LONDON - A majority of British members of parliament have called for London's rapprochement with Tehran to be put on hold until Iran improves its human rights record, campaigners said on Wednesday.

They said 335 parliamentarians had signed a statement calling for political and trade relations to be conditional on Iran's full respect for human rights.

"The statement signed by the 335 MPs says that because there is no evidence of real change or a willingness to change in Iran, we should not rush at cozying up to the regime," Labor MP Robin Corbett said.

Corbett unveiled the declaration at a meeting alongside representatives of the Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran and a handful of British MPs and peers who have been vocal critics of the Iranian leadership.

[Iran Zamin News Agency: Majority of MPs urged support for "the coalition of the National Council of Resistance of Iran which wants a democratic and pluralist regime." Sixty-one members of the House of Lords also signed a similar statement.]

Signatories included 204 ruling Labor members and 78 from the main opposition Conservative Party. Another 53 of the 659 MPs had signed, along with 61 members of the House of Lords.

The statement said the response to pro-democracy demonstrations in Iran last summer "shows there has been no improvement in human rights in Iran." "This is a regime which fears its people as well as denying democracy and respect for human rights," it said.

Wednesday's statement said Khatami's record in office undermined a Western consensus that the president was pressing Iran's conservative religious leadership to reform.

"President Khatami's direct role in the suppression of the pro-democracy demonstrations prove that hope for democratic change is a mirage," it added.

[Iran Zamin News Agency: MPs reiterated that in the face of such repression, all-out resistance is the legitimate and inalienable right of the Iranian people and as the democratic alternative to the ruling regime, the National Council of Resistance of Iran deserves the active support of all freedom-loving people and advocates of democracy around the world.]

"We believe the promotion of economic and diplomatic relations with Iran should be conditional on full respect for human rights and an end to the arrest, torture and threatened execution of those who demonstrated for democracy and freedom."
 

Britain's FM Postpones Trip to Tehran, Agence France Presse, June 28

LONDON - British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook postponed for a second time Wednesday a much-awaited trip to Tehran with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharazi, officials said.

The postponement came on the same day as a call by a cross-party group of parliamentarians for the British government to take a tougher line in its dealings with Tehran…

Kharazi visited Britain in January and hailed the "promising" new era of relations, which could bring much-needed trade boosts to both sides.

But that trip was shrouded in controversy, with the Iranian foreign minister hounded by egg-throwing dissidents at every turn, as opponents of the Iranian regime protested bitterly that Britain was doing business with a country with a dubious human rights record.
 

Khatami's Upcoming Visit to Germany 'Doomed' In Advance, Agence France Presse, June 28

TEHRAN - Mohammad Khatami's upcoming visit to Germany is doomed in advance because of planned demonstrations against him, particularly by the People's Mojahedin, an Iranian writer and political analyst said Wednesday.

"Is it in the interest of the president and of Iran that this trip takes place," asked Ehsan Naraghi.

Khatami will travel to Germany the second week of July, according to Western diplomatic sources.

Naraghi pointed to trips Khatami made to Rome and Paris in 1999, both of which were plagued by anti-government demonstrations.

"More are being planned in Germany, where the Mojahedin are better organized," he said.

Naraghi said: "Westerners are at fault. They don't really support Khatami".
 

Two American Tourists Knifed In Isfahan, Reuters, June 28

TEHRAN - Two American women visiting the central Iranian city of Isfahan were wounded in a knife attack by a would-be thief, the daily Resalat said on Wednesday.

"The thief entered the room of the two tourists through the cooling ducts" at the Abbasi Hotel, popular with Western tourists, the newspaper said, adding the incident took place about a week ago. 

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