An Iraqi official said there is no ’conclusive’ evidence that Shiite extremists have been supplied with Iranian arms, as alleged by the United States.
Government Spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said on Sunday Iraq does not want trouble with any country, “especially Iran“.
Dabbagh was commenting on talks this week in Tehran between an Iraqi delegation and Iranian authorities over the security situation in Iraq, AP reported.
Asked about reports that some rockets made in 2007 or 2008 and seized in raids against militias were supplied by Iran, Dabbagh said, “There is no conclusive evidence.’’
Dabbagh said Iraq wants friendly ties with Iran and stressed both countries share common interests.
“We can’t ignore or deny we are neighbors. We do not want to be pushed in a struggle with any country, especially Iran,’’ he told a news conference.
“We are fed up with past tensions that we have paid a costly price for because some parties have pushed Iraq (in the past) to take an aggressive attitude toward Iran.’’
But he also said a crackdown on Shiite militants will not stop, despite word that Iran will not restart security talks with the United States until the fighting is halted.
Dabbagh told reporters that the Iraqi government is “seizing every opportunity to establish good relations with Iran’’, but that it also has a responsibility to “implement the rule of law“.
“I think that the ongoing military operations in Iraq are an internal Iraqi affair and concern the Iraqi government and the coalition forces in Iraq,’’ Dabbagh said. “No other party, except the Iraqis, has anything to do with this issue.“
A five-member Iraqi delegation returned Saturday from Tehran.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the 21st Tehran International Book Fair.
The minister said organizers of the fair have managed the event well in providing access to accurate information system, IRNA reported.
While inspecting the book fair, Harandi received proposals from publishers for holding the fair more successfully in future, which he promised to consider.
About a million people have visited the book fair so far and visitors are expected to set a record this year.
The fair opened at the Grand Prayer Grounds (Mosalla) on Thursday.
Nearly 2,700 domestic and foreign publishers from 77 countries are displaying their books at this year’s event. Close to 1,000 domestic and foreign writers and researchers will address some 200 roundtables during the 10-day event.
The annual fair is aimed at helping create a suitable cultural atmosphere and spreading the culture of reading.

First Majlis Vice Speaker Mohammad Reza Bahonar said Iran will not retreat an inch from its right to access peaceful nuclear technology.
“It is the duty of the Majlis to defend the rights of the Iranian nation, including its right to the development and peaceful use of nuclear technology,“ Bahonar told IRNA on Monday.
“The Iranian nation refuses to relinquish its right; nor will the 8th Majlis budge an inch from its position in this connection,“ he added.
He stressed his confidence in the Majlis to help maintain the country’s dignity and promote its interests.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons and is proceeding with its nuclear program under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency,“ he said.
Bahonar concluded by saying that Tehran’s nuclear issue was being used as a pretext by the superpowers to undermine the Islamic Republic in the international community.

US military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq would make it difficult to mount any attack on Iran, the Pentagon’s top officer said in remarks broadcast on Monday, adding that he would prefer to avoid a new regional war.
“I actually am very hopeful that we don’t get into a position where we have to get into a conflict,“ Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Israel’s Channel Ten television when asked if he might recommend that US forces strike Iranian nuclear facilities preemptively, Reuters quoted.
“It would be a very significant challenge for the United States right now to get into a third conflict in that part of the world,“ Mullen added, referring to the Bush administration’s long-running military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Washington is leading efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear plans through UN Security Council sanctions, but has also hinted that war could be a last resort for denying Tehran--which insists it seeks atomic energy only for generating electricity.
Believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal, Israel bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981. Israeli warplanes also destroyed a site in Syria last September which US officials said was that of a secret nuclear program, though Damascus denied having any such facility.
“Certainly the situation with Syria is a troubling one and the development of this nuclear reactor was a troubling one indeed, and it is also indicative of what can be done out of the sight of people,“ Mullen said.
“You just can’t be sure whether someone isn’t developing one somewhere else.“
Speculation that Israel could attack Iranian nuclear sites alone has been offset by assessments that its armed forces are too limited for the task.
Iran is widely expected to retaliate for any such strike by targeting Israel and US assets in the Persian Gulf.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Indian Ocean littoral states should consolidate regional accords, expand cooperation and utilize indigenous potentials for creating a new world order based on justice and respect for human dignity.
The chief executive made the statement on Sunday during his meeting with the foreign ministers of Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), IRNA reported.
“IOR-ARC should become one of the hubs for cooperation worldwide in light of coordination among member-states,“ he said.
Ahmadinejad referred to the gradual elimination of tyrannical political regimes in the world and said it is necessary to implement new political and economic policies worldwide.
The president underscored that threats, insecurity, clashes, poverty, huge socioeconomic gaps and division of the world into weak and strong countries are byproducts of the guidelines of arrogant powers pursued after World War II.
“Today, political systems lack efficacy and cannot help overcome people’s problems,“ he said.
He noted that international institutions cannot overcome global problems such as those prevalent in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon.
“International institutions have perpetually sought to fulfill the interests of world powers and hence are not competent enough to correctly manage global developments,“ he said.
Ahmadinejad also said that today world powers pocket the wealth of other nations.
“New economic and political organizations must be established on the basis of justice, brotherhood and rights and independence of nations,“ he said.
He emphasized that IOR-ARC should prepare the grounds for more serious cooperation among its member-states.
“Regional countries must cooperate with each other to fulfill their needs and advance. Regional countries should regulate their fiscal, monetary and insurance policies in conformity with their demands, values and interests,“ he said.
The 8th annual meeting of the IOR-ARC ministerial council was held in Tehran.
Also on Sunday, in a meeting with the visiting Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Abdullah Al-Qurbi, Ahmadinejad said further cooperation among regional states would pave the way for progress and prosperity of their nations.
The president stressed the need for making more efforts by regional countries to promote all-out cooperation among them.
Ahmadinejad noted that enemies were against friendly relations and cooperation among regional states.
“Iran supports the progress of the Yemeni nation,“ he said.
The Yemeni minister also submitted a message from the president of Yemen to his Iranian counterpart calling for promotion of economic cooperation between the two countries as well as joint investments.
He welcomed President Ahmadinejad’s concept of collective cooperation among countries of the region to solve regional problems, the Palestinian crisis in particular.
Al-Kurbi is currently in Iran to attend the IOR-ARC meeting.

Tehran experienced the most polluted month of Farvardin (March 20-April 19) in the Iranian calendar compared to the past seven years.
According to the Persian daily ’Iran’, Sadreddin Alipour, deputy head of Tehran’s Air Quality Control Company, made the above statement.
“Air pollution (in Tehran) was very unhealthy for one day due to particulate emissions and air quality index was also unhealthy for four days,“ he said.
The official cited atmospheric conditions and abundance of dust particles as the main cause of air pollution.
He recalled that particulate matter with a diameter of less than 10 micrometers, as it adversely affects the respiratory system, is the main index of air pollution.
“Based on studies carried out so far, particulate matter is more dangerous for health than sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. In fact, particulate matter worsens heart and respiratory problems, weakens the body’s immune system, damages the lungs, gives rise to children’s asthma, causes early death and leads to cancer,“ he said.

US presidential hopeful Barack Obama likened Hillary Rodham Clinton to President George W. Bush for threatening to “totally obliterate“ Iran if it attacks Israel as he tried to fend off her challenge ahead of two pivotal Democratic primaries.
Clinton, in turn, stood by both her comment on Iran as she gave chase in Indiana and North Carolina to the frontrunner for the nomination, AP reported.
The competitors squabbled over the issues--one foreign, one domestic--from a short distance, first during separate appearances on Sunday news shows and then as they courted voters for Tuesday’s primaries.
“This is the final push,’’ Clinton told a cheering crowd of volunteer canvassers in Fort Wayne, emboldened by her Pennsylvania victory two weeks ago as well as polls that show her in a close race in Indiana and narrowing Obama’s lead in North Carolina.
A few hours later and a few miles (kilometers) away, Obama urged an audience of several thousand to vote for him. “I need help,’’ he said.
The Illinois senator hopes that wins this week will stop the bleeding from a difficult campaign stretch. Maneuvering for advantage and trying to put the controversy over his former pastor behind him, Obama sought Sunday to portray Clinton as a political opportunist on both Iran and her gas-tax plan.
Earlier, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,“ Obama seized on an answer Clinton gave recently when asked what she would do if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons on her watch.
“I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,’’ Clinton said April 22 in an interview with ABC. “In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.’’
Obama said, “It’s not the language we need right now, and I think it’s language reflective of George Bush’’ akin to “bluster and saber-rattling“.
“Senator Clinton during the course of the campaign has said we shouldn’t speculate about Iran, we’ve got to be cautious when we’re running for president, she scolded me on a couple of occasions on this issue, yet a few days before an election, she’s willing to use that language,’’ Obama added.
Clinton, asked about Obama’s criticism, didn’t back away from her comment.
“Why would I have any regrets? I’m asked a question about what I would do if Iran attacked our ally...and, yes, we would have massive retaliation against Iran,’’ Clinton said. “I don’t think they will do that, but I sure want to make it abundantly clear to them that they would face a tremendous cost if they did such a thing.’’

An Iranian official rejected a report that claimed five British hostages kidnapped in Iraq a year ago are being held by Iran’s Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps forces.
Hamid Babaei, first secretary at the Iranian Embassy in London, in a note to the Sunday Times dismissed the report claiming the hostages were handed over to the IRGC as ’unfounded’, Presstv reported.
“Iran is not involved in sophisticated kidnappings, rendition flights or some other practices, unlike certain western countries,“ wrote the London-based Iranian envoy.
The Iranian official urged the western media to report on “the misery of the Iraqi people and the untenable situation of the foreign forces since the invasion“.
Babaei said Tehran seeks to bring stability to the region, adding that “measures adopted by countries such as Britain in the war-torn country of Iraq has acted against the efforts of the Islamic Republic“.
The five British citizens were abducted from the Iraqi Finance Ministry in Baghdad last May in an attempt to force the Americans to release Qais Al-Khazaali, an Iraqi militia leader.

Iran said on Monday it would not change its nuclear course despite an updated incentive offer by world powers to persuade Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Six world powers agreed at a meeting in London on Friday to offer a new package of incentives to encourage Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity, says enrichment is a national right that it will not give up.
“Those incentives that violate the Iranian nation’s right in any form will not be reviewed by the Islamic Republic,“ Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news conference.
Hosseini also said Iran has not officially received any package, Presstv reported.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council--the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia--and Germany, known as Group 5+1, offered a package to Iran in 2006 that demanded Iran halt enrichment. Tehran rejected it.

Package
“With regard to the incentives package...we believe the path adopted in the past should not be continued. They should act based on realities and international regulations. Talks should be held based on respecting nations’ rights,“ he said.
Russia, which sent an envoy to Iran last week for discussions that covered the nuclear row, said on Saturday uranium enrichment would have to be suspended during international talks aimed at resolving the dispute.
“In the past, we have expressed our view about the issue that some Russian officials talked about. There has been no change in our position,“ Hosseini said when asked about the comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The spokesman said Iran’s proposed package included political, economic and security issues.
“The package is based on justice and focuses on issues in a way that will contribute to the improvement of international peace, security and stability. It also respects the rights of nations and national sovereignty of countries,“ he said.
Hosseini expressed Iran’s readiness to hold talks on the package with different countries, which have an effective role in international equations.

Support for Maliki
Hosseini also said that Iran supports the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki in confronting armed groups.
He added that his country has always been in favor of peace and stability in Iraq, noting that illegal armed groups in Iraq should be confronted.
Following an Iraqi delegation’s visit last week to Tehran and talks with Iranian officials on security situation in this occupied country, Hosseini played down the Iraqi delegation’s visit and termed it as solely a bilateral effort aimed at settling ongoing differences and clashes in Iraq and in line with Tehran’s policy to restore stability and security in its neighbor.
While blaming the presence of foreign troops as the main problem in Iraq, Hosseini said Iran will continue using all its capacity to help the Iraqi government and nation.
Hosseini accused the United States of ’massacre’ of the Iraqi people and said further talks with Washington about improving security in its neighbor would be meaningless now.
“Right now, what we observe in Iraq is a massacre of the Iraqi nation by the occupying forces,“ he said.

A society of Greece-based Iranians has strongly condemned the distortion of the Persian Gulf’s name by certain countries.
Releasing the statement, a copy of which was sent to IRNA, the society expressed its anger toward the recent move by some Arab states to forge a name for the Persian Gulf.
Based on international documents and registration with the United Nations, Persian Gulf is a name that cannot be changed in international records and maps, read the statement.
It added that Arab states, which tried to forge a name for the Persian Gulf, had not even existed under the Persian Empire.
The statement called on the international community to prevent the distortion of historical realities that are strongly supported and confirmed by international organizations such as the United Nations and historical documents.
Distortion of historical realities would damage international security, it argued.
Many Iranians living abroad protested against the illegal move through the Internet, sending protest letters to international bodies and holding several protest demonstrations in many countries.
In Iran, Iran’s Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel urged regional Arab states to avoid distorting history by trying to forge a name for the Persian Gulf.
On April 29, hundreds of Iranian university students held a peaceful protest rally in front of the United Arab Emirates’ Embassy in Tehran, showing their anger at the recent move by several Arab states to distort the name of the Persian Gulf .
In the southern province of Hormuzgan which lies on the Persian Gulf coasts, many Iranian youths formed a human chain on the National Persian Gulf Day to demonstrate their support for the cultural and historical identity of the Iranian nation.
Several protest demonstrations were also held in other cities of Iran on April 30 against distortion of the Persian Gulf’s name.