TEHRAN, Aug. 11--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Saturday felicitated the Iranian nation, the Muslim community and the human society on the auspicious occasion of Mab’ath.
The occasion marks the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) public announcement of his prophethood.
Addressing high-ranking officials, Ayatollah Khamenei urged all Muslim nations to unite around the teachings of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and thwart the conspiracies of enemies aimed at creating discord among Muslims, IRNA reported.
The leader said wisdom, morality and justice were the three important messages of the great prophet of Islam.
Referring to the sufferings and problems of modern societies, he said, “Human beings desperately need the teachings of divine messengers, all of which can be found in Islam and the Holy Qur’an.“
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that human societies are experiencing two terrible sufferings in the modern world, the first of which is the wrong way of life shown to people as the way to happiness and the second is the fact that the most corrupt people are controlling world affairs.
Elaborating further, the leader said, “Nowadays, the most corrupt people are hoisting the flag of reforming the world and the satanic and arrogant power of the US, which intends to impose its despotic rule over all human societies, accuses Islam of terrorism and of being reactionary while it, itself, is the root cause of oppression to Muslim nations and terrorism, corruption, wars and bloodshed.“
Expressing sorrow over the problems of Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Today, the Muslim world is wounded and corrupt people, who are the enemies of all Muslims, are trying to cause disunity in the Islamic world by intensifying ethnic differences and separating people under names such as ’Shiite and Sunni’, ’Arabs and non-Arabs’.“
Prior to the leader’s remarks, President Ahmadinejad congratulated Muslims on the auspicious occasion and said the ultimate goal of divine prophets has been to establish societies on the basis of justice, which are administered by the righteous.
The meeting was also attended by Muslim countries’ ambassadors based in Tehran.

On the eve of the Muslim MabÕath, a ceremony was held to install graduates from the Sunni theological school in Zahedan, Aug. 10.

ZAHEDAN,
Sistan-Baluchestan, Aug. 11--Thousands of Sunnis stressed Islamic solidarity in a ceremony held in Zahedan on the eve of the Muslim Mab’ath--the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) public announcement of his prophethood.
Senior Sunni muftis from all over the world as well as Shiite leaders attended the ceremony, which was held to install graduates from Zahedan’s Sunni theological school.
Molana Abdul-Hamid, president of the theological school, said during the ceremony that all Muslims should stick to Islam’s principles and avoid differences.
He noted that Iranian Sunnis like Shiites are ready to defend their country and take any steps in this regard, stressing that all Muslims should consider Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) way of living and Qur’an as the two main bases for strengthening their unity.
“One of the main problems of Muslim world is their lack of solidarity. Enemies want to use this as a tool for ruling over them. It is necessary for Shiites and Sunnis to avoid differences and unite under Islam,“ he said.
Zahedan is the southeastern city of Iran, in which a majority of Iranian Sunnis are living. More than 80 foreign guests from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Egypt and Jordan attended the two-day ceremony.
Ahmad Radar, the leader’s representative in Zahedan, Dahmardeh, governor of Sistan-Baluchestan province, and lawmakers from Majlis and Islamic Solidarity Assembly as well as Friday prayer leaders were among those who spoke at the ceremony.
The leader’s representative said Iran respects the rights of all minorities, including Sunni Muslims, and the country is ready to take all steps to implement the leader’s call of Islamic solidarity.
Sheikh Mohammad Ebrahim, Medina’s chief judge who was attending on behalf of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, told Iran Daily that foreign forces in the region are plotting to inflame differences between Shiites and Sunnis and exploit them to meet their own vested interests.
Molana Fazlur-Rahman, head of a Pakistani parliamentary faction who headed a team of seven Baluchestan ministers, stressed the need for unity among Muslims.
“The US is now increasing troops in the region to take advantage of its natural resources and Muslims should be vigilant and foil the hegemonic power’s plots,“ he said.

BAGHDAD, Iraq,
Aug. 11--The US should focus its political, security and economic efforts in Iraq toward reducing sectarian strife and other violence, but should also start planning now for the possibility that these efforts will not succeed.
The RAND Corporation study released this week also recommends the United States reassess its efforts in Iraq, concluding that the single biggest issue in Iraq is the daily violence faced by the nation’s population.
That violence is now caused primarily by sectarian fighting, rather than from insurgents or criminal violence, according to researchers.
“You cannot proceed with recovery and building a stable society when people fear for their lives,“ said Olga Oliker, lead author of the report and a senior policy analyst at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
“The United States needs to reassess its strategies in Iraq and make plans for its next steps.“
The RAND report was completed before the recent military surge and is based on more than a year of research, which included travel to the region and extensive interviews with analysts and officials from Iraq and the US.
In addition, several members of the research team have worked in Iraq as advisors to US and Iraqi officials. The report was produced by RAND Project AIR FORCE with support from the US Air Force.
Researchers outline five often-discussed policy options for the United States in Iraq and discuss the significant shortcomings that are seen with each approach.
The options are: 1) mounting an overwhelming military force, 2) partitioning Iraq along ethnic lines, 3) maintaining current troop levels, 4) backing one side over another in the current sectarian strife, and 5) withdrawing US forces.
The RAND report recommends that US officials reassess political, security and economic efforts to assure that as long as US forces remain in Iraq, all policies are focused on improving security for Iraqis.
If the US hopes to build and maintain a strong central government in Iraq, the researchers say, America must work to prevent a Kurdish takeover of oil-rich Kirkuk, prevent creation of additional autonomous regions that could lead to partitioning, and help the central Iraqi government maintain control over oil revenues.
If the US is to strengthen Iraq’s security forces and enable them to take the primary role in containing sectarian violence (rather than contributing to it), the US must pursue strategies to make those forces less sectarian, more professional and focused on protecting citizens.

TEHRAN, Aug. 11--Iran’s students team on mathematics from Sharif Industrial University ranked third in the 14th International Mathematics Competition held in Bulgaria.
According to the university’s Public Relations Office on Friday, 140 teams from 36 reputable universities competed in the 14th IMC, which was held in Blagoevgrad University, Bulgaria, during 3-9 August 2007, IRNA reported.
In the competition, Iran grabbed six gold, one silver and one bronze medals and ranked third after Hungary and Russia, which stood at first and second places respectively.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11--Control of energy is the United States’ foremost concern, an eminent political analyst says.
Effective control of the Middle East’s energy resources has been and continues to be America’s primary concern, Noam Chomsky said.
In his new book ’Interventions’, he writes that control is understood to be an instrument of global dominance, Daily Times reported.
The US sees Iran’s influence in what it calls “The Shiite Crescent“ as a serious challenge to its desire to control the region’s energy resources.
By an accident of geography, the world’s major oil resources, along with some of the major natural gas reserves, happen to be in largely Shiite areas of the Middle East, namely southern Iraq, adjacent regions of Saudi Arabia and Iran.
A loose Shiite alliance controlling most of the world’s oil independently of the United States would be Washington’s worst nightmare.
Chomsky believes that such a bloc, if it emerges, might even join the Asian Energy Security Grid and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, based in China.
Iran, which already had observer status in the grouping, is reportedly to be admitted as a full member.
Under Bush, there has been a rebuttal of diplomatic efforts in favor of increasing threats of direct attack on that country. However, despite the saber-rattling, the US is unlikely to attack Iran because of strong world opposition, as well as 75 percent of Americans being in favor of diplomacy over military threats against Iran.
He quotes British military historian, Corelli Barnett, as saying, “An attack on Iran would effectively launch World War III.“
Chomsky writes that the Bush administration has left disasters almost everywhere it has turned. In desperation to salvage something, the administration might undertake the risk of bringing about even greater disasters.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 11--For almost four years, the United Nations has kept itself at arms length from the turmoil of Iraqi politics--but next week, that could all change.
The death of a revered senior official--seen by many as a future secretary-general--and 21 others, in a devastating attack on their Baghdad headquarters in 2003, led to almost total withdrawal, BBC reported.
Since then, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has consisted of just a few hundred staff, providing logistical support mainly for elections and monitoring human rights.
But following the relative success of a Security Council resolution on Darfur earlier in the week, Anglo-American diplomats at the UN are confident they have the votes to empower a new ’heavyweight’ mission.
“It’s straightforward,“ said Britain’s outgoing UN ambassador Sir Emyr Jones Parry when asked about the new draft resolution, which would extend and widen the UN role.
Crucially, the Russian ambassador gave his approval to the draft on Thursday, indicating that the permanent member would not be resorting to the veto when it comes before the Security Council next week.
“It’s overall a good draft. Some work, of course, may be required,“ ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters. “But I don’t see any basic problems.“
One Western diplomat told the BBC that the Iraqi government itself had been fully consulted over the draft, and that no progress would be made without its full cooperation.
It is hoped that the newly extended mission would play a major role in healing sectarian rifts, settling boundary disputes, and planning a national census.
It’s becoming clear that the sticking point may come much closer to home than Baghdad.
A UN spokesman said that concern over staff security was still paramount, and there was no guarantee that the mission would increase in size with an enhanced mandate.
No UN troops are included in the draft resolution, and the mission will be relying on mainly American and British soldiers for security.
Haunted by the memories of the 2003 truck bomb, the staff union here at UN headquarters has the power to resist a new wave of deployment, if they don’t get the reassurances they need.
Even if there is a clear majority on the 15-member Security Council already emerging, some member countries have concerns about how effective the UN can ever be while it has to rely on others for protection.
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told the BBC, “The only credible light for the Iraqi people is to see a timetable set up for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.“
Syria shares a border with Iraq and is home, for the time being, to around 1.5 million Iraqi refugees.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 11--Lebanese sources have proposed cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia as one of the solutions to the country’s ongoing political crisis.
The Lebanese daily Al-Safir has proposed two solutions to resolve the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon.
Its first solution is for Iran and Saudi Arabia to mediate in bringing together the supporters of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s Western-backed administration and the opposition groups pushing for a national unity government.
The second solution proposed is an international assembly on Lebanon attended by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the US, France, EU, Russia, Egypt and the Arab League.
The Lebanese daily reports that under the former, both sides could reach an agreement on a new Lebanese presidential candidate and accordingly a new prime minister.