BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 531
Friday, November 1, 1996

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


Inhumane Treatment of Mentally Ill Children in Iran, CNN, October 31

	In Iran, hundreds of mentally ill children are shut away, socially
unacceptable to their families, and many spend their day tied to their beds...
	They are images difficult to look at, but they are daily reality for the
children of the Hazrat Ali Rehabilitation Center, outside Tehran.  A boy,
perhaps in his early teens, struggles against his bonds. He is tied here
most of the day, alone.  Many of his fellow patients, aged between eight and
fifteen, are also tied.  This boy's bonds are so tight they bite into his
arms. Another boy bears the scars of similar treatment. Perhaps incredibly,
those in charge say things aren't so bad....
	The staff here are paid the equivalent of eight U.S. dollars per week.  Few
have had more than the most basic of training....
	But they are tied, some with rough cloth, others with chain.  And many are
kept tied, even while being washed.  Not all are restricted, though. In a
corridor, a child drags himself, naked, along the floor.  Insects crawl on
the walls. Human waste sits on the floors.
	The bleak days merge here at Hazrat Ali, and shall continue to do so. These
children have no family, no where to go, and no future.


Everlasting Battle with U.S, Top Mullah Says, Associated Press, October 30

	TEHRAN - Iran's battle with the United States is an everlasting, religious
duty, the country's spiritual leader said Wednesday.
	"The United States is the symbol of arrogance for the Iranian people.
Fighting against arrogance, and primarily the United States, is a kind of
religious duty and an everlasting slogan," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a
speech in the run-up to the anniversary of the occupation of the U.S.
Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979....
	Khamenei also rejected calls from Washington for dialogue between Iran and
the United States, which he called "the great Satan."
	"The victories of Iran against this world power proves that the great Satan
is very vulnerable," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on Iranian radio.
	"The basic motto of the Iranian people, 'Death to America' ... should be
preserved like a flag," he said....


Bonfire of Cigarettes to Mark Iran's Anti-U.S. Day, Reuters, October 31

	DUBAI - Iran will burn 10 million mostly U.S.-made cigarettes seized from
smugglers as part of events on Sunday marking the 17th anniversary of the
seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran, an Iranian newspaper said on
Thursday....
	Several state bodies, including the Revolutionary Guards, on Thursday
called on Iranians to attend nationwide rallies marking the day named
"International Day of Struggle against World Arrogance," Tehran radio
reported....
	American cigarettes are widely available in Iran, where officials have said
that up to 75 percent of the daily consumption of 150 million cigarettes is
contraband....


Iran Applies to Join WTO But Bid Stalled, Reuters, October 31
 
	GENEVA - Iran has quietly applied to join the World Trade Organization
(WTO) but Western states are blocking its bid, trade officials in Geneva
said on Thursday....
	Normally the WTO general council would consider the application and decide
to establish a working party to start the process of negotiating the terms
of an accession protocol. The process can take years -- depending on the
country's degree of trade liberalization and political sensitivity....


Iran Jails Bank Official for Embezzling $3.7 Million, Reuters, October 31

	DUBAI - An Iranian court sentenced a state bank director to 10 years in
jail for embezzling $3.7 million, a Tehran newspaper said on Thursday.
	The evening daily Kayhan said the court also ordered the unnamed director
of the central branch of the state-run Bank Melli Iran in the southwestern
city of Abadan to pay fines amounting to twice the misappropriated sum of 11
billion rials ($3.7 million).
	The case follows a series of trials for embezzlement and fraud at state
agencies and banks which have featured prominently in the press and sparked
a wide public outcry....
	In the biggest fraud case in Iran's history, an Iranian businessman was
executed last year after a court found him guilty of defrauding Bank Saderat
of $21.7 million.