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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 5:44
Sunrise: 7:14
Noon: 12:06
Evening: 17:19
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Weather Guide
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THU |
FRI |
Tehran: |
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High: |
8 oC |
8oC |
Low: |
-2 oC |
-2oC |
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Athens |
16 |
16 |
Ankara |
4 |
4 |
Paris |
2 |
4 |
New Delhi |
22 |
21 |
Rome |
8 |
7 |
Riyadh |
19 |
20 |
Frankfurt |
0 |
-1 |
Cairo |
21 |
22 |
Kuwait City |
16 |
16 |
Karachi |
27 |
26 |
Copenhagen |
1 |
1 |
London |
2 |
8 |
Moscow |
-2 |
1 |
Madrid |
7 |
12 |
Vienna |
-1 |
-3 |
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Identification
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Published by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Address:
Iran Cultural & Press Institute, #212 Khorramshahr Avenue Tehran/Iran
Managing Director: Mohammad T. Roghaniha
Executive Editor: Amin Sabooni
Editorial Dept. Tel: 8755761-2
Editorial Dept. Fax: 8761869
Advertising Dept. Tel: 8753119, 8757702, 8733764
Internet Address:
www.iran-daily.com
E-mail Address:
iran-daily@iran-daily.com
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Russian Nuclear Proposal Can Be Examined
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Javad Vaedi
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TEHRAN, Dec. 28--Head of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team said on Wednesday Russia’s new proposal can be examined on the basis of a joint venture for procuring fuel for the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and retransfer of the spent fuel to Russia.
Speaking to ISNA, Javad Vaedi added that the extent of Iran’s share is an important index.
He recalled that Russia’s proposal is based on establishing a joint Iranian-Russian company inside Russia for carrying out uranium enrichment operations.
Asked under what conditions Russia’s proposal would be examined, he said, “Based on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), countries that have access to nuclear technology should cooperate with countries that do not have access. Since nuclear plans are implemented within the framework of the guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and NPT, and are by nature economic-, nonmilitary-, technical- and scientific-oriented, it is obvious that if Russia’s plan were to meet these requirements, then it can be assessed by Iran.“
Vaedi noted that Iran believes Russia’s plan can promote peaceful use of nuclear technology and help boost development of indigenous technology.
“Iran also believes that the Russian plan can break the existing monopoly that prevent countries from gaining access to peaceful nuclear technology,“ he said.
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News Agencies Supervisory Board
In 2 Weeks
ORUMIEH, West Azarbaijan,
Dec. 28--An official said on Wednesday the supervisory board for news agencies will be established within two weeks.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting for discussing the provincial print media, Alaeddin Zohouriyan, the Culture Ministry’s director general for domestic print media, added that currently nine news agencies in the country have permits, IRNA reported.
“With the establishment of the supervisory board, the task of examining applications and issuing print permits will be fulfilled,“ he said.
“So far, print permits have been issued for 2,200 publications nationwide. Of this number, 1,600 publications are available on newsstands.“
Zohouriyan pointed out that between 2,000 and 2,500 of print permit applications have been received.
“The directorate received 500 applications last month,“ he said.
The official further said given the large volume of publications, the Culture Ministry is determined to increase credit allocations for publications.
“As of next year, the ministry will support publications by making cash payments,“ he said.
Zohouriyan noted that the overall climate for the print media during President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s tenure is better than in the past.
“We want the judiciary to allow the supervisory board to attend to print media affairs so that a more open atmosphere would prevail for the press corps,“ he said.
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Karroubi Launches Party
TEHRAN, Dec. 28--Secretary-general of National Trust Party Mehdi Karroubi here Wednesday denounced pressures during the launch of his party.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the new party’s central office, “Everybody knows I have not transcended the constitution and the guidelines of the Islamic system. So why should there be pressures on me today? If they cannot tolerate someone like me, then who can they tolerate? I have passed all the tests and proven my loyalty (to the Islamic system).“
He went on to express his satisfaction over the establishment of National Trust Party, ISNA reported.
“I am happy that in light of my friends’ endeavorsÉwe managed to start fundamental activities for this party,“ he said.
Karroubi, a former Majlis speaker, noted that political parties such as Islamic Revolution’s Mujahideen Organization, Islamic Iran Participation Front, Islamic Iran Solidarity Party, the Assembly of Qom Theological Instructors and also the banned Freedom Movement of Iran congratulated him on the establishment of the new party.
Referring to the early days of the Islamic Revolution, Karroubi said, “In those days, although there was unrest in some parts of the country, somebody told the Imam (Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s founder)that when we do not exercise control over some parts of the country, it does not make sense to hold electoral races in compliance with the constitution, but this did not happen. The Imam always stressed the enforcement of the Islamic system’s pillars on the basis of public consensus.“
He emphasized that the late Imam always thought the Majlis should supervise all affairs and that even during the Iraq-imposed war (1980-88), the Majlis should function and elections must be held.
Karroubi noted that whenever people feel their presence on the scene is effective, they will surely participate in state affairs.
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Austria Defends Arms Sale
US Sanctions Nine Firms
VIENNA, Austria,
Dec. 28--The Austrian Interior Ministry Wednesday called ’unimpeachable’ and ’legal’ the sale to Iran of special weaponry by the Austrian arms manufacturer Steyr-Mannlicher, now facing US sanctions.
The sale of some 800 HS50 sniper rifles was approved and controlled by the Austrian authorities, including the foreign ministry, before it was completed last August, said Johannes Rauch, an interior ministry spokesman.
The weapons were bought to arm elite shooters in the fight against drug trafficking in Iran, Rauch added.
Austria’s defense of the arms sale to Tehran came the day after the United States said that six Chinese companies and two from India as well as Steyr-Mannlicher had been sanctioned for weapons and technology transfers to Iran.
The sanctions, which ban the companies from doing business with the US government and US companies.
When making the announcement in Washington Tuesday, a spokesman for the State Department, Adam Ereli, said the United States had ’excellent’ cooperation from the Austrian government in the case against Steyr-Mannlicher, suggesting that the matter may be resolved soon.
The United States has imposed sanctions against nine companies from China, India and Austria for supplying Iran with military equipment and technology, the State Department said Tuesday.
The sanctions, which ban the companies from doing business with the US government and US companies, were based on the Iran Non-Proliferation Act of 2000.
The companies hit were the public company China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (Catic), missile builder China North Industries Corp. (Norinco), the chemical equipment group Zibo Chemet Equipment Corp., Hongdu Aviation, Ounion International Economic and Technical Cooperative Ltd, Limmt Metallurgy and Minerals.
Two Indian chemical groups were also cited: Sabero Organics and Sandhya Organics.
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Fatah Has Joint Vote List
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Palestinian policemen shout during an exchange of fire with gunmen from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction in front of the election office in Gaza, Dec. 28. (Reuters Photo)
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RAMALLAH, Occupied Palestine, Dec. 28--The ruling Fatah party Wednesday submitted a combined list of candidates for next month’s Palestinian parliamentary election after gunmen briefly occupied electoral offices in Gaza.
The submission of a united candidate list, headed by jailed Intifada leader Marwan Barghuti, marked Fatah’s bid to overcome deep divisions that saw the faction initially register two rival lists for the January 25 polls, AFP reported.
Only after lengthy talks did the two strands of the party agree to merge the lineups, fearful that they would otherwise see their decade-long grip of power slip away at the expense of militant group Hamas, contesting its first legislative polls.
Fatah earlier this week won legal approval for the registrations process to be reopened for a six-hour period on Wednesday.
“The Future list is no more and the movement has a single list,“ outgoing civil affairs minister, Mohammed Dahlan, told AFP at the election commission’s Ramallah headquarters.
Dahlan’s name had been on the alternative list of candidates which had been known as the Future but he said he was confident that a united Fatah would be victorious.
Palestinian Leader Mahmud Abbas welcomed the unification of the lists.
“It is important for us to contest the electoral battle united, but also that all the other movements participate in a spirit of fair play, transparency and fairness,“ he said.
Blamed for years of corruption within the Palestinian Authority, Fatah has been weakened by a credible threat from Hamas which swept to victory at a series of municipal elections in Gaza and West Bank earlier this year.
The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority has proved largely incapable of clamping down on pervasive insecurity in the territories.
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Caviar Smugglers Thriving
OSLO, Norway,
Dec. 28--Illegal caviar sales via the Internet and lax policing are likely to let smugglers of the delicacy thrive in 2006 despite tighter world trade rules from Jan. 1, a major importer predicted on Wednesday.
From 2006, caviar must be exported in the year of production, under UN rules aiming to close a loophole that enabled illegal traders to skirt annual quotas by claiming their stock was a carry-over from a previous year.
“This is a major victory in the war against caviar criminals,“ Jim Armstrong, deputy secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), said in a statement when the restriction was agreed in 2004.
But Armen Petrossian, president of the Paris-based Petrossian company which controls about 10-15 percent of the legal world caviar market, said far tougher policing was needed, including a crackdown on Internet auction sites.
“There is a vicious circle today harming legal producers,“ he said.
Tighter restrictions often drove up prices and stoked an illicit market worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year, further endangering the sturgeon fish which produce caviar eggs.
Petrossian said, for instance, that foreign tourists often sold jars of caviar on the Internet after legally buying them on trips to Russia.
Caviar retails for about 2,000-6,000 euros ($2,400-$7,150) a kilo, depending on type, with taxes making up about half the price. Caviar costing much less was usually smuggled, he said.
Stored properly, caviar can stay fresh for more than 18 months.
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The ’Rendition’ Year
By Nawab Khan, Brussels
Gross human rights abuses and mockery of international law by the self-styled superpower continued to make the top stories of the year. In 2004 American soldiers in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq shocked the world over the exposure of systemic torture.
In 2005, secret prisons and flights operated by US spy agencies in Europe and elsewhere make the ’’renditions’’ scandal the top story of the year.
Terror suspects in Europe were apparently abducted and moved by the CIA through rendition flights between countries to secret interrogation locations where they were tortured.
European governments were certainly aware of the rendition process simply because it would be na•ve to believe that the notorious CIA operated hundreds of flights under their very nose and they were unaware of the whole business.
Story number 2 is the illegal US occupation and turmoil in Iraq. Tens of thousands (some independent reports put the number close to 200,000) defenseless Iraqis were killed either by the insurgents or the occupying western forces. The start of the long-awaited trail of toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s on charges of mass murder and torture also glued the world’s attention on Iraq.
Parliamentary elections in Iraq roused hopes that a new government would soon be in place in Baghdad and Iraqis could take charge of their own destiny and their land.
A number of natural disasters like the earthquake in Pakistan, and hurricane Katrina that again demonstrated the weaknesses of the regime in Washington and racial discrimination in that country made story number 3.
In the Muslim world, Iran, Palestine, Afghanistan, Egypt continued to make world headlines. The election victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran took the world by surprise. The intricate problems in EU-Iran nuclear negotiations regenerated a global debate on the nuclear technology issue.
In Palestine, the withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip opened some breathing space for the Palestinians as for the first time they could travel to Egypt without Israeli control. However, Israeli repression and oppression of the Palestinian people continued unabated.
In Afghanistan, the holding of successful parliamentary elections have raised hopes on the restoration of peace and stability in the war-torn impoverished Muslim nation.
In Egypt, success of the banned Muslim Brotherhood in parliamentary elections reinforced the view that Islamic parties enjoy popular support in the Muslim word, pro-western Arab states in particular.
The death of Pope John Paul II ended a 26-year pontificate, one of the longest in history of the Christian world.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was chosen as the new pope.
The European Union plunged into a deep crisis after France and the Netherlands rejected the European Constitution dealing a severe blow to the complicated and controversial process of European integration.
Terror attacks in London, New Delhi, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere also made top stories in 2005. Many of the issues making banner headlines in 2005 will continue to attract global attention and focus in 2006.
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