The World - News from July 15, 1987

Twenty defectors from the Iranian military, ranging in rank from army colonels to naval lieutenants, pledged loyalty to the recently created “National Liberation Army,” which seeks to overthrow the regime of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The officers made the pledge at a news conference in London, where a spokesman for the Moujahadeen rebels said the anti-Khomeini force has killed or wounded 2,000 Tehran government troops in the past six months. The spokesman, Alahedin Tooran declined to disclose the size of the “army” that is based in Iraq, Iran’s foe in the Persian Gulf War.