FDI's Weekly Newswire

The life and [troubled] times of the Islamic Republic of Iran

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FDI WEEKLY NEWSWIRE NO 4

May 13, 1996

Dr. Abdelkarim Soroush, an Islamic scholar who has attracted a wide following, was attempting to address the Islamic Students Union at the University, despite a ban on the meeting by the University president, when members of the radical Ansar-e Hezbollah burst into the auditorium and physically assaulted students in the audience.

Eye-witnesses say that 15 students were injured during the clashes. Tehran's Law Enforcement Forces [LEF] intervened at the same time as the Ansar-e Hezbollah, arresting several of the students but none of the Ansar-e Hezbollah members. The opposition Iran Nation's Party, in a statement issued in Tehran on Sunday evening, accused the LEF of "clearly cooperating" with Ansar-e Hezbollah "in suppressing a voice of dissidence." Five students were arrested.

Ansar-e Hezbollah ("Hezbollah's Helpers" has attacked movie theaters and women wearing Western clothing repeatedly in recent weeks, and is closely allied to Parliament speaker Nateq-Nouri. The group is said to report directly to Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a senior figure in the Tehran regime.

Earlier in the week, Ansar-e Hezbollah published statements in conservative and radical Tehran dailies, warning Dr. Soroush not to speak. On Saturday, Kayhan daily accused Dr. Soroush of being a "foreign agent." The Iranian parliament recently passed tough new anti-espionage laws that call for the death penalty for individuals convicted of collaborating with a foreign power in any way.

Dr. Soroush frequently travels overseas, and was in Europe and the United States in November
and December.

It was the third time a lecture by Dr. Soroush has been broken up by Ansar-e Hezbollah thugs over the past year. [Iranfax, 5/12/96]

Washington, DC cleric on Iranian mission

Sheik Mohammad Al-Aasi, who is commonly presented in the Tehran press as the "Imam [prayer leader] of the Washington, DC mosque," was in Pretoria, South Africa last month, on a mission sponsored by the Tehran-based Islamic Cultural Communication Organization, which is financed by the Islamic Republic.

Al-Aasi presented lectures on "the need for a supreme leader in Islamic societies" and "leadership in the Islamic Republic of Iran" before a religious conference in Pretoria, according to the ultra-conservative Jomhouri-e Eslami daily.

According to the Tehran daily, the conference in South Africa was sponsored by the Tehran-based Islamic Culture and Communication Organization [ICCO] and had for theme "The Establishment of The New Islamic Civilization."

Al-Aasi also traveled to Cape Town, where he met local Islamic clerics and Muslim groups, as well as the ICCO's own branch in South Africa, The Silk Road Publishing House.

Preaching at Cape Town's Qods [Jerusalem] Mosque, Al-Aasi called on his listeners to "fight oppression by any means," the paper said, emphasizing the need of supporting Palestinian, Kashmiri, and Chechen Muslims in their struggles. He left Cape Town after two days and went back to U.S., the paper added. [Jomhouri-e Eslami 4/23]

Sheikh Al-Aasi has in fact never preached at the Washington, DC mosque, as the Iranian papers claim. For many years, he has been a regular feature on the sidewalk across the street from the mosque, protesting his exclusion from the mosque after he gave a political speech in favor of the Islamic Republic there a few years ago. Al-Aasi has made several trips to Iran in recent years to take part in international conferences, and he is widely quoted in the Iranian press as an official ambassador for the regime in its effort to spread the message of Ayatollah Khomeini throughout the world.

In a speech before an Islamic group in Chicago in the fall of 1990, Al-Aasi threatened the U.S. government for its engagement against Saddam Hussein. "If the Americans are placing their forces in the Persian Gulf, we should be creating another war front for the Americans in the Muslim world - And specifically where American interests are concentrated. In Egypt, in Turkey, in the Indian subcontinent, just to mention a few. Strike against American interests there."

In an interview with Steve Emerson in 1994 ["Jihad in America"], Al-Aasi said the White House "is also under a cloud of Zionist - a Zionist umbrella." When asked if he believed in the use of violence, he hemmed and hawed, finally saying that "the Koran teaches us that sometimes the use of arms is inevitable. Wein order for justice to be done this is the only recourse we have."

Executions, Killings reported

A Microbiology student, Asghar Rostami Zadeh, was hanged in Vali-e Asr Square in Shiraz in April, after having been convicted of murdering a man last winter. No information was released by the authorities on the case, the date of his trial, or the convicted man's access to defense. The date of his hanging was not published.

Hamshahri also reported that two people were killed in Birjand in a clash with Law Enforcement Forces, who claimed the two were "drug smugglers" and "thugs" in possession of large amounts of arms and ammunition. No other details were provided in the published account.
[Hamshahri 4/20]

The Foundation for Democracy in Iran has expressed concern that the Iranian government "is using accusations of drug smuggling as a cover to arrest and execute political opponents of the regime." [Action Memorandum 005, 12/12/95].

Prosecutor General Ayatollah Moghtada'i told reporters from the "Iran" daily published on April 17 that two "capitalists," whom he identified as Mohammad Dabiri and Iraj Jahan Bin, had been condemned respectively to death and to 30 years imprisonment, on charge of smuggling cocaine into the country. Their belongings were also confiscated. "Mohammad Dabiri, who owns a cabaret in a foreign country and is known to be a corrupt person, was sentenced to death," Moghtada'i said.

The daily also reported that a man identified as Fath Ali Saberi, the manager of a technical company, was hanged in Tehran on charge of raping his secretary. Despite a decision by the secretary to withdraw her complaint, "the court decided that he should be punished," the daily reported.

The daily reported that another man, Hamda Bagheri was hanged in Karaj on April 22, on charge of homicide. [Iran 4/17, 4/24].

Officials want "Special Labor Camps" for drug addicts

In a meeting with Islamic Revolutionary Courts judges in Tehran in April, top IRI officials called for harsher measures against drug addicts and drug pushers, which they claimed were motivated by "World Arrogance" [the U.S.].

Prosecutor General Ayatollah Morteza Moghtada'i blamed the U.S. for "trying to harm Islamic Republic, by the weapon of drug addiction and cultural assault which they use on our youth."

Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, head of Judiciary Branch, claimed that drug distribution was "politically motivated," and that "drug pushers should be regarded as the enemies of the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic."

Majlis speaker Nateq-Nouri claimed that drug smugglers were not exporting drugs from Iran, but importing cocaine from Canada, Germany, the U.S., and the Netherlands, and that the Islamic Republic should establish "special labor camps" for drug addicts.

Minister of Information and Security Ali Fallahian picked up the same theme. "The objective of the drug trafficking bands is to weaken the country politically through distribution of drugs." He called for the creation of "special townships for drug addicts to live with their families," in order to curb spread of drugs among the general population.

Mohammad Fallah, the head of Rafsanjani's " Headquarters of The Counter- Narcotics Fight," acknowledged in a published interview that "the number of leisure drug users has grown over the past year."

"Fifty per cent of Iran's prison population was jailed for drug addiction or dealing, while another 25% is drug-related," said an unidentified officer of the President's Headquarters of The Counter- Narcotics Fight. [Iran 4/1, 4/11, 4/23; Iran News 4/13]

Pregnant Woman Injured In Theater Attack

Following recent attacks of Hezbollahi groups on private parties, sporting clubs and public gardens in Tehran, the Ansar-e Hezbollah group ("Hezbollah's Helpers") attacked several
movie theaters in Tehran on May 5-6, breaking windows, wrecking seats, and beating movie-goers and staff.

On May 5, the group attacked the Astara cinema, protesting a scene in a comedy called "Indian Souvenir," which showed young girls dancing at a wedding party. The Ministry of Culture agreed to cut the 4 minute scene, but the group attacked a second cinema the next day, this time demanding that the film be banned entirely.

During the second attack, against the North Tehran Qods Cinema, a pregnant woman was taken to hospital after Hezbollahi pushed her down a staircase. Although Law Enforcement agents are always present in Iranian movie theaters, they did not intervene to stop the attack.

In a statement released on May 8, the Ministry of Culture regretted the "material and human losses" incurred during the attacks. Instead of promising punishment for the attackers, the statement simply regretted that such attacks "tarnish our Islamic Republic's image in the world."

With public anger running high, Ansar-e Hezbollah took the unprecedented step of publishing a statement of apology for the Qods cinema attack in Jomhouri-e Eslami on May 9. But the group denied hurting the pregnant woman and warned newspapers that had reported on her injuries that they would seek "revenge [when] the time is right."

Ansar-e Hezbollah is the latest of a long series of organized "Islamic" gangs, which have periodically appeared to harass ordinary Iranians for so-called Western or anti-revolutionary behavior. The name Ansar-e Hezbollah first appeared last summer when the group violently broke up university lectures by Islamic scholar Abdelkarim Soroush. The group is believed to have been established, funded, and directed by Ayatollah Ahmed Jannati, the head of Islamic Propagation Organization and spokesman for the Council of Guardians. [Hamshahri 5/6, 5/8; Jomhouri-e Eslami 5/9]

Bread prices rise

The price of bread, a main staple of the Iranian diet, have risen by up to 50 percent in one week, Reuters reported from Tehran, quoting residents and newspapers. Residents said bakers raised prices by 30 to 50 percent.

The government did not announce the bread price increases, and stayed silent when they rose. But after angry public reactions the Commerce Ministry, in a statement on May 6, confirmed increases of about 30 percent. The Ministry said the bread price increase was caused by higher wages in bakeries, and higher energy prices.

Only days before the price rises, the head of the government's Grain Office, Mahmoud Karimi Nouri, promised no increases in bread prices during current Iranian year (which started March 21). "This year the government will pay a 500 billion Tumans (about $1.3 billion) subsidy," he told a gathering of the provincial Grain Office heads on April 25 . "So the whole nation will have subsidized and cheap bread this year." [Iran, 4/25; Salam 5/2; Reuters 5/6].

Hezbollahis, Unite!

For the first time in the Islamic Republic of Iran, different groups generally known as "Hezbollah" gathered in a General Assembly in Tehran, to coordinate their activities and "fight more efficiently against the Western Cultural Assault," the conservative daily Resalat reported.

Hojat-ol Eslam Zargar, the head of notorious Anti-corruption Organization ( Amr-e Be Maarouf & Nahi Az Monkar), addressed the Assembly. He said all actions of Ansar-e Hezbollah & the government's anti-corruption units was under the order of Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i, Supreme Leader and Vali-e Faghih.

"Hezbollah forces should have better and more calculated planing to fight against foreign
cultural assault," Zargar said.

Resalat said that the Hezbollahis were joined by families of "martyrs of the revolution" as well as by members of the bassij forces. [Resalat 5/8]

Karbaschi under fire

Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, the controversial Mayor of Tehran and the leading figure in pro-Rafsanjani Majlis campaign (the G-6 group, AKA the "Servants of the Reconstruction"), is now under attack from the partisans of Nateq-Nouri, Rafsanjani's main rival. According to Sobh weekly, Karbaschi was physically assaulted by Hezbollah gangs in a Tehran mosque on April 17 and had to flee, leaving his shoes behind.

But even more dangerous threats have been coming from hostile Majlis deputies and the press.

A parliamentary investigation on his activities as Tehran Mayor will be released soon, Resalat reported. According to one deputy, Karbaschi's "misdoings during the recent Majlis elections" will be severely dealt with, and his record as Mayor will be subjected to close scrutiny for potential corruption and mismanagement of funds.

Ahmad Hoseini, a Majlis deputy from Sirjan, severely attacked Karbaschi as "an incompetent," who had inflicted terrible sufferings" on the people of Tehran. "Why you don't try to do your job as Mayor, instead of putting your nose into things [i.e., the elections] that people don't want you to do?" He then asked Rafsanjani to stop supporting Karbaschi.

For its part, the radical Kayhan daily accused Karbaschi of turning Tehran's public gardens into places for sexual corruption, by allowing female cyclists to use bicycle tracks." [Sobh 4/23; Resalat 4/24, 4/25; Kayhan 4/25

"Dogs" considered counter-revolutionary

Barbie dulls are not the only anti-revolutionary element that "World Arrogance" has sent to destroy Islamic Republic. Iranian zealots have now designed dogs as a threat to the regime.

In an article called "Dog playing and the spread of unpleasant social behavior", the ultra-conservative daily Jomhouri-e Eslami warned the authorities that in the northern parts of Tehran, people can be seen walking the streets with their dogs on a leash. "Who would have imagined that one day, in our Islamic country, playing with dogs would become an open act, with some people trying to spread Western behavior."

The daily then attacked newspaper ads by rare pet breeders, warning darkly that these people were "plotting against Islam."

"Unfortunately this problem is only one of the hundreds of aspects of the Western cultural assault, which is aimed at penetrating our society with their values. Yesterday, [they brought] video, satellite TVs, Rap music... And today... pet-breeding and dog-keeping."

Jomhouri-e Eslami criticized the "negligence" of the authorities in dealing with "detested Western habits," and called on the paramilitary Bassijis to enter the scene and "eradicate" Westernized "corrupt" and "nonchalant" people, "in the same way as they fought the enemy during the eight years war [with Iraq] , and defended the honor and prestige of this country." [Jomhouri-e Eslami Daily 4/25/96]

Zionists On The Edge Of Our Borders

The radical daily "Salam" has condemned the Israeli-Turkish military cooperation agreement, which gives Israel the right to use Turkish airspace for joint training flights with the Turkish Air Force.

"The official announcement of the presence of military personnel and planes of the Zionist regime along our Northwestern and Western borders, and North of Syria and Iraq, was a shock," Salam wrote in an editorial.

The editorial also criticized Israel harshly for the recent trip of Prime Minister Shimon Peres to Oman and Qatar - "our closest [friends] in the region in recent years."

The Israeli-Turkish pact poses "a serious threat" to Iran's western borders, Salam said, and comes at an extremely sensitive time, since the "Zionist regime's authorities repeatedly talk about attacking sensitive Iranian targets, including the Bushehr and Neka reactors."

(The Salam editorial was the first time a regime-sanctioned media has publicly referred to the Neka nuclear site near the Caspian Sea. Iranian opposition groups have alleged that Russian and Iranian nuclear experts were evaluating Neka and the neighboring town of Gorgan as potential sites for new nuclear power reactors. Both towns lie along a fault line, in a zone of heavy earthquake activity; and some specialists believe Neka may be the site of a clandestine weapons-related facility). [Salam 4/14; Iran Brief 5/6]

Russian Communist Party Leader Studies Koran

Guennadi Ziouganov, the leader of Russian Communist party and the main rival of president Yeltsin in June's presidential elections, says the Koran has opened his eyes to the "eternal and universal rules for progress and improvement of societies" - at least, if you believe an IRNA interview with the communist leader.

"Ziouganov confessed that by reading and studying Koran, he had discovered that the lack of attention to its sacred rules... will prevent humanity from achieving its elevated and spiritual capacities," IRNA claimed.

According to IRNA, Ziouganov said he has read Koran twice in its entirety. [Salam 4/18]

Taleban talks stir dispute

In a major policy shift, the Islamic Republic has begun talks with the Afghan rebel group Taleban, after years of steady support for the Rabbani government in Kabul. But the new policy has come under strong attack from the ultra-conservative daily Jomhouri-e Eslami, which is owned by Ayatollah Khamene'i.

On April 23, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman announced that a Taleban delegation had arrived in Mashad the day before to discuss conditions for withdrawing Taleban forces from Kabul.

But a Taleban spokesman had initially announced from Ghandehar (Afghanistan) that their delegation had been received in Tehran. This was firmly denied on the 24th by Deputy Foreign Minister Borujerdi, who was apparently bowing to extensive pressure from the ultra-conservatives.

Two days earlier, Jomhouri-e Eslami called Taleban a " blood thirsty American-installed group, which has not only killed the innocent people of Afghanistan, but [has murdered] Hojat-ol Eslam Mazari the leader of the Islamic Unity Party [Hezb-e Vahdat-e Eslami, a pro-Iranian Shiite party in Afghanistan].

The daily also claimed that the true aim of the recent visit U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robin Rafael had been to "disrupt relations" between the Islamic Republic and the various Afghan groups. [Jomhouri-e Eslami 4/22, 4/23, 4/24; Salam 4/24].

Taleban accuses Iran

At the same time a Taleban delegation was talking to the Iranians in Mashad, a Taleban spokesman accused the Islamic Republic of sending arms and ammunition to the Rabbani government and its supporters. Molavi Vakil Ahmad claimed that "different kinds of weapons and ammunition are being transferred to Bagram military base, 60 kilometers north of Kabul, by Iranian airplanes several times a day." The weapons included "different kinds of anti-tank and antipersonnel mines, which the Rabbani government uses in maintaining a security belt around Kabul," Vakil Ahmad reportedly said. [Jomhouri-e Eslami, 4/24]

Mujahidin called "terrorist" group by State Department

The State Department's latest terrorism report lists the People's Mujahidin Organization of Iran (PMOI) as a "terrorist" group. This was first time an Iranian opposition group has ever figured among the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. The report, "Patterns of Global Terrorism 1995," was released on April 30, 1996/

In the section on Iran, which we quoted in full in the FDI Newswire for May 6, 1996, the PMOI was called "the regime's main opposition group." But in an appendix entitled "Background Information on Major Groups Discussed in the Report," the State Department lists the Mujahidin, noting that the PMOI "directs a worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government that stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorist violence."

The full text of the report's Appendix on the Mujahidin follows:

Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO) a.k.a.: The National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA, the militant wing of the MEK), the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI), National Council of Resistance (NCR), Muslim Iranian Student's Society (front organization used to garner financial support)

Description

Formed in the 1960s by the college-educated children of Iranian merchants, the MEK sought to counter what is perceived as excessive Western influence in the Shah's regime. In the 1970s, the MEK concluded that violence was the only way to bring about change in Iran. Since then, the MEK has been following a philosophy that mixes Marxism and Islam, and has developed into the largest and most active armed Iranian dissident group. Its history is studded with anti-Western activity, and, most recently, attacks on the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad.

Activities

The MEK directs a worldwide campaign against the Iranian Government that stresses propaganda and occasionally uses terrorist violence. During the 1970s, the MEK staged terrorist attacks inside Iran to destabilize and embarrass the Shah's regime; the group killed several US military personnel and civilians working on defense projects in Tehran. The group also supported the takeover in 1979 of the US Embassy in Tehran. In April 1992, the MEK carried out attacks on Iranian embassies in 13 different countries, demonstrating the group's ability to mount large-scale operations overseas.

Strength

Several thousand fighters based in Iraq with an extensive overseas support structure. Most of the fighters are organized in the MEK's National Liberation Army (NLA).

Location/Area of Operation

In the 1980s, the MEK's leaders were forced by Iranian security forces to flee to France. Most resettled in Iraq by 1987. Since the mid-1980s, the MEK has not mounted terrorist operations in Iran at a level similar to its activities in the 1970s. Aside from the National Liberation Army's attacks into Iran toward the end of the Iran-Iraq war, and occasional NLA cross-border incursions since, the MEK's attacks on Iran have amounted to little more than harassment. The MEK has had more success in confronting Iranian representatives overseas through propaganda and street demonstrations.

External Aid

Beyond support from Iraq, the MEK uses front organizations to solicit contributions from expatriate Iranian communities.

"Prostitutes" Foundation Session In Washington

The respected Washington, DC Foundation for Iranian Studies will hold its seventh annual conference on June 15 at George Washington University, around the theme of "Iranian Women and Human Rights."

This is how the meeting was reported in the official Tehran press:

"During this event, some performers of Pahlavi reign era will stage their abilities, and participating in the event will cost $200." [Iran daily 4/30].

Jomhouri-e Eslami was more dismissive. "The Foundation, which some Iranian prostitutes and fugitive women run, is paid for by the American government." [4/30]

The Foundation is in fact directed by Mrs. Mahnaz Afkhami, a well-respected advocate of women's rights in Iran and a former minister for women's affairs under the shah.

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FDI's Weekly Newswire

FDI WEEKLY NEWSWIRE NO 4

May 13, 1996

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