JNN 21 Nov 2010 The managing director of Iran-Khodro Company (IKCO) says the Iranian carmaker has manufactured 800,000 vehicles so far this Iranian calendar year (started March 21).

“More than 800,000 vehicles have been produced in Iran-Khodro Company in the current year,” Mehr news agency quoted Javad Najmeddin as saying on Sunday.

Najmeddin also noted that IKCO also exported more than 55,000 vehicles — some 7 percent of total sales — to other countries.

He said the company, the Middle-East’s largest automaker, has an annual turnover of some 90 trillion rials (around $9 billion).

The company also boosted its production capacity by 28 percent in the first half of this year.

IKCO was founded in 1962 and is currently regarded as the biggest carmaker in the Middle East. The automaker made 688,000 passenger cars in 2009.

Iran’s largest carmaker manufactures vehicles including sedans, trucks, minibuses and buses.

The company plans to increase its annual exports to more than 600,000 cars by 2016.

JNN 20 Nov 2010 : Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has demanded that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon file a response to his letter concerning the existence of secret American prisons in Europe.

Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi on Saturday, Mottaki called on the UN chief to inform Iranians as well as other nations of the response to the letter he had written to him several years ago.

In the letter to Ban, Mottaki had raised concerns over secret US prison camps in Europe. The secretary general had then forwarded the letter to the former director of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for follow-up measures.

“What actions has he (the UN chief) taken regarding the official letter? What is the view of the secretary general and the UN regarding these secret US prisons?” Mottaki asked.

The top Iranian diplomat expressed optimism that the United Nations would finally offer a “convincing response” to the letter.

Mottaki went on to emphasize his regret that countries which have no justification for their [aggressive] actions commonly engage in political moves against other nations and countries to distract world opinion.

He expressed confidence that within a rational framework, such quarrels would certainly conclude in favor of independent states.

The comments of the Iranian foreign minister came days after a non-binding Western-backed resolution on human rights was pushed through the UN against Iran. The resolution passed despite the fact that a majority of nations refused to vote for it.

Iran’s Secretary General of High Council for Human Rights Mohammad Javad Larijani described the measure at the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee as “illegal” and a “US plot to derail Iran’s constructive interaction with the United Nations.”

In a meeting with the UN chief, Larijani pointed out that the unjustified move would certainly undermine the credibility of the UN Human Rights Council.

The anti-Iran resolution, widely criticized as a US-led publicity stunt to counter Iran’s rising power and influence in the Middle East and other regions in the world, was pushed through the UN as Iran and the P5+1 group are preparing for reengaging in multifaceted talks.

Senior Iranian officials have insisted that the comprehensive talks must be objective and based on mutual respect and equity or they will not succeed.