TEHRAN, Nov. 18--Families of Iranians detained by US forces in Iraq arrived in Baghdad on Saturday for the first visit with their incarcerated relatives.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said at his weekly press conference on Sunday the visit was organized by Iran’s Embassy in Baghdad in coordination with the Iraqi government.
He expressed hope that the family members would finally meet their imprisoned relatives soon, Presstv reported.
Although two Iranian diplomats and seven other Iranians were released on November 9, 2007, 21 Iranian nationals are still held captive by American forces in Iraq and their families have not been granted permission to visit them.
Commenting on the possibility of another UN Security Council resolution against Tehran, Hosseini said it would clearly hamper implementation of the Action Plan agreed upon by Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“A new resolution would be contrary to constructive and positive cooperation between Iran and IAEA. If such a resolution is passed, it will have adverse consequences on the implementation of bilateral agreements,“ he said.
He added that based on the Action Plan, Iran has so far clarified ambiguities concerning its nuclear activities to the satisfaction of the IAEA.
“ElBaradei’s report mentioned Iran’s speedy responses to questions, which is among its points of strength,“ he said.
The spokesman urged Group 5+1 (the five permanent members of the Security Council--China, Russia, France, Britain and the US--plus Germany) to avoid irrational and illegal policies.
Hosseini also announced that Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki plans to visit Kuwait and Qatar this week.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Farhadi, who was earlier detained by US forces in Iraq’s Kurdish region, has been added to the Red Cross list of Prisoners of War, says an official.
Jafar Emamian, head of Public Relations Office in the governor’s office of Kermanshah province, said Farhadi was allowed to make a telephone call to his family on Friday reassuring them of his wellbeing.
Farhadi, a trade consultant to the Governor General of Iran’s western province of Kermanshah, was kidnapped by US forces in the Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah in September. He was visiting the city at the official invitation of Iraqi officials.

Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi (l) and Qatari Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, speak to reporters in Tehran on Sunday.

TEHRAN, Nov. 18--Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi has said mistaken perceptions of insecurity have encouraged foreign military presence in the region.
“Some mistaken perceptions have created an image of insecurity which has prepared the grounds for a massive foreign military presence in the region,“ Pour-Mohammadi said in a meeting with the Qatari Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Presstv reported.
Commenting on the level of Iran-Qatar relations, the Iranian minister said, “If we succeed in establishing our ties according to what Islam has advised, we will be able to respond to the needs of today’s societies.“
Pour-Mohammadi noted that the Middle East holds a large part of global energy resources that have increased the economic power of regional states and drawn international attention towards the region.
“In the past several years, the region has faced massive crises. These incidents, along with some mistaken perceptions, have created an image of insecurity in the region,“ he said.
The Qatari minister mentioned historical relations between the two countries and said their bilateral security agreement is one of the main areas of cooperation, so it needs to be activated and maintained through recurrent meetings.
Sheikh Abdullah also called for further security cooperation between the two parties, saying that relations between Tehran and Doha should become a model for other regional states.
The Qatari official also met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday.

TEHRAN, Nov. 18--Majlis Research Center has called for the approval of a law by Majlis, based on which Iran’s Foreign Ministry would be obliged to publicize US human rights violations.
In a report, the center’s Office for Political Studies elaborated on instances of human rights violations in the US, ISNA reported.
The center noted that many human rights bodies, including Amnesty International and the United Nations Human Rights Commission, have expressed serious concerns over these violations.
“This is while Washington constantly interferes in the internal affairs of other countries on the pretext of rights violation,“ he said.
Majlis Research Center recommended Majlis to entitle the Foreign Ministry to prepare an annual report on human rights violations in the US.
The report said Iran is entitled to direct the attention of Amnesty International and other world bodies to such violations and condemn the US in the UN General Assembly.
It noted that the US violates the Geneva conventions in a systematic manner.
The report also indicated that some 98 prisoners have died in the prisons of Afghanistan and Iraq since 2002 as a result of torture.
According to a report by Amnesty International, more than 14,000 prisoners were held in Iraqi prisons in 2006 by the US and about 460 inmates in Guantanamo Prison.

GENEVA, Nov. 18--Switzerland’s president has confirmed her country’s role in seeking direct negotiations between Iran and the US.
President Micheline Calmy-Rey told the weekly newspaper NZZ am Sonntag that Switzerland is seeking to facilitate direct talks, saying that the Alpine nation’s neutrality puts it in a key position to mediate the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“It is a fact that the...big powers have so far been unable to prevent Iran from pursuing uranium enrichment,“ she said in an interview published on Sunday, her first public comments about Switzerland’s role.
Calmy-Rey, who held informal discussions in February with Ali Larijani, then Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, has said Switzerland rejects the proliferation of nuclear technology but recognizes the right to use the technology for peaceful purposes.
She did not elaborate on her government’s stance on Iran’s nuclear program and declined to give further details of its efforts to bring both sides to the table.
But she said Switzerland was pursuing direct negotiations and diplomatic solutions, and warned against an escalation of tensions.
“It is questionable whether Iran will alter its nuclear program under
coercion,“ Calmy-Rey told the newspaper.
Switzerland has represented US interests in Iran since Washington pulled out of the country in 1979.

TEHRAN, Nov. 18--Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem is scheduled to visit Tehran this week to discuss regional issues with Iranian officials.
Muallem’s visit comes only three weeks after his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki visited Damascus, IRNA reported.
During his one-day stay in Syria, Mottaki met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Muallem.
Syrian officials had described their talks with Mottaki as constructive.
Ties between Iran and Syria have been developing in recent years, as the two friendly countries have adopted common stances on several international issues.