BRIEF ON IRAN

No. 730

Thursday, August 28, 1997

Representative Office of

The National Council of Resistance of Iran

Washington, DC


Woman May Face Execution after She Survived A First Stoning, Amnesty International, August 22 

On 11 August 1997, Zoleykhah Kadkhoda was reportedly arrested, charged with engaging in sexual relations outside marriage, and immediately sentenced to death by stoning. On the same day she was buried from the waist down in a ditch and stoned. After she was stoned, doctors allegedly confirmed her as dead. However, at the morgue she reportedly began to breathe again and was taken to the hospital, where her condition is said to be improving….

Amnesty International believes that an incident such described above further illustrates the barbarity of the death penalty, and urges the Iranian Government to spare Zoleykhah Kadkhoda from suffering this inhumanity a second time….

 

Ex-Minister Implicated by German Court Supports Khatami's Minister, Attacks US as "Global Arrogance", State-Run Tehran Times, August 27

New Information Minister Qorban Ali Dorri Najafabadi underlined here Monday that the Information Ministry should act as an independent, alert and conscious agency and should serve as the eyes of the Islamic country, the Supreme Leader, the government and the nation.

He made the remark at the farewell and introduction ceremonies held in honor of him and the outgoing information minister Ali Fallahian….

Fallahian, also addressing the audience, referred to the religious personality and virtuous quality of his successor and called on the personnel of the Information Ministry to spare no effort in cooperating with the new minister.

In another part of his speech, Fallahian took note of the various plots and designs of the global arrogance….

 

"Overriding Interest in Containing The Threat of Iran", VOA, Editorial, August 26 

President Bill Clinton issued a new executive order this month reconfirming the U.S. embargo on Iran. He said it is "necessary to take additional measures to confirm that the embargo on Iran prohibits all trade and investment activities by United States persons, wherever located, and to consolidate in one order the various prohibitions previously imposed to deal with the national emergency declared on march 15th, 1995."

President Clinton declared the national emergency to emphasize U.S. opposition to Iranian actions and policies. Objectionable Iranian practices include Iran's support for International terrorism, its efforts to undermine the Middle East peace process, and its pursuit of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them.

The U.S. has tried for many years to persuade the Iranian government to cease its unacceptable behavior. To that end, the U.S. has worked closely with allied governments to prevent Iran's access to goods that would increase its military capabilities and allow it to threaten the security of the Persian Gulf region….

The U.S. looks forward to the day when it can deal with a peaceful Iran on the basis of cooperation and mutual respect. But until then, as President Clinton has said, the U.S. and other countries have "an overriding interest in containing the threat Posed by Iran."

 

U.S. Looks Other Way as N. Korea Sells Scuds to Iran, MSNBC, August 27 

North Korea —the beneficiary of more than $100 million in U.S. aid over the past two years— has continued to sell ballistic missile technology to Iran and other rogue states in the Middle East despite Washington’s efforts to end such potentially destabilizing conduct.

Moreover, federal documents show that twice in the past 14 months — in June 1996 and most recently last Wednesday— the Clinton administration has reported detecting such sales, a violation of the Missile Technology Control treaty, which requires the imposition of sanctions. Yet rather than confront North Korea publicly or seek international condemnation, the administration has chosen to quietly "announce" the information in the Federal Register, the tome-like official record of government published daily by the Government Printing Office.…

At the very least, North Korea has gotten off fairly easy. Over the past decade, North Korea is suspected of supplying Iran with about 600 Scud B and Scud C missiles…

 

N. Korea Suspends Missile Talks, The Associated Press, August 27 

Following the defection of a high-level diplomat, North Korea suspended talks with the United States aimed at curbing the communist country's missile sales abroad and a weapons buildup at home….

North Korea has sold long-range Scud missiles to Iran and Syria, as well as arms to Egypt, according to U.S. officials. Iran received most of the technology, a source of concern for the United States and Israel, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday….

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