Six men convicted of drug trafficking -- four in the central city of Kerman and two in the northern province

of Mazandaran -- were hanged on

Saturday.

National

2 Detained Germans
To Be Released
Iran will soon release two Germans arrested in October after
converting their sentence to fines, a judiciary said on Saturday.
Their jail sentences have been changed to $50,000 cash
payments for each... They will be released after that, ISNA
quoted a Revolutionary Court official as saying.
ISNA said initially they had been sentenced to 20 months
jail ... but were pardoned based on Islamic clemency.
The two, Marcus Hellwig and Jens Koch, were arrested
after meeting the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a
woman convicted of adultery and being an accomplice in the
murder of her husband.
Under Irans Islamic sharia law, adultery and murder are
punishable by execution.
Iran says the Germans entered the country on tourist visas
and were working as reporters illegally.
The Islamic Republic says the two detainees have admitted
to breaking the law.
The two Germans have acknowledged their offense and
said that claiming to be journalists was not right, Irans Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said in October 2010.
Iran has cited political motives behind the Western propaganda effort regarding the legal ruling against MohammadiAshtiani, arguing that the publicity scheme is part of the campaign to force the Islamic Republic to give up its legitimate
nuclear program.
Germany has been seeking the release of its two nationals.
The sisters of the two German reporters urged the Tehran
government to grant them clemency ahead of next months
Persian New Years festivities, the Hamburg-based weekly
Der Spiegel said Saturday in a report on its website.
Miriam Lobinsky and Christina Hellwig made a clemency
plea for their brothers Marcus Hellwig and Jens Koch.
Many prisoners have been pardoned in Iran over the past
years before the start of the March 21 Norouz fest.

US Rapped for
Vetoing UN Resolution
Irans ambassador to the United Nations has lambasted
the US for vetoing a Security Council resolution which
condemns the Israeli regimes settlement activities in the
West Bank and East Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
The resolution was approved by the permanent members of the Security Council (except the US), the member
states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and
other UN members, said Mohammad Khazaei late Friday
after the council wrapped up voting on the resolution.
However, the single no vote by the US could annul
the unanimous yes vote by the other fourteen members,
the official added, Presstv reported.
The fact that a single vote can revoke the vote of the
majority shows the Security Council is structurally weak,
Khazaei noted.
This US move once again undermined the credibility
of the Security Council, he went on to say.
It is because of such reasons that Iran suggests the
United Nations, especially the Security Council, be restructured.
The top Iranian envoy predicted that the resolution
would be passed at the UN General Assembly with an
overwhelming majority of votes.
The question of restructuring the UN has been on the
table for some 15 years now, he said.
Fourteen countries on Friday voted in favor of a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity in the West
Bank and East al-Quds, but US Ambassador to the UN
Susan Rice vetoed it.
Such cases show the Security Council cannot guarantee to safeguard peoples lives and possessions, he noted.
The United Nation has repeatedly condemned Israel for
defying international calls to halt its settlement construction activities.
Palestinians view Israels unrelenting settlement construction activities as a major hurdle smothering their efforts to establish an independent state on the territories
Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.
According to data from the Palestinian Information
Center, Israel has demolished 995 Palestinian homes and
displaced 5,783 individuals -- among them 3,109 children
-- in the occupied Al-Quds since the start of 2000.

Armenia Credits Irans

Role in Caucasus

Brazil Will Maintain Close

Ties With Tehran
Brazil has announced that it will maintain its ties with Iran
under new President Dilma Rousseff, continuing the cordial
relationship started by former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota told state
television and radio on Friday that Brazil is keen on maintaining its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, AFP
reported.
Iran and Brazil had friendly ties when Lula was president,
and Patriota said the new government would maintain the
same level of relations with Iran, stating, Rousseff will stay
on the paths of her predecessor and mentor Lula da Silva.
We consider it in our interest to maintain a dialogue with
the Iranian government, including as a way to reduce tensions, he said.
The relationship with Tehran contributed to Brazils aim
of contributing to world peace, he said.
Lula and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had friendly
ties, underlined when Brazil and Turkey last year extracted
a concession from Tehran to engage in a nuclear fuel swap
deal.
The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Brazil signed a
Dilma Rousseff

03

Drug Smugglers Hanged

Feb. 20, 2011

A conference themed Approaches for the Caucasus and Neighbors was held at Chaharmahal Armenian
Cultural Society in Tehran on Friday.

By Sadeq Dehqan

conference themed Approaches for the

Caucasus and Neighbors was held at Chaharmahal Armenian Cultural Society in Tehran
on Friday at the presence of international relations
experts and local and foreign university professors,
ambassadors of Iran to Armenia and Armenia to Iran
and a group of Armenians residing in the capital.
Speaking to Iran Daily about the event, Armenian Ambassador in Tehran Grigor Arakelian said
the conference was held for the eighth time by Hour
Publishing and Translation House. Armenian Embassy in Tehran has been actively present in the undertaking every year.
The target behind holding such conferences is to
identify issues related to Armenian rights and also
two-way ties, which is examined by experts. In the
last years event, establishment of ties between Armenia and Turkey was discussed, he noted.
Long Historic Precedence
Armenian MP for the southern parts of the country, Robert Biglarian, said Iranian-Armenians have a
long historic precedence in Iran and there is a special
historic relationship between the two countries.
Gaining information about developments in the
region and the Caucasus, particularly the distinguished role that Iran plays in the region in relation
to Armenian affairs needs to be examined. This is
while Iran has a positive viewpoint toward IranianArmenians, and Islamic Republics ties with Armenia is growing.
These events are helpful in making strategic policies. Of course, we are not at the level to set strategic
policies, but we have taken steps to the extent of exchanging information with each other and distinguishing Iranian and Armenian matters of concern. Armenia tries to see regional issues from the angle that Iran
views them, as it is clear for us that Irans role in this
region is distinct and undeniable, he added.
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
He also referred to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and said this issue should be settled through international supervision as well as peaceful and logical means.
We believe that without Irans role any solution
to this conflict will be ineffective, he noted.
He recalled that negotiations about the conflict are
being pursued by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group.
At the moment, it cannot be stated that the trend
of negotiations is improving. However, in the recent
meeting between leaders of Republic of Azerbaijan
and Armenia both countries agreed to take more
positive steps to this end. In the meantime, Iran has
expressed its serious inclination for resolving the
conflict. Given its distinguished and unbiased role in
the region, Iran can be quite influential in resolving
this conflict, underlined Biglarian.
Regarding objectives that Russia and western
governments pursue in relation to the conflict, he
noted, The presence of Russia in this issue is separated from that of western governments, as Russia
has an extensive historical precedence in this case
and is our neighbor. Many consider presence of Russia in the negotiations as normal. But, western countries are still trying to appeal to certain parties as they
entered the region after the collapse of the former
Soviet Union.
He also said, After we reached ceasefire in
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict it was needed that some
countries play the role of mediators. At that time,
Iran voiced its tendency (to do so), but since it was
preoccupied with other issues such as the Iraqi im-

posed war (1980-1988), it could not be adequately

influential. Nevertheless, under the present circumstances we hope to witness more active presence of
Iran in settling the dispute.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the
South Caucasus. This region is mostly mountainous and forested and extends over an area of 4,400
square kilometers.
Most of the region is governed by the NagornoKarabakh Republic, an unrecognized, de facto
independent state established on the basis of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast within the
Azerbaijan SSR of the Soviet Union.
In the meantime, the territory is internationally
recognized as part of Republic of Azerbaijan, although it has not exercised power over most of the
region since 1991. Since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994, representatives of the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been holding
peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group on
the regions status.
Meanwhile, in his speech at the event titled Impact of Turkish Political developments on ties With
Armenia, an expert of international relations said
there exist serious incentives in Turkey to move towards reducing tension with the Armenian society.
Turkey wishes to expedite its membership in
the European Union (EU). This is while the issue of
tension with Armenia is one obstacle which Turkey
wishes to remove speedily in order to accelerate its
membership in the EU, added Jafar Khodapanah.
He recalled that a new generation has emerged
among political and cultural elites in Turkey and even
the Turkish Army who hold different views compared
to the past traditional viewpoints and pressure the
government in various cases, including the genocide
of Armenians during and just after World War I and
different versions of this issue, which can be effective
in future ties between Armenia and Turkey.
This genocide refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the
Ottoman Empire starting from 1915. It is believed
that more than one million Armenians died in the extensive massacres. The starting date of the genocide
is generally assumed to be April 24, 1915, the day
Ottoman authorities arrested some 250 Armenian
intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. Massacres were regardless of age or gender,
with rape and other sexual abuse commonplace.
Most of Armenian diaspora communities have been
founded as a result of the Armenian genocide.
The Republic of Turkey, the successor state of the
Ottoman Empire, denies the word genocide is an accurate description of the events. In recent years, it has
faced repeated calls to accept the events as genocide.
Up to now, some twenty countries have officially
recognized the events of the period as genocide, and
most genocide scholars and historians accept this
view. Last year, several US congressmen also recognized the event as genocide, but Washington has not
yet officially declared the development as genocide.
Irans former ambassador to Armenia, Farhad Koleini said Irans stance regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is based on a balance and mediation,
which is a decisive factor and any change in Irans
standpoint can change around the situation.
Iran by no means tolerates presence of extraterritorial forces near its borders Iran believes that the
conflict is more a regional consideration than an international crisis and the key to resolving it exists inside the region. Iran maintains that Turkey and Russia
should also help in settling the problem, he noted.
He said the attitude pursued by OSCE Minsk
Group is not acceptable to Azerbaijan because it is
quite stable and the country constantly tries to convey that this attitude is inefficient.

declaration in Tehran on May 17, 2010, according to which

Iran would ship 1200 kilograms of its low-enriched uranium
to Turkey to be exchanged for 120 kilograms of 20 percent
enriched nuclear fuel to power the Tehran research reactor,
which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.
The three countries prepared the declaration as part of
the trilateral efforts to help resolve Irans stand-off with the
West over its nuclear program.
The US and its European allies, however, snubbed the
declaration and used their influence on the UN Security
Council to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Iran
over its nuclear work.
The West accuses Iran of developing a military nuclear
program.
Iranian officials have repeatedly refuted the charges, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, Tehran has the right to use peaceful nuclear technology.
Earlier this month, the Brazilian ambassador to Iran, Antonio Luis Espinola Salgado, hailed the Tehran Declaration
and said that Brasilia is ready to increase its cooperation to
help resolve the dispute over Irans nuclear program.
He also noted that Iran-Brazil trade is on the rise, saying
that bilateral trade reached a record $2.2 billion in 2010 and
Brazils imports from Iran rose five-fold last year.
The Brazilian foreign minister also lauded the efforts
made by President Ahmadinejad and the former Brazilian
president to expand relations between the two nations.

Mohammad Ali Rajabi