March, 1996.

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Tehran - The Iranian Parliament on Sunday passed a law banning smoking in public places in Iran.
Tehran radio said the law banned smoking in public places, including holy shrines, mosques, government offices, factories, banks, hospitals, cinemas, hotels, public transport, bus terminals, restaurants, schools and universities.
The law prohibits the sale or purchase of cigarettes on the streets, but shops may continue selling cigarettes. Violators of the ban will face a fine of between 20,000 and 100,000 rials ($7 and $33).
Opponents of the law warned it could lead to trouble.
"Enforcement of this law in tea houses will practically introduce problems," said Parliament Speaker Nateq-Nouri.
"In many areas we shall have tens of local complaints and fights and difficulties in proving who smoked and who sold tobacco.... This only adds to confrontations and discomforts in our society." Mahmood Reza Astaneh said in the debate broadcast live on Tehran radio.
There are five million smokers in Iran consuming 150 million cigarettes a day. Iran produces 50 million cigarettes a day, or a third of the demand. The rest is smuggled into the country.
In 1992 the Guardian Council blocked a bill passed by the parliament requiring the government to phase out import and sale of cigarettes over seven years because it did not envisage substitute sources of revenue for the lost tobacco tax.

Tehran - Iranian counter-intelligence forces have uncovered five spy networks led by Turkish diplomats, according to an Iranian official on Thursday.
The daily Keyhan quoted the unnamed Intelligence Ministry official as saying the networks tried to "sow discord between Persians and Azeris...".
The official said a Turkish diplomat, whom he identified as Turkey's former consul-general in Tabriz, was leading one of the main networks. This diplomat was not one of the four named in the earlier row.
See 10/04/96.

Tehran - Goodarz Eftekhar Jahromi, head of international legal services at the Iranian judiciary, was quoted by Tehran radio as saying the United States had deposited $61.8 million with the Union Bank of Switzerland to compensate famillies of the victims of the incident and paid Iran $40 million for the airliner as well as $30 million to settle some banking claims.
All 290 people on board the Iran Air Airbus A300, flying from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates across the Persian Gulf, were killed when the U.S. cruiser Vincennes shot it down on July 3, 1988.

Tehran - Newly elected - (selected) - members of Iran's parliament have vowed to continue the confrontation with the United States and Israel.
Mohammed Reza Bahonar, a leader of the Combatant Clergy Association (CCA) said "Foreign policy will have no change. Our confrontation with America will continue," in an interview with Abrar newspaper.
"As far as the Islamic world is concerned, we shall follow the policy of the liberation of Qods (Jerusalem)." he went on to say.

Tehran - Dr. Vahid Dastjerdi head of the Iranian Red Crescent - Iran's equivalent of Red Cross - said $200,000 was collected to help the Lebanese war refugees by the organisation. He added "Of the collected amount, $50,000 was donated by Hojatoleslam Reyshahri, $50,000 by Hojatoleslam Ghayuri and $20,000 by Hojatoleslam Taskhiri."
So goes the biblical saying, when giving alms do not blow your trumpets and let your left hand know what your right hand is doing!.

Tehran - In an interview with Iranian and foreign journalists, Ayatollah Yazdi the head of Iran's judiciary, referred to the news of Ali Farzanefar's death as petty news which has been blown out of all proportions.
"The authorities were carrying out their lawful duty - i.e raiding a private birthday party! - when they came across half naked and naked boys and girls. While Ali Farzanefar was so intoxicated with alcohol that he decided to throw himself down from the 18th floor. The authorities had no part in his death." Yazdi added.

Damascus (Reuters) - Washington refuses to have any contacts with Iran in its drive to hammer out a peace deal. U.S. officials accuse Iran of instigating this month's violence, and religous leaders in Tehran have been loudly encouraging the Hezbollah guerrillas to fight on.
The Americans say they will not talk to Hezbollah or the Iranian government, yet they remain confident they can work out a peace deal in Lebanon, similar to their limited peace deal three years ago which had more or less endured until this month.
When the French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette told Christopher that he had held talks with Velayati, the Americans did not even ask what the Iranian had to say, U.S. officials said !.

Ankara - Turkey warned Iran on Friday not to support Islamist militant groups on its soil amid growing tension between the two neighbours.
"Not interfering in each other's internal affairs must be the basis for our cooperation." Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz told reporters before talks with the Iranian Foreign Minister. Anatolian News Agency also quoted a Turkish official as saying : " This is the first time Iran has been warned so strongly and clearly on this issue."
Ali Akbar Velayati, the Iranian Foreign Minister, who was also to have met the Turkish President Suleyman Demirel during his trip did not give journalists an opportunity to ask questions.

Tehran - An Iranian teenager has written a book about the thoughts of ants after he was inspired by reading the Koran, the daily Jomhuri Eslami newspaper said on Thursday !!!

Ankara - Four Iranian diplomats expelled by Turkey have left the country ahead of foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati's visit to Ankara on Friday.
"Our diplomats have left Turkey. Hence when Velayati arrives in Ankara the subject will be closed." an Iranian diplomat told the Anatolian News Agency on Wednesday. See 10/04/96 news item.

Tehran - The visiting Minister of Information of the Nigerian military dictatorship, Walter Afona Goru, met with Iran's Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Velayati. They both criticized the pressure exerted by powerful states against independent countries. Velayati also pointed out that the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran gives priority to promotion of relations with the African continent.

Tehran - President Rafsanjani inaugurated the new building of the dental college of Shahed University, affiliated to the Martyr Foundation.
During his speech to the university officials, Hojatolislam Rafsanjani called for application of international standards at scientific centres!. He also expressed hope for the university to admit students from other Islamic countries and said that the images of martyrdom and the presence of the devout forces will improve the quality of the university's work !.

Tehran - A 23 years old youth was killed falling off a building during a birthday party raid by the Basij. The party was raided by the volunteers of the mobilised force, for playing pop music during the birthday party.

Tehran - On the eighth anniversary of the U.S sinking of several Iranian ships, Iran launched wargames manouvers in the Persian Gulf; according to the state-run Tehran radio.
These exercises were code named "Fateh".

Tehran - Price of houses and apartments in Tehran rose by more than 50 percent during the past Iranian year, reported the Persian daily 'Akhbar' quoting a municipal official. Mohammad Pakzad, the deputy mayor of the seventh district of Tehran, said the demand for housing units increased considerably in the past 12 months as a result of the limits imposed by the government on foreign exchange dealings and due to sluggishness of the gold and vehicle markets. Permits issued for construction of residential units also exhibited a growth rate of about 50 percent last year, he added.

Tehran - The OPEC President and Algerian Energy Minister Ammar Makhloufi and Secretary General Rilwanu Lukman are to discuss issues related to production quota of OPEC member countries and supply and demand for oil in world markets with the Iranian officials, according to Etella'at newspaper. No dates were given for the visit.

Kermanshah - A woman was injured in the 'Chaleh Charmeh' region, when an undetected landmine remaining from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war exploded. The Woman stepped on the landmine while taking her cattle to graze, and lost her right leg as a result. More than 100 people were killed or wounded during last year due to detonation of landmines and other explosives.

Tehran - Rafsanjani congratulated Robert Mugabe on his re-election ! and expressed hopes for the relations between the two countries to reach optimal peak.

Saudi Arabia - Iran urged its pilgrims to hold an anti-U.S rally at the Haj. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia says Haj, which this year falls at the end of April, is a purely religious affair and should not be politicised. It has banned all political activities during the pilgrimage in the past years.
A Saudi interior minister said violators of the ban would "be severely punished according to Saudi rules without any leniency".
Iran boycotted Haj for three years after Saudi troops clashed with an Iranian led rally, killing 400 people, mainly Iranians.

Tehran - A European Union delegation made up of senior officials from Italy, Spain and Ireland arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to press Iran to condemn suicide attacks in Israel and to revoke the death sentence on Salman Rushdie.
In Rome, diplomats said the delegation would tell the Iranian government that the future of "critical dialogue" with Europe will depend on a firm condemnation of terrorism by Iran.

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