* SUCCESS: Kamran Elahian / Masood Jabbar
* FEATURES: Four injured as students clash in Tehran university rally
* IRAN-EUROPE: Khatami meets Dini, says Iran condemns terrorism
* NEWS: Israel's Sharansky lobbies Russia on Iran missiles,
* HUMAN RIGHTS: Khatami intervenes in editor case - paper
* THE PRESS: Judiciary chief blasts the press
* WOMEN: Nine-year-old can be married off, but can't vote
* ECONOMY: Australia's BHP in Iran on gas export project
* FOREIGN EXCHANGE: Dollar still on the rise
* THE IRANIAN: Always on the move
* THE WEB: Stamps online
* SPORTS: Azizi scores against Bayern Munich
* FILM: "Taste of Cherry" U.S. screen schedules
* SMILE: That's one way of looking at it...
* LETTERS: Pipeline will be built through Iran, eventually
* LOST & FOUND: Andisheh classmates
* BOOKSTORE: From Zoroastrian Iran to Islam
* EVENTS: Khuzestanis in LA / Political Culture / Farhad
* PHOTO OF THE DAY: An officer
* MUSIC: Aqassi: "Lab-e Karoon"
* QUOTE UNQUOTE: Baby, let's get married

SUCCESS

* Kamran Elahian: Once is not enough for these company builders, (San Jose Mercury News) - From the time he was 18 until he was 38, Kamran Elahian took just one vacation: a two-week trip with his wife that was cut short by business demands. During those years, he helped found three companies. So when he took a year off in 1992 after a failure, he pondered his future as he never had before. Today, he serves as the chairman of Neomagic Corp., a Santa Clara company that produces graphics chips for laptop computers, which he thinks promote the mobility of a global economy. And partly because he believes that people who communicate or trade with one another don't fight, he has also helped found PlanetWeb Inc., a software company that integrates the Internet into devices like video games, televisions and video phones... full text

* Masood Jabbar: Sun names Jabbar Pres. of computer unit, (Reuters) - Sun Microsystems Inc Friday named Masood Jabbar as president of its business unit responsible for selling powerful desktop and computer server systems, Sun Microsystems Computer Co.... full text.... Thanks to Payman Arabshahi <payman@fermi.jpl.nasa.gov>

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FEATURES

* Four injured as students clash in Tehran university rally, (AFP) - (AFP) - Four people were injured in clashes between leftwing university students and Islamic fundamentalists in front of Tehran University on Monday, witnesses said. The clashes erupted during a rally by around 3,000 students to protest the rejection of several leftwing candidates for the legislative by-elections on March 13... full text

* Pro-Khatami backers clash, (AP) - Hard-line Iranian militants attacked a demonstration by 1,000 supporters of President Mohammad Khatami in Tehran today. Dozens of people were hurt before police broke up the melee. "Hail Freedom! Hail Freedom!'' the protesters shouted. "We will die or we will kill!'' the militants shouted back... full text

* Behzad Nabazi's group condemns rejection of candidates, (Hamshahri)... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

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IRAN-EUROPE

* Khatami meets Dini, says Iran condemns terrorism, (Reuters) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami met Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini on Monday and said Iran did not support international terrorism ``in any way.'' Dini, speaking to reporters at Tehran international airport before leaving for the central town of Isfahan, said his meeting with Khatami, a moderate Shi'ite cleric elected to power last May in a landslide election victory, was cordial and productive... full text

* Iran no obstacle to Mideast peace -Italy's Dini, (Reuters) - Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said on Sunday Iran did not represent an obstacle to the Arab-Israeli peace process and its sponsorship of ``terrorism'' was a thing of the past. Dini, speaking to reporters after meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and other leaders, said Iran believed the terms of the peace accords were still unsatisfactory for the Palestinian people but the Tehran government had shown signs of moderating its outright opposition... full text

* New chapter in Iran-EU relations - Tehran paper, (Reuters) - The European Union's decision to resume high-level contacts with Iran had opened a new chapter in relations between the two sides, the Tehran Times newspaper said on Monday. ``With the EU's last week decision to restore ministerial level contacts with Iran, a new chapter has opened in Iran's relations with the 15-member union,'' the English-language daily said in its main opinion column. ``Iran needs EU as much as the union needs Iran,'' it added... full text

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NEWS

* Israel's Sharansky lobbies Russia on Iran missiles, (Reuters) - Israeli trade and industry minister Natan Sharansky, once a leading dissident in the former Soviet Union, appealed to Russia on Monday to help stop Iran developing ballistic missiles. Sharansky met Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin as part of an intensified Israeli campaign to highlight what it sees as a major threat to Middle East peace... full text

* Write to Qom if you don't like Velayat-e Faqih, (IRNA) ... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

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HUMAN RIGHTS

* Khatami intervenes in editor case - paper, (Reuters) - President Mohammad Khatami has intervened in the case of an Iranian newspaper editor and his death sentence for spying could be reviewed, a newspaper said on Saturday. Morteza Firoozi, a former editor-in-chief of the English-language daily Iran News, has been in custody on spying and adultery charges since May... full text

* U.N. rights chief 'Snubbed' by Khatami, (Reuters) - U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson left Iran Monday after being denied a meeting with President Mohammad Khatami. Khatami's decision not to receive the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights during her three-day visit followed strong criticism in state-run media over reports that she intended to raise Iran's human rights record with government officials, diplomatic sources said... full text

* U.N. rights boss raises Rushdie case, (Reuters) - Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Sunday she had raised the issue of the death order against British author Salman Rushdie in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi. ``The (Iranian) response...was to repeat what the government has said -- that they do not support in any way the carrying out of the terms of the fatwa but it is there and it cannot in itself be revoked,'' Robinson told a news conference... full text

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THE PRESS

* Judiciary chief blasts the press & former municipality officials; calls for curbs, (IRNA) ... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* "Good thing not all officials think like the judiciary chief" - a critical look at Ayatollah Yazdi's comments against the press, (Hamshahri)... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* Three publications face charges in court, (Hamshahri)... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

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WOMEN

* Nine-year-olds can be married off, but can't vote, (Hamshahri)... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* Simin Behbahani to be honored at bookfair: Next week for the first time a bookfair for women publishers will open in Tehran. In addition to this exhibition, there will be some panels and a special ceremony to honor Simin Behbahani, the contemporary poetry. They have done a lot of publicity for it and the fair will be opened by the Minister of Islamic Culture and Guidance, Ataollah Mohajerani. Masomeh Shambayati <masomeh@neda.net>

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ECONOMY

* Australia's BHP in Iran on gas export project, (Reuters) - Senior managers from Australia's Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd held talks in Tehran over the weekend on oil and gas projects in Iran and the Caspian region, Iranian newspapers reported on Monday. The BHP team, headed by chief executive Phillip Aiken and former British foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind, met officials from Iran's ministries of petroleum, foreign affairs, finance, and mines and metals, the Tehran Times daily reported... full text

* Iran imports $700 million in oil byproducts, (Hamshahri)... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* CORRECTION: Housing prices in Tehran drop 4 percent (not 400 percent as reported in the TIMES on Friday), (Hamshahri)... full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* Hamshahri's Economy section, Monday... index in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Dollar still on the rise

* To send money to Iran, the rate is 504-512 tomans per dollar, depending on how much you wish to send.

* To send money out of Iran, the rate is 515 tomans per dollar.

Source: Sehaty Foreign Exchange, call in U.S.: 602-595-0777 or 500-288-8881. Preferntial rates for readers of The Iranian Times. Mention this code: BAJ 07

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THE IRANIAN

Always on the move
The Bakhtiari nomads

Nasrollah Kasraian has captured the Bakhtiari spirit in a series of photographs published in IranLatest addition... go to feature

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THE WEB

* Stamps online

I have begun scanning some of my Iranian postage stamps. I have posted 15 stamps so far but there are more to come. There are a few that are (given the current political trends in Iran) bound to gain "classic" and "rare" status. Check them out!

Ben Bagheri, Webmaster, Persian Outpost <ben@connect.net>

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SPORTS

* Azizi scores against Bayern Munich, (Hamshahri)...full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* Iranian sports need 10 billion tomans, (Hamshahri)...full text in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

* Hamshahri's Sports section, Monday... index in Persian... Get Persian fonts from Hamshahri or Payvand.

"Dream Team" IRAN -- World Cup tickets now available!

Sportestan Publishing (USA)
ish@sportestan.com
Tel: 650-473-9792

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FILM

* "Taste of Cherry" U.S. screen schedules from the official Zeitgeist Film site... click here...Thanks to Payman Arabshahi <payman@fermi.jpl.nasa.gov>

* "Taste of Cherry" in Victoria: WED & THURS, MARCH 4 & 5 (7:15 & 9:10) Cinecenta, UVic. With discounts for the club & community members. UVic Persian Club : <wr855@victoria.tc.ca> : 250-472-8699

* Iranian film festival organized by Stanford University's Persian Students Association will run through mid-March... click here for details

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SMILE :-)

* That's one way of looking at it...

Cartoon on recent developments in Iran-U.S. relations... Click here

Got something to make us smile?
Send it to Times@iranian.com

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LETTERS

* Pipeline will be built through Iran, eventually

Regarding Hashem Farhang's otherwise informative article ["Tapping the Caspian"] on the Caspian, it is in fact Iran and Russia that consider it a lake and the others who recognize it as a sea. In international law the mineral resources of a lake are shared by agreement among the littoral states whereas in the case of a sea each country exercises control upto a line demarcating its territorial waters. So far, the three countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) that have entered into contracts with Western firms, and whose oil is more accessible than Iran's, have been less inclined to opt for joint development of resources.

Working doggedly to deny Iran a role in the Caspian, U.S. policy has encouraged multinationals to build a network of pipelines so that, it is claimed, no one country or a group of countries is in a position to control the flow of oil and gas. The U.S. further argues that pipelines using Iranian territory would mean increased reliance on the Persian Gulf's shipping lanes and thus run counter to America's strategic energy interests. Finally, it is asserted, by going through Iran, Caspian crude would be dependent on the infrastructure of a major competitor before reaching export markets.

Yet, Iran is demonstrably the most stable country of the region, offering, as noted by Mr. Frahang, a number of advantages over its neighbors In time, sheer economic viability makes it likely that a pipeline will be built through Iran, possibly one that by-passes the Straits of Hormuz and terminates somewhere between Jask and Chabahar (as in Option 7 on Mr. Farhang's route map). In the meantime, the oil wealth of Central Asia and Azerbaijan can only benefit Iran's non-oil exports as demand for agricultural products, manufactured goods and services grow in these countries. In its haste to isolate Iran, the U.S. may find that ethnic, cultural and economic factors as well as age-old political considerations could ultimately prove more relevant in the region's affairs than the lobbying of pressure groups in distant Washington . Kewmars Bozorgmehr. <Kewbridge@compuserve.com>

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LOST & FOUND

Andisheh classmates

My name is Mohamad Ali Shafizadeh. I was student at Andisheh,from 1961,to 1970. Jahangir Eftekhar, Hormoz Jahansouz, Reza Kalantar, and Tabibzadeh, were some of my classmates. I would love to hear from any of my classmates. Please respond to my wife's email Address: zohreh@pacbell.net

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BOOKSTORE

From Zoroastrian Iran to Islam
Shaul Shaked / Hardcover / Published 1995

Books available through Amazon.com, the world's largest online bookstore. THE IRANIAN is an associate of Amazon.com. Click on the links for more information.

THE IRANIAN Bookstore

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EVENTS

* Khuzestani Noruz in LA: This year's Khuzestani Noruz party will be on March 14 at the LAX Marriott Hotel. For more information contact Hassan Alesafar <NAKHLAK@aol.com>

* State of Political Culture in Iran Today: A lecture by Dr. Afshin Matin (lecturer at UCLA's History Dept.) Title: "The State of Political Culture in Iran Today". Place and time: Friday. Feb 27th, 7:30 pm, Valley Life Science Build, UC Berkeley.

* Iranian American Scholarship Fundraising Gala: The Iranian Federated Women's Club invites you to attend the 1998 Iranian American Scholarship Fundraising Gala, on Saturday February 28th, 1998 at the Quinlan Community Center (10185 North Stelling Road, Cupertino, CA), for a reception at 6:30 and Dinner, Music, and a Fashion Show at 7:00 p.m. with Master of Ceremonies: Dr. Anthony Shay.

Society of Iranian Professionals is proud to be one of the Host Committee Members, along with various State Assembly men and women, a few Supervisors of Santa Clara County, Payvand Cultural School, Persian Center, a few U.S. Senators, President of De Anza College, Cyrus Travel, and Pine Press.

Proceeds of this program will benefit an Iranian-American Scholarship Educational Fund to be utilized at De Anza or Stanford University. We invite you to join us in sponsoring this great event. SIP would like to sponsor a table and invites you to contact us at officers@sip-ca.org if you would like to participate in this worthwhile cause. Donation: $100 per person. For more information: please call (408) 381-4268 or (408) 781-5675.

* Farhad's last concert: Farhad, the legendary singer, is currently in the U.S. and will perform his last U.S. concert on Sunday, March 8, 1998 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. Farhad will return to Iran after this concert. This is the last chance his fans will have tio see him in their lifetime. For information and reservation those interested can contact: 310-704-5700.

* Iranian film festival organized by Stanford University's Persian Students Association will run through mid-March... click here for details

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

An officer

* An air force officer painted by an official military artist (1950s?) ...full image

Got any interesting photos?
Send it to Times@iranian.com

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MUSIC

Aqassi: "Lab-e Karoon" (RealAudio)

Greatest pop CDs ON SALE!

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QUOTE UNQUOTE

Baby, let's get married

According to the the Civil Code, girls can be married off even before they reach the age of maturity (nine) if their father decides so.

Shirin Ebadi
Lawyer
"What is the age of maturity in Iran?"
Hamshahri newspaper
March 2, 1998

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