Free Republic

TEHRAN -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Sunday branded the U.S. president’s recent statements as a declaration of cultural and religious war against the world. Asefi also said that Bush’s remarks included many countries and that Bush’s own friends called it a comprehensive war against the world. “We consider such statements to be a clear example of cultural and religious war which produce only animosity toward U.S. policies throughout the world,” Asefi told reporters at his weekly press briefing. Asefi also stated that the U.S. charges against Iran are part of psychological operations which are carried out from...

One of John Kerry's claims to the White House is that his diplomacy would better control nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea than President Bush's alleged truculence. So it is newsworthy that a spokesman for Tehran's Foreign Ministry has just dismissed out of hand the centerpiece of Mr. Kerry's arms-control offer to the mullahs. Senator Kerry has promised to provide a steady supply of nuclear fuel to Iran if it will dismantle its own atomic-fuel-making capability. But the New York Sun reports that Tehran spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi sniffed at the idea on the weekend, calling it "irrational" because...

Oct. 28, 2003 Iran rejects U.S. demand to extradite al-Qaida operatives By ASSOCIATED PRESS TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran rejected a U.S. demand to hand over senior al-Qaida operatives in its custody, Tuesday, saying the terror suspects would stand trial in Iranian courts, state-run radio reported. A day earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell insisted that senior al-Qaida operatives held by Iran should be turned over to their countries of origin or to the United States for interrogation and trial. "Al-Qaida operatives currently in (our) custody have committed crimes in Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi was quoted by...

Iran on Friday condemned the recent move by the British police to detain Iran's former ambassador to Argentina, Hadi Soleimanpour, stressing that the measure had been politically motivated. "The measure had been politically motivated and has been carried out under the influence of the Zionists. It is meant to serve the interests of the Zionist regime," said Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi, according to IRIB. Jewish sources based in Buenos Aires have claimed that Soleimanpour was arrested in a London suburb on Thursday. Marta Nercellas, the lawyer representing the Amia Jewish Community Center, has claimed that Soleimanpour was among those...

Iran on Monday put up a serious challenge to the US, inviting American companies to partake in the country's nuclear programs if Washington had serious qualms about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "I don't think America is worried about Iran's nuclear programs; if they are, we invite them to come and participate in these programs and construct the facilities," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told reporters during a weekly briefing, IRNA reported. Washington has turned up the heat against Tehran in recent weeks, accusing Iran of pursuing an aggressive nuclear program and hiding suspected al-Qaeda elements. "Most of these statements are...

TEHRAN, May 26 (AFP) - Iran said Monday it was not holding any "important leaders" of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda in its jails, a day after a top diplomat revealed some members of the terror network were in Iranian custody. "Al-Qaeda members have been arrested in Iran, but the persons imprisoned are not important leaders of al-Qaeda," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi told state radio. Asefi's comment came after Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, said that Iran was holding an undisclosed number of the group's members. "We have had a number of al-Qaeda people in custody, and...

The United States and Iran held several meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, in an effort to ease friction between the two countries, a senior U.S. official said Monday. The meetings focused on a wide range of issues, including postwar Iraq, in which the Bush administration is attempting to deter Iran from trying to influence the formation of a new government in Baghdad. Secretary of State Colin Powell, during a news conference here after a meeting with Egyptian officials, said the administration opposes a fundamentalist regime as not being in the interest of the Iraqi people. Powell echoed a similar statement weeks...