BRIEF ON IRAN No. 608 Friday, March 7, 1997 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran Washington, DC Iranian Exiles Hold Anti-Tehran Session, Reuters, March 6 Iranian exiles have ended a seven-day meeting in Baghdad discussing how to increase resistance to the government in Tehran, a statement by the Iraq-based Mujahideen organization said Thursday. It said 487 members of what it termed Iran's parliament in exile met to discuss what the heavily armed exiles could do to overthrow the Iranian government. "The session by the National Council of Resistance (NCR) came at a crucial time when important decisions had to be made with regard to activities inside Iran and preparations by the National Liberation Army (NLA) to overthrow the mullah's regime," Mohammad Mohadessin, chairman of the group's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters. Mariam Rajavi, proclaimed by the exiles as future president of Iran, attended the session along with her husband, the NCR chairman. The statement said the members saw live-fire exercise by its NLA forces near Iran's border.... Plot to Launch Air Raid and Missile Attack Against Iranian Resistance, Iran Zamin News Agencey, March 6 To confront the victories of the Iranian Resistance, the clerics' regime is planning to launch air and missile attacks on the basecamps of the National Liberation Army of Iran in Iraq, reports from Iran say. Following the escalation of the activities of the Mojahedin in Iran and the public's growing support for the Resistance, as well as the regime's consecutive failures in the political and military arenas, the mullahs' Supreme Security Council convened numerous sessions in recent weeks to decide on these missile attacks and air raids. The meetings were presided by Khamenei, the mullahs' leader, and attended by Rafsanjani. A statement issued by the Press Office of the People's Mojahedin of Iran in Paris said: "The People's Mojahedin of Iran draw the attention of the United Nations' Security Council as well as human rights and peace organizations to the Khomeini regime's aggressive measures and its use of weapons of mass destruction." "Fatwa" as a License to Murder! Reuters, March 6 BERLIN - A Berlin trial in which prosecutors have accused Iran's leaders of the murder of Kurdish dissidents was delayed on Thursday when the defense asked Islamic experts to testify on religious law. In the midst of their closing remarks in the three-year trial, lawyers defending an Iranian and four Lebanese unexpectedly called a witness to take the stand and requested another Islamic expert testify next week. Heinz Halm from Tuebingen University was asked to testify on the possibility that Iran's spiritual leaders had placed a "Fatwa" or religious edict on the victims such as that placed on British author Salman Rushdie.... Lawyers asked whether Lebanese Abbas Rhayel, charged with gunning the men down, could have been acting under a Fatwa and asked Halm whether as a devout Moslem the accused had any choice but to obey such a ruling. Halm told the court that a Fatwa was a directive but not a command and therefore no one was obliged to act on it.... Head of Mullahs Calls for Anti-US, Israeli Rally During Muslim's Pilgrimage, Agence France Presse, March 6 Iran's paramount leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Thursday for protests against Israel and the United States during the Moslem pilgrimage to Mecca next month, despite Saudi warnings against political rallies. Khamenei stressed the "necessity and importance of expressing hatred and scorn for and disavowal of enemies of Islam" during the annual pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca, located in Saudia Arabia and Islam's holiest site.... Saudi Arabia warned Moslems last month not to bring political materials into the country during the pilgrimage or risk "severe" punishment. Since its 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has called on pilgrims to hold the "Disavowal of Pagans" protests during the hajj, which have led to violent incidents in the past.... Rafsanjani, the Terrorist Chief, Norwegian Daily Morgen Bladet, March 3 Since 1979, Iran has been behind 350 cases of assassinations or attempted assassinations. The verdict of a German court before Easter would mean the end of "critical dialogue" between Germany and European community and regime of terror (in Tehran). Norway must cut its diplomatic relations [with Iran] as soon as possible. Iran does not honor international laws and uses its embassies abroad as centers of terrorist activities and smuggles weapons through its diplomatic mail... Today, there is no evidence indicating that these or other terrorist activities of Tehran would end before this cleric regime is in grave... All assassinations are planned in Rafsanjani's office in Tehran... The number of such attempts has doubled since Khomenii's death... The government of Norway must carefully study these conspiracies. It should clearly indicate its support for harsher lines by European Union and above all should end its diplomatic ties with Iran as soon as possible.