TEHRAN, Dec. 7--A senior official said that during a recent visit of top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, to Moscow, a message of the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei were delivered to Russian President Vladimir Putin whose response is presently under study.
Speaking to Basij commanders of north Tehran on Thursday, Ali Larijani, the leader’s representative to the Supreme National Security Council, added that the most important aspect of the recent report by the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) is the US acknowledgement of its mistake concerning Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, Mehr News Agency reported.
He pointed out that 16 US intelligence institutes have admitted that Iran had a proper nuclear policy.
Larijani noted that after so many scenarios concerning Iran’s nuclear program, America’s intelligence apparatus has come to realize that Iran does not have nuclear weapons and that it is not pursuing such a program.
“The US intelligence report also indicates that a previous American intelligence report published in 2005 drew wrong conclusions. Washington wanted to make Iran stop its nuclear program through three European countries, but they realized the US machinations against Iran,“ he said.
He noted that even American allies are concerned over the US double standards vis-ˆ-vis Iran.
“A report by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, on Iran shows that the statements of American statesmen have been wrong,“ he said.
Commenting on the upcoming round of talks between Iran and the US on Iraq’s security, the leader’s representative pointed out that Iran-US talks will also focus on strengthening the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.
Asked about the conditions of Iranian nationals currently held as captive in Iraq, Larijani said the issue of Iranian diplomats still in US custody in Iraq is currently being followed up via the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which takes care of US interests in Iran.

TEHRAN, Dec. 7--World Weightlifting Federation is set to name the Best Lifter of the Year 2007 via an Internet poll and
supporters of Iran’s Hercules, Hossein Rezazadeh, can refer to the following address to vote for their favorite lifter:
http://www.iwf.net/newupload/Bestliftervote.doc
See Page 10

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 7--Lebanese Shiite authority Allameh Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said Washington is the main obstacle to expansion of good relations between Iran and the Arab world.
Allameh Fadlallah made the comment in his Friday prayer sermon at the Hassanain Mosque in the southern Beirut suburb, IRNA reported.
“The United States has been creating obstacles to all moves made for expansion of economic, political and security relations between Iran and the Arab countries during the past couple of decades,“ he said.
The senior cleric said Iran has proved that it is interested in having good, comprehensive relations and cooperation with the Arab countries, including with Egypt and Jordan.
“We welcome President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent presence at the meeting of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, particularly because during that conference he put forth very important energy, economic, tourism and security proposals,“ he said.
According to Fadlallah, those proposals prove that the Islamic Republic of Iran attaches great significance to expansion of ties with Arab countries.
“If some people consider those proposals as efforts aimed at blocking the path for a US attack against Iran, they are highly mistaken. The history of Iran’s friendly relations with the Arab world dates long before the recent US threats, and good examples of it can be witnessed in Iran’s excellent ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, despite political and territorial differences,“ he said.

TEHRAN, Dec. 7--An Iraqi deputy foreign minister has announced that the fourth round of Iran-US talks will begin in early January, 2008.
Labid Abavi told the pan-Arab daily, Al-Hayat, that Iraqi officials will also preside over negotiations between Iranian and American officials.
“Only experts of the security committees will take part in the fourth round of talks to discuss the views on Iraq-US strategies concerning Iraq’s national sovereignty,“ he said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the third round of talks between Iran, Iraq and the US was held in Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s office on August 6.
He pointed out that the two sides will not discuss the nearly three decades old deadlock in Iran-US relations.
“The general ambience of talks between Iranian and US officials is expected to be even better than the third round of talks,“ he said.
Tehran and Washington held their first, second and third rounds of talks on Iraq in Baghdad on May 28, July 24 and August 6, respectively.
The first and second rounds of talks were held between Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, and his American counterpart, Ryan Crocker.

LONDON, Dec. 7--Britain has been involved in an espionage operation against Iran and provided the US with the intelligence.
The Guardian reported that the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) intercepted Iranian communications on which the US National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s nuclear program was eventually based.
The US U-turn on Iran was partly based on GCHQ information, a source in Washington speaking on condition of anonymity was quoted by the paper as saying.
The British daily added that while the 16 US intelligence agencies, which compiled the NIE report, must be independent of the White House, contrary to public belief, the US president retains control over whether and when an estimate is published.
The GCHQ is an intelligence and security organization which reports to the British foreign secretary and works closely with other intelligence agencies in the UK (commonly known as MI5 and MI6).
Iran has repeatedly said Britain is involved in espionage and acts of sabotage against the country.

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Dec. 7--Russia on Friday ignored Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s calls for new UN sanctions to be imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.
Due to a new US intelligence report dubbed the National Intelligence Report (NIE) that concludes the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, Rice was unable to persuade Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the urgency of fresh sanctions, AP reported.
“It fully confirms the information that we have: that there is no military element in their nuclear program. We hope very much that these negotiations with Iran will continue,“ he told reporters after seeing Rice on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels.
Lavrov, who has become the public face of opposition to the US and European strategy on Iran, has maintained Russia has no evidence that Tehran had ever had a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of international treaty obligations.
He did not discuss what Rice had told him.
His comments were not unexpected given past Russian statements on the issue, but nevertheless dealt a setback to efforts to boost pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities with a new UN Security Council sanctions resolution.
China, another key participant in the so-called “P5+1“ group of world powers now trying to craft such a resolution, is also resisting. The P5+1 includes the five permanent members of the Security Council--Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States--plus Germany.
US President George W. Bush in a telephone call to his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao has said he is willing to solve the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue, state media reported.
Xinhua news agency reported Bush told Hu that he hopes the UN keeps taking “necessary action“ to stop Iran’s uranium enrichment program.
Hu said, “The Chinese side has all along upheld peaceful resolving of the Iran nuclear question through diplomatic negotiations, so as to protect regional peace and stability, which will meet the interests of all the parties concerned.“
China has so far resisted calls to support sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
Iran has already defied two rafts of sanctions and insists it is entitled to nuclear enrichment as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Beijing’s ambassador to the UN said after the NIE report “things have changed“, suggesting his country may not back fresh sanctions on Iran.

CONSTANTINE, Algeria, Dec. 7--French President Nicolas Sarkozy said western sales of civilian nuclear technology could foster trust with the Muslim world, in an apparent signal to Iran.
Sarkozy’s comments on Wednesday came a day after France signed a nuclear cooperation accord with Algeria that paves the way for the eventual construction of a nuclear reactor for civilian use in this North African nation, AP reported.
It was the first such accord between France and an Arab Muslim country, officials from Sarkozy’s office said.
“The sharing of civilian nuclear technology will be one of the foundations of a pact of trust the West must reach with the Muslim world,“ Sarkozy told students at a university in Constantine on Wednesday, the final day of his three-day trip to Algeria.
France generates most of its electricity with nuclear power and wants to export the technology and its expertise. It is expected to sign an accord similar to Tuesday’s deal with neighboring Libya next week.
Experts say the deal with Algeria sends a strong signal to Iran, which is in a standoff with the West over its nuclear program.
“The Franco-Algerian deal shows that as long as they play by the rules, any Muslim nation--including Iran--could obtain civilian nuclear technology,“ said Francois Gere, an Iran specialist and head of the French Institute of Strategic Analysis.
He said France was also considering possible nuclear deals with Morocco and certain Persian Gulf states.
In his speech to students, Sarkozy also addressed another longstanding sore point in the Muslim world, advocating the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“Depriving the Palestinians of a nation state is an injustice that France will not accept,“ he said.
Paris will host a conference Dec. 17 to raise money for the Palestinians, a follow-up to the Mideast summit in Annapolis, Maryland.
Tensions increased between France and Algeria last week when Algeria’s veterans affairs minister, Mohamed Cherif Abbas, said Sarkozy won the presidency because he was backed by a “Jewish lobby“. Several days later Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called Sarkozy, who had a Jewish grandfather, to distance himself from the minister’s comments.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 7--Pakistan’s opposition parties remained deadlocked on Friday after three days of talks to draft conditions they want the government to meet for their participation in upcoming elections.
Representatives of the parties of former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto said they would continue talks on two remaining sticking points, after announcing Thursday they had reached agreement on 15 issues in a charter of electoral demands, AP reported.
They would not specify what the demands for their participation in parliamentary elections set for Jan. 8 were until they are endorsed by their leaders.
Media reports on Friday said differences remained on the two key issues: The restoration of an independent judiciary and a deadline to be set for government compliance.
Both Bhutto and Sharif claim that President Pervez Musharraf’s government will try to rig the vote scheduled for Jan. 8. But they have disagreed what conditions should be put in place to prevent cheating.
Sharif has insisted that Supreme Court judges sacked by Musharraf when he proclaimed a state of emergency a month ago be reinstated before the vote. Bhutto has indicated she would prefer to reinstate them after the elections.
Bhutto’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said she would return to Pakistan in several days. Bhutto’s family still lives abroad, including in Dubai, where they fled before Musharraf’s military coup in 1999 which ousted then-prime minister Sharif.
Bhutto has said her Pakistan People’s Party intends to contest the parliamentary ballot, although most other opposition politicians want her to join them in boycotting the vote unless Musharraf’s government fulfills their charter demands.
Meanwhile, a court in Bhutto’s hometown of Larkana accepted a petition challenging her candidacy for next month’s election. The petitioner, a member of the pro-Musharraf ruling party, asked the court to disqualify her on the grounds that she was convicted of corruption charges in 2000.
Government-run electoral commissions already have rejected the candidacies of Sharif and his brother, Shabhaz, for supposed involvement in criminal acts in the late 1990s. Both have the right to appeal the decision.
An electoral boycott would also represent a major setback for the United States, which has promoted the former four-star general as a moderate leader able to stand up to extremism and aid its fight against terrorism.
Musharraf has promised to lift the emergency on Dec. 16 and has relinquished his leadership of the powerful army, which were key demands of his opponents.