BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 613
Friday, March 14, 1997

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


Iran Continues to Pose Threat, Voice of America, March 14

	This month, President Bill Clinton announced that he is continuing his
declaration of national emergency with respect to Iran.  The March 1995
declaration was based on the threat to the national security, foreign policy
and economy of the United States posed by such Iranian actions as supporting
international terrorism, seeking to undermine the middle east peace process,
and acquiring weapons of mass destruction and missiles to deliver them.  In
accordance with president Clinton's declaration and a subsequent executive
order, all trade between American companies and Iran is prohibited.
	As Robert Deutsch, director of the State Department's Northern Gulf Affairs
Office, said this month, there is widespread international agreement that
the behavior of Iran's radical Islamic regime is unacceptable.  As Mr.
Deutsch stressed: "None of Iran's aggressive policies are required by
Islamic teaching."  Indeed, as Mr. Deutsch said, "there are important
clerics in Iran whose voices have been silenced because they have criticized
the theocracy on religious grounds."
	The well-being of the Iranian people is already at risk from the
government's economic mismanagement and corruption.  The government's
foreign adventurism only makes things worse for the Iranian people....


Iran Hints at Boycott, The New York Times, March 13

	TEHRAN - The Iranian state radio said [on Wednesday] that a boycott of
United States goods by Islamic countries would be an effective way of
forcing Washington to stop supporting Israel.
	"Using this method could pressure this country to decrease its support of
Tel Aviv by raising the prospect that America's economic standing in the
world could be jeopardized," the radio added.


Italian Senator Questions the Parliament, Italian Kronos, March 12

	Senator Semenzato, deputy of Olive Branch Greens parliamentarian group [and
the secretary of Italian Senate's Defense Committee], submitted a written
question to Prime Minister and Foreign Minister regarding the assassination
of Mohammed Housein Naqdi, the anti-Khomeini official, on March 16, 1993.
	Semenzato, reminding that next Sunday is the fourth anniversary of
assassination of Naqdi, the Representative of NCR in Italy, and that an
Iranian diplomat, Hamid Parandeh, is a suspect as the "culprit" of this
crime, said:  "According to Deputy Foreign Minister, this individual was
transferred from Iranian embassy in Italy to the embassy in Vatican..."  He
also asked whether [Italian] government has informed Vatican regarding the
legal circumstances of Parandeh...
	

1,200 Accident Spots, state-run Radio, March 12

	The Minister of Transportation in his speech for a gathering of deputies of
Division of Motor Vehicles said:  "In Iran there are 1,200 accident spots,
which are responsible for 11% percent of accidents."
	Torkan referring to annual 3,600 accidents in the country said:  "In Iran
for every 10,000 vehicles, 120 road accidents occur annually.  This is while
in some other countries that number is down to 10 accidents."


Rafsanjani Again Cancels Trip to Quake Area, Agence France Presse, March 13

	TEHRAN - Rafsanjani canceled a trip Thursday to Iran's quake-stricken
Ardebil region, where snow and sub-zero temperatures were hampering relief
efforts.
	Rafsanjani, who also canceled a trip to the area last week, called it off
again on Thursday as a new cold spell and heavy snowfall hit Ardebil in
Iranian Azerbaijan, informed sources said....
	Many heads of household have lodged their families in nearby towns and
cities to keep them safe from repeated aftershocks hitting the area,  while
they themselves stay behind.
	They visit their families during the day and seek to return at night to
guard what little remains of their belongings.
	Many villagers complained of a lack of transport, saying the village's only
minibus had broken down in the earthquake.
	They also complained of the "lack of coordination" in distribution of food
and other aid.
	"There are no health and hygiene facilities, and suitable clothing has not
yet reached the quake victims," one resident said....