Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says US is concerned about Iran’s influential role in Latin America, Central Asia and Africa, adding that the Islamic Republic is currently among the top world powers.

“This is not a rhetoric issue in a political war. This is a fact. The countries on the opposite side can do nothing without Iran,” he was quoted by IRNA as saying on Saturday.

“They (US officials) do not want to see Iran’s presence in international relations and equations. They have no option but to keep silent about consecutive victories of the Iranian nation,” he added.

The head of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said, “Before the swear-in ceremony in 2005 I asked the the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei], to issue a permission for breaking the seal of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and the leader agreed.”

“Despite oppositions [to the move] and threats of the enemy’s military attack, the government insisted on its stance,” Ahmadinejad said.

He touched upon the enemy’s “political game” in Iran’s nuclear case and said, “It aims to block and stop the path of the countries’ progress.”

He reiterated that the West could not stop Iran’s nuclear program by adopting further resolutions or imposing sanctions.

The Iranian president questioned NATO’s achievements in Afghanistan and said only Iran can help resolve regional crisis.

He disclosed efforts by certain powers and countries to change regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, saying, “They seek to prevent nations from making progress, but the Iranian nation will not let them.”

IRI Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said by reviving the concepts of jihad and martyrdom, Islamic Revolution created real awakening in the Islamic Ummah.

Speaking in the open session of parliament Saturday, Larijani said martyrdom is of great value in Islamic culture as it can change any political situation.

Being reluctant for martyrdom would push nations toward accepting abjection, he reiterated.

Larijani said 1,5 billion Muslims more than 60 years have lost the will to take action against the Zionist regime because of forgetting Jihad and martyrdom.

He described the victory of Lebanon’s Hizbollah and Palestinian’s resistance in 33-day and 22-day wars as the main result of the path.

“Although the arrogance forged the word of terrorism to make it equal with Jihad in the mind of nations but terrorism is a blind move and Jihad is a sacred one,” Larijani said.

He added that Jihad is not a personal issue but it follows Islamic revival and defending Muslims’ rights.

The Judiciary said Saturday it has identified and dismantled a US-backed cyber network, which was set up to gather information on the country’s nuclear scientists and spread unrest after the presidential election.

In a statement, the Judiciary said the group had been established by anti-Iran groups, including the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO). It added that some of the prime suspects linked to the group were identified and about 30 of them have been arrested.

According to the New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh, former US President George W. Bush funded a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, allocating up to four hundred million dollars to “destabilize the country’s religious leadership.”

The Judiciary said, under Bush’s Presidential Finding, a new campaign in the intelligence front — called the “cyber war” — was set up to engage Iran, with the help of the MKO, pro-monarchy groups and other anti-Iran cells.

One of the main projects of the campaign, the statement said, was a program called “Iran Proxy,” which received a funding of 50 million dollars from the CIA and the US State Department.

The program, which allowed Iranians bypass the state’s filtering system and access the Internet, was designed to “obtain personal and family information” of its users and pass them along to US spy agencies, the statement said.

Another major project of the campaign, it said, was a network called “Human Rights Activists,” which was led by Keyvan Rafiei, Jamal Hosseini and Ahmad Batebi.

The network was tasked with recruiting people and sending them to an MKO camp in Iraq and other countries, where they would receive training, the statement said.

The network was also in close cooperation with “Lawyers Committee” and “Harana News service,” it said.

The network, according to the confession of its arrested members, was also tasked with inviting people to attend illegal rallies and riots in the aftermath of the presidential election in June.

They also spread rumors about the number of people who were killed during the unrest, saying there had been seventy-two victims.

The network also sought to provide cover for armed acts against the Islamic Republic establishment, the statement said.

The Judiciary added that the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) had been briefed on the situation and key members of the campaign, who reside in the United States, had been introduced to the force.

A senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Opressed People on Saturday criticized the German government for releasing the ringleader of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) terrorist organization.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister and senior adviser to Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said Germany had broken international law by releasing Abdolrahman Haji Ahmadi, the PJAK leader.

Haji Ahmadi was arrested two weeks ago but was released a few days later.

PJAK is an offshoot of the internationally-recognized terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which conducts deadly operations in Kurdish-populated regions of western Iran.

Velayati said Germany had tarnished his image in the international arena by showing that it lacked independence in its foreign policy.

He accused Berlin of being under the influence of the White House.

According to a New York Times report in October 2007, PJAK has “direct or indirect discussions” with American officials. Its ringleader reportedly visited Washington in the summer of 2007.

The group is branded as a terrorist group by the United States.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that no “Zionist” was inside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as the terrorists flew the two hijacked planes into the two towers.

President Ahmadinejad said the arrogance, which “demonstrates the satanic characteristics of Satan,” sought to evoke sympathy by showing the impact of the planes jamming into the towers.

Led by Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda is believed to have carried out the attacks. Fifteen of the 19 plotters of terror attacks were Saudi nationals.

The terror attacks paved the ground for former President George W. Bush to dispatch the US Army to Afghanistan and Iraq and initiate two unpopular, costly wars that continue to date.

President Ahmadinejad said the US government was quick to pronounce that the terrorists were “Muslims,” the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

“They launched a propaganda campaign for six months; they said 3,000 people were killed in the towers … but everyone knows that on the day of the attacks on the two towers, many of the Zionists had left the buildings since they already knew [about the terror plot],” he said.

“[The US Army] killed 100,000 people in Afghanistan and acted in a way that no one would ask them why this happened.”

Iran says the presence of foreign troops in the Middle East is the reason behind instability in the region.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says Tehran seeks to establish and fortify unity among Palestinians against Israel.

Mehmanparast on Saturday dismissed remarks by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas who claimed that Iran was impeding reconciliation talks between his Fatah group and the Hamas resistance movement.

“Iran doesn’t want Hamas to sign the Cairo reconciliation document,” Abbas said during a meeting in the Tunisian capital on Friday.

In response, Mehmanparast said that Iran sought unity and solidarity among Palestinians.

“In the first place, the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to create unity among Palestinians and in the second to seriously pursue the rights of the Palestinians to regain their land and return to their territory under a Palestinian government.”

Iran believes that the only solution to the Palestinian issue is to hold a free referendum, in which the Palestinians can determine their own fate.

Fatah and Hamas are yet to reach an Egyptian-mediated unity deal to end divisions.

The proposal put forward by Cairo, which acts as a mediator in the reconciliation talks, aims to lay the groundwork for new presidential and legislative elections.

Tehran lays out its foreign policy objectives for the new Iranian year, citing the nuclear issue, atomic disarmament and broader diplomatic ties as major priorities.

“Global disarmament will definitely be on the agenda for the country’s diplomatic body this coming year [which begins on March 21],” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told ILNA on Friday.

“We will try to lead the international disarmament campaign with the hope of intensifying the efforts and encouraging other countries to join in,” he added.

Mehmanparast also reiterated that Iran would move forward with its peaceful nuclear work, determined not to allow “greedy” powers to advance their hostile and unreasonable demands regarding Iran’s legitimate nuclear pursuits.

The spokesman added that Tehran would also try to expand ties with regional states, with the greater goal of establishing an Asia Union in mind.

Commenting on the prospective of stronger relations with the European Union, Mehmanparast emphasized that any sort of cooperation between the sides could only be possible if EU governments reduce Washington’s influence on their policy-making.

Tehran’s Substitute Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani condemned some western countries’ allegations regarding Iran’s attempt to access nuclear weapons.

Addressing worshippers in Tehran University campus, Emami Kashani termed such claims as a big lie, saying that they were trying to interpret Iran’s most peaceful nuclear activities as efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Emami Khashani condemned the arrest of Iranian TV correspondent in Rome by Italian government and described it as a token of west’s double-standard policies.

Hamid Masoumi-Nejad, an accredited journalist working for IRIB in Rome was arrested last week under allegations of selling arms to Iran in violation of international sanctions.

Referring to the arrest of PJAK terrorist group ringleader Abdolrahman Haji Ahmadi by German security forces, the cleric said that besides committing clear crimes against the Iranian people in northwestern border area, Haji Ahmadi was released just within 24 hours.

“Whereas Italy has kept in detention a person who has been working just as journalist for an Iranian TV channel for over 17 years,” Emami Khashani added.

He also noted that all these behaviors just show the Western countries’ double standard policy against global terrorism.

Tehran’s Ambassador to Rome Mohammad-Ali Hosseini has rejected Italy’s allegations against a veteran Iranian journalist as unacceptable.

Hamid Masoumi-Nejad, a correspondent for the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) based in Rome, was arrested on March 3 along with another Iranian national identified as Homayoun Bakhtiyari under the allegations of arms trafficking to Iran.

Hosseini said the allegations, which were in fact directed at Iran were unacceptable, adding that the Iranian Embassy in Rome and the Iranian Consulate in Milan would spare no effort to secure the release of the two detained Iranian nationals.

The senior correspondent has been working for IRIB in Rome for more than 15 years.

In response to the move, Iran’s Foreign Ministry earlier summoned the Italian envoy and demanded an explanation about what it called the politically-motivated arrests.

Iran Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday that “a committee made up of diplomatic, political and legal [experts] has been established in the Foreign Ministry to follow up on the case on a daily basis.”

Iran says it hopes the Italian government will free the two nationals as soon as possible.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Friday that electricity has been provided to almost all villages across the country.

According to Ahmadinejad, all villages with populations of more than 20 families are now provided with electricity, IRIB News reported.

The president, who was making the remarks at a ceremony marking comprehensive national electricity distribution, hailed the development as a big achievement for the Islamic Revolution.

Iran is building nuclear power plants throughout the country to produce electricity for its growing nation and industries.

The Bushehr plant, which is being built with the help of Russia, is scheduled to go operational in the next few months.

Iran is taking steps to investigate how Jundallah terror chief Abdulmalek Rigi obtained forged passports prior to his arrest nearly two weeks ago.

Speaking in a televised address on Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help indentify and arrest the culprits that provided Rigi with forged documents.

“We have asked our counterparts in the UAE to make the necessary arrangements to track down those who issue fake passports and travel documents for terrorists in Dubai,” said the Iranian President.

Iranian security officials captured Abdolmalek Rigi, the long-sought leader of the Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist organization, onboard a Kyrgyz plane on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan, where he was to meet US intelligence and military officials at the major American Menas military base, according to his televised confessions.

Following his arrest, Rigi also confessed on air that the US administration had promised to provide him with unlimited military aid and funding for his terror operations inside Iran.

The US, along with a number of European countries, was quick to deny any links to Rigi or picking up the tab for the many acts of terrorism he committed against Iranians over the past years.

Sadly for them, Ahmadinejad said, Iranian Intelligence agents have gathered more than enough evidence proving the contrary.

“We have concrete evidence that Rigi had received political, financial and publicity support from at least three countries,” explained the Iranian President.

“It is clear for us now that these countries, contrary to what they have claimed, are not fighting to curb terrorism in the region, but are in fact nurturing and contributing to the growing number of terror groups,” he added.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insists the name of Persian Gulf is so indisputable that makes it beyond negotiation.

“The name of the Persian Gulf is so irrefutable that it is non-negotiable,” President Ahmadinejad said Thursday in a live televised program in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province on the Persian Gulf coastline.

“Some claims lack legal and political values,” the Iranian chief executive added. “Those who make such claims say that they are under pressure to do so.”

President Ahmadinejad further pointed out that all credible maps in the world bear the name of the Persian Gulf.

“Nobody can change Iran’s strong relations with the regional countries,” he also reiterated.

Despite the existence of historical and geographical documents that prove, beyond doubt, the authenticity of the Persian Gulf’s name, some Arab states over the past years have spared no efforts to violate the international standards and distort the name of these waters to “Arabian Gulf.”

Since Persian Gulf occupies a pivotal place in the Iranian history and culture, the false use of the name of the area has always provoked the annoyance of Iranian people and governments.

The historical and geographical name of the Persian Gulf has been endorsed and clarified by the United Nations on many occasions and is in use by the United Nations, its member states, and all other international agencies worldwide. The last UN Directive confirming the name of the Persian Gulf was on August 18, 1994.

The use of the distorted name of the Persian Gulf was also described as ‘faulty’ by the Eighth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names in Berlin on August 27, 2002.

Iran’s foreign minister says a committee has been formed to explore diplomatic channels in the case of an Iranian journalist being held in Italian custody.

Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters on Thursday that efforts will be made to secure the release of Hamid Masoumi-Nejad — an accredited journalist working for Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in Rome.

“A committee made up of diplomatic, political and legal [experts] has been established in the Foreign Ministry to follow up on the case on a daily basis,” he was quoted by ISNA as saying.

The Italian police arrested Masoumi-Nejad, along with another Iranian national, over allegations of arms trafficking.

Iran’s foreign minister has condemned the arrests as a “ridiculous game and political showmanship.”

Mottaki has expressed hope that the Italian government would behave in a rational manner and release the two immediately.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has accused the US and the Western countries of supporting terrorism.

Mehmanparast said the US claims to be a pioneer in fighting terrorism in the region, while it is providing terrorists with safe havens.

He also said that Germany’s recent decision to release Abdolrahman Haji-Ahmadi, the leader of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) terrorist group, is proof of this fact.

Mehmanparast emphasized that Berlin made the decision, while the terrorist leader ad already confessed to the group’s crimes.

PJAK is an internationally recognized terrorist group. Its members are wanted in Iran for carrying out numerous deadly operations and bomb attacks in the country’s west.

Iran summoned the German ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday over the release of Haji-Ahmadi.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner claims that the UN Security Council (UNSC) is drafting new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

According to Kouchner, the UNSC is working on drafting economic sanctions to restrict Iranian banks abroad and insurance of shipments to and from Iran but has yet to reached an agreement yet, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The French minister said that he expected world powers to agree on fresh sanctions against Iran soon, but indicated that China was still opposing such a move.

“I think it will come in the fairly near future,” he said, adding that “we are working on it, France with the English, Americans and Russians now,” Kouchner added.

The West accuses Iran of seeking to develop atomic weaponry through its nuclear program, calling on Tehran to abandon its enrichment activities.

Iran has repeatedly denied the charges, saying that it will not relinquish its legitimate nuclear rights under Western pressure.

Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful and within the boundaries of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory.

Iran has announced starting the production run for new medium-range surface-to-air missiles with the aim of upgrading its air defense systems.

Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the missiles have a range of more than 40 kilometers.

Ahmad Vahidi added that the smart missiles travel at supersonic speed before hitting their targeted enemy aircraft.

Vahidi said these technologically advanced missiles are apt in electronic warfare, adding that the missiles break into small pieces and act as shrapnel, upon impact.

“The mass production of air defense systems is successfully underway and these systems will [soon] be delivered [to the armed forces],” Vahidi informed.

He noted that the new missile system will play a decisive role in defending the country’s airspace.

Over the past few years, Iran has acquired expertise in missile production at a rapid pace and conducts frequent drills to test-fire its latest prototypes.

A senior professor of International Relations has called on the Iranian government to prepare a strategy to counter the “soft warfare” launched by the US.

The Iranian officials should carry out studies on the tactics used by the West and the United States to influence on Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s adviser, Professor Hamid Mowlana said during a conference on “soft warfare” in Tehran.

“Iranian officials and organizations do not have enough knowledge about the soft warfare tactics used by the West and especially the United states,” he added.

Mowlana noted that since World War II, the US has employed executive organizations, universities and media outlets to use soft warfare tactics to put into practice its policies in the world.

“I can say even that the professors of big American social sciences universities had taken part in US soft warfare and psycho war during World War II,” the professor added.

Mowlana noted that the West, however, was not successful “in recognizing our soft power infrastructure.”

The US has been trying to “infiltrate” into Iran by influencing clerics, professors, students, journalists, businessmen, managers of big companies and others, he said.

The West has spent years on finding ways to attract our youth to itself and has tried to change the attitude of the international community’s elite toward Iran, the advisor added.

Mowlana, who is a professor of International Relations at the School of International Service (SIS) of the American University in Washington, advised Iranian officials to take “clear” measures to counter Western tactics against Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Israel that initiating a new military conflict in the Middle East would not save it from downfall.

Speaking in the southern Iranian Province of Hormozagan on Thursday, Ahmadinejad said that Israel was a Western prodigy that had now “reached the end of its road.”

“See what has become of Israel. They [the West] gathered the most criminal people in the world and stationed them in our region with lies and fabricated scenarios. They waged wars, committed massive aggression… and made millions of people homeless,” he told a crowd of supporters in the provincial capital, Bandar-Abbas.

“Today, it is clear that Israel is the most hated regime in the world… It is not useful for its masters [the West] anymore. They are in doubt now. They wonder whether to continue spending money on this regime or not,” said Ahmadinejad.

“But whether they want it or not, with god’s grace, this regime will be annihilated and Palestinians and other regional nations will be rid of its bad omen,” he added.

The top Iranian executive official pointed out that he did not believe that “even a new military conflict” could save the Israeli regime.

“They think in their underdeveloped minds that if they launch another war against Lebanon or Syria it might help them survive a little longer. I am telling them that you are in a situation now that more aggressions or wars will not save you.”

Ahmadinejad also advised the US and its allies to pull their troops out of the Middle East and stop “making mischief.”

“What are you doing in our region? Why are you deploying military forces here,” he asked.

“If you think military deployment will help you seize the oil in Iraq and in the Persian Gulf, I must tell you that the young generation of the Middle East will cut your hands off from the oil reserves of the Persian Gulf,” he added.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has rejected a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) statement over its three Persian Gulf islands.

“The baseless claims made by the GCC in Riyadh over the Iranian islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa is a clear interference in Iran’s internal affairs,” Mehmanparast said on Wednesday.

“The three islands remain an indisputable part of the Iranian territory,” he went on to say.

“We have repeatedly said that the slight misunderstanding between Iran and the UAE over Abu Musa is resolvable and the interference of other parties will never help solve the problem,” he further explained.

Tehran possesses historical, legal and geographical documents verifying its sovereign right to the islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa.

The three Persian Gulf islands were historically owned by Iran but the exercise of colonialism by Britain led to the islands temporarily falling under British control in the 1800s.

The islands were then returned to Iran on November 30th 1971 through a legal process before the state of the United Arab Emirates was created and the Al Nahyan family assumed leadership.

According to international regulations, no state can defy any agreements which had come into being before its creation unless such agreements had been officially declared as null and void by the newly-created state.

US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that Iran’s policies were against US national interests, adding that Washington will keep existing sanctions against Tehran in force.

In a letter to the Congress of the United States, President Obama informed lawmakers about his decision to make the National Emergency on Iran, which will be expired on March 15, saying that the emergency will continue in effect for one year.

“The actions and policies of the Government of Iran are contrary to the interests of the United States in the region and pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Xinhua quoted the US president as saying in his letter.

He added that issues between Washington and Tehran which led to the declaration of a national emergency on March 15, 1995 “has not been resolved”, stressing that “It is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to Iran and maintain in force comprehensive sanctions against Iran.”

The report comes despite Obama’s claims that his administration is moving towards a policy change on Iran.

The US has also embarked on a campaign to slap fresh embargos against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program.

Russia and China, two veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, have voiced their reluctance to back new sanctions against Iran and continue to call for a diplomatic solution to the country’s nuclear issue.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that it will not relinquish the legitimate nuclear rights of the Iranian nation under Western pressure.