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Shahanshah Aryameher

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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Iran army head: 'alien' troops warned off

Nov. 5, 2007 at 4:29 PM
TEHRAN, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The head of the Iranian army said Monday units of "alien" troops deployed at a border shared with an unnamed neighboring country have been removed.
Maj. Gen. Ataollah Salehi said the troops quickly abandoned their positions after Iranian forces issued a warning to them, Iran's Fars News Agency reported Monday."Several alien troops were stationed in a wrong position by mistake and after they received a warning from the army they left the area in a great hurry and in such a manner that it looked like an escape," Salehi said.The general did not specify the border or the country of origin of the "alien" troops, but the term is commonly applied by Iranian officials to trans-regional opponents, most commonly the United States, the news agency said.

Iran Role in Argentina Bombing Examined
Tuesday November 6, 2007 1:31 AM : By JAMEY KEATEN - Associated Press Writer

MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) - Iran has backed away from an effort to stop an Interpol vote on putting five Iranians and a Lebanese man on the international police agency's most wanted list for an Argentina bombing that killed 85 people, officials said Monday. Iran's decision clears the way for a vote on the issue at the three-day Interpol general assembly that began Monday in Marrakech, Morocco. Delegates will be asked to adjudicate in a dispute between Interpol members Iran and Argentina over the July 18, 1994, bombing when an explosives-laden van leveled the seven-story Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
Argentine prosecutors allege Iranian officials orchestrated the bombing and entrusted the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah to carry it out. Prosecutors in Argentina say they have enough evidence for Interpol's 186-member general assembly to approve ``red'' notices for the six suspects which means they are wanted for possible extradition. While the red notice does not force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, people with red-notice status appear on Interpol's equivalent of a most-wanted list. ``We do believe the government of Argentina and Interpol should distance themselves from the political approach,'' the spokesman of Iran's Foreign Ministry, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, told reporters Monday at his weekly news conference. Interpol should protect its technical and legal nature and not allow others to have political influence.'' The Interpol vote is expected Wednesday. Interpol, whose executive committee recommended in March the issuance of the notices, is expected to outline arguments from both Argentina and Iran. Only a simple majority of delegates' votes is needed for approval. Many frustrated relatives of the victims are looking for support from Interpol because there have been no convictions 13 years after the attack. ``I believe that insofar as any of them can be brought to Argentina to testify, that would be helpful,'' Diana Malamud, who lost her husband in the bombing, said of the progress toward an Interpol vote. ``But I see it would be very difficult.'' In the run-up to the gathering, Iran had sought to delay the issue until next year, said an Interpol official on condition of anonymity because of agency policy. But the government did not formalize such a request as the meeting opened. A vote against Iran could be a powerful symbol at a time of high tension with the United States and other Western powers suspicious that the country is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. The United States also alleges Iran is supplying insurgents in Iraq with deadly weapons that kill American troops. Iran denies both claims. Authorities in Argentina say the case is not political. But Iran's ambassador to Argentina has accused the United States and Israel of pressuring Interpol. ``We do believe the government of Argentina and Interpol should distance themselves from the political approach. Interpol should protect its technical and legal nature and not to allow others to have political influence (on the case),'' the spokesman of Iran's Foreign Ministry, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, said Monday. Whatever the outcome, Iran would be unlikely to hand over any suspect to Argentina.
Among those wanted by Argentina are former Iranian intelligence chief Ali Fallahian, former leader of the elite Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezaei and Hezbollah militant Imad Moughnieh, one of the world's most sought terror suspects. ( and Rafsanjani, Khamanei )
Moughnieh is wanted for his alleged role in the kidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s, and suicide attacks on the U.S. Embassy and a Marine base in Lebanon that killed more than 260 Americans. His whereabouts are unknown.

The Buenos Aires attack shook the South American country's 200,000-member Jewish community, Latin America's largest. It came just two years after a bombing that shattered Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29. Victims' relatives have complained for years that the investigation was bungled. Amid allegations he paid a key witness, the investigating judge on the case was removed and later impeached. The case poses one of the toughest challenges for the international police liaison group based in Lyon, France, which mostly deals with routine police requests.

Pentagon Head, Chinese President Talk about Iran
Tuesday November 6, 2007 5:01 AM : By LOLITA C. BALDOR : Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his Chinese counterpart agreed to work together to steer Iran away from its nuclear ambitions in talks that Chinese President Hu Jintao described Tuesday as ``very candid and friendly.'' Gates agreed with Hu's assessment.Gates and Hu spoke briefly with reporters before they met Tuesday morning for a discussion which, Gates later revealed, did not involve Iran directley.
The flow of the conversation was such that we really spent all of our time on our military relationship and Taiwan,'' Gates told reporters during a tour of Beijing's Forbidden City. Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, although China still claims the island as part of its territory.

After a 90-minute meeting Monday with Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan, Gates said he and Cao ``agreed that is it important to pursue efforts to persuade the Iranian government to change their behavior and their policies peacefully, through diplomatic means.'' And, with a nod to China's reluctance to support greater economic sanctions against Iran, Gates said he stressed to Cao the importance of using such pressure to convince the Iranian government ``to make different choices.'' Tehran is suspected of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, something it denies. U.S. defense officials, describing Gates' meeting with Cao on condition of anonymity because it was private, said the U.S.delegation was pleased with the quality of the discussion about Iran. The Chinese, they said, were ``very strong'' in saying that they are united in opposing a nuclear-armed Iran. Hu said Tuesday that he understood that Gates and Cao had a very candid and friendly discussion that will be conducive to the building of a deeper trust between us. Before Gates' meeting with Hu, the defense officials said they were hoping for a stronger statement from the Chinese leader on the use of sanctions and other pressure against Iran. But Gates said Iran did not come up with Hu on Tuesday because I didn't feel the need to bring it up again. However, the defense secretary said he hoped his meeting with Hu will lead to ``a longer-term dialogue about ... the threat of nuclear proliferation.'' The U.S. has repeatedly raised concerns that the Chinese are providing conventional weapons and other dual-use technologies that can have nuclear applications to countries like Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. Some weapons sold to Iran have surfaced in Afghanistan and Iraq, prompting the Pentagon to call for the Chinese to better control their sales to Iran.
Read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/23ofhc

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