(4 Feb 1997) English/Nat
At least 30-thousand Iranian soldiers, at camps across neighbouring Iraq, are waiting for the order to march on Tehran.
But with few signs of the Iranian regime loosening its grasp on power, members of the National Liberation Army are resigning themselves to a lengthy exile.
Training for the final showdown with the mullahs.
Armed with Kalashnikovs and thunder flashes, these women make easy work of capturing an "enemy" compound.
Next it's the turn of gunners, who blaze away at slow-moving targets in the sky.
Camp Ashraf -- a heavily guarded compound about 110 kilometres (66 miles) northeast of Baghdad -- is one of five major bases in Iraq of the National Liberation Army.
It's a force of at least 30-thousand Iranians committed to wresting control of their homeland from the Islamic clerics who have ruled it since 1979.
The all-volunteer army in Iraq faces a formidable foe.
Iran has 400-thousand troops under arms, many in highly-trained and well-equipped Revolutionary Guard units.
But they've enjoyed some impressive successes in the few occasions when they've engaged their enemy.
These tanks, the backbone of the fighting force, were captured during a 1988 raid on the Iranian 16th Armoured Division's stores in the border town of Mehran.
Many of the combatants enlisted after witnessing the brutality of the Tehran regime at first hand.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
The Khomeini regime killed six members of my family when I was eight years old. My dad was a medical doctor and my mum, two brothers, a sister and my brother-in-law were executed by the Ayatollahs in 1981.
SUPER CAPTION: N-L-A combatant
Women make up about a third of the army and occupy many of the top positions.
Their uniform is modelled on conservative Iranian lines, but off duty many of them shed their head cover.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
I heard there are National Liberation Army, and women in this army can come here, they can learn so many things and with this army they can help our people.
SUPER CAPTION: N-L-A combatant
The army was formed a decade ago by leaders of the Mujaheddin Khalq, or People's Warriors, that spearheaded opposition to the shah's rule.
It's the military wing of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a kind of government- in-exile that groups opposition factions.
National Council leaders concede that the liberation army will only succeed with help from inside Iran.
But they predict that when the N-L-A makes its move, many inside Iran will swell its ranks.
Lined up each evening on parade in their smart military uniforms, the fighters renew their pledge, when the command comes to march on Tehran they will not hesitate.
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