BRIEF ON IRAN No. 536 Friday, November 8, 1996 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran Washington, DC Mullahs' Demand Ransom for Improving Ties with U.S., Reuters, November 7 TEHRAN - Iran sees no quick change in its confrontation with the United States after the re-election of President Bill Clinton.... Iran's United Nations ambassador Kamal Kharrazi on Tuesday said no dialogue with Washington was possible at this time. "Washington should first show goodwill and as a prerequisite must prove its readiness to abandon its hegemonic and arrogant attitude," Kharrazi told the official news agency IRNA. Iranian state radio said on Wednesday Clinton's re-election meant the United States would maintain its "interventionist and arrogant" policies.... Khamenei [mullahs' top leader] last week rejected suggestions talks could be held with Washington. He was apparently referring to a call by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert Pelletreau for talks with Tehran on bilateral differences.... Iran Slams Rifkind Mideast Plan as "Colonialist'', Reuters, November 7 TEHRAN - Iran on Thursday blasted a British proposal to set up a body to help reduce conflict in the Middle East, saying the idea smacked of colonialism. "Security in the Middle East and cooperation between this region's countries is no business of Britain's foreign minister," said Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, quoted by state-run Tehran radio. British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind proposed in Abu Dhabi on Monday a body along the lines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to encourage investment and regional cooperation.... Iran said on Tuesday remarks by Rifkind on alleged Iranian links to terrorism made it difficult to normalize relations between the two countries.... Britain says Iran should cancel the [Rushdie's] death order if it wants relations between the countries upgraded. Iranian officials say the edict cannot be revoked.... Trading States Refuse Iran Access to WTO Meeting, Reuters, November 7 GENEVA - Iran was turned down on Thursday in a bid to attend as an observer at next month's first ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, trade officials said.... U.S. officials indicate that they see no evidence that Iran is even close to offering the type of open trading regime it would have to establish to win admission.... "Critical Dialog," the Price of Blood, German Neue Rheinstische Zeitung, October 31 Zahra Rajabi was killed on February 20 of this year. The assassins murdered her in Turkey. This lady was former director of the office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Colon. She is among 13 individuals who, according to NCR, have been assassinated during 1996 throughout the world under Tehran's order. German officials know that Iran is one of "main active countries on state-sponsored terrorism"... With all the documents and witnesses regarding terror, murder, torture, and repression, the Foreign Ministry in Bonn still investing on "critical dialog" with "the clerics' regime."... Not only the United States is criticizing this policy, but there are also opposing opinions in European Union. For example Niels Petersen, Denmark's Foreign Minister is not convinced that "critical dialogue" has brought any changes. Ten members of Christian Democratic Party, CDU, in the Federal Parliament are also blowing into the same horn and have assessed Klaus Kinkel's policy as a failure. Socialist Democratic Party, SPD, and the Greens also accuse the liberals of not having a consistent practical plan [on Iran]. NCR assures that "the appeasement policy benefits the terrorist regime." They say "critical dialog is a pass for terrorism from Tehran."... Legislation to Support Iranian Democratic Resistance, Danish Radio, November 6 All groups, from right to left, express that until the government has not condemned the Iranian regime's persistence on Salman Rushdie's death sentence, the opposition to Danish government should carry out its own foreign policy... Denmark's People's Socialist Party and Denmark's Solidarity Party are preparing draft of a bill for parliament, according to which the government would be bound to condemn Iranian regime and to cooperate with its democratic [resistance] forces.... 3 Million Mentally Ill in Iran, Iran Zamin News Agency, November 7 In a medical conference in Tehran titled "Safety of Food and Nutrition," the regime's Minister of Health, Marandi, presented shocking statistics on health treatment in Iran. He said that from 60 million Iranians, three million suffer from mental illnesses... He added millions also suffer from malnutrition as a result of poverty...