Press TV has published an article about Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini’s call for European countries to avoid encouraging Islamophobia.
The resource cites him: “We expect European countries to guarantee the individual and social freedoms of Muslims,” adding that the minister has also called on Europe to adopt “dialogue among religions” as the basis for cooperation, instead of “flaming conflicts and spreading Islamophobia.”
Press TV also notes that, during a meeting with Director General of Austria's National Library Johanna Rachinger in Tehran on Tuesday, Hosseini hailed Iranian-Austrian relations, and expressed hope for the enhancement of ties between the two countries, adding that during the meeting a cooperation pact was also signed between Iran and Austria's national libraries.
Press TV also mentions that the Iran-Austria Cultural Committee was formed after the Second World War, and good steps have been taken to boost relations between the two countries and to hold exchange visits by various academic delegations.
Hurriyet has published an article headlined ‘Turkish Parliament approves police tear gas use with 'health measures‘, telling that the parliament has given the green light for police to use tear gas, as long as they take certain precautions, a move that comes following strong criticism of officers’ use of the substance at recent protests. It was also mentioned that the March 2011 report on tear gas prepared by the Parliamentary Research Center suggested the use of “less harmful pepper-spray,” as practiced in some European countries, and highlighted regulations that are enforced in Western countries to prevent excessive and unwarranted uses of tear gas on citizens, also citing other reports from the United States and Europe detailing deaths related to tear gas. Hurriyet quotes the parliamentary report, which concluded that tear gas must be used “as safely as possible,” with “health measures” taken by police.
Hurriyet also noted that the report was released ahead of the May 1 Labor Day celebrations.
The New York Times has published an article “Iran Blames Pipeline Explosion on Western Enemies”, citing the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, Parviz Sorouri, telling reporters on Sunday that Western-backed “terrorists” were aiming to bring insecurity to Iran’s national energy transfer routes and blamed western “enemies” for a blast on Friday that hit a major gas pipeline near the holy city of Qom.
The NY Times also quotes Sorouri: “By issuing resolutions and organizing terrorist activities, Western countries are aiming to redirect the events in Bahrain and Libya toward Iran”.
The explosion struck a 56-inch diameter gas line near Qom early on Friday morning. No one was hurt in the blast.
