TEHRAN, July 22--World Forum for Proximity Among Islamic Schools of Thought has strongly condemned a fatwa (religious decree) by Wahhabi muftis allowing the destruction of Shiite holy shrines in Iraq and Syria.
According to Fars, in a statement here on Sunday, the Tehran-based forum said the fatwa is against the unity and national interests of Muslim states, especially those of war-shattered Iraq.
It noted that the move gives a pretext to foreign forces to prolong their presence in the region.
Earlier, the mufti of Saudi Arabia and other leading Wahhabi clerics endorsed the decree and asked for destruction of the holy shrines of Imam Hossein (AS) and his brother Hazrat Abbas (AS) in Karbala, Iraq, and of their sister Hazrat Zeinab (SA) in Damascus, Syria.
The fatwa has inflamed Muslim anger around the world.
In the decree first released before the second attack on Samarra shrines, Wahhabis are asked to destroy all signs of ’polytheism’ in Iraqi cities, an implicit reference to the Shiite shrines.
“The shrine of (Imam) Hossein in Karbala, as one of the main symbols of Shiites, should be destroyed,“ the decree said.
Following the decree, a number of university students at Mohammad bin Saud University formed voluntary committees with the aim of attracting members from the Persian Gulf neighboring states for destroying these shrines in the near future.
The fatwa has given rise to expressions of protest and disgust from all over the world, especially Muslim authorities.

Seyyed Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi

TEHRAN, July 22--An official said on Sunday raising the election heat is against the country’s interests.
Seyyed Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, president’s top advisor and deputy interior minister for political affairs, added that media and political parties should regulate the scene for the upcoming Majlis elections, IRNA reported.
The official noted that political parties and media should not harm the present constructive atmosphere by their unjust criticism.
“The electoral atmosphere should be intensified on the eve of elections. Its peak is 24 hours before the election. Our nation will definitely make another great event on the voting day,“ he said.
Samareh pointed out that an agreement has been made between the government and the Guardians Council for holding an electronic voting and said details of the plan will be discussed later.
“The upcoming Majlis elections will definitely be electronic at some levels,“ he said.
Referring to new restrictions on the publicity of Majlis nominees, Samareh said when the Majlis passes a ratification, the Interior Ministry is obliged to implement it.
“Restrictions on publicizing the Majlis elections will not influence people’s turnout. What is more important is the way nominees present their plans,“ he said.
Majlis elections are scheduled for March 15, 2008.

The arrested British naval personnel are seen in this file photo on April 4 in Tehran.

LONDON, July 22--British diplomats were too slow to contact a key official who helped broker the eventual release of 15 sailors and marines arrested in March by Iran, a report by lawmakers said Sunday.
Officials also bungled a decision that allowed some of the personnel to sell their stories to media organizations after their release, despite strong reservations from some sectors of government, Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee concluded, AP reported.
The British sailors and marines were searching a merchant ship in the Persian Gulf, in the coast of Iran, when they and their two inflatable boats were intercepted by Iranian vessels near the Arvand Roud waterway.
Iran said the crew had strayed into its territorial waters and held the sailors captive for 13 days. Several of the captured sailors admitted trespassing in Tehran’s waters on Iranian television.
In their report, the lawmakers said Britain had made no application to hold talks with Ali Larijani, Iran’s nuclear envoy and an influential foreign policy figure, for seven days after the sailors were seized on March 23.
“Although the government was making every effort to resolve the situation ... its application to speak to Dr. Ali Larijani could and should have been made much earlier,“ the report said.
Larijani gave an interview to Britain’s Channel 4 News on April 2, signaling that the Britons would not necessarily be put on trial in Iran--a key sign negotiations were possible, the committee said.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s foreign policy adviser spoke to Larijani on April 3, and a day later the sailors were freed, an event Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called a gift to Britain.
Richard Dalton, a former British ambassador to Iran, told the committee that access to Larijani had not been a problem in the past. “It appears odd that an application was not made earlier in the process,“ the report said.
Lawmakers said Britain placed too much emphasis on using the United Nations Security Council to pressure Iran, and failed to win a UN statement that backed London’s assertion that the sailors were in Iraqi waters when seized.

TEHRAN, July 22--Majlis on Sunday voted for two candidates out of the three introduced by Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi as new lawyer members of the Guardians Council.
Mohsen Esmaeili and Hosseinali Amiri respectively received 159 and 150 votes in favor from 249 lawmakers for a six-year term, IRNA reported.
The council has 12 members: six are clerics appointed by the leader and others are named by the judiciary and ratified by parliament.
Three GC lawyers--Ebrahim Azizi, Abbasali Kadkhodaei and Mohsen Esmaeili--have completed their tenure.
Earlier, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei appointed three jurist members to the GC.
In separate decrees, the leader reappointed Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, Ayatollah Mohammad Momen and Sadeq Larijani as the council’s jurist members. As per Article 99 of the Iranian Constitution, the Guardians Council is responsible for supervising Majlis, Experts Assembly and presidential elections as well as referendums.

The government says fuel consumption has decreased since the rationing began last month.

TEHRAN, July 22--A member of Majlis Economic Commission said some lawmakers are preparing a draft to allow Tehran Municipality to import gasoline, if the current transportation faces a shortage.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an open Majlis session on Sunday, Mohammad Khoshchehreh said if the TM is unable to fulfill its responsibility with regard to providing public transportation, it will be allowed to import gasoline, IRNA reported.
He said the draft will be proposed in an open Majlis session, if the capacity of the available transport fleet such as metro and bus does not address the needs of citizens in Tehran.
Khoshchehreh noted that expert studies should be conducted in this regard.

TEHRAN, July 22--An official said on Sunday Iran’s international knowledge production ranking has risen.
Speaking at the 34th conference of research deputies of the Iranian universities in Orumieh, Mansour Kabkanian, research deputy of the Science, Information and Technology Ministry (SIT) added that the number of Iran’s scientists in the international Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) has increased to 12, Mehr News Agency reported.
“Iran’s leader has stressed on cultural engineering, change of educational system and implementation of the country’s comprehensive scientific plan. We are now working to set research priorities,“ he said.
He noted that three committees have been assigned in the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council to follow and implement the leader’s orders, adding that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has endorsed the operation of 12 committees in SIT to present solutions.
“It is necessary to found a system of scientific management in the country. The draft has been endorsed by the president and SIT is responsible to follow that,“ he said.
The official pointed out that according to article 9 of the budget law, 16,000 billion rials have been added to the budget of research activities and the amount will soon be available to the ministry.
Kabkanian said State Inspectorate Organization is obliged to supervise the budget spending.

ISFAHAN, July 22--An official said on Sunday a handicrafts university will be constructed in Isfahan in the near future.
Ahmad Adib, deputy head of Isfahan Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, added that all handicraft courses will be presented in the university, the Persian daily Kayhan reported.
“There is no land problem for building the university and we intend to start the project in cooperation with the Science, Technology and Research Ministry,“ he said.
He noted that the cabinet approved the university’s construction during its provincial trip to Isfahan.
Adib pointed out that the cabinet allocated 500 billion rials as loans for artists and tradesmen of the province while 1,000 billion rials were allocated for the same purpose before. “Artists and tradesmen can receive loans from Management and Planning Organization at the approved bank profit rate,“ he said.

MADRID, Spain, July 22--Mohammad Hassan Qadiri-Abyaneh submitted his credentials as Iran’s plenipotentiary and extraordinary ambassador to Mexico’s President Felipe de Jesus Calderon on Saturday.
In a ceremony, the Mexican president expressed pleasure with expansion of bilateral relations and said his country was ready to promote ties in regional affairs, IRNA reported. Conveying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s greetings to his Mexican counterpart, Qadiri-Abyaneh said, “Tehran’s policy is to expand ties in all fields with Latin American countries, including Mexico, and explained his programs to increase cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields.“
The ambassador said Calderon’s motto of “More presence of Mexico in the world and more presence of the world in Mexico“ is in line with Iran’s embassy plans and underlined that the embassy is looking for ways to make such programs more practical in the bilateral framework.
Qadiri expressed Iran’s readiness for joint ventures with Mexico in Latin America and Middle East.
Mexico’s foreign minister as well as Iran’s embassy diplomats also attended the ceremony.