BRIEF ON IRAN No. 468 Friday, August 2, 1996 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran 3421 M Street NW #1032 Washington, DC 20007 Iran Seeks Clinton's Defeat, Reuters, August 1 WASHINGTON - Iranian exiles said on Thursday that Tehran had developed a strategy to use terrorism to influence elections abroad and its prime aim was to secure the defeat of U.S. President Bill Clinton. A spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran quoted senior Iranian officials as warning: "We will do to Clinton what we did to Peres."... Alireza Jafarzadeh, a member of the council's foreign affairs committee, also told a news conference at least 18 models of a new Iranian-made mortar were in the hands of agents trying to assassinate Iranian opposition figures.... Jafarzadeh said his group was still investigating the truck bombing that killed 19 U.S. airmen in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in June, but there were "many indications that point to Tehran as the main perpetrators behind this criminal act.... Asked how Iran would benefit from having Clinton defeated by a Republican, Jafarzadeh said Tehran had a grudge against the Clinton administration because of its economic sanctions against Iran.... Mullahs' New Weapon for Terrorism Abroad, The Washington Post, August 1 When they fitted the pieces together, police investigators in Antwerp were shocked. They found they had assembled a 320-millimeter mortar made in Tehran capable of firing 125 kilogram (about 275 pounds) a half-mile... These sections were stowed in the hold of the Iranian freighter... They arrive in Antwerp March 14. The destination was listed as Munich, via Hamburg. More than four months later, the United States has not acknowledged discovery of this mortar-bomb... American voters are frightened about terror, particularly threats of Tehran-style terror, including possible connection to TWA Flight 800.... The discovery in Antwerp confirmed Iran's status as a sophisticated supplier of terror, its widening distribution of killer weapons is no secret. Clinton might ponder this: Yesterday's destination was Munich; is tomorrow's the White House? Actually, the weapon's true destination was almost certainly France, not Germany. Its target almost certainly was Maryam Rajavi, exiled leader of the Iranian National Council of Resistance.... Of exactly 20 mortar-bombs known to have been manufactured in Iran, the Antwerp weapon was the second one to be discovered. The other was discovered in Baghdad. Of the remaining 18 bombs, one or more may well be on the high seas or may even now be somewhere in the West. The Target of the bomb found in Baghdad is presumed to have been Maraym Rajavi's husband, Massoud Rajavi.... The priority of Iran's state-directed terrorism always has been to eliminate Iranian enemies of the regime who live abroad... But Tehran's terror net sweeps wider than that, actively exporting subversive agents. Jointly operated by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Intelligence and Foreign ministries, 11 camps train foreign nationals... These agents know the language and customs of the countries they will be sent back to for terrorist operations... The United States could be next on Iran's list. The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv reported last month that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gave French President Jacques Chirac a secret file in Paris July 1. It reportedly describes a terrorist "summit" in Tehran in June that discussed attacks "to be directed primarily against U.S. targets." Although that could be Israeli misinformation aimed against Iran, U.S. officials say they believe the report. Presumably, Mubarak, in Washington this week, supplied Clinton with the same information he gave Chirac. That could increase the prospect of Clinton's moving against Iran - without fear of being accused of playing election-year politics.... Clerics Blame U.S. for Their Bloody Attack on Kurds, Agence France Presse, July 31 On Wednesday, Iran once again rejected Washington's accusation regarding its support of terrorism and accused the United States as primary source of this phenomenon. Mahmoud Mohammadi, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, accused Washington, particularly, of supporting "Israeli state-terrorism." On the other hand, Mohammadi accused Washington of "encouraging insecurity in the Middle East region... and advocating open uproar against sovereignty of Islamic Republic." He emphasized that for the same reason U.S. is responsible for "insecurity in Northern Iraq, which has affected entire neighboring countries." He was referring to the recent bloody confrontation between Iranian forces and Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish rebels. Previously, on Tuesday, Khamenei, Iran's number one person, referring to TWA and Atlanta bombing said "This is the seed that U.S. itself has sown, and is hitting home. This is just the beginning."