TEHRAN, July 25--Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday education has a unique status in shaping the behavioral, ethical and mental norms of every individual.
Addressing officials of the Education Ministry, Ayatollah Khamenei said revamping the educational system is the fundamental need of the society, IRNA reported.
“The Education Ministry is expected to bring about restructuring by its efficient and skilled manpower. They should draw up a strategy for the overhaul of the educational system in light of the religious and national identity,“ he said.
The leader urged public consensus within the educational system for restructuring the body, adding that any country should take the education sector into account as the fundamental institution for making material and moral progress as well as political and scientific breakthrough.
Comparing the current educational system with that of pre-Islamic Revolution era, Ayatollah Khamenei said the education system had focused on secular perceptions before the Islamic Revolution and was incompatible with the fundamental needs of the society.
“Notwithstanding the changes in Education Ministry toward Islamic and national perceptions, it still suffers from outdated structures that require radical changes to revitalize the education sector in conformity with social progress.“
Prior to the leader’s remarks, Education Minister Mahmoud Farshidi presented a report on measures undertaken to restructure the ministry.
“The Council on Education Ministry Strategy has been established and priorities for the next three years have been devised,“ he said.

TEHRAN, July 25--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran’s firm policy regarding Iraq is to support the country’s security, solidarity and its government.
Ahmadinejad made the remark while speaking to reporters at the end of the Cabinet session on Wednesday, ISNA reported.
Commenting on the second round of Iran-US talks on Iraq held in Al-Khadra district west of Baghdad on Tuesday, the president said, “Assisting the people and government of Iraq was the only objective behind Tehran’s talks with the US officials.“
Stressing that the talks had taken place upon the request of Iraqi officials, the president said, “We will do all within our power to help promote Iraq’s security, solidarity and its government.“
Asked if the issue of the abducted Iranian diplomats in Iraq was discussed during Tuesday’s talks, the president said, “I have not seen the report of the talks yet.“
The talks were held by Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi and his US counterpart, Ryan Crocker.
The first round of Iran-US talks on Iraq was held on May 28 in Baghdad at the ambassadorial level with Qomi and Crocker as the main negotiators.
Ahmadinejad also said that all countries have plans for fuel consumption and transportation sector, adding that the adoption of a gasoline rationing system will result in thrift and cost-effectiveness.
Noting that the gasoline rationing system is a national drive and people have acted wisely, Ahmadinejad noted that the government can do great things by saving gasoline.
“We have discussed the issue with lawmakers and reached the conclusion that a total of 700 km of railway can be built within three years by saving gasoline,“ he said.

Ali Larijani

TEHRAN, July 25--Iran has issued its strongest signal to date that it will defy UN demands for a suspension of uranium enrichment, noting that the demand is a strategic mistake since Iran has already acquired the know-how.
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator told The Independent on Tuesday that uranium enrichment was “like breathing“ for his country, and that Iran would not halt the spinning centrifuges at its main enrichment plant in Natanz, even if the Bush administration offered security guarantees.
Asked whether Iran might reconsider its refusal to suspend enrichment if it were to receive security guarantees from America and a promise that the US would not seek regime change, Larijani responded, “We are in no need of US security guarantees. I do not see a relation between these two matters. This example of yours is like saying, ’if the Americans provide you with a security guarantee are you ready to give up breathing?’“
During the 90-minute conversation with six journalists from Britain, France, Germany and the US, the soft-spoken conservative noted that an Iranian proposal for an international consortium to enrich uranium inside Iran was rejected by the Americans.
“They do not want Iran to have the nuclear technology, which is a strategic mistake because Iran has already acquired this knowledge.“
Meanwhile, Iranian nuclear negotiators were heading for Moscow Tuesday for further talks on Iran’s nuclear activities.
Iranian negotiators Javad Vaeedi and Mohammad Saeedi were “flying from Vienna to Russia to persuade the Russians to finish building the Bushehr nuclear (power) reactor,“ said a diplomat who asked not to be named due to the confidential nature of the information.
The two Iranians had agreed Tuesday in Vienna to allow inspectors from the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency to visit next week a heavy-water reactor being built in Arak and which is a proliferation concern since it will be able to produce plutonium, a potential atom-bomb material.

TEHRAN, July 25--A Saudi website revealed the secret nuclear program of the Saudi Arabia which is underway with the help of Pakistan.
The news website ’Sawt Al-Salam’ announced on Wednesday that a group of Pakistani nuclear scientists who entered Saudi Arabia during the Hajj ceremony in 2003 have been working to expand the secret nuclear program of the country, Fars reported.
“During the Hajj pilgrimages to Mecca from 2003 through 2005, Pakistani scientists posed as pilgrims have come to Saudi Arabia and helped it expand its nuclear program,“ the website said.
It adds that between October 2004 and January 2005, some of them slipped off from pilgrimages, sometimes for up to three weeks.
According to Western security services, the website added, Saudi scientists have been working since the mid-1990s in Pakistan, a nuclear power since 1998. It says the scientists advised the Saudi government to build its nuclear laboratories below prisons that are under construction.
“The Saudi government has also hired some Iraqi nuclear scientists to help its nuclear program. Some residential complexes have also been constructed in southern Riyadh for them,“ it said.
Sawt Al-Salam also quoted a US military analyst, John Pike, as saying that Saudi barcodes can be found on half of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons because Saudi Arabia co-financed the Pakistani atomic nuclear program.
The website also said satellite images indicate Saudi Arabia has set up a base in Al-Sulaiyil, south of Riyadh, a secret underground city and dozens of underground silos for missiles.

TEHRAN, July 25--Iran will consider the question of Iran-US talks on Iraq at the level of deputy foreign ministers, said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday.
Mottaki’s remarks came while he was commenting on a US request for continuation of Tehran-Washington talks over security issues in Iraq, IRNA reported.
“The issue can be considered if a formal request is received from the US side,“ said the minister while speaking to reporters at the end of the Cabinet meeting.
Mottaki said that during talks with the US and Iraqi officials, various issues including restoration of security to Iraq and campaign against terrorism were among main topics on the agenda.
He said they also discussed the case of five kidnapped Iranian diplomats in Irbil.
“The three countries also agreed to form a security committee to help the Iraqi government restore the country’s security in the long run,“ he said.
On the recent fatwa issued by some Saudi Muftis calling for destruction of Shiite holy sites, he said the issue would be pursued by Iranian and Saudi officials.
“We think the issue has been masterminded by those who seek to sow seeds of discord among Muslims,“ he said, adding that this requires collective vigilance on the part of all nations.

BEIT-UL-MOQADDAS, July 25--Arab envoys on a landmark visit to the Zionist Israeli regime presented its leaders with a regional land-for-peace plan on Wednesday and called for a rapid timetable for talks with the Palestinians over statehood.
Israel described the one-day visit by the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers as a ’historic’ move on the part of the 22-nation Arab League. But it stopped short of embracing their initiative, which offers a comprehensive Arab peace if the Jewish state cedes all occupied land and meets other demands, Reuters reported.
Reaching out to the Palestinians and fellow Arabs, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent the clearest signal yet that he would try to restart talks on the final status of a Palestinian state with President Mahmoud Abbas, whose secular Fatah faction lost control of the Gaza Strip last month to Hamas Islamists.
“We need a precise timetable, a quick timetable and we urge Israel not to waste this historic opportunity. Time is not on our side,“ Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelelah Al-Khatib told a news conference at the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
Olmert said there was “a chance in the near future for the process to ripen into talks that would, in effect, deal with the stages of establishing a Palestinian state“.
Speaking in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas said he hoped Olmert would become a “partner to a final settlement that will lead to an independent viable Palestinian state“.
Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Olmert’s comments were a diversion meant to “throw dust in the eyes“ of the world.
Israel sought to cast the envoys’ visit as a potential turning point in relations with the Arab League. But Arab diplomats played down the gesture, and the head of the Arab League told the BBC that the Egyptian and Jordanian diplomats were not acting on behalf of the organization.
Egypt and Jordan already have full relations with Israel, and despite US and Israeli appeals to expand the number of Arab participants in the talks, Saudi Arabia and other Arab League members have refused to take part.

LONDON, July 25--President Vladimir Putin of Russia accused Britain yesterday of behaving like a colonial power in demanding the extradition of the former KGB officer suspected of murdering Alexander Litvinenko.
Putin said it was insulting for Britain to demand that Russia amend its constitution to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, timesonline.co.uk reported.
“They are making proposals to change our constitution that are insulting for our nation and our people,“ he told a rally of pro-Kremlin youth activists. “It’s their brains, not our constitution, which need to be changed.“
He added: “They forget that Britain is no longer a colonial power and that Russia was never their colony.“
Putin’s comments come after last week’s tensions between Russia and Britain.
The British government expelled four Russian diplomats and Putin retaliated by ordering four diplomats out from the British Embassy in Moscow.
Meanwhile, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office emphasized that the British government was still seeking to persuade Moscow to hand over Lugovoi.
“We continue to look for a willingness from the Russian authorities to work constructively with us to bring this crime, committed in the UK, to justice in a UK court,“ he said.
Putin said that Britain was guilty of double standards by calling for the extradition of Lugovoi, while refusing to hand over Russian dissidents, notably Boris Berezovsky, on whom an assassination attempt was made last month.
“In London, about 30 people sought by our security services are wanted for very serious crimes. They have not lifted a finger or even thought of extraditing them,“ he said.

TEL AVIV, Occupied Palestine, July 25--Nearly 50 American nuclear scientists are working in Israel’s ambitious nuclear plants and helping the Zionist regime expand its nuclear weapons program.
The Tel Aviv-based Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies (JCSS) announced on Wednesday that Israel is expanding its nuclear activities to produce the plutonium and uranium needed for its nuclear plants, QODSNA reported.
The report says the Zionist regime has developed missiles that can carry nuclear warheads over 7,500 kilometers. It adds that the US-made ’Lans’ missile was also test-fired by the regime near the Egyptian border recently which caused environmental damage to that region.
Israel fired missiles carrying depleted uranium during the 33-day war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah which was followed by condemnation of many international organizations.
Israel is now expanding its nuclear weapons without any protest from western powers. However, the same countries are pressing Iran to stop its peaceful nuclear activities that are mainly aimed at generating electricity.