|
Prayer Time
|
|
Dawn: 4:43
Sunrise: 6:10
Noon: 11:51
Evening: 17:53
|
|
Weather Guide
|
|
|
MON |
TUE |
Tehran: |
|
|
High: |
27 oC |
28 oC |
Low: |
16 oC |
16 oC |
|
|
|
Athens |
18 |
17 |
Ankara |
5 |
3 |
Paris |
11 |
10 |
New Delhi |
18 |
18 |
Rome |
13 |
13 |
Riyadh |
21 |
21 |
Frankfurt |
1 |
-1 |
Cairo |
19 |
18 |
Kuwait City |
20 |
20 |
Karachi |
22 |
21 |
Copenhagen |
2 |
5 |
London |
10 |
4 |
Moscow |
-3 |
-5 |
Madrid |
7 |
4 |
Vienna |
2 |
0 |
|
|
Identification
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
Spent Nuclear Fuel Agreement Near
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (r) speaking at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi in Tehran, Oct. 10. (ISNA Photo)
TEHRAN, Oct. 10--Iran and Russia announced Sunday that a deal for the return of spent fuel from Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran to Russia was in its final stage.
The announcement was made at a joint news conference held here by Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov who arrived for a two-day visit earlier in the day, IRNA reported.
Lavrov's visit is expected to focus on the two countries' nuclear cooperation in talks with Kharrazi and Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Hassan Rohani.
The Russian foreign minister will also make preparations for President Vladimir Putin's visit to the Islamic Republic, the date of which has yet to be worked out between the two countries.
Russia is helping Iran build the country's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr, but is pressured by the United States to abandon the project.
Lavrov said after negotiations with Kharrazi that he did not discuss the Iranian missile program.
"Our stand is based on the non-proliferation of the delivery means for weapons of mass destruction, and Iran shares this position," Lavrov said.
He noted that Russia made an international initiative of signing a convention on the prevention of nuclear terrorism.
Lavrov also said Russia and Iran hold similar positions in the anti-terrorist fight.
"Russia and Iran are active participants in the anti-terrorist coalition. They are cooperating at the regional level, bearing in mind the proximity of both countries to the Caucasus and Central Asia where terrorist groups are trying to destabilize the situation," he said.
|
|
|
Ramezanzadeh to Gov–t Opponents:
Don't Harm Nat'l Interests
QOM, Oct. 10--Government Spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh on Sunday said opponents of President Mohammad Khatami should not exaggerate the state of affairs since it will harm national interests.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition themed "Exhibition of Executive Organizations of Qom" at Qom's permanent fairgrounds, Ramezanzadeh urged politicians to avoid disputes and to be rational for taking the country toward growth and development, IRNA reported.
"The government and the chief executive are in office for another eight months, but this country will remain forever. A promising future awaits our country, which has overcome many disasters," he said.
The spokesman stressed that for the past eight years, the government has endeavored to convey to the world that Iran is a stable country, but now some people claim Iran is unstable because a contract has been nullified.
"The result is that for the sake of $100 million, we'll lose billions of dollars of potential investments and this is tantamount to increasing unemployment," he said, noting that the process of capital attraction should continue, as the government is short of funds and needs twice as much money.
Referring to the fact that after 9/11 the Arab capitalists of Persian Gulf states withdrew their money from the US banks, Ramezanzadeh said, "We should try to prove that Iran is a stable country and attract this capital. This can be done only by establishing security. Today each and every form of tension in the country could lead to the flight of substantial amounts of capital, which the country is in dire need of."
|
|
|
Saddam Talks of Fear, Deception
ILAM, Oct. 10--Saddam Hussein told CIA interrogators that he spoke on the phone only twice during the past 14 years because he feared for his life, IRNA quoted Radio Free Iraq as reporting on Sunday.
Based on this report, the ousted Iraqi dictator feared that the US might tap his phone conversations via satellite, identify his location and attack him.
Saddam also said that after the second Persian Gulf war in 1991 he totally changed his lifestyle and lived like an invisible man in the past 14 years.
He further stated that during the above-mentioned period he never talked to his veep, Taha Yassin Ramadan, face-to-face and at times disappeared for a few days.
Regarding his palaces, the Iraqi dictator claimed that he built them as a security trap so that with the increase in number, enemies could not locate his whereabouts.
Saddam stressed that he had himself taken important decisions, such as the invasion of Kuwait and did not pay heed to the views of his advisors.
CIA interrogators questioned Saddam to complete his file in relation to Iraq's access to weapons of mass destruction.
Saddam has so far insisted that Iraq did not have access to WMD.
In a 1,000-page report, the US inspectors of Iraqi weapons program last week verified the previous reports released in this regard and reiterated that Iraq had been disarmed in the 1990s.
|
|
|
Observers Approve Afghan Poll
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 10--Observers gave their approval Sunday to Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election, deeming it "fairly democratic" and rejecting opposition calls for a new vote on the grounds of fraud.
Claims of voting irregularities had tainted the jubilation among electors but the polls were hailed around the world for the strong turnout and lack of violence, AFP reported.
"A fairly democratic environment has generally been observed in the overall majority of the polling centers," the local Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan declared.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which contributed to the 230 foreign monitors, said Saturday's demand by 14 opposition candidates to nullify the landmark election was 'unjustified'.
Any dispute about the validity of the election results "should be dealt with as the law provides," said Robert Barry, head of the OSCE support team.
"The millions who came to the polls clearly wanted to turn from the rule of the gun to the rule of law," he said.
Opposition candidates charge that the vote was fraudulent and illegitimate, largely because special ink which was supposed to mark voters' fingers to prevent them voting twice could be washed off.
Some of the protest candidates took a softer stance Sunday, saying they would bow to the findings of an election commission inquiry.
US-backed interim President Hamid Karzai, who is expected to win, called the vote a "defeat of terrorism".
"It was...really tremendously inspiring to see millions of Afghans come out of their homes and villages and mountainous areas and travel for hours in snow and rain and dust storms to line up and vote," he told BBC television from Kabul.
"The Afghan people yesterday won the day, against terrorism, against all those who said that Afghans could not make it."
Afghanistan's first experience in democracy saw a huge turnout and the absence of feared attacks by the former Taliban rulers, who have killed hundreds of people, including 12 electoral workers, this year.
The hardline regime was ousted three years ago by US-led forces for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 terror attacks.
Despite bitter pledges by Taliban loyalists' to disrupt the election, turnout among the 10.5 million registered voters was 'massive', the United Nations said.
On the ground Sunday ballot boxes were being ferried to counting centers in eight towns. Preliminary results may be available in a couple of days, UN officials said.
|
|
|
Khatami Invited To Saudi Anti-Terror Confab
TEHRAN, Oct. 10--President Mohammad Khatami has been invited by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to take part in an anti-terrorism conference to be held in Saudi Arabia, it was announced Sunday.
In a meeting with President Khatami, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Iran delivered the invitation of the Saudi crown prince, said the Presidential Office's Media Affairs Bureau, IRNA reported.
Pointing to regional tension and increasing terrorist activities in Saudi Arabia, Khatami expressed hope that the Saudi government would solve the current problems in its kingdom.
He welcomed the Saudi initiative to hold the anti-terrorism conference, saying that Iran is a major victim of terrorism and the two countries should seek ways of confronting this phenomenon.
Khatami underlined the need to find strategies by Muslim countries to confront terrorism.
For his part, Saudi Arabian envoy Nasser Ahmad Al-Morshed Al-Brick underlined the importance of expanding bilateral relations in all fields.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saying It With Football
By Ali Taheri
Football once again became the center of attention for Iranians. We learned a great deal during the 1996 Asian Cup when we came in third. A group of our sportsmen made use of the opportunities that came their way and navigated Iran almost to championship.
That marked a new era in the country's football. The 1996 Asian championship ended on the threshold of new social developments in Iran. After the 1997 presidential elections, the national football team's bid in the 1998 World Cup was a momentous development. Many then said the political landscape had witnessed a "turning point" when the nation erupted in joy and street celebrations to mark the rare victory.
During the ensuing years, the Germans indirectly helped Iran in its drive to improve its football rightly known as the 'national sport.' After several of our players displayed their skills in the 1998 World Cup, German clubs hired some of them.
For a period the attention of our youth and press and the German media was focused on football and related developments.
This would hardly be possible without the regular follow-up of our foreign policy apparatus. The point was that the infamous Mykonos affair was still lingering and friendship on the football field could help remove the sting out of the dented ties.
It turned out that Iranians proved their worth in German football. By the same token, the friendly between the two national teams on Saturday is further seen as a product of cordial two-way relations.
Interestingly enough, Germany had made its way to the next round in the 1998 World Cup after defeating Iran, which had earlier humbled the US squad and was looking for success beyond the Asian threshold.
On Saturday we played a team whose country will host the 2006 World Cup. We wish the Germans well in all their endeavors.
To develop sports and physical education, Iran needs more experiences of the sort to help assess our potential and ability. Despite what some of our politicians may think or say, football does not necessarily mean 22 players running after a ball. Football in many countries is a sort of social phenomenon that can impact other factors.
Issues such as the game's political economy, quality of sports journals, modeling football stars, spectator violence, unreported and behind-the scenes relations and decisive political and economic deals have long been sources of concern for academia and research institutions.
Incidents related to football and what actually happens on the field could serve as a research criteria for developing and advanced countries alike.
It can be claimed that FIFA, the international football body, has been more successful than the United Nations!
Relations of the football type are crucial for our young society, which often finds sentiments overcome what reason demands. We can do better with football diplomacy from today until 2006 when the strategic region is expected to witness major developments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
