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Prayer Time (Tehran)
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Dawn: 3:59
Sunrise: 5:28
Noon: 12:08
Evening: 19:06
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Weather Guide
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MON |
TUE |
Tehran: |
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High: |
34oC |
35oC |
Low: |
19 oC |
20oC |
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Athens |
36 |
30 |
Ankara |
32 |
32 |
Cairo |
39 |
41 |
Copenhagen |
21 |
20 |
Frankfurt |
20 |
16 |
Karachi |
29 |
29 |
Kuwait City |
48 |
47 |
London |
20 |
20 |
Madrid |
31 |
32 |
Moscow |
24 |
18 |
New Delhi |
38 |
37 |
Paris |
18 |
20 |
Riyadh |
44 |
43 |
Rome |
25 |
25 |
Vienna |
23 |
15 |
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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
Executive Editor: Amin Sabooni
Editorial Dept. Tel: 88755761-2
Editorial Dept. Fax: 88761869
Advertising Dept. Tel: 88501499, 88737250
Internet Address:
www.iran-daily.com
E-mail Address:
iran-daily@iran-daily.com
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Leader Stresses Social Enlightenment
President Calls for Promoting Islamic Ideals
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Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei
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TEHRAN, Aug. 20--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Sunday intellectuals and well-wishers of Islam and the Islamic Revolution are expected to enlighten the society in order to prevent any deviation from the true path of Islam.
In a meeting with members of the Union of Islamic Associations of Iranian Students based in European states to mark its 40th founding anniversary, the leader said that a lifestyle blueprint was introduced to Muslims worldwide thanks to the blessings of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, IRNA reported.
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that the true path of Islam calls for insight and wisdom to distinguish between the right and wrong paths.
“The contemporary world is full of huge challenges for the humanity. Every Muslim is expected to propagate Islam and invite fellow believers to undertake this heavy responsibility. They should refrain from any deviation, backwardness, narrow-mindedness and misinterpretation,“ he said.
The leader further said organized attempts were made before the Islamic Revolution to misrepresent religion as being in conflict with science and progress, but the Islamic associations of university students managed to confront such a perception.
The leader said that embracing scientific and technological progress has no contradiction with religious values.
In a separate meeting with members of the associations on Sunday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today all Iranians across the world should support the lofty ideals of the founder of Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini.
Referring to the “changing regional equations in the interest of independent nations and pure Islamic thoughts“, Ahmadinejad urged members of these associations to do their best to promote true Islam and the ideals of the Islamic Revolution and Imam Khomeini.
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Restrictions on Nuclear Talks Criticized
Asefi: Zionist Regime Causing Regional Crisis
TEHRAN, Aug. 20--Iran on Sunday once again rejected any precondition for holding nuclear talks.
“It is baseless to condition the nuclear talks to the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1696,“ Asefi told reporters at his weekly press conference, IRNA reported.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran believes setting preconditions for negotiations will limit the two sides from finding a solution,“ he said.
“Why do they believe that the two parties should not negotiate in an open atmosphere?“
The spokesman noted that the UN Security Council’s resolution is illegal and therefore unacceptable to Iran.
Asked about Iran’s response to the package of incentives offered by the European Union, he said, “The Europeans have changed the path. Instead of continuing talks, they referred the nuclear case to the UN Security Council and changed the positive atmosphere.“
Iran has said it would respond to the package by August 22. “Iran has finished its studies on the proposed package and will present its response in the next two or three days,“ he said.
Asefi stressed that the Zionist Israeli regime is the main cause of tension and crisis in the Middle East.
Stating that the Zionist regime does not respect international laws and disregards the world public opinion, he said, “They showed that kidnapping is the characteristic of the Israeli occupiers,“ a reference to Israelis kidnapping members of the Palestinian Parliament and government.
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Israeli Failure in Lebanon Analyzed
By Azam Mohebbi
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A view from the third roundtable on ÒExamination of Lebanese DevelopmentsÓ held at IranÕs Cultural and Press Institute in Tehran, Aug. 20 (IRNA Photo)
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TEHRAN, Aug. 20--Hezbollah’s representative in Tehran on Sunday referred to the wargames held in Israel before its aggressions against Lebanon and noted that the war was planned in advance to destroy Hezbollah’s resistance and missile capabilities.
Addressing the third roundtable on “Examination of Lebanese Developments“ at Iran’s Cultural and Press Institute, Abdullah Safieddin added that the war was decisive for the region.
“Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres even declared to the media that the war meant life or death for Israel. However, the Zionists did not gain any political or military privilege in this war,“ he said.
Safieddin noted that the founding philosophy of the Zionist regime is that it must always be victorious in the region.
“But after the latest defeat, the Zionist regime has no place in the region,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini, an Iranian lawmaker, told the gathering that the most important objective of the US and Israel in the war was to establish a new Middle East.
“Their next targets were to occupy Lebanon, even parts of it, and then destroy or disarm Hezbollah. They wanted to keep Hezbollah as a small and weak political party among Lebanon’s parties,“ he said.
“Only two days before the ceasefire, it became evident that the Zionist regime had hardly resisted Hezbollah’s missile attacks.
In response to the Israeli bombardments, Hezbollah fired 250 rockets at Zionist regionsÉwhile many Zionist officials announced that Israel was deadlocked.“
Mir-Tajeddini emphasized that the most important outcome of Hezbollah’s resistance in the war was the unity of Muslim world and the defeat of US regional plots.
Representative of Amal Movement in Tehran, Adel Eiyoon, also told the gathering that upon the defeat of Israel in the region, Bush tried to launch an extensive propaganda warfare in the name of democracy, human rights, economic development and so on to harm Muslim unity.
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Rafsanjani: Interactions Will Ensure
Muslim Minority Rights
By Sadeq Dehqan
TEHRAN, Aug. 20--Chairman of State Expediency Council (SEC) Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Sunday the rights of Muslim minorities and other immigrants will be ensured by interacting with other nations and religions.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 19th International Conference of Islamic Unity themed “Muslims in non-Muslim Countries: Rights, Duties, Problems and Solutions“, Rafsanjani noted that perhaps in the past, imperialist powers could support their forces in other countries by using force, but today garnering support for immigrants requires interaction.
“Islam emerged as a global religion. During the times of Prophet Muhammad (PBHU) and early Islamic days, it remained fair to different races. At that time, the Arab peninsula was isolated and full of prejudices, but today after some 1,400 years, we are witnessing the most progressive human coexistence.“
Rafsanjani stressed that the holy Qur’an explicitly recommends that followers of religious coexist peacefully.
“Iran is willing to be the pioneer and establish a nucleus in this congress to pave the way for negotiating with fair-minded Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and other experts whose religions have tens of millions of followers and which are gradually moving toward politicization. This will help safeguard the rights of all followers of different religions,“ he said.
Meanwhile, the head of World Forum for Proximity Among Islamic Schools of Thought, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri, told the ceremony that the forum’s main guidelines are to identify common intellectual and cultural elements among Islamic schools of thought in Islamic tenets to achieve solidarity and preserve the common Islamic identity.
“The second consideration is to discuss the problems and challenges facing the people in order to find tangible solutions. The annual Islamic Unity Conference is one of the priorities for achieving this,“ he said.
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90 Killed
In Afghan Clashes
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan,
Aug. 20--Around 90 people died in a series of weekend clashes between troops and Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, including more than 70 rebels killed in a battle in the south and four US soldiers, officials said on Sunday.
NATO ground troops called in air and artillery support during the clash with rebel forces of around 100 fighters in the south in one of the bloodiest weekends this year, AFP reported.
Most of the violence, on the anniversary Saturday of Afghanistan’s independence from Britain in 1919, was in the south where a NATO-led force took command three weeks ago in the alliance’s toughest military operation yet.
In the deadliest clash, scores of rebels attacked the town of Panjwayi in Kandahar province late Saturday, sparking a five-hour battle involving Afghan and NATO soldiers, officials said.
The Taliban stormed the town, 35 kilometers (20 miles) west of the main southern city of Kandahar, from three directions and began fighting with local police.
Reinforcements from the Afghan Army and police and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force surrounded the area and returned the attack, a police official said.
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First-Ever Prosthetic Disc Operation in Iran
By Farzaneh Shokri
TEHRAN, Aug. 20--A Germany-based Iranian surgeon performed the first-ever prosthetic disc operation in Iran.
Speaking at a press conference at Iran’s Cultural and Press Institute, Professor Mohammad Naim Nemati added that the operation was successfully carried out on a 62-year-old patient two months ago.
“So far, 750 such operations have been performed worldwide which has had a 99 percent success rate,“ he said.
He also said that his team in Germany has successfully implanted prosthetic discs in back and neck operations.
“Earlier, the removed disc was replaced by a bone from the patient’s hip, which made patients suffer from poat-operation pain,“ he said.
The surgeon in charge of the surgery ward of a German medical hospital said this operation in Iran costs 10,000,000 rials and 3.5 times as much in European countries.
Nemati also said 80 percent of people experience backache at least once in their lifetime, which could be caused by genetic reasons, mechanical pressures such as long driving, smoking or nutrition.
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CONDOLENCES
Dear Colleague
Mr. Ajaz Hussein
Please accept our heartfelt condolences over the demise of your beloved uncle. We pray God grant you and your respected family patience to bear the loss.
May the departed soul rest in peace.
Iran Daily
Staff & Management
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Hezbollah’s Success
By S. Sadeghi
Two views predominate over discussions about the Lebanon war. One view maintains that Hezbollah and the Lebanese nation are the victors while the other refers to US claims that Hezbollah has been defeated, which will become evident with the passage of time.
In terms of military considerations, obviously those who started the war did not achieve any of their declared objectives and Tel Aviv today is grappling with a tough crisis following the defeat of Zionist leaders.
However, a conscious mind should not remain indifferent to Bush’s claims of victory. One aspect of these claims is that ordinarily the defeated party resorts to lies to maintain its own morale and that of its allies. It is natural that Bush cannot tolerate such a humiliating defeat by a guerilla group.
By providing intelligent bombs to the Zionists, allocating huge public funds for supplying jet fuel, tanks and other military equipment and by making boastful predictions about the outcome of the war, Bush has no other alternative but to resort to such a big lie when the turn of events was not to the US liking.
Another aspect of Bush’s claims pertains to US plans regarding the future of Lebanon and Hezbollah. He intends to assert that the ceasefire resolution should fulfill the US military objectives politically.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701 has been compiled in a manner that its full implementation will fulfill the main objectives of the US and the Israel. They were determined to get rid of Hezbollah by imposing a war and exerting military pressures, and now that they have been defeated militarily, they are determined to compensate for their defeat through Resolution 1701. America vetoed related resolutions twice, but described the ratification of Resolution 1701 as a victory for the same reason.
Consequently, the US and its allies hope to exert political pressures on Hezbollah. But can those who failed to impose their wishes on Hezbollah in the military domain gain any success in the political arena? The answer is obvious.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah accepted Resolution 1701 with certain reservations. Hezbollah will not succumb to disarmament while the American and Israeli threats loom on the horizon.
Lebanese statesmen have also implied the same thing and did not insist on Hezbollah’s disarmament. They have said that the issue of disarmament is something Hezbollah must decide about. And Hezbollah knows that the US and the Zionists consider its disarmament as a prelude to the implementation of their hegemonic Greater Middle East Initiative.
The war made America and Israel realize that what they had presumed about their own might and the weaknesses of regional nations is untrue and they must revise their calculations. If until now the assumption was that Israel is constantly planning to extend its influence from Euphrates to Nile, after its scandalous defeat by Hezbollah, it has no choice but to fight for its own survival.
Here the Iranian leader’s message to Nasrallah is quite important. He referred to the victories of Hezbollah and said that the enemy now wants to sideline the resistance movement, spread seeds of discord among politicians and spread the virus of intolerance and doubt among the people.
The leader called on all Lebanese people to maintain their vigilance and said God willing, they will succeed in thwarting the enemy’s plots and gain further victories.
The way things are proceeding, this is bound to materialize.
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