No 264 News Bulletin of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran 31 MARCH 2008

On the occasion of the birth of Prophet Mohammad on March 22, 2008, Muslim

dignitaries from France and some Muslim countries gathered in Auvers-sur-Oise north of Paris at the residence of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, Representatives of Muslim communities from Morocco, Algeria, Comoros, Mali, Turkey and a delegation of Iraqi women were among the attendees.

Mrs. Rajavi commenced the celebratory gathering by welcoming the participants, in particular the Iraqi women who are fightingIslamic fundamentalism in their homeland. She emphasized that standing firm against the Iranianregime, which is the worst enemy of God, on the basis of the Quran’s teachings, is the best defense of Islam. This is especially crucial, Mrs. Rajaviadded, at a time the regime poses a major threat to

world peace and security by seeking domination over Iraq and moving rapidly to acquire nuclear weapons.

Mrs. Rajavi also noted the regime’s effortsto expand its brand of Islamic fundamentalism to Palestine and Lebanon and spreading fear and crises to other nations. She welcomed the growing resistance to the regime in the region and underscored the important role of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran which represents the antithesis of the ruling fundamentalist regime in Iran, advocating peace, democracy and human rights.

Sheikh Khalil Merroun, director of the largest mosque in France, expressed solidarity with the gathering and in particular the Iraqi guests who face great hardship in their country. Sheikh

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Brig. Gen. Ismail Ahmadi-Moqadam, chief of the Iranian regime’s State

Security Forces (SSF), stressed that the plan known as “Boosting Public Security” will continue to be “implemented” and “not abandoned,” as part of the regime’s intensification of its suppressive campaignduring the new Iranian calendar year.

Speaking to a gathering of border regiment personnel in Paveh, western Iran, he said that people may think “these plans are temporary … the SSF is determined and I promise people that the plan will not be abandoned and it is not going to end under any circumstances and the trend is irreversible,” the state-run news agency IRNA quoted on March 26, 2008.

Ahmadi-Moqadam spoke about various methods to boost suppression and said, “We will try to prevent minor

Crackdown to intensify in new Iranian year

The most senior US general in Iraq has said he has evidence that Iran was behind Sunday’s bombardment of Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

Gen David Petraeus told the BBC on March 24, 2008, that he thought Tehran had trained, equipped and funded insurgents who fired the barrage of mortars and rockets.He said Iran was adding what he described as “lethal accelerants” to a very combustible mix. In an interview with BBC world affairs editor, Gen Petraeus said violence in Iraq was beingperpetuated by Iran’s Quds Force, a branch of the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Tehran behind attacks in Iraq

Exposing mullahs’ espionage network in SwedenOn page 3

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Friday prayer leader: Majlis elections were fraudulent Abolhassan Nouri, the Friday prayer leader

in the southwestern city of Khoramshahr, described the regime’s recent parliamentary elections as “fraudulent.” The voters wereenticed, intimidated, and votes were traded, according to a report by a website close to former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohsen Rezai.

“If it wasn’t for my timely intervention, critics [of the election process] would not have been freed [from detention],” the report quoted Nouri.

According to the website’s report, Nouri complained about “mistreatment of critics” and accused Khoramshahr’s mayor of ignoring reports of “widespread fraud.”

He said that the evidence revealing the frauds were in the possession of some government institutions. “Some people were transferred from other constituencies to Khoramshahr to vote,” Nouri added.

Friday prayer leader: Majlis election fraudulent

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Celebrating the Prophet of Islam’s Birthday

Auvers-sur-Oise, France, March 22 - Mrs. Rajavi, Muslim personalities from France and elswhere celebrate Prophet Mohammad’s birthday

2 IRAN LIBERATION - MARCH 31, 2008

REPORTS

Merroun presented a specially printed copy of Quran to Mrs. Rajavi as a good will gesture towards the Resistance.

Mrs. Faezeh Obeidi, head of women’s section in the Iraqi National Accord Movement led by Mr. Ayad Allawi, former Iraqi Prime Minister, conveyed Mr. Allawi’s message of support to the Iranian Resistance. She told the gathering about the situation in Iraq and the Iranian regime’s meddling in her country and added that deprived Iraqi women are encouraged by the role of Mrs. Rajavi in leading the Resistance to the clerical regime.

Mr. Ghalib Bin Sheikh, head of the International Peace Federation and a distinguished Muslim figure in France, wished success for theResistance and reiterated that his movement stood by the Iranian Resistance to preserve justice.

Mrs. Faiq Abdulqader Latif, member of Tikrit City Council, said that the Iraqi women are the victims of the mullahs ruling Iran. Therefore,she added, they stand in the same front with the Resistance led by Mrs. Rajavi. She expressed

regret that the mullahs commit their crimes under the name of Islam and reassured that the Iraqi women would confront all those who collaborate with the criminal rulers in Tehran.

Mrs. Amira Abdulkarim Alaqabi, an Iraqi journalist and the head of Iraqi Association for Environment, said in her remarks, “The rulers in Tehranintend to destroy Iraq, the schools, universities and academic institutions, but we are determined to resist that trend with the support of our brothers and sisters in the People’s Mojahedin Organization.”

Mrs. Mona Adnan Hossein, president of the Voice of the Iraqi Women’s Association and a journalist, told the gathering that she was a victim of the mullahs’ regime in Iraq and added, “The clerical regimekilled my husband before the eyes of my child and me. I begged them to spare his life but they took no notice. They also killed my father becauseof his hostility towards the mullahs. They drilledhis skull. While the government is refusing to provide any help, I sought refuge in Ashraf City

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together with my sister and my child where we were welcomed by its residents.”

Regarding Ahmadinejad’s visit to Iraq, she said, “He went to Iraq to show how much he is in control of the country, but thank God that he failed and had to leave Iraq earlier than it was planned.” She expressed hopes that during the new Iranian calendar year, the Iranian people would depose of the clerical rulers.

“The rockets that were launched at the GreenZone yesterday, for example... were Iranian-provided, Iranian-made rockets,” he said, adding that the groups that fired them were funded andtrained by the Quds Force.

“All of this is in complete violation of promises made by President Ahmadinejad and the other most senior Iranian leaders to their Iraqi counterparts.”

Iran seeks to destabilize Iraq – U.S. Vice-PresidentBAGHDAD (AP), March 25 — U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory Smith blamed Iranian-backed Shiite militia factions for the rocket attacks, which killed Iraqi civilians outside the Green Zone.

Smith said the rockets were supplied by the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

According to the three U.S. commanders, the militia has received fresh supplies of weapons from Iran — contradicting repeated Iranian denials that it is supporting Iraqi militias.

The weapons, the commanders said, includedrockets, armor-piercing roadside bombs and anti-aircraft guns that could be effective againstlow-flying helicopters.

Additionally, they said an infusion of cash

from Iran has been spent on new communication centers equipped with computers with Internet connections, fax machines and mobile satellite telephones.

Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking during a visit to Iraq this month, reiterated Washington’s claim that Iran seeks to destabilize Iraq through support of armed Shiite factions.

Iran funding militia and criminals in Basra fighting -President BushVoice of America, March 27 - President Bush, speaking to Air Force personnel on a base in the Midwest state of Ohio said, “Iraqi security forces are waging a tough battle against militia fighters and criminals in Basra, many of whomhave received arms and training and funding from Iran.”

Iran behind clashes in Basra

CNN, Iraq correspondent, March 26 - What we are seeing in Basra as what we are seeing in the capital city, Baghdad, and the other places, mostly in the south, is that Iranian-backed factions fighting Iranian-backed factions. Theonly difference is that some of them are inuniform and some are not.

Iran backs every horse in the race. Some even suggest that Iran has colluded to some degree with al-Qaeda.

Iran does not want to see any one force emerge that has strong hold on power and it does not have significant influence either, especially ifit is the government. It wants a government that it can work with.

Tehran wants to maintain a significantinfluence over the government which it alreadyhas. Even American commanders openly admit that what the Americans have been doing by default is to consolidate Iranian influence in Iraq.

There is a security situation in Iraq. Life inBasra is a nightmare and daily life is affected. Thatis happening through a number of factions; some factions are within the army, some within the police, within the provincial council or provincial government, and the governor himself. Iran has finger in all of these pies and for now it suits themto see this instability. This is something that theAmericans, quite confidently, can see.

Tehran behind attacks ...Continued from page 1

Green Zone - Baghdad

Faezeh Obeidi, head of women’s section in the Iraqi National Accord Movement led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi (right) standing with Maryam Rajavi and three Iraqi women activists

Celebrating the Prophet ...

3IRAN LIBERATION - MARCH 31, 2008

REPORTS

Mullahs’ network for espionage and export of fundamentalism in Sweden was unveiled by

the representative office of the National Councilof Resistance of Iran (NCRI) at a press conference in Stockholm on March 11, 2008.

The information was unveiled by Mr. ParvizKhazai, the NCRI’s representative in Nordic countries. Mrs. Bente Kraugerud, lawyer and jurist from Norway and Ms. Haleh Pourkeramati, member of the NCRI, also joined Mr. Khazai in the panel.

Two other members of the NCRI residing in Sweden, Mr. Manouchehr Arastoupour, a world veteran canoe/kayak champion, and Mr. Shapour Bastansiyar, a renowned musician and leader of orchestra, also exposed some of the Iranian regime’s Intelligence Ministry’s campaigns against members of the Iranian Resistance and their own families in Sweden. They spoke about threateningcalls and mail their families and themselves have been receiving in order to discourage them from continuing with their activities.

Key intelligence agents in the regime’s network in Sweden include Javad Mohammadi, Hamid Esfahani (manager of Radio Salam), Vaezi (representing Ali Khamenei in Scandinavia), and Hosseini (a clergy at Imam Ali mosque). Hassan Qashqavi, the regime’s ambassador in Sweden, plays a key role in the network.

Exposing mullahs’ espionage network in Sweden

Based on the Resistance’s sources inside Iran, the NCRI representative disclosed for the first time the nameof the number two man at the regime’s embassy in Stockholm, Saleh Majd, who was expelled for his espionage activities against exiled Iranians in Sweden back in January 2008.

Mr. Khazai stressed that the task of the individuals named and the regime’s front organizations is to spy on Iranian exiles and create fear among Iranians residing in Sweden. To this end, the regime intends to inflict blowsagainst the main Iranian opposition - the NCRI and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) as its leading member - and to promote fundamentalism.

NCRI’s Nordic representative called on the government of Sweden to expose the clerical regime’s spies in a bid to protect Iranian exiles who have sought refuge in Sweden.

Ms. Pourkeramati unveiled the role of the regime’s agents outside Iran who pose as former members of the Resistance and the PMOI, as well as the activities of front organizations that act as essential part of the regime’s espionage network.

Iranian exiles urge Sweden to cut ties with Tehran

The Associated Pr March 11 - An Iranianopposition group on Tuesday urged the Swedish government to cut relations with Tehran after the expulsion of an Iranian diplomat accused of spying on exiles.

“This is the tip of a big iceberg giventhe magnitude of the (Iranian) regime’s infiltration in Sweden,” said Perviz Khazai.

Sweden expelled an Iranian diplomat in January, but did not say why at the time. However, a Swedish Foreign Ministry officialon Tuesday confirmed press reports thatthe diplomat was believed to have spied on Iranian exiles in Sweden. At a news conference in Stockholm, Iranian exiles said they were being harassed by the Iranian regime in threatening telephone calls and letters.

Ayatollah Yaasoub-Eddin Rastegari Jouybari, a stern opponent of the

clerical rule in Iran, has gone on a hunger strike in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison in protest to his unjust detention and inhumane treatment, NCRI’s Committee on Religious Freedom reported on March 22, 2008.

According to Ayatollah Rastegari’s family, the prison guards had threatened him with a mock execution. He remains in poor health after three weeks of hunger strike.

Over the years, he has resisted pressures by the regime and refused to endorse the ruling faction as being Islamic. Ayatollah Rastegari is the author of a number of books on Islam.

Dissident Ayatollah on hunger strike in Evin prison

crimes and robberies by doubling our efforts,by ordinary and undercover agents, increasing the number of patrols and police stations, equipping constabularies, monitoring systems and undercover inspectors,” IRNA added.

Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Hossein Zolfaqari, deputy commander of the SSF, declared that new forces would be deployed under various names to spread suppression. “The neighborhoodwatch plan will be expanded with the help of people… honorary police force planning to get people more involved in the promotion of law

The above frames are taken from a video clip secretly passed to the Resistance’s network inside Iran, showing SSF officers set alight a young man’s hair while in their custody.

and order is among other measures by the SSF this year,” State-run TV reported on March 26.

Remarks by the SSF commander, a close confidant of mullahs’ president MahmoudAhmadinejad, indicates that the clerical regime, engulfed in domestic and international crises, is planning to raise the level of brutal suppression to new heights. This follows the sham Majlis(parliamentary) elections and the maturity of the regime’s internal contradictions while efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and exportof fundamentalism and terrorism have been dramatically stepped up.

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From left in the panel, Haleh Pourkeramati, Parviz Khazai and Bente Kraugerud

Crackdown to intensify in new Iranian year

4 IRAN LIBERATION - MARCH 31, 2008For information on NCRI and news, please visit our website: www.ncr-iran.org

ARTICLES

Iran’s ResistanceBy Professor Lord Alton of Liverpool

March 26 - Good news came earlier this month, when the UN Security Council adopted a third sanctions resolution

against the Iranian regime over its illegal nuclear weapons activity. Resolution 1803, which includes an outright ban on travel by officials involved inTehran’s nuclear and missile programmes, gives the autocratic rulers three months to comply with the demands of the UN nuclear watchdog to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing or face new sanctions.

But even as the resolution was being adopted by 14-0 with only one abstention - Indonesia - the regime’s officials vowed that, regardless ofhowever many resolutions were adopted at the UN, the Islamic Republic would never halt its uranium enrichment activities.

Tehran’s belligerent attitude stems from the West’s half-hearted policy of countering its unlawful activities. Despite its vociferous posture against the regime at the UN, the West is in fact assisting the regime on another front. In particular, Britain is spearheading an effort to crack down on theonly effective opposition movement in an effort to win concessions fromTehran.

The theocratic regime’s weak point is its lack of popular support.According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran, students and women were responsible for a major portion of the more than 5,000 anti-government protests that were held in Iran last year alone.

If the international community lends support to the Iranian people and their resistance movement, this would undoubtedly force the regime to think twice before unilaterally pressing on with its clandestine nuclear projects and meddling in the affairs of regional states. It would alsoencourage the population to come out in greater numbers against the regime which is becoming increasingly isolated on the international scene.

Remarkably, at a time when we should be isolating the regime for its sponsorship of terror at home and abroad, the UK government is hampering the efforts of the Iranian opposition to bring about change in Iran.

Since 2001, it has banned the main democratic Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) at the behest of Tehran’s rulers. In 2002, it encouraged the EU to ban the group as well.

When in December 2006, the European court of first instanceordered the EU to lift the ban on the PMOI, it was the UK government that pressured the EU council of ministers to ignore the court ruling and maintain the ban.

Worse still, when on November 30, 2007, the UK high court’s Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC) ruled unequivocally that the PMOI is “not concerned in terrorism” and ordered the Home Secretary to lift the “flawed” and “perverse” ban, the government simplyignored the ruling in order to further appease a regime which has executed over 120,000 members of the PMOI and continues to employ more than 174 forms of torture in its notorious prisons.

It is clear that as long as Britain and the EU continue to stifle thevery force working tirelessly to end the mullahs’ despotic rule, the regime would feel secure enough to brazenly ignore however many security council ultimatums it receives.

Whitehall should now do the right thing by lifting the ban on the PMOI and allowing the Iranian people and their resistance to bring about democratic change in Iran. Such action, coupled with comprehensive sanctions against the regime at the UN, would be an appropriate response and pave the way for fundamental change in Iran.

Mullahs fiddle the figuresBy Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, Chair of the British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom

March 24 - What, asked the young man outside the mosque in Qom the day before Iran’s general election last week, is the point of voting, “when the results are known in advance?”

The Guardian reporter, Julian Borger, said Mujtaba Mivehchizadeh and hismates worried about youth unemployment and galloping inflation in a countrywhere seven out of ten are under the age of 30.

The farce of the elections was illustrated during the day itself when thestate-run news agency ISNA reported a turnout of 124 per cent at Varzaqan, East Azerbaijan. Earlier some 2,700 would-be candidates were barred for ‘un-Islamic sentiments’ by the unelected religious Guardians’ Council, including former MPs and ministers.

No wonder the EU Presidency dubbed the poll as ‘neither fair nor free’, adding that they ‘did not allow for truly competitive elections’.

The mullahs used every fiddle going to boost turn-out figures. BrigadierGeneral Alireza Afshar, director of elections in the Ministry of Interior, simply ignored figures from the National Statistics Bureau showing 49,500,000 people ofvoting age by clipping six million off the figure to swell the phantom turn-out. Andvotes could be bought for $25 in Abidan, $15 in Gilan and up to $50 in Elam, with a free lunch thrown in for rural voters bussed into urban polling stations.

Iran’s fanatical theocracy, underpinned by the Revolutionary Guard which the US labels as a terrorist organization, dare not risk fair and free elections. TheIranian Resistance, which monitored turn-out at 25,000 of the 45,000 polling stations, claims that only five in every 100 people voted, responding to its callfor a boycott.

The mullahs have not just made themselves look silly at home and abroad,but know whatever support they may have had is fast evaporating. The 95 percent who stayed at home means that military and government workers too refused to take part in this polling stunt.

In any case the parliament – Majlis – is only consultative, with the theocrats on the Guardians’ Council and the appointed-for-life Supreme Leader having a veto over it. So a double lock: permit only the candidates who can be trusted to stand and then do not entirely trust them.

Whichever of the four religious factions is said to be on the up, the fact is that since the Revolutionary Guards installed one of their own as President, in the shape of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the extremists have tightened their grip. They all have the same agenda, so it is just a matter of the degree of repression.No faction is calling for free elections, an end to public hangings from cranes, or of amputations and eye gougings.

The long-suffering public wonders why petrol is rationed in a country withthe world’s fourth-largest oil reserves, and why there is insufficient refiningcapacity when it can seemingly afford nuclear weapons development, withrampant inflation and a highly educated people with far too few jobs on offer.

The extremist regime will doubtless push on with its nuclear programme,now scattered across at least 12 sites, the better to conceal and continue the brutal suppression of those who dissent.

This election is yet another signal to our own and other governments to stopappeasing the mullahs and to treat the Resistance as allies in the campaign to turn back the menace of rampant fundamentalism. It helps to kill British and other coalition troops in Iraq, helps thwart the Palestinian peace process by financingand arming Hamas and bids, through Hezbollah, to unseat a fragile democracy in Lebanon. What other incentive does the UK need to back the millions in Iran who cry freedom rather than those who have stolen it from them?

March 26, 2008 March 24, 2008