Photo by Amir Hesam Zarafshan

The Air Force launched a four-day exercise dubbed Milad-e Nour on Monday in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman to elevate its operational and support capability.
“Long-distance flights of around 3,600 km (2,237 miles) along with aerial refueling from tanker to fighter jet and from fighter jet to fighter jet will be part of this exercise,“ IRIB reported.
“Low altitude flights over the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman by fighter jets over distances of 700 km will also be tested,“ the Air Force said in a statement.
Plans for the new war games were announced last month.
The exercises also seek to raise the military’s ability to use intelligence aircraft “to send signals and analyze threats“.
According to Presstv, the drills involve fighter jets and interceptor aircraft performing combat operations in three separate stages.
“The fighter jets will hone their bombing and gunnery skills by zeroing in on hypothetical targets,“ said Moussa Zarei, a senior officer at the tactical fighter base (TFB 10) in the southeastern city of Chabahar.
The maneuvers, one of many conducted in the past few months, comes amid Israeli threats to attack the country’s nuclear facilities.
In recent years the occupying power has tried to portray Iran’s missile program, space research and nuclear activities as a “menace“ and talks openly about a possible military strike on the Islamic Republic for trying to develop nuclear weapons under cover of its civilian nuclear program.
Tehran says the nuclear program is directed at developing civilian applications of the technology.
Tel Aviv is widely regarded as the sixth-largest nuclear power in the world and the sole possessor of an atomic arsenal in the Middle East.
For years senior Israeli political, military and intelligence figures have threatened to bomb Iran’s nuclear infrastructure out of existence, but the prospect of go-it-alone Israeli air strikes has significantly risen since the hawkish and controversial Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister in April.

The spokesman of the Guardian Council (GC), Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei on Monday refuted reports by the foreign media that the Council has admitted vote rigging in the June 12 presidential elections and stressed that so far it has not accepted any of the cases that the three losing candidates raised in their complaints.
“The defeated candidates claimed that the number of votes cast in 170 districts were more than the number of eligible voters. The GC probe found that only in 50 districts the number of votes was more than the number of registered voters. We are currently investigating the statistics compiled by Iran Statistics Center (ISC). We think the Center made a mistake in presenting the initial data on the number of eligible voters,“ he told IRNA.
He went on to emphasize that there is no legal barrier to the participation of voters over and above the numbers declared as eligible.
“Many of the areas where the ballots cast are more than the number of eligible voters, are normally summer resorts or places where people move to for higher education (from different parts of the country). For example, Shemiranat District in northern Tehran has been combined with Municipal Districts One and Three of the capital and the population living in these districts have been combined. Hence, the number of ballots being higher than the number of eligible voters cannot be a basis for irregularities. However, the GC has asked the ISC to explain.“
He added that “if a violation affects the result of a vote, some electoral districts and ballot boxes could be invalidated.“
According to the GC official, “Violation and cheating are different. There have been minor violations in all previous elections and if they do not affect the outcome of the electoral race, the issue is referred to the judiciary. So long as the irregularities are not extensive, claims of vote rigging are irrelevant.“ Kadkhodaei said that 277complaints have been received in various provinces and districts regarding the June 12 presidential election.
“The cases imply minor violations which did not have any impact on the result of the election and hence they were referred to the judiciary for follow up,“ he noted.
Elsewhere Kadkhodaei said Wednesday is the deadline set by the GC for looking into the complaints and it is possible that the results would be announced sooner.

Meeting With Marj’a
“Further to the meeting of GC members with the Marj’a (grand sources of emulation) on Sunday, today two GC members, Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Modaressi-Yazdi and Ayatollah Abbas K’abi, along with experts on electoral affairs met with Grand Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani.
A report on the trend of the supervision on the elections was presented in the meeting and Ayatollah Sobhani said that he is completely satisfied with the participation of 40 million people in the election and considers the issue to be a strong point for the people and the state. Sobhani noted that the Islamic system has paid a high price for its establishment and nothing should be done that could undermine the foundations of the Islamic system. He also said that all the defeated presidential candidates were senior officials in the past and if their rights have been violated the matter should be pursued through legal channels,“ Kadkhodaei was quoted by ISNA as saying.

The German government put an end to its support for some 8,000 PKK supporters by ordering them to leave the country as soon as possible.
The supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who had managed to get into Germany to take refuge have received a letter from the country’s Federal Ministry of the Interior to leave the country because there is no evidence to show that Kurdish citizens are in danger or “under pressure“ in Turkey, Presstv quoted Hurriyet newspaper as saying.
The German ministry has sent letters to 7,735 Kurdish asylum seekers and has ordered them to leave the country.
Some of the Kurdish refugees have protested against the Interior Ministry’s order, but the supreme courts in Berlin and Hessen states have ruled that “Kurdish citizens are facing no violation of human rights in Turkey“.
The Kurdish asylum seekers are expected to be given a 2-3 month deadline to leave Germany.

Britain and Jordan Monday signed a cooperation agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the Foreign Office in London said.
The accord was signed by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his Jordanian counterpart, Nasser Judeh, on the fringes of a visit to Britain by King Abdullah II, DPA reported.
“Jordan has adopted a commendable approach to developing its civil nuclear program...Jordan’s nuclear power program is fully transparent making it a model for countries considering developing their own civil nuclear programs,“ Miliband said in a statement after the signing.
The 30-year agreement defines various aspects of nuclear cooperation between Jordan and Britain, including the use of nuclear energy electricity generation and water desalination as well as for agricultural, industrial and medical uses.
The accord also addresses issues of nuclear safety, nuclear guarantees, protection of environment and training of cadres, he added.
“If we are to move the world to a low carbon economy, then nuclear power needs to be an important part of the energy mix. But it needs to be developed in a safe and secure way, and the UK is pleased to be working with Jordan to achieve this,“ Miliband said.

West African leaders began their mid-year summit on Monday in Abuja with political crises in Niger, Guinea and Guinea Bissau at the top of their agenda.
Speaking at the opening of the summit, the chairman of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua, said that the sub-region, just like other parts of the world was facing “serious political and economic challenges,“ AFP reported.
“We gather here today at a time of great political and economic challenges for our world and our region,“ he said.
ECOWAS President Mohamed ibn Chambas, called for strengthening of regional integration, adding that the situation in the region has worsened since the last summit six months ago.
“Since the last summit in December 2008, the economic prospects of our sub-region have become gloomy, characterized by the economic meltdown and political instability in some countries“, he stated.
Most of the ECOWAS 15 heads of state, including Ghanaian John Atta-Mills, Ivoirian Laurent Gbagbo, Burkinabe Blaise Compaore, Senegalese Abdoulaye Wade and Togolese Faure Gnassingbe, were present at the opening of the meeting.
Besides the traditional economic issues, the summit will tackle questions related to Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Niger, Mali and Ivory Coast, Mahamane Toure, the ECOWAS commissioner responsible for political affairs, peace and security, told AFP.

Spain Collaboration
After their meeting Monday afternoon, some ECOWAS leaders will meet Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, at a special first ECOWAS-Spain summit.
Presidents Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast, with the prime minister of Cape Verde, Jose Maria Neves, will make presentations at the summit, an ECOWAS statement said.
The aim of the summit “is to strengthen relations between Spain and the African continent, in particular those established with the west African region,“ the Spanish government said last week.
A communique is expected to be released at the end of the ECOWAS summit, being held behind close doors.