader of the conservative
Combatant Clergy Association (CCA), said the 17-year-old
Islamic republic was ready for dialogue with other countries
provided it was two-way.
        "Foreign policy will have no change. Our confrontation
with America will continue," he told Abrar newspaper in an
interview....
        Bahonar is one of the most influential parliamentarians
in the CCA, which won the largest number of seats in two-
stage assembly elections on March 8 and April 19 and claims
to have retained the outright majority it enjoys in the outgoing
chamber. Bahonar retained his seat....
        Ali Movahhedi Savoji, another CCA member of
parliament, told Akhbar newspaper he believed the assembly
would include a number of "liberals" - a derogatory term the
CCA has applied to the SIC - but he added that the authorities
would "review the case of each and every one."
        He did not elaborate. One of the first tasks of each newly
elected parliament is to vote to accept each member formally
into the assembly....