FDI's Weekly Newswire

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

Available on the Internet or by e-mail for a $25 per yeartax-deductible contribution at http://www.iran.org/ Tel: 1+ (301)946-2910. Fax: 1+(310) 942-5341


 

WEEKLY NEWSWIRE NO. 30

DEC. 10, 1996

 

CONTENTS:

 

*Kermanshah cordoned off, death toll mounts

* Tehran panics over Witness C

* Mykonos forgotten at machine-tool plant

* Israel, U.S., are main enemies - Khamene'i

* Senior intelligence official killed

* Student leader warns of factional violence

* Trust your Intelligence Ministry - Rafsanjani

* Israelis claim more arms for Hezbollah arrive

* More drugs seized

* Miriam Rajavi returns to Iraq

* Yazdi joins opposition meeting

* CMI holds congress, adopts platform

* And so does Front Line

 

 

Kermanshah cordoned off, death toll mounts

 

The city of Kermanshah was cordoned off last week, as riotingspread to neighboring cities in the Province.

The riots began last Monday, Dec. 2, after the body of a prominentSunni Muslim cleric, Molla Mohammad Rabaii, was found murdered. Somereports say the cleric was found at home, while others say his bodywas found on the airport road. According to Parvaneh Forouhar, one ofthe leaders of the outlawed Iran Nation's Party, eyewitnesses who sawRabaii's body said his neck showed signs of strangulation. [RadioSedaye Iran, 12/7]

On Wednesday, a Colonel in the Law Enforcement Forces was killedin Kermanshah, after he reported had killed three demonstrators. Thedeath of Colonel Ali Akbar Najafi, a commander in the local policeforce, was first revealed by the French Press Agency on Thursday,Dec. 5, and subsequently confirmed by Tehran Radio.

The opposition Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran reported onMonday, Dec. 9, that the death toll from riots in Jowanrod town hadreached 15, while four others had been killed by the LEF inKermanshah proper. The security forces cordoned off Kermanshah lastWednesday, to prevent angry residents from Sanadaj, 60 miles to thenorth, from attending a ceremony commemorating the death of the MollaRabaii on Thursday.

The authorities in Tehran took the situation so seriously theydispatched Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezai to the regionto take charge of Pasdaran and LEF troops in quelling the unrest,which had spread to the neighboring towns of Paveh, Rawansar, andJowanrod. [KDPI statement 12/9]

By Sunday, the situation had reportedly calmed down.

In a statement issued in Tehran, the Iran Nation's Party notedthat "not even one soldier of the regular army" had taken part in theviolent repression of the riots. The statement claimed that orderspreventing regular army troops from taking part were given by Armycommander Gen. Ahmad Dadbin [INP statement 12/8]

 

Tehran panics over Witness C

 

Every now and then a defector from the Islamic Republic comesalong whose public statements throw Tehran into a panic. Such was thecase with Manoucher Moatamer, a former senior MOIS officer whoaccused Tehran of having master-minded the July 1994 AMIA bombing inBuenos Aires.

Now comes Witness "C," who in closed-door testimony before theBerlin court hearing the Mykonos case in Germany, has accusedPresident Hashemi-Rafsanjani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i ofhaving personally signed the orders to assassinate rebel Kurdishleader, Sadegh Sharafkindi.

An exiled Iranian journalist in Paris, Morteza Lotfi, claims thatWitness C, whose real name is Farhad Mesbahi, was in charge ofsecurity and intelligence affairs and the Islamic Republic Embassy inParis in the early 1980s. Expelled by the French for intelligenceactivities in 1984, Mesbahi subsequently moved to Brussels, where hecontinued to keep tabs on the Iranian opposition.

By 1989, he had moved to the Islamic Republic embassy in Bonn,where he played an instrumental role in the release of two Germanhostages from Lebanon and forged contacts with Germanintelligence.

According to Lotfi, Mesbahi became closely allied with PresidentHashemi-Rafsanjani, and served as a conduit for Rafsanjani's contactswith West European governments. And it was precisely these activitieswhich eventually caused him to leave Iran.

In late 1994 or early 1995, Rafsanjani's main rival, Majlisspeaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, learned about Mesbahi's intermediaryrole and especially about his ongoing contacts with Germanintelligence, the BND. According to Lotfi, he put increasing pressureon Mesbahi in Tehran, forcing him eventually to flee to Pakistan.Earlier this year, Mesbahi was granted political asylum in Germany,apparently with the help of his former friends at the BND. [TheIran Brief, 11/4/96]

The Islamic Republic has now embarked on a major campaign todiscredit Mesbahi as an embezzler and a fraud. IRNA identified him asAbol Qassem Mesbahi, 39, and said he had embezzled $1.8 million froman employee cooperative at an Iranian steel plant, bounced checkstotaling $1 million, and once beat his wife so seriously that shebroke her elbow.

IRNA also claimed Mesbahi had tried to get a job at MOIS and thenat MOFA but was turned down. [International Iran Times, 12/6,quoting IRNA 12/1]

Since then, the Islamic Republic has sought to delay the verdictof the Berlin court, which has been deliberating already for nearly 4years... Prosecutor Bruno Jost said the court had received a 31-pagedossier from Iran last week, which is being translated.[International Iran Times, 12/6]

 

Mykonos forgotten at machine-tool plant

 

Who said there were tensions between Tehran and Bonn? Reutersreported last week from Bonn that the German government has welcomedwith open arms an Iranian delegation, come to Germany to purchase anEast German heavy machinery manufacturer, Sket Magdeburg GmbH.

Iranian Minister for Mines and Metals Mohammad Hossein Mahloujiand Saxony Anhalt's state economics minister Klaus Schucht signed aletter of intent, officials at the Iranian embassy and the stategovernment said.

Mahlouji visited the machinery plant for two hours on Dec. 5.Saxony Anhalt spokesman Hans Juergen Fink said Iran hoped to buy Sketas a whole or in parts, and would soon name Iranian enterprises thatwould participate in the deal. Wolf Schoede, spokesman for the BvSprivatization agency, told German radio, "We hope the Iraniandelegation quickly makes concrete its intentions ... so we know whatjobs, what investments and what future concept we are talkingabout."

Reuters added that the Islamic Republic has racked up a $13billion debt to Germany, most of it for the purchase of hightechnology items.

Mahlouji on Friday discussed Iran's interest in Sket on Friday inBonn with Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt, who said he wouldwelcome Iran's investment, particularly in East Germany, a ministrystatement said. [Reuters 12/6]

Wonder if anyone in Tehran has any intention of paying thosedebts...? As the old saying goes, if I owe you $100 and go bankrupt,I'm in trouble. If I owe you a billion dollars and go bankrupt,you're in trouble.

 

Israel, U.S., are main enemies - Khamene'i

 

Israel and the United States are "two notorious and wickedelements" and are "the arch enemies of the Iranian nation," Supremeleader Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i told a crowd of Basijis (volunteers)on Nov. 20. Heaping praise on the Basijis as "a model for othernations," Khamene'i reminded them "the hostile propaganda of worldarrogance can not stop other nations from following the example setby the Islamic revolution."

In an interesting digression clearly aimed at countering U.S. andSaudi claims that the Islamic Republic was involved in the June 19Dhahran bombing, Khamene'i said that his regime had "never trampledon the interests of other nations, nor have we launched aggression onthe territory of neighboring states. Instead the weak nations areenjoying our support and assistance. Regardless of the enemies'propaganda campaign, we have never posed a threat to the neighboringstates in the Persian Gulf.'' [IRNA 11/21]

 

Pro-Rafsanjani coalition backs off from Rouhaniyat

 

President Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, has hinted thather father's supporters are caucusing to find their own candidate fornext year's presidential elections. In a pointed comment to Salam,Ms. Hashemi said that the Group-e Kargozaran (Followers ofReconstruction) would not back the candidate supported by themainstream Jameh-e Rouhaniyat-Mobarez. The JRM is backing Majlisspeaker Nateq-Nouri's bid to succeed Rafsanjani next year.

One rumor currently circulating in Tehran is that theReconstructors will back Mohammad Hashemi, the former head of theIslamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, and a brother of the currentPresident. [Salam 12/8]

 

Senior intelligence official killed

 

A senior intelligence official has been mysteriously killed,apparently in an armed clash in eastern Iran.

Jomhouri-e Eslami reported the Dec. 7 death, calling the victim -Seyed Mehdi Mahmoudi, an "unknown soldier of Islam," a term normallyused to designate members of the intelligence community of theIslamic Republic. The paper said that Mahmoudi had been killed duringan operation against "satanic and mercenary smugglers," and addedthat his funeral was attended by the Minister of Defense, the headsof the ideological-political sections of the armed forces, as well asthe heads of the intelligence and counter-intelligence departments.[Jomhouri-e Eslami 12/8]

 

Student leader warns of factional violence

 

A student leader has warned that factional violence could bearound the corner, if the regime doesn't ease up on its suppressionof internal dissent.

The statement was made during a meeting of Islamic student unionsin Karaj over the weekend by Abolfazl Fateh, a member of the CentralCommittee of the Islamic Union of Tehran University Students.

"If the doors to dialogue among the factions of the IslamicRepublic be shut," Fateh said, "the doors to violence will open. Thefactions should discuss their ideas about the ideological, social,and political problems in the country. Any prohibition on thefactions from stating their ideas will create political violencewithin society.

"This type of violence is not in the interest of the regime andthe revolution, and could reach a point where the factions of theIslamic Republic might no longer tolerate the presence of opposingfactions," Fateh warned. [Iran daily 12/8]

 

Trust your Intelligence Ministry - Rafsanjani

 

Iranians should learn to place more trust in their IntelligenceMinistry, President Rafsanjani told faculty members and students atthe Ministry of Information and Security Intelligence Faculty inTehran last Saturday.

"The loyalty of the personnel of the Iranian intelligencecommunity to the Islamic Republic of Iran must combine with acomplete understanding of the nature of economic and politicalevents," the President opined. "Such a combination will not onlyincrease the output of their intelligence activities, but will alsocement the trust of the people in the intelligence community of thecountry." [Iran daily 12/8]

Does that mean that people don't love their local MOISrepresentatives? Incredible!

Rafsanjani went on to praise the activities of the intelligencecommunity, calling them "the unknown soldiers of Imam Mehdi," the"missing" 12th Imam of Shiite Islam.

 

Israelis claim more arms for Hezbollah arrive

 

Israeli Radio reports that more weapons have recently arrived inDamascus from Tehran, bound for the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. theweapons were flown into Damascus airport and then carried intoSouthern Lebanon by Syrian army trucks. [Radio Israel 12/9]

 

More drugs seized

 

Provincial Law Enforcement Forces in Khorasan province announcedthat they had seized 1,033 kg of narcotics at Torbat Heidareih andGhayen Heights over the past two days. Nine "drug traffickers" werearrested along with six RPG-7 rocket launchers and an unspecifiedarsenal of kalashnikov automatic rifles.[IRNA 11/21]

The area in question lies in rough terrain of mountain peaks andvalleys approximately 70 miles south of Mashad, well inside Iran andoff the normal drug smuggling routes from Herat, Afghanistan.

The regime has frequently announced drug-related arrests andexecutions to mask their attempts to stamp out the low levelinsurgencies that continue to plague Iran's eastern provinces.Nevertheless, a significant anti-drug campaign is also underway, soit is difficult to tell which operations are political, and which arecriminal in nature.

 

Miriam Rajavi returns to Iraq

 

Miriam Rajavi, proclaimed as the "future president of theDemocratic Popular Islamic Republic of Iran" by the Mujahidin-eKhalq, returned to Iraq after three years in the West, amidspeculation that the recent rapprochement between France, the UK, andthe Islamic Republic has put an end to the fat times in Paris andLondon.

She told a gathering of several thousand supporters in Iraq uponher arrival on Sunday that the days of the clerical government inTehran were nearing an end. "Today, near the borders of myhomeland...the dark age of the mullahs is reaching the end," shesaid. [Reuters, 12/8]

The Mujahidin-operated Telephone News Network, which has operatedout of Paris for several years, was also closed down. In a statementcarried during its final days, the MKO told supporters to get theirnews from the Internet or from the group's radio network, which canbe heard all over Europe. (Iran Press Service, 12/8]

 

Yazdi joins opposition meeting

 

In an unexpected development, former Foreign Minister IbrahimYazdi, a leader of the Freedom Movement of Iran, took part in aceremony commemorating "Students Day" in Tehran on Dec. 7.

The ceremony was organized by a coalition of four parties,spearheaded by the Iran Nation's Party of Darioush Forouhar. Themain speakers at the event were Majid Niarami, a leader of the INP'sYouth Organization, and Haj Ismail Haj Ghasem Ali, a leader of theLabor Party of Iran (Third Force).

Niarami, a university student, called on Iranian universitystudents to organize an "anti-dictatorship movement against thetotalitarianism in the universities and in society." INP statement,12/7]

This was the first time that Ibrahim Yazdi, who has been carefulnot to burn his bridges with the Islamic Republic leadership, hastaken part in an INP-sponsored event. The INP has taken a muchtougher line toward the regime, calling for the resignation of theclerical leadership and internationally-supervised elections as partof a secular democracy.

 

CMI holds congress, adopts platform

 

The Constitutionalists Movement of Iran, CMI, held its PartyCongress in Washington, DC last week end, and adopted a new partyplatform which breaks dramatically with the past

The platform, which was developed during months of carefulnegotiations with local party leaders by the group's leader, DarioushHomayoun, sketches out a blueprint for a future, democratic, secular,and united Iran, while granting Iran's ethnic minorities extensivepowers of local and regional self-government. It authorizes ethnicminorities to transact business, teach, and broadcast in their ownlanguages, although Farsi remains the only official language and thelanguage for all official state documents.

The CMI platform, which was adapted unanimously by the Party'sCentral Committee on Sunday, calls for establishing "regionalgovernments in each part of Iran," and notes that the borders ofregions and provinces "shall be determined through popular vote bythe people of the region in question."

The Islamic Republic has changed borders and created new provinceson many occasions over the past 17 years, in a sense breaking thetaboo on border shifting. The CMI, however, was responding to theneeds of ethnic minorities such as Kurds, Azeris, and Balouchis, whoseek "group rights" within a united, sovereign Iran.

Under the CMI blueprint, Iran's national government will retaincontrol over foreign policy, national security and defense, as wellas the bulk of national economic assets. Regional governments "willperform all other duties not handled by the central government,"while clear channels of communication" between the two "will beestablished by law." [CMI platform statement, 12/8]

 

And so does Front Line

 

Meanwhile, in London a CMI breakaway group known as "Front Line,"headed by Mehrdad Khonsari, held its first party conference on Nov.30- Dec. 1

Khonsari has been a relentless frequent traveler across theAtlantic in recent months, as he has attempted to build support forhis program of dialogue with the Islamic Republic.

Front Line's program calls for a broadbased coalition ofdemocratic opposition groups, the separation of religion from state,and an end to the Velayat-e Faghih, the founding principle of theIslamic Republic. The program also calls for "a pluralist societyfounded upon the concept of national sovereignty." [Front Linestatement 12/8]

In a letter to FDI, Mr. Khonsari said that comparisons between hisprogram and that of Iranian-American businessman Houshang Ansari were"incorrect and can be very misleading," since Mr. Ansari '"recognizedthe legitimacy of the Islamic regime" whereas "I have suggested nosuch thing."