Opposition to Ayatollah

Press, 8 December 1987, Page 16

Opposition to Ayatollah

From

the “Economist’s”

IRAN has made no secret in recent weeks of its plans for another winter offensive against Iraq. But its commanders are also having to glance over their shoulders. In recent months the Government in Teheran has had to admit that guerrilla pressure from its homegrown opponents, the Mujaheddin-e-Khalq or "People’s Warriors,” is starting to hurt. The Mujaheddin were founded 22 years ago as a youth movement and played their part in opposing the Shah. When the Shah fell, Ayatollah Khomeiny soon turned against them. Their leader, Mr Masoud Rajavi, fled to France in 1981 and Mujaheddin opposition within Iran was quickly crushed. In 1986, however, Iran made the mistake of having France force Mr Rajavi out. The guerrilla war he has been masterminding from a new base in Iraq has grown steadily more effective. Since the final months of 1986, the Mujaheddin say, they have carried out 94 “offensives” against army “bases” in which more than 4300 Iranian soldiers have been killed or wounded and 375 taken prisoner. The attacks appear to range from urban guerrilla pinpricks to set-piece clashes with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. They are said to have been made in all parts of Iran, including cities such as Tehran, Isfahan, Mashad, and Ahwaz; but most have come in the border areas. In June the Mujaheddin claimed to have set up a “National Liberation Army” on

conventional military lines. The Mujaheddin’s reports of their own casualties look suspiciously low, and they are reluctant to take independent observers or journalists to their bases along the Iranian frontier. But their claims still deserve some credence. Mujaheddin communiques cite the precise locations of attacks and often give the names and addresses of Government soldiers killed or captured. These details are broadcast into Iran, where they can easily be checked by curious listeners. Better confirmation comes from the Iranian Government itself. Until recently, officialspokesmen dismissed the Mujaheddin as “hypocrites” or “subversives.” They have now begun to sound more impressed, referring to “Rajavi’s gangs.” In September a Teheran news-

Levant correspondent

paper reported that an Iranian officer, Colonel Khorramroudi, had warned his men the Mujaheddin were “not like the Iraqi forces ... They fight hard and are determined to uproot our regime.” Teheran newspapers have been reporting “terrorist” actions and carrying pictures of “martyred” Revolutionary Guards. Even President Ali Khamenei admits that in recent months “terrorists” have killed more than 1200 officers and soldiers. The Mujaheddin say they want to overthrow the Khomeiny regime and replace it, within two years, by a “democratic” government. They promise to end the Gulf war. They would also grant autonomy, they say, to the restless Kurds in Iran’s north-west. The Mujaheddin are devout Shia Muslims, but religion and the State would be separated. The so-called canonical punishments of stoning and amputation would be banned, and Iran’s religious courts, neighbourhood committees and Revolutionary Guards would be disbanded. Discrimination against women would end. Within Iran, the Mujaheddin are accused of collusion with the Iraqi enemy. The Mujaheddin retort that they are Iranian patriots ready to seek help from anybody to overthrow a repressive regime. By the ferocious standards of the Gulf war, their military activities are small stuff. But their existence is a reminder that by no means all Iranians are unquestioning supporters of Mr Khomeiny. Copyright — The Economist.