Iranian papers praise president’s letter to Obama

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TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s president is attracting some support at home for his message of congratulations to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, which several newspaper commentaries said Tuesday presented an important opportunity.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s message, sent last Thursday, was the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to the winner of a U.S. presidential election since the two countries broke off relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy.

Most recently, the two nations have been deeply at odds over Iran’s nuclear program and what Washington says is Iran’s support for Shiite militias in Iraq — a charge that Iran denies.

The state-owned Khorshid newspaper said Ahmadinejad’s message “shattered America’s incorrect view” that the Iranian president is not open the world.

The independent Etemaad newspaper said, “The message could create an important opportunity for both sides.”

Another independent newspaper, Etemad-e Melli, reported that Ahmadinejad’s press adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, expected Obama to give “a deserving answer to the message as soon as possible.”

The American president-elect on Friday confirmed having received Ahmadinejad’s letter and said he would review it and “respond appropriately.”

In his first news conference since last week’s election, Obama declined to say Friday what proposals he might pursue in connection with Iran, but called the country’s alleged efforts to develop nuclear weapons unacceptable.

“We have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening,” Obama said.

Iran says its nuclear program is intended only for peaceful purposes such as energy production.

Ahmadinejad’s outreach to the United States’ next president did have some critics at home among hard-line newspapers and lawmakers who said it made Iran appear weak.

The Iranian president has been under fire recently over the country’s weakening economy.

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Reference:http://news.yahoo.com/

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Iran and Iceland Fail to Win U.N. Security Council Seats

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UNITED NATIONS —  Iran, a country under U.N. sanctions, and Iceland, which has been battered by the recent credit crisis, failed Friday to win nonpermanent seats on the powerful U.N. Security Council.

Austria and Turkey beat Iceland in the battle for the two nonpermanent European seats on the 15-member council in voting at a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly while Iran lost out to Japan for the council’s Asian seat.

The Security Council is the powerhouse of the U.N. with the ability to impose sanctions and dispatch peacekeepers.

The other two seats went to Mexico, which will represent Latin America, and Uganda, which will represent Africa; both ran unopposed.

In the secret ballot, candidates were required get a two-thirds majority of members voting.

General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann said after the balloting that Austria received 133 votes, Turkey 151 votes, Japan 158 votes, Uganda 181 votes and Mexico 185.

Iran received only 32 votes from the U.N. members, Iceland, which had been considered by many to be a strong candidate until the recent economic crisis, received only 87 votes.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said Iran’s failure to gain an significant number of votes should serve as a message.

“It’s encouraging and important for Iran to understand that its continued violation of international binding resolutions of the Security Council is reflected in this very poor showing,” he said.

“Hopefully they will understand that this means that there is no support from the international community for that type of behavior,” Wolff said.

In September, the council unanimously approved a new resolution reaffirming previous sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program.

The five new nonpermanent members of the council will serve two-year terms.

Ten of the council’s 15 seats are filled by the regional groups for two-year stretches. The other five are occupied by its veto-wielding permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The five countries elected to the council will take their seats on Jan. 1, 2009, replacing Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa. The five countries elected last year — Libya, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica and Croatia — will remain on the council until Jan. 1, 2010.

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Reference:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440023,00.html

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Iranian Air Force announces new fighter jets

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An F-14A Tomcat

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The Iranian Air Force will be equipped with domestically-manufactured fighter jets within a few months, the commander of the air force announced Tuesday.

“Iran has made great achievements in manufacturing anti-aircraft missiles and various jet fighters over the past two years,” Ataollah Salehi told reporters, claiming that the Islamic Republic enjoys technical capabilities that perhaps no other country in the region has.

Salehi added that the air force would hold a defensive maneuver, dubbed Modafean-e Aseman (Defenders of Sky) during the upcoming month of Ramadan, but emphasized that only a part of Iran’s military capabilities would be on display during the maneuvers.

Earlier, An Iranian Air Force commander, Ahmad Miqani, claimed that Iran had revamped its fighter jet fleet to fly distances of up to 3,000 kilometers without refueling, a measure which he said was aimed at improving the country’s “defense capabilities.”

In July, Iran announced that it had started producing aircraft with stealth capabilities as well as overhauling its fleet of F-14 fighter jets.

The Iranian Air Force is currently the only air force in the world to maintain an active fleet of F-14s, a model which has effectively been rendered obsolete by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

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Reference:http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1220353260598

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Malaysia’s Petronas posts record profits

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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysian state energy firm Petronas on Tuesday announced a record profit of 18.1 billion dollars for 2007-08 and said it is still keen to develop Iran’s Pars liquefied natural gas project.

“We have performed quite well. It is another historic set of numbers for Petronas Group,” president and chief executive Mohamad Hassan Marican told reporters.

Petronas posted a net profit of 12.9 billion dollars last financial year, which was also an all-time record.

Hassan said Petronas was still pursuing the 2.0-billion-dollar LNG joint venture project in Iran but that it had not completed negotiations with the Iranian government due to rising costs.

“We can’t come to a final decision because we need to make an assessment of the price, costs and the viability of the project,” he said.

Hassan said Petronas had the resources to participate in the project on its own, after French energy giant Total dropped out of what was supposed to be a three-party development with the Iranian government.

“We are capable and able to undertake the project,” he said.

Iran has the world’s second-largest reserves of natural gas.

The South Pars field in the Gulf has around 500 trillion cubic feet (14 trillion cubic metres) of gas, which represents about eight percent of world reserves.

Petronas has a 20 percent stake in the Pars LNG production company, which was set up in 2004 to build a liquefaction facility in Iran.

France’s Total SA had a 30 percent stake while the National Iranian Gas Export Company holds the remaining 50 percent.

The French firm’s chief Christophe de Margerie said earlier this month that it was too politically risky to invest in Iran at present.

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Reference:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080715/ts_afp/malaysiaoilpetronascompanyresults

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Iran test-fires upgraded Shahab-3

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TEHRAN – Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range surface-to-surface missiles, including the upgraded version of the Shahab-3, in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday.

The tests came in response to threats by the United States and Israel, which have said they may strike Iran’s nuclear sites if Tehran refuses to halt its uranium enrichment program.

The missiles included an upgraded version of the Shahab-3 missile, which officials have said could reach targets 2,000km away.

“The exercise is aimed at demonstrating Iran’s might and perseverance against the enemies, who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh rhetoric,” Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Air Force Commander Hossein Salami said.

“We fire these missiles in honor of Iran to say that they are a small amount of Iran’s military might.”

Salami said, “We warn the enemies, who intend to threaten us with military exercises and empty psychological operations, that our hand will always be on the trigger and our missiles will always be ready to launch.”

“The enemies need to know that Iran is scrutinizing their activities wherever they are.”

According to Reuters, some U.S. facilities across the Persian Gulf are little more than 200km from Iran’s coast, putting them in range of Iranian weaponry.

Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if attacked. About 40 percent of globally traded oil moves through the Persian Gulf waterway.

Other surface-to-surface missiles tested by naval and air units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were the Zelzal and Fat’h, with respective ranges of 400km and 170km.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany last month offered Iran an updated package of proposals meant to end the West’s prolonged standoff with the Islamic Republic.

The package, which follows an original proposal in 2006, offers nuclear cooperation and wider trade in exchange for a halt in Iran’s uranium enrichment activities.

Iran has also presented its own package of proposals on ways to resolve international problems including the threat of nuclear proliferation.

Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili last week said Iran has provided a “constructive and creative” response to a letter by the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany with a focus on common points between the two separate packages.

Iran has repeatedly ruled out suspension of enrichment as a precondition for negotiations and has said it will “only hold talks only on common points”

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Reference:
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=172829

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Shahab-3 Missile Range

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