Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN, Sept. 27--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday the insistence of the US and other western countries that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment operations even for a short term is only propaganda warfare.
Addressing the Fourth Meeting of Veterans of Jihad and Martyrdom, the chief executive emphasized that enemies do not want to see Iran advance, IRNA reported.
“Western opposition to Iran’s access to nuclear technology is only a pretext to prevent Iran from making progress,“ he said.
Referring to nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West for the past couple of years, the president said, “The enemies, from the beginning, wanted Iran to suspend its nuclear program. But when they realized that we opposed this, they launched a psychological warfare and threatened to attack Iran. Now that they see the Iranian nation confronting their excessive demands, they raise the issue of Iran suspending its nuclear program for three months. They even say that we could only pretend to accept suspension so that negotiations could continue É They want to launch a propaganda war and convey to the world that they have forced Iran to accept suspension of its nuclear activities. This is because their hegemony over the globe can be challenged when Iran resists their demands, but they are mistaken.“
Ahmadinejad declared that the nation will not succumb.
The meeting was also attended by deputy ministers, officials from State Expediency Council and Martyrs Foundation, as well as military officers.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 27--Sunni tribal leaders who have vowed to drive Al-Qaeda out of Iraq’s most restive province met the Shiite premier on Wednesday, marking what Washington hopes will be a breakthrough alliance against militants.
Sattar Al-Buzayi, a Sunni sheikh from Anbar province who has emerged in recent weeks as a leader of a tribal alliance against Osama bin Laden’s followers, said he and about 15 other sheikhs had offered their cooperation to Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, Reuters reported.
“We agreed to cooperate,“ Buzayi told Reuters. “We haven’t agreed to anything specific, but we agreed to cooperate.“
Maliki’s office issued a statement praising the chiefs for their commitment to fighting the militants.
“This is admired and respected by all Iraqis. We are fully prepared to back your efforts,“ the prime minister said.
It was the first time Maliki had met the sheikhs since they pledged to fight Al-Qaeda in a meeting at Buzayi’s compound in Ramadi, the provincial capital, two weeks ago.
Al-Qaeda’s Iraq branch has seized control of towns and villages throughout the Euphrates River valley along the 250 km (180 miles) from Fallujah, near Baghdad, to the Syrian border. But their strict interpretation of extremist violent rule has alienated traditional-minded Sunni Muslims, including groups that supported the insurgency against US forces.
The United States says its 30,000 troops in Anbar--by far the deadliest province for US forces in Iraq--cannot defeat the insurgency on their own. Senior commanders say they have been delighted by recent developments in Ramadi.
Buzayi confirmed that US and Iraqi forces had killed a senior Al-Qaeda figure in Anbar on Tuesday.
Khalid Ibrahim Mahal was described as Qaeda’s ’emir’ in the province, although the organization’s precise leadership structure is murky.
“He was a very important figure for Al-Qaeda and getting rid of him was for the best,“ Buzayi told Reuters.

TEHRAN, Sept. 27--MPs approved the single urgency plan for merging the health and welfare ministries on Wednesday.
Voting was first carried out for a double urgency plan, but 92 lawmakers voted against and eight abstained out of the 223 MPs present in Majlis, IRNA reported.
Then, voting was carried out for a single urgency plan and this time 90 MPs voted against the idea and seven abstained, which number was sufficient to ratify the single urgency plan.
Shiraz MP Mohammad Nabi Roudaki noted that based on the outlines of the Third Five-Year National Development Plan (2000-05) and the comprehensive laws of welfare and social security, the government was obliged to either merge one ministry with another or dissociate one ministry upon the establishment of Welfare and Social Security Ministry.
“The government has not yet fulfilled this obligation,“ he said, stressing that institutions affiliated to Welfare Ministry do not perform in a coordinated manner.
“In this plan, the idea is to merge the health and welfare ministries. It is possible to assign the task of training physicians to the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology to reduce the workload of Health Ministry after this merger,“ he said.
Roudaki proposed that Social Security Organization be run under the direct supervision of the Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, a member of Majlis Presiding Board, Mohsen Kouhkan, said that MPs rejected the double urgency plan because it is not possible to examine the issue of merger or dissociation of ministries within the framework of a double urgency plan.
“How can we justify our move to the public when we ourselves voted for the establishment of Welfare Ministry and now want to vote for its dissociation?“ he asked.

TEHRAN, Sept. 27--Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Wednesday the release of a terrorist, Fauzi Badavinejad, who was an accomplice in the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980, gives the impression that Britain has given the green light to terrorists.
The spokesman urged Britain to cease its support for terrorists, Fars News Agency reported
“While the members of this terrorist group confessed to several bombing incidents in Khuzestan and accepted the responsibility for the martyrdom and injury of innocent residents of Khuzestan, the release by Britain is questionable and indicates that Britain’s slogan of war on terror is absurd,“ he said.
Hosseini further said the support of British Police for the gathering of this terrorist group is another indication of Britain’s interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
“Iran’s Foreign Ministry has officially complained regarding the freedom of a dangerous terrorist to the British Foreign office,“ he said.
Badavinejad and five other gunmen held 26 people captive at the embassy in Prince’s Gate, London. The six-day siege reached its climax when the terrorists murdered two hostages, throwing one body out of the building, prompting Margaret Thatcher to order the SAS to storm the embassy.
The only terrorist to have survived the SAS assault is Badavinejad, 48, who was shortly afterwards arrested and imprisoned.
It is reported that Badavinejad will be moved to an open prison before being given a new identity and political asylum.
Badavinejad belongs to a terrorist group whose members are Iranian supporters of the Democratic Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Arabistan, which was sponsored by Saddam Hussein. The siege was orchestrated by Saddam in the lead-up to Iraq’s war with Iran.

TEHRAN, Sept. 27--Islamic Culture and Guidance Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar-Harandi in a decree appointed Jalal Fayyazi as the new managing director of Islamic Republic News Agency.
“Due to your professional record and commitment, you are designated as the new chief of IRNA,“ the minister said in the statement.
“By pursuing sacred values and mobilizing the capabilities of pious experts from inside and outside the organization, you are expected to prepare the ground for the growth of the news agency,“ he added.
The minister thanked Ahmad Khademolmelleh, outgoing IRNA chief who resigned on Tuesday, for his services.
Fayyazi, an industrial engineer from Tehran’s Science and Industry University, earlier served as deputy of Coordination Council of Khorasan Islamic Propaganda Organization, managing director of Qods Cultural Institute and managing director of Qods newspaper.
In another decree on Wednesday, the culture minister designated Kaveh Eshtehardi as the new caretaker of Iran’s Cultural and Press Institute as well as the ’Iran’ newspaper.
News director at Mehr News Agency and manager of Tehran Municipality’s Communications Center are among the past record of Eshtehardi.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan,
Sept. 27--Afghan security forces killed 25 suspected insurgents during a clash in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, while a blast in the west wounded three Italian soldiers, officials said.
A suicide attack in southern Kandahar province also wounded a civilian and damaged a NATO military vehicle, said police official Abdul Ali Khan, AP reported.
The violence came hours before Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf were set to join US President George W. Bush for dinner at the White House on Wednesday.
The two presidents have recently been at odds over each other’s efforts to hunt terrorists and prevent them from crossing their shared border, especially in tribal areas, and waging attacks in Afghanistan.
Insurgents attacked an Afghan police checkpoint in southern Helmand province’s Garmser district, the NATO-led force said in a statement. NATO said at least 25 insurgents were killed in the ensuing clash.
Three Italian soldiers and one civilian were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in western Afghanistan, a spokesman said.
The four were medically evacuated after the strike in western Herat province’s Shindand district, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Herat city, said Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for the NATO-led force.
The attack was the latest in a spree of bombings in previously calm western Afghanistan, where NATO and Afghan officials have reported an increase in Taliban activity.
Four Italian soldiers were wounded Sept. 8 by a roadside bomb in the neighboring Farah province. Italy has 1,600 troops in Afghanistan, most of them based in the West.
Southern Afghanistan is facing the worst of a wave of deadly clashes and suicide bombings, the worst outbreak of violence since the US-led invasion ousted the Taliban-led regime from power in late 2001. Militants have increasingly resorted to the use of roadside and suicide bombings against foreign and Afghan government forces.

Morad Mohammadi

GUANGZHOU, China, Sept. 27--Iran gained the world gold medal in freestyle wrestling after four years.
Iran’s 60 kg wrestler Morad Mohammadi stole the show by beating his US opponent Mike Zadick in the final of the 2006 World Freestyle Championships here Wednesday, IRNA reported.
The Iranian wrestler had bagged the bronze in the 2005 world championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Mohammadi had already sealed two easy 4-1 and 4-0 victories over Vasil Fedorichin from Ukraine and Georgian wrestler David Pogosian respectively, before thrashing Japan’s Noriyuki Takatsuka 5-0 in the semifinal bout.
Iran’s last freestyle gold dates back to Tehran’s 2002 wrestling event where Mehdi Hajizadeh made an impressive showing.

TEHRAN, Sept. 27--An official warned on Wednesday that the construction of Karoun Dam-2 will lead to the destruction of a large number of ancient monuments.
Speaking to ISNA, Jafar Mehrkiyan, director of Izeh Cultural Heritage Department, added that the dam is to be constructed in an area with potentials for human habitation.
“The site of the dam, which was supposed to be Sousan Izeh Plain, was inhabited by cavemen who lived in the fissures of mountains till the Islamic era,“ he said.
Noting that Karoun Project includes a few dams, the official said, “Karoun Dam-1 was built before the Islamic Revolution and Karoun Dam-2 was expected to be the first series of dams built in the post-Islamic Revolution era. The construction activities of Karoun Dam-2 were stopped 20 years ago due to geological problems,“ he said.
“For the construction of Karoun Dam-2, plots of land in Sousan Plain were purchased. After the executive phase stopped, people did not leave these plots of land, because fruits and other agro products are planted in these lands,“ he said. Mehrkiyan stressed that important projects should be planned in a manner that ancient monuments are not ruined.