Pakistan Starts IP Gasline Construction
Sovereignty of 3 Persian Gulf Isles Non-Negotiable
Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission emphasized that the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty over the three Persian Gulf islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Mousa is non-negotiable.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the MPs strongly dismissed the United Arab Emirates’ claims on the three islands and stated that Tehran has repeatedly reaffirmed its sovereignty over the three Iranian islands, ICANA reported.
The statement added that all of the measures and actions Iran has taken in respect to the three islands have always been in conformity with the principles of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
It also noted that Iran regards the latest UAE statement about the three Iranian islands as intervention in its internal affairs and strongly rejects it. In a recent statement, the UAE censured the efforts of Iranian legislators to visit the islands.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always pursued the policy of friendship and good neighborliness with all its neighboring states and welcomes bilateral talks with the UAE government to explore ways to expand relations and resolve the current misunderstandings,” the Majlis statement said in conclusion.
The UAE has repeatedly made baseless claims to the islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Mousa.
However, the islands have always been part of Iran historically, proof of which can be found in and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world.
Social Care Expanded
Social care services for street children have been expanded in Iran. Announcing this, Mohammad Nafarieh, the deputy head of State Welfare...
Iranian Nanotech Progress Astonishing
Iran’s highly efficient and skillful human resources are behind the country’s astonishing progress in nanotechnology.
US Drones Killed More Afghan Civilians in 2012
The number of US drone strikes in Afghanistan rose sharply last year compared with 2011, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The increase was a sign that unmanned aircraft are taking a greater role as Americans try to streamline the fight against insurgents while preparing to withdraw combat forces in less than two years.
Drones have become a major source of contention between the US and countries like Pakistan, where covert strikes on militant leaders have drawn condemnation and allegations of sovereignty infringements as family members and other bystanders are killed, AP reported.
They have not been a prominent issue in Afghanistan, however. While drone attacks have occurred, they have largely been in support of ground troops during operations and have not been singled out by President Hamid Karzai’s administration in its campaign against international airstrikes.
The steep rise in the number of weapons fired from unmanned aerial aircraft--the formal term for drones--raises the possibility that may change as US forces become more dependent on such attacks to fight Al-Qaeda and other insurgents as combat missions are due to end by the end of 2014. The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said 506 weapons were released by drones in 2012, compared with 294 the previous year. Five incidents resulted in casualties with 16 civilians killed and three wounded, up from just one incident in 2011.
Currency Latest Global Threat
The world economy faces a new threat. Instead of a banking collapse or too much debt, fears are growing that countries are using their currencies as an economic weapon.
History suggests that’s never a good thing.
If too many countries try to weaken their currencies for economic gain--sparking a currency war--that could stifle business confidence and investment, sow turmoil in financial markets and derail a fragile global economy, AP reported.
Following the G20 meeting in Moscow, financial representatives from the world’s leading 20 industrial and developing countries warned that excess volatility of financial flows and disorderly movements in exchange rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability.
Everyone Talking About Currencies
Since the start of the financial crisis, central banks around the world have been trying to stimulate their economies by keeping interest rates extremely low. The goal is to encourage consumers and businesses to borrow and spend more.
One way central banks drive down rates is to use their power to print money to buy up large quantities of bonds. But by boosting the amount of currency in circulation, there is a side-effect: it can drive down the value of that currency relative to others. As a country’s currency falls, its exports become cheaper, while those of its neighbors become relatively more expensive.
Iran Warns of Dangers To Eurasia Security
A senior Foreign Ministry official said the presence of extra-regional forces in Eurasia is a major source of concern that could be detrimental to the security of the region.
Abbas Araqchi, deputy foreign minister for Asia-Oceania affairs, said that the Eurasia region has turned into an area of competition for world powers due to the presence of extra-regional forces, which is one of the main sources of concern for regional countries, Press TV reported on Wednesday.
Araqchi made the remarks at the closing ceremony of the Iran and Eurasian Cooperation Conference in the capital, Tehran.
The official added that the establishment of new bases for foreign forces in the region or the continuation of their presence in some of the regional countries, including the presence of the US forces in Afghanistan, is ‘worrying’.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across the country. Araqchi also stated that ‘Iran did not believe that the presence of US forces in Afghanistan would help establish security in the war-torn country’.
The deputy foreign minister described the increase in drug production and trafficking in ‘the Eurasian countries, including Afghanistan, as one of the consequences of the presence of foreign forces’.
UN Spokesman Rejects Report on Ban’s Iran Remarks
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky on Tuesday denied a press report that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had accused Iran of using talks with the P5+1 as cover to build a nuclear bomb.
Asked at the daily press briefing about Ban’s interview with Washington Post last week in which he reportedly said ‘Iran could use UN talks as cover to build bomb’, Nesirky said, “He did not say that.”
Asked if he is denying what the newspaper reported, Nesirky said ‘No’. But ‘that was not the exact quotation from what the secretary general has said’, assuming that the Washington Post reporter misinterpreted Ban’s comment, Kuwait News Agency reported.
What Ban told the newspaper was ‘we should not give much more time to the Iranians, and we should not waste time … We have seen what happened with the DPRK’.
The newspaper’s lead was ‘the United Nations must be decisive and swift in judging whether diplomacy can resolve world concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday, or invite the risk that Iran, like North Korea, will use talks as a cover to build a bomb’.
Acceleration of Talks
“The secretary general believes that the way to solve this difficulty is through negotiations, through dialog. Such talks are going to take place later this month in Kazakhstan (on February 26) in the format of P5+1, and he has repeatedly said that it is for Iran to prove to the satisfaction of the international community that its nuclear program is for exclusively peaceful purposes.,” Nesirky said.
Asked why then Ban linked the Iranian case to North Korea’s, Nesirky said, “I would not over interpret this … The secretary general is simply pointing out the need for there to be accelerated progress in the talks.”
Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told Ban in a letter last Friday that if the Washington Post report is accurate, ‘it would be very unfortunate that the secretary general of the United Nations, in contravention of his mandate and against the well-established international principles, apparently has taken a position to the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities’.
Khazaee also said, “I look forward to working closely with you to address this issue of great concern. Undoubtedly, integrity, transparency, and fairness are key premises on which the secretary general should base his approach in discharging his Charter-mandated responsibilities.”
The Security Council imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program that the West fears Iran is working on building a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.
Cooperation Deal Inked With UNEP
Iran and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost their cooperation in environmental fields.
The MoU was signed by Vice President and Head of Iran’s Department of Environment (DoE) Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh and Achim Steiner UNEP executive director and undersecretary-general of the UN on the sidelines of a meeting of the governing council of the UNEP in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.
In a meeting with Steiner prior to the endorsement of the agreement, Mohammadizadeh called for further expansion of joint cooperation within the framework of the MoU.
He added that Iran is ready to help establish a UNEP office in Tehran in a bid to facilitate UN environmental programs. The UN official, for his part, voiced the UNEP’s preparedness to provide Iran with necessary assistance and consultations to implement environmental programs specially within the MoU.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is an international institution that coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices.
Greece Hit by General Strike Against Austerity
Tens of thousands of anti-austerity demonstrators took to the streets of Athens on Wednesday as unions staged a general strike to protest government spending cuts and tax hikes, which some predict will push unemployment to an alarming 30 percent.
Police said up to 40,000 people were participating in two separate marches in central Athens that were so far peaceful, AP reported.
“We are protesting about (reduced) pensions, emergency taxes, the high cost of life,” said retired factory worker Kyriakos Anastassiadis.
Unions are pressing for the renewal of binding collective labor contracts, instead of individual deals that allow employers greater leverage in defining salary levels. They are also asking the government to support the crumbling labor market, where roughly 1,000 jobs have been lost daily since 2010.
“The government wants to further lower our salaries and destroy unions,” said unionist Vassilis Epicarithis, an aircraft engineer.
The 24-hour nationwide walkout disrupted domestic flights, kept ferries and long-distance trains idle and crippled public services.
Iran Warns of Dangers To Eurasia Security
A senior Foreign Ministry official said the presence of extra-regional forces in Eurasia is a major source of concern that could be detrimental to the security of the region.
Abbas Araqchi, deputy foreign minister for Asia-Oceania affairs, said that the Eurasia region has turned into an area of competition for world powers due to the presence of extra-regional forces, which is one of the main sources of concern for regional countries, Press TV reported on Wednesday.
Araqchi made the remarks at the closing ceremony of the Iran and Eurasian Cooperation Conference in the capital, Tehran.
The official added that the establishment of new bases for foreign forces in the region or the continuation of their presence in some of the regional countries, including the presence of the US forces in Afghanistan, is ‘worrying’.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across the country. Araqchi also stated that ‘Iran did not believe that the presence of US forces in Afghanistan would help establish security in the war-torn country’.
The deputy foreign minister described the increase in drug production and trafficking in ‘the Eurasian countries, including Afghanistan, as one of the consequences of the presence of foreign forces’.
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