BRIEF ON IRAN Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran No. 456 Wednesday, July 17, 1996 3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007 Mullahs' Agent Suspected Commander of Rome Assassination, Agence France Presse, July 15 Judicial sources in Rome announced that during the court session regarding the assassination of an Iranian dissident who was killed in Rome in 1993, the plaintiffs asked the Italian government to revoke the diplomatic immunity of an Iranian diplomat who was in the Italian capital and is suspected of participation and commanding the murder.... According to the judicial sources, the diplomat was previously posted in Bonn and suspected by German secret services of being a spy. When Rome was asked to confirm his diplomatic status, the Italian secret services strongly suggested to the government to reject his credentials, however, under pressure from Tehran, his status was confirmed.... Lawyers for the plaintiffs insist that the prosecutor should ask the Italian Foreign Ministry to try to make Iran revoke the diplomatic immunity of its diplomat, since according to the lawyers, the Islamic Republic's embassy in Rome has announced its readiness to fully cooperate with the judiciary. They said: "It should be investigated to see if the embassy is truly inclined to cooperate with the court without using the cover of diplomatic immunity."... U.S. Embassy Employee Slain in Cairo, United Press International, July 15 A U.S. Embassy summer employee was stabbed to death outside a luxury hotel in Cairo, Egyptian police said Tuesday.... Embassy officials declined to release information about the attack or issue any comment.... The Interior Ministry, which controls all Egyptian police forces, released several medical certificates and official documents showing the suspect has a mental disorder. On Sept. 14, 1993, two U.S. men on a trade mission to Egypt and a French judge were killed at the same hotel's bar by a young gunman who was also described by police as deranged. More than 1,000 people have been killed and many more wounded in Egypt since 1992, when Muslim extremists started their insurgency to replace the secular government with an Iran-style theocratic rule. The rebels in particular have targeted the tourist industry to deny the government a prime source of foreign currency. Arrests Made in Connection with Argentine Bombing, Reuters, July 15 Israeli officials and local Jewish leaders reacted with extreme caution on Monday to news that Argentina arrested a dozen policemen in connection with the bombing of a Jewish center in 1994.... Some of the detainees are charged with allegedly selling stolen vehicles, including the van used by the car-bomb attackers to raze the AMIA Jewish center on July 18, 1994, which killed 86 people and injured 300. Half of the policemen were being held only as witnesses.... Israel, the United States and Judge Galeano all have openly said they suspected Iranian-backed guerrillas were behind the bombings. Galeano went as far as issuing arrest warrants for four Iranian officials here soon after the AMIA attack.... Rafsanjani: U.S. Humiliation, Divine Promise, Tehran Radio, July 15 During the ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of the Prophet Mohammad's death held in the Revolutionary Guards' Sarallah mosque, Rafsanjani ... described the frequent, continual successes of the Islamic Republic's regime on one hand, and the United States' anger due to her humiliation, disgrace and feebleness on the other, as the best examples of fulfillment of divine promises.... Iran Urges Ireland to Help Mend Ties with EU, Reuters, July 16 Iran on Tuesday urged Ireland, current holder of the EU presidency, to help mend Tehran's ties with Europe which have been strained over a death edict against British author Salman Rushdie. Iranian parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, quoted by the official IRNA news agency, expressed hope that "during Ireland's presidency...Iran-Europe relations would further expand and that Ireland would play an active role in making clear Iran's aspirations and goals to the EU." Nateq-Nouri made the remarks to visiting Liam Naughten, speaker of Ireland's Seanad, or upper house, the agency said.... [A statement issued by NCR today said: "The desperate appeal by Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, the Majlis speaker, comes at a time when the persistence of flagrant violations of human rights, especially the brutal suppression of women, at home and continued export of terrorism and fundamentalism and meddling in the affairs of neighboring countries have led to the regime's extreme isolation within the international community. They have also aroused widespread protest by the European public and parliamentarians to the policy of placating the mullahs under the guise of critical dialogue...."]