Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

TEHRAN, Nov. 24--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said here Saturday enemy conspiracies including scientific apartheid have nurtured an ever-growing determination among Iranians to conquer the summits of scientific advancement.
In a message to the 42nd meeting of the Union of Students’ Islamic Associations in Europe, he said global arrogance has long been involved in plotting against Iran including in the scientific fields, IRNA reported.
Expressing his support for the annual gatherings, the leaders said “I am keen on expressing my satisfaction with such meetings which boost fraternity [among students].“
Ayatollah Khamenei said under conditions wherein humanity is in search of strong and stable venues to wisdom, morality and justice, the Iranian nation particularly the young generation, is making outstanding progress in scientific areas.
He wished the European-based students success in fulfilling their scientific aims and help build a stronger and powerful Iran.

TEHRAN, Nov. 24--Chairman of the Experts Assembly Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here Saturday that in today’s world dynamic political parties are crucial to human development and need.
He made the remark while addressing members of the “Strategic Committee“ of the Asian Political Parties as and members of the central council of Iran’s House of Parties, IRNA reported.
“The wise and vigilant do not accommodate with despots and dictatorial regimes. They insist on their right to decide their own fate,“ he said.
Rafsanjani, who also is Chairman of the State Expediency Council (SEC), underlined the need for paying more attention to political parties and the need to empower such groups.
“Experience has it that any country with powerful parties is blessed with sustainable stability. Absence of
such groups would deprive the people of their legitimate rights to challenge authoritarian regimes.“
Rafsanjani announced that the world in general is moving towards democracy and representative rule.
“Nations are systematically and decisively moving toward democracy, thanks to easy access to information,“ he told the visitors.
He added that dignified nations never succumb to bullying or hegemonic powers and without being intimidated insist on their right to determine their own destiny.
The former president stressed the importance of promoting the activities of political groups, adding that parties are the most important vehicles to help ensure control of the masses over their own future and that of their children.
Meanwhile, a conference on the Islamic world’s political parties opened in Tehran with representatives from major Muslim parties in attendance.
Representatives of influential parties of Muslim countries, namely Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Palestine, and Iran attended the preliminary meeting on Saturday morning.
A group of Iranian officials and lawmakers were also present.

BERLIN, Nov. 24--The German government’s increasingly firm line on Iran’s uranium enrichment program could cost state coffers millions of euros if stiffer sanctions are introduced, Der Spiegel news magazine reported Saturday.
Germany, which has joined the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in talks with Iran over its civilian nuclear program, is Iran’s main trading partner in the European Union.
Der Spiegel reported that if an embargo was placed on Iran’s Bank Melli, which services most of the trade, German state coffers could lose more than 2 billion euros ($3 billion) over the short term.
German banks have severely cut back on dealings with Iran under pressure from the United States, and Chancellor Angela Merkel said this week she expected business dealings with Iran to be further wound down.
Speaking on Monday, Merkel said her aim was to ensure trade with Iran did not continue via third parties. “This process has not been completed as yet,“ she said.

Moment of Truth!
Referring to a “moment of truth“ in Germany’s dealings with Iran, Merkel restated longstanding government policy that ensuring Israel’s security was a key aspect of German foreign policy.
German exports to Iran totaled 4.12 billion euros in 2006, much of it in high-tech machinery. Imports were a much smaller 417 million euros.
The trade is regularly conducted under the Hermes scheme of German government guarantees.
A boycott of Bank Melli would block payments, and German exporters would claim their payments under the Hermes export guarantee scheme.
According to Der Spiegel, Finance Ministry statisticians have calculated a possible loss to state coffers of between 700 and 800 million euros next year alone.
German exports to Iran have fallen by close to a fifth so far this year, and are set to fall faster in the future, as Merkel has made clear.

BAKU, Azerbaijan,
Nov. 24--Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ghulamali Haddad-Adel here Saturday said Iran-Azeri cooperation is now at a high level.
The statement was made while he addressed a group of students and faculty members of several local universities, IRNA reported.
Haddad-Adel expressed satisfaction with the current level of political, economic and cultural relations between the two nations.
Referring to his meetings with Azeri leaders as “positive and constructive“, he said the Islamic Republic sees no restriction on expansion of all-out ties with the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The senior legislator was awarded an honorary doctorate from of Baku State University. On Friday Haddad-Adel was quoted as saying that Tehran is determined to defend its civilian nuclear program.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency has affirmed“ that there has been no diversion of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, he stressed.
Commenting on hostile US attitude toward Iran for the past three decades, he called on Washington and its European allies to see logic and reason in charting their Iran policy.
On Tehran-Baku the speaker said Tehran sees “no limit to expansion of ties between the two states.“
Haddad-Adel expressed hope that his visit would help pave the way for further promotion of bilateral relations.
On the Caspian Sea legal regime and the recent summit in Tehran of Caspian heads of state he said the issue is being deliberated by experts of the five littoral states.
Regarding the protracted conflict over the Karabakh enclave, Haddad-Adel reiterated Iran’s support for Azeri territorial integrity.
Tehran is determined to help find a peaceful settlement to the crisis through expansion of ties with both Baku and Yerevan, he said.
Azeri and Armenian forces fought a bitter war over the territory in the 1990s, which left some 30,000 people dead.
The tiny, mountainous region is the subject of a bitter dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, more than a decade after their ceasefire.
The speaker arrived in Baku on Friday at the head of a parliamentary delegation on a two-day official visit.

Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi (r) at the National Defense University in Tehran on Saturday

TEHRAN, Nov. 24--Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi said Iran has become an influential and stable country in the region.
It is inevitable that nations have to pay a price to reach a higher status of power and influence, IRNA quoted him as saying.
“We should now move toward becoming a powerful [political] player in the world if we intend to fulfill our demands,“ he told a gathering of officials and students of the National Defense University.
He called on the people to bear with the challenges of the time to achieve greater and loftier goals that often have their own momentum.
With regard to security inside the country he said remarkable progress has been registered, but added that insecurity is largely due to ploys and mischief by paid agents operating beyond Iran’s borders.
The US has officially allocated $75 million for creating trouble inside the Islamic Republic, in particular in the eastern and western border regions.
Turning to the upcoming parliament elections, Pour-Mohammadi said ballots will be counted electronically in some major constituencies.
Meanwhile, deputy interior minister for parliamentary affairs Mohammad Hossein Mousapour said the Majlis elections will “definitely be computerized“.
The interior minister has appointed his deputy for political affairs Alireza Afshar as the head of the Elections Headquarters.
The parliament vote is scheduled for March 14, 2008 for which registrations will begin on January 3.

TEHRAN, Nov. 24--First Vice President Parviz Davoudi said here Saturday that Iran is ready to cooperate with other countries in modern technology.
The offer was made during an inaugural ceremony of the First International Seminar on Genomics and Biotechnology for Health.
Iran considers cooperation in modern technology as a principle strategy and remains opposed to any form of monopoly over technological advancement, he said according to IRNA.
Addressing scientists and the elite from Iran and several other countries, he said hegemonic powers hinder the access of the developing world to modern technology to ensure their reliance on the big powers.
On activities in the field modern technologies, including nano-technology, stem cell research, nuclear fuel cycleÉ during the office of the present government, he said Iran can now claim to be on the verge of acquiring bio-technology and related know-how.
Higher scientific production is a lofty goal underscored in the country’s 20-Year Vision, he said and added that the government strongly supports new plans on bio-technology.
Davoudi quoted the guidelines of Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who has called for coordinated efforts in scientific and research areas, saying that Iran can and will become a model for other nations.
The Ahmadinejad administration backs investments in key education and scientific arenas and is establishing new development centers, technology and scientific bodies to help materialize its declared goals, the veep said.

NEW DELHI, India, Nov. 24--Secretary of Iran’s Guardian Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati arrived here on a invitation of president of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Karan Singh.
During his stay he will call on several Indian officials including Vice President Hamid Ansari ( a former ambassador to Tehran), Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) Speaker Somnath Chaterji and the ICCR chief, IRNA reported.
The senior cleric will also address Indian and Iranian Islamic scholars and attend meetings of Iranian students and members of the ’Coordination Committee of Iranian Organizations’ in India.
His itinerary includes visits to Mumbai and Hyderabad during the eight-day tour.