Iran's Islamic party HQ blown up

Iran's Central Revolutionary Security Committee announced that the Tehran headquarters of the dominant Islamic Republican Party (IRP) was blown up Sunday. The party leadership was in a meeting at the building, Monitor special correspondent James Dorsey says. Witnesses said the building was "completely gone," and described it as "a terrible scene." In the brief period they were at the area, which was cordoned off, they counted 20 ambulances. It was not at first known who was responsible for the blast.

Earlier, Iran's three-man Presidential Council, which took over temporarily from dismissed President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, approved Hossein Mousavi as foreign minister. Mr. Mousavi, proposed by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Rajai, now must be approved by the Majlis (parliament).

Mr. Mousavi emerged as a leading member of the IRP after the 1979 revolution. He was a member of the Revolutionary Council which ruled Iran for about a year after the ousting of the Shah. He also helped establish the Islamic Republic daily newspaper, of which he is publisher and editor in chief.

Meanwhile, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, spiritual leader of Tehran and a close aide of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was reported in good condition after surgery fo r wounds sustained in a bomb attack Saturday.