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president: iran has set model for world muslims
tehran, feb. 18, irna -- president akbar hashemi rafsanjani said here tuesday that 'development and islamization', the model presented by the islamic republic of iran to the human beings will bring about further strength and magnificence to the world of islam. in his message to a seminar on islam and development, read by vice-president for legal and parliamentary affairs ataollah mohajerani at shahid beheshti university in tehran, the president added that the islamic republic of iran through introduction of a spiritual and moral development to the world has displayed the comprehensiveness of islam as a school of thought which could respond to the entire questions put forward in a modern society. the islamic republic, stemmed from islam, is introducing a pattern not only to promote muslims but also to the benefit of the entire humanity, president rafsanjani said.
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iran, ukraine sign letter of understanding on mass media
tehran, feb. 18, irna -- the visiting ukrainian deputy foreign minister konstantin greshenko and his iranian counterpart morteza sarmadi here tuesday signed a letter of understanding on cooperation among the mass media of the two countries. according to the memorandum of understanding (mou), the news agencies and radio and t.v. broadcasting services of the two countries as well as their dailies and magazines would cooperate with each other to exchange news. setting up of working groups by the mass media of iran and ukraine to explore ways of further cooperation is also envisaged in the mou.
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iranian vice-president arrives in athens
athens, feb. 18, irna -- iran's first vice-president hassan habibi arrived in athens tuesday afternoon at the head of a delegation comprising two ministers and several deputy ministers. habibi's 3-day visit to greece is the first official visit by an iranian vice-presdient to a european union member state. the official reception ceremony will be held at the greek prime minister's office today evening followed by the start of official talks between the two sides. habibi and prime minister costas simitis are expected to discuss bilateral relatios, economic cooperation and regional and international developments, iranian diplomatic sources told irna. after their 60-minute talks, simitis will host a dinner in honour of habibi. on wednesday, habibi will receive the honorary medal of the city of athens from mayor dimitris avramopoulos, and later lay a wreath at the unknown soldier's tomb. on the same day, habibi will meet president of the greek parliament apostolos kaklamanis and greece's president costis stephanopoulos. later, he will have a meeting with greek defence minister akis tsochatzopoulos and the leaders of greek political parties, as well as the head of the greek-iranian friendship group in the parliament. on thursday, habibi is expected to visit the archaelogical sites in delphi, 200 km from athens, and museums before flying back home.
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iran, lebanon discuss israel's state terrorism
beirut, feb. 18, irna -- iran and lebanon today reviewed current developments in the region particularly support for the lebanese people in their defence against israel's state terrorism. iranian ambassador to lebanon homayoun ali-zadeh told reporters after his meeting with the lebanese minister of foreign affairs faris bouez, that among issues discussed was promotion of tehran-beirut relations.
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iran to privatize government cold-storages
tehran, feb. 18, irna -- the ministry of commerce is planning to privatize all its cold-storages and to build new ones, commerce minister yahya al-e eshaq said here on tuesday. he said the trade services promotion company, a subsidiary of the commerce ministry, is to use 70 percent of the value from the sale of cold-stores to build new ones. speaking on the side lines of a conference on significance of cold-storages in iran's economic growth, al-e eshaq said the capacity of iran's cold-storages currently stands at 1.5 million tons. the minister concluded that 400,000 tons will be added to the current cold-storage capacity by the end of the second 5-year development plan in 1999.
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mrm names dr. khatami as presidential candidate
tehran, feb. 18, irna -- the majma-e-rohaniuon-e mobarez (mrm) today officially named hojjatoleslam dr. seyyed mohammad khatami as its candidate for iran's 7th presidential elections. mrm secretary, hojjatoleslam mahdi karrubi, announcing the above said his group had held talks on possibility of forming a coalition with the kargozaran-e sazandagi (g-6), but presently the negotiations have stopped. hoj. karrubi, a former majlis speaker, said that since the governing system of the country is a parliamentary one based on the votes of the people, and since the constitution makes explicit mention of parties, "we favour parties with a real working programme." he said mrm hopes that all groups and associations would compete in the presidential elections in a peaceful and healthy manner with respect for the others and would refrain from personal attacks. hoj. khatami, who was minister of culture and islamic guidance from 1982 till 1983, currently serves as a presidential advisor. the other candidates for the presidential elections to be held in june are the current majlis speaker hojjatoleslam ali akbar nateq- nouri and former information minister hojjatoleslam mohammad mohammadi reyshahri.
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sarmadi: iranian media has blunted western inroads
tehran, feb. 18, irna -- deputy foreign minister for communication affairs, morteza sarmadi, in a meeting with ukranian deputy foreign minister, konstantin greshenkov, here tuesday said: "the iranian media had been able to effectively counter the western media onslaught of propaganda, misinformation and disinformation against the islamic republic of iran." sarmadi terming the role of media as "valuable", pointed out that "close cooperation between ukraine and iran in matters related to news exchange has greatly reduced the influence on the one-sided news effects which is meant to serve the interest of certain powers against nations who follow independent policies." he further underlined that "the two nations of ukraine and islamic iran enjoyed very special stances in their respective regions, and it was necessary for kiev and tehran to promote bilateral and multilateral relations in the regional and international arenas." according to sarmadi such an objective could be achieved through frequency of talks, exchange of delegations and liaisons between the two countries. he stated that the islamic republic was willing to broaden bilateral relations in wide variety of ways in the areas of media and cultural cooperation. the iranian foreign ministry official stressed that "cultural and media relations are the bases for preparing ground for the general public of the two countries to better understand each other." "such ties," he added, guarantees the deepening of bilateral relatiions in the political and economic spheres." greshenkov in response said the objective of his visit to the islamic republic was to follow up the implementation of the memmoranda of understanding inked by the two nations. he summed up his talks with iranian officials as "very fruitful" and stated that the senior officials of both the countries are determined to see to the expansion of bilateral relations in the areas of oil, banking, manufacture of machinery and exchange of technology. greshenkov also concurred with sarmadi on the issue of media relations which afford full opportunities to the peoples of two nations to learn more about each other.
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habibi cables message to turkish premier
athens, feb. 18, irna -- iran's first vice-president hassan habibi while overflying turkish air space on his way to turkey cabled a message to turkish prime minister necmettin erbakan, reminding him of the deep cordial relations between the two brotherly nations of iran and turkey. habibi's message expressing the warm regards of the iranian people and government to the turkish people and government, emphasized on the two nations' longstanding fraternal ties.