4,000 Development Projects Inaugurated

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said hegemonic powers are unable to halt Tehran’s nuclear energy program, stating that the Iranian nation will not yield to pressure.
“On behalf of the Iranian nation, I say that anyone who thinks he can defeat the Iranian nation through pressure should know that he is seriously mistaken and that they will take this wish to their grave,” Ahmadinejad said in Bushehr province on Thursday.
The president further said that enemies cannot deprive the Iranian nation of nuclear technology no matter how much they struggle.
He said that Iran needs to be developed by relying on indigenous science and national potentials, adding that no one can put pressure on the country or keep it backward if Iran uses its national capacities.
Addressing big powers, the president added those foolish persons cherishing bad intentions about the Iranian nation must know that the Iranians will solve their problems, get stronger and kick them out of the Persian Gulf.
“No one could ever dare to even think something bad about the Iranian nation,” underlined the president.
The United States, the Israeli regime and some of their allies have falsely accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Based on the unfounded allegation, the US and its European allies have imposed sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Iran has strongly rejected the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Nat’l Week of Men’s Health Underway

The national week of men’s health is underway in Iran in a bid to raise awareness over diseases that men are more likely to develop in their life time.

Iranian Among APS Outstanding Referees Program

Vahid Karimipour, professor of theoretical physics at Sharif University of Technology, is among APS Outstanding Referees Program in 2013.

500 Injured by Blasts as Meteor Falls in Russia

A meteor that scientists estimate weighed 10 tons (11 tons) streaked at supersonic speed over Russia’s Ural Mountains on Friday, setting off blasts that injured some 500 people and frightened countless more.
The Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement that the meteor over the Chelyabinsk region entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000 kph (33,000 mph) and shattered about 30-50 kilometers (18-32 miles) above ground, AP reported.
The fall caused explosions that broke glass over a wide area. The Emergency Ministry says more than 500 people sought treatment after the blasts and that 34 of them were hospitalized.
“There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people’s houses to check if they were OK,” said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region.
“We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound,” he said.
Another Chelyabinsk resident, Valya Kazakov, said some elderly women in his neighborhood started crying out that the world was ending.

Iran’s FIFA Rankings Up

Sports Desk

In the latest football world rankings released by FIFA Iran jumped two spots to stand 58th in the world.
According to Mehr News Agency, Iran, which is gearing up to take the 2014 World Cup berth, is fifth among the Asian teams.
The team has collected 543 points to stand behind Japan, Australia, South Korea and Uzbekistan, respectively.
Spain has been officially declared as the best national football team of February 2013 with 1,590 points.
Spaniards are followed by Germans, who could collect 1,437 points and claim the second position.
Argentina comes next with 1,281 points.
African champion Nigeria has risen 22 places in the latest FIFA rankings, which is led by World Cup champion Spain.
Nigeria moved up to No. 30 after its victory over Burkina Faso in the African Cup of Nations final. Burkina Faso rose 37 spots to No. 55.
The top ranked African country is No. 12 Ivory Coast, which lost to Nigeria in the quarterfinals.
Mexico leads CONCACAF nations at No. 15, and the United States dropped four to No. 32 after losing a World Cup qualifier to 51st-ranked Honduras.

Salehi Discusses Syria With Turkish, Egyptian FMs

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi exchanged views with his Egyptian and Turkish counterparts on the latest developments in the region.
Salehi held separate telephone conversations with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday, Press TV reported.
The major topic of the telephone conversations was the crisis in Syria, which began nearly two years ago. Many people, including large numbers of Syrian security forces, have been killed in the turmoil that began in March 2011.
On Wednesday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the UN Security Council to take action on the situation in Syria. “It is essential for the Security Council to overcome the deadlock and find the unity that will make meaningful action possible.”
Ban further stated that the international community must make efforts to bring about a political solution in Syria.
Iran has always stressed the importance of resolving the unrest through political channels.
The Iranian foreign minister also held a telephone conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart Elias Jaua and discussed ways to strengthen ties between Tehran and Caracas.
Salehi wished the immediate recovery of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has undergone a fourth round of cancer surgery.

Elites Urge Morsi To Foster Unity

A group of renowned Iranian elites and scholars, in a letter to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi , stressed the Islamic community’s high capacity to save the world, and asked Morsi to promote unity and implement Islamic governing system in his country.
“There are great capacities in the Islamic world which can blossom salvage, expedience and prosperity in the world. Creating religious and sectarian strife in the Islamic world is a great plot hatched and provoked by the common enemies of Islam and Muslims,” said 17 Iranian elites and scholars in their letter on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution which ousted former dictator, Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Fars News Agency reported on Friday.
They pointed to the invaluable experiences of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in state building based on the principles of Islamic Shariah (law) as well as Iran’s great achievements in different fields under the theocratic ruling system and massive public participation, and called on Morsi to manage his country based on Islamic laws.
“We call upon Your Excellency as a person who enjoys profound faith, wisdom and thought and is on the top of a country which has inherited great Islamic civilization, to set the dear Islam as the definite and practical basis and paradigm for the administration of your country,” added the Iranian elites and urged the Egyptian president not to give in to international pressures and the so-called intellectual streams who want a separation of the state and the faith. They further said that they are ready to share with the Egyptian government and nation their scientific experience and power.

Israel Assassinates IRGC Commander

A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has been assassinated by the suspected Israeli regime’s mercenaries on the road connecting the capital cities of Syria and Lebanon.
General Hassan Shateri, who was in charge of the Iranian committee for the reconstruction of southern Lebanon, was shot dead in Syria on Tuesday by unknown gunmen as he was traveling from Damascus to Beirut, Al-Alam news channel reported.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi has blamed the Zionist regime for the assassination of the IRGC general.
“We assure that this path will continue. It’s true that he used to serve the weak and the oppressed of the Lebanese citizens in a major role, the support of resistance facing the Israeli occupying forces.
The assassination of this martyr is proof that the Zionist enemy doesn’t want such acts,” Roknabadi said.
The Iranian embassy in Lebanon on Thursday opened its doors for condolences. Officials from the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah and other groups arrived to pay their condolences.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi and his Lebanese counterpart Adnan Mansour along with Lebanese groups in separate statements condemned the assassination.
General Shateri’s funeral ceremony was held in Tehran on Thursday attended by senior Iranian officials. He also was laid to rest in his birthplace, the central city of Semnan, on Friday.

Indian Troops Kill Pakistani Soldier

World Desk

Indian troops shot dead a Pakistani soldier along the de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region as Pakistan tested a missile that can carry nuclear warheads, the second such test in a week.
An Indian army spokesman said that the soldier had been killed in a firefight, in which one Indian soldier was also wounded, and an AK47 rifle was discovered by his side when the body was recovered.
“We detected some suspicious movement yesterday (Thursday) near the LoC (Line of Control) inside our territory and the challengers from our side fired and in the ensuing firefight he was killed,” Lieutenant Colonel Rajesh Kalia, a spokesman for the Indian army’s northern command, said.
“At that time we did not know he was a Pakistani soldier. We killed an infiltrator,” the spokesman added.
Kalia said that India expected to return the body to the Pakistani authorities later in the day.
A Pakistani official confirmed that contact had been made with the Indian authorities for the return of the body of the soldier, identified only as Ikhlaq.

IAEA Parchin Reqest Beyond NPT

A senior lawmaker said the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) request to inspect Iran’s Parchin military site is beyond the provisions of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said on Friday that the IAEA should know that all the nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran are in line with the NPT.
Iran is not obligated to open its military sites, including Parchin, to the IAEA inspectors, the legislator said, Press TV reported.
If the IAEA expects Iran to retreat in talks with the P5+1 group over its nuclear energy program, the agency must know that this would never happen, Boroujerdi added. He further called on the IAEA to avoid politicization of its reports on Iran and issue them based on facts.
On February 13, Iran and the IAEA wrapped up their latest round of talks on Iran’s nuclear energy program in Tehran.
After the talks, Iran’s Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh, who headed the Iranian negotiating team, said Tehran and the agency had resolved some differences and reached agreements on certain issues.
He further noted that the remaining differences would be discussed in the next meeting between the two sides.
Iran is also set to resume talks with the P5+1--China, Russia, France, Britain, the US and Germany--over its nuclear energy program in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 26.
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, an allegation Iran strongly rejects.

Dual-Track Approach, a Futile Exercise

Iran’s UN mission has said in a statement that the ‘dual-track approach currently pursued by a number of countries is a futile exercise in the sense that ... exerting pressure on Iran will definitely derail the efforts on the diplomatic track’.
“So (for) any negotiations to be successful (they) must be conducted in a cooperative, constructive and positive spirit,” it said. It reiterated that Iran’s right to an enrichment program should be ‘fully recognized’ by the six powers, Reuters reported.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is serious about those talks and expects the other side to be serious and forthcoming so that the next round of negotiations ... in Kazakhstan would lead to positive and fruitful results,” the statement said.
The statement was a reaction to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s remarks.
On Wednesday, Ashton said the EU was committed to continuing a dual-track strategy of combining pressure with dialog.

Efforts of Religious Scholars Commendable

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