Rand says US unlikely to contain Iran

Rand says US unlikely to contain Iran
A US think-tank has warned that a US-led containment of Iran is 'unlikely' to be sustainable among the Persian Gulf states.

The Rand Corporation has said in a report that the Persian Gulf states desire to maintain their cordial ties with Iran, if not active political and economic engagement.

"Arab opinion on Iran is often split between publics and their regimes. Arab regimes fear Iran's nuclear aspirations but are cognizant that its nuclear program is largely endorsed by their Arab publics as a critique of Western double standards and interference," the report said.

The think-tank has urged the US administration to try to establish a multilateral security structure in the Persian Gulf region --although it will take time-- rather than pursuing unilateral policies.

The study titled "Dangerous But Not Omnipotent: Exploring the Reach and Limitations of Iranian Power in the Middle East" also says that Iran's rise as a regional power presents a key foreign policy and security challenge to the US, but its reach may be far more limited than Western conventional wisdom suggests.

Iran reports high turnout just after polls open

Iran reports high turnout just after polls open
Iranian Interior Ministry has reported a massive turnout in presidential polling stations just hours after voting started on Friday morning.

Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said that some five million Iranians have so far cast their votes before mid-day Friday, which he termed 'unprecedented' in comparison with previous elections.

Mahsouli added that the final turnout for the 10th presidential election is expected to be above 70 percent.

According to the minister, no irregularities have been reported so far.

Head of Iran's Electoral Office Kamran Daneshjou also told reporters that the Interior Ministry has taken necessary measures to allow representatives of hopefuls to supervise the polling procedure.

According to Daneshjou, some thousands of ID cards have been issued for the representatives of the candidates to monitor the polling at ballot boxes.

On Friday morning, the polls opened to more than 46 eligible Iranian voters aged 18 and above to elect the next president of the country.

Iranians can vote in more than 45,000 polling stations nationwide, while 304 polls will receive Iranian expatriates in almost 130 countries including Britain, the UAE, Russia, China, Japan, and Syria. Only in the US, more than 30 polling stations will receive Iranians.

daily news world In addition to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is seeking a second four-year term, former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi and Secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei are vying for the public's votes in the closely contested election.

The winner must collect 50 percent of the votes plus one. If, however, no single candidate wins enough votes, the run-off will be held on June 19.

US to Attend G8 Meeting alongside Iran

US to Attend G8 Meeting alongside Iran
The US State Department confirmed on Friday that the country's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend a meeting of the Group of Eight foreign ministers in Italy at the end of June.

"Yes, the secretary will attend," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.

The US announcement came a day after the Italian Foreign Ministry extended an invitation to the Islamic Republic of Iran to attend the G-8 foreign ministerial meeting in Trieste, port city north of Italy, on June 25-27.

"Iran is invited to the conference, yes," said Italy's special envoy for Afghanistan Sergio Mercuri whose country currently holds the G8 presidency.

The two-day conference aims to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan with the help of its neighbors including Iran.

Washington has backed Tehran's participation in the G8 meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan this month.

Earlier in May, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that Clinton was in favor of inviting Iran to the meeting.

Also in March, Tehran was invited to an international conference on Afghanistan at The Hague.

Washington has shown desire to reach out to Tehran to tackle problems facing Afghanistan, including the growing strength of Taliban militants across the war-torn country.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta has also welcomed the presence of Iran at the meeting on Afghanistan.

Iran's Medical Equipment Exports Double

Iran's Medical Equipment Exports
Iran doubled export of medical equipment to foreign countries during the last Iranian year (March 21, 2008 to March 20, 2009), a senior health official said on Saturday.
"The country's export of medical equipment totaled $8.5 million in 1387 (2008-2009) which has been almost two times more than the volume of exports in its previous year," Director General of the Iranian Health Ministry's Medical Equipment Reza Massaeli said.

He further explained that in addition to the massive efforts made by manufacturers of medical equipment, his department's supervising role and the guidelines presented to the manufacturers for promoting the quality of their products have been the main cause of the aforementioned growth.

The official further announced that 120 out of 550 types of Iran's medical tools and equipment succeeded in obtaining EU standards during the said period.

Iran mass produces new ground-to-air guided missile

top news : Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar inaugurates the production line of domestically-made supersonic ground-to-air missile system.

Mohammad-Najjar says the smart missile system, called 'Shahin' has a range of more than 40 kilometers.

He added that the system, capable of targeting fighter jets and helicopters, will promote Iran's defense capabilities against possible air attacks.

The research and production phases of the defense system, including missile, missile interceptors, hardware and software networks and launch pad have been carried out by Iranian experts, said Mohammad-Najjar on Saturday after launching the production line of the system.

Last month, Iran test-fired a new deterrent ballistic missile, the Sejjil II, with a 2000-kilometer surface-to-surface range.

The developments come as the country, which has been targeted by a series of sanctions over its independent stance, beefs up its defense amid increased Israeli threats to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran also launched a production line for manufacturing autocannons to mount on warships.

"The final range of the 40-millimetre naval autocannon, named Fath (Victory), is 12 kilometers; (more than seven miles) it shoots 300 projectiles per minute," Mohammad-Najjar said.

"It can be used against cruise missiles... It is an anti-aircraft low-altitude weapon which is mounted on warships," he said.

in daily news online Iran unveiled a new domestically produced attack chopper, the Shahed (Witness) 285, capable of taking part in sea and air combat operations.

Supreme Leader Hails Iran's Democratic Electoral System

TEHRAN (FNA)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei lauded the democratic system of holding elections in Iran, saying people's vote is of paramount importance and plays the main role in the Islamic Republic's election system.


Addressing thousands of people at the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini, the late Founder of the Islamic Republic, Supreme Leader also called for a massive turnout in the upcoming presidential election, and said all the people should make efforts to protect the Islamic Revolution and thwart enemies' plots to portray Iran's elections as undemocratic.

He also cautioned the presidential candidates against slandering each other in election campaigns and debates to garner support of the people.

The 10th Presidential Election in Iran is due to be held on June 12. Four applicants have qualified to stand the upcoming presidential election, including incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi Khamene, ex-Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi and Principlist politician and former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezai Mir-Qaed.

The candidates officially started their campaign on May 22, which will last for 20 days.

The Iranian interior ministry has said the final results of the presidential election will be declared a day after the event, i.e. June 13.

Iranian officials have said that 46.2 million Iranians are eligible to vote.

US pressing Nabucco scheme sans Iran

The US has made it clear that it does not support Iran's involvement in the Nabucco gas pipeline until Tehran 'changes its policies'.

Richard Morningstar, the US special envoy for Eurasian energy issues, said that Iran can only join the gas pipeline undertaking after the normalization of ties between Tehran and Washington.

He told a group of reporters in Ankara on Thursday that inviting Iran to the project without a resolution to the standoff over its nuclear program could "have a negative effect."

"We don't want to change our policy unless Iran changes its policy," AP quoted Morningstar as saying.

The pipeline is to link the Caspian Sea region, the Middle East and Egypt to the European Union via Turkey.

The Nabucco consortium, which aims at decreasing Europe's dependence on Russian natural gas, has been unable to find sufficient gas supplies necessary for the feasibility of the project.

Turkey, which is a member of the consortium, has repeatedly voiced its support for Iran's involvement in the project.

Iraq decries Riyadh's 'negative positions'

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al Maliki, has taken a swipe at Saudi Arabia's 'negative positions' towards his country.

Comparing recognition from other neighbors of Iraq, including Iran, with continued Saudi rejections, Maliki said in a statement on Thursday, “We succeeded in opening ourselves to many countries, but Saudi has negative positions.”

Iraq, which has a Shia majority, for the first time elected a Shia-led government in 2005, headed by Maliki's Dawaa Party, and Saudi Arabia, which presumes itself as the representative of the Sunni Islam, has snubbed Iraqi overtures for recognition and better relations.

“We rushed to create not just a normal but positive relation [with Saudi Arabia], but the initiative was mistakenly understood as a weakness.”

Saudi Arabia remains the prime source for foreign volunteers traveling to Iraq to engage in sectarian anti-Shia violence.

Maliki has distanced himself from sectarianism and reached out to minority Sunni Arabs in forming his government.

Nevertheless Saudis are also said to be suspicious of Maliki over its close ties with Iran.

Still, Maliki says that his government remains open, and hopeful, for better relations with the Saudis. “We continue to be ready for any Saudi initiative but we have used up initiatives from our side and it would be useless to repeat them unless Saudi has a clear intention to [improve] these relations,” Maliki said.

The US government has called on Iraq's neighbors to extend diplomatic recognition and better ties with Iraq. But, these calls have been mostly ignored, especially by Saudi Arabia, an otherwise steadfast US ally.

In contrast, Iran was the first of Iraq's neighbors to exchange ambassadors with the war-ravaged country.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan backed the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during his eight-year war against Iran in the 1980's.

The Saudis are demanding the return of some $40 billion that Riyadh had loaned to Saddam Hussein to finance his war against Iran, although they have suggested readiness to write off 80 percent of it. Iraq disputes the amount, claiming that it owes only $15 billion.