|
Prayer Time (Tehran)
|
|
Dawn: 5:27
Sunrise: 6:56
Noon: 11:54
Evening: 17:11
|
|
Weather Guide
|
|
|
SUN |
MON |
Tehran: |
|
|
High: |
5 oC |
6 oC |
Low: |
4 oC |
-4 oC |
|
|
|
Athens |
19 |
20 |
Ankara |
2 |
0 |
Cairo |
23 |
21 |
Copenhagen |
7 |
6 |
Frankfurt |
8 |
8 |
Karachi |
28 |
25 |
Kuwait City |
24 |
20 |
London |
12 |
11 |
Madrid |
9 |
11 |
Moscow |
-11 |
-5 |
New Delhi |
27 |
27 |
Paris |
11 |
11 |
Riyadh |
25 |
4 |
Rome |
15 |
16 |
Vienna |
8 |
11 |
|
|
Identification
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
5+1 Fail to Agree On Sanctions
NPT Confers Right to Enrich Uranium
PARIS, Dec. 1--World powers on Saturday failed to reach a decision on further sanctions on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, a French diplomat said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak got stuck in snow in Canada and was not at the Paris meeting, which came the day after EU mediator Javier Solana held talks with the Iranian nuclear negotiator, Reuters reported.
Representatives of the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany met on Saturday to discuss Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
Solana said he was ’disappointed’ after the talks in London on Friday with Iranian nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, hours before a deadline for him to report back to world powers on the issue.
Jalili told reporters after returning to Tehran that Iran was not to blame for the disappointment expressed by Solana.
“The fact is that we defended the Iranian nation’s rights and stressed fulfilling our duties and that the Iranian nation will not accept anything that goes beyond the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,“ he said.
“If some people have become disappointed because they cannot deprive Iran of its natural rights, then this is another matter.“
Jalili said the Iranian side had put forward three “good ideas“ to the Europeans in the talks, including “joint cooperation for disarmament“, the “peaceful use of nuclear energy“ and the “prevention of the expansion of nuclear defense proliferation“.
The proposals appeared to be in line with past calls by Tehran on the West to destroy their own nuclear arsenals to help forge a breakthrough in the nuclear crisis.
Solana and Jalili said they had agreed to talk by phone in December, and possibly to meet in person.
Tehran is already under two sets of UN sanctions, as well as unilateral US sanctions, for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment that is Iran’s absolute nuclear right.
The UN nuclear watchdog, in its latest report last month, said Iran was cooperating.
Jalili reiterated that Iran will always maintain its principled stance regarding the Non-Proliferation Treaty and continues to support cooperation over the country’s nuclear program.
“Iran is a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and this means it has the right to enrich uranium,“ Jalili said.
It was “unacceptable to give up its right to enrichment, while it is fulfilling its other obligations,“ he added.
“They have adopted three resolutions and haven’t achieved anything, and Iran has in the meantime enjoyed significant technological success,“ Jalili told reporters. “If they want to continue on the same path, they will not succeed.“
Jalili slated the way some countries hostile to the Islamic Republic tried to dismiss the latest positive report from the IAEA, who he said only “further isolate themselves“.
The report confirmed that the IAEA had so far successfully cleared the cases of plutonium, contamination in Karaj, metal uranium documentation, and P1 and P2 centrifuges.
“There is no evidence pointing to any divergence“ to a nuclear weapons program as some had claimed, he said.
|
|
|
Oman Interested
In Gas Field
A general view of Iran’s South Pars gas field in Asalouyeh adjoining the Persian Gulf
(Photo by Ali Hassanpour)
See page 3
|
|
|
UNSC Interference Illegal
NEW YORK, Dec. 1--Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the United Nations Security Council’s deliberations on Iran’s nuclear case have no legal basis.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as well as the presidents of the Security Council and the General Assembly on Friday, Mottaki said, “The results of Iran’s actions as well as the findings by the IAEA, once again and clearly, illustrate the fact that there has been no legal basis, from the outset, for the referral of Iran’s nuclear issue to the Security Council, and therefore, there remain no pretexts to consider this issue in the council.“
The foreign minister noted that grounds have been prepared for the issue to be dealt with solely by the International Atomic Energy Agency, free from any interference by political and security institutions.
He pointed out that all countries are transparently informed about Iran’s program and its peaceful nature through the agency, while certain countries continue to insist on pursuing this issue through unlawful paths.
“This indicates that these few countries are not seeking transparency in Iran’s nuclear activities as they claim É they are rather pursuing other goals and agendas,“ he said.
Mottaki called on the UN Security Council to focus attention on its fundamental responsibilities and “put an end to its illegal consideration of Iran’s nuclear issue“.
“In this context, the council should allow the agency to perform its duty in a calm atmosphere free from tension and political motives, and without any biased political guessing on the part of few countries whose statements have repeatedly proved to be invalid and baseless,“ he said.
|
|
|
Lifting MKO Ban
Would Set Bad Precedent
LONDON, Dec. 1--Britain would be setting a “very bad“ precedent if it proceeded to lift a ban outlawing the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO), secretary of Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, warned.
“If they do, this would set a very bad record in British history,“ Jalili was quoted as saying by IRNA during a news conference in London following his talks with EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.
His warning came as the British government rejected a decision by the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission in London that the MKO, which is also banned in Europe and the US, should be removed from the UK’s terrorism blacklist.
“I am disappointed at this judgment. We don’t accept it and we intend to appeal,“ Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said.
McNulty added that the MKO would remain on the UK’s list of banned terror organizations during the appeal.
Asked by IRNA, Jalili refused to say whether the judgment passed by a court four months ago in July was a coincidence that timed in with his meeting in London with Solana on Friday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
“It’s not a good sign for a British court to take such a decision,“ he said. “Of course, British officials that I met last night said it was not Britain’s official position and they will try to rectify this.“
The European Union and even the US State Department--“definitely not a friend of the Islamic Republic“--have put the MKO on the terror list, he added. Jalili suggested that any decision would need to respond to the British public, international opinion and the Iranian people.
The MKO, which has carried out wholesale assassinations and terrorist acts in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was among the first organizations to be formally outlawed under Britain’s Terrorism Act 2000.
|
|
|
US Withdraws Mideast Resolution
|
|
The US on Friday surprised many UN diplomats by withdrawing a resolution endorsing this week's agreement by Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to reach a Mideast settlement.
|
NEW YORK, Dec. 1--The US suddenly withdrew a UN resolution endorsing this week’s agreement by Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to reach a Mideast settlement, even though the measure had overwhelming Security Council support.
The US about-face in less than 24 hours on Friday surprised many UN diplomats and highlighted Israel’s difficult relations with the United Nations, which it contends is anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian.
But what surprised UN diplomats most was that the US did not consult Israel, one of its closest allies, before introducing the draft resolution on Thursday afternoon, AP reported.
With virtually every other Mideast resolution, the US has consulted Israel in advance, but on Thursday, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad first presented it at a closed council meeting. As he left, he welcomed the “very positive“ response from council members but told reporters he needed to consult with the Israelis and Palestinians on the text to ensure that the resolution was what they wanted.
It clearly was not what Israel wanted as a first step to support the agreement that emerged at the US-sponsored Mideast conference in Annapolis, Md. Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to try to reach a peace settlement by the end of 2008.
Well-informed diplomats said Israel did not want a resolution because it would bring the Security Council, which it distrusts, into the fledgling negotiations with the Palestinians.
|
|
|
Hezbollah Backs
Army Chief’s Candidacy
BEIRUT, Lebanon,
Dec. 1--Hezbollah has agreed in principle to the candidacy of army commander Michel Suleiman for president, but is awaiting his official nomination, the Lebanese resistance movement said.
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qasim told the Arabic-language Al-Manar TV on Saturday, “Suleiman is a good option for the post but the movement has been informed of his candidacy only through media outlets and not official channels,“ Alalam.ir reported.
He said Suleiman’s stance is consistent with the Free Patriotic Movement’s head, Michel Aoun, and Hezbollah has decided to back his candidacy.
Qasim noted that under the Lebanese Constitution, an army commander cannot stand for president until he resigns from the post three years prior to elections.
He also expressed Hezbollah’s support for amendments to the constitution to allow Suleiman’s candidacy. Suleiman came back into the spotlight as a serious presidential contender after the majority March 14 bloc agreed to amend the constitution.
|
|
|
Brown Facing Heat
Over Donations Scandal
LONDON, Dec. 1--British Prime Minister Gordon Brown voiced his anger on Saturday at the unlawful disguised donations scandal that has shaken his governing Labour Party and vowed to reform the system.
Brown, whose party has plunged in the polls, said he was all too aware of just how quickly trust in politics could erode, in a speech to Labour supporters in west London, AFP reported.
In a bid to regain the political initiative, the prime minister said party funding reform was needed to restore trust in British politics.
Last weekend, it was revealed that property developer David Abrahams donated more than 600,000 pounds ($1.2 million, 840,000 euros) to Labour through four associates, in breach of funding laws.
The latest crisis to hit Brown’s administration has provoked the resignation of the party’s general secretary, a scramble to find out who knew what and when and, most recently, a police investigation.
“The latest problems in party funding show why it is right not to delay, and it is now time to act,“ he said.
“This past week brought the disclosure that some contributions to the Labour Party had been made in violation of reporting requirements. I am saddened to learn that this has been happening for some time.“
Brown expressed his determination to get the facts on the table, without fear or favor.
“But I would also argue it has shown the need for broader change within our system of political funding,“ he said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cogent Process
By Ahmad Azari
Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator held another round of negotiations with EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana in London on Friday.
The two sides agreed to continue talks this month and see how the cooperation process can be further enhanced.
In a press conference after the meeting Jalili said good results had been achieved.
The progress was announced while some western sources under the influence of overtly hostile US policies against the Islamic Republic, tried to portray the latest round of nuclear talks as fruitless.
They further sought to magnify the meeting of the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the United States, France and Great Britain plus Germany) in Paris to, among other things, undermine the positive atmosphere and interaction between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran has made known that it will not be intimidated and will continue its civilian nuclear program (including uranium enrichment) transparently, under the auspices of the UN nuclear watchdog and within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Tehran rightly believes that NPT states as per its charter are entitled to all the nuclear know-how for their peaceful programs. For this reason our senior authorities have often said that they will respond frankly to the six questions of the agency.
In this declared commitment, the relevant officials have already removed three IAEA reservations. With the same goodwill and spirit of collaboration the concerned team in Tehran is finalizing the remaining issues to put a permanent end to the ambiguities that may exist.
With all the complexities and sensitivities involved, it is wise and essential that the IAEA and western states accord more time for confidence building process.
Despite the oft repeated official IAEA reports confirming non-diversion of Iran’s nuclear program, some western powers with known affinities continue to accuse Tehran of trying to acquire nuclear weapons.
As the London session implied, Iran is ready to address all the probable ambiguities in relation to its nuclear program geared to its ambitious economic development programs.
Despite these realities, some western governments closely allied to Washington still insist on a fresh round of illegal sanctions against Iran. Such noises and actions by pro-Israeli western regimes and their media will not produce anything positive. Yes, what it will do terribly well is that it will undermine Mohammad ElBaradei’s report on Iran founded on fact not fiction.Westerners are pushing for a new round of tough economic sanctions against Iran. However, the same governments were quiet when the IAEA report was released and there was no excuse for the UN Security Council to probe Iran’s nuclear program.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has sent a letter to UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon and urged him to return Iran’s nuclear case back to the IAEA headquarters in Vienna.
What is true beyond an element of doubt is that sending Iran’s nuclear case to the Security Council was from the outset illegal, ill-intentioned and illogical. The same is true of the two sets of UNSC sanctions and probably a third! Now that almost all US claims have been proven to be false, there can be no valid reason for the present trend regarding our nuclear program.
|
|
|
|
|
|
