Twenty-seven exemplary workers and seven distinguished production units will be introduced on International WorkersÕ Day.

The value of exemplary workers’ inventions in 2007-8 exceeded $116 million, marking a significant rise over the previous year, which stood at $65 million, Ali Akbar Tahaei, deputy labor minister for cultural and social affairs .
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Tahaei added that 27 exemplary workers and seven distinguished production units will be introduced on International Workers’ Day.
According to IRNA, Tahaei enumerated the characteristics of exemplary laborers as inventiveness, innovation, efforts for severing dependence on foreign sources as well as designing parts and development of sound human relations.
The official noted that exemplary workers have academic degrees ranging from junior high school to master’s.
“In fact, 66 percent of exemplary workers hold high school diplomas or baccalaureate degrees,“ he added.
Tahaei also said this year’s exemplary worker is a woman whose inventions are worth 29.5 billion rials.
He also said that this year exemplary workers numbered 435, marking a 62-percent hike compared with the corresponding figure of the previous year.
Exemplary workers will be introduced on May 1, the International Workers’ Day, which commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world.
Exemplary workers will be introduced in three categories, namely economic, provincial and national units. Each winner will be awarded 15 gold coins.

Qom-based Iranian Theological Professors Society in a communiquŽ on Friday condemned the continuing air and land strikes of occupier US forces against Iraqi civilians in Sadr City.
The communiquŽ, a copy of which was faxed to IRNA, noted that the US forces have been constantly attacking Sadr City’s residents without consulting the central government, which has led to the massacre of scores of defenseless and innocent women, children and men there, amid the meaningful silence of the international community.
“The lingering water and electricity cuts and a severe siege of that defenseless city’s two million residents have increased insecurity and deteriorated the health conditions of Sadr City’s residents who are on the verge of a full-scale human catastrophe,“ he said.
Condemning the inhumane US attacks on Iraqi civilians, the society requested the Iraqi government to use all potentials at its disposal to stop the massacre.

Iran represents an Islamic system that is free of deviation, opposed to extremist tendencies and against people falling prey to satanic traps, culture and Islamic guidance minister said on Friday.
Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi, who is in Moscow to attend Iran’s first-ever Culture Week, made the remark in an exclusive interview with IRNA.
“The genuine version of Islam practiced and defended in the Islamic Republic of Iran has serious barriers to deviated versions, such as those practiced by Taliban or Al-Qaeda,“ he said.
“Some extremists who claim to be Muslims damage or even ruin the beautiful image of Islam in the minds of the world nations, including in Russia, and if such tendencies are not properly controlled, they might boost terrorist tendencies and lead to other negative phenomena.“
Harandi noted that Iran’s insistence on the need for observing genuine Islam provides an opportunity to Muslim countries, and for Russia, which has a considerable Islamic population, to check the authenticity of Islamic tendencies based on the Qur’an and the Prophet’s (PBUH) traditions.

Iranian naval ships are seen in the Persian Gulf in this file photo.

The Navy of Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps is fully prepared to carry out its duty in guarding Iran’s waters in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, a senior IRGC official said.
The remarks were made after American officials alleged that a US-contracted ship had opened fire at Iranian patrol boats.
“If the UK or US vessels had fired at an Iranian boat, based on previous experiences, they would have faced the harshest reaction of Iranian forces,“ the IRGC official told Presstv on Friday.
The unnamed official rejected the report that an American ship had opened fire on an Iranian boat in the Persian Gulf.
“There has been no confrontation between Iranian boats and US military vessels in the Persian Gulf,“ he said.
Citing an unnamed Pentagon official, Reuters had earlier reported that a vessel contracted by the US Military Sealift Command had opened fire on “Iranian boats“.
Later, US Navy Fifth Fleet Spokeswoman Cmdr. Lydia Robertson announced that the US ship, the Western Venture, was in Persian Gulf’s international waters when it was approached by two small boats of “unknown origin“.
The Western Venture was queried a few minutes later by the Iranian Coast Guard to determine its identity, Robertson claimed, following which warning shots were fired at the boats.
US defense officials told Reuters that they suspected the boats were Iranian.
“We don’t have complete confirmation of that but we suspect it,“ one official said.
In January, the US Navy claimed that Iranian boats “harassed US warships“ in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, however, said the incident was a routine identification check.
The White House had to withdraw its allegations after Iran’s IRGC released the footage of the incident showing Iranian boats asking the US warships to confirm their identification.

The ringleader of an armed bandit group was arrested by the anti-drug police squad in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan on Friday, it was announced on Saturday.
Brigadier General Bahram Norouzi, the province’s police commander, told IRNA that an armed bandit group was busted during an armed struggle with the police forces and its ringleader, known as Kambiz, was arrested.
“One bandit was killed, another injured and three others were arrested by the police forces,“ he said.
“Some 2,756 kg of opium were also seized from the bandits during the operation.“
Seven rifles, nine hand-grenades, a large amount of ammunition and several vehicles were also seized from the bandits.
In another operation, 660 kg of opium were confiscated from a passing vehicle in South Khorasan province on Friday.
Iran, despite the intensive anti-drug police campaign, remains a key route for southwest Asian drugs on their way to lucrative markets in Europe and the Persian Gulf littoral states.

Esmaeil Ahmadi Moqaddam

Police Chief Brigadier General Esmaeil Ahmadi Moqaddam on Saturday outlined ways of implementing the Social Security Plan and the importance of confronting unethical issues in private companies.
Speaking to Fars News Agency, Moqaddam said confronting private companies that do not abide by the rule of law is not a new plan.
“The activities of companies, institutions and guilds should conform to the laws for monitoring the performance of public places. However, some false companies pursue unethical issues and exploit women,“ he said.
The police chief recalled that some families have filed complaints regarding these entities and hence the police are tackling the issue.
“In executing this plan, more accurate supervision will be exercised on the activities of private companies so if unhealthy relations have been established, they are brought under control. In the meantime, if violations are witnessed, we will adopt a more resolute approach,“ he said.
The Social Security Plan was launched a few months ago to confront hooligans and those who do not stick to the Islamic dress code. Several men and women who did not abide by the Islamic dress code received a verbal warning while hundreds of hooligans were taken to court.
Meanwhile, deputy Tehran prosecutor, Mahmoud Salarkia, said the Social Security Plan for public places and private companies will be implemented upon judicial authorization.
“Police must have judicial authorization when they enter private companies. Therefore, in order to monitor private companies, the police must coordinate with the judiciary beforehand and enter the premises of private companies only with a judicial permit,“ he said.

Iran protested to the United Nations against the Israeli violation of international law and the systematic killing of Palestinian activists under a variety of pretexts everyday.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Israel is taking advantage of the United Nations’ inaction to save the people living in Gaza Strip and the West Bank, IRNA reported.
“I wish to draw your attention to the tragic Gaza situation in the past few days. The region is again witnessing bloody actions and atrocious crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Zionist occupying forces, resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of Palestinians,“ he said.
“Exploiting the silence of the international community, and in the absence of appropriate actions by the relevant international forums in discharging their humanitarian and legal responsibilities with regard to maintenance of the security of nations and safeguarding their rights, the Zionist regime is once again committing abhorrent crimes against the Palestinians.“
The letter noted that after a long period of military aggression, all-out blockades, perpetration of brutal crimes and application of unabated political and economic pressures against the innocent Palestinians--particularly the residents of Gaza Strip, the Zionist regime has now put on its agenda the daily massacre of defenseless women, children and men in the said occupied territories.

In recent days, the US warmongers have launched a new phase of psychological warfare to make the Islamic Republic give up its rights.
Baseless allegations ranging from Iran’s interference in the domestic affairs of neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq to the confrontation of Iranian boats by an American ship in the Persian Gulf as well as regular claims over Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities are examples of this psychological warfare.
Iranian officials have rejected all claims and called on these warmongers to provide evidence for their claims, but they did not present anything except more lies.
The last one was a false report by a US defense official, saying on Friday that a vessel chartered by the US military fired warning shots at two speedboats believed to be Iranian that approached it in the Persian Gulf.
However, Iran strongly denied any confrontation with foreign ships in the Persian Gulf waters.
In January, the US Defense Ministry also claimed Iranian boats ’aggressively’ approached three US navy battleships, warning them they would explode in minutes.
Iran has said it was a routine contact and the footage of the contact was released by the Arabic-language Alalam TV. No such claims were seen in the aired footage.
These events coincided on Friday with another case of rhetoric by a top US military official who said the Pentagon is planning “potential military courses of action“ as one of several options against Iran.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be “extremely stressing“ but not impossible for US forces, pointing to reserve capabilities in its navy and air force.
Why are Americans trying to demonstrate that Iran is a problematic country?
Firstly, the Islamic Republic proved that the country will not bow to increasing economic pressures and UN sanctions to halt its nuclear activities. Iran says its nuclear drive is aimed at generating electricity for its growing population.
Secondly, Americans are mired in the Iraq and Afghanistan quagmires and seek a pretext to justify their mistakes at home.
Lastly, they fear that Iran’s growing influence in the region is threatening their interests in the oil-rich region and can destabilize Israel.
But US officials should know that their rusty tools will not derail Iran’s nuclear program. Instead of using fabricated claims against the Islamic Republic, the Americans should sit at the negotiation table without any precondition.
President Ahmadinejad said recently that Iran is ready to discuss its nuclear program with any country, but will not yield to international pressure to halt its civilian nuclear work.
The ball is in the US court. If the US wants to survive the regional dilemma of its own making, it should rectify its policy regarding Iran’s nuclear program and set aside its futile animosity toward the Islamic Republic.