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Identification
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Published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Address:
Iran Cultural & Press Institute, #212 Khorramshahr Avenue Tehran/Iran
Executive Editor:
Editorial Dept. Tel: 88755761-2
Editorial Dept. Fax: 88761869
Advertising Dept. Tel: 88500616,88500617
Internet Address:
www.iran-daily.com
E-mail Address:
iran-daily@iran-daily.com
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Rafsanjani: US Destabilizing Region
Iran a Responsible Player
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Worshipers attend Eid-ul-Adha congregational prayers, led by Chairman of Experts Assembly Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in Tehran, Dec. 21.
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TEHRAN, Dec. 21ÑHead of the Experts Assembly Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here Friday that Americans are involved in crimes across the globe.
“Everyday we witness crimes in some parts, in which Americans are present,“ he said while referring to the inhumane crimes being perpetrated in Iraq and Palestine, IRNA reported.
Addressing a large group of worshipers in the Eid-ul-Adha congregational prayers, the former president noted that “The ongoing crimes show that the US presence in the region has resulted in more violence, insecurity and instability, though they (Americans) came to the region with different claims.“
Men of wisdom, the UN and the Security Council should think of ways to rectify the American wrongs because “regional problems would spread to other parts of the world.“
“For how long should people hear about Israeli bombers attacking Gaza? Such crimes disturb the world people’s conscience. Some people might have blind conscience, but man can not tolerate such problems.“
Rafsanjani reiterated that Iran is keen on peace and tranquility and does not want tension or turmoil.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is a responsible country; and is against tensions,“ he told the congregation.
Referring to positive moves taken in Iran’s nuclear case, Rafsanjani said Iran’s enhanced cooperation with the IAEA and providing answers to questions of the UN nuclear watchdog, and the report by the US intelligence services have largely been in Iran’s favor.
Touching on domestic issues, Rafsanjani called for tackling problems associated with rising inflation and price hikes.
“The issue of inflation and price hike are serious and must be dealt with.“
“Inflation cannot be curbed with disputes. To solve such problems, it is necessary to benefit from the views of related experts and economists,“ he said.
He recommended those in charge to boost production and curb imports to help underpin economic prosperity and growth.
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5+1 Fail on Sanctions
WASHINGTON,
Dec. 21--The US and five other powers (5+1) failed again to reach agreement Thursday on tougher sanctions against Iran over its peaceful nuclear program, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
“We continue to have some tactical differences about the timing, but more than that, about how deep this (UN) resolution should go,“ Rice said in an interview with AFP after senior diplomats from the six powers consulted Thursday.
The US has been involved in difficult talks with Russia, China, Britain and France--the five permanent UN Security Council members, or P5, that all have veto power--and Germany for another UN resolution against Iran.
Washington is promoting a two-track strategy aimed at offering Iran a dialogue that would give it economic benefits if it stops enriching uranium, or at threatening a third round of sanctions.
The political directors of the State Department and the foreign ministries of the five other countries did not reach agreement during a conference call Thursday, but Rice said they agreed on the broad approach.
The political directors of the six countries held a 90-minute conference call on December 11 about Iran’s nuclear program, but did not finalize a draft sanctions resolution.
Rice admitted afterward that the US has “tactical differences“ with Russia and China about the “timing, about the nature of any further sanctions.“
But she said that “the two-track strategy remains in place,“ when asked if the US National Intelligence Estimate, published December 3, undercut the US drive for sanctions.
The report said Iran had stopped an alleged covert nuclear weapons program in 2003. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
Rice conceded that China’s key trade ties with Iran was a “sticking point“ in efforts to get Beijing’s support for sanctions. The Asian giant is a major importer of Iran’s oil and gas.
“Obviously, the Chinese have some economic interests that are different from the economic interests of the other parties. And that is, frankly, sometimes a sticking point,“ she told AFP.
Rice Willing to Visit Iran
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21--US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left the door open to visits to countries like Iran and North Korea if they meet what she called certain conditions, saying the “United States doesn’t have permanent enemies.“
“We have a policy that is open to ending conflict and confrontation with any country that is willing to meet us on those terms,“ Rice said when asked if she were prepared to visit Iran, North Korea and Syria.
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Iran Wins Court Verdict on Looted Artifacts
LONDON, Dec. 21--Iran won an important court ruling on Friday in its bid to force an international art dealer in London to return 18 ancient artifacts that allegedly were stolen from country’s tombs.
The Court of Appeal, overruling a lower court, reinstated Iran’s suit to reclaim the artifacts, AP reported.
Iran says the 18 jars, bowls and cups, which date from 3000 B.C., come from sites in the Halil Rud valley, south of Jiroft town in the Kerman province of southeast Iran.
Since 2001, excavations have uncovered graves containing beautifully carved chlorite objects, like those in dispute, but many tombs were emptied illegally between 2000 and 2004, Iran said.
Fayez Barakat, owner of the Barakat Gallery, said he had bought the jars, bowls and cups in continental Europe for about 250,000 pounds (US$500,000).
“I’m very disappointed because it does not make any sense. I purchased them myself on the open market, in auction houses,“ said Barakat, who also has galleries in Beverly Hills, California, and Abu Dhabi.
In March, the Iranian government asked London’s High Court to order the return of the items held by the Barakat Gallery in the upscale Mayfair section of London.
Iran’s lawyer, Hodge Malek, said the gallery had no title to them since there was no way that their unknown finder could obtain good or lawful title.
“This case is so important for Iran because they believe objects of this quality, being the best ones in the tombs, should be back in Iran, he said, adding that a ruling against Iran would have “a huge impact on the black market trade in antiquities.“
High Court Justice Gray, ruling on two preliminary issues, dismissed the case, saying Iran had not proved ownership of the artifacts and that Iranian law was unenforceable in UK courts.
However, on Friday the Court of Appeal overturned that decision and reinstated Iran’s claim.
One of its three judges, Lord Chief Justice Nicholas Phillips, said that under the provisions of Iranian law, and in particular the Legal Bill of 1979--which prevents unauthorized excavations and diggings of relics over 100 years old--Iran could show that it had obtained title to the objects, and that the UK courts should recognize and enforce that title.
Barakat said he is considering appealing the ruling to the House of Lords, Britain’s highest court of appeal.
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New Fuel Quotas Announced
TEHRAN, Dec. 21--National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company in a communiquŽ announced on Friday that the new gasoline quota of automobiles and motorcycles will come into effect at 12:00 p.m. on December 21.
The second phase of gasoline rationing will be from December 21, 2007 to April 20, 2008, IRNA reported.
The statement said that according to the input from the previous six-month period of rationing, changes concerning allocation of gasoline to cars and motorcycles will take effect as of December 21 as follows:
1-Quota for private cars will be 120 liters per month and total of 480 liters for four months. The remaining gasoline that has not been used from the previous period up to a total 600 liters from the first period will be transferred to the second period. 2-Motorcycles will be allocated a total of 36 liters per month, 3-A total of 400 liters of gasoline is allocated for second-type pick-ups that previously received 450 liters. The quota of the first-type pick-ups will be unchanged at 600 liters. 4-Taxis running on LNG are allocated 700 liters per month for a period of four months. 5-Monthly quota for double-fuel system cabs will be 400 liters. According to a decision taken for improving fuel consumption of two-fuel system taxis, the majority of CNG/LNG stations will be considered exclusively for taxis. 6-Considerable quota has also been considered for rural public vehicles that will be allocated through governorates.
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Bush Threatening Lebanon Stability
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 21--Hezbollah said on Friday a proposal by President George W. Bush for Lebanon’s Western-backed governing coalition to elect a new president unilaterally was a threat to the country’s stability.
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters that Bush’s comments on Thursday had further complicated efforts to forge a deal between the governing coalition and opposition, which have been locked in a power struggle for more than a year. Parliament is due to convene on Saturday in the 10th attempt at electing a successor to President Emile Lahoud, whose term expired on November 23.
The nine previous sessions have failed because a two-thirds quorum in parliament can only be secured by an agreement between the governing coalition and the opposition, led by Hezbollah.
The rivals have agreed on army chief General Michel Suleiman as the next head of state but have not been able to conclude a broader deal on how to share power in a new cabinet. “Matters are complicated and Bush’s position has increased their complexity,“ Fadlallah said, adding it was almost certain that there would not be an election in Saturday’s session “because we have not yet reached an understanding.“
Accusing Syria of interfering in Lebanon, Bush said that if the deadlock over the presidency continued, the governing coalition should vote using its simple majority of MPs.
“The American administration wants to embroil who it considers its allies in Lebanon in choices which they already know threaten stability in Lebanon, strike at national unity and spread chaos as happened in Iraq,“ Fadlallah said.
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White House Faces
Hearing on CIA Tapes
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21--The Bush administration has made its position clear in legal filings and now gets a chance to say it to a judge in open court: Hold off on inquiring about the destruction of CIA videotapes that showed suspected terrorists being interrogated.
US District Judge Henry H. Kennedy ordered the hearing Friday over the objection of the Justice Department after lawyers raised questions about the possibility that other evidence also might have been destroyed, AP reported.
Kennedy, appointed to the trial court by President Clinton, is considering whether to delve into the matter and, if so, how deeply.
The hearing marked the first time that administration lawyers were to speak in public and under oath about the matter since the CIA disclosed this month it destroyed the tapes of officers using tough interrogation methods while questioning two Al-Qaeda suspects.
Kennedy is presiding over a lawsuit by Guantanamo Bay prisoners who are challenging their detention. The judge had ordered the government not to destroy any evidence of mistreatment or abuse at the Navy base in Cuba.
If the judge believes the CIA destroyed the tapes to keep them from being used in court, he could side with the detainees’ lawyers and order the government to disclose all the evidence it has collected, including any other evidence in addition to the tapes that has been destroyed.
A congressional investigation is under way too. The CIA invited Capitol Hill investigators to the agency’s Virginia headquarters Thursday to begin reviewing documents and records relating to the videotapes.
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War of Words
By Tahmineh Bakhtiari
Russian politicians and generals have upped the ante with repeated and open attacks on the planned US missile defense shield planned for eastern Europe.
In the latest warning Nikolai Solovtsov, Russia’s strategic missile commander warned that if the missile shield is stationed in Europe, Russia will target the missile sites throughout Europe. Head of Russia’s Armed Forces joint chief of staff, Yuri Baluyevsky, had previously warned that deploying US missiles in Europe will very likely be confronted with Russian attacks.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow too announced that it will redeploy its troops in proportion with US plans for positioning the new missiles throughout Europe. Hence, Russian armed forces both in and outside the country will be on full alert.
The US plan has turned into one of the difficult and challenging issues in Moscow-Washington relations. The former considers George Bush’s plan for stationing the missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic a threat. Moscow still holds that the US is still nurturing Cold War ideals in Europe and is more interested in besieging and weakening Russia.
Kremlin officials are concerned that the US wants to change the military balance of power between Russia and the US by breaching earlier disarmament accords and seeking new military superiority.
Kremlin leaders worry about US designs for the region including its ploys to send the missile shield into its backyard to monitor Russia’s ballistic missile delivery systems.
America’s hostile policy toward Russia shows Washington is still short of the necessary confidence in Russia’s political future and is trying to prevent Russia from reasserting its role and influence as a major global player.
Expansion of the influence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization further toward eastern Europe and the newly-independent republics of the former USSR, as well as the velvet revolutions in the same states orchestrated by Washington seem to confirm Moscow’s visible misgivings.
Political analysts opine that since from Moscow’s perspective deploying the missile shield in Europe directly threatens its Security and traditional zone(s) of influence, Moscow will not change its stance vis-ˆ-vis America’s renewed hostility.
Russia’s departure from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) seen as one of important security pillars in Europe, can also be understood in context of the highly controversial US missile shield program.
One concern in European powerhouses is that the result of Moscow’s withdrawal from the CFE could lead to the deployment of troops and new military hardware at and near Russia’s eastern frontiers.
It needs mention that hostile US policies toward Russia will exacerbate forging new military alliances inside the territories of the former Soviet Union, including reinforcing the security arm of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Russian Federation and China.
Political pundits and military strategists also are concerned that America’s well-known arrogance and militaristic attitude could result in new and formidable military settings in the world that will be dangerous for international stability, Europe in particular.
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