Iran, Azerbaijan help stabilize regional security: Vahidi

ISNA-Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said Iran and Azerbaijan have always helped stabilize regional security.

"Iran-Azerbaijan relations are fairly strengthened and the two countries have always helped stabilize regional security, they play a leading role in management and engineering of regional security," he said in a meeting with Azeri counterpart Safar Abiyev in Baku on Monday.

Vahidi then called for stepping-up bilateral defense ties.

"Iran regards security of neighboring countries as its own security and regional countries should use their potentials in the region to create sustainable security," he noted.

Safar Abiyev on his part stressed enhancement of bilateral ties.

He went on to say that his country has always sought peace, stability and security in the region.

’Iran open to talks based on respect’

Press TV- Iran has rejected the West’s threatening language along its carrot and stick approach toward the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, saying it is open to talks based on mutual respect.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, who was speaking at a news conference in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Monday, said that the basis of talks regarding Iran’s nuclear issue should change.

“The basis of talks over Iran’s nuclear issue should change. The West should respect Asian countries and not threaten them. If talks are founded on this basis, Iran is always ready for talks,” he said when asked about Tehran’s readiness for nuclear talks with the West.

Larijani went on to say that the US was making a political tool of negotiations with Iran, adding that the West’s carrot and stick policy was no longer acceptable.

The Iranian senior official also called for close interaction among regional countries.

He said that regional countries have the potential to solve their own issues, reiterating that they do not need foreign forces to interfere in the region.

Larijani said that Tehran and Astana could play an important role in establishing peace and security in the region and called for closer interaction between the two countries.


Iran to disclose documents on Zionist regime’s nuclear program

Tehran Times- Iran will soon release documents on Israel’s nuclear program, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili announced on Monday.

“The hegemonistic powers have created brouhaha over Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities to divert the world’s attention from major international issues, such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons by the world powers,” Jalili added.

“In the near future, we will disclose some documents about the proliferation of nuclear weapons by the United States and the Zionist regime, and we will follow up the matter,” the SNSC secretary said.

According to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the proliferation of nuclear weapons should be prevented, and the key question is who has provided the Zionist regime with enriched uranium, Jalili stated.

Iran has documents that show how the U.S. facilitated Israel’s nuclear weapons program, he added. Continued…

Two Arrested While Interviewing Condemned Iranian’s Son

New York Times— Iran’s chief prosecutor said Monday that the police had arrested two foreigners masquerading as journalists who were caught in midinterview with the son of a woman convicted of adultery and murder and sentenced to death by stoning.

The chief prosecutor, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, announced that two “foreign nationals” were arrested Sunday while conducting an interview with Sajad Ghaderzadeh, the son of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, whose conviction and stoning sentence aroused an international uproar.

Mr. Mohseni-Ejei did not identify the nationalities of the two detained foreigners or specify the news organization they claimed to represent, but there were indications that they were from Germany.

“The two were not journalists; at least they had no official credentials,” he said in a report carried by Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency.

Mr. Mohseni-Ejei said the foreigners received help setting up the meeting from “an Iranian fugitive” who lives in the same country as the two, an apparent reference to an Iranian dissident, Mina Ahadi, a Communist and founder of Germany’s Central Council of Ex-Muslims.

In a telephone interview, Ms. Ahadi said that Mr. Kian had called her to request that she interpret for two German reporters by telephone. But she said she had no ties to the reporters and did not identify them.

“Suddenly there was a sound and the German reporter asked what was going on and the phone went dead,” Ms. Ahadi said. “I think they must have been arrested at that moment.”

Meanwhile, the Spanish government has called on Iran to reverse a decision to expel the Tehran-based correspondent for a Spanish newspaper, El País, after she was ordered to leave Iran within two weeks.  

Caspian Sea summit starts in Baku

ILNA: Baku launched on Tuesday the Caspian countries’ deputy foreign ministers’ meeting to agree a draft agreement on security cooperation in the Caspian Sea.

 At today’s meeting, the deputy ministers are negotiating to agree a draft agreement on security cooperation in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalafov said at the opening of the meeting.
The agreement is under discussion of the experts for the second year and certain work has been done in that time, he added.
Khalafov said the project aims to create a mechanism of security cooperation among the Caspian countries’ state structures.
A summit of the presidents of the five countries that surround the Caspian Sea - Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan - will be held in Baku on Nov.18, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said at the Caspian states’ deputy foreign ministers’ meeting in Baku today.
In November 2003, the Caspian countries signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.
In July 1998, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the northern part of the Caspian Sea in order to exercise sovereign rights for subsoil use.
On Nov. 29, 2001 and Feb.27, 2003, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on the delimitation of adjacent sections of the Caspian Sea on May 14, 2003.
The meeting at expert level and work on signing an agreement on security cooperation can be a good example for cooperation in other areas, Khalafov said.

Palin raises concerns about Iran in interview

AP— Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran could "lead to an Armageddon" and a world war that could "decimate so much of this planet."

Palin made her comments to the conservative website Newsmax.com, which posted excerpts of its interview online Monday.

Palin said the U.S. should keep the military option on the table, along with sanctions and negotiations, in support of its allies, including Israel.

Regarding a potential 2012 presidential run, Palin said that would be a matter of whether the country is ready for someone who is "out of the box" or if it wants someone "a little bit more conventional, maybe more electable."

She reiterated that her focus, for now, is on the midterm elections.