BRIEF ON IRAN	 
	Representative Office of 
	The National Council of Resistance of Iran           
	
	No. 476	
	Wednesday, August 14, 1996 
 
 
3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007 


Amnesty Urges Iran To Stop Executions, 
Amputations, Reuters, August 13 
 
	Amnesty International on Tuesday 
demanded that Iran stop executions which it said 
were on the rise in the Islamic republic. 
	In a statement faxed to Reuters in Nicosia 
from London, the human rights group also appealed 
against amputations of fingers of persons convicted 
more than once of theft under Iran's Islamic laws. 
	The statement said Amnesty had recorded 
up to 70 executions so far in 1996, against 50 
recorded throughout 1995, adding that the true 
figure may be higher as it believed many executions 
were not reported. 
	It said about 20 percent of those executed 
were political prisoners convicted on charges such 
as membership of opposition groups and espionage. 
	Amnesty expressed concern over reports 
that six people convicted more than once of theft 
had their fingers amputated earlier in August, 
which it believed were the first such punishments 
since 1994.... 
 
 
Alert over Leak Report at Iran N. Bomb Plant, 
Sunday Telegraph, August 11  
 
	Western intelligence experts are this 
weekend trying to confirm claims that a top secret 
Iranian nuclear complex was involved in a 
radiation incident in which seven German experts 
were injured.  
	First reports of the incident in the Iranian 
press suggested the accident had occurred at one of 
the country's nuclear installations in the north of 
the country, close to the Caspian Sea. According to 
the original report, 45 people, including the 
Germans, were injured at Iran's Neka Nuclear 
Complex when they were exposed to gamma rays. 
Western intelligence experts are convinced that 
Iran is committed to developing its own nuclear 
weapons capability, and believe the Neka complex 
is a vital component in the mullahs' attempts to 
develop a nuclear arsenal.... 
	The latest reports were later corrected by 
Iranian officials who said the radiation leak had 
occurred at a gas power station at the town of Rasht 
150 miles away.   
	...The company also issued a statement 
saying that said none of its workers had been 
injured by the radiation leak, which they claim was 
caused by faulty welding equipment.   
	But the statements issued by both the 
Iranians and Siemens raise more questions than 
they answer.   
	The German technicians previously 
worked on the controversial Bushire nuclear power 
station project in the Gulf. The Germans stopped 
work there after heavy criticism from Britain and 
the United States. And Siemens has failed to 
adequately explain why its nuclear engineering 
experts were working on the construction of a 
civilian gas-fired power station. The Iranian 
authorities, furthermore, have so far refused to 
acknowledge the existence of the Neka complex.... 
 
 
"Critical Dialogue", Playing into the Hands of 
Iran's Terrorists, MS-NBC, August 8 
 
	Reporter: European nations, like Germany, 
who do business with Iran, are so angry over the 
threat of U.S. sanctions there is talk of a trade 
war.... 
	But the U.S. criticizes [the Europeans 
policy of critical dialogue], saying that it plays into 
he hands of Iranian terrorists. And it cites hundreds 
of murders of Iranian dissidents throughout Europe 
in recent years as proof that the soft approach 
towards Iran has failed.  
	Mansour Ghadarkhah (Film Maker): "How 
can a country, like Germany, which calls itself a 
democracy, have such a close and good relationship 
with the regime of terror?"  
	Reporter:  Iranian dissident Mansour 
Ghadarkhah has received so many death threats 
from what he believes are Iranian government 
agents in Germany he no longer hides. A critically 
acclaimed film director, his family back in Tehran 
has been threatened as well. He says the Iranian 
terror network is orchestrated from the German 
embassy and consulates by Iranian secret agents.... 
 
 
U.S. Sees Risk Turkey Gas Deal May Break U.S. 
Law, Reuters, August 13 
 
	U.S. Secretary of State Warren 
Christopher said on Tuesday there was "a risk" that 
Turkey's $23 billion gas deal with Iran could violate 
a new U.S. sanctions law but his government had 
yet to decide if this was so. 
	Christopher told a news conference that 
the United States hoped to persuade Turkey, a close 
NATO ally, that it was "not good business" to deal 
with Iran, which Washington accuses of sponsoring 
terrorism and trying to wreck Middle East peace.... 
	The secretary of state said Iran should not 
be given resources to carry out its "desperate 
acts."... 
	"I think the main thing we would say to 
the Turks is that, in dealing with Iran, you have to 
recognize them for what they are -- a country that 
does project terror and is an enemy of the peace 
process "....