No mention of an ethnic group named Zirgani could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Sources Consulted

IRB databases

LEXIS-NEXIS

Middle East International [London]. July 1999 - June 2000.

Nations Without States [Westport, Conneticut]. 1996.

REFWORLD

Resource Centre. Iran country file. January 1998 - June 2000.

_____. Iran: Amnesty International country file. January - June 2000.

RFE/RL Iran Report [Prague, in English]. November 1998 - June 2000.

State of the Peoples [Cambridge, MA]. 1993.

World Directory of Minorities. 1997.

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites including:

Ethnologue

NetIran Website. Encompassing IRNA 1993-98, Iran News 1993-99, Tehran Times 1995-98.

PersiaWeb

Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI)

Search engines including:

Dogpile

Google

HotBot

Metacrawler