Bushehr One Test Away From Operation TEHRAN (Press TV) - Iran's atomic chief says the long awaited launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the South of the country will be complete after one more test. "We have successfully completed a test known as the 'metallic sphere' and are now contemplating the warm water test in order to get the power plant open and running," Ali Akbar Salehi said on Monday. "After the mentioned tests we will be able to load nuclear fuel to the core of the reactor," he added. According to the Bushehr project manager, Mahmoud Jafari, preparations for the warm water test will take about 50 days due to the vastness of the project area. In January 1978, Germany's Kraftwerk Union, which according to a contract was obliged to complete Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor, stopped work on the project with one reactor 50 percent complete and the other reactor 85 percent finished. In 1995, Russia was granted the contract to complete the work on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a project that has so far been delayed by the Russian contractor, Atomstroiexport. The Bushehr plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999 but the work has repeatedly been postponed. Iran Holds 1st Fully Domestic Laser Exhibit TEHRAN (Press TV) - Tehran is hosting an exhibition of Laser Science and Technology Achievements to show the latest advances by Iranian scientists in the field. The display, which includes high-tech laser instruments made by young Iranian researchers, is the first show of its kind in the country. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took part in the opening ceremony and visited the collection of domestic technologies. The venue sponsored by Iran's National Center For Laser Science and Technology aimed to exhibit devices that are totally designed and manufactured in the country. "Today we admit with pride that scientists and researchers of our country are in the vanguard of laser science," Mr. Ahmadinejad said during the opening ceremony of the exhibit. According to Iran's laser center, the country started localizing the technology only three years ago, yet has managed to take considerable steps in it. "The government and the president are supporting us. We are able to produce a wide range of lasers in demand within the country in medical and industrial fields," Jamshid Sabbaghzadeh, head of Iran's National Laser Center told Press TV reporter. "Focused laser, a source of intense radiation of the visible, ultraviolet, or infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum is used to fragment kidney stones," he said. "Optic fiber laser is commonly used in medicine and industries like welding. The laser radiation interaction with tissues can be effectively used for specialties of eye, skin, and cancer," said Sabbaghzadeh. The name, Ali Javan rings a bell in the minds of those involved in the science of laser. The Iranian physicist was co-inventor of the gas laser along with William Bennett in 1960. Javan also conducted the first telephone conversation ever to be transmitted by laser beam in 1960. Now almost 40 years later, laser telecommunication via fiber optics is commonplace and known to be the key technology used in today's Internet. Tupolev to Be Replaced TEHRAN (Press TV) - In reaction to several accidents involving Russian-built Tupolev passenger planes in Iran, the country weighs discharging its entire Tupolev fleet, an Iranian official says. "All Iranian airline companies have been asked to refurbish their air fleet and to replace Tupolev air planes with other planes," Reza Nakhjavani, the Head of Civil Aviation Organization of Iran, said Sunday. He said that 23 Tupolev airplanes are currently in service by different Iranian airline companies. On Saturday, the private Iranian airline, Taban Air, decided to ground three of its Russian-made Tupolev passenger planes and replace them with medium range Boeing airliners. "A Tupolev passenger aircraft has already been grounded and two others are set to be taken out of service as part of an attempt to refurbish the Taban Air fleet," Managing Director of the airline Asghar Abdullahpour said. The move comes as a Taban Air flight, carrying 157 people and 13 crewmembers, crashed and caught fire at Mashhad International Airport in northeastern Iran on January 24. As many as 46 people sustained injuries in the incident. The airliner, which was on a scheduled flight from Abadan, Iran, was a Russian-built Tupolev Tu-154. Last August, a Tupolev TU-154M aircraft, operated by Iranian carrier Taban Air, was forced to make an emergency landing in Mashhad. Iranian travel agents and airlines have reported a sharp drop in business amid growing concerns about flight safety. "The crashesvernment of Iran has accused them of mass murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, carrying out bombings targeting civilians and government officials, and acts of sabotage. Abdolmalek Rigi is the leader of the terrorist group. In their latest attack, which occurred on October 18, more than 40 Iranians, among them 15 members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), lost their lives when Jundallah northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad in July 2009 CIA Agents Arrested Ahead of Feb. 11 Rally TEHRAN (Press TV) - Iran said Saturday it arrested seven people, including two Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives, who planned to stoke unrest and violence on a march scheduled for February 11. The rally on Thursday will commemorate the 31st victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Intelligence forces, according to Borna News Agency, arrested the men who had plans to leave the country for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and then head to the United States. According to the report, some of those arrested work for the US-backed Radio Farda, a Persian language station based in Prague and Washington. Pakistan Extradites Jundallah Terrorists to Iran TEHRAN (Press TV) - Pakistani security forces have captured several members of the Jundallah terrorist group and handed them over to Iranian authorities. During a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday, visiting Pakistani National Assembly Speaker Fahmida Mirza said that a number of Jundallah militants have been arrested and extradited to Iran. She went on to say that Pakistani security personnel are making serious efforts to apprehend the Jundallah members still at large. Jundallah is a Pakistan-based terrorist group comprised of members of the Baluchi ethnic group. It has been reported that Jundallah is closely affiliated with the al-Qaeda network. Since 2003, Jundallah members have carried out over 50 terrorist operations in Iran. The government of Iran has accused them of mass murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, carrying out bombings targeting civilians and government officials, and acts of sabotage. Abdolmalek Rigi is the leader of the terrorist group. In their latest attack, which occurred on October 18, more than 40 Iranians, among them 15 members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), lost their lives when Jundallah terrorists carried out a an operation in the border region of Pishin, which is located in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. Shia and Sunni tribal leaders were also among the victims of the attack. During his meeting with the Pakistani parliament speaker, the Iranian foreign minister said Tehran and Islamabad play significant roles in regional developments. The two countries should endeavor to expand their strategic cooperation since there is ample potential to this end, he added. Manouchehr Mottaki (R) and Fahmida Mirza 3.5 Tons of Drugs Seized TEHRAN (FNA) - A senior Iranian police commander announced on Monday that the country's anti-narcotic police squads have disbanded two networks of drug traffickers and seized large amounts of narcotics after weeks of operations. "Police's special operation forces disbanded two big drug-trafficking bands and seized 3743 kg of illicit drugs," Commander of the anti-drug squad of Iran's Law Enforcement Police General Hamid Reza Hossein-Abadi told reporters. Reminding that the rings operated in several Iranian cities, including Tehran, Isfahan, Orumiyeh, Hamedan, Qazvin and Karaj, Hossein-Abadi said that all members of the two rings had been arrested after two months of intelligence operations. "Nineteen members of these two major drug bands, including main elements of their networks, have been arrested by the police," the commander noted. He further stated that the seizure included a 3-ton cargo of opium and 633 kg of hashish, adding that 5 trailers as well as 8 cars were also seized by the police during the operations. The anti-drug squads of the Iranian Law Enforcement Police have intensified their countrywide campaign against drug-trafficking through staging long-term systematic operations in recent months. The Iranian anti-narcotic police have always staged periodic, but short-term, operations against drug traffickers and dealers, but latest reports - which among others indicate an improved and systematic dissemination of information - reveal that the world's most forefront and dedicated anti-narcotic force (as UN drug-campaign assessments put it) have embarked on a long-term countrywide plan to crack down on the drug trade since the beginning of the current Iranian year (starting on March 20). Commander of the anti-drug squad of Iran's Law Enforcement Police announced early January that the country's police forces have discovered 340 tons of different types of illicit drugs during the last nine months. "More than 340 tons of drugs have been seized all over Iran in the past nine months," Hossein-Abadi said at the time. Iran lies on a transit corridor between opium producing Afghanistan and drug dealers in Europe. The Islamic Republic has emerged as the leading country fighting drug trafficking after making 85 percent of the world's total opium seizures.