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Iran Cleric
MakesPlea
For Unity
KhalOOnèi Seeks to Mend
Split Over Mayor's Arrest
By Douglas Jebl
New York Times Sen'ice
CAIRO -' Iran's supreme leader
called Thursday for unity as part of a
renewed effort to head off a political
rupture over a legal cas~ involving the
mayor of Tehran, who was freed from:
prison Wednesday.
In remarks broadcast on Iranian television,
Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei
warned Iranians against trying to choose
be~een rival branches of government.
The branches' differences have been laid
bare in the case, a flashpoint for' Illoderates
and conservatives who have been
vyingto shape the country's course.
But it remained apparent that many
Iranians saw the episode as a symbol of
the broader struggle for power.
In Tehran on Thursday, hundreds of
well-wishers flocked to the home of the
mayor, Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi,
where they"chanted welcoming slogans;
distributed celebratory sweetsand erected
a huge portrait of their heroat the end
of his street. The visitors included top
aides to President Mohammed Khatami,
whose government has fiercely defen- '
ded the' mayor against, cprruption
charges brought by the conservativedominated
judiciary and its ,leader,
Ayatollah Mohammed Yazdi. '
Mr. Karbaschi, 44, isa close ally of
Mr. Khatami's, the moderate cleric ",ho
won an upsetvictory in May over candidates
supported by the conservative
establishment.
Many 'Iranian moderates regard the
case against Mr. Karbaschi as part of a
broader bid to obstruct Mr. Khatami's
agenda. During the Il nights the mayor
spent in jail, Qteir'animosity had begun
to erupt in streetdemonstrati6ns.
The decision tofree Mr. Karbaschi on
bail was an undisguised effort by Ayatollah
Khamenei to defuse those tensions,
accordÜ1g to Iranian' analysts and diplomats,
as was the ayatollah's television
appearance Thursday on the occasion'of
the Eid al Ghadir, a Shiite Muslim feast.
In his remarks, Ayatol~h Khamenei said
that Iranians were "duty-bound" to support
both the government and the judiciary
and that "all forces" should
"join hands to keep hoisted the flag of,
Islam with amity and sympathy."
As if to underscore that message,
Ayatollah Khamenei was pictured seated
in a chair, while on the floor beneath him
were President Kahatami; Ayatollah
. ~a\\adrnll' \:-l"U.-iilll'lll~'""
Mayor Gholam-Hossein Karbaschi ofTehran, after his reléase on bail.
Yazdi; and Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, the
conservative speaker of Parliament.
Under the law; Mr. Karbaschi could,
have been held without bail for a olonth.
Bilt his early release does not mean the
charges against him have been dropped;
he is still expected to face a public trial,
although no date has been set. .
A numberofMr. Karbaschi's top subordiriates
have been convicted of similar
corruption charges as part of a broad
inquiry begun by judicial officials began
shortly after Mr. Khatami's victory.
• U.S. Defends Persian Broadcasts
,The State Department said a planned
increase in U.S.-fmanced radio broadcasts
to Iran waS designed to "enrich"
domestic political debate, not to under~
mine the Iranian government, Reuters
reported from Washington.
Under pressure from the Republicanled
Congress, the State Department has
been discussing how to increase Persianlanguage
broadcasts without de,railing,
tentative steps toward U.S.-IraOlan reconciliation
initiated by President
Khatan\i.
"The purpose of these broadcasts is
not to beain anti-government' propagllnda
int() Iran," the State Department
, spokesman, James Rubin, said Wednesday."Rather,
this. new service wo~ld
provide !.Il0rede~lled factua~ report~ng
on politJ.cal, social and foreign pollcy
issues affecting Iran.
,'But no one should misinterpret this as
an attempt to undermine the Iranian government
or as in any way diluting the very
, clear position we. have that we are encouraged
by the developments in Iran."
INTERNATIONAL
HERALD TRIBUNE.
APRIL 17, 1998
.
102