FDI's Weekly Newswire

The life and [troubled] times of the IslamicRepublic of Iran

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FDI WEEKLY NEWSWIRE NO 2

April 25, 1996

Reza'i's unprecedented speech only four days before the secondround of the Majlis elections was seen as a scarcely-veiled attack onPresident Rafsanjani and his partisans, who have been accused ofillegally using government funds to support their electoralcampaigns. "If liberals were not [so active] in our country,Iran's construction would be much more advanced," Reza'i said.

Speaking before an assembly of anti-riot force commanders inTehran, Reza'i said: "The faith of the Revolution will be determinedby the cultural and political combat of the Hezbollahis with the"Liberal elements."

The term "Hezbollah," or Partisan of God, was first used byAyatollah Khomeini at the start of the Islamic Revolution to identifyhis supporters. [Sobh, 4/16/96]

Satanic Barbies... made in China

A radical Islamist weekly has called for a "serious fight" toeliminate what it calls one of the most efficient weapons of WorldArrogance in its plot against Third World and Islamic countries:Barbie dolls.

"The cultural assault of World Arrogance [i.e., the USA]has now gone a step further by aiming at the minds of our innocentchildren. The Barbie dolls on sale in our toy stores, with theirsoft, flexible, and devastatingly beautiful half-nude bodies, andtheir natural appearance, have negative impact on our children.Barbies are the symbol of the Western woman, and cause a kind ofindifference and rejection toward the Islamic Hejab (veil) in thesubconscious of our children. Yes," Sobh continued, "this is Westerncultural penetration, and cultural assault... [These] dollsare the symbol of Satanic Culture, and fill the lives of our childrenwith [Satanic Massages] forever."

Sobh called for a serious measures to actively counter such"serious threat," emphasizing that in such cases only "action"counts.

Sobh remarked that the recent influx of Barbie dolls into Iranwere made in China [Sobh, 4/16/96]

"Iran Khabar" Weekly Shut Down

A controversial Gaithersburg, Maryland Farsi-language weeklysuspended publication in April, after a prolonged trip to Tehran byits owner.

Iran Khabar publisher Hossein Sarfaraz traveled to Iran to raisemoney for his paper, but was allegedly detained by the authoritiesand forbidden to leave the country. Mr. Sarfaraz has traveledrepeatedly to Iran in the past without any difficulty. According to aformer business associate who says he helped raise the money to startpublication of Iran Khabar two years ago, Mr. Sarfaraz entertainedclose relations with the office of President Ali AkbarHashemi-Rafsanjani and New York "branch" of the Bonyad-e Mostazafan.The former associate said the money to start Iran Khabar was donatedby Rafsanjani's office, although Mr. Sarfaraz has denied this.

Iran Khabar boasted of maintaining an office in Tehran, andfrequently reproduced news articles that had appeared almostsimultaneously in the state-controlled Tehran press. One hallmark ofthe paper was its criticism of Iranian exile groups of all politicalcolors, from the Mujahidin to the monarchists. The effort by CrownPrince Reza Pahlavi and a Paris-based exile, Dr. Manoucher Gandji, topromote unity among the different opposition groups was singled outby the paper for particularly virulent abuse.

Some Iran watchers in Washington, however, said they were"unconvinced" that the Iranian authorities had actually imprisonedMr. Sarfaraz. "This smacks to me of a very skilled disinformationcampaign," said one well-respected authority on Iranian affairs.[The Iran Brief, 5/6/96]

Birthday party ends in death, after LEF attack

A Tehran man's 23rd birthday party ended tragically on April 11,when Law Enforcement Forces [LEF] stormed his family'sapartment in north Tehran, the Foundation for Democracy in Iran haslearned from family members and sources in Tehran. Eyewitnesses sawLEF officers threw Alireza Farzaneh-Far from the balcony of the 18thfloor apartment, after breaking up the co-ed party and accusing thecelebrants of "anti-Islamic" behavior. [The objectionablebehavior included allowing young men and women to mix socially, evenat a private house; listening to Western music, drinking, dancing,and alleged drug use.] Several of those present say they wereinsulted and beaten before taken into custody.

The eye witnesses said LEF officers dragged Farzaneh-Far to thebalcony when he protested the intrusion. The next thing they knew, hehad fallen to the ground 18 floors below and died instantly.

The official media did not report the event, but the news traveledby word of mouth throughout the capitol, prompting the head of theTehran LEF, General Abolfathi, to issue a public denial that hisforces had killed the victim. Abolfathi said the man was drunk andunder the influence of drugs, and was killed while trying to escapefrom Law Enforcement Forces [Salam, 4/14]. But relatives ofFarzaneh-Far and eye-witnesses hotly contested Abolfathi's denial.

Reuters reported from Tehran that about 1000 mourners gathered fora memorial ceremony for the victim on April 20.

Salman Rushdie Film By Islamic Republic

A government-supported propaganda agency is preparing a film onthe life of British novelist Salman Rushdie, to be called "Adam'sDestruction." According to the radical Tehran daily Salam, "acolossal amount of money" has already been spent on the film over thepast two years, without a single scene having been shot. The film isbeing produced by the Center for Islamic Art and Thought (Hoz-eAndisheh Va Honar Islami), which says they believe the film will beready this year. According to Salam, a second (and competing?) filmon Rushdie is also being planned by the Ministry of Culture andIslamic Guidance, which has commissioned the writer Said Hadj Miri todo the treatment. [Salam, 4/14/96]

Europe maintains "critical dialogue" despite Tehran's support forterrorism

European foreign ministers announced on April 22 that the EU wouldmaintain its "critical dialogue" with Tehran, despite Iran'scontinued support for terrorism. The "troika" of EU foreign ministerswas publicly rebuffed by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayatiduring their 20 hour stay in Tehran on April 2-3. "There is afundamental difference between a people struggling to secure itsrights and to end the occupation of its lands and those who have madeterror their profession," Velayati told Tehran Radio, referring tothe Hamas bombers.

Hamas was not the only case on the Iranians' minds. In aneditorial published just after the talks, the radical Jomhouri-Eslamidaily ( close to Khamene'i ), commented that "the death Fatwa againstSalman Rushdie is definitive and can not be changed,[...] Nowthat we defined our positions clearly, it is the Europeangovernments' turn to clarify their ambiguous position towards IslamicWorld." [Jomhouri-e Eslami 4/6/96; Tehran Radio 4/3]

U.S. spreading drug addiction to undermine regime, officialssay

Prosecutor General Ayatollah Morteza Moghtada'i told a gatheringof Islamic Revolutionary Court judges in Tehran that "WorldArrogance" (the codeword for the United States) was "trying to harmthe Islamic Republic through [drug] addiction and culturalassault."

At the same meeting, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the head of theJudiciary Branch, claimed that "drug distribution [in Iran]is politically motivated," and that "drug pushers should be regardedas the enemies of the Islamic Republic."

Yazdi's remarks were repeated by Parliament speaker Nateq-Nouri,who said drug smugglers were "trying to weaken our regime by bringingin cocaine from Canada, Germany, the U.S., and the Netherlands, toaddict our younger generation." Nouri called for the creation of"special labor camps" for young addicts, so society could benefitfrom their time behind bars.

Minister of Information and Security, Ali Fallahian, claimed that"The objective of the drug trafficking bands is to weaken thecountry politically through distribution of drugs." Fallahian askedfor the creation of "special townships for drug addicts," in order tocurb spread of drugs.

"Fifty per cent of the prison population in Iran are drug addictsor drug dealers," an official from the headquarters of thegovernment's Counter-Narcotics office said, "while another 25% havebeen imprisoned on drug-related charges." [Iran 4/11/96, IranNews 4/13/96]

Hajj demonstrations canceled

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene'i, speaking to governmentofficials organizing the 70,000 Iranian pilgrims scheduled to makethis year's Hajj, said that pilgrimage was " meaningless" withoutpolitical demonstrations against "World Arrogance, Zionism, andinfidels."

The Saudi authorities have banned such demonstrations, and theKingdom's highest-ranking Sunni Muslim cleric, Abdul Aziz bin Baz,called them a "baseless innovation" by Ayatollah Khomeini.

For four years after the bloody riots during 1987 Hajj, Iran wasbanned from the annual pilgrimage. Iran has held smallerdemonstrations during the past two hajj seasons, which have beenclosed to non-Iranian participants by the Saudi security forces.

Tehran sought to hold large-scale political demonstrations thisyear called "Disavowal of Infidels," but according to Tehran Radio(4/23) canceled its plans.

Hojj. Mohammad Mohammadi-Reyshahri, former minister ofIntelligence, was put in charge of this year's hajj and was quoted astelling the pilgrims before their departure that "Nowhere is there abetter place for crying death to America than in the house of God."Now, Reyshahri says Tehran called off the demonstration because theSaudis had "encircled the headquarters of the Iranian pilgrims witharmy tanks and troops."

[Hamshahri 4/4/96; Kayhan 4/4/96 [Tehran Radio4/23].

Islamic Republic "In Danger," paper says

In a rare editorial evoking Iran's "uncertain future," theunofficial voice of the Rafsanjani faction expressed "alarm that theglobal situation of the Islamic Republic in the world has never beenso critical."

"Trying to maintain the Islamic regime and the revolution havebecome an absolute necessity, at a time when different factions ofinternational capitalism are savagely trying to wipe out our regime,"Hamshahri said

U.S. sanctions and "political tricks" from countries in Europe andthe Middle East were "clear evidence of the dangers threatening ourcountry."

"Apart from Cuba, our country is the most targeted by serious andpractical threats and menaces from the mightiest political andmilitary power of the world," the paper went on. {Hamshahri,4/4/96]

Basiji Students called up in Tehran

Students who are members of the Basij ("Mobilization") forces inTeheran are being called up. In the coming weeks, they are to gettheir military ID cards and uniforms, and will be declared"operational," the Education Ministry announced. The Ministry said itwould be spending 110 Million Rials ($370,000) this year to buy newuniforms for Tehran's "Students' Basij."

The Basij, or "mobilization forces," were created during theIran-Iraq war as a means of supplying large numbers of fresh troopsto the battlefront. They normally received little or no militarytraining; and during some campaigns, children as young as 12 weresent to the front in their ranks.

Since the end of the war, the Basij have been used as anideological police and anti-riot force whenever it was needed. TheBasij forces are officially under the control of the RevolutionaryGuards Corps, and have branches in schools and factories throughoutIran. [Kayhan 4/8/96]

Iran decries US Nuclear Presence in Turkey

"Turkey has not only become a dump for American and NATO nuclearwaste, but a storehouse for US nuclear arms," the Tehran dailyJomhouri-e Eslami reported, quoting an obscure Turkish newspaper,"Asham".

The report, accompanied by a detailed map, claimed that U.S.forces in Turkey maintained nuclear weapons depots at Luleburgaz(near Turkey's border with Greece), Kosekoy (along the Marmara Sea ),and Incirlic, the well-known NATO Air Force base used by F117AStealth fighters during Operation Desert Storm against Iraq. Thepaper also quoted unnamed diplomatic sources in Ankara as allegingthat the U.S. had buried nuclear waste in Turkey without theknowledge of the Turkish authorities.

The article also alleged that Turkish agricultural products suchas tea and comestible nuts had been contaminated by radioactivity,and that the U.S. embassy in Ankara has secretly put pressure on theTurkish media to prevent reports on the subject.

Jomhouri-e Eslami is generally considered to be the mouthpiece ofSupreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i, who was initially granted thelicense for the publication at the beginning of the IslamicRevolution.

The Iranian government is known to have set up publicationsoverseas to serve as the original source for disinformation stories,in a tactic that was perfected by the KGB during the Cold War.[Jomhouri-e Eslami Daily, 4/11/96]

Education of 700 Iranian Atomic Experts in Russia

At the same time President Clinton and Russian President BorisYeltsin were meeting in Moscow to discuss nuclear security andnonproliferation, Russia's Interfax News Agency reported from Moscowthat the Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) is negotiatingwith Iran to educate 700 Iranian nuclear experts in Russia.

According to Interfax report, the Iranian experts will work atseveral unidentified nuclear installations in Iran, in addition tooperating the nuclear power reactor at Bushehr. [Interfax4/19]

Israeli-Turkish pact threatens Iranian nuclear centers

The military training and cooperation agreement signed earlierthis month between Israel and Turkey poses "a serious threat on ourWestern borders," the radical daily Salam said. The pact comes at anextremely sensitive time, Salam said, since "Zionist regimesauthorities repeatedly talk about attacking sensitive Iraniantargets, including the Bushehr and Neka reactors."

The Salam editorial was the first time a regime-sanctioned mediahas publicly referred to the Neka site, near the Caspian Sea. Iranianopposition groups have alleged that Russian and Iranian nuclearexperts were evaluating the Neka and the neighboring town of Gorgan,as potential sites for new nuclear power reactors.

The Israeli-Turkish alliance should cause Iran to establish "ajoint committee with Syria and Iraq" to combat Israel. [Salam,4/14/96]

.c. Eight Iranian Diplomats Suspect In Terrorist Activities

Turkish newspapers reported that 8 Iranian diplomats andofficials have been identified for their role in the killing of aTurkish journalist and for other terrorist activities in Turkey,including the assassination of two Iranian exiles in 1992. TheIranian suspects were identified as: Mir Kazem Zaaferanchi (a formerIranian diplomat in Turkey, now back in Tehran), Mehdi Semsar, AliAshraf, Hamid Reza Shad-Karami, Ahmad Haghighi, Majid Shaker, MohsenKargar Zad, Reza Bahrouz manesh. Four have been declared Persona NonGrata by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [Kayhan4/21]

04/21/96

Turkish diplomats ran "spy networks" in western Iran, Ministrysays

Following the expulsion of four Iranian diplomats from Turkey,Tehran's semi-official press published detailed accounts, emanatingfrom the Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS), alleging thatIran had arrested four Turkish diplomats allegedly running "spynetworks" in Tehran and in western Iran (Tabriz, Orumieh).

The MOIS Director General for West Azarbaijan claimed that thosecaught were "Mainly Turkish subjects, arrested after extensivecounter-intelligence efforts," and that they had confessed toespionage activities on behalf of the Turkish intelligence agency,MIT.

He accused members of these "networks" of plotting against the Islamic Republic and "spreading moral corruption."

"Some Turkish intelligence officials, benefiting from diplomaticcover at the Turkish Embassy and Consulates in Iran were thecoordinators of these groups," the unnamed official told reporters.The four Turkish diplomats, who were subsequently recalled by Ankarafrom Tehran, were identified in the Iranian press (along with thephotos) as Ardal Kuzuoghlu and Hussein Hakan Kadagal, politicalattaches at the Orumieh consulate, Kalil Almaz, a political attacheat the Tehran embassy, and Ghadri Jan, a political attache inTabriz.

Rafsanjani's daughter makes foreign appearances

Only three weeks after her landslide election to the Iranianparliament, Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of President Ali AkbarHashemi Rafsanjani, has already begun to represent Iran ininternational fora, traveling to Kuala Lumpour (Malaysia) to takepart in an international women's conference.

Pro-regime dailies in Tehran gave prominent play to thePresident's daughter's excursion into foreign affairs, and to hersubsequent meeting in Tehran with a senior South African ForeignMinistry official, Mrs. Mazi Buko.

Some observers believe that the propaganda campaign in favor ofthe President's daughter could be indirectly aimed at weakeningRafansjani's political rival, Parliament speaker Nateq-Nouri.[Ettelaat 4/4/96, Kayhan 4/9/96]

FDI's Weekly Newswire

FDI WEEKLY NEWSWIRE NO 2

April 25, 1996

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