BRIEF ON IRAN No. 585 Monday, February 3, 1997 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran Washington, DC Khamenei Speaks in Despair, Iran Zamin News Agency, Jan. 31 "After a month-long hysteric campaign against Mojahedin and the Iranian Resistance, Khamenei...finally came to the stage in Tehran's Friday Prayers today and accused the Mojahedin of 'killing Muslims and the supporters of Islam, revolution and the Imam,'" a statement by the NCR said today. "Obviously disappointed at the results of the regime's full-fledged propaganda campaign in the past month to prevent outpour of support for the Mojahedin all across the country, he described the Mojahedin as dependent on 'complicity with America, the Zionists and Iraq.'" The statement said reports from Iran indicate that "parallel to the escalated activities of the Resistance, the regime's forces are badly terrified and this fear has extended even to the higher levels of government officials, as many of them express disappointment and are gravely concerned about their own future. Khamenei made a desperate bid today to take advantage of the occasion of the holy month of Ramadhan...to boost the morale of the regime's forces in encountering the Mojahedin." Egyptian Aide Says Sudan Is Iran's "Trojan Horse", Reuters, January 31 A top Egyptian official has accused Iran of using Sudan as "a Trojan horse" to infiltrate Africa.... Osama el-Baz, President Hosni Mubarak's senior political adviser, made the comments in an interview broadcast on Friday by Radio France International. El-Baz last year accused Tehran's Islamic rulers and Sudan of being behind an attempt to assassinate Mubarak during a visit to Ethiopia. The Egyptian leader survived the attack. "Iran is using Sudan as a Trojan horse through which it is trying to infiltrate neighboring countries," El-Baz said. "For example, the Sudanese regime is opening embassies in West African countries, which are proven to be a front behind which Iranian intelligence aims to promote Iranian and Shi'ite influence. It is a dangerous matter," he added.... U.S. Criticizes Iran, The Associated Press, January 31 The United States criticized Iran Friday for a Supreme Court decision upholding the death sentences of two members of the minority Bahai religious group who were convicted last year of apostasy. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns also called on the Tehran government to free all political prisoners and ensure human rights in Iran.... Burns said: "We urge the government of Iran to free all prisoners of conscience and to ensure freedom of religion and other basic human rights of the Iranian population."... Pretoria Protests Detention of S. African in Iran, Agence France Presse, January 29 South Africa's foreign ministry said Wednesday that it had lodged "a strong protest" with Iran over the detention without trial of a South African tourist in Tehran.... "They (the Iranians) claim his travel documents are not in order, but have not explained the reason for his lengthy detention," [Foreign Affairs spokesman Marco] Boni said.... Overview The Ordeal of the Missing Iranian Journalist Continues Reuters, January 31 Germany pressed Iran for comment on Friday on reports that an Iranian journalist has been arrested in Tehran and that he was held last year by the Iranian secret service when he was supposedly in Germany. Faraj Sarkuhi, editor of the monthly Adineh (Friday), is reported to have said that the authorities in Tehran tried to use him as a pawn to counter accusations against Iran made by German prosecutors in a Kurdish dissident assassination case. Foreign-based opposition groups say Sarkuhi was held by the Iranian authorities during an unexplained absence of more than 40 days late last year, and that he has now been arrested again.... Sarkuhi was first reported missing last November, when he was scheduled to fly to Germany to visit his wife. She says he never arrived but Iran insists airline records showed he had flown to Germany.... "We feel called upon to pursue this case with all necessary emphasis," Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Erdmann said. Erdmann said the ministry believed a letter from Sarkuhi published in part on Thursday by the Berlin daily Tageszeitung was genuine. The 14-page handwritten letter...said that Sarkuhi had been held by the Iranian secret service and forced under torture to confess in a taped interview that he had spied for Germany. He said he believed authorities intended to use the confession in a row with Germany in which German prosecutors have accused Iranian leaders of having ordered the killing of four Kurdish dissidents in Berlin in 1992.... The Tageszeitung said it had information this report was correct and that Sarkuhi's brother had also been detained. The Swedish government also said on Friday that it was pressing Iran for news of Sarkuhi's fate.