Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam

TEHRAN, Feb. 27--Security, social discipline and services are three major duties of the police, while standardizing police conduct is of prime importance, Chief Commander of Police Brigadier General Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said.
Speaking in the First Conference on Standardizing Police Conduct and the Role of Education on Tuesday, Ahmadi-Moqaddam said providing security to the people is the main reason behind the formation of the Iranian police, IRNA reported.
“As against some nations, we do not protect the government more than the nation. We are obligated to ensure security for the people,“ he said.
Ahmadi-Moqaddam also said that standardizing police conduct is one of the most significant plans of police, adding that the IRIP should regard Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the exemplification of deportment.
“The IRIP acts in a speedy and efficient manner. This is while despite an increase in population and sophistication of many police issues, the police capability has not been diminished,“ he said.
The police chief added that public complaints against his forces have decreased from 15.6 percent in May 2006 to 11 percent in February 2007, as a result of the follow ups and efforts of officials in reforming police conduct.
Brigadier Mohammad Taqi Asar, IRIP’s deputy for educational affairs, said on Sunday 80 percent of public complaints against police pertain to the bad conduct of police officers.
“IRIP officers should be patient toward the nation and avoid aggressiveness,“ Ahmadi-Moqaddam stressed, calling on people to report any fault of police officers.
While the main task of the police, according to Ahmadi-Moqaddam, is to obtain public satisfaction, new statistic shows a 50-percent growth in public satisfaction toward police compared with the corresponding period of last year.

State Expediency Council Chief Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (2nd l) talks with an inventor in Tehran, Tuesday.

TEHRAN, Feb. 27--Chairman of State Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called for greater attention to inventors and innovators of the country.
Speaking to a group of inventors on Tuesday, Rafsanjani stressed that acknowledging their role and using their talents will enhance the country’s status and lead to development, Mehr News Agency reported.
“The best way to show appreciation for inventors is by supporting their right to intellectual property,“ he said, “One way to encourage the productive sector is by creating a basis that would lead to mass production of their inventions.“
The SEC chief pointed to the establishment of “Technology Parks“ where inventions can be displayed as a means of implementing their plans and forging ties between industrialists and inventors, expressing his approval for the Islamic Azad University’s idea of establishing Sci-Tech parks.
He noted that knowledge is one of the most important principles of the Vision 2025 Development Plan and stressed that putting the plan into effect correctly would help the country advance.
Rafsanjani concluded that by focusing on new policies related to Article 44 of the constitution will create competitiveness which, in turn, will lead to progress.
These policies, devised by the Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, are aimed at moving the country forward to a level where all impediments, especially in the field of industry, are removed.
Ambassadors and diplomats that host exhibitions on inventions and MPs with responsibilities toward inventors were also present in the meeting.

YASOUJ, Kohkilouyeh-Boyerahmad, Feb. 27--An official said on Tuesday the government is presently facing psychological pressures both from leftwing and rightwing political parties.
Esfandiyar Afshoun, secretary of a seminar titled “Aspects of Psychological War Against the Government“, told ILNA that the main objective of different political parties is to prevent groups similar to those that supported the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the last presidential election from entering the next presidential race.
Without mentioning the name of a particular political party that acts against the government, Afshoun said psychological pressures on the government are in different political, social, cultural and economic fields.
He further noted that the seminar will be held on May 6-7 in Gachsaran in Kohkilouyeh-Boyerahmad province.
“By taking the prevailing sensitive conditions of the country into consideration, holding such a seminar is inevitable,“ he said. Afshoun pointed out that 200 million rials will be spent on the seminar.

TEHRAN, Feb. 27--A number of theological students in Qom lashed out at a court verdict against one of their classmates who had protested against land-grabbing in Kerman.
According to Fars News Agency, the would-be clerics criticized what they called “the judiciary’s injustice“ toward a justice-seeking clerical student.
According to their statement, while judicial officials of Qom’s Special Court for the Clergy went to arrest Sirjani Jahanshahi, who had protested against land-grabbing in Kerman but convicted in a court, several theological students prevented them from arresting him. They threatened that they will stage a sit-in in front of the court if the would-be cleric is imprisoned.
“Why should a justice-seeking student protesting against land-grabbing be treated like this? The main problem is that in a society where promoting virtue and preventing vice are a divine responsibility, a would-be cleric should be confronted,“ it noted.
Students vowed to follow up the issue.

BELGRADE, Serbia, Feb. 27--Iranian and Serbian officials attended the joint political meeting held here on Monday.
Chaired by Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Director General for Northern and Central European Affairs Ali Baqeri and Serbian Director General for Bilateral Ties Radoiko Bogoyovich, discussed ways of expanding political, parliamentary, economic, scientific, cultural and sports relations in the meeting, IRNA reported.
The two sides stressed on increasing consultations in different fields, particularly between the deputy foreign ministers of the two countries, and called for holding the 13th Iran-Serbia Economic Commission as soon as possible.
Referring to the Kosovo crisis, the Serbian official said his country is ready to continue negotiations and find a solution.
“Serbia is willing to grant Albanian residents in Kosovo the most autonomy possible, provided its territorial integrity and the governance remain intact,“ he said.
The Iranian official pointed to the determination of Iranians to achieve peaceful nuclear technology and remove the prevailing ambiguities.
Commenting on Afghanistan and Iraq, Baqeri said Iran has always played an important role in promoting stability and security in the region and is now ready to help rebuild the economic infrastructures of the two countries. Before his trip to Serbia, Baqeri met with Croatian officials in Zagreb.

VIENNA, Austria, Feb. 27--Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday the UN Security Council was applying double standards to nuclear activities, implicitly referring to the demand that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment activities.
Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh was speaking to the Austrian daily ’Die Presse’ a day after the 5+1 Group (US, Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany) agreed to meet again on Thursday to discuss its next move after Iran failed to meet the UNSC deadline for it to suspend uranium enrichment, IRNA reported.
Quoting the regulations of the UN safeguards regime, he said, “Any attack or military threat against a country’s nuclear facilities are strictly forbidden and will elicit an immediate response by the Security Council.“
Unfortunately, this is not so with regard to threats of the US and the Zionist Israeli regime to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, he argued.
He noted that Iran has not transgressed boundaries in its peaceful nuclear program nor has it organized plans to attack other countries. On Iran’s failure to comply with the Security Council resolution demanding suspension of its uranium enrichment, he pointed out that Tehran voluntarily suspended all nuclear activities for two and a half years to build confidence in the international community but was slapped with sanctions.
Asked about the proposal of IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei for a ’timeout’ on the nuclear dispute, Soltaniyeh said constructive and positive proposals to try to settle differences have always been welcomed by Iran.
ElBaradei proposed Iran suspend uranium enrichment concurrent along with the UN Security Council’s suspension of the implementation of Resolution 1737.
He said Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani immediately responded to the offer with an assurance that Iran would consider the proposal.
The Iranian envoy reiterated that Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have stressed that Iran was not interested in producing nuclear weapons as they run counter to its religious beliefs.
The Iranian envoy reiterated that Iran is ready to give guarantees regarding its nuclear activities and ensure IAEA control if talks were resumed.

TEHRAN, Feb. 27--A group of Argentinean political, social, religious and human rights personalities, as well as representatives of syndicates, artists and ethnic groups have in a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced solidarity with the Iranian nation and government against the US militarist, occupying regime’s threats.
The letter is signed by Luis Dalian, Ebb Pasteur, D. Bona Fannie, Priest Lois Farinello, Oswaldo Bayer, Alejandro Corona, Alejandro Fernandez, Paulovski Edwardo, Carlos Aznares, Nora D. Cortinas, Fernando Solanas and Ricardo Langini.
The letter, a copy of which was faxed to IRNA on Monday, reads in part: “As Argentinean citizens, we denounced the court verdict issued on the involvement of Iran in attack against AMIA Jewish Center in July 1994 in Buenos Aires.
“We believe the said verdict has not been issued to find the real culprits behind that horrendous crime, but in a bid to serve the interests of the officials of the time and under the pressure of the United States, and that it has been highlighted today to justify a probable US attack against Iran today.“
The letter noted that similar to the case of the criminal occupation of Iraq on the pretext of its weapons of mass destruction, none of which was found there and revealed the lies of US administration, the move today can be used as a new pretext for another military invasion against Iran.
The Argentinean group also said, “We strongly believe the probe regarding the death of 84 victims in the AMIA terrorist attack must be entirely led by the Argentinean people and their legal bodies. Therefore we strongly denounce the trampling upon of our national sovereignty by the Bush government and the Israeli regime by launching judiciary investigations.“
The letter stresses, “How could they rely on the accusations brought up by disgraced Judge Juan Jose Galleano who lost his judiciary position for having received bribes from Israel to distort the judiciary process, while the Interpol and the EU have announced that the findings of that court are null and void?“
The Argentinean elites also stressed that the US and Israeli officials are not qualified for leading any campaign against terrorism and the Argentineans should not allow them to find pretexts or launch attacks against other nations by resorting to pretexts that are fabricated.

VIENNA, Austria,
Feb. 27--Head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, has proposed an action plan to improve border security between Afghanistan and its neighbors Iran and Pakistan.
“At the moment, drug traffickers cooperate better than the regional governments,“ he said during a visit to Pakistan on Monday, IRNA reported.
While roughly a quarter of all opium and heroin produced in 2005 was seized, up from 10 percent in 1990, this was still well below the global interception rate for cocaine.
Costa stressed that Afghanistan needed to do more to control its sovereign territory, but added: “There are two sides to every border and Afghanistan’s neighbors have a vested interest in stopping the flow of drugs, laundered money and chemical precursors.“
He noted that, during a recent visit to Iran, he had been impressed by the steps taken to prevent drug traffickers from entering that country.
Afghanistan’s 5,800-km-long border is difficult to guard because of high mountains and desert terrain. Some sections are well protected while others, particularly in the South, are extremely porous, allowing drug traffickers, smugglers and insurgents to operate with impunity, a press release issued by the UN Information Center said here Tuesday.