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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 4:23
Sunrise: 6:04
Noon: 13:11
Evening: 20:37
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Weather Guide
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THU |
FRI |
Tehran: |
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High: |
35 oC |
35 oC |
Low: |
25 oC |
25 oC |
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Athens |
33 |
32 |
Ankara |
32 |
33 |
Paris |
26 |
26 |
New Delhi |
33 |
35 |
Rome |
29 |
29 |
Riyadh |
46 |
46 |
Frankfurt |
16 |
20 |
Cairo |
37 |
37 |
Kuwait City |
48 |
48 |
Karachi |
32 |
32 |
Copenhagen |
21 |
22 |
London |
25 |
25 |
Moscow |
23 |
24 |
Madrid |
38 |
36 |
Vienna |
23 |
22 |
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Identification
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Published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Address:
Iran Cultural & Press Institute, #212 Khorramshahr Avenue Tehran/Iran
Managing Director: Mohammad T. Roghaniha
Executive Editor: Amin Sabooni
Editorial Dept. Tel: 8755761-2
Editorial Dept. Fax: 8761869
Advertising Dept. Tel: 8753119, 8757702, 8733764
Internet Address:
www.iran-daily.com
E-mail Address:
iran-daily@iran-daily.com
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ACC Not Recommending Ministers
TEHRAN, July 20--Members of the Assembly of Combatant Clergy met with president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, pointing out that ACC is not recommending any minister for the new cabinet.
A senior ACC member, Hojjatoleslam Ebrahimi, also told ISNA that they presented a letter signed by Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani, a founding member, to Ahmadinejad.
He added that ACC members conferred with the president-elect and emphasized their intention to uphold Islamic values.
“In this letter, Ayatollah Mahdavi-Kani stressed that the assembly has no demands and the points underlined in the letter are merely pieces of advice,“ he said.
Ebrahimi further said the assembly did not present a list of people for the new cabinet.
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London Mayor:
West Fueled Islamic Radicalism
Israeli Policies Nurture Suicide Bombers
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Ken Livingstone
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LONDON, July 20--Western foreign policy has fuelled the Islamist radicalism behind the bomb attacks which killed more than 50 people in London, the British capital’s mayor Ken Livingstone said on Wednesday.
Livingstone, who earned the nickname “Red Ken“ for his left-wing views, won widespread praise for a defiant response which helped unite London after the bombings. But he has revived his reputation for courting controversy in recent days.
Asked on Wednesday what he thought had motivated the four suspected suicide bombers, Livingstone cited Western policy in the Middle East and early American backing for Osama bin Laden, Reuters reported.
“A lot of young people see the double standards, they see what happens in (US detention camp) Guantanamo Bay, and they just think that there isn’t a just foreign policy,“ he said.
Police say they believe there is a clear link between bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network and the four British Muslims who blew up three underground trains and a double-decker bus on July 7.
“You’ve just had 80 years of Western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of a Western need for oil. We’ve propped up unsavory governments, we’ve overthrown ones that we didn’t consider sympathetic,“ Livingstone said.
“I think the particular problem we have at the moment is that in the 1980s...the Americans recruited and trained Osama bin Laden, taught him how to kill, to make bombs, and set him off to kill the Russians to drive them out of Afghanistan. They didn’t give any thought to the fact that once he’d done that, he might turn on his creators,“ he told BBC radio.
Livingstone has made clear he condemns all killing, including suicide bombing. But is also a long-standing critic of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
“If you have been under foreign occupation, and denied the right to vote, denied the right to run your own affairs, often denied the right to work, for three generations, I suspect if it had happened here in England, we would have produced a lot of suicide bombers ourselves,“ he said on Wednesday.
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Space Technology Council Convenes
TEHRAN, July 20--President Mohammad Khatami attended the first session of the High Council of Space Technology here Tuesday.
President Khatami stressed the importance of space studies in the meeting, which was also attended by Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology Ahmad Motamedi, Minister of Defense Ali Shamkhani and also Minister of Roads and Transportation Ahmad Khorram, IRNA reported.
He also underlined the importance of Iran’s active pursuit of space technology and described it as an effective step for promoting sustainable development and national sovereignty.
Referring to the significance of space-related information for the country’s sustainable development, the president expressed hope that Iran’s status would enhance in the field of space technology.
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Masjed-Jamei:
Criticism of Gov’t Leads to Dynamism
By Sadeq Dehqan
Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance said on Wednesday during the tenure of President Mohammad Khatami, the print media criticized the government performance.
Ahmad Masjed-Jamei also told a gathering of journalists at Tehran’s School of Media Studies that this critical attitude has created dynamism in the society, because criticizing the government helps fortify its foundations.
He noted that since May 23, 1997 (when Khatami won the presidential election), 25 percent of reports compiled by Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) pertained to criticism of the government.
“In our constitution, freedom is akin to territorial integrity. In the past 150 years, whenever political power has been strengthened, the press corps have been weakened. However, with the emergence of numerous publications in the post-Islamic Revolution era, national strength and security have been enhanced,“ he said.
The culture minister further said if development is considered the main criterion for exercising power, culture and news will be tools and individuals would be the pillar of progress and advancement.
Masjed-Jamei further said that in recent years news agencies have grown significantly.
“This became possible in light of the all-out efforts of thinkers and intellectuals for protecting public identities. We hope to witness further growth in this respect,“ he said.
Meanwhile, managing director of the Iranian Students’ News Agency, Abolfazl Fateh, said ISNA was founded because of the prevalence of an open political and culture atmosphere in the past eight years.
“Factors such as insufficiency of sources of news and information and the widening rift between the rulers and the ruled motivated us to establish ISNA, which was ultimately founded due to the support of President Khatami,“ he said.
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IRNA Chief in Court
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Abdollah Nasseri-Taheri
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TEHRAN, July 20--Managing Director of the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Abdollah Nasseri-Taheri rejected charges leveled against IRNA’s performance during the June 24 presidential runoff election.
Nasseri-Taheri attended Tehran Preliminary Court’s Branch 2 on Wednesday to defend his performance and respond to the charges filed by the Election Headquarters of president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Referring to the policies adopted by IRNA’s Supreme Council, he said the allegations lack any legal basis.
The judge found the IRNA chief accountable and issued an order for launching the trial.
Nasseri-Taheri also attended Branch 3 of Tehran Justice Department to respond to another charge related to a news story published on “Reporters Day“ two years ago. Since the investigator was absent, the court session was adjourned.
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Saudi US Envoy Steps Down
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Bandar bin Sultan
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, July 20--Saudi Arabia’s longtime ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, has resigned and will be succeeded by the current envoy to London, the foreign ministry announced Wednesday.
After spending more than 20 years in Washington, Bandar asked King Fahd to “relieve him of his post for personal reasons“, a ministry statement said, AFP reported.
The king accepted the request and ordered that “necessary measures be taken to nominate Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the kingdom’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland, as ambassador to the United States,“ the statement said.
The statement hailed Bandar’s “great achievements“ during his long tenure in the US capital but did not give more details.
The announcement follows reports, initially denied by a Saudi official, that Bandar, son of powerful Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, was stepping down.
Bandar did not attend talks between Saudi officials and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a visit she made to the oil-rich kingdom as part of a regional tour last month.
Turki Al-Faisal was intelligence chief for 27 years until August 2001 and has been representing his country in Britain for about two years. He is the brother of Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and son of the late King Faisal.
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Iraqi Premier Winds Up Visit
TEHRAN, July 20--Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari left Tehran for Baghdad Tuesday evening after he was officially seen off by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref at Sadabad Cultural Complex.
Jaafari held talks with Aref on Saturday during which the latter stressed that the future of Iraq belongs to all Iraqi people, including the minorities, IRNA reported.
“What the Iraqi people need more than anything else at this juncture, is unity, solidarity, peace, security and integrity,“ Aref said.
Jaafari, for his part, pointed to great losses inflicted on the region in general and the Iranian nation in particular by the former regime of Saddam Hussein.
Jaafari and his delegation met with senior Iranian officials. The two sides discussed issues of mutual interest as well as regional developments, and signed documents on bilateral cooperation.
Jaafari arrived in Tehran on Saturday at the head of a high-ranking delegation, which included several ministers.
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EU Global Package
By Nawab Khan, Brussels
In the coming weeks the European Union is expected to make its offer of a “global package“ to Iran to clinch a deal with the Islamic Republic on the nuclear issue.
According to EU diplomatic sources in Brussels, the European bloc will present its offer to the new government of Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sometime in August.
There is much talk here in Brussels about the “global package“ but no details have been revealed about the contents of the package. EU diplomats maintain that the package will be “very generous, interesting and important.“
Germany, France and the UK, known as the EU3, together with EU foreign Policy chief Javier Solana are preparing the “generous“ offer to Iran. The three major EU states are negotiating with Iran on behalf of the 25-member European bloc.
Reportedly it will contain nuclear, economic, trade, technology and security incentives in exchange for “objective guarantees“ from Tehran that its nuclear program is meant for civilian use only.
For the EU side, “objective guarantees“ is the codeword meaning that Iran has to put a permanent end to its nuclear enrichment program, not merely suspend it.
For Iran, nuclear technology for civilian use is its legal right enshrined in the charter of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to which Tehran is a signatory.
The only body that has been authorized by the international community to oversee Iran’s nuclear program and pass judgment is the Vienna-based IAEA. Neither the US nor the EU has been given the mandate to play state prosecutor in relation to Iran’s nuclear program.
IAEA head, Dr. Mohammad ElBaradei has made known that he found no “smoking gun“ to show the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is geared to military use. And the international community has to accept the verdict of the UN nuclear watchdog. Full stop.
However, since the EU is under pressure from Washington to haul Iran before the UN Security Council so that sanctions could be imposed, EU-Iran nuclear negotiations are bound to be tough and at the same time fragile. One strong tug here, another severe pull there could easily break the delicate rope and in the process create more problems than solutions.
Hence, negotiations have to be pursued with great caution, steadfast patience and keen acumen. Media reports, denied later, that Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, has resigned were received in Brussels with despondency and despair.
Rowhani is a known and respected figure in the EU and European diplomats prefer to tread on known ground rather than find their way through unknown territory or difficult terrain.
All things considered, EU-Iran relations will be entering a crucial phase this summer.
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