Envoy Renews Iran’s Call for N. Free Middle-East

28 August 2010 | 17:18 Code : 8494 General category
Envoy Renews Iran’s Call for N. Free Middle-East
(Fars News Agency)- Iranian Ambassador to Japan Seyed Abbas Araqchi reiterated Iran’s support for the idea of a nuclear-free Middle-East. Addressing the 22nd UN Conference on Disarmament Issues in Saitama, Japan, on Friday, the Iranian diplomat Araqchi said Iran is ready to cooperate to realize this idea.
The Twenty-Second United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues was held in Saitama, Japan, from 25 to 27 August.
Hosted by the Government of Japan and the City of Saitama, the Conference was organized by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific. 

Sergio Duarte, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, opened the Conference by delivering the keynote speech, the Islamic republic news agency reported.
Hayato Shimizu, Mayor of Saitama City, senior officials from the Government of Japan and Hiroshima City also addressed participants at the opening session. 

Approximately 60 participants from Governments, academia and think tanks, international and non-governmental organizations, as well as the media attended the Conference. 

The Conference was open to the public as a way to raise awareness of and support for disarmament and non-proliferation.
The Conference assessed the outcome of the 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ( NPT ) and addressed ways to make progress in achieving nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Taking concrete actions towards a nuclear-weapon-free world, as well as enhancing nuclear safety and security was also high on the Conference’s agenda. 

Regional disarmament and non-proliferation challenges were addressed, as well… More

    2killed, 15 injured in Damghan earthquake

Semnan, (IRNA) – According to the latest reports, two people have been killed and 15 injured in the earthquake that jolted Damghan in the late hours of Friday.Damghan Governor Morteza Aliabadi told IRNA that the two killed were a 4-year-old child and a newborn infant. 15 people were also injured in the quake, according to the governor. The tremor has damaged villages of Kohzar, Shimi and Kelo. The governor added that relief workers have been dispatched to the area and the injured people have been transferred to the medical centers. A relatively strong earthquake measuring 5.9 on Richter scale jolted Dasht-e-Kavir, south of Damghan city in central province of Semnan at 23:53 hours local time (19:23 hours GMT) late Friday night. According to the report of seismography center affiliated to Tehran University Geophysics Institute, five
after shocks have also jolted the area

China to invest $1bn in Iran

(IRIB)-Iran and China are to finalize a deal in the coming days on the latter’s corporate investment in Iranian petrochemical projects Iran and China are to finalize a deal in the coming days on the latter’s corporate investment in Iranian petrochemical projects. The National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) and a Chinese consortium are completing talks on an agreement under which the Chinese side is to funnel some $1 billion into petrochemical projects in Iran. This comes as no other Chinese firms have, so far, participated in the construction and development of petrochemical facilities in Iran. Negotiations are also underway with several other countries for further development of Iran’s petrochemical industries. Sixty-one petrochemical projects are to come on stream in Iran during the Fifth National Development Plan, raising the country’s petrochemical output capacity to 100 million tons a year. The construction of the petrochemical facilities requires a total of $43 billion in investment funds. Contracts have already been signed for implementation of 28 of those projects. An agreement has also been concluded with Iran’s Bank Melli on the issuance of some $1 billion worth of bonds to help foot the bill. Iran and China are big trade partners, and have been expanding their cooperation in a whole range of areas, including energy. Iran is also a major supplier of crude oil to China.