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'Senator Kerry would seek direct talks with Iran'

Saturday, February 07, 2004 - ©2003 IranMania.com

Washington, Feb 6 (IranMania) --

According to Iran’s State News Agency (IRNA) democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry will seek direct talks with Iran if he wins the White House, his foreign policy chief said.

Rand Beers, national security issues coordinator for the Massachusetts senator, was critical of President George W Bush for shunning direct dialogue with Iran after branding it a member of an "axis of evil," dispatches indicated.

Speaking to a foreign policy forum, Beers said the question of nuclear non-proliferation was one of the most significant issues facing the world and Washington should press harder to advance negotiations.

Beers said Kerry, currently leading the pack in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, sought more direct efforts to thaw relations with Iran that have been frozen since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"John Kerry is not saying that he is looking for better relations with Iran. He is looking for a dialogue with Iran," Beers said. "There are some issues on which we really need to sit down with the Iranians."

He listed the cultivation of opium poppies in neighboring Afghanistan, terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation as among the questions Kerry would like to take up directly with Tehran.

"It`s a realistic sitting down and having the kinds of discussions that we`re just not having because this administration is so tied in its own ideological views of Iran and waiting for the Iranian regime to collapse."

He said Kerry would want to work with a "broad range of countries" to stem the traffic in materials that could fall into the wrong hands and help make nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

"We`re going to have look at international (non-proliferation) regimes that currently exist and probably go through some revisions of those regimes in order to find a way to approach and address

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=22370&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

Iran celebrates int'l snowboard title
By
Feb 7, 2004, 19:33

Iran was crowned at the second int'l snowboard competitions in Shemshak piste, 40 km northwest of Tehran, friday.

During the three-day event on the silver jubilee of the Islamic Revolution, Iran collected 375 points to lift the trophy.

Italy and Switzerland finished second and third on 300 and 200points respectively.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_1650.shtml

Khatami backstabs reformists
By AP
Feb 7, 2004, 18:37

Iran news - President Mohammad Khatami said on Saturday his government will hold legislative elections on Feb 20, but they would not be fair owing to the disqualification of thousands of reformist candidates.

In a joint letter to Iran's supreme leader, Mr Khatami and Parliament Speaker Mahdi Karroubi warned that, under these circumstances, there would be little motivation for people to vote.

An electoral supervisory body, the Guardian Council has disqualified more than 2,400 pro-reform candidates from the elections, provoking strong protests from reformist lawmakers and criticism from President Khatami. But several attempts to get the candidates reinstated have failed.

Iran's largest reformist party, Islamic Iran Participation Front, has said it will boycott the elections. The party is led by the President's younger brother, Mr Mohammad Reza Khatami.

In their letter, Mr Khatami and Mr Karroubi wrote that the government would hold the elections only because it had been ordered to do so by supreme leader mullah Ali Khamenei.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_1643.shtml

"Without You", from "Masters of Persian Music" album nominated for 46th annual Grammy Awards
By
Feb 7, 2004, 20:35

"Without You," Masters of Persian Music is nominated for grammy in "Traditional World Music Album" category for 46th annual Grammy Awards

At Traditional World Music Album category:

"Without You," Masters of Persian Music; "Kassi Kasse," Kasse Mady Diabate; "Jibaro Hasta El Hueso: Mountain Music of Puerto Rico," Ecos De Borinquen; "The Rain," Ghazal; "Capoeira Angola 2 - Brincando Na Roda," Grupo de Capoeira Angola Pelourinho; "Sacred Tibetan Chant," The Monks of Sherab Ling Monastery.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_1654.shtml

Rezazadeh elected Iran's Sportsman of the Year
The world's strongest man, Hossein Rezazadeh, was again voted as Iran's "Champion of Champions" and "Sportsman of the Year 2003" in Tehran on Friday night, IRNA reported.

Contending in the 4th edition, Rezazadeh, who is the world's +105 kg weightlifting champion, won the prestigious title for the third time -- 2000, 2002, 2003.

Iran's world-class Greco-Roman wrestler, Hassan Rangraz, was named the "Champion of Champions" in 2001.

The Hercules of Ardebil, northwest of Iran, received his prize money, some 30,000 dollars, from Ali Larijani, head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

President of Physical Education Organization, Mohsen Mehralizadeh, his deputy Ali Kaffashian, and head of National Olympic Committee, Mostafa Hashemi-Taba were present in the ceremony.

The top 10 athletes in 2003 are as follows:

1. Hossein Rezazadeh (weightlifting champion)
2. Mitra Hejazi (chess champion)
3. Enayatollah Bokharaei (disabled shooting champion)
4. Mohammad Torkashvand (volleyballer)
5. Alireza Rezaei (freestyle wrestling champion)
6. Abbas Samimi (discus champion)
7. Mohammad-Ali Falahati-Nejad (weightlifting champion)
8. Youssef Karami (taekwondo champion)
9. Arash Mir-Esmaeili (judo champion)
10. Mehdi Mahdavikia (Asian Player of the Year)

http://www.payvand.com/news/04/feb/1057.html

EP to debate elections in Iran

Saturday, February 07, 2004 - ©2003 IranMania.com

Brussels, Feb 7(IranMania) -- According to Iran’s State News Agency (IRNA) The European Parliament is to debate and issue a resolution on elections in Iran during its plenary session in Strasbourg.

According to the programme of the EP's session next week, elections in Iran will be debated under the topic "debates on breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law."

In a resolution issued last month, the EP called for "an immediate revision" of the decision by the Guardian Council in order to enable the Iranian population "to make a really democratic choice."

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=22367&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs