TEHRAN, Dec. 3--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the country’s foes cannot damage the deep relationship between Tehran and Damascus, apparently referring to the United States that recently invited Syria to attend a Mideast conference.
“Enemies cannot damage real and firm Tehran-Damascus relations,“ Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad on Sunday, IRNA reported.
Mekdad attended Tuesday’s international conference on Mideast peace in Annapolis, Maryland, during which the Syrian delegation shook hands with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a rare comportment since the two foes have been accusing each other on Iraq’s security.
Tehran has strongly criticized Arab countries attending the meeting as making concessions to the US and Israel over Palestinian issue, though it did not directly mention Syria, a firm ally to Iran.
Ahmadinejad told Mekdad that “all should be vigilant not to provide any opportunity to the outgoing US president to obtain any concession from the Palestinian nation“.
Stressing that the current situation of the region is critical, the president noted that “it was natural that the Annapolis talks did not lead to a clear result“.
Mekdad, for his part, submitted a written message from Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and briefed President Ahmadinejad on the Annapolis conference.
Mekdad said Syria will not allow anybody to damage cordial relations between Tehran and Damascus.
Nearly 50 countries and organizations participated in the gathering in Annapolis to help resume the stalled Mideast peace talks.
Besides Ahmadinejad, Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei had urged the Muslim countries to boycott the conference, accusing Washington of trying to save Israel and hurt the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad has sent a message to his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf felicitating him on his reelection, it was reported on Monday.
The president expressed hope that “the growing trend of Tehran-Islamabad relations“ would be further promoted during President Musharraf’s new term, said the Press and Information Center of the Presidential Office here.
President Musharraf was sworn in for a second term as president on Thursday.

Brigadier Masoud bin Soleiman bin Naser Al-Hasbi (r), head of the Omani military delegation, and IRGC's Joint Chief of Staff Brigadier Mohammad Hejazi are seen before a meeting in Tehran on Sunday.

TEHRAN, Dec. 3--Iran and Oman signed several agreements in Tehran to broaden military cooperation.
Brigadier Mohammad Ali Rahmani, deputy joint chief of staff for operations, said several accords in marine, educational and technical sectors were signed between the two sides in the sixth joint meeting, Mehr News Agency reported.
Referring to broadening cooperation and the formation of economic, cultural and political committees between Iran and Oman, Rahmani said the joint military committee has attained remarkable achievements.
He said military violations of the two sides in the Persian Gulf waters are zero, adding that military ties are at a high level of cooperation.
Rahmani said Omani officials are seeking Iran’s assistance in various military sectors, including relief and rescue operations.
“The two sides have also agreed to take measures to provide one another with security,“ he said.
Brigadier Masoud bin Soleiman bin Naser Al-Hasbi, as the head of the Omani military delegation, said, “We are both duty-bound to materialize the goals of our leaders to broaden ties, particularly in the military sector.“
Al-Hasbi said Oman’s Army is interested in training its personnel.
“We are interested in using the experience of training centers of the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps. We also ask IRGC experts to train our forces in Oman,“ he said.
The Omani delegation also met with Brigadier Mohammad Hejazi, the IRGC’s joint chief of staff, and Brigadier Morteza Saffari, commander of the IRGC’s Navy Force.
Saffari proposed that a joint patrol should be set up in the strategic Strait of Hormuz to boost security in the Persian Gulf.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 3--An Iranian railroad engineer kidnapped by unknown armed men in western Afghanistan has been released and returned to the country.
Head of Herat Security Command’s Press Office, Nour-Khan Nikzad, said Afghan forces succeeded in securing the release on Sunday of the Iranian, who had been abducted in the Ghorian district on November 13, through the good offices of local tribal leaders, Presstv reported.
The person, identified as Mohammad Kaman-Kash, was working on a railroad under construction between Iran’s northeastern city of Khaf and the city of Herat in western Afghanistan.
The Afghan official said the police are looking for the kidnappers but the details of the investigation cannot be announced at this point. However, he did not rule out the possibility of financial motives behind the abduction.
Meanwhile, two other abducted Iranian nationals were released in Afghanistan’s western Farah province, said the country’s western border police commander on Sunday.
Rahmatollah Safi also told reporters in Afghanistan’s capital that they were freed in a town named Jouin where police clashed with the kidnappers and killed one of them, IRNA reported.
Referring to the fact that a second hostage-taker escaped, he said hostages--Nour Mohammad and Allah Bakhsh--are from Iran’s eastern Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Parviz Davoudi

TEHRAN, Dec. 3--First Vice President Parviz Davoudi said the government’s decisions are aimed at solving problems and promoting the performance of affiliated sectors.
Davoudi made the remark to reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony to see off President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who left Tehran for Qatar on Monday to attend the summit of the Persian Gulf littoral states, ISNA reported.
Referring to the resignation of former Education Minister Mahmoud Farshidi, Davoudi said Alireza Ali-Ahmadi, who has been appointed as caretaker of the ministry, is dynamic and energetic.
He stressed that the Education Ministry has a heavy workload and about one-third of the government’s budget is allocated to it, therefore the minister should be dynamic.
The first vice president quoted President Ahmadinejad as saying that the new minister will continue the former minister’s activities with creativity and fresh policies.
“When a minister resigns, the president will decide about it following discussions with the minister,“ he said, adding that the president will accept the resignation if it helps the ministry become more dynamic and enhances its performance.
He noted that state commissions study the performances of ministries, based on which the government decides what measures should be adopted.
Davoudi stressed that the decisions are aimed at solving the problems.

Copy of the passport of missing Japanese student Satoshi Nakamura is displayed in this file photo.

TOKYO, Dec. 3--Japan will again dispatch a senior official to Iran to seek a resolution to the kidnapping of a Japanese college student who was abducted in Iran’s southeast, the government’s top spokesman said Monday.
Itsunori Onodera, senior vice minister for foreign affairs, will visit Iran from Tuesday for three days to discuss the abduction of Satoshi Nakamura, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said, AP reported.
Nakamura, 23, is believed to have been abducted on Oct. 7 by a regional drug-smuggling group, which demanded the release of detained members in exchange for Nakamura’s freedom.
It would be Onodera’s third trip to the country, but there has been little progress over the case.
Machimura declined to comment on Nakamura’s current condition.
Japanese media reported on Monday that an Iranian Foreign Ministry official said Nakamura telephoned his parents several days ago and Nakamura is believed to be in captivity in Pakistan.
Machimura said he was aware of the reports, but refused to comment.
Japanese officials have said Nakamura had been on holiday alone in Iran when he was abducted. His capture was the latest in a series of kidnappings in Iran’s southeast this year.
Bandits kidnapped 12 Iranians in August. Security forces from Pakistan freed the hostages after clashing with the gunmen.

TEHRAN, Dec. 3--The Cabinet has approved Parviz Khan in western Kurdestan province as an official border checkpoint with Iraq.
According to the secretariat of State Information Dissemination Council on Monday, following a proposal by Interior Ministry, the Cabinet named Parviz Khan as an official border checkpoint with the neighboring country for six months, IRNA reported.
Based on the ratification, individuals of both countries can cross the border with valid passport and visa.
Iran has a 1,500-kilometer-long border with Iraq.

TEHRAN, Dec. 3--An Iranian university student team from Malek-e Ashtar University’s Nanotechnology Department won the gold medal at Germany’s 59th Innovations and Inventions Competition and Exhibition.
The Iranian team managed to win the top prize by designing and manufacturing nanostructures with a nucleus of optic paramagnetic cloud, a statement faxed by the Defense Ministry announced.
Teams and individuals from 32 countries are attending the competition.
An Iranian, Hanif Kazerouni, representing Malek-e Ashtar University’s Nanotechnology Department, is taking part in the event.
By utilizing bio-compliance, Fe-304 biological analysis and gold solution, a new kind of nanosphere with the ferro-oxide characteristic of paramagnetic cloud and optical characteristic of gold was prepared.
Due to their unique characteristics, gold nanoparticles have many applications in scientific areas, particularly medical and biological sciences.