Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki (r) was officially welcomed by Iran's Vice-President Parviz Davoudi in Tehran, Aug. 8.

TEHRAN, Aug. 8--Tehran and Baghdad on Wednesday called for speedy implementation of the agreements signed by the two sides during the visit of Iran’s First Vice President Parviz Davoudi to Iraq.
Senior Iranian and Iraqi officials in a meeting headed by Davoudi and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki stressed the need for using all facilities to promote mutual cooperation and remove existing impediments, IRNA reported.
Davoudi and aliki stressed the development of cooperation between Tehran and Baghdad in the fields of industry, energy, commerce, trade and economy, given the two countries’ abundant capabilities.
Davoudi said, “Iran has always tried to restore security to Iraq because the country’s security will benefit both Iran and the region.“
He said Iran is ready to contribute to Iraq’s reconstruction and promotion of security.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Davoudi called for the pullout of foreign troops from Iraq.
“The Iraqi people and youth, through hard work, high spirit and strong motivation, can prepare the ground for the withdrawal of occupiers from their homeland and guarantee security in the country,“ Davoudi said.
The vice president said Iranian technicians and entrepreneurs are ready to contribute to projects related to refinery construction, petrochemical, hospital building, water and sewerage, power, telecommunications and scientific projects in Iraq.
Maliki said Iraq wants to use Iran’s experience in many fields, including power transmission, swap of oil derivatives and completion of power plants.
He hoped Iranian companies would invest in and contribute to implementation of development and infrastructural projects in Iraq.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Aug. 8--A two-day international security conference on Iraq, which brings together representatives of Iraq’s neighbors and the international community, including the US and Iran, opened in the Syrian capital on Wednesday.
The meeting grew out of a May conference on Iraq held at the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, at which working groups on refugees, energy and border security were formed, Alalam.ir reported.
Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel-Majid said the aim of the conference is to help the Iraqi people overcome the crisis and preserve their territory.
The meeting includes delegates from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Russia, China, Britain, France, the United States as well as the Arab League and the United Nations.
It is being held just as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki arrived in Iran on a visit aimed at boosting friendly ties with the Islamic Republic.
Abdul-Majeed stressed, prior to the conference, that his country had tightened its security measures along its borders with Iraq to prevent the infiltration of Arab fighters.
Syria opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Since then, it is hosting an estimated 1.4 million Iraqi refugees who have fled Iraq.

TEHRAN, Aug. 8--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday journalists are fulfilling a prophetic mission.
“Journalists carry out a prophetic mission. As prophets conveyed messages from God to people, reporters relay news from the world around them,“ said President Ahmadinejad in an address to the weekly cabinet session on Wednesday, marking the Journalist Day, IRNA reported.
President Ahmadinejad said the closer the reports filed by journalists get to facts and honesty, the farther their works get from lies, slander and libel; and the more their work will resemble the prophets’ mission.
“If reporters try to cover events soundly and accurately, and avoid inciting people and if they want to help mankind choose the right way, then their work will become sensitive and difficult but at the same time pleasing to God,“ he said.
Criticizing the western definition of reporting and journalism, the chief executive said, “In our culture, there is no room for mixing truth and lies to divert public opinion.“
He said thousands of journalists in Iran are doing their job with love and faith to ensure the country’s prosperity by disseminating accurate news.
Meanwhile, IRNA celebrated its 73rd founding anniversary on Wednesday in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
August 8 has been designated as the Journalist Day in Iran after IRNA reporter Mahmoud Saremi was martyred in cold blood along with eight Iranian diplomats at the Iranian Consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif when the Taliban militia toppled the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani in 1998.
IRNA is operating with over 1,000 staff, including reporters and technicians both inside and outside the country, and has 60 bureaus in provincial cities and 30 bureaus in foreign countries.

TEHRAN, Aug. 8--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel said he hopes Russia will honor its commitment to complete Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in the coming months.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Haddad stressed that the Bushehr project is a symbol of cooperation between Iran and Russia, IRNA reported.
Emphasizing that the completion of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant will positively influence public opinion in Iran, the speaker pointed out that any delay in the project will have a negative impact on the Iranian government and nation.
Asked about the recent allegations of a US lawmaker and Republican presidential hopeful, Tom Tancredo, who said the holy sites of Mecca and Medina should be bombed as a retaliatory measure for possible attacks on the US, Haddad said such statements are so baseless that he will not comment on them.
Commenting on Article 44 of the constitution, Haddad pointed out that if the article is implemented, it will lead to a huge economic revolution.
Asked about the planned transfer of Iran’s gas to India and Pakistan, he noted that the peace pipeline is very important from different perspectives and Iran considers its national interests in any contract with foreign countries.
Russia has put new conditions on supplying nuclear fuel for the Bushehr plant it is building in Iran, claiming that Tehran must clear up questions over possible military atomic development.
Russian officials said on July 25 that Bushehr might not be completed until late 2008, which would put off the completion date by a year.
Delivering fuel is the last stage in activating the power plant. Construction at Bushehr had stalled earlier this year over inaccurate Russian charges that Iran was not paying its bills for the project.

BASRA, Iraq, Aug. 8--American officials believe British forces have been defeated in Basra.
A senior US intelligence official told The Washington Post on Tuesday that British commanders had allowed militias loyal to three Shiite Muslim groups take control of the city’s streets.
“The British have basically been defeated in the south,“ he said, www.telegraph.co.un reported.
British officials in Basra reject the notion that UK troop levels in the southern Iraqi province had been cut too fast.
The report said a contingent of 500 British troops based at Basra Palace was “surrounded like cowboys and Indians“.
The rebuke highlights the increasing violence in Basra, one of four provinces handed over to British control after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Three of the four provinces have been pacified and handed back to local leaders; Basra, the most populous, is due to be returned by the end of the year.
In a stark reminder of the deteriorating security situation, two British soldiers were killed in the province on Tuesday.
Britain’s former governor of Basra, Sir Hilary Synnott, said the US criticism was payback for British claims two years ago that Basra was a success while Washington had failed in Baghdad.
“It’s not so long ago that some members of the British government were boasting that Basra was doing very well, better than Baghdad. That was very unwise.“
Meanwhile, US-led forces swooped into the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City on Wednesday, killing 32 suspected militants and detaining 12 others in fighting and an airstrike targeting alleged smuggling networks from Iran.
Iraqi police and witnesses said nine civilians were killed in the attack.

NEW DELHI, India, Aug. 8--The Indian Navy is set to lend its hand to diplomacy in expanding the country’s reach in the Middle East, by starting a series of naval exercises with a number of Persian Gulf states from this week.
The Indian Navy will make port calls and conduct exercises with the navies of Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Djibouti when it embarks on a 48-day tour of the Persian Gulf region, Isn.ethz.ch said.
There was a time when India stood accused of following an ideological policy in the Middle East and ignoring states such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Today, it is these three states that seem to be emerging as the pivot of Indian foreign policy vis-ˆ-vis the Middle East.
A major factor that is increasingly shaping not only India’s approach towards the Middle East but also broader Indian foreign policy priorities is its burgeoning demand for energy.
India’s large and growing energy demand and Iran’s pool of energy resources make the two nations natural economic partners.

Michael Nazir-Ali

While religious minorities are suffering from discrimination in many parts of the world, including some parts of the United States, they are satisfied with their rights and freedom enshrined in Iran’s Constitution.
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, the bishop of Britain’s Rochester, who arrived in Tehran to meet Iranian officials and introduce the first-ever bishop of Iran’s Anglican Church, believes that the Islamic country respects and observes the rights of minorities.
Iran Daily’s Amir Tajik met the bishop to discuss the status of minorities in the West and in Iran.
With a degree in literature, philosophy and theology, Nazir-Ali is member of UK’s House of Lords. He is a lecturer at Oxford University and has written nine books and several essays on relations between Christianity with Islam. Excerpts:
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AMIR TAJIK: Please give us an overview of the religious minorities in the Great Britain.
MICHAEL NAZIR-ALI: There are minorities of different kinds in Britain. There are racial minorities who come from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The largest religious minority in the United Kingdom is the Muslim community and many of them come from Pakistan and Asian countries and all over the world. There is also a large Iranian community living in the UK. There are Muslims from Africa also. Between 5 and 6 percent of population belong to faiths other than Christianity; 71 percent are Christians and the others declare ’no religion’.
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How are religious minorities treated in the UK with regard to human rights and their social and political status in the society?
This is a developing story because when people first came, it was very difficult for them to observe their rituals and holidays, but gradually their position has improved. For example there are now many mosques or temples in Britain and minorities are free to worship or hold their ceremonies. In some cases, they have their own schools and the government is supposed to help them financially. They have rights in employment and they cannot be discriminated in any social aspect. But, of course, from time to time people do experience some discrimination for their religious beliefs. It has made some Christian leaders to tell local officials and even the government to respect the rights of people of other faiths.
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Are minorities free to have representatives in the parliament? Like they do in Iran?
There is no separate electoral system, so Muslims, Jews, Christians all belong to one electoral system. So you have to go and vote for people who stand in your constituency which is geographical constituency but within that Muslims and Jews and Hindus have been elected to parliament and members of both Houses. There are even Muslim representatives and recently a Muslim minister was introduced in the government.
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How far a Muslim can go in the political hierarchy of Britain?
Actually there is no limit to that. There is no constitutional barrier to prevent Muslims becoming prime minister or other governmental positions.
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How do you compare Iran and the US with respect to the rights of minorities?
Well, we are very pleased about the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran ensures the right of Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians in the parliament. That is good and means that they have a say. However, personally I have always believed that there should be one electoral system and that everyone should vote for a local MP because if you don’t vote for local MPs, they wouldn’t care for you very much. So I think minorities are truly representative in the Iranian Parliament and that is very important.
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There is a great deal of propaganda about Iran’s violation of human rights or minorities’ rights. What is your opinion?
I think your own officials will admit that in the past certain excesses have been committed and some people suffered from that. But I am very happy to see that at present and especially in the government of (President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad, the rights of minorities are respected. The Anglican Church, for example, has been treated with respect. It is a good sign that this government wants to put things rights and to allow religious minorities as much freedom as possible. We understand the sensitivity of the situation in Iran, but the people of Iran can only gain the freedom of expression, of thought, of belief, of learning through dialogue and that only happens when there is some freedom.

Let’s move to another topic. Do you believe Zionism has influence over the political system of Britain?
Zionism is a political ideology that arose in Europe in the last century. It involves the belief in the establishment of a state for the Jewish people. At first the Zionist movement searched for a good place in America and north Europe but later they selected Palestine.
The history of Jews in Iran is a very long one and it has nothing to do with Zionism. So I think the question of Judaism and Zionism are two separate things.
As with any other political ideology, Zionism has to be dealt with ideologically not religiously. However, the Jewish people have close contacts and connections with Muslims and Christians. We have the same prophets, divine books and religious rituals. While we may criticize some of the actions of the Zionist political state, that should not result in anti-Judaism. One of the elements of the Judaism as well as of Islam and Christianity is the respect they have for the Holy Land. Muslims call it “Al-Qods“, Christians call it the “Holy Land“ and, of course, for the Jews it is the temple of Kind David and so on.
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Many Western leaders, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, supported the Zionist regime unquestionably. Can we say that Zionism has influence over many Western leaders?
Yes, I think it has. What I would say is that what we want today in the Holy Land is that the Palestinian people must have political and economic rights and there should be a Palestinian state. And the Jewish people and Christians and Muslims must be enabled to live together. Personally I think that now the two-state solution is the only possible solution.
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The European Union has said it will not implement the US Congress ratification on imposing further sanctions against Iran. Does it show that the US has become marginalized in the international community?
I think the United States would be quite mistaken in pursuing a unilateral policy in this matter. With regard to the question of Iran’s nuclear activities, this must be a matter between the international community represented by the United Nations. So, I think what the Iranian government has to do is to only satisfy the United Nations’ atomic agency that it is not diverting its activities.
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So do you agree that the US policies against Iran have been marginalized?
First, the question of sanctions should be the very last resort against any country but if the question of sanctions arises, it must be raised by the United Nations not by the US or any other country. The European Union has said that it would not impose any sanctions on any country without the participation of the United Nations.
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As a member of the House of Lords, what do you think about the US anti-missile shield?
I do not have the technical details but the shield is supposed to protect Europe and therefore the European countries should decide whether they want to be protected by this system or not. It should also be cleared what the shield wants to defend Europe against whom? I mean if I want to have a fire alarm in my house, I should decide on it, not you as my neighbor or ally. So if the European countries want some protection, it is for them to decide on it and not the US. Technically the US cannot protect Europe without an agreement or something with Europeans.

Do you believe US policies in the world have damaged the credibility and image of its allies like Britain?
Any conflict harms the image of countries involved in it, but there are still some quite serious problems. There is this question of international terrorism and what to do about it. Iran is as much affected by it as any other countries. We can say what America has done has been wrong and something has to be done about it.
The liberation of Iraq has now turned into a very bloody conflict. The Christians in Iraq as well as Muslims have suffered from the war gravely. Nearly half of the Christian population of Iraq has been displaced. They have gone to Jordan, Syria or have moved in internal displacement. So I think what we need to do now is to continue the process of talks.
I know that Iran and the US have started these talks on the destiny of Iraq. It is a very good first step and I hope it can lead to wider discussions between the US and Iran, and can solve other problems that exist between the two countries. Iran is such a great civilization and such an important strategic country today. Definitely, the US and other countries cannot afford to ignore Iran.

Frankly speaking, can we say England is a partner of the US in its crimes against humanity?
I think now and in the future you will find that Britain is a critical partner. Of course, Britain has special relations with the US which will continue but that does not mean that what is ignored by the US like civilization or history of countries can be ignored by the Britain. Britain has much longer experience in many parts of the world and I hope that the US could learn from the British experience. The reality is that there is only one superpower in the world. We have to work with it and make sure that what it does is for the good of people. So I think critical engagement is important for that partnership.