RUSSIAN LAWMAKERS IN IRAN.

A Russian parliamentary delegation under the leadership of Duma speaker Gennady Seleznev wound up a three-day official visit to Iran yesterday that included talks with top Iranian political figures. In remarks prior to the delegation’s departure for Russia, Seleznev yesterday hailed friendly relations between Moscow and Tehran, saying that the two countries enjoyed common views on such issues as the exploitation of oil and other resources in the Caspian Sea. He also said that the Russian Duma favors continued cooperation between Russia and Iran in the area of nuclear power generation, despite pressure to the contrary from Washington. The United States has objected strenuously–but to no avail–over an US$800 million deal by which Russia is to complete Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power station. Seleznev yesterday dismissed U.S. fears that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and that the Bushehr plant could further those plans. Seleznev also used the occasion to criticize the recent U.S. missile strikes against terrorist targets in Afghanistan, and said that the strikes themselves constituted terrorist actions (Itar-Tass, September 23).

HELSINKI GROUP COMPLAINS OF VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS.