Top Lebanese cleric Allameh Mohammad Hossein Fadlallah (r) in talks with Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Sheybani in Beirut on Saturday.

TEHRAN, Sept 29--Iran hailed the initiative of Lebanon’s parliament speaker as the most appropriate solution to end the country’s political impasse.
Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Sheybani said Tehran will support any initiative aimed at resolving the root causes of the crisis in Lebanon, ISNA reported Saturday.
Sheybani made the remarks in separate meetings with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and top Lebanese cleric Allameh Mohammad Hossein Fadlallah.
Sheybani said Berri’s plan can end the current deadlock in Lebanon.
According to Berri’s plan, the president should be elected with the two-thirds of the votes of political parties in parliament.
“The Islamic Republic has announced many times that it supports any plan to settle the dispute in Lebanon,“ he said, referring to recent statements by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, which emphasized that Lebanon’s presidential elections should be held in its legal time.
This is while Fadlallah called on regional and international parties to create practical solutions for ending the impasse in Lebanon.
Referring to the recent positive developments in relations between Iran and Egypt, he said, “This can greatly help resolve problems of the world of Islam.“
The top Lebanese cleric highlighted the cultural and political roles of Iran and Egypt in the region, and said they can lay the foundation for finding positive solutions for reconciliation in the Middle East.
Fadlallah warned that Europeans are toeing the lines of the US government, which will lead to the deterioration of tension in the region.
“The Bush administration should make compensation if the situation is heightened by new wars in the region,“ he said.

David Miliband

Manouchehr Mottaki

NEW YORK, Sept. 29--Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his British counterpart David Miliband on Friday reviewed issues of mutual interest on the sidelines of the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Talking to IRNA after the meeting, Mottaki said due to the current world situation, the main topics discussed in separate meetings with British, German and French foreign ministers were Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and the Islamic Republic’s stands regarding world developments.
Mottaki regretted that at the end of Tony Blair’s term in office, Iran’s stands as well as the regional developments, including the crises in Iraq and Afghanistan, were presented incorrectly.
“Currently we are monitoring the stands of the new British government. We make contacts with them and believe that if there are positive grounds for mutual understanding regarding various issues, there will be no problem for promoting bilateral cooperation,“ he said.
On the issue of nuclear technology, Mottaki reiterated that his British counterpart said his government had no concern over Iran’s pursuance of nuclear technology.
“We have signed several nuclear agreements which have been violated or cancelled, therefore our people naturally have no more trust in statements,“ he said.
“Iranian cultural artifacts smuggled to Britain and the arrest of an Iranian national in that country were also reviewed with Miliband.“
Meanwhile, Mottaki told Alalam TV on Saturday the agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the only framework for settling the ongoing dispute over Iran’s nuclear programs.
The five permanent member states of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany on Friday decided to delay a third Security Council resolution against Iran until they evaluate an IAEA report in November.
The veto powers also pledged to wait for the results of negotiations between European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.
“The Iran-IAEA agreement is the only framework for settling the issue and there is no logical reason whatsoever to act outside the agreement,“ Mottaki said, reacting to the decision made by the world powers in New York.
Iran and the IAEA agreed last month on a plan of action aimed at removing all technical ambiguities by the IAEA over Iran’s nuclear projects and prepare the grounds for political talks between Larijani and Solana.

TEHRAN, Sept. 29--A presidential advisor said the media should act independently without any political and party inclinations.
Ali Akbar Javanfekr also told ISNA on Saturday that the media should avoid political moves, urging the media to criticize the performance of the government in “an unbiased manner“.
Javanfekr said the media, as the supporter of the rights of people, have not appropriately reflected the achievements of the presidential trips.
He said the media and government should undertake constructive and two-way communications.
The top press official stressed the role of moderation in information dissemination.
Javanfekr, however, said the government is satisfied with the performance of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting in reflecting the accomplishments of the government.
Operating under the direct supervision of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the state-run IRIB manages the only national radio and television networks in Iran.
Javanfekr said the government provides the IRIB with an annual budget and “is mandated to help us in our activities“.
“Political parties can have their own media,“ he said, pointing out that they should prioritize dissemination of information in a transparent and unbiased manner.

TEHRAN, Sept. 29--Some 100 Crisis Management Headquarters will be established in the capital city by February 11, said head of Tehran City Council.
Mehdi Chamran also told ISNA on Friday that some 75 of these headquarters are ready to become operational.
Referring to the fact that Tehran has 22 districts with a population of more than most ordinary cities in the country, he noted that the metropolis needs more Crisis Management Headquarters to reduce the risks of natural disasters.
“Some 100 Crisis Management Headquarters will come on stream in the first phase and more than 140 others in the second phase,“ he said.
Nearly 33 types of natural disasters threaten Iran while only 8,000 billion rials have been allocated to tackle them in the current Iranian year (started March 21).
Natural disasters claimed 430 lives in the past Iranian year, but the number declined in the current year to 370 despite an increase in the number of accidents.

PARIS, Sept. 29--France opposes any form of American extraterritorial sanctions, which could target foreign companies with operations in Iran.
France is opposed to the adoption of “any extraterritorial sanctions targeting foreign companies operating in Iran“ as France does not consider such measures useful, French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Frederic Desagneaux said during a press briefing on Friday, Xinhua reported.
The spokesman was responding to the passage of a new law by the US Congress, which called for tougher sanctions against Iran.
“At a time when we have demonstrated our unwavering determination to ensure that Iran complies with the demands of the UN Security Council, this kind of measures could be the subject of litigations under international laws,“ the spokesman said.
On Tuesday, the US Congress voted by a large majority to tighten sanctions against Iran by notably blocking foreign investments in Iran, particularly in its lucrative energy sector.
Only recently, France called on its leading companies not to bid for new tenders in Iran without necessarily having to abandon projects that are already underway.
French energy giant Total as well as leading vehicle-manufacturers Renault and Peugeot have significant investments in the country.
The French spokesman also said France reaffirmed its commitment to the unity of Iraq, after the American Senate voted on Wednesday a resolution favoring the partitioning of Iraq.
“France supports the unity, integrity and sovereignty of Iraq,“ Desagneaux said.
“It is up to the Iraqi people to say which constitutional arrangement they desire“ for their country, he said.
The American Senate approved on Wednesday by 75 votes against 23 a nonrestrictive resolution on a plan aimed at partitioning Iraq, which, according to its proponents, is the only way for ending the raging sectarian violence in that country.
Iraqi authorities dismissed on Friday the American resolution maintaining “only the Iraqis themselves can decide on such an issue“.

CHABAHAR,
Sistan-Baluchestan, Sept. 29--At least 24 people were killed when a fuel tanker collided with a bus in southeastern Iran, setting the two vehicles on fire late Friday.
Some 20 people were wounded in the accident on the Chabahar-Iranshahr Road in Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders Pakistan, ISNA reported.
“Because the tanker was carrying fuel, the two vehicles caught fire and because of its intensity, 22 passengers along with the two drivers...were killed,“ the report said.
The report noted that 20 people survived after they escaped from the windows of the bus.
Statistics show that one person dies every 20 minutes on Iran’s roads, one of the highest road accident rates in the world. The frequent crashes are blamed on reckless driving, dilapidated vehicles and inadequate medical emergency services.
At least 100,000 people in the country of 70 million have died in road accidents over the past five years.

TEHRAN, Sept. 29--Workers gathered in front of Majlis on Saturday, complaining that they have been expelled from Tehran Municipality.
The workers, who work in the garbage collection sector of municipality and hail from different provinces, including Sistan-Baluchestan, told reporters that they have worked in Tehran since three months ago but have been replaced by Afghan workers last week, IRNA reported.
The workers’ representative said about 3,000 Iranian workers have come to Tehran from other provinces, but the municipality has reemployed the Afghan workers.
Seyyed Nezam Molla-Hoveizeh, an MP from Dasht-e Azadegan, said Majlis will follow up the issue via the Interior Ministry.
He stressed that according to the Majlis ratification, Afghan workers should not be employed but Tehran Municipality has employed them.
Molla-Hoveizeh stated that the municipality prefers cheap workforce in order to avoid insuring them and giving them social services.

First Vice President Parviz Davoudi (l) shakes hands with Kyrgyz ambassador in Tehran, M. Khan Sherim Kulev, on Saturday.

TEHRAN, Sept. 29--First Vice President Parviz Davoudi on Saturday called for upgrading the Iran-Kyrgyz cordial relations.
In a meeting with Kyrgyz ambassador in Tehran, M. Khan Sherim Kulev, the Iranian official said exchange of visits between Iranian and Kyrgyz officials would help strengthen Tehran-Bishkek relations in various fields, IRNA reported.
Davoudi voiced Tehran’s readiness to cooperate with Bishkek in the fields of trade, economic, technical and engineering activities.
“Both Tehran and Bishkek would use their potentials to serve the interest of their respective nations,“ he said.
Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz ambassador said the people and government of Kyrgyzstan give great importance to its ties with the people and government of Iran.
Praising the growing relations between the two countries, Kulev voiced Bishkek’s readiness to promote bilateral ties with Tehran, particularly within the framework of the two states’ joint economic commission.