The first comments of president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went down well with Iran's press yesterday, with independent and pro-reform newspapers highlighting his pledge to lead a "government of peace and moderation" and hard-line journals emphasizing his promise to follow the principles of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
In his post-election press conference, Ahmadinejad said Sunday that he would continue Iran's nuclear development and warned Iran's European negotiators that building trust would require a mutual effort. He rebuked an EU commissioner who spoke of freezing dialogue with Iran, saying Europe "cannot talk to the Iranian nation in such an arrogant manner."
Ahmadinejad entered the packed hall in Tehran's municipal building for the news conference with little fanfare, maintaining the unassuming style embraced by the roughly 17 million Iranians who voted the city's mayor to power in a landslide victory.
He fielded questions confidently and smiled broadly when asked by an Iranian female journalist wearing a colorful head scarf whether he would introduce a strict dress code.
It wasn't his job to decide, he said.
"I am the president. There are people who make those decisions," Ahmadinejad said. He appeared to be referring to the judiciary and the police, which enforce the law on the dress code.
In his opening statement, he promised to shun extremism and cobble together a moderate regime. The commitment was seized on by the pro-reform newspapers in their yesterday editions.
Asked about relations with the US, Ahmadinejad said Iran "is taking the path of progress based on self-reliance. It doesn't need the United States significantly on this path."
US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday that Ahmadinejad was "no friend of democracy" and dismissed the vote as a "mock election."
"He is a person who is very much supportive of the current ayatollahs, who are telling the people of that country how to live their lives, and my guess is over time the young people and women will find him as well as his masters unacceptable," Rumsfeld told the US television show Fox News Sunday.
A key concern for the US is Iran's 20-year-old nuclear program, revealed in 2002.
The US alleges the program is aimed at building atomic weapons. Iran insists it is only interested in generating electricity. Uranium enriched to low levels has energy uses, while highly enriched uranium can be used in bombs.
Iran suspended all uranium enrichment-related activities in November to avoid possible sanctions from the UN Security Council, but it said all along the suspension was temporary. France, Britain and Germany have offered economic incentives in hopes of persuading Iran to permanently halt enrichment.
Ahmadinejad said the EU "should come down from its ivory tower and understand that they cannot talk to the Iranian nation in this way. We are ready for trust-building measures in all fields, but ... our nation is a great nation and they cannot talk to the Iranian nation in such an arrogant manner."
Western leaders are worried that relations with Iran may become increasingly strained under Ahmadinejad.
As Tehran mayor, he served as managing director of a newspaper affiliated with the municipality. He replaced pro-reformist journalists with conservative writers.
He also replaced most district mayors considered pro-reform.
"We didn't have a revolution to have a democracy," he is widely quoted as saying, referring to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A former Revolutionary Guard commander, Ahmadinejad resurrected platitudes popular in the movement's early days.
"Iran can accomplish anything. Iranians have everything they need themselves to accomplish everything," he said Sunday.
His comments overlooked the fact that Iran's economy is staggering under the weight of high unemployment, double-digit inflation and interest rates of 25-30 percent on personal loans.
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana ruled out yesterday an immediate change to the bloc's nuclear policy with Iran.
Solana said the 25-nation EU would stand by an agreement reached in a meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani in Geneva at the end of May.
"At that time, we offered the possibility of presenting to the Iranian leaders around the end of July ... a comprehensive proposal for them to analyse. We don't have any reason to change at this point in time," Solana told reporters.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
RSS