MARDOMSALARI: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his recent visit to the Occupied Palestine reiterated that ties between Iran and Russia have improved. He also said that Russia will not cease its nuclear collaboration with Iran. What Lavrov said is considered a breakthrough for Iran in its relations with other countries. Russian politicians presumably intend to remind the European Union, Israel and the US that they form an independent political current and that they will not accept pressure from a third country in their relationship with Iran. What Lavrov said also reveals Russia's opposition to the recent statements made by Israeli officials, especially Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

TOSEH: It seems that the European Union's attitude towards Iran has changed. It seems that the EU has adopted a totally different approach vis-ˆ-vis the Islamic system. Amidst all this, a protest rally staged in front of the French Embassy in Tehran in opposition to a ban on Islamic dress code in that country negatively affects Iran's rather improved ties with the EU member-states. This is while the EU plays a major role in the decision-makings of the upcoming meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors. Since France is an important EU country, its vote in the Board of Governors is very crucial for Iran. Hence, Iranians should be very careful these days in terms of each and every move they make on the international scene.

QODS: Iran can currently produce a total of 4.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. This figure will reach a minimum of 8 million barrels within the next couple of decades. However, the government has to perform in a timely manner in order to avoid facing additional difficulties in the process of oil and gas exploitation. Hence, Iran should do its best to exploit oil in accordance with a pertinent timetable. It is also crucial that all exploitations are carried out in the oilfields that are jointly used by Iran and the neighboring countries.

If the lives of 500,000 Iraqi children were worth sacrificing to fulfil American interests according to the former US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, the same argument can also be applied to the recent incident in Russia from the Chechens' point of view, where a few hundred children perished. Either both cases are wrong or both are right. If human life has the same value, both cases should generate similar reaction.
Americans may claim that they did not intentionally target the Iraqi children, which is difficult to justify, considering the unprecedented economic sanctions coupled with the routine bombing of civilian installations applied over the last decade and the military tactics deployed in the recent war. Numerous independent reports and eyewitness accounts have confirmed that Iraqi and Afghani children were imprisoned, tortured, raped and sodomized. If this is civilization, we would prefer to remain uncivilized!
The Chechens can make similar claims like the Americans. They can also attribute the bloodshed to the Russians for storming the school. Let's not forget, had the Russians not broken the treaty signed by General Lebed coupled with the killing of so many Chechens, including children, over the years, the Chechens would not have resorted to such desperate measures.
This is not an attempt to justify or condone the killing of children. The events are still not clear; the Russian government was furious when the EU asked for an explanation. But we do need to remember the hypocrisy that exists in this world. Many of the so-called moderates, neo-cons and the pro-war camps will seize this opportunity to justify the barbaric behavior of the US forces in Iraq.
As usual, the compliant mass media will waste no time in blaming only the 'terrorism' of the 'terrorists'. Which is highlighted and amplified, only when it aligns with the Western interests, represented primarily by the US, UK and Israel. There are very few people that raise the question as to why the 'terrorists' have not attacked other Western countries like Luxemburg, Switzerland, Finland, etc. Perhaps, such countries are appeasing or colluding with the terrorists!
The rightwing orientated newspaper editors and columnists with a disproportionate level of Zionist representation and influence have insidiously linked the term 'terrorism' with Islam and therefore, the perpetrators (terrorists) are Muslims. It seems that 'terrorism' have been even given a date of birth, i.e. 9/11.
Since, the term 'terrorism' is used by the various nation states of the West, therefore, it is not a coincidence that it is exclusively identified with the actions of non-State actors. Hence, State terrorism is never a key feature of any discourse on the subject. The use of organized violence by states, delivering much larger quantity of terror to attain political objectives carries descriptions like war but never terrorism.
This is why we see the disparity; terrorism is automatically attributed to the killing of any Westerner but not the murder of civilians en masse in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. This even included the torture and execution of prisoners, including women and children.
We saw pictures from Afghanistan's Mazar-i-Sherif, prisoners shot with hands tied behind their backs and more recently the horrifying pictures from Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison, which only gave us a small glimpse of the horror perpetrated in the name of freedom and democracy. Perhaps many will see the irony of the phrase "war on terror" coined by the US, which effectively translates into: "war of terror".
Yamin Zakaria