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quake claims 200 lives in ardebil
ardebil, march 1, irna -- at least 200 persons have been killed and 1,000 injured as a result a quake which hit iran's northwesten cities of ardebil and meshkin shahr and their surrounding villages friday afternoon. some 52 villages south and west of ardebil have been damaged by more than 40 percent. relief teams continue operations to rescue survivers of the quaek. a quake with a magnitude of 5.5 hit ardebil region at 16:31 pm local time on friday.
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tehran summit to strengthen cooperation among islamic countries
kuala lumpur, march 1, irna -- foreign minister ali akbar velayati and his malaysian counterpart abdullah ahmad badawi exchanged views on the summit meeting of the orgnaization of islamic onference (oic) to be held in tehran next december. velayati who arrived here friday on a 2-day visit told irna correspondent that the oic summit meet will consolidate cooperation among the body's members. terming the issues on the agenda of the summit as important, velayati said that the meeting will offer an appropriate opportunity to bring islamic countries closer. in order to fulfill the growing demands of the members, the oic officials should strive to further strengthen the body and find practical ways of promoting economic, cultural and political cooperation among the members, he said. through contacts and consultations with islamic countries and gathering views of the members, iran wants to make sure that he tehran summit will be responsive to the demands and needs of the muslim community and the member states, said the iranian foreign minister. velayati left tehran for kuala lumpur on thursday on the first leg of his 3-nation tour. he is to proceed to indonesia and brunei to invite the heads of these states for the eighth oic summit meet.
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president rafsanjani winds up bushehr visit
tehran, march 1, irna -- president akbar hashemi rafsanjani wound up his 2-day working visit to the southern province of bushehr and returned to tehran friday night. more than 640 development and industrial projects worth rls 8,000 million were commissioned during the president's visit. meanwhile, the executive operations of the project to expand the southern pars gas field started friday at the presence of president rafsanjani. the president referred to the project as one of the largest economic-industrial projects in iran's history. the southern pars gas field, jointly owned by iran and qatar, is one of the largest independent gas fields in the world. it possesses 8,000 million cubic meters of gas reserve worth over dlrs 800 billion. the first stage of the project is to go on stream within three years.
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iran protests against violations by u.s. forces in persian gulf
united nations, new york, march 1, irna -- iran's deputy permanent representative to the u.n. majid takht-ravanchi here friday announced instances of violation of the iranian territory by the u.s. forces in the persian gulf region. in a letter to the u.n. secretary-general kofi annan which was circulated as a document of the security council, takht-ravanchi stressed that the u.s. warships and helicopters positioned in the persian gulf and the sea of oman repeatedly created a nuisance for iranian ships and vessels. on december 9, 1996, after the ship 'ira-shojaat' left bandar-e imam and khour mussa region, it was inspected by a u.s. warship, the letter said adding, the u.s. warship contacted the iranian ship and ordered to reduce its speed and directed the ship to a specific position. it then inquired about the specific contents of the ship. following a thorough investigation, the ship was then allowed to sail towards bandar abbas, it noted. on january 8, 1997, two u.s. helicopters positioned in buoy two of khour mussa channel flew over the ship 'iran matin' which was navigating from bandar-e imam khomeini to bandar abbas, and through a vhf channel ordered the ship to change its course towards kuwait's waters. after the iranian ship contacted the control office in kharg island, it proceeded towards bandar abbas, takht-ravanchi added in his report. an american helicipter flew over the 'iran tabriz' oil tanker, which was leaving buoy six of khour mussa channel on the same date and orderd the ship to change its course, said the letter adding after the oil tanker received a proper course to follow from kharg island, it sailed towards bandar abbas. the iranian envoy voiced iran's protests towards illegal measures taken by the u.s. government and called for an end to such actions.
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iran, kyrgyzstan stress cooperation on women's affairs
bishkek, march 1, irna -- the kyrgyz first lady mrs. maryam aqayev, here friday lauded extensive involvement and presence of iranian women in various social affairs. she made the remark in a meeting with the visiting iranian presidential advisor in charge of women's affairs, mrs. shahla habibi. the two sides exchanged views on closer cooperation between organizations engaged in women's affairs. meanwhile, addressing the international seminar on women, here friday, mrs. habibi said that the limitations created for women in some societies under the name of islam are not in line with islamic instructions. she added that female students occupy the highest number of seats in many university courses especially the specialized ones. there is no restriction for engagement of women in social, cultural, artistic, economic nad political affairs in iran. she further told the seminar that in the islamic republic of iran women work alongside men in all fields and areas while maintaining their high social status. in another development, mrs. habibi and secretary of kyrgyz government ashen abdurazaghov in a meeting on friday called for closer cooperation between the two countries on women's affairs.
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joumblatt calls for greater iran, syria, lebanon cooperation
beirut, march 1, irna -- lebanese minister of state for displaced persons, walid joumblatt here friday emphasized importance of relations between iran, syria and lebanon. he made the remark in an interview with irna correspondent here following a meeting with iran's ambassador to beirut homayoun alizadeh yesterday. joumblatt described the trilateral relations between tehran, damascus and beirut as strategic. closer relations between the three countries will reduce the u.s. pressure on the region and halt israeli conspiracies against the regional countries, he reiterated. commenting on his meeting with alizadeh, the lebanese minister said that the latest developments in lebanon and the whole region were discussed in the meeting. denouncing israeli attacks on residential areas in south lebanon, joumblatt warned that if the zionist regime goes on with its aggressions, it will have to pay a high price.
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iran to assist mozambique in reconstruction of oil refinery
tehran, march 1, irna -- the islamic republic of iran is ready to assist mozambique in the reconstruction of its giant oil refinery, said iran's ambassador to maputo abdulali tavakoli. he told the morning english language daily 'tehran times' that prepartory measures required by the joint venture have already been taken by both governments with work to be undertaken by a company affiliated to the national iranian oil company (nioc). meanwhile, he further added, mahab qods company in iran is to enter into a contract with the government of mozambique for the construction of a dam in the northern part of that country in the near future. in the agricultural sector, the ambassador remarked, the construction jihad ministry and some iranian private sector investors have voiced readiness to help mozambique in mechanizing its agriculture. other areas of bilateral cooperation include a forthcoming contract to be signed between iran's fisheries company and the government of mozambique to further develop the fishing and shrimp-catching industry in iran. on upgrading relations through exchange of delegations, tavakoli said that iran is expecting to host three mozambique cabinet ministers in 1997 - the ministers of foreign affairs, defense and mineral resources and energy he expressed the hope that the mutual understanding and friendship enjoyed by both countries would spur wider cooperation between them in the near future.
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'iran' says expulsion of turkish diplomats definite
tehran, march 1, irna -- according to the persian dialy 'iran' circles close to the iranian foreign ministry on friday confirmed an earlier report of the paper that the turkish ambassador to tehran and consul general to orumiyeh may be expelled from iran. iran on thursday reported that turkish ambassador to tehran osman koruturk and the general consul to orumiyeh, capital of west azarbaijan province, may be expelled from iran. it said the move is in retaliation for attitude of ankara towards iranian ambassador in turkey, mohammad reza baqerir. iran in a follow up report saturday morning said that the circles close to the foreign ministry have said the expulsion ''is definite and near.'' the circles however, added that the time period during which the diplomats must leave iran has is not known. iran added that it was unable to find out the official stance of the foreign ministry.
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110 villagse damaged in ardebil, 15 in sarab
tehran, march 1, irna -- secretary general of the red crescent society of iran ahmad dabagh-zadeh said here saturday that 110 villages have been damaged in ardebil province while more than 200 persons have been killed and 1,050 others injured as a result of the quake which hit the region friday afternoon. two helicopters, over 40 ambulances, several vehicles equipped with life-detecting equipment have taken over relief operations in the quake-stricken areas. so far 2,500 tents, 15,000 blankets, 100,000 canned food, 55 tons of foodstuffs, 3,500 heaters, 3,000 lanterns and other necessary equipment have been sent to the region by the society. meanwhile, head of the natural disasters headquarters of east azarbaijan province ali azar-nejad said that 15 villages in sarab, northwest iran, have been damaged as a result of the quake. arebil governor general ahmadi nejad said that about 5,000 houses in 52 villages of ardebil and meshkin shahr are damaged. several after shocks have jolted the area since the first quake with a magnitude of 5.5 tembeled ardebil and meshkin shahr friday afternoon. meanwhile a report from sanandaj, capital of kurdestan province, this morning said that a quake which hit a number of provincial cities friday afternoon has caused no damage and loss of life. the quake was felt the most in the cities of saqez, baneh, marivan, near ardebil.
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daily: iraqi kurds must be cautious about u.s. plots
tehran, march 1, irna -- a morning daily here saturday recommended the kurds in iraq to be very cautious not to fall prey to the u.s. plots aiming at establishing its hegemony in the region through steering ethnic rivalries. referring to the meetings of the representatives of the two main iraqi kurdish factions with iranian authorities in the past few days on the kurdish issue, 'tehran times' wrote, ''the kurdish leadership in iraq must be very well aware of the fact that the kurdish issue has been invariably abused by the u.s. and certain regional countries to attain their ends.'' the kurds must keep in mind that they can best safeguard their interests if they do not become an instrument in the hands of the u.s. in undermining the territorial integrity of iraq, said the editorial. ''the situation in northern iraq is almost like that of afghanistan: no single group can control that area,'' stressed the article. reiterating that the kurdish leadership must bear in mind that any inter-kurdish rivalry will be in line with the u.s. regional objectives, it noted that no kurdish plan to vindicate the rights of the iraqi kurds must violate iraqi territorial integrity, ''for disintegration of iraq is the u.s. prime objective in the region.'' the more the kurds dissociate themselves from the u.s. and the zionist regime, the more they will get close to their genuine objectives, added the daily. ''iran has proven that it is an impartial and reliable mediator. the kurds must not hesitate to rely on iran's good offices to settle differences among themselves,'' it concluded.
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iran, italy discuss promotion of economic, industrial relations
rome, march 1, irna -- the third seminar on iran-italy economic relations ended its work here friday. hundreds of industrialists, members of parliament, economic and financial officials of italy discussed with an iranian delegation led by minister of mines and metals hossein mahlouji ways to promote economic and industrial cooperation between the two countries. the italian side expressed hope that they could enter into business with central asian countries through iran. the italian government has approved that the italian foreign trade insurance company (sace) resume covering italian exports to iran. the iranian minister expressed satisfaction with the trend of teran-rome relations. mahjouji who is currentlty here heading a delegation also discussed promotion of tehran-rome economic cooperation with various italian officials on friday.
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turkish ambassador, consul general asked to leave iran
tehran, feb. 29, irna -- iranian foreign ministry asked the turkish government on saturday to recall its ambassador to tehran osman korturk and consul general in orumiyeh, west azarbaijan province in a week for their involvement in activites inconsistent with diplomatic norms. iran beleives that based on internationally recognized principles consolidation and preservation of bilateral ties require mutual cooperation and therefore it considers the remarks by certain turkish officials against iran to be unacceptable and in contradiction with the spirit of the friendly ties between the two countries. as before, the islamic republic of iran is for having friendly ties with all its neighbors including turkey, and is ready to share efforts with them to attain such a goal.
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death toll of aredebil quake rises to 350
tehran, march 1, irna -- the death toll of an strong eathquake which hit ardebil in northwestern iran friday has risen to 350 and the number of the injured to 1,650, the governer general of ardebil mahmood ahmadi nejad told irna by telephone on saturday. the quake with a magnitude of 5.5 on the richter scale jolted the region at 16:31 pm local time on friday, inflicting damage between 40 and 100 percent on 56 villages.
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badawi calls on oic to enhance economic cooperation among members
kuala lumpur, march 1, irna -- malaysian foreign minister datuk abdullah ahmad badawi said here on saturday that the organization of the islamic conference (oic) should pay more attention to and spend more time on economic cooperation among its members. badawi, who was talking to reporters after meeting with the visiting iranian foreign minister ali-akbar velayati, expressed hope that the eighth oic summit meet in tehran would help enhance the global role of the oic. he said that the tehran summit should strive for economic cooperation among its members without neglecting such political issues as situation in the middle east, palestine and afghanistan. the oic summit is to be held in tehran from november 6-10, 1997. the malaysian foreign minister expressed hope that the next oic summit would explore ways for oic to encounter the 21st century isues. in their meeting, velayati and badawi discussed tehran-kula lumpur ties and preparations made by tehran for hosting the oic summit meet. earlier today, velayati submitted president akbar hashemi rafsanjani's message to malaysian prime minister mahathir mohamad inviting him to take part in the oic summit meet in terhan.
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iranian foreign minister meets his malaysian counterpart
kuala lumpur, march 1, irna -- iranian foreign minister ali-akbar velayati in a meeting with his malaysian counterpart abdullah ahmad badawi here on saturday that the organization of the islamic conference (oic) should concentrate all its efforts on removing problems faced by the muslim world. velayati, who is here to submit to malaysian premier mahathir mohamad the invitation message of president akbar hashemi rafsanjani to take part in an oic summit meet in tehran, said tehran is fully prepared and has made necessary arrangements to host the oic summit in the best possible manner. the two sides also discussed the latest successful steps taken towrds ending civil war in tajikistan and forming a coalition government comprising government officials and the opposition group, there. velayati said that no change has been made in the nature of israel and what israel proposes today is the same it proposed several decades ago when it was occupying islamic lands.
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rafsanjani invites malaysian premier to attend oic summit in tehran kuala lumpur,
march 1, irna -- iran's foreign minister ali akbar velayati on saturday submitted an invitation letter from president akbar hashemi rafsanjani to malaysian prime minister mahathir mohammad to attend an oic summit meet in tehran. in the meeting, velayati expressed hope that the tehran summit would result in further consolidation of friendship and cooperation among muslim states. mahathir mohammad for his part accepted the invitation and expressed hope that the summit would help find a solution to the problems of the muslim world. the oic summit is due to be held in the iranian capital from november 6-10.
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tremor jolts bojnourd, minoudasht
bojnourd, khorasan prov., march 1, irna -- a tremor measuring four degrees on the richter scale jolted here and parts of minoudasht at 01:07 hours local time (09:37 gmt) saturday. the seismographical base of minoudasht, affiliated to tehran university, registered the epicenter of the tremor at 180 km northeast of minoudasht, in the vicinity of marvtappeh, and maneh and somolqan around bojnourd. the quake caused no damge to life or property.
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irna, athens news agency call for direct exchange of news
tehran, march 1, irna -- managing director of the islamic republic news agency (irna) fereydoon vardinejad and head of athens news agency andreas christodoulides in a meeting here on saturday explored ways of expanding mutual cooperation. vardinejad underlined the need for professional and technical cooperation between the two news agencies, saying that direct exchange of news would help both sides to have a correct understanding of each other. he briefed his greek counterpart on irna's professional, technical and educational potentialities and said that the islamic republic news agency is ready to cooperate with news agencies of friendly countries in such fields. the irna chief said that promotion of cooperation between the iranian and greek news agencies would pave the ground for expansion of cooperation in other sectors. christodoulides said for his part that his view about iran during his short stay here has completely changed and that he did not expect to find the iranian news agency so active and so capable. he said that direct exchange of news and information between the iranian and greek news agencies will meet the needs of the pess in both countries. he expressed hope that bilateral cooperation would expand in all areas once the two news agency signed a cooperation agreement. christodoulides arrived here friday on a three-day official visit at the invitation of the irna managing director.
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iran's fish catch surmounts to 65,000 tons this year
natanz, isfahan prov., march 1, irna -- the amount of fish catch has in iran has reached 65,000 tons this year, showing a 41 percent of rise compared to two years ago, deputy head of the fisheries organization mostafa yasaie here on friday. yasaie, who made the remark at the opening ceremony of a dual- purpose fish farming pool here, said that in light of projects now under implementation, the country's fish output is to exceed 110,000 tons annually by the end of the second five year economic development plan in 1999.
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exhibition of iranian goods opens in dushanbe
dushanbe, march 1, irna -- an exhibition of iranian made goods opened in barbad palace in dushanbe on friday, it was announced here on saturday. some 40 iranian companies have put on display their products including vehicles, household appliances, food stuff and garments, construciton materials and detergents. speaking at the opening ceremony, rasul musavi, iran's ambassador to tajikistan described the exhibition as the first step towards implementing the economic agreements reached between iran and tajikistan. he also said that the cultural and religious commonolities shared by the two countries have provided a suitable grounds for expansion of economic cooperation in the interest of both nations. the opening of the exhibition was also hailed by the mayor of dushanbe as an indication of the growing economic relations between the two countries. mohammad saied obeidollahov also hoped that iranian companies would open more exhibitions in tajikistan. thousands of tajik people visited the exhibition.
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turkish president condoles iranian president on quake disaster
ankara, march 1, irna -- president suleyman demirel of turkey on saturday cabled a message to president akbar hashemi rafsanjani, expressing his consoldences over a deadly earthquake which hit the ardebil province of iran. the turkish president also expressed regret and sympathy with the iranian government and people over the occurence of the disaster in iran. an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.5 on the richter scale rocked rural areas in ardebil province, northwestern iran, on friday afternoon, killing 350 people and inflicting heavy losses on the region.
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majlis speaker's visit to moscow postponed
moscow, march 1, irna -- an informed source said here on saturday that the visit by iranian majlis speaker ali akbar nateq nouri to moscow has been postponed due to the likelihood of drastic changes in the russian government. he said the visit was scheduled to take place in mid april. according to russian media reports president boris yeltsin has assigned prime minister viktor chernomyrdin to reshuffle his government.
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iranian, dutch companies to launch joint activities
tehran, march 1, irna -- iran and dutch companies are to cooperate in the middle east and central asia in export of technical and engineering services, said representative of the iranian joint bureau of technical and engineering services export abolhassan miremadihere on saturday. miremadi said that some 500 iranian consulting engineering companies and about 700 contractor companies are busy working in iran in various fields such as construction of infrastructural installations, power plants, dams, refineries as well as laying oil and gas pipelines. he referred to certain advantages existing in iran like cheap energy, efficient manpower and capability of manufacturing various equipment and machine parts which, as he said, encourage dutch companies to cooperate willingly with iranian counterparts.
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faryab chromite reserves rose up to 3.5m tons
bandar abbas, hormuzgan prov., march 1, irna -- the estimated overall known chromite reserve in faryab mines in roudan in this southern province has reached 3.5 million tons, said deputy minister of mines and metals for minerals and material processing affairs ali kolahdouz here on saturday. kolahdouz said faryab mines with a purity of 35 to 55 percent stand among world's important chromite mines. he also said the mines would provide faryab ferrous compounds plant with necessary materials for coming years. during his visit to bandar abbas's almahdi aluminium complex the deputy minister pointed out that while production cost of one ton of aluminium is dlrs 7,500 according to international standards, the figure for the domestic production of the metal is dlrs 3,500 mainly due to manufacturing of parts of related equipment in the country.-
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death toll in ardebil now rises to 502
tehran, march 1, irna -- the death toll of the friday killer quake in ardebil povince, northern iran, has now reached 502, and upwards of 2,000 have been injured. fifty six villages with a total population of 45,000 have been partly or largely damaged as the result of the quake. an earthquake with a force of 5.5 on the richter scale shook the cities ardebil, meshkin-shahr, sa-ein and nearby villages in the northeastern province of ardebil friday afternoon.--
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iran condemns development of zionist settlements
tehran, march 1, irna -- the iranian foreign ministry on saturday condemned continued development of zionist settlements on the occupied lands, and called for a firm response by muslim nations to the most recent of the zionist challenge. iran's deputy foreign minister for arab and african countries hossein sheikholeslam told irna here saturday that the islamic republic considered palestine as a totally integrated nation no part of that capable of being ceded to the occupying enemy. he said the so-called middle east peace process had been a failure from the outset and had fallen short of securing the least rights of arabs and muslims.
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post-war rehabilitation congress to start sunday
tehran, march 1, irna -- an international post-war rehabilitation congress is to start at allamah amini auditorium of tehran univesity sunday. professionals from 20 countries in addition to iranian experts are to present about 135 papers on the latest scholarships in the field. the first three days of the congress will be in tehran and the remainder period in rehabiliated cities in western and southern parts of iran. participants in the congress are to also visit rehabilitted cities of qassr-e shirin, ilam, mehran, dezful, hoveizeh, abadan and khorramshahr in western and southern iran. the congress is to be inaugurated by president hojatoleslam akbar hashemi rafsanjani sunday.