Land of Unrelenting Terrorism, The Washington Times, May 18

The following is an excerpt of a column by Arnold Beichman, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.

[Continued from BOI 660] 

Earthquake or not, the Iranian theocracy will not disband its terror squads under the control of the little-known Qods Force organized in 1990 after the cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq War. The Qods Force comprises four terrorist corps, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an exile group that seeks the theocracy’s overthrow and establishment of a secular republic…

The Qods corps are divided by geographical function. The 5th Corps operates in Turkey where it organizes terrorist operations and directs clandestine terrorist teams abroad. The 6th Corps carries out terrorist operations in the Persian Gulf countries and may have been responsible for the June 1996 bombing of the Dhahran barracks in Saudi Arabia… The 7th Corps operates with Lebanese and Syrian forces within Lebanon. The 8th Corps deals with terrorist and fundamentalist forces in Africa.

An elaborate administrative structure has been organized by the Iranian government to plan and execute its terrorist program…

The long and short is that such complex and costly operations could not succeed without financial support of Iran by Western political and financial institutions, located in Germany and Russia.

 

Do Not Expect Any Change, CNN, May 19 

There's a lot of defiant talk here during this presidential election period. Iran's spiritual leader says that any candidate who even mentions restoring ties with the United States is committing political suicide, and the voters should reject them. And the leading contenders refuse yet to talk to the foreign journalists for fear of being labeled Western stooges…

Whoever wins may bring a change of style, but Iranian officials say their main policies at home and abroad are made by the supreme spiritual leader, who's unlikely to alter a pattern set in motion with the revolution, nearly two decades ago.

 

Iranian Youth, Time-Bomb Of Society, Agence France Presse, May 16

TEHRAN - Iranian youth who are born after 1979 Islamic revolution, whether those dreaming about the rap music or those seeking a paying job, have become an increasingly disturbing factor for the Iranian authorities, and a social time-bomb.

More than half of Iran's population either was not yet born at the time of Shah's overthrow or was of little age. The young people with ages from 14 to 18, whose number is estimated to be about 18 million in Iran - although their problem differ depending on their social environment - are the very sensitive segment of the society.

The well-to-do urban youths are dealing with a deep cultural anxiety. Their style in fashion and speech differentiates them from the youths in the poor neighborhoods.

Life for the poor youths in villages is nothing but living in a world of unemployment and suffering, and the suburb of big city is just a place to sleep.

Two years ago, it was them who protested violently against high prices of living costs and public transportation in the suburbs of south Tehran. …

An Iranian sociologists reminding that the young people are "alienated with sacred aspect of the revolution," said that "the youth, whether from the north or south, rich or poor, have neither known the Shah nor Khomeini… They may not pour into streets today, but few years from now they will be able to do that as their fathers did."

 

Last EU Ambassador in Iran Goes Home, Reuter, May 19 

TEHRAN - The last European Union ambassador still in Iran after a row over a German court's charge of high Iranian involvement in political killings abroad went home on Monday, a Western diplomatic source said.

Italian ambassador Ludovico Ortona returned to Rome and the embassy was being run by a charge d'affaires, the source said….

 

Rushdie Says EU "Weakness" Encourages Iran, Reuter, May 19

LONDON - British author Salman Rushdie, who lives under the shadow of an Iranian death threat, said Europe's "weakness" in the face of political killings ordered by Iran's government would encourage further deaths.

"The only message that can be deduced from the weakness of the European response is Go right ahead guys, do it again, we don't mind'," Rushdie said in a BBC interview due to be broadcast on Monday.

"If Iran were thinking of planning other assassinations in Europe of other dissidents or whoever it may be...they have been given carte blanch."

"Europe has displayed a degree of cynicism that I would not have believed them capable of," Rushdie said. "That's to say what all this is about is not wanting to do anything to rock the boat of greed and money."

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