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Poets Call on Leader
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Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (c) is seen among a group of
veterans and young poets in Tehran on Wednesday.
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TEHRAN, Sept. 28--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei Wednesday stressed that works of young poets and artists should be given more value and attention.
In a meeting with a group of veterans and young poets,the leader said literary works in general and poetry written by Iranians have become much more superior after the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The progress has been visible due also to the fact that religious and social subjects are also being presented in poetic form, IRNA quoted him as saying.
Prior to the leader’s address, a number of young poets read their poetry that largely dwelt upon and paid homage to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his household and martyrs of the Islamic Revolution.
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Sanctions Would
Jeopardize IAEA Deal
NEW YORK, Sept. 28--Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has warned that further sanctions against Iran would undermine a recent Iran-IAEA agreement to resolve all pending issues related to Iran’s nuclear program.
“The international community must support Mohamed ElBaradei and the agency. They should give the IAEA chief more time to complete his mission. To do otherwise, would harm the constructive efforts of Iran and the IAEA,“ Mottaki told Alalam TV.
He made the statement after separate meetings with his counterparts from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on the sidelines of the 62nd UN General Assembly summit in New York.
He hoped that the smear and disinformation campaign launched by some powers against Iran would not lead to any irrational decision against the Islamic state.
The Iran-IAEA accord sets a timetable for Tehran to answer all outstanding questions over its nuclear program in a bid to help the UN nuclear watchdog wrap up its four-year investigation into the nature of the program.
Mottaki’s comment came as the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany are discussing further possible sanctions against Iran.
In related news, he told the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly session on Thursday that “some countries refuse to dismantle their chemical weapons and this is a threat to the global security.“
“As long as the owners of the chemical weapons arsenal do not heed numerous statements urging the dismantling of chemical weapons, global peace and security would be in danger,“ Mottaki stressed.
Iran’s foreign minister called on all the CWC member states to implement the provisions of the convention in its entirety and without any preconditions.
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Rafsanjani, Saddam Letters to be Published
TEHRAN, Sept. 28--Letters exchanged between former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and executed dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iraqi-imposed war is ready for publication.
The Office for Publishing the Knowledge of the Islamic Revolution has announced that the letters will be published in the form of a book to coincide with the the 26th anniversary of the 1980-88 Iraqi-imposed war, Mehr News Agency reported.
The book contains 12 letters written by Rafsanjani and the deposed dictator between April to August 1990, almost 18 months after the military conflict ended after Tehran accepted UN Security Council Resolution 598.
The letters are said to be mostly about the end of the fighting and exchange of PoWs.
The first letter by Saddam was addressed to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the then Rafsanjani.
The correspondences also contain facts about the terms of the 1975 Algiers Accord that put an end to long territorial disputes between the two neighboring countries.
The book is prefaced by Rafsanjani who now heads the powerful State Expediency Council. He has presented an overview of the period when hostilities ceased and its aftermath.
The eight-year conflict, backed by the US and key powers in the East and West, killed a million people on both sides and devastated Iran’s economy. Rafsanjani is publicly quoted as saying that the war inflicted nearly $1,000 billion in losses on the Iranian economy.
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Jannati:
President Scored Against Enemies
TEHRAN, Sept. 28--Tehran’s Interim Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his visit to New York further exposed US and Israeli lies and deceptions to the world.
Addressing worshipers at the Tehran University premises,he reflected on Ahmadinejad’s presence in the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday and said the president scored another victory against Iran’s enemies during his interaction at the world body and Columbia University, IRNA reported.
He praised the president’s performance and termed him the “shining star“ at this year’s UN General Assembly meeting.
“The issue is not Ahmadinejad and Iran, but the whole Islamic world. So, naturally he is not a source of pride only for Iran but Muslims worldwide,“ added Jannati, who doubles as secretary of the powerful Council of
Guardians.
Ahmadinejad addressed the General Assembly on Tuesday and reiterated that Iran has declared its nuclear case as closed for ever. What ever issues, he told world leaders, are pending about the nuclear program must be dealt only between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
On Monday Ahmadinejad attended a forum at the Columbia University where its head Lee Bollinger introduced him to the high-profile session in a very insulting manner that unleashed a wave of condemnation from Iranian academia both at home and abroad.
“This blatant insult was not only against Ahmadinejad but against the 70 million Iranians he represents. If academia of a country acts in such crude manner, what can one expect from their (US) politicians, let alone soldiers?“ Jannati asked.
Referring to Israel, the senior ayatollah echoed the stance of other Iranian statesmen and said “the oppressed Palestinians should not pay the price for the harm done in Germany to a group of Jews.“
The president told the debate at Columbia that historic facts must be allowed to be examined further and that Iran is opposed to Israeli government and its non-stop atrocities against defenseless Palestinians and Lebanese, not the Jews who are a strong and vibrant minority in the Islamic state.
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Qalibaf Salutes Firefighters
TEHRAN, Sept. 28--Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Tehran Fire Department helped save over 5,000 lives in the last Iranian year.
He made the statement on the sidelines of an award-giving ceremony Thursday to the city’s firefighters and in a speech paid tribute to the courageous men who risk their own lives to save others, IRNA reported. Referring to the increase in the number of fire stations in the sprawling capital, he said over the years the number has reached 120.
“Tehran Municipality will launch a special college on firefighting by the end of the year. We also intend to implement a plan to help resolve the housing problems of the people working for the Fire Department.“
Referring to the Sacred Defense Week (Sept. 22-28), Qalibaf, who is a former air force general and a pilot,
said firefighters too sacrifice their lives to save the people and their property in the same way that Iranian combatants fought in the 1980-88 Iraq-imposed war.
The ceremony was held to mark the National Firefighting and
Safety Day.
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Underground Nuclear
Site Denied
TEHRAN, Sept. 28--A senior security official has denied reports Iran is setting up a clandestine underground nuclear site near its main uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz.
Javad Vaeidi, deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said some hostile powers and terrorist outfits are trying to undermine the current positive trend related on Iran’s nuclear cooperation with the IAEA, Fars News Agency reported.
He said a fresh round of talks has begun between the SNSC and the International Atomic Energy Agency with the aim of addressing remaining issues and boost two-way cooperation.
Iran’s close cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and recent stances taken by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his speech at the UN General Assembly have helped create “a positive environment“ regarding Iran’s civilian nuclear program, Vaeidi noted.
“Our cooperation with the agency and the president’s active presence in the UN prevented [veto powers from making] any possible hostile decision [against Tehran],“ he said.
The terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) has claimed the Islamic Republic is building a new bomb-proof underground nuclear facility linked by tunnel to the existing complex at Natanz.
The banned group has charged that the new site in central Iran consists of a “vast underground area“ beneath the Karkass Mountain range five kilometers off the historic city of Natanz.
Such baseless allegations come a day before foreign ministers of the 5+1 Group were meeting in New York, Vaeidi said. “The MKO’s unfounded claims are aimed at overshadowing Iran’s goodwill and constructive cooperation with the international community.“
The MKO was once a darling of ousted Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein and sided with the enemy during the Iran-Iraq war.
In the post-Saddam era the armed terrorist group works for the US and its spy organizations against Iranian national interest and security.
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Victor
IRAN: Despite the media hype against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York, he made his third trip to the UN and navigated the Islamic Republic once again into the limelight. On Monday more than 500 million people worldwide watched the president’s debate at at Colombia University. The cool and calm manner of the president when he was brazenly attacked by the head of Colombia University during an intro is indicative of the decency and public relations superiority of the chef executive and the Iranian nation. Ahmadinejad was the true winner of the high-profile event that drew a whole lot of controversy and comments in the international media. Impudence and indignity by Lee Bollinger immediately raised an outcry in Iran’s academic circles.Six university presidents took offense at the irresponsible attitude and sent a letter of protest to Bollinger. They demanded he publicly explain the role of the US government in spreading violence across the world and sponsoring dictators and terrorists.
High Morale
JOMHOURIY-E ESLAMI: The annual Sacred Defense Week (September 22-29) is approaching its end. Two key issues should be taken into consideration with regards to this year’s (26th) commemoration of the 1980-88 Iraqi-imposed war. One, almost all the military hardware displayed during the military parades across the country have been produced at home and with indigenous technology by the dedicated Iranian experts and engineers. Two, political heavy weights and the top brass announced that they are fully prepared to resist any military action against the country, its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The second factor is much heavier for the simple reason that having a high morale to take on the enemy is understandably more important than having access to heavy weapons.
Interpretation
AFARINESH: American politician and theoretician, Henry Kissinger, had delivered a speech on globalization in the early 1990s in a meeting. A majority of participants criticized Kissinger for his statements. Opponents of Kissinger argued that what Kissinger spoke about was Americanization and not globalization. Kissinger tried to give compelling responses to his critics. However, when he failed he said that his critics were right, noting that since the US is a powerful country it tries to impose itself on other countries. Then, Kissinger asked his opponents not to bother too much about Americanism and attitudes of Americans. The bottom line is that when American officials speak about globalization they mean Americanization. They want to dictate their own interpretation of globalization so that other countries will have no other alternative other than accepting the American way of life. Other countries should be very careful about the American interpretation of globalization.
American Problems
MARDOMSALARI: Various anti-Bush demonstrations across the United States and recently in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York show that the people of America no longer support Bush’s unilateral policies in the Middle East, particularly Iraq. Since the illegal US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the US has encountered serious problems regarding its Middle East strategy. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, provided the Bush regime with a good pretext to target its archenemies, especially Iran. However, American rulers did not expect the political demise of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to improve Iran’s status and credibility in the oil-rich region. The prevailing conditions inside the US have also enhanced Tehran’s standing such that Americans sought Iran’s help to get out of the mess in Iraq. Iran’s foreign policy establishment should make the best use of the current situation.
Exception
AFTAB-E YAZD: Today we have two types of governments. First, there are totalitarian regimes, or regimes that exercise full control over everything. These governments are also in full control of the mass media, print media in particular. Secondly, there are regimes that are democratic and advocate freedom and liberty in its various forms. Although people are apparently free in democratic societies and can even criticize their rulers, there do exist some limitations known in journalistic parlance as “red lines“. But Iran remains an exception to this rule. It simply does not fall in any of the two categories.
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