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Iranians inspired

Iranian exiles plan to hold a constitutional convention in Washington tomorrow, inspired by the stirring words of President Bush from his State of the Union speech and from America's own such convention more than 200 years ago.

Zari Sariri, the convention director, said the meeting beginning at 1 p.m. at DAR Constitution Hall was conceived "mainly because of President Bush's speech." In his February address to Congress, Mr. Bush sent a message to the Iranian people.

"As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you," Mr. Bush said.

Mrs. Sariri yesterday said she hopes those few words will spark an Iranian revolution from within the country to replace a brutal theocracy with a democratic government.

The organizers expect members of Congress and members of the Canadian and European parliaments to address Iranian exiles in America from more than 30 states. Speakers also include terrorism specialist Neil Livingstone.

Mrs. Sariri explained that the convention aims to deliver a message to the Bush administration and to the European Union.

She hopes a demonstration of a massive support for democracy will persuade Washington to remove the Iranian resistance from a list of terrorist organizations. The Clinton administration placed the National Council of Resistance of Iran and its armed wing, the People's Mojahedin, on the black list when it was trying to improve relations with the Iranian government.

"The important thing is to give the resistance legitimacy," she said.

The message to Europe is to stop "appeasing the mullahs" with "vain attempts" to get the Iranian government to give up its nuclear program, Mrs. Sariri added.