As Iran prepares for the Persian New Year, the Judiciary chief said Sunday the events of the past year, which ends March 21st, have made the Islamic Republic stronger than before.

Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani said although the year was “bittersweet,” its events had paved the ground for the foundation of the revolution, the Iranian Labor News Agency reported.

“Although the harsh post-vote events lacerated the public’s emotion, the active and conscious presence of the people foiled the [anti-Iran] plots,” he said in an allusion to the unrest that followed the presidential election in June.

Iran says Western powers, particularly the UK, were responsible for the unrest. The West, however, denies any involvement in the events that claimed the lives of a dozen civilians.

Ayatollah Larijani also expressed hope that the next year would be filled with success and public satisfaction.

After of series of breakthroughs in space research and technology, Iranian scientists prepare to send a rocket carrying a new payload of living organisms into orbit.

Mohammad Rezaei, a senior expert with Iran’s Aerospace Organization, said Sunday that the space mission may take place as soon as next year, Mehr News Agency reported.

“As soon as the Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer 3) satellite carrier completes its current operation in space, we will launch our second mission with a new load of live organisms,” he said.

With the exclusive ability to transfer electronic data and live footage back to earth, Kavoshgar 3 was launched in space in February while carrying a rat, two turtles and worms onboard.

In February 2009, Iran joined a small group of countries that have the ability of both producing satellites and sending them into space using domestic launchers after placing its first domestically-made Omid (Hope) satellite into orbit.

The Omid data-processing satellite was designed to circle the Earth 15 times every 24 hours and to transmit data via two frequency bands and eight antennas to an Iranian space station.

The country is also studying preliminary plans to send its very first astronaut into orbit in near future.

Iran’s space-related accomplishments have come as a surprise for European powers and the US, mainly because the country has been under Western sanctions for nearly 30 years.

The UK’s ambassador to Beijing has warned that China could face isolation internationally, should it fail to give its consent to fresh sanctions against Iran.

“It’s not in China’s interests to find itself isolated from permanent members of the Security Council or the E3+3. It would damage China internationally,” Sebastian Wood said on Friday.

Wood said that China favored a different approach to the Iranian nuclear issue but he hoped that “fluid” talks would persuade Beijing to accompany others in imposing more sanctions against Iran.

“China has emphasized a need for engagement and diplomacy and wants to see the situation resolved soon. We have seen tactical differences in recent weeks but it’s a fluid discussion,” he added.

The US has been lobbying for fresh punitive measures against Iran, which is already under three rounds of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions over its enrichment program.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Thursday that the UNSC was drafting new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program and he expressed hope that world powers would agree on fresh sanctions against Iran soon.

US-led calls for more sanctions against Iran have mainly received a chilly response from China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, which insists that diplomacy should be exercised regarding the nuclear standoff.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband will travel to China on Sunday to hold talks with Chinese officials on different issues including Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran says any punitive measures against the country are legally baseless as Tehran’s nuclear work is being fully monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog.

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.

Iran has spent more than $280 million in the reconstruction projects of Afghanistan so far, says Iran’s envoy to its eastern neighbor.

“A total of $220 million has been spent in the road construction projects while more than $60 million was provided in education, telecommunications, electricity, borders security, health sector, higher education and sports,” Iran’s Ambassador in Kabul, Fada Hussein Maleki, told Press TV in an exclusive interview.

Maleki pointed out that Iran had pioneered in helping the Afghan people and offered its full support for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in international conferences such as those in Tokyo and London.

“The reconstruction of Afghanistan after several lengthy wars was an important issue and all countries had to contribute to it,” he said.

“Iranian and Afghan delegations will be exchanging visits to each other’s countries in the near future.”

Iran and Afghanistan have about 1,000 kilometers in common border. The two countries have a trade volume of more than $1.3 billion.

Iran and Qatar have signed an agreement on security cooperation, describing it as a significant step in improving peace in the Persian Gulf region.

The agreement was signed in the Qatari capital of Doha on Tuesday between Iran’s Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar and his Qatari counterpart Abdallah bin Khalid Al Thani.

“The agreement deals with issues including the trafficking of drugs, goods, men and artifacts, money laundering and organized transnational crimes,” Mohammad-Najjar said in a press conference.

He added that the agreement would help bolster security in the Persian Gulf “without any foreign interference,” stressing that Western powers are fomenting unrest in the region.

Mohammad-Najjar said Iran’s military was “fully prepared” to deal with any possible attacks and to secure peace in the region.

Despite US concerted efforts to impose tough sanctions on Iran, Washington says it will allow technology companies to export Internet services to Iran, Cuba and Sudan.

The move is a bid aimed at exploiting the libertarian potential of the three countries, The New York Times reported late Sunday.

“The more people have access to a range of Internet technology and services, the harder it’s going to be for the Iranian government to clamp down on their speech and free expression,” the paper quoted a senior administration official as saying.

The unnamed official added that the Treasury Department will issue a general license on Monday allowing the export of free personal Internet services such as instant messaging, chat and photo sharing as well as software to the three countries.

The move will allow Internet services providers including Microsoft and Yahoo to remove restrictions and offer Internet services, the daily said.

The US and its European allies have been pushing hard for tougher sanctions against Iran, claiming its nuclear program is pursuing military ends. The allegation, however, has never been validated by the UN nuclear watchdog, whose inspectors have been monitoring Iran’s activities regularly and extensively.

Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, says its program is directed at the civilian applications of the technology, including energy production.

Western countries have already imposed three rounds of UNSC-backed sanctions on Iran and are currently lobbying for a fourth, which is believed to contain a “symbolic” tightening of economic measures against the Tehran government, which has maintained that any such actions will again prove futile.

Amid US concerted efforts for fresh tough sanctions against Iran, China and Russia reiterate that diplomacy is still the best possible means of resolving the Iranian nuclear issue.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday that “diplomatic efforts” could still work over the case.

“We’ve been making diplomatic efforts and we believe they have not been exhausted, and we will continue to work with other parties to push for a settlement to this issue,” Qin said.

He added that China would continue to work toward the resumption of talks on the issue and “make constructive efforts for a proper resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations.”

Russian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Grigory Berdennikov, also said Wednesday that there was no alternative better than negotiations to the Iranian nuclear issue.

“We’d like to stress the absence of alternatives to the diplomatic resolution of the issue and the remaining outstanding questions that concern the Iranian nuclear program so that the IAEA would have an opportunity to make sure undeclared nuclear materials and prohibited activities are not found on the Iranian territory,” Berdennikov said.

China and Russia are both among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto-wielding power.

The US has been lobbying officials in Beijing and Moscow to consent to more punitive measures against Iran.

As part of the US plan to rally support against Iran, Clinton is now touring Latin American countries to convince them to turn their back on Tehran.

In Brazil, the former first lady failed to persuade the South American country into joining the US front against Iran.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that the international community should not “push Iran into a corner over its nuclear energy program.”

The Islamic Republic enjoys growing relations with Latin American countries including Brazil, which has repeatedly supported the Iranian right to pursue its nuclear energy program.

Despite the IAEA reports reaffirming that it continues to verify the non-diversion of Iran’s nuclear work toward any military purposes, the US and its allies accuse Tehran of having military objective in its nuclear work.

Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), rejects the allegations as politically motivated and says its nuclear work is totally peaceful and within the framework of the NPT.

Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Opressed People Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran is ready to share its scientific and industrial achievements with Islamic countries.

In a meeting with industry ministers of the Developing Eight Countries (D8), Imam Ali Khamenei said, “Islamic countries should improve their status to the level they deserve by utilizing their massive resources and their talents and through cooperation.”

The Leader added that Iran was ready to continue its support for D8 by sharing its achievements with Islamic countries.

Established in 1997 in Turkey, the group consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.

The three-day D8 conference concluded in Tehran on Tuesday with member states stressing the need for further economic and industrial cooperation.

After Kirgizstan denied that one of its passenger planes was carrying Jundallah terror chief Abdulmalek Rigi, Iran released a video footage proving Bishkek wrong.

Iranian security officials captured Abdolmalek Rigi, the long-sought leader of the Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist organization, on February 23 while he was onboard a Kyrgyz plane on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan, where he was allegedly slated to meet US intelligence and military officials at a major American military base.

While the report was initially confirmed by Bishkek, it was dismissed out of hand six days later in a Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry statement.

“Information … published in some media about the detention of foreign nationals on board the Kyrgyzstan Airlines aircraft does not correspond with reality,” AFP quoted the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry as saying on Monday.

The Monday statement came as a surprise to Iranian authorities, who are still looking into allegations that several Kyrgyz security guards were protecting Rigi and his deputy before the plane was grounded at an airport in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

In protest, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador to Tehran to clarify the reasoning behind Bishkek government’s denial of Rigi’s capture.

On Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that there is abundant evidence proving that Rigi was arrested on a Kyrgyz plane.

The evidence Mehmanparast was referring to came in the form of a video footage which showed the step-by-step process documenting Rigi’s capture.

The video footage also shows passengers on the Kyrgyz flight waiting at the airport’s lounge and receiving gifts before re-boarding the grounded plane.

Spearheaded by Rigi, the Jundallah group has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Iran.

The terrorist clan has carried out mass murder, armed robbery, kidnappings, acts of sabotage and bombings against Iranian security forces, officials and civilians.

Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines Ali Akbar Mehrabian says the Developing 8 Countries (D8) can increase their multilateral economic dealings through adopting identical customs proceedings.

“Iran has proposed the setting up of identical customs proceedings between the D8 member states, creation of joint research centers using modern technologies and promoting practical studies as well as designing an engineering platform in order to share technical know-how,” Mehrabian said Sunday during the 5th D8 meeting in Tehran.

“Iran is to propose the strategy of industrial cooperation between the D8 members,” he added.

He also criticized the world economic leaders for creating problems for their own nations and other countries.

Representatives from the D8 member states have come together in the Iranian capital to discuss ways of promoting economic and industrial cooperation.

The D8 consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

Iran and Qatar have signed a defensive agreement, which would see the two sides jointly taking on “elements behind regional insecurity.”

The agreement was inked by visiting Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi and Chief of the General Staff of Qatar’s Armed Forces Hamad Bin Ali Al-Attiya in Doha on Wednesday.

General Vahidi and Al-Attiya stressed the necessity for the expansion of defense cooperation between the two countries referring to the cultural, religious and age-old relations between Iran and Qatar.

Articles of the agreement include “the exchange of technical and expert delegations, the expansion of cooperation in personnel training and joint campaigns against terrorism and elements behind regional insecurity,” Fars News Agency reported.

According to General Vahidi, Iran and Qatar have considerable potentials for bilateral cooperation.

The Iranian defense minister, heading a high-ranking delegation, paid a two-day visit to Qatar on Wednesday.

Iranian researchers have announced the death of Royana, Iran’s — and the Midle East’s — first cloned sheep.

“The decision was made to euthanize three-year-old Royana after a veterinary examination showed he had a progressive liver disease,” the Royan institute in Isfahan, Iran said in a statement.

The sheep, which was cloned in 2006 in the city of Isfahan, managed to survive the post-natal complications most cloned animals are prone to.

On September 30, 2006, a group of scientists in Iran cloned Royana from an adult cell in a test tube in a laboratory. After the embryo proved its stability, scientists transferred it to the uterus of a female sheep.

After a period of 145 days, Royana was born by caesarean section. Despite critical conditions, he survived and thrived.

“Three years later, Royana is dead. Scientists decided to euthanize him after the abdomenal pain he had been suffering from was traced to his liver,” the institute’s statement added.

With Royana, Iran has become one of the few countries to possess the technology and the means to clone farm animals, which could lead to advances in medical research, including using cloned animals to produce human antibodies against diseases.

A kid named ‘Hanna’ and two calves named ‘Bonyana’ and ‘Tamina’ were other animals successfully cloned in the country.

In January 2010, Iran became the first Middle Eastern country to produce transgenic animals, such as sheep and goats to have foreign proteins in their milk, which renders them valuable sources of protein for human therapy.

Biotechnology is Iran’s second most important scientific research field after nuclear technology.

A member of Lebanon’s parliament has called on the country’s military to expand its defensive capability through extensive cooperation with Iran and Syria.

“Iran and Syria are the only states willing to assist our country in building a powerful military,” Nawaf al Mousawi told lawmakers at the Lebanese Majlis.

Speaking a week after the movement’s Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah indicated a new approach toward Israeli aggression against Lebanon, al Mousawi added that “neither the United States nor Europe will provide Lebanon with what it needs to defend itself from Israel.”

Nasrallah on Tuesday warned that the movement will strike Israel’s infrastructure, including its airports and refineries, in the event of any Israeli attack on Lebanon.

“If you hit Dahiyeh, we will hit Tel Aviv. If you strike Martyr Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, we’ll strike your Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. If you hit our ports, we will hit your ports,” said the leader known for delivering on his promises.

“If you attack our refineries, we’ll attack your refineries. If you bomb our factories, we’ll bomb your factories. If you strike our power stations we will strike your power stations,” Nasrallah continued.

Tel Aviv’s military doctrine requires Israel to maintain absolute military superiority over its neighbors, a belief supported by the occupants of the White House since Harry S. Truman.

“The maintenance of Israel’s ‘qualitative military edge’ over any combination of its potential adversaries has been a cornerstone of US Middle East policy for more than a decade,” Shawn L. Twing, editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs says.

According to a 1979 Memorandum of Understanding, the United States has agreed to “endeavor to be responsive to military and economic assistance requirements of Israel.”

Washington will “continue to impose restrictions on weapons supplied by it to any country which prohibit their unauthorized transfer to any third party… and will take steps to prevent such unauthorized transfer.”

The Pakistani Federal Minister for Petroleum has declared that Pakistan and Iran will sign a deal in Turkey before February 15 to construct a gas pipeline between the two countries.

Naveed Qamar said that the construction of the pipeline will take between four and five years.

He noted that the natural gas shortage is damaging Pakistan’s economy and Islamabad is determined to start the import of natural gas from Iran as soon as possible, Daily Times reported.

The Pakistani minister’s remarks come as the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke urged Islamabad last month to avoid the deal with Iran.

Holbrooke had said that the US would help Pakistan secure liquefied natural gas supplies should it abandon the planned gas deal with Iran.

Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan are planning to launch a joint Persian-language television network in the near future.

According to a report published by the Mehr news agency on Saturday, the television network is expected to begin broadcasting by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2010).

The new Persian-language TV network will aim to attract an audience of approximately 100 million Persian speakers in the region — 70 million in Iran, 20 million in Afghanistan, and 10 million in Tajikistan and other parts of Central Asia.

The organizers say it will provide high-quality and accurate information from a global perspective and will cover the political, social, and cultural issues of interest for its diverse audience.

The new TV network will also play a key role in promoting trilateral relations since the three Asian countries enjoy strong cultural, ideological, and historical ties, they added.

The Tajik capital Dushanbe has been chosen as the location for the network’s main headquarters and legal address.

Iran will host the Tajik and Afghan presidents in a ceremony to celebrate the Persian New Year in the Iranian city of Shiraz.

The three Persian-speaking countries will celebrate Nowruz in the cultural city of Shiraz where the world-renowned poet Hafez is buried, Tehran Times reported.

According to Iran’s Ambassador to Tajikistan Ali-Asghar Sherdoust, this will be the third trilateral meeting of officials from the three neighboring countries, following gatherings in Tajikistan and Afghanistan respectively.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad invited Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon during his recent trip to Tajikistan, Sherdoust added.

The Persian New year, which coincides with the first day of spring on the solar calendar, is mostly celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

For Iranians, Nowruz is a celebration of renewal and change, a time to visit relatives and friends, and pay respect to senior family members.

Nowruz was registered on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity last September.

The presidents of Tajikistan and Afghanistan are expected to come to Iran to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the historic city of Shiraz.

Ali Asghar Sherdoust, Iran’s ambassador to Tajikistan, told the Mehr news agency on Monday that Emomali Rahmon and Hamid Karzai will visit Iran on March 21, in line with a previous agreement reached by the three Persian-speaking nations.

The heads of state are holding the meeting in order to strengthen cultural ties and especially to promote the Persian language.

Last year, the foreign ministers of Iran, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan held a meeting in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif on the eve of Nowruz.

The ancient celebration of Nowrouz was registered on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in May 2009.

Nowruz, literally meaning New Day, is the start of the Iranian New Year. It occurs on the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere, which is March 21 for three years and March 20 in leap years on the Western calendar.

Nowruz is celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.

Special ceremonies are being held in Iran and other countries to mark the first day of the Ten-Day Dawn period that culminated the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime.

The celebrations started on Monday on the occasion of the beginning of the 31st anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

On February 1, 1979, the late leader of the Islamic Revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, arrived at Mehrabad International Airport, returning from a 15-year exile. He was warmly greeted by millions of enthusiastic Iranians. Ten days later the Islamic Revolution became victorious in Iran.

The downfall of the Pahlavi regime marked the end of 2,500 years of monarchic rule in Iran.

On the first day of the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and members of his cabinet renewed their allegiance to the ideals of the late Imam Khomeini. They were accompanied by the Imam’s grandson, Hassan Khomeini.

The Director General of Iran’s Ministry of Culture for Foreign Media Affairs, Mohammad-Javad Aqajari, said on Sunday that the ceremonies will be covered by 226 reporters from 120 foreign media.

“More than 100 foreign reporters have also requested visas in order to cover the ceremonies,” he added.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says the Islamic Republic has conducted transactions worth USD 200 million with Armenia in 2009.

“Iran has carried out transactions worth 200 million dollars with Armenia in 2009,” Mottaki said at the Joint Commission of Iran and Armenia on Wednesday.

“The trade volume between the two countries has decreased in comparison to last year’s figures,” he added.

Mottaki further noted that officials from both countries have taken appropriate measures to improve bilateral relations.

The Iranian minister, heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, arrived in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Tuesday.

He was formally received upon his arrival by his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian.

Mottaki also held talks with top Armenian officials on the expansion of bilateral relation as well as regional and international developments.