Iran Opposition Denounces Bonn Deputy's Tehran Trip, Reuter, June 16  

BONN, Germany - Iran's exiled resistance movement condemned Monday a weekend visit to Tehran by maverick German politician Juergen Moellemann, saying the visit condoned Iran's "terrorism abroad" and "suppression at home."

The National Council of Resistance (NCR) of Iran, which opposes the Tehran government, denounced the liberal Free Democrat parliamentarian and former economics minister, saying his actions flouted European Union policy on Iran.

"Such visits...only encourage the mullahs' religious terrorist dictatorship and embolden it to continue suppression at home and export of terrorism abroad," said a statement from the mujahideen resistance group's leader, Massoud Radjavi.

Moellemann was not immediately available for comment.

… The German Foreign Ministry said Moellemann, who is regarded as something of a maverick in Bonn, had not been on a ministry assignment but had gone to Tehran on his own initiative.

… Radjavi condemned Moellemann in his statement, saying: "Shaking hands with criminal terrorists, who were identified by a Berlin court as being responsible for assassinating dissidents abroad, blatantly contradicts the spirit and letter of decisions reached on April 29 by EU foreign ministers."

The NCR, which has its headquarters in Paris, was referring to a decision to recall EU envoys from Tehran. Bonn's ambassador has still not returned to Tehran.

Iranian Diplomat Arrested In Bonn, The German Daily BILD, June 12

Bonn - Police in Bonn arrested a diplomat attached to the Iranian embassy. Ali Asghar Arablou, the embassy's Second Secretary, was caught by police in the middle of the night in downtown Bonn, pasting newspapers over posters put up by an opposition group. Arablou was arrested on charges of vandalizing the bulletin board, belonging to the Christian Democratic Party. 

Iranian Moderate Can't Change Much, The Washington Times, June 16  

The 18-year-old Islamic republic system in Iran will be around for some time in spite of the recent election of a relative moderate as its next president, according to a senior State Department analyst.

The forecast comes from Stephen Fairbanks, on sabbatical for a year from the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

Mohammad Khatami… "didn’t run for president without the prior agreement of Iran's supreme conservative leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei," Mr. Fairbanks pointed out at a policy forum last week…

Mr. Fairbanks said Iran's president enjoys little power to make policy. The direction of the state will continue to be set by the constitutional head of state, Ayatollah Khamenei, he said.

"The vote was more against the ruling circle than it was an expression of true devotion to Khatami," he said…

He predicted disillusionment with Khatami unless his government makes remarkable improvements in the next few years.

Mr. Fairbanks also pointed out there is no organizational party base behind Mr. Khatami…

21,000 Jailed Without Due Process, 30% of Cultural Buildings Used To House Inmates, Agence France Presse, June 16

The Iranian press quoted Lajevardi, Director of Prisons in Iran, as saying that there are 137,528 prisoners in Iran, more than fifty percent of whom had been jailed on drug-related offenses. Lajevardi said that about 79,775 of the prisoners, i.e. 58%, were involved in drug smuggling or were addicts.

[Human rights organizations and the United Nations have repeatedly reported that political dissidents are arrested and executed as "drug smugglers" in Iran.]

He added that the legal status of 21,487 prisoners had not been clarified…

Lajevardi said Iran's prisons were overcrowded and officials had been obliged to transform 30% of the facilities set aside for cultural activities into cellblocks.

Earthquake Strikes Northeastern Iran, Associated Press, June 16

TEHRAN, Iran - A magnitude-5.5 earthquake struck northeastern Iran on Monday, destroying houses left standing from last month's devastating quake, Iranian radio said.

There were no reports of casualties.

The quake jolted northeastern Khorasan province, which was struck by a 7.1-magnitude quake in May that killed more than 2,400 people and left 60,000 homeless.

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