|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reform Camp Will Endure
|
|
Rasoul Montajabnia
|
TEHRAN, July 13--A political activist said on Wednesday parties grow and mature better when they are, willfully or otherwise, distanced from power.
Rasoul Montajabnia, a senior member of the pro-reform Association of Combatant Clerics, also told IRNA that contrary to the belief that the survival of the reformist camp is threatened after it lost power, its members can enhance their populist ideals away from political wrangling.
He said the main reason for political parties lacking strong support in Iran is their preoccupation with political give-and-take, especially when they become part of the ruling system.
“Reformists have now the opportunity to rake over their past performance, recognize their weak and strong points, and brace for the future by improving themselves,“ he said.
Montajabnia cast doubt over the conservative faction’s ability to fulfill public demands or win popular support unless “they restructure their organizational groundwork“.
|
|
|
|
Ukraine Cooperation Potential High
France National Day Felicitated
|
|
President Mohammad Khatami talks with Secretary of Ukrainian National Security Council Petro Pourochenko in Tehran on Tuesday. (IRNA Photo)
|
TEHRAN, July 13--President Mohammad Khatami and Secretary of Ukrainian National Security Council Petro Pourochenko on Tuesday held talks on exporting Iranian gas to Europe via Ukraine.
President Khatami said the national resolve of Iran and Ukraine calls for cooperation between the two countries by carrying out joint projects, IRNA reported.
He also said the two countries enjoy high potentials for developing cooperation in the fields of oil industry, airspace and shipbuilding and cited the manufacture of Iran-140 airplanes in cooperation with Ukraine.
“Iran and Ukraine both held presidential elections and are practicing democracies. Of course, an election does not mean a shift in the main policy of a country in diplomatic relations with other nations,“ he said.
President Khatami said excellent relations between Iran and Ukraine will continue by piping Iranian gas to Ukraine.
Pourochenko praised the progress of Iran and growth of bilateral trade by 40 to 50 percent annually.
He said Ukraine offers technical assistance to Iran for manufacturing Iran-140 planes and is willing to cooperate with Iran on regional peace and security.
Meanwhile, in a message to his French counterpart Jacques Chirac on Wednesday, Khatami felicitated the French government and nation on its National Day.
He expressed satisfaction over expansion of Tehran-Paris cooperation and mutual understanding between the two sides.
Khatami also expressed hope that Iran-France regional and international relations would further expand in the near future.
|
|
|
|
Iraq Pilgrimage From Next Month
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 13--Iran’s charge d’affaires to Iraq said on Tuesday a new chapter is expected to open in Iran-Iraq relations, noting that Iranians will resume pilgrimage to Iraq’s holy sites from next month.
Commenting on the upcoming visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari to Iran, Hossein Kazemi-Qomi told IRNA that Baghdad and Tehran have many commonalities in religious, social, cultural, historical and geographical fields.
The Iranian diplomat pointed out that the enthusiasm of Iranian and Iraqi pilgrims for visiting the two countries has increased considerably such that more than 1,200 visas were issued daily in recent months for visiting Iran.
Referring to bitter memories of the previous regime of Iraq, he noted that Iran was among the first countries that offered to assist Iraq’s political developments.
Asked about Iran’s programs for helping Iraq’s reconstruction, he noted that Iran has valuable experience in the fields of reconstruction and industrial overhaul, transfer of technical know-how and improvement of economic infrastructure.
Iraqi Premier Ibrahim Jaafari will visit Iran next Saturday at the head of a high-ranking delegation, including ten ministers as well as political, economic and security dignitaries.
|
|
|
|
Haddad-Adel Meets Australian Envoy
TEHRAN, July 13--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel said on Tuesday Iran and Australia enjoy great potentials for boosting economic and cultural cooperation.
In a meeting with Australia’s Ambassador in Tehran Gregory Lawrence Moriaty, the speaker highlighted the importance of parliamentary ties between the two countries, saying parliamentary friendship groups could play a crucial role in promoting bilateral relations, IRNA reported.
Noting that Tehran-Canberra political relations form the basis of economic, cultural and parliamentary cooperation, Haddad-Adel called on Australian universities to help broaden bilateral cultural ties.
Commenting on democracy in Iran, he said the US raised the issue of lack of democracy in Iran as a pretext since Washington has problems with Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
“Democracy has been institutionalized in Iran,“ he said, stressing that all Iranians are free to voice their demands.
Haddad-Adel noted that the Majlis is ready to cooperate fully with the new government of president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expected to take office in August.
The Australian ambassador, for his part, referred to Tehran-Canberra ties as “very good“ and urged further expansion of parliamentary, cultural and economic cooperation between the two capitals.
Noting that Iran’s Majlis plays a crucial role in all fields, Moriaty said the Australian Parliament is willing to strengthen bilateral cooperation and ties.
Moriaty also expressed hope that Iran-Australia regional and international relations would further expand in the near future.
|
|
|
|
Released Filmmaker Home
53 Days in Captivity
TEHRAN, July 13--Iranian filmmaker Farshid Faraji, who was recently released from the US-run Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, arrived in Tehran on Tuesday.
Iranian-born filmmaker, Sirous Kar, and his cameraman Farshid Faraji were detained on May 19 near Baghdad by US troops and were released 53 days later. They had obtained visas to enter Iraqi territory to make a documentary film titled “In Search of Cyrus the Great“ in its archeological sites.
Talking to IRNA at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, Faraji said the team entered Iraq on May 6 after obtaining visa and all legal permission, but they were arrested 14 days later and handed over to US military forces.
“After 53 days in prison, the US troops were forced to release us as they conducted fruitless investigation and reviewed the film we had made,“ he said.
He was unaware of the reasons behind his arrest and expressed satisfaction with measures taken by the Iranian government and efforts made by Kar’s family in the United States for getting the Iranian team released.
Faraji said the team faced no problems in making films in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Iran.
|
|
|
|
Saudi Ambassador Bids Farewell
TEHRAN, July 13--Saudi Ambassador in Tehran Ahmad Al-Morshed Al-Berek here Tuesday bade farewell to Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi.
Referring to cultural commonalities shared by the two countries, Kharrazi said both Iran and Saudi Arabia play key roles in regional developments, IRNA reported.
He stressed the need for further expansion of ties between the two Muslim countries. The Iranian foreign minister called for solving problems facing Iranian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia and recommended more services to them.
The Saudi ambassador, for his part, stressed the need for reinforcing unity among Muslim nations. He further noted that Tehran and Riyadh should consolidate mutual relations due to the current sensitive situation in the region.
|
|
|
|
|
Islam’s Influence
SEDA-YE EDALAT: British Prime Minister Tony Blair reiterated on the necessity to launch an ideological war for eradicating terrorism in the world. What Blair said means that the West should target Islam rather than terrorists who abuse Islamic ideals. In fact, Blair has adopted a very dangerous attitude towards Islam and innocent Muslims. Europe hosts a total of 27 million Muslims. Islam is considered the second most important religion in France. Muslims are regarded as influential minority in Britain’s general elections. Moreover, there are a total of seven million Muslims in America where Islam is also considered as the second most significant religion. What Blair has said cannot be implemented because Islam is present in the western culture. Muslims are presently under the most violent attacks by British racists on the pretext of a possible link between London attacks and Islamic ideology. Islam’s influence on western culture is such that Western countries cannot ignore Islam and exercise hegemony over Muslims.
Healthcare
AFARINESH: Government has announced that something between three to four percent of Iranians are added to poor people every year because of shortage of medical facilities. Unfortunately, treatment costs are so high that some people prefer not to undergo treatment at all. Moreover, those who have to undergo treatment are forced to ignore many of other additional costs. They even have to sell some of their belongings in order to pay for their treatment costs. Poor people have the right to basic medical facilities in industrial countries. Hence, the level of income of people does not have anything to do with medical treatment and facilities. The point is that all individuals, irrespective of their social status, should have access to medical facilities. The government should do something to improve the public healthcare system.
Threats
SIASAT-E ROUZ: Numerous opinion polls conducted in the past several years have highlighted social priorities. It must be understood that the new government does not have time for engaging in more trial and error. Hence, the ministers who are going to be chosen for the next cabinet should have transparent programs and agenda for serving the public interests. The main threats that the future ministers should be careful about are the propaganda warfare launched by the US and its allies against Iran’s nuclear activities and human rights issues.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
From: Guljammas@yahoo.com To: Iran-daily@iran-daily.com Subject: Attacks in London Date: 2005/07/10 12:32
London is a beautiful city of light and knowledge with multiracial and multicultural credentials. There are 170 nationalities living side by side in perfect harmony and calmness. For the last two decades, peace has been ruling London. The English capital is a true representative of a modern global village.
It has not seen any major act of terror since the Brighton bombing of October 1984 perpetrated by the Irish Republic Army. It came close to blowing up Margaret Thatcher and her entire cabinet. Bad for Tony Blair’s policies that London on Thursday revisited those apocalyptic scenes of 21 years ago.
The city was sickened, numbed and extremely disturbed to see what happened to them. Blood splattered along the walls and dead bodies scattered here and there, families frantically searching their loved-ones, hospitals trying their best to save as many injured people as they can. It was a picture of chaos and carnage Londoners viewed after so many years. What was their crime? Nothing, only that they have got a leader, BLiar (as popularly known to British press), who lied to them and took them to Bush’s “war on terror“ against the Muslim world.
Unfortunately, it is the same city, which witnessed the biggest anti-war protest in the whole of Europe on March 2003. They disapproved Blair’s collaboration with George Bush in his immoral, unethical invasion of Iraq. Most of the common Britons were against the war but special resistance came from London. They were trying to get public opinion to force Blair to withdraw from Iraq, out of his alliance with the United States, out of his adherence to Bush’s policies in the Middle East. They were aware that the war their leader was going to start with Bush certainly would come to haunt them one day. Their fears came true when they were rejoicing over the London’s 2012 Olympics bid victory. Feelings of triumph turned into sadness and gloom. London, in the words of, Labour dissident George Galloway “paid the price of Tony Blair’s crimes against Iraq“.
Tony Blair, unlike the traditional British leaders of yesteryear foolishly and callously joined his forces with Bush’s war against the Muslim world. The Bush-Blair nexus decided to ’liberate’ Afghanistan and Iraq of their tyrannical, retrogressive regimes. Instead of giving them ’freedom’ and ’liberty’, they created complete chaos and disorder there. Death and destruction are ruling these ’liberated’ countries today. Afghanistan is fast turning into a pit of blood and poverty. Drug trafficking is flourishing and its streets are witnessing rampant crime. Iraq looks like a Greek tragedy in the making.
According to the respected British journal ’Lancet’, till nine months ago, 98,000 civilians were killed by Bush-Blair’s war of ’freedom’ against Iraq.
It is unfortunate to see that Tony Blair as a leader of England, instead of restraining the superpower of its crimes against Muslims, has been an active partner of wild America. England is too good a country to toe Bush’s devastating line of thinking about the world. It has the capacity to play the role of a genuine leader of European Union and could have a calming effect on America. But it is playing the role of a yes-man to America as Tony Ben, father of the British Parliament, said on BBC, a couple of years back: “Tony Blair has turned Great Britain into a mere satellite state of America. England is no longer a free and fair state. Its independence is gone and sovereignty has been lost.“
It is high time Tony Blair rethinks the American policies his government has been blindly following since September 11, 2001. The world is not going to be a safer place by attacking smaller nations and capturing their resources in the name of fighting terror. It is bound to produce repercussions. Britain is a society blessed with grand traditions and qualities of light and learning. It certainly needs to reshape its policies toward the Muslim world and reformulate its vision.
Gul Jammas Hussain
Islamabad
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
