TEHRAN, Jan. 26--President Mohammad Khatami said on Tuesday the Islamic Revolution in Iran was one of the greatest in the contemporary history.
Speaking in a meeting with members of the headquarters to commemorate the Ten-Day-Dawn event marking Imam Khomeini's return from exile to the victory of Islamic Revolution, Khatami noted that certain unforgettable moments in the history of every nation determine the fate of its people, IRNA reported.
The president added that the Islamic Revolution was one such moment for the Iranian nation and stressed that it has many unique characteristics.
Describing popularity as one of the most important features of the Islamic Revolution, he said it never relied on any military force.
He also referred to spiritual power as another characteristic of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Khatami stressed that the Islamic Revolution acknowledges all norms of the contemporary world such as the rule of democracy in a way that the president, lawmakers and even the leader of the country, although indirectly, are elected by the people.

Abdullah Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan. 26--Malaysia, which chairs the world's biggest grouping of Muslim countries, has warned that the United States will stand alone in the world if it were to attack Iran.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also said upon his return from a trip to Paris late Tuesday, that the world community, including allies of the United States, is opposed to any such action by the superpower, AFP reported.
"Europe does not agree, the United States' close ally Britain does not agree, and I believe no one else will agree," said Abdullah, who chairs the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference.
"The Islamic world will definitely not agree to an attack on Iran. Talks should instead be held and made a priority, rather than military action."
US President George W. Bush--who once lumped Iran in an "axis of evil" with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and North Korea--said last week he could not rule out using force if Tehran failed to rein in its nuclear plans.
Iran, which denies wishing to acquire a nuclear bomb, in November announced the suspension of its nuclear enrichment program following protracted talks with Britain, France and Germany.
In mid-December, the three countries again took up talks with Tehran to try to conclude a long-term deal whereby Iranians would convince the world that it has noo ambitions of producing a nuclear weapon.

TEHRAN, Jan. 26--Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on Wednesday that recent Israeli allegations regarding Iran's nuclear activities are 'baseless' and aimed at misleading world public opinion.
The Foreign Ministry's Press and Information Department quoted Asefi in a statement as saying the accusations are intended to deviate world attention from the Zionist regime's own nuclear activities, IRNA reported.
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres this week challenged the international community to galvanize itself against Iran's nuclear ambitions while the chief of Mossad (the Israeli spy agency) warned of Iran having reached the "point of no return" in its nuclear activities.
"The unfounded claims of Israeli officials are made to deviate world attention from Israel's organized terror activities and efforts to further strengthen its nuclear power," he said.
To date, Israel refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and put its nuclear activities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, but it brazenly and maliciously tries to portray Iran's peaceful nuclear activities as a threat to the world.
Asefi further said that recent statements of an Israeli official accusing Iran of trying to hamper the resumption of peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli regime was a "vain scenario" aimed at justifying the numerous crises of its own doing and the failure to solve the Palestinian problem.
"Israel's continued trampling of the rights of the Palestinian people on flimsy excuses cannot wipe out the roots of their struggle or weaken their resistance and the Palestinians will be eventually vindicated," Asefi said.

Brigadier General Hassan Firouzabadi

TEHRAN, Jan. 26--Head of the Armed Forces' Headquarters Brigadier General Hassan Firouzabadi said late Tuesday should the enemy strike, the army will respond as quickly and as decisively as possible.
"The Armed Forces are fully ready to give a quick and decisive response to the enemy in case the country comes under attack," he told a group of officials in charge of organizing the ceremonies marking the Ten-Day Dawn event to mark the 27th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
According to ISNA, Firouzabadi said the fact is that conditions in both Iraq and Afghanistan have gone out of control and disgraced Washington, leaving Bush Jr. deranged and helpless.
"The US started both wars under the pretext of fighting terrorism and spread of weapons of mass destruction. Now the failure to arrest Osama bin Laden, a drastic rise in poppy cultivation as well as sharp increase in unemployment and poverty in Afghanistan, daily news on maltreatment of Iraqi civilians and increased insecurity throughout the world have brought shame on Washington," he said. The commander also said while Bush Jr. and the White House try to justify military conflicts as defense of human rights and democracy, inhumane crimes against inmates at Guantanamo and Abu Gharib prisons have appalled people all over the world.
"The dubious silent by the world media on the failure of US to find WMDs in Iraq is highly questionable," Firouzabadi said, adding that the US is diverting public opinion about its failures by accusing Iran of seeking to produce nuclear weapons.
Firouzabadi also said the US is fiercely pursuing its energy interests in the Middle East and is so much fearful of growing Islamic tendencies in the World that it has become blind to realities.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan. 26--Three committees will review topics of an upcoming meeting of expert commission of member-states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, deputy foreign minister for international and legal affairs said.
Gholamali Khoshrou also told IRNA on Wednesday that it was decided in the 10th OIC Summit that an expert commission should be set up to adopt strategies for facilitating Muslims' confrontation with the problems of the 21st century.
He enumerated the main topics of the OIC experts' meeting as revising OIC's secretariat, strategies for promotion of cooperation amongst member-states for securing welfare of Muslims and reviewing their problems.
OIC experts' meeting will be held in Putrajaya during Jan. 27-29.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will deliver a speech at the annual OIC meeting.
Representatives from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Sudan, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Kazakhstan, Senegal, Yemen, Malaysia, Gambia, Qatar, Morocco and Nigeria will be attending the meeting.

VIENNA, Austria, Jan. 26--The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the European Union will begin within weeks in a European country, probably in Switzerland, said an Iranian diplomat here on Wednesday.
"Iran and the EU will proceed with their talks in a positive atmosphere and expectations," the Iranian diplomat with the International Atomic Energy Agency, told IRNA.
"The two sides are satisfied with the result of earlier talks and have made progress," he added.
He also refuted the claim made by Associated Press that these talks have reached a dead-end, saying that "the claim is baseless. Both sides have made achievements in the talks."
He, however, said there are disagreements in any negotiations and that is natural, adding that the representatives from Iran and the EU have reached agreement on certain issues and made effort to reach agreement over other issues through continuation of talks. "The Iranian and EU representatives will hold the new round of talks in a European city, most probably in Geneva, Switzerland," he added.
Talks between Iran and the EU trio (Germany, France and Britain) have neutralized the US threats and propaganda against Iran, and scuttled US plans to refer Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council.

Yakin Erturk

TEHRAN, Jan. 26--United Nations Commission on Human Rights Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Yakin Erturk will visit Iran on an official mission from January 30 to February 6, 2005.
According to a press release of the United Nations Information Centre received on Wednesday, the special rapporteur was invited by the government and will meet government officials, women's groups, academies, non-governmental organizations, individuals and the press during her visit, IRNA reported.
Erturk will meet with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Center for Women's Participation, Ministry of Interior and the judiciary, among others.
The special rapporteur will also travel to one or two provinces during her visit. There will also be a press conference on the last day of her visit.
The mandate of the special rapporteur on violence against women includes transmitting urgent appeals and communications to states regarding alleged cases of violence against women, undertaking fact-finding country visits and submitting annual thematic reports to the UN Commission on Human Rights.