Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad (r) talks with IranÕs Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar in Damascus on Sunday.

DAMASCUS, Syria, March 11--Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar conferred here Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on issues of mutual interest as well as expansion of ties between the two countries.
Syrian Defense Minister Lieutenant General Hassan Turkmani, along with Iran’s Ambassador to Damascus Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, also attended the meeting, IRNA reported.
The first round of talks between the defense ministers of Iran and Syria opened on Saturday.
The Iranian defense minister met Turkmani at the Syrian Defense Ministry in Damascus and discussed ways of expanding ties, deepening military and defense cooperation, and accelerating the implementation of agreements.
Najjar arrived in Damascus late on Friday at the head of a military delegation for a three-day visit to Syria upon the official invitation extended by Turkmani.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

TEHRAN, March 11--Fomenting differences among Shiites and Sunnis is an “old rusty weapon“ against which Muslim scholars should take decisive measures, a top cleric said on Sunday.
Delivering a speech in an international conference entitled “Scientific Jihad and Islamic Unity: Challenges and Solutions“, State Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called on Muslim scholars to discharge their responsibility against enemies who want to create discord among Shiites and Sunnis, IRNA reported.
“If Muslim scholars do not take action today, they’ll have no justification before God,“ he said, reiterating the need to prevent extremists, either Shiite or Sunni, from undermining the great strength of the Muslim world.
The SEC chief noted that a difference of opinion is inevitable according to Islam and “we should tolerate each other and have patience“.
Referring to pluralism as one of the significant achievements of human sciences, he urged the nation to avoid unilateralism.
Rafsanjani further said enemies are trying to pressure Iran while they have occupied Iran’s neighbors--Iraq and Afghanistan--and created military bases in the north and south of Iran to surround us.
“Americans wish to achieve their goals in the region by creating discord among Shiites and Sunnis,“ he said.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 11--Iraq’s High Court accused terrorist group Mujahideen Khalq Organization of committing crimes against the Iraqi nation.
Head of the High Court for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, Jafar Al-Mousavi, told reporters on Sunday that the court’s prosecutors have collected concrete proof for putting MKO agents on trial, IRNA reported.
“Written, audio and video evidence pertaining to MKO has been found based on which MKO members are accused of murdering and displacing thousands of Iraqi citizens in the north and south of Iraq,“ he said.
Al-Mousavi said the team of prosecutors is seeking to file two complaints against MKO in this regard. He did not disclose the time of the trial and the names of suspects.
There are close to 4,000 MKO agents held by US forces in Camp Ashraf, Diyala province.

Gholamreza Aqazadeh

TEHRAN, March 11--Iran on Sunday expressed its readiness to help the Russian contractor of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in southern Iran, increase its liquidity to launch the plant on time.
Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Gholamreza Aqazadeh, was speaking to reporters on the financial problems of the Russian contractor building Bushehr power plant, IRNA reported.
“The Russian company needs Iran’s help with respect to its liquidity problem to launch the Bushehr power plant as scheduled. We are ready to enhance the Russian side’s liquidity, although it is not within Iran’s legal commitments,“ he said.
Atomstroiexport is Russia’s national agent and general contractor for building the power plant in Bushehr.
“It is necessary for us to hold occasional sessions with Russia before opening the plant. Inauguration of Bushehr power plant is important for Iran. Back-up sectors of the plant, including industrial water and transfer of seawater to a system of water circulation, are currently ready,“ he said.
The IAEO chief noted that Iran’s nuclear case has become a political issue.
Referring to the considerable delays in launching the Bushehr plant, Aqazadeh expressed hope the Russian side would not politicize the issue at a time when talks about anti-Iran resolutions are underway at the UN Security Council.
“The Russian contractor has changed more than eight of its managers so far. It has received payments from Iran which have not been used in the slated sectors,“ he said.
“Tehran has promptly paid its financial dues. We have even paid our payments ahead of time,“ he said, pointing out that currently 200 Russian workers are active in the plant.
Asked about the International Atomic Energy Agency’s decision to halt its cooperation with Iran in certain areas, the AEOI chief said, “We are not happy with the IAEA decision. Such decisions will undoubtedly affect Iran’s cooperation with the agency.“
The Iranian official also said cooperation between Iran and the IAEA is continuing on 40 projects, adding that Iran’s cooperation with the agency includes technical cooperation over security of Bushehr power plant as well as regional cooperation.
“Based on the recent decision made by the agency, the IAEA has suspended its general and scientific cooperation with Iran which includes participation in scientific conferences of the region,“ he said.

TEHRAN, March 11--Tehran Press Court lifted the ban on the Persian daily Sharq and sentenced its managing director, Mehdi Rahmanian, to a 9-million-rial fine.
Mohammad Reza Saremi of the court’s Branch 76 presided over the case on Sunday, ILNA reported.
Rahmanian had previously been found guilty of crimes such as publishing materials deemed insulting to religious, political and national figures, and for propagating against state organizations by the Press Jury.
On March 3, IRNA said 14 members of the jury out of 21 voted against Sharq’s managing director, Mehdi Rahmanian, on four counts.
The Press Supervisory Board had ordered the closure of ’Sharq’ last year.
On February 3, Government Employees Administrative Court lifted the ban on the Persian daily Siasat-e Rouz.
The conservative newspaper was temporarily banned by Press Supervisory Board for publishing material deemed insulting to Sunni Muslims, Fars News Agency reported.

BAGHDAD, Iraq,
March 11--Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi said on Sunday the Baghdad security conference was an opportunity to voice Iran’s all-out support for the Iraqi government.
In an exclusive interview with IRNA, Qomi said political delegations participating in the one-day conference held on Saturday assured the Iraqi government of their support for its political process to establish security. “The turning point of this conference was that a security conference was held in Iraq at the international level after 17 years. This is a success for the legitimate government of Iraq,“ he said.
Qomi added that due to the significance of this conference, representatives from the United Nations, Organization of Islamic Conference, Arab League and the United Nations Security Council as well as envoys from Bahrain and Egypt attended the conference.
Commenting on issues discussed in the conference, he said delegates presented proposals on Iraq security.
“Participants discussed Iraq’s unity, its territorial independence, a strong determined government and neighbors’ support as well as participation in the reconstruction process,“ he said, adding that most delegations stressed on devising a timetable for the pullout of occupiers from Iraq.
The envoy stressed that the Iranian delegation voiced its readiness to boost support and participate in Iraq’s reconstruction projects. “The Iranian delegation also proposed an initiative for the pullout of occupiers from Iraq while emphasizing on the security of borders,“ he said.
Qomi announced that the next security conference of Iraq’s neighbors is scheduled for April, preferably again in Baghdad, at the foreign ministerial level.

TEHRAN, March 11--Nine parliamentarians from the southern Khuzestan province notified Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi on Sunday over recent riots in the city of Andimeshk.
In a written notification to the minister, the MPs called for forming a special committee to find the root causes of the incident, IRNA reported.
Last week, fights between two young men which led to the death of one, causing tribal clashes in the city for several days.
People from both sides were injured in the ethnic conflicts.
Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel read the notification during an open Majlis session.
Also on Sunday, MPs from the northeastern cities of Birjand and Qaenat, Seyyed Alireza Ebadi and Mousa Qorbani respectively, notified Commerce Minister Massoud Mir-Kazemi about the recent illegal hike in bread price in South Khorasan province.
Earlier, a member of Majlis minority faction announced that lawmakers are planning to summon President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Majlis to answer administrative, economic and political questions. Akbar Alami, also a lawmaker from Tabriz in East Azarbaijan province, said the main duty of lawmakers is to supervise the performance of the executive branch and according to Article 122 of the constitution, the chief executive is also accountable to the nation, Majlis and the leader, Mehr News Agency reported.
Lawmakers have stated that they wish to question the president about the rising house prices and inflation rate, incompatibility of monetary decisions with the Fourth Economic Development Plan (2005-10), adopting diplomacy and making speeches that are not in line with national interests and ignoring the opinion of others, including those of the cabinet.