Brief on Iran
No. 526, Friday October 25

Representative Office of 
The National Council of Resistance of Iran
Washington DC


Dissident Cleric Says "Satanic Versus" Not Blasphemy, Norwegian National
Television, NRK, October 22

	One of the most prominent critics of the Iranian regime, Ayatollah Jalal
Ganje'i is visiting Norway.  The ayatollah said that, contrary to claim by
the mullahs' regime, Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Versus," should not be
considered blasphemous.
	Ayatollah Jalal Ganje'i drew attentions when he pronounced the death decree
by his teacher, Khomeini, as contradictory and against Islamic laws and
principals.
	He believes that this book should be read as a novel.  "This is not a
historical research or philosophical work. It is simply a novel in which the
author has created his own imaginary settings and he does not claim anything
more," Ganje'i said. 
	Ganje'i, the Chairman of Denominations and Freedom of Religion Committee of
the National Council of Resistance of Iran will give a speech on
fundamentalism and suppression of women at  Oslo University....


Crocodile Tears for Women's Rights, Reuters, October 23

    TEHRAN - Iranian women's groups have denounced as "un-Islamic'"
restrictions imposed on women by the radical Moslem Taleban militia in
neighboring Afghanistan, a newspaper said on Wednesday....
	Under Iran's Islamic laws, women have to follow a strict dress code and
contacts between unmarried men and women are forbidden....


Growing Economic Hardship Worries Mullahs' Regime, Radio Israel, October 23

	Nateq Nouri [speaker of the parliament], in defense of government's
economic policies, today blamed the current economic crises on what he
called the networks of espionage.  He said: "elements  of espionage operate
within networks and are trying to infiltrate the country's economic process."
	Yesterday, however, the Minister of Agriculture blamed the government's
policies, particularly those of the banking system, for the economic
situation. 	
	Nateq Nouri said: "There are hands trying to corrupt our forces... Under
these circumstances we must confront the security issues seriously and with
presumption of conspiracy."
	Nateq Nouri made these statements in a meeting with intelligence and
security authorities.
	According to daily Salam, Nateq Nouri asked the authorities to recognize
the security of universities as their primary responsibility.  He said:
"Those with sharp eyes must be hired to watch the situation."
	Daily Kayhan also quoted Nateq Nouri as saying that the internal corruption
was more dangerous than a military aggression against the Islamic Republic.


Mullahs' Plan to Assassinate More Than 20 Authors, Iran Zamin News Agency,
October 24

	Danish daily, Information, has revealed the efforts of Tehran's regime to
assassinate more than 20 Iranian authors who are visiting Armenia.
	The daily wrote: "The plan, also confirmed by western diplomats in Tehran,
is an evil effort by the Iranian officials to muzzle these writers once and
for all."
	The paper also quoted one of its correspondents as saying that from, most
of 400 periodicals in Iran have been shut down in recent months and their
editors are either imprisoned or their lives have been threatened.


Tehran's regime Trying to Carry Out New Terrorist Operations, Weekly Iran
Zamin, October 21

	On October 10, German daily Rhine Falls revealed that the Iranian regime is
trying to carry out new terrorist operations.
	According to this report, Middle Eastern intelligence services have
discovered documents regarding new terrorist plans by Iranian-sponsored
terrorist groups.
	The paper wrote that a few days before, Ahmad Pour Mohammadi, the deputy
Minister of Information, met the head of a terrorist organization in Syria
to plan for the preparation of new operations.
	The daily also quoted Middle Eastern intelligence sources as saying that
the clerical regime has supplied terrorist movements with huge sums of money
recently....