ACCESSION 
NUMBER:344202

FILE ID:TXT101

DATE:05/16/94

TITLE:TERRORISM: AN IRANIAN EXPORT (05/16/94)

TEXT:*94051601.TXT

TERRORISM: AN IRANIAN EXPORT



(VOA Editorial)  (310)

(Following is an editorial, broadcast by the Voice of America May 16,

reflecting the views of the U.S. government.)



Iran is one of seven nations -- including Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Cuba

and North Korea -- that support international terrorism.  Iran is also the

most active state sponsor of terrorist attacks.  In 1993, Iran's

intelligence services supported terrorist attacks -- either directly or

through extremist groups -- aimed primarily at opponents of the regime

living abroad.  Iran was linked to several assassinations of dissidents

during the past year.



Iranian leaders continue to call for the murder of British author Salman

Rushdie and threaten to take revenge on anyone who supports or protects

him.  In October, the Norwegian publisher of Rushdie's novel was shot and

seriously wounded in Oslo.  Three months earlier, 37 people died in a fire

set by anti-Rushdie demonstrators -- part of a violent campaign fomented in

part by Iran's ambassador to Turkey.



Iran is the principal sponsor of several extremist Islamic and Palestinian

terrorist groups -- including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front

for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and the Lebanese Hizballah.

 Hizballah was responsible for the 1992 car bomb attack on the Israeli

embassy in Argentina, which left 29 people dead and over 240 others

wounded.  In 1993, Hizballah launched rocket attacks against civilians in

northern Israel and continued its efforts to develop a worldwide terrorist

infrastructure.  Iran has worked to create a rejectionist front comprising

Hizballah and 10 Palestinian groups based in Damascus to block efforts to

bring peace to the Middle East.



Iran's support of international terrorism is a betrayal of its obligations

1nder international law, the norms of civilized conduct, and the best

interests of the people of Iran.  The United States calls on Iran's leaders

to cease their sponsorship of international terrorism.



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