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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 5:42
Sunrise: 7:12
Noon: 12:04
Evening: 17:17
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Weather Guide
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TUE |
WED |
Tehran: |
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High: |
-1 oC |
1 oC |
Low: |
-5 oC |
-6 oC |
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Athens |
11 |
13 |
Ankara |
0 |
-1 |
Cairo |
19 |
20 |
Copenhagen |
3 |
6 |
Frankfurt |
-2 |
-1 |
Karachi |
24 |
23 |
Kuwait City |
12 |
12 |
London |
9 |
7 |
Madrid |
3 |
5 |
Moscow |
-4 |
-4 |
New Delhi |
24 |
22 |
Paris |
2 |
6 |
Riyadh |
15 |
15 |
Rome |
12 |
9 |
Vienna |
-4 |
-4 |
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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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US Overtures Insincere
TEHRAN, Dec. 24--Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says the Bush administration should take positive steps to prove its overtures to Iran are genuine.
“During the past few weeks, particularly after the release of the National Intelligence Estimate’s report, US officials had talked about defusing tension and holding direct talks with Iran.
This indicates that they are aware of the country’s significant role in the region and the world,“ Mottaki told Press TV on Sunday.
“However, they adopted approaches like imposing sanctions on Iran, increasing pressures and making irrational preconditions, which contradict their remarks.“
The foreign minister also slammed Washington for repeating baseless accusations against Iran, though the NIE report confirmed the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear activities.
He called on the US to take positive steps to prove that Washington has rectified its “wrong policies toward the Islamic Republic“.
“As senior Iranian officials have been reiterating, we welcome any rational approach to Iran which is based on mutual respect,“ he said.
Mottaki stressed that Iran believes the ground should be prepared for improving relations through mutual respect and avoiding baseless allegations.
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Asalouyeh Petrochem Exports Exceed 3m Tons
ASALOUYEH, Bushehr, Dec. 24--Over 3 million tons of petrochemicals were exported from this southern region in the first nine months of the current Iranian year (started March 21).
According to the report on Monday, 3.058 million tons of petrochemicals were exported to Asian and European countries during this period, IRNA reported.
Also on Monday, Managing Director of National Petrochemical Company Gholamhossein Nejabat said currently 50 percent of petrochemicals are produced in the Pars Special Economic Zone in Asalouyeh.
“Some 23 million tons of petrochemicals will be produced by the country’s petrochemical plants by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2008),“ he said.
The exported petrochemicals are valued at $8.4 billion.
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Praying for Peace on Xmas
Jesus Christ (PBUH) has been named messenger of peace for inviting people to worship God and shun conflicts.
More than 2,000 years have elapsed since his birth and the 21st-century mankind yearns for peace and tranquility more than ever.
Today the lives of innocent civilians are being engulfed by the flames of war. The year is ending while terrorism reigns in many parts of the world, especially Iraq and Afghanistan.
We pray for peace on the occasion of the auspicious birth anniversary of this messenger of peace, as some of his so-called followers are beating the drums of war while ignoring the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH).
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Chopper Assembly Line Planned
Interest in K-33 License
MOSCOW, Dec. 24--Iran plans to assemble a Russian helicopter and install a Russian motor on Iranian jet fighter ’Azarakhsh’.
The Moscow-based Kommersant quoted head of Russia’s Federal Services Military and Technical Cooperation, Mikhail Dmitriev, as saying that Moscow is willing to collaborate with Iran in this field with the aim of maintaining the region’s military balance, IRNA reported.
The paper noted that technical cooperation between the two countries in a recent meeting of an intergovernmental commission of Iran-Russia Military-Technical Cooperation has been reviewed.
Dmitriev noted that using RD-33 on Iran’s new jet Azarakhsh has been negotiated, but the final decision in this respect will be taken by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Iran is keen on receiving the license from Russia for mass production of K-33 helicopter in CKD form in Iran.
The Russian engineers are currently repairing Russia’s AKM-877 submarine.
The issue of selling S-300 anti-aircraft defense system and Mig-29 jet fighters to Iran is presently on the agenda.
Last year, Russia supplied Iran with 29 Tor-M1 air defense systems under a 700-million-dollar agreement.
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Domestic Experts Handling Oil,
Gas Operations
TEHRAN, Dec. 24--Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said currently all oil and gas production operations are handled by Iranians.
“In operational units, no foreign workforce is employed and oil and gas production operations are solely carried out by Iranian workers,“ Nozari told the first batch of students graduating from Chemistry and Oil Engineering Faculty of Sharif University of Technology on Monday, IRNA reported.
Nozari said Iranian universities are training specialized workforce and the Oil Ministry has also recruited qualified youth to implement its development projects.
The oil minister noted that in some development projects, whose tender had been won by a foreign company, foreign workers are involved but in general the staff in operational sectors and development projects are Iranian.
He said negotiations are underway for exporting Iran’s gas to Italy and the UAE, and the result will be made known soon. “The Oil Ministry intends to recruit the most skilled personnel due to the nature of work and difficult working conditions,“ he said.
Nozari pointed out that tight competition is underway for attracting Iranian engineers and skilled personnel.
“We should prepare the ground for attracting skilled manpower so that they are not absorbed in regional and European markets,“ he said.
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UK Firm Withheld Iraq Info
LONDON, Dec. 24--Two UK MPs have demanded an inquiry into claims that a British-based security firm operating in Iraq withheld intelligence from British troops, The Guardian newspaper reported Monday.
The lawmakers want the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to probe a report that an ArmorGroup employee was told not to pass on intelligence to British forces in southern Iraq, the daily said, AFP reported.
ArmorGroup vigorously contested the claims and said they were either too vague to be checked or had already been dealt with.
Colin Williamson, 44, a former police officer who joined ArmorGroup in December 2004 and was in Iraq until mid-2005, said he was used to liaising with the British army during his time serving in Northern Ireland.
“My role was to go to certain Iraqi police stations daily in the Basra area,“ he told The Guardian. British troops are based in the oil port city.
“But we were told not to report back any intelligence we picked up there, not to hand it to the British military.
“Why? Because our bosses and probably, in turn, the FCO didn’t want to expose how corrupt and infiltrated by the militia the police were.
Williamson passed on information regardless and thought such intelligence could have been vital. He said he tried to raise the issues with the British government on his return from Iraq, without success.
MPs Phyllis Starkey from the governing Labor Party, and Jeffrey Donaldson from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, have raised their concerns with FCO minister Lord Mark Malloch Brown.
Donaldson told The Guardian: “We have expressed our views to the Foreign Office that there has to be a full parliamentary inquiry.“
Christopher Beese, AmorGroup’s chief administrative officer, said there was “no policy in place“ that would prohibit important information being passed on.
The company had an excellent ethical record and a parliamentary inquiry “seems like a massive waste of public money,“ he told The Guardian.
A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman said the MoD was not aware of “any intelligence“ being passed on by ArmorGroup.
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Lebanese Draft Law to Elect President
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Michel Suleiman
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BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 24--Lebanon’s government drafted a law on Monday to amend the constitution to allow the army chief to become president, but the opposition condemned the move and said it would intensify the country’s political deadlock.
The western-backed government and the opposition agree in principle on the election of General Michel Suleiman as president, but the opposition wants guarantees it will have veto power in a future coalition cabinet before a full deal, AFP reported.
The government wants Suleiman elected first.
Neither the governing coalition nor the Hezbollah-led opposition have enough seats in parliament to secure a two-thirds quorum for the election, delayed repeatedly since September 25.
Ali Hassan Khalil, adviser to opposition leader and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said of the draft amendment: “This escalation indicates the intention to obstruct a deal and the closing of doors for any initiatives.“
Theoretically the draft law passes to parliament for approval. But Khalil said Berri would not receive the draft law because he considers the government unconstitutional.
Berri was quoted as telling the Ad-Diyar newspaper that electing Suleiman did not require a constitutional amendment and that he would continue to call parliamentary sessions to try to elect a president.
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America Ignored Warnings on Security Firms
WASHINGTON,
Dec. 24--The US government ignored numerous warnings over the past two years that private security firms in Iraq were operating with little supervision and instead expanded their role, a media report said Monday.
The warnings were conveyed in letters and memorandums from defense and legal experts and in high-level discussions between US and Iraqi officials, the Washington Post reported, citing US officials, security firms and documents.
They reflected growing concern about the lack of control over the tens of thousands of private guards in Iraq, the largest private security force ever employed by the US in wartime, AFP reported.
But the State Department and the Pentagon took no major action to regulate the security companies until guards from Blackwater Worldwide were involved in a shootout in September that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, sparking an international uproar.
Private security firms rushed into Iraq after the March 2003 invasion.
The Pentagon has estimated it has 20,000 private guards in Iraq while the Government Accountability Office puts the number at 48,000, according to the Post.
Aggressive tactics and a series of shooting incidents in the past two years involving Blackwater caused outrage among Iraqi government officials and mounting concern among US military officers, the paper said.
Iraqi officials grew increasingly frustrated when no action was taken to punish or rein in the security firms, the paper said, citing US advisers who worked with the Baghdad government.
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Tension in Bahrain
By Tahmineh Bakhtiari
The tiny Persian Gulf sheikhdom of Bahrain has been gripped with violent demonstrations in the capital Manama. The main excuse for the violence is reportedly about protest over the death of a young demonstrator in last week’s anti-government demos.
The situation is said to be worsening as police and Shiite protestors clashed at the weekend. Several demonstrators were arrested.
Much of the public frustration and the street protests are seemingly against the systemic decline in the quality of life emanating from the deterioration of economic conditions, mounting pressure on the majority and poor Shiites by the ruling minority, a recent meeting between the kingdom’s foreign minister and his Israeli counterpart...
A large number of Bahrainis in the coastal regions, owned by the ruling family, have been deprived of a decent standard of living and cut off from access to economic facilities otherwise available to the small minority close to the ruling establishment.
The people are also disappointed with their rulers because of their discrimination policies.
In light of the prevailing problems, five political parties in the Arab state in a recent meeting said they will present to the government a comprehensive political plan of action to address the crisis and help elevate the living standard of the vast majority.
The groups have stressed the long-delayed need to introduce new and effective measures to underscore sustainable political and economic development with the role and participation of the people.
Apart from economics and politics, the decision of the government to lift the ban on talks with the occupying power in Israel has also infuriated the masses. Recently a Bahraini political group demanded the Arab League explain the role it delegated to Manama to pursue the so-called Arab peace plan and interact with the Israeli enemy.
Before the so-called peace conference engineered by George Bush in Annapolis, the Arab League formed a special committee of member states including Bahrain to lay the foundations for talks with the usurper state.
The rare meeting between Bahrain’s foreign minister and his Israeli counterpart on the sidelines of this year’s UN General Assembly meeting gave rise to concerns that Bahrain was in the process of revising its stance and declared Arab policy on the legitimate Palestinian cause and the liberation of Holy Qods.
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