Mehdi Karroubi

TEHRAN, Feb. 2--Former parliamentary speaker, Mehdi Karroubi, said the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini, advised state officials to pay close attention to peopleÕs views and criticisms be they flawed, as evidenced in his famous maxim: Òthe peopleÕs votes countÓ, ISNA reported.
In a meeting with members the Islamic Associations of Independent Students on Wednesday, Karroubi said the Imam always stressed on creating a healthy and competitive election atmosphere and was a firm believer in meritocracy.
Karroubi, also a presidential contender, said if he were to win the election, his cabinet would mostly consist of the systemÕs sympathizers.
ÒI will try to incorporate their views in all national matters and believe that problems cannot be solved through narrow-mindedness, monopoly and nepotism; rather such behaviors lead to misuse of potentials and capabilities,Ó he said.
He also promised to establish a two-way relationship between the administration and the university, and will try his best to enhance this relationship.
ÒStrength, firmness and proficiency will be the main criteria for choosing my managers,Ó he said.
Karroubi confirmed hearing about Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref also considering to run in the June 17 elections.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 2--Pakistan on Wednesday rejected a report which alleged Islamabad is hosting a terrorist group against Iran.
"Pakistan has taken no such steps and will not allow its soil to be abused against Iran by any foreign element," Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Khan told IRNA on phone.
"Iran-Pakistan relations are based on a firm foundation," he said, noting that the report released by the United Press International "is not correct and has no credibility".
UPI's report, dated January 26, alleged that Islamabad was helping a team from the terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) in Pakistan's Balochistan province areas to act against the Iranian government. It charged that PakistanÕs President General Pervez Musharraf allowed the terror group to gather Iran's military intelligence for the US from the Pakistani province.
When asked about the motive behind such reports, the Foreign Office spokesman maintained, "such fanciful stories are peddled to spread disinformation".
In recent weeks, there has been a chain of reports in the Western media about Islamabad helping the United States against Iran.
The officials in the Pakistani government and military have strongly rejected such reports, saying these were aimed at creating a wedge between two brotherly nations.

LONDON, Feb. 2--Iran remains excluded from 137 countries that have received military training in the UK in the past three years, according to official data.
In a written reply to parliament published on Wednesday, Defense Minister Ivior Caplin detailed more than 12,000 foreign military personnel receiving training at UK establishments since 2002, including from countries involved in conflicts and wars, IRNA reported.
The list excluded Iran, but included many from countries subjected to UK arms sanctions like Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, China, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iraq, Libya, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Yugoslavia.
The ban on Iran receiving military training caused controversy during the 1980-88 Iraq-imposed war, when it was revealed that the UK was training Iraqi pilots but not offering the same facilities to Iran.
Britain's sanctions regime against Iran has also been found to be based on a national arms embargo, unlike the overwhelming majority imposed by international or regional organizations.

Valiollah Shoja-Pourian

TEHRAN, Feb. 2--Head of a Majlis team probing into the performance of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting protested to the closure of IRIBÕs dossier and requested Majlis Presiding Board to do something, IRNA reported.
Valiollah Shoja-Pourian also said on Wednesday that IRIB tried to portray the Sixth MajlisÕ attempt to investigate as a political move at that time.
Referring to his correspondence with top officials in facilitating the probe, Shoja-Pourian asserted that the Majlis investigative team prepared a 200-page report that showed IRIBÕs non-accountability of 525 million tomans.
He noted that the judiciary should have prioritized IRIBÕs dossier.
ÒThe judiciary neither prioritized nor expedited IRIBÕs dossier. A branch of the judiciary eventually was commissioned to deal with IRIBÕs dossier. Three judicial experts prepared a 150-page report that contained main points of the probe,Ó he added.
Shoja-Pourian requested Majlis Presiding Board and judiciary chief to follow up IRIBÕs dossier and inform the people about their conclusions.

MOSCOW, Feb. 2--Russia plans to launch later this year Iran's first two satellites which were built to gather intelligence from space, the business daily Kommersant reported Wednesday.
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed a directive permitting the Russian Defense Ministry to launch the two satellites, named Mesbah and Sinah-1, from the Plesetsk launch site in the far north of the country, the daily said.
A copy of the government directive obtained by AFP confirmed that Russia planned to launch the two Iranian satellites as well as six others from countries, including China, Britain, Norway, Germany, Japan and the European Space Agency.
The three-point directive, dated January 24, also stipulated that "foreign specialists" would be given access for the launches to the Plesetsk site, traditionally a closed military facility.
Russia has made no secret of its plans for commercial development of the Plesetsk space launch site as an alternative to its Baikonur site which is located in Kazakhstan but which Moscow has retained control since the breakup of the Soviet Union under a long-term lease agreement.
Kommersant said the two Iranian satellites were due to be launched between April and June of this year and said they were designed for "distant examination of the earth's surface," a term the daily said was the common idiom for intelligence gathering.
A government spokesman contacted by AFP was unable to confirm the purpose of the Iranian satellites and the Fradkov directive described them only as built for "scientific purposes".
The satellites were to be launched aboard Russian-built Kosmos-3M rockets and would be placed in a low geostationary orbit, Kommersant said.
Iranian media reported Sunday that Tehran and Moscow had signed a 132-million-dollar contract for construction of a new Iranian telecommunications satellite, the Zohreh (Venus).
That satellite would be used to bolster Tehran's telecommunications infrastructure by handling data, audio and video signals, and is to be operational within two and a half years, the Iranian news agency IRNA said.

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb. 2--European Union and Iran are optimistic that their ongoing negotiations would be successful, according to an Iranian official.
"The EU wants to continue the process of dialogue with us. Both EU and Iran are optimistic that negotiations will be successful," Mohammad Saidi, Atomic Energy Organization of IranÕs (AEOI) vice president for planning and international affairs, told IRNA in an interview in Brussels.
"It will be very good for European countries and for Iran. We can cooperate in the economic field and in promoting security and stability in the region," he said.
Saidi accompanied Gholamreza Aghazadeh, vice president of Iran and head of the AEOI, during a visit to the Belgian capital on Tuesday.
Talks between EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Aghazadeh focused on the process of negotiations between the EU Big 3 and Tehran on Iran's nuclear program and the need for guarantees.
"All the issues are under discussion. All the things are on the table," said Saidi.
"Our nuclear program is an inalienable right, enshrined in the NPT and the right of every country. We should use this right in our country. Iran has a long-term peaceful nuclear program to generate electricity."
Noting that acceleration of the process is necessary for both sides, Saidi said all issues should be resolved very quickly because under EU and Iran agreement there is an item that says both sides should provide the results of their discussion in March.

MOSCOW, Feb. 2--IranÕs Ambassador to Moscow Gholamreza Shafei said on Wednesday the Caspian Sea littoral statesÕ summit expected to be held in Tehran has been postponed since one of the leaders cannot attend the meeting.
Speaking to reporters on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Shafei added that the meeting will be held after the June 17 presidential elections, IRNA reported.
Assessing mutual relations in the domains of politics and economy as positive, he noted that the two countries hold similar views over many regional and international issues, including opposition to a unilateral world.
The Iranian envoy also said that the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Iran is still on the agenda though no definite date has yet been declared.
He said Iran-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Group is expected to convene in the near future and Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel will probably visit Russia soon.
Shafei referred to Russia's interest in joining the Organization of Islamic Conference and said Iran will support the move.