BRIEF ON IRAN Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran No. 401 Monday, April 29, 1996 3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007 Iranian Resistance Welcomes the Ceasefire, a statement by NCR, April 26 The National Council of Resistance of Iran welcomes the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and the end to attacks against civilians. The NCR congratulates the governments and people of Lebanon and Israel and considers the ceasefire as an effective step toward securing comprehensive peace and recognizing the rights of all countries in the region. Only the religious, terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran opposes peace and tranquillity and benefits from the continuation of violence and hostility in the region. Turkey Deports Iran Dissident Despite U.N. Fears, Reuters, April 26 ANKARA - Turkey on Friday deported an Iranian dissident to his home country despite fears by the United Nations refugee body that he may be in danger at the hands of the Tehran government, security officials said. Police in the eastern Turkish town of Agri said Mehrdad Kavoussi, a supporter of the Mujahedeen Khalq, was expelled at the Dogubeyazit border post. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ankara said Kavoussi had registered with it and was in the process of being recognized as a refugee. "The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees believes that he is a refugee and fears that he may be in great danger in Iran because of his political opposition to the government there," a UNHCR official told Reuters.... The UNHCR said Kavoussi had spent 10 years in the Evin jail in Tehran for non-violent opposition to the Iranian Islamic republic and had been frequently tortured.... [In telegrams to the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Representative of the UN Human Rights Commission, Mr. Massoud Rajavi, the President of the NCR, strongly condemned the expulsion of Mr. Kavoussi as trampling upon the recognized principles of human rights and a blatant violation of the sacred right to asylum. [Noting that the action will doubtless lead to the arrest, torture and execution of Mr. Kavoussi, Mr. Rajavi called for their immediate intervention to undertake appropriate measures to save Mr. Kavoussi's life and relocate him in a European country. He added that extraditing Mr. Kavoussi to a regime, condemned just two days ago for the 37th time by the United Nations, was tantamount to signing his death decree. [The NCR President called on the UNHCR and other international human rights organizations to urge the Turkish government to provide protection for Iranian asylum seekers and refrain from pressuring them. He also appealed that they provide the possibility to relocate these asylum seekers to other countries as quickly as possible.] Short News * Reuters, April 27, NICOSIA - Iran said its pilgrims held a political rally denouncing the United States and Israel during the climax of the annual pilgrimage on Saturday at Mount Arafat, defying a Saudi Arabian ban on political activity during haj. * Iran Zamin News Agency, April 22-Strike by workers at Aali brick factory near Isfahan continues. Protesting the non-payment of their wages in the last six months, the workers have staged a sit-in in front of Isfahan's governor's office and the local branch of Department of labor and social affairs. * Reuters, April 27, NICOSIA-A tremor measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale shook the city of Kashan in central Iran on Saturday, the official news agency IRNA said. "No report has yet been received on possible loss of life or damage to property," IRNA said. * Iran Zamin, April 22- Revolutionary Guards attacked a party arranged to celebrate the educational achievements of two children in a family, and assaulted the guests. Some 40 agents in seven patrol vehicles undertook the raid. They detained all the guests for one day without food and water. The guests were released after paying heavy fines. The host was also fined 4.5 million rials.