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Cabinet Choices Factional
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Ezzatollah Yousefian
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TEHRAN, July 20--A rightist MP, Ezzatollah Yousefian, said on Wednesday the political predispositions of president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s inner circle, who are assisting him pick his cabinet members, indicate that choices will be restricted to a specific faction.
Yousefian also told ILNA that those working on the configuration of the next cabinet have very limited choices and we should await a “cabinet of seven people“ rather than 70 million, ILNA reported.
“I rather not mention any names and simply say that a small number of people from Tehran City Council and the parliament are involved in the process,“ he said.
Also on Wednesday, a former lawmaker said Ahmadinejad’s pledge of forming a ’cabinet of 70 million people’ is sheer propaganda, noting that only conservatives would get key posts in his cabinet.
Ali Tajernia added that top positions are likely to go to members of ’the revolution’s second generation’, who had been left out of high-profile jobs throughout these years, ISNA reported.
“Though well-known conservatives might not be appointed to high-level management and ministerial positions, they are to occupy middle-ranking jobs at the level of deputy minister, manager and managing director,“ he said.
Tajernia pointed out that Ahmadinejad’s appointments as Tehran mayor provide sufficient evidence.
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Kermanshah Governor General Summoned
TEHRAN, July 20--Governor general of Kermanshah was summoned to Tehran Public Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday.
Ahmad Torknejad appeared before Branch 2 of Disciplinary Court for Government Employees following a complaint filed against him by former mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
In April, President Mohammad Khatami, scheduled to attend a ceremony in Tehran University, was late by an hour because he was stuck in traffic.
After attending the ceremony, the chief executive apologized to the academicians present in the meeting and regretted Tehran’s traffic mess.
Tehran mayor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was not in Tehran at that time, became angry over what the chief executive had said and verbally attacked the chief executive.
Ahmadinejad noted that if the president were to attend his downtown office and not move to Sadabad Complex in northern Tehran (where talks with foreign dignitaries are held), he would become more familiar with the people’s everyday problems.
“I’m happy to see the president was caught up in Tehran’s traffic at least once to experience from close how it feels,“ he said.
Following the critical remarks of Ahmadinejad, Torknejad said it is sad to see Ahmadinejad,who was elected Tehran’s mayor by the city council, which took office with 5 percent of votes, criticizing a president who won an absolute majority.
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UK Furious Over Jannati’s Claims
LONDON, July 20--Britain protested furiously on Tuesday to Iran over comments by a prominent Iranian politician that the London bombings might have been deliberately carried out by the British government.
One of the possible reasons for the July 7 attacks, in which at least 56 people died, “is that the British government itself created this situation“, Ahmad Jannati, a cleric who chairs the powerful Guardians Council, said Friday in a nationally broadcast sermon, AFP reported.
“These allegations are insulting and ridiculous,“ a spokesman for the Foreign Office in London issued a strongly-worded statement.
“It is a shame that a recent official letter of condolence over the bombings from the Iranian Embassy in London and condemnations by Iranian government’s spokesmen in Tehran have been followed by such irresponsible statements,“ the spokesman said.
The Foreign Office had “protested strongly“ to the Iranian ambassador in London, he added.
Jannati suggested in his sermon that the British government might have carried out the bombings just as the United States perpetrated the September 11, 2001 attacks to justify foreign wars.
“To understand who is behind these events, you need to look at who profits from them,“ he said.
“It’s the Americans who profited from September 11 and today it’s the British who are profiting from these attacks. They say that that they have to go to Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere to fight terrorism, and that’s how they justify their presence in those countries.“
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Tehran, Lome Sign 4 MoUs
TEHRAN, July 20--Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe flew to Lome, Togo, from Tehran late Tuesday at the end of his three-day visit to Iran during which four agreements were signed for promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation.
Gnassingbe and his ranking delegation were officially seen off on Tuesday by President Mohammad Khatami at Sadabad Cultural Complex, IRNA reported.
While in Tehran, the Togolese president held separate meetings with the outgoing President Khatami, president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel and Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and reviewed ways to boost Tehran-Lome cooperation.
He further reviewed latest regional and international developments as well as expansion of bilateral ties with senior Iranian officials.
A joint communiquŽ was also inked by the two sides for maintaining Tehran-Lome interests.
Iran and Togo officially established diplomatic ties in 1975, mainly focused on political and international cooperation.
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Support for Stable Iraq
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Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari
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ISTANBUL, Turkey, July 20--Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari here Tuesday condemned terrorist operations in Iraq and said Iran supports Iraq’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Addressing the second meeting of interior ministers of Iraq’s neighboring states, Lari said Iran calls for non-interference in the internal affairs of Iraq, and supports Iraq’s transition to a stable country and the Iraqi transitional government, IRNA reported.
He noted that Iran also abides by Iran-Iraq Border Treaty for complete surveillance of the entry points along borders to stop infiltration of terrorists to either sides.
The Iranian minister recommended that the second meeting would call for the implementation of the accord reached in the first meeting in Tehran last November.
Lari hoped that practical ways should be adopted to help empower Iraq’s transitional government to continue the political process and reconstruction of Iraq simultaneously with efforts to bolster domestic forces to undertake national security independently.
“Regional countries do not need foreign troops to continue the campaign against terrorism,“ he said.
Lari condemned Israel’s state terrorism against Palestinians and said the double standard in the international campaign against terrorism and unilateral action in the absence of the collective resolve to confront terrorism would instead encourage terrorists.
He called for the speedy trial of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and said the Baghdad government should take practical steps to dismantle the terrorist groups residing in Iraq since Saddam’s rule.
He proposed the setting up of a secretariat for following up the implementation of decisions of the interior ministers of Iraqi neighbors.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Lari met with ministers and senior officials from Turkey, Greece, Kuwait and Iraq.
The meeting of Iraqi neighbors was held during July 18-19.
The meeting ended by issuing a 20-point statement through which Iraqi neighbors condemned terrorism in Iraq and supported the Iraqi transitional government.
The third meeting of interior ministers of Iraqi neighbors will be held in Saudi Arabia.
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Norway Environmental Ties to Expand
TEHRAN, July 20--Norwegian Ambassador in Tehran Ole Kristian Holthe here Tuesday called for expansion of cooperation between Iran and Norway on Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) and on reducing emission of greenhouse gases.
Speaking in the CDM workshop, Holthe said since the administration of President Mohammad Khatami is coming to an end, the new changes will lead to further expansion of bilateral cooperation, IRNA reported.
“Norway tries to broaden the scope of mutual cooperation on Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM) mainly in oil projects,“ he said.
Iran can implement its ongoing projects in coordination with Designated National Authority (DNA).
Norway will be a purchaser of CDM credits in the emerging international carbon market. It welcomes all initiatives leading to high quality carbon credits being identified, certified and supplied into this market.
Iranian carbon credits can also strengthen commercial and official cooperation between the two countries.
Experts from Norway, Japan and the USA attended the two-day Iran-Norway workshop on ““Clean Development Mechanism and Designated National Authority“ at Tehran’s Pardisan Natural Park.
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Visa Deal With Thailand
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 20--Iran’s ambassador in Bangkok said Iran and Thailand have agreed on removing visa barriers for officials of the two countries.
Speaking at the end of a meeting of Iran-Thailand Consular Committee on Wednesday, Mohsen Pak-Aieen told IRNA that both sides have agreed on signing a memorandum of understanding for revoking visa for holders of diplomatic passports.
He said the second meeting of Iran-Thailand Consular Committee will be held in Tehran next year.
“Providing better facilities for Iranian and Thai nationals was also discussed in the meeting of the joint committee,“ he added.
The Iranian envoy also noted that expediting issuance of visa, especially for members of sport, cultural and scientific teams, as well as issuing multiple-entry visas for businessmen have also been agreed upon.
“The two sides also discussed conditions of their prisoners held by each other. It was decided that prisoners of both countries be provided with better facilities,“ he said.
Referring to an increase in the number of Iranian university students studying in Thailand, he said Thai officials have promised to help Iranian university students, especially with respect to student visas.
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Assistance
SIASAT-E ROUZ: Lawmakers can help president-elect, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in forming his cabinet in two different ways. Firstly, they can do so in lieu of expecting a share in the government. To put it another way, the lawmakers can help Ahmadinejad choose his ministers in return for political give and take in the future. Secondly, it is the duty of legislators to help the new president form his cabinet. In other words, since the lawmakers themselves have been elected by the people and through a democratic process, they shoulder the duty of assisting the incoming government. Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel has reiterated that Majlis is obliged to help the new government without expecting anything in return from it.
Rejection
SEDA-YE EDALAT: The Guardians Council (GC) rejected a Majlis bill on facilitating foreign finance contracts. The council declared that the reason for its decision was the bill being contradictory to Islamic tenets. Although rejection of this bill does not create any problems for President Mohammad Khatami and his cabinet, it will create numerous problems for the government of president-elect, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Of course, Majlis can refer this bill to the State Expediency Council (SEC) if the GC is not convinced. If this bill does not become law, potential foreign investors may lose interest in investing in Iranian ventures.
Nat’l Economy
KHORASAN: Citizens of the republic are awaiting the government of president-elect, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to take office. Everyone is presently thinking about the configuration of Ahmadinejad’s cabinet, especially his economy ministers. The president-elect should be very careful in choosing his ministers because if the government’s economic decision-makers hold contradictory views, the national economy will continue to grapple with myriads of shortfalls. However, it is evident from Ahmadinejad’s recent speeches that he is going to adopt a totally different approach while choosing his ministers.
UN Reforms
AFARINESH: World media focused on the necessity for reforming the United Nations and a request by the new UN members for joining the Security Council. Any change in the UN structure can create problems for this international body in establishing peace worldwide. The most important change in the UN structure is revoking the right of veto. If certain countries are deprived from the right of veto, it can also help the UN establish peace more effectively. The main purpose behind the UN reforms should be establishment of global security and increasing collaboration among nations.
Compelling Reasons
AFTAB-E YAZD: Although both domestic and foreign print media focused on the ninth presidential election in recent weeks, the main international concern remains to be Iran’s nuclear dossier. Iran’s chief negotiator in nuclear talks with Europe, Hossein Mousavian, in a detailed interview with IRNA made important remarks about the extent of the progress of the talks. The most important point that Mousavian talked about was the fact that Iran will never take part in negotiations with the US over the issue of its nuclear activities. There is nothing wrong with Tehran’s reluctance to hold talks with Washington. However, what is noteworthy is that Iranian negotiators should provide the public opinion with compelling reasons for having taken such a stance.
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From: Hsvariety@yahoo.com> To: Iran-daily@iran-daily.com Subject: A Visit to Iraq Date: 2005/07/14 02:52
Dear Sirs,
In light of the recent “Truth Tour“ launched by the rightwing media to “show the positive side of Iraq“, this is a small snippet of my time in that country.
At Camp Lima Base in Karbala, we were greeted by the Civil Affairs Battalion team. Major Ken Booth voiced US concern for Iraqi human rights and democracy. He also explained US reconstruction plans and the unit’s motto: SWEAT (sewage, water, electricity, academic, and trash priorities). He said that a major obstacle was getting money for Karbala’s rebuilding. Despite this, the military had begun 5 water and electrical projects, as well as a nursing home.
Maj. Booth felt that Iraqis who expected more were being unreasonable. “They think every problem is a US problem. They can’t expect us to turn Iraq into Switzerland in six months.“
Major Jack Helmers was asked why the Americans invaded Iraq. “There are many reasons,“ he said, “but mostly Saddam himself was a weapon of mass destruction. He killed Kurds and Shiites. He was working on other WMDs--we may still find them.“ He added that part of the US mission was “Explosive Ordnance Disposal.“
Certainly radioactive WMD depleted uranium (DU) is not hard to find, but American authorities have refused to clean it up. At one point, piles of live munitions were tossed in piles along the streets, unmarked due to a shortage of yellow plastic ’caution’ tape.
Later, at his Karbala office, Hussein Al Abrahemy of Iraqi Human Rights Watch placed a cluster bomb on his desk. Citizens, he said, had unsuccessfully requested many times that the US military retrieve the WMDs they had dropped. Daisy cutters, too, were still being found all over the city. Children thought the yellow devices were toys. So on April 3, a committee headed by Ali Hamza finally decided to dispose of the ordnance themselves. Attempting to clear a schoolyard, Ali Hamza was killed. The Army promised compensation, but the family has received nothing. Responding to American inaction, the Community of Victim’s Kin was founded, demanding that 5 percent of Iraq’s oil income be distributed among victim’s families.
The incident challenged Major Booth’s earlier focus on liberty, democracy and Iraqi human rights. Ali Nassir of the Iraqi Council for Solidarity and Peace commented that democracy was a long-term commitment. “If you want to build a house it may take a year, but to build human beings it takes the future. The US Army didn’t bring democracy.“
Trish Schuh
New York, USA
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