BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 1274
Wednesday, November 17, 1999
Representative Office of
The National  Council of Resistance of Iran
Washington, DC


Clashes Between Resistance Forces And Mullahs' Agents in Different Cities, Iran Zamin News Agency, November 16

The Mojahedin Command Headquarters in Iran announced today that scores of Revolutionary Guards and other armed agents of the regime's repressive and intelligence agencies have been killed or wounded in clashes with popular Resistance forces in different cities across the country. The cities included "Tehran, Karaj (west of Tehran), Isfahan (center), Qom (center), Noshahr (north), Khoy (northwest), Shadgan (southwest), Orumieh (northwest), Ilam (southwest), Babol (north), Bandar Abbas (south) and Tafresh (southwest of Tehran)," the statement by Mojahedin said.

In one of these clashes which took place in the city of Tafresh, southwest of Tehran, a number of Revolutionary Guards were killed or wounded. The Mojahedin fighters, receiving great support from young people in Tafresh, were able to overpower the Revolutionary Guards and some of the Guards laid down their arms and raised their hands and surrendered. They were all allowed to leave the area of the fighting unharmed.

A Mojahedin member, Hossein Aqa-Hosseini, was slain in the clashes in Tafresh.

The clashes were so extensive that the mullahs were forced to acknowledge at least some of them, but even then they distorted the facts by claiming that the clashes were between security forces and "drug dealers, trouble-makers and disruptive elements."
 

543 Publicly-Announced Executions Since Khatami Became President, Iran Zamin News Agency, November 16

The state-owned press reported on Monday, November 16, that ten people have been hanged in the city of Arak, provincial capital of Iran's Central Province. This raises to 543 the number of executions that have been reported by the official press since Khatami became president in 1997.

Unable to contain the growing antigovernment protests and demonstrations, and in a bid to overshadow the acute crisis caused by an internecine power struggle, the clerical regime has resorted to more public hangings and other repressive measures.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, in a statement citing the news added: "The Iranian Resistance calls on international human rights bodies and organizations and on the current session of the UN General Assembly to condemn these heinous crimes."
 
 

Press Jury Says Female Editor Is Guilty, Agence France Presse, November16

TEHRAN - Tehran's press court jury has found a female newspaper editor guilty on more than half the charges leveled against her, the conservative Abrar paper reported Tuesday.

Jaleh Oskui, 40, was deemed guilty on eight charges, and exonerated on the remaining seven, the paper said.

The indictment read by the judge included "the publication of false news (and) provocative headlines, misleading the readership, as well as insulting Islamic sanctities and the publication of anti-Islamic articles."

Oskui was arrested last October 10 and held in jail until October 18 before being freed on bail.

It was the first time a female editor has been jailed in the running battle between the press and Iran's conservative courts and parliament.

The conservative-dominated judiciary has cracked down this year on the press that supports Khatami, closing four newspapers and arresting or jailing dozens of journalists.
 

Clinton's Visit to Turkey A Greater Calamity Than Killer Quake: Paper, Agence France Presse, November16

TEHRAN - An Iranian paper on Tuesday hit out at US President Bill Clinton's visit to Turkey, saying it was a "greater calamity," than the recent killer quake.

"US President Bill Clinton's visit to Ankara is being viewed as a greater calamity for Turkey than Friday's earthquake which left a trail of disaster," the English-language Tehran Times said.

According to the daily, the Muslim people of Turkey, "who have seen two devastating earthquakes in the past few months, believe the catastrophes to be the result of the links that the Kemalist generals have forged with the accursed Zionists under US auspices."

The daily charged that the Turkish people were "firmly convinced that the Washington-Tel Aviv connection is driving Ankara towards the edge of the precipice."

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