DOMESTIC

Mojahedin clash with Revolutionary Guards in western Iran Mojahedin press office, Paris, Oct. 16 - In the early hours of Monday, October 13, a group of the clerical regime's Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) attacked a unit of Mojahedin combatants in the Salehabad region of Ilam, western Iran, the Mojahedin's Command Headquarters inside Iran reported.

The Mojahedin combatants reacted with heavy fire, using RPG-7 rockets, heavy machineguns and AK-47 automatic rifles, forcing the Guards into retreat. The Guards left some equipment and ammunition as they fled. None of the Mojahedin was hurt in this clash. No information is available on enemy casualties.

Iranian Kurd murdered near Sulaymania

Khabat radio, Oct. 19 - Four terrorists of the mullahs' regime attacked and opened fire on a vehicle belonging to the Khabat organization on Sulaymania-Kirkuk road (Iraqi Kurdistan) at noon on Saturday, October 18. One Khabat peshmarga, Taher Faizi, was murdered as a result.

Religious minority leader banned from leaving Iran

Radio France International, Oct. 21 - Agents at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport prevented Dr. Nour Ali Tabandeh, leader of the Gonabadi sect, from leaving the country. He is more than 70 years old.

Danish center issues three reports on human rights in Iran

AFP, Oct. 16 - The Human Rights Center of Denmark issued three critical reports in Farsi on the situation in Iran. The reports were distributed in thousands of copies around the world among Iranian groups supporting or opposing the Tehran regime. Klaus Slavinsky, the spokesman for this center said: We decided to publish these reports in Farsi to inform the Iranians of various inclinations of the situation of human rights in their country which is still very much a cause of concern. These reports were prepared in March and October 1996 and February 1997.

Further reliance on suppression and terrorism

NCR Secretariat, Oct. 14 - Khatami made new appointments on October 12 and 13. Mir Hossein Moussavi, former Prime Minister, was appointed as Khatami's senior advisor, and Alireza Mo'ayyeri as advisor to the president in charge of coordinating his office's affairs.

Having served eight years as the Khomeini regime's Prime Minister during the Iran-Iraq war, Moussavi is a staunch advocate of state-controlled economy. He also oversaw some of the bloody explosions, hostage-taking and other terrorist crimes carried out in Lebanon by the Iranian regime. Khamenei had opposed Moussavi's appointment as first Deputy to Khatami.

Mo'ayyeri was the regime's charge d'affaires in France in 1985-86, and also served as advisor to Rafsanjani on international affairs. In the past 18 years, he has always been one of the top officials in charge of export of fundamentalism and terrorism.

Mo'ayyeri's main mission in France was to design and carry out a highly complicated and expensive scheme to assassinate Mr. Massoud Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance. In 1992, Mo'ayyeri was appointed as head of Khamenei's office to support terrorist groups in Asia and Middle East. He attended all of the National Security Council sessions and was directly involved in the assassination of many of the regime's opponents abroad.

Moussavi and Mo'ayyeri are both affiliated with the "Line of the Imam" faction or the "Assembly of Combatant Clerics" who advocate totalitarian policies at home, hostility to the Middle East peace process and export of terrorism.

According to reports from within the clerical regime, Khatami is planning to name more advisors from among the leaders of this faction, including mullah Moussavi Kho'einiha, the mastermind of the U.S. embassy takeover in Tehran in 1979, and Ali Akbar Mohtashami, former Minister of Interior and the principal behind bloody, terrorist operations in Lebanon.

Gone with the wind!

Jomhouri Islami, editorial, Oct. 18 - The rulers in America, Europe and Israel and their satellite nations are running out of patience. After Khatami's election, they thought in their dreams, with their own criteria, that a new era had begun in Iran. With the passage of only two months of the life of the new government, however, they can now see that their sweet dreams have turned into nightmare.

Caviar

Hamshahri daily, Oct. 22 - The total volume of caviar fished by Caspian Sea nations has dropped from 27 tons 20 years ago to three tons at present.

INTERNATIONAL

European Union

AFP, Oct. 22 - Iran once again reiterated that the German ambassador must be the last European ambassador returning to Tehran. This condition has been already rejected several times by Germany and other European Union capitals.

Relations with US

AFP, Oct. 22 - James Baker, former US Secretary of State, took part in a conference in a university in Houston. Henry Kissinger and Warren Christopher also attended the conference... The three former secretaries of state said that despite Khatami's presidency and his reputation as a moderate, the United States must be very cautious. James Baker said: I still do not have any document that shows Iran has changed. At the same time, Henry Kissinger pointed out that Tehran must be judged by its actions not on the basis of our psychological analyses of how its new president thinks...

Efforts for rapprochement

Le Figaro, Oct. 15 - Despite the arrayal of the naval forces [of Iran and the United States in the Persian Gulf], it seems that the day's instruction on Tehran-Washington line is to be cautious and even exchange friendly compliments. Behind the scene, the two countries are mending the ties broken since Khomeini's revolution in 1979. As the official Iranian newspaper, Iran Daily, wrote: "It is not every day the Islamic Republic can welcome a decision taken in Washington..."

The said initiative was taken officially and without much ado, by Madeleine Albright. The US Secretary of State announced last weekend that Mojahedin-e Khalq, the armed opposition movement against Tehran, was among the 30 "foreign terrorist groups" whose presence in the United States will be banned. A White House official who was not willing to be identified said this was a "goodwill gesture" towards the new Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami. The message is very clear in diplomatic language: By destroying all bridges with a movement which is working to overthrow the Iranian regime by force, the United States has taken a small step towards the recognition of the regime. For years, this was the pre-condition set by Tehran for any improvement of relations. Perhaps this is what the Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, who is said to be more moderate, meant when a short while ago, he called on the United States to accept the realities of Iran.

Mullahs try to terrorize Iranians

Mojahedin's press office, Washington, DC, Oct. 20 - In the wake of the US State Department's inclusion of the Mojahedin in the list of "foreign terrorist groups", the mullahs' regime has launched a misinformation campaign, disseminating false rumors about closure of Mojahedin offices in the United States and Europe, or telling Iranians that participating in Mojahedin's meetings and concerts is illegal and considered a crime. In addition to the regime's newspapers in Iran, several Farsi language papers and radio and television programs in London and Los Angeles, financed by the mullahs' Intelligence Ministry, have also reprinted and broadcast these rumors.

A press spokesman for the Mojahedin in Washington described these claims as "absolutely false" and added: No restrictions have been imposed on the activities of the Mojahedin or the Iranian Resistance abroad. These activities are all within the limits of law and cannot be curtailed.

The Mojahedin spokesman added: The mullahs' regime has taken advantage of the State Department's list and launched a misinformation campaign among Iranians living in exile to terrorize and prevent them from cooperating with the Iranian Resistance. Contrary to the expectations of the mullahs and their agents, the State Department's action resulted in a wave of solidarity with the Iranian Resistance and the Mojahedin, especially among Iranians residing in the United States. Even those groups of Iranians who did not agree with all the policies and view points of the Mojahedin have also expressed support for the Iranian Resistance and offered cooperation.

In their internal discussions, the regime's officials reiterate that "the effects of the State Department's measure on the Mojahedin will not be more than a short-lived propaganda blitz. Our problem with the Mojahedin is not in the United States, neither in Paris, nor in London, but their forces in Iran and their army in Iraq."

The mullahs' Supreme National Security Council has recently issued a report after several sessions which examined the "restive situation in the country." The report categorized the "opponents of the state" and emphasized that among the groups opposing the regime, the Mojahedin is the only group capable of effectively confronting the regime and posing a serious threat to its existence. The report adds: "Because of their activities in the past years, the Mojahedin do have a popular base. Despite our publicity that they do not have any support, they are able to instigate some movement in the discontented public.The Mojahedin is the movement which we cannot control and these are the same people which prevent the stability of our regime. We must do whatever we can to rid ourselves of this threat."

'Until Israel's annihilation'!!!

AFP, Oct. 18 - The official IRNA news agency reported that the General Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Yahya Safavi, met and held talks Wednesday with the Secretary General of the Hezbollah, Hassan Nassrallah. According to the GC commander, "the Hezbollah can expedite the annihilation of Israel!"

AFP, Oct. 19 - Sheikh Hassan Nassrallah, Secretary General of the Hezbollah of Lebanon, declared: "Inspired by the message of Imam Khomeini and the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, the Hezbollah will continue its struggle until the complete annihilation of Israel."

On the Queen's visit to Pakistan

Tehran's radio, Oct. 18 - Mullah Zarandi, the Friday Prayer leader of Kermanshah elaborated on the visit by the Queen of Britain to Pakistan. He said: "Should any human being allow the Queen into his country? This malicious Queen? They boast that the Queen has visited their country!! Would any pious nation permit these people into their country, with all their treasons in the Islamic countries which used to be their colonies? They should not allow the Pope either, because he endorses all these crimes, as well. No! A Muslim nation must not allow these kind of people to enter their country.

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