BRIEF ON IRAN Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran No. 469 Monday, August 5, 1996 3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007 CIA Suspects Iran Link in TWA Crash-Time Magazine, Reuters, August 4 The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency suspects Iran may be linked to the crash of TWA Flight 800, Time magazine reported on Sunday, citing a well-placed U.S. intelligence source. Time reported the source said that calls and transmissions tracked by the CIA out of Tehran "have raised suspicions" there is an Iranian connection to the disaster that killed 230 people when the TWA Boeing 747 blew up as it left New York.... Time said the CIA is also looking at intelligence reports on a meeting of "terrorist" leaders in Iran the month before the crash to see if any "green light" was given for an attack.... Lawmakers Support Retaliation Against Terrorists, Associated Press, August 4 Lawmakers from both parties voiced support for forceful retaliation against whoever is responsible for terrorist attacks against the United States, even if a foreign country like Iran was behind them. "We are the most powerful nation in the world and the message we should send to Syria and Iran and similar countries is, you mess with us and you will be severely damaged," said House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., on Fox "News Sunday." Gingrich referred to suspicions that Iran was behind the June 25 bombing that killed 19 U.S. servicemen at Dhahran ... and to a USA Today report last week that Iran operates as many as 11 terror training camps.... White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta said whoever is behind the bombing "will be held accountable."... Sanctions Challenge Iran's Oil Industry, Reuters,August 4 Debt-laden Iran will find it more difficult to entice much needed foreign investment to develop its crucial oil industry after a new U.S. sanctions bill, diplomats and industry executives in Tehran said on Sunday. U.S. President Bill Clinton is set to sign a bill on Monday that penalizes non-U.S. firms investing in oil and gas projects in Iran or Libya, states that Washington accuses of sponsoring world- wide terrorism and desiring weapons of mass destruction.... The Iran and Libya Sanctions Act ... goes to the very heart of Tehran's policy of opening its doors to foreign finance in order to sustain its vast oil and gas sector.... Securing its oil earnings is vital for the Islamic republic if it is to maintain repayments on a foreign debt that stood at $43 billion last year, according to an Iranian parliamentary investigation to the country's central bank.... NCR Condemns Murder Of French Bishop, Iran Zamin News Agency, August 3 In an statement issued today, the NCR condemned the shocking murder of Bishop Pierre Claverie in Algeria. "As the Iranian Resistance has repeatedly announced, it is only the religious, terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran which advocates such inhuman atrocities and benefits from continued violence for export of terrorism and enmity to peace and tranquillity," the statement said. News Overview Tehran's New Terrorism Policy On Thursday, August 1, referring to intelligence obtained by the Iranian resistance from within the Tehran regime, Mr. Alireza Jafarzadeh, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the NCR, provided reporters with detailed information about the regime's terrorism plots. He said that Tehran's new terrorism policy is two-pronged and intends "to assassinate Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance and to use terrorism to influence the elections of certain countries, in particular the United States." Mr. Jafarzadeh also revealed that only a few days before the explosion in Dhahran, "a terrorist summit was convened in Tehran chaired by Ali Fallahian, the Intelligence Minister, and Mehdi Chamran, from the Revolutionary Guards Qods Force. The Qods Force is the section of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for extra- territorial operations. The summit was attended by terrorist groups, fundamentalist groups and anti- peace groups from Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. Plans for operations against U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf were discussed and decided upon. Operational plans were reviewed. Decisions were even made on how to carry them out." The Iranian regime maintains 11 terrorist training camps in different locations in Iran, where Iranians and non-Iranian fundamentalists are drilled in their trade, Mr. Jafarzadeh said. Indicating that the assassination of Iranian dissidents abroad has sharply increased in 1996, Mr. Jafarzadeh provided information about a new weapon designed by Iran for its terrorist operations abroad: a high-caliber, long-range, time-delayed mortar that can be easily hidden during its transportation, yet providing deadly effects. Iran has manufactured 20 of these mortars so far, two of which have been captured in Europe and the Middle East; the other 18 can show up anywhere in the world. Mr. Jafarzadeh stressed that now: "the failure of policies which pinned their hopes on moderation is obvious. The European Union's policy of "critical dialogue,"... has not been at all constructive.... Any form of compromise with the mullahs' terrorism will only embolden them.... For this reason, the Iranian Resistance calls not just for a firmer policy, but also for a comprehensive policy which supports the Iranian people's aspirations for a fundamental change in Iran and the replacement of this regime with a democratic, pluralistic and secular government. It is only by means of such a policy that the perpetrators of the Khomeini regime's terrorism will be denied their objectives."