Iranian Alert -- August 16, 2003 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

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Live Thread Ping List | 8.15.2003 | DoctorZin

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IRANIAN ANALYSTS WARNED THE US AGAINST NORMALISING WITH IRAN

PARIS 15 Aug. (IPS) 8.16.2003

Iranian political experts welcomed US State Department’s decision to outlaw the Council of National Resistance of Iran (CNRI), the political front of the outlawed Mojahedeeen Khalq Organisation (MKO), but at the same time expressed concern to see it being exploited by the ruling ayatollahs to increase their crackdown on Iranian dissidents.

The State Department said on Friday that it had placed the CNRI on its list of terrorist organisations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) immediately proceeded to close down the Council’s offices in Washington D. C and other major American cities, including New York and Los Angeles.

"The Americans for the first time in their relationship with Iran have a real capital of sympathy with the Iranian people, mostly with the young generation, the only one in the whole of the Middle East to really like and appreciate the Americans. They should not deceive the Iranian people by comforting a regime that has no future", observed Mr. Ali Keshtgar, the Editor of the Paris-based "Mihan" (Homeland) monthly.

The order, signed by Mr. Colin Powell, the State Secretary, says all banking accounts of the CNRI would be closed and its members in the US would be informed that their activities would be regarded as harmful to the interests of the United States.

"The Mojahedeen Khalq Organisation and its affiliates, under any name, are considered as terrorist organizations and their activities are illegal inside and outside the United States", Mr. Powell stated.

The MKO had been already been declared a terrorist organization by both the US and the European Union, but its political arm, the National Council of Resistance was allowed to operate.

When the Allied occupied Iraq some 100 days ago, they also attacked several of the military bases the deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hoseyn had placed at the disposal of the MKO for their operations against the Islamic Republic, but latter reached an agreement with the Organisation allowing its members to keep their light weapons.

On last June, more than a thousand French crack policemen and gendarmerie forces raided the MKO's international headquarters in the small town of Auvers Sur Oise near Paris, arrested 13 leaders of the group, including Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI's co-leader, and seized more than 9 millions US Dollars and 200.000 Euros, all in cash.

A semi-military organisation, the MKO, led by Mr. Mas'oud Rajavi, obeys a strict Marxist-Islamist ideology and is the only armed group fighting the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Because of Friday weekly holiday in Iran, there was no immediate reaction from Tehran and at the time of placing this article on the web, no spokesmen from the MKO or the CNRI had made any comment.

Though the State Department offered no reason for its somehow surprise decision, but some Iranian and western sources said it might be part of the ongoing

Tehran-Washington secret negotiations aimed at encouraging Tehran to hand over to the United States some of the high-ranking al-Qa’eda officials believed to be in the Iranians custody.

According to the Americans, one of Osama Ben Laden’s sons, Sa’d, his second man in command, the Egyptian Dr Eyman al Zawaheri, al-Qa’ed’a spokesman, Soleyman Abou Qaith, the network’s present coordinator Seyf al Adl are in Iran.

But the Saudi-owned pan Arab daily "al Sharq al Awsat" said on Thursday that all four men had left Iran, probably for safer places along Iranian-Afghanistan-Pakistan borders.

Informed Iranian sources confirmed the news, saying that the Iranian authorities, of fear to see some of the men being officially pinpointed by the Americans, had evacuated tem outside Iran.

Tehran immediately denied the information, reiterating that none of the men were ever in Iran.

But the statement lacks credibility, as in previous declarations; the official spokesman for President Mohammad Khatami had insisted that Iran had not been able to identify all of the 500 al-Qa’da and Taleban operatives in detains.

"The Americans are well aware of the activities of the MKO. At the same time, they have also put the Islamic Republic among evil and terrorist states. It is therefore possible that Washington, by placing the NCRI on their list of terrorist organizations, wants to encourage Iran in handing over leading terrorist personalities" Mr. Keshtgar added.

"The decision to ban the Mojaheden’s Resistance Council does not mean that Washington wants normalize relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime that is the mother of all terrorists, but that it wants enter into a bargain over the suspected al-Qa’eda people believed to be in the custody of the Iranians", he pointed out.

In his view, Washington would make a "terrible mistake" if it really was looking to appease the Iranian Mullahrchy.

Asked by Iran Press Service if, anyhow, Iran is in a position to reciprocate the Americans decision, handing over to them some of the senior al-Qa’eda people? Mr. Keshtgar ruled out, observing not only the Islamic Republic would be discredited in Arab and Islamic worlds, but also would face rebellion from its own base, the basij volunteers, the revolution’s guards, the judiciary, the lumpen religious and the masses of uneducated people. ENDS US MKO 15803

http://www.iran-press-service.com/

IRANIAN ANALYSTS WARNED THE US AGAINST NORMALISING WITH IRAN

PARIS 15 Aug. (IPS) 8.16.2003

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/965111/posts?page=3#3

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US Bans Iranian Opposition Group

August 15, 2003
Middle East Online
middle-east-online.com

WASHINGTON - The United States on Friday banned the political wing of the Iranian opposition group People's Mujahedeen, froze its assets and moved to close down its offices here, the State Department said.

The move, announced in a notice signed by Secretary of State Colin Powell that was published in the Federal Register, outlaws the National Council of Resistance, declaring it to be a terrorist organization.

The designation also applies to the group's alias "the National Council of Resistance of Iran" and includes "its US representative office and all other offices worldwide," Powell said in the notice.

The People's Mujahadeen -- also known as the Mujahedeen e Khalq (MEK) -- has been on Washington's terrorism blacklist for some time, but its political wing has fought the designation in US courts.

Amid the uncertainty over its status, the National Council of Resistance maintained offices in Washington and other US cities and has frequently held news conferences to denounce the Iranian government.

Friday's announcement appears to be aimed at closing that legal loophole, paving the way for US authorities to shut down the group's offices, according to a State Department official.

The US move against the People's Mujahadeen follows a similar crackdown on the group in France, where police raided its headquarters in a Paris suburb in June, arresting scores of people.

The group's leader, Maryam Rajavi, was one of more than 160 people initially detained in the raids and her arrest outraged her followers, with a spate of self-immolation protests across Europe that left two women dead.

Rajavi and 16 others who were then placed under investigation were granted conditional release in early July after two weeks in detention, although that does not preclude charges being brought against them.

The group - which is also designated a terrorist organization by the European Union and Iran - has denied all wrongdoing.

With a program that blends left-wing and Islamic ideology, the People's Mujahedeen took part in the 1979 revolution in Iran, but the movement was suppressed in the years that followed and its members fled abroad.

Under the leadership of Rajavi's husband, Massoud, the military wing of the group took refuge in Iraq in 1986, from where it organized attacks inside Iran.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=6799

Europe pressed to shun Iranian oilfield

By Carola Hoyos in London

Published: August 15 2003 18:52 | Last Updated: August 15 2003 18:52

Spencer Abraham, US energy secretary, has warned the Netherlands and Italy not to allow its companies to invest in Iran's giant Azadegan oilfield.

Mr Abraham's move, made on a trip to Europe this week, heralds a new US campaign to increase pressure on a reluctant Europe to isolate Iran over its nuclear weapons programme.

In 2000 Iran agreed with the Japanese government to give priority rights to Japex and Indonesia Petroleum, both Japanese companies, to develop the field in return for Japanese loans.

The US State Department in the past months has put pressure on Tokyo to forgo developing the field, which is said to hold up to 45bn barrels of oil.

Mr Abraham, who on Friday cut short his trip to Europe because of the massive power outages in North America, was asked to "secure commitments from other governments and companies" not to step in and snatch up the field if the US was successful in dissuading Japan from making an investment, a senior administration official told the FT.

He said that Japan was "open to the idea of forgoing the field" and that discussions were "moving in the direction we want".

The Iran-Libya Act of 1996 imposed sanctions on non-US companies that invested more than $20m (?17.7m, £12.4m) in Iran's oil or natural gas sector. But neither Bill Clinton, the former president, nor President George W. Bush enforced the measure.

Antonio Marzano, Italy's industry minister, told Mr Abraham that Eni, Italy's biggest energy company - which has interests in both Iran's on and offshore oil and natural gas fields - would provide written assurance that it would not take over the Azadegan field.

However, the Dutch government gave the US no commitment that Royal Dutch/Shell would not widen its investment in Iran. Shell in 1999 signed an $800m deal to develop two oilfields, one of which began production in late 2001.

Shell, together with Total of France and British Petroleum, has also shown interest in another oilfield in south-western Iran.

The US is still looking for a promise by France that Total, which rarely has qualms about investing in countries deemed unacceptable by the US, would not expand its oil and gas activity in Iran.

Iran, which holds 90bn barrels of oil reserves, is counting on foreign investment of up to $5bn a year to increase its daily oil production. This was as high as 6m b/d in 1974 but has remained less than 4m b/d since the revolution in 1979. Despite the threat of US sanctions, more than 90 companies are active or have shown interest in Iran's oil sector.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1059479056119&p=1012571727162

Iran allows sampling ahead of IAEA report

By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Roula Khalaf in London
Published: August 14 2003

Iran allowed UN atomic energy inspectors this week to take samples from a controversial and previously banned site, in an apparent attempt to moderate the tone of a report on Iran due early next month.

The move comes after samples from the Natanz plant removed in June by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) tested positive for enriched uranium, raising further concerns about Iran's nuclear programme.

Saber Zaeimian, spokesman for the Iran Atomic Energy Organisation, confirmed that a four-man IAEA team, which ended a three-day visit to Iran yesterday, had taken samples from the Kalay-e-Electric company "and other places they asked for".

The IAEA had complained in a report to its board in June that it had been barred from taking environmental samples at Kalay-e-Electric, suspected of being part of Iran's uranium enrichment project.

According to western diplomats the agency's concerns over Iran's nuclear programme have been exacerbated by the results of the samples taken in June, which suggest that Iran could have tested centrifuges with enriched uranium.

Diplomats said that while the samples were not proof of aweapons programme they contradicted earlier Iranian assertions.

Tehran insists its nuclear programme is strictly for civilian use. But it has faced increased international pressure to agree to enhanced inspections of its sites by signing the "additional protocol" to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Pressure will intensify if the new IAEA report raises fresh suspicions by finding that Iran had once again breached the so-called safeguards agreement. The US could seek to find Iran in violation of the NPT and refer the issue to the UN Security Council.

Iranian officials have hinted in recent weeks that, despite misgivings, Tehran will agree to the additional protocol, though western diplomats say a final decision by the leadership has not been reached yet.

Gholamreza Aghazadeh, Iran's top energy official, told reporters yesterday that Iran would address the world's concerns. But he said more discussions with the IAEA were needed on the additional protocol.

"No questions [or] ambiguities remained unanswered," Mr Aghazadeh said after a cabinet meeting. "With our behaviour and co-operation with the IAEA and other countries, we'll remove the world's concerns and [instead] expect them to be transparent."

Iran has demanded assurances it would have access to international help for its civilian nuclear projects if it signed the protocol. But diplomats say Tehran must accept tougher inspections, without conditions, to ease international concerns over its nuclear activities.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1059479005771&p=1012571727172

US bans Iranian opposition group, moves to shut political office

The United States on Friday banned the political wing of the Iranian opposition group People's Mujahedeen, froze its assets and moved to close down its offices here, the State Department said.

http://www.iranian.ws/news/publish/article_265.shtml

Comment: This group seems to be hatred in Iran, because they fought against their homeland during the Iraq-Iran war in the 80's.

I found this story so much interesting for all to read.

These are words of the Cyrus" The Great, a persian king who ruled Persia 2500 years ago:

I am Cyrus, King of the world. When I entered Babylon... I did not allow any one to terrorize the land... I kept in view the needs of people and all its sanctuaries to promote their well-being... I put an end to their misfortune.
The great god has delivered all the lands into my hand; The lands that I have made to dwell in a peaceful habitation...

http://www.iranian.ws/7000.htm

The MEK or People's Mujahedeen were the first modern Islamic group to use suicide bombers. Most Iranians, within Iran, despise them.

As far as I know, they also killed innocent people in the early 80's to terrorize the soceity.
They are responsible for many violent actions inside Iran.

Kharrazi stresses continuation of policy of detente

Tehran, Aug 16, IRNA -- Foreign Minister Dr. Kamal Kharrazi here
Saturday stressed the need to continue Iran's policy of detente and
holding of dialogues with other countries and civilizations as means
of confronting the challenges facing the country.
Speaking before a gathering of heads of Iranian missions in
foreign countries, he took note of the latest world developments and
said efforts to remove tensions with certain world countries have
reaped for the Islamic Republic distinct honors in the international
arena.
He further referred to government policies adopted to reduce the
threats against the national security, and expressed his view that
the country needed to continue talking to other countries, keep
abreast with latest information, and adopt new strategies to confront
new challenges.
Kharrazi reiterated his belief that dialogue with other cultures
and civilizations was an effective instrument in achieving the
country's goals.
Heads of Iranian missions abroad opened their week-long annual
meeting this morning with President Mohammad Khatami giving the
opening remarks.
The Iranian envoys will be discussing the latest developments in
various fields of significance to their work and adopt the agenda of
their activities for the coming year.

http://www.irna.ir/en/head/030816120137.ehe.shtml

Just checking out your post, DoctorZIn. You've put a lot of work into making this happen. The Iranian people deserve some measure of freedom from these Islamofacists. I'll be checking back to view your posts. BTW, I'm of ME ancestry, 1st generation here. My parents came to this country to escape the killings.

Thanks for all you do. Most Americans don't appreciate the our Freedom nor do we understand the hell others endure in this world.

I now need a kleenex.

Come the revolution

Photo: Adri Berger

Only in a few countries could a philosopher of science be seen as an enemy of the state. Abdolkarim Soroush, one of Iran's best-known intellectuals, argues that science cannot progress under totalitarian regimes. His greatest "crime" is to suggest that this is a legitimate Islamic view. After six years in exile, Soroush bravely returned to Iran last week. Ehsan Masood spoke to him on the eve of his departure

Why are you going back to Iran?

I have been away for six years. I need to go back to sort out various things and visit my students, family and friends. Some of my closest friends have been arrested. Before I left I set up an independent institute for epistemological research, which I have discovered was closed down last month. The building has been sealed off. I need to find out what happened.

How risky will this visit be in terms of your personal safety?

It is difficult to say. My friends tell me I am taking a risk. But I need to go.

President Mohammad Khatami is also a personal friend of yours. Will you meet him?

I avoid him and he avoids me. That is better for both of us.

Many of your students are taking to the streets in Iran calling for more freedoms. Do you think they will succeed?

These protests are coming entirely from within. They are not because of foreign provocation. Iran has had an explosion in its university population since the revolution, when there were just 200,000 students. Today there are 2 million. They and their families want greater freedoms and I believe the end result will be a reduction in the power of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, more power to parliament, and greater academic freedom.

How has your experience in Iran influenced your views about science?

My experience in Iran teaches me that a minimum amount of freedom is necessary for the advancement of science, for the advancement of thought. Research cannot flourish if you cannot communicate with your fellow scientists; if you cannot explain your ideas freely, or have to hide part of them lest you be arrested.

I am communicating with you now. We can freely chat and freely exchange information. Science is a child of these kinds of conditions. If I hide something from you and you hide things from me, and both of us are obliged to read between the lines, these are not ideal conditions for research to progress.

Yet science has done well under totalitarian regimes in China and the former Soviet Union, and even under some fairly unpleasant governments during Islam's "golden age of science" between the 9th and 13th centuries...

Let me make a distinction between empirical research and thinking per se. Thinking needs a free environment. Empirical research, where you have a well-defined project with official approval, can indeed flourish even under a totalitarian regime, because scientists can still meet other scientists, read the literature and publish. But it is impossible to advance new theories - particularly in the social sciences - when you are under the influence of a particular view, or under the pressure of a particular dogma.

And I disagree with you about Islam's golden age. Totalitarianism is absolutely a modern phenomenon. In the past, kings were despots but they were not totalitarian. They weren't able to put their hands on science and philosophy. There was no widespread plan to limit scientists, philosophers and other academics. If there were restrictions, they came from religion or fellow philosophers rather than the political system.

You started your professional life as a chemist. Why did you switch to history and philosophy of science?

While still in Iran, I became fascinated with a whole series of problems to do with the nature of science. This happened when I took private tuition in the philosophy of Islamic metaphysics and my teacher and I would often discuss issues such as the nature of theories, the nature of observation and experimental evidence. Neither of us was ever satisfied that we had properly understood these issues, but then neither of us knew that there existed a branch of knowledge called philosophy of science. In fact, philosophy of modern science was unknown in Iran at the time. I didn't find out about it until I came to the UK in 1973.

Are you saying there was no teaching or research in philosophy of modern science in Iran before the Islamic revolution of 1979?

Yes. I was the first person to introduce this subject in Iranian universities. I arranged for academics to be trained and books to be translated and written. Prior to the revolution, philosophy courses at Tehran University concentrated on figures such as Kant, Hume and Heidegger. There was no teaching of the works of modern analytical philosophers such as Karl Popper and Bertrand Russell. This may have been because our heads of department were mostly educated in Germany and France - French is Iran's second language - and were generally weak in English.

You were a supporter of the 1979 revolution...

Yes. Everybody was a supporter. We thought that there was no other way to get rid of the hated regime of the shah and the insecurity that came with it.

Scientific revolutions and political revolutions are similar in many ways. You cannot plan them, they just happen, and you become wiser after the event. After the revolution there was no one dominant view. There were secular people, moderate Muslims, radical Muslims and so on. Revolutions tend to result in totalitarianism. People like me were in it to make it more moderate.

After the shah was overthrown, you returned to Iran. How did you attract the attention of Ayatollah Khomeini?

I met Ayatollah Khomeini when he was in exile in Paris during the 1970s. I later discovered from some of his intimate friends that he had read and liked one of my books on the philosophy of Islamic metaphysics. Khomeini himself had taught metaphysics. I was also known for another book I had written criticising Marxism - considered a serious threat in Iran at the time - and for another on ethics and science. You could say I was a public figure in Iran.

After the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini set up what he called the Advisory Council for the Cultural Revolution to revise the curricula in the universities. I was invited to become one of the council's seven members and I served on it for four years. It was here that I was given the opportunity to introduce philosophy of modern science in universities.

How did the students take to it?

The students became very excited. I myself taught the subject for more than 10 years and set up a research faculty at Tehran University. Today, I am happy to say that history and philosophy of science is flourishing in Iran. There are many professors and books are constantly being published.

How did you fall out with the authorities?

Around 1990, I published a series of seven articles in a popular cultural magazine called Kyan. The magazine is part of the country's biggest-selling newspaper group. The articles went under the title "The expansion and contraction of religious knowledge". In these articles, I defined a branch of knowledge called religious knowledge and tried to explain it using the principles of philosophy of natural and social sciences. These articles rapidly became quite controversial. The ayatollahs [Shiite Muslim religious leaders], in particular, became very sensitive. Some 10 books have since been written in response to my series.

What did you write that got the ayatollahs so inflamed?

They didn't like the idea that interpretations of religious knowledge can change over time, or that religious knowledge can be understood in its historical context. They thought I was taking away the sacredness of religion and making it dependent on human understanding.

But as the controversy grew, I was happy to see these ideas debated in the public media. The original articles were later published in a 700-page book, and I found that I was beginning to attract quite a following. My classrooms became overcrowded and my books were selling very, very well. Books on philosophy usually sell between 2000 and 3000 copies. Some of my books sold more than 50,000. This made the politicians and clergy very sensitive as I was seen to be undermining their exclusive position. I started coming under restrictions.

What kinds of restrictions?

Vigilante groups would stop me from speaking in public. I was often attacked and beaten. I found that I no longer had a job. No one would employ me. No one would publish my work. Invitations to speak stopped coming. The magazine where my original series of articles appeared was closed down. I was summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence and told very explicitly that the authorities did not like me any more and did not want me to feel secure in the country.

To what degree do you think research in Muslim countries should be regulated?

When I was on the Advisory Council for the Cultural Revolution, the clerics thought there was an excessive leftist influence on the social sciences and wanted us to purge them of this. I always argued that this would not work because scientists never accept commands from anybody.

But in a country like Iran, surely religion will always guide what research you can do?

There are always barriers to science. Some come from the nature of the research itself, and these have to be recognised and acknowledged. Others come from outside, and these need to be minimised or eliminated. If you are asked to confirm predetermined conclusions to further a social, political or religious cause, that has to be resisted. If you believe through your religion that you know the answer to a particular issue, then embarking on research to find the answer seems to be a contradiction.

You are sometimes described as Islam's Martin Luther, the 16th-century Christian reformer. Are you?

I do not think I am. My main job is to offer an alternative to the totalitarian view of Islam.

http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinterview.jsp;jsessionid=AJEAEHNHBCEP?id=ns24081

Press Statement Tom Casey, Acting Spokesman Washington, DC August 15, 2003

Designation of National Council of Resistance and National Council of Resistance of Iran under Executive Order 13224

The Secretary of State has amended the designation, under Executive Order 13224 on terrorist financing, of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, known as the MEK, to add its aliases National Council of Resistance (NCR) and National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

That Executive Order blocks the assets of organizations and individuals linked to terrorism. The decision also clarifies that the designation includes the U.S. representative office of NCRI and all its other offices worldwide, and that the designation of the People s Mujahedin of Iran ( PMOI ) as an alias of the MEK includes the PMOI s U.S. representative office and all other offices worldwide.

The Secretary of State designated the MEK as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and again in 2001 pursuant to section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224.

That order (as amended) authorizes the Secretary to designate foreign entities and individuals that he determines in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.

The action to amend the Executive Order 13224 designation of the MEK to include NCR and NCRI is based on information from a variety of sources that those entities functioned as part of the MEK and have supported the MEK's acts of terrorism. [End]

Released on August 15, 2003

http://www.voanews.com

This is most interesting.

Thank you for the post.

http://www.iribnews.com/Full_en.asp?news_id=185960&n=31

Shahroudi says Iran able to respond to enemies' judicial question

Tehran, Aug 16, IRNA -- Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud
Hashemi Shahroudi said here Saturday that Iran has definitely
technical and judicial answers to all the issues raised by the
enemies.
Shahroudi told heads of Iran's representative offices abroad
that through sound, transparent and clear information one can repel
all judicial aggressions and propaganda campaign of the enemies.
He said all the issues and disputes raised against the
Iranian Judiciary are answerable.
He added, "We should not put domestic principles and main goals
into oblivion under enemies' propagandistic pressures, not should we
get intimidated by enemies' propaganda."
The judiciary chief voiced displeasure with actions of the
so-called human and women's rights activists worldwide, saying they
act contrary to their words.
Labeling Iran as supporter of terrorism and violator of human
rights is a blatant act of mischief and enmity with the Islamic
Revolution, said Shahroudi.
The scenario of the sworn enemies of the system is a sinister
policy and the enemies of the system have launched a smear campaign
to misportray the realities in the country.
Referring to the role of foreign media and news networks in
recent unrest in Iran, Shahroudi said the pro-US and pro-Zionist
regime media have concentrated their efforts on weakening and
dismantling the Islamic establishment in Iran.
"Enemies of the Islamic Revolution have been offering strongest
support for terrorism, while at the same time they accuse Iran of
supporting terrorism," he added.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Shahroudi complained about shortcomings
in defending Islamic values, dissemination of information and
defending and supporting achievements and values of the Islamic
Revolution.
He referred to visit of foreigners to Iranian prisons and
their talks with Iranian prisoners as something "unprecedented."
The meeting of heads of Iranian representative offices abroad
opened here on Saturday with President Mohammad Khatami and Majlis
Speaker Mehdi Karroubi attending the gathering.

http://www.irna.ir/en/tnews/030816183639.etn02.shtml

Well, this has to be printed to give everyone a laugh.

Khatami stresses promoting culture

Tehran, Aug 16 - President Mohammad Khatami here on Saturday underscored the need to promote culture, arts, science and intellectualism in order to build a world free from war and discrimination.

Khatami, in a message to the first international congress of ancient cultural ties in Iran and West Asia, stressed that today's world needs kindness and friendship more than before, and that the world is already tired of wars and conflicts.

"And to satisfy this real need, the culture and science must be promoted," he said in the message that was read by his advisor Hadi Khaniki.

Khatami said the Iranian plateau has been keeping a treasure of mankind's oldest civilizations, stressing that cultural ties, traditions and myths are still connected to each other in this part of the world.

"People's traditions in the Iranian plateau are connected to each other in such a way that the beautiful manifestation of their spiritual co-existence is just as charming as the manifestation of their joint struggles to overcome the elements of nature and to develop trade and industry," he wrote in the message.

Khatami called Iran `the land of kindness,' and said the spirit of tolerance, dialogue, affection, and wisdom has always been obvious in the efforts of the Iranian nation throughout the history.

"This ancient spirit cannot and should not be looked for only in history. Rather,the modern manifestations of this spirit should be explored in the cultural life of today's world," he said.

"Whoever wants to make a world free from wars, animosity and discrimination should struggle to promote arts, culture and intellectualism before political issues, and our ancestors were the pioneers in that struggle."