BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 499
Tuesday, September 17, 1996

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


Hezbollah, the Military Solution to Political Problems, Radio Israel,
September 15

	The daily Salam conducted an exclusive interview with Brigadier Rezaii
[Commander of Revolutionary Guards] during the two day exercise of 40,000
Guards Corps and Besijies [the paramilitary forces] around [northwestern
city of] Tabriz. He was asked that despite the fact that the constitution
and Khomeini prohibited any involvement of armed services in political
issues, why had he commented regarding the upcoming parliamentary and
presidential elections?
	Rezaii responded: "... At any time, if the factional and political
litigations get to a point that endanger the essence of revolution and the
system of the Islamic Republic, the revolutionary forces including Hezbollah
and Besiji will feel obliged to defend the revolution..."
	The commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps also criticized that all
factions now abuse the term "Hezbollah" to their favor and therefore one
cannot tell them apart....


Public Looking at Clerics with Disgust, State-run Radio, September 25

	Zarandi [Representative of Khamenei in western province of Kermanshah] at
Friday prayers: "... Isn't this a shame that one who has gotten his [high
school] diploma... could not read the Koran?... When one approaches a
cleric, looking at him with disgust.  Cleric is your friend, not your enemy.
He wants your good....
	... The pure Islam has these difficulties... We don't say there is no
pressure.  There is.  We don't say things are not expensive.  They are.  We
don't say inflation doesn't exist.  It does.  But we say this is the nature
of a revolution.  We are standing against the whole world...
	We know there is a lot of pressure on some.  They have many problems in
life. It is even sad, in fact pitiful..."


College Graduates Protest, Demand Their Diplomas, Iran Zamin News Agency,
September 16

	Scores of graduates from teachers training colleges on Sunday staged a
protest in front of the central building of Department of Education.  They
were saying that since their graduation, two years ago, they have not
received their diplomas and do not have employment permits...


Foreign Companies Downsizing in Iran, Iran Zamin News Agency, September 16

	The Italian daily, La Repubblica, reporting the evacuation of Iran by
foreign companies, wrote that in these companies the atmosphere of
downsizing is dominant.  Many say Iran is a rich country, but French and
Italian embassies are considering downsizing their centers in this country.
	According to this report, the Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) that aides
Italian exporters, has gone through this state and is retaining only one
director there.  The rest of exporters are following the same pattern.
	La Repubblica adds that since 1993 the applications for small and medium
size companies for working in Iran has reduced to half and there is no
prospect of improvement.
	The daily, quoting the owner of a foreign company wrote: "Iranian
government is on a decline.  A decline that seems irreversible."...


No Reason for the Detention of U.N. Workers by Iran, Reuters, September 16

	DUBAI - Iran said on Monday it had released a U.N. official, two refugee
workers and a driver held in its custody for several days...
	The four were reported to have been seized by an unnamed group in northern
Iraq last week and taken into Iran....
	Jolles [UNHCR official] said it was not yet clear why the four -- Pierre
Vinet, UNHCR representative in northern Iraq, two aid workers with
Pharmaciens sans Frontieres and a driver -- were in Iran or how they came
there....


U.S. Asks World Court to Throw Out Iranian Case, Reuters, September 16

	THE HAGUE - The United States urged the International Court of Justice on
Monday to throw out a case in which Iran is seeking compensation for
destruction of three offshore oil platforms by U.S. warships almost 10 years
ago....
	Iran has asked the U.N. court to rule that the attacks on the oil platforms
in October 1987 and April 1988 violated international law and that the U.S.
should pay damages.
	But Washington says the strikes were a legitimate military response to
attacks on a U.S. frigate and an 
oil tanker sailing under the U.S. flag....