BRIEF ON IRAN No. 612 Thursday, March 13, 1997 Representative Office of The National Council of Resistance of Iran Washington, DC Rifkind Raises Iran's Threat in Talks with Saudi Minister, Reuters, March 12 LONDON - ... Defense Minister Prince Sultan, acting in his capacity as second deputy prime minister, began a two-day visit to Britain by lunching with Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind... Rifkind also raised the alarm about Iranian nuclear ambitions. "We have seen their purchase of Russian submarines in the not too distant past and there is also concern that they may be seeking to advance a nuclear capability," Rifkind said in the House of Commons after his Saudi talks. "So it is necessary to monitor these matters very carefully and to do all within their power dissuade Iran against such a course of action." Russia's Building of Nuclear Power Plant for Iran Criticized, Associated Press, March 12 MOSCOW—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Russia a "newfound friend," but acknowledged today that the two countries still have differences on sensitive issues... On other issues, Netanyahu reiterated Israel's opposition to Russia helping Iran build a nuclear power plant. Israel fears the technology could be used to help the country acquire nuclear weapons that could target Israel. "I think Iran is the most radical regime in the world," Netanyahu said. "It exports terrorism east and west, north and south. I think that if such a regime were to acquire ballistic missiles, it would use them." Czech Minister Criticizes Terrorism in Talks with Velayati, Agence France Presse, March 11 Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbra Velayati arrived in Prague Tuesday for a two-day "working visit" aimed at curtailing US lobbying to isolate his country.... According to the Czech foreign ministry, [Foreign Minister Josef] Zieleniec told Velayati: "sponsoring international terrorism means contributing to the destabilization of the situation and not only in the Middle East." This was in reference to a renewed call by the United States Monday for a diplomatic isolation of Iran, which it claims is actively supporting terrorism and opposes peace efforts in the Middle East. Arrests on Pretext of Narcotics Rise Three-Fold, Iran Zamin News Agency, March 12 In a meeting with Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ali Mohammad Besharati, the regime's Interior Minister, stated that in the period between March 1996 and February 1997 some 120,000 people had been arrested on narcotics charges, a statement issued by NCR said. Previously, the regime had announced 55,000 arrests on the same charges for the period between March to November 1996. In other words, in December of 1996 and January and February of 1997, 65,000 people, or a daily average of 730 people, have been arrested on the pretext of drug trafficking. This shows a 200 percent increase compared to last year. "The astronomical rise in arrests is part and parcel of the regime's unprecedented campaign to suppress, intimidate and terrorize the public in a bid to thwart spreading uprisings and the general public's support for the Iranian Resistance," the statement said. "These widespread arrests come despite the fact that the most senior officials of the mullahs' regime are directly involved in the distribution, import and export of drugs." The NCR "draws the attention of international human rights organizations to the escalating violations of human rights in Iran and to the arbitrary rise in arrests and executions in recent months. It also calls for the condemnation of the mullahs' medieval dictatorship for its crimes against the people of Iran." Announcement: Iranian Resistance on the Internet IranNCR, a FirstClass communications system on the Internet, provides information on the Iranian situation and the Iranian opposition movement This service has been structured for Iranians, particularly those in Iran, but there is a substantial amount of information available for English-speaking users. To learn how to connect to IranNCR, visit the home page at the following address: http://www.mehr.aiac.fr. In addition, Iran-e-Azad Organization, supporters of the NCR, has a World Wide Web site with a complete separate English and Farsi sections. To reach Iran-e-Azad site, point your browser to: http://www.iran-e-azad.org/english.