BRIEF ON IRAN Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran No. 430 Monday, June 10, 1996 3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007 Tehran's Intervention in Bahrain Reuter Reports June 9 — Bahrain's emir said in remarks published on Sunday an alleged pro-Iranian plot to topple his government was also aimed against other countries in the region. "They wanted to use our country as a passage to the region," Sheikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa said in an interview with Kuwait's al-Seyassah newspaper and its English-language sister the Arab Times.... June 9 — British Prime Minister John Major has sent a message of support to Bahrain over what the Gulf Arab state said was a pro-Iranian plot to overthrow the government.... The Gulf News Agency quoted Major as saying Iran's "greediness" in the Gulf and its policies over "terrorism" were a source of concern to those wishing to maintain stability in the region. June 8 — Bahrain on Saturday dismissed Iran's offer to mediate between the Gulf Arab state's government and its Shi'ite opponents.... Maryam Rajavi's Meeting with Yasser Arafat..., Frankfurter Rundschau, June 7 Maryam Rajavi, elected by the National Council of Resistance as President, met with Yasser Arafat in London on Thursday. The meeting represents a diplomatic honoring of the National Council of Resistance, that, according to their intelligence gatherings, is the target of assassination waves enforced from Tehran. According to NCR's report, Rajavi supported the peace process in the Middle East. The NCR considers the overthrow of the Tehran regime as the basis for a comprehensive peace.... ...And Regime's Reaction, Associated Press (AP France), June 7 In a sharp attack against Arafat, Ali Akbar Velayati, the Iranian minister of foreign affairs, called Arafat a hypocrite and said that Arafat's efforts for peace with Israel is doomed to failure. The Iranian government, which is hostile to the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, is angered by a Monday meeting in London between Mr. Arafat and a prominent member of the Iranian opposition.... News Overview Who Was the Target of Tehran's Military Maneuvers? The military exercises described by Mullahs as their biggest-ever maneuvers and conducted in the deserts south of Tehran, about two weeks ago, were considered by all the analysts, with different points of view, as a show of force. But in explaining what and who was the target of these exercises — code-named Velayat maneuvers — the opinions differed. Some reports described the operations as a show of force toward the Persian Gulf Arab States, The US or Israel. However, the State Department's spokesman, Nicholas Burns, described the maneuvers as having little importance and said that they were not a new threat against the United States. The experience tells us that the Tehran government's goal in conducting such maneuvers is, in general, suppression of the Iranian people and boosting the morale of their own demoralized forces. Clearly, the mullahs would not conduct a show of force at the gateways of Tehran to "instill fear" in the "heart" of the United States. The scope of the maneuvers and the circumstances surrounding them, however, suggest that the goal was not limited to intimidation of the people or prevention of the spread of protests against the rulers. So the question remains: What did the regime intend in carrying out the Velayat exercises? Let us take a brief look at what the commanders in charge of the maneuvers have said. The regime's armed forces chief of staff said that "the Velayat maneuvers were designed based on a realistic scenario and genuine operations." He described the maneuvers as one of the most tactical exercises of the armed forces. The state-run Tehran Radio reported on May 24 that: "The Army's Deputy Commander of Intelligence and Operations said the Velayat operations were a picture of an internal war." What is this "realistic scenario"? The maneuvers' scenario is a response attack against an enemy who has crossed the "international borders" and has advanced into the country, reaching Tehran's vicinity. Let us continue the scenario as appeared in the statement issued by "Velayat Headquarters" after the exercises: "The ground forces' armored, infantry and special divisions, supported by ... the air force ... were able to destroy the enemy and capture the remnants of the enemy's deceived forces. In subsequent operations ... the region was purged and the international borders were secured." Which army can advance to Tehran's gateways and force the regime to carry out its last defensive operation? Which army's entanglement with the Tehran's dictators can be characterized as an "internal war"? Who is the most serious enemy of the regime whose destruction and capture of its "deceived forces" have long been the wishes of the mullahs? That army is the National Liberation Army of Iran, the Resistance's military arm.