Operational units of the Mojahedin using 107 mm missiles pounded the strategic military fortress at Einkhosh in northern Khuzistan Province at 5:30 am on Monday, inflicting heavy damages to the suppressive units of the mullahs’ army based in the fort. These included units of the 23rd Special Airborne Division and the 92nd Armored Division. The 410th Battalion of the 23rd Division was also hit in the attack.

Fort Einkhosh is the most important military center in northern Khuzistan. The units based in Fort Einkhosh have played an active role in the suppression of dissent and antigovernment protests in the region and are detested by the local populace.
 

Thousands of Young People Demonstrate in Tehran, Iran Zamin News Agency, June 16

Thousands of young residents of Tehran chanting "Down with the mullahs' regime," "Tanks, guns and [paramilitary] Bassij are no longer effective" and "Down with the security forces" staged an antigovernment demonstration in the capital on Friday evening and clashed with the mullahs' suppressive forces.

The demonstration began when thousands of spectators poured out of Azadi Stadium, west of Tehran, after a soccer match. The large crowd of protesters were joined by many bystanders as they began to march toward the city center.

Fully equipped units of the special anti-riot units of the State Security Forces finally blocked the route of the protesters. Firing tear-gas into the crowd, they charged at the demonstrators with truncheons and beat up the young protesters.

Many of the demonstrators were injured, while the security forces took away at least two busloads of arrested protesters to unknown locations.
 

Iran Censors Leading French Publications, Agence France Presse, June 16

TEHRAN - The Iranian authorities have censored copies of the French newspaper Le Monde and the magazine L'Express over the past few weeks after judging reproductions of some French artwork pornographic.

After receiving complaints from subscribers, the mail delivery service TNT launched an investigation and said the publications had been censored by duty officers at Tehran airport.

In Le Monde, which rarely carries photos, Iranian authorities cut out pictures of the Rio carnival and reproductions of paintings by Paul Gauguin.

Iranian subscribers often receive foreign publications incomplete.
 

Tehran Economic Summit Achieves Little Success, Radio Free Europe, June 14

… Despite fanfare and public pronouncements, last week's meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Tehran appears to have accomplished little in the way of trade agreements or energy deals…

But there were also notable absences among the leaders of the 10 member nations of the ECO. Turkey's new president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, declined an invitation... His decision may be taken as a sign that bilateral tensions with Iran are continuing, despite official denials.

Iran made special efforts to attract a visit from Sezer, sending an envoy to Ankara and downplaying disputes over Turkish reports that Iran played a part in a series of killings in the past decade. The setback could be doubly damaging because Turkey is one of the three ECO founders, along with Iran and Pakistan.

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbaev stayed away after Astana hosted a meeting of the Central Asian Economic Council with four prime ministers from the region last week….

Real achievements in international meetings are often hard to discern in the smokescreen of official statements, but from all appearances, the ECO summit fell far short of its goals.
 

Tehran Repeats Its Hostility to Israel, Agence France Presse, June 19

TEHRAN - Iran reiterated its hostility to Israel Monday, stressing its traditional position that it will not join in negotiations towards a Middle East peace settlement.

The foreign ministry spokesman condemned the foreign media for "trying to exploit" a statement by the country's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on peace in the Middle East during a meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Iran does not recognize the Jewish state and calls for its destruction.

Khamenei promised the "liberation of Palestine" at the beginning of June, following the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. "What has happened in Lebanon will also happen in Palestine so long as the Palestinian people continue to be drive by determination, faith and motivation," he said.

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