Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi

TEHRAN, Dec. 8--Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi said administrative corruption has declined considerably since the incumbent government took office in 2005.
The minister made the statement in a question-answer session at Tehran University on Saturday concurrent with the University Students Day (Dec. 7), IRNA reported.
He said corruption has declined in executive organizations considerably since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took over the presidency.
Pour-Mohammadi said administrative departments should be managed in a proper manner so that corruption and offenses are eliminated.
“The government is seriously concerned about economic pressures on the people,“ he said, adding that financial woes are ’serious’ and economic managers are accountable for them.
Asked about the likelihood of holding electronic voting for the upcoming March 14 parliamentary elections, the minister said concerns of the Guardians Council should be addressed.
“I’m following up the issue seriously,“ he said.
Pour-Mohammadi noted that the emergence of Iran as a new regional power has become the United States’ Achilles’ heel.
“The danger for the US is not Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but the know-how of producing nuclear energy,“ he said.
He said the issue of nuclear energy has turned into a determining factor in international equations.
“And that’s why the United States is opposing Iran over its access to nuclear energy,“ he said.
Referring to the recent report of the National Intelligence Estimate, Pour-Mohammadi said no one in America can wage war against Iran under the pretext of pursuing a peaceful nuclear energy program.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8--A top US diplomat admitted that the new intelligence report on Iran has created fresh obstacles in the way of imposing sanctions on Tehran.
“The initial indications that I get is that the impact is not positive,“ US envoy to UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Friday, Presstv reported.
The US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which was released on Monday, confirms that Tehran is not developing nuclear weapons.
Khalilzad said in an interview with The Associated Press that in his conversations with other ambassadors, some wonder whether a resolution is needed now. “It does complicate it,“ he said.
However, in a speech at Stanford Law School, Khalilzad claimed that he believes the administration would win over other UN Security Council members who are skeptical of the need for sanctions.
Khalilzad admitted that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was also unable to persuade Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on “the urgency of fresh sanctions“.
Iran says its nuclear program is solely aimed at peaceful purposes, but Washington and its allies continue to accuse the Islamic Republic of pursuing a nuclear arms program. The US stance contradicts the findings of the NIE report.

TEHRAN, Dec. 8--State Expediency Council denied on Saturday two of its members had threatened to resign over the case of Hossein Mousavian, a former nuclear negotiator, recently cleared of espionage charges.
It was rumored that two SEC members had contacted the judge of Mousavian’s case and threatened to resign if the judge would not clear him of the charges.
SEC’s Public Relations Department announced in a fax to IRNA that the decision-making body does not interfere in judiciary affairs.
“Unfortunately, some websites spread rumors in recent days, which flout the media protocol,“ the fax said.
The SEC noted that the websites spread fabrications and continue to do so in a preplanned manner.
“It is not clear why some information dissemination centers fabricated rumors about such a sensitive national security issue,“ it said.
Mousavian was cleared of two charges concerning his meetings with foreigners in the British Embassy. He, however, awaits a court verdict regarding another charge of acting against national security.

TEHRAN, Dec. 8--A group of European Parliament members arrived here on Thursday to meet Iranian MPs and state officials.
The delegation headed by Angelica Beer, head of the Board of European Parliamentary Relations with Iran, will also hold separate meetings with organizations related to women’s affairs and representatives of religious minorities in the Majlis, Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday.
The recent report by US National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s nuclear program, human rights and mutual relations top the agenda of the meetings of MEPs.
A recent report released by NIE by 16 intelligence agencies in the United States declared that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

MOSCOW, Dec. 8--Iranians residing in Moscow called on Russian judicial officials and police to follow up the case of Ahmad Reza Khorrami, an Iranian diplomat’s son killed in Moscow.
A memorial ceremony was held for Khorrami at Khatam-ul-Anbiya Mosque in Moscow on Saturday, which was attended by many Iranians, IRNA reported.
Khorrami, 18, was seriously wounded in Dmitry Ulyanov Street close to the diplomatic premises and died en route to hospital on Sunday (Sept. 16) at about 7:00 p.m. Moscow’s local time.
Speaking at the ceremony, Gholamreza Ansari, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, said on Saturday Iran has called on Russia’s ambassador to Iran and other Russian officials to follow up the case and identify the murderer or murderers of Khorrami.
The ambassador stressed that a host country is duty-bound to provide security for diplomats and their families.