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3 GC Members Appointed
TEHRAN, July 15--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Sunday appointed three jurist members to the Guardians Council.
In separate decrees, the leader reappointed Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, Ayatollah Mohammad Momen and Sadeq Larijani as jurist members for the council, IRNA reported.
“With respect to the end of your tenure as members of the Guardians Council and according to Article 91 of the constitution, I reappoint you as the council’s members for the determined legal period,“ the leader said in his separate decrees to the three jurisprudents.
Ayatollah Khamenei also wished them success.
The Guardians Council is a supervisory body that has the power to vet candidates for parliamentary, presidential and the Assembly of Experts elections, and to reject legislation not conforming to Islamic principles.
The council has 12 members: six are clerics appointed by the leader and others are named by the judiciary and ratified by parliament.
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President to Visit Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria, July 15--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to pay a daylong visit to Syria on Thursday to congratulate his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad on the beginning of his second seven-year term in office.
Bashar will officially swear in for the second term on Tuesday, IRNA reported.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Housing Minister Mohammad Saeedikia will accompany the president.
Ahmadinejad will also review expansion of bilateral political and economic cooperation as well as the latest regional and international developments with his Syrian counterpart.
According to informed sources, the Iranian president will probably have meetings with senior Syrian officials.
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1,200 Nanotechnology Experts Active
TEHRAN, July 15--An expert said 1,200 nanotechnology specialists are working in Iran, which registered a 300-percent growth in scientific papers submitted to international institutes in 2006.
Speaking at a conference on nanotechnology on Saturday, Bahman Hosseinzadeh added that Iran topped Muslim nations and 32nd worldwide in terms of nanotechnology research.
According to Management and Planning Organization’s Public Relations Office, Iranians submitted 250 scientific papers to the publications of Institute for Scientific Information in 2006.
“Iranian companies rank 27th in this regard in the world,“ he said.
Examples of nanotechnology use are the manufacture of polymers based on molecular structure and the design of computer chip layouts based on surface science.
Despite the great promise of nanotechnologies such as quantum dots and nanotubes, real commercial applications have mainly used the advantages of colloidal nanoparticles in bulk form, such as suntan lotion, cosmetics, protective coatings and stain resistant clothing.
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Iran, Kuwait to Resume Water Talks
ABADAN, Khuzestan, July 15--Iran and Kuwait will begin a fresh round of negotiations soon on transferring the water of Karkheh River in Khuzestan province to Kuwait.
Head of Iran-Kuwait Parliamentary Friendship Group, Javad Saadoun-Zadeh, told reporters on Sunday a preliminary agreement has been concluded between the two countries, IRNA reported.
“The Kuwaiti Parliament should ratify this agreement. Although the Kuwaiti side believes the water charge is high, they have agreed to review the contract’s terms,“ he said.
The official noted that Kuwaitis want Saudi Arabia engaged in Arash gas field--a joint venture between Iran and Kuwait. Saadoun-Zadeh also said expert studies should be implemented to examine the presence of Saudi Arabia in the lucrative deal.
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Police Intensifying
Social Security Plan
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Public satisfaction has remarkably increased since the beginning of the social security plan.
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TEHRAN, July 15--Tehran’s police chief said the plan to boost social security will be intensified as of July 23.
Talking to reporters on Sunday, Reza Radan said those who do not observe the Islamic dress code will be confronted more severely than in the past, Fars reported.
He noted that the data on social security offenders have been stored in special laptops, adding that police officers have been instructed to detain these offenders if they are caught flouting the law.
Asked about the drive to confront boys who make up their hairs in Western styles, Radan said they will be transferred to Police Crime Department.
The police chief also said using outlawed hairstyles distorts public opinion and are a crime.
He stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran Police is not afraid of foreign media hype about its plan to boost social security.
Referring to the results of police efforts and feedback from the people, he said public satisfaction has remarkably increased since the beginning of this plan.
Radan noted that many crimes such as assault and hooliganism have declined as a result of the social security plan.
More than 600 offenders have been confronted by the judicial police since the start of the plan. Also, 2,000 stores were closed down for violating regulations.
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Leader’s Remarks
JAHAN-E EQTESAD: In a meeting with judicial officials, government executives and members of the Guardians Council, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei hailed their efforts, but also mentioned their weaknesses. What can be learnt from the leader’s remarks in these meetings is that the leader favors constructive criticism of officials, irrespective of their political affiliations. The manner in which the leader mentioned the weaknesses of state institutions prevents the possibility of political concessions and also encourages those who are being scrutinized to improve their performance.
Transformation
KAYHAN: If there is a problem with the information dissemination process concerning the services of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration to the nation, it is because newspapers controlled by political parties undermine government accomplishments to pursue their vested interests. These papers spare no effort and opportunity to strike a blow to the incumbent government. They are, in fact, waging a psychological campaign against the government. Public relations practitioners working in state organizations and ministries are not skillful in undertaking the sensitive task of disseminating the government’s accomplishments to the public. This calls for a major transformation in the information dissemination wing of the government.
Islamic Administration
SIASAT-E ROUZ: Nations today have come up with pragmatic approaches for administering their social affairs. This is while Islam provided its followers with practical methods for administering societies more than 14 centuries ago. In fact, models introduced by Islam for administering the country are more comprehensive and pragmatic than the ones proposed by modern theoreticians. For example, Islam urges governments to focus on justice and avoid discrimination as the yardstick for assigning people with state responsibilities.
Paradoxical
RESALAT: Some politicians deserve criticism because of contradictions between their performance and pronouncements. These paradoxes should be avoided in politics, but they are inevitable as the structure of politics becomes more complicated by the day. The statements and performance of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Mohamed ElBaradei present a good example. Although he urges the Western countries to interact with Iran and says that the only way for resolving Iran’s nuclear case is through diplomacy, he always leaves space for Group 5+1 in IAEA’s reports to act against Iran. This paradox can only be interpreted as the deviation of an international institution like IAEA from its principled path.
Electioneering
TEHRAN-E EMROUZ: Several Majlis representatives are opposed to a previous ratification that legalized the use of Internet and SMS instead of banners, posters and pamphlets for electioneering. It seems that the Internet penetration rate in Iran is not high, hence replacing traditional methods of electioneering with new communication technologies seems to be a bit soon. In addition, villages across the nation do not have proper Internet connections. Some MPs believe Internet-based electioneering is not appropriate for this round of elections, although candidates may find greater opportunities for publicizing their ideas. But election officials should provide just and equal opportunities for candidates, some of whom may have no access to the Internet.
Lack of Planning
AFARINESH: No one doubts the need for regulating fuel consumption in the country. Hence, what the government has done by adopting a rationing system is acceptable. However, lack of proper planning in this respect has inflicted losses that will apparently exceed savings from gasoline rationing. Implementing this at the beginning of summer, when people usually travel, will cause considerable loss of revenues to the tourism industry. Many people employed in the tourism sector will lose their jobs in the near future. Of course, the government has allocated a gasoline quota to professions related to the transport sector, but these allocations have not materialized yet.
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