Thursday, October 30, 2008

Iran Early Bird-Thursday

In a meeting with students to mark the 29th anniversary of the students' takeover of the "spy nest," the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 3, 1979), Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stressed that ever since, Iran had been challenging the U.S. dominance in the Middle East. Khamenei urged the students to review the documents that were seized and to learn the lessons of the past. "We do not seek conflict with the United States, but only want to preserve our independence," Khamenei said. "The Iranian nation will chop off the hand of anyone who attempts to undermine its dignity and pride, or to humiliate it," he continued, adding that the conflict with the United States went way beyond political differences. Hatred for the U.S. administration, Khamenei said, was deeply embedded in the Iranian nation because of U.S. administration's plots against it. Commenting on next year's presidential election, Khamenei said there was no room now for early and extravagant election campaigns, as they were likely to divert the country's attention away from the important matters with which it was dealing.


According to the Iranian foreign minister, the upcoming American elections are the United States' last chance to rectify its foreign policy. Nothing could justify the actions of the U.S. administration over the past eight years and its intervention in the affairs of other countries, the foreign minister said.



3. The director-general of the Intelligence Department in the Mazandaran Province claims that at present, 110 U.S. radio and television stations are broadcasting anti-Iranian programs. The director-general also believes that the United States and Israel want to attack Iran but are refraining from doing so out of fear of Iran's strength.



4. In a meeting with the UAE foreign minister, Iranian President Ahmadi-Nejad said that the United States was on the brink of collapse and that the countries in the region must tighten their security and economic ties and prepare well for new era. "Security and prosperity are a common interest of all parties, and therefore we must defend them together," Ahmadi-Nejad said, adding that this was the only way to thwart the efforts of Iran's enemies to force their will on the region. The Iranian president also commented that the U.S. hegemony in the region was diminishing, and that as a result, Israel's was too.



5. Speaking during a visit to the Lorestan Province, Ahmadi-Nejad said that the U.S. government's debts totaled $10,570,000,000,000. According to Ahmadi-Nejad, this indicates that the United States printed counterfeit dollars and distributed them around the world so as to burden the public with its economic problems.



6. In a meeting with the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Ahmadi-Nejad stressed that by working together, the Gulf countries could create a common market for nuclear fuel for the welfare of the people in the region. GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman al-Attiyah voiced support for Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, declaring that there was nothing to justify opposition on the part of the GCC in that regard.





7. Iranian First Deputy President Davoudi met in Kazakhstan with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov, telling his host of Iran's willingness to expand strategic ties between the two countries, particularly in the fields of energy and banking.



8. Iran's official news agency is carrying a story about a fight that broke out among Majlis members over the no-confidence vote in Interior Minister Ali Kordan. According to the report, one Majlis member was beaten by others in the incident.











1. The director-general of the Iranian Defense Ministry's Aviation Industries Organization has announced the production of a new generation of the Iranian Saeqe fighter plane, with enhanced capabilities, that will soon go into service. The director-general also reported on the production of a new military aircraft for naval patrols that will soon be at the disposal of the Iranian Coast Guard.



2. "The naval forces of the army and Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps are stationed beyond Iran's southern waters, and Iran's control over the seas has extended to the waters of the Indian Ocean," said the Iranian deputy chief of staff during a visit to the new naval base on the island of Jasek.





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1. The head of the Majlis' Research Center, Ahmad Tavakoli, has commented on the issue of excessive withdrawals from Iran's foreign currency reserves, noting: "The government withdrew excessive funds from this account to its heart's desire; but from a legal point of view, the required procedures were upheld." Commenting on the global economic crisis, Tavakoli said that Iran must properly prepare for it, as it could have an effect on the Iranian economy due to the fall in oil prices and foreign capital investments.



2. The sixth convention of the joint Iranian-Syrian industry committee culminated in the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries on cooperation in the fields of industry and economics – the restoration of the Syrian concrete and steel plants, the establishment of new plants such as a bus-manufacturing factory, and other projects.



3. According to Iran's labor and welfare minister, "The private sector's participation and involvement in capital investments is vital for the purpose of realizing the economic forecasts and plans for the coming two decades."



4. The director-general of Iran's Oil Rigs Company has announced that the rig on the island of Khark is capable of producing one million barrels of oil from the Caspian Sea. According to the director-general, if for any reason Iran is unable to export its crude oil for a period of up to 10 days even, the Khark rig can make up for it within less than three days.



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6. The director-general of Iran's National Oil Company has announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding on increased cooperation between Iran and the Belarusian national oil company, Belarusoil. Under the agreement, the Belarusian company will up its capital investments in Iran's oil fields.



7. India's foreign minister is expected in Tehran on Friday for talks on the so-called "Peace Pipeline" gas pipeline.



8. According to a survey conducted by an official Iranian website, bank customers in the country frequently encounter cash shortages at their banks. The survey indicates that often, when customers go to their banks to cash their checks, they are told by the clerks that the bank either has no cash or no cash checks. The customers, the survey shows, are forced to go from branch to branch until they find one with cash.





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1. Unofficial Iranian websites are reporting that the new government newspaper, Khoeshid, has not been well received by the public and is not selling well at the news stands. Khoeshid, the websites say, is suffering the same fate as the other government newspaper, Iran.



2. Tehran University's morning newspaper is carrying a story on the installation of closed-circuit cameras in the student dormitories. Four such cameras have been installed and are being monitored by the dorms' security personnel, the newspaper report says, adding that closed-circuit cameras have also been installed in classrooms at the teachers' seminar in Karaj in the wake of the student strike there in the summer.



3. The organizers of the "Islamic Dress" exhibition that is currently underway have censored five pictures on display, including one of the Iranian sprinter who won a medal at the Asian Games and pictures of other athletes too.



4. According to Conservative Majlis member Jalal Yahya-Zade, the Internet is a "dog that has rabies and needs to be immediately restrained." The Majlis member also commented on the anti-Revolution content that is being posted on Iranian blogs, calling for it to be stopped.



5. A recently aired episode of an animated television series popular among Iranian children featured the two stars of the show making an alcoholic drink – from the stage of picking the grapes and through to preparing the beverage and drinking it. The two characters appeared drunk at the end of the show. Shocked parents called the Iranian Broadcast Authority demanding that the show taken off air.



6. Iran's prison authorities have refused to allow Ali Ahmadi, one of the leaders of the Baha'i community, to meet with his family or contact them by telephone for 33 days. Ahmadi, who is accused of disseminating anti-government propaganda, has been in detention for six months. According to reports from the prison in which he is being held, his interrogations have turned into efforts to persuade him to convert to Islam.



7. Human rights activists are reporting that they have received word of the death in detention of political prisoner Abdollreza Rajabi, a member of the Iranian opposition organization, Mojahedin Khalq. The reports and cause of death have yet to be confirmed.



8. Ali Tape-Rashi and Ebrahim Hosseyn-Pour, two Kurdish minority prisoners, have gone on hunger strike, demanding they be afforded their first vacation in five years.



9. Hmide Nabavi, a family member of one of the victims of the political murders of 1988, has been sentenced to one year in prison for planning to participate in the memorial ceremony held for the victims.



10. The number of Cesarean Sections performed in Iran is 3-4 times higher than the world average. In some areas of Iran, some 25 percent of births involve C-Sections.



11. Nine Iranian computer game development companies are participating in the three-day Dubai World Game Summit.



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