|
Prayer Time (Tehran)
|
|
Dawn: 05:45
Sunrise: 07:15
Noon: 12:09
Evening: 17:23
|
|
Weather Guide
|
|
|
TUE |
WED |
Tehran: |
|
|
High: |
6 oC |
8 oC |
Low: |
1 oC |
0 oC |
|
|
|
Athens |
16 |
14 |
Ankara |
6 |
6 |
Paris |
6 |
4 |
New Delhi |
21 |
20 |
Rome |
10 |
10 |
Riyadh |
21 |
21 |
Frankfurt |
1 |
1 |
Cairo |
22 |
23 |
Kuwait City |
20 |
21 |
Karachi |
22 |
22 |
Copenhagen |
1 |
0 |
London |
9 |
8 |
Moscow |
-3 |
-11 |
Madrid |
11 |
12 |
Vienna |
2 |
2 |
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
New Gas Reserve In Sarkhoun
TEHRAN, Jan. 2--A new gas reserve was discovered at the Sarkhoun gasfield in Sarouk, near Bandar Abbas, and will be developed by Central Iran Oil Company, econews.ir reported on Sunday.
Preliminary studies show that the volume of gas reserve amounts to four trillion cubic feet and the field is capable of producing 1.5 million cubic meters of gas daily, which is quite significant compared to the gas reserves in southern Iran.
Based on this report, the company currently accounts for 62 percent of the national gas production. Since this company mainly exploits gas resources, the share of crude oil production in this field is equivalent to 58,000 barrels per day, which constitute about 2 percent of the national oil production.
The company has undertaken exploitation of all onshore oil and gas resources, except the fields operated by South Oil-Rich Oil Company.
Senior managers of Central Iran Oil Company have not officially corroborated this discovery, but the experts and engineers of National Iranian Oil Company have verified it.
|
|
|
Complementary Nuclear Proposals Welcome
|
|
Ali Larijani
|
TEHRAN, Jan. 2--Iran on Sunday said it is ready to accept proposals for complementary nuclear projects from other countries.
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani made the disclosure during an exclusive interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), IRNA reported.
“Iran welcomes all projects and proposals on nuclear cooperation from other states and is ready to conduct joint studies,“ Larijani said in his comments on Russia’s proposal to enrich uranium for Iran.
“There is no obstacle to countries supplying nuclear fuel to other countries. But Iranians will rely on their national resources and potential to materialize their goals in the nuclear field. As stipulated in the constitution, the SNSC is the most competent body for forging strategies on defense and adopting a national security doctrine.“
He pointed out that the SNSC is constitutionally mandated “to effect coordination among various sectors of the government to forge domestic and foreign strategies for defending the national interests“.
Larijani also broached the idea of codifying the country’s guiding principles regarding national security, which he said would take a long time but is necessary to pinpoint “opportunities and threats“.
“Iran is a regional powerhouse because of its influence and geographical location,“ he said while elaborating on the uses of nuclear technology.
“Access to advanced technology will further enhance Iran’s position in the region and the world. This possibility is causing concern among other countries.“
Reiterating Iran’s right to pursue nuclear energy, Larijani said it would be unwise to obtain nuclear fuel from other countries, because it would “destroy the country’s independence and future“.
|
|
|
Iran Insists on Domestic Uranium Enrichment
2006-7 Budget Bill Next Week
TEHRAN, Jan. 2--Government spokesman on Monday reiterated that the government’s stance is that uranium enrichment operations should be carried out inside the country.
Addressing his weekly press conference, Gholamhossein Elham added that Russia’s proposal will be examined within the above-mentioned framework, IRNA reported.
“The issue of foreign investments in nuclear technology, which has been put forth as an initiative by the president, also necessitates that uranium enrichment operations should be carried out inside the country in compliance with international norms and standards,“ he said.
Asked why the names of economically corrupt people has not been announced, he said, “Judicial officials are duty-bound to announce this list and this has nothing to do with executive officials.“
Elham announced that the 2006-7 budget bill will be presented to the government next week.
“With regard to the budget amendment, we tried as far as possible to consider unavoidable expenses and eliminate unnecessary expenditures,“ he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Elham said the Martyrs Foundation’s view regarding the designation of the recent C-130 plane crash victims as martyrs or not will be accepted by the government. He then called on the foundation to speedily declare its viewpoint in this respect.
Commenting on the 15-year prison sentence handed down to a Dutch merchant for selling chemicals for biological weapons to Iraq during the rule of Saddam Hussein, he said, “Iran is awaiting other measures. Other people who had a role in the sale of chemical warfare and weapons of mass destruction should be also be punished. The judicial system of all countries should consider the sentence given to the Dutch merchant as beneficial for the entire human race. Iran is pleased with this issue.“
|
|
|
Gasline Would Demonstrate Friendship
|
|
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (l) receives the credentials of new Indian Ambassador in Tehran Manbir Singh, Jan. 2. (ILNA Photo)
|
TEHRAN, Jan. 2--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday cooperation between Iran and India is not against the development of other nations, noting that the gasline project from Iran to India via Pakistan would demonstrate the friendship among regional countries.
He made the remark during a meeting with the new Indian Ambassador in Tehran Manbir Singh, IRNA reported.
“Expansion and consolidation of ties with India are among the main principles of Iran’s foreign policy and there is no dispute between the two countries over mutual interests,“ the president said.
Highlighting the two sides’ historical ties, he called for expansion of bilateral economic, industrial and academic cooperation.
Ahmadinejad noted that laying the pipeline for transferring Iran’s gas to India via Pakistan would demonstrate the depth of friendship among regional countries.
“We should exercise vigilance in not letting some short-term interests affect the two nations’ long-term interests,“ he said.
The new Indian ambassador submitted his credentials to President Ahmadinejad and conveyed the warm greetings of the Indian president to him. He also voiced the willingness of India’s developments officials as well as the country’s private sector to further broaden ties with Iran.
Referring to deep-rooted ties between the two nations, Singh said he would do his best to further expand ties between the two countries during his tenure.
“India is determined to implement the gas pipeline project from Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran is considered one of our most important trade partners and New Delhi welcomes expansion of cooperation in steel, auto-making and pharmaceutical fields,“ he said.
|
|
|
United Kurdish Front Established
|
|
Bahaeddin Adab
|
TEHRAN, Jan. 2--Former Sanadaj MP Bahaeddin Adab announced on Monday the formation of the United Kurdish Front and said it intends to fulfill the rights of Kurds within the framework of the constitution and will never seeks autonomy.
Addressing a press conference, Adab said, “Our response to the rulership is such that if they do not authorize our activities, we shall announce to the public that our intention was to serve the people. And since the means for this did not exist, we are abandoning politics.“
The former MP referred to Kurdestan’s developments in recent years and noted that in the absence of civil institutions, violence prevails. He stressed that a number of political and cultural activists want the front to prevent the recurrence of past incidents.
Adab emphasized that the establishment of the front will prevent the imposition of high costs on the rulers and the ruled.
“The main problem of the Kurds is that they cannot get a fair share of the pie and this problem should be resolved through political ways,“ he said.
He declared that the front currently has 3,000 members nationwide and the members are mostly intellectuals, religious scholars and political, cultural, social and economic activists.
Adab underlined that the founding philosophy of the front is to familiarize the Kurdish population of their rights and to help fulfill them in a reconciliatory manner.
|
|
|
Minorities Reject Support of Int’l Bodies
ORUMIEH, West Azarbaijan, Jan. 2--Orumieh MP Abed Fattahi said on Monday Iranian religious minorities do not need any guardians.
“Iranian religious minorities can themselves uphold their rights and do not need international organizations to release statements for them,“ he told IRNA.
He emphasized that people live in freedom in Iran, irrespective of their religious faith.
“The yardstick in Iran is Qur’anic tenets, which do not differentiate people on the basis of race, culture and language, and pays heed to humanitarian values above everything else,“ he said. “As a Kurdish and Sunni MP, I have never witnessed in any Majlis session or any other event that the yardstick is the people’s faith.“
Fattahi, who is also a member of Majlis Health Commission, denounced the UN declaration criticizing Iran over human rights violations.
|
|
|
’Asia’ Banned Again
TEHRAN, Jan. 2--Managing director of the Persian daily ’Asia’ said on Monday the paper has been banned from publication by the Press Supervisory Board.
Iraj Jamshidi also told ISNA that the Culture Ministry has called for the temporary ban and sent its dossier to the court.
He did not elaborate on the charges brought against the daily.
|
|
|
Europe Shivering Over Ukraine Row
LONDON, Jan. 2--Europe felt the squeeze on its gas supplies Monday amid the Russia-Ukraine price row, as even EU heavyweights Berlin and Paris contemplated the shivering prospect of an imminent mid-winter supply crisis.
Twenty-four hours after Russia cut its gas supply to Ukraine in a politically-charged dispute over pricing, central European nations were the first to feel the chill, AFP reported.
European Union economic kingpins France and Germany announced drops in their Russian gas supply as well, while Britain alone played down concern, touting its relative independence from the world’s largest gas producer.
Gas experts from the three states were prepared to review the crisis at a special meeting Wednesday in Brussels Gazprom, the state-controlled energy group and top world producer, accused Ukraine Monday of pilfering close to 100 million cubic meters (3,500 million cubic feet) of Russian gas bound for Europe with a market value of 25 million dollars.
Ukraine denied the allegation, but warned that it might be forced to siphon gas if temperatures plunged below freezing.
Europe imports a quarter of the natural gas it consumes from Russia, and 90 percent of those imports are delivered via Ukraine.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Going Gets Tough
By S. Sadeghi
George Bush’s pleadings and petitions on Iraq have simply not come to pass. The Arab country is as much destabilized and directionless, if now worse, today as it was when king George invaded in March 2003.
Iraq is a living memory of America’s failures and follies under the disastrous neocons in the year we just left behind. And there is nothing to indicate 2006 will be any better.
In 2005 US public opinion became more concerned and critical about the prolonged military presence in Iraq.
The year also saw Bush’s popularity take a severe beating. In a recent opinion poll only 36 percent of Americans supported their president - the lowest since he took office five years ago.
On the bright side were the relatively successful parliamentary elections in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However, the US public is openly losing patience with the Bush regime and its insistence on putting almost 150,000 Americans (mostly from poor families) in harm’s way.
As the going gets tough both in occupied Iraq and at home, the Bushies who never had an exit strategy in Iraq, are now under pressure to start cutting the troop deployment and get out of Iraq sooner rather than later.
The region’s media is full of reports regarding Bush’s unwinnable war and the mounting dangers US soldiers face in Iraq on a daily basis. One expert recently asked if “the US troops are so busy trying not to get killed, how can they possibly afford to put Iraq back on its feet?“
In the meantime, the opposition Democrats, including influential ones who initially backed the illegal invasion, are showing renewed signs of impatience and fear over the body bags and want the boys home. Earlier doubts about the “exaggeration of the Iraq quagmire“ have now transformed into certainty. An increasing number of respected Americans have started talking about Bush’s long list of lies and the “Vietnamization of Iraq.“
Both the advocates and opponents of the invasion approach the controversial US presence in Iraq from the national security perspective. The main questions, however, are according to which definition the war on terror that was declared by Bush after 9/11, can or should be regarded as war?
Similarly, what are the features of this military conflict and who is the enemy: the people, organizations or governments? What is the yardstick for measuring victory or defeat in this war? What is the price? How many people should die and how many billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money must go down the drain for this failed venture? What is the future of this war? What is its impact on economic infrastructures, especially oil economics?
War skeptics believe Bush’s irresponsible militaristic policies, his irritating arrogance and his divorce from realities in the volatile region, and the invasion of Iraq will not make the world a safer place. Rather it will and has given rise to dangerous radicalism in the strategic region and beyond, and also enlarged the list America’s sworn enemies.
Irrespective of what Bush and his minions may claim in front of TV cameras, today Iraq has visibly become a hotbed for Muslim insurgents from a variety of radical schools while defenseless Iraqis suffer and are humiliated on a daily basis.
Amid all this, the pro-Bush camp loves to talk non-stop about the positive results the “war on terror“ has produced. They claim that a significant number of Al-Qaeda leaders have been killed and thousands of its soldiers are now in captivity. They also argue that the Taliban regime was overthrown and today Afghanistan is a functioning democracy.
Furthermore, Bush’ supporters also state that a tyrant like Saddam Hussein is in jail, and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which before 9/11 were among the main countries where “terrorists trained“ have rid the lands of this scourge.
At any rate, the US will certainly cut the number of its troops in Iraq this year for two primary reasons: first, to reduce the human and financial cost of its unwanted military presence, and secondly return the Republicans to the White House in 2008.
|
|
|
|
|
|
