Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar

The Zionist regime has been belittled to the extent that it cannot even bear the first reaction from Iran in case it attacks the country because Iran’s response to any aggression will have no time or geographical restrictions, the defense minister said.
General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar spoke about the recent visit by Syrian Foreign Minister Hassan Ali Turkmani to Iran, the possibility of US or Israel aggression against the country, Iran’s missile and space program, US accusation that Iran has a role in the insecurity of Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine as well as negotiations between Syria and Israel.
Fars News Agency quoted him as saying that Turkmani’s tour of Iran was important given the interest of both Iran and Syria to expand defense ties.
“In the past decade bilateral defense understanding had significant depth and diversity and both countries benefited from such relationship,“ he noted.
Regarding the possibility of the US or Israel attack, the minister said, “Any aggression would be stupid and will subsequently entail retaliation. Iran’s response will be such that it will make the enemy seriously regret its action. Iran’s armed forces are prepared to respond in case of any attackÉ This is while in light of the US presidential elections, Bush does not have the stomach for new adventures.
Bush could start a war against Iran, but he certainly will not see its end while in the Oval Office.“
On Iran’s missile program, he noted, “Although missiles constitute a part of defense capabilities in preemptive strategic considerations, they have other important applications in scientific and communication domains. Downstream industries for space program are based on the missile industry and capabilities.“
Mohammad-Najjar also commented on US charges about Iran’s interference in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine.
“(George) Bush used 9/11 as a pretext to overhaul the international order and expand America’s hegemonic policies, especially in the Middle East, to try and control the largest energy resources in the world.
This unilateralism was to the extent that he even dismissed the views
of his European allies and set out to change the political map of the region. Nevertheless, this policy failed and Bush’s new strategy is founded on creating regional rifts in the interest of Israel, forge some form of relations between regional states and the Zionist regime and alter regional security priorities,“ he recalled.
Asked about the unofficial talks between Syria and Israel and its impact on Tehran-Damascus relations, he noted, “Iran supports the brotherly country of Syria in its efforts for retake the Golan Heights and considers this as a success for Damascus.“

Commander of Battalion Ashura 31 said that among the seven bandits killed in northwestern Iran recently is the person responsible for the explosion of Iran’s gas pipeline to Turkey.
Speaking to Fars News Agency, General Mohammad Taqi Osanlu said, “In the past few days major losses were inflicted on the criminals in the northwestern regions. In one of the shootouts, a seven-member team of bandits led by Hatam Bokhlekanlu, also known as ’Hatam the Bald’, was eliminated.
Bokhlekanlu was among the perpetrators of the pipeline blast. He intimidated and harmed families who did not cooperate with him. In his latest crime he murdered two sons of a family who refused to work for him.“
It must be noted the members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK), which is an offshoot set up by the PKK in 2004 to fight for Kurdish autonomy, masterminded a bomb blast that damaged the Iranian gas pipeline to Turkey. The blast on Turkish territory disrupted gas supply to Turkey for a few days.
Meanwhile, Iranian National Gas Company’s official Hassan Torbati said on Saturday that Iran has resumed supplying natural gas to Turkey five days after the explosion damaged a pipeline between the two countries.
“After Turkey announced it has finished repairing the pipeline, the export of 15 to 20 million cubic meters (525 to 700 cubic feet) of gas daily has resumed,“ Torbati was quoted as saying by IRIB.
Monday’s early morning blast, the cause of which remains unknown, occurred 13 kilometers (eight miles) from the Iranian border in the eastern province of Agri, Turkey’s state-run BOTAS gas company said in a statement.
Turkey has bought Iranian gas via the pipeline from the northwestern city of Tabriz to Ankara since December 2001.
Before Monday’s explosion Iran supplied Turkey with 29 million cubic meters of gas a day.

Acting Interior Minister Mehdi Hashemi said that it is not yet clear when and how the nine members of Abdul Malek Rigi’s terrorist group, known as Jundullah, who were recently arrested in Pakistan, will be handed over to Iran.
According to IRNA, Hashemi told reporters that Iran has introduced its representatives to Pakistan and preliminary coordination has been made.
“We hope the group will be in our custody this week,“ he noted.
The official recalled that Rigi’s brother is among those arrested.
Jundullah, which operates in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan and Pakistan’s Balochistan, has carried out several terrorist attacks against high profile Iranian targets, especially government and security officials.
The ABC news reported in 2007 that the terrorist cell has been ’secretly encouraged and advised’ by American officials since 2005.
According to American intelligence sources, the US relationship with Jundullah is such that Washington provides no funds to the group as that would require official presidential order.
Asked about the trend of deportation of illegals from Iran, he observed, “It seems that the illegal aliens are not leaving in big numbers. But the point is that many have changed their illegal status to legal as immigrants. Police have orders to further tighten border controls so that the illegal migrants do not enter Iran.“
Increase in the number of illegal migrants entering Iran is largely due to the insecurity and unfavorable economic conditions in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.
He also referred to recent changes and reshuffles in the government and was of the opinion that
“Reshuffle is different from replacement. We consider reshuffles as crucial to improving efficiency and performance.“

Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza Baqeri said Tehran plays a leading role in helping establish peace and stability in the region.
“Iran’s foreign policy is based on good neighborliness and expansion of ties with regional states.
Regional peace and stability will be in the interest of all countries.
But the US is trying to provoke crisis in the region,“ he said in a meeting with the Japan’s Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yasuhide Nakayama in Tokyo, IRNA reported.
Washington has got into the habit of inciting tension and crises in the strategic oil-rich region and then offers solutions largely to portray itself as a global champion, Baqeri was quoted as saying.
He invited Nakayama to visit Iran.
Baqeri, who is in charge of African Affairs, is in Japan to attend the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) being held in the port city of Yokohama.
Yasuhide praised Tehran’s efforts to help restore peace and stability in the Middle East and stressed the importance of bolstering two-say ties.
On the sidelines of the three-day event Baqeri also held meetings with the President of Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, and the Ivory Coast Foreign Minister Youssouf Bakayoko.

Gholam Ali Elham

Government Spokesman Gholam Ali Elham said that the governing atmosphere demands unity and cooperation among the three branches of power.
Elham told his weekly press meeting that the government will cooperate with all officials, ISNA reported.
On the election of Ali Larijani as Majlis speaker, he noted, “Majlis has the right to choose the speaker. The government will interact with the parliament and its speaker.“
However, he noted that government cooperation with parliament has its own framework and nobody can alter that.
“Constitution is the governing criterion for all branches of power. Relations, coordination and rule of lawf has never changed and will never change.“
He rejected reports that about 320 trillion rials of oil revenues in 2006 was not deposited with the state treasury.
“The financial system has a clear and systematic framework. If some people know how to manipulate the treasury, they should teach us so that we can use it to better serve the
public! The point is that spreading such rumors is tantamount to libel. Therefore, we want to hear accurate, documented and real comments on this issue,“ he noted.
Regarding the date of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s visit to Iran, he said “We constantly exchange visits to Iraq and the two countries cooperate in different domains. The exact date of the visit depends on Maliki’s itinerary.“

Iran is negotiating with a Russian aircraft company to assemble Tupolev passenger planes in the Islamic Republic, said Minister of Roads and Transportation on Saturday.
Preliminary talks are underway with the Russians for the production of the passenger aircraft, Mohammad Rahmati told Fars New Agency. He did not name the Russian company.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported last February that Iran was set to assemble 100 Tupolev Tu-204 and Tu-214 medium-haul passenger planes over the next decade under a license contract valued at up to $2.5 billion.
The agreement is scheduled for signing shortly in Moscow.
Rahmati referred to another of Iran’s aircraft manufacturing projects, saying Iran’s Defense Ministry has finalized a deal with Iran Air Tour Company for the manufacture of ten Iran-140 passenger planes.
Iran officially introduced the first Iran-140 passenger plane, built with Ukrainian help, into its aviation fleet in 2003. Ukraine sold the production license for 100 Antonov An-140s to Iran in 2000.

Vladimir Putin

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has stressed that Iran has no nuclear weapons and its program does not breach international law.
Iran does not posses nuclear weapons and “nothing in the program has violated the legally sanctioned level of activities to date,“ the Russian premier said in an interview with the daily French Le Monde Saturday, Presstv. Repored .
He also rejected claims that Tehran’s nuclear program is aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons.
“I do not think so. Nothing indicates that Iran’s activities are directed at making weapons,“ said Putin in rejection of allegations by the US and its allies that Tehran was trying to acquire nuclear weapons.
“The Iranians are a proud people. They want to enjoy their independence and exercise their legitimate right to civilian nuclear energy. Legally, Iran has not breached (any law) at this point in time and even has the right to enrich (uranium),“ he stressed.
“It is our principled position. Use of nuclear weapons in a region as small as the Middle East would be synonymous with suicide,“ he said to express Russia’s opposition to acquisition of nuclear weapons in the volatile region.
The US and its western allies accuse Iran of developing military nuclear technology, pressing the UN Security Council to force Iran into halting its uranium enrichment program.
Iran has repeatedly asserted that its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity for the country’s growing domestic demand.
As a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Tehran insists that it has an inalienable right to acquire nuclear energy for civilian purposes.

An IAEA report detailing Iran past nuclear activities will be at the center of the UN nuclear organization’s Board of Governors meeting starting on Monday.
According to the latest report by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, Iran still has to provide explanations to the intelligence documents on “alleged studies“.
The report also noted that Tehran is continuing to develop its uranium enrichment capability, ignoring UN Security Council demands for suspension of the nuclear program, DPA reported.
The 35-nation IAEA board is unlikely to issue a resolution against Iran at its upcoming meeting, diplomats said, because such a motion would not have the support of the entire board.
Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh dismissed the documents as “baseless and fabricated documents and papers.’’ He stressed that the US was seeking to influence the UN nuclear watchdog’s inspectors for its own political ends.
The IAEA says it has received intelligence from 10 countries containing indications for nuclear weapons-related research, training and procurement.
Iran has stated that this and other experiments were for civilian or non-nuclear military purposes.
Tehran insists that many of the other documents shown to it by the IAEA are forgeries.
The documents lack classification stamps and contain internal Soltanieh told journalists on Thursday. Some IAEA board members didn’t want a resolution at a time when EU High Representative Javier Solana and representatives of France, Germany, the UK, Russia and China are trying to set up a trip to Tehran to hand over a package proposal on a negotiated solution for the Iranian nuclear issue, a western diplomat told DPA.
The package has been developed together with the US and offers economic and technical benefits, with a suspension of Iran’s nuclear program as a precondition for talks.

Iran said a recent biased remark of the German foreign minister in support of Israel is in violation of the United Nations Charter.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini condemned Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s speech Thursday in a German parliamentary debate, saying, “The German official’s expression of support for the Zionist regime was in violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, against all accepted norms of acceptable international behavior, and the UN Charter.“
Iran denounces Berlin’s passive, repeated and one-sided support for the usurper state involved in war crimes for nearly half century, Presstv reported.
Sale of German-built Dolphin class submarines capable of launching nuclear warheads and strong support for Tel Aviv by Chancellor Angela Merkel during her recent visit to Israel are just few examples of the unfair and one-track approach of the German government toward the Palestinian cause, Hosseini complained.
Such stances not only are in violation of human rights and the values of the German nation, but also undermine the status of the European country.
Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, recently called on a German parliamentary delegation in Tehran to respect the rights of the Palestinian nation and avoid unhelpful and opportunistic stances on developments in the volatile region.
Hosseini cautioned Berlin politicians not to tie the fate of the Jewish people with the racist and criminal acts of the occupying power that in recent days has borne the brunt of public condemnation by international figures (Desmund Tutu, Jimmy Carter to name a few) for its “massacre, war crimes and brutality“ against defenseless Palestinian civilians in Gaza and other occupied lands.
Identifying the terrorist regime in Israel as close friend and staunch ally of Germany will give the EU power a negative image in the Middle East, he warned
Steinmeier on Thursday pledged to stand up for the security of the Zionist regime and defend its existence, saying, “From the responsibility for the past grows the commitment for the future.“

A former deputy director general of the UN nuclear watchdog on Saturday called on the United States to hold direct talks with Iran and without any preconditions.
“I think the Americans should talk to the Iranians directly, bilaterally, multilaterally secretly and (initially) without any preconditions ... (and) at the highest level,“ Pierre Goldschmidt, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s former deputy director general in charge of the Iran file, told AP.
He said that as Iranians highly distrust the United States, such talks could help settle disputes between Tehran and Washington, particularly regarding Iran’s nuclear program, adding that this would be a key incentive.
Goldschmidt opined that use of force against Iran to make Tehran suspend nuclear activities would be counterproductive and would give the country “justification to seek nuclear weapons“.
Iran has repeatedly asserted that its nuclear program is peaceful and for generating electricity for the country’s growing domestic demand.
As a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Tehran insists that it has an inalienable right to acquire nuclear energy for civilian purposes.
Goldschmidt, a Belgian nuclear scientist, retired in June 2005 as deputy director general and head of the Department of Safeguards at the IAEA. He was succeeded by Olli Heinonen.