Mohammad Ali Hosseini

Foreign Ministry spokesman on Friday expressed deep regret over the prevailing crisis in Lebanon, emphasizing that US-Israeli adventurism is the main cause of the lingering instability there.
According to the Foreign Ministry’s Media and Information Office, Mohammad Ali Hosseini reiterated that Iran’s stand on Lebanon has always been based on non-interference in a matter that is entirely related to the Lebanese nation, IRNA reported.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran also believes that the Lebanese nation and political groups should maintain full alertness about the plots hatched abroad against their country,“ he said.
Hosseini further said a part of the political scenario planned for Lebanon overseas, whose aftermaths were easy to predict and warnings about which had been issued in time, has now been put to effect.
He hoped that the parties responsible for the ongoing crisis in Lebanon would now take steps to restore peace and stability to that country.
The spokesman emphasized that the irresponsible interferences of the US and Israel in Lebanon’s internal affairs are the root cause of the ongoing political crisis and chaotic conditions there.
“Those who failed in achieving their goals in the course of the 33-Day War against the Lebanese nation wish to take revenge,“ he said.
Hosseini expressed regret over the ongoing chaotic conditions in Beirut and said the incessant efforts made by the Islamic Republic for reconciliation among various political groups in that country have not been supported by other countries.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran would continue such efforts, since they benefit the Lebanese nation,“ he said.

Interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, said Iran will not yield to any type of oppression or double standards regarding its absolute nuclear rights.
Rafsanjani, who is also State Expediency Council’s chairman, was addressing thousands of worshipers at the central campus of Tehran University, IRNA reported,
“It seems as though they are not going to abandon taking advantage of the remote probability of Iran’s access to nuclear weapons, in order to deprive us of our natural and absolute right to master the nuclear sciences,“ he said.
“Iran will by no means yield to such double standards and oppression.“
The senior cleric also said this is typically the oppression observed in their dealings with the scientific works conducted in the Third World.
“But who has given them the right to monopolize the advanced technologies, such as nuclear technology? What is the logic behind this historical oppression? Is it merely because they enjoy the veto right in the UN Security Council that they entitle themselves to such irrational rights? Is this not the law of the jungle? Do they also call themselves civilized nations?“
Rafsanjani pointed out that during its clashes with Saddam’s regime, Iran proved that it is not the type that uses unconventional and illegitimate weapons.
“They bombarded us with chemical weapons for years. Even today, each day we read the news of a chemical weapon victim in Iranian papers É Iran, too, could have taken revenge by resorting to the same method, but it didn’t. Because it did not wish the Iraqi civilians to suffer for the mistakes of their political leaders,“ he said.
“We are Muslims and, therefore, do not rely on aggressive moves or brutality, as we have not done so in the past, and will not do so in the future.“
Rafsanjani also said that it is easy to prove that most problems in the world today are due to the West taking resort to the logic of military power.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad labeled the Zionist regime “a stinking corpse“ and said those who think they can revive the corpse of this fake and usurper regime are mistaken.
Lambasting the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Zionist regime, the president said those who attend such a shameful ceremony should bear in mind that their names will be listed as Zionist criminals, IRNA reported.
Addressing a large group of new Majlis lawmakers on Thursday, Ahmadinejad said the philosophy of the Zionist regime’s existence is questionable and the fake and usurper regime is moving toward annihilation.
“The Zionist regime is a puppet of bullying powers,“ he said, adding that the world arrogant powers established the Zionist regime 60 years ago in Palestine to continue its historical clashes with the Muslim world but after the Lebanese nation slapped it in the face, they are like dead rats.
—Ahmadinejad also said if any regional country assists the Zionist regime, they will burn in the fire arising from their nations’ hatred.
“If some believe they can change the global calculations, they are mistaken because nations around the world will bury them,“ he said.

A leading American professor of international law has voiced readiness to represent Iran in an international court on Israeli crimes.
“I am ready to represent Iran in an international tribunal for trying the Zionist regime on charges of genocide of Palestinians and the blockade of the Gaza Strip,“ Francis Boyle, professor of law at the University of Illinois, told Fars News Agency.
Boyle called for submitting his proposal to the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Professor Boyle accuses Israel of committing “Nuremberg offenses“ against the Palestinians and recently called for the impeachment of US President George W. Bush.
Boyle is the author of Palestine, Palestinians and International Law, The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence, Defending Civil Resistance Under International Law, The Future of International Law and American Foreign Policy and Foundations of World Order: The Legalist Approach to International Relations 1898-1921.

Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan have agreed to enhance cooperation in fighting the drug trade in the region, the United Nations says.
The three countries agreed in Tehran to set up border liaison offices to carry out joint operations against traffickers, especially those smuggling heroin out of Afghanistan, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced on Thursday in Vienna, Presstv reported.
The three nations also discussed how to prevent trade links and road transport from being used for the smuggling of narcotics.
“We need to ensure that trade routes are not exploited by smugglers of drugs, chemicals and weapons,“ Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of UNODC, said.
The meeting in Tehran was part of the UNODC- brokered Triangular Initiative based on which the three nations agreed to hold regular meetings on ways to fight drugs in the region.
The UN drug office also agreed to assist Iran in setting up a permanent secretariat for the Triangular Initiative and a regional center for intelligence exchange.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday said fighting drugs needs international cooperation and innovative ways.
“The money spent by governments to counter the consequences of drug abuse could be used to stop the production of drugs,“ Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Costa in Tehran.
According to the UN, over 90 percent of the world’s opium supply and raw ingredient for heroin originate from Afghanistan.
Officials from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan will meet again in Kabul in June.

People of Larestan in Fars province welcome the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Thursday.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said the presence of US troops in the Persian Gulf and Iraq is the root cause of rampant insecurity and instability in the region.
Addressing thousands of people in the city of Lar in Fars province on Thursday, the leader said the great Iranian people, by relying on Islam, have united and are determined to defend their dignity and identity, IRNA reported.
“Islam has brought us freedom, independence, dignity, public welfare and all-out development and this nation is determined to attain its lofty goals,“ he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that Iran has established friendly and brotherly ties with its neighboring Arab states as well as other regional states and this is a source of concern for the US and the Zionist regime.
The leader also urged Muslims to forge unity to thwart plots hatched by the enemies.
“Global hegemony spares no efforts to frighten the Persian Gulf littoral states of Iran,“ he said, pointing out that Iran has always stretched its hand of friendship toward its neighbors.
Ayatollah Khamenei further said the US and the Zionist regime are doing their best to sow seeds of discords among Muslim countries and this requires these states to be vigilant.
“Unity is the key that foils all plots hatched by the world arrogant powers.
The leader said that since the US has been bogged down in Iraq they try to put the blame on others.
Referring to false accusations made by the US about Iran’s involvement in Iraq’s insecurity, the leader said the presence of US troops in Iraq is enough to incite the Iraqi people against them.
On regional developments, the leader said the US interference in the issue of Palestine and its all-out support for the Zionist regime have complicated the problem of Palestine.
“The wise and freedom-seeking nation of Palestine has chosen their democratic government but the US, through its unlawful interventions and support for the Zionist regime, is the main cause of unrest and disorder,“ he said.
The leader thanked the people of Fars provinces for their warm hospitality during his stay in the province.
Ayatollah Khamenei wound up his nine-day visit to this southern province Thursday noon and returned to Tehran.
During his visit, the leader traveled to various cities of the province, met local residents, families of martyrs and war veterans, officials, elites, university students and clerics.

Rasoul Movahedian

Iran is to present the international community with a new package of proposals aimed at breaking the diplomatic deadlock over the country’s nuclear program, Iranian ambassador in London, Rasoul Movahedian, has revealed.
In an interview with the Guardian published Thursday, Movahedian said, “My government has worked out a new package, a new initiative, which is going to be put forward in the near future to deal with all aspects of our relationship,“ IRNA reported.
He also said he was not permitted to give details before the initiative is presented “before the end of next week“ to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
The initiative was said to cover the country’s nuclear program, the security of energy supplies in the Middle East, counter-terrorism and joint efforts to control the drugs trade.
The ambassador said Iran’s proposal would address western concerns that the rapidly developing nuclear project could be used to make weapons, but insisted his country would not surrender the right to enrich uranium.
“My government is going to continue along the enrichment path. We do not accept any preconditions for negotiations,“ he said.
The offer comes after the 5+1 announced last Friday that it had agreed to review and update proposals made to Iran back in June 2006.
Movahedian said the members of the 5+1 group had been approached informally with Tehran’s offer, and there had been some ’positive’ response.

Former top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has taken the helm of the Rightwing Solidarity Front which has cemented its hold on parliament.
At a meeting of new rightwing MPs, who won a majority of seats during legislative elections in March and April, Larijani was chosen as the head of the front, Mehr News Agency reported on Friday.
The bloc won 69 percent of the 290 seats in parliament, while reformists took only 16 percent.
In recent days, the local media reported that Larijani would prefer to become speaker of the new parliament, which is due to hold its first session on May 27.
The incumbent speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel has also expressed interest in remaining in the job.
Larijani last year stepped down as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog said the recent anti-Iran communiquŽ should be appreciated as it revealed the fact that US, Britain and France have no good intentions or the political will to solve problems peacefully.
These three countries, which are armed with nuclear weapons, along with China and Russia, on the last day of the preliminary session of the Conference to Revise the Non-Proliferation Treaty, read out a communiquŽ in which Iran’s uranium enrichment is referred to as a threat against the NPT, IRNA reported.
That is while nuclear experts believe those countries’ non-abidance by the agreements of nuclear disarmament is among the most important causes weakening that international treaty.
Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh said, “Those five countries were expected to speak on why they have not abided by the disarmament requirements of the NPT and to apologize to the world for not scrapping their nuclear weapons, as they were obliged to do so in accordance with their international commitments.“
Referring to the remarks made by the US representative in response to the meeting on denying Washington’s cooperation to Israel on manufacturing nuclear weapons, he said, “Having urged the US and its allies to respond to members’ ambiguities on not abiding by the NPT is by itself an achievement.“
The Iranian envoy also asked other western countries to explain their nuclear cooperation with Israel and their non-abidance by Article 4 of the NPT on the need for cooperation with other NPT members’ peaceful nuclear programs.
Soltaniyeh warned that Iran and other countries’ next move would be to pursue international mechanisms to seek the truthfulness of the US claim that it has no cooperation with Israel’s non-peaceful nuclear program.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Friday cabled a message of condolence to his Myanmar counterpart, in which he expressed sympathy with the Myanmar nation and government on the recent cyclone that has caused a human tragedy there.
In his message to Nyan Win, the foreign minister also voiced Iran’s readiness to send humanitarian assistance to Myanmar, IRNA reported.
Mottaki expressed deep regret over the loss of thousands of lives and billions of dollars of damage, sympathizing with the bereaved families of the disaster victims.
According to the Myanmar government, about 23,000 people were killed and another 42,000 are missing following the devastating cyclone while some foreign sources believe the toll could be around 100,000.