A view of an Iranian defense industriesÕ exhibition

TEHRAN, Oct. 10--A university official said on Wednesday more than 150 defense research projects are underway at Tehran’s Amir Kabir University.
Alireza Rahaei, the head of Amir Kabir University of Technology, noted that technical universities have always had suitable cooperation with the country’s defense industries.
“Industrial universities have also accomplished numerous research projects and also created many useful products,“ he said.
Rahaei pointed out that one of the characteristics of conducting defense research is to familiarize university students with strategic research and helping the country’s defense capabilities grow.
“All managers and experts of the defense industry unanimously agree that by accepting the huge responsibility and low expenses, universities positively influence development and modernization of the country’s military hardware,“ he said.
Referring to achievements such as the manufacture of supercomputers in Amir Kabir University, Rahaei said by forming research teams in different faculties of Amir Kabir University the output of research projects will increase by 64 percent.
“Over 360 research projects are presently underway by professors and students of Amir Kabir University, which looks forward to have a good performance in the defense sector,“ he said.

TEHRAN, Oct. 10--Central Bank of Iran announced that the inflation rate reached 15.8 percent during September 20, 2006-September 20, 2007.
According to data released by CBI’s Economic Statistics Bureau, the price indexes of goods and consumer services in Iran’s urban areas increased by 2.5 percent in September compared to the previous month and 17.9 percent compared to September 2006, Mehr News Agency reported.
The inflation rate was 12.8 percent in April, 13.6 percent in May, 14.2 percent in June, 14.8 percent in July and 15.4 percent in August.
The rate is calculated on the basis of the prices of 359 goods and services in the urban areas of Iran.

Vladimir Putin

MOSCOW, Oct. 10--President Vladimir Putin said there is no proof Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons, emphasizing that Tehran must be encouraged to make its nuclear program fully transparent.
“We are sharing our partners’ concern about making all Iranian programs transparent,“ Putin said on Wednesday at a news conference after talks with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy, AP reported.
“We agreed yesterday, and the president confirmed it, that Iran is making certain steps toward the international community to achieve that,“ he added.
Putin is to make his first visit to Iran early next week for a summit of Caspian Sea nations.
Sarkozy said Putin’s trip to Tehran could encourage Iran to be more cooperative. “After the trip, there could be a will to cooperate--that is essential,“ he said.
Russia has opposed the US push for tougher sanctions against Iran and called for more checks and inspections of Iranian facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog.
“We have worked cooperatively with our partners at the United Nations Security Council, and we intend to continue such cooperative work in the future,“ Putin said.
But he said that with no “objective data“ showing Iran is developing nuclear weapons, “we proceed from an assumption that Iran has no such plans“.
Iran’s past activities--and its refusal to heed UN Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment--have stoked suspicion among the US and its allies that the country is trying to create the fissile material for nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is intended only to develop an alternative source of energy.
The IAEA says that it has not been able to detect signs that Iran has a weapons program, but has withheld judgment on what the Islamic Republic’s ultimate aims may be.
Sarkozy has hardened France’s stance on Iran in recent months, shifting closer to the United States in his insistence on tough Security Council sanctions and even his mention of the possibility of war. While the US and European nations are pressing for greater sanctions, Russia and China have resisted.
Sarkozy had criticized Russia of late, recently accusing it of ’brutality’ in exercising its energy dominance, and courting central and eastern European leaders who bristled at Moscow’s renewed influence.
But on his first presidential visit to Russia, Sarkozy struck a decidedly upbeat note after hours of talks with Putin on many touchy subjects.

Eid Al-Fitr marks the successful culmination of the fasting month of Ramadan. We felicitate our Muslim readers on this auspicious occasion and wish them fulfillment of their desires.

TEHRAN, Oct. 10--Officials from Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency on Wednesday stopped their almost four-hour technical debate on the P1 and P2 centrifuges for a break.
The two sides resumed talks that have been underway since Tuesday after the break, IRNA reported.
Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Javad Vaeedi and Deputy IAEA Chief for Safeguards Olli Heinonen are leading the Iranian and IAEA delegations in the talks.
The two sides have so far held about seven hours of talks on the P1 and P2 centrifuges and the discussion will continue until Thursday.
Tehran is responding to IAEA questions, which will be finalized in a session in Tehran in mid-October and any new point related to the subject will be raised then.
Sources say the IAEA will study the answers in late October before presenting its final assessment.
Iran and IAEA held similar talks in Tehran during September 24-25 on centrifuges.
With the implementation of the Tehran-IAEA agreement, the cases of plutonium and pollution in Karaj have been closed.

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, Oct. 10--A Russian rocket blasted off from a launch facility in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, carrying a Russian, an American and the first Malaysian to the international space station.
The Soyuz-FG rocket lifted off on schedule at 1322 GMT, soaring into a darkening sky above the Kazakh steppe, AP reported.
It was topped by a spacecraft that is to deliver US astronaut Peggy Whitson, veteran Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a Malaysian physician, to the orbital station in about two days.
Whitson, of Beaconsfield, Iowa, is to be the first woman to command the international space station. Sheikh Muszaphar, a 35-year-old orthopedic surgeon, is to spend about 10 days on the station as the first Malaysian in space, performing experiments involving diseases and the effects of microgravity and space radiation on cells and genes.
Applause broke out among space officials and other onlookers as the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft entered orbit.
Sheikh Muszaphar’s parents watched the liftoff from an observation area, praying and in tears.
“I’m happy for my country, for Russia, for the United States and everybody,“ his father said.
“Now they are stars in space, with their training, and with their beautiful machine, they will do good,“ former space station astronaut Michael Fincke said.
Whitson and Malenchenko are to replace two of the station’s current crew, cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov, who are due to return to Earth along with Sheikh Muszaphar.
Sheikh Muszaphar will be the ninth Muslim in space and Malaysian newspapers on Wednesday devoted several pages and published special pullouts about the mission, which coincides with the last days of Ramadan, the holy month when Muslims fast from dawn until sundown.
On Tuesday, he told reporters at Baikonur that his trip will be an inspiration for his southeast Asian nation as well as to other Muslims all over the world.
“It’s a small step for me, but a great leap for the Malaysian people,“ he said, rephrasing Neil Armstrong’s famous words after the Apollo landing on the Moon.
The $25 million agreement for a Malaysian astronaut to fly to space was negotiated in 2003 along with a $900 million deal for Malaysia to buy 18 Russian fighter jets.

TEHRAN, Oct. 10--The base price of artworks of Iranian painters, photographers and sculptors was announced in Dubai Christie’s.
In Asia’s third largest auction to be held in Dubai’s Jumeirah Hotel on October 31, artists from Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, the US, UAE, Syria, Italy, the UK, Algeria, Qatar and Iraq will also attend the Christie’s auction, Fars News Agency reported.
A total of 60 Iranian artworks valued at $2 million will be auctioned.
A work by Hossein Zendehroudi, belonging to a French collector and estimated to fetch between $140,000 and $180,000, is the most expensive work in the auction. Four works by Zendehroudi can be seen in the auction.
The second most expensive work belongs to Iranian sculptor, Parviz Tanavoli, which is valued at $120,000 to $150,000.
An artwork by Sedaqat Jabbari titled ’God’s Names’ will also be sold for between $40,000 and $50,000.
The auction includes three artistic works by Iranian artist, Massoud Arabshahi, and two paintings by renowned Iranian poet, Sohrab Sepehri, which have been valued at between $35,000 and $50,000. Works of Maestro Hossein Behzad will also be sold at Christie’s.

RAMALLAH,
Occupied Palestine, Oct. 10--Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday laid out his most specific demands for the borders of a future independent state, calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
Abbas’ claim comes as Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams are trying to hammer out a joint vision for a future peace deal in time for a US-hosted conference next month, AFP reported.
In a new confidence-building gesture to Abbas, Israel agreed on Wednesday to grant residency permits to thousands of Palestinians who have been living illegally in the West Bank on expired visitors’ visas.
Abbas’ comments appeared to set the stage for tough negotiations, which are expected to include complicated arrangements such as land swaps and shared control over holy sites. Israel is seeking to retain parts of the West Bank and east Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
In a television interview, Abbas said the Palestinians want to establish a state on 6,205 square kilometers (2,400 square miles) of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It was the first time he has given a precise number for the amount of land he is seeking.
“We have 6,205 square kilometers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,“ Abbas told Palestine TV. “We want it as it is.“
According to Palestinian negotiating documents obtained by The Associated Press, the Palestinian demands include all of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, east Beit-ul-Moqaddas and small areas along the West Bank frontier that were considered no man’s land before the 1967 war.
Abbas said his claim is backed by UN resolutions. “This is our vision for the Palestinian independent state with full sovereignty on its borders, water and resources.“
As part of the proposal, Abbas offered Olmert about 2 percent of the West Bank, the aides said.
Olmert is seeking some 6-8 percent of the West Bank, but has said the exact amount of territory should be decided in future negotiations.
In exchange for the West Bank land, Israel is reportedly considering transferring to the Palestinians a strip of area between the Gaza Strip and West Bank to allow for a connection between them. About 40 kilometers (25 miles) of land separates the two Palestinian territories.
“The international conference must include the six major issues that are Beit-ul-Moqaddas, refugees, borders, settlements, water and security,“ Abbas said.

LONDON, Oct. 10--Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence within days of a December deadline to wrap up talks if international negotiators fail to reach a deal on the status of the disputed province, its ethnic Albanian leaders said Tuesday.
Envoys from the United States, the European Union and Russia are trying to broker a deal between Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians--who want full independence from Serbia--and Serbian officials, who oppose any such move. With time running out for agreement before the Dec. 10 deadline to end talks, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Prime Minister Agim Ceku said independence was inevitable.
“It has to happen. It has to happen very soon after the 10th of December,“ Ceku said. “We are talking about a couple of days, not weeks, not months.“
Serbian leaders have repeatedly rejected Kosovo’s moves toward independence and have promised everything short of military action to keep the province as part of Serbia. Kosovo’s leaders, meanwhile, have refused to moderate their demands for full independence.