Manouchehr Mottaki

TEHRAN, Aug. 7--Seals of the uranium conversion facility (UCF) in Isfahan should be removed by Monday, said a senior parliamentarian.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Majlis open session, Manouchehr Mottaki, deputy head of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, added that Iranian officials must remove the seals even in the absence of representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
As reported by IRNA, he added that after removing the seals of Isfahan’s UCF, “Iranian officials should start talks with European negotiators on Tuesday over the resumption of work on the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, central Iran.“
Iran handed a letter to the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday, asking it to remove seals on crucial machinery so that it can resume uranium ore conversion.
“It is better to resume work at Isfahan’s UCF today than tomorrow,“ he said.
Mottaki noted that some European Union and IAEA officials are against resumption of work at the Isfahan facility.
A UN inspection team was set to leave for Iran to install cameras to monitor a crucial site where Iran wants to resume nuclear fuel work, Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the Vienna-based IAEA, said on Saturday.
“A safeguards team is traveling in the next couple of days to deliver and install remote camera equipment and an inspection system will be in place in the middle of next week at the uranium conversion facility in Isfahan,“ Fleming said.

TEHRAN, Aug. 7--Shirin Ebadi, Nobel peace laureate, here Sunday asked dissident journalist Akbar Ganji to end his hunger strike.
Ganji went on a hunger strike in jail to seek an unconditional release. He was recently transferred from his Tehran prison to Milad Hospital to undergo medical treatment under the order of Public Prosecutor’s Office, IRNA reported.
In a letter to Ganji, a copy of which was made available to IRNA on Sunday, Ebadi said Ganji’s wife has requested her to put pressure on Ganji to break his hunger strike.
“It is my duty, as one of your lawyers and someone who reads your articles, to sincerely ask you to break the hunger strike and start eating to make your friends and family happy,“ Ebadi said in a letter to Ganji.
Ganji’s lawyer has assured his client that his legal claims will be pursued in a more appropriate atmosphere.
Ganji was sentenced to six years in prison in 2001 after he wrote a series of articles linking senior officials to the murder of political dissidents.

Mehdi Hashemi

TEHRAN, Aug. 7--Managing director of Energy Optimization Organization, Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, resigned from his post on Sunday.
Energy Optimization Organization was established in 2000 for finding ways of reducing energy consumption in industries, particularly those related to construction and automotive, ISNA reported.
The organization also set standards for energy consumption and implemented projects for enabling domestic carmakers to equip their products with CNG kits. It is said that a new organization will be formed after the merger of EOO with Department of Environment, Iranian Energy Productivity Organization and Modern Energies Organization.
The new organization will operate under the direct supervision of the Presidential Office and a vice president will be in charge of the organization.
Hashemi was head of the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company before being appointed EOO chief.

TEHRAN, Aug. 7--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel hailed on Sunday the Foreign Ministry’s achievements in the field of information technology.
After visiting the Foreign Ministry, Haddad-Adel met with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and noted that upgrading the Foreign Ministry with state-of-the-art information technology expedites the ministry’s daily affairs, IRNA reported.
He termed its online project as innovative and one that provides people with valuable services.
“Since the Foreign Ministry has interacted with other countries in different fields, especially foreign relations, utilizing modern systems and methods by the ministry is of prime importance,“ he added.
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi informed Haddad-Adel about the Foreign Ministry’s online project.
Noting that more than 300 experts of the Foreign Ministry and private IT companies have contributed to its online project, Kharrazi pointed out that four specialized committees supervise the online project.
“Foreign Ministry’s online project links all Iranian consulates to one another,“ he added.
Commenting on the ministry’s educational activities in the field of information technology, Kharrazi noted that 1,200 employees have received their ICDL certificates and 600 employees are presently attending these classes.

TEHRAN, Aug. 7--Anti-drug police squads seized over 700 kg of illicit drugs in Semnan and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces, it was announced on Saturday.
Police officials seized 406 kg of hashish in the district of Mirjaveh in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan on Saturday, provincial police chief told IRNA.
Zabihollah Vaez-Tabasi added that the drugs were concealed in a forest near that region.
Meanwhile, provincial officials from Semnan province said over 300 kg of narcotics were seized in the city of Shahroud in the northeastern province of Semnan.
Colonel Hojjatollah Vaezinejad added that the drugs were hidden in three cars when police seized them during a stop-and-search operation.
In related news, Fars Police Information Center said on Saturday police officers discovered over 175 kilograms of opium in the past two years.
In a fax to IRNA, the center added that 96.37 kilos of opium were discovered from a Toyota car that had an accident with a lorry.
The center added that over 64 kilos of opium were also confiscated from another lorry in Khorram-Beed, noting that in two separate operations, some 14.4 kilos of opium were seized from the homes of two suspects.
Several criminals were arrested and 13 guns were seized.
Despite its unceasing anti-drug efforts, Iran is still a key route for southwest Asian drugs on their way to lucrative markets in Europe and Persian Gulf countries.
Domestic drug consumption continues to be a persistent problem with at least two million drug addicts in the country.

Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Saturday signed the memorial book for the late King Fahd in Saudi Arabia's Embassy in Tehran on Saturday. (IRNA Photo)

TEHRAN, Aug. 7--Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Saturday attended Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Tehran and signed the memorial book for the late King Fahd.
In his note, Kharrazi expressed his condolences over the demise of late King Fahd to the people and government of Saudi Arabia, IRNA reported.
Kharrazi described the two countries’ relations as “good and developing“ and expressed hope that in the light of Saudi Arabia’s new leadership, these relations would expand further.

Ali Darabi

TEHRAN, Aug. 7--Iran’s political configurations are undergoing unprecedented changes, as new groups emerging from the two traditional factions are set to embark on different paths, according to a party activist.
Ali Darabi, deputy head of Islamic Revolution’s Self-Sacrificers Society, itself a party affiliated to the rightist faction, also told ISNA on Sunday that the country’s political scene has long been dominated by two factions, namely the rightist and leftist factions.
“Today we are witnessing diverse views emerging from within the same factions which are likely to set in motion the formation of more grouplets,“ he said.
Darabi described the situation as an auspicious development that can help strengthen civil societies and democracy.
“There is no way back and I assure you that the era of ’either you belong to the conservative faction or you go with traditional leftists’ is over,“ he said.
The political activist further said that the rightist faction now bears a heavier responsibility toward the people now that the government has emerged from within its rank, necessitating that it seeks the help of qualified persons to help it successfully run executive and management affairs.
Darabi made it clear, however, that all individuals chosen to fill government posts should follow in the same path with respect to rightist principles and values.

TEHRAN, Aug. 7--A lawmaker did not rule out the possibility of the parliament giving a low-key support to some of President Mahmoud Ahmadinehad’s cabinet appointees or
even rejecting a few of them.
Speaking to IRNA on Sunday, Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moqaddam added that Ahmadinejad has provided the legislature with a list of his nominees, but the MPs will delay the final decision till the due date.
“Some could be rejected or barely make it through by a vote of low confidence,“ he said.
Mesbahi-Moqaddam also said that the president has named more than one candidate for some of the key posts.

SHIRAZ, Fars, Aug. 7--An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale hit the outskirts of Oz city in Fars province on Sunday.
The seismological base of Fars, affiliated to Geophysics Institute
of Tehran University, said in a statement that the quake occurred at 14:12 hours local time (09:42 GMT Sunday), IRNA reported.
There were no reports of casualty or damage to property caused by the temblor.
Quakes of varying magnitudes are of usual occurrence in Iran which lies on one of the world’s most active seismic fault-lines.