Interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran said Iran’s package of proposals is aimed at restoring peace and security worldwide.
Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said in his second Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University campus that Iran wants nothing but independence and scientific progress, IRNA reported.
Iran on Wednesday presented a new package of proposals to major powers and UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon to deal with international crises through consensus and understanding.
“Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities are opposed because the country’s scientific progress will be a menace to the goals of the world arrogant powers and the Zionist regime,“ he said.
Touching on recent claims of the US President George W. Bush that Iran is a danger to regional states, Kashani said, “Bush’s goal in raising such claims is to portray Iran as an enemy of regional states and make Arabs less sensitive toward the Zionist regime.“
He said Iran’s sincerity and engagement with the world states, especially the regional and Muslim countries, have led to such claims.
The prayer leader also said some political officials of Muslim countries serve the interests of the US and Israel.
“Muslim states are expected to think of their own nations,“ he said.
Noting that the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has been resisting the Zionist regime for years, Kashani said, “(Hezbollah Chief Seyyed Hassan) Nasrallah’s is reaping honors and defeating Zionists is a source of honor for the whole Muslim world.“
He added that for Iran, there is no difference between Shiites and Sunnis.
“Whether Shiite or Sunni, if a student is found to win honor in Saudi Arabia today, we in Iran will be proud of the progress made by the Muslim state,“ he said.
He said all Muslims should be proud of Lebanese Hezbollah.
“If Iran has been able to acquire peaceful nuclear energy, that’s a source of honor for the Muslim world. That will be an honor too if it occurs in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Yemen because it constitutes the dignity of the Muslim world,“ he said.
Kashani further said Hezbollah owes its victory to the unity among all Muslims, who should take such an important issue into consideration.

Distinguished Iranian professor of international relations and communications, Hamid Molana, (2nd r) received a plaque of honor in Tehran on Thursday.

Distinguished Iranian professor of international relations and communications, Hamid Molana, was honored during a ceremony held at Iran Cultural and Press Institute (ICPI) on Thursday.
Senior cultural officials, including presidential advisors and Culture Ministry officials as well as the newly-appointed chief of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Mohammad Jafar Behdad, also attended the meeting.
The ceremony was organized by the School of Media Studies affiliated to IRNA in cooperation with the ICPI, with which Iran Daily is an affiliate.
Professors of communications and social sciences, including the father of Iran’s communications science professor, Kazem Motamednejad, also participated in the meeting.
Exemplary instructors and lecturers of the School of Media Studies were also honored in the ceremony.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the terrorist attack on its embassy staff in Baghdad, which wounded 3 diplomats and an Iraqi officer.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini noted that the US occupation forces are responsible for protecting the lives of foreign diplomats and international institutions in Iraq, Alalam reported.
Gunmen opened fire on a car carrying the three Iranian embassy staff in Baghdad on Thursday, wounding them and their Iraqi driver.
Embassy Spokesman Manoucher Tasleem said, “The gunmen attacked the car of our employees at around 5 pm (1400 GMT) while they were traveling to visit Kadhimiya shrine“, with two of the victims badly wounded.
Earlier, an official at the embassy had said two diplomats were among those wounded, but Tasleem said the Iranians were all regular embassy staff, not diplomatic representatives.
Iraqi police were not immediately available for comment. Diplomats have been a favorite target of insurgents in Iraq.
Poland’s ambassador suffered severe burns in a bomb attack in Baghdad in October last year.
Also on Thursday, 7 Iraqis were killed and 19 others wounded in the US attacks on Sadr City, east of the capital, Baghdad.
The Iraqi officials said that the clashes erupted at night between 20:00 pm local time (1600 GMT) and 7 am (300 GMT) Thursday. There were women and children among the casualties.

Officials Confer Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki conferred with senior Kuwaiti officials in Kuwait City on Friday.
Visiting Kuwait at the head of a delegation to express condolences to the Kuwaiti government and nation on the demise of late Sheikh Saad Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, former Kuwaiti emir, Mottaki met with current Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the sidelines of the mourning ceremony, IRNA reported.
Mottaki also conferred with Sheikh Nasser Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s court minister, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah during his short visit to Kuwait.

A young physicist of Applied Science Research Center, Yasaman Farzan, has won the top young scientist award of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) in the arena of particle physics theory.
The award is given to particle physics experts every two years. More than seven years should not have passed from the time the nominees receive their PhD, ISNA reported on Friday.
The IUPAP prize consists of a medal, a certificate in which the winner’s scientific accomplishments are outlined and cash.
Farzan will officially receive the award during the 34th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP 2008) which will be held in Philadelphia during July 30-Aug. 5.
Farzan is the first woman to have represented Iran in the annual high school students’ Physics Olympiad in 1993. She completed her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Iran. She did her PhD and post-doctoral research at Stanford University and a research center in Italy.
Although she could have continued to work at a foreign research center, she decided to return to Iran and work for the Applied Science Research Center.

A German parliamentarian delegation will visit Iran in the coming days to discuss bilateral issues with officials, the Christian-Socialist Party announced on Friday.
The delegation includes Peter Ramirez and Christian Ruck, head and deputy of the party respectively, IRNA reported.
The German parliamentarians will meet with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and head of Majlis Foreign Policy and National Security Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, during May 18-20.
They will also exchange views with Iranian lawmakers on issues of mutual interest.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called for more unofficial contacts with Iran, saying this might eventually open a pathway to more substantive dialogue between the governments.
The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran after its 1979 Islamic Revolution.
While the two countries have had talks on defined subjects in recent years, including Afghanistan and Iraq, this has not blossomed into the broad engagement recommended by the blue-ribbon Iraq Study Group report issued in December 2006, Reuters reported.
Gates, who has previously argued for engagement with Iran, suggested this was less likely now because of a more firm stance by its officials.
“My own view, just my personal view, would be we ought to look for ways outside of government to open up the channels and get more of a flow of people back and forth,“ he said in a speech to the American Academy of Diplomacy on Wednesday, a group of retired US diplomats.
“There are actually a fair number of Iranians that come to the United States to visit. We ought to increase the flow going the other way,“ he said. “I think that may be one opening that creates space, perhaps, over some period of time.“
He also said the United States needs to find more leverage over Iran, saying a negotiation would only be possible if Washington had something to offer Tehran.
The United States has offered to talk to Iran about any subject if it first suspends its uranium enrichment work, which provides fuel for power plants. Iran has refused to do this and has not taken up US overtures, including one by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage with respect to the Iranians and then sit down and talk with them,“ Gates said. “If there’s going to be a discussion, then they need something too.“

Mostafa Mohammad Najjar

Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the Israeli regime is weaker and cannot dare to attack the Islamic Republic.
Najjar said on Thursday the Zionist regime has fabricated baseless allegations against Iran to cover up its weak points and grave internal crises, IRNA reported.
“Israel’s weak spots have been revealed in Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan in the past few years,“ he said.
The defense minister said Iran is a powerful Middle East country and fully prepared to defend its territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
The occupying regime attempted to divert global public attention from its weaknesses and corruption in standing up to the resistance forces by holding the 60th year of its illegal creation in the occupied lands.
The Tel Aviv regime also levels allegations against the Islamic Republic with the aim of stirring up violence beyond the borders of the occupied territories.
On Lebanon, he said the country is one of the most pivotal geographical regions of the Muslim world, therefore all Muslim nations in the region should give priority to the fate of the country.
Najjar noted that the Islamic Republic supports the national unity of Lebanon and respects the vote of Lebanese people.
“Iran has always supported Islamic countries based on its constitution and within the framework of international conventions,“ he said.
The minister added that Tehran is monitoring the moves of foreigners in this Mediterranean country.
“Interference in the country’s domestic affaires is contrary to the interests of the Lebanese people and the resistance movement,“ he said.
Najjar pointed out that the US is making Lebanon an unsafe place for guaranteeing the security of the Zionist regime.
“Tehran hopes that all sects and political factions will remember the fact that the exacerbation of racial and sectarian differences will only benefit trans-regional powers that are keen to see a weakened Lebanon in the Israeli neighborhood,“ he said.

Hamid Reza Asefi

Iran has used its capacity for settling the Lebanese dilemma and held close talks with Qatari officials related to the Ministerial Committee of the Arab League.
According to Mehr News Agency, Iran’s ambassador to the UAE, Hamid Reza Asefi, made the above remark during an interview with the Abu Dhabi TV network.
Emphasizing that the region has been made chaotic by foreign interference, he said, “One of the most important reasons for regional countries to negotiate is not to allow those who do not want to see peace and calm in the region achieve their goal. This is why we believe that all regional problems can and should be resolved through the unity and prudence of regional officials.“
He noted that the situation in Lebanon is a US-engineered scenario.
“Stability of Lebanon will help ensure regional security while the only country that benefits from turmoil in Lebanon is the Zionist regime. The only solution to the Lebanese problems is unity of all political groups,“ he said.
Commenting on the Iraqi situation, Asefi, a former deputy foreign minister, said, “Iran and Iraq are Muslim neighbors. We are surprised to see Americans, who have traveled thousands of kilometers to occupy Iraq, accuse Iran of interfering in Iraqi affairs. We believe this accusation is rooted in America’s failure in implementing its plans in Iraq.“
Commenting on Iran’s package of proposals, Asefi said Iran has presented a package to western countries, the UN and other parties, which is about management of global crises since the approach adopted by some western countries has not resolved serious problems such as Palestine, Iraq, the Persian Gulf and Lebanon as well as the issue of the rift between the rich and the poor.
“Iran has presented a package that has security, economic and political dimensions focusing on its nuclear program,“ he said.