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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 5:46
Sunrise: 7:14
Noon: 12:13
Evening: 17:31
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Weather Guide
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SUN |
MON |
Tehran: |
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High: |
-8 oC |
-7 oC |
Low: |
-11oC |
-14oC |
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Athens |
13 |
14 |
Ankara |
-10 |
-11 |
Cairo |
16 |
16 |
Copenhagen |
4 |
3 |
Frankfurt |
4 |
6 |
Karachi |
22 |
22 |
Kuwait City |
5 |
8 |
London |
11 |
9 |
Madrid |
8 |
13 |
Moscow |
0 |
0 |
New Delhi |
23 |
23 |
Paris |
8 |
10 |
Riyadh |
7 |
6 |
Rome |
10 |
11 |
Vienna |
4 |
2 |
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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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ElBaradei:
Atmosphere Positive
Talks Frank and Open
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Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei talks to IAEA Chief Mohamed El-Baradei during their meeting in Tehran, Jan. 12.
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TEHRAN, Jan. 12--Head of UN nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, described the current atmosphere over Iran’s nuclear case as positive and said this will have a positive impact on the Middle East.
ElBaradei made the remarks in a joint press conference with the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Gholamreza Aqazadeh, IRNA reported.
“I’ve called for better transparency on behalf of Iran during talks,“ he said.
ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, characterized their talks as a “frank and open exchange of views“.
He added that the standoff between Iran and the UN Security Council was also raised in talks and the two sides discussed ways of overcoming this problem as well as other issues.
The IAEA chief discussed Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities in a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which was held at the Presidential Office in downtown Tehran.
Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili also welcomed the constructive role of ElBaradei in resolving Iran’s nuclear case during their meeting.
Jalili reiterated that strengthening the IAEA’s professional and impartial performance as well as its non-political behavior would boost the agency’s credibility.
“Verification of Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities will be, in fact, verification of the conduct of certain powers,“ he said.
“This will indicate whether transparency of Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities and substantiation of the baseless nature of allegations regarding these activities would lead to a change in their political and illegal behavior,“ he said.
Elbaradei was to confer with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei late on Saturday.
As part of a cooperation deal reached in August, Iran and the IAEA have already held talks over three areas of past doubts--uranium particle contamination, Iran’s past experiments with plutonium and its use of uranium-enriching P1 and P2 centrifuges.
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Republican Hopeful:
Republican Hopeful:
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12--US Presidential hopeful Ron Paul believes the Washington claim that its warships were harassed by Iranian boats is just an excuse to bomb Iran.
“People are looking around for an excuse to bomb Iran É We don’t need another war,“ Paul, a fierce critic of the US foreign policy said, Presstv.ir reported.
The 10-term congressman was speaking at a Fox News debate Thursday night attended by the leading Republican presidential candidates in which he had brought under sharp criticism by his rivals, including former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Romney accused Paul of reading “press releases“ from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while US Republican presidential candidate John McCain said: “I’m not interested in trading with Al-Qaeda. All they want to trade is burqas. I don’t want to travel with them. They like one-way tickets.“
“I would certainly urge a lot more caution than I’m hearing here tonight,“ he said. “This incident should not be thrown out of proportion to the point where we’re getting ready to attack Iran over this.“
On Saturday, another Republican candidate Mike Huckabee warned Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to prepare to face “the gates of Hell“.
Meanwhile, senior US military commander claims “Iran’s continued harassment“ of US warships in the Persian Gulf might trigger a conflict.
Commander US Central Command Admiral William Fallon, however, told AP that the exact origin of a threatening radio call heard during an alleged encounter between US and Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz last weekend is still unknown.
But he claimed it was likely connected to Iran’s actions.
The Pentagon backtracked on allegations that five IRGC speed boats had threatened to “blow up“ three US Navy warships, after US Navy Spokesman Rear Adm. Frank Thorp IV said the apparent radio threat “may not have even come from Iranian boats at all“.
Political analysts believe that a series of conflicting messages by Huckabee will eventually hurt his chances of winning the GOP nomination.
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Iraq Troop Drawdown On Track
Bush Fails
To Win Arab Support
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait, Jan. 12--US President George W. Bush said in Kuwait on Saturday he was on track to achieve his goal of reducing the number of US troops in Iraq by July.
After meeting his top political and military commanders in Iraq at a US base in Kuwait, Bush told reporters: “I think the only thing I would say we are on track for... I will be on track to get down to 15“ brigades from the current 20, AFP reported.
He noted that the levels of violence are significantly reduced.
“Hope is returning to Baghdad and hope is returning to the towns and the villages throughout Iraq,“ he said.
Bush also said that while he was on track to bring down the number of US troops by July, Iraqi security will require US engagement “that outlasts my presidency“.
The US dampened hopes for swift agreement on a Middle East deal, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cautioned against expecting a “blinding flash“ of Arab backing for cooperation with the Israeli occupying regime.
Bush began the next chapter of his eight-day Mideast journey on Friday in Kuwait, the first of five Arab countries on an itinerary aimed at pressing them to support Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in any deal he strikes with the occupying regime.
But several commentators in the region have voiced strong misgivings about Bush’s intentions.
Although Kuwait is welcoming Bush as a friend, officials have said the emirate will not allow the United States to use its territory as a launch-pad for any strike against Iran.
In Bahrain, hundreds of demonstrators marched through the capital Manama to protest against an imminent visit to the country by Bush.
Burning American and Israeli flags, the protestors called on Bush to abandon his visit to the region.
Bush was scheduled to arrive in Bahrain Saturday night on the third leg of a Middle East tour looking to drum up Arab support to confront Iran and to achieve more support for Israel.
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Iraq Passes Pro-Baath Law
BAGHDAD, Iraq,
Jan. 12--Shiite and Sunni members of Iraq’s Parliament buried their differences on Saturday to pass a controversial bill allowing former officials of Saddam Hussein’s notorious Baath party to return to public life.
The bill, regarded by Washington as vital to boosting reconciliation efforts in Iraq, had been stalled before parliament by some Shiite lawmakers who demanded that it also include measures to compensate victims of Saddam’s brutal regime, AFP reported.
It was passed unanimously by the 143 lawmakers present in the 275-member house.
The Justice and Accountability Law makes a distinction between two categories of Baath party officials who have been barred from state employment since the aftermath of the US-led invasion of March 2003.
Only senior party leaders who implemented the oppressive policies of the regime would remain subject to the ban. Middle-ranking officials not implicated in any crimes would be able to resume government jobs.
Tens of thousands of Baath officials were dismissed from state institutions after Saddam was ousted, leaving schools and government offices.
The bill had been pending before parliament since March. Shiite MPs, especially those loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, say it is dangerous to allow former members of Saddam’s regime to hold positions of leadership.
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Kenya Warned Against Bloodshed
NAIROBI, Kenya,
Jan. 12--Kenya’s feuding factions came under fresh diplomatic pressure on Saturday to give mediation another chance, after the opposition threatened mass rallies to protest disputed presidential polls.
UN Chief Ban Ki-moon warned President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claims he was robbed of the presidency in the December elections, that the absence of a negotiated solution would be disastrous, AFP reported.
“The potential for further bloodshed remains high unless the political crisis is quickly resolved,“ Ban said in a statement.
His predecessor at the UN, Kofi Annan, who was expected in Kenya to take over mediation efforts from Ghanaian President and African Union Chairman John Kufuor, also appealed for restraint.
He called on “all Kenyan leaders, government as well as the opposition in the country, to avoid any measures or steps that would further compromise the search for an amicable solution to the country’s crisis“.
On Friday, Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) called for three days of mass rallies across the country, starting Wednesday.
The protests were promptly banned by Kenyan authorities.
The announcement set up a fresh showdown between opposition protestors and police, barely two weeks after Kibaki’s reelection triggered a wave of clashes and tribal killings that left at least 600 people dead and a quarter of a million displaced.
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Musharraf Rules Out
UN Probe
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Pervez Musharraf
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PARIS, Jan. 12--Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has ruled out a United Nations probe into the assassination of former Premier Benazir Bhutto, in an interview with a French newspaper published Saturday.
Musharraf told Le Figaro that UN involvement was out of the question, and that the investigation into Bhutto’s murder would be handled internally with the help of British police from Scotland Yard, AFP reported.
Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and her son Bilawal have both called for a UN inquiry, along the lines of the world body’s probe into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“The family’s and party’s request is for a UN-sponsored investigation, because we do not believe that an investigation under the authority of the Pakistan government has the necessary transparency,“ Bilawal said last week in London.
But Musharraf argued that a UN role was not appropriate as, unlike the Hariri killing in which senior Syrian officials were implicated, there was no hint of third-country involvement in Bhutto’s death.
He added that the results of the assassination inquiry should be made public before parliamentary elections on February 18.
The Pakistani president insisted the elections would go ahead no matter what happens and, while acknowledging an Al-Qaeda campaign to destabilize Pakistan, he denied the country was on the verge of disintegration.
The extremists have no popular support in Pakistan, he said, adding that putting off the elections any further would be playing into the hands of “the terrorists“.
The elections were originally scheduled for January 8 but were delayed after Bhutto’s December 27 assassination plunged the nation into turmoil.
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Here to Stay!
By Amir Ali Abolfath
US-led forces under George Bush occupied Iraq nearly five years ago. Now Bush says the illegal and bloody occupation of the Arab country could last another 10 years at the least.
Bush made the rather perplexing and strange comment on the unwelcome Iraqi stay before arriving in Kuwait from Israel.
With the Anglo-American attack on Iraq close to entering its sixth year, there seems to be no let up in the conflict that has pauperized the oil-rich country.
Speaking in the tiny emirate neighboring Iraq, Bush refused to discuss any further troop cuts and claimed that would be the function of the Pentagon and its tired war commanders.
A limited but phased withdrawal of 20,000 soldiers was announced by the lame duck president in September. But he gave a sense of some open-ended and extended US commitment when he said in a TV interview on Friday that Uncle Sam’s war tour of Iraq could “easily“ last a decade. The protracted military conflict that has killed hundreds and thousands of defenseless Iraqis and made the US a hate target in the Muslim world, remains deeply unpopular among Americans. The fighting has effectively harmed Bush’s once high approval ratings and sent it sliding to below 30 percent.
It seems the outgoing US ruler wants to provide his successor the “opportunity“ to continue the senseless bloodshed and turmoil in Iraq. Another 10 years in Iraq would also mean that the American death toll will double and the monumental war costs will exceed five trillion dollars -- all from the pocket of American taxpayers striving to make a decent living.
The five trillion wasted on the equally wasteful war is about half of America’s GDP. If prolonged, as predicted by the great warmonger in the White House, for another decade, the war will become the most expensive and fatal foreign military conflict in US history.
However, the desire for a quick end to the US military presence in Iraq is increasing every day. Senior Iraqi officials have said repeatedly that for the establishment of relative stability in their war-ravaged country, all foreign must leave.
Informed and respectable Americans in no small numbers too are demanding their troops return home sooner rather than later.
Most presidential candidates in both the Republican and Democratic enclaves are openly talking about ending the occupation and have demanded a timetable from the Bush regime for the withdrawal of their forces in this year.
Recent opinion polls show that ending the Iraq war is one of the main demands of American voters from their choice of presidential candidates. However, Bush and his team seem to be living in a utopia.
It was apparent since the March 2003 US invasion of Iraq that the presence of US troops in that country would not be a short-range venture, due in part to the high human and material losses on the US side. Political analysts believe the US is pursuing aims that are much more bigger than peace in Iraq or confronting street unrests in its cities.
It is for that reason that the US is keen on making Iraq its main military base in the Middle East. Controlling oil resources of the Middle East region, supporting Israel, fueling sectarian violence, unlimited weapons exports, and depriving its European and Asian rivals of the huge economic resources in the region are only part of US agenda in prolonging its presence.
Even if Democrats take the White House this year, they will naturally not be able to easily get rid of the Bush legacy of death and destruction.
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