Iran hands over response on nuclear fuel deal: TV

VIENNA/ WASHINGTON: Iran has presented its response on a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal to the head of the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, Iran's state al Alam television reported on Thursday.

Iran's Arabic-language satellite station quoted Tehran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, as saying it was necessary to take into consideration Iran's technical and economic observations in the course of the discussions.

It did not give further details.

Iran was widely expected to deliver Thursday its response to a U.N.-brokered proposal regarding the supply of much-needed fuel for a nuclear research reactor in Tehran.

With a deal seen as crucial to resolving the long-running stand-off over the Islamic Republic's atomic program, Tehran's response was due on the same day that U.N. experts were scheduled to return from inspecting a hitherto undeclared nuclear site in Iran.

According to a report by the Mehr news agency, Iran will accept the overall framework of a proposal drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency last week under which it will hand over much of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Russia for further processing.

Such a move is aimed at appeasing western fears the material could be used to make a bomb.

But Tehran will nevertheless propose some "modifications" to the arrangement, Mehr reported.

US sanctions

Meanwhile, Iran's main gasoline suppliers, including British, French, Swiss and Indian firms, may face tough U.S. sanctions under a bill that sailed through a key House of Representatives panel late on Wednesday.

The bill seeks to cut Iran's gasoline supplies if negotiations fail to resolve the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, which Washington fears is aimed at making a bomb.

The goal is to put pressure Iran by raising pump prices and possibly cripple its economy. Critics say such a step could backfire by trampling on diplomatic efforts and angering U.S. trading partners and allies.

The bill, sponsored by Representative Howard Berman and passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has 330 co-sponsors. But three other panels must approve it or waive their right to do so before the full House votes on it.

A similar measure is expected to be voted on in the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Both chambers must agree on the same legislation before it becomes law.

Even if does, it is not clear it would be enforced. The Obama administration says it is committed to working with global partners to put pressure on Iran, so it could be reluctant to take unilateral steps.

Iran has some of the world's biggest oil reserves but it imports 40 percent of its gasoline because of a lack of refining capacity. Government subsidies help keep gasoline in Iran much cheaper than in other countries.

Berman's bill would expand a 1996 Iran sanctions law to effectively bar companies that sell refined petroleum products, including gasoline, to Iran from doing business in the United States.

Malaysia's Islamic party tells men to wed mums

KUALA LUMPUR:  Malaysia's conservative Islamic party has urged Muslim men to marry single mothers as additional wives instead of "young virgin girls", a state official said.

Wan Ubaidah Omar, a cabinet minister from northern Kelantan, which the party controls, said the proposal aired in state parliament this week was needed to help single mothers and widows in the underdeveloped region.

"Muslim men usually like young girls or virgins as their additional wives, so I suggest instead of taking these young virgin girls, why don't they marry the single mothers as their second or third wife?" she told AFP.

"This will ease the burden of the single mothers as the men can help them to take care of their children. The single ladies have no burden," said Wan Ubaidah, who is in charge of women, family and health affairs in the state.

Muslim men in Malaysia are allowed to marry up to four women but Islamic courts must approve multiple marriages before they take place. About 60 percent of the country's 27 million population are Muslims.

Women's groups here have campaigned against polygamy, saying it is cruel and has deviated from its original purpose in Islam, which was to protect widows and orphans.

Wan Ubaidah said her call was not meant to encourage polygamous marriage, but as a way to help at least 16,500 single mothers aged under 60 in Kelantan, a state that has one of the highest divorce rates in the country.

"Even if I don't make the suggestion, these men are going to marry the second, third wife anyway but I have to emphasize that under Islam, only those who have the social and economic capacity can have additional wives," she said.

The minister also called for husbands who leave their wives without good reason to be whipped under religious laws.

"Some of these husbands just go missing in action suddenly, and leave the wives without any food or money. These kind of men should be whipped, they deserve it," Wan Ubaidah said.

"This punishment is not in the state sharia law at the moment, but we can make it a law to make men more responsible; there is a lot of room for improvement in the legal system to protect the welfare of women," she added.