ZAHEDAN,
Sistan-Baluchestan, Nov. 25--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel said on Saturday western and European nations should pay their share of costs to Iran for fighting drugs.
Addressing a gathering of commanders and officers of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Operational Headquarters affiliated to the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps, Haddad-Adel added that western and European nations, which claim to be combating drugs, should extend support to Iran in its campaign against drugs, IRNA reported.
"Political negotiations with Europeans about fighting drugs are underway and they should seriously pay their share in this regard," he said.
Referring to the martyrdom of many Iranian officers and security officials in combating drugs, Haddad-Adel said Iran is incurring costs and human losses to remove the drugs problem that afflicts western countries.
He added that the negative consequences of drug abuse are so extensive that they affect health, social, political, economic and even military issues.
The speaker hailed the commanders of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Operational Headquarters for their efforts in combating drugs.
"Given the dangers of drug smuggling, State Expediency Council has prioritized the formulation of drug policies," he said, adding that investment in fighting drug smuggling and banditry will positively influence other areas, particularly security issues.
Also speaking in this meeting, acting commander of the headquarters, Brigadier General Qasem Rezaei said drug production in Afghanistan has increased from 4,000 tons to 6,000 tons.
Rezaei added that 317 laboratories outside of IranÕs eastern borders are producing 300 tons of morphine and heroin.
Elaborating on the anti-drug measures, Haddad-Adel said 1,000 billion rials have been expended for the purpose in the current Iranian year (started March 21) while an additional 1,500 billion will be earmarked by the yearend.
"Our headquarters is responsible for fighting drugs and armed bandits, controlling borders and rehabilitating foreign aliens," he said, adding that 432 smugglers and troublemakers have been arrested since the establishment of the headquarters in 2002.

Seyyed Mohsen Hakim

TEHRAN, Nov. 25--A high-ranking Iraqi official said the imminent visit of Iraqi President Jalal Talibani to Iran will positively influence mutual relations between the two nations.
Speaking to ISNA on Saturday, Seyyed Mohsen Hakim, advisor to the speaker of Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, added that Iran can play a decisive role in establishing peace and stability in Iraq.
"Iran is seeking to spread stability and peace not only in Iraq, but across the whole region. Iran's stances toward Iraq are very good," he said, calling for the development of ties between the two Muslim states that have cultural and civilizational commonalities.
The Iraqi advisor noted that Iranian officials can establish greater cooperation with Iraqis in the sectors of security, culture and economy, saying that Iraq is very keen on using the experience of Iran in providing security, Òas the Middle East's strongest stateÓ.
"Iraq's security is not separate from the security of region. So when we are all dependant on security, we should have security cooperation and help found a regional security system," he said.
Hakim further said that terrorists are active in Iraq because a participatory government was absent in Iraq for the last 1,200 years.

Alireza Mokhtarpour

TEHRAN, Nov. 25--Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has prepared new bylaws for issuing identification cards to professional reporters, said deputy culture minister for press affairs, Alireza Mokhtarpour.
According to the Persian daily 'Iran' on Saturday, Mokhtarpour said, ÒThe ministry has prepared the bylaw for issuing professional cards to reporters after long consultations with communication professors and experts."
Stating that the bylaw will be submitted to legal authorities, he added that a special commission will be formed to confirm the eligibility of reporters for obtaining the card.
Noting that the card is more than an identification card, the deputy minister said it will give due recognition to the rights of journalists.
Commenting on the rights of reporters mentioned in the card, he said, ÒReporters have free access to information and enjoy the freedom to criticize and not face obstacles in doing their job.Ó
Mokhtarpour expressed hope that reporters will receive the cards next year.

TEHRAN, Nov. 25--Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi said 46 million people are qualified to participate in the fourth round of Experts Assembly elections and 44 million in the third round of council elections concurrently slated for December 15.
The minister added that the difference between the two figures is because the ministry cannot hold elections in villages with less than 20 families and in townships that are not linked to a city, IRNA reported on Saturday.
"In some constituencies, the number of candidates was very low, so we cannot hold elections in such areas," he said, adding that 128,000 ballot boxes and 64,000 polling stations have been set up nationwide.
Pour-Mohammadi noted that ensuring the security of elections and facilitating the voting process for people have been major concerns of the organizers.
Announcing that a new comprehensive election system is being devised, the minister pointed out that under the new system which is currently underway in many countries, electoral cards are sent to individuals to check whether they will participate in the elections.
"Then, people are informed of the closest polling station where they can vote," he said, adding that this process will save time for both the people as well as the organizers.
Pour-Mohammadi stressed that resources for the elections should be managed properly.
The fourth round of Experts Assembly elections will be held concurrently with the council and midterm elections on December 15.
In a recent survey by IRNA, more than 50 percent of the people expressed their readiness to participate in the upcoming elections.

RASHT, Gilan, Nov. 25--Some 26 people were killed and 210 injured in 196 road accidents last week in this northern province, said head of Gilan Police Information Center.
Colonel Mohammad Setiri also told IRNA that 43 percent of accidents involved motorcycle riders.
The main reasons behind most road accidents are reckless driving, dilapidated cars and poor roads.
Over 4,000 accidents occur on 175,000 kilometers of Iranian roads annually, killing more than 30,000 people and inflicting 40,000 billion rials in losses--equivalent to about 4 percent of the gross domestic product--on the countryÕs economy.
Earlier, General Reza Royanian, deputy police chief for traffic affairs, said automakers and road-related organizations will be prosecuted if they are found responsible for road accidents.
Speaking in a meeting with Education Ministry officials to sign a memorandum of understanding for traffic training in schools, Royanian said the minister of industries has promised to identify and remove the technical problems of domestically-produced cars.

Richard Lugar

BERLIN, Nov. 25--A top American senator on Saturday called for direct talks between Washington, Tehran and Damascus over the latest developments in Middle East.
In an interview with the Berlin-based Der Tagesspiegel, Richard Lugar, the powerful chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, added that he advocates talks between Washington, Damascus and Tehran, IRNA reported.
Citing US-European cooperation over Iran as well Washington's support for six-party talks with North Korea, the Republican senator from the US state of Indiana further said US President George W. Bush is gradually moving toward abandoning his unilateral foreign policies for an increasingly multilateral approach.
Lugar has repeatedly said direct talks between Iran and the US would be ÔusefulÕ.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov. 25--Indonesian intellectual, Professor Jalaleddin Rahmat, said on Saturday Iran is an ideal model for the Muslim community in terms of having the requirements for cultural development.
He made the remark while speaking at the one-day conference dubbed ÒAssessment of Middle East Developments, Iran's Stance, Iran-Indonesia TiesÓ, IRNA reported.
Turning to the approach of the founder of the Islamic Revolution to followers of other religions, Rahmat said the late Imam Khomeini's attitude toward the residents of Neauphle le Chateau and their memories of Imam Khomeini's stay in the French village is one of the best examples of communication with non-Islamic communities.
The Indonesian intellectual referred to the extensive participation of Iranian women in social activities as a proper model of Muslim community.
ÒCommunication among Muslim states, particularly Indonesia, with the Iranian people from all walks of life in various fields is fruitful,Ó he said.
The one-day conference was attended by more than 500 students from the faculties of political sciences and literature of Hasanuddin University in the Indonesian city of Makassar. Despite the US pressures on Indonesia to limit its relations with Iran, during the recent visit of the US president to Jakarta, Indonesian officials told George W. Bush that they respect their relations with Iran.

SARDASHT, West Azarbaijan, Nov. 25--An official announced on Saturday that the former Baathist regime of Iraq used chemical weapons 300 times against Iranian civilians and soldiers during the Sacred Defense era (1980-88).
Mahmoud Soroush, head of War Disabled Research Center, also told IRNA that Iraqi forces conducted 30 raids on military sites and other chemical attacks were against defenseless and civilian population.
ÒSome 100,000 people were wounded in the brutal attacks, of which 52,000 victims were identified and placed under intensive care,Ó he added.
Soroush stated that the Baathist regime extensively used these weapons, while during World War II no belligerent party dared to use the said weapons.
He further said that the Iraqi Baathist regime, with the support of world powers, extended the scope of attacks to cities and bombarded the border city of Sardasht through the most inhuman means.
Soroush termed the massacre of the people of Sardasht with chemical bombs as unprecedented in the history of world wars.
The border city of Sardasht, West Azarbaijan province, repeatedly came under chemical attacks on June 27, 1987, during which 110 people were martyred and over 6,000 wounded.

BAGHDAD, Iraq,
Nov. 25--Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Friday postponed his much-anticipated visit to Tehran because of a curfew imposed on Baghdad because of soaring violence.
"I can't go because the airport is closed. If it is open on Sunday, I'll go then," Talabani told reporters.
He had been due to leave for Tehran Saturday to meet his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss the situation in Iraq, AFP reported.
Talabani was speaking in the wake of a meeting of the Political Council for National Security, which includes the nation's top lawmakers, to resolve the ongoing crisis.
"It is the first time we spoke that we were frank and we also stressed the need of all parties in the government to be able to participate," he said, in an oblique reference to Sunni complaints of marginalization.
Baghdad airport has been closed since late Thursday after a round-the-clock indefinite curfew was imposed on the Iraqi capital following the deadliest bomb attack in the Shiite district of Sadr City that killed at least 202 people.
The bombings set off tit-for-tat Shiite reprisals in Baghdad with militiamen targeting Sunni mosques in which security sources said many were feared killed.