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Parliament Approves Budget Bill
 TEHRAN
(Dispatches) -- Iran's parliament on Monday approved a
347-billion-dollar budget for the year to March 2011 based
on an oil price of $65 a barrel, news agencies reported.
The approved budget is less than the 368.4-billion-dollar
plan put forward by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for
parliamentary approval in January.
ISNA news agency reported that of the 225 lawmakers present
on Monday, 151 voted for the budget, 62 against and 12
abstentions.
"The lawmakers approved the outlines of the budget for the
year to March 2011," ISNA said. "It was approved," speaker
Ali Larijani said.
Ahmadinejad's January budget plan of $368.4 billion was
based on an oil price of $60 a barrel. The approved bill is
significantly higher than the 298-billion-dollar plan for
the current Iranian year ending March 20.
Iran earns 80% of its total revenues from oil exports.
The budget for the year to March 2011 is also marked by the
start of a major plan to scrap costly subsidies on energy
and goods, reducing government expenditure.
Ahmadinejad had estimated gains of $40 billion in the year
to March 2011 from scrapping these subsidies.
But lawmaker Muhammad Mahdi Mofateh said that this revenue
has been cut to $20 billion in the approved budget, given
the inflationary impact of the subsidy scrapping plan.
MPs had previously approved Ahmadinejad's plan to scrap the
subsidies which directly and indirectly cost the government
as much as $100 billion a year.
Removing the subsidies will happen gradually, with the
process due to conclude by the end of the country's fifth
five-year development plan in March 2015.
'UK, U.S. Forces Fomenting
Terrorism'
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki said on Monday that U.S. and British forces are
fomenting terrorism in the region.
Mottaki's comments came as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan ahead of a
trip to Kabul by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"I accuse the U.S., Britain and their forces in Afghanistan
and Pakistan of fomenting terrorist acts in the region,"
Mottaki told a regional energy conference in Tehran.
Ahmadinejad will visit Iran's eastern neighbor later on
Wednesday to discuss with his counterpart Hamid Karzai how
to stabilize the war-torn nation.
The two presidents are to "examine solutions to
Afghanistan's problems" as Iran seeks to boost relations,
Iran's Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.
Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have repeatedly
called for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from
Afghanistan, saying their presence is stoking the Taliban
insurgency. Washington and Tehran are both sworn enemies of
the extremist Taliban militants which ruled in Kabul from
1996 to 2001.
Iran, which has close ethnic and religious ties with
Afghanistan, has long suffered from the effects of opium
production in its eastern neighbor, with easily available
heroin fuelling a big rise in drug use at home. Afghanistan
is the source of 90% of the world's heroin.
Mottaki said, "Foreign military bases in our region have not
been set up for the sake of stability and security and
military cooperation but are aimed at interfering in
internal affairs of regional countries."
On Sunday, General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central
Command, made one of the most incendiary comments of the
American officials against the Islamic Republic, accusing
Iran of having "gone from being a theocracy to a
thugocracy".
Petraeus did not refrain from wading into Iran's internal
affairs, claiming that Iranian citizens were "outraged at
the hijacking of the election that took place back last
summer".
His comments follow terrorist leader Abdolmalek Rigi's
recent revelations that U.S. authorities had offered him
cash, arms and a military base in Afghanistan to
conveniently carry out attacks against Iran.
Rigi has a record for a series of the most brutal attacks in
Iran, including slitting throats of his prisoners in front
of the camera.
In his first confessions after his capture, Rigi revealed
that U.S. authorities had told him in their meetings that
Taliban and Al-Qaeda did not matter any more and that Iran
was the problem.
The leader of the Jundullah terrorist group was captured on
February 23 on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan where he
was expecting to visit a "high-ranking American figure" at
the U.S. Manas airbase near Bishkek.
Iranian security forces meanwhile said at the time that he
was at a U.S. base in Afghanistan 24 hours before his
capture.
On Monday, Mottaki questioned reasons behind the presence of
the terrorist leader at the U.S. military base in
Afghanistan.
"They (U.S. and British forces) are fomenting terrorism in
the region while chanting anti-terrorism slogans. The
Islamic Republic has long ago given warning against this
danger."
The Iranian minister urged U.S. officials to clarify first
their interpretation of terrorism. "They should speak about
their links with terrorists, violation of rights in the name
of human rights and their reason for keeping silent about
the killing of human beings."
Relations With Brazil, Zimbabwe to
Expand
TEHRAN (Fars) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki
on Monday underlined Tehran and Brasilia's resolve to expand
bilateral ties, and stressed that the two sides' cooperation
does not harm any third party.
Speaking at a meeting with visiting Brazilian Minister of
Science and Technology Sergio Machado Rezende, Mottaki said
that Iran and Brazil have developed good resolve and
determination to further expand relations, given the
existing capacities.
The two sides' "cooperation does not harm any third party,
while they do not allow any other party to interfere in
their relations". "We should try to institutionalize these
ties," the minister added.
On economic ties, Mottaki said, "Strong economies such as
Iran and Brazil could play complementary roles for each
other."
The Brazilian official said that during his visit to Iran he
observed Iran's advancement in science and technology, and
added that the two countries could establish good relations
in spheres of science and technology.
"The two sides' ties are moving forward rapidly and
different working fields have been defined" for cooperation,
Rezende added.
"In this trip I observed Iran's scientific activities
closely and I should say that Iran has made good
technological and scientific progresses in nanotechnology,
biotechnology, communication and information technology and
policy-making in science and technology."
Noting that both Iran and Brazil have good experts in all
the aforementioned fields, he expressed the hope that
partnership and cooperation among the two countries' experts
would lead to their further progress and advancement.
Rezende also pointed to the upcoming visit by Brazilian
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to Iran on May 16, and
said that his country plans to dispatch several delegations
of Brazilian researchers to Iran after Inacio's trip in a
bid to pursue cooperation with Tehran.
The two sides' emphasis on the boosting of bilateral ties
came after the Latin American state refused to accept
Washington's call for tougher sanction on Tehran for its
nuclear activities.
Last Wednesday, President Lula stressed the necessity for
finding a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear issue
"Brazil has a clear vision about the Mid-East and
understands that it is possible to build another path. I
have already said that it is not prudent to drive Iran into
a corner. It is prudent to start negotiations," Lula da
Silva said.
The remarks by the Brazilian president came after U.S.
Secretary of States Hillary Clinton met with Brazilian
congressmen on Wednesday to gain their support for sanctions
against Iran.
Zimbabwe Struggle
Special envoy of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe , Mutsa
, discussed on Monday with Foreign Minister Mottaki
expansion of relations between the two countries.
Mottaki lauded the struggles of the Zimbabwean people with
global arrogance and their efforts to attain independence.
At the meeting, Mottaki congratulated the Zimbabwean envoy
on anniversary of their revolution and said existing
relations and cooperation between the two countries are on
the right track.
African nations have enough potentials to attain development
and success and the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to
help them in this regard, Mottaki said.
The Zimbabwean envoy, for his part, expressed satisfaction
with his visit to Iran and said the people of both countries
share similar stands in their struggles with bullying
powers.
Referring to scientific and technological advancement of the
Islamic Republic in various fields, he voiced his country’s
willingness to make use of Iran’s invaluable experiences in
all fields.
Defense Minister in Qatar to Sign
Security Accord
TEHRAN (Fars) -- Iranian Interior Minister Brigadier General
Mustafa Muhammad Najjar on Monday started a two-day visit to
the Persian Gulf state of Qatar and was warmly welcomed by
his Qatari counterpart upon arrival at the Doha
International Airport.
Upon arrival, Najjar told reporters that Tehran and Doha are
ready sign a crucial security agreement.
"Tomorrow we will sign a security agreement on fighting
terrorism, organized crimes, drugs and human trafficking and
other crimes which threaten the security of the two
neighboring states as well as cooperation in maritime
patrolling," Najjar said.
The minister called the two states' ties "good and
constructive", and added that he is scheduled to discuss
economic cooperation and ways to expand mutual trade
exchanges in meetings with the Qatari officials.
Governors-general of Iran's Fars, Bushehr, Mazandaran and
Khuzestan provinces are accompanying the interior minister
in the visit.
Najjar also mentioned that he is slated to meet with Qatar's
Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss
different issues.
Iran and Qatar have improved their relations during the last
few years, especially in the field of defense.
Qatar's Crown Prince recently visited Iran and held talks
with Iranian top officials, including President Ahmadinejad,
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Supreme National Security
Council (SNSC) Secretary Saeed Jalili and First
Vice-President Muhammad Reza Rahimi.
Last month, Iran and Qatar signed a defense protocol to
increase cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
The agreement was signed between Iran's visiting Defense
Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi and the Chief of
Staff of Qatar's Armed Forces, Hamad Bin Ali al-Atiya, in
Doha on February 24.
The document pointed to the cultural, religious and age-old
relations between the two countries and stressed the
necessity for an expansion of defense cooperation between
Iran and Qatar.
French Protest Import of Zionist
Goods
PARIS (Press TV) -- Thousands of French protesters rallied
Monday against the import of Zionist goods produced on
Palestinian lands.
The demonstration comes less then a month after the European
Union's Court of Justice ruled that Zionist goods made in
illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank cannot be
considered Israeli.
This means that those products cannot benefit from a trade
deal giving the occupying regime of Israel preferential
access to EU markets.
The protesters, who came from all over France, symbolically
gathered in the streets of the Mediterranean port of Sete --
a hub for the biggest Zionist food exporter, Agrexco.
Over fifty percent of the company, selling over 300,000 tons
of fresh fruits and vegetables to Europe, is owned by the
occupying regime.
"The EU and Israel have agreed that Israel will get
preferential import taxes on one condition, the goods should
not come from occupied territories. But we knows Agrexco
grows its products in the occupied areas and is still
benefiting from tax deductions," Tannich Coupe Sud de France
General Secretary said.
"This is a campaign of stigmatization. It's not an illusion
that the economy will be demolished, it's the image of
Israel that we are trying to attack," filmmaker Eyal Sivan
who also took part in the event told Press TV.
France is one of the occupying regime of Israel's top ten
economic partners, a fact that has disappointed many of the
French.
Zionist companies based around the illegal West Bank
settlements manufacture a host of products including
confectionery, wine, cosmetics and computer equipment.
Palestinians have long argued that since the settlements are
illegal, the goods made there should not receive trade
privileges.
Pro-Palestinian campaigners have also regularly protested
that European supermarkets stock goods with Zionist labels
on farm products from the West Bank. |
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