Ahmadinjejad: Economic Change Can Neutralize Sanctions

Political Desk

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has underlined the need for structural modifications to the country’s economy as a means to overcome the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.
“Employing national capacities, overcoming sanctions and disappointing the enemy are possible through structural modifications,” Ahmadinejad said in an open session of the Majlis on Wednesday.
The president attended the Majlis session to provide the Iranian lawmakers the latest information about the national economy.

Major Ways
Ahmadinejad proposed four major ways to solve the country’s economic problems, namely decentralization of the country’s wealth and assets, engaging the people in economic activities, making the utmost use of domestic resources and cutting the budget’s dependence on oil revenues.
He noted that the sanctions have been imposed on Iran to impede the country’s progress and development.
The US and its European allies have imposed unilateral oil and financial sanction on Iran to halt the Islamic Republic’s civilian nuclear drive. The United States, Israeli regime and some of their allies have falsely accused Tehran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran has strongly rejected the allegations against its nuclear energy program, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful objectives.

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NAM Raps Double Standards on Terrorism

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) denounced double standards and politicized approaches as major obstacles in the way of firmly dealing with terrorism.
“The NAM has always supported decisive combat against all forms of terrorism wherever and whenever they occur and believes that counter-terrorism efforts should be immune from any politicization and double standards,” Iran’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Gholam-Hossein Dehqani said on behalf of the NAM at a UN Security Council meeting.
The NAM considers insufficient the current measures adopted to fight terrorism in the international arena and calls for a more active role by the international community in this regard, Dehqani added, Press TV reported on Wednesday.
The UN meeting was held to discuss a comprehensive strategy against terrorism. Iran currently holds the rotating presidency of the NAM.
Dehqani further stated that increased multilateral cooperation among countries under the UN supervision is the most effective tool to curb global terrorism.
The Iranian diplomat also proposed the organization of holding a UN-supervised international summit to discuss ways to counter different forms of terrorism.

Militants Kill, Kidnap Foreigners at Algerian Gas Plant

Militants attacked a gas production field in southern Algeria on Wednesday, kidnapping at least nine foreigners and killing two people including a French national during a dawn raid, local and company officials said.
The raid, claimed by an Al-Qaeda affiliate, came after extremists had vowed to retaliate for France’s military intervention in Mali, where its forces have been in action against Al-Qaeda-linked militants since last week, Reuters reported.
The incident also raised fears that the French action could prompt further militant revenge attacks on Western targets in Africa, where Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operates across borders in the Sahara desert, and in Europe.

WB Cuts Growth Forecasts

The World Bank (WB) cut its global growth forecast for this year as austerity measures, high unemployment and low business confidence weigh on economies in developed nations.
The Washington-based bank projected the world economy will expand 2.4 percent, down from a June forecast of 3 percent, after growing 2.3 percent in 2012. It halved its forecast for Japan, cut the US projection by 0.5 percentage point and predicted a second year of contraction in the eurozone.
It also lowered projections for emerging markets led by Brazil, India and Mexico, Guardian reported.

Fragile
Overall, the global economic environment remains fragile and prone to further disappointment, although the balance of risks is now less skewed to the downside than it has been in recent years, WB said in its twice-yearly report.
Developed economies failed to gain steam in 2012 even after measures to stem the European debt crisis helped boost financial markets around the world.
Uncertainties surrounding a US political agreement on spending cuts and Japan’s diplomatic tensions with China may weigh further on the global economy just as emerging markets recover from one of their slowest growth rates of the past decade.

Pakistan Protests to India Over Kashmir Killing

The Pakistani army on Wednesday protested to India over the killing of one of its soldiers in Kashmir, the fifth fatality this year in heightened hostilities that have raised concerns about ceasefire violations between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Indian troops shot dead the soldier at a position called Kundi during firing from the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Himalayan territory, Pakistan’s army said in a statement, Reuters reported.
Two Pakistani and two Indian soldiers were killed early this month in the worst outbreak of violence in Kashmir since India and Pakistan agreed a ceasefire nearly a decade ago. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over the region both nations claim.
Following public and media anger at the alleged decapitation of one Indian soldier, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there could be “no business as usual” with Pakistan, and the army chief said his commanders should retaliate to provocation.
Despite the heated rhetoric, government spokesmen on both sides have insisted the deaths will not derail talks meant to improve relations and experts say an escalation is unlikely.

Leader: Iran Progressing Despite Pressure

Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic has been on the path to progress during the past 34 years despite all pressures on the country.
The Leader made the remarks in a meeting with security officers of Armed Forces in Tehran, leader.ir reported.
Ayatollah Khamenei added that Iran has experienced major progresses and have been effective in regional and global developments following the 1979 Revolution that toppled the Pahlavi regime.
The Leader called the Iranian people ‘a great nation’ who knew how to counter enemies and tackle problems.
Ayatollah Khamenei further stated that Iranian will again participate extensively in the demonstrations to mark the victory of the Islamic revolution on February 10.

China Signs Steel Deal in Iran

A large Chinese state-owned company said it signed a $712 million contract to help build a steel plant in Iran, signaling that Beijing isn’t ready to join western nations in increasing pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.
A unit of state-owned metals giant China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group said in a statement Wednesday it will provide engineering design, equipment supply and installation, construction and training services for the Iran Butia steel plant, The Wall Street Journal reported.
China has consistently defended its economic ties with Iran, which is under US and European Union sanctions for its nuclear program. Five months ago, China’s Foreign Ministry urged Washington to revoke sanctions it had imposed on Bank of Kunlun Co., a unit of China National Petroleum Corp., warning that they damaged China’s interests and Sino-US relations.
China and Iran have normal, fair and transparent business relations in the areas of energy and trade, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at the time.
China Nonferrous’ Shenzhen-listed engineering and construction arm--China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering & Construction Co.--will handle the work. The latest deal adds to the company’s nearly decade-old history in Iran. When complete in four years’ time, the plant is expected to be able to produce two million metric tons of sponge iron and 1.5 million tons of steel billets a year.
China Nonferrous’ unit has several other projects in Iran, mostly assisting Iranian companies building factories producing aluminum, alumina and ferroalloys. China Nonferrous didn’t respond to a call for comment Wednesday. The deal is unlikely to be aimed at supplying China with Iranian steel. China’s steel sector suffers from overcapacity, and imports account for barely two percent of its total steel consumption.

IAEA Experts Begin Talks in Tehran

Senior UN nuclear investigators have opened a new round of talks with Iranian officials in the hopes of setting frameworks for further cooperation in the future.
The negotiations began at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran headquarters in Tehran Wednesday morning. It didn’t provide any further details, ISNA reported.
Before departing Tuesday for Iran, UN team leader Herman Nackaerts said the International Atomic Energy Agency hoped to ‘finalize the structured approach’ that would outline what the agency can and cannot do in its investigation.
Both the IAEA and Tehran have said progress was made at their last meeting in the Iranian capital in mid-December, without giving details. After the December talks, Nackaerts voiced optimism about a deal with Iran in the upcoming talks between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog on January 16 on the remaining issues of difference over Tehran’s civilian nuclear program.
“We were able to make progress,” he said.
He also said that he expects to reach a deal with Iran in January on the remaining issues related to the country’s nuclear energy program.
Iran on Tuesday underlined the need for recognizing its nuclear rights during the upcoming talks between Tehran and the IAEA, and hoped that the two sides could reach a comprehensive agreement in the negotiations.
“We hope that the same way Mr. Amano’s deputy, who heads the (IAEA’s) delegation to the talks, had seen the negotiations as to have been positive, we can reach a comprehensive agreement,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in his weekly press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

Iraq Attacks Leave 31 Dead

More than 30 people died in a suicide attack and other bombings in northern Iraq and Baghdad on Wednesday.
An explosives-packed vehicle driven by a suicide bomber blew up outside the offices of a major Kurdish party early Wednesday in a disputed Iraqi city, the largest in a wave of morning strikes that left at least 21 dead and scores wounded across the country.
Another three people died and 37 more were wounded in a separate bombing outside a rival Kurdish political party office in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of the capital.
Roadside bombs and gun attacks in Baghdad and Baiji, north of the capital killed seven policemen and soldiers.
The attacks made for Iraq’s bloodiest day in two weeks. They come amid rising tensions among Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian groups that threaten to plunge the country back into chaos nearly a decade after the US-led invasion, AP reported.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, car bombs and coordinated attacks are favorite tactics for Sunni insurgents such as al-Qaida’s Iraq branch. They seek to exacerbate divisions within Iraq in an effort to undermine the Shiite-led government.
The blast outside the Kirkuk offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party caused widespread damage, mangling cars and tearing apart storefronts.

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