Reza Alijani

Hoda Saber

Taqi Rahmani

TEHRAN, Nov. 10--Head of Tehran Islamic Revolution's Court-Branch 26 ordered Wednesday the release of jailed members of the National-Religious Group, Hoda Saber, Taqi Rahmani and Reza Alijani, on hefty bail.
Lawyer of one of the prisoners, Gholamali Riahi, told ISNA that the court has considered a 500-million-rial bail for each prisoner.
Meanwhile, the lawyer of online journalists said his clients will be freed on bail in the coming days.
Nemat Ahmadi told ISNA that families of jailed journalists are putting up bail money for the freedom of jailed journalists.
"If bail money is ready on time, Mehdi Derayati, Masoud Qoreishi and Asghar Vatanikhah will be freed on bail," he added.
In the meantime, head of Mehrabad Airport's Islamic Revolution and Public Preliminary Court told ISNA that Hanif Mazrouei, son of veteran journalist, Rajabali Mazrouei, will also be freed on a 150-million-rial bail.
Jafar Saberi-Zafarqandi noted that the detained journalists will be freed within the next two days.
Mazrouei noted that he does not think his son will be freed in the next few days due to deficiencies of the administrative system.

TEHRAN, Nov. 10--Bam, in Kerman province, is in ruins even after almost a year since a massive earthquake leveled the city.
Speaking during a meeting with the leader's advisor, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, Bam Mayor Ali Baqerizadeh said late on Tuesday that despite a lapse of 10 months since the devastating quake, the city's reconstruction has not picked up, IRNA reported.
"The slow reconstruction pace of bam is mostly due to inadequate disbursement of funds," he said, adding that rebuilding the city is not only vital for the local residents, but also for promoting the system's domestic and international image.
The 6.4-magnitude quake almost destroyed the entire city and claimed more than 26,000 lives.
Based on a government ratification in January, urban development projects were to be commissioned to the municipality at an initial outlay of 180 billion rials.
"The ratification has not yet been put into effect," he said.

TEHRAN, Nov. 10--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel here late on Tuesday denounced those responsible for the incident at the Science and Technology University and condemned sacrilege to its sanctity.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of his meeting with artists and writers, Haddad-Adel said Intelligence Minister Ali Younesi and Minister of Science, Research and Technology Jafar Tofiqi have been informed of the parliament's concerns regarding the incident, IRNA reported.
"During the meeting with ministers, members of the fact-finding committee were also present and handed over a report to the ministers on their 20-hour preliminary investigation of the incident," he said.
Condemning the rogue elements, the speaker said ministers have been urged to make a thorough investigation of the incident.
"The causes, and not the effects, should be confronted. We must be able to eradicate the causes creating turmoil and misuse," he said.
Haddad-Adel further said that such incidents at universities would halt progress and development in the country, adding that universities are in dire need of tranquility more than anything else.
A group of hardline students, opposed to a question-answer session addressed by former foreign minister, Ebrahim Yazdi, and former deputy interior minister, Mostafa Tajzadeh, at the university on November 2, assaulted the university's Chancellor Mohammad Taqi Salehi and took him hostage for three hours.

TEHRAN, Nov. 10--President Mohammad Khatami here Tuesday said establishment of peace, stability and security in Iraq are stressed not only by Iran, but also by other members of the international community.
In a meeting with Iraq's Minister of State for Provinces Wael Abdul Al-Latif, Khatami said Iraq should regain its lost status in the region with due regard to its rich resources and talents through the establishment of a broad-based government, IRNA reported.
"We regard security and progress in Iraq as our own security and hope the Iraqi nation would have the say in running their own country," he said.
Maintaining that the Jan. elections in Iraq would settle several problems, the president said, "We seek the withdrawal of foreigners from Iraq and condemn any interference in the country's internal affairs which would be an insult to its people."
He expressed hope all Iraqi groups could unite and obediently follow the guidelines set by the religious scholars, particularly Ayatollah Ali Sistani, saying this would eliminate lawlessness in the country and prepare the ground for understanding and unity among all Iraqis.
Khatami called on Iraq's neighboring states to prevent acts that would exacerbate lawlessness in the country.
The Iraqi minister of state submitted a written message from Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to President Khatami and urged greater cooperation in various fields.
Al-Latif said peace and stability in Iraq would contribute to peace and stability in the Middle East, and referred to Iran's contribution in this regard as effective and constructive.
In related news, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi expressed deep concerns over the intensification of crisis in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in a meeting with Al-Latif here Tuesday.
Kharrazi said Iran is demanding restoration of security in Iraq.
Also on Tuesday, Khatami met with members of the Islamic Association of Tehran University and Medical Sciences University of Tehran and underlined the need for strengthening pillars of democracy in the society.
As to the importance of universities in the arena of country's political activities, Khatami said lack of attention to the key role being played by universities, their status as well as the weakness of the intellectual currents are major causes hindering political activities in universities.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10--US President George W. Bush on Tuesday extended for one year a range of financial sanctions first imposed on Iran in November 1979, the White House announced in a statement.
"Our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal," Bush said in a letter to the US House of Representatives, AFP reported.
The original sanctions, imposed by then-president Jimmy Carter, froze assets of Iran's government following the November 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran.

TEHRAN, Nov. 10--Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi here Tuesday urged unity among Muslim nations and governments to counter the fraudulent moves of enemies.
He made remark during his meeting with Moroccan ambassador to Tehran, Abdelaziz Bennis, IRNA reported.
"Iran and Morocco should join efforts to strengthen the position of Islamic states in light of the current situation," he said.
The judiciary chief also said the enemies of Islam have realized that the ultimate objective of Muslims is to return to the golden era of Islamic rule, adding that as a result they have plotted all kinds of conspiracies to thwart the spread of Islamic culture.
"Islamic countries should do their utmost to defend Islamic dignity and neutralize the negative propaganda being waged against Muslims," he said.
He urged Muslim governments to use the resources of the Muslim world to preserve unity.
Urging consolidation of ties between the two countries, he called on their officials to boost efforts to raise the status of Muslim countries in the global arena.
The Moroccan ambassador, for his part, expressed his country's readiness to expand ties with Tehran, saying Morocco has always favored strengthening of ties with Muslim countries.
Ghazi said there were no obstacles to expansion of Iran-Morocco ties, particularly in the legal and judicial fields.

AHVAZ, Khuzestan, Nov. 10--Police in this southwestern province have seized 4,386 kilos of various drugs since the start of the current Iranian year (March 20), a provincial anti-drug official said here Wednesday.
Gholam Mohammadian added that the amount of seized drugs, mainly opium and hashish, showed a 400-percent rise compared with the corresponding figure in the previous year, IRNA reported.
Police also arrested 23 bandits and 10,871 drug traffickers in the province over the same period.
Meanwhile, Police seized 630 kilograms of opium stashed in a car moving toward Qalatouyeh checkpoint in Darab, a town in Fars province, Tuesday.
Talking to IRNA on Wednesday, Deputy Police Chief Mohammad Ali Tabatabaei said his men were forced to attack the smugglers, who tried to escape under cover of fire.
"The bandits left behind their car as one of them was injured," he added.
Tabatabaei said his office is studying the documents left in the car to find the identity of the drug traffickers.
In the country's relentless anti-drug campaign, more than 3,350 police forces have lost their lives in the last 25 years.
The government has allocated 300 billion rials for preventive measures, treatment and promotion of non-governmental institutions active in the campaign.