President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Persian Gulf states should strengthen ties.
Talking to Iran’s ambassadors to the Persian Gulf states on Monday, Ahmadinejad called for efforts to establish long-term and lasting relations with the Persian Gulf countries.
He declared that the world should get ready to witness the end of US hegemony, IRNA reported.
Denouncing the presence of foreign forces in the region, the Iranian president said the interference of foreign forces in the domestic affairs of regional countries has created tension in the region.
“It is crucial for the Persian Gulf states to strengthen ties and not allow American threats to harm amicable and deep relations between Iran and the Persian Gulf countries,“ he said.
He also called for expansion of economic, industrial and agricultural relations among the regional states.
As to the enemies’ attempt to sow discord among regional nations, Ahmadinejad assured the Persian Gulf countries that the Islamic Republic advocates peace and stability in the region and that the enemies’ anti-Iran allegations are baseless and sheer lies.
President Ahmadinejad further called on Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to follow up the Persian Gulf issues and make greater efforts to solve any pending problems.

Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh

The Foreign Ministry is to appoint Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh as its new spokesman, Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.
An official source told Mehr that Akhoundzadeh would replace Mohammad Ali Hosseini, who has been appointed deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs.
Akhoundzadeh is a former ambassador to Germany, the United Nations’ mission in Geneva and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Hezbollah has received an Israeli report that includes information about the fate of four Iranian diplomats kidnapped 26 years ago.
According to Presstv, German mediator Gerhard Conrad, who was appointed by the UN to facilitate a prisoner swap between Hezbollah and Israel, handed over a final report on the fate of four missing Iranian diplomats to the Lebanese movement, informed sources told Beirut’s As-Safir daily on Monday.
Hezbollah received the report as part of an information exchange between the two sides before the prisoner swap, which is scheduled to take place next Wednesday at the Ras Al-Naqoura border checkpoint.
According to the sources, the report contains details of an Israeli investigation in Lebanon, which involved questioning of former Phalangist leaders about the abduction and transfer of the four diplomats from Beirut.
Iranian diplomats Ahmad Motevasselian, Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi, Taqi Rastegar-Moqaddam and Kazem Akhavan were abducted by armed Phalangists in northern Lebanon in 1982 and handed over to the Israeli army occupying the country at the time.
The Phalangists is one of the groups that make up the Lebanese Forces Party, which is currently led by Samir Geagea--a politician in the ruling March 14 alliance.
In April 1975, Phalangist militiamen carried out the Bus Massacre, which is widely recognized as the first event that sparked the Lebanese Civil War.

Bashar Al-Assad

Syria cautioned that a military attack on Iran over its nuclear program would have serious repercussions for US, Israel and the world.
“It will cost the United States and the planet dear,“ Bashar Al-Assad said in an interview with France Inter radio on Monday.
“Israel will pay directly the price of this war. Iran has said so. The problem is not the action and reaction. The problem is that when one starts such an action in the Middle East, one cannot manage the reactions that can spread out over years or even decades,“ he said.
He criticized the US government and stressed that an attack on Iran would be far from rational.
“This administration is an administration whose doctrine is a warmonger’s doctrine. It does not reason with our logic, and that of most European countries or most countries in the world,“ Assad said.
Tehran continues to cooperate with Intentional Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) over its nuclear program. The latest report by Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA, certified Iran’s non-diversion toward nuclear bomb material.
The US and Israel have threatened that they might resort to a military option to stop Iran from developing nuclear technology. However, Tehran says it will give a devastating response to invaders, making them regret their action.

EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, will meet Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in Geneva on Saturday, Solana’s Spokeswoman Cristina Gallach confirmed on Monday.
“We’re preparing the meeting“ which would be held in a yet-to-be specified venue on Saturday morning, Gallach told AFP.
An Iranian official had said on Friday that Jalili and Solana would hold their next round of talks on ending the nuclear standoff on July 19, but Solana’s office declined to confirm the meeting at the time.
Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States last month presented Iran with a package aimed at ending the five-year-old nuclear crisis, notably offering Tehran technological incentives in exchange for suspending the process of uranium enrichment.
Iran has proposed its own package--a more all-embracing attempt to solve the problems of the world, including the nuclear issue, and has made much of the common ground between the two proposals.
The French Foreign Ministry has, however, confirmed that Iran has not expressed its readiness to suspend uranium enrichment.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali Hosseini has called on the US to take a more realistic attitude toward the country’s nuclear program.
“There have been reports recently about the US willingness to engage in talks without precondition and its support for the efforts of EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana,“ Hosseini said in Beijing on Monday, ISNA reported.
“If the US adopts a more realistic stance and pays attention to extensive cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), conditions will change,“ he said.
Hosseini stressed that Iran and the G5+1 countries should focus on common points of the packages exchanged by them with the aim of reaching consensus on Iran’s nuclear case.
Iran’s proposed package, which has also been presented to a number of international organizations, contains solutions to major crises facing the world.
On behalf of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council--Russia, China, Britain, France and the US plus Germany--Solana submitted a package of incentives to Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in the group’s latest bid to help end the five-year standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.
Pointing to the recent missile tests conducted by the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps (IRGC), Hosseini gave assurances that the tests carried a message of peace and security for all countries of the region.
The IRGC carried out extensive military exercises in response to recent threats against Iran by the US and Israel. During the maneuver, Iran test-fired new long- and medium-range missiles, including the upgraded Shahab-3 missiles equipped with a one-ton conventional warhead and capable of hitting targets at a range of 2,000 kilometers.
“Like other countries, Iran holds such maneuvers regularly to enhance its defensive capabilities and deterrent power. Although certain interfering countries intend to portray Iran as a threat, the history and behavior of the country demonstrate that it has invariably worked toward cooperation with regional states,“ he said.

Tehran-Beijing Ties
Hosseini further called for expansion of Tehran-Beijing cooperation in all areas.
In a meeting with China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun, he said the exchange of visits between the two countries’ officials would help boost bilateral ties, IRNA reported.
Voicing the interest of two countries’ leaders to further promote all-out bilateral cooperation, Hosseini said there are bright prospects for Iran-China economic cooperation.
The Chinese official, for his part, appreciated Iran’s humanitarian assistance to those affected by the recent earthquake that hit parts of China.
“Such moves are indications of profound amity between the Iranian and Chinese nations,“ he said.
Zhai added that there are great potentials for expansion of cooperation between the two countries.

Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi said the abundance of supervisory institutions is the cause of shortcomings in the administrative system.
“We hope that with the establishment of the Supreme Council of Supervision, the problem will be resolved. We also hope that supervisory institutions cooperate with each other and tackle the problems arising from (parallel) supervision,“ Shahroudi told a meeting of senior judicial officials on Monday, ISNA reported.
The top judge of the country also said that with regard to supervision, excessive publicity should be avoided, as it would undermine efficacious and systematic supervision.
In line with the meeting, the participants approved articles 18 and 19 of the procedure for implementing judicial justice.
Article 18 underlines that if prison officials imprison a person without receiving an arrest warrant issued by judicial officials, they will be fined up to 50 million rials and temporarily barred from holding governmental jobs for two years.
Article 19 stipulates that if judicial or non-judicial officials extract forced confessions from a suspect by causing physical harm and torture, they will be sentenced to payment of blood money or six months to three years of imprisonment. It also says that if someone orders extracting forced confessions, he will also be subject to the same punishment.
The article further notes that if a suspect dies following torture, the person who caused the death of the suspect will be tried for first-degree murder.
In related news, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani underlined the need for compiling a charter on administrative ethics in order to nurture efficient human resources.
Larijani was addressing members of the Supreme Council of Supervision and officials in charge of attending to administrative violations of ministries and state organizations, Fars News Agency reported.
“Implementing the rule of law is tantamount to prudence and helps create a fair and just atmosphere nationwide. However, some think that they can interfere and change the governing laws when an exceptional case, which is not outlined by the rule of law, comes to the fore. It is possible that exceptional cases are not considered by the people who make laws, but this does not mean that the rule of law should not be implemented, as implementation of the rule of law is the best approach for ensuring the overall health of the country and fulfillment of justice,“ he said.
The speaker emphasized that the charter for administrative ethics will considerably improve the efficiency of employees.
“We should not naively think that whoever becomes a governmental employee knows exactly what he has to do in his job,“ he said.
Larijani also said that improvement of productivity requires nurturing efficient human resources, considering a system of reward and punishment and ensuring accurate implementation of the laws.
“In case there is a legal vacuum, Majlis, as the main center for making laws in the country, is prepared to set new laws and amend the laws,“ he said.

Hamid Reza Asefi

Iran’s ambassador to the UAE, Hamid Reza Asefi, said Iran has complained to UAE officials about the unfair treatment of some Iranian nationals at Dubai Airport, which is unacceptable.
Speaking to Fars News Agency on Monday, Asefi added that every month over 200 flights take place between UAE and Iran. `
“Given the large number of Iranians visiting UAE, mistreatment of Iranian nationals (at the airport) is only limited to a few cases. However, such moves are not acceptable to Iran and this approach must change,“ he said.
Asefi pointed out that Dubai’s Police Department has been warned about this issue in the past.
“They said that it was not the official policy of the UAE to harass Iranian nationals and some police officers may have done so unwittingly. Of course, the number of such incidents has decreased, but still some cases have been witnessed which are not acceptable to us,“ he said.
Asefi emphasized that the UAE officials have promised to follow up the matter and warn those responsible.
Iranians are among the main investors in UAE projects and play a key role in the development of the tiny sheikhdom in the past three decades.

A political expert said if the American media’s proposal for providing consular services in the US Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy in Tehran is viewed in a positive manner, it will help improve bilateral scientific, cultural, trade and sports ties.
Responding to the issue earlier, President Mahmood Ahmadinejad said Iran has not yet officially received a request in this respect, “but we welcome any proposal for expanding relations with other nations“.
Commenting on the objectives behind the proposal, Hassan Beheshtipour also said, “In the past, we witnessed that by establishing diplomatic offices in countries such as Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, the US sought to organize moves for a soft revolution. In fact, America used these offices for interfering in the internal affairs of the said countries.“
The expert said two assumptions can be made about this proposal.
“Firstly, the proposal has been made in accordance with the US strategy of establishing direct bonds with the Iranian nation, which does not contradict Iran’s brand of interests. Secondly, it is possible that this proposal is made in continuation of the US diplomacy toward the Iranian elite. In other words, by making the proposal, the US is trying to change Iran’s political system from within,“ he said.
On the US presidential race, Beheshtipour said, “In the US, the president plays a key role in decision-makings. However, I believe that Republican contender, John McCain, and Democrat candidate, Barack Obama, have common policies and objectives on their agenda and each will possibly utilize a different method for their implementation.“

Afghanistan’s ambassador in Tehran, Mohammad Yahya Maroufi, said the radical militia Taliban are a product of a series of historical mistakes made by many countries.
Speaking to Fars News Agency on Monday, Maroufi added that these mistakes should be tackled at the regional level.
The Afghan envoy described Iran as Afghanistan’s best partner and friend.
Maroufi said the term ’occupation’ does not apply in the case of Afghanistan. “The presence of international forces in Afghanistan should not be interpreted as exercising influence over the region or endangering the interests of our neighbors and brothers. It’s a fact underlined by President Hamid Karzai on many occasions,“ he said.
He rejected the idea that drug trafficking is a source of revenues for the Afghan government.
Maroufi stressed that the presidency of Karzai for another term will benefit the people of Afghanistan.
Karzai opposed the US use of its soil to launch a possible attack on Iran.
“Afghanistan does not want its soil to be used against any country and Afghanistan wants to be a friend of Iran as a neighbor that shares the same language and religion,“ Karzai said in an interview on Monday.