Zitat:Azeri official: Some forces try to engage Iran and Azerbaijan
in a conflict

Baku, June 17, IRNA -- Azerbaijan`s Minister of National Security
Namik Abbasov in meeting with Iran`s Justice Minister Mohammad Esmail
Shoushtari here Wednesday said there are many forces who try to engage
the two countries in a conflict.
To obtain their objectives, these forces do any odious action,
therefore, in such circumstances protection of mutual interests is
very important, Abbasov added.
He said except Iran and Azerbaijan nobody else wants friendly
relations between the two countries.
Azerbaijani national security minister said," Our policy towards
Iran is clear and late President Heidar Aliyev was the founder of
this policy which has been continued by the current President Ilham
Aliyev".
He said Iranian officials` visits to Azerbaijan are very important
adding that the officials of the two countries should try for
prosperity and progress of the two neighbouring nations.

Zitat:Iran's supreme leader rejects World Bank, IMF economic models

TEHRAN, June 16 (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday rejected World Bank and IMF economic models for his country, during a ceremony to receive MPs of the new parliament, state television reported.

"Iran's development model must be based on cultural and historic conditions and on the beliefs of the people and, while using positive aspects of others' experiences, should not copy models of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)," said Khamenei.

The government of Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami has followed a policy of economic opening, trying in particular to privatise part of the economy, which is more than 70 percent state-controlled.
...
Iran has experienced strong economic growth in recent years, thanks largely to the high prices commanded by oil. In the last Iranian fiscal year, March 2003 to March2004 , growth was6 . 7percent.

The outgoing parliament in March approved a budget of 137 billion dollars, with growth forecast at7 . 4percent for the year starting last March20 .

But experts warn that Iran needs major foreign investment to reach that growth figure and to create jobs for the800 , 000young people who enter the labour market each year. More than three million Iranians are unemployed, according to officialfigures.

Zitat:Iran, 3rd giant handicraft exporter

06:03:24 È.Ù
Hormuzgan Prov, June 14 - Iran takes the third place in terms of production and export of handicrafts after China and India, head of Iran's handicrafts organization Yadollah Tahernejad said here Sunday. ... ...

Zitat:Peugeot says will make new 206, 307 cars in Iran

PARIS, June 16 (Reuters) - France's Peugeot has signed deals with Iran Khodro, the Middle East's biggest auto producer, to make new versions of its hit 206 and 307 cars in Iran, the PSA Peugeot Citroen unit said on Wednesday.

Peugeot said in a statement it had signed an agreement with Iran Khodro, the leading player in Iran's fast-growing and heavily protected auto market, to make a new version of its compact 206 car within two years.

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The two firms also agreed to launch a new version of the 307 hatchback in two to three years.

Peugeot, which already builds cars in Iran via a partnership with Iran Khodro, said it expected to sell the new models locally and to start exporting from Iran to eastern Europe for the first time.

Peugeot's domestic rival Renault last week unveiled a new cut-price car for developing countries, dubbed the Logan.

It expects annual sales of the car to reach 700,000 by 2010, with almost half of that number coming from Iran, where Renault will start making the model in 2006 with a consortium that includes Iran Khodro.
...

Zitat:Safavi on Persian Gulf security



09:34:34 Þ.Ù
Tehran, June 17 - Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Brigadier General Yahya Rahim-Safavi said here Wednesday that the only sure way to secure Persian Gulf's security is signing security pacts among its littoral states. ...

...Speaking at a gathering of IRGC naval force commanders and managers, Rahim-Safavi referred to the fate of the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussain, arguing, "that tyrant's fate must have provided a good lesson for the US agents in the Persian Gulf region, proving them the fact that the Americans are not trustworthy partners." ...

... Warning Washington against intriguing some Arab states on the southern coasts of the Persian Gulf against Iran, Brigadier General Safavi said, "we expect the Islamic countries in the region to devise their policies sagaciously and alertly under the sensitive prevailing conditions, and not to fall prey to US and Israeli plots, becoming role players for their scenarios aimed at sowing seeds of discord.

"Referring to the high defense and combat capabilities of the IRGC naval forces, he added, "the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and particularly the IRGC, are quite competent in safeguarding the interests and territorial integrity of Iran, and will definitely confront those who violate the sea and land sovereignty of the Islamic Iran severely."

Zitat:The 72-page report, “Like the Dead in Their Coffins: Torture, Detention, and the Crushing of Dissent in Iran”, based on evidences offered by detainees, documents systematic abuses of political detainees in Tehran's Evin Prison and in secret jails around the capital since the government launched its current crackdown in 2000.

June 07, 2004
Independent UK
Angus McDowell in Tehran

Torture, arbritrary arrest and solitary confinement have grown in Iran since the Islamic state started a human rights dialogue with the European Union, according to a report issued by US-based Human Rights Watch.

The report accuses the judiciary and shadowy "parallel" security forces of using the techniques in prisons to quash political dissent.
....

Zitat:Was spricht dagegen, Sitze im Parlament für religiösen Minderheiten zu
reservieren ? Persien hat eine sehr lange Geschichte, die auch weit über die Islamisierung durch die Araber hinausgeht. Meiner Meinung nach gehören ( z.b. Zarathustra-Religion) eindeutig mit zur Geschichte des Landes