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athens says its position towards iran is same as it was friday
athens, april 15, irna -- greece said monday that it had not revised its decision not to recall its ambassador from tehran. greek government spokesman dimitrius repass said in an interview with the press here monday that athens had already on sunday announced its position in relation to a ruling last week by mykonos court of berlin that incriminated iran in the killing of four persons at mykonos restaurant of berlin in 1992. he said greece had good relations with both iran and germany and intended to adopt a final decision to the best interests of all sides. the greek government spokesman had said friday that athens did not agree with the european union's decision to recall its ambassador from tehran. meanwhile, greek foreign minister george papanderou said in a separate interview with the press here monday that the topic of the ruling of mykonos court was not in the agenda of talks in the tuesday meeting of representatives of member states of the eurpean union (eu) in malta tuesday. iran's foreign minister ali akbar velayati on sunday participated in a ceremony at the greek embassy in tehran on the occasion of the national day of greece.
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chemical wounded in gazvin called for conviction of german arm dealrs
gazvin, april 15, irna -- a group of disabled and wounded veteran soldiers of gazvin who had been poisoned with the chemical warfare during the 8-year war with iraq called for conviction of those german companies who sold chemical warfare to iraq. the victims appealed to the judiciary system to make known the culprits and those of the german officials involved in the deal, to the world community to be prosecuted as war criminals. there are some 130 people suffering from chemical weapons in the city.
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asian union for barter trade to hold annual meeting in iran
tehran, april 15, irna -- the 26th annual meeting of the board of directors of the asian union for barter trade will be held in tehran on may 5. representatives of the economic and social commission for asia and the pacific (escap) and the united nations conference on trade and development (unctad) will take part in the annual meeting. governors of central banks of turkey, turkmenistan, tajikistan and vietnam will attend the meeting as observers. the agenda of the meeting will be to study the range of operation of the union and increasing its members as well as granting membership to turkmenistan and tajikistan and encouraging turkey and vietnem to apply for membership in the union. governor of central bank of iran (cbi) mohsen nourbakhsh will chair the annual meeting. bangladesh, india, iran, myanmar, nepal, pakistan and sri lanka are present members of the union.
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islamic culture and communication organization condemns mykonos verdict
tehran, april 15, irna -- the organization of islamic culture and communication condemned the plot hatched by the so-called mykonos court. in a statement issued here on monday, the organization said ''today every body in independent and freedom-loving countries and the intelligentsia in various societies know that accusing a system which has always been an advocate of human values, will result in nothing but shame and disgrace for the accusers.'' ''the international zionism has once again shown its old enmity with islam and muslims, this time, through the mykonos court, revealing to the world its appalling and anti-human face.'' the statement concluded.
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interior minister says americans have been behind berlin court
tehran, april 15, irna -- iran's minsiter of the interior alimohammad besharati told visiting ambassador of qatar ali al-quari here monday that he saw the hands of the united united states and the zionist regime behind the last week ruling of the berlin court. he said by their artifice, washington and the zionist regime had misled germany and a number of other european countries. the iranian minister said that rallies in iran during the past few days was demonstration of the anger of the people of iran at the german handling of the controversial ruling of the berlin court. he said iran had long since suffered from acts of terrorism and added that earlier on the americans and the zionist regime had gone to every length to prove that iran had a hand in the the bomb blast at the zionist embassy in buenos aires, in the crashing of a t.w.a. airline and also in the explosion of dhahran base in saudi arabia in all which efforts, he said, they had bungled. the visiting ambassador of qatar, meanwhile, offered his felicitations to the interior minister of iran on the occasion of the iranian new year and the religious feast of eidul-adha, and expressed hope that relations relations between iran and qatar would steadily develop in the future.
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majlis speaker of iran signs letter of understanding in kazan
kazan, april 15, irna -- visiting speaker of the islamic consultative assembly of iran (majlis) hojatoleslam akbar hashemi rafsanjani here monday signed a letter of understanding with the president of tatarestan shaimyev in the area of trade, oil and transportation industry. according to the letter of understanding, iran and tatarestan will cooperate for erecting an auto plant for maufacturing peugeots and renault cars and will also estabish direct flight service between the capitals of the two countries. iran and tatarestan also intend to open a new chapter in their trade relations. the speaker of the majlis of iran nateq nouri arrived in kazan on an official visit on sunday.
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majlis speaker meets with russian prime minister
moscow, april 15, irna -- prime minister of russia viktor chernomyrdin told visiting majlis speaker of iran hojatoleslam ali-akbar nateq nouri here monday that his government was keen to broaden economic relations and industrial cooperation with iran. he added relations between tehran and moscow is the business of the two countries and that issues between other governments could not adversely affect tehran-moscow relations. chernomyrdin said that he was informed of the ruling of the berlin court in connection with the killing of some persons at mykonos restaurant of berlin some years ago, but that the issue was the business of iran and that iran was able to handle all problems. he said iran and russia should collaborate rather than compete in the area of gas and oil. in the meeting between visiting majlis speaker of iran and the prime minister of russia here monday two agreements were signed for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. on the basis of a letter of understanding signed monday, iran and russia agreed to make joint investments in phase two of pars oilfield of iran. russia has also undertaken the operations for phase four of pars oilfield of iran. the two countries are also to cooperate for establisthing an institution for policy making on gas. the speaker of the legislative assembly of iran arrived in mocow last thursday and left the russian capital for tehran monday night.
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iran describes washington post article biased, unfounded
new york, united nations, april 15, irna -- iran's permanent mission to the u.n. has categorically dismissed allegations levelled by an american newspaper linking iran with the bombing in saudi arabia. the mission considered the allegations as biased, unfounded and pure fabrication. the washington post in an article on april 13 alledgely linked iran with the bombing in a u.s. military compoud in dharan, saudi arabia, last june in which 19 u.s. servicemen were killed. in a press release issued monday in reaction to the washington post report, iran's permanent mission said tehran views the report, ''in light of the practice of certain western quarters to exploit any situation to feed the public their not so-hidden any more agenda of anti-iran propaganda. and of course, what situation better than that which was engineered last week by the political masquerade in a local german court in which a number of well-known sworn enemies of iran were paraded as credible witnesses against iran.'' it added, ''the article in question and other media reports on the issue are permeated with conjectures, fiction stories, and pure allegations and then find comfort in concluding as the washington post article has done, that evidence appears to show a conclusive linke to iran.''
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speaker returns home, says moscow visit was a success
tehran, april 15, irna -- majlis speaker hojatoleslam ali akbar nateq nouri ended a five-day visit to russia and arrived home tuesday morning describing his visit as successful. the speaker who visited moscow at the head of high-ranking political-economic delegation held talks with a number of russian senior officials including president boris yeltsin, prime minister viktor chernomyrdin and foreign minister yevgeny primakov. during visit which took place at the invitation of the state duma speaker, gennady seleznyov, a number of agreements were signed between the two countries. upon arrival at tehran's mehrabad airport, nateq nouri termed the outcome of his visit to moscow and talks with russian officials as very positive. he added that further promotion of tehran-moscow relations was stressed by iranian and russian officials.
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daily: deterioration of iran-eu ties in u.s., zionist interests
tehran, april 15, irna -- a morning daily tuesday said that the rift created between iran and eu stems from u.s. and zionist plots as well as british intrigues, stressing that deterioration of iran-eu ties is indeed in the interests of the u.s. and zionist circles. while most of eu members advocate an independent line of action, britain has left no stone unturned to sabotage eu's independence in order to make the union subservient to washington, wrote the english language 'tehran times' in its editorial. ''britain is trying to fan the flames of iran-eu rift to fish in troubled waters,'' said the article, adding that iran must not allow its trade with britain get out of proportion. ''it is not feasible to boost ties with a country that spearheads anti-iran campaign in eu,'' it commented and suggested that instead of depending on those who try to politicize trade, ''we must rely on asia, for asian countries are not bullying.'' it remarked that china is an emerging economic giant and that there are other asian tigers that can meet a great chunk of iran's demands in tarde and industry. ''despite its preoccupation with its transitional economy, russia is still a great power willing to expand its ties with iran,'' said the daily. in conclusion it said that the iranian policy makers must provide for a shift from economic depenence on europe to reliance on asian countreis as major trade partners.
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more groups, personalities condemn german court ruling
tehran, april 15 , irna -- the islamic students association of u.s. and canada in a statement released monday condemned the verdict of the german court against the islamic republic of iran. the statement said the biased verdict of the german court has touched the hearts of millions of muslims worldwide. the move of the german court was prejudiced as it was based on false evidence and testimonies given by a group of criminal fugitives and traitors. this, added the statement, is against all international norms and cannot be considered anything more than a political case engineered by global arrogance and zionist forces. the insults against the sanctities of the muslims by the german court is just another link in the chain of dangerous conspiricies hatched against islam as witnessed in the case of the satanic verses, it added. against the background of these conspiracies, iran has been accused by global arrogance of supporing terrorism notwithstanding the fact that in iran, so many ulemas, intellectuals and state officals have fallen victims to acts of such terrorism. the statement went on to added that the main supporter of state sponsored terrorism is the usurper regime of qods. it stressed that an appropiate answer should be given to this blind justice by the german court which is nothing but an insult and an unwise political move. meanwhile, a group of political figures and ulemas from a number of countries have also condemned the ruling of the german court and described it as an insult to the sanctities of islam. despite the presence of saudi police around the residence of the head of the iranian hajj pilgrims in mecca, a number of ulemas and religious scholars in a meeting with hojatoleslam mohammad mohammadi reyshahri yesterday stated that german government should not place itself before the anger of millions of muslims who are devoted to the slamic revolution and itsleadership. sunni and shiite ulemas residing in germany , holland and belgium in a meeting with hojatoleslam reyshahri said the the muslims of europe have experienced the anti-isalm stand taken by the american administration and israel and any verdict passed by european courts against the muslims shows the influence of the u.s. and israel in the courts. they added that the ruling of the berlin court serves no other effect than act as a warning to millions of muslims residing in europe and america. the ulemas and intellectuals further expressed complete support for the islamic revolution and the leader of the revolution, ayatollah ali khamenei.
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daily: ashkhabad summit, a landmark for eco region
tehran, april 15, irna -- the english language daily 'iran news' tuesday said that the forthcoming summit meeting of the 10-member economic cooperation organization (eco) in ashkhabad, turkmenistan, is different from previous gatherings as it is to be held at a crucial juncture in world history. the fate of over 300 million people of this region can be changed drastically if the summit, scheduled on may 13-14, makes the necessary decision, wrote the daily. most of the 10 countries are in a strategically important part of the world with rich natural resources and labor, the article said, adding that iran, pakistan and turkey are important consumer goods markets so are the republics of central asia. stressing that regional cooperation is the best possible vehicle for promoting the interests of regional people, the daily remarked that problems in the region should be solved by the regional countries. ''let us forget trivial differences that may exist between us and shape the future for the people of this region. if so, the ashkhabad summit will serve as a landmark for the developed, prosperous and peaceful region of eco,'' the paper said in conclusion.
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students ask annan to condemn germany
tehran, april 15, irna -- a group of students of shahed university who have been wounded by the chemical weapons supplied to iraq by germany during the imposed war, here tuesday protested to the politically-motivated ruling of the berlin court. the protest was made in a letter to the u.n. secretary general kofi annan. the students termed the ruling of the berlin court as invalid because has been based on unfounded accusations. the letter was signed by university students who either lost their father or they themselves have been wounded in the course of deployment by iraq of chemical weapons supplied by germany during the 1980-88 war. shahed university is one of the educational institutes which is mainly at the service of sons and daughters of the martyrs, the disabled and the missing in action of the imposed-war and revolution. scars of the chemical weapons in the bodies of the injured and their sufferrings are proof to the outrageous crimes of germany and the european union against the iranian nation, the studen s said. stressing that iran has always been a victim of terrorism, the students called for u.n. condemnation of germany and countries which supplied iraq with lethal chemical weapons during the imposed war. political analysts believe that despite the silence of bonn on deployment of chemical weapons by iraq during the imposed war, evidences found after the end of the war indicate broad cooperation of german companies with iraq in production of chemical weapons. the german companies sent the materials and equipment needed for production of these lethal weapons to iraq.
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hojatoleslam reyshahri stresses unity among muslims
mecca, april 15, irna -- head of the iranian hajj pilgrims hojatoleslam mohammad mohammadi reyshahri said here monday that the leader of the islamic revolution ayatollah ali khamenei favors further consolidation of friendship and fraternity between muslim nations of the two countries. hojatoleslam reyshahri made the remark in a meeting with the head of the hajj pilgrims from the azerbaijan republic, sheikholeslam shekar pashazadeh. stressing unity among muslims, hojatoleslam reyshahri said hajj ceremony provides the best forum for promoting unity among world muslims. about 700 azeri pilgrims perfomed the annual hajj rituals this year, 400 of whom arrived in saudi arabia via iran. in another development, hojatoleslam reyshahri referred to the iranian muslim nation as a prominent example of a monotheist nation. hojatoleslam reyshahri made the remark at a special gathering of sunni muslims of iran and afghanistan titled 'mecca, center of monotheism' here monday evening. the islamic republic of iran has stood against all political, military, cultural and economic conspiracies of the arrogant powers thanks to the islamic revolution, leadership of the late imam, guidance of the leader of the islamic revolution ayatollah ali khamenei and martyrs' blood, said hojatoleslam reyshahri.
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Speaker summs up outcome of moscow visit
tehran, april 15, irna -- hojatoleslam ali akbar nateq nouri, speaker of the majlis, in a press conference here tuesday outlined the important points of his visit to russia and replied to questions put forward by 21 local and foreign reporters on the latest political developments. on his recent visit to russia, nateq-nouri said that he had fruitful meetings with high level russian officials, religious leaders and iranians residing in moscow as well as visits to st. petersburg and autonomous tatarstan republic. he stated that all objectives of the trip were met and a number of economic agreements were signed. the majlis speaker stated that bilateral and multilateral political and economic relations and the crises prevailing in the region came up for discussion and all russian officials expressed readiness to maintain and expand existing ties with iran. iran along with russia, china and the newly-independent countries of central asia can form the axis of a regional grouping, an idea which was welcomed by boris yeltsin and other russian officials, he told reporters. he also touched on signing of several letters of understanding on cooperation, construction of topolev 330 aircraft in iran, establishment of trade and commerce bureaus, building of underground railway wagons, drilling for petroleum and gas, russian participation in the pars gas field project and the establishment of ic production factories. he added that during the visit, discussions were also held on air and sea lines between the two countries, joint production of automobiles and the transfer of technology for topolev 214 aircraft with the tatarstan republic. in reply to a question put forward by xinhua news agency of china about the ruling of the berlin court, the protest demonstration of the people and students against germany and the steps taken to protect the lives of foreign nationals in iran, nateq nouri said that it is a matter of regret that the germans have taken such an illogical step. ''it is quite natural that the nation is concerned about it and protests this illogical act. of course this does not mean that the lives of foreign nationals here are in danger. we consider it our duty to protect the lives of foreign nationals in iran,'' he added. ''we have observed and are observing all international regulations and you can be certain that our people have never harmed lives of others nor they ever will. this is happening at a time when the germans could not stand up to the terrorist monafiqeen who threatened and set fire to our embassy there. this shows our ability and the unity existing between our government and people.'' in reply to a question by ap correspondent on a demand made by some majlis deputies to review the relations with germany, nateq nouri said the government will surely study the matter and give a response. in reply to a question whether iran will wait for a response by the german government before making any revolutionary move, the speaker said, ''before everything else we must consider our national interests and see how best to protect it.'' in reply to a question put forward by irna on substituting oil revenues by income from other sources, nateq nouri stated that the oil revenues are not a reliable support and according to the instructions of the leader encouraging breaking away from dependence on oil, the present circumstances allow to make alternative plans. the speaker of the majlis also emphasized the need to revise taxation procedure and said that the present taxation system is such that the government employees and small businesses are compelled to pay taxes but certain people who have amassed wealth avoid paying taxes by various means. this should be rectified, he told reporters. more
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u.s. should recognise islamic revolution, says pelletreau
london, apr. 15, irna -- the u.s. must open the door to iran wider than in the past and make clear that it recognises the islamic revolution, says robert pelletreau, who retired in january as assistant secretary of state for near east affairs. he concedes that existing u.s. measures, including sanctions, have done nothing to change iranian policies that washington finds impossible and suggests that the clinton administration should not shy away from a ''full agenda dialogue with iran.'' his call, made at last week's international finance conference in washington, coincided with deputy assistant secretary of state for energy, sanctions and commodities, william ramsay, becoming the first member of clinton's new team to urge a reappraisal of sanctions policy. it also follows a growing list of former officials calling for the u.s. president to review his failed policy of trying to isolate iran during his second term. pelletreau said that it was ''not surprising there has been no serious reaction or response'' from tehran to the ''rather passive and dismissive way'' u.s. offers of dialogue had been made in the past and suggested it must do more by opening the door wider. washington, he said, should ''make clear that it recognises the fact of the iranian revolution and is not trying to overthrow the existing iranian government.'' it should also ''not hesitate to deny rumors and unfounded reports to the contrary,'' he added. according to extracts of his speech quoted by energy compass, the former assistant secretary of state proposed that iranian leaders should continue to make it clear repeatedly and publicly that they do not support terrorism, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and seek peaceful relations with other persian gulf countries. pelletreau's concern was not only that u.s. policy had failed but that its sanctions against iran may have implications for long-term global energy security in meeting foreseeable demand increases early next century and stifling central asia development. in his address, ramsay did not go into detail of any current sanctions regime, but said that the cost can be ''very high'' in terms of lost exports and markets and in poisoning u.s. relations with targeted countries. acting alone, he said, was expensive and contentious in finding others had replaced the u.s. and also ''aggravates our allies.''
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berlin court verdict against iran one-sided: paper
islamabad, apr. 15, irna -- a pakistani newspaper termed verdict of the berline court against iran one-sided and wrote that its pronouncement against iran seems to have no legal validity. daily the nation in its editorial tuesday, commenting on a german court's decision said, "iran is not likely to succumb to this pressure as it has denounced the verdict and has denied any hand in the murder of kurd opposition leaders". the editorial said that america was trying to persuade its european allies to isolate iran completely by declaring her a terrorist state. "a trade embargo against iran that the u.s. wants europe to impose is not likely to find much support in europe because many european countries including germany and france may have second thoughts on the diplomatic stand-off that they precipitated when they meet to review the situation at the end of this month, the paper wrote. the paper called upon the oic to initiate diplomatic efforts to keep the current tensions within limits. "condemning a country without giving it the opportunity to defend itself is bad for international harmony and peace", the editorial concluded.
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iran, iraq swap bodies of soldiers
shalamcheh, april 15, irna -- the bodies of 20 iranian soldiers who attained martyrdom during the iraqi imposed war (1980-88) were exchanged for bodies of 55 iraqi soldiers, at shalamcheh border region tuesday. brigadier general mirfaisal baqerzadeh, head of the committee in charge of search for those missing in action, also exchanged views with his iraqi counterpart rabah ali on swap of the remaining bodies. the bodies of the 20 iranian martyrs were found in ammara region in iraq.
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habibi's message handed over to syrian prime minister
damascus, april 15, irna -- the visiting iranian minister of education mohammad ali najafi met here on tuesday with syrian prime minister mahmoud az-zoubi and submited to him the message of iran's first vice president hassan habibi. in the meeting, the iranian minister studied the accomplishment of the cultural protocol between the two countries which was signed during the last year's visit of the syrian prime minister to tehran. the agreement is about exchange of university instructors and students, researchers and cultural-educational cooperation between iran and syria. in the meeting, az-zoubi underlined the expansion of an all-out eductational cooperation between the two countries. najafi arrived in damascus on monday night on an official visit. he is due to convey the verbal message of iranian president akbar hashemi rafsanjani to syrian president hafez al-assad.
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university students hold demonstation before german embassy
tehran, april 14, irna -- hundreds of university students held demonstration in front of german embassy in tehran on monday. the law enforcement forces have cordoned off the embassy and ferdows street where the embassy is located is under strict conrol of the special guards protecting the embassy. the students chanting slogans urged the german government to make formal apology to iranian nation for the blunder perpetrated by a german court against iran. the special guards protecting german embassy in tehran arrested some of the university students who attempted to break into the security line of the embassy. police have cordoned off the whole ferdowsi streest leading to the embassy. the spokesman of the students warned the embassy officials that they would seize the embassy unless the german government make a formal apology to iranian nation and retreat from hostility against iran. the demonstration caused traffic jam in the streets nearby the embassy where police prevented the protesters from reaching the embassy compound.
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production in kerman copper mill up 20 percent
tehran, april 14, irna -- some 27,270 tons of copper products was produced in kerman's shahid bahonar copper production factory during last iranian year(ending 21 march 1997). the figure has been 20 percent higher than that of the previous year. last year 31 percent of the factory's output was exported to taiwan, turkey, germany, singapore, the united arab emirates, hong kong, oman and bahrain. shahid bahonar copper industries was awarded iso 9002 international standard certificate last year.
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98 kg of narcotics confiscated in yazd
yazd, april 14, irna -- law enforcement forces in this central province of iran have confiscated a total of 98 kilograms of narcotics over the past two days, it was announced here on monday. the drugs were discovered during a routine check of vehicles most of them in harat, a town near mehmiz where 74 kilograms of the drugs were seized. along with the drug haul and also confiscation of some contraband goods, 128 smugglers have been arrested and handed over to judiciary officials.
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majlis speaker gives interview in kazan
kazan tatarestan, april 14, irna -- speaker of majlis, the legislative assembly of iran, hojatoleslam ali akbar nateq nouri, said in a meeting with the press here monday that iran attaches importance to economic and cultural relations with the republic of tatarestan. he said the ruling element in iran's foreign policy is a priority to broaden relations with all world nations and especially with iran's neighbors including russia and former soiet republics. the speaker of iran's legislative assembly said iran is ready to offer every possible help to regional governments for solving regional crises. hojatoleslam nateq nouri said that on monday he and the officials of tatarestan had entered into a letter of understanding for the cooperation of iran and tatarestan in the area of trade, oil, research studies as well as transportation. in the same interview with the press, the president of tatarestan, shlimiyev, said that relations between iran and tatarestan dated back to hundreds of years ago at which time iraian products were very popular in that part of the world, and at the same time traders in kazan had access to persia via the river volga. he said tatarestan was willing and ready to strengthen relations with iran in every area.