BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 626
Wednesday, April 2, 1997

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


UN Expert Affirms Persistence of Rights Abuses in Iran, Agence France
Presse, April 1

	GENEVA - A UN human rights report on Iran issued here Tuesday reported
progress on the status of women, offset by soaring executions and
discrimination of religious minorities...
	US permanent representative to the UN in New York, William Richardson,
forcefully condemned the fact that an Iranian foundation had increased the
reward for killing [Salman] Rushdie, whose Satanic Verses work is accused of
blaspheming Islam.
	"What action could more starkly demonstrate Iran's contempt for the
international community's commitment to human rights," said Richardson in
his address Tuesday to the commission's 53rd session...
	With regards to the death penalty, Copithorne said external reports had put
the numbers of sentences carried out in 1996 as twice the level of the
previous year...
	The report said use of torture was apparently still widespread, prisoners
of conscience allegedly continue to linger in Iranian jails despite official
denials and corporal punishment, such as stoning and amputations continued...


NCR Calls For UN Censure Of Mullahs' Human Rights Abuses, Iran Zamin News
Agency, April 1

The National Council of Resistance issued a comment by its President,
Massoud Rajavi, on the U.N. Special Representative's  report, and enumerated
statistics on the violations of human rights in 1996. 
Mr. Rajavi said the U.N. report did not adequately reflect the severity of
the regime's crimes. Citing "the fundamental cases of the violations of the
rudimentary rights of the Iranian people, especially the blatant abuse of
women's rights and the several-fold increase in arrests, executions and
extraterritorial killings of dissidents," Mr. Rajavi said that 1996 was one
of the worst years of the mullahs' rule as far as human rights abuses and
terrorism were concerned.
Last year, at least 32 political opponents were assassinated abroad (four
times the number in 1995). The NCR also cited acknowledgements by the
regime's Interior Minister that some 65,000 people had been arrested in
December, January and February alone, or an average of 730 arrests every day
The NCR warned that "the report's shortcomings could be exploited by those
parties who would disregard internationally recognized human rights
principles in favor of trade with the medieval dictatorship." While
condemning the regime's policy of blackmail, the NCR President called on the
Commission on Human Rights to "strongly condemn the crimes perpetrated by
this anti-human theocracy."


NCR Condemns Iranian Writer's Murder, Iran Zamin News Agency, April 1

The National Council of Resistance of Iran issued a statement condemning the
criminal assassination in Tehran of Mr. Ibrahim Zalzadeh, an Iranian writer
and publisher. Mr. Zalzadeh was abducted on February 24, 1997, on his way
home from work,  and later murdered, reports from Iran say. The regime
buried him without even notifying his family. On frequent occasions in the
past, the mullahs have murdered writers and minority leaders in similar
fashion. 
The NCR interpreted the escalation of repression in Iran and dramatic rise
in arrests, executions, and extra-territorial killings of dissidents in
recent months as indicative of "the clerical regime's extreme weakness and
ineptitude in dealing with the Iranian people's nationwide Resistance." The
opposition coalition said the trend ran counter to any notion of  the
medieval dictatorship's moderation or ability to reform.


State Department says Iran "Negative Power," Associated Press, April 1
	WASHINGTON - ...[Today] the State Department tried to discourage Syria from
expanding its military ties with Iran. Spokesman Nicholas Burns called Iran
"a negative power" in the region and one that the United States was
determined to contain.


Iranian Resistance Exposes Regime's Terrorist in Italy, Kronos News Agency,
April 1

Rome - In late February, Mohsen Rafiqdoust, former Revolutionary Guards
Minister and a mastermind of  terrorist operations abroad, traveled to Italy
to attend the "3rd Seminar on Italian-Iranian Economic Cooperation."
Rafiqdoust is currently the head of the Foundation of the Deprived. His
presence in Italy was exposed by the NCR representative, who condemned the
visit. 
The NCR revealed that Rafiqdoust was accompanied by several individuals from
the Revolutionary Guards Corps, and had come to Italy  "to set up a European
center for planning and directing terrorist operations and exporting
fundamentalism to Italy, in particular Milan." He also reportedly solicited
funds from Iranian merchants for the construction of a large mosque in Milan
"to further his objectives."