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Weather Guide
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Tehran
High: 36 - Low: 24
Bandar Anzali
Hamedan
Iranshahr
Khorramabad
Noshar
Yazd
Baghdad
Bangkok
Doha
London
Muscat
Sanaa
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Identification
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Published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Address:
Iran Cultural & Press Institute, #212 Khorramshahr Avenue Tehran/Iran
Chief Editor:
Amir Ali Abolfath
Editorial Dept. Tel: 88755761-2
Editorial Dept. Fax: 88761869
Subscription Dept. Tel: 88329002-4
Advertising Dept. Tel: 88500616-7
Internet Address:
www.iran-daily.com
E-mail Address:
iran-daily@iran-daily.com
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Larijani Tells West:
Avoid Regional Miscalculations
US Interests Section Offer ’Deceitful’
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Ali Larijani
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Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani warned western countries, the US in particular, to avoid another miscalculation in the region which would result in greater losses for them.
Speaking at the ceremony for commemorating the martyrs of the 7th-Tir bombing in Tehran on Thursday, Larijani said the western countries are now in a very tough situation in the region, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the situation is becoming worse, IRNA reported.
“After years of a devastating war, the US troops have gained nothing in Afghanistan and Iraq“, he said.
The speaker said they do not want to realize that the Muslim nations have been awakened and their old strategy dubbed “unconventional wars“ has turned into blind wars.
“The western countries have spent some $2,700 billion in Iraq but to no avail,“ he said, adding that they previously claimed that they would be able to restore order to the region by spending $50 billion.
“They have exaggerated very much and that is why they have met a dead end in the region and are trying to escape forward but first they should make good on their mistakes in the region“, he said adding that the western countries are reluctant to understand realities of the region and their attempts to label Hezbollah in Lebanon as a terrorist group shows the extent of their ignorance.
Interests Section
Earlier, several media outlets reported that the US was considering establishing an interests section in Tehran to process Iranian visa applications to the US and to serve as an American cultural center despite 30 years of severed ties between the two countries.
Currently, the Swiss Embassy in Tehran houses a US special interests section to communicate messages from Washington to Iran’s Foreign Ministry and to handle the affairs of US citizens inside the Islamic Republic.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declined to confirm or deny the proposal but said that Washington was eager to allow more Iranians to visit the US.
At a news briefing on Tuesday, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey also reiterated that despite its differences with the Iranian government, the United States was looking for ways to reach out to Iran’s citizenry.
The issues with the current Iranian government, including its nuclear program, do not translate into hostility or animosity on the part of the US toward Iranians at large, Casey said.
“We’re continually looking for ways to be able to find new means to reach out to the Iranian people,“ he said.
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West Urged
To Revise Iran Policy
State Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani advised the West on Friday to use an appropriate literature and dialogue in dealing with a major country like Iran.
“You are too small to punish a major country like Iran. We have repeatedly advised that using the literature (of sanctions) in dealing with Iran will not favor the West,“ said Rafsanjani in his second Friday prayers sermon, while referring to the EU’s sanctioning of Melli Bank of Iran in Europe, to the US government’s bill to exert more pressure on Tehran and to the G8’s hypocritical statement on Iran, IRNA reported.
EU nations on Monday agreed new sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program, notably banning the country’s largest bank, Bank Melli, from operating in Europe.
“With a major country like Iran, one should deal only with an appropriate literature, dialogue, logic and reason, otherwise you would create turmoil in the region without gaining anything,“ he said.
The sanctions came as EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, visited Tehran on June 14 to present a cooperation offer to Iran on behalf of the six major countries negotiating with it on the issue--Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
Rafsanjani, who also heads the Experts Assembly, said the Islamic Republic wants nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes and is ready for dialogue to win global confidence.
“The West should stop following a wrong approach toward Iran,“ he said.
Elsewhere in his sermon, Rafsanjani touched on his “highly effective“ presence in the Conference on Inter-Religious Dialogue in Saudi Arabia and said, “Had it not been for Iran’s presence, there would not have been any Islamic uity.“
Rafsanjani said that some extremist Wahabi figures had protested to the Saudi king for the address delivered to the meeting by the Iranian party, while a majority of religious scholars welcomed Iran’s presence.
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Petraeus Promoted to Mideast Chief
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David Petraeus
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The Senate Armed Services Committee voted on Thursday to promote Gen. David Petraeus to become the top commander in the Middle East.
Senators on the panel also agreed by voice vote that Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno should receive a fourth star and replace Petraeus as chief commander in Iraq, AP reported.
The committee action paves the way for a favorable vote on the nominations by the Senate.
Last year, Petraeus helped to tame growing opposition to the Iraq war in Congress by providing measured assessments of progress and warning that an exodus of US troops would result in chaos. In the meantime, he advocated a buildup of some 30,000 troops in Baghdad and other hotspots, which eventually proved vital in tamping down violence.
Odierno, who had served as Petraeus’ deputy commander in Iraq, is credited by many in Congress with successfully managing the new strategy.
The Pentagon is on track to withdraw the last of the additional combat brigades by next month, leaving behind roughly 142,000 troops. In question is whether the decline in violence can be maintained and how many more US troops can come home this election year.
Petraeus, who has told Congress that he is likely to recommend further troop reductions this fallū would replace Navy Adm. William J. Fallon as chief of US Central Command.
Fallon resigned last month following news reports that he was at odds with the White House over Iran policy.
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Georgia Offers Abkhazia Deal
Georgia is offering to resolve its row with Russia over the breakaway Abkhazia region by splitting it into Georgian and Russian spheres of influence, a newspaper said on Friday, citing officials in both countries.
Abkhazia is recognized as part of Georgia but it is run by separatists with the support of Moscow. Friction between the ex-Soviet neighbors over the region has alarmed western states worried about a conflagration near a vital oil export route, Reuters reported.
Russia’s Kommersant newspaper said Georgia was offering to accept the separatists’ de facto control and the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the northern part of Abkhazia, including the capital, Sukhumi. In exchange, Tbilisi wants Russian peacekeepers to withdraw from the Gali and Ochamchira districts in the south of Abkhazia and for ethnic Georgians--who used to be in a majority in the two districts -- to be allowed to return, the newspaper said.
Officials in Moscow and Tbilisi could not immediately be reached to comment on the report.
Kommersant said it had been told of the proposal by officials in the Russian Foreign Ministry and in the Georgian government.
It said Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze had presented the proposal at a meeting in Moscow on Monday with his Russian counterpart, Grigory Karasin. Under Tbilisi’s proposal, the whole of Abkhazia would remain part of Georgia but with wide autonomy, Kommersant reported.
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IRGC Plan
Commander of Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari announced a plan to set up 31 provincial IRGC units, which has been ratified by the leader.
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“Smiling Buddha“
By Pir-Mohammad Mollazehi
India’s ruling Congress party has not decided whether it will pursue the much-touted nuclear deal with the United States. It failed on Wednesday to persuade its partners to support the deal, leaving it with the choice of going it alone and risking early elections or ditching the landmark deal altogether.
Mohan Singh’s coalition government once again escaped another collapse. In a Cabinet meeting, the coalition’s leftwing party decided to keep the fate of nuclear pact with the United States in limbo.
Though it threatened to leave the coalition government if a nuclear deal with the US is signed, India’s leftwing parties withdrew their hard stance. This is noteworthy, as the Congress party also failed to abide by its promises concerning the nuclear deal.
The main reasons of this unprecedented decision should be found in behind-the-scene negotiations between the Congress party and leftwingers before their meeting with the coalition government. On the other hand, Sonia Gandhi, who heads the Congress party, had called for discussing the deal in a way that upholds India’s national interests.
The result of Gandhi’s talks with the opposition parties was that nearly all of them believe holding early elections will lead to the victory of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It is remarkable to note that L.K. Advani, the BJP leader, has said he is not opposed to the US nuclear deal and will support it if his party wins the elections. He has also said that he is against any nuclear test limitations imposed by the US on India.
Advani said in a televised interview that nuclear tests named Pokhran I and II were respectively conducted during the reign of the late Premier Indira Gandhi and Vajpayee.
“Therefore, a third Pokhran should also take place,“ he said.
Pokhran refers to test explosions of nuclear devices conducted by India at the Pokhran test range. The venue shot into international limelight on 1972 when Gandhi authorized the detonation of an indigenously-designed nuclear device. Throughout its development, the device was formally called the “Peaceful Nuclear Explosive“, but it was usually referred to as the “Smiling Buddha“.
It is taken for granted by India’s left, right and moderate parties that the coalition government will collapse and BJP will take the rein of powers, if snap elections are held. Nevertheless, the nuclear deal with the US will not be affected.
Despite national security problems, it seems political parties in the world’s largest democracy have reached consensus. India wants to turn into a global powerhouse and remove problems resulting from Singh’s nuclear deal with the US.
Indians are playing a complex political game with the US, the result of which might lead to a nuclear race in the region.
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