BRIEF ON IRAN No. 533 Tuesday, November 5, 1996 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran Washington, DC Killer Rocks, Associated Press, November 4 LONDON - Hezbollah guerrillas are using fiberglass rocks to camouflage deadly bombs in an increasingly sophisticated campaign against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, Jane's International Defense Review reported Monday. The imitation rocks, which contain explosives, are strewn among real rocks along roads leading to Israeli bases and lookout posts.... Hezbollah... is an Iranian-backed Islamic guerrilla group... A Jane's reporter who visited south Lebanon in August was told that the rocks are made in Iran, flown to Syria and then transported to Hezbollah strongholds. There, they are usually filled with plastic explosive that has been covered with quarter-inch or half-inch ball bearings that can penetrate steel.... Hezbollah has also resorted to other ploys including laying 220 pounds of plastic explosive as a single bomb, usually buried in the middle of the road to blast the underbelly of Israeli armored vehicles, the magazine said... Venter [Jane's correspondent] said many of the U.N. officers and some Israelis believe that Hezbollah is getting a very good and very efficient level of outside training... Israel Said to Ask Syria, Iran to Prevent Attack, Reuters, November 4 JERUSALEM - Israel, on high alert against attacks by Islamic Jihad marking the first anniversary of the assassination of the group's leader, has reportedly told Syria and Iran to prevent any such attack. "We know that both Iran and Syria are centers of operation of terrorist organizations and there is no doubt that they have weight regarding implementation of attacks," Yigal Pressler, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's adviser on "terrorism," told Israel's army radio on Monday.... US Rejects Mullahs' Offer for Involvement in Afghan Situation, Associated Press, November 4 The United States is rejecting a proposal by Iran that the two countries join an international effort to try to mediate an end to a four-year civil war in Afghanistan. The offer was made publicly by Kamal Kharrazi, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, in an opinion piece in The Washington Post on Monday.... The proposal was immediately rejected by the State Department spokesman, Nicholas Burns. Noting that Iran had recently celebrated the 17th anniversary of its takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Burns said Iran was not a normal country.... At the same time, the U.S. spokesman urged Turkey to shelve an agreement to buy natural gas worth $20 million from Iran. "The United States is not enthusiastic about this proposed contract," he said. "We have told the Turks that..." Iran Arrests Director of Critical Islamic Weekly, Reuters, November 14 TEHRAN - Iran has arrested the head of a critical hardline Islamic weekly after the magazine challenged a publication ban, a staff member of the weekly said on Monday. The staff member told Reuters Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, director of Payam-e Daneshjoo (Student's Message), was arrested on Saturday when he went to a court to offer explanations. A court in July banned Tabarzadi from running the magazine for five years and ordered him to pay 10 million rials ($3,300) in fines for "publishing lies and causing public confusion." But the magazine's staff had started recently to distribute photocopies of the weekly on a limited scale, arguing that the court ruling did not include a publication ban.... Tale Told of How Iran Nearly Got Nuke Gear, The Washington Times, November 2 The Kazakh ambassador to the United States says that Iran attempted to buy unidentified materials from a major Soviet nuclear facility in his country.... Mr. Nurgaliyev said that in 1992, as a newly independent Kazakhstan sought to deal with the tremendous nuclear arsenal on its soil, Iranian representatives made contact with the Ust-Kamenogorsk facility and sought certain "things." The ambassador, who was chief of national security and arms control at the time, provided a sketchy account.... Ever Increasing Costs in Iran, Radio Israel, November 4 Daily Resalat today reported that the prices of various general necessities in Iran increase every week. The daily added that during last week, the price of meat, cheese, vegetables, fruits, hygiene products... electronics increased significantly... This report citing the prices of several items, indicated that an Iranian family with the average income of 200,000 rials (approximately $60) per month must spend its entire income of 9 months to purchase a washing machine...