BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 577
Wednesday, January 22, 1997

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


Mullahs Try to Divert Attention from Their Extraterritorial Operations,
Associated Press, January 21	

TEHRAN - Iran blamed the United States and Israel for an arson attack on its
cultural center in Pakistan and claimed it was aimed at pitting Muslim sects
against one another, newspapers reported Tuesday.
	"What happened in Pakistan in recent days was the result of U.S. and
Israeli moves ... to fan the flames of sectarianism," Iranian newspapers
quoted Iran's deputy foreign minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs, Alaeddin
Boroujerdi, as saying.
	A group of Sunni Muslims set fire to the cultural center after accusing
Iran of backing Shiite Muslims blamed for a bombing Saturday that killed a
Sunni leader....


Iran Flexes Its Muscles With New Submarine, Reuters, January 19

DUBAI - Iran's new Russian-made submarine will enable it to keep playing a
cat-and-mouse game with Washington and flex its naval muscles in an oil-rich
region lined with nervous Gulf Arab neighbors....
	Non-Arab Iran has focused its arms buildup on its navy in the strategic
Gulf which sits on about 70 percent of the world's oil reserves.
	That has fueled concerns in the United States which has vowed to protect
its Gulf Arab allies from what it says are Iran's aggressive aims and
growing military capabilities....
	They are also worried that an Iraq weakened by crippling United Nations
sanctions has created a military imbalance and left them vulnerable to Iran
which has staged extensive naval war games, including test firing of
anti-ship cruise missiles....


Extent of Mullahs' Involvement in Saudi Bombing, Sunday Telegraph, January 19 

SYRIAN intelligence officers played a key role in last year's bombing of the
American military base in Saudi Arabia in which 19 US servicemen died....
	The Clinton administration has vowed to take military action against any
foreign power suspected of involvement in the attack...
	According to both the American and Saudi reports, Iran, a long-standing US
foe, was the originator of the Dhahran attack.
	Iran provides training and support for numerous Arab terrorists, including
two groups of Saudi dissidents which have been involved in previous attacks
within the kingdom: the Organization of Islamic Revolution of Jezier al-Arab...
	The two groups are based in Teheran and work closely with Iran's
intelligence ministry. A group calling itself "Hizbollah Gulf", which is
thought to represent these two groups, claimed responsibility for the
Dhahran bombing.
	Supporters of these Saudi groups are allowed to use the Imam Ali training
camp in east Teheran. After completing an advanced terrorism course, a group
of Saudi dissidents informed Iranian intelligence officials that they
intended to carry out a bomb attack against an American target in Saudi Arabia.
	The Iranians approved but, fearing American retaliation, did not want to be
directly involved. So the Saudis were put in contact with Osama bin Laden, a
40-year-old Islamic fundamentalist terrorist. Bin Laden, who works for
Iranian intelligence, is a fierce opponent of both the Saudi regime and
America's presence in the Gulf....
	Any doubts about bin Laden's involvement in the Dhahran attack were removed
by an interview he gave in Peshawar shortly afterwards. The Saudi bombing,
he said, "marked the beginning of war between Muslims and the United States".
	The Saudi ringleaders of the operation flew to Syria where, according to US
investigators, they obtained false passports and other covert aid from the
Iranian Embassy in Damascus.
	They then traveled to the Bekaa Valley, where they met up with a team of
Hizbollah bomb makers....
	... Once constructed, the truck bomb was driven through Syria and Jordan to
Saudi Arabia, before being detonated by remote control outside the US
barracks in Dhahran....


Oil Export Declines, Radio France Internationale, January 19

On Sunday, Mohsen Yahyavi, member of board of directors of Iran's National
Oil Company (NIOC) and a parliament deputy, said that the predictions for
oil revenue, in the government's fiscal budget are unrealistic.
	He noted that in the current year, Iran's oil export has been 80,000
barrels a day less than its OPEC allocated share.
	"The reason for this shortage of export is lack storage and insufficient
investment in oil fields by the government.  This shortage during next year
will increase to at least 110,000 barrels a day," he added.