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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 »

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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Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to meet with his Russian counterpart, amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington.

President Ahmadinejad, who is scheduled to attend the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on August 28 in Dushanbe, will meet with President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time since he took office.

The two sides will discuss further expansion of bilateral ties and regional Read more »

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, looks at an Iranian rocket before the recently reported launch.

The Pentagon does not believe an Iranian rocket test over the weekend was successful, despite reports in the official Iranian media saying the Islamic Republic had launched its first vehicle capable of placing a satellite in orbit.
“The Iranians did not successfully launch the rocket,” a senior U.S. defense official told CNN Monday.

The two-stage rocket could have been capable of launching a satellite into space, but the U.S. intelligence assessment shows that the second stage “was erratic and out of control,” said the official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the intelligence.

The rocket “did not perform as designed,” the official said.

Another U.S. defense official who also asked not to be named said the most immediate monitoring of the Iranian test came from the USS Russell Read more »

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said Friday that regional nations should fill the security vacuum when the U. S. withdraws its troops from Iraq, adding that there is no prospect of sending in Iranian forces.

The United States and Iraq have worked on a deal this year to try to ensure Iraqi security but have disagreed on timing for American troops to withdraw.

“The United States will soon leave the region, then regional countries should fill the security vacuum. There is no need for interference of other countries,” Ahmadinejad said on the final day of a two-day Istanbul visit.

Ahmadinejad said Iraq’s “stability and territorial integrity” are important for Iran. “We all have to protect the state of Iraq,” he said.

Asked at a news conference if this meant Iranian troops would go into Iraq after U. S. forces leave, Ahmadinejad said: “I have never said such a thing.” Subscribe=>

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It is Ahmadinejad’s first official visit to Turkey as Iranian leader Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has highlighted what he says are the strong links between Iran and Turkey ahead of a two-day visit there. It is his first official visit there since taking office three years ago. Speaking to reporters at Tehran airport, he said relations had gained momentum since the Islamic Revolution in Iran nearly three decades ago. The two countries are expected to sign a deal to supply more Iranian gas to Turkey - a close Nato and US ally. The visit has already provoked controversy in the press over the usual protocol of foreign leaders visiting the mausoleum of the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, says the BBC’s Pam O’Toole. Turkish media have speculated Mr Ahmadinejad is holding talks in Istanbul rather than Ankara to sidestep paying respects to Ataturk, a champion of secularism. Turkish officials say the talks are expected to focus on bilateral ties, regional and international

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks on as he waits for his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Tehran August 11, 2008.

The United States has turned down Israeli requests for military hardware to help it prepare for a possible attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, a frontpage report in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said on Wednesday.

The unsourced report said the Americans had warned Israel against carrying out any such attack and had refused to supply offensive military hardware. Instead they had offered to improve the Jewish state’s defenses against surface-to-surface missiles.

Interviewed on Israeli Army Radio, Defence Minister Ehud Barak did not deny the Haaretz story, but refused to discuss it. “It would not be right to talk about these things,” Read more »