Chinese Backing for Tehran-IAEA Cooperation

China has reiterated that Iran has the right to peaceful nuclear energy, expressing support for cooperation between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“China always views dialog and cooperation as the only correct way to resolve the Iran nuclear issue, and China encourages Iran to further its cooperation with the IAEA,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters on Friday, Anatolia news agency reported.
Lei added that Iran as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Iran and the IAEA held two days of talks in Tehran on January 17-18, 2013. Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA Ali-Asghar Soltanieh said the next round of the talks was scheduled for February 12 or 13.
China, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, has always asserted Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy.
However, the United States, the Israeli regime and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran has categorically rejected the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the NPT and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that the Iranian nuclear energy program has been diverted toward military objectives.

Iran Will Sue Spain Over Ban on Channels

Iran’s ambassador to Madrid says a move to take Iranian satellite channels, including Press TV and Hispan TV, off the air shows the West’s ‘dishonesty’, adding that Tehran will pursue the case by filing a lawsuit against Spain.
Morteza Saffari said in a press conference in Madrid on Friday that European countries claim to defend freedom of speech and human rights, but they cannot tolerate ‘even two Iranian TV channels’ that convey ‘Iran’s views’ to the world, Press TV reported.
“We have reliable documents that the move to take Hispan TV, Iran’s Spanish-language news channel, off Hispasat was carried out under the influence of certain ‘Zionist streams’, Saffari added.
The diplomat strongly criticized Madrid’s approach to the issue and called on Spanish authorities to prevent harm to Tehran-Madrid relations.
Saffari said that the move to stop the broadcast of Hispan TV has no legal basis, and that Iran would submit a complaint to Spain’s judiciary within the next few days.
The Spanish government ordered Madrid’s regional government to stop Hispan TV’s broadcast as of January 21 in another blow to freedom of speech.
Hispan TV and Iran’s 24-hour English-language news channel Press TV have already been targeted by Hispasat’s fellow European satellite providers Eutelsat and Hotbird.
Hispasat is partly owned by Eutelsat, whose French-Israeli CEO is blamed for the recent wave of attacks on Iranian media in Europe.
The ban on Press TV and Hispan TV in Spain followed a similar move by France’s Eutelsat, which had already taken several Iranian satellite channels and radio stations off the air, claiming that the channels were removed because of ‘a wider interpretation of EU regulations’.
Eutelsat SA and Intelsat SA, which stopped the broadcast of several Iranian satellite channels in October 2012, have cited pressure by the European Union as the main reason.
However, the European Union has denied the claims by the European satellite companies.

Israel Greedily Following Syrian Developments

Iranian Ambassador to Beirut Ghazanfar Roknabadi rapped the Zionist regime of Israel for its recent aggression against Syria, saying Israel is following the Syrian developments greedily to find an opportunity to hit a blow to the resistance front.
“Since the onset of the crisis in Syria, the Islamic Republic of Iran has supported the popular demands, while warning against the plots on this path, and it has stressed that the usurper Zionist regime is looking greedily at developments in Syria and their main goal is to weaken the Resistance front,” Roknabadi said in a meeting with head of Lebanon’s Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) Asa’ad Hardan in Beirut on Saturday, Fars News Agency reported. He blasted Israel for its recent attack against Syria, and said, “It revealed their covert goal and meanwhile showed that the regime has failed to attain its objectives and consequently embarked on taking direct action.”
Hardan, for his part, said that Israel’s recent attack against Syria is an evidence of the enemies’ desperation and hopelessness amid Iran’s strong support for Syria and the brave resistance of President Bashar Al-Assad and the Syrian people against their plots.
The Syrian Army said in a statement on Wednesday that two people were killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a scientific center in Jamraya, located 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the capital Damascus. Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul Karim Ali said on Thursday that his country had the option to respond to the Israeli strike.
He said Damascus was likely to take ‘a surprise decision to respond to the aggression of the Israeli warplanes’.
“Syria is engaged in defending its sovereignty and its land,” the ambassador said.

US Forces Kill Afghans on Purpose

A lawmaker said US forces intentionally kill innocent people in Afghanistan under the pretext of fighting Al-Qaeda in the war-torn country.
“This is not the first time that the occupying forces especially American and British [ones] have deliberately targeted civilians in Afghanistan,” Mohammad-Javad Kolivand said Friday.
“Killing civilians for fun, cutting the fingers of Afghan citizens, desecration of the corpses of dead Afghans and imprisoning and torturing the people of Afghanistan are only some of the crimes committed by the occupying forces in Afghanistan,” ICANA quoted him as saying.
He further stated that insecurity is on the rise in Afghanistan despite the presence of tens of thousands of foreign forces in the country since the beginning of the US-led invasion in 2001.
Kolivand also touched upon the controversial clause in the new security agreement between Washington and Kabul which seeks to grant US troops immunity from prosecution in Afghan courts.
Now the people of Afghanistan are worried that the American forces will continue to commit more crimes in Afghanistan after Washington forces this security deal, which includes the immunity clause, on the Kabul government, he added.
The lawmaker said Afghan President Hamid Karzai has played the role of an independent political official during his term and Afghan people want him to end US military presence in the country. Earlier this week, Karzai accused foreign powers of ‘plotting’ against the war-wracked country’s peace process saying, “Any effort to conduct peace talks individually is not an effort for peace but it is a plot by the foreigners, aimed at weakening Afghanistan.”
On January 14, Karzai had also said that Afghanistan would become a ‘more secure’ country once US-led forces leave the Asian state by the end of 2014.

Qaher-313 Indigenous...

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Speaking on the sidelines of its unveiling ceremony on Saturday, Vahidi said the aircraft had a ‘very low radar cross section’ and was capable of conducting operations at low altitudes.
The minister noted that highly-advanced materials and electro-ionic systems had been used in the structure of Qaher-313, adding that the aircraft was capable of carrying advanced armaments.
Qaher-313 can take off and land on short runways and its maintenance is easy, Vahidi said.
Outlining the exclusive features of Qaher-313, the minister said that the fighter is capable of conducting flights at low altitudes and has a quite unique outward appearance.
Stressing that Iran defends its interests all over the world, he reiterated that the designing and production of the fighter served this very objective.
He said the production of the fighter took place in line with the guidelines of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, with all stages of its production and designing completed by Iranian scientists and experts. Noting that the aircraft utilizes very advanced technologies, Vahidi said the fighter has the capability of carrying advanced home-made ammunition.
He stressed that Qaher is a manifestation of the high capabilities, creativity and bold spirit of the Iranian scientists.
Azarakhsh (Lightning) is Iran’s first domestically-manufactured combat jet. Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) fighter jet is a follow-up aircraft, derived from Azarakhsh. Iran unveiled its first squadron of Saeqeh fighter bombers in an air show in September 2010.

FM in Munich for...

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Referring to the current regional and international developments, the minister urged Iranian diplomats to help further promote the country’s political ties with other nations while respecting the country’s national security and integrity based on the aspirations of the Islamic establishment.
The three-day meeting was held on the occasion of the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations commemorating the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Ten-Day Dawn period starts with the anniversary of the historic return of the late Imam Khomeini from exile on February 1, 1979 and culminates with the victory of the Islamic Revolution on February 11.
On Friday, Salehi also hoped that the incoming US Secretary of State John Kerry would contribute to softening Washington’s policies towards Iran. “I hope that ... he (Kerry) would at least rectify part of the US government’s anti-Iranian stance and policies,” Salehi said on Friday, IRNA reported.
The minister also called on Kerry to ‘reform oppressive, incorrect and costly approaches by the US government’ in a bid to ‘contribute to reducing human and financial costs inflicted by the US foreign policy on the American and regional nations’.
Salehi noted that Kerry is a veteran US politician with a good knowledge of the Middle East region.
“I wish he would understand the facts and realities [about Iran] in his new responsibility,” the minister said.
On Tuesday, the US Senate approved John Kerry as the next secretary of state by a wide majority.

Outcome of Munich Security Conference

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Therefore, Americans are thinking of trying to step out of the Syrian swamp and save the strategic region from a new disaster. They tried to contact Iranian side through diplomatic channels and informed Iranians that they are ready to sit and talk on the Syrian issue. The Iranians informed them that they are only ready to sit and talk on Iran-Russia plan to solve the Syrian crisis. At the beginning, the American side was insisting on sitting and talking for a plan and insisted that the legitimate Syrian president should resign, but Iranians informed them that according to all international laws and regulations, no foreign country is allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and that President Bashar Al-Assad should complete his presidential term and after that an election under observation of UN and other trusted international organizations should be held, President Assad could candidate himself according to the present Syrian constitution. Whoever is elected should be the president and all the international community should accept Syrian people’s choice.This is according to all recognized democratic laws accepted by the international community. Even the Saudis have started shifting toward this idea and nowadays only the Qataris and Turks, who are feeling to be big losers in Syria, are resisting this idea. Certainly, if an international agreement is reached, then those encouraging foreign mercenaries will be under pressure from international community to stop their actions. Iran’s participation in this forum will positively affect the conference to take steps towards solving the Syrian crisis.

Guinea-Bissau Ties

President of the West African state of Guinea-Bissau Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo underlined his country’s willingness to further increase relations with Iran.