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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 5:18
Sunrise: 6:46
Noon: 11:50
Evening: 17:14
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Weather Guide
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SUN |
MON |
Tehran: |
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High: |
17oC |
17oC |
Low: |
6oC |
5oC |
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Athens |
5 |
5 |
Ankara |
-3 |
-12 |
Paris |
1 |
6 |
New Delhi |
12 |
12 |
Rome |
1 |
2 |
Riyadh |
17 |
18 |
Frankfurt |
-2 |
-2 |
Cairo |
15 |
13 |
Kuwait City |
15 |
15 |
Karachi |
17 |
18 |
Copenhagen |
-2 |
0 |
London |
0 |
6 |
Moscow |
-10 |
-15 |
Madrid |
1 |
2 |
Vienna |
-3 |
0 |
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Identification
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Published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Address:
Iran Cultural & Press Institute, #212 Khorramshahr Avenue Tehran/Iran
Managing Director: Mohammad T. Roghaniha
Executive Editor: Amin Sabooni
Editorial Dept. Tel: 8755761-2
Editorial Dept. Fax: 8761869
Advertising Dept. Tel: 8753119, 8757702, 8733764
Internet Address:
www.iran-daily.com
E-mail Address:
iran-daily@iran-daily.com
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Khatami Inaugurates South Pars 1 Gas Plant
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A general view of Phase 1 of the South Pars gas field in the southern Iranian port of Assalouyeh which was inaugurated by President Mohammad Khatami, Nov. 20 (ISNA Photo)
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ASSALOUYEH, Bushehr,
Nov. 20--Iran brought on line a new phase of a colossal gas project, implemented on this Persian Gulf port, with President Mohammad Khatami hailing it as "a great honor" for the nation.
During the inaugural ceremony, Khatami said, "The inauguration of Phase 1 of South Pars is a great honor in the country's economic and industrial arena, but the bigger honor is that its construction work was carried out by Iranian engineers, designers and managers," IRNA reported.
Phase 1 of the South Pars, a 1.181-billion-dollar scheme to build a gas refining plant, was carried out by local entity Petropars, to deliver 25 million cubic meters of natural gas daily as well as 40,000 barrels of gas condensates on top of 200 tons of sulfur. The plant is hoped to annually earn Iran $1 billion.
The South Pars gas field, which is set to increase Iran's gas exports, straddles the border between Qatari and Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf.
The field is estimated to contain around 14.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, equal to 7 percent of the world's proven reserves and roughly 50 percent of Iran's.
Iran's gas reserves, estimated at 812 trillion cubic feet and accounting for 15.8 percent of the world's proven gas reserves, are only the second largest, exceeded by those of Russia.
Most of the sub-fields have been awarded for development, with each phase attracting around $1 billion in foreign investment.
South Pars is being developed in 30 phases over at least 25 years, eventually producing 25,000 billion cubic feet of gas per day and 1 million barrels of condensate per day.
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Leader Grants Amnesty
TEHRAN, Nov. 20--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Saturday granted clemency to some prisoners and reduced the sentences of some others.
Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Sharoudi had proposed this to the leader, who in turn agreed to the proposal according to Article 110 of the constitution.
Some 1,053 prisoners were granted clemency or had sentences reduced on the occasion marking Eid-ul-Fitr.
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US Wants EU3 To Act Tough
VIENNA, Austria, Nov. 20--The United States has called on Britain, France and Germany to send a "stern message" to Iran to stop producing the uranium feedstuff gas that can be used to make nuclear weapons, a US official told AFP.
"We told the Europeans that we consider this to be really an act of bad faith and to deliver a stern message to Iran that they must stop this," the official said.
The official said the United States was waiting to see "what kind of message the Europeans will send," with the message to be separate from a resolution the European trio was drafting for a key meeting in Vienna Thursday of the UN nuclear watchdog on Iran's nuclear program.
The US State Department said earlier in Washington that it was seriously concerned by new reports that Iran was producing the uranium feedstuff that could be used to make nuclear weapons just days before it is due to introduce a promised ban on all such enrichment activities.
The State Department was not able to substantiate accusations that Iran had converted 37 tons of uranium yellowcake into an unknown amount of uranium hexafluoride gas, but said that if the allegations were true they would further erode Tehran's already shaky credibility on the matter.
"We believe we are on very, very solid ground in pointing to a clandestine effort by Iran to develop weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems," Adam Ereli, a State Department spokesman, told a news briefing.
Uranium hexafluoride gas is used as the feed to make enriched uranium. Separately, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, a former NATO boss, challenged the US allegations.
"At this point, the Iranians do not have any nuclear weapons, so it's impossible to use the missiles with nuclear weapons," he said during a visit to Austria.
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UN Staff Blast Officials, Spare Annan
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 20--The UN staff union on Friday passed a resolution highly critical of the world body's senior management while declining to pin the blame directly on Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
But amid frustration bubbling since the deadly attack on the UN's Baghdad compound last year, the union said senior managers had "eroded the trust of staff" by repeatedly clearing top UN officials of wrongdoing, AFP reported.
The move came just days after Annan pardoned the head of the UN's internal oversight office, Dileep Nair, who had been targeted with allegations of harassment and favoritism.
The union resolution said the enquiry into Nair's case was "insufficient and constitutes a failure to properly investigate," and that it underlined "a lack of integrity, particularly at the higher levels of the organization".
Union president Rosemarie Waters said Annan, nevertheless, had the support of the staff union, telling reporters: "He is in a very difficult job under very difficult circumstances. He is doing his best."
That public declaration of support came amid heavy media scrutiny after a leaked draft resolution called to send a vote of no confidence to Annan following a string of scandals that have plagued the UN chief in recent months.
Another top official, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, was cleared by Annan in July after a female member of his staff complained that he had sexually harassed her.
Earlier this year, Annan declined the resignation of his deputy secretary general, Louise Frechette, after a damning report found important security lapses surrounding the August 19, 2003, bombing of the UN's Baghdad offices.
That attack killed 22 people and injured more than 100, and claimed the life of the UN's top official in Iraq at the time, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
According to Friday's resolution, the staff union "notes with grave concern the trend of exoneration of senior managers in a series of violations that have serious implications and have further eroded the trust of staff in the senior management".
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Top Judicial Official:
All Probes Welcome
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Ali Razini
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TEHRAN, Nov. 20--The high number of complaints from the public against government institutions is no cause for concern, a senior official of the judiciary was quoted as saying Saturday.
Ali Razini, head of the High Administrative Court, said he is unconcerned because "executive officials are not innocent, and it is likely that at times things get out of their hands. Moreover, there is also no intention (to do wrong)."
The cleric went on to say that government officials may make decisions "which are against the law and the Sharia (Islamic Law), or may be outside the realm of their duty," ISNA reported.
Responding to the recent debate about parliamentary probes into all state and government bodies without exception, Razini said that "we welcome any investigation by Majlis into the performance of the judiciary, and would be very glad if and when it takes place."
Razini, who has the final word on litigation between the people and all government organizations, recalled the logistical and other shortages of the court, which he said was directly affecting its performance.
"We will be very happy if parliament digs into our activities simply because we have a whole lot of problems, including shortage of funds to pay the staff, lack of adequate space and buildings ... We will embrace any probe as it will help expose and resolve our problems."
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Call for Resisting American Offensive in Iraq
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Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi
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DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 20--An influential Muslim cleric said on Saturday that fighting occupation forces in Iraq was a religious duty and described a US-led offensive against rebel-held cities in the country as an "immoral assault".
"All Islamic schools agree on the duty to resist, especially if the occupying aggressor does not heed laws, morality or international conventions," Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi, an outspoken Egyptian-born Sunni cleric based in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, told Arab satellite television Al Jazeera, Reuters reported.
He also condemned the shooting dead of a wounded and unarmed Iraqi in a mosque by a US Marine in the western town of Fallujah, the scene of fierce fighting in the past week. The US military has opened an investigation into the shooting, which was caught on videotape by an NBC television crew.
"The aggressor does not respect religious sanctities, raids mosques and his soldiers kill the wounded who take refuge there," he said. "The aggressor does not respect humanity."
The US-led offensive on Fallujah was part of a drive to improve security in Iraq and deprive insurgents of safe havens ahead of crucial parliamentary elections set for January.
Qaradawi, dean of an Islamic college in Qatar, has condemned Muslim militant attacks, the killing of hostages in Iraq as well as US policies toward the Muslim world.
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Paris Club Agrees
To Forgive 80% of Iraq Debt
BERLIN, Nov. 20--German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said on Saturday the Paris Club had reached a framework agreement to forgive 80 percent of Iraqi debt.
The breakthrough on Iraq's crippling 120-billion-dollar debt came after major government creditors groped for common ground in Paris this week on easing the country's debt in a bid to keep a promise to resolve the question by year-end, AFP reported.
A third of the debt is held by Paris Club members, notably France, Germany, Russia and Britain.
Eichel said the debt forgiveness plan would have three stages: 30 percent of debt would be forgiven immediately, 30 percent in connection with an International Monetary Fund program, and a further 20 percent conditioned on the successful implementation of the IMF plan.
His remarks confirmed that an agreement had been reached in the Paris Club to forgive 80 percent of Iraqi debt, as was indicated by a Group-7 official, who asked not to be named, earlier Saturday.
But the German finance minister contradicted the G7 official's statement that the debt would be forgiven "without conditions" by outlining the gradual three-step process that conditions a further 20 percent of debt forgiveness on Iraq's successful completion of the IMF program.
No further details were immediately available.
A formal announcement was expected later from the Paris Club, an informal group of 19 advanced industrialized countries.
The club had a December 31 target date, agreed on last spring by Group of Eight leaders, to reach an agreement to ease Iraq's debt burden.
France, Germany and Russia had agreed to halve Iraq's debt, while the United States and Britain, whose troops went to war to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003 and still remain in the country, are seeking a 95-percent reduction.
Iraq's debt to other countries, in particular its Arab neighbors of Persian Gulf and former Soviet-bloc states such as Bulgaria and Romania, amounts to about $60 billion.
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European Prestige At Stake
By Nawab Khan, Brussels
Europeans are in a mood of euphoria that for the first time after WW II they are close to achieving an international diplomatic scoop without the support and backing of the Americans.
Messages of support and congratulations began pouring from European capitals soon after the announcement last week that an agreement had been reached between the three big players in the European Union, - France, Germany and the UK - and Iran to assure the world of the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana hailed the deal as the opening of a new chapter in relations between Europe and Iran.
The 25-member Union is offering Iran closer economic and political cooperation as soon as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verifies that Tehran has voluntarily suspended its uranium enrichment activity.
Under the agreement, Brussels is committed not to support calls for sending Iran to the UN Security Council to the great chagrin of the United States.
Europe's foreign policy was badly bruised due to deep divisions over Iraq and American unilateral and interventionist policies.
"Political values and global priorities of the US and Europe are diverging rather than converging. Clinging to an outdated special relationship is to stay in denial of that uncomfortable truth," commented ex-British foreign secretary Robin Cook in the 'Guardian Weekly'.
This time the Europeans want to go it alone and get things done correctly and it appears that they are taking the moral high ground over Iran.
Europe's prestige is at stake. Another foreign policy debacle could prove fatal to the EU's aspirations for an effective global player.
"Iran is the biggest test case so far for the EU's WMD strategy," says Stephen Pullinger from Safeworld, a London-based campaign group.
Moreover, developments across the Atlantic are ringing alarms bells in the European continent.
The widespread dismay in Europe over the reelection of George Bush was compounded by the appointment of an hardliner like Condoleezza Rice as the new secretary of state.
Europe is wary that now hawks in the Bush White House will take control of the US foreign policy and endanger all hopes of a peaceful settlement to protracted conflict in the Middle East.
A breakthrough with Iran would mean a big victory for the European bloc's much-proclaimed policy of dialogue and diplomacy, as opposed to the American method of armed intervention, boycott and sanctions.
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