TEHRAN, Dec. 14--President Mohammad Khatami stressed the need for safeguarding the dignity of people from different strata of the society and expressed sorrow that certain newspapers and forums tarnish the reputation of people in the name of defending values.
Speaking in the second gathering to honor women promoting Qur'anic studies and research here on Tuesday, Khatami stressed the need for embellishing the society with Qur'anic teachings and values.
He hoped that the reputations of people are not harmed during political and judicial disputes.
He pointed to the highest possible value attached by the Qur'an to human lives and quoted one of the Islamic authorities who voiced concern and sadness over the death of homeless people on the streets.
The president stressed the need for introducing fresh interpretations of the Qur'an and outlined the constructive role of women in educating people from Islamic viewpoints.
Meanwhile, speaking in a meeting of governor generals and parliament members of the three Khorasan provinces on Monday, Khatami emphasized that the administrative division of Khorasan province aimed to eliminate deprivation, promote fair distribution of resources, strengthen infrastructures and improve people's living standards.
Referring to some of the concerns regarding the division of Khorasan province, the resident said, "The people of the province are all spiritually highly attached to the holy city of Mashhad and the sacred shrine of the eight infallible Imam Ali ibn Musa Ar-Reza (AS)."
He maintained that "the parliamentarians' initiative of not dissolving the Assembly of Khorasan Province MPs is a praiseworthy move and the presence of the three newly established provinces' top administrative officials in your assembly can also be beneficial for people of KhorasanÓ.
Khatami said the North Khorasan and South Khorasan provinces are currently less developed and special attention should be paid to various aspects of development in those provinces.
A number of MPs then briefed the president about various problems faced by their constituencies, including the prevailing drought and the problem of supplying drinking water, lack of proper roads and railroads, the need to boost mining and industrial sectors, as well as academic and higher education shortcomings prior to his address.

Chairman of State Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (r) in talks with Armenia's Ambassador in Tehran Gegham Garibjanian, Dec. 14. (IRNA Photo)

TEHRAN, Dec. 14--Chairman of State Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani here on Tuesday called for further expansion of Tehran-Yerevan relations in all fields.
In a meeting with ArmeniaÕs Ambassador in Tehran Gegham Garibjanian, Rafsanjani called for implementation of agreements reached between the two sides, IRNA reported.
Stressing the importance of the project to transfer Iranian gas to Armenia, he said the implementation of this project will help Iran gain access to an appropriate market.
Calling for settlement of the prevailing dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, he expressed hope that peace and stability will be established in the entire region through the all-out cooperation among all regional states.
ÒIran and Armenia share various historical and cultural commonalities,Ó he said, urging the two states to further mobilize their potentials to boost cooperation.
For his part, the Armenian envoy praised Iran's foreign policy and said the Islamic Republic, among the regional states, enjoys a sound and stable policy.
Appreciating Iran's efforts in settling regional crises, Garibjanian said a powerful and developed Iran will benefit the entire region.
He further lauded Iran's economic achievements since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

LONDON, Dec. 14--Former British foreign secretary Robin Cook has joined a group of his former colleagues in urging the US to support the EU deal with Iran.
In an article for the Washington Post on Monday, Cook and seven other former European and American foreign ministers used the example of Iran to express concern "about the current state of transatlantic relations and the effect it is having on our ability to join together to address a number of global challenges."
"The Bush administration should support the recent agreement the three European countries negotiated with the Iranians as an important first step," said the letter, which included the signature of former US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, IRNA reported.
"Washington should put its full support behind this diplomatic effort and consider launching commercial and diplomatic engagement with Iran," they said.
Other foreign ministers making the unique call included Hubert Vedrine of France, Italy's Lamberto Dini, Lloyd Axworthy of Canada, Niels Helveg Petersen of Denmark, Spain's Ana Palacio and Jozias van Aartsen of The Netherlands.
Their article included an outline of a number of "ideas on obtaining full cooperation from the Iranians" and said that they believed "genuine transatlantic cooperation is the only path to viable solutions."
At the same time, they said, the West must assure Iran it "does not seek to deny Iran the right to a peaceful civilian nuclear energy program under the necessary safeguards."
Their article also called on major nuclear suppliers--Russia, the US and Europe--to "provide a firm guarantee to supply fresh reactor fuel" for Iran's civilian nuclear power program.
This supply should also be retrieved and disposed "in exchange for Iran's agreement to permanently forswear its own nuclear fuel-cycle capabilities, including enrichment, reprocessing, uranium conversion and heavy-water (reactor) production," it said.
Meanwhile, the European Union Foreign Ministers' Council Monday welcomed the verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran had voluntarily suspended all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.
The council, meeting in Brussels, in a statement said the verification by the IAEA paves the way for negotiations with Iran on a long-term agreement.
The statement confirmed that the EU would resume negotiations with Iran on a draft EU-Iran Trade and Cooperation Agreement together with parallel negotiations on a political agreement.

Mohammad Sohofi

TEHRAN, Dec. 14--An Iranian official said here Monday that the Egyptian mass media should not let the propaganda of Zionists to harm improvement of ties between Iran and Egypt.
Speaking to IRNA, Deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance for press and publications affairs, Mohammad Sohofi, called on the Egyptian mass media to not let improving ties between Iran and Egypt, boosted after the visits of Iranian and Egyptian presidents in Genevas IT conference, to be marred by suspicious moves masterminded by Zionists.
The Egyptian media should consider the realities and help overcome the will of Zionists instead of turning to into the means for escalating a psychological warfare against the world of Islam and Muslim unity, he said.
Referring to recent spying allegations made by the Egyptian attorney general against an Iranian national, Sohofi said the unfounded allegations and pre-planned scenario against Iran have emerged at a time when the Muslim world is in need of unity.
The deep-rooted cultural ties between Iranian and Egyptian nations will never let such suspicious moves undermine the will of the leaders of the two nations, he said.

GENEVA, Dec. 14--The UN refugee agency is closing several camps for Iraqi refugees in Iran because more than half the 202,000 registered Iraqis have left the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Some 42,000 of the 50,000 refugees who were staying in camps have returned home to Iraq, Jennifer Pagonis, a spokeswoman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said.
Six out of the 22 camps in Iran are empty and another two are expected to be closed by the end of this month, AFP reported.
ÒOnly a total of 95,000 Iraqi refugees now remain in neighboring Iran, despite the UNHCR's attempts to discourage the refugees from returning home because of insecurity and violence in Iraq,Ó she added.
"UNHCR does not encourage Iraqis abroad to repatriate now, but we do provide assistance to refugees in some neighboring countries who are determined to go back despite the difficult conditions inside Iraq," she told journalists.
Most of the Iraqis have returned home by their own means, but the UNHCR said it tried to provide help to resettle the returnees through the Iraqi government and local groups.
Iran still hosts the largest single Iraqi refugee population in the world, according to the UNHCR.