The column ‘Persian Press Review’ features the headlines and leading articles carried by Farsi dailies.

Sunday’s headlines:
AFARINESH: Iran has five proposals for global nuclear disarmament, says Ahmadinejad at Tehran conference on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation
IRAN: Weapons of mass destruction are haram (forbidden in Islam), says Supreme Leader in a message to Tehran conference
ABRAR: The system’s policy is reducing the population, says senior MP Mesbahi-Moqaddam in response to president’s call for rise in population
EBTEKAR: Only the United States has committed the crime of using nuclear weapons, says Supreme Leader
ASRAR: The implementation of the subsidy reform plan has started, says administration’s economic spokesman.
TEHRAN-E EMROOZ: Students were not rioters, says science minister (pointing to the post-election unrest)
PUL: Mayors should be elected by people’s direct votes, proposes Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf (Tehran mayor)
JAM-E JAM: Birth control is not against Sharia (Islamic rules), says Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi
JOMHURI-E ESLAMI: Armed forces display country’s deterrent military power on Army Day
HEMYAT: Administration to take urgent action to tackle dust storms
Qostaresh: Iran is ready to mobilize all its resources to combat the issue of mass destruction weapons, states Supreme leader
DONYA-E EQTESAD: Iran proposes the establishment of an international disarmament body
SIASAT-E ROOZ: U.S. threat (reserving the option to launch nuclear attack on Iran) is tantamount to a terrorist act, says Foreign Ministry spokesman
Leading articles:
RESALAT in its editorial has agreed with Ahmadinejad’s recent remarks calling for the rise in population growth. Large population is considered a determining factor to guarantee countries’ political, economic and cultural strength. China with a population of about 1.3 billion is now a major threat to the dominance of the global powers and has made significant progress in various areas. The Western countries are trying to increase their population growth rate, but they support the birth control plans in the Third World. These countries had implemented the birth control programs but they have realized that this policy was wrong, leading to an aging population. Iran is a big country and possesses abundant natural resources, so why the population should be reduced? The writer believes the problem is not overpopulation, rather a distribution of the population. In some cities the density of the population is high, but other cities and villages are sparsely populated.
DONYA-E EQTESAD in its editorial has commented on the president’s proposals expressed at the Tehran conference on nuclear disarmament. Ahmadinejad has proposed that the veto right be abolished, or at least the Islamic countries be given a veto right at the UN Security Council. He also called for global nuclear disarmament which includes Israel and the United States. Many countries favor the proposals but few countries are ready to officially back the moves. These goals can not be achieved in short-term because no many countries support such moves at the first. The Tehran conference is the first step to move toward these goals and Iran will receive the credit for being the pioneer.
MARDOMSALARI in its editorial has criticized the administration’s gasoline importation policy. According to official statistics, in the year 1388 (ended March 21) the gasoline import increased 154% in terms of weight and 67% in terms of value, while the gasoline consumption decreased. Why the importation volume has risen despite the reduction in the fuel consumption? There can be only one answer: Iran has been stockpiling fuel to minimize repercussions of possible gasoline sanctions on Iran. On the other hand, it proves that the administration has failed to reach self-sufficiency in gasoline production.
ARMAN in its editorial has opined that Qatar is becoming a major power in the Persian Gulf region. Huge foreign investments in Qatar’s energy sector, having the world’s second-highest GDP, holding the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves, establishing reputable news networks and agencies, and hosting major international conferences and summits like WTO meeting in Doha are only some evidences proving a new major power is emerging in the region.