President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (l) welcomes Jewish priests at the Holocaust conference in Tehran, Dec. 12. (Mehr Photo)

TEHRAN, Dec. 12--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday the countdown of the Zionist Israeli regime has started and it is what God and all nations want.
Addressing foreign guests at the two-day conference titled “Holocaust and International Perspectives“ in Tehran, the chief executive noted that people are seeking justice and worship of God today, IRNA reported.
“Those who have supported the Zionist regime of Israel for many years should now realize that their interests are presently at stake.
We recommend the western countries to prepare the grounds for dismantling the Zionist regime as they themselves have established it,“ he said.
Noting that the dismantling of the Zionist regime by the West will be beneficial for international peace, he expressed hope that supporters of the Zionist regime will eventually give a positive response to his proposal.
Ahmadinejad pointed out that international problems can be resolved in a friendly and rational manner and in a tranquil manner.
“We should help bring about real peace by adopting humanistic methods,“ he said.
“Iran is your home and the home of all free thinkers of the world. It is a place where all people can live at peace, brotherhood, freedom and tranquility.“
The president further noted that by not creating problems for those who attended the Holocaust conference, some governments have shown that they are committed to freedom.
Meanwhile, an official said on Monday results of surveys so far show Holocaust is no more than a myth, calling for more research on Holocaust.
Speaking to IRNA on the sidelines of the Foreign Ministry-sponsored conference on Holocaust, Secretary-General of Int’l Congress to Support Palestinian Intifada Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour added that the western and Zionist media have always been aggrandizing the dimensions of the reality of Holocaust, mixing a bit of truth with a great deal of lies, IRNA reported.
“Results of surveys and research around the globe prove the fact that much of what has been said in the West about the Holocaust is nothing but a big myth,“ he said.

ISFAHAN, Dec. 12--A nuclear science faculty will be established at the Isfahan University with the help of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, an official of the university said on Tuesday.
The university’s vice chancellor for research affairs, Ali Rajali, also told a local gathering in this ancient central city, which has been designated as the cultural capital of the Islamic world, IRNA reported.
He added that the faculty will train nuclear experts for the IAEO.
The official noted that the university is ready to take effective steps toward development of nuclear science in Iran by carrying out research projects.
Rajali added that that the faculty’s construction would be launched by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he arrives in Isfahan in the near future.

TEHRAN, Dec. 12--Majlis Speaker Gholamali Haddad Adel requested President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a letter to present a report on his administration’s actions regarding the Fourth National Economic Development Plan (2005-10).
Haddad Adel wrote, “As you are aware, Article 157 of the Fourth Economic Development Plan declares that in order to properly implement the plan, the president must report to the Majlis on its supervision and progress every year by Dec. 21).“
Morteza Tamaddon, member of the Majlis Plan and Budget Commission, told Mehr News Agency that the Fourth Plan is very important.
“The Majlis feels that in the administration’s implementation of the Fourth Plan, certain changes have taken place. In other words, the plan has made stipulations, while the administration’s policies differ in some areas from the original plan. Of course, the administration must have its reasons for this,“ he said.
He noted that based on Article 157 of the Fourth Plan, the implementation of major changes in areas such as production, investment, foreign trade, the government’s expenditures, budget, monetary sector and inflation, unemployment, executive policies and the plan’s legal articles must be evaluated.
“The administration believes in revising the Fourth Plan, but only the Majlis can approve such revisions. Therefore, the president’s report to the Majlis is very significant, for only then will it become clear what difficulties the administration is facing with regard to their implementation,“ he said. The parliamentarian added that if the administration is facing difficulties while executing its policies, the president should discuss them with the Majlis. “If the Fourth Plan requires revision, the Majlis will help the administration in revising it so that every measure will be in accordance with the law.“
According to Tamaddon, the Majlis believes certain sections in the Fourth Plan, especially in relation to Article 44 of the constitution, will change, and if Article 44 is to be implemented, a major part of the plan must be revised.
Stating that about 20 to 24 articles of the Fourth Plan must change, he said, “Although a change and revision of the bylaws of the Fourth Plan are deemed necessary, it must be carried out according to legal criteria.“

Mohammad Saeedi

ISFAHAN, Dec. 12--A top nuclear official said the multilateral plan presented by some countries to establish a nuclear fuel bank for member-states has no executive guarantee.
Speaking on the second day of the confab dubbed “Status of nuclear fuel in research and development“ on Tuesday, Mohammad Saeedi, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization’s deputy head for international affairs, said the plan lacks political, legal and technical guarantees,“ IRNA reported.
On the future of fossil fuel, he cited a study that in the year 2025, consumption of fossil fuel would hit 130 million barrels per day (bpd) from the current 90 million bpd and will sell at $200 per barrel.
“It is predicted that Iranian oil would hardly be enough to meet domestic consumption in the next 20 years and then will drop out of the list of oil exporting countries,“ he said.
Talking to reporters after the confab, the official said Iran will inaugurate its Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in September 2007 based on an agreement reached with the Russian government.
“Due to the monetary problem of the (Russian) company responsible for the construction of the Bushehr power plant, a large number of Russian-made equipment have not been transferred to Iran yet.
We have tried to work out a solution to the problem so that it can transfer and install the required parts at the earliest,“ he said.
He said that several equipment of the Bushehr power plant have been installed and primary tests have been carried out.
Asked about the possibility of Russia being compelled by the West to impose sanctions on Iran, he said, “We have a contract with Russia for the launch of the power plant. We are currently holding negotiations with Russia to supply fuel for the next 10 years.“
Saeedi also said the IAEO intends to localize the construction of its power plants by building a light-water reactor with a capacity of 360 megawatts.
“Iranian state-run and private companies have the capability of producing 50 percent of the parts needed by its power plants,“ he added.
Pointing out that Iran has enough uranium reserves to produce nuclear fuel, he said, “Iran should produce 15,000-20,000 megawatts of nuclear power to meet this goal.“
Saeedi declared that all the objectives of Isfahan’s Uranium Conversion Facility have been fully materialized.

TEHRAN, Dec. 12--Chairman of State Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani emphasized on Tuesday further cooperation and interaction among universities and research centers.
Speaking at the tenth national conference titled “Collaboration Among Government, University and Industrial Sector“--held at the international level for the third time--in Tehran, Rafsanjani said interaction and establishment of links between university and industry are the most important issues of the present time, IRNA reported.
Referring to rapid developments in today’s world, he noted that the world is undergoing changes and hence decisions should be taken according to the exigencies of time.
“If humans always remain passive and do not act according to modern developments, they will be losers at the end,“ he said.
Enumerating knowledge, faith and resistance as main pillars of development, the SEC chief opined that everyone should help develop the society.
Noting that 2025 Vision Plan is the basis of development, Rafsanjani pointed out that it is only by relying on development that progress can be made in the society.
“Materialization of 2025 Vision needs the coordinated effort of all institutions,“ he said.
Rafsanjani opined that establishment of vocational universities and setting up science and technology parks have been done to reinforce interaction between universities and industrial sectors.

KUWAIT CITY, Dec. 12--Kuwait on Tuesday signed a security agreement with NATO at the opening of an international conference to discuss boosting security links with Arab states of the Persian Gulf states.
The Information Security Agreement, signed by Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, will regulate the exchange of security information between the 26-member NATO and oil-rich Kuwait as part of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), AFP reported.
The deputy head of Kuwait’s National Security Agency, Sheikh Thamer Ali Al-Sabah, told reporters the agreement will allow the exchange of ’classified’ security and defense information between NATO and Kuwait.
“The agreement will enhance the existing security cooperation between NATO and Kuwait ... It also involves exchange of information on countering terrorism,“ he said.
Kuwait is the only ICI country that has signed such an agreement, he said.
Around 120 NATO delegates are attending the “International Conference of NATO and Persian Gulf Countries: Facing Common Challenges through ICI.“
A number of senior officials, including Bahrain’s Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, and military commanders are representing the six-nation Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) at the conference.
NATO leaders at a summit in Istanbul in 2004 launched the ICI to offer practical security cooperation activities with states throughout the Middle East with a special focus on the energy-rich PGCC states.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Dec. 12--Former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam was convicted Tuesday of genocide and other charges in the deaths of nearly 2,000 people in a rare case of an African strongman being called to account by his own country.
Mengistu is living in exile in Zimbabwe and was being tried in absentia in a case that dragged on for 12 years, AP reported.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has pledged not to deport Mengistu as long as he does not engage in political activity.
Rebels who toppled Mengistu in 1991 were determined to try him, starting planning for trials in Ethiopian courts for those held responsible for human rights abuses almost as soon as they took over.
But as the myriad, complex cases dragged on, public interest waned. Mengistu’s trial, which began in 1994, was slowed by requests from both sides for long breaks.
Hundreds of key witnesses have died, further complicating proceedings.
African dictators are often followed by other dictators who don’t want to set any precedent for trying holders of high office. And often, African leaders hold onto power until they die.
Mengistu was tried along with scores of his former aides for alleged involvement in the killing of nearly 2,000 people during a 1977-78 campaign known as the Red Terror.
Mengistu had taken power in 1974, when his military junta ended Emperor Haile Selassie’s in a bloody coup.
Some experts say 150,000 university students, intellectuals and politicians were killed in a nationwide purge by Mengistu’s Marxist regime, though no one knows for sure how many suspected opponents were killed in the Red Terror.
Ethiopia’s courts have convicted 1,018 people since 1994 for participating in the Red Terror, but 6,426 await trial and more than 3,000 of them, like Mengistu, live in exile.