FDI's Weekly Newswire

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

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FDI WEEKLY NEWSWIRE NO 8

June 10, 1996

The women, initially just five strong, arrived at the Capitol on May 27. Since then, however, they have been joined by Iranians living in the Washington, DC area, former Iranian army officers, and the Washington, DC representative of the Iran Nation's Party, the leading opposition group active inside Iran.

Kathryn Porter, a leading human rights activist and the wife of Congressman John Porter (R, Ill), joined the protesters on Friday, June 7. On the 8th, a delegation of 14 former Iranian Generals and Colonels arrived to show their support, as did delegations from the Constitutional Movement of Iran (CMI) and a group of former Iranian naval officers. The Farsi-language services of Voice of America and Radio Israel have broadcast news of the sit-in.

The women handed a letter to a representative of the office of House speaker Newt Gingrich, requesting that the U.S. expand its "patently inadequate" efforts to isolate the Tehran regime into "widespread political and diplomatic sanctions."

The women also asked the U.S. authorities to intervene to halt the propaganda and lobbying activities of Islamic Republic agents in the United States. "These agents are engaged in propaganda activities and infiltration of the opposition groups, and operate through clearly recognizable front organizations, television stations and publications staffed and manned directly by the Iranian regime via its Interest section in Washington, DC or the so-called Mostazafan Foundation in New York City."

The Mostazafan Foundation of New York changed its name in 1992 to the Alavi Foundation, to prevent easy identification between it and Tehran. But in publications of the Bonyad-e Mostazafan in Tehran, the New York outfit is clearly identified as the "New York branch" of the Tehran foundation, which is run by former Rev. Guards Minister Mohsen Rafiqdoust. Iran's largest industrial and trading conglomerate, the Mostazafan Foundation was created using properties confiscated from the former Shah and members of the former regime. It has been identified by Western intelligence agencies as a "procurement front" for Iran's nuclear weapons program, and a cover used for terrorist operations. [Iranfax, 6/10/96]

U.S. Sanctions are "success for Iran," says Rafsanjani

"U.S. sanctions against Iran have only brought honor and dignity to the Iranian people, and resulted in a total failure and shame for the Americans," President Hashemi Rafsanjani told a Friday prayer gathering in Tehran last week.

Speaking on the first anniversary of the announcement of U.S. economic sanctions against Iran, Rafsanjani claimed that "today our revolution is stronger than ever before, our economy is in its best shape, our people more alert than ever, and the Islamic Republic is more respected than ever in the eyes of other nations."

[We don't know what Rafsanjani had been smoking, but...]

The day before Rafsanjani's sermon, one of his deputies, Hamid Mirzadeh, who also heads the Plan and Budget Organization, told reporters in Tehran that the government has devoted $14 million to "counter U.S. plots" against Islamic Republic, and has increased its Defense Budget by 30.7% to $3.3 Billion.

It was not known whether the $14 million actually signified a reduction of the initial $20 million voted by the Majlis to counter "American plots to overthrow Islamic regime," last year, or was an additional budget.

Mirzadeh's comments were the first time than and IRI official had coupled the announcement of increased military spending to the U.S. sanctions. [Voice of the IRI, 6/7]

Flower shop executions...

Two men were hanged in public in Kermanshah, on charges of "belonging to a group of corruption and prostitution."

The two men, identified as Jahangir Afzali and Sadeq Laleh, were arrested "some time ago," the authorities claimed, along with an undisclosed number of co-conspirators.

"They deceived men and women in front of their flower shop, taking their photographs and blackmailing them," Sobh said. Other members of the group had already been punished, some of them lashed, the daily said, although it provided no other information on the group's activities, the date of arrest of its members, or the conditions of their trial. [Sobh 5/28]

...And lapidations

A woman and a man were lapidated to death on charges of adultery and homicide, after they were convicted in a revolutionary court in Oroumieh (ex-Rezaieh) of having murdered the woman's husband two years earlier. They were identified as Shahin Soltan Moradi and Mohammad Ali Hemmati. [Hamshahri 6/8]

The last time a lapidation was reported it Iran was last November, when a man was stoned to death for homosexuality.

In response to this latest case, Ayatollah Mehdi Rouhani, the spiritual leader of the Shiite community in Europe and a member of the FDI board, declared that these "brutal and inhumane punishments tarnish the face of Islam in the world" and should "therefore not be issued."

Payam-e Daneshjou editor goes on trial

The trial of Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, the publisher and editor of the banned Payam-e Daneshjou weekly, began in a special press court in Tehran on May 26.

A judge accused him of "Repeated assaults on servants of the Islamic Republic and false revelations about them, [notably] accusing the Honorable President of the Republic of having relations with the U.S., insulting the clergy, printing false information that has been used by foreign media, and creating a negative and pessimist atmosphere in society."

The defamation trial began following publication of articles by the weekly exposing alleged corruption in the Bonyad-e Mostazafan (Foundation of the Oppressed) and the Rafsanjan Pistachio Cooperative (see FDI Newswire 6). Both organizations have joined the State as private plaintiffs against the weekly.

Tabarzadi sharply defended his weekly's record of investigative reporting. "We worked within the framework of the law and fulfilled our journalistic duties. Our revelations are documented. I will present the court with convincing documents about the Rafsanjan Pistachio Cooperation if you give me proper time."

"What we revealed on widespread corruption in Bonyad-e Mostazafan turned to be only a small portion of what was discovered by Majlis investigation," Payam-e Daneshjou publisher said."

Defending himself against providing foreign media with anti-regime material, he replied: "Those who created this corruption are responsible for foreign media revelations, not us."

The trial resumes today (June 10) in Tehran. [Iran daily, 5/29]

Hezbollah threats ease Nateq-Nouri victory

Speaking in a mosque in Kerman (South of Iran) mosque, a key Nateq-Nouri ally, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, buttressed Nateq-Nouri's vows to crack down on "liberals" in Majlis with a new threat: Hezbollah.

"Anybody in parliament who tries to break he boundaries of Islamic norms, God's orders, and Velayat-e Faghih," will get Hezbollah thugs sicked on them, he vowed. "We will crush them."

"What happened during the elections was an alert to supporters of Velayat-e Faghih that they should always be on guard," Bahonar said. "Following the Supreme Leader's warnings about the danger of "liberals" entering the Majlis, Hezbollah entered the scene and demonstrated that it is ready to defend the Islamic revolution whenever it is confronted with a danger," Bahonar said.

Nateq Nouri has also warned that Ansar-e Hezbollah will "throw out from Majlis" any deputy who dares to deviate from the path of Velayat-e Faghih. [Sobh Daily, 5/28]

The stepped up intimidation campaign paid off. On June 5, Nateq-Nouri was re-elected speaker of the Majlis with 146 votes. His only competitors, Rafsanjani-supporter Abdallah Nouri, won 96 votes.[Tehran Radio, 6/5]

Education deficit doubles in one year

"Iran's budget deficit in education will reach 2 trillion rials ($1.4 billion) in current Iranian year. This means that our deficit has doubled in one year," a Deputy Minister of Education told an educational seminar in Tehran.

For the first time in Iran's recent history, the official said, the number of primary and secondary school students has started to decline.

"Six years ago, 87.5% percent of Iranian children were attending primary schools," deputy minister Ghazavi said. "This dropped to 79.5% last year." Ghazavi added that the number of students graduating from high school had declined from 71% to 65%."

At the same gathering, however, it was announced that 395 mosques had been built inside Iranian schools over the past year.

The huge deficit in the education budget came almost at the same time as the regime announced a %30 percent increase in defense spending. [Jomhouri-e Eslami 5/26]

'Iranian friends of the UN' attacked

A newly-established society, "Iranian Friends of the United Nations," has been violently attacked by a radical Tehran daily.

"At a time when the United Nations has lost all its prestige in the world and nobody has any respect for this disgraced organization, and oppressed nations of the world consider it to be a tool in the hand of the U.S. and world arrogance, how can some people create such a society?" Sobh wrote in an editorial. [5/28]

An earlier pro-UN society existed before the Islamic revolution, but was banned by the new regime and its members arrested or labeled as "spies" and "Freemasons." The renewal of the activities of the UN Society was announced recently in Tehran in Iran daily, the official publication of IRNA. Iran promised that the names of it's founders, and it's chart would be announced at a later date.

Basijis prevent University election

Growing differences between two main Islamic tendencies in Iran's universities has led to violent clashes, and now to the cancellation of student elections.

The Islamic Students Society of Tehran University's Faculty of Law was scheduled to elect new leaders on May 21, but was prevented by the intrusion of a group of Basiji students. The Basijis insulted members of the Islamic Student Society, and tried to elect their own candidates by force, until the meeting was forcibly disbanded and the election was canceled indefinitely.

The hard-line Basiji students and their allies who call themselves Ansar-e Hezbollah have increased their violent presence on university campuses in recent months. They not only attack regime opponents and secular students, but even Islamic students who until recently were considered the ideological pillars of the regime. [Sobh Weekly, 5/28]

Azerbaijan Governor attacked by Rev. Guards General

The local commander of the Rev. Guards for West Azerbaijan province has sharply attacked Mr. Ali Abdolali-Zadeh, the Governor General for the province, accusing him of "liberalism" and anti-revolutionary tendencies.

Rev. Guards General Ra'oufi denounced the Governor General for his criticism of Ansar-e Hezbollah.

"With the things I have seen as the result of your policies in this part of the country, our relations with you are broken entirely, and we feel free to do whatever we decide," General Ra'oufi told a gathering of Tabriz Hezbollahis and war veterans. Ra'oufi accused the Governor General of "organizing public exhibitions with music and dance, and staging love story plays." He also criticized Abdolali-Zadeh for "wiping the names of martyrs from the streets and replacing them with other names."

In an address one week earlier, Abdolali-Zadeh had called for the end of Hezbollahi violence and accused them of "Club-wielding" methods. "We can't fight liberals or capitalists by silencing speakers, closing down newspapers, setting fire to book shops, attacking theaters, creating tumults and clubbing people. These methods will only damage social coherence. If we want to get rid of "liberals," the only way is to be more liberal and more democratic. In today's world, only technology and logical thinking counts," Mr.Abdolali-Zadeh said. [Sobh weekly 5/28]

Azerbaijan is ours!, Ayatollah says

"The Azerbaijan Republic once was ours. So if there is any talk of unification of the two Azerbaijans, it is they who should come back to Iran," Ayatollah Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestary, the Friday prayer Imam of Tabriz, said recently.

Speaking to religious students in Tabriz, he added: "Some agents of world arrogance [U.S.] are trying to damage our national unity by spreading secessionist sentiments in our region. Unfortunately some of their mercenaries in Tabriz repeat these words, and talk of Pan- Turkism."

"The policy of the Islamic Republic is to avoid such polemics. We do not want to create a hue and cry. But if we are faced with these satanic plots, we should remind everyone, including the people of Azerbaijan Republic, that we have lost some Azeri cities, and we could one day claim them back." [Sobh daily, 5/28]

Iran produces 122mm Self- Propelled howitzer

Iran's regular army has announced that it has conducted successful tests of the first Iranian-made 122mm self-propelled gun. According to a military spokesman for the Defense Industries Organization, the Ra'ad-1 ("Thunder-1") gun has an automatic loader, laser rangefinder, and a computerized fire control system. He said the canon is mounted on the "Boraq" armored personal career, which is also produced by the Islamic Republic Defense Industries. The vehicle has a maximum speed of 65 Km/h. [IRNA 5/26].

Another version of Boraq personnel career, with a 30mm canon and a gyro-stabilized turret has also been tested successfully.

The DIO claimed that Ra'ad-1 can fire up to 5 rounds per minute at ranges in excess of 15 km, making it able to "compete with the best canons in the world."

Regular army commander General Dadbin announced following last month's military maneuvers in Kushk-e Nosrat desert in south of Tehran that a wide array of new Iranian-built military products had been successfully tested, including "Zolfaqr" main battle tanks, "Kobra" armored personnel carriers, guns and surface to surface missiles. [Resalat 5/25, Salam 5/29]

FDI's Weekly Newswire

FDI WEEKLY NEWSWIRE NO 8

June 10, 1996

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