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News
March 15-19, 1999 / Esfand 24-28,1377

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community

Today

* Elected councils members "not to be vetted"
* 15 held on charges of helping alleged terrorists
* Russia offers US deal to end its nuclear aid to Iran
* It's business first for Iran at UAE arms fair

Previous

* Iranians celebrate ancient spring fire festival
* Iran displays military power in UAE despite row
* POW exchange amid Khatami overture to Saddam
* Argentina clears Iran; criticises US and Israel
* Moderates barred from Tehran council: paper
* MKO appeals designation as terror organizations
* Iran cautiously welcomes Afghan accord
* Italian naval vessel to visit Iran
* The Hague oil producer cuts deal
* Khatami gives upbeat view of Italy trip
* Italy visit a breakthrough for Khatami
* Khatami ends landmark visit with papal meeting
* U.S. wary of Iranian president's visit to Italy
* Khatami rebukes Europe for backing Rushdie
* Calls for impeachment of interior minister
* Iran stresses opposition to Turkmen pipeline project

Sports | Arts | Business| Rights | Community


Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday


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Wednesday
March 17, 1999

* Elected councils members "not to be vetted"

Tehran, March 17, irna -- deputy minister for political and social affairs mostafa tajzadeh said here wednesday that all candidates for membership in the city and urban councils who were elected last month do not have to pass through any further vetting procedure. he said every rumour to the country emanating from whatsoever source is invalid and must not be heeded. tajzadeh said insofar as the interior ministry is concerned the issue of meeting qualification criteria by candidates is long since over and done with ... FULL TEXT

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* 15 Held on Charges of Helping Alleged Terrorists Enter U.S.

March 17, 1999, (Los Angeles Times) - Federal authorities arrested 15 people Tuesday on charges of operating an immigration fraud ring that helped members of an alleged Iranian terrorist group, among others, enter the United States illegally. U.S. Atty. Alejandro N. Mayorkas and other law enforcement officials refused, however, to provide any details about infiltration of the country by Mujahedeen Khalq members ... FULL TEXT

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* Russia offers US deal to end its nuclear aid to Iran: report

WASHINGTON, March 17 (AFP) - Russia will offer to curtail its nuclear cooperation with Iran if United States lifts its sanctions on two Russian research facilities, The New York Times said Wednesday. The offer, revealed by Russian Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov during an interview, will be made during Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov's visit to Washington next week, the daily said ... FULL TEXT

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* It's business first for Iran at UAE arms fair despite island row

ABU DHABI, March 17 (AFP) - Under the motto of "business first," Iranian exhibitors have tried to attract potential buyers from around the world at the Abu Dhabi arms fair despite Tehran's islands dispute with their Emirati hosts. "It's been going fairly well. We are confident in the interest shown," said Hossein Shahbazi Jafari, an official of Iran's defence ministry overseeing Iran's participation ... FULL TEXT

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Tuesday
March 16, 1999

* Iranians celebrate ancient spring fire festival

TEHRAN, March 16 (AFP) - Tehran was rocked by the sound of firecrackers on Tuesday night as Iranians celebrated the ancient spring "Festival of Fire", which was officially authorised this year for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution. All over the town, and in particular in the residential districts, groups of young people lit fires and set off highly explosive crackers as soon as night fell ... FULL TEXT

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* Iran displays military power in UAE despite row

ABU DHABI, March 16 (Reuters) - Iran, setting aside its territorial dispute with the United Arab Emirates, put some of its military hardware on display at the Middle East's largest arms show in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. ``In order to show goodwill and after being persuaded by the UAE government, we participated in this exhibition in order to present all our existing production,'' said Hossein Shahbazi Jafari, a Defence Ministry consultant at the show ... FULL TEXT

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* Iran and Iraq exchange POWs amid Khatami overture to Saddam

BAGHDAD, March 16 (AFP) - Iran and Iraq exchanged prisoners of war on Tuesday, amid signs of warming ties between the two former foes. Iraq said Iran handed over 450 Iraqis, held since the end of the eight year war between them, while Iraq handed back 54 Iranians. Tehran said 56 of its citizens had been returned. News of the release came as the official Iraqi News Agency reported that President Saddam Hussein had received a message from his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami expressing a desire that Iran "strengthen and deepen" its relations with Iraq ... FULL TEXT

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* Argentina clears Iran in bombing; criticises US and Israel

BUNEOS AIRES, March 15 (AFP) - The Argentine Supreme Court plans to issue a ruling that blames the militant Islamic Jihad movement for the 1992 car-bombing of the Israeli embassy here, court sources said Monday. The court was also expected to criticise the United States and Israel for failing fully to cooperate with the investigation, court spokesmen said ... FULL TEXT

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Monday
March 15, 1999

* Five Iranian moderates barred from Tehran council: paper

TEHRAN, March 15 (AFP) - The election of five moderates to the Tehran municipal council has been annulled, a newspaper said Monday, as Iran's conservatives stepped up the pressure to overturn the sweeping victory by reformers in last month's elections. Former interior minister Abdollah Nuri and four other backers of reformist President Mohammad Khatami will not to be allowed to take their seats on the council by orders of the conservative-dominated Supervision Board, the pro-government newspaper Sobh-e-Emrouz said ... FULL TEXT

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* MKO appeals U.S. designation as terror organizations

March 14, 1999 (The Washington Post) -- Two groups designated by the Clinton administration as foreign terrorist organizations have turned to the American courts for vindication, waging the most significant challenge yet to a 1996 antiterrorism law and the way the State Department designates U.S. enemies. The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran and Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have hired prominent lawyers to take their cases to the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. They allege they were designated as terrorists by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright in October 1997 based on a mostly secret record and with no advance notice or opportunity to respond ... FULL TEXT

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* Iran cautiously welcomes Afghan accord

TEHRAN, March 15 (Reuters) - The Taleban's agreement to negotiate power-sharing with the opposition in Afghanistan satisfies one of a series of conditions set by powerful neighbour Iran for entering talks with the Islamic militia. Iran, which backs the anti-Taleban alliance, also wants the militia controlling about 90 percent of Afghanistan to punish the people who killed eight Iranian diplomats and one journalist in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif last August ... FULL TEXT

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* Italian naval vessel to visit Iran

TEHRAN, March 15 (AFP) - An Italian frigate is to visit Iran next month for the first visit by a western navy ship to Iranian waters since the 1979 Islamic revolution, the official news agency IRNA said Monday ... FULL TEXT

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Friday
March 12, 1999

* The Hague oil producer cuts deal

THE HAGUE, March 12 (Reuters) - Following is the full text of the statement released at the end of the oil producer talks on Friday: 1) In response to an invitation by HE Youcef Yousfi, the Minister of Energy and Mines of Algeria and President of the OPEC Conference, the Minister of Petroleum of Iran, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh; the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, Ali Al-Naimi; and, the Minister of Energy and Mines of Venezuela, Ali Rodriguez, met at the Algerian Embassy in The Hague on the 11th and 12th of March, to exchange views on the current situation and outlook of the international oil market. The Minister of Energy of Mexico was represented by Adrian Lajous, CEO of PEMEX, the Mexican state oil company ... FULL TEXT

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* Khatami gives upbeat view of Italy trip

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami described as ``positive'' his landmark visit to Italy this week, saying he managed to put across his country's new direction and ambitions, state television reported Friday. But a prominent Iranian official criticized the West for seeking to portray the trip as a result of Iranian weakness. ``Altogether, I felt that our goals materialized relatively well,'' the president said on his return from his three-day trip, the first state visit by an Iranian president to a West European country since the 1979 Islamic revolution ... FULL TEXT

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* Italy visit a breakthrough for Khatami

LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - He came, he saw, he conquered. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami achieved a foreign policy triumph with his three-day state visit to Italy, impressing Pope John Paul, charming Italian leaders and reaching out beyond Rome to the rest of Europe and the United States. On the first visit by an Iranian head of state to a Western capital since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Khatami sought to reassure the West by pledging to promote democracy, fight terrorism and combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction ... FULL TEXT

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Thursday
March 11, 1999

* Khatami ends landmark visit with papal meeting

VATICAN CITY, March 11 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami held 25-minute talks here on Thursday with Pope John Paul II on the final day of a landmark visit to Italy. The pope called the occasion "important and promising" while Khatami appealed for "the victory of peace and reconciliation." The pope personally welcomed Khatami on the threshold of the Vatican's private library. Before their talks started, Khatami joked with the pope and introduced his delegation. In Farsi, he told Iranian photograhpers "not to upset the pope." ... FULL TEXT

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* U.S. wary of Iranian president's visit to Italy

WASHINGTON, March 11 (AFP) - The United States expressed worry Thursday that Iran might try to use its president's visit to Italy to promote its international trade. "We believe Iran should not enjoy the benefits of normal international commerical relations until it ceases activities that violate international norms," a State Department official said ... FULL TEXT

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* Khatami rebukes Europe for backing Rushdie

TEHRAN, March 11 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami broke from his pro-Western message in Italy to deliver a stinging rebuke to European nations which have supported author Salman Rushdie. Khatami criticised European nations for backing "a person who has desecrated ... the feelings of more than one billion Moslems" around the world, the official news agency IRNA reported ... FULL TEXT

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* Conservative calls for impeachment of interior minister

TEHRAN, March 11 (AFP) - Iranian conservatives stepped up the pressure Thursday to overturn their defeat in last month's municipal elections as an MP called for the impeachment of the interior minister over the handling of the polls. Interior Minister Abdol-Vahed Mussavi-Lari "must be impeached because he has no intention of abiding by the law," influential conservative MP Ahmad Rasoolinejad said ... FULL TEXT

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* Iran stresses opposition to Turkmen pipeline project

TEHRAN, March 10 (AFP) - Iran's oil ministry reiterated its opposition Wednesday to Turkmenistan's plans for a natural gas pipeline under the Caspian sea that would bypass the Islamic republic. Iran is the "best and cheapest route," said Deputy Oil Minister for Caspian affairs Ali Majedi before leaving for an international oil and gas conference that began Wednesday in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabad ... FULL TEXT

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