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A missing Iranian nuclear scientist, who Tehran claims was abducted by the U.S., has taken refuge at a Pakistani embassy office in Washington and is planning to return to his homeland, the State Department said Tuesday. It was the latest development in a murky case that has been shrouded in mystery since the scientist, Shahram Amiri, disappeared while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009. "He has been in the United States of his own free will and obviously he is free to go," department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "In fact, he was scheduled to travel to Iran...

Policies of “engagement” with hostile powers are always risky, and frequently lead to embarrassment, as Hillary Clinton discovered last weekend in Bahrain. Foreign Policy.com has a revealing article today detailing the Secretary of State’s futile attempts to greet Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki at the 2010 IISS Manama Security Dialogue, where she was the featured speaker. According to Foreign Policy’s report: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to speak with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki twice on Friday, pursuing him both inside and outside the gala dinner here at the Ritz Carlton in Manama. But Mottaki deliberately avoided contact...

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has appointed six presidential advisers for foreign affairs. The half-dozen are former presidential envoys to the Middle East, Asia, and Afghanistan who were appointed by Ahmadinejad -- reportedly to some consternation -- only earlier this month. The change to their titles comes after protests by lawmakers and former diplomats and also criticism from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who had warned against parallel activities in foreign affairs and other areas. Ahmadinejad's deputy for political affairs, Mohammad Jafar Behdad, said the president followed the supreme leader's guidance and therefore the status of the special envoys was changed. So did...

Iran seeking Security Council seat 05 Jul 2008 Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has urged unity among the Muslim countries to counter the challenges in the world today. Mottaki briefed the envoys of 57 Muslim countries to the UN on Iran's policy in a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, IRNA reported. Iran's top diplomat condemned recent moves in the West to undermine Islamic values and said that these initiatives are intolerable for Muslim nations. He also urged Muslim countries to support Iran's bid to hold a seat at the UN Security Council and noted that Iran is...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has told a German magazine that the United States has too many problems in Iraq to become involved in armed conflict with Iran. ADVERTISEMENT Military action is sometimes discussed in Washington as an option in trying to derail what it sees as Iran's drive to develop nuclear weapons. The United States "is not in a position to get into a new military conflict," Mottaki was quoted as saying in an excerpt of an interview to be published in Focus magazine. "170,000 American soldiers can guarantee neither their own safety nor the security...

Iran envoy Mottaki denies Iran's Holocaust denial while visiting Europe. Back home, I suspect he'll have to deny that very denial of the original denial. The article: "Iran's foreign minister was in Oslo on Tuesday, and he denied that his country's leaders doubt whether the Holocaust occurred. Nor would Manouchehr Mottaki claim that Israel has no right to exist. Iranian critics have often pointed to last year's seminar in Teheran for Holocaust skeptics, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's suggestions that Israel should cease to exist. But Mottaki, after holding meetings with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, claimed that Iran...

Sweden: Protests Against Mottaki's Visit May 07, 2007 The Local TT/AFP/The Local Between 100 and 200 Iranian dissidents protested in Stockholm on Monday against a visit to Sweden by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. Protesters threw eggs at the door of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs where Mottaki was due to deliver a speech, and shouted slogans denouncing the Iranian regime. The group also called for the release of political prisoners. A large police force was on hand to prevent the demonstrators from entering the building. Mottaki was scheduled to meet with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Deputy...

Iran today called on Iraq to work to release five Iranian officials arrested by U.S. forces in Iraq and stop American "adventurism" in the war-ravaged country. The IRNA news agency said that Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki told his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar al-Zebari in a telephone conversation, that America's "illegal and adventurist acts should stop in Iraq." Six Iranians were arrested in a night-time swoop by U.S. forces on an office in the northern Iraq city of Irbil on January 11, one of whom has since been released. Mottaki also demanded that Iraqi authorities "seriously seek to release the Iranian...

Manouchehr Mottaki meets with Syrian president in Damascus, two call for end to 'occupation' of Iraq. Minister says message from Iranian president contains regional issues as well as mutual ties Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki reportedly met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, and the two called for an end to the "occupation" of Iraq. Mottaki, who said he had brought a letter from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said he and Assad had "agreed on the need to bring an end to the occupation of Iraq with a view to achieving stability," state news agency Sana reported. He added the...

Arrival of the chief of the Iranian diplomacy in Lebanon BEIRUT - the Iranian Minister for the Foreign Affairs, Manouchehr Mottaki, arrived Monday evening at Lebanon via Syria, indicated the national Agency of information (ANI). Mr. Mottaki arrived by the road via the border libano-Syrian woman of Abboudiyé (Lebanon northern), the direct road Damas-Beirut being closed de facto because of the Israeli bombardments. During his stay, Mr. Mottaki must meet Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, the Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the chief of the Parliament Nabih Berri, according to a Lebanese official source. From Damas, Mr. Mottaki indicated that...

Mottaki slams Canadian statements as "illogical and illegal" Geneva, June 24, 2006 IRNA Switzerland-Iran-Mottaki Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki lashed out at Canada for its interventionist statements against certain members of the Iranian delegation which is attending the first UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Switzerland, calling them "illogical and illegal." "Canada's track record is well known in the Islamic Republic of Iran. They have committed massive and serious political mistakes since the victory of the Islamic Revolution," Mottaki said in an interview with IRNA in Geneva on Friday. "Canada's (reprehensible) acts include hiding some spies at their embassy...

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stressed Tehran's right to civilian nuclear technology, after talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a surprise visit to Damascus, AFP reported. "We reiterated our indisputable right to peaceful nuclear technology," he said at a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem. The Iranian foreign minister also said that he would visit Kuwait on Saturday as part of regular consultations with Iran's Arab neighbours across the Persian Gulf. "I will tell them (Kuwaiti officials) that the Bushehr nuclear plant (under construction in southern Iran) is in keeping with the highest international norms...

Iran is giving $50 million to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to fill gaps left by Western aid cuts, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Sunday. The donation will help make up the shortfall left by the aid cut-off by the United States and the European Union and Israel's freezing of the transfer of about $50 million a month in tax and customs receipts to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government. "I am honoured to announce that Iran has donated $50 million to help the Palestinian nation," Mottaki said in a televised speech to a conference in Tehran on the Palestinian issue. Mottaki...

Mottaki to meet Solana, Ferrero-Waldner in Brussels Brussels, Feb 18, IRNA EU-Iran-Mottaki EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki in Brussels Monday afternoon to discuss latest developments in the region and EU-Iran ties, Solana's office announced Friday afternoon. Mottaki will also hold talks with EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Moreover, the Iranian foreign minister will meet with his Belgian counterpart, Karel de Gucht, and later address the foreign relations committee of the European Parliament.

ALARM - Iran requires the immediate withdrawal of forces GB of al Basra, in Iraq BEIRUT - the Iranian Minister for the Foreign Affairs, Manouchehr Mottaki, in visit in Beirut, took Friday the immediate withdrawal of the British forces of al Basra, in the south of Iraq.