Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki addresses the ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Institute for Political and International Studies in Tehran on Tuesday.

TEHRAN, Feb. 6--Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki urged European nations to revise policies concerning Iran.
Speaking in a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) on Tuesday, Mottaki said European countries should highlight the capacities of the Islamic Republic in various sectors.
He said Iran’s foreign policy is based on diplomacy and dŽtente.
“Our relations with the neighbors have improved substantially due to the policies of the incumbent government,“ he said.
Commenting on Iran’s nuclear issue, Mottaki said the modality plan concluded between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a bright political landscape for further cooperation.
Mottaki noted that Tehran’s close cooperation with the IAEA has prepared the ground for the return of Iran’s nuclear case to the UN nuclear watchdog agency from the UN Security Council.
Also speaking in the ceremony, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the founder of IPIS, said it should present a real image of the country to the world as well as the country’s decision-makers.
Affiliated to the Foreign Ministry, the IPIS was established in 1983 to help form its policies.

TEHRAN, Feb. 6--Iran’s Constitution has granted full freedom to its religious minorities, the Foreign Ministry said.
Iranian minorities enjoy religious, educational, cultural, social and economic freedom, IRNA reported.
The remarks were in reaction to concern expressed by British Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells over the social freedom of the Bahai sect in Iran.
“Religious minorities play an active role in the Iranian society and have their own representative in parliament,“ he said.
The ministry said religious minorities have lived in peace for centuries with their Iranian Muslim brothers.
It noted that the rights of religious minorities, mainly Muslims, are being violated in many western countries, including England, and they suffer from restrictions to perform their religious ceremonies.
The Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the violation of religious and social rights of the Muslim community in Britain.

LONDON, Feb. 6--US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chastised her ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday for joining Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in
a panel debate in Davos
last month.
Rice summoned Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to the State Department on Monday for him to explain his attendance at the meeting, which irked the White House and was not cleared beforehand. The United States does not have diplomatic ties with Tehran, Reuters reported.
“I think everyone agrees that these things should be coordinated and it should have been coordinated,“ Rice told reporters traveling with her to London where she will have talks on Afghanistan.
However, she said Khalilzad, a former US ambassador to Iraq, had not diverted from US policy during the discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, at which Rice had earlier given the keynote address.
“The fact is Zal’s comments, if you read them, could not have been clearer, not just in support but in communicating US policy very clearly. That is the important point. I know Zal very well and I know that he is right there on US policy,“ she said.
Rice herself has exchanged pleasantries with Iran’s foreign minister at international meetings. Last year, at a conference on Iraq in Egypt, Rice made small talk with Mottaki over ice cream.

TEHRAN, Feb. 6--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel said Iran’s progress in scientific and technological fields belongs to Muslims.
In a meeting with co-chair of Iran-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group, Eldar Ibrahimov, Haddad said the Muslim world should not be dependent on western countries forever and the West should not be allowed to behave toward Muslims any way it chooses, Presstv reported. He pointed to Iran’s recent scientific achievements, including the domestically-produced explorer, dubbed Kavoshgar I, which blasted into space on Monday, and expressed Iran’s readiness to expand cooperation with all friendly Muslim countries.
Kavoshgar I was launched as a preliminary step toward sending the satellite Omid into orbit.
Haddad stressed the importance of bolstering Iran’s ties and cooperation with Azerbaijan in all fields, in light of the deep-rooted historical, religious and cultural commonalities. Ibrahimov, for his part, said senior Azeri officials are determined to promote all-out ties with Iran, adding that Iranian experts have carried out numerous development, industrial and economic projects in Azerbaijan.
The Azeri lawmaker thanked Iran for supporting Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.Ê