President for Settlement of Nuclear Issue Through Dialog

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday that dialog is the only solution to Iran’s nuclear case, stressing it is better to have cooperation rather than confrontation.
Talking to reporters after this morning cabinet session, the president said the Islamic Republic of Iran is currently a nuclear country and it is impossible to retreat from its nuclear path, IRNA reported.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Based on the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran rejects the allegation and argues that as a signatory to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Referring to Wednesday talks between representatives of Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Tehran, President Ahmadinejad said the rights of the Iranian nation should be respected.
An IAEA team arrived in Tehran on Wednesday to resume talks on Tehran’s nuclear program with Iranian officials.
Turning to the next year’s budget bill, the president said he would hold a press conference next week to brief the nation on the bill.

Seminar on Women In Islam Underway

An international seminar themed “Roadmap to Revive Rights of Human Beings and Drafting the Covenant on Women’s Rights in Islam” was held...

NATO Attack Kills 10 Afghan Civilians

A NATO airstrike killed 10 Afghan civilians, including five children, in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, local officials said, a toll that if...

Yemen Fails to Probe Killing of Protesters

An international human rights group accused Yemen on Tuesday of failing to investigate the 2011 killing of 45 anti-government protesters during the uprising against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Human Rights Watch said in a report that top former officials--including Saleh’s relatives, such as his nephew--should be held responsible for the slayings, AP reported.
The New York-based group was referring to the March 18, 2011 incident, when the government unleashed security forces on the demonstrators in the capital, Sana’a.
Saleh stepped down last year, following yearlong protests against his rule.
HRW’s senior researcher Letta Tayler warned that “if Yemen doesn’t fairly investigate and prosecute those responsible for this deadly attack, it risks perpetuating the culture of impunity at the heart of Yemen’s uprising.”
“Human Rights Watch found that several senior former and current government officials appear to have played a role in the massacre but have not been charged,” the report said.
HRW said its report was based on more than 60 interviews with witnesses, victims of the shooting, lawyers, government officials, human rights defenders, and journalists.

Juventus Crush Celtic Dream

Juventus took a giant step towards the quarterfinals of the European Champions League following a crushing 3-0 win over Celtic.
Alesandro Matri’s early strike and further goals from Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic completed a perfect night’s work for the Italian champions, CNN wrote.
There was also success for Paris Saint-Germain, which claimed a 2-1 away win at Valencia, although it must do without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the second leg after he was shown a straight red card.
Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore had given the French club a two goal lead at the break, but Adil Rami’s late strike and Ibrahimovic’s dismissal means its all to play for in the French capital in three weeks time.
While PSG might still have to sweat, no such problems are expected for Serie A leaders and two-time European Cup winners Juventus.
Dressed in all black and surrounded by the cauldron of Celtic Park, Juventus headed out to face one of the most intimidating atmospheres in European football.
With the majority of the 57,917 crowd clad in green and white bellowing out their support for the Scottish champion, it was clear that this night was something special.
Back in the knockout phase for the first time in five years, Celtic was dreaming of the glory days when it ruled the continent following its legendary cup final win of 1967.

Africa Investments Rising

Rising investments in Africa’s service sector, the unlocking of its vast natural resources and the sound economic policies pursued by African countries in the last two decades are spurring the rise of the continent’s middle class at a faster rate than population growth.
“Investments in the key areas of banking, telecommunications, information technology, transport, tourism, housing and real estate have lifted the continent’s middle class,” Lawrence Bategeka, a principal researcher at the Ugandan-based Economic Policy Research Center, told IPS.
Liberalization of African economies resulted in improved efficiencies and saw rapid growth in the service sector. Private sector-led growth has resulted in the growth of the middle class on the continent.
The African middle class is characterized by a per capita daily consumption of $2 to $20, although this class has a high concentration at the lower end of consumption, according to an African Development Bank (AfDB) report titled “The Middle of the Pyramid”.
According to the AfDB, by 2010, Africa’s middle class had risen to an estimated 34 percent of the continent’s population or nearly 350 million people--up from about 126 million or 27 percent in 1980.
This represents a growth rate of 3.1 percent in the middle class population over the period 1980 to 2000, compared with a growth rate of 2.6 percent in the continent’s overall population over the same period, the AfDB report said.

Foreign Ministry Issues Travel Advisory for Libya

Iranian Foreign Ministry has issued a travel advisory for Libya, warning Iranians planning to visit the North African country about the heightened threat of terrorist attacks and the high rate of violence in some areas.
In response to an alert submitted by Libyan officials to diplomats at the Iranian Embassy in Tripoli informing them about the volatile security situation in Libya and the potential for acts of violence against foreign nationals and diplomatic compounds, the Islamic Republic of Iran decided to ask its citizens not to travel to Libya until further notice, the advisory read, Press TV reported.
It added that the travel advisory will be in force until the security situation in Libya improves.
The Libyan government is struggling to control its borders and making efforts to retrieve the arms and explosives that were looted after longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi was deposed in August 2011. The central government has little authority beyond the capital, and the country is fractured by militias, tribes, and regional loyalties.
The chaos in Libya since the fall of Gaddafi’s government has implications far beyond the border areas.
Arms and explosives stockpiled by the Gaddafi government are being smuggled to Mali and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and to the foreign-backed militants fighting the Syrian government.

Talks With IAEA Resume

A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has arrived in Iran for a new round of talks with Iranian officials.
The IAEA team, headed by the international body’s deputy director general and chief inspector, Herman Nackaerts, arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in the early hours of Wednesday.
After arrival, the IAEA experts began talks with Iranian officials on issues pertaining to Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh is heading the Iranian negotiating team.
Nackaerts said on Tuesday before leaving Vienna for Tehran that the IAEA’s objective was to ‘finalize the structured approach document’ in view of resolving the remaining issues regarding Iran’s nuclear activities. “We will have good negotiations,” he stated.
He said IAEA aims to finalize a modality which should facilitate the remaining problems; problems which are connected with the probable military dimensions (PMD) of Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran and IAEA have been negotiating for more than a year to devise a modality to clarify how Iran should answer IAEA’s questions on the issue of PMD.
Iran believes 2007 modality is a good pattern for devising the new modality.
Iran and the IAEA last met in Tehran on January 17-18.
The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence that Tehran’s nuclear energy program has been diverted toward military objectives.

New-Generation Centrifuges Installed in Natanz

Iran has begun installing new generation centrifuges at its enrichment facility in the central city of Natanz since last month, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereidoun Abbasi announced on Wednesday.
“We unveiled the first cascade of the new generation centrifuges in February 2012 and after that our studies were completed in that pilot (cascade),” Abbasi told reporters in Tehran, Fars News Agency reported.
“We should install a large number of such systems to reach (the level of) industrial production,” he added.
“Installation of the new centrifuges began in Natanz around a month ago,” Abbasi said, adding the installation process would continue based on plans in order that ‘we will be able to complete the laboratory of the new generation centrifuges’.
In relevant remarks late 2012, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Tehran’s nuclear experts have achieved self-sufficiently in manufacturing centrifuge machines for the country’s nuclear enrichment facilities. Soltanieh said that Iran has ‘fully mastered’ the nuclear energy technology and can produce all the 90 pieces of a centrifuge machine on its own and without foreign assistance.

Yemen Fails to Probe Killing of Protesters

An international human rights group accused Yemen on Tuesday of failing to investigate the 2011 killing of 45 anti-government protesters during the uprising against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Human Rights Watch said in a report that top former officials--including Saleh’s relatives, such as his nephew--should be held responsible for the slayings, AP reported.
The New York-based group was referring to the March 18, 2011 incident, when the government unleashed security forces on the demonstrators in the capital, Sana’a.
Saleh stepped down last year, following yearlong protests against his rule.
HRW’s senior researcher Letta Tayler warned that “if Yemen doesn’t fairly investigate and prosecute those responsible for this deadly attack, it risks perpetuating the culture of impunity at the heart of Yemen’s uprising.”
“Human Rights Watch found that several senior former and current government officials appear to have played a role in the massacre but have not been charged,” the report said.
HRW said its report was based on more than 60 interviews with witnesses, victims of the shooting, lawyers, government officials, human rights defenders, and journalists.

HRW: Israel Violated Laws of War In Gaza Airstrikes

Middle East Desk

A US-based rights group said Israel violated laws of war in a series of airstrikes during an eight-day military operation last November against the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.
“Israeli forces too often conducted airstrikes that killed Palestinian civilians and destroyed homes in Gaza without apparent legal justification,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director at the HRW.

Bahraini Police Fire Tear Gas To Disperse Protesters

Navy to Speed Up Southeastern Coast Development

More Transit Flights Use Iran Airspace

Tehran Symphonic Orchestra to PerformAt Fajr Festival

Russia Top Choice for Building 2nd Nuclear Plant