Karoun's surplus waters would be channeled to Rafsanjan for agricultural use.

TEHRAN, Oct. 1--A top presidential aide said here on Thursday that certain groups are creating tensions to upset efforts to encourage investments and achieve development goals.
According to ISNA, government spokesman, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said at a meeting of Golestan province's Administrative Council that the country must do away with tension in its strive for economic progress and development.
"In order to establish tranquility, many things have to be disregarded and sometimes we have to retreat (from certain things)," he said, stressing that the people will get what they deserve, if the officialdom manages to avoid tensions for the sake of economic development.
The official further said that the Khatami administration assumed office at a time when the country faced numerous challenges in all key foreign policy, economic and foreign investment areas.
Ramezanzadeh further said statistics suggest that President Mohammad Khatami's team has been the most successful administration since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"We failed to meet all the people's expectations but scored brilliant successes compared to previous governments," he said, stressing that Iran has now become self-reliant in many economic fields after 40 years.
The official, however, said that the ground must be prepared for the next government to be able to continue the economic reform policies the Khatami administration has carried out since May 1997.
President Mohammad Khatami won his first landslide in May 1997 with a social and economic mandate he did not manage to complete under pressures from the conservative camp.
The president's economic team has had to deal with numerous challenges both at home and abroad in the past seven years, particularly after the chief executive won his second landslide in 2001.
In a bid to bring greater coordination within his economic team, the charismatic president reshuffled the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, the Management and Planning Organization (MPO) and the Central Bank of Iran, which many believe used to throw a monkey wrench in the works of each other.
Khatami, in separate decrees, ended Mazaheri's services and accepted Head of the Management and Planning Organization Mohammad Sattarifar's resignation. Former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Safdar Hosseini replaced Mazaheri and Hamid Reza Baradaran-Shoraka took over from Sattarifar at the MPO.

TEHRAN, Oct. 1--A meeting to review ways of expanding investment in the Caspian Sea littoral states will be held in Rasht, capital of northern province of Gilan, on Oct. 12-13, announced chairman of Iran-Russia Chamber of Commerce Friday. Habibollah Asgaroladi told ILNA that representatives of joint commerce commission of the five Caspian states as well as members of Rasht, Moscow, Astrakhan and Sarato chambers of commerce will attend the meeting.
He added that chairman of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, Alinaqi Khamoushi, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, deputy ministers of commerce and oil will take part in the gathering. "The meeting is sponsored by the embassies of Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Iran," he stated.
The official further noted that assessment of economical issues as well as boosting investment in these countries will top the agenda of the meeting.
The first session of Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce was held in Moscow and Astrakhan over a decade ago. Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, foreign ministers of five Caspian Sea littoral states agreed to set up a joint commerce commission to review, in annual meetings, ways to boost trade and investment among themselves. Iran last hosted the conference four years ago.

NEW DELHI, India, Oct. 1--The Indian government is willing to discuss a $3 billion gas pipeline project from Iran through Pakistan as long as Islamabad considers other trade deals, Bahrain based Gulf Daily News quoted an Indian energy expert as saying.
"Given that oil has hit $50 a barrel, there is somewhat a greater urgency to explore this possibility," R. K. Pachauri, director-general of the privately run Energy and Resources Institute, told reporters after meeting India's Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer.
Iran has been pursuing the pipeline proposal with India and Pakistan since 1996, but tensions between the two South Asian nations over the Himalayan region of Kashmir have blocked progress.
The previous Indian government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee even considered laying the pipeline under the sea to avoid Pakistani territory. However, that plan would cost three times more.
India's new government, which took office in May, appears to have softened its stance on the pipeline proposal.
"There has been a shift on this side. Now I think India is willing to talk about the pipeline as long as other trading opportunities are also considered," Pachauri said.
Iran says the proposed 2,600km pipeline would save India about $300m a year in energy costs.
Pakistan also would have access to the gas, and earn an estimated $600m a year in transit fees.
Pachauri, who is leaving for Islamabad today to attend a meeting of South Asian experts, said he would discuss the matter with Pakistani officials.
India, he said, could also use the imported gas to produce electricity and export part of it to Pakistan.
"India also was keen to sell diesel to Pakistan," he said.
Bangladesh has so far refused to export gas to India despite its huge natural gas reserves while Myanmar remains a potential supplier, Pachauri said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan said it is prepared to purchase gas from Iran.
According to Persian Journal Online, Pakistan minister for petroleum and natural resources said oil market price hike has slapped Pakistan economy and 'the country has suffered billions of Ruppees in damages', Chaudhry Norez Shakoor said Thursday.
Pakistan has started talks with Iran over gas pipeline transfer, Chaudhry said.
He added Islamabad is ready to buy gas from Iran to supply its fuel demand, if Tehran-New Delhi negotiations stall over gas transfer via Pakistan.

TEHRAN, Oct. 1--Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf said Friday the giant project to transfer water from Karoun River in the southwestern province of Khuzestan to the southern city of Rafsanjan in Kerman province has been turned into a political issue, stressing that more water transfer projects must be implemented given Iran's wide climatic diversity.
"Due to low precipitation and improper distribution of water in some parts of the country, water transfer projects must be initiated to supply water to certain urban areas which are far from water resources," he told ISNA, adding that projects to transfer water from Zarrineh-Roud River to Tabriz in the northwest of Iran and from Hirmand River to Zahedan in the southeast are also being planned.
The minister further noted that if the project to transfer water from Karoun River to Rafsanjan is shelved, Rafsanjan farmers will suffer heavy financial losses.
"Given the Rafsanjan plain's pressing need for water, the termination of this project will cause financial damage to the local economy," he said in reference to vast pistachio farms in Rafsanjan, which is said to be Iran's pistachio hub.
Bitaraf said Karoun's 'surplus waters' would be channeled to Rafsanjan for agricultural use, adding that the government has decided to delegate the job to the private sector. However lawmakers, local experts and people in Khuzestan completely disagree with Bitaraf and believe that the project is politically motivated.
Many professors and experts have expressed deep concerns about the prospect of the implementation of the controversial project causing irreparable damages to the ecosystem and potable water supplies of Khuzestan.
But their calls apparently fell on deaf ears as the project was reportedly launched during the recent visit of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to his hometown.
The criticisms, however, have continued to date.
Khuzestan Governor General Fathollah Moin said he had not received an official notification authorizing the implementation of the project.
His remarks were followed by strong reaction of a conservative lawmaker from Khuzestan to the start of the executive operations of the project.
Hamid Zanganeh said the project has caused serious concerns among local people, who have suffered from severe water shortages in recent years.

TEHRAN, Oct. 1--With oil prices hitting $50 a barrel, Iran's light crude oil continues to keep above $40 per barrel. The average price of Iran's light crude reached $40.54 on Wednesday, ISNA reported.
Iran's heavy crude was for the first time traded at an average of $39 a barrel Wednesday, up by 84 cents from the previous trading session.
Figures released by the Oil Ministry International Relations Department's Information Center suggest that petrol prices have increased in the hydrocarbon resource-rich Persian Gulf region.
The regional price of lead-free gasoline has reached $423.1 per ton, showing an increase of $6.2. Petrol prices also increased in US and Japan, but decreased in Mediterranean countries and Singapore.
Analysts say Asian governments' fuel subsidies will not be sustainable as oil prices shoot to new highs.
Asian governments are doling out billions of dollars in fuel subsidies to keep their economies on track and citizens content, but record high oil prices are likely to make them rethink about this.
Benchmark New York crude oil futures breached the $50 a barrel mark this week.
Market watchers warned high prices are likely to remain for some time while the Asian Development Bank said this week the upward trend will cut economic growth in the region and could cause inflation and interest rates to spike.
Government officials in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand say fuel subsidy schemes are necessary to dampen economic fallout on citizens but critics fear the policy is not sustainable.
Likewise in Iran, critics keep calling on the government to abandon the fuel subsidy policy to reduce import of gasoline, which is expected to set a new record in coming months.
The government has reportedly had to seek financial assistance from the parliament to be able to sustain subsidies.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 1--Visiting Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref and Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev in a meeting here on Friday discussed bilateral ties, reported IRNA.
At the meeting, Akayev called for expanding bilateral ties and expressed his satisfaction over Aref's visit to Kyrgyzstan at the head of a high-ranking delegation.
Referring ton his meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami in Tehran, the Kyrgyz president said exchange of visits by officials of the two countries paves the way for bolstering ties.
He also referred to his recent talks with Khatami on the sidelines of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) meeting in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, and underlined the growing trend of Iran-Kyrgyzstan cooperation in various fields, particularly trade.
Aref in Bishkek on Thursday and was officially welcomed by Kyrgyz First Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Foreign Minister Kubanychbek Jumaliyev.
Earlier, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev said here Thursday that the two-way trade between Iran and Kyrgyzstan has increased by 47 percent in recent years. Speaking in a meeting of Iranian and Kyrgyz officials he added, "We can increase bilateral trade to about $200 million."
He further said four memorandum of understanding on investment, trade and tourism are to be signed during Aref's current visit to the republic.
Tanayev also stressed on expansion of bilateral ties in various regional and international organizations.
Cordial relations between Tehran and Bishkek can be a model of emulation for other regional countries, the Kyrgyz premier underlined.
The negotiations by the two nations' high-ranking officials are continuing behind closed doors.