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Ahmadinejad (L) shakes hands with Russian President Medvedev (R) before Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd R) and Kazakh President Nazarbayev (2nd L) Dushanbe, Aug 28

Iran has proposed that members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should use their own currencies in trade with each other.

“Iran’s suggestion is to use the currencies of the SCO states in transactions between members of the organization,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said as he addressed the SCO summit in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe on Thursday.

“Such a measure will help maintain and strengthen the value of the foreign exchange reserves of member states. The organization can also devise a long term plan to study the feasibility of using a single currency in the future,” he added.

Ahmadinejad also suggested establishing a SCO bank to facilitate monetary Read more »

Iran has some of the highest execution rates in the world

Human rights organisations have condemned the execution of another juvenile offender in Iran on Tuesday.

Behnam Zare was the second Iranian in a week to be put to death for a crime he committed when he was under 18 and the sixth such execution in 2008.

Human rights groups say neither Zare’s family nor his lawyer were notified prior to the execution.

Iran is the only country known to have executed people this year for crimes committed while they were minors.

Behnam Zare was convicted of murder after killing another young man in a street fight Read more »

Nanoclays

Iranian researchers have successfully lessened the toxicity of nanoclays, producing material that can be used for medical applications.

Nanoclays are used in various industries, including the polymer and medical industries. They are also applied in producing gas absorbents and drug delivery carriers.

Industrial clays are generally modified using Alkyl ammonium and alkyl amines, which are considered toxic compounds. Hence, their use particularly Read more »

Mr Ahmadinejad’s policies have been blamed for high inflation Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has urged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to prepare for a second term in office amid fierce criticism. The ayatollah praised the president for “standing up” to the West and predicted he would be returned to office for four more years at the 2009 election. Critics accuse Mr Ahmadinejad, a foreign policy hardliner, of failing to control inflation and unemployment. Such public backing from the ayatollah for a president is rare, analysts say. Mr Ahmadinejad, who won the 2005 presidential election, has caused controversy abroad by calling for the destruction of Israel and pressing ahead with uranium enrichment. ‘Shining medal’ “Do not think that this year is your final year,” Ayatollah Khamenei told the president at a cabinet meeting on Saturday, in remarks quoted by Iranian state media. “Work as if you will stay in charge for five years. In other words, imagine that in addition to this year, another four years will be under your management, and plan and act accordingly.” Without referring to foreign states by name, the supreme leader accused “some bullying

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An Iranian submarine

Iran has launched the production line of a new domestically-manufactured submarine in an attempt to boost its defensive capabilities.

Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar inaugurated the production line of the new submarine Qaaem, on Monday.

Qaaem functions as a submarine capable of carrying and firing various torpedoes and subsurface missiles with a special operation crew onboard.

During the opening ceremony, the Iranian defense official said the Islamic Republic Read more »

Itek Air is one of the many airlines banned from the EU A passenger plane has crashed shortly after take-off from Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, killing a large number of those on board. The head of Kyrgyzstan’s civil aviation authority said that out of about 90 passengers and crew, only about 20 people have survived. The Itek Air Boeing 737 took off bound for Mashhad, in north-eastern Iran, but turned round some 10 minutes later. An airport spokeswoman said the crew had reported a technical problem. The plane was returning to Bishkek airport but crashed before it could land, the spokeswoman said. Officials from a nearby US base said they were trying to help with the rescue effort. “At the moment rescue teams, fire brigades and medics are rushing to the crash site,”

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Israel will be targeted by thousands of rockets if it attacks Iran, a senior official in the Tehran-backed group Hezbollah said on Sunday.

There has been speculation that either the United States or Israel could attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, although both have said force should be a last recourse in curbing a nuclear program which they suspect aims to build atomic weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, is the main backer of Hezbollah — a Lebanese political and military group which fired thousands of missiles into Israel during a 34-day war in 2006. “The first shot fired from the Zionist entity towards Iran will be met by a response of 11,000 rockets in the direction of the Zionist entity. This is what military leaders in the Islamic republic have confirmed,” said Mohammed Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc. His remarks were reported by the National News Agency. Hezbollah has not said what it would do in the event of a conflict between Iran and Israel. Analysts count Hezbollah, which shares Iran’s Shi’ite Islamist ideology, Read more »