ROME - Iran's opposition in exile accused Tehran on Thursday of trying to develop biological and chemical arms and obtain weapons of mass destruction.

"We recently obtained shocking information which demonstrates that the mullahs' regime is advancing a very systematic and dangerous program to mass produce the essentials for germ warfare," said Mitra Bagheri, Italy representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

"These latest reports also confirm that the regime's biological and chemical weapons program has been intensified since Mohammad Khatami took office as president," she told a news conference in Rome.

Bagheri said a drive to obtain weapons of mass destruction had been intensified during the 21-month presidency of Shi'ite cleric Mohammad Khatami. Bagheri alleged the Iranian authorities wanted deadly arms in order to "export terrorism and fundamentalism" and had recruited foreign specialists, mainly Russians, to accelerate its warfare projects.
 
 

Economic Woes Mark Iran Revolution Feast, Reuter, February 1

TEHRAN - Iran celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Islamic revolution faced with an economy gutted by low oil prices and in need of long overdue reforms.

The heavily state-dominated economy created after the 1979 revolution has sunk into recession with mounting unemployment as oil revenues have dropped, leaving state coffers empty.

A financial crisis has pushed the rial to record lows and forced Iran to seek $3 billion in loans from foreign creditors to avoid defaulting on the repayment of its heavy debt.

To weather the storm, the government has slashed spending and turned to the sale of bonds, borrowing from the Central Bank and taking advance payment for future oil deliveries -- all steps that clashed with state ideology.

The cuts have provoked a deep recession, pushing up unemployment, put officially at about 10 percent but estimated at twice that by Iranian economists. Newspapers have reported workers' protests over unpaid wages.

Some 10,000 development projects remain unfinished because of a lack of funds, officials say.

Faced with the reality of rising budget deficits, Iran's conservative-dominated parliament has given the government one year to draw up a plan for selling off most state companies.

But few Iranian analysts believe it will be easy to sell off unprofitable state firms.
 
 

Palestinian Police Discovers Mullahs' Supported Terrorist Campaign, Reuter, February 4

GAZA - Palestinian police said on Thursday they had arrested 40 Islamic militants who were planning Iranian-financed attacks against Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip.

Major-General Ghazi al-Jabali said police also seized arms and explosives collected by the 40 members of Izz el-Deen al-Qassam, the underground military wing of Hamas, for attacks, including one planned for the next two weeks.

"We have documents that they have already received $35 million to carry out sabotage operations against Israelis in the Gaza Strip," Jabali told Reuters.

He said the money came from unspecified "parties" in Iran.

Ismail Haniyah, a Hamas leader who directs the office of movement founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin office, confirmed to Reuters that Hamas members were under arrest but declined to give a number.

Haniyah said. "For Hamas the Israeli entity is an occupation that took our land and we see all as enemies."
 
 

Tehran Paper Casts Doubt on Upgrading of Relations with UK, Agence France Presse, February 4

TEHRAN - A Tehran newspaper cast doubt Thursday on any imminent upgrading of relations with Britain.

"Since Britain has adopted an unfriendly policy on Iran, sending an ambassador to London has been cancelled for the time being," the Tehran Times quoted an "informed source" as saying.

"The UK recently launched a propaganda campaign against the Islamic Republic to exploit the murder of Dariush Foruhar and his wife Parvaneh and some writers in Tehran," the paper quoted the source as saying.

In a shock announcement early last month, the Iranian intelligence ministry admitted that rogue agents had been involved in a recent string of murders of dissident intellectuals, including Foruhar, leader of the secular Iranian Nation's Party.

Back to Brief on Iran