Ahmadinejad predicts failure of Mideast talks, Israel - Summary

Fri, 03 Sep 2010

Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that this week's Mideast peace talks as well as Israel itself were "doomed to collapse" as millions of Iranians were expected to turn out for state-organized anti-Israel rallies.

Iran marks the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan as Quds (Jerusalem) Day, during which the nationwide rallies are held. This year's rallies coincided with the first direct Middle East peace talks in almost two years, which were held in Washington.

The highlight of Quds Day was Friday prayers at Tehran University, where Ahmadinejad held the first sermon.

The president told the worshippers that the future of the Palestinian territories would be determined by the Palestinians themselves "and not in Washington, London or Paris."

"These talks are doomed to fail as the agenda of the talks is irrelevant and not focusing on the main issue, which is the withdrawal of Zionists from Palestinian lands," Ahmadinejad said.

"But more important is that the Zionist regime itself is doomed to collapse anyway," said the president, who in the past has provoked international condemnation for calling for Israel to be eradicated from the Middle East map and questioning the Holocaust.

Iran does not recognize Israel's sovereignty and said the only pragmatic option to resolve the Middle East conflict would be a referendum for all Palestinians, including the millions of refugees, to determine their fate.

According to Iranian state media, millions of people were expected to attend Friday's rallies.
During the demonstrations, the pro-government Basij militia group was to distribute two videogames to reach out to the younger generation and expose "Zionists' crimes and atrocities in Palestine," state television reported.

One of the games was based on the May 31 Israeli commando raid on an aid flotilla trying to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip. It killed nine activists.

The Quds Day rallies were held after US President Barack Obama hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday for peace talks.

Abbas and Netanyahu pledged to reach a peace agreement in a year's time, hold a second round of talks September 14-15 in the Middle East and meet every two weeks thereafter.

Iranian leaders, however, downplayed the importance of the negotiations.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Friday described the Washington meeting as "futile compromise talks" and told the ISNA news agency that "the Palestinians were smarter than being deceived by this kind of theatre."

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told state television Friday that "the dilemma could not be settled by theatrics staged in Washington as the Palestinian issue was not a toy but a very serious matter which solely had one solution: giving Palestinians back their rights."

At prayers, Ahmadinejad called on the West to drop its support of Israel to gain more trust in the Middle East.

"If you do not stop supporting the Zionists, then you would be regarded as accomplices of the Zionist crimes and forced to face the consequences accordingly," Ahmadinejad warned at the university, which was the object of a heavy security deployment Friday.

In a change from last year's rallies, no opposition protests were observed by journalists or reported on opposition websites.

The opposition accused the government of fraud in last year's presidential vote, which led to Ahmadinejad's re-election. It organized a series of demonstrations, and the government responded with deadly crackdowns. There have been no street protests since December.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/342498,talks-israel-summary.html.

Nuclear talks with EU futile, Iran's chief of staff says

Wed, 04 Aug 2010

Berlin - Iran's chief of staff said Wednesday that nuclear talks with the European Union would be a waste of time, ISNA news agency reported.

"We have realized that holding nuclear talks with the EU is futile as the Europeans have nothing to say (in world politics)," Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, widely regarded as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's closest advisor, said.

Tehran insists that the main players in the nuclear dispute are the United States, Russia and China - and that the EU's presence in the negotiations has no major impact.

Ahmadinejad's also insists on direct contact with US President Barack Obama, and on Monday repeated a challenge to debate at the UN general assembly in New York in September, analysts said.

"The Americans should know that for solving the dilemmas in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, first they have to settle the nuclear dispute with Iran," Mashaei said.

Ahmadinejad's chief aide also said the US should start talking with Iran, and know that sanctions will not stop Tehran from pursuing its nuclear projects.

The UN has ordered economic sanctions against Iran for its uranium enrichment drive, and suspicions that it is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to resume nuclear talks with world powers in September, and also hold technical talks with the US, Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for a uranium swap.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/337902,irans-chief-staff-says.html.

Iran stages anti-Israel rallies amid peace talks in Washington

Fri, 03 Sep 2010

Tehran - Iran on Friday staged anti-Israeli rallies nationwide while direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were under way in Washington.

The late supreme leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, grand ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, declared the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan as Quds (Jerusalem) Day and called for mass rallies against Israel and in support of the Palestinians.

The rallies this year coincided with the first direct Middle East peace talks in almost two years, in Washington, where US President Barack Obama was hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Iranian state media, millions of people were expected to attend the state-run rallies throughout the country and voice their support for Palestinians and the "liberation of their lands from the Zionist regime's (Israel's) occupation."

"Today millions of people will shout out their will for liberation of the holy Quds from the devil's claw of Zionists," the Fars news agency reported.

Iran does not recognize Israel's sovereignty and said the only pragmatic option to resolve the Middle East conflict would be a referendum for all Palestinians, including the millions of refugees, to determine their fate.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday predicted that the talks in Washington would once again fail because the main demand of the Palestinian people, which is an end to the Israeli occupation, was once again not being considered.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Friday described the Washington meeting as "futile compromise talks" and told ISNA news agency that "the Palestinians were smarter than being deceived by this kind of theatre."

Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told state television Friday that "the dilemma could not be settled by theatrics staged in Washington as the Palestinian issue was not a toy but a very serious matter which solely had one solution: giving Palestinians back their rights."

During the rallies, the pro-government Basij militia group was to distribute two video games as an effort to reach the younger generation and expose "Zionists' crimes and atrocities in Palestine," state TV reported.

The highlight of the Quds Day was scheduled to be the Friday prayers at Tehran University where Ahmadinejad planned to hold the first sermon and the hardline Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami the main sermon.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/342467,rallies-peace-talks-washington.html.

Iran says Middle East peace talks futile

Tue, 24 Aug 2010

Tehran - Iran on Tuesday said that the forthcoming Middle East peace talks between Israel and Palestine would be futile.

"As long as the main root of the problem is not solved, no peace talks will have any tangible results and be futile," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a press briefing in Tehran.

The upcoming negotiations are to be the first direct peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians in nearly two years.

The last round of direct negotiations was suspended in late 2008, as Israel entered the election campaign which ultimately brought Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to power.
"There can be no real settlement as long as Palestinians are forced out of their country and live as refugees while invaders from other countries live in their homeland," the Iranian spokesman said.

Iran does not recognise Israel's sovereignty and says the only pragmatic option would be a referendum for all Palestinians, including the millions of refugees, to determine their future fate.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/340726,east-peace-talks-futile.html.

Anahita temple imperiled by construction work

The latest observations by reporters have revealed that the ancient temple of Anahita is threatened by construction materials stored around the historic site.

The Mehr News Agency reported that iron beams and spars were stored around the Anahita Temple in Kangavar in the province of Kermanshah.

The news agency released pictures showing some concrete footings at the site that have not yet dried out.

The construction facilities stored around the invaluable temple and the concrete footings have outraged archeological experts into voicing their concerns over the issue.

The construction work at the site has begun despite the fact that the heritage regulations forbid any constructions around cultural heritage sites.

The Anahita Temple is the second oldest stone structure in Iran after Persepolis. It is believed to hold a vast amount of historically significant artifacts and evidence of life and civilization dating back to 200 BC.

The building is believed to have been a temple dedicated to Anahita, the goddess of water, fertility, war and the patroness of women.

The remains at Kangavar reveal an edifice that is Hellenistic in character and yet displays distinctly Persian architectural traits.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116547§ionid=351020105.

Iran says arrests 4 suspects in prosecutor's killing

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has arrested four suspects in the killing of a prosecutor in an attack which a judiciary official said may have been carried out by Kurdish guerrillas, Iranian media reported on Tuesday.

Vali Haji Gholizadeh, prosecutor in the northwestern city of Khoy in a region bordering Turkey, was shot dead in front of his home on Monday night.

"So far, no group has claimed responsibility for this terrorist act," provincial judiciary chief Mohammad Ali Mousavi was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

"But in view of the threats and plans the PJAK group had announced previously, it is probable that this group is involved in the assassination," he said.

Iranian security forces often clash with guerrillas from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which took up arms in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey.

Like Iraq and Turkey, Iran has a large Kurdish minority, mainly living in the Islamic Republic's northwest and west.

Iran sees PJAK, which seeks autonomy for Kurdish areas in Iran and shelters in Iraq's northeastern border provinces, as a terrorist group. The United States, Iran's arch foe, in February last year also branded PJAK as a terrorist organization.

Khoy's governor, Ebrahim Mohammadlou, said four suspects had been arrested in connection with Monday's assassination.

He said the city's prosecutor appeared to have been killed by "hostile anti-revolution groups," the semi-official Mehr News Agency added.

The assassination took place six days after a remote-controlled bomb killed a university scientist in Tehran. Such incidents are relatively rare in Iran, which borders volatile Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

Iranian officials have blamed the United States and Israel for the bombing attack that killed the Tehran University Professor, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi. The United States dismissed the allegation of U.S. involvement as absurd.

An Iranian opposition website said he was a supporter of opposition leaser Mirhossein Mousavi.

Iranian lawmakers to increase in number

Iran's Interior Ministry said Monday that it is studying legislation to increase the number of lawmakers in Parliament by twenty.

Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said the bill would have to be approved by the Ahmadinejad cabinet before being sent to Parliament to be put to vote.

Najjar said legislation is being drafted based on studies of geographical and political divisions within the country, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

There are currently 290 lawmakers in the legislative body. According to Article 64 of the Constitution, 20 people are added to the members of Parliament every 10 years.

Brigadier General Najjar said the bill is expected to be completed by the end of the Iranian year in March.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116456§ionid=351020101.

Iranian prosecutor assassinated in West Azarbaijan

An Iranian prosecutor has been assassinated by two unidentified gunmen in the city of Khoy in the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan.

Khoy Governor Ebrahim Mohammadlu told IRIB that Vali Haji-Qolizadeh, the prosecutor of the city, was shot twice in front of his home late on Monday.

The assassination came six days after Professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at Tehran University, was killed by a bomb hidden in a booby-trapped motorbike in Tehran.

Mohammadlu said Haji-Qolizadeh attained martyrdom on Monday night "after he was transferred to a hospital."

Haji-Qolizadeh had a "brilliant record in battling land-grabbing, moral corruption, and counter-revolutionaries," Ebrahim Mazraeli, an official at the Khoy governor's office, told the Fars news agency.

According to initial reports, the prosecutor had received death threats over the past few days.

Iranian officials say an investigation is under way to identify and arrest the culprits.

The city of Khoy is located near the border with Turkey.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116479§ionid=351020101.

Iran to take legal action against ISSF for PG games

Iran says it will take legal action against the Riyadh-based Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF), one day after the athletic games planned in Tehran for April were canceled.

On Sunday, ISSF called off the athletic games scheduled for Tehran because of Iran's use of the term "Persian Gulf" on medals and pamphlets.

According to the federation, Iran "did not abide by the rules of ISSF " and "did not follow the decisions taken by the general assembly of the federation at a previous meeting in Riyadh."

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast criticized the move on Monday, saying that the Tehran government keeps the right to take legal proceedings against the federation for annulling the games at a time when Iran had already made the necessary preparations.

"We will pursue the issue given the costs and expenses inflicted upon us and their illegal demand”, he noted, adding that the Foreign Ministry and the National Olympic Committee will take legal proceedings against the move.

Mehman-Parast added that since the games were mainly aimed at strengthening the bonds between Muslim states, the use of lame excuses to postpone the games will prove to be a wrong and baseless approach.

The Iranian official stressed that the historical body of water in southeastern Iran has always been referred to as "the Persian Gulf" and any attempt to corrode this term is against UN regulations.

He added that Iran will do everything in its power to preserve the internationally-recognized term of the "Persian Gulf" for the 990 km long body of water that starts from Arvand Rud and ends at the Strait of Hormuz.

"We will never allow Arab states to discourage the use of the term 'Persian Gulf'," noted the Iranian Foreign Ministry official. "The region has always been, and will always be, the Persian Gulf."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116442§ionid=351020101.

Iran proposes two awards to UNESCO

The Iranian National Commission for UNESCO proposes founding two awards, the Ferdowsi and the Sheikh Bahaei to the international organization.

Mohammad Reza Saeidabadi, Secretary General of Iranian National Commission for UNESCO told ISNA that Iran aims to found the awards in the areas of cultural heritage and job creativity to promote the country's role in UNESCO programs.

“The Ferdowsi award, which is under the review process, is to be dedicated to the cultural heritage field,” Saeidabadi said. “The award may be finalized within a few months.”

Ferdowsi is renowned for his magnum opus, the Shahnameh, or the Book of Kings. He devoted over 35 years of his life to the creation of this treasure, which has a unique position in Persian literature.

The Iranian poet is honored for his efforts to regenerate Persian and Iran's cultural traditions after the Arab conquest of the seventh century.

“The Sheikh Bahaei award recognizes activists who have made important contributions to job creativity and who have been a source of support, motivation and inspiration for people around the world,” he added.

Sheikh Bahaei lived almost 400 years ago, and was a philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. He has a recognized legacy of 88 articles, letters and books along with poetry in Persian and Arabic.

As the architect of Isfahan's Imam Mosque, he demonstrated his knowledge of architecture and geometry.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116440§ionid=351020105.

Iran calls for expansion of security ties in Caucasus

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili has stressed the importance of adopting strategies to establish sustainable security in the Caucasus.

"Iran has a strategic approach for resolving regional woes and crises in the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Persian Gulf region," the Iranian Students News Agency quoted Jalili as saying in a meeting with Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze in Tehran.

He said sustainable security would pave the way for promoting amicable relations between nations, emphasizing that "Interests of the regional countries necessitates the bolstering of security cooperation."

The Georgian minister praised Iran's "balanced and principled" stance on regional developments.

Vashadze also expressed his country's readiness to expand consultations with Iran on regional issues.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116529§ionid=351020101.

Ahmadinejad warns against NATO's eastward expansion

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says NATO's eastward expansion does not serve the interests of the countries in the region.

"They (NATO) are ready to expend the prestige and [undermine] the national interests of all regional countries" to serve their own interests, Ahmadinejad said during a meeting with Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze in Tehran on Monday.

Countries in the region should strengthen their relations in order to prevent outside interference, he added.

The Georgia foreign minister said Tbilisi is keen to expand relations with Tehran.

He pledged that Georgia would "not act against Iran" at international organizations.

Earlier, Vashadze met with his Iranian counterpart Manoucher Mottaki.

Vashadze said Georgia welcomes Iran's participation in all regional projects.

He also expressed support for Iran's nuclear energy program.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116498§ionid=351020101.

Georgia apologizes for extradition of Iranian national

Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze has apologized to Iran for the extradition of an Iranian national to the United States in 2008.

Vashadze made the apology during a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran on Monday.

He said the extradition of Amir-Hossein Ardebili took place at a time when Georgia was in a complex political situation.

The US accuses Ardebili of involvement in arms procurement for Tehran.

"We apologize for the act carried out by the then government of Georgia in regard to Mr. Ardebili," IRNA quoted Vashadze as saying.

During the meeting, Larijani expressed disapproval of the presence of foreign powers in the region.

"The problems and crises of the region should be revolved through regional countries, and the presence of foreign powers only complicates the situation," Larijani said.

He went on to say that the insecurity in Afghanistan and Iraq affects all other countries in the region.

Earlier in the day, Vashadze held talks with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili.

Dring the meeting, Jalili called for a regional solution to help establish stability and security in the region.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116497§ionid=351020101.

Iran humanitarian aid arrives in Haiti

Iran's Red Crescent Society says about 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid including food, tents and medicine in the company of a group of rescuers arrived in Haiti.

The head of Iran's Red Crescent Society's Public Relations department said supplies from Iran landed in Haiti on Monday evening.

“Tents, sugar, tuna fish and mosquito nets, and detergents are among Iran's aid supplies to the disaster-hit nation,” explained Hadi Behdad.

“Iran has also dispatched a group of 30 doctors and rescuers to the tremor-stricken country of Haiti,” Behdad said.

Iran's relief supplies had been sent to Haiti via a cargo plane Saturday morning. The plane had a stop in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

A devastating earthquake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, struck Haiti on 12 January 2010, killing thousands and affecting many thousands more.

Haitian Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime says the death toll from the devastating earthquake could reach 200,000.The earthquake is the largest to have hit Haiti in over two hundred years.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116527§ionid=351020101.

Germany builds turbo compressors in Iran

An Iranian gas official says the country has inked a one billion euro gas contract with Germany for the manufacture, installation and launch of 100 gas turbo compressors in Iran.

"The German company is to terminate installation of the gas turbo compressors until the end of Iran's fifth development plan," said Alireza Gharibi, the Managing Director of Iran's Gas Engineering and Development Company.

He added that according the contract, the technical knowledge for manufacturing the turbo compressors would be transferred to Iranian experts.

"We expect to domesticate the building of the turbo compressors by the end of the contract," he added.

Gharibi said that the same German company has already built and installed 45 other turbo compressors for the National Iranian Gas Company, under another contract.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116525§ionid=351020102.

Iran raps UN inaction over kidnapped diplomats

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, has criticized the international organizations, including the United Nations, for their inaction to determine the fate of four kidnapped Iranian diplomats in Lebanon.

"Unfortunately, due to the reluctance of the international organizations and related sides, particularly the Zionist regime, our all efforts and actions regarding the issue remain unclear," Mottaki was quoted as saying.

During the invasion of Lebanon on July 4, 1982, four Iranian diplomats were kidnapped by militiamen and Israeli forces at an inspection point in northern Lebanon.

Israel claims that Ahmad Motevaselian, Seyed Mohsen Mousavi, Taghi Rastegar Moghadam and Kazem Akhavan were abducted by the Lebanese Forces group, now headed by Samir Geagea, and were killed shortly after their abduction.

Mottaki said, however, that Israel should be held accountable for the safety and lives of the four kidnapped diplomats and called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take measures based on their legal duties.

The Leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah had earlier said that the kidnapped diplomats were still alive and languishing in Israeli prisons.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116521§ionid=351020101.

Larijani: US powered Israel's war on Gaza

Iran's parliament speaker says the US and its European allies provided Israel with behind-the-scenes support during its 22-day war on Gaza.

"Israel carried out a very barbaric attack against the Gazans. It took none of the international norms and regulations into account," said Ali Larijani, while addressing the international "Gaza, Symbol of Resistance" seminar in Tehran on Tuesday

"The regime used prohibited chemical weapons, and destroyed hospitals, mosques, and civilian infrastructure. It is sad that despite all Israel's human rights violations, the US and other Western powers stood by Tel Aviv throughout the whole ordeal."

Larijani attacked the Western alliance for giving Israel all the military support it needed to launch its deadly operation on the impoverished coastal Palestinian strip.

The Iranian parliament speaker said that the US blocked efforts to pass a binding resolution at the United Nations Security Council against Israel so as to stop the offensive.

"There was no talk of human rights during those 22 days. Even though the political system had changed in the US and a new president had been elected with the motto of change.”

"But it seems that they did not think it necessary to spend any time on this issue. Up to 5,000 Palestinians were killed and injured as the event unfolded, but he (Barack Obama) chose to think about picking a dog for his daughter."

Larijani said all those who kept quiet when Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza should be ashamed.

He also noted that despite suffering heavy damages, Palestinians came out as the true winner of Israel's war on Gaza.

The Iranian official also said that the conduct of the Israeli regime and the West's lack of regard for the basic rights of Palestinians has left them with no choice but to resist.

"During the past year, many conferences have been held for the reconstruction of Gaza, but have [not] actually taken any steps to that effect. Gaza is still under siege. This shows that at these conferences they do not want to help the people of Palestine.”

"It is clear from their actions that the US and Israel are trying to mock the Palestinians. This means that we have no option but to resist."

He then urged all regional states not to hesitate when it comes to taking a stance against Israel, pointing out that the people of the Middle East were convinced that the so-called US efforts to bring peace to the region were nothing but a "sham."

Larijani said the leaders of regional states view the Road Map as a "joke," because they know that it is doomed to failure.

Many independent analysts believe that the key to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies in Tel Aviv's out-right refusal to accept the Palestinian's "Right of Return," an internationally recognized right which applies to all refugees worldwide.

Since its creation in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes to live in other areas of their homeland, such as the West bank or the Gaza Strip, in other regional countries or elsewhere in the world.

Palestinian refugees, some of whom are even denied the basic rights of a citizen where they live, currently number close to five million.

Tel Aviv says allowing these people, who are mostly Arab Muslims, to return to their ethnic homeland will ruin 'Israel's Jewish Character.'

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116514§ionid=351020101.

Iran 'mulling to downgrade' ties with Britain

Amid tension in ties between Iran and Britain, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Tehran is considering to sever relations with Britain in 12 working fields.

"Iran has carried out a thorough study on its relations with Britain in different fields particularly over the past six months," Mottaki said in an address to the 19th International Conference on the Persian Gulf in Tehran on Monday.

"There are 10-12 working fields between Iran and the UK. We are currently reviewing each area," he added.

He asserted that the Islamic Republic would make a final decision about the issue.

Dozens of Iranian lawmakers have expressed their support for a bill which calls for severing diplomatic ties with Britain.

Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, one of the authors of the bill, blamed British policies for the Tuesday bombing in northern Tehran, which claimed the life of an Iranian nuclear scientist.

Abtahi also criticized Britain for recognizing the Monarchy Organization of Iran (Anjoman-e Padeshahi-e Iran) as a legal entity, and said that London would go even further to insult the Islamic Republic, should Tehran fail to take a strong stance.

He then called for the closure of the British Embassy in Tehran arguing that should the mission remain open, "the Iranian people would not have a moment of peace."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116435§ionid=351020101.

Tehran air pollution exceeds acceptable level

Tehran's Air Quality Control Company (AQCC) has warned that the daily air pollution level in the capital is higher than an acceptable level.

“The level of air pollution in the Iranian capital Tehran has crossed its acceptable level,” IRIB quoted the AQCC Director Yousef Rashidi as saying on Monday.

“The environmental standard of harmful substances in exhaust must meet Euro-3 and Euro-4 specifications. However, Tehran norms hardly meet the Euro-2 standard,” he said.

“Officials in Tehran were supposed to upgrade 20 percent of the gas stations to the level of Euro-4. Recent air quality control sampling showed the stations are far above the expected level,” Rashidi noted.

The Euro 4 standard specifies a maximum of 50 parts per million of sulfur for diesel fuel, according to the United Nations Environment Program Web site.

“We can not measure the level of some polluting elements in Tehran because of limited facilities and expensive processes,” said Rashidi.

“Tehran has been experiencing higher level of sulfur dioxide than India and Bangladesh,” Rashidi commented.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116430§ionid=3510212.

Washington Moves to Control Iran's Revolution

by Shamus Cooke
Global Research, January 14, 2010

It seems that President Obama has finally woken up. He now realizes that the U.S. friendly “color revolution” in Iran that he hoped for — and planned for — has gotten out of control. To the Democrat’s terrible regret, a real revolution is under way.

An extremely revealing article in the Wall Street Journal entitled "US Shifts Focus to Support Iran’s Opposition," explains the U.S. government’s unpleasant wake-up call. The article is essentially a debate among state officials and other “experts” as to the Iranian movement’s strength, and whether or not it can be channeled to meet the needs of the U.S. government and the U.S. corporate interests it represents. The article states:

“...a number of Iran scholars in the U.S. said they have been contacted by senior administration officials eager to understand if the Iranian unrest suggested a greater threat to Tehran's government than originally understood.”

And:

“American diplomats, meanwhile, have begun drawing comparisons in public between Iran's current political turmoil and the events that led up to the 1979 overthrow of Shah Reza Pahlavi.”

The article also stated that “There's realization now that this unrest really matters." (January 10, 2010).

To the Democrats, this presents an urgent foreign policy re-shuffling: the U.S.-friendly leaders of Iran’s opposition movement — represented by their leader Moussavi — need to be strengthened, since their political approach is significantly more conservative than the still-radicalizing demands of Iran’s revolution, which already amounts to no less than a deep structural change in Iran's political and economic life. The "official" Iranian opposition wants no such change; as such, they have stopped organizing demonstrations and have become mere spectators, watching events unfold that have already passed them by.

This was already the case in June, when The New York Times reported:

“People in the street have been radicalized, and I do not believe that most of them would today subscribe to Moussavi’s avowed platform.” (June 24, 2009).

Also from The New York Times:

“...Mr. Moussavi... meant only to be an instrument for making Iran a tiny bit better, nothing more... Now, like us, Mr. Moussavi finds himself caught up in events that were unimaginable, each day’s march and protest more unthinkable than the one that came before.” (June 19, 2009).

It’s now been seven months since this commentary, and the revolution has only become more resolute and militant. The initial shouts against voter fraud have evolved into demanding "death to the dictator", combined with threats against other sections of Iran's political superstructure. The “respectable" opposition seems like a dinosaur in this context.

But Obama is determined to re-energize the already-extinct “official” opposition. He hopes that by financially targeting the current political rulers — through sanctions and bank account freezes — that the U.S. friendly Iranian opposition will be strengthened, while toppling the existing regime.

This is a risky maneuver. The outcome could in fact strengthen the current regime, and help unite people against the economic attacks of a foreign enemy. But any open collaboration between Iran’s opposition and the U.S. is also risky, since Iranians have a good memory of repressive U.S. interference in their country — when the C.I.A. organized the overthrow of the democratically elected Iranian government in 1953 — not to mention more recent examples of U.S. imperialist foreign policy in neighboring Iran and Afghanistan.

The Wall Street Journal article is the first report of Iran’s opposition openly proposing plans to help de-stabilize the current regime and signifies Washington’s willingness to follow through.

It must be noted that Moussavi and other leaders of the U.S. friendly-section of Iran’s opposition do not represent progress for Iran. These people are arch-conservatives who constitute a resolute section of Iran’s repressive establishment. If they were to come to power, they would likely welcome U.S. business interests, while maintaining the repressive state apparatus used by the current regime, which is exactly why the U.S. wants them in power.

But the U.S. is walking a dangerous tightrope, since the energy of the revolution is more than capable of ruining all the U.S. plotting. Moussavi and his ilk are already in the process of being pushed aside. Real revolutions — unlike a U.S. “color revolution” — are not easily manipulated events; masses of suddenly-conscious people have high expectations that cannot be met by the corporate-controlled U.S. government.

If Obama were sincere about helping the people of Iran, he would leave the country in peace, instead of making threats and beating the war drum, a drum he’s pounding in the exact same rhythm that Bush played in the march to war with Iraq.

Hands off Iran!

Source: Global Research.
Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16940.