IAEA Approach to Nuclear Program Political

Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani censured International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for adopting a politicized approach to the Iranian nuclear program.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency has adopted a political approach to Iran’s nuclear program,” Larijani said Saturday, advising the international body to deal with the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program from a professional perspective.
The speaker added that the IAEA and the P5+1--comprising Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany--use negotiations as a tool, warning that such a policy has undermined credibility of the IAEA, IRIB reported.
The IAEA and the P5+1 should give up their ‘double-standard policies’ if they want the negotiations to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue, Larijani stated.
The IAEA and Iran are scheduled to hold a new round of talks on the country’s nuclear energy program in Tehran on December 13.
Iran has also held several rounds of multifaceted talks mainly focused on Iran’s nuclear energy program with the P5+1.
Tehran has repeatedly voiced its readiness for negotiations based on mutual respect while maintaining that it will not give up its inalienable rights under any circumstances.
Western states accuse Iran of wanting to develop nuclear weapons, something Tehran strongly denies.
The country has also been subjected to four rounds of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, which, in combination with additional western restrictions, have begun to cause problems for the Iranian people this year.
Israel, the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear-armed regime, has refused to rule out military action to stop Iran also getting nuclear technology.
Renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis are gathering pace following a hiatus of several months caused in part by the lengthy US presidential election campaign won by Barack Obama on November 6.

Effectiveness of Enemies’ Sanctions Downplayed

A senior Army commander said Iran will continue on the path of scientific and technological progress irrespective of the sanctions imposed on Iran by the enemies.
Addressing a group of Army forces on Sunday, Commander of Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan downplayed the importance of western sanctions and restrictions against Iran, Fars News Agency reported.
“You must rest assured that the Islamic Iran can achieve eye-catching victories in all fields in the near future and survive problems in a deserving manner as in the past, and no sanctions, even those that are termed ‘crippling’ can stop a country that has had remarkable progress in scientific and technological fields,” Pourdastan underscored.
He noted that the Iranian nation is able to continue the path of progress powerfully thanks to the wise measures of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in Chief Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Since the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union have imposed illegal sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the aim of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian crude and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. The sanctions entered into force in early summer 2012.
On October 15, the EU foreign ministers agreed on another round of sanctions against Iran.
The illegal US-engineered sanctions have been imposed on the basis of unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Armenia for Bolstering Ties

Armenian Ambassador to Tehran Grigor Arakelyan underlined the good and close relations between Tehran and Yerevan, and called for the further expansion of bilateral ties, specially in economic fields.
“Given its cultural commonalities and age-old and historical relations with Iran, Armenia can further develop and expand the two nations’ common cultural and intellectual grounds,” Arakelyan said in a meeting with Deputy Governor General of western Kermanshah province Jalal Mankarsi on Sunday.
He named Iran as Armenia’s seventh largest trade partner, and hoped that the meetings he holds with Iranian officials would lead to the further expansion of ties and cooperation between the two countries and a further increase in economic, trade and cultural exchanges, Fars News Agency reported.
In recent years, Iran and its northern neighbor Armenia have boosted cooperation, signed agreements on energy cooperation and agreed to cooperate in technology and research and to enhance ties in commerce and economy.

Human Rights Violators Cannot Judge Iran

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Unprofessional Resolution
Another lawmaker said the recent western-sponsored UN resolution on the human rights situation in Iran is erroneous and unprofessional.
“Since Iran does not agree with anti-human rights behavior of western countries and does not follow their policies, these countries use the UN Human Rights Committee as a tool to exert pressure on Iran,” Rahim Zare’.
He pointed out that, some of signatories of the draft UN resolution are blatant violators of human rights in the world.
The lawmaker further noted that, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been able to achieve technologies in different fields despite illegal western sanctions imposed on the country and western countries are taking other measures like passing anti-Iran resolutions at the United Nations.
“The UN Human Rights Committee has actually cast doubt on its own nature and legitimacy by passing this draft resolution,” the lawmaker added. On Tuesday, the General Assembly’s Third Committee passed the non-binding resolution, which was drafted by Canada and co-sponsored by other western countries, with 83 countries voting in favor, 31 against and 68 abstentions. During the meeting, many delegates criticized the use of such country-specific resolutions, which they said set double standards and undermined international cooperation in the promotion and protection of human rights.

Virtual Embassies For Iranian Expatriates

Iran is to establish virtual embassies in a number of countries to provide consular services of Iranians living abroad.
Jafar Javanbakht, head of an office to deal with affairs of Iranians residing in foreign countries, made the announcement in Tehran on Sunday in a session of the High Council of Iranian Affairs Abroad affiliated to the Presidential Office, IRNA reported.
He said the virtual embassies will render consular services, adopt necessary measures to safeguard rights and interests of Iranians and facilitate the issuance of identity cards.
He said the main objective of establishing virtual embassies is to speed up the process of rendering consular services and establishing more and better ties with Iranians residing in other countries.
Javanbakht did not give further information about the target countries.

Turkey’s NATO Missile Request, Meddling in Syria

Turkey’s request for the deployment of NATO Patriot surface-to-air missiles on its border with Syria is part of Ankara’s attempts to interfere in Damascus’ internal affairs, an Iranian lawmaker said.
“While the United Nations Charter has clearly barred countries from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, Turkey seeks to meddle in Syria’s domestic affairs by deploying the missile system on its borders with Syria,” member of the Majlis Presiding Board, Hossein Sobhaninia told ICANA on Saturday.
He cautioned that the deployment of the Patriot missiles on Turkey’s 900-km border would fuel tensions in the region.
Earlier this month, Ankara requested its NATO partners to deploy the Patriot missile systems to ‘protect’ its border with Syria.
Ankara’s request drew criticism from Damascus, which censured the move as another act of provocation by the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also warned that the move could tempt Ankara to use the weapons and spark a ‘very serious armed conflict’ involving the NATO.
Sobhaninia added that Turkey and Arab countries opposing the Syrian government of President Bashar Al-Assad made efforts to implement the West’s demands in Syria since the outset of the unrest in the crisis-hit state.
The legislator emphasized that the implementation of reforms is the only solution to the Syrian unrest and said that stability and peace would be restored in Damascus if foreign countries stopped interfering in Syria’s internal affairs.
Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011 and tens of thousands of people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.
The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country.
Damascus blames western countries and some of their regional allies including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey of arming the opposition and fueling the crisis in the country, as reports indicate that a large number of insurgents fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.
Syrian President Assad said in August that the country is engaged in a ‘crucial and heroic’ battle that will determine the destiny of the nation.
Iran has repeatedly rejected foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs, calling for national dialog as the only way out of the country’s prolonged impasse.

Tehran, Baku in IT Talks

The Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan will do its best to consolidate the ties between Iran and Azerbaijan in various fields, including information and communication technology, Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pakaein said.
Pakaein made the remarks in a meeting with Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov in Baku on Saturday.
At the meeting, the two sides discussed cooperation in resolving issues pertaining to radio broadcasting, radio frequencies, etc, Trend reported.
The minister stressed the need to resolve the issues relating to the allocation of GSM frequency resources in the border areas.
The parties have reached a preliminary agreement to hold the ICT forum between the two countries in 2013.

Argentina to Propose AMIA Talks Agenda

Argentina soon will propose an agenda on talks with Iran to settle lawsuits related to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish aid organization in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people, Argentine authorities said.
Argentine and Iranian officials conducted preparatory discussions in Switzerland in October on the bombing in Buenos Aires, the worst attack of its kind in the country’s history, AFP reported.
“In the coming weeks, our country will present an action plan that will be discussed at the next meeting to be held in January,” Foreign Minister Hector Timerman told reporters at the presidential palace on Saturday.
Timerman has said the first round achieved ‘positive results’.
In the July 18, 1994 attack, a van loaded with explosives detonated outside the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Aid Association (AMIA), leveling the seven-floor building housing it.
Iranian and Argentinean legal experts held their first meeting in Geneva on October 29 to resolve the existing misunderstandings regarding the 1994 bomb attack.
Under intense political pressure from the US and the Israeli regime, Argentina formally accused Iran of carrying out the attack on the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and wounded 300.
The Islamic Republic has strongly and consistently denied any involvement in the terrorist bombing.
Faced with lack of any evidence for their anti-Iranian allegations, Argentinean prosecutors have only used false and contradictory statements by Iranian dissidents seeking asylum in the West to level charges against Tehran.

President: Changing Election Law Against Constitution

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“If we want to promote dignities in the society, the Constitution should be implemented fully,” the president said.
“In the country’s social system the Constitution is the most important principle and each move should be based on it,” Ahmadinajad underlined.

Cabinet Reshuffle
On Saturday, president appointed his chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei to a high-profile post.
Ahmadinejad named Mashaei as the head of the secretariat of the Non-Aligned Movement, the bloc of developing nations whose leadership Iran assumed this year. The post raises Mashaei’s political clout and gives him much-needed international experience.
Separately, Ahmadinejad named Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, a former aide to Mashaei, as a vice president and head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.
Malekzadeh’s short-term appointment as a deputy foreign minister in July drew intense criticism from the conservative-controlled parliament, with lawmakers threatening Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi with impeachment.
Ahmadinejad appointed Ali Nikzad as caretaker of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
Nikzad, who is road and urban planning minister, will retain his post.
The president appointed former minister of communication and information technology, Reza Taqipour as his advisor on communication affairs.

Israel Threats of Attack Worthless

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Vahidi underlined that Israel’s recent wars against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the victories achieved by the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and Gaza at different periods of time proved that the regime’s claims have been entirely baseless.
Nearly 170 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and about 1,200 others were injured in the Israeli attacks on Gaza that were carried out during the eight-day period of November 14-21.
In retaliation, the Palestinian resistance fighters fired rockets and missiles into Israeli cities, killing at least six Israelis.

Israel, Serious Threat to Mideast
Member of Majlis Hossein Mozaffar said the Israeli regime which possesses atomic arsenals is a serious threat to the region.
“An occupying regime that possesses atomic arsenals and has never allowed the inspection of its [nuclear] facilities by pertinent sources is today a big threat to the Middle East,” Mozaffar said on Sunday.
The US has always supported the Israeli regime which is breeding terrorists and exporting weapons of mass destruction, he added.
The legislator emphasized that the global arrogance cancelled the conference because it feared that Israel would possibly be introduced as an example regime that possesses weapons of mass destruction.
The global arrogance has always sought to put an obstacle in the way of conferences that are detrimental to the Israeli regime in order to distract public attention from the Zionists’ measures, Mozaffar pointed out.

West’s Biased Decisions

Leader’s Advisor for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati said that the West cannot decide about the Muslim countries’ fate through biased media reports.