President: New Budget Cuts Reliance on Oil Revenue

Political Desk

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said late Saturday that the government’s proposed budget for the coming Iranian year (starting March 21) foresees a decrease in dependence on oil revenues in order to counter western sanctions.
In an interview with the IRIB, Ahmadinejad said the government has reduced reliance on oil revenues and the amount of crude to be extracted and sold in the draft budget, expected to be handed to Majlis (parliament) on Wednesday.
“Role of oil revenues as well as government spending in the next Iranian calendar’s budget bill have been decreased; government has plans to diversify its revenue sources; implement the second phase of targeted subsidies plan as well as the raise of non-oil exports are some of the best ways to lower the role of oil revenues in the country’s economy.”
Ahmadinejad said the country seeks to make greater efforts to increase its non-oil revenues.
“With this rate of growth, we really will not need foreign currency oil revenues in the current sense to suitably run our economy,” Ahmadinejad said.
“Next year’s revenues from non-oil exports and technical-engineering services will definitely reach $75 billion,” he added.

Enemies’ Plots
The president further stated that plots by enemies to put pressure on Iranian economy is under control.

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UK Lib Dems Hit by Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

British Liberal Democrats were hit by fresh allegations of sexual misconduct and cover-up on Saturday night as the party admitted it had failed to “fully live up to our political ideals”.
More allegations of inappropriate conduct were leveled at Lord Rennard, the former party chief executive, including claims that female candidates who wanted access to funding had to put up with harassment.
One woman claimed that she was molested at a party for Nick Clegg’s victory as Lib Dem leader, and there were also claims that MPs knew that women were the targets of harassment.
A former party worker claimed that it was “common knowledge” that Lord Rennard had tried to talk a young activist into bed, which was known in Lib Dem circles as the “Peterborough incident”.
Senior party figures also faced more allegations of orchestrating a cover-up, with pressure mounting on Jo Swinson, the women’s minister, to explain fully her part in investigating Lord Rennard’s conduct.
One source claimed that Miss Swinson acknowledged concerns about him in 2004, but that nothing happened.

Thousands Isolated by Australia Floodwaters

Thousands of people on Australia’s east coast were cut off Sunday by floodwaters which have claimed two lives, while violent thunderstorms and a series of reported “mini-tornados” destroyed homes south of Sydney.
State Emergency Services (SES) said the worst of the flood crisis in the north of New South Wales state appeared to have passed, with the waters mostly beginning to subside by Sunday afternoon.
“The rivers up north have pretty much peaked or are peaking,” an SES spokeswoman told AFP. “Everything is pretty much on the way down.”
The Macleay River peaked lower than had been forecast in the town of Kempsey, 350 kilometers (215 miles) north of Sydney, and the town escaped major flooding.
Further south in the town of Port Macquarie some low-lying areas were inundated by the low pressure system which travelled down the coast and has swollen river systems from Sydney to Queensland state. The State Emergency Service said isolation remained a concern “with around 20,000 (people) cut off across the north and mid-north coasts”.
“The New South Wales SES is monitoring isolated areas and will provide resupply or medical evacuation if required,” it said in a statement. The SES said it had undertaken 70 flood rescues since the severe weather began, including from stranded cars, and Prime Minister Julia Gillard urged the public to avoid the floodwaters if possible.

Global Forex Flows Surge

After several lackluster years, the $5-trillion foreign exchange market has bolted back to life with institutional investors leading the charge and banks standing to gain from the activity.
Currency volumes spiked in January and have stayed robust so far, thanks to unexpectedly strong and persistent rallies in the euro and weakness in the yen, demand from institutional clients and increased flows in world equity markets, Reuters wrote.
A strong mergers and acquisitions sector has also boosted turnover in the world’s largest financial market, as often large volumes of currencies need to be traded for cross-border transactions.
Global M&A volume hit more than $158 billion so far this year, more than double the activity in the same period in 2012, according to Thomson Reuters Deals Intelligence.
“It’s not just leveraged customers betting on where FX is going; it’s more real money business, more hedging, bringing longer-term players back into the market,” said Peter Taylor, managing director of FX trading at Barclays in London.

Market Optimism
Barclays saw its second- and third-busiest trading days ever in January, with the yen as the primary driver. Citibank had four of the five best volume days in the bank’s history last month. Its volumes were up 50 percent in January year-on-year, also boosted by yen flows.

Security Cooperation Will Guarantee Regional Tranquility

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili said Sunday that Iran-Azerbaijan security cooperation would benefit all regional states and guarantee security for the entire region.
Jalili made the remarks in a meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, IRNA reported.
He further praised the long-lasting brotherly relations between Iran and Azerbaijan, and stressed the importance of promoting bilateral security cooperation.
Tehran and Baku will not let mutual ties be affected by ultra-regional countries, said the official.
He noted his country supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
Azeri president, too, said his country has always expressed support for Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.
He called for expansion of Tehran-Baku ties in various political, economic, cultural and security areas.
The Azeri president expressed confidence that Jalili`s visit to Azerbaijan would be an important step for strengthening of relations between the two countries.
Jalili, who is Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, is expected to visit Kazakhstan on Tuesday to attend at the next round of comprehensive talks between Iran and the P5+1 (permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) in Almaty.
The last round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 over Tehran’s nuclear program were held in Moscow in June 2012.

Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike

Some 3,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails staged a one-day hunger strike Sunday in protest at the death of an inmate, an official said, as Israel’s security forces braced for demonstrations.
“About 3,000 prisoners announced that they would refuse meals,” Israel Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman, said. “It’s just the meals of one day; three meals.”
Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old father of two, died suddenly Saturday at Megiddo detention centre in northern Israel from what prison authorities said appeared to have been cardiac arrest.
His autopsy was due to take place at Israel’s national forensic institute on Sunday and Issa Qaraqaa, the Palestinian minister in charge of prisoner affairs, said a Palestinian doctor and Jaradat family members would be present. After news of Jaradat’s death, clashes broke out in Hebron between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces, witnesses and security sources said.
Media said Israeli security forces were on the standby in case of further demonstrations on Sunday.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club meanwhile said the number of inmates on open-ended hunger strike had climbed to 11 from four.

Majlis: Nuclear Progress, Non-Stop Train

Iranian parliamentarians have stressed that Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program will never stop.
In a statement issued on Sunday by 252 members of Majlis ahead of the upcoming talks between Iran and the 5+1 in Kazakhstan, they stated that Iran’s negotiating team should strongly defend the inalienable rights of the Iranian nation within the frameworks of the regulations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It also said Russia and China as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are expected not to follow the irrational demands of the US and to confront its policies of dominating world economy, IRNA reported.
The Majlis members advised the US and its western allies to accept Iran’s nuclear realities and transform their policy from confrontation to cooperation.
The US should know that there is no halt to Iran’s nuclear program which is solely for peaceful purposes, the statement added.

IAEA Report Creating Media Hype
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said the recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program aims to create media hype ahead of talks between Tehran and the P5+1.
In his opening address to Majlis session on Sunday, Larijani said that cliché statements in IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano’s report aimed to create media hype.

By Emad Abshenass

Iran vs P5+1 Again, Is It Worth It

For any negotiation or talks to reach a result, both sides need to have ‘Resolution Intentions’. We can check if the sides have ‘Resolution Intentions’ simply by comparing their attitude before, during and after the talks.
While Iran always enters the talks with a proposal and plan to resolve stuck issues, the other side is beset by various opinions. Add to this the intra-pressures P5+1 participants face from other parties such as the Israeli and Jewish lobbies in their countries.
Iran is simply asking for its legal international rights to possess peaceful nuclear technology based on all international laws and regulations--nothing more and nothing less. Some on the other side are asking for depriving the Iranian nation of its rights, others are trying to bribe Iran and yet another is asking to solve its problems on a one-to-one basis.
You see neither has the objective to solve the problem. So is it worthwhile for Iran to go to the talks, knowing that the other side is not coming to talks to solve the problem? Well the Iranians are veteran negotiators and they want to prove to the entire world that they have the intention of solving this problem but other side does not.
All Iran is asking for is an acceptance of its international rights and an end to all international bullying against this country. Is that too much? If the other side accepts this preliminary requirement then all issues could be solved. Otherwise negotiations will not achieve a result.
The main problem for the other side is to narrow its demands and put forward a noteworthy offer that would tempt Iran not to resist the proposal and the two sides can reach a solution. Proposals such as offering plane spare parts or permitting trade in gold to this country are not tempting enough for Iran. Such proposals are considered more of a joke than an offer. Iran is waiting for real proposals. Otherwise sooner or later it will come to the conclusion that the negotiations are not worthwhile.

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