President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (l) shakes hands with Iraq's Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi during their meeting in Tehran, March 12.

TEHRAN, March 13--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran supports security and stability in Iraq, stressing that a united, strong, independent, free and progressive Iraq benefits all regional nations and the Islamic Ummah.
Speaking in a meeting with Iraq’s Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi on Monday, President Ahmadinejad said, “We are concerned about the current security situation in Iraq more than anybody else,“ IRNA reported.
Ahmadinejad said a strong and united Iran and Iraq are like a concrete dam in front of enemies’ conspiracies, adding that the enemies, through an organized plan, are trying to cause disunity and ethnic, religious conflicts in Iraq and using instability and conflicts as pretexts for continuing their presence.
Hashimi, for his part, appreciated Iran’s humanitarian, principled and just stances about resolving the Muslim world problems, especially those of Iraq.
“We believe the current difficult situation in Iraq could be solved with the cooperation of neighboring countries, especially Iran’s active role, while countries alien to Iraqi culture cannot settle the problems and only double them by continuing occupation,“ he said.
He expressed hope that by relying on Iran’s regional and international power, and cooperation of other neighboring countries, Iraq can witness peace and stability again.
Praising President Ahmadinejad’s courageous stances for defending Iran’s right to use peaceful nuclear technology, the Iraqi vice president said Iran’s access to peaceful nuclear technology is an honor for the Muslim Ummah and beneficial to regional countries.
Noting that Iraq supports Iran in this regard, Hashimi said, “Islamic and regional countries must have a strategic approach about Iran’s access to the peaceful nuclear technology. In the 21st century, the Islamic ummah must have access to the progressive technology for survival.“
On Monday, in a separate meeting with Kyrgyz Speaker Marat Sultanov and his accompanying delegation, Ahmadinejad said the new and progressive technology achieved by Iranians will be in the service of regional nations, including Kyrgyzstan.
“Progress of any nation in the region is to the benefit of all,“ he said.
Referring to commonalities between Iran and Kyrgyzstan, Ahmadinejad said the two nations’ ties are deep and heartfelt.
“Tehran wants relations with Bishkek to the highest level and we do not have any limitation on increasing ties and cooperating with Kyrgyzstan,“ he said.
Marat Sultanov referred to Iran’s stances as ’wise’ and said the Kyrgyz people like Iranians and Bishkek wants to use Iran’s valuable experiences and achievements in different fields.
Sultanov also called for expansion of cultural ties between Tehran and Bishkek.

GENEVA, March 13--Iran’s foreign minister accused Israel and the United States of posing the main threats to the security of the Middle East. The US and Israeli delegations walked out during the speech Tuesday.
The comments from Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki come as Iran--under sanctions for its refusal to stop uranium enrichment--faces increasing pressure to open its nuclear program to greater scrutiny. Mottaki told the world’s top disarmament forum that Israel was the only country in the region that refuses to accede to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last year acknowledged that his country had nuclear weapons--which Olmert denies doing.
A nuclear-armed Israel poses “a uniquely grave threat to regional and international peace and security and requires to be seriously dealt with by the international community taking practical measures,“ Mottaki told the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament.
Mottaki referred to Israel as “the Zionist regime,“ which he said had “a long and dark record of crimes and atrocities such as occupation, aggression, militarism, state terrorism, crimes against humanity and apartheid.“
Israeli Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon said his delegation found the speech insulting and decided to leave: “Everybody noticed that we left because we made a small noise, showing everybody that we disagree with his remarks.“
They were followed by the US delegation, and the American mission.
The other threat to the Middle East comes from the United States, which he said invaded Iraq on the pretext of eliminating weapons of mass destruction and bringing more security to the region.
“After years of searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq it is obvious the preparation for the attack on Iraq was based on false or, in fact, forged information,“ Mottaki said.
For the rest, he said, “one can easily judge if there is more security or insecurity in the region as the result of such a huge military operation. Those who created such a situation in Iraq cannot disregard their responsibility.“
The conference is intended to negotiate disarmament treaties, but deep divisions over what weapons should be tackled next have left it little more than a forum for speeches since it created the nuclear test-ban treaty in 1996.
Mottaki told reporters his country is prepared to discuss the suspension of uranium enrichment if the UN Security Council closes the file on Iran’s nuclear program--a call Iran has made before without success.
“We have been proposing the suspension of the resolution within the Security Council,“ Mottaki told reporters. “And then we will be able to sit and talk about all issues.“
Mottaki, meanwhile, said Iran was prepared to offer “necessary“ guarantees on its nuclear program if the issue is withdrawn from the UN Security Council.

TEHRAN, March 13--The Iranian Atomic Energy Development and Production Company (IAEDPC) issued a statement on delays by Russia’s Atomstroiexport Company.
IAEDPC reiterated that Moscow should hand over the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant to Iran by March 31, IRNA reported.
The statement noted that since Atomstroiexport has reported a two-month delay in completing the Bushehr plant, IAEDPC has issued a statement to inform the people about the present status of Iran-Russia nuclear cooperation.
“The nuclear plant should have been completed by July 8, 1999, and has already been delayed for five times,“ the statement said.
It added that even if the plant is completed by September 2007, the project will have been delayed by eight years and three months.
Iran has fulfilled all its financial commitments until March 1, 2007, and bank documents are available.
The statement pointed out that Atomstroiexport has about 115 billion rials or $12.7 million at its disposal, stressing that the Iranian nation and government expect Russia to send the fuel needed for Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant by March end.
Meanwhile, Ali Hosseinitash, deputy secretary of Supreme National Security Council for strategic affairs, conferred with secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Igor Ivanov.
Spokesman of Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhael Kamenin announced on Tuesday that the two sides discussed issues related to Iran’s nuclear dossier.
He pointed out that the two sides emphasized their commitment to resolve Iran’s nuclear case through negotiations.
“Russia reiterated the importance of Iran implementing resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency,“ the spokesman said.
Kamenin pointed out that Ivanov also noted the constructive measures taken by Iran for resuming talks to resolve Iran’s nuclear case.
Hosseinitash visited Moscow on Monday and returned to Tehran on Tuesday.

RAMADI, Iraq, March 13--It was Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s first visit in more than 30 years to the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, a hotbed of Sunni insurgency, and clearly he was happy to be back on Tuesday.
“I love this province and I’m proud that it’s part of Iraq,“ Maliki said after meeting the governor of Anbar province, Maamun Sami Rashid, in a Saddam-era palace now inside a joint US and Iraqi military base.
“I haven’t been to Ramadi since 1976,“ he added after the two men had vowed to work together to combat the Al-Qaeda insurgents who have been fighting in Anbar since the March 2003 US-led invasion.
US commanders were delighted Maliki had made the trip, seeing it as a concrete sign that his Shiite-led government is serious about making peace with Anbar’s Sunni leaders, many of whom have turned against the insurgency.
Many Sunnis distrust or oppose Maliki’s Shiite-led government, feeding support for the insurgency.
Ramadi has been a symbol of the failure of the US military and the Iraqi government to assert their will among the fiercely-independent Sunni tribes living in the arid deserts west of Baghdad.
On October 15 last year, masked insurgents even held a defiant parade through downtown Ramadi to celebrate the creation of what was dubbed the “Islamic State of Iraq“--an alliance of Sunni armed groups.

MADRID, Spain, March 13--An OPEC-style organization of gas producing countries should not be “rejected out of hand“, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said in an interview in the Spanish newspaper El Pais on Tuesday.
His remarks contrasted with recent comments against the idea by his energy minister, AFP reported.
“The idea should not be rejected out of hand. It is worth examining by all interested parties,“ Bouteflika told El Pais in an interview.
Along with Russia, Algeria is the main supplier of gas to Europe which accounts for 90 percent of Algerian gas exports.
A recent Iranian proposal to form a gas producers’ organization along the lines of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is “in line with trends which have surfaced through globalization which are pushing producers to come together to defend their interests“, Bouteflika said.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the idea of a gas organization as ’interesting’ although experts believe it could never come to fruition given the specific nature of the gas market.
Asked if Spain might end up being “exclusively dependent“ on Algerian gas supplies when it already depends on its southern neighbor for some two-thirds of supplies, Bouteflika said Madrid “has not entered lightly into this energy cooperation“.
That cooperation “will allow (Spain) to supply gas to the rest of Europe. I need not underline the advantages that situation represents for Spain“, Bouteflika said.
Bouteflika’s comments came a month ahead of a gas producers forum in Doha which follows on from an August accord between Algerian producer Sonatrach and Russian behemoth Gazprom which led to uproar among European clients, led by France and Italy.
They are concerned that a future organization would set price and supply levels.

WANA, Pakistan, March 13--Pakistani militants beheaded a man accused of spying for US forces in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.
The headless body of a man was found late Monday in a sack on a roadside in Jandola, a town bordering the troubled South Waziristan tribal region, a security official told AFP.
The severed head was placed near the sack and a note near his body read “US spy“ and “Rawalpindi“, he said.
Rawalpindi is a garrison city near the capital, Islamabad, where army headquarters are situated.
Local residents failed to identify the man--who appeared to be in his mid-40s--after which the body was buried, the security official said.
In the same area last month, militants decapitated an Afghan cleric accused of spying for US forces and making recordings of anti-Taliban speeches.
Militants have killed several pro-government tribal elders and other tribesmen in recent months.
Separately, two mortar shells fired by suspected militants exploded near a residential compound for military officers and their families in neighboring North Waziristan’s main town, Miranshah, another security official said.
There were no casualties in the attack early Tuesday, he added.
Pakistan signed peace deals with insurgents in South Waziristan in 2005 and North Waziristan in 2006, prompting concerns from NATO, US and Afghan officials.
One of the conditions was an end to targeted killings by the militants.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 13--EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Tuesday he backed Saudi efforts to resolve the political crisis in Lebanon, in a visit to Riyadh on a Middle East tour aimed at easing the stalemate.
“We support all the efforts that Saudi Arabia is making in this field as well,“ Solana told reporters after talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, AFP reported.
Solana, who arrived in Riyadh from Beirut late on Monday, added that he would consult again with the Saudi leadership after visiting Damascus on Wednesday and meeting Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
Solana was due to meet Saudi King Abdullah later Tuesday.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has spearheaded attempts to resolve the crisis between the western-backed government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, with which it has close links, and the opposition led by the Shiite movement Hezbollah.
At a news conference with Siniora in Beirut on Monday, Solana said he would hold “frank discussions“ in Syria on its ties with Lebanon, where many people blame Damascus for a series of deadly bomb attacks.
On his first visit to Syria in two years, Solana said he will also address the issue of the UN tribunal due to try suspects in the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. The assassination has been widely blamed on Syria, but Damascus strongly denies any involvement.
Arab diplomatic sources in Riyadh told AFP on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia is working on hosting a reconciliation meeting between Lebanon’s anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and the pro-Damascus opposition next week.