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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 4:36
Sunrise: 5:59
Noon: 11:54
Evening: 18:07
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Weather Guide
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SAT |
SUN |
Tehran: |
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High: |
27oC |
28oC |
Low: |
19oC |
17oC |
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Athens |
23 |
25 |
Ankara |
24 |
20 |
Paris |
17 |
15 |
New Delhi |
34 |
33 |
Rome |
22 |
22 |
Riyadh |
37 |
36 |
Frankfurt |
14 |
16 |
Cairo |
32 |
35 |
Kuwait City |
37 |
37 |
Karachi |
32 |
33 |
Copenhagen |
13 |
15 |
London |
15 |
15 |
Moscow |
20 |
18 |
Madrid |
29 |
22 |
Vienna |
15 |
15 |
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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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Wisdom, Patience Will Produce Results
West Treading Mine Field In Nuclear Dispute
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Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
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TEHRAN, Sept. 30ŅIran needs to strongly pursue its right to civilian nuclear technology with wisdom and patience, not provocations or tensions, head of the State Expediency Council said Friday.
“In this arena (Iran’s nuclear case) we must avoid sloganeering and focus on wisdom, negotiations and use windows to achieve our goals,“ Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani told the weekly prayer meeting at Tehran University campus.
The former president, however, warned the West not to intimidate Tehran in the ongoing standoff over its nuclear program or expect it to give up its inalienable rights to civilian nuclear technology, IRNA reported.
Addressing the US and European powers pushing for Iran’s referral to the UN Security Council on charges of non-compliance with a the NPT, the senior statesman said, “ this is a mine field and dangerous. If you (West) do not proceed with caution, you will impose high costs on yourselves, the region and the world.“
Rafsanjani did not elaborate, but noted “Iran is not a country that will surrender if and when you pick up the dagger.“
The SEC head was speaking a week after the IAEA board of governors passed a EU-proposed resolution declaring Iran was not complying with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and recommended sending the case to the United Nations Security Council. IAEA governors voted for the text 22 to one with 12 abstentions. Iran has rejected the ruling as biased, politically motivated and impractical, and without legal or technical foundation.
Speaking in the second sermon of the congregation, Tehran’s temporary Friday prayer leader noted, and “if intimidation is on the western agenda, they should know better that Iranians are not frightened. If your aim is to gain something from this (pressures), be sure you cannot enter talks with intimidation.“
The former president and one of the leading politicians in the Islamic state acknowledged “ we are in a new and difficult situation. Our people should not be distracted by untrue statements regarding the seriousness and importance of the issue.“
Without naming any countries, Rafsanjani said, “ Unfortunately, with respect to the nuclear issue, we are dealing with parties who want to sustain and maintain nuclear apartheid.“
He did not refer directly to the failed negotiations with the so-called EU3 (France, Germany and UK), but told the worshippers that “the talks should continue. And regarding claims that they (West) do not trust Iran, we should prove that we have no intention to use nuclear weapons.“
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Judiciary Pursuing Major Reforms
TEHRAN, Sept. 30-Judiciary chief said here Friday that the judiciary as a matter of policy must pursue reforms and improvement and prioritize service to the people.
Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi noted at the present juncture the two main strategies of his organization include transparency in judiciary’s dealings with the people and holding open court sessions, ISNA reported.
He noted that Islam teachings encourage regular progress of people. “Every institution, including the judiciary should always work for new achievements at all levels of management,“ he added.
Emphasizing the necessity for exchange of views to help
improve the people’s welfare; the top judge noted that exchanging experience and views would remove many of the prevailing ambiguities.
Referring to measures taken for expediting the judicial process, including setting up arbitration councils, Hashemi-Shahroudi was of the opinion that such measures will help the judiciary in better fulfilling its duties.
“People are concerned when judicial cases are delayed. Speed and accuracy are two important parameters that the provincial justice departments should pay more attention to.“
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India Gov’t Allies Demand PM Reverse Pro-US Policy
NEW DELHI, Sept. 30--India’s Marxist party chief has told Premier Manmohan Singh to “undo the damage“ over New Delhi’s vote against Iran’s nuclear program, ratcheting up tensions between the government and its Left allies.
Communist party head Prakash Karat called India’s siding with the United States at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “the final act of surrender“ to Washington and said left-wing parties “cannot countenance this new direction in foreign policy,“ AFP reported.
The warning that India must reverse its “pro-US“ decision to vote against the nuclear program of Iran, New Delhi’s longstanding friend, appeared in an interview with Karat with the Indian Express daily Friday.
The statements came a day after millions of workers took to the streets in a nationwide strike against the government’s economic liberalization policies that was spearheaded by its communist allies.
Karat blamed Singh squarely for India’s move to support the motion passed last weekend at the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, which says Iran’s nuclear activities may conceal an arms program and need referral to the UN Security Council.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader said “the final act of surrender took place during Manmohan Singh’s visit to New York earlier this month and in the run-up to his meeting with President (George) Bush.“
The strike and row over the vote has marked an escalation of tensions between the government and the communists who provide the ruling Congress-led coalition with a majority in parliament.
“By the next board meeting of the IAEA in November, the Indian government will have to undo the damage,“ said Karat. India must say, “clearly the Iranian nuclear issue is not a fit case for referring to the UN Security Council.“
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Public Satisfaction Tops IRIP Agenda
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Esmail Ahmadi Moqaddam
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TERHAN, Sept. 30-Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Police said his forces are striving for people’s satisfaction from police performance.
Speaking in pre-sermon meeting at Tehran’s Friday prayers on the occasion marking Police Week, Brigadier-General Esmail Ahmadi Moqaddam said sustainable security is one that relies on the people, and if this is achieved can the people’s crucial needs be met, IRNA reported.
“The prerequisite for improvement in the IRIP is that it listen to people’s problems and take their complaints and proposals more seriously.“
He noted that public role and participation in restoring security is essential and the Basij (volunteer forces) can help fulfill this objective.
Noting that Basij is an exemplary popular military establishment, Ahmadi-Moqaddam expressed regret that the volunteers had been mistreated in recent years.
However, he pointed out that IRIP is determined to deploy Basij forces to help promote security in the country.
Emphasizing the necessity of deepening cultural and moral security within the society, the general asserted that IRIP underlines forging cultural and moral security, especially when enemies target people’s faith and beliefs.
“Fighting consumption of alcohol, eradication of organized crime and networks producing pornographic films top the IRIP agenda,“ he added.
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Democrats Hope for Traction
Against Scandal-Plagued Republicans
WASHINGTON,
Sept. 30--Democrats in Congress, who have steadily lost ground against governing Republicans in recent voting, are hoping that mounting ethics scandals will prompt voters to defect from George W. Bush’s Republican party, with the 2006 legislative elections looming.
Democrats hoping to capitalize on the corruption allegations have their biggest target in their nemesis, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who on Wednesday was forced to step aside temporarily after being indicted on a campaign finance charge in Texas, AFP reported.
The scandal, heaped on top of recent allegations against the Senate’s Republican leader, gives opposition Democrats a chance to profile themselves to voters as the party of higher ethical standards.
Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat, pushed the case that DeLay’s alleged ethical lapses point to decrepitude within the governing party.
“The Republicans are crumbling,“ Pelosi said at a press conference in Washington Thursday.
“They have a culture of corruption here. It is about cronyism. It is about favoritism to their friends in contracting, cronyism in hiring, it is about incompetence,“ she added.
Within hours of DeLay’s indictment, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee--the group in charge of strategy and fundraising for the party’s candidates--trumpeted the scandals on its website.
“Tom DeLay and Bill Frist are not alone in their shady style of governing--it is a systemic problem in the Republican Party that goes far beyond these two men,“ the web site read.
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Call for Eliminating Israeli WMDs
Haddad-Adel Meets Lebanese Leaders
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 30--Iran and Lebanon here Friday issued a joint statement calling for the elimination of Israeli weapons of mass destruction.
The statement, issued by visiting Parliament Speaker of Iran Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and his Lebanese counterpart, Nabih Berri, stressed the need and importance of ridding the volatile Middle East region of all WMDs, IRNA reported.
It called on the international community to force the Zionist regime to soon get rid of its banned weapons.
The two speakers stressed the inalienable right of countries to have access to peaceful nuclear technology and the Lebanese side voiced support for Iran’s transparent stances and policies to that effect.
The statement highlighted the importance of supporting the Lebanese nation’s resistance against Zionist aggression and occupation and its covert intentions regarding Lebanon’s water resources and territory.
Need for further consolidation of Iran-Lebanon ties, the two sides’ common stances vis-a-vis regional and international issues, particularly Palestine, condemnation of systematic Zionist crimes against the Palestinians, non-interference of foreign powers in the domestic affairs of regional states, return of all Palestinian refugees to their homeland, and establishment of an independent Palestine state were among other issues stressed in the statement.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General of Hizbollah Hassan Nasrallah late Thursday called on the international community to support the Palestinian nation.
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Car Bombs in Iraq Kill 110 People
Foreign Fighters Blamed
BALAD, Iraq, Sept. 30--Car bombs have killed more than 110 people, 25 of them children, in a surge of violence in Iraq ahead of an Oct. 15 referendum on a new constitution.
One of the four car bombs ripped through a crowded market in the southern town of Hilla killing at least 12 people and wounding 47 on Friday, police and health officials said, Reuters reported.
In the mainly Shi’ite town of Balad, north of Baghdad, the death toll from three huge car bombs on Thursday rose to 98 on Friday, hospital director Kassim Aboud said.
Furious residents in Balad blamed the attacks on “foreign fighters“, long accused by the US military of infiltrating Iraq from Syria to carry out attacks across the country. “What have those Jordanians and Palestinians and Saudis got to do with us? Shame on them!“ Abu Waleed, a hotel owner in Balad who said seven people staying in his hotel died in the blasts, shouted angrily.
Insurgents are waging a campaign of suicide bombings, shootings and assassinations to try to topple Iraq’s government. The constitution vote has raised sectarian tension between Iraq’s Shi’ite majority and the Sunni Arab minority.
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Containing Recession
By H. Afrouz
Trade in movable assets during the first two months of the current year grew by a meager two percent compared to the corresponding period last year. If we accept the present inflation rate to be in the neighborhood of 15 percent, transactions related to movable assets actually decreased by a solid 13 percent. This is another indication of economic decline, the need for the government to get its act together to check the recession and enhance growth.
During the first nine months of last year, the number of construction permits issued by the relevant authorities declined by 9.6 percent compared to the same period last year. This suggests the slowdown is not a feature of only of movable assets and also includes the key construction sector on which depends a significant part of economic growth.
With oil prices at all time highs, the general feeling is that the economy after years of slow growth should take off and in the process improve the quality of life of the masses, especially fixed-wage earners. The question many ask is why the recession refuses to go away and who is responsible?
Experts say the most important factor behind that contributes to domestic trade and transactions is government demand. Statistics released by the State Treasury Department shows that during the first four months of the current financial year payments to ministries increased by only 4.6 percent compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.
By taking the 15 percent inflation rate into account, the purchasing power of ministries declined by 10.4 percent. This figure more or less complies with the 13 percent decrease in trade of movable assets.
Of course recession in the private sector is higher than that of the public sector. It must also be noted that the 10.4 percent decrease in government spending is in itself unprecedented since the rule of Mozaffareddin Shah, the Qajar monarch. Since his time, government expenditures have increased on a regular basis.
Under the conditions, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s economic team must proceed with more caution and show extra sensitivity to the issue of state expenditure.
If and when the government’s annual spending decreases systematically by 10.4 percent over the next four years, in 2009 we will be able to claim that the government has downsized.
However, the 13 percent decrease in trade of movable assets in the private sector (public sector excluded) is cause for concern. One premise behind recession in the private sector is the tax regime.
Last year the private sector was subject to 36 percent more tax than the previous year, and during the first four months of the current year tax receipts jumped by a solid 69 percent in comparison to the same period last year. The unacceptably high burden of taxes has negatively impacted private enterprise and contributed to its continued stagnation.
What is indeed necessary for a working economic system is an efficient and organized tax regime. Experts have often complained that the government in Tehran collects tax from the private sector and spends it inefficiently within the executive branch.
Isn’t it high time that our economic planners and lawmakers revise their perception of growth and development and realize that only increasing taxes is not the solution to our economic ills?
The harmful effects of the decline in trade of movable assets become more evident when we see that our import bills have shot up between 25 to 30 percent. Although during the first quarter imports grew by 25 percent compared to the same period last year, domestic trade of movable assets declined drastically.
Economic, development and financial experts need to pool their minds and come up with workable and realistic solutions to the challenges that lie ahead. Tax cuts can and should be a major option to encourage and support the private sector and spur growth.
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