GCC left out as Iran eases visa rules

Gulf News--Tehran lifts visa requirements on neighbours, but this doesn’t include citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Dubai: Iran’s announcement that it is lifting visa requirements for visitors from neighbouring countries doesn’t include citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iranian sources in Tehran said on Monday.

The announcement by Iran’s foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday, which received considerable regional media and public attention, also doesn’t include any other Arab country except Syria, whose citizens are already exempt from obtaining a visa to visit Iran, the sources said.

Mottaki has not specified any country by name in his statement, as Iran "seeks all [its] neighbouring countries to have reciprocal treatment and not just only from one side", Amir Mousavi, a Tehran-based analyst, said.

In a short statement carried by several Iranian media outlets, Mottaki was quoted as announcing "lifting of visa requirements for visitors of neighbouring countries."

According to Mottaki "the new measure aims to strengthen ties and enhance communications among the countries of the region."

Iran has already lifted visa requirements for Turkey and Azerbaijan, and would enact a similar agreement with Georgia in the near future; Mottaki was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Irna. Continued…

US will finally apologize to Iran and resume ties with Tehran: Ahmadinejad

Tehran Times - “A day will come when the U.S. will apologize to the Iranian nation in utter humiliation and beg for resumption of ties,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.

Ahmadinejad made the remarks in a meeting with families of the martyrs of Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) in Ardabil on Sunday.  

U.S. officials have lost their nerves, he said, adding one day they will beg for resumption of ties as they have reached an impasse in all fields.  

The enemies are angry with Iran because of its influence in the world, he said.
 Ahmadinejad went on to say that the enemies would offer Iran nuclear energy and money if it does not get involved in the global affairs and remains silent in the face of their actions including the occupation of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, but Iran cannot be indifferent to such issues.  

The president added the hegemonistic powers cannot take any other measure and “have reached an end point.”
 He added that during his visit to New York on September 19 to attend the 65th United Nations General Assembly session, the world powers launched a psychological warfare campaign to undermine the Iranian nation’s resolve, but they must be aware that they cannot “do a damn thing”.
 Elsewhere in his remarks, Ahmadinejad downplayed the effects of sanctions on the country, adding the enemies assumed that they could knock down Iran in 4-5 months but nothing happened.
 Those who have approved the sanctions resolution, “secretly tell us"" that they want to have economic cooperation with Iran, he said.
 Commenting on his visit to southern Lebanon and the Zionist regime’s occupation of this region from 1982 to 2000, the president said the Lebanese stood against Israel’s threats through their “spirit of sacrifice”.
 Ahmadinejad visited Lebanon last week. He was warmly received by the Lebanese nation.

Iran representative attends Afghanistan security conference

ILNA-- Iran representative attended a meeting of an international group to discuss developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The international "contact group" met in Rome amid a renewed push to end the nine-year-old war in Afghanistan, including bringing Taliban into peace talks. The group gathers the Afghan government, NATO, the EU, U.N. and other key players including Iran to assess progress in Afghanistan.

NATO’s strategy for transition in Afghanistan and another plans by NATO forces to hand over responsibility for security to the Afghans. The meeting was intended to prepare for transition talks at the NATO summit meeting in Lisbon next month.

Richard C.Holbrooke , the Obama administration’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, “We were asked if we had any problems with that, and we said no,” Mr. Holbrooke said.

Mr. Holbrooke said that Iran had serious concerns about drug trafficking and immigration from Afghanistan and stressed that the representative was there only to discuss that country. He said other issues between the United States and Iran, including Iran nuclear program, would not be on the table. Continued…

Chavez in Iran for talks on boosting oil, gas ties

Washington Post-- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was holding talks Tuesday with Iranian leaders expected to focus on boosting cooperation between the countries’ oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warmly greeted Chavez at the presidential palace hours after the Venezuelan leader arrived for a two-day visit, Iranian state TV reported.

Chavez, who is on his ninth visit to Iran as president, praised Caracas’ ties with its close Mideast ally, saying they "are solid and very, very deep." In remarks carried on Venezuelan state television, Chavez said relations with Tehran are based both on "shared interests" and a mutual belief in the importance of Iranian sovereignty

The Venezuelan leader, who has backed Iran in its confrontation with Western powers over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, said he and Ahmadinejad would discuss "the tensions that (U.S.) imperialism is generating" in the Middle East and "the unfair sanctions imposed on the people of Iran," referring to the U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Continued…

Iran steppes up uranium exploration activity in central mine

ISNA-Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi said the country has stepped up uranium exploration activity in the mine of Saghand in central Yazd city.

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Chief added that uranium reserves of the country’s southern Bandar Abbas mine have been increased as well.

"Uranium exploration and extraction are priority for the organization," he told ISNA adding, "we have divided several regions and concentrated on areas where more uranium can be explored."

He added, "more activities are carried out in Saghand mine and its budget problem is resolved."

"We are pursuing both uranium exploration and extraction in Bandar Abbas mine which is the country’s only yellow-cake producer and we have got good results so far."

Also as to Bushehr nuclear plant, he said, "God willing, we hope that our promises on the plant would be fulfilled and we will declare good news on the nuclear facility in next weeks."