BRIEF ON IRAN	 
No. 604	
Monday, March 3, 1997 
 
Representative Office of 
The National Council of Resistance of Iran	
Washington, DC 
 
 

Several Hundred Women Demonstrate Against 
Fundamentalism, Agence France Presse, March 2 
 
	LONDON—Several hundred women turned 
out Saturday night in London to demonstrate their 
opposition to Islamic fundamentalism, in response to a 
call by the Iranian opposition. 
	The "Women's Solidarity against 
Fundamentalism" meeting was organized by the 
Iranian National Council of Resistance in association 
with the association of Iranian women in Britain, an 
ICRC spokesman said.... 
	[In a related news, hundreds of Iranian and 
American women attended "Women Against 
Fundamentalism" Conference held in Washington, 
D.C. The seminar bore a message of solidarity with 
Iranian women and support for their struggle against 
the fundamentalists ruling Iran.] 
 
 
Housing Shortcomings Lead to Tragedy after 
Earthquake, Agence France Presse, March 2 
 
	...Dozens of corpses of adults enveloped in 
blankets and children in white shrouds were lowered 
into the snow-covered ground in a small cemetery on 
the edge of Golestan, a village turned to rubble by the 
quake.... 
	No one knows for certain how many people 
died in Golestan although Iranian authorities say that 
across the region more than 550 people died and 
another 2,400 were injured. Around 36,000 are 
reported to have lost their homes.... 
	Not much remains of Golestan except for 
heaps of broken bricks and mounds of clay and wood, 
the rudimentary materials from which homes are 
built.... 
	Some one hundred meters away from the 
ruins, a solitary building stands perfectly intact -- a 
school built of modern materials, cement and 
concrete.... 
	[The NCR President Mr. Massoud Rajavi 
extended his condolences to Iranians and especially the 
people of Ardebil, a statement by NCR said. According 
to the statement, Mr. Rajavi "urged everyone, 
especially those residing in Ardebil's nearby regions to 
rush to the aid of the victims of the earthquake.] 
 
 
Saudi Bomb Probe Continues, The Associated Press, 
March 1 
 
	The investigation of last June's anti-American 
bombing in Saudi Arabia has dragged on through 
months of secrecy, leaks and sharp words between 
capitals. Now it may stretch out for months more.... 
	Some people think Saudi authorities want to 
withhold an announcement because the findings may 
link Iran to the bombing deaths of 19 U.S. servicemen 
at the Khobar air base, prompting a U.S. reprisal 
against Iran. Thus a delay would push back any trial 
and execution of alleged bombers until after tens of 
thousands of Iranian pilgrims return home from Saudi 
Arabia.... 
 
 
Overview 
Iran's Exile Army 
The Associated Press, March 2 
 
	CAMP ASHRAF—Dozens of men and 
women in smart olive green military uniforms end 
their day at this desert camp with a unified shout: 
"When the command comes, we will not hesitate!" 
	The camp is in Iraq, but the words are in the 
Iranian language, Farsi, and the order they await is to 
march on Tehran. 
	Camp Ashraf is one of five bases maintained 
in Iraq by the National Liberation Army, a force of 
30,000 Iranians committed to wresting control of their 
homeland from the Islamic clerics who have ruled 
since 1979. 
	The fighters are equipped with tanks and 
heavy artillery. At least a third are women.... 
	"For our people, I joined the National 
Liberation Army to help overthrow the regime," said 
Batul Ibrahimi, an 18-year-old woman who crossed 
from Iran on foot last year. "We are willing to die for 
our freedoms." 
	Such words are echoed throughout the ranks 
at Camp Ashraf.... 
	The National Liberation Army was formed in 
Iraq a decade ago by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi, 
long-time leaders of the Mujahedeen Khalq, or People's 
Warriors. The group first opposed the shah's rule in 
Iran, then that of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after 
the Islamic revolution.... 
	In an interview, Mrs. Rajavi emphasized that 
ousting the Tehran regime would involve not only the 
exile army but organized resistance in Iran. An 
extensive propaganda network sends radio broadcasts 
and leaflets into the country and will soon add satellite 
television, she said. 
	Soft-spoken and dressed in an elegant pink 
wool suit with a gray headscarf, she spoke passionately 
about the Tehran regime, blaming it for the deaths of 
100,000 Iranians in its quest to put down dissent.... 
	"We have never lost for one day the burning 
hope that we will return to our country," she said. 
"This is the fire inside each of us that keeps us 
going."... 
	Mahbubeh Jamshidi, an officer in the exile 
army, says women were given important roles in the 
Mujahedeen to pointedly contrast with the increasing 
strictures on women under the Tehran regime.... 
	The exile army has twice won large-scale 
battles with Iranian troops. 
	In 1988, it stormed an Iranian army camp in 
the border town of Mehran, coming back to Iraq with 
hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, howitzers and 
anti-aircraft guns. It used that armor in 1991 to fight 
off an attack inside Iraq by the Iranian Revolutionary 
Guards....