President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2nd r) welcomes philanthropists in Tehran on Monday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said building schools by philanthropists across the country is becoming institutionalized as a culture.
“Participation of philanthropists in building schools will become the role model for all sectors of the society,“ the chief executive told a meeting of philanthropists on Monday, IRNA reported.
He went on to underline that educational software should reach an ideal level concurrent with the conditions of schools.
“Upon teaching Iranian and Islamic culture in schools, we will have learned, creative, brave, honest and strong young adults and youth,“ he said.
Stressing that in different periods of history, Iran has been a trailblazer with respect to civilization, knowledge, art and culture worldwide, the president said, “In order to reach the highest level of progress and our real status in the world, we need to be aware of all global developments É Schools constitute the most important base for attaining a lofty status in the world.“
Ahmadinejad said building schools by philanthropists manifests the cordial bond between the rulers and the ruled.
“In each and every arena that the people have been present on the scene, their presence and decisions have benefited the country. The government is prepared to cooperate with these philanthropists whose active presence on the scene has enhanced dynamism in the field of education,“ he said.

Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan will set up three joint border centers to control smuggling of drugs and chemicals needed for the production of heroin, a senior Afghan official said on Monday.
Afghan Counter Narcotics Minister General Khodaidad told reporters in Kabul that the decision was made earlier between officials of these three neighboring countries and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Tehran, IRNA reported.
“The centers are expected to be launched in Torkham town in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, Islam Qala, Herat province and Dogarun border checkpoint near Iran,“ he said.
He noted that the centers’ headquarters will be set up in Tehran, in cooperation with the United Nations, to exchange anti-drug information and experiences.
The minister added that the forces of the three countries are not allowed to cross into one another’s territory.
General Khodaidad hoped more Afghan provinces would become poppy-free in 2008.
“Last year in Afghanistan, there were 13 provinces free of poppy ... This year we hope it would increase to 19 or 20 provinces,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Iran accused NATO of being indifferent toward Afghanistan’s growing drug problem and called on European states to help Tehran fight smuggling of heroin and other narcotics from its neighbor.
Iran is on a heroin smuggling route to the West from the opium fields of Afghanistan, the world’s number one producer of the opium poppy, which is processed to make heroin.
“The exploding growth in the cultivation of opium...in Afghanistan last year has created many problems...especially for Iran,“ said Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, secretary of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters.
Iranian officials say the United States has failed to combat drugs in Afghanistan after the US-led forces ousted the Taliban government in 2001.
“We think NATO and foreign forces in Afghanistan are indifferent to the issue of drugs and have put other goals as their priorities,“ he said.
The alliance has about 50,000 troops in Afghanistan.
“Since the time they entered (Afghanistan), we are witnessing an explosive rise in the production of drugs,“ he said.
Iran is spending $600 million a year to prevent drugs coming from Afghanistan on the way to Europe.
“Iran requests the serious and practical cooperation of the international community, especially European countries, as the main destination for smugglers, in fighting drug trafficking.“
Based on UNODC data, opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached an all-time high of 193,000 hectares in 2007.
Iran shares a 900-km border with Afghanistan.
Security officials in Afghanistan say resurgent Taliban militants profit from the trade.
UNODC chief Antonio Maria Costa praised Iran’s anti-drugs efforts: “We know the continuing loss of life in Iran as the country maintains a careful watch of its borders at the heavy sacrifice of so many of their policemen,“ he said.
More than 3,500 Iranian security personnel have been killed fighting drug smugglers since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mahmoud Salarkia

A judiciary official said on Monday there is security in the society although people may not sense how safe and secure it is.
According to Mehr News Agency, Mahmoud Salarkia, deputy Tehran prosecutor in prisons affairs, added that in many societies, numerous crimes take place, but people feel safe and secure.
He pointed out that in 2006-7 and 2007-8, the judiciary launched plans to increase social security.
“We made good moves and confronted many hooligans that upset the social order. However, it must be noted that physical and judicial confrontation is not sufficient and we must seek the establishment of order in the society. Currently, the governing laws are adequate to create social order,“ he said.
Salarkia went on to underline the importance of interaction between police and judiciary.
He further said preventing crimes is more important than imprisoning criminals.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Salarkia said, “Previously Tehran’s District 16 was the scene of many crimes, but in the wake of remedial measures adopted by the judiciary, the number of crimes has declined in this area É Today it is possible to monitor crime scenes by using technological advances and installing cameras in different parts. This can be an effective step for preventing crimes.“
He lamented that some judicial orders are not implemented in a timely manner and this can prolong interrogations.
“We are facing the problem of police officers who shoulder the duty of notifying people of judicial documentations but are not efficient in this regard due to lack of training,“ he said.
Salarkia emphasized that the judiciary should endeavor to dispense justice in the best possible manner such that if a person’s rights are violated, the violation is compensated in the shortest possible time.

Explosives used by Iraqi militants are seen in this file photo in Baghdad.

There is no evidence to support claims that weapons used by Iraqi insurgents are provided by Iran and the US is paddling back on the allegation, the Los Angeles Times has reported.
The US military spokesman in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, held a press briefing on Wednesday on the discovery of a new cache of weapons and munitions in Iraq but the word “Iran“--or any form of it--was not heard in the conference, the Time’s Tina Susman noted.
Bergner announced the extraordinary list of weapons and munitions that have been uncovered in recent weeks since fighting erupted between the US and Iraqi forces and armed militiamen.
Among other things, Bergner cited 20,000 “items of ammunition, explosives and weapons“ discovered by Iraqi forces in the central holy city of Karbala.
The items in Karbala include caches containing 570 explosive devices, nine mortars, four anti-aircraft missiles, and 45 RPGs; and in the southern city of Basra alone, 39 mortar tubes, 1,800 mortars and artillery rounds, 600 rockets, and 387 roadside bombs, the report said.
The US accuses Iran of supporting terrorist groups in war-wracked Iraq, claiming such weaponry has its roots in the Islamic Republic.
However, “not once did Bergner point the finger at Iran“ for any of the weapons and munitions, the Times said.
It is a striking change from just a couple of weeks ago when US military officials in the Iraqi capital and at the Pentagon were alleging that caches found in Basra in particular had revealed Iranian-made arms manufactured as recently as this year.
The US claims the majority of rockets being fired at the US bases, including Baghdad’s Green Zone, are launched by militiamen receiving training, arms and other aid from Iran.
Some Iraqi officials also have accused Iran of meddling in violence and had echoed the US accusations of new Iranian-made arms being found in Basra.
But “neither the US nor Iraq has displayed any of the alleged arms to the public or press, and lately it is looking less likely they will,“ with US military officials saying it was up to the Iraqis to show the items. Iraqi officials lately have backed off the accusations against Iran.
A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was canceled after the US realized none of them was from Iran.
A US military spokesman attributed the confusion to a misunderstanding that emerged after an Iraqi Army general in Karbala erroneously reported the items were of Iranian origin.
When US explosives experts went to investigate, they discovered they were not Iranian after all.
Iran, meanwhile, has categorically denied the accusations, and it says as long as the US troops continue to take part in military action in Iraq’s Shiite strongholds, it won’t consider holding further talks with Washington on how to stabilize Iraq.

Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog held a new round of talks on Monday on Tehran’s nuclear drive.
An unnamed source quoted by IRNA said the talks, which were earlier held between Iranian officials and representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency in April, would last three days.
The Iranian delegation is headed by Iran’s ambassador to the UN agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, while the agency’s director for safeguard operations, Herman Nackaerts, is heading the IAEA team, the source said.
IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei is due to report in June on Iran’s nuclear program to the agency’s Board of Governors and the UN Security Council, which has imposed three sets of sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.
In April, Iran and the IAEA held two rounds of talks concentrating on the “alleged studies“.
Iran insists that the talks are merely routine cooperation between the authorities and the agency.
Iran has refused to heed international demands to halt uranium enrichment, insisting that it has a right to the process to make nuclear fuel for meeting its increasing energy needs as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The IAEA delegation did not carry out any inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities and left Tehran after talks with Iranian officials.
ElBaradei says these talks have let to good progress in verifying Iran’s past and present activities.

Mohammad Yahya Maroufi

Afghanistan’s ambassador in Tehran has thanked Iran for helping restore peace and security to his country.
“Iran has been very helpful in rebuilding Afghanistan and establishing security in the country,“ said Mohammad Yahya Maroufi, calling for greater cooperation between the two countries, Presstv reported.
“Iran and Afghanistan must continue and enhance their cooperation to overcome problems such as terrorism and drug trafficking, which have caused both nations great suffering,“ he added.
Maroufi also said that a special police force, organized by the Afghan government for combating narcotics, was cooperating with the Iranian law-enforcement forces along the two countries’ common border.
Tehran and Kabul have also launched a project to reconstruct important frontier regions on both sides, added the Afghan ambassador.
Maroufi said in conclusion that the regional states face many challenges, which must be overcome through collective understanding and cooperation.

Mehdi Mostafavi

Iranians are, based on their religious and cultural teachings, highly receptive to interactions with other nations, a senior cultural official said.
Head of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) Mehdi Mostafavi made the remark in a meeting with a group of visiting members of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), IRNA reported.
The 20-member group is currently in Iran to hold talks with the country’s religious and cultural figures and become more familiar with the Iranian and Islamic culture.
Established in 1984, the USIP is an independent body for strengthening the peacemaking capacity of religious leaders.
Referring to the significance of interaction and holding dialogue among leaders of different religions, Mostafavi said Iran followed two major rules in its relations with other parties.
“In our dialogues with other nations, we consider two major principles: strengthening of rationalism and promotion of belief and religion,“ he said.
Mostafavi noted that Iran has conducted dialogues with other religions, referring to Tehran’s talks with the leaders of other religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.