BRIEF ON IRAN No. 517 Friday, October 11, 1996 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran 3421 M Street NW #1032 Washington, DC 20007 Iran MPs Want Minister Censured For "Blasphemy," Reuters, October 10 TEHRAN - Iranian parliamentarians have filed a censure motion against the interior minister, accusing him of blasphemy for saying his officials were superior to those of an early Shi'ite Moslem imam, a newspaper said on Thursday. The daily Salam quoted deputy Mohammad Baqer Zakeri, a Shi'ite cleric, as saying 11 members of the 270-seat parliament had filed the motion against Interior Minister Ali Mohammad Besharati for a speech he made two weeks ago and other issues. Besharati, quoted by Salam, had said in the speech: "My provincial governors do not commit errors or violations, do not lie or insult anyone, and they are nice to people."... "God, are you satisfied with us (Iranian officials)? I can hear with all my being that you are saying yes," Besharati was quoted as saying.... A group of deputies in May withdrew an earlier censure motion against Besharati over his ministry's alleged lack of impartiality in handling parliamentary elections in March. Hitler's Paintings in Mullahs' Exhibit, Radio Israel, October 9 Two paintings by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi criminal, is going to be in an international exhibition in Tehran organized by the state-run Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundations. According to the German news agency, DPA, an Iranian magazine, Payam-e Emrouz, quoted an authority of the museum affiliated with the foundations as saying that Hitler's watercolors paintings are 50x60 centimeters... This official refused to explain how and why the Islamic Republic has purchased the paintings of the greatest criminal of human history. He did not disclose the price paid for them either. Norwegian Evangelist Leader Protest Against Iran, Iran Zamin News Agency, October 10 A Norwegian evangelist leader called on the Norwegian government to protest the Rafsanjani government's killing of an Iranian Christian priest, Mohammad Baqer Yousefi, in northern city of Gha'emshahr. According to Norwegian daily, Vortland, Lars Agnar Rosten said that the Norwegian officials should not wait for another murder and should do something. They must pressure Iranian authorities to explain the killings, he added. Mr. Lars Gunnar Lingaas, head of Committee on Human Rights in Iran, completely supported Rosten's statement and said: There is no doubt that priest Yousefi is murdered. Lingaas added that the Iranian Resistance's had long ago reported the growing persecution of Christians in Iran. Clerics Establish Terrorist Cores in Britain, Iran Zamin News Agency, October 9 An Egyptian military expert said that the Iranian regime is trying to establish various organizations in London in order to further its export of terrorism. Currently, there are 209 different groups in London, and the Iranian regime is in contact with most of them. In his interview with Egyptian daily Al Ahram, Major General Ahmad Fakhr, Director of National Center for Middle Eastern Studies, said: "The objective of the [Iranian] regime is to export the so-called Islamic revolution." 25 Executed Under the Guise of Drug Smuggling, Iran Zamin News Agency, October 10 25 persons were executed in the eastern province of Khorassan. The regime accused them of smuggling drugs. According to officials of security forces in Khorassan, 56 more were sentenced to prison. It should be noted that the government has repeatedly executed large numbers of political prisoners under the guise of drug smugglers. Iran's Food Industry in Trouble, Radio Israel, October 9 In a detailed report , the daily Salam wrote that Iran's food industry is facing serious problems. The report says food manufacturing companies are easily defeated in competition with foreign rivals, because they cannot afford such "unequal" competition. The paper reported that even the export of Saffron, for which Iran was famous all over the world, has fallen behind Spain... 40% of Water Distribution Network Decrepit, State-run Radio, October 9 In a national conference on water sanitation in the western city of Kermanshah, the deputy of Health, Treatment and Medical Education Ministry acknowledged that 40% of water distribution network is worn out. This problem has created contamination.