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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 5:36
Sunrise: 7:01
Noon: 12:18
Evening: 17:55
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Weather Guide
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WED |
THU |
Tehran: |
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High: |
3 oC |
6 oC |
Low: |
-2 oC |
-1 oC |
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Athens |
16 |
14 |
Ankara |
-11 |
-10 |
Cairo |
20 |
19 |
Copenhagen |
7 |
6 |
Frankfurt |
9 |
7 |
Karachi |
15 |
18 |
Kuwait City |
17 |
17 |
London |
10 |
13 |
Madrid |
12 |
15 |
Moscow |
-1 |
1 |
New Delhi |
22 |
22 |
Paris |
11 |
11 |
Riyadh |
14 |
17 |
Rome |
13 |
15 |
Vienna |
6 |
6 |
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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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Europe Urged
To Revise Policy
Support for Democratic Palestine
PARIS, Feb. 5--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is making rapid progress in different areas, calling on the European states to correct their mistakes about Iran.
In an exclusive interview with the French daily Le Monde, Ahmadinejad said Iran has created an opportunity for European states to revise their policy, IRNA reported.
“The ground has been prepared for European states, particularly France, to revise their past approach toward Iran,“ he said.
Outlining Iran’s economic development, he said Iran has made great strides in undertaking investments in the scientific fields.
The president further stressed Iran’s right to produce nuclear energy for civilian purposes and condemned the approach of certain European states and the US to exert pressure on the UN Security Council to issue resolutions against Iran.
Ahmadinejad said the US interference in the domestic affairs of regional countries has always led to regional disputes.
Voicing support for the establishment of a democratic government in Palestine, the president denounced the western governments for remaining silent over Israeli atrocities in the occupied territories, which escalated since mid-January in the Gaza Strip.
As to Iran-US talks on Iraq, he announced Tehran’s readiness to continue talks with Washington to help the Iraqi nation.
On the latest developments in Afghanistan, Ahmadinejad said Tehran is interested in restoration of peace and security to the war-torn neighboring state.
Referring to the Nov. 2008 presidential elections in the United States, Ahmadinejad said Tehran welcomes a democratic government in Washington, which would be elected freely and act on the basis of justice.
“If the next US government adopts hegemonic policies, it will meet the same fate as the President George W. Bush’s administration,“ he said.
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Exemplary Researchers Honored
TEHRAN, Feb. 5--An exemplary scientist receives an award at the 21st International Kharazmi Festival.
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100,000-Rial Banknote Coming
TEHRAN, Feb. 5--A top Iranian official said on Tuesday the Central Bank of Iran and Ministry of Economy are planning to print 100,000-rial banknotes.
Deputy Economy Minister for Banking Affairs noted that preliminary measures for printing the banknote are underway.
Noting that the banknote’s safety standards are very high, Seyyed Hamid Pour-Mohammadi added that in order to reduce inflation and liquidity, development of electronic banking to respond to banking and monetary transactions are among government’s plans.
“Iran’s governmental and private banking has succeeded in keeping pace with applications of electronic banking,“ he added.
The Ministry of Economy has enumerated the advantages of publishing banknotes of higher denominations, including lower costs of printing.
The 50,000-rial banknote was printed in March 2007.
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US Officials Deny
Anti-Iran Claims
PARIS, Feb. 5--A US commander in Iraq’s central province of Diyala told a French weekly on Monday he did not witness any hostile act from the Iranian side in the region during the past 10 months.
The Paris-based magazine, Le Point, quoted Colonel Ronald Ward as saying that during his ten-month stay in the Iraqi province, he witnessed no US military activity for carrying out a border operation, IRNA reported.
“Despite the US media reports, the American troops were not preparing to carry out any military operation along the border areas in this central province,“ the US colonel said.
Meanwhile, a US intelligence official in Diyala strongly rejected any relationship between Iran and the terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
Brigadier General Scott Pettinger said what he saw in that province was completely contradictory to what is being claimed by Washington against Iran.
Pettinger said no Iranian agent has ever been arrested in Diyala.
“No case of transferring money or weapon from Iran to Iraq has ever been witnessed in the region,“ he said.
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Electronic Weapons Production Line Launched
TEHRAN, Feb. 5--Iran has inaugurated a production line of advanced radar and electronic war equipment in Shiraz, southern Iran.
Speaking at the inauguration of the facility on Tuesday, Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar praised the efforts of Iranian experts “to indigenize technology required for production of armaments“, Presstv reported on its website.
Smart fuses and radar lamps are among the 30 projects newly developed by Iranian experts at the Shiraz Electronics Industries (Sa-Shiraz) affiliated to Iran’s Defense Ministry.
Najjar stressed that the Defense Ministry’s strategy to mass-produce arms within the country would boost national security on the ground and air.
He noted that Iranian products match the international versions, adding that the sanctions imposed on Iran have encouraged “an intensive outburst“ of technology.
Iran launched a campaign for self-sufficiency in the country’s defense industry in a bid to stand up to western pressures. On Monday, Iran also launched projects to manufacture stealth aircrafts and radar-evading jets.
“The Iranian defense industry is also promoting the combat capabilities of Saeqeh fighter in terms of radar system, missile, military equipment and weaponry,“ he added.
Iran launched its own arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraq-imposed war in response to a US-led arms embargo, and since 1992 the country has produced its own tanks, armored-personnel carriers, and missiles.
Last November, Iran unveiled a submarine equipped with sonar-evading technology, adding that the craft had been launched in the Persian Gulf.
Iran also test-fired an “ultra-horizon“ missile, two powerful torpedoes and a Fajr-e Darya missile capable of avoiding radars and hitting several targets simultaneously during military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf last year.
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Americans Flock to Polls
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Barack Obama
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 5--Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton slugged out a neck-and-neck Democratic feud and John McCain sought a choke-hold on the Republican race on “Super Tuesday“, a coast-to-coast White House nominating clash unique in US history.
New Yorkers kicked off the 24-state nationwide primary bonanza before dawn, with a huge turnout expected, especially among energized Democrats, before last polls close in California Tuesday night (0400 GMT Wednesday), AFP reported.
Senator Clinton, 60, voice husky from fatigue, vowed to fight on, even through polling day, as opinion surveys picked up a surge by Obama, the 46-year-old senator vying to deny her a return to the White House.
“There are a lot of people who worry that the president just doesn’t pay attention,“ Clinton told CNN Tuesday.
“I want them to know that I get it and I’ll be there for them if they’re willing to go out and vote for me today.“
Obama, speaking to NBC television early Tuesday, said it was likely that the voting would go on for weeks to come.
“I suspect that we’re going to probably see a split decision tonight and then we’re going to have time over the next month, month and a half, to continue the campaign--to continue to talk about how we’re going to deliver on affordable college, how we’re going to help parents who are juggling with issues like daycare,“ he said.
“Those are the kind of debates that I welcome.“
After a clutch of single-state contests, “Super Tuesday“ embraces millions of voters from across racial, religious, social and income barriers, in states as diverse as liberal Massachusetts and parched Arizona in the southwest.
Barring a major surprise, Clinton or Obama are tipped to emerge from Tuesday’s vote still locked in a virtual dead-heat.
The first voter to emerge from one New York City polling station said he had voted for Obama.
There are Democratic contests in 22 states, Republican match-ups in 21 states, and 19 states are holding nominating clashes for both parties.
The cliffhanger Democratic race contrasted with signs that McCain, a Vietnam war hero, would all but settle the Republican nominating fight on Tuesday, to complete one of the most staggering comebacks in recent US political history.
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Chad Rebels Agree on Ceasefire
NDJAMENA, Chad, Feb. 5--Rebels in Chad announced on Tuesday an immediate ceasefire as France--emboldened by UN condemnation of the insurgents--declared it was poised to intervene militarily.
With refugees pouring into neighboring Cameroon by the thousands, fearing renewed fighting in the capital Ndjamena, rebel spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said the insurgents were bowing to diplomatic pressure to halt their offensive against President Idriss Deby Itno’s regime, AFP reported.
“Aware of the suffering of the Chadian people...the forces of national resistance have given their agreement to an immediate ceasefire,“ Koulamallah said.
The rebels--who stormed Ndjamena over the weekend, pinning Deby inside his presidential palace--were doing so, he said, “in line with the peace initiatives of fraternal countries Libya and Burkina Faso“.
Reacting to the announcement, Deby’s government said a ceasefire was pointless because the rebels--who last week surged across the width of Chad from bases inside Sudan--had been ’decimated’.
In the wake of Monday’s unanimous Security Council statement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said France--with 1,450 troops and Mirage fighter jets stationed in Chad--was ready to “do its duty“ and intervene if need be.
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Turkey Set for Headscarf Vote
ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 5--Turkish lawmakers vote Wednesday on a constitutional reform to end a ban on Islamic headscarves in universities, an issue that has divided the Muslim country.
The measure has angered secularists, AFP reported.
Wednesday’s first-round vote in parliament is certain to approve the constitutional amendments, since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has won the backing of the opposition Nationalist Action Party.
The two will easily garner the two-thirds house majority required to amend the code.
Lawmakers will hold a final vote on the measure on Saturday.
The AKP, the offshoot of a now-banned Islamist party, has long opposed the ban on wearing the headscarf in universities, arguing that it violates both freedom of conscience and the right to education.
But the project has angered secularists--among them the army, the judiciary and academics--who see the headscarf as a symbol of defiance against the fiercely guarded separation of state and religion.
They fear that easing the restriction will put social pressure on women to cover up and pave the way for a gradual lifting of a similar ban in public institutions, such as government offices and high schools.
More than 125,000 people demonstrated against the project on Saturday at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded Turkey on the principle of secularism.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former Islamist whose wife and daughters wear the headscarf, said it was a question of basic human rights.
“What we are doing is allowing people to use their right to education. We want all our citizens to enjoy basic rights and freedoms,“ he said in a televised speech to a meeting of the AKP parliamentary group Tuesday.
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Sarko Stumbles
By Mohammad Asgari
Results of a recent poll in France show Nicolas Sarkozy’s popularity has taken another beating and plunged another 13 points this month to reach 41 percent. In early January the figure was said to be 4 percent.
Independent pollsters LH2 conducted the poll among more than 1,000 French people who criticized him and his policies. The rightwing president’s popularity was at and over 67 percent when he took office last summer.
Paris pundits mostly believe that Sarkozy’s popularity took a turn for the vast in the past one month and particularly after his romance and remarriage with his Italian girlfriend Carla Bruni.
However, according to LH2 the “slump of rare proportions“ goes back to three factors. First, Sarkozy’s weak character, personal life and social abnormalities indicate that he has not been cut out for leading a nation.
Second, during his presidential campaign, he made plenty of promises and said wide-ranging economic, financial and administrative reforms were around the corner under his stewardship. At least over the past six months since he went to the Elysee Palace there is absolutely no sign of better times.
To the contrary, his controversial reform agenda rant into trouble in the fall and sparked nationwide protests and strikes that forced him to rethink his policies.
Last but not the least, Sarkozy’s foreign policy and wholesale tilt toward neoconservatism of the George Bush brand, like his irresponsible stance on Iran’s nuclear program, raised eyebrows and provoked a lot of criticism both in and outside France.
Many analysts and opinion-makers made no secret of their disbelief and resentment over how the new French leader had failed to stick to France’s traditional and highly respected independent foreign policy.
With his image already dented, Sarko has been also singled out for criticism for forging lucrative military contracts with countries long “condemned“ in the western world for their pathetic human rights record and absence of freedom and democratic principles.
It is not strange that Sarkozy has taken offense to recent comment by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Israel. Although the public statement had nothing to do with France, the government in Paris summoned our ambassador in protest.
Sarkozy’s impressive pro-Israeli credentials excluded, it is crystal clear that the not so popular ruler is trying to curry favor with the powerful Zionist lobby in the hope of improving his poor standing with public opinion at home and abroad. To what extent will he succeed is anybody’s guess.
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