Free Republic

President Mohammad Khatami Monday called on Iranian students and teachers to launch a six-month study to identify the reasons for Iran's backwardness as well as the exit routes, and report the outcomes to the administration, IRNA reported. Khatami, speaking at a ceremony in a girls' school southwest of Tehran to mark the beginning of the new Iranian academic year, urged students, particularly high-school students and their teachers, to inform the administration of proposals to promote Iran's status in the world's educational arena. "Iran, with a glorious history, has been a major bricklayer of civilizations that once reached the highest levels...

TEHRAN, Sept 23 (AFP) - The government of Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami is to submit a bill to Majlis Tuesday seeking to expand presidential powers limited by conservative-dominated institutions, IRNA reported Monday. Vice President for legal and parliamentary affairs Mohammad-Ali Abtahi will introduce the bill, IRNA said. The bill, details of which have yet to be released, has to be discussed in the relevant Majlis committee before being put to the vote, a procedure that may take several weeks considering parliament's busy agenda, unless it wins priority. It is about "more precise and concrete application of the constitution", Khatami...