BRIEF ON IRAN No. 547 Tuesday, November 26, 1996 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran Washington, DC Iran on Trial, The Wall Street Journal, Editorial, November 25 Looks like Iran may be discovering Great Satan-II — Germany... Now the German Embassy in Tehran is under a siege of sorts, with hundreds of demonstrators recently pelting the building with whatever projectile comes to hand, desecrating the German flag and burning Chancellor Helmut Kohl in effigy... The staged demonstrations are unlikely to escalate into anything like the 1970-80 hostage crisis the U.S. had to content with, but given the continuing developments in the German courts that sparked the protest, we wonder how long the German government will be able to maintain its "critical dialogue" with Iran.... ... German prosecutors brought forth witnesses willing to swear that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei and President Hashemi Rafsanjani bore the ultimate responsibility for the murders.... ... one European government is giving the issue the weight it deserves. In August, Denmark dropped out of the EU's policy of "critical dialogue" with the Iranian regime. Indeed, Copenhagen now is promising to pursue "critical dialogue" with Iran's democratic opposition. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati said recently that "If a country insults our values and thinks that Iran will overlook this insult due to economic considerations and political expediencies, it is quite wrong." If the gravity of the charges against Iranian officials isn't enough to discourage Bonn in its efforts at "dialogue," perhaps the foreign minister's statement will help... At least one European government is giving the issue the weight it deserves. In August, Denmark dropped out of the EU's policy of "critical dialogue" with the Iranian regime. Indeed, Copenhagen now is promising to pursue "critical dialogue" with Iran's democratic opposition. Other EU countries are less assertive, but nonetheless engaged. A Paris court sentenced two Iranian government agents in September for conspiracy to assassinate four opposition leaders... Also in September, a French prosecutor followed Germany's lead and accused Iranian intelligence chief Fallahian of ordering one assassination. Judicial sources say an international arrest warrant for him is being considered. There can be little doubt that terrorism still is being waged on European soil, and the identity of the victims, along with court evidence, strongly suggest that it is state-sponsored. European governments have pledged to fight terrorism, but if courts and prosecutors continue to be asked to carry the full burden of the fight, we probably can look for the body count to continue to rise. Iran's Young - Chagrin of Mullahs, Associated Press, November 25 TEHRAN - ... much to the chagrin of Iran's mullahs, the revolution is not a lesson learned by Iranian youth.... With two-thirds of Iranians younger than 25, with no memory of the 1979 revolution, that discontent spells disaster. In Iran, the youth have no ideology to articulate those frustrations. Islam here symbolizes a government that is ineffectual at best, repressive at worst. In interview after interview, young Iranians say that they have become less religious, that politics do not matter, that making the West so forbidden has made it even more intriguing. Running through their conversations is a streak of nihilism.... Across town in south Tehran, inhabited by the poor whom the Islamic government promised to speak for, Ali Najjar complained that money had become everything. He was having trouble paying for medicine his mother needed for her heart condition.... Iran Launches New Clampdown on Television Dishes, Reuters, November 25 TEHRAN - Iranian police have launched another crackdown against banned satellite dishes, weeks after the Voice of America (VOA) started a television program with popular U.S.-based Iranian artists, residents said on Monday. Residents said many had taken down their dishes after police with search warrants entered neighbors' homes and seized satellite dishes in some Tehran districts. In other areas agents went door to door asking people if they had such equipment.... Iran has in recent years jammed only radios of opposition groups which broadcast mostly from neighboring Iraq.... Iran to Fire Improved Missiles in Gulf War Games, Reuters, November 25 TEHRAN - Iranian forces staging a major military exercise in the Gulf will fire an improved version of Chinese Silkworm missiles, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported on Monday. It quoted navy spokesman Rear-Admiral Ashkbous Danekar as saying an updated version of the HY-2 Silkworm missile known as Piroozi (Victory)-75 would be fired later this week in the 10-day war games....