BRIEF ON IRAN No. 413 Wednesday, May 15, 1996 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran 3421 M Street NW #1032 Washington, DC 20007 State Dept. Says Hezbollah Gets Increased Aid from Iran, Associated Press, May 14 WASHINGTON - As tensions along the Israeli-Lebanese border increase once again, the State Department said Tuesday Hezbollah militiamen have been receiving stepped up financial assistance and weaponry from Iran. Spokesman Nicholas Burns said the Iranians have been using various routes, including Syria, to transfer the weaponry.... Burns, speaking to reporters, cited the Iranian support for Hezbollah to rebuke European countries, particularly Germany, that believe a dialogue with Iran is preferable to a policy of isolation, the approach favored by the Clinton administration. "All those who champion a critical dialogue with Iran should reflect on the Iranian role in violence and terrorism," Burns said.... The Washington Times reported Tuesday that Iran supplied 500 to 900 Russian-made Katyusha rockets to Hezbollah forces during the fighting in April.... Mullahs Try to Gain More Influence in Lebanon, The Washington Times, May 14 Iran has stepped up its supply of arms to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, encouraged by the Shi'ite militias dramatic success in defying and embarrassing Israel, according to U.S. experts and Lebanese political sources. The Iranians are also forging new ties to the Lebanese government, helped by revived cooperation with Syria, the dominant power in Lebanon.... While [Israel's Grapes of Wrath] attacks were popular at home for Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, ... they created enormous anti-Israeli sentiment among Lebanese of different religious and ethnic backgrounds. Israeli military and intelligence officials now fear that Iran will be able to take advantage of these conditions to create a stronger zone of influence in southern Lebanon.... Hezbollah's success in defying Israel was bound to encourage Iran's ruling mullahs to step up their aid to what they considered a good investment, said Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Peace. "Iran wants bang for its bucks. Hezbollah proved its worth to them," Mr. Eisenstadt said.... Iran Fires Anti-Ship Missiles in Gulf War Games, Reuters, May 14 TEHRAN - Marine units of Iran's Revolutionary Guards have fired anti-ship missiles during exercises in the Gulf, Iranian media said on Tuesday. Guards Marine Colonel Parviz Qowsi, quoted by the daily Jomhuri Eslami, said the units had for the first time launched land-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles during the war games in the northern Gulf.... Social Situation Volatile in Iran, BBC Radio, May 11 Citing the public discontents against the government in its editorial, the daily Jomhouri Eslami wrote that there are people who try to discourage Hezbollah regarding Iran's reconstruction officials. And more dangerous is that they indicate that Hezbollah forces are against progress. Jomhouri Eslami called this a dangerous conspiracy. Without explicitly mentioning the Ansar-e-Hezbollah's attacks against cultural centers, daily Akhbar wrote in its commentary that a couple of incidents that occurred last week have caused strange reactions in the society and were alarming to the security of cities.... Iran Top Judge: Baha'ism Spy Ring, Not Faith, Reuters, May 14 NICOSIA - Iran's top judge has blasted the Baha'i faith as a spy organization.... Several hundred Baha'is have been executed in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution... Yazdi [head of the Mullahs' Judiciary] told a group of Shi'ite Moslem theologians in the holy city of Qom: "Iran will by no means sacrifice...Islamic rules in order to appease international bodies," IRNA said. He was apparently referring to the United Nations Human Rights Commission which last month expressed concern about discrimination against religious minorities in Iran.... Short News * NCR Secretariat, May 14, In the evening of Wadnesday, May 8, the anti-human regime of the mullahs, hanged by a crane, a man named Ali Andalib Dezfouli in the presence of his wife and child. * NCR Secretariat, May 14, According to reports from inside Iran, last week about 900 workers at the Isfahan Tobbaco Company went on a strike.