Mottaki: Iran plays leading role in ME

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says the Islamic Republic plays a vital role in settling crises in the Middle East region.

“Iran enjoys a significant geopolitical position in the region and the world,” Mottaki said in a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart, Rais Yatim, in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 11th Session of the Group of Eight Islamic Developing Countries’ Council of Foreign Ministers.

Yatim called for expansion of Tehran-Kuala Lumpur relations and cooperation in all fields.

The Iranian and Malaysian ministers exchanged views on avenues for bolstering bilateral trade and economic cooperation and key regional and international developments.

The 11th Session of the D-8 Council of Ministers opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sunday with the aim of discussing the agenda for the 6th D-8 Heads of Government Summit, due to open on July 8. The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will participate in the D-8 summit.

Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey are member states of the D-8. They are also members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

D-8 was set up in 1997 as an economic alliance with the aim of enhancing the position of Muslim developing countries in the global economy through adoption of measures toward diversification of their economies and creation of new opportunities for increased trade exchanges among them.

full article: www.insight-info.com

Iran never accepts enrichment freeze

The US and allies seek to force Iran to suspend enrichment activities but Tehran will never give in to the pressures, Iran’s IAEA envoy says.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will never yield to the illegal US pressures to pull out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and freeze its uranium enrichment activities completely.” Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh said addressing the Third International Conference on a Middle East Free from Weapons of Mass Destruction in London.

He added, Iran has informed the IAEA about its nuclear activities and remained committed to its international undertakings.

The Iranian official also noted, the IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, in his recent report, explicitly announced that all ambiguities about Iran’s nuclear program had been removed but the US, in a bullying way still insists on the necessity for Iran’s further explanations.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Soltaniyeh said that the Israeli regime prevented the establishment of a Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction and has been the source of instability and insecurity in the region during the past six decades.

The senior diplomat referred to the positive role of the IAEA and its successful performance but said, “The agency’s failure to show a strong reaction to the nuclear arsenals of the Israeli regime due to the influence of the US and its allies, is the only point of weakness of the agency.”

He said that Iran had been a victim of chemical weapons. Tens of thousands of Iranian forces and civilians were martyred and wounded by the troops of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) before the indifferent eyes of the international circles. “It was a black spot in the history of the United Nations,” he commented.

“Israel is the biggest source of danger in the region,” he further stressed.

www.insight-info.com

Iran urges Lebanese unity

The Iranian foreign minister says unity among political groups is the key solution to help Lebanon out of its political crisis.

Manouchehr Mottaki made the remark in a meeting with the Leader of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, on Monday.

He said all of the political factions in Lebanon would benefit from cooperation and expressed hope that the recent agreement reached in Doha, Qatar, would bring about positive developments in the country.

For his part, Aoun praised Iran’s efforts to find a solution to his country’s 18-month long political deadlock.

In a separate meeting, former president Emile Lahoud also hailed Iran’s positive role in the agreement reached between political groups.

Lahoud called on all Lebanese factions to unite to prevent Israel from interfering in the country’s domestic affairs.

Mottaki officially invited Lahoud to pay a visit to Iran.

Mottaki arrived in Lebanon on Sunday to attend a parliamentary session for the election of the country’s new president.

Michel Suleiman was elected as Lebanon’s new president in a parliamentary session convened in Beirut Sunday in the wake of a crisis that lasted about 18 months.

AR/GM/BGH

Source: www.insight-info.com

IRGC commander highlights Syria ties

The top Iranian IRGC commander Jafari says the expansion of Iran-Syria cooperation will have great impact on strengthening regional unity.

“Cooperation between Iran and Syria and their mutual efforts to establish unity have borne fruit,” Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari, said in a meeting with the visiting Syrian Defense Minister, Hassan Ali Turkmani, in Tehran on Sunday.

He stressed the importance of promoting bilateral cooperation and praised the significant level of unity and solidarity between the two countries.

Turkmani, for his part, praised Iran’s efforts aimed at preparing the ground for ever greater bilateral cooperation and said that mutual ties would produce important results.

Syria is aware of the IRGC’s great capabilities in various fields of science and military and technology, he added.

SF/GM/BGH

Source: www.insight-info.com

Doha Accord, Last But Not Least Blow to US Scheme

 On Wednesday, Lebanese leaders from the opposition and the ruling bloc signed the Doha agreement, opening the way for a new political phase that would be characterized by participation and national unity. The agreement put an end to all endeavors to strain the situation in Lebanon, not to mention US promises of a hot summer in this small country.
 
So, the Doha agreement appeared to be just another episode in the series of US frustrations in Lebanon, a worn chain that passed through different stages since before the July 2006 Israeli war against Lebanon.
 
The Lebanese didn’t yet forget how US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
announced, from Beirut during the first days of the destructive war, that what was happening was a preliminary step toward the birth of the so-called new Middle East. However, her announcement lasted less than 33 days and fell simultaneously with the Israeli fiasco and the Resistance’s Divine victory, as acknowledged by the Zionist entity itself.
 
Since then, Washington’s set eye on Lebanon’s internal front through successive “diplomatic” maneuvers and incitement attempts by different US officials, particularly US President George W. Bush who never missed the slightest incident in Lebanon to exploit and put more pressure on this country.
 
Also remarkable was the fact that stances or visits made by US officials were always crowned with new crises. The Arab University clashes in January 25, 2007, and the Mar-Michael incidents in January 26, 2008, both took place after two visits for US Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern affairs David Welch to Lebanon. Those incidents nearly set the country on fire.
 
Today, the opposition’s insistence on partnership, denouncing sedition and coexistence bore fruit and set Lebanon free from US tutelage. The Doha Accord saw light and dealt another blow to the US scheme in the region, only a few days after Welche’s threat of a hot summer in Lebanon.

Source: www.insight-info.com