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US, Israel Fomenting Shiite-Sunni Discord
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Gholamali Haddad-Adel
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CHABAHAR,
Sistan-Baluchestan, Nov. 27--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad-Adel said on Monday the apparent discord among Shiites and Sunnis in neighboring states such as Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan has resulted from the plots of the US and the Zionist Israeli regime.
The speaker made the remark while addressing local residents of Chabahar on the last day of a three-day visit to the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, IRNA reported.
“Enemies have tried to carry out the same conspiracy in the Islamic Republic of Iran, but have been repelled by the unity and solidarity of Shiites and Sunnis in the country,“ he said.
He urged Shiites and Sunnis to further strengthen their unity as an effective means of confronting moves by enemies to cause discord.
“Islam is important to us. We will not let enemies cause divisions among us in the name of Shiite and Sunni. We have achieved victory through unity and will defend this in the same way,“ he said.
Earlier on Monday, Haddad-Adel warned the US that all regional nations were opposed to its presence in the Middle East.
Addressing a group of naval personnel, the speaker said the US and all bullying powers should note that they are facing the resistance of regional nations.
Criticizing the presence of US troops in the Middle East, Haddad-Adel said, “They have not come to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman to help regional nations but to take control of the region’s oilfields.“
The speaker described occupying powers as “liars who have come here for oil“.
Haddad-Adel noted that it was the duty of all Iranians to defend their country and prevent the exploitation of their resources by bullying powers.
“Iran will fearlessly resist all threats of bullying powers by relying on the power and strong will of its nation,“ he said.
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New IAU
Board Members Proposed
TEHRAN, Nov. 27--Five new founding board members of the Islamic Azad University (IAU) were proposed to the Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution on Monday.
As reported by IRNA, Abdollah Jasbi said former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati; leader’s former representative to universities, Mohsen Qomi; Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini; former Vice President Hassan Habibi and former Science Minister Jafar Tofiqi were proposed as new members.
He noted that the current members of the board include State Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Abdolkarim Mousavi-Ardebili and former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi as well as the IAU chief.
He added that the late Ahmad Khomeini and Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei were former members of the board.
Earlier, Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution ratified a plan for the selection of new founding board members and chancellor of Islamic Azad University.
The council’s secretary, Mohammad Reza Mokhber, told the Persian daily ’Iran’ that according to the ratification, five new members will be added to the present four. He noted that the board and the council will jointly propose new members and the council would verify the same.
“The chancellor will also be chosen upon the board’s proposal and the council’s ratification,“ he said.
Mokhber further said that the new nine-member board will also select the universities’ new members of the board of trustees.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad headed the council, which is the highest body for making policies regarding cultural, educational and research activities.
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Offer to Treat
More Wounded Iraqis
BAGHDAD, Iraq,
Nov. 27--Iraq’s Health Ministry announced on Monday that Iran has offered to cure those injured in recent bombings in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
Iraqi Health Ministry’s Spokesman Qasem Al-Allawi added that Iran is the first country that has agreed to admit those injured in Sadr city explosions near Baghdad, IRNA reported.
He also said that his ministry has introduced 44 injured people and five nurses to Iran’s Embassy for sending them to Iranian hospitals.
Allawi further said that many Iraqis have earlier been sent to Iranian hospitals for treatment.
He recalled that many neighboring Arab and European nations had earlier expressed their preparedness to help cure the Iraqis injured in terrorist operations.
As per statistics released by Iraq’s Health Ministry, more than 200 people were killed and 250 injured in Sadr city explosions on November 23.
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Envoy Calls on Saudi FM
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Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini
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Saud Al-Faisal
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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 27--Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said on Sunday his country does not consider any limit to the expansion of ties with Iran.
Speaking at a meeting with the new Iranian ambassador, Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, Prince Saud stressed that Riyadh has no doubt about the need for expanding relations with Tehran, IRNA reported.
Hosseini, who had earlier served as Iran’s ambassador to Senegal, was recently appointed as the new Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He replaced Hossein Sadeqi who served as ambassador in Riyadh for about two years. Saud Al-Faisal also underlined the political will of the two counties to expand bilateral relations more than in the past.
For his part, Hosseini submitted a copy of his credentials and expressed the Iranian officials’ readiness to boost ties at all levels. The Iranian envoy hoped that during his tenure, bilateral relations would be further enhanced in all fields.
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Social Penalties
To Replace Imprisonment
Majlis Studying
Decriminalization Bill
TEHRAN, Nov. 27--A judicial official said lawmakers in Majlis Judicial Commission are currently discussing details of the decriminalization bill under which imprisonment will be substituted with social penalties.
In an exclusive interview with the Persian-daily ’Iran’, Javad Tahmasebi, director general of devising judiciary bills and programs, added that parliamentarians have already ratified the outlines of the bill which was proposed by the judiciary’s High Council of Judicial Development in 2002.
“Criminologists have already reached consensus that imprisonment should be replaced with other punishments such as social penalties,“ he said, adding that many countries have also adopted the same initiative.
Elaborating on the decriminalization bill, the official said judges will replace minor crimes, whose punishment is less than six months of imprisonment, with social punishments.
Tahmasebi noted that the punishment of 335 crimes such as traffic, environmental, medical, family, cultural and hunting offences will be substituted with four categories of social punishments.
He explained that criminals in the first category will have to undergo an educational or skill training course, as well as banishment or mandatory residence at another place.
“Such criminals, under the jurisdiction of the judge, will also bear social punishments such as rendering special services to the plaintiff and mandatory behavioral disorder treatment,“ he added.
Tahmasebi further said that rendering public services such as working in public places and parks belongs to the second category while the third category of criminals should pay a part of their income to the government based on the severity of the crime.
Commenting on the fourth category, the judicial official said criminals in this category will be deprived of their social rights.
In Iran’s Criminal Law, imprisonment has been considered as a penalty for more than 700 crimes. Following the bill’s final ratification, the punishment of more than 300 crimes will be substituted with social penalties.
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Haniyeh Expected
BEIT-UL-MOQADDAS, Nov. 27--Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas is to head out on his first tour of Arab countries, including Israel’s arch-enemies Syria and Iran, as part of a mission to garner support for his badly battered government, an official said Monday.
Haniyeh has not left the Gaza Strip, where he lives, since taking office in March, when international sanctions slapped on his Hamas-led government sent the Palestinian Authority spiraling toward bankruptcy, making it largely impossible to pay its 165,000 civil servants, AP reported.
Haniyeh’s three-week tour, to begin Tuesday in Egypt, will include stops in Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria and Iran, an official in his office said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The prime minister will tell Arab leaders about conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as give an update on a day-old ceasefire that has brought an end to five months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in Gaza.
Many Arab countries, banks and institutions, under intense US pressure, have joined the boycott, making it nearly impossible for the Hamas-led government to collect money even from its closest allies.
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Website Regulations
Under Study
TEHRAN. Nov. 27--Cabinet ministers are examining a bylaw to regulate websites.
Deputy culture minister for press affairs, Alireza Mokhtarpour, said the bylaw is currently being discussed by ministers, Fars News Agency reported. He noted that the bylaw is not aimed at restricting websites, but to make them official.
Mokhtarpour added that the Culture Ministry will support websites that provide useful information to the public.
“Sometimes newspapers and news agencies publish materials from websites that are not legally responsible for what they carry. In some cases, websites violate public privacy while people do not know where to file a compliant or how to notify such websites of their mistakes,“ he said.
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What Talk?
ABRAR: Iran would make a strategic error of judgment if it enters into talks with the United States, a senior newspaper editor warned in an interview. “Basically, we do not have anything common with the US and cannot open negotiations with that country on any issue including the situation in Iraq,“ Hussein Shariatmadari said. Managing director of the Kayhan Group of Newspapers stressed that Bush’s America is an occupying power (in Iraq) and for obvious reasons Tehran cannot and should not agree to talk with the neocon-led regime in Washington. Echoing the stance of experts and analysts across the political spectrum, he said Tehran’s view is that the disaster in Iraq will end only with the departure of the occupying powers. “So, it is simply meaningless to hold talks with the occupiers“ who have no interest in solving the problem. Uncle Sam’s main intention in recently floating the idea of talks with Iran and Syria, he claimed, is to convey to world public opinion that “Iran after 27 years of steadfastness and standing up to US bullying, political pressures, military threats, flag bearer of Islamic movementsÉeventually was forced to come to the negotiating table.“
Gov’t Role
HAMBASTEGI: The government’s deepening role in economic affairs has been proven to be a big mistake for which the people had to pay a big price. Iran’s Constitution emphasizes the need for and efforts to contribute to the privatization of some state-run institutions. However, since the privatization process encountered hurdles in the past several years, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in summer recommended those in charge to get moving and sell certain government and affiliated companies to both the private and cooperative sectors in keeping with Article 44 of the Constitution. The government has not only done nothing in this regard, it has in many cases moved in the opposite direction. The state’s domination over and control of the national football association is one example of government interference in non-government bodies.
Testing Ground
HAMSHAHRI: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is indeed a military alliance between Europe and the US. What is noteworthy with regard to NATO’s performance in the past is that it has never fought a real war in any part of the world. The military group was only compelled to strike limited targets in Kosovo in 1999. However, it did not engage in any ground military action or take on hostile fire as it is doing now in war-battered Afghanistan. NATO is visibly facing tough times in the neighboring country as its troops are targeted almost daily and the ousted Taliban militia tries to assert itself on the fractured sociopolitical scene. The worsening Afghan crisis with its non-stop violence has understandably emerged as a testing ground for the biggest military alliance in the world.
Competent
SEDA-YE EDALAT: It is generally acknowledged that BBC’s former senior political analyst and the present journalist for the pan-Arab satellite television network al-Jazeera, David Frost, is highly competent. Confessions by Tony Blair in his recent interview with Frost are sufficient proof that the latter knows his job well. For instance, when Frost asked the embattled British premier about the deteriorating situation in occupied Iraq and whether the illegal Anglo-American invasion and occupation of the Arab country was a “disaster“, Blair responded in the affirmative. The point is that Blair, whom the UK voters have called on to resign his post because of the blunders he made in Iraq, would very likely not have admitted publicly to the disaster unfolding in Iraq if he was interviewed by someone other than Frost.
American Problems
MARDOMSALARI: Big Republican losses in the US midterms early this month show that the people of America no longer support Bush’s unilateral and offensive policies in the Middle East, Iraq in particular. Since the outset of the illegal US invasion of Iraq in March 2003 up until today, the US has encountered serious problems with regard to its Middle East strategy. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 provided the Bush regime with a good pretext to target its archenemies, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran. But American rulers did not ever contemplate that the political demise of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein would improve Iran’s position and credibility in the oil-rich region. The prevailing conditions inside the US have enhanced Tehran’s standing. Americans have started to send feelers that they now need Iran’s help to get out of the mess in Iraq. Iran’s foreign policy establishment should make the best use of the current situation.
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From: Privateerofpolemics@excite.com To: Iran-daily@iran-daily.com Subject: The end of consumerism and bank credit Date: Saturday, November 25, 2006 11:58 PM
Freeing ourselves from the credit lifestyle of consumerism and materialism is the first priority of regaining our humanity and ethos. We are just debt-serfs hooked on the dependency of things being our meaning and identity. By placing our satisfaction on things outside of ourselves, we have given up spiritual as well as the practical power of our lives.
If we do not control this power, there is little hope of keeping any semblance of our inner spiritual power. Without our inner power, we are just shells and pawns to be moved around and manipulated by those who manipulate our lives.
If we lived by responsibility, accountability and trust, then the spirituality of our word would be the civic currency rather than the holders of notes of debts on our assets and property. I propose a radical cold-turkey act by going into default on all debts...
The debt laws cannot punish all the people. Let them try to collect all the judgments enabled by laws that favor predatory lenders. The banks and other lenders have made more profit off the fees and interests than they have paid you in savings interest. Let them make their money off their cannibalistic wealth-patrons and not off the wage-laborers.
Unless you are a skilled and competent day-trader, your stock is part of the pot in the biggest stock market. Actually you have as much of a chance with this institution as you’d have with the bookie picking winners for different events.
Starve the moneyed interests. Take up the reigns of your own dominion with its sacrifice and rewards. You are more than breed-stock for serving interests that starve and rob you of life and liberty.
You belong to the Universe, and not the accounting books of market manipulators.
Joe Bucco
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