TEHRAN, Nov. 14--President Mohammad Khatami felicitated Muslim leaders and nations here Friday in a message on the occasion of Eid ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
The president expressed hope that the past month of Ramadan had brought the world's Muslims closer. He also wished them increased progress and prosperity.
Eid ul-Fitr, the culmination of the fasting month of Ramadan, varies in each Muslim state depending on the sighting of the new moon, which marks the start of the new lunar month.
Meanwhile, Tehran's Armenian prelate on Saturday congratulated the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on the auspicious occasion.
Archbishop Sibveh Sarkisyan also said in his message that he prays to God to lead Iran toward development, peace and humanitarian feelings.
Tehran's Prelacy Council also sent messages of congratulation to President Mohammad Khatami and senior officials on the occasion.

QOM, Nov. 14--Association of Instructors of Qom Theological School expressed condolences to the Palestinian nation on the death of President of Palestinian Authority (PNA) Yasser Arafat.
"We express our condolences to the Muslim world, to the strong nation of Palestine, to those striving to liberate Palestinian territories and the Holy Qods on the death of Abu Ammar, his excellency Yasser Arafat," said a statement from the Theological Center, IRNA reported.
"Mr. Arafat fought for the liberation of Palestine for half a century, he suffered the worst physical and psychological pressures as the leader of the Palestinian nation and he never laid down his arm," the Qom Seminary said.
Arafat reached an agreement with the Quartet--the United Nations, United States, the European Union and Russia--to establish the state of Palestine by the year 2005.
"He never ignored the prestige and dignity of the Palestinian nation in his diplomatic talks. He fought hard to save the state of Palestine," it said.
The association hoped that the new Palestinian leaders would reinforce national solidarity and, God willing, serve the lofty goals of Yasser Arafat and the martyrs for liberating Palestine from Israeli occupation.

TEHRAN, Nov. 14--Spokesman of Iran's Hezbollah Party said an election headquarters has been launched by his group for the upcoming presidential election.
Mojtaba Bigdeli also told IRNA that Mohammad Javad Feyz will head the election headquarters. He asserted that in the first phase, members of task teams of nine major Iranian cities were appointed and they also began work on launching the headquarters.
"Tehran, Mashhad, Qom, Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Tabriz, Shiraz, Ahvaz and Karaj are included in this phase," he added.
Commenting on the possibility of introducing a candidate for the next presidential election, Bigdeli said some people have talked about the candidacy of the secretary-general of Iran's Hezbollah Party and others.
"The Central Council of Iran's Hezbollah Party is presently profiling different candidates. It will make the final announcement within the next 10 days," he said.

VIENNA, Austria, Nov. 14--A team of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) inspectors arrived in Tehran and promptly started work late on Saturday, an IAEA spokesperson announced.
The four-member delegation will stay until Nov. 23 in Iran and inspect several nuclear facilities, IRNA reported the spokesperson as saying.
The team will wrap up its inspections two days before a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors here, which will review Tehran's nuclear program.
The nuclear watchdog agency has dispatched more than 50 teams to Iran so far, marking a record in its operations, with its director general Mohamed ElBaradei acknowledging that inspectors found no evidence to show Tehran diverted resources or materials to a weapons program.
Diplomats said Saturday the IAEA has delayed until Monday the release of a report on Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is aimed at power generation.
The postponement was the second in a week to give Iran and the Europeans more time to reach an agreement, which they say could spare a potential showdown.
The report will sum up IAEA's investigation of Iran's nuclear program since February 2003 for the agency's 35-nation board to decide the nature of Iran's activities.
The United States alleges that Tehran's nuclear program is a front for an atomic weapons program, and wants the world to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. But the EU trio of Germany, France and Britain pursue a different line, trying to strike a deal with Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment activities against a package of economic incentives.
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Saturday negotiations with the European Union over the nuclear deal are in their final stages.
Iranian officials reportedly handed their reply late Thursday on the proposed deal to the three countries and the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana.
"We did our utmost to cooperate with the agency and build the needed confidence. Iran can take no further measures," Kharrazi said.
The Iranian foreign minister said "the time is ripe to shelve Iran's case".

Masoud Jazayeri

TEHRAN, Nov. 14--Iranian universities need serious reforms at the managerial levels, an official of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps said Saturday.
Referring to recent violent incidents at the University of Science and Technology in Tehran, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri added that many attempts have been made in the past several years to reduce the presence of pious and revolutionary forces in universities, IRNA reported.
"This scenario is closely linked to the management of universities," he added.
Jazayeri noted that although all plots against universities were not completely successful, their negative influences on universities cannot be undermined either. "Of course, some university managers have greatly contributed to neutralizing the cultural onslaught launched against universities. However, some sectors of the universities need reform," he noted. Jazayeri denounced any attempt to create chaos in universities.
"If no transparency is made with regard to the recent unrest of University of Science and Technology, similar incidents will certainly take place in future," he said.Following the unrest of November 2 to protest against a roundtable attended by prominent political activists, namely Mostafa Tajzadeh and Ebrahim Yazdi, the university's chancellor was beaten and taken hostage.
However, upon a request by President Mohammad Khatami, Dr. Mohammad Taqi Salehi withdrew his resignation and returned to the university.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Nov. 14--Syrian Interior Minister Major General Ghazi Kan'an will take part in the meeting of the interior ministers of Iraq's neighboring countries to be held in Tehran, it was reported here Saturday.
Iran's Ambassador to Damascus Mohammad Reza Baqeri submitted to Kan'an an invitation from his Iranian counterpart Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari to attend the meeting, IRNA reported.
The two-day meeting of the interior ministers of Iraq's neighboring states is scheduled in Tehran from November 30 to December 2, 2004.
In his meeting with the Syrian minister, Baqeri referred to the disturbed and insecure situation in Iraq which have inflicted damage on the region, the neighboring countries in particular. He stressed the need for the collaboration of the global community to end the critical situation in Iraq.