An Iranian Foreign Ministry official says there is a hidden agenda behind the recent destabilizing measures on Iran’s eastern borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Restoration of security to Iran’s long borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan is in the best national and regional interest; however, there are some elements who spare no efforts to disturb the peace and security of these borders,” Deputy Foreign Minister, Hassan Qashqavi told reporters in the southeastern city of Zahedan on Thursday.

“Actions, including hostage taking and then fleeing across the border are the clear examples of such conspiracies, because enemies do not like peace and [stability] in the region,” he added.
“However,’ he said, “pursuing the terrorist group’s incitements beyond the borders have always been the topic of the discussions of Iranian and Pakistani high ranking officials.”

Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan region borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and has regularly been the scene of clashes between security forces and armed terrorist groups believed to be based in neighboring Pakistan.

The Iranian foreign ministry official announced the Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki’s upcoming visit to Islamabad, which he said, would be aimed at reviewing issues related to the borders security, particularly dealing with the terrorist groups.

“The Pakistani government is expected to live up to its promises and take more serious measures to stem the terrorist and evil activities,” Qashqavi continued.

Jundullah, which operates in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan and Pakistan’s Baluchistan provinces, has carried out a number of attacks against high profile Iranian targets, especially government and security officials.

The Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist group carried out a bomb attack in the Pishin district in October 2009 that killed over 40 people, including several high-ranking Iranian commanders. Tehran and Islamabad signed a security pact following the attack.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi has condemned an assassination attempt on Afghanistan’s energy minister, Ismail Khan.

“We condemn the attack and are thankful that no harm was inflicted on the Afghan minister,” a statement from the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

A car bomb narrowly missed the minister Sunday morning as he was driving through western Herat.

The bombing, which resulted in the death of four civilians, also wounded 17 others, including 2 women and a child.

While confirming the blast as a suicide car bomb, the Afghan Interior Ministry condemned the “inhuman and anti-Islamic attack by the enemies of peace and stability of the country.”

Reports indicate that Ismail Khan’s car was badly damaged, but that he was unharmed because he was riding in another automobile with the city’s mayor.

Tehran has condemned the position French authorities have taken towards Ayatollah Khamenei’s objection to the destructive role Israel plays in the region.

“These comments run contrary to the realities of Palestine, the world and the region. They are a reflection of France’s biased, uncaring, and hateful support for the occupying Israeli regime and its crimes,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said on Tuesday.

“This extremist approach is in clear contrast with France’s long-established stance on the Palestinian issue and its realities… in practice this approach is in contrast with the outlook of the considerate French people,” he added.

Qashqavi also said that Tel Aviv was humiliating Paris and proving its Middle East strategy ineffective by ignoring the French government’s apparent efforts to stop illegal settlement building on Palestinian land.

The spokesman added that French officials were accusing Iranian authorities of intolerance while rights of various minority and migrants were violated in their own country.

“The French government’s lack of attention to civil rights and unions has created numerous problems for the country. These problems suddenly turn into protests and escalate into riots,” he said.

Qashqavi’s comments came after a foreign ministry spokeswoman attacked a recent speech by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and called his words ‘profoundly shocking’.

“These declarations are profoundly shocking and we firmly condemn them… [they] reflect the intolerance of the current leaders of Iran,” Christine Fages told reporters.

“They unfortunately can be added to a long list of hateful declarations by (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad… It is a sad day for the Iranian people, who we know do not share this attitude,” she added.

Delivering a sermon on Sunday, the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, Ayatollah Khamenei had described Friday’s al-Qods Day rallies as ‘a loud and clear shout against the cancer of Zionism’.

The Leader warned of the ‘conspiracies of the arrogant powers’ to weaken al-Qods Day among Muslims, adding that the Qods day rallies proved once again that the Islamic Umma (community) does not accept tyranny.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s remarks came as a UN fact-finding mission called for Israel’s prosecution at the International Criminal Court over ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’ committed during its 2008-2009 operation in the Gaza Strip.

The UN team, which was led by the former South African Jewish Supreme Court Judge Richard Goldstone, said that International Criminal Court must proceed with the prosecution, unless Tel Aviv opens fully independent probes into its war crimes.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has expressed concern over the humanitarian implications of ongoing clashes in Yemen’s northern province of Sa’dah.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi cautioned, in an official statement on Tuesday, that a humanitarian crisis may be unfolding in the Arab state.

“The clashes in Yemen over the past month, especially the unrest in the recent days, have claimed the lives of many defenseless civilians, wounded numerous others and displaced thousands of innocent people,” Qashqavi said.

The spokesman reiterated Tehran’s previous stance on the conflict, and pointed out that the Islamic Republic believes the solution to Yemen’s problem lies in a strategy of non-violence.

Qashqavi said Tehran believes that San’a’ can find its way out of the current crisis by adopting an approach that focuses on the rights of the Yemeni people.

Since 2004, Yemeni government forces and Zaidi Shia fighters have been engaged in a periodic war in northern parts of the country.

On August 11, a fresh round of fighting broke out after a year of relative peace, as the Yemeni army launched new attacks on Sa’dah, and Amran provinces.

San’a’ claims that the Houthi, fighters are trying to restore the Zaidi imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 coup.

The Houthis, however, say that they are defending their people and fighting for their civil rights. Zaidi Shias, the clear majority in the north, make up around 40 percent of Yemen’s overall population.

According to UN figures, the continued unrest in the past month has displaced around 50,000 more people, bringing the total count to 150,000 since 2004.

This is while international aid groups warn that the deteriorating humanitarian situation in northern Yemen has led to the displacement of another 35,000 people in just the past few days.

Based on figures released by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the unrest has directly affected almost 75,000 children as well.

After French President Nicolas Sarkozy accused Iran of hiding a nuclear weapons program, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman moves to condemn the comment saying such remarks rise from ‘extremism’ and ‘hostility’.

Only days ahead of talks between major world powers and Iran, which is due to address concerns about the country’s nuclear work, the French president raised new allegations about Iran’s long-wrangled-over nuclear program.

“It is a certainty to all of our secret services. Iran is working today on a nuclear (weapons) program,” Sarkozy told lawmakers from his conservative UMP party on Tuesday.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi dismissed the claim on Wednesday, saying it was in direct contradiction with the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the country’s nuclear activities.

In his latest report on the Iranian program, the IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei confirmed that the country is expanding its cooperation with the agency.

The report also said that the agency had been able to continue “to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran” but warned that Tehran “has not suspended its enrichment-related activities” as required by the UN Security Council.

Iran faces pressure to halt its nuclear enrichment, as world powers claim its program is aimed at building a nuclear bomb.

Tehran, however, has denied seeking nuclear weapons and called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.

Meanwhile, the Iranian spokesman went on to describe the comment by President Sarkozy as “politically motivated”, adding that it was a reiteration of the “hostile and illogical views of other political figures in France.”

“Such approaches bring to mind the extremist and radical mindset of former allies [of France] like Mr. [George W.] Bush and lack credibility,” Qashqavi said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry official went further and linked the French president’s comment to the Israeli lobby in France.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said on Monday that Tehran is fully ready for negotiations with the West, but within the framework of a package of proposals delivered by Tehran to the six world powers last week.

“Our nation supports interaction and dialogue. We are ready for such interaction and dialogue within the framework of our presented package of proposals,” Qashqavi told reporters in a weekly press conference here in Tehran.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki presented Iran’s updated nuclear package to the ambassadors and representatives of the six major powers on Wednesday.

The package was submitted to the ambassadors of France, Russia, Germany, and China, the British charge d’affaires, and the Swiss ambassador to Tehran, whose country represents US interests section in Iran.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has said he seeks a meeting with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili “at the earliest possible opportunity”.

Commenting upon Iran’s answer to Solana’s request for talks, Qashqavi said, “…relevant channels will schedule the date (for talks). I cannot announce a fixed date. The public will be informed if the time of the meeting is fixed.”

However, Qashqavi reiterated Iran’s firm stance on the country’s inalienable rights to access nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and added, “The Iranian nation will not negotiate for its inalienable nuclear rights.”

“The national, regional and international capacity of the Islamic Republic is too big to allow Tehran to attend talks over minor, temporary and small issues,” the spokesman noted, and added, “The other side can use this good capacity in a bid to step on the path of honest and constructive interaction with Iran in the area of global security issues.”

Iran is now able to fix Boeing 747 passenger planes thanks to the sanctions imposed by the US on Iran’s air industries, an Iranian aviation official announced on Saturday.

“Imposing sanctions on the air industry (of Iran) by the US has made the Iranian experts acquire the knowledge and know-how for repairing Boeing 747 airplanes, “Spokesman of Iran’s Aviation Organization Reza Jafarzadeh told FNA.

In reaction to the US sanctions, Iran’s experts, both in the private and governmental sectors, have gained desirable success in the repair and maintenance of all giant planes and even in overhauling Boeing 747 airplanes inside the country, he added.

Jafarzadeh also blasted the US sanctions on Iran’s aviation industries, reminding that the move runs counter to the humanitarian slogans chanted by Washington and has, meanwhile, inflicted heavy losses on such US companies as Boeing.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry had also earlier condemned western sanctions on Iran’s aviation industries, reminding that the move is a violation of human rights.

“There is no logical reason for sanctions and sanctions against civilian aircrafts is a breach of human rights,” the ministry spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said the country is ready to help resolve Yemen’s problems peacefully.

Iran believes continuous conflicts in Yemen are not beneficial to the country; therefore, it calls for political and peaceful settlement of the problems, he said.

“Iran has always supported Yemeni nation and government in different situations,” he was quoted by the Iranian students news agency as saying.

Qashqavi continued Iran stresses expansion of political, economic, security and cultural cooperation with Yemen.

Targeting civilians and killing the defenseless people of Afghanistan is an inhuman approach and fully against ethical values and international standards, said IRI Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi.

Commenting on NATO’s recent attacks on two gasoline tankers abducted by Taliban in Afghanistan, Qashqavi added: “Unfortunately, this is not the first time that such events occur and such arbitrary moves against innocent people have taken place and we strongly condemn such approaches.”

“Unfortunately, such moves increase hatred, insecurity and violence, and foreign forces’ attacks under the pretext of pursuing terrorists have led to the killing of Afghanistan’s defenseless people dramatically,” he said.

Answering a question on the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran about Afghanistan’s recent presidential and provincial councils elections, Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said: “The Islamic Republic of Iran regards elections in Afghanistan as a sign of national will, growth of democratic institutes and a factor for strengthening security and stability and a cause of dignity for the Afghan people.”

“We believe that the people of Afghanistan can have the ability to manage their affairs by themselves and do not need foreign guardian,” Qashqavi added.

After the US makes a lot of hue and cry over its three citizens detained in Iran after illegally entering the country, Iran questions Washington’s contradictory attitude to US and Iranian citizens.

“US officials and media have put making continual news about its detained citizens on their agenda but took no measure concerning the two and a half years’ illegal imprisonment of Iranian diplomats in Arbil [Iraq] who had the right to political safety taken away from them,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said in response to a question on US double standards toward American and Iranian nationals.

Iran’s security officials have confirmed that three Americans identified as Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 30 and Joshua Fattal, 27 were arrested in the western Iranian city of Marivan on July 31, after ‘illegal entry’ into the country.

“It is surprising that US officials and media have no sense of humanity about Iranians who are arrested or abducted in the US and other countries for baseless reasons,” Qashqavi said.

On January 11, 2007, US soldiers broke into the Iranian consulate in the northern Kurdish city of Arbil, seizing the consulate’s computers, documents and staff, including five diplomats. Two diplomats were later released.

The five remaining Iranians, including three diplomats–kept in Iraq under US custody without charge– were released and returned back after 2.5 years.

They were released on 12 Jul 2009 in line with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the US and Iraq. Under the terms of the agreement, the US military had to deliver more than 1,500 prisoners including the non-Iraqi nationals in its custody to the Baghdad government.

Iran has called on the candidates in Afghanistan presidential election to refrain from making judgments before the official results are announced.

The two main contenders for presidency, Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, have both claimed victory throughout the gradual announcements of election results.

Abdullah has accused Karzai of massive vote rigging and warned he would reject the result if fraud played a part in the outcome.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran advises all candidates in Afghanistan presidential election to wait for the final results [to be released on September 17] and do not be influenced by foreign propaganda and pursue their claims within the framework of the Afghan law,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said on Saturday.

“Foreign countries have no right to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs, including elections. They should not impose their own ideas on others,” he added.

Afghanistan’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has said preliminary results will be announced on either Sunday or Monday while final results are not due before September 17.

Qashqavi also said that all countries should accept the official winner of the election as the ‘legal’ president of the Afghanistan.

The latest results were released September 3, and showed Karzai maintaining a lead with 47.3 percent of the results from 60 percent of the polling stations.

Out of 3.69 million valid votes, Karzai won 1.74 million and Abdullah 1.2 million or 32.6 percent, the IEC announced.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry says French academic Clotilde Reiss, who has been detained in Iran on charges of espionage, is not a political victim despite French government’s efforts to portray her case otherwise.

“Unfortunately, she [Reiss] violated the country’s laws and intentionally carried out a series of offenses, such as illegal residence, participation in illegal protests and intelligence gathering for the French embassy,” the ministry’s spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi, said Wednesday.

“In addition to these undeniable facts, Ms. Reiss plainly confessed to her crimes in the various stages of trial and asked the Iranian people to pardon her,” he added.

His comments came two days after the French Foreign Ministry said that Tehran should take a step further and drop the charges against Reiss and detained French Embassy worker, Nazak Afshar, both of whom have been released on bail.

“Despite these realities, French officials… are trying to portray the individual’s arrest as a political reaction by Iranian officials. Such an analysis is biased and irrational,” Qashqavi said.

Reiss, who was working as an assistant teacher of French at Isfahan University, was detained on July 1 on charges of espionage.

On August 8, she stood trial among several Europeans following the post-vote violence.

During a court address, she confessed to taking part in ‘illegal protests’ and writing to the French embassy and about 50 friends or members of her family about the events unfolding in Iran.

On Sunday, she was released on a $300,000 bail. She is currently staying at the French Embassy in Tehran pending the verdict in her case.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman dismisses as “illogical” any comparison between the killing of Muslims in China, the atrocities in Gaza and the murder of Marwa el-Sherbini in a German court.

Speaking at a Monday press conference, Hassan Qashqavi denied that the Iranian Foreign Ministry had remained silent about the deaths of Chinese Muslims in the northwest Xinjiang-Uighur region.

Almost 200 people were killed recently in the predominantly Muslim region, and the Iranian government has been severely criticized from different quarters for remaining silent in the face of the violence.

The main criticism came from senior religious figures, who objected to the stance taken by the government — which did not react swiftly to the anti-Muslim violence in China — while blasting the murder of a Muslim woman by a criminal in a German court.

Grand Ayatollahs Nasser Makarem-Shirazi and Lotfollah Saafi-Golpayegani were among the senior religious leaders who issued communiqués, decrying the Chinese government’s treatment of Muslims and the Iranian government’s lack of response over the issue.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi has said Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Tehran will soon be summoned to Iran’s foreign ministry.

“Due to Saudi police misbehavior with Iranian pilgrims, the country’s ambassador to Tehran will soon be summoned to Iran’s Foreign Ministry,” Qashqavi said at his weekly press conference on Monday.

“The order was issued by the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki last night following the report of the Leader’s representative for Hajj affairs, Mohammad Mohammadi Reishahri, about the misconduct,” he added.

Qashqavi’s remarks come after Police in Saudi Arabia recently insulted Iranian female Hajj pilgrims by fingerprinting them at Jeddah International Airport.

It was not the first time that the Saudi police have fingerprinted Iranians entering the country for participating in the Hajj.

In August, 2007, Saudi police insulted Iranian Hajj pilgrims by taking mug shots and fingerprinting them at Jeddah International Airport. They also scanned and have maintained records of Iranian pilgrims’ passports and other documents since the beginning of the year.

According to international law, only those travelers deemed to be criminals or terrorists can be fingerprinted.

Earlier, Reishahri warned that such offenses against the Iranian pilgrims are aimed at weakening unity between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Tehran takes a sharp jab at the Baghdad government for failing to ensure the safety of the Iranian pilgrims who were killed in cold blood in eastern Iraq.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi condemned the terrorist act as “cruel and inhumane in the true sense of the word.”

A group of unidentified terrorists, bearing guns and heavy artillery, opened fire on Iranian pilgrims, who were traveling to the Iraqi capital Baghdad late on Tuesday.

Six Iranians were killed in the attack, which took place in the eastern Iraqi city of Khanaqin, while 31 others were left injured and hospitalized.

The body of the six Iranian victims will be returned to the country on Thursday.

Qashqavi cited foreign military presence as the main reason behind the attack. “Unfortunately the presence of foreign military forces in Iraq has only emboldened terrorist elements to step out of line with their criminal acts.”

The Iranian Foreign Minister criticized the Baghdad government for not taking enough care of Iranians, who regularly go on a pilgrimage to holy Iraqi cities.

“We had expected the Baghdad government to act in a more responsible manner with respect to the life and safety of our nationals,” said Qashqavi.

Qashqavi warned Iranians against traveling to Iraq on their own, and take necessary precautions.

His remarks come as a team of Iranian investigators have arrived at the scene of the crime to look into the incident and search for clues.

Amid Iran’s efforts to settle disputes over its nuclear activities, Foreign Ministry spokesman has explained details about the country’s new package to be proposed to the West.

“The proposed package will definitely include Iran’s nuclear issue based on an international approach,” Hassan Qashqavi told IRIB Sunday.

He said that the “comprehensive and updated” package aims to prepare a ground for Iran to have more fluid interaction with the West.

“We cannot raise the nuclear issue without speaking of an international disarmament. We cannot speak of a Middle East without nuclear weapons while making no words about the more than 200 nuclear warheads of the Zionist regime [Israel],” added the spokesman.

Iran is drawing up a package of proposals, which will be presented to the international community soon with the aim of resolving the main international problems of economic, cultural and moral challenges.

Qashqavi pointed to the ongoing global economic crisis and said, “Iran’s proposed package will suggest solutions to the economic crisis based on principles of the Islamic economy.”

Iran had earlier provided critics in the West with another package that covered various issues pertinent to politics, security and the economy.

The previous Iranian package had been presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana and the representatives of the 5+1 Group in response to a Western package of incentives delivered to Iran by Solana.

The package extended by the West offered Iran certain economic incentives in exchange for Iran halting its uranium enrichment activities.

Iran is a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is therefore granted the right to develop a civilian nuclear program. On the issue of Western insistence that it seeks to develop nuclear weaponry, Tehran says it has no such plan.