Ryan Crocker

BAGHDAD, Iraq,
July 23--Iran’s ambassador to Iraq said Tehran and Washington will hold the second round of bilateral talks on Iraq in Baghdad on Tuesday.
Talking to IRNA, Hassan Kazemi Qomi added that the second round of talks would be held at the ambassadorial level as in the first round.
He reiterated that the talks will be held in the presence of Iraqi officials.
The Iranian envoy also announced that the head of Iran’s Foreign Ministry special headquarters in charge of Iraq, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and Reza Amiri, a Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) official, will also attend the Tuesday talks.
“The talks will focus on Iraq’s security issues,“ Qomi said.
In another development, Kazemi met on Monday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki who thanked Iran for agreeing to continue talks with the US on Iraq’s security.
The meeting was held in Baghdad, reported the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Center.
Al-Maliki expressed hope that the second round of Iran-US talks, due to be held in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, would produce “desirable results“ for supporting the people and government of Iraq.
The Iranian ambassador, for his part, said Tehran’s policy in the second of round of talks with US “is to help the Iraqi people and its government“.
Qomi hoped that the upcoming talks would secure the interests of the Iraqi nation and help materialize their demand for putting an end to their hardships and sufferings, and for restoring peace and security to the war-torn country.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi

The first round of talks between Iran and US on Iraq was held on May 28 in Baghdad at the ambassadorial level where Qomi represented Iran while his American counterpart, Ryan Crocker, represented the US.
Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani also thanked Iran for caring for Iraq’s problems and trying to help the Iraqi government and nation.

VIENNA, Austria,
July 23--Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency will hold another round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program on Tuesday.
Iran’s IAEA envoy, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, also told IRNA on Tuesday that the talks will be held at the same level as before and in two sessions.
The last round of talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, held during July 12-13, was headed by deputy of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Javad Vaeedi and IAEA deputy chief Olli Heinonen.

QOM, July 23--Prominent religious leaders on Monday expressed outrage at the anti-Shiite fatwa issued by Saudi muftis, terming it as escalation of terrorism.
The Wahhabi muftis recently called on their followers living in Iraq to destroy the holy shrines of Imam Hussein (AS) and Hazrat Abbas (AS), IRNA reported.
Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi and Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani said in separate statements that the Saudi government is responsible for stopping the extremist muftis from waging propaganda campaigns against the Infallible Household of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The Iranian religious leaders called for dialogue with the extremist Wahhabis in a bid to thwart the conspiracy to damage Muslim solidarity.
The two senior clerics called on the United Nations to condemn the conspiracy aimed at escalating international terrorism by the extremist Wahhabis.
“It is regrettable that the United Nations is yet to condemn such a fatwa which fans the flames of international terrorism,“ Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said in his statement.
Reports indicate one of the influential Saudi crown princes is responsible for financially supporting the American news channel Fox News.
Saudi Independent News Agency released the news on Monday and said Prince Walid bin Talal bin Abdul-Aziz pays $2.6 billion to the new channel, Fars reported.
The Saudi crown princess, who also heads Al-Mamlekat Al-Ghabezah Company, uses parts of its profits for the News Club which manages Fox News.
The American news channel does not host critics of the Saudi government since it received the funds.

Table shows the vote percentage of Turkish political parties in July 22 parliamentary elections.

ANKARA, Turkey, July 23--Turkey’s prime minister pledged to work toward national unity and fight terrorism after his Islamic-rooted ruling party won parliamentary elections by a wide margin.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party won 46.6 percent of the votes, according to results Monday, and state-run Anatolia news agency projected the party would take 340 of the 550 seats in parliament, AP reported.
Sunday’s election was called early to defuse a political crisis over the ruling party’s choice of presidential candidate, which caused tensions with Turkey’s military-led, secular elite.
Erdogan’s wide margin of victory is considered a strong rebuff to their intervention in presidential election process.
Soon after the party’s victory, Erdogan, a devout Muslim, pledged to safeguard the country’s secular traditions and do whatever the government deemed necessary to fight separatist Kurdish rebels.
He also promised to press ahead with economic reforms and efforts to make the Muslim country of 73 million a member of the European Union.
“We will never make concessions over the values of people, the basic principles of our republic. This is our promise. We will embrace Turkey as a whole without discriminating,“ he said at a rally in the capital, Ankara.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed Erdogan’s victory.
The 27-nation bloc, while divided over whether Turkey should one day join the EU, continues to spur Ankara to continue reforms to keep its membership bid on track.
Under Erdogan, inflation has dropped, foreign investment has increased, and the economy has grown at an annual average of 7 percent.
Erdogan attributed his party’s win to public reaction to military interference in his choice of presidential candidate. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was forced to abandon his presidential bid after opponents said Gul’s election would remove the last obstacle to an Islamic takeover of government and the military--instigator of past coups--threatened to intervene to safeguard secularism.
“It was a public reflex against what was done to Gul,“ Erdogan was quoted as telling Milliyet newspaper.
The government will have to decide how to deal with violence by Kurdish rebels seeking autonomy. NATO member Turkey is considering whether to stage an offensive into northern Iraq against separatist Kurdish rebels who are based there.
Two secular parties, the Republican People’s Party and the Nationalist Action Party, won 112 seats and 71 seats, respectively, Anatolia said.

Head of Iran's Cultural and Press Institute (l), Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini (c) and Managing Director of the Arabic Al-Vefaq daily Mosayyeb Naimi are slicing a cake during a ceremony, held in the institute, to celebrate the decade-old activities of the daily, July 23.

TEHRAN, July 23--The Arabic Al-Vefaq daily entered its 10th year of operation, which was celebrated in a ceremony held at Iran’s Cultural and Press Institute.
Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Saffar Harandi, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini and dignitaries from foreign countries attended the gathering to commemorate the decade-old activities of the daily.
Kaveh Eshtehardi, head of the institute, told the gathering that the Arabic daily is a pioneer of friendship and solidarity among Iranians and Arab countries, stressing that the main objective of the daily was to expand relations between Muslims in Iran and around the world.
“Enemies of the Muslim world are inflaming differences, but Al-Vefaq invites everyone to Islamic principles. Founder of Iran’s Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini believed that inviting people to Islam is like inviting them to unity. It is now clear that Al-Vefaq’s staff are treading the same path,“ he said. He pointed out that Al-Vefaq has paved the way for better communications among Iran and other regional and international Arab states.
The head of the institute noted that the Arabic daily has considerably attracted the attention of foreign diplomats in Tehran and their participation in the anniversary of the paper is a good evidence of this claim.
Eshtehardi further said Muslims should fight back the hegemonic powers’ plots, underlining the “defensive Jihad“ which stresses on defending Muslim states when attacked.
He further said cooperation among Muslim states can foil the plots of enemies and the institute plans to publish the Arabic daily in other countries as well.
“We are proud to inform that preparations have been made in this regard,“ he said.

TEHRAN, July 23--The US, by banning related aviation support and services companies from providing services to Iran, has endangered the lives of passengers and created problems, said the minister of roads and transportation.
Mohammad Rahmati added that Iran has filed its complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization against the US through various channels, but Iran has been told not to bring up the issue at the international level and resolve the matter through negotiations, ISNA wrote.
He added that the US government has announced its conditional readiness to sell passenger aircraft parts to Iran to absolve itself of global condemnation but it has never fulfilled its pledges.
“All international aircraft manufacturing companies are ready to supply parts and render services to Iran, but they do not dare do that due to the persistent threats of the US government,“ he said, noting that they render delayed services at a high cost.
Rahmati also said that the boycott created an opportunity for domestic industrialists and researchers to demonstrate their abilities in the sector.
He pointed out that Iran has achieved success in repairing and maintaining various aircraft.
“Even some regional states send their planes to Iran for repair. Presently light aircraft, two-seat planes, drones and paragliders and Iran-140 are produced domestically,“ he said.
Recently, Iran Air Tour Company reached agreements with a Chinese firm to buy 22 McDonnell Douglas aircraft worth $361 million but the chairman of the company’s Board of Directors lashed out at the Bush administration for blocking the purchase of commercial aircraft from China.

TEHRAN, July 23--Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah can target any spot in the occupied Palestine.
Speaking on the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera channel, Nasrallah added that Hezbollah’s missiles can target anywhere in the occupied Palestine, QODSNA reported.
“In July and August (2006), there was no place in the occupied Palestine which was out of the reach of the resistance missiles,“ he said.
Nasrallah noted that about 1,200 Lebanese civilians were killed during the 33-day war, leaving Israel with an ever-lasting shame. “Tel Aviv or anywhere, we were certain that we could hit any corner or spot in occupied Palestine and now we are certain that we can reach them,“ he said.
About 157 Israelis were killed during the 33-day war, many of whom were soldiers.

BAGHDAD, Iraq,
July 23--Al-Qaeda in Iraq already has its hands full, but US intelligence officials say the militant group’s mentors in Pakistan now want to use its formidable resources for attacks on the US.
The war in Iraq has transformed the Al-Qaeda affiliate into a battle-hardened organization with piles of money, sophisticated recruiting networks and some of the world’s most experienced and innovative bomb-makers, officials and analysts say.
A US intelligence estimate released this week said Al-Qaeda core, the parent organization led by Osama bin Laden, “will seek to leverage“ those capabilities for attacks on the United States, AFP reported.
It offered no evidence that Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is actively involved in such plots, however, and intelligence and military officials say most of its resources are currently tied down in Iraq.
Analysts say the concern raised in the assessment is new, and may reflect undisclosed intelligence of messages from Al-Qaeda core urging AQI to carry out operations in Europe or the US.
In late April, the Pentagon revealed it had captured a senior Al-Qaeda operative, Abd Al-Hadi Al-Iraqi, as he was trying to reach Iraq to manage Al-Qaeda operations and possibly plot attacks in the west.
“Al-Qaeda in Pakistan is clearly trying to inspire AQI to use its people and resources to mount attacks where they want,“ said a US counter-terrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
AQI offers two things: money and an elaborate recruiting network, said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer now with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.
“The Al-Qaeda operation and the insurgency in Iraq is so popular in the Muslim world that there is pretty good evidence that AQ in Iraq is awash in money, that it has more than it can spend,“ he said.

TEHRAN, July 23--A six-member task group headed by First Vice President Parviz Davoudi and five ministers is commissioned to study the merger of 38 governmental councils whose duties overlap.
Considering changes in 38 governmental councils was a decision taken by the High Administrative Council, Fars reported.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or his deputy Davoudi preside over the sessions of 38 councils.
The councils are usually in charge of similar and parallel duties. Hence, the government has decided to study which councils can be merged.
Furthermore, the government will specify which council should cede its duties to six governmental committees instead of being merged.
The objective is to form powerful councils.
Other members of the committee are Labor Minister Mohammad Jahromi, Cooperatives Minister Mohammad Abbasi, Science Minister Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi, Housing Minister Mohammad Saeedi-Kia and Justice Minister Gholamhossein Elham.
A member of Majlis Planning and Budget Commission, Morteza Tamadon, said the presence of many councils in the country is a disadvantage and despite holding many sessions to resolve the issue, the government has not gained any result as yet.