NICOSIA Ñ Iranian opposition sources said the regime in Teheran has hired
and equipped a range of Arab nationals to serve as riot police and break up
student demonstrations around the country.
The sources said the Arabs work
for police and paramilitary special units and were identified as the most
brutal elements in the crackdown against the growing reformist movement.
The Arabs were hired due to dissatisfaction with the failure of Iranian officers to quell unrest. Some
of the expatriates were identified as Shi'ites from Iraq. Others included Palestinians and Afghan nationals, Middle East Newsline reported.
The sources said the Arabs were used in large numbers in anti-government
protests at Teheran University in mid-July. They said the Arab security
officers severely beat demonstrators and arrested hundreds of students.
This is the first time the Islamic regime has been accused of hiring
Arab expatriates in the nation's security forces. The report comes amid
unrest within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the most powerful
military arm in Iran and which is responsible for Teheran's strategic
weapons programs.
The Iranian regime has been embarrassed by reports that the government
is considering legalizing houses of prostitution. Iran's declining economy
is said to have forced tens of thousands of women into prostitution to
support their families.
In Washington, a senior U.S. administration official said Washington is
encouraging democratic change in Iran. Zalmay Khalilzad, regarded as
responsible for Iran in the National Security Council, told the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy on Friday that administration policy focuses
on Iran's missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.
"It's a dual track policy based on moral clarity: tell the world
specifically what is destructive and unacceptable about Iran's behavior:
sponsorship of terror, pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and repression
of the clearly expressed desires of the Iranian people for freedom and
democracy, while laying out a positive vision of partnership and support for
the Iranian people," Khalilzad said.
"U.S. policy is not to impose change on
Iran but to support the Iranian people in their quest to decide their own
destiny."
