BRIEF ON IRAN	 
	Representative Office of 
	The National Council of Resistance of Iran
	No. 515	
	Wednesday, October 9, 1996 
 
 
3421 M Street NW #1032, Washington, DC 20007
 


Mullahs' Problems with The Internet, The New 
York Times, October 8  
 
	In a special office where Iranian computer 
experts are devising just how much access their 
compatriots should have to the Internet, English 
words scrawled in felt pen fill a large white bulletin 
board across one wall.... 
	The Islamic Republic is in a quandary over 
just how extensive its electronic links with the 
outside world should be.... 
	The government's response to the spread of 
a similar phenomenon —satellite television— was 
to ban satellite dishes outright last year. Sobh, the 
monthly newspaper of the most puritanical clergy, 
has called for a parallel ban on the Internet.... 
	...the government is trying to centralize all 
access through the Ministry of Posts and 
Telecommunications. Having screened thousands of 
sites on the World Wide Web and at least started 
blocking those deemed unhealthy, the ministry is 
expanding subscriptions. 
	Government officials said the number of 
banned sites was not available, but they include 
those with information distributed by opposition 
groups like the Mujahedeen Chalk, based in Iraq, or 
by faiths that Iran abhors like the Bah.... 
	"The brains of the young are very 
impressionable, so the Mujahedeen Chalk might be 
able to brainwash people to join them, or they 
might be able to influence an election," said a 
senior government official familiar with the 
Internet project.... 
 
 
Iran's Persecution of Bahai's, Voice of America, 
Editorial, October 8 
 
	As the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights makes clear, "everyone has the right to 
freedom of thought, conscience and religion."... 
Unfortunately, the governments of many countries 
do not respect religious freedom.  Some 
governments have gone so far as to make teaching 
or practicing a particular religion a crime. 
	The clerical regime in Iran is such a 
government.  Iran's official religion is Islam.  The 
constitution also recognizes Christianity, Judaism 
and Zoroastrianism, but followers of these religions 
are harassed by government officials.  Followers of 
the Baha'i faith are subject to even worse 
persecution.... 
	Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, more 
than two hundred Baha'is have been executed 
because of their religious beliefs.... 
	...Iran should cease its persecution of 
Baha'is and other religious minorities and comply 
fully with the international convention on civil and 
political rights. 
 
 
Mullahs' Terrorism Convention, Radio Israel, 
October 7 
 
	Iranian intelligence officials gathered 
leaders of several terrorist organizations to discuss 
and plan execution of widespread terrorist actions 
against the United States, a Jordanian newspaper 
reported.. 
	The daily Al-Ordon published in Jordan's 
capitol said in the meeting, held in Mogadishu, Iran 
brought together representatives of Lebanese 
Hizbollah and leaders of Islamic fundamentalist 
groups from Afghanistan and Arab countries in 
order to assess the possibilities of planting bombs in 
American institutions around the world. 
	It was decided to carry out the first 
terrorist act in the Emirates of Kuwait, since it is 
neighboring Iran and Islamic government's agents 
can easily infiltrate into that country, Al-Ordon 
wrote. 
	The daily reported that terrorist agents of 
the Iranian government have completed a series of 
training courses in deep-sea diving and swimming 
in a Hizbollah camp in Lebanon. 
 
 
Iran in Petrochemical Deal with International Firm, 
Reuters, October 8  
 
	Iran on Tuesday said it reached a $600 
million agreement with a Dubai-based consortium 
of German and South Korean companies to build a 
petrochemical plant in Iran, the official Iranian 
news agency IRNA reported.... 
	In August, U.S. President Bill Clinton 
adopted a law which penalizes companies investing 
$40 million or more a year in the oil and gas 
industries of Iran and Libya.... 
	The United States is waging an 
international campaign to isolate Tehran for its 
alleged involvement in terrorist acts against the 
West.... 
	Iran has tried to break out of its isolation 
by seeking oil and gas deals.... 
 
 
Quake Measuring 4.6 Degrees Jolts Iran City, 
Reuters, October 8  
	 
	An earthquake measuring 4.6 degrees on 
the Richter scale rocked the city of Zahedan in 
southeast Iran on Tuesday, but there were no 
immediate reports of casualties, the official news 
agency IRNA said. 
	It said an aftershock jolted the city a few 
minutes after the 0211 GMT quake....