A picture depicting the four Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982 is seen during a news conference in Beirut to mark the 26th anniversary of their abduction, July 3.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on
Thursday condemned the 1982 abduction of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon and said they set a model of resistance against the “most merciless enemies of mankind.“
“The hero Motavasselian (one of the four diplomats ) and his fellow compatriots resisted bravely the most merciless enemies of mankind and disgraced them,“ said Ahmadinejad while addressing to a ceremony in commemoration of Ahmad Motevasselian in Tehran , IRNA reported.
Mohsen Musavi, Ahmad Motavasselian, Kazem Akhavan and Mohammad Taqi Rastgar Moghaddam were kidnapped by the Phalangists en route from a mission in north Lebanon to Iran on July 4, 1982 at the height of Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.
Tehran says they were kidnapped by the pro-Israeli right-wing Christian Lebanese Forces group who delivered them to Israel. Israel has long denied holding them.

Diplomats Alive
An Iranian diplomat said Thursday the four Iranians are alive in Israel, and demanded their release.
All the information Iran has indicates the missing men are in Israel , said Mojtaba Ferdoussi, charge d’affaires at the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon , AP reported.
Ferdoussi spoke at a news conference in Beirut Thursday marking the 26th anniversary of their disappearance. It came a day after Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said Israel will provide the group with information on the fate of the four Iranians as part of a prisoner exchange.
In a newspaper interview in 1996, Samir Geagea, former head of the disbanded Lebanese Forces, said the four were killed in Lebanon by members of the Lebanese Forces.
Israel backed Geagea’s militia during the civil war. Israel invaded the country in 1982, when Israeli troops took over large tracts of Lebanon as part of a military blitz to expel Palestinian guerrillas.
Ferdoussi said Iran will continue to pursue the issue of its four missing nationals “until we know their fate and they return to their families.“
Raed Musavi, son of the missing former charge d’affaires, said former prisoners in Israel have confirmed seeing the four Iranians alive in Israeli prisons.
“We have been sure since years, and our certainty increases every day, that these kidnapped Iranian hostages are alive,’’ he said.
Nasrallah confirmed Wednesday for the first time that his group will hand over two captured Israeli soldiers and information on a missing Israeli airman in exchange for five Lebanese prisoners in Israel and the remains of over 200 Lebanese and other Arabs killed over the past three decades.
As part of the deal, Nasrallah said Israel will also give Lebanon information on the fate of the four Iranians.
Nasrallah said the prisoner exchange, which the Israeli Cabinet approved on Sunday, would take place in mid-July.

Esmael Ahmadi-Moqaddam

Head of the Drug Control Headquarters Brigadier General Esmael Ahmadi-Moqaddam Friday said that according to the United Nations Iran is first in the world in terms of fighting drug trafficking and curbing the growing demand for narcotics inside the country.
In a pre-sermon speech at the Friday congregation in Tehran University campus, the general said “We can resolve the drug dilemma, which is one of the greatest problems the country is facing, by spreading awareness and drawing on the potential of our people.“
Based on UN data, production of illegal drugs in Afghanistan will reach about 10,000 tons this year, Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying.
“Despite the global rise in inflation, drugs become cheaper by the day. Since the country’s declared policy is to wage a serious fight against narcotics, we have taken effective steps to curb demand for the drugs and rehabilitate the addicts. In the past, it was said that if supply is controlled, the number of addicts would decline. However, given the huge profit that comes with drug trade, we have not yet been able to contain its production and distribution,“ he noted.
Ahmadi-Moqaddam, who also is commander of the national police forces said, “Price of a kilogram of heroin in Afghanistan is 1,000 euros. The same drug fetches 3,000 euros in Afghan border areas, and is sold for 100,000 euros in Europe.
Given this high profit margin, parallel to taking on the drug merchants other measures should also are necessary.“
Over the years more than 3,600 police and law enforcement officers have been martyred and 12,000 others wounded in Iran’s uncompromising fight against drug barons and criminal gangs “but we are still far from the desired results,“ the general told the worshippers.
In the last Iranian year March 2007-08 alone about 900 tons of narcotics was seized ted in Iran, which is the equivalent of 95 percent of drug confiscations worldwide in the same period, he concluded.

Manouchehr Mottaki

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said no power can adversely affect the time-tested strategic relations between Tehran and Damascus.
In an exclusive interview with Arabic-language Alalam TV channel, Mottaki said Iran supports Syria’s efforts to take back the Golan Heights from the Zionist regime.
The Golan was seized by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed in 1981, a move dismissed by the international community.

Multifaceted Solution
On the issue of the proposals sent to Iran by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany (5+1 Group), Mottaki asserted that talks will continue in hopes of finding a solution to the long nuclear standoff with the western powers.
Tehran is studying the 5+1 proposal, he added.
The so-called package of incentives was delivered to Iran by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on June 14. It requires Tehran to stop enriching uranium in exchange for political, security and economic benefits.
Mottaki said Tehran will respond to the package in the near future, and stressed the possibility of forging a comprehensive solution with the western countries.
He hailed the “new and positive atmosphere of the talks between Iran and the 5+1 Group“, and said “there is a possibility of reaching a multifaceted solution with the UN Security Council.“
Mottaki was of the opinion that the “behavior“ of the 5+1 delegation “contrary to the past, was respectable, and their statements provided grounds for studying the proposal. Their approach to Iran’s proposal was constructive.“
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Gholam Reza Aqazadeh and Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh Attar said earlier that Iran was examining the latest western-drafted proposal.

A former US secretary of state says that the US must undertake talks with Iran about the current impasse over the nuclear issue.
“The Europeans can’t do it alone. As with the North Koreans, for the Iranians, the American aspect is critical,“ Madeleine Albright said in an interview with The Huffington Post on Wednesday.
She added that Europe and the US having been playing good cop, bad cop respectively, “But that has not seemed to move the process forward.“
On June 14, the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, presented a package of incentives to Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
The package was drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, and requires Iran to renounce its right to uranium enrichment in exchange for a set of various incentives.
“It is time for America’s leadership to understand that you don’t lose by having direct contact and conversations,“ Albright told to the US administration.
Albright is now an adviser to US Democratic nominee Barack Obama. She added, “Its point is to deliver tough messages and to listen. The US is doing neither with Iran. Doing so now with North Korea shows diplomacy [and] can get results.“
“Obama believes we should talk to our enemies, to pursue direct and aggressive diplomacy with both North Korea and Iran,“ she concluded.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi

Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi appointed former interior minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi as head of the powerful State Inspectorate Organization (SIO).
A decree for the appointment will be issued next week, according to an informed source in the judiciary, Presstv reported.
Mohammad Niyazi, who previously headed the organization, has been appointed deputy chief of the Supreme Court.
Pourmohammadi was interior minister of the incumbent government until earlier this year. He was replaced by Mehdi Hashemi as caretaker interior minister by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran has called for the establishment of a new international news network, and believes the world needs an alternative to the present mainstream media.
“World powers, especially America, have a stranglehold on the world’s media outlets; they mold news and reports in their own interests,“ said deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance for press affairs, Ali-Reza Malekian, Presstv reported.
“They refuse to publish certain information about developing countries and sometimes propagate doctored news,“ he told a conference of communication ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement in Venezuela.
He urged NAM member states to jointly found a news network that would provide free and fair reporting in various languages.
NAM is an international organization of states that considering themselves not formally aligned to or against any major power.

Ali Larijani

Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has said that a major problem of the Zionist regime is its visible lack of legitimacy.
Speaking at a ceremony for Iranian diplomat, Ahmad Motovasselian, who disappeared in Lebanon in the early 1980s he said, “The Zionist regime is a trouble-maker in the region. As a result, the Middle East has not witnessed peace and tranquility for several decades,“ Presstv quoted him as saying.
Israel has tried for decades but always failed to find a pretext to justify its legitimacy and reason for being.
“The Zionist regime is a racist enterprise. The dominant paradigm in international public opinion is that racism is doomed to failure. Israel was created on the basis of the superiority of Jews over other races, and this is the primary reason why the people of the world reject it,“ the MP from Qom and former chief nuclear negotiator said.
Condemning the Zionists for their lawlessness and almost six decades of aggression in the strategic region, Larijani said, “You have a problem with yourselves. You should not search for an enemy from outside.“
He noted that if the Islamic Republic is against the occupying power, it is mainly because it is devoid of legitimacy.

Mohammad Ali Jafari

Commander of the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari on Thursday said military action against the country’s nuclear facilities is a remote possibility.
“However, any move against Iran will start a war, which will make the aggressors regret (their move),“ he told reporters on the sideline a ceremony for Iranian diplomat, Ahmad Motovasselian, who disappeared in Lebanon in the early 1980s.
He emphasized Iran’s contingencies and preparedness for mischief by the hostile powers and said under the conditions it highly unlikely the enemies would make any wrong move, Mehr News Agency reported.
“Of course, they (the enemies) know that a ground attack is practically impossible. Moreover, the 33-day resistance of the Lebanese Hezbullah against Israel showed that it (the resistance organization) can paralyze them. They are aware of the might of Iran’s army and it is very unlikely that they would launch a ground assault. They may contemplate missile or aerial attacks. Needless to say, Iran’s response would be strong,“ the news agency quoted him as saying.
Asked whether the Guards plan to operate on a provincial basis to neutralize
possible threats from enemies, he said, “The plan was charted sometime back for improving the IRGC’s organizational structure. It was decided that the plan be put into effect this year, which has been named the Year of Innovation and Prosperity.“

The US ambassador to Israel played down speculation on Thursday that an attack by either country on Iranian nuclear sites was imminent, saying the allies agreed sanctions should run their course.
“I don’t think any decisions have been made on any military action by any party, that I’m aware of,“ Richard Jones told reporters, Reuters reported.
“I think a lot of people believe that the use of military force would be the last option and there are plenty of other options that need to be exercised beforehand--and I think we are in the process of exercising those options,“ he said.
“We are working very closely with Israel on our diplomatic efforts,“ claimed.
George Bush on Wednesday reiterated his administration’s support for giving diplomatic pressure on Tehran a chance to work, but said “all options are on the table“.
Speculation about a possible strike on Iran has lifted oil prices, which hit a new record high of above $145 a barrel on Thursday. Traders said the market now had $150 within reach.
A large-scale Israeli air force drill last month prompted speculation that the Zionist regime, which is believed to have the region’s only atomic arsenal, could be preparing to attack the Islamic Republic.

Ali Al-Dabbagh

An Iraqi government spokesman said on Thursday that arrest warrants have been issued for some leaders of an anti-Iran terrorist group based in Iraq.
Ali Al-Dabbagh told a press briefing in Baghdad that the order had been issued because leaders of the Mojaheedin Khlaq Organization (MKO) have interfered in the domestic affairs of Iraq and threatened some Iraqi officials by phone, IRIB reported.
The Iraqi cabinet and main political parties have demanded the expulsion of members of the terrorist group.
Iraqi officials insist the banned group is playing a key role in the ongoing violence and insecurity in the war-ravaged Arab country.
Dabbagh added that Iraqi security forces have documentary evidence of MKO criminal activities.
The MKO has been blacklisted as a terror group by many countries including the United States and EU.
The group that expanded its terror network under the auspices of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has claimed responsibility for several armed attacks on Iranian civilians and officials in the past. They were also involved in the killing of Iraqis of diverse ethnic groups opposed to Saddam and his Baathist cult.

Fueling Sectarian Violence
Meanwhile, head of the Unified Iraqi Coalition Seyyed Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim declared the MKO is still in the business of provoking sectarian violence in his country.
“The MKO is trying to fuel sectarian conflict, interferes in internal Iraqi affairs, and takes hostile stances toward Iraq’s parliament and its elected national government,“ Hakim was quoted by the Voices of Iraq News Agency as saying. Speaking at the fifth anniversary of the assassination of his brother, Seyyed Mohammed Baqir Al-Hakim, the UCI chief said the “MKO presence in Iraq lacks legal or international criteria.“
In a recent statement the administration of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki accused the MKO of backing violent anti-government activities. Baghdad has banned contacts and deals with the members of the group.
Hakim said “Iraq ’s Constitution has banned using Iraq as a base of aggression, and the government’s demands for safeguarding its sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence are fair and constitutional.“

A senior official has said Iran is ready for talks over its nuclear program but will not back down on its declared position on key factors.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior foreign policy advisor to the leader of the Islamic Revolution said Thursday his comments on continuing talks with the 5+1 Group does not imply Tehran should accept a freeze on its uranium enrichment work.
He was referring to his interview with an Iranian newspaper (Jomhori-e Eslami) earlier in the week where he had called for the resumption of talks with the West to find a mutually acceptable solution to the nuclear issue, IRIB reported.
“In the interview I mentioned the acceptance of nuclear talks, not accepting the package (proposed by 5+1,“ added Velayati, who served as foreign minister from 1981 to 1997.
The so-called package of “carrots and sticks“ was presented to Tehran last month by European Union Foreign Policy chief, Javier Solana, on behalf of the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany .
“We want talks without any precondition on the enrichment issue,“ he was quoted as saying by the state radio and TV organization.
Referring to efforts by some European governments to find a solution to the nuclear issue, Velayati said Israel and the United States are doing over time to create hurdles and derail the sensitive talks between Tehran and Brussels.
The embattled regime of George Bush and its pro-Israeli western states accuse Iran of trying to acquire nuclear weapons under cover of its civilian nuclear program. Tehran at the highest level of authority has made known that the program is geared to producing electricity for its ambitious economic development programs.