A view of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

TEHRAN, Dec. 17--A senior nuclear official said the first shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia for Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has arrived in the country.
“The first shipment arrived in Iran on Monday and the transfer of the fuel will continue according to the timetable,“ said Gholamreza Aqazadeh, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, IRNA reported.
The Bushehr plant is 95 percent complete and would begin operations “next year“, he said, adding that the plant would need 80 tons of nuclear fuel during the initial phase of operation.
Aqazadeh, who is also Iran’s vice president, rejected the notion that the nuclear fuel delivery from Russia to the Bushehr plant meant Iran did not require enrichment.
“We are building a nuclear power station with a capacity of 360 megawatts and this power station needs fuel. The fuel for the power station will be supplied by Natanz (uranium enrichment plant),“ he said.
Iran’s state television also quoted Aqazadeh as saying that the 360-megawatt power station is being built in Darkhovein in the southwestern Khuzestan province.
The Russian contractor company Atomstroiexport said earlier on Monday Russia supplied the first batch of nuclear fuel to Iran’s Bushehr plant.
A total of 163 main and 17 reserve assemblies of U-235 enriched to 3.62 percent would be delivered for the first loading, the company said in a statement. All deliveries will be made in several stages over two months.
During an inspection in late November, experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Russian nuclear specialists have checked and sealed nuclear fuel containers for delivery to Iran at a Siberian chemical plant.
Moscow and Tehran reached an agreement earlier this month, which paved the way for the delivery of nuclear fuel.
Russian Foreign Ministry, however, has given assurance that the fuel will be controlled by the IAEA.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN, Dec. 17--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the increase in oil price and depreciation of US dollar against other currencies are among external factors of inflation in Iran.
Speaking in a live televised program on Sunday, President Ahmadinejad said, “The oil price hike, while resulting in higher national revenues, ends up increasing the price of imported goods. Based on economic estimates, every 10 percent increase in the price of imported goods adds 5.5 percent to the inflation rate.
Elaborating on imports, President Ahmadinejad said imports in the first eight months of the year declined by 3.5 percent in weight but rose by 12 percent in value, IRNA reported.
“Transportation costs also rose by three to fourfold in the same period from $45 to $120 per ton, which had an unavoidable impact on inflation,“ he said. As for the dollar’s depreciation against other foreign currencies, Ahmadinejad said, “Since the country’s economy is pegged on the dollar, we tried to control the rate of the currency and keep it fixed, which prompted a double-digit inflation.“
Ahmadinejad said the government plans to replace weaker currencies with more durable ones in foreign trade.
He said the government had artificially fixed the dollar value and made national economy dependent on the dollar, which has led to soaring inflation.
“The rise in insurance cost, too, had a psychological impact on the market,“ he said.





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Sharp Increase in Liquidity
As for the internal reasons of inflation, Ahmadinejad referred to the sharp rise in liquidity rate due to government expenditures and money generation by financial and credit institutions.
He cited problems with the country’s economic structure, low productivity, high production costs, oil-based economy, high consumption of government institutions and growing negative trade balance as among other internal factors of inflation. “The government has devised plans to harness the inflation and control these factors,“ he said.
On the main causes of inflation, the president said, “That’s not related to yesterday or today. They (the main factors) have had an impact on the level of inflation since the past, but they showed an upward trend in recent months and the government has tried to control them.“

Encouraging Investment
Ahmadinejad pointed out that his government is trying to check liquidity and money generation in a bid to curb inflation.
Stressing that the government intends to encourage more investment, the president said investments reached $10 billion in the first six months of the current Iranian year (started March 21).
He added that stock exchange transactions also rose by 70 percent compared with the previous year.
On productivity, he said his government had launched wide-scale plans in light of which productivity rose to 0.84 percent from 0.48 percent last year.
“The figure should further increase and reach 2.5 percent,“ he said.

PGCC Summit
In another part of his interview, Ahmadinejad said the recent summit of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council would impact regional peace and security.
Ahmadinejad said his first-ever presence in the summit bore the message that a “new era in relations between Iran and the PGCC states has begun“.
He said the gathering was held in a sincere atmosphere.
In answer to a question at the end of his press conference last week, the president expressed the possibility of Tehran’s membership in the PGCC.
While in Doha, Qatar, for the PGCC summit, the president submitted proposals for promoting ties between PGCC and Iran, which were welcomed by the council’s member-states.
The summit was held in the Qatari capital during December 3-4.
President Ahmadinejad attended the summit at the invitation of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

UNSC Resolution Unlikely
Ahmadinejad said the issuance of a third anti-Iran resolution by the UN Security Council was unlikely.
The president added that he believes the UN Security Council and others are not willing to bear the cost anymore.
Ahmadinejad said Iran has never considered itself as a defendant with regard to its nuclear issue.
“Speaking about the nuclear issue, I have never referred to it as ’nuclear problem or nuclear dossier’, rather--I have emphasized--`nuclear issue’. That’s a key point. We have never placed ourselves in the defendant’s position internationally,“ he said.
President Ahmadinejad said he would reveal untold aspects of the nuclear issue at an appropriate time.

TEHRAN, Dec. 17--A senior official said on Monday the Economy Ministry has agreed with the elimination of three digits from Iran’s national currency rial.
Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moqaddam, a member of the newly-established Money and Credit Commission, also told Fars News Agency that the Economy Ministry in a letter has agreed with the proposal to remove three zeros from rial.
He noted that the ministry has also referred to issues that can prevent problems in future.
“Central Bank of Iran Governor Tahmasb Mazaheri has welcomed the Economy Ministry’s initiative and set up a working group to study conditions and consequences of implementing the project in four different areas,“ he said.
Noting that the dissolution of the Money and Credit Council by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not fall within the scope of his authority, Mesbahi-Moqaddam said Majlis is adopting measures to upgrade the commission to a council once again.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (l) and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev enter the congress of the United Russia Party in Moscow, Dec. 17.

MOSCOW, Dec. 17--President Vladimir Putin told a party congress on Monday that he would accept the prime minister’s post if his longtime protŽgŽ is elected president.
Ending speculation that he had another surprise up his sleeve in this tumultuous election season, Putin also said he would not--as had been widely expected--seek to strengthen the post of prime minister at the expense of Russia’s powerful presidency.
Putin last week said First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was his choice for the presidency, ensuring support by Putin’s United Russia party. A day later, Medvedev said if he were elected president, he would offer Putin the prime minister’s job.
“If the citizens of Russia show trust in Dmitry Medvedev and elect him the new president, I would be ready to continue our joint work as prime minister, without changing the distribution of authority,“ Putin said.
Later, the party nominated Medvedev as its candidate.
Putin’s promise to accept the premiership from Medvedev puts what looks like the last piece of Russia’s leadership puzzle in place. He has insisted for years that he would relinquish power once his second presidential term ended. The constitution limits presidents to two consecutive terms.
But as Putin’s retirement date approached, he seemed to have second thoughts. In November, he said a victory in parliamentary elections by United Russia would give him the “moral authority“ to ensure that his policies are continued. The party won the Dec. 2 vote with an overwhelming majority of seats.
Speaking at the meeting of the United Russia party, which won 70 percent of the seats in parliament, Putin once again called for voters to elect Medvedev as president.
“I will not be ashamed or afraid to turn over the levers of control over the country--the fate of Russia--into the hands of such a person,“ said Putin, 55, in a hall decorated with the white, red and blue colors of the Russian flag.

BEIT-UL-MOQADDAS, Dec. 17--A UN report has warned that restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation regime on the Gaza Strip are stifling the local economy with production reduced to 11 percent of capacity.
The report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was the fourth international report in a week about the Palestinian ordeal in Gaza since the democratically-elected Hamas government took power in June.
It came as world donors met in Paris to agree a record aid package to stabilize the Palestinian economy.
The UNDP said: “The private sector in the Gaza Strip is on the verge of collapse with no scope for recovery unless the strict imposed closure regime on the trip is lifted.“
Its conclusions are based on the results of a survey conducted during the first week of December when the agency interviewed the owners of 319 private businesses in the Gaza Strip over the telephone.
The report said Gaza’s economy is producing only 11 percent of its total estimated capacity--down from 46 percent before Hamas took control of Gaza and from 76 percent before it won parliamentary elections in 2006.
Since the June takeover, Israel has tightened already tough restrictions on the territory.
It has banned nearly all exports, limiting imports to humanitarian goods and slashed the amount of fuel it supplies to the walled-off enclave.
According to the UNDP, these measures have caused private sector revenues to plummet, with average monthly sales per business dropping from $10,000 (7,000 euros) before the June takeover to $3,000 today.
It said: “Since June, 78 percent of the surveyed businesses have laid off a considerable number of their employees.“
The report comes as Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmud Abbas hoped to win pledges for $5.6 billion (3.85 billion euros) at a major donors’ conference in Paris to underwrite a Palestinian state and stave off severe hardship.

MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 17--Nearly two million Muslim faithful set off on Monday from Mecca to the valley of Mina as the annual Haj pilgrimage got underway in Saudi Arabia amid tight security.
The pilgrims, wearing white robes, walked or boarded buses to Mina, five kilometers (three miles) east of the holy city of Mecca, to begin tracing the journey made by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) more than 1,400 years ago, AFP reported.
Pilgrims will spend the day in prayers and meditation in Mina, sleeping at night in tents before heading further south to Mount Arafat, where the prophet is believed to have received the last passage of Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an.
The Haj climaxes on Tuesday, when the faithful will spend the day praying and asking God’s forgiveness at the summit.
Among this year’s pilgrims is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the first president of the Islamic Republic to take part in the event.
“If I made a mistake or in one of my speeches or said something that was not in line with the interest of the nation and has hurt the nation or I was not able to defend its rights, then I ask people to forgive me,“ Ahmadinejad said late Sunday before his departure, Iranian state media reported.
He will join other pilgrims in carrying out a series of sacred rituals, which include circumambulating seven times around the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure in Mecca toward which Muslims pray.
Security has been stepped in a bid to control the immense crowds, as Saudi authorities hope to prevent the high death tolls that have often characterized past pilgrimages.
In 2006, 364 people were killed in a stampede at the entrance of the Jamarat Bridge, where pilgrims traditionally cast stones at a pillar representing Satan. A third level has been added to the bridge for this year’s pilgrimage, designed to ease the flow of pilgrims. Saudi officials say the crossing can now handle more than two hundred thousand people an hour.
The pilgrimage, which ends on Friday, is an obligation for Muslims at least once during their lives if they can afford it.