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IAEA Report Likely
On Friday
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The International Atomic Energy AgencyÕs Board of Governors in a session at its Vienna
headquarters. (File Photo)
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TEHRAN, Feb. 19--The UN nuclear watchdog chief is likely to present his report on Iran’s nuclear activities on Friday.
International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Mohamed ElBaradei will most probably present the agency’s Board of Governors with his special report on Iran’s nuclear program on Friday, IRNA quoted an informed diplomat in Vienna as saying on Tuesday.
As per IAEA’s normal procedure, ElBaradei’s report will be submitted 10 to 14 days prior to the Board of Governors’ seasonal session scheduled for March 3 in Vienna.
Earlier, AP quoted diplomats as saying Vice President Gholamreza Aqazadeh answered questions about Iran’s nuclear past on Monday in talks with IAEA officials.
They declined to discuss details of the meeting, saying that could jeopardize an upcoming IAEA report on the investigation of Tehran’s past nuclear work.
The diplomats, who agreed to disclose the private meeting’s details only if they were not identified, told the Associated Press that Aqazadeh met with the agency’s deputy director, Olli Heinonen, and possibly its chief, Mohamed ElBaradei.
Aqazadeh is in charge of Iran’s nuclear programs and the high-level visit was a sign of the importance his country attaches to ElBaradei’s report this week.
The meeting of the 35-nation IAEA board will evaluate ElBaradei’s investigation into Tehran’s nuclear past.
Tehran insists its program is intended only to produce energy and has refused UN demands that it suspend its uranium enrichment program.
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President:
Expansion of
Japan Ties Crucial
TEHRAN, Feb. 19--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in response to a letter from Japan’s prime minister, declared that expansion of Tehran-Tokyo ties is crucial.
“Regional and global developments have doubled the necessity of enhancing Iran-Japan ties,“ the Iranian president said in his message to Yasuo Fukuda on Monday, Fars News Agency reported.
President Ahmadinejad noted that historical relations between the two countries have always been based on friendship and cooperation.
“Tehran welcomes the development of ties with Tokyo in different fields,“ he said.
Earlier, the Japanese prime minister had sent a congratulatory message to President Ahmadinejad on the 29th anniversary of the victory of Islamic Revolution.
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More Majlis Hopefuls Reinstated
22 Cases of Pre-Vote Violations
Compiled by Davood Baqeri
TEHRAN, Feb. 19--Guardians Council has reinstated 251 more hopefuls for the upcoming Majlis elections, the vetting body’s spokesman said on Tuesday.
The candidates had been barred from running for the country’s March 14 parliamentary elections by the Interior Ministry’s executive boards and GC’s supervisory boards in the preliminary stage.
Abbasali Kadkhodaei added that the 251 nominees belonged to various political groups, including reformist and rightwing, and whose qualification had not been recognized by the executive board.
“The Guardians Council submitted the list of the newly-qualified candidates to the Interior Ministry late Monday,“ he said.
The constitutional body is expected to announce the full list of hopefuls by February 22.
The vote for 290-seat parliament, currently dominated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s supporters, will test the popularity of the president who came to power in 2005 vowing to bring justice to this oil-rich country.
Earlier, some politicians complained over the disqualification of more than 2,000 of the 7,200 registered hopefuls, initially barred by government committees.
831 So Far
The reinstated candidates bring the number of those verified for the elections to 831.
Potential candidates face a vetting process in Iran and those who pass the filter of government’s executive boards have to be approved by the council.
The council has the power to reinstate those barred during initial screening or disqualify more hopefuls based on criteria such as loyalty to the Islamic system.
Budget Bill
Kadkhodaei also said that the council began to examine the next year’s budget bill on Tuesday, noting that it is not clear how long the study of the budget bill will take.
The Majlis passed the budget bill’s general outlines last Wednesday.
The 2,170,000-billion-rial budget bill was presented to Majlis on January 7.
The bill was adopted by 168 votes in favor, 47 against and 19 abstentions out of a total of 237 votes.
22 Court Cases
Meanwhile, a judicial official said on Tuesday that 22 cases related to electoral violations have been filed in the Government Employees Administrative Court.
Reza Jafari, the court’s chief, told Mehr News Agency that branches 2, 8 and 9 will deal with the violations.
“Spreading fabrications, defamation and character assassination feature in these cases,“ he said.
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Iraqis Arrive
For Arvand Talks
TEHRAN, Feb. 19--Foreign ministries of Iran and Iraq have agreed to hold expert negotiations on border issues.
The two sides also agreed in Tehran on Tuesday on the details of using Arvand River waters bordering Iran and Iraq, IRNA reported.
Mohammad Reza Baqeri, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, met his Iraqi counterpart Haj Hamoud in Tehran and discussed border issues.
The two sides agreed to resume technical and executive mechanisms described in the 1975 Algiers Accord and complementary agreements on maintaining security along their common borders.
Iran and Iraq also agreed to conduct talks at the experts level on the use of Arvand River to facilitate shipping and commercial trade.
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Call for Confronting
Propaganda Campaign
SHIRAZ, Fars, Feb. 19--A senior Culture Ministry official on Tuesday emphasized the need for confronting the anti-Iran propaganda of Farsi-language satellite channels.
“Some 34 Farsi-language TV channels are currently broadcasting anti-Iran propaganda from overseas,“ the ministry’s director general for publicity affairs, Alireza Karimi, said in this southern province, IRNA reported.
In addition, he said, there are other foreign-language channels airing different programs against Iran.
Karimi made the remark in a seminar attended by officials in charge of Islamic propagation nationwide.
He urged participants “to adopt proper ways“ for confronting this ongoing propaganda against Iran.
Karimi said academic and scientific bodies should organize special courses for generating effective and proper publicity to combat this negative propaganda.
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UAE Ties
IRAN: UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al-Maktoum’s visit to Tehran, at the head of a delegation, can be considered a sign of diplomatic proximity between Iran and the UAE. The two countries have come to realize the need for getting closer. It goes without saying that Iran’s insistence on its principled standpoints has played a key role in improving bilateral relations. And the numerous visits of Iranian officials to regional countries indicate that Iran and the Persian Gulf states are further improving their relations. In fact, Iran and the UAE have always had close diplomatic relations in recent years. In this context, the visit by Sheikh Mohammad is in line with what the two countries have pursued in the past.
Modern Slavery
QODS: The principle of human freedom and respect for people’s rights is very important in international law. It is so important that a separate section titled ’Human Rights’ has been incorporated. One of the most important issues in this regard is the issue of slavery. According to Article 4 of the Human Rights Charter (dated 1948), no one can be held as a slave or traded as such. Article 2 of the charter stipulates that all humans are born free and entitled to equal rights. Despite what has been said in the human rights charter against slavery, people continue to be taken as slaves from all over the world. The European human rights organizations in their numerous reports emphasize that slavery is showing an upward trend across the world. They warn that slavery will turn into a human catastrophe in the coming years. One of the most important issues in Europe currently is smuggling of humans from poor countries, particularly from East Asia, the CIS countries and Russia. The West is presently suffering from modern slavery, but it is trying to conceal this reality by creating a hue and cry over incidents taking place in other countries.
Low Intelligence
KAYHAN: An American research institute has been working on the intelligence quotients of US presidents since 1973. The Lovenstein Institute has achieved interesting results. Many historians, psychologists, psychiatrists and other experts are working at the research institute, which uses the Swanson/Crain system for ranking intelligence. The Swanson/Crain system uses certain criteria, including analyzing improvised speeches delivered by the US president during their political career. The latest results of research by the institute shows low IQ as well as high IQ presidents in both Democratic and Republican camps over the past 35 years. The incumbent US president, George W. Bush, has the lowest IQ among both Democrat and Republican camps. His ranking is 91, while the Republican President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who ranks at the bottom of the Democratic rung, scored 126. This is while former Democrat president, William Jefferson Clinton, had the highest score among the US president so far by scoring 182.
Martyrdom
RESALAT: The martyrdom of Imad Mughniyeh, a senior Hezbollah commander, is indicative of the dynamism of the Lebanese resistance movement in fighting world imperialism. After his assassination by the agents of imperialism, the Zionist Israeli regime and the United States have started to fear revengeful acts. In other words, Mughniyeh’s assassination renewed the zeal of the Lebanese people and even Palestinians to continue their resistance against occupation. Martyrdom is a sacred principle, which was manifested during the 33-day war waged by Israel against Lebanon two years ago. Mughniyeh was the commander of the Hezbollah army during that war and inflicted a humiliating defeat on the so-called “invincible army of Israeli“. Mughniyeh’s assassins should beware that resistance forces are strongly determined to defend their rights till the end.
Intervention
TEHRAN EMROUZ: With the support of the United States, Kosovo ultimately announced its unilateral independence from Serbia on Sunday, after Kosovo’s Parliament gave a ’yes’ vote to Premier Hashim Tachi’s proposal. The important issue at present is whether other countries would also recognize Kosovo as an independent state. More importantly is how the Albanian-majority Kosovars will benefit from this independence. The United States and the United Kingdom recognized Kosovo immediately after this announcement. This means that the two countries are pursuing their interests in Kosovo, as Russia increases its hold over Serbia. However, the future government of Kosovo should be careful about the intervention of foreigners.
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