BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 1196
Wednesday, July 28, 1999
Representative Office of
The National Council of Resistance of Iran
Washington, DC

Revealing His Fear of Resistance Activities In Iran, Khatami Vows Continued Suppression of "The Enemies' Efforts"!, Iran Zamin News Agency, July 27

TEHRAN - Mullah's regime President Khatami, in his address to a state rally in city of Hamadan yesterday, referred to recent anti-government uprisings as "the enemies' efforts to create violence, waves of terror and terrorism in the country."

Referring to recent demonstrations in Tehran, he said that "these incidents were aimed at instigating the people, who are loyal to the Islamic Revolution and the Leader."

"This unrest was in fact a declaration of war against the president and his slogans for the rule of law and a civil society," he noted. Khatami said "security is a must for the development and progress, and that certain hands tried to damage it," adding that "but Thanks to God, the enemies were foiled in their plots."

Mullahs' president said that "the enemies tried to say that universities opposed the system, theological schools and Islam."

Underlining that the "enemies of Islamic Revolution have hatched new plots" against the regime, Khatami said," What happened in the past few days in Tehran was a link in the chain of plots against the Iranian nation."

He cited the Eternal Lights Operation [referred to by mullahs as Mersad], the Mojahedin's largest military operation against mullahs' forces, as the one which "disappointed the enemies of the Islamic Revolution." Citing the Mojahedin's punishment of Sayyad Shirazi, one of the main figures of suppression of Iranian people, Khatami said: "The plots of the enemies are now mostly of political nature and, in the past two years, the enemies committed assassinations, the last of which was the assassination of Lieutenant General Martyr Ali Sayyad Shirazi."

Khatami referred to the "enemies' efforts" against the Islamic Republic of Iran and said, "Once again the enemies tried to tarnish the image of the Islamic Republic of Iran and convey the idea that there is no stability and security in Iran."
 
 

Ground, Air War Games Near Iraq Border To Pound Mock Enemy!, Reuter, July 27

TEHRAN - Iranian forces, backed by warplanes and helicopters, staged exercises near the Iraqi border on Tuesday, state television reported on Tuesday.

It said air-force planes carried out bombing runs while helicopters pounded mock enemy armored units during the one-day war games outside the western town of Eslamabad-e Gharb.

The border area was the site of a major attack by the Mujahideen Khalq armed opposition group into Iranian territory in the final days of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

The Mujahideen has intensified its attacks in the past year, claiming the killing of a former prison head and Iran's armed forces deputy joint chief of staff.
 
 

Antigovernment Uprisings Continue in Different Parts of Iran, Iran Zamin News Agency, July 27

Antigovernment uprisings and protests are continuing in different parts of the country despite the clerical regime’s brutal crackdown, widespread arrests and an undeclared state of siege in Tehran and many other cities, the Mojahedin’s Command Headquarters in Iran said in a statement.

At 7 p.m. on Friday, July 23, security forces used force to disperse a large crowd of young people who had gathered in Pirouzi Park in Homayounshahr, a suburb of Isfahan in central Iran. Clashes broke out as the young people refused to comply with the security forces’ orders. Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the State Security Forces headquarters, chanting slogans against the ruling mullahs.

Clashes spread to all the areas of the city. Young demonstrators set fire to car tires in Hafez Street, burnt down a number of state-owned buses and SSF vehicles and attacked government centers. Clashes went on until the early hours of the next day and, in some parts of the city, there was hand-to-hand fighting between demonstrators and security forces.

More than 100 people have been arrested and scores of demonstrators severely wounded and transferred to Isfahan for treatment.

Homayounshahr is now under a de facto state of siege. Another incident occurred on Monday, July 26, when residents clashed with Revolutionary Guards who intended to arrest a young man.
 
 

Toll Rises to 43 Dead, Missing in Iran Floods, Reuter, July 27

TEHRAN - The toll from floods in northern Iran rose to 43 killed and missing on Tuesday after torrential rains in the midst of a severe drought, state radio reported.

It said 95 people were also injured in Monday's unseasonal floods in Mazandaran province on the Caspian Sea coast.

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