Tehran Ready for Nuclear Interaction With West TEHRAN (FNA) - Iran is prepared to interact with the West on its nuclear issue, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said, warning the western countries not to miss the opportunity. Regarding the possibility of cancellation of fuel purchase or swap for the Tehran research reactor, Salehi said, "We chose to interact and the West had better not damage this opportunity." "All ways for providing fuel have not been blocked, we have potentials to supply fuel domestically, but we prefer to purchase the fuel," he told the Iranian students news agency. "We informed the IAEA that Natanz's enrichment facility, located in central Iran, can enrich fuel by five percent and we prefer to purchase twenty percent enriched uranium for Tehran research reactor and we hope that the West gets the message well." Meanwhile, he said producing 20 percent enriched fuel does not mean entering into military era. Elsewhere, Salehi said the "internationally-even situation" can help speed up Iran's activities, but if the conditions get rougher it can not deter Iran from the program. Meanwhile, Salehi rejected Iraqi officials' claims that Iran wants to build a nuclear plant near border of the Arab country and said, "Iran wants to construct five enrichment sites not atomic plants and there is no nuclear explosion or radiation in enrichment sites as they are found in atomic plants." He then called for Iraqi officials not to move towards political interests of those countries which are accusing Iran over its nuclear issue. Also Salehi said Iran's Fordo enrichment site is supposed to be completed by next two years and it has been visited twice by the IAEA inspectors so far. AEOI Chief meanwhile said the Iranian national who went missing in Saudi Arabia, Shahram Amiri, was not a nuclear scientist. As to the NPT, Salehi said, "I feel that some western countries affected by international Zionism are trying to force Iran to violate the NPT in a bid to run international smear campaign against the country." Concerning the US timetable for Iran to respond to fuel swap offer, he said, "They set time for themselves, Iran is an independent country and the West is fully aware that it can not set date for it." As to the possibility of approving another resolution against Iran in the UN Security Council or the IAEA Board of Governors, he said, "the Board of Governors' resolution has no serious impact on Iran, they called for us to freeze activities in Fordo enrichment site and we do not accept their demand." "We do not welcome further resolutions, but these resolutions will not deter Iran from moving forward in any domain including nuclear issue." Ali Akbar Salehi Larijani Denounces Ashura Protests TEHRAN (Press TV) - Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has denounced Sunday's anti-government protests in Tehran, urging punishment for "desecrators" of the day of Ashura. Protestors took to some central and downtown streets in Tehran on Sunday, taking advantage of the Ashura ceremonies, the anniversary of the martyrdom of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Imam Hussein (PBUH), to chant slogans against top Iranian government officials. Iranian police forces resorted to tear gas to disperse protestors. Seven people were confirmed dead during the unrest. Condemning the protests, Larijani on Tuesday called for the "most severe punishment" for "desecrators" of the day. "Majlis (the Iranian Parliament) calls on officials at the Interior and Intelligence Ministries and the Judiciary to arrest the desecrators of the religion and to administer without discretion the most severe punishment for these anti-government individuals." In a symbolic move, Iranian lawmakers also staged a march at the legislative body in condemnation of the Ashura protests. Iranian top cleric Ayatollah Hussein Nouri Hamedani and former Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi also condemned the events. Ali Larijani UK Envoy to Be Summoned TEHRAN (Press TV) - The Iranian Foreign Ministry says it will summon the British ambassador to Tehran over London's reaction to the unrest in the capital on Sunday. Tehran will summon British Ambassador Simon Lawrence Gass to formally protest the “meddling” remarks made by British officials, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast told Press TV on Monday. Mehman-Parast said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's comments were hasty and undiplomatic. On Monday, Miliband hailed the “great courage” of opposition supporters who took part in illegal protests in Tehran one day earlier, during which several people were killed and public property was damaged. In a statement issued in London, Miliband condemned the crackdown on the protesters, saying it was “particularly disturbing” since it happened during the holiest event for Shia Muslims, Ashura, which is the anniversary of the martyrdom of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Imam Hussein (PBUH). At least eight people were killed in clashes between security forces and demonstrators that broke out during the protests, according to the Tehran police headquarters. The police also said that the police forces neither used violence nor fired a single bullet on Sunday. However, Miliband blamed the Islamic Republic for the deaths, saying they were “yet another reminder of how the Iranian regime deals with protest.” Mehman-Parast said that the British have proven that they believe they will benefit from sowing discord among Iranians. The Foreign Ministry spokesman also advised British officials to rethink their policy toward Iran. David Miliband New Fokker Passenger Plane Purchased TEHRAN (FNA) - Iran announced that it has purchased a new Fokker passenger plane to expand the air fleet of its oil industry. "The plane whose code is EP-SUS (named after Susa, the most ancient city not just in Iran's Khuzestan Province but also in the entire world) can carry 100 passengers and thus the Iran Air Oil Fleet (IAOF) passenger capacity increases from 520 to 620 passengers," IAOC Managing Director Captain Hossein Talebzadeh said at a ceremony to unveil the 4th Fokker plane. Noting that the plane was produced in 1996 and was flying recently in a reputable and standard European airline, Talebzadeh reiterated that the plane could handle flight distances up to 505 kilometers with 109 passengers aboard. He also added that the airline now has 9 passenger planes and 24 pilots. Talebzadeh mentioned that the IAOC handles 190 weekly flights from Jam, Lamerd, Bahregan, Abadan, Bandar Lengeh (port city), Asalouyeh, Tehran, Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tabriz, Bushehr, Shiraz, Isfahan and the Iranian islands of Kharg, Lavan, Siri and Kish. Boasting that IAOC is one of the safest airlines, he said that the airline has offered services to the country's industries in recent years. Iran, Turkmenistan Launch New Gas Pipeline TEHRAN (Press TV) - Iran and Turkmenistan are to be connected by a second gas pipeline during a visit by the Iranian president to the central Asian state next week. "The new pipeline could raise the volume of Turkmenistan's exported gas to Iran up to 14 billion cubic meters annually," Iran's Ambassador to Ashgabat, Mohammad-Reza Forqani, told Iran's Mehr News Agency on Tuesday. He added that the 65 km gas pipeline has been completed in only four months, thus being considered as one of the world's fastest gas projects. The new pipeline will pump natural gas from the Dovletabat gas field in southeastern Turkmenistan, which has so far only been transferred to Russia. Iranian contractors are to carry out the project. Bilateral trade between Iran and Turkmenistan reached $1.7 billion in 2007, over $1.4 billion of which consisted of Iranian exports to Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan announced in July 2009 that Ashgabat and Tehran have agreed to significantly expand Turkmen gas exports to Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to visit Turkmenistan on 5th and 6th January 2010 to inaugurate the Turkmenistan-Iran gas pipeline. The Atrak-Gorgan railway worth around $650 million is another project to be launched in the presence of the Iranian president during the visit. Iran's Oil Transportation Company announced in September that it was ready to transfer gas from Turkmenistan to Iraq and the UAE. "The nationwide gas network is now connected to neighboring countries from six locales," the managing director of the company, Reza Almasi said. Tehran and Ashgabat signed an agreement in February 2009, which would allow Iran to develop the Yolatan gas field in Turkmenistan and import a portion of the extracted gas annually. Earlier in November, Turkmenistan said it has completed the construction of a gas pipeline to Iran that will help Ashgabat reduce its reliance on Russian-owned export routes.