Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki (2nd r) talks with members of European Parliament in Tehran on Sunday.

TEHRAN, Dec. 9--A member of European Parliament visiting Tehran stressed that dialogue is the only solution to Iran’s nuclear case.
According to Majlis Media Department’s report late Saturday, Angelika Niebler, who is in charge of Iranian affairs, made the remark in a meeting on Saturday with deputy head of Foreign Relations Committee of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Mahmoud Mohammadi, IRNA reported.
“From the beginning, the EP maintained that dialogue is an appropriate solution to Iran’s nuclear issue,“ she said.
She pointed out that the European Union has no problem with Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Niebler described relations between the European Parliament and Iranian Majlis as “good and constructive“ with opportunities for discussing different issues.
“Increasing parliamentary exchanges between the European legislative body and Iran at this sensitive juncture is very important and helps realize the realities and make correct decisions,“ she said.
Mohammadi said the EP members’ visits to Iran have a clear role in showing the realities of Iran to the western countries and Europe.
Referring to the US intelligence organizations’ report on Iran’s nuclear activities, the Iranian lawmaker said, “The report is a confession about Iran’s rightfulness with regard to the nuclear issue, which should have been published in 2003 to prevent the American and western hue and cry and trouble-making on Iran’s peaceful nuclear activity.“
Mohammadi noted that continuation of talks with EU is the only logical way to break the deadlock in this regard.
The EP delegation, which arrived in Tehran on Thursday, posed questions about the campaign against drugs, human rights, women’s affairs and religious minorities to Iranian lawmakers attending the meeting.
The members of European Parliament also met with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday.

WASHINGTON,
Dec. 9--The US intelligence community came under fire over the weekend on two fronts, as conservatives criticized a recent CIA report on Iran’s nuclear program and the Justice Department announced a probe into the agency’s destruction of videotapes showing interrogations of terror suspects.
The intelligence services are still trying to restore their credibility following the debacle over alleged weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, the main justification for the US-led 2003 invasion, AFP reported.
After months of increasingly bellicose rhetoric from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over the threat of Iran’s nuclear program, the US intelligence agencies on Monday declared with “high confidence“ that Iran has no secret nuclear weapons program.
The assessment of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) overturned long-held US policy assumptions that Iran is bent on obtaining nuclear weapons, regardless of international demands or sanctions.
Democrats in Congress, who said the Bush administration was overstating the Iranian threat, now took a back seat to conservative Republican critics, who claimed the report understated the Iranian threat.
A top US intelligence official on Saturday issued an unusual statement responding to the critics.
“The task of the intelligence community is to produce objective, ground truth analysis,“ said Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence.
“We feel confident in our analytic tradecraft and resulting analysis in this estimate,“ Kerr said in a brief written statement.
“National Intelligence Estimates contain the coordinated judgments of the intelligence community regarding the likely course of future events and the implications for US policy,“ he said.
Meanwhile, former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council termed the NIE report on Iran’s nuclear program as ’mischievous’.
In an interview with Iran’s Press TV, Ali Larijani said the US Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report on Iran’s nuclear program contains dimensions and components that are not of equal weight from military or intelligence viewpoints.
“The NIE report is based on two things: first, they say they are confident that Iran does not have a program for an atomic bomb; second, they state that since 2003 Iran has not been working on producing a nuclear bomb,“ he said, adding that a mischievous intent is all too clear here.
Larijani also criticized the United States for insisting on keeping Iran’s nuclear case in the UN Security Council, asking, “What is the ultimate benefit to be expected from this report and what changes will it possibly bring to the behavior of the US administration?“

Alireza Afshar

TEHRAN, Dec. 9--A top election official called on the media to encourage people to participate in general elections on March 14.
Alireza Afshar, head of the Election Headquarters, urged the media to avoid highlighting technical differences among the election organizers, IRNA
reported.
“We criticize the media for intensifying differences over the method of holding elections,“ he said.
The Guardians Council and the Interior Ministry differ over electronically holding the upcoming parliament elections on March 14. The GC says the technical infrastructure is not in place for electronic voting while the Interior Ministry insists on the matter, saying it will hold elections electronically in major constituencies.
Afshar said the Interior Ministry is in favor of e-voting because it wants to prepare the people for electronic voting in future elections.
“The Interior Ministry is trying its best to automate all stages of the elections from the registration of candidates to the vote-counting process,“ he said.
He said the final decision on holding e-election will be made on Wednesday.
Afshar, a former military commander, told reporters supervisory and inspection bodies in other provinces will not let irrelevant bodies interfere in the elections, assuring people and candidates that the election staff will safeguard the votes.
“Using government properties and equipment for electioneering is forbidden,“ he said.
Afshar said the Islamic Republic of Iran Police is duty-bound to provide the safety and security of elections.

Mohammad Khazaei

TEHRAN, Dec. 9--The United States should appreciate Iran’s positive role in the Middle East, a senior diplomat said.
Mohammad Khazaei, Iran’s representative to the United Nations, said the Islamic Republic has never posed a threat to any country in the contemporary era, Mehr News Agency reported on Sunday.
Khazaei said Iran is trying to expand relations with its neighbors, particularly Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
He made the statement in an exclusive interview with PBS Channel in reaction to recent statements by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Bahrain.
Gates had urged Persian Gulf states against the dangers of Iran.
Khazaei said this statement of Gates is an insult to Arabs.
Noting that there is no difference between Iran and Arab states, he said, “If there is any difference which I am sure is not, it can be resolved through negotiations,“ he said, adding that regional countries do not need third parties to interfere in their affairs.
Asked about the role of Iran in Iraq, he said Iranians do not interfere in the domestic affairs of Iraqis.
“We believe that as long as foreign forces are present in Iraq, insecurities and instabilities will continue,“ he said, adding that occupation forces should leave Iraq as soon as possible and cede the country’s security to the Iraqi government.
Commenting on the recent US intelligence report on Iran’s nuclear activities, he said, “The NIE report has provided the US and others with an opportunity to return to the international community and acknowledge that Iran is not a security threat.“
Khazaei said Iran’s case should be pulled out of the agenda of the United Nations Security Council.

TEHRAN, Dec. 9--The Intelligence Ministry said late Saturday a number of agitators have been arrested at Tehran University.
According to a report released by the ministry’s Public Relations Office, a number of agitators with fake identification cards had entered Tehran University’s campus, IRNA reported.
These agitators had planned an illegal gathering in front of the Technical College but were arrested by officers of the Intelligence Ministry’s Tehran branch.
According to the report, the arrested had been mobilized from different cities by the enemies of the Islamic system and certain political groups to hold an illegal gathering and create disturbance in the university.
The officers also confiscated a large number of blasphemous booklets as well as alcoholic beverages from the agitators.

TEHRAN, Dec. 9--Israel’s survival depends on tension and continuation of crisis, and peace will endanger it, an official said.
Speaking in the Conference on Challenges Facing Middle East Peace on Sunday, Secretary-General of Int’l Congress to Support Palestinian Intifada Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour also said the first Intifada (uprising) erupted in 1987 following the massacre of pilgrims in Mecca and the summit of the Arab League’s leaders in Jordan, Fars News Agency reported.
“In the summit, the leaders ignored the Palestinians’ rights violated by the Zionist regime,“ he said.
He noted that Arab leaders forgot Palestinians intentionally and that was one of the reasons for Palestinians deciding to stand up for their rights.
Referring to the challenges facing peace in the Middle East, Mohtashamipour said peace will not be established between two hostile countries when one of them is deprived of its basic rights.
“Balance of power between the two sides is necessary for establishment of peace,“ he said.
Mohtashamipour stressed that Palestinians have been victimized by Zionism, adding that Israel does not intend to establish peace.