[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran and Syria call for the restoration of peace and stability in Iraq after a recent twin truck bombing in Iraq killed 95 and injured some 600 people.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, during which the two sides condemned the recent bombings in Iraq and called for unity among the Iraqis.
During the meeting, Assad also rejected allegations against his country over the bombings as 'unacceptable' and urged Iraq to present solid evidence over the charges.
The terrorist attacks on August 19 struck the ministries of finance and foreign affairs in central Baghdad.
Iraq has accused Syria of sheltering terrorists linked to the massive bombings. Baghdad says senior members of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party who are in exile in Syria have plotted the bombings.
Mottaki arrived in Syria on Sunday, a day after a short surprise visit to Iraq. In Syria, he met with the president and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem.
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The new head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Sadiq Larijani, fired the main prosecutor in the trials of dozens of opposition figures accused of plotting to overthrow the country's leadership, the semiofficial ISNA agency reported.
Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi had built a case based on confessions and intended to prove that senior aides of the defeated candidates in the June 12 presidential election were involved in a foreign-backed plot to bring down the leaders of the Islamic Republic.
The opposition says that the election was rigged and that the confessions were coerced. Mortazavi was replaced by Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, who is known to be less ideological than his predecessor, according to lawyers defending several high-profile defendants.
"I hope the court will now free the accused," said Saleh Nikbakth, who is defending six prominent politicians, including former vice-president Mohammad Ali Abtahi.
"Mortazavi was the judicial cover for the arrests. He issued the warrants three days before the elections." The dismissal was Larijani's first important move since his appointment by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei two weeks ago, and it appears to signal that he is trying to follow a course independent of the government.
"This is a good start, but he must make more replacements in order to make the people feel safe," said Abdul Fatah Sultani, a human rights lawyer. He was detained for 72 days for questioning the election outcome before being released last week. "If that happens, some of the negative things that happened might be countered."
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has hailed the 'high capabilities' of the country which helped it 'overcome' the post-election problems.
"The recent [post-election] issues have placed the country in front of a determining political test. However, the establishment of the Islamic Republic given its high capabilities was able to overcome the situation," said the Leader in a meeting with university professors and scientific elites.
The Leader said that Iran enjoys 'different kinds of freedom' within the Islamic framework.
"Freedom in the Islamic establishment is a true issue defined within an Islamic framework and the Islamic Republic will never consent to or accept the false freedom sought by the West," said Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Leader touched upon the responsibilities of different walks of the country in confronting incidents including post-vote events, saying, "What is expected of university professors in this struggle is far greater than that of students."
"Students are the young officers fighting on this front who with their thoughts, actions and perceptions are present in the scene and who test the scene and act within its framework but university professors are the commanders of this soft confrontation."
Ayatollah Khamenei urged the commanders of this front to obtain a good understanding of the current situation and to identify the enemy, its objectives and plans.
"A professor who can play this role is a worthy teacher for the present and future of the Islamic Republic," the Leader said.
The Leader described raising students' abilities to analyze, and creating an atmosphere of hope and scientific work in universities as being the most important responsibilities of university professors.
"We must move in the exact opposite direction of the enemy's objectives, as it [the enemy] seeks to create the atmosphere of desperation in universities," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader also highlighted the importance of preparing the grounds for students to express their views.
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the damage inflicted on people in the post-vote incidents and said, "All those who have been the victims of the post-election events must know that the establishment has no intention of making concessions."
"Just as those individuals who openly confront the establishment are legally and justly dealt with, legal and just punishment will also be mete out to the perpetrators of crimes and atrocities."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran and Syria call for the restoration of peace and stability in Iraq after a recent twin truck bombing in Iraq killed 95 and injured some 600 people. 
