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turkmen president arrives in tehran
tehran, feb. 12, irna -- turkmen president safar murad niyazov arrived here today on a two-day visit at the head of a high ranking political- economic delegation and was received by his iranian counterpart akbar hashemi rafsanjani. talking to reporters upon his arrival, niyazov said that he and rafsanjani are to discuss political and regional issues including bilateral and trilateral cooperation. terming iran-turkmenistan ties as "friendly and fraternal", niyazov underlined that relations between iran and turkmenistan are not against any country. he added that turkmenistan does not interfere in any country's internal affairs and maintains friendly relations with islamic iran. he noted that he and president rafsanjani have exchanged 15 visits since turkmenistan emerged as an independent state following the collapse of the soviet union. niyazov added that over the past six years half a million iranian and turkmen people have exchanged visits to each other's country and the 116 agreements signed between the iranian and turkmen officials, have led to expansion of bilateral relations in all spheres. president rafsanjani said in return that regional issues, particularly the afghan conflict, as well as the latest events in the central asian and caucasus republics would be among topics to be discussed between him and his turkmen counterpart during the next two days. he said niyazov's views on the former soviet republics would be of significance for the iranian officials. he added that iran and turkmenistan provide the best model of co- existence with the two sides facing almost no problem in bilateral issues, and if there happen to be any problem, it would be removed in the course of the meetings.
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eu dialogue with iran not constructive enough, says larijani
london, feb. 12, irna -- vice-chairman of iran's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, mohammad javad larijani, wednesday criticised the european union's so-called 'critical dialogue' with iran as ''not constructive enough.'' speaking at a press conference in london, he also said he was not surprised at reports that the u.s. is reviewing its failed policy towards iran. the u.s. was ''losing opportunities every day'' in iran by its hostile and unjustified policy, larijani said. but he added that as yet there was no indication of any change in its stance. with regard to the eu's critical dialogue, he said that this was ''not the right approach'' and that his committee had asked iran's foreign ministry ''to find ways'' to be more productive. his personal preference was to deal with separate issues in a kind of compartmentalised method. eu member states launched an initiative led by france two years ago to improve relations, but this has been blocked by britain raising fresh demands regarding the case of sentenced apostate salman rushdie, who is in hiding in britain in a bid to escape the death penalty. the verdict against the indian born author was passed by the father of the islamic revolution, the late imam khomeini, in accorance with divine lawa in february 1989 following the spilling of muslim blood in india and pakistan by the highly sacrilegious book 'the satanic verses' which openly insults prophet mohammad (sawa) and other messengers of god. although the sentence against rushdie is irrevocable, iran has repeatedly said that it is not going to send a hit team to carry it out. larijani, who is also a member of the supreme national security council, said that it was in iran's interests to have good relations with all states but he believed overall it was imbalanced too much towards europe. he said that he supported a tilt towards asia in foreign policy, saying that relations with some countries, which were better off than some eu states, had not been fully exploited.
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foreign ministry refutes afp report on reasons of mahdavi's home-
coming from south africa
tehran, feb. 12, irna -- a reliable source at iran's foreign ministry here today refuted a report by the agency france presse (afp) and said the iranian ambassador's home-coming visit from pretoria has "nothing to do with the case of a south african citizen detained in iran." an afp despatch on monday had claimed that mohammad sharif mahdavi, the iranian ambassador to south africa, was returning to tehran to expedite the release of south african stuart timm. the foreign ministry source stated that mahdavi will be coming to tehran to attend a seminar starting next week. all iranian envoys serving overseas will be in tehran to attend the seminar within the framework of foreign ministry's protocol, he added. the source pointed out that the south african citizen has been detained due to a number of violations including matters related to the consular affairs. he added that the two countires were in touch in order to try to resolve the problem and that the matter was being followed through its proper channel. the source said that because of this very fact that the south african foreign minister had a phone conversation with his iranian counterpart last week. he finally expressed hope that the matter would soon be resolved in view of the bilateral relations between the two countries and because of the fact that a request has been placed by south african officials to settle the matter.
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tajik speaker meets president rafsanjani
tehran, feb. 12, irna -- president akbar hashemi rafsanjani in his meeting with visiting speaker of the tajik parliament safar ali rajabev here today said that in view of the common cultural and historical ties, there was no hurdle to the broadening of ties between the two countries. after rajabev conveyed to him "the sincere greetings" of the tajik president and briefed him on the latest political, economic and social developments in tajikistan, hojjatoleslam rafsanjani expressed pleasure over the steps being taken for national reconciliation in that central asian republic. iran is resolved to eagerly pursue the process until a durable and honourable peace is achieved in tajikistan, he assured. rajabev thanked iran for its humanitarian assistance to his country and referred to tehran as the source of peace in the region. he added that given its immense capabilities the islamic republic of iran plays a major role in contribution to development and reconstruction in the regional countries.
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kazakh president condoles rafsanjani on bojnourd quake
almaty, feb. 12, irna -- kazakh president nursultan nazarbayev sent a message of condolence to his iranian counterpart akbar hashemi rafsanjani today expressing condolences for victims of the febrary 5 quake in the northeastern iranian city of bojnourd. twin tremblors measuring 5.4 and 6.1 degrees on the richter scale rocked bojnourd and its suburbs in khorasan province last tuesday, leaving about 80 persons dead and 260 injured.
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nateq-nouri meets nakhichevan majlis chairman
tehran, feb. 12, irna -- chairman of the melli majlis (asembly) of the autonomous republic of nakhichevan, wassef talebov, in his meeting here today with speaker of the iranian parliament (majlis), hojjatoleslam ali akbar nateq-nouri called the humanitarian assistance rendered by iran as an indication of islamic spirit. talebov, noting that the accords reached during nateq-nouri's trip to nakhichevan in 1994 have been fulfilled, underlined that the people of the republic of azerbaijan would never forget those who support them in hardship. nakhichevan is part of the republic of azerbaijan. nateq-nouri in reply said the republic of azebaijan has the closest relations with iran with regards to the ideological and cultural bonds and added that "it is our islamic and humanitarian duty to help the muslim people of azerbaijan." he underlined the welfare of the people of nakhichevan and said that economic development can be obtained only through security and tranquility. he called for an end to the 'no war no peace' situation in the karabakh dispute between armenia and azerbaijan, and said the islamic republic of iran respects and supports the territorial integrity and independence of regional countries and condemns any aggression on the legitimate rights of nations. "as before iran voices readiness to play an active role in helping settle the karabakh criss," added the iranian parliamentary speaker. nateq nouri warned foreign powers to avoid interferring in the affairs of iran and azerbaijan affairs, and called for more vigilance by the two nations against foreign plots. certain foreign countries are not happy with the close relationship between iran and azerbaijan, he said, adding that alertness was required for foiling any devilish designs.
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nakhichevan official praises iran's policies
tehran, feb. 12, irna -- wassef talebov, chairman of the melli majlis (assembly) of the autonomous republic of nakhichevan, in his meeting with iranian foreign minister ali akbar velayati here today, said islamic iran's attending to matters related to nakhichevan is a clear demonstration of its balanced policy. at the meeting, talebov thanked the islamic republic of iran for its philanthropic assistance to nakhichevan. the melli majlis chairman also expressed his gratitude for iran's cooperation with nakhichevan in the areas of electricity, gas, bridge construction, railroad link, health and medical care, and cultural matters. he said the people of his country were overjoyed with the resumption of the railroad link to iran because of the prospects of travelling to the holy city of mashhad for pilgrimage to the holy shrine of imam ali ibn musa al-reza (as), the 8th infallible heir of the prophet. velayati said the progress made in the areas of electricity, gas, railroad link, establishment of common border markets, and setting up of dispensaries in nakhichevan were important in the broadening of relations and in meeting the needs of the people. the foreign minister also announced that iran was all set to continue providing humanitarian aid to nakhichevan.
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islamic iran ranks first in the mideast in kidney transplants
dezful (khuzestan), feb. 12, irna -- the dean of the ahwaz medical school, hayat mombini, said here wednesday that "the islamic republic of iran ranks first in the middle east as far as kidney transplant is concerned." the medical official stated over six thousand kindney transplant surgeries were being performed in iran. mombini pointed out that islamic iran was far more advanced in the science of member body transplant surgery in the middle east. he stated that saudi arabia ranked second with over 1,500 kidney transplant surgeries. he also added today iranian surgeons perform the most complicated heart surgery in the country. mombini said other very difficult surgeries which top iranian physicians performed were liver and cornea transplants.
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kazakh daily: islamic iran fully self-sufficent
almaty, feb. 12, irna -- 'igman kazakhstan', a kazakh daily wrote here wednesday that "economically speaking, the islamic republic of iran became self-sufficient soon after the triumph of the islamic revolution (1979)." the daily further wrote that "iranian people obtain every item they need since almost everything is being domestically manufactured." it added that very few items were imported from foreign countries. igman kazakhistan pointed out that "the foreign policy of islamic iran is based on peace, amity, and regional and world stability and security." the daily concluded that "islamic iran has undertaken several peace initiatives concerning the crises in afghanistan, tajikistan, karabakh, kashmir, palestine, sudan, rwanda, somali and zaire. it clearly showed iran's intention in trying to bring about peace in the region and the world.
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closer iran-turkmenistan cooperation called fo
ashkhabad, feb. 12, irna -- bairam mohammadov, a turkmen member of the irano-turkmenistan friendship association, here today called for setting up a closer cooperation with the islamic republic of iran in the cultural fields. speaking at a meeting of the joint friendship association, he said the two countries' cultural commonalities are rooted in history and that more efforts should be made to further strengthen bilateral ties.
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iran, oman discuss bilateral issues
abu dhabi (uae), feb. 12. irna -- iran's ambassador to oman siavash zargar-ya'ghubi, met with oman's minister of the interior ali bin hamoud bin ali al-busaidi, here on wednesday. at the meeting zargar-ya'qubi conveyed a message from iranian interior minister ali mohammad besharati to al-busaidi. the two sides discussed agreements reached between iran and oman on cooperation in the marine borders that they share, as well as measures against smuggling and establishment of direct links between iran's southern provinces and oman. terming irano-omani relations as historical, al-busaidi emphasised that facilitaties required by iranian barge owners will be provided to them and called for boosting trade relations with the islamic republic of iran. he also welcomed the invitation extended to him for visiting iran on behalf of his iranian counterpart.