Jalili in Iraq for G5+1 Talks

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has arrived in the Iraqi capital for talks between Tehran and the six world powers.
Saeed Jalili arrived in Baghdad at the head of a high-ranking delegation on Monday night for the talks between Iran and the G5+1--Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany--slated for May 23, IRNA reported.
He was welcomed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari at Baghdad Airport.
“We had an agreement in Istanbul. That is the basis for the beginning of a new cooperation. We hope that the talks in Baghdad will be a kind of dialogue that will give shape to such cooperation,” Jalili told reporters in Baghdad.
The latest round of talks between Iran and the world six powers was held in Istanbul on April 14. Both sides hailed the discussions as constructive and agreed to hold the next round of the talks in the Iraqi capital.
Tehran and the G5+1 earlier held two rounds of talks, one in Geneva in December 2010 and another in Istanbul in January 2011. Discussions come after a recent visit to Tehran by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog body.
Jalili also met Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani ahead of Baghdad talks.

Package of Proposals
EU officials said on Tuesday that G 5+1 plans to present two different packages of proposals to Iran in the Baghdad talks on Wednesday, a move signifying a deep rift among the six world powers.

Tougher Laws Against Poaching

Iran is taking tougher measures against poaching. Announcing this, Asghar Mohammadi Fazel, the deputy head of Department of Environment....

Smoking Worsens Back Arthritis

A little over half a century ago, cigarettes were not seen as a danger. Some doctors even recommended them. Today, we know that cigarettes are linked...

NATO Endorses Afghan Exit Strategy

NATO leaders mapped a path out of the unpopular war in Afghanistan, backing plans to hand Afghans the combat lead from mid-2013 while vowing to stand by them as they seize their own destiny.
In a Chicago summit declaration, US President Barack Obama and his NATO military allies ratified an ‘irreversible’ roadmap to “gradually and responsibly” withdraw 130,000 combat troops by the end of 2014, AFP reported.
But they also ordered military officers to begin planning a post-2014 mission to focus on training, advising and assisting Afghan troops to ensure the government can ward off a stubborn Taliban insurgency.
“As Afghans stand up, they will not stand alone,” Obama told the gathering of more than 50 world leaders, focused on ending a decade of war that has left over 3,000 coalition soldiers and tens of thousands of Afghans dead.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who attended the talks, sought to reassure nervous allies that the sacrifices made on all sides would not have been vain, maintaining Taliban militants could not recapture power. “The Taliban may have the ability to launch attacks, to explode IEDs (improvised explosive devices), to send suicide bombers. But for them to come and take over the country and take it backwards, no,” Karzai told CNN.
“Afghanistan has moved forward, and Afghanistan will defend itself. And the progress that we have achieved, the Afghan people will not allow it to be put back or reversed.”

Fitch Downgrades Japan’s Credit Rating

Fitch cut Japan’s sovereign credit status on Tuesday to the lowest level among global ratings agencies as a political stalemate dims the chance that the country can curb its snowballing debt.
Fitch Ratings cut Japan’s long-term foreign currency rating by two levels from AA to A plus, the fifth highest investment grade. It cut the more important local currency rating by one notch from AA minus to A plus. Both were given a negative outlook, Reuters reported.
Fitch warned further downgrades were possible unless the government takes new fiscal policy measures to stabilize public finances and its ratio of debt to gross domestic product.
“The downgrades and negative outlooks reflect growing risks for Japan’s sovereign credit profile as a result of high and rising public debt ratios,” Andrew Colquhoun, head of Asia-Pacific sovereigns at Fitch said in a statement.
“The country’s fiscal consolidation plan looks leisurely, relative even to other fiscally challenged high-income countries, and implementation is subject to political risk.”
The downgrade could serve as a chilling reminder to highly indebted countries in Europe that urgent action is needed to trim public debt and prevent concerns about sovereign debt from weighing further on the global economy.
Several euro zone countries have been hit with multiple downgrades as the region struggles to deal with its mounting debt crisis.

Egypt in First Presidential Polls After Mubarak

A buzz of excitement swept through Cairo on Tuesday, a day before its first presidential election since an uprising overthrew Hosni Mubarak, ushering in a tumultuous military-led transition.
“This is the first time I’ll be going to vote in any election, and it’s definitely a big deal. My family has been talking about it for weeks,” said Ibrahim Farrag Hassan, 64, who sells toys in a small market in central Cairo. Around 50 million eligible voters are being called to choose Mubarak’s successor on Wednesday and Thursday with a runoff scheduled for next month should there be no outright winner.
“This election will change things, whoever is coming will be scared of the people and will have to listen to them,” said Hind Ahmed, 25, a shop assistant at a lingerie store.

Moradi Hopes to Shine in Olympics

By Sadeq Dehqan

Iranian weightlifter Sohrab Moradi is one of the country’s hopefuls for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Moradi, who snatched the gold medal of the Asian Weightlifting Championship in South Korea, is facing Kianoush Rotami for the 85-kg category. Rostami is the world champion and the weightlifter of the year in 2011.
In an exclusive interview with Iran Daily, Moradi, 24, believes the best athlete will take part in the prestigious London Olympic Games.
The excerpts of the interview are as follows:

Tell us little about yourself and your achievements.
I have been in the weightlifting for the last 10 years. In 2004 I was called up for the national team and since then I took part in different Asian and world champions like junior, youth and adult. I finished third in the World Youth Championship and won two gold medals in Asian competitions.

How do you see the trainings following the South Korean competition?
We have trained some 4 months for the South Korean competition. Our next task was to show a good performance in the London Games. So we decided to continue our trainings very quickly.

Fake Parts Used in US Military Equipment

Vast numbers of counterfeit Chinese electronic parts are being used in US military equipment, a key Senate committee has reported.
A year-long probe found 1,800 cases of fake parts in US military aircraft, the Senate Armed Services Committee found, AFP reported.
More than 70% of an estimated one million suspect parts were traced back to China, the report said.
It blamed weaknesses in the US supply chain, and China’s failure to curb the counterfeit market.
The failure of a key part could pose safety and national security risks and lead to higher costs for the Pentagon, the committee said. US servicemen rely on a variety of “small, incredibly sophisticated electronic components” found in night vision systems, radios and GPS devices and the failure of a single part could put a soldier at risk, the report said.
It highlighted suspect counterfeit parts in SH-60B helicopters used by the Navy, in C-130J and C-27J cargo planes and in the Navy’s P-8A Poseidon plane.
After China, the UK and Canada were found to be the next-largest source countries for fake parts.
The committee criticized China for failing to shut down counterfeit manufacturers and said that committee staff wanting to travel to China for the investigation had not been granted visas.

IAEA Head Sees Deal With Iran Soon

Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, returned from talks in Tehran and said on Tuesday he was positive a deal could be signed on Iran’s nuclear program.
Speaking the day before planned talks in Iraq between Iran and the six world powers on the extent of Tehran’s nuclear program, Amano said he expected a deal to be sealed soon, Reuters reported.
“(A) decision was made to conclude and sign the agreement ... I can say it will be signed quite soon,” Amano told reporters at Vienna airport after returning from Tehran.
Amano described the outcome of his meetings in Iran as an ‘important development’.
He acknowledged ‘some differences’ remained but that Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili had told him these would not pose an obstacle to an agreement.
“There remain some differences but Mr Jalili elaborated that differences would not be an obstacle to signing the agreement. The last time I said progress was made, this time I say the decision was made,” he said.
Jalili is due to meet in Baghdad on Wednesday (May 23) with senior officials from the six world powers involved in efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear stand-off peacefully.
Amano said he had raised the issue of access to the Parchin military site--an IAEA priority in its inquiry--and that this would be addressed as part of the agreement. The UN nuclear watchdog chief said on Tuesday he expected to sign a deal with Iran soon to boost its cooperation in an investigation into Iran’s nuclear activity, although differences remained.

Chief Editor

Baku Falls in Zionists’ Trap By Emad Abshenass

When Republic of Azerbaijan got it’s independence from former USSR, Iranians were even happier than the Azerbaijanis. After all, since Azerbaijan was historically a part of Iran, there were always plenty of common interests and relations between the Iranians and the Azerbaijanis.
Two Iranian provinces carry the names of West and East Azarbaijan and a considerable percentage of Iranians are of Azeri extract. Even some Iranians were hoping that a unity between two countries could take place and barriers between families would be removed.
Just after Baku became independent, the Americans and the Israelis began to broaden their influence in the newly-established republic. Unfortunately, Israeli agents were able to acquire a lot of influence on the poor country with vast resources.
The Israeli regime and Baku signed a military agreement based on which Azeri airspace became open to Israeli planes. Even some analysts wrote in a section of the media that Israel may use Azerbaijan airports to attack Iranian nuclear sites.
Some reports confirmed that Azerbaijan allowed Israel to establish espionage and eves-dropping bases on the Azerbaijan-Iran border to spy on Iran. Other reports suggested a possible transfer of all or part of MKO terrorists to Azerbaijan. And terrorists who killed Iranian scientists also escaped to Azerbaijan.
Now the Azeri government permitted some people to demonstrate in front of Iranian Embassy in Baku. A few chanted slogans insulting the Islamic Republic’s Leader who, in addition to his political status, is revered religiously and spiritually among the Iranians and other Muslims worldwide. This means that the demonstrators have insulted all admirers of Ayatollah Khamenei and hurt their feelings.
Needless to say, Israeli-backed groups which intend to harm relations between Iran and Azerbaijan are responsible for this action.

Sovereign Nations Should Stand Together Against Hegemonic Powers

FM for Enhanced Ties With Turkey

Air France-KLMTo Cut5,000 Jobs

14 Nations Eyeing Tehran Video Film Fest

Iraqi Action on Controling Haze Vital