اهداف جامعه ایرانی چیست؟ « ما چگونه فکر می کنیم» و آنچه که در ایران مهم انگاشته می شود.

۱۳۸۶ خرداد ۱۵, سه‌شنبه

شعری از مرحوم محمد رضا آغاسی در مورد بد حجابی

مسلمان نمایان تکنوکرات رهاوردتان چیست؟ جز منکرات



Iran: West playing with lion's tail

Tue, 05 Jun 2007

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has described the UN Security Council's interference in Iran's peaceful nuclear program as illegal.

The Security Council should put an end to its 'illegal and unfair' actions and it should defend the interests of the nations instead of throwing support behind the big powers, the Iranian President said.

He made the remarks at a press conference held in Tehran on Tuesday.

If the Security Council continues its policy of imposing sanctions on Iran, it will only exacerbate the present situation, Ahmadinejad noted.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said, "Iran is like a lion sitting calmly in the corner - the West had better not play with the lion's tail."

"We have always had good and amicable ties with our neighboring countries; the Persian Gulf is the gulf of brotherhood, peace and friendship and if there is instability in the region, it is caused by the presence of foreign powers," he added.

The West is not capable of harming Iran by "its childish and stubborn behavior", Ahmadinejad concluded.

Jail sentence for ex-Cheney aide

Lewis Libby outside court in Washington
Lewis "Scooter" Libby was a key White House insider
A US judge has sentenced former key White House official Lewis "Scooter" Libby to 30 months in prison. He remains free pending an appeal hearing.

Libby was found guilty of obstruction of justice and perjury in March over the investigation into the unmasking of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Libby was the former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Nobody has ever been charged with the offence of leaking the name of Ms Plame whose husband criticised the Iraq war.

President George W Bush feels "terrible for the family, especially for his wife and kids," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

'The truth matters'

Vice-President Cheney said his former aide's prison sentence was a tragedy.

"Scooter is also a friend, and on a personal level [my wife] Lynne and I remain deeply saddened by this tragedy," he said in statement.

US District Judge Reggie B Walton said the evidence overwhelmingly proved Libby's guilt.

"People who occupy these types of positions, where they have the welfare and security of [the] nation in their hands, have a special obligation to not do anything that might create a problem," Judge Walton said in delivering the sentence.

We need to make the statement that the truth matters ever so much
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald

Judge Walton also fined Libby $250,000 (£125,000) and placed him on probation for two years following his release from prison.

Mr Libby remains free pending a hearing scheduled for next week on his appeal.

There has been speculation that President Bush might pardon Libby but the White House said it would not intervene in the case given that the appeals process was still underway.

Mr Libby is the highest-ranking White House official convicted in a government scandal since the Iran-Contra affair in the mid-1980s, when Ronald Reagan was president.

Mr Libby has always maintained his innocence.

WHAT IS CIA LEAK CASE ABOUT?
Libby was found guilty of lying to the FBI and a grand jury over revelations about CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity
Critics said the White House leaked Ms Plame's identity to undermine her husband, ex-ambassador Joseph Wilson
He had publicly cast doubt on the Bush administration's case for war in Iraq
The alleged cover-up, rather than the leak itself, was the subject of the Libby trial

"It is respectfully my hope that the court will consider, along with the jury verdict, my whole life," Mr Libby said in a brief final appeal to the judge.

Although Mr Libby had faced a maximum of 25 years in prison, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had asked for a three year sentence.

"We need to make the statement that the truth matters ever so much," said Mr Fitzgerald.

Ms Plame's identity as a CIA agent in was revealed in 2003 after her husband - a former ambassador - openly criticised the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq.

Libby was convicted of lying to FBI investigators and the grand jury about how and when he learned that Valerie Plame was a CIA officer, and lying about disclosing classified information to reporters.

Iran: 'Too late' to stop nuclear program

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN,
Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 5,

TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that it was "too late" to stop Iran's nuclear program and warned the U.S. and its allies not to push for new U.N. sanctions, comparing his country to a lion sitting quietly in a corner.

"We advise them not to play with the lion's tail," Ahmadinejad said, drawing applause from a room of reporters, Iranian officials and foreign dignitaries at a Tehran news conference.


"It is too late to stop the progress of Iran," Ahmadinejad said. "Iran has passed the point where they wanted Iran to stop."

The U.N. Security Council is preparing to debate a third set of sanctions against the Islamic republic in response to Tehran's continuing refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for civilian energy or fissile material for a bomb.

Addressing the West, Ahmadinejad said that a third round of sanctions will only "make things harder for you and distances you from resolving the issue ... We advise them to give up stubbornness and childish games."

The Security Council first imposed sanctions on Iran in December and modestly increased them in March over Iran's refusal to suspend enrichment. Iran says it is within its rights to pursue uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes.

The country's nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said this week that the nuclear standoff could be settled in the coming weeks if the council drops preparations to debate the third round of sanctions.

The president's news conference was his first since talks between U.S. and Iranian diplomats in Baghdad on May 28 — the first public talks between the two countries in nearly three decades. The two sides are supposed to meet again in less than a month.

Ahmadinejad scoffed at U.S. accusations that Iranian agents were helping fellow Shiite militants in Iraq but said that Tehran wanted to help calm the violence there.

"The occupiers of Iraq ... have lost the way, they don't know what to do. They imagine that by accusing others, they can resolve problems."

"Now, they said help us," Ahmadinejad said, in an apparent reference to the U.S. invitation for the Baghdad talks. "We are prepared, for the sake of the Iraqi people, to help. We won't spare any efforts."

Iranians have largely welcomed the talks, although the state television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying Iran only agreed to them after the U.S. asked Iran 40 times and sent a formal diplomatic note