Iran hosts international confab against extremism, violence

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December 9, 2014

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani calls on the United Nations (UN) to play a more active role in the campaign against terrorism.

President Rouhani made the remarks on Tuesday in his opening speech at an international conference on the World Against Extremism and Violence (WAVE) in the Iranian capital, Tehran with participants from more than 40 countries attending the two-day event.

Rouhani also called for boosting regional and international cooperation to build a world free of violence.

He urged those states that support Takfiri terrorist groups to renounce violence and terror.

Senior political officials, intellectuals and delegates from some Asian, African and South American countries such as Iraq, Syria and Nicaragua are attending the event.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem are in Tehran to participate in the meeting. The two countries have been hit by the ISIL militancy.

On December 18, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to approve President Rouhani’s WAVE proposal, which calls on all nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism. The Iranian president made the proposal in his address to the UN Disarmament Conference in New York on September 25.

Tehran Conference comes against the backdrop of the growing threat of violence and extremism across the Middle East, particularly the atrocities committed by Takfiri ISIL terrorists in the Middle East.

The Takfiri militants have seized swathes of land in Iraq and Syria. They have carried out horrific acts of violence in the two countries, including public decapitations. ISIL has also killed people from Shia, Sunni, Kurd and Christian communities in Iraq.

Iran to unveil 40 great oil projects at London conference

By

Emad Askarieh

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December 9, 2014

A National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) official said Iran is to introduce 40 grand oil projects at a London Conference due in March 2015.

Moshtaq Ali Gohari who is the deputy chief of the company told reporters on Monday that the NIOC will unveil over 40 oil industry projects during the conference.

Most of the projects are related to South Pars and West Karoun oil fields, he said.

The official noted that they are mainly conducted in upstream oil industry as well as exploration and development activities.

He anticipated that disclosure of projects will fetch about $40 billion worth of investment for the projects.

Business as usual after 20 years; A German delegation is in Iran

By

Emad Askarieh

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December 9, 2014

Ebtekar newspaper on December 8 reported that a German trade delegation, which is in Iran for mutual consultation, has entered direct talks with Iranian officials. The following is the translation of the report:

The German delegation, which is in Iran after 20 years, opened direct talks with Iranian businessmen in Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines (ICCIM).

Since last year when the Geneva talks got underway [over Iran’s nuclear program], different trade delegations have come to Iran to size up investment opportunities in the country. The trip by the German delegation comes after a visit by a French group.

The German team is comprised of the representatives of 29 companies and 34 tradesmen together with the heads of the German Near and Middle East Association (NUMOV) which has played a key role in Germany’s trade ties over the past 80 years.

According to Burkhard Dahmen, an NUMOV vice president, the business team intends to assess Iran’s investment opportunities in the areas of transportation, machinery, foodstuff and technology.

Management of water resources is another issue the Germans are to exchange information with Iranian officials about.

Dahmen also said that the Iranians have positive views of the Germans and we hope we can encourage politicians [on both sides] to explore the ways of enhancing relations.

The German delegation will continue its meetings in Tehran until Tuesday December 9, and has on its agenda plans to meet with Minister of Agriculture Mahmoud Hojjati and Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad-Reza Nematzadeh.

[Footer: The German Near and Middle East Association is Germany’s oldest and largest non-profit and independent service provider for the Near and Middle East region. NUMOV supports bilateral business activities between Germany and the Near and Middle East (the Arab countries, together with Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and Turkey). By organizing seminars, conferences and business delegations, it encourages member companies to develop their business activities in the region.]

Iran should abandon talks in case they are dragged into a third stage: MP

By

Emad Askarieh

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December 9, 2014

A member of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has said Iran would walk out of nuclear talks if they entered a third stage.

Mohammad [Esmail] Kosari told Mehr News except for initial agreements in Geneva that date back to November 2013, no other breakthrough deal has been signed. “We believe that after a year or so, there has been no practical agreement at all. Extension of talks is an outcome and indication of the failure of both sides in hammering out a deal, which forced them to extend the time to negotiate,” he said.

“The government should not put all its eggs in the negotiation basket; if it expects successful negotiations, it should set limits to the talks so that it would not go beyond a certain line,” said Kosari,

“If this second stage of talks also fails, and there is a third stage, the government should abandon the talks altogether; if the government does not have the support of the nation, it definitely will suffer in the talks,” he emphasized.

He recommended the government rely on domestic capabilities for country’s development now that it has become evident that the West and the US cannot be trusted.

Former VP urges students to be tolerant of opposing views

By

Emad Askarieh

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December 9, 2014

The Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) on December 7 – national Student Day in Iran – filed a report on the remarks of Mohammad Reza Aref, a member of the Expediency Council and a one-time vice-president under reformist Mohammad Khatami, at a ceremony to mark the occasion in Shahid Beheshti University.

In his speech, the former VP called on university students to open-mindedly listen to different viewpoints and show tolerance for opposing views. What appears below is a partial translation of his remarks followed by what happened on the sidelines of the event:

[…] Idealism, anti-colonial moves, and endeavors to help institutionalize revolutionary values were among the salient features of the student movement in Iran in the first decade of the revolution.

[…]

Students are expected to be the flag-bearers of science, freedom and sagacious criticism, meticulously analyze the country’s situation, remain insightful and tactful when it comes to their homeland’s issues and not get entangled in marginal questions.

Conducting a critical analysis of the student movement is imperative. Narrow-mindedness and bad taste are to blame for failure to hold open-thinking forums in spite of the emphasis high-level officials [including the Supreme Leader] have placed on the question.

Students should avoid hasty decisions and sentimentalism. We need to remain on the scene and advance our objectives in stages and by degrees.

The harsh decisions we make may produce effective results in the short run, but they are of no use in the long run. Reliance of the student movement on off-campus political currents has been a drag on the movement, something which has come at the expense of their independence.

Students should take heed of the country’s macro-issues, form think tanks to plan the course of action they are to take and draw on the viewpoints of veteran activists in their movements.

Ethics and moral conduct are needed to woo people in such movements. Student movements should vie [to win over more audience], not to eliminate each other.

As far as foreign policy is concerned, the Supreme Leader determines in what direction the country should be moving and what policies it should adopt, including ties with the US, and we all follow his guidelines.

[…]

As for concerns that reformists may be disqualified by the Guardian Council and banned from running for parliament [in election slated for March 2016], I should say that people have a big say in the country’s affairs; they choose the officials through their direct and indirect vote. […] We need to have a powerful, expert and resourceful parliament and our MPs should look at things from a national angle.

[…]

Nobody lost in the 2013 elections. The election in 2009 was a lose-lose race, we had a win-win election four years later. […] We should not prejudge the upcoming parliamentary election. I hope the Guardian Council and [its] Supervisory Committee act in keeping with the provisions of law. […]

We are not concerned about possible disqualifications since reformists have enough competent names [to put forward]. We have to think positive and push for a big turnout. The reformist mindset will emerge winner if we can secure the swing and silent votes.

[…]

Developments in universities over the eight years [President Ahmadinejad was in office] led up to a point in which only one voice was heard, but students came to terms with it. The Science Ministry should feel it its duty to restore liveliness to universities. Of course over the past months uncertainty has reigned at the ministry due to the absence of a minister who could call the shots. […] Now the ministry has a boss who will restore stability. I hope student demands will be met in a few months with the help of the science ministry.

Some officials in universities have not taken the message of the 2009 elections. Either they cannot or don’t want to understand this message and public demands and adapt themselves. The government has paid a price for it. The government has remained steadfast in supporting the students’ demands. Never did it budge on its nominations for the science ministry.

If you hadn’t turned out to vote in 2013, Rouhani would not have won the election. This is tough for his rivals to digest. They prefer to see a closed, tense atmosphere in universities. So the onus is on students to rejuvenate universities.

Students are expected to tolerate each other. We all want to see the country grow. […] If the current trend persists and we cannot tolerantly accept the views of others, the atmosphere in universities will remain tense.

In the capacity of a university professor, I have always tried to support the students regardless of their political affiliations. I do not even distance myself from those whose ideas do not square with those of the revolution. I try to attract them since they are all the children of this country.

Silence is not what we pursue. We float our critical points in friendly meetings with the government and try our best to offer constructive criticism, something in line with national progress.

On the sidelines of the ceremony

Students taking part in the ceremony were chanting, “Students can easily accept to die, but degradation never they will buy”, “Hail to Aref, Long live Rouhani”, “Hail to Hashemi, Long live Rouhani”.

Some students carried placards which read, “Down with those who turn sedition into a business”. Other placards [carried by an opposing group of students] read, “Down with seditionist”.

Also in the ceremony, a clip produced by Shahid Beheshti University’s Islamic Association of Students was broadcast. Images of Rouhani, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Towfighi, Faraji-Dana, and Seyyed Hassan Khomeini in the clip prompted the students to let out rousing, loud cheers and applause.

As always, Aref was accompanied by his wife, Hamideh Moravej, in the ceremony.

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on Dec. 9

By

Emad Askarieh

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December 9, 2014

A meeting in Tehran on ways of promoting healthy administrative strategies and countering corruption and the message the Supreme Leader sent to the meeting, which was attended by senior state officials, dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers on Tuesday. In the message the leader urged officials with the three branches of government to match their words with action in turning up the heat on corruption. The comments of the executive, judiciary, and legislative chiefs in the same meeting made front-page headlines, too. Also in the headlines was the statement of the visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari that Baghdad does not have any problem with Iran conducting air raids against IS positions on Iraqi soil.

Abrar: “Babak Zanjani [a businessman who stands accused of massive corruption] has siphoned off more than $2 billion in public funds,” said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

Abrar-e Eghtesadi: Iran’s exports to African and Arab countries have registered a 45 percent hike.

Afarinesh: The Intelligence Ministry has stopped almost $2 billion in tax evasion over the past year.

Afkar: “The monopoly of a single institution over resources breeds corruption,” President Rouhani told a national gathering to promote healthy administrative strategies and counter corruption.

Aftab-e Yazd: “The measures the current government is taking are redressing the problems caused under the previous government,” said Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.

Arman-e Emrooz: There are as many as 40 million Internet users in Iran.

Asrar: “A clean air bill is waiting for parliamentary approval,” said the director of the Environment Protection Organization.

Ebtekar: “Cash subsidies won’t increase next year,” said Government Spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht.

Ettela’at: As many as 40 major Iranian oil projects are to be announced in a Conference in London.

Hadaf va Eghtesad: “Germans are eagerly waiting to return to Iran’s petrochemistry market,” said the Iranian deputy oil minister.

Hambastegi: “Our talks with the United States solely focus on the nuclear issue,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Hemayat: Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani has urged executive institutions to focus more on areas which have the potential for corruption.

Iran: “Removal of sanctions is imminent,” said Government Spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht.

Iran Daily: Iran to introduce oil contracts in London Confab.

Jahan-e Sanat: “Some $40 billion worth of projects across Iran are waiting for foreign investment.”

Javan: “There are no problems with Iran conducting air strikes against IS in Iraq,” said the Iraqi foreign minister who is in Tehran to attend a conference on World against Violence and Extremism.

Javan: “Why is it that serious measures are not taken in the fight against corruption?” the Supreme Leader asked in a message to a gathering to promote healthy administrative strategies and counter corruption.

Kayhan: “Instead of organizing seminars, serious measures should be taken in the fight against corruption,” said the Supreme Leader in a message to an anti-corruption conference in Tehran.

Khorasan: The heads of the three branches of government have underlined measures to crack down on corruption.

Mardomsalari: As many as 800 thousand Iranians have crossed the border into Iraq to take part in ceremonies to mark Arba’een [a Shiite religious observance that comes 40 days after Ashura, which marks the martyrdom of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad].

Mardomsalari: The managing director of Persepolis Football Club, who is in prison after sponsors filed a suit against the Reds, cannot have visitors.

Qods: “Venezuela and Mexico are interested in purchasing Iranian-made drones,” said the chairman of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

Qods: The head of the Securities and Exchange Organization is to be replaced.

Resalat: “If parliament does not revise [the government-proposed] budget [for Tehran Municipality], we will have problem running the capital,” said Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Sayeh: “Airstrikes by the Zionist regime against Syria are designed to boost the morale of terrorists,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Sharq: “Twenty mid-level managers of the previous government have been arrested for fraud,” said the intelligence minister.

Taadol: Senior state officials on alert to turn up the heat on corruption.

Vatan-e Emrooz: Parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee has established that government has unlawfully tapped into the National Development Fund.

Iraqi political, ethnic groups must reinforce unity: Iran’s Larijani

By

Emad Askarieh

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December 9, 2014

Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says political and ethnic groups in Iraq should strengthen their unity in the current “very sensitive” situation in the country.

Larijani, who was speaking during a meeting with Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in Tehran on Monday, also said that Iran is prepared to transfer its experience to the new Iraqi government and help it settle domestic problems.

The Iranian Majlis speaker further criticized the US and its allies for not being serious in their fight against the ISIL terrorist group. He referred to the remarks by US statesmen that the fight on the terrorists in Iraq would take years and said such comments indicate how the Americans have hidden plots.

Iraq is facing a terrorist campaign by Takfiri ISIL militants, who currently control swaths of territory across the country as well as in Syria. They have been committing heinous crimes in the captured areas, including mass executions and beheading of local residents as well as foreign nationals.

A US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against ISIL inside Iraq since August.

This is while many of the countries in the US-led bombing coalition, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been the staunch supporters of the Takfiri ISIL elements in the region.

During the meeting with Larijani, the Iraqi foreign minister, for his part, said Iran, as a powerful country in the region and across the world, has a special position in Iraq’s foreign policy.

He added that the exchange of visits between Iranian and Iraqi officials would improve mutual relations and called for Iran’s participation in the reconstruction of war-stricken Iraq.

Jaafari arrived in Iran on Sunday at the head of a delegation to attend a two-day international conference on the World Against Extremism and Violence (WAVE) in Tehran, scheduled to open on Tuesday in the presence of envoys from 40 countries.

How principlist daily reacts to President Rouhani’s Student Day speech

By

IFP Editorial Staff

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December 9, 2014

The speech President Rouhani made at Iran University of Medical Sciences on Sunday to mark University Student Day drew a strong reaction from Kayhan whose managing editor Hossein Shariatmadari had the following to say in the editorial of the principlist daily on Monday December 8:

[…]

There have been two glorious peaks in the history of the student movement in Iran. Thanks to the crucial nature of each of these two events, they have turned into momentous days [in Iranian history]. December 7 and November 4. On both occasions Iranians stood up to the United States and condemned the criminal acts of this hegemonic power.

December 7 has been registered as University Student Day in the calendar of the Islamic Revolution. November 4 is known as the Anti-Hegemony Day. Special ceremonies are held [each year] on these two days to commemorate epic-making moments in Iranian history.

Down with America is an integral part of the identity of these two occasions which are meant to challenge the US administration, as the late Imam Khomeini said not the American people, for the crimes, plundering and killings it commits.

Obviously, if speeches made on ceremonies to mark these two occasions fail to encourage the public to take on the murderous United States and if they do not identify the Great Satan as the main enemy of the nation, Islam and revolution, they have in fact distorted the true nature of these two epic occasions.

Such failure would amount to disregard for the blood of those who were martyred on December 7, 1953 and disrespect for the glorious takeover of the Den of Espionage in favor of the enemy. It is just like failure, in ceremonies to mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, to mention the crimes Yazid, Shemr, Amr ibn Sa’ad and Ibn Ziyad committed.

One should not forget the fact that mourning ceremonies are designed to keep the memory of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad alive and remind the faithful of the crimes Yazid and his followers committed back then, crimes which are being repeated by some in this day and age.

On Sunday, Dr. Rouhani, the esteemed President of the Islamic Republic, who was at Iran University of Medical Sciences for a speech to mark University Student Day talked about anything but the primary theme of the event: the necessity of countering the US and the crimes this renegade power commits.

There are a few points about the esteemed president’s comments before the carefully chosen audience on Sunday. The present article does not seek to go into detail; it simply reminds the readers of a few points.

Despite expectations, in a speech to honor the memory of those who fell martyr on December 7, 1953, the president made no mention of the US role in the murder of three Iranian students and other heinous crimes the US has since committed.

Instead, the president used the occasion to praise the foreign policy of his own government by saying: Today everyone knows that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is against violence and extremism, otherwise the Iranian-proposed World against Violence and Extremism initiative put forth at the UN General Assembly wouldn’t have been voted for almost unanimously with the exception of two or three countries, including the US and Israel.

The president’s comments were meant to praise his government, not recall the crimes committed by the United States. Didn’t the General Assembly unanimously – the US and Israel included – vote for the Dialogue among Civilizations initiative of Mr. Khatami? Why was it that President George W. Bush later called Iran part of an Axis of Evil? Mr. President, why have you pinned so much hope on the vote for your anti-violence initiative?

[…]

Mohammad Khatami’s message to mark University Student Day

By

Emad Askarieh

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December 8, 2014

Students and Islamic Associations in universities should feel it their duty to safeguard an Islam that promotes freedom, supports independence and democracy, and promulgates morality. Students need to institutionalize morality in society and make it the cornerstone of relations among members of the public.
According to the Ebtekar daily, that was part of a video message by former President Mohammad Khatami to a University Student Day gathering at Tehran University. The following is what else the reformist president touched on in his message:
Today students shoulder a heavy burden. They should conduct research, update their knowledge and develop new sciences and at the same time care about their society. In other words, committed students should attach significance to freedom and progress at the same time.
December 7 is designated as University Student Day in Iran, a day that helps establish the identity of students and universities. At a time when a dictatorship which had the backing of foreigners, the Americans in particular, was in power, when freedom-seeking was being quelled, when parties were being put down, when Mohammad Mosadegh was in exile after his government had been toppled, flames of a movement raged in universities.
In the absence of parties, factions and social activism which had been crushed, something which in turn created a sense of despair in society, students shouted protest at the dictatorship of the time. What lends students more prominence today is that at a time when hopes were dashed and suppression reigned supreme, they stood up to authoritarianism.
Students need to throw their weight behind democracy and carry on with their social and political activities in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

What President Rouhani said in his University Student Day speech

By

Emad Askarieh

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December 8, 2014

In a ceremony to mark University Student Day on Sunday, President Hassan Rouhani made a speech at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. December 7 marks the anniversary of the murder of three Tehran University students in 1953 at the hands of police during the Pahlavi rule.

Cancelation of speeches by a number of government critics in different universities made headlines. Among other, the speeches of Hossein Shariatmadari, the managing editor of Kayhan [a daily], Mahmoud Nabavian, a Tehran principlist MP, Hassan Abbasi, the head of the Center for Doctrinal Strategic Studies at the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), Payam Fazlinejad, a once reformist journalist who later broke ranks with reformists, and Hamid Rasaei, a principlist MP and a staunch supporter of former President Ahmadinejad, were called off.

In another development, three major university student bodies released separate letters, saying they were not attending President Rouhani’s speech, citing the fact that no time was dedicated to them to express their ideas before the president. The Student Basij Organization, affiliated to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, boycotted the ceremony too. The following is the translation of part of President Rouhani’s comments Fararu news website reported:

Student movement is an anti-colonialist movement

December 7 was the beginning and a turning point in the student movement which is not confined to political parties and factions. In fact, it amounts to the presence of all university students on cultural and political fronts. This anti-colonial movement is all for independence, freedom, patriotism and the battle against any form of injustice.

The government comes under all manner of criticism, but it welcomes critique

University students have to be critiques who act like observers who oversee things. And if students are not allowed to speak their mind elsewhere, they should be allowed to direct their criticism at the government.

The government comes under fire for issues ranging from tomatoes to nuclear energy. The government takes pride in welcoming sympathetic and unbiased critiques. We cannot make headway without critiques, because critique, research and science are the two sides of the same coin.

Students should not be indifferent to the environment

Students should not be nonchalant about social matters, nor should they be indifferent to issues related to water [resources], the environment, energy, status of software development [in the country], social ills and cultural issues.

We cannot live in a country and be indifferent to the matters which could influence the fate of our community, our nation and our region. In our country, ballot boxes are the basis of legitimacy which we cannot abandon; rather we should safeguard them.

The government does not seek a vote of confidence by wheeling and dealing

In the world we live in today we cannot claim that world affairs do not concern us or that we don’t care about public opinion and others’ judgment. [I cannot say that] I do not care what the university thinks when I am appointing a university official. Nor should I pick a minister and lobby influential figures to get him a vote of confidence and then have him at the helm of the ministry. That’s not the way this government does business.

From the get-go, the government has sought expert advice on all technical fronts. I am ever so glad that throughout the [prolonged] introduction of nominees [to secure parliamentary confirmation for minister of science], a poll was carried out that indicated university students and professors approve of the approach the 11^th government has taken in running the universities.

The government is consistent in its approach toward universities and won’t backpedal. The new minister of science will pick up where his predecessors in the 11^th government left off. Minister of Science Mohammad Farhadi will go down the same path that was supposed to be taken by Ja’far Nili-Monfared [Rouhani’s pick for the ministry who was rejected by parliament] and Ja’far Tofighi [the acting science minister] who were not allowed [to stay on the job].

We won’t break the promises that we’ve made

Our path is still the same one that we promised to you on day one. We won’t break the promise that we’ve made. Today, we are going down a path that requires the contribution of everyone. We should join hands to address our issues within and beyond our national borders.

Hotels across the country are packed with tourists

Today, the position of Iran in the eyes of world nations and politicians is totally different from what it used to be. People across the world have trust in the secure atmosphere of Iran. Our hotels which were empty of tourists two years ago are now packed. Even they are fully booked for the future, an indication of global enthusiasm about visiting Iran. Hundreds and thousands of companies have been waiting to come to Iran and make investment.

A small number should abandon their fleeting interests

Of course, there are a small number of people who are not pleased. I hope they abandon their fleeting interests. A number of startups, for whom we have respect, do not need to be concerned about the future and values of Islam and the revolution.

Iran is opposed to violence and extremism

Today, the world has accepted that Iran is opposed to violence and extremism. At the UN General Assembly when the proposal of World against Violence and Extremism (WAVE) was floated, all other nations, except for two countries, voted for the [Iranian] proposal.

As far as our national interests, expediency and rights are concerned, the government stays committed to all the promises it has made and won’t be intimidated by criticism, vilification and ballyhoo.