Mohammad Ali Hosseini

TEHRAN, June 5--Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said late Saturday the recent allegations of British Prime Minister Tony Blair against Iran are politically worthless.
Hosseini added that public opinion in England and other countries prove Blair’s wrong approach, a fax dispatched by the Foreign Ministry’s Media Department reported.
“London’s approach regarding the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq had no result, except destruction, insecurity and homelessness,“ he said.
He noted that foreign forces in the region are only plundering natural resources, adding that this move of the occupying forces has escalated terrorism, insecurity and drug smuggling.
Blair in an article in ’The Economist’ accused Iran of arming Taliban to stir chaos and inflict more casualties on western troops.
Hosseini said the British government and other military forces in Afghanistan have reached an agreement with the Taliban in Musa Qala district (in Helmand province), adding that the support by London and its allies for increasing drug production in Afghanistan has concerned the Afghan government.
“Iran hopes that the next British government would have more understanding of regional realities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan,“ he said.
Referring to the US reaction over the arrest of academics accused of espionage, he said according to the Iranian Constitution, the arrested people are Iranian nationals and no one can interfere in Iran’s internal affairs.
“America condemns the recent arrests while it should be responding to its inhuman behavior in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons. This is a clear evidence of America’s double standards,“ he said.

BERLIN, June 5--Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was meeting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on Tuesday to discuss Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, German officials said.
“I can confirm a meeting today is taking place between Larijani and the foreign minister,“ said a spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry, declining to elaborate.
The meeting follows last week’s talks in Madrid between Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana which produced no breakthrough on Tehran’s core dispute with the West--its refusal to suspend nuclear enrichment as a precondition for negotiations, Reuters reported.
Originally it was Larijani’s deputy Javad Vaeedi who was to hold the meetings in Berlin with the political directors for Germany and the European Union. One diplomat said Vaeedi was planning to warn them against a crackdown on Tehran over its nuclear program at this week’s Group of Eight (G8) summit.
One diplomat close to the German Foreign Ministry said the Iranians had decided to upgrade the meeting to a ministerial level, most likely to send a stronger message.
“Obviously the Iranians thought this meeting was too important to be left to a deputy,“ the diplomat said.
Meanwhile, Larijani conferred with Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey on bilateral ties and Iran’s nuclear issue late Monday.
The two sides exchanged views on the ways to resolve the current standoff and agreed for further cooperation and consultations.
On Sunday, Larijani dismissed as a ’joke’ a US plan to set up a missile defense system in Europe to counter threats from Iran.
The United States wants to deploy a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland by 2011-12. It says the system would counter threats from Iran and North Korea.
But Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told IRNA that Tehran did not have missiles with that reach and it would not target a trade partner anyway.
“The range of Iranian missiles cannot reach Europe and it’s surprising that they don’t know such a thing,“ Larijani said.
“In addition to that, Europe is our biggest commercial partner and basically what is the logic for us to do such a thing?“ he said.
He described the initiative as “the joke of the year“ and added: “These days Americans are cracking a lot of these jokes.“
The plan has drawn strong criticism from Russia, which sees it as a threat to its national security and an encroachment on its sphere of influence. Moscow has rejected offers to cooperate with Washington on the project.
Iran’s longest-range missile is Shahab-3, which has a range of 1,250 miles (2,000 km).

TEHRAN, June 5--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel left Tehran for a two-nation visit to the Philippines and Kuwait on Tuesday.
Talking to reporters upon his departure at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport, Haddad said his five-day visits to the countries are scheduled at the invitation of his Filipino and Kuwaiti counterparts, IRIB reported.
Haddad said he would take part in the centennial celebration of the Philippines House of Representatives slated for June 7 and also meet with Filipino officials as well as Asian and non-Asian parliament speakers attending the celebration.
“Iran, as the current president of the Asian Parliaments Assembly, would present a report on the activities of the Tehran-based assembly,“ he said.
He also said Iranian and Kuwaiti officials will discuss ways and means of enhancing economic and cultural ties and exchange views on developments in the Muslim world.
Haddad noted that Iran enjoys friendly ties with both the countries, adding that forging ties with Asian and Muslim nations is a priority.

Amr Moussa

CAIRO, Egypt, June 5--Arab League Chief Amr Moussa urged the US and Iran to continue their dialogue on Iraq, saying on Monday that the country’s future matters to all Arab nations.
The US and Iran held groundbreaking ambassador-level talks last week in Baghdad, a meeting that had stirred concern among some Arabs that their countries may be left out of the loop on Iraq’s future, AP reported.
“The (Iran-US) dialogue is an active attempt to calm down the issues and solve the problems away from military conflict, and we hope that the dialogue will continue in favor of tranquility,“ Moussa said during a visit from Iraq’s Sunni Arab vice president, Tariq Al-Hashemi.
Al-Hashemi was in Egypt seeking help for his country.
“We are in dire need for help and cooperation to exchange views on how to end the Iraqi bottleneck,“ Al-Hashemi told reporters.
Egypt has expressed worries about the rise to power by Iraq’s majority Shiite Muslims after the 2003 US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime. Egypt and most other Arab countries in the Middle East are majority Sunni.
Mubarak angered Iraqi leaders in 2005 by accusing Shiites in Iraq and across the Middle East of being more loyal to Iran--a majority Shiite country--than their own countries.
Al-Hashemi is scheduled to meet President Hosni Mubarak and other top Egyptian officials during his visit.

NEW YORK, June 5--An Iranian researcher is suing New York’s Rockefeller University, alleging she lost her position at the school because she is a woman.
In her recently filed discrimination lawsuit, Dr. Effat Emamian alleges she lost her assistant-professor position at the school due to her gender and that during her employment she was ridiculed over her Iranian heritage, the New York Post said Sunday.
The 35-year-old says after she complained about her Nobel Prize-winning colleague, Dr. Paul Greengard, she was fired by the university.
Her suit alleges that after Emamian made a breakthrough involving cancer-resistant genes, Greengard undermined her scientific efforts and the school later patented her findings.
Greengard apologized for some of his behavior in a letter introduced in court proceedings.
“Over time we have not shared a common view about the research you pursued,“ he wrote. “My communications with you about these differences have been rude and, I understand, upsetting to you and for that I apologize.“
The Post said the university has denied discrimination played a role in Emamian’s dismissal.