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Tehran Clogged
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More than 3 million vehicles ply TehranÕs streets daily, more than half of which need a parking lot at night.
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TEHRAN, Feb. 26--Tehran’s parking capacity is down to zero level, adding to the troubles of the critical city.
Announcing this, Managing Director of Tehran Municipality’s Engineering and Development Organization Hossein Hadyani said on Saturday this has resulted from an uncontrolled release of new cars into the market each year.
“More than 3 million vehicles ply Tehran’s streets daily, more than half of which need a parking lot at night, far below Tehran’s parking capacity estimated at 500,000-700,000 cars,“ IRNA quoted him as saying.
Noting that expanding the capital’s highway network and building multi-level parking lots are on the agenda of the Tehran Municipality, Hadyani said Tehran City Council has ratified a plan to halt the unrestrained inrush of new brands into the streets.
The official said presently more than 39 million square meters of Tehran’s city space is under pressure due to heavy traffic, indicating the capital’s urgent need for new highways.
Hadyani said Tehran Municipality is capable of building up to 25 km of highways each year while the city needs more than 390 km of highways.
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Ebadi Criticizes Judiciary Bill
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Shirin Ebadi
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TEHRAN,
Feb. 26--Nobel peace price laureate, Shirin Ebadi, disapproved of a judiciary-drafted attorneyship bill and contradicted its awoved intention to enhance lawyers’ independence.
Speaking during a seminar on the independence of the Bar Association, Ebadi said irrespective of the intention, we hereby announce that we are not interested in it, ISNA reported.
Ebadi, who also heads the Center for Defenders of Human Rights, said real independence for a lawyer is having professional freedom without any fear of legal persecution.
In her view, the judiciary’s self-proclaimed authority to screen qualifications of candidates seeking membership in the association’s managerial board is a blatant example of violation of its independence.
“An impartial legal procedure requires impartial court settings as well as knowledgeable, proficient and independent lawyers and non-discriminatory laws,“ she said.
Ebadi said the bill allows the judiciary to launch legal persecution against lawyers which runs against the principle of independence for an attorney.
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Free Elections A Priority
TEHRAN, Feb. 26--Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said his ministry is duty-bound to hold the June 17 presidential election in a healthy atmosphere and in accordance with the Election Law.
Speaking at a gathering of political and social activists in Gorgan, Lari stressed that he will do his best to implement the law during the election.
The minister also said no political current can claim that its candidate will win the presidential race.
Lari noted that election should rely on people and it is the people’s votes that count in the upcoming election.
“We should act according to our legal duty, that is to hold election in a healthy atmosphere and no one should interfere with that,“ he said.
Lari opined that no charismatic element influences the upcoming election and people will only vote for their favored candidates.
He said because of President Mohammad Khatami’s dŽtente policy and concept of Dialogue Among Civilizations, Iran’s image has improved in the international community.
“It is unfair to ignore Khatami’s achievements in the past eight years,“ he added.
Lari pointed out that another achievement of Khatami was formation of city and village councils.
“Councils show people’s participation in decision-making processes and reduction of the government’s role in such decision-making,“ he said.
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Budget Shortages Delay Construction of Shelters
TEHRAN, Feb. 26--Budget shortage has delayed construction of shelters in Tehran’s districts, head of the Center for Management and Prevention of Crisis in Tehran said.
Mazyar Hosseini also told IRNA that all districts in Tehran, especially in the southern area, were supposed to have shelters before the end of the current Iranian year (ending March 20). He said these shelters will house people at a time of need.
“Such shelters, especially at night, reduce casualties during earthquakes. Tehran Municipality is charged with conducting seismological tests on these structures,“ he added.
The official enumerated the main characteristics of such shelters as low construction cost, high anti-quake resistance and their ease of construction.
“Since Iran is a country with a high risk of natural disasters, all governmental institutions should be prepared to deal with these incidents,“ he said.
Commenting on the first popular maneuver of crisis management held in Tehran’s Omid Satellite City, Hosseini said these maneuvers will familiarize people with safety measures during disasters.
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Shamkhani:
Missile Industry Key Deterrent Factor
TEHRAN, Feb. 26--Minister of Defense Vice Admiral Ali Shamkhani said on Saturday the missile industry is the main component of Iran’s deterrent capability.
He made the remarks while inspecting an exhibition on the latest achievements of Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, IRNA reported.
“Today, the enemy is enhancing its military capabilities in different ways,“ Shamkhani said, adding that Iran should not put any limitations on the production and expansion of its defensive power.
He referred to the onset of the Iraq-imposed war (1980-88), saying that Iran only used RPGs and grenade launchers at that time to defend itself against Iraqi attacks.
“Iran’s Defense Ministry has relied on modern technology and knowledge,“ Shamkhani said, adding that Iran has become more powerful to guard the country vigorously.
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2 Cities Shake
TEHRAN, Feb. 26--Earthquakes measuring 4.1 and 3.7 on the Richter scale hit the cities of Ravar in the southeastern province of Kerman and Anarak in the central province of Isfahan respectively late Friday.
According to the seismographic base of Tehran University’s Geophysics Institute, the quake in Ravar occurred at 23:24 hours local time (1954 GMT), IRNA reported.
The quake was epicentered on the outskirts of Ravar, measuring 31.39 in latitude and 56.68 in longitude.
The earthquake in the city of Anarak occurred at 23:44 hours local time (2014 GMT).
No reports of casualty or damage to property have been received so far.
Meanwhile, two aftershocks hit the town of Zarand in Kerman province around 18:00 hours local time (1430 GMT) on Friday.
According to Tehran’s seismographic base, the aftershocks measuring 4.1 and 3.8 on the Richter scale occurred at 13:23 hours local time (0953 GMT) and 17:02 hours local time (1332 GMT) respectively.
A strong quake, measuring 6.4 on the open-ended Richter scale, struck the town of Zarand at 05:55 hours local time (0225 GMT) early Tuesday, killing over 600 people and injuring hundreds of others.
Some 49 aftershocks with an average magnitude of 3.5 on Richter scale have been registered in Zarand since last Tuesday.
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Iraqi Bandits Kill 2 Border Guards
ARVANDKENAR, Khuzestan, Feb. 26--Two Iranian border guards were martyred and three others injured in an ambush by Iraqi bandits near the Arvand Roud waterway in this southwestern province, an informed source said on Friday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source told IRNA that the five border guards were shot by Iraqi bandits from Iraqi territory while patrolling the waterway early Friday.
Major Mansour Jamshidi and Sergeant Asadollah Faqih were martyred on the spot, the source said, adding that the injured, Warrant Officer Khosro Biravand, Sergeant Farzad Nikoo and Private Mohammad Reza Sheikhi, were rushed to a hospital in the provincial port city of Abadan, north of Arvandkenar, after reaching the shore, the source said.
The source claimed it was the first conflict between the Iraqi bandits and the Iranian border guards after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
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Warning
SOBH-E EQTESAD: Recent quake of Zarand is a warning for officials and urges them to take precautionary measures more seriously into account. Government spends a large amount of budget on compensation for damages caused by natural disasters. Although government can easily take charge of reinforcement of buildings, it has failed to do so as yet. More regretting is the fact that the government does not even cooperate with cabinet members for renovating old buildings. For example, Housing Minister Ali Abdolalizadeh stated that the cabinet has opposed his ministry’s plan for reconstruction of cities. If Housing Ministry is not qualified for giving expert comments on urban considerations, then who is?
Opportunity
MARDOMSALARI: It is a norm in international politics that opportunities should be utilized in the most optimum manner. In other words, any country that uses opportunities effectively is ultimately the winner. Iran, as a strategic and important country in the Middle East, is not an exception to this general rule. A good opportunity that has presently come Iran’s way is the victory of Shiites in the Iraqi general elections. Iranian officials can make the best use from the affinity between Iranian and Iraqi Shiites. Tehran should hop on this opportunity through diplomatic channels. However, foreign powers do not like to see Iran and Iraq develop closer bonds.
Unfair
AFARINESH: Services provided by medical staff are not comparable with services provided by other sectors of the society. This is because medical services deal with people’s physical and mental conditions. Contemplating on what physicians and their colleagues offer the people helps us realize the importance of physicians and paramedics because they are responsible for protecting people’s lives. Unfortunately, the people realize the importance of health sector whenever they are affected by an illness or when they get the flu. In face, a physician who cures an engineer or a teacher is essentially helping the country’s economy. Hence, it is unfair to forget the medical staff and remember them only when a difficulty arises.
Significance
HAMBASTEGI: Next presidential election slated for June 17 seems to be more vital than all the previous presidential races all angles considered. Its significance is mainly attributed to the fact that the international community is excessively relying on the result of the event. Currently, Europeans and Russia have become closer to the US with regard to Iran’s nuclear dossier. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow and Washington have agreed on the main issues concerning the nuclear activities of Iran and North Korea. Putin’s comment has actually disappointed some Iranian diplomats who have been eyeing Russia’s support for the Islamic system at various international fora.
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From: gistearth@charter.net To: Iran-daily@iran-daily.com Subject: Democratic Russia Date: 2005/02/23 07:43
Putin thinks it is acceptable to export earth-destroying nuclear technology when they have left catastrophic radiation in the Arctic with submarine accidents and irresponsibly dumping of old reactor cores in the White Sea. They must retrieve them and store them as safely as possible.
It is impossible to decontaminate the ocean from leaking submarines and reactor cores. Will the governments of the world wait until the fish are uneatable from international fishing areas due to radiation contamination from Russia until they find a way to do something about it? Are the governments of the world going to do nothing about the Russians spreading this earth-destroying technology to other countries in the world just because they are desperate for money? Shouldn’t Russia be concentrating on cleaning up their radioactive hot zones all over their country instead of trying to create more in other countries?
The rest of the world has the right to demand the radiation leaking submarines in Andreeva Bay and other parts of the Russian coast be dealt with instead of continuing to leak radiation into the oceans.
What is being done about Lake Karachai in Siberia? It is the most radioactive polluted lake in the world. To quote a Russian scientist: “The build-up of radioactive waste under the lake threatens ’nuclear catastrophe on a global scale’“.
Something must be done about Lake Karachai before the radiation from it reaches the Arctic Ocean, and the rest of the world has the right to know what and when?
Putin must encourage other political parties to run for his job, instead of Russia continuing down the road to an undemocratic dictatorship. If Russia wants to find some descendant of Peter the Great to have a symbolic and powerless Tsar for prestige that would be interesting, but it would not be Putin. He needs to help Russia become more democratic and do something about the criminals taking over Russia.
Do people still have to payoff criminal scumbags just to run a business in St. Petersburg?
We are not stupid Mr. Putin, so do something about Lake Karachai and the submarines leaking radiation into the oceans, and for our great-great grandchildren’s sake stop exporting nuclear technology NOW!
Gist Finley Combs
USA
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