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khatami sends reply messages to the heads of states

tehran, may 30, irna -- iran's president-elect hojjatoleslam seyyed mohammad khatami cabled messages of thanks to the heads, prime ministers and top officials of different nations in reply to their felicitory messages on the occasion of his victory at the 7th presidential election.
in his separate responses to the messages of the high ranking authorities of the muslim nations such as saudi arabi, syria, kuwait, qatar, bahrain, oman, the united arab emirates khatami said in his message that "i sincerely appreciate and express my most heartfelt thanks and those of iranian people for the congratulatory messages sent on the occasion of my being elected as the president of the islamic republic of iran."
he also expressed hope that the existing cooperation and relations between islamic iran and different muslim nations will be witness to further strengthening of ties based on historical, religious and cultural commonalities.
the iranian president-elect expressed confidence that the mutual ties between iran and the islamic nations will further bring about security and stability to the region in addition to evoking the spirit of cooperation among the regional states.

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caspian littoral state officials, experts attend intl. seminar

new york, may 30, irna -- officials and experts from the caspian sea littoral states, attending international annual seminar on oil, gas and pipeline in the caspian sea, here on thursday exchanged views on the quality of utilizing the caspian oil and gas reserves and protection of its environment. the two-day seminar is hosted by 'khazar consultants' and financed by several american private companies. representatives of iran, russia and kazakhstan as well as the world bank, azerbaijan oil consortium and several other organizations brought up their respective countries' and organizations' stances and special problems in the session regarding determination of a legal regime for the sea.

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ayat. jannati calls for a strong iran

tehran, may 30, irna -- secretary of the guardians council ayatollah ahmad jannati said here on friday prayers that the islamic goverment of iran should remain strong and all iranians should assist the president-elect (hojatolesalam seyed mohammad khatami) in this respect. khatami, who is to replace president akbar hashemi rafsanjani as iran's fifth president on august 3, won more than 20 million out of 29,076,070 votes cast on march 23 nationwide presidential elections. the substitute friday prayers leader of tehran ayatollah jannati said the enemies were trying to sow discord between the iranian people and the islamic system, but the outcome of the elections served as a crushing blow to all such efforts and propaganda, because people would have boycotted the elections, if they had not approved the system. massive turnout in the elections showed that the people accepted the islamic system and that difference in opinions would not prevent people from safeguarding the basis of their islamic system, said the ayatollah in his second sermon to multitudes of firday prayers worshippers, who gathered at tehran university campus. ayatollah jannati said that having witnessed the outcome of the elections, they (the enemies) are insinuating that there is a gap between the people and the officials in the country. however, he added, the iranian people would not be deceived by the enemies thanks to the guidelines of the supreme leader of islamic revolution. he called on all walks of the society with any inclination to preserve their unity and cohesion.

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irna, rompres multilateral cooperation reviewed

tehran, may 29, irna -- in a meeting in bucharest on thursday with rompres' (national news agency) director-general constantin bada, the iranian ambassador to romania mohammad-reza morshedzadeh discussed multilateral cooperation between the two countries' news agencies.
morshedzadeh in his talks expressed satisfaction on the existance of the excellent cooperation between irna and rompres and deemed it to be in the interest of the two nations and in the way of prmoting awareness of both the iranian and romanian people.
bada for his part said that the romanian public opinion is in for the news of islamic republic of iran and that the people are interested in knowing development taking shape in islamic iran.
he called iran an important and stable country which, historically speaking, plays a significant role in reducing the phenomenon of emigration of the asian peoples to the middle east and europe.

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velayati, gujral discuss peace in afghanistan in their telephone conversation

tehran, may 29, irna -- in a telephone conversation today with indian prime minister inder kumar gujral iran's foreign minister ali akbar velayati exchanged view on current developments of the nothern afghanistan.
the two sides in their conversation took note of the negative effects of the afghan crisis not only from viewpoint of the security of the region but also from the angle of the sorry state of affair of the war-stricken people of that country.
both gujral and velayati agreed that the longstanding conflicts could only be resolved througth political negotiations between different afghan political parties and ethnic groups.
dismissing any military solution for ending the crisis, velayati and gujral shared the same opinion, pointing out that foreign interference into afghan interal affairs will further complicate the situation.
they reiterated that the regional countries such as iran an india can contribute toward peace in afghanistan through their joint efforts.

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military make new advances with backing of people

mazar-i-sharif, may 29, irna -- ahmad shah masoud forces take over mahmoudraqi, the center of kapisar province with the coordination of the people and the center is said to be thoroughly free from any taliban elements.
the districts of tekab and nazrab in north of kabul, located on the route to begram have been take over and are awaiting the shah masoud forces to enter to cut off jalal abad from kabul. according to the reports the fall of the two cities of charikar and jabal-ul-siraj, 64 kilometers north of kabul under siege, is imminent.
the reports further said that qaleh now, the seat of badghiz province in the western afghanistan is out of taliban control and the people's rising has gained momentum in herat province. taliban forces have been eliminated through a mop up operation in qandouz province located in the north of afhganistan, said the report.
pol-e-khomri, south of beghlan is under the siege of people's forces. the taliban defense line has been broken by vahdat-i-islami- forces in parvan province and are said to be advancing towards charikar and a southern region of parvan.
despite the fact that reports gave no details of losses and destruction of taliban military machinery, the rising of people against the taliban exhibit the depth of destruction inflicted on its forces and materiel.
as the news of success of the opposition trickle out, initiatives are being taken by united nations and other organizations to bring about peace in this war-torn country of afghanistan between the different factions.

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int'l committee of islamic red crescent society winds up its session

abu dhabi, may 29, irna -- the international committee of the islamic red crescent society (icircs) concluded its 13th session in jeddah, saudi arabia today.
a delegation of iran's red crescent society and experts of the iranian permanent representative to the organization of islamic conference (oic) participated at the two-day meeting.
list of agenda included reconstruction of the war-ravaged areas of lebanon caused by the zionist savage attacks on that country, a unified stand on the lebanese issue against israel's state terrorism, the promotion of status of the muslim minorities in non-muslim countries and the items on islamic human rights were reviewed.
the participants also finalized matters related to ways of dispatching humanitarian assistance to the affected countries and refugees in the islamic world.

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general abdolmalek, new head of afhganistan islamic national movement party

zahedan, may 29, irna -- general abdolmalek was voted in as the new head of afghanistan islamic national movement party at meeting by commanders and top military brass in mazar-i-sharif thursday according to mohammad soltani from wahdat-i-islami party.
this source from wahdat-i-islami party told irna that 200 islamic scholars and top commanders gave their `yes vote' to elect general malek as the head.
general abdolmalek had earlier received taliban support to drive general dostum out to take over the position in the north afghanistan. general dostum who fled to turkey, announced that he was willing to enter into peace negotiation with general abdolmalek.

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over dlrs. 4.5 bn worth of minerals extracted in iran

sari, mazandaran prov., may 29, irna -- the monetary value of minerals extracted in the country last year rose to dlrs. 4.5 billion last year from dlrs. one billion in 1989.
abolqassem hosseini, advisor to the mines and metals minister, said here on thursday that in the said period the mineral output increased to 90 mi lion tons from 35 million tons. hosseini said the number of active mines across the country reached 1,900 last year from 800 in 1989.
he said the country's steel output jumped to six million tons last year from one million tons in 1989, showing a 22 percent growth.
in the said years, he said the country's aluminium output climbed to 130,000 tons from 30,000 tons and copper to 120,000 tons from 30,000 tons.

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thursday afternoon's newspapers headlines

tehran, may 29, irna -- the following headlines appeared in tehran's newspapers this afternoon:
kayhan:
-leader: 30 million votes demonstrate nation's unity, its support for government, never let enemy deprive you of sweetness of this election
-afghan forces recapture mazar-i-sharif from taliban, uprising spill over to other cities in afghanistan
-laying pipelines for transfer of tajik gas to iran constructed
-first phase of big aluminium factory to go on stream soon in bandar abbas
-united arab emirates urges iran to hold talks on three iranian islands
ettela'at:
-leader: motos of president elect same as islamic revolution's
-president inaugurates first phase of 1,000 megawatt combined
cycle power plant in neishaboor
-taliban admits heaviest setback on political scene in afghanistan
-iran's population exceeds 60 million
resalat:
-30 million votes cast in presidential election should be regarded as a glitering star on forehead of iranian people
-inauguration of national, regional projects in khorasan province
-tajik peace accord signed in tehran on wednesday

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unesco allocates dlrs. 50,000 cash aid to quake-hit victims

paris, may 29, irna -- the united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (unesco) has set aside dlrs. 50,000 in cash aid to the quake-stricken victims in northeastern iranian province of khorasan.
iran's representative office in the unesco announced here on thursday that the director general of the organization had announced readiness to assist iran with reconstruction of quake-devastated areas.
more than 1,500 people were killed and hundreds of others wounded in the wake of of an killer earthquake which hit the iranian province on may 10.

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president: quake-hit villages to be rebuilt by winter season

mashhad, khorasan, may 29, irna -- president akbar hashemi rafsanjani said here on thursday that the quake-hit villages in this northeastern province would be rebuilt in a way to resist quake by the appraoch of winter season.
visiting the newly-designed townships of imam sajad (as), named after the fourth imam of prophet mohammad's (pbuh) household, president rafsanjani told the bereaved families that reconstruction projects would have been finished by the winter season and the people living now in tents would move to safe houses.
he expressed hope that the new residential units would be built strongly enough to resist to possible quake in future. he said the ministries of interior, housing and urban development, mps, governors are working together to rebuild the quake-stricken villages in the best possible manner.
in another development, president rafsanjani said after opening the combined-cycle power station in neishabour that commissioning of several power plants in khorasan province has served to bring fundamental development to industrial and economic life of the province.
he appreciated the services of iranian experts in putting the large combined-cycle power station into operation and said rls. 1,600 billion were spent on the project the implementation of which once looked like a pipe dream.
president rafsanjani said another rls. 500-600 billion has been spent on the steel mill of khorasan province. in a report to the president, minister of energy bijan namdar zanganeh said the combined-cycle power plant was an example of huge investments made by the islamic republic of iran in khorasan province.
he predicted that consumption of electricity would hit 1,425 megawatt mark at peak hours in the current year and the total electricity output would hit 6.7 billion kilowatt mark.
zanganeh said the capacity of the power plant in khorasan province in pre-revolution era was 400 megawatts which has now reached 2,400 megawatts and the electricity supply has reached 6.7 billion kilowatt/hour from 700 million kilowatt/hour.

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iran's charge d'affaires to uganda named

tehran, may 29, irna -- ali arian nejad, has been appointed as the country's charge d'affaires to uganda, according to the information and press department of the foreign ministry here on thursday.
the appointment was proposed by foreign minister ali akbar velayati and approved by president akbar hashemi rafsanjani.

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isesco publishes book on rapprochement between muslim madhahibs

tehran, may 29, irna -- the isesco published a new book titled 'rapproachment between muslim madhahibs' containing research papers and studies presented and discussed during the second symposium on 'rapprochement between muslim madhahibs', a press release faxed to irna said on thursday.
the symposium had been organized by the islamic educatioal, scientific and cultural organization (isesco) in rabat, maghreb in august, 1996.
the sixteen research papers contained in the book address five topics retained by the symposium notably: fiqh rules, divergences in fiqh, role of education and cutlure in intellectual rapprochement among muslims, role of information in rapprochement between madhahibs, and outcomes of rapprochement.
the book also includes the recommendation and the final communique of the second symposium on 'rapprochement between muslim madhahibs.' in his preface to the book, dr. abdulaziz othman altwaijri, director general of isesco, affirmed that all muslims agree that the holy qoran and the sunna are the eternal guidance sources of the muslim ummah providing shelter from errancy and deviation and immunity against external factors that may influence strength of personality or the specificity and soundness of identity.

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velayati sends message to ukrainian fm on tajik peace talks

moscow, may 29, irna -- iranian foreign minister ali akbar velayati in a message to ukrainian foreign minister gennady udovenko today hailed the success of tajik peace talks held in tehran terming it as a pattern for settlement of regional crises.
velayati expressed irans's full support for implementation of the peace accords signed by the tajik government and the opposition. the final round of tajik peace talks held in tehran from may 20-28 resulted in signing of the eighth peace accord by the two sides.

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rainfall, hail storm inflict damage on farmlands in moghan

ardebil, may 29, irna -- hail storm and torrential rainfall inflicted more than rls. 30 billion in damage on farmlands and orchards in the provincial city of moghan, according to a local official on thursday.
mohammad ali vahhabian said that 2,500 hectares of orchards and 4,634 hectares of farms have suffered damage between 30 and 100 percent as a result of the natural disaster. he said that torrential rainfall coupled with strong wind also damaged roads and bridges in the area.
he said before suffering damage, the orchards annually yielded between 25,000-30,000 tons of apples, cherries, peaches, walnuts, hazelnuts, plums and nectarines.

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indianforces ready to meet challenge of taliban

new delhi, may 29, irna -- the security forces are ready to meet any challenge in case the afghan taliban infiltrate into the kashmir valley, director general of jammu and kashmir police gurbachan jagat and border security force (bsf) inspector general (ig) c.m. bhat have said.
talking to reporters in srinagar today, they said there was no report from any quarter about the presence of taliban militants in the kashmir valley.
"our forces are strong enough to meet the challenge of any militant group in the world", jagat said. "our forces are well spread and can frustrate the designs of the enemies", bhat said.
he offered no comments when asked if he apprehends that taliban militants will march towards kashmir once they (taliban) are able to control the whole afghanistan.
he said it made no difference for our forces whether they are fighting with a taliban, afghan or pakistan or from any other country. bhat also said the forces are keeping round the clock vigil on the line of actual control to thwart any possible infiltration attempts by pak trained militants.

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velayati says no war formula for afghanistan

abu dhabi, may 29, irna -- cessation of clashes, resumption of negotiations among all afghan factions and formation of a broad-based government with the presence of all political and tribal groups are sole ways of ending afghan conflict, said foreign minister ali-akbar velyati in a message sent to the oic secretary general ezzedin laraki.
the message, submitted to the secretariate of the organization of islamic conference (oic) by iran's ambassador and permanent envoy to the organization sabah zanganeh on thursday, reiterated that no war formula could be forecast for ending afghan crisis and that the methods based on suppression, intimidation and violation of the most basic recognized human rights would surely result in escalation of the crisis and aggrevation of the ongoing situation in afghanistan.
it said that afghan internal situation had been aggravated as a result of recent attacks by certain armed grops on relatively safe havens north of afghanistan, leading to a rise in number of casualties and the sorry state of homelessness in the areas of the encounter.
it added that recent moves taken in definace of a request by the international community for speedy cessation of hostilities and of deplorable living conditions in afghanistan, were signs for continuation of war mongering and power struggle by certain wings aimed at eliminating the vital role of majority of community members in the procedure of active participation in matters related to sovereignty of the nation.
warning against the danger of foreigners' intervention in afghanistan's internal affairs and of support for war mongering groups, velayati said such supports would just extend dimension of clashes, aggrevate the crisis, soar up the statistics of harsh and unjustifiable loss of life and add to the destruction of property.
he voiced iran's support for the united nation's efforts in afghanistan and said that tehran believed that the resolution 51/195 issued by the general assembly could serve as a justifiable basis for continuation of peace seeking efforts in the country. he added that islamic iran is ready as in the past to play its role in settling afghan crisis.
he called on laraki to prepare the ground for restoration of a lasting peace and for bringing about national solidarity in the war-torn country of afghanistan through the adoption of all-out political measures, and exertion of pressure on the war mongering factions and their foreign supporters.
moreover, he called on the un to work towards mitigating hardships of the oppressed afghans in addition to expediting international mobilization of humanitarian assistance for afghans.

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rafsanjani inaugurated `martyr yaqoubi' dam

mashhad, may 29, irna -- president hojjatoleslam akbar hashemi rafsanjani in his inspection tour to this northeastern iranian province today inaugurated `martyr yaqoubi' dam of the provincial city of torbate haydarieh.
rls. 87 billion spent on construction project of the embankment dam which is to provide water for irrigation of 6,400 hectares of the areas.
martyr yaqoubi dam which has a crown of 887 metres, 61 metres altitude and 50 million cubic meters capacity was constructed on kal salar river, 27 kilometres southeast of torbate haydarieh.