Manouchehr Mottaki

Dora Bakoyannis

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said Saturday her country did not and will not undertake any military exercises aimed against a friendly country like Iran.
She made the remark in a meeting with her Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki in New York on the sidelines of the 63rd annual session of the UN General Assembly.
She also briefed Mottaki on the initiative by the EU to address the Caucasus crises, IRNA reported.
Mottaki voiced Iran’s readiness to expand bilateral relations in all areas, particularly in the energy and trade fields.
He criticized the recent joint Greece-Israel military exercises over the Mediterranean.
Israel conducted military exercises over the eastern Mediterranean and Greek territory in early June in preparation for strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Pentagon officials said.
Over 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s took part in the rare drills, which spanned over 900 miles, roughly the distance between Israel and a nuclear enrichment facility in the central Iranian city of Natanz.
Mottaki briefed Bakoyannis on Iran’s initiative to help restore peace and stability in the troubled Caucasus region.
Referring to Iran as a country with rich culture and civilization, the Greek official stressed that Athens is keen on promoting ties with Tehran in key areas.
Two Greek political and economic delegations will soon visit Iran to review issues of mutual interest and help expand collaboration between the two nations.

Moussa Meeting
Promotion of Iran-Arab League cooperation will certainly contribute to security and stability in the Middle East region.
In a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session on Saturday, Mottaki and Arab League Chief Amr Moussa took stock of the latest international and regional developments.
The two sides referred to the significance of Iran-Arab cooperation in the interest of peace and stability in the volatile Middle East. They also touched on Iran’s key in helping restore peace in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Persian Gulf and other Middle East regions.
“Terrorism knows no boundaries. The return of extremism -- supported by certain western states -- will have a negative impact in and outside the region,“ Mottaki noted.
During the meeting the two men called for effective measures to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinians.

Iran condemned a terrorist attack in a crowded residential area in Damascus that left at least 17 people dead and 14 others injured.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi, in a statement strongly condemned the “criminal act“ and expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and the wounded, Presstv reported.
A car bomb explosion ripped through a mostly Iraqi district on the outskirts of the Syrian capital on Saturday in what is believed to be the deadliest terrorist attack in Syria in over two decades.
The explosion occurred near an intelligence office at an intersection leading to the site of holy shrine of Hazrat-e Zeinab (SA) and the car was apparently laden with 440 pounds of explosives.
The shrine is visited mainly by pilgrims from Iraq, Iran and Lebanon. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing on the road to the city’s main airport.
“Investigations by the Terrorism Combating Unit are underway to identify the culprits,“ Syria’s state television quoted official sources as saying.
The last deadly explosion in Damascus was in February when a car bomb killed a senior commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyeh.
Last month, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Suleiman, a senior military officer close to President Bashar Assad, was assassinated by a sniper on a yacht at a beach resort in the northern port city of Tartous. Syria has provided little information about the shooting.
In 1997 a blast on a public bus in Damascus killed 12 people and wounded dozens. Syria accused Israel for the crime, but the Zionist entity denied any role.
It is generally believed in the Muslim/Arab world that Israel or its agents are involved in the terrorist attacks that normally target defenseless civilians and are primarily aimed at destabilizing governments that do not succumb to Israeli pressures and intimidation.
Time and again Tel Aviv has been singled out as a major state sponsor of terrorism by regional political observers and respected human rights groups including in the western world whose governments have for more than six decades supported Israeli lawlessness against the oppressed Palestinians.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday his government has planned to promote tourism and invited domestic and foreign investors to join the initiative.
He made the remark in a message to local and foreign investors marking the World Tourism Day, IRNA reported.
The key role of tourism in the global economy has nurtured rapid promotion in the sector in a way that all countries spare no effort to promote this industry with the help of national and international investments, the message said.
Tourism is indeed a strategic bridge that brings nations closer, the presidential statement noted.
He recalled that the tourism industry helps create jobs, reduces poverty and deprivation and plays a significant role in fair distribution of wealth and healthy economic relations, he said.
“Tourism can also promote peace, friendship and stability in the world.“
He said that the Islamic Republic spares no effort to help promote durable peace, social justice along with cultural/economic development through tourism promotion.
Effective promotion of the tourism industry demands joint effort by state organizations, and the domestic and foreign private sectors.
“The government is determined to augment this industry and has invited Iranian and foreign investors to rise to the occasion.“
World Tourism Day was commemorated at Esteqlal Hotel. The special ceremony was attended by senior officials, legislators and Tehran-based foreign envoys.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has cancelled a visit to Vienna to attend the general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
ISNA quoted an unnamed nuclear official on Sunday as saying that Gholam-Reza Aqazadh would not attend the meeting.
Aqazadeh’s deputy Mohammad Saeidi and Iran’s IAEA envoy Ali-Asghar Soltanieh would be in attendance instead.
No reason was given for the abrupt cancellation. But it is widely believed that the decision is related to a United Nations Security Council resolution passed Saturday calling on Iran to “comply fully“ with past UN demands to halt its uranium-enrichment.
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeid Jalili dismissed the resolution as “not constructive and will not help solve the problem.“
Aqazadeh is in charge of the technical aspects of Iran’s nuclear programs while Jalili is responsible for political interaction with the world powers through EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated at the United Nations last week that Iran was ready to hold talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany to settle the dispute over its peaceful programs. But he said Iran would never accept pre-conditions in this regard, including western demands to halt enriching uranium.

Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian (Photo by Ali Hassanpour)

Secretary general of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian Sunday said APA members need to cooperate more effectively to fulfill their objectives.
For the Assembly to enjoy a more effective role in global developments plans should be devised to upgrade the conditions of member states, he told a press meeting.
He noted that the APA was founded in 2006 to help forge the spirit of cooperation and convergence among Asian states.
The assembly has 56 members 18 of which are observers.
Nejad-Hosseinian, a former representative to the UN, said the pivotal issues of concern for the assembly are poverty alleviation and social maladies in the member countries.
“The secretariat’s duty for 2008 is to establish technical committees to chart out meaningful solutions to problems. So far five countries have agreed to manage five committees. Russia has voiced its preparedness to run the Energy Committee, while Indonesia wants to manage the Committee for Poverty Alleviation. Bahrain has taken charge of the Friendship Committee, the Environmental Committee is under the auspices of Syria while South Korea will manage the committee for Cultural Diversity,“ he pointed out.
He added that one problem of the assembly is that since its members are sitting legislators, they are not permanent and change after parliamentary elections in their countries.
“To tackle this predicament, Iran has proposed that each parliament introduce two or three fixed members,“ he noted.
Setting laws for fighting illegal drugs and coordinating efforts to help curb the effects of natural disasters are among other priorities of the assembly.

Navy Chief Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayarri on Sunday said new military exercises will be held in the near future and that his forces will soon acquire new equipment.
The country’s missile capability has improved significantly in recent years, ISNA quoted the commander as saying.
The senior officer referred to the local production of light Ghadir class submarines and said, “During the years of Sacred Defense (Iran-Iraq war) we did not have underwater combat capability. But it is almost 16 years that we have submarine technology. In fact, during this period our technical underwater fighting ability has preceded that of many countries that have had submarine technology much earlier than Iran.“
“The Ghadir class submarine that was added to the naval fleet recently is classified as light. It was fully manufactured locally and has high maneuverability. This is very important for us. Suitable weapons and equipment have been mounted on the sub,“ he pointed out.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Sayyari said the Navy considers the enemy to be an extraterritorial power.
“We can confront the enemy in a symmetric and asymmetric manner. We monitor enemy provocations and know what it is planning. We also know its weaknesses. During the war years we enhanced our power by targeting the enemy’s weak points.“
Sayarri emphasized that his forces are in complete control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
“This is obvious and cannot be overlooked. We have also charted out separate measures for defending the Caspian Sea, Sea of Oman, and the Persian Gulf against contingent enemy threats,“ he said.
On Wednesday, acting commander of Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said that Iran has comprehensive plans to confront intruding US vessels.
“America fears the IRGC’s naval forces,“ IRNA quoted him as saying.
He recalled that if during the years of Sacred Defense Iran’s missiles could hit parts of the Persian Gulf, now they can target the entire Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and a significant portion of the Indian Ocean.
Recalling the valor and gallantry of the IRGC naval forces during the 1980-88 Iraq-Ian war, he said “From March 1987 till the end of the Iraqi imposed war (1980-88), we carried out 100 retaliatory operations against the US. In 1987, for every Iranian ship damaged by the enemy, we damaged an enemy ship. Toward the end of the war, if America damaged two of our warships, we attacked three of theirs.
America had 86 warships and 500 fighter planes in the region, but they could not prevent our operations.“
He went on to note, “When the IRGC destroyed their one-billion-dollar warship, they hit our oil platform. When they could not hit our speed boats, they targeted the Iran Air commercial flightÉ The Americans realized that a new trend had started in the war. The accomplishments of IRGC included destruction of large American ships, advanced helicopters and several vessels.“
Fadavi said the recent war games staged by the Guards displayed Iran’s power and prowess.
“We can now benefit from mass production of modern equipment while previously we only tested them. We have also improved in tactical terms. We can attack the enemy from different positions, but the enemy cannot do so.“

Ali Larijani

The UN Security Council is expected to defend its prestige rather than become a tool of the United States foreign policy, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said Sunday.
He opined that the Security Council had damaged its credibility by over blowing technical disputes between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a security issue and passing hasty resolutions, IRNA reported.
He criticized the G5+1 double standards vis-ˆ-vis Iran following the adoption of Resolution 1835 against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
“Such attitude will downgrade the talks (with the six powers) to the level of a frivolous act. Perhaps the time has come for Iran to make a new decision about continuing such political hobby,“ Larijani told an open session of parliament.
Referring to the “devious shift“ of the G5+1 and its endorsement of another irrational resolution against Iran, the former senior nuclear negotiator said such moves once again showed that the issue of Iran’s nuclear program is only a pretext for US policymakers (to pressure Tehran) and has nothing to do with legal issues.“
Larijani rather sarcastically asked the G5+1 if their hostile move(s) can be considered a measure of building confidence by those who perpetually claim to be the advocates of promoting trust to help settle Iran’s nuclear issue.
Unanimously adopting Resolution 1835 the Council recalled the 3 March joint statement of the foreign ministers of China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States with the support of the High Representative of the European Union. That statement, read out during a Council meeting described a commitment to an early negotiated solution and the countries’ “dual-track“ approach that offered Iran “substantial opportunities“ for political, security and economic benefits.
Resolution 1835 reaffirmed the Council’s earlier resolutions against Tehran and called on it to comply with its obligations ’filly and without delay.’ Iran has rejected the earlier three UNSC resolutions against its nuclear activities and stressed that it has a right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to acquire a civilian nuclear program and enrich uranium under IAEA inspections.

Gunmen shot and wounded an Iranian public prosecutor in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.
Fars News Agency reported Sunday that Fazlollah Shahbazi, public prosecutor in the town of Khash, was slightly wounded in the attack on Saturday, adding that the terrorists escaped after the attack.
The province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and is a major drug trafficking route.
Sistan-Baluchestan, in southeastern Iran, has seen a spate of attacks by the terrorist group Jundullah (Soldiers of God) in recent years.
On June 12, its members attacked a police station in the southeastern Iranian city of Saravan and took 16 police officers hostage.
The Jundullah terrorist group, headed by Abdolmalek Rigi, is widely known to be supported, advised and funded by US spy agencies.
Earlier, Pakistan’s former Army chief, Retired General Mirza Aslam Baig, said the US is supporting the outlawed Jundullah group to destabilize Iran.
He said the US is providing training to Jundullah --located in eastern areas of Iran--to create unrest and undermine cordial ties between Iran and Pakistan.
Baig added that Iran and Pakistan are under the siege of western conspiracies.
Intelligence agencies of the western coalition forces are very active in Afghanistan and work against the interests of Iran, Pakistan, China and Russia in the region, he was quoted as saying.

The State Expediency Council (SEC) has agreed to the revival of the Money and Credit Council and 17 other bodies.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last summer, to prevent overlapping of state institutions, formed a six-man task force presided by the first vice president and comprising five ministers to examine changes in 38 state-run councils. Ultimately, the Supreme Administrative Council, on the basis of a report by the task force, voted for merging 28 councils into four, Mehr News Agency reported.
The change in the configuration of 28 councils run by the government, which resulted in the merger of 28 councils, was a decision made by the Supreme Administrative Council concurrent with dissociation of the Planning and Management Organization.
Subsequent to these developments, the SEC held a meeting on Saturday and approved that 18 councils that were eliminated or merged with other entities, including the Money and Credit Council, revert to their previous status based on relevant laws and regulations.
Money and Credit Council was established in 1972. It studies and makes decisions pertaining to the general guidelines of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and supervises monetary and banking affairs.
It also is responsible for overseeing and approving the budget plan, employment regulations and the CBI’s internal bylaws.
Furthermore, the council is in charge of auditing the balance sheet of the CBI and commenting on loans or credit guarantees and any other issues referred to it by the government.

Bahrain’s Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa called the Islamic Republic of Iran a friendly neighbor.
In an interview with the Arabic daily, Al Watan, he said that there is reciprocal respect between the two neighbors.
“Political and economic cooperation between the two sides is based on common grounds“ he noted.
Sheikh Khalifa noted that the members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council are against any new military conflict in the region.
“PGCC states have warned against the negative consequences of war in the political, economic and environmental fields,“ he said.
Sheikh Khalifa voiced concern that the Persian Gulf region has been a scene of consecutive wars that have undermined regional security and stability.
“We believe that the time is opportune for regional countries to concentrate on economic development and at the same time think about security, stability and peace,“ he added.
Asked whether Bahrain is not concerned about a possible threat from Iran if the US sets up a naval base in that country, Sheikh Khalifa said “Let’s not talks about threats.“
He pointed out that a US naval base will be set up in the kingdom within the framework of a bilateral agreement between Bahrain and the US.