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DATE=6/6/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=IRAN DEFECTOR (L-ONLY) NUMBER=2-263219 BYLINE=JIM RANDLE DATELINE=PENTAGON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: A U-S official says American intelligence experts are interviewing an Iranian defector who says Iran was behind the bomb that blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland in 1988. The defector also says Iranian operatives blew up a U-S military barracks in Saudi Arabia in 1996. As V-O-A's Jim Randle reports, the U-S official says Washington has drawn "no final conclusion" on the claims, but says the defector's story has some "very large holes." TEXT: The defector, Ahmad Behbahani (prono: AH-mad BAY-be-HAN-ee), told an American television network that he headed overseas terrorism operations for Iran's government for 10 years. Mr. Behbahani told a C-B-S producer that Iran carried out the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in a joint operation with Libya. The defector says Iran sought revenge for an Iranian airliner mistakenly downed earlier that year by a U-S warship. Two Libyan men are on trial in the Netherlands on charges of planting the Pan Am bomb, which killed 270 people. U-S State Department spokesman Philip Reeker says that trial will continue. /// Reeker Act /// We will follow the evidence wherever it leads. In the meantime, the United States stands by the facts of the case as outlined in the indictment that we have presented of the two Libyans currently on trial for the attack, and we believe that case is very solid. /// End Act /// The C-B-S interview with the defector was not recorded because Mr. Behbanani is in a Turkish refugee camp, where officials would not allow cameras. The television network says an Iranian-born network employee sneaked into the camp and held a conversation with the defector. The defector also said Iran was behind the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers military housing complex in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U-S troops. Mr. Reeker says Iran has been involved in terrorism for years. /// Reeker Act /// In terms of Iran support for terrorism, our most recent terrorism report makes very clear our concerns about Iran's use of terrorism and has continually called Iran the most active state sponsor of terrorism. /// End Act /// If U-S officials confirm the defector's story, it could hurt Washington's efforts to improve relations with the government of Iranian President Mohammed Khatami. He is a cleric elected president of Iran in 1997 and is viewed in the West as a relative moderate. Meanwhile, Iran's intelligence chief is dismissing the charges made by the alleged defector. Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi says the man is inventing anti- Iranian stories to improve his chances of getting political asylum in the West. (Signed) NEB/JR/JP 06-Jun-2000 12:17 PM EDT (06-Jun-2000 1617 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .