BRIEF ON IRAN	
No. 463
Friday, July 26, 1996

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


Iran-Carpet Strike, Associated Press, July 25

	TEHRAN - Tehran's sprawling carpet bazaar has virtually shut down to
protest high taxes and red tape that are killing the country's
second-richest industry, a newspaper reported....
	After oil, carpets are the largest single earners of foreign exchange in
Iran, bringing in more than $1.5 billion a year. The industry employs 2.5
million weavers, 20 percent of the nation's population....
	Some merchants complained that their taxes had increased by up to 10 times
in a year. They said export regulations were so cumbersome that it had
become almost impossible to do business, the paper reported.
	Another complaint was that regulations were changed so often that merchants
were afraid to buy or sell.
	"In other countries, governments provide great benefits to merchants in
order to boost exports. But in this country its quite the opposite," one
merchant, identified only as Akbarzadeh, told the newspaper....


Mullahs' Harsh Laws: Execution for Stealing, Associated Press, July 25

	TEHRAN - Iran has tightened Islamic laws to mandate that thieves will have
their fingers cut off 
and lending money for profit will be punished by public lashings.
	The new laws, which went into effect July 10, would "fully guarantee the
security of the country," prosecutor-general Ayatollah Morteza Moqtadaie
told the Jomhuri Islami newspaper in a report published Thursday....
	Moqtadaie said that from now on, a thief would lose four fingers of his
right hand for a first offense, and his toes for a second theft. A third
time would result in life imprisonment.
	Usury is illegal under the Sharia, and Moqtadaie said that anyone who lent
money for profit would be given 74 lashes and could go to jail for up to
three years....
	The laws, which call for the death sentence for offenses such as rape and
adultery, have been criticized by international human rights organizations.
	[In a related story, Agence France Presse reported that according to this
law, stealing for the fourth time will also be punished by death. Moqtadaie
added: "at any rate, all thieves will receive 74 lashes," the report said.]
 

Two Men to be Hanged for Attempting Rafsanjani's life, Agence France Presse,
July 23

	On Tuesday, the daily Kayhan reported that the revolutionary court
sentenced to death by hanging a man who fired at Rafsanjani in 1994.
Rahbarpour, the chief judge, emphasized that "Korush Nik-Akhtar, the main
conspirator, and his aid, Mohammad Mousavi-Nia are condemned to death by
hanging." This incident happened in February 1994 at Khomeini's tomb near
Tehran during 15th anniversary of Islamic Revolution I Iran.
	A third man, Mohsen Salsali, was convicted to three years imprisonment and
about 20 others were arrested in process of the investigation regarding the
incident. 


More Executions, Reuters, July 25

	TEHRAN - Iran has sentenced to death four people for drug trafficking,
newspapers reported on Thursday....
	Last week, Iran announced the execution of seven people for belonging to
drug trafficking gangs that carried five tones of drugs across the borders....
	... More than 1,000 people have been executed in drug-related cases since
the law took effect in 1989.
	Iran has an estimated one million drug addicts and is a key transit route
for drugs, mostly opium, smuggled to Europe through Afghanistan and Pakistan
-- the so-called "Golden Crescent."


Clerics Use Terrorism as Bargaining Chip, Radio Israel, July 23

	Israel's former chief of foreign intelligence and security said that he had
no doubt that the copilot Ron Arad has been for several years in the hands
of Iran rulers... He said Iran will only release Ron Arad when it finds it
proper, and the reward which Iran will demand may not be a compromise from
Israel but from another country such as Germany.
	In response to why the exchange of the bodies of two Israeli soldiers
occurred now, he said that the internal problems and the international
circumstances forced the Islamic rulers to do so and they have no choice but
paying the price to achieve some of their objectives in the international arena.