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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 5:21
Sunrise: 6:49
Noon: 11:51
Evening: 17:12
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Weather Guide
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SUN |
MON |
Tehran: |
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High: |
14 oC |
12 oC |
Low: |
-2 oC |
-4 oC |
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Athens |
15 |
20 |
Ankara |
2 |
2 |
Cairo |
23 |
22 |
Copenhagen |
7 |
3 |
Frankfurt |
7 |
5 |
Karachi |
31 |
32 |
Kuwait City |
22 |
19 |
London |
9 |
8 |
Madrid |
16 |
18 |
Moscow |
2 |
3 |
New Delhi |
29 |
29 |
Paris |
9 |
10 |
Riyadh |
25 |
23 |
Rome |
18 |
19 |
Vienna |
5 |
4 |
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Identification
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Published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Address:
Iran Cultural & Press Institute, #212 Khorramshahr Avenue Tehran/Iran
Executive Editor:
Editorial Dept. Tel: 88755761-2
Editorial Dept. Fax: 88761869
Advertising Dept. Tel: 88500616,88500617
Internet Address:
www.iran-daily.com
E-mail Address:
iran-daily@iran-daily.com
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IAEO Chief Explains Pending Issues
No Need To Enrich Over 4%
TEHRAN, Nov. 24--Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said Saturday the IAEA in a letter has officially announced that the issue of centrifuges P1 and P2, as well as the issue of 15-page metallic uranium document’ is now closed.
Gholamreza Aqazadeh said the UN nuclear watchdog’s official letter was submitted to Iran’s representative in the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh on Friday.
“As per an agreement between Iran and IAEA, the two sides have to now work on the next pending issue which is the source of (radioactive) contamination,“ he told IRNA.
IAEA inspectors are expected to visit Iran on December 10 to discuss the source of the contaminations.
“After the issues of plutonium, Karaj contaminations, centrifuges P1 and P2 and metallic uranium document have been resolved, the final stages of an ’action plan’ (as agreed by the two sides) are currently underway and it is hoped that the remaining issues will also be resolved soon,“ the AEO chief said.
Asked about ElBaradei’s report on Iran and the western media’s panicky reaction, Aqazadeh pointed out that before the last IAEA meeting the western media had claimed that the most important factor in Iran’s nuclear case was that of the P1 and P2 centrifuges.
Now that the West cannot say anything (provocative) about P1 and P2, it is trying to focus on Iran’s compliance with the additional protocol to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
Commenting on the four-percent uranium enrichment undertaken by Iran and endorsed by the IAEA, Aqazadeh noted that Iran has no need for enrichment over this level for its Bushehr nuclear power plant. Commenting on the latest situation about the Fuel and Metal Project (FMP) and Zirconium Production Project (ZPP) in relation to the Arak research reactor, he said
the necessary nuclear fuel for the 40-megawatt reactor has been prepared.
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Domestic Sub Ready
TEHRAN, Nov. 24--Commander of the Navy announced that an Iranian-made submarine will be launched on Wednesday concurrent with Navy Day.
Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari did not elaborate on the submarine’s specifications, IRNA reported.
He noted that a battleship ’Jamaran’ which is an improved model compared with those manufactured before the 1979 Islamic Revolution is also ready.
“Iran’s Navy has increased its preparedness for confronting threats by trying to familiarize itself with such threats,“ Sayyari asserted.
He, however, noted that most of the threats against Iran are a psychological tactic and the “Iranian people will not be intimidated.“
Noting that enemy activities are under close observation, the brigadier-general opined that the Navy is fully prepared to confront any possible threat.
Reiterating that Iran is not a threat to any country, he said the Iranian armed forces have routinely conveyed message of peace to neighboring countries.
“Sustainable security in the region depends on cooperation among all regional countries,“ Sayyari declared.
Asked about interaction between his forces and other navies, he said Iran is ready to cooperate with regional and trans-regional states in different fields, including education, training and scientific areas.
Commenting on the possibility of closing the Strait of Hormuz by Iran should it be attacked, Sayyari noted that Iran is ready to confront any threat with full force.
“If the enemy tries anything against the country, the Navy will give them a crushing response.“
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Largest Offer At TSE
An investor monitors the price listing at the Tehran Stock Exchange.
See page 3
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Power Vacuum in Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 24--Lebanon awoke a republic without a president Saturday amid mounting worries over a power vacuum that has intensified the nation’s yearlong political turmoil.
With even more tanks and troops on the streets of Beirut this week to maintain security, the situation was calm Saturday with no reports of unrest or clashes after a tumultuous day that saw President Emile Lahoud depart without a successor after announcing he was handing over security powers to the army, AFP reported.
Newspapers said Lebanon had been plunged into an organized political chaos pending a parliament session next Friday to elect President Emil Lahoud’s successor.
Al-Balad ran an empty box on its front-page with a headline that read: “The republic without a president“.
The daily As-Safir, close to the opposition, said the country’s political leaders had managed to agree on only one thing Friday, “a political vacuum“.
Lahoud’s final announcement saying the country is in a “state of emergency“ was rejected by the rival, pro-western Cabinet of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
The government rejection created fresh confusion in an already unsettled situation, which many Lebanese fear could explode into violence between supporters of Saniora’s government and the opposition led by the Hezbollah.
The fight has put Lebanon into dangerous, unknown territory: Both sides are locked in bitter recriminations, accusing the other of breaking the constitution, and they are nowhere near a compromise on a candidate to become head of state.
Lahoud stepped down when his term expired at midnight.
Before getting into his car to go, he blasted Saniora’s government, calling it “illegitimate and unconstitutional. They know that, even if (President) Bush said otherwise.“
His departure left the presidency vacant after parliament failed again to convene earlier Friday to vote on a successor.
Lahoud’s vaguely worded final statement, two hours before midnight enflamed tempers with his reference to a “state of emergency“ in Lebanon.
The constitution requires the cabinet to approve any state of emergency, and Saniora’s government quickly rejected the announcement.
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Pro-US Howard’s Embarrassing End
Change of Guard
In Australia
SYDNEY, Nov. 24--The US-backed conservative Premier John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat Saturday at the hands of the left-leaning opposition, whose leader has promised to immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and withdraw Australia’s combat troops from Iraq.
Labor Party head Kevin Rudd’s pledges on global warming and Iraq move Australia sharply away from policies that had made Howard one of President Bush’s staunchest allies, AFP reported.
Rudd has named global warming as his top priority, and his signing of the Kyoto Protocol will leave the US as the only industrialized country not to have joined it.
Rudd said he would withdraw Australia’s 550 combat troops from Iraq, leaving twice that number in mostly security roles. Howard had said all the troops will stay as long as needed.
Official figures from the Australian Electoral Commission showed Labor far in front after more than 70 percent of the ballots had been counted--with 53 percent of the vote compared to 46.7 percent for Howard’s coalition.
Using those figures, an Australian Broadcasting Corp. analysis showed that Labor would get at least 81 places in the 150-seat lower house of Parliament--a clear majority.
It was an embarrassing end to the career of Howard, Australia’s second-longest serving leader.
As little as a year ago, Howard had appeared almost unassailable. But on Saturday he was in real danger of becoming only the second sitting prime minister in 106 years of federal government to lose his own seat in Parliament.
Howard took full blame for the drubbing handed to his center-right coalition.
“I accept full responsibility for the Liberal Party campaign, and I therefore accept full responsibility for the coalition’s defeat in this election campaign,“ Howard said in his concession speech in Sydney.
At home, Rudd has pledged to govern as an “economic conservative,“ while pouring money into schools and universities. He will curtail sweeping industrial reforms laws that were perceived to hand bosses too much power, turning many working voters against Howard.
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Pakistan: Bombers Kill 35
Nawaz Sharif
To Return
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan,
Nov. 24--Militants struck at the heart of Pakistan’s security establishment Saturday, killing up to 35 people in suicide attacks on a checkpoint outside army headquarters and a bus carrying intelligence agency employees, officials said.
The brazen early morning attacks in Rawalpindi coincided with the announcement that Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister overthrown in 1999 by the country’s current military leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf, would return from exile Sunday, AP reported.
Sharif, one of Musharraf’s most strident political foes, may contest parliamentary elections scheduled for January.
“Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family are coming back to (the eastern Pakistani city of) Lahore on Sunday,“ said Sadique al-Farooq, a senior leader of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N party.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s electoral commission formally ratified Musharraf’s election for a second 5-year term as president. The move, widely expected after Musharraf’s hand-picked justices on the Supreme Court confirmed it Friday, paves the way for the president to resign from the army and rule as a civilian.
The suicide attacks came as Pakistan remained under a state of emergency, which Musharraf declared on Nov. 3, justifying it by citing the escalating danger posed by Islamic extremists. His critics have noted, however, that many of his moves have been against political opponents--including members of the judiciary, journalists and other moderates.
A close aide to Musharraf said Sharif would not be deported again.
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Double Trouble
For Brown
LONDON, Nov 24--British PM Gordon Brown’s popularity has plummeted after his government’s reputation for competence was dealt a double blow, the latest opinion poll showed Saturday.
The ICM poll in the Guardian newspaper, echoing earlier soundings, capped a bruising week for Brown, AFP reported.
Brown’s administration has already come under fire over the Northern Rock banking debacle and the computer loss of almost half the population’s personal details.
Bird flu-related culls and a probable new foot and mouth leak seem the least of Brown’s troubles.
The “Brown bounce“--he had contemplated calling a snap election after his popularity soared in September--has vanished.
The poll showed just 31 percent backed Brown, down four percentage points from last month. It was the lowest ICM rating since he took over from Tony Blair in June after a decade waiting in the wings as finance minister.
The big winners in the poll were the centrist Liberal Democrats, Britain’s third biggest party, whose support rose three percentage points to 23 percent.
The party is engaged in a contest to pick a new leader.
The Conservatives, the main opposition party, enjoyed the support of 37 percent but, worryingly for its leader David Cameron, their support was down three percentage points.
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Without a President
By Armin Hedayati
After months of political wrangling, Lebanon was eventually left without a president on Saturday. Despite four rounds of presidential elections in parliament, rival political parties in the small country could not reach consensus on a successor to President Emile Lahoud.
The problem-plagued search for a new chief executive began when the March 14 faction headed by Saad Hariri demanded that the election for a new president be held on basis of majority vote in the legislature.
Lebanon’s Constitution states that election of the president must be supported by at least two-thirds of parliamentarians.
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora in close collaboration with Hariri have done all they could, but without any success, to bring in a figure from their March 14 faction to succeed Lahoud.
With Lahoud’s long-awaited departure, there are mounting fears that Lebanon is slowly moving towards a dangerous path that could ignite new civil strife and political turmoil.
Unlike the pro-western March 14 group, the nationalist-Muslim forces known as the March 8 faction are striving for a workable consensus to find a new president. The latter believes that any agreement without the two-third majority in parliament will go against Lebanon’s Constitution and by extension expose the multicultural nation to the risk of a new civil war.
Given the discontent of the political class over a president taking over the reigns of power without the rival parties forging a consensus will have dire consequences. The main concern being that the stalemate will render the country weak and defenseless against an attack by the Israeli enemy.
As of Friday midnight the republic is without a president. Supporters of Siniora and Hariri had hoped that presidential duties would be transferred to the premier after the end of Lahoud’s embattled tenure and their moves to create hurdles in the way of electing his successor.
They also had hoped that they could control the power levers through a relative majority in the chamber.
With this in mind, architects of the March 14 faction rejected solutions proposed by many key figures to help forge some form political compromise.
Covert and overt support from France and the US for the Siniora-Hariri negative stance vis-ˆ-vis Lahoud’s successor has eventually made its mark. Paris and Washington consider Lahoud and his allies as being under direct Syrian tutelage. Their opposition to the active presence of reportedly pro-Syrian factions on the political scene rests largely on this claim.
This issue has added to the prevailing problems and made a bad situation worse.
Contrary to what the March 14 faction expected, before leaving office after nine years, Lahoud declared a state of emergency and asked the Army to ensure calm and stability.
He said his decision was based upon his duties to ensure stability, security and territorial integrity of his country. Lahoud had earlier warned that if his successor would not be elected before he leaves, he would appoint an interim government headed by head of the joint chiefs of staff, General Michele Soleyman. What has ensued is but a confirmation of his valid concerns.
There is all the more reason to believe that Lebanon has entered a more and troubling phase. Any political or military misjudgment can revive the bitter nightmares of its civil strife in the 1970s that killed thousands of innocent people, devastated the economy and, tempted the Israelis to invade in the early 1980s.
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