IRAN'S education ministry has banned schoolchildren from wearing outfits or using stationery decorated with Western symbols. Hossein Mozafar, the Education Minister, issued a directive before the start of the school year which said: "the use of bags, shoes and stationery material bearing decadent Western signs and pictures or Latin letters is a form of repressive cultural invasion".

Iran, Lebanon Stress "Unity in Face of Zionist Aggression," State-Controlled Iran News, September 9

TEHRAN - The Islamic Republic of Iran has a special place in Lebanese foreign policy, said the country's Ambassador to Iran Monir Talhouq here Sunday.

In a meeting with Interior Minister Abdullah Nouri, Talhouq [said] "Israel pursues evil goals in the region and aims to reach those goals through creating discord in the Muslim and Arab world"…

Expansion of relations between Iran and Lebanon would be to the benefit of all Islamic and Arab states, IRNA reported Nouri as saying.

Kharrazi: EU Should Correct Their Policies, Tehran Times Editorial, September 9  

TEHRAN - Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said here on Sunday that … European governments would do better not to opt for unconventional decisions in their dealings with Iran. … Kharrazi said Iran expected some change and revision in the attitude of the EU towards Iran. The Iranian foreign minister said it seems Western observers had studied recent developments in Iran from a positive angle. He expressed hope that the new approach of the West towards Iran would help Western governments correct their policies....

[Kharrazi said] The EU is trying to move away from U.S. domination. It is interpreted as a positive sign in the Third World, including Iran. Hence, in their bilateral relations with EU countries, they expect the EU to behave independently of any influence by the U.S. or Zionist circles. …

The row in Iran-EU relations began with the unfair, politicized German Mykonos trial. By all international standards, the court's verdict was disrespectful to Iran because it was politically motivated and based on the witnesses of hijackers and dubious fugitives. Moreover, the court ruled under pressure of Zionist circles and the United States. The EU countries should have advised the German government to distance itself from its Judiciary in order to protect the sanctity of justice and prevent the recurrence of similar cases in the future.

… Germany is to blame for the whole episode. Therefore, it is Germany that must move forward to mend fences.

Mullahs Spend Millions On "Favorite Charities" - Hamas And Hezbollah, NBC Nightly News, September 5 

… The United States believes that Hamas is financed primarily by Palestinians, both in the occupied territories and overseas, as well as by financiers from Gulf Arab states and the Iranian government. …

Another senior intelligence official said Hamas' military operation does not receive as much money from Iran as Hezbollah, Teheran's favorite terrorist "charity," but still receives millions of dollars annually. Hezbollah and Hamas, however, train together in Iran under the tutelage of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Hezbollah also trains Hamas separately in southern Lebanon, permitting Iran to claim it doesn't train the group…

Deputy Charges Factionalism, Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), September 9  

Ali Movahedi Savoji, deputy for Tehran, charged in Tuesday's session that Seyed Mohammad Khatami and the members of his cabinet were engaging in factionalism. He said that the persons appointed to sensitive or key posts were all from the leadership of the Assembly of [Combatant] Clerics and Line of the Imam faction.

Movahedi Savoli, the head of Councils and Internal Affairs Committee in the parliament… said that two of Khatami's campaign slogans, about no factionalism and the rule of law, were the most appealing. He noted that the Majlis had voted for the entire cabinet, but the campaign promises about no factionalism and the rule of law were not being kept by the President and his cabinet.

Without referring to a specific individual or organization, he said: "It is not right to tell people an hour before their dismissal to come to their own goodbye party. This just doesn’t make sense."

Movahedi Savoli concluded his remarks by telling the President; "You should start by applying the law and your rule of law to organizations such as the municipal system, which has trampled upon the opinions of the Supreme Court and judicial courts."

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