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Iran rejects (P)GCC-US statement on Tehran’s nuclear program, three Persian Gulf islands

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Nasser Kanaani

Nasser Kanaani said, “A rehash of unfounded accusations and allegations under the current circumstances in the region can, by no means provide the security of governments and people in the region, and will only serve the interests of ill-wishers who are against the tranquility, economic development, territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the countries in this region and have always sought their illegitimate interests in interference, instability and insecurity in the region.”

On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York on Wednesday, the US Secretary of State and the PGCC foreign ministers urged Iran to “fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

They also called on Iran “to cease its proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles and other dangerous weapons that pose a grave security threat to the region.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s missile and drone capabilities are within the framework of a transparent military doctrine, which is based on deterrence and safeguarding national security, and the real danger is the entrance into the geography of the region by the Zionist regime as the main source of insecurity and threat to Islamic countries,” Kanaani said.

In reaction to the US and (P)GCC support for the United Arab Emirates’ call regarding the three Persian Gulf islands, Kanaani once again emphasized Iran’s unwavering and principled positions, and said the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs are integral and eternal part of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s territory.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically condemns any claim on these islands and regards it as interference in its domestic and territorial affairs,” the spokesman noted.

“Based on its strategic viewpoints and principled policies, the Islamic Republic of Iran always believes the solution to the problems in the region is interaction, cooperation and synergy among the regional countries without interference by trans-regional parties,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Syria president arrives in China for first visit in almost 20 years

By
IFP Media Wire
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Assad arrived aboard an Air China plane amid heavy fog, which Chinese state media said “added to the atmosphere of mystery” in a nod to the fact the Syrian leader has seldom been seen since the start of a war that has claimed over half a million lives.

Assad is due to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games along with more than a dozen foreign dignitaries, the foreign ministry announced earlier.

In a statement on Tuesday, Assad’s presidential office said he would lead a senior delegation for a series of meetings in several Chinese cities, including a summit with President Xi Jinping.

Assad last visited China in 2004 to meet then-President Hu Jintao. It was the first visit by a Syrian head of state to China since the countries established diplomatic ties in 1956.

China – like Syria’s main allies Russia and Iran – maintained those ties even as other countries isolated Assad over the war.

Guantanamo prisoner files lawsuit against CIA torture architects

By
IFP Media Wire
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Guantanamo

In a federal court in the US state of Washington, lawyers representing Abu Zubaydah, whose given name is Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, filed the lawsuit against James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, who were recruited by the CIA in 2002 to design and help conduct interrogations on suspects captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

“In proposing the program to the US government, Mitchell and Jessen misled officials regarding the scope and severity of the tactics that they would ultimately use on Abu Zubaydah,” reads the lawsuit.

“In practice, Mitchell and Jessen used torture and cruel and inhuman treatment to force Abu Zubaydah and other subjects into a state of “learned helplessness”.

The lawyers for Abu Zubaydah added that the torture of the Guantanamo detainee did not lead to valuable intelligence, but the two psychologists “were no longer actually seeking information”.

“Rather, they were using Abu Zubaydah as a guinea pig for untested interrogation methods, laying the groundwork for what provided them a hugely lucrative contracting business to provide detention and interrogation personnel to the CIA and the US Defense Department,” the lawsuit stated.

According to a Senate intelligence report, the two contractors were paid $81m by the US government.

Abu Zubaydah, a Saudi-born Palestinian man, was captured nearly two decades ago and held, according to his lawyers, at numerous CIA “black sites” overseas.

According to a Senate intelligence report, Abu Zubaydah was interrogated using techniques that amounted to torture, including being waterboarded 83 times in one month, hung naked from a ceiling, and deprived of sleep for 11 straight days.

Another technique that was approved by the CIA, recently revealed after the declassification of documents in 2022, was called “walling”. It involved placing the detainee’s heels against a plywood wall “which had flexibility to it”, and a rolled-up towel was put around the person’s neck.

“The interrogators would then grab the ends of the towel in front of and below the detainee’s face and shove [the detainee] backwards into the wall, never letting go of the towel,” the report said.

One of the interrogators stated the goal was to “bounce” the detainee off the wall.

In 2006, Abu Zubaydah was transferred to the Guantanamo Bay military prison, where he is being held to this day without charge.

The court has issued a summons to Mitchell and Jessen.

This is not the first lawsuit brought against Mitchell and Jessen by Guantanamo detainees. In 2017, the two settled a lawsuit against them that was filed on behalf of former detainees Suleiman Abdullah Salim, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, and the family of Gul Rahman, who died in a CIA “black prison” in 2002 during days of interrogation.

In a previous deposition, Jessen said that the two men had reservations about continuing the enhanced interrogation programme.

“Jim and I didn’t want to continue doing what we were doing,” Jessen continued, adding, “We tried to get out several times and they needed us, and we — we kept going.”

In his deposition, Mitchell rejected that waterboarding was painful, and also said that the techniques used on detainees wouldn’t cause long-term trauma.

“It sucks, you know. I don’t know that it’s painful,” he stated, noting, “I’m using the word distressing.”

Abu Zubaydah previously tried to subpoena Mitchell and Jessen in connection with a Polish criminal investigation over his torture at a CIA black site in Poland.

Shots fired outside US Embassy in Lebanon, no Injuries reported

By
IFP Media Wire
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“At 10:37 PM local time, small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance to the US embassy. There were no injuries, and our facility is safe. We are in close contact with host country law enforcement authorities,” Nelson stated, according to Reuters news agency.

The highly secured US embassy lies north of Beirut in the town of Awkar. Security incidents around it are rare.

The embassy moved there from Beirut following a suicide attack in 1983 which killed more than 60 people.

US commander in Mideast concerned of ‘burgeoning’ Iran-Russia ties

By
IFP Media Wire
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Sergei Shoigu and Mohammad Reza Ashtiani

“Modified Iranian drones used by Moscow in its war in Ukraine could feed back to Iran, which in turn may employ them in its campaign to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,” Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich told a briefing in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

The US and its allies have accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia to use them in the Ukraine war. Both Tehran and Moscow have rejected the allegation.

“I think there’s a risk that … as Russia accepts the drones from Iran, as it modifies those weapons, that some of that technology gets shared back with Iran [and] gives them additional capabilities,” Grynkewich, commander of the US Ninth Air Force, told reporters.

“I see the implications of that relationship playing out a little bit in Syria.”

Heading a high-ranking military delegation, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Tehran on Tuesday upon an official invitation by the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri.

Tehran and Moscow have strengthened their defense partnership in recent years, and are now mulling a long-term defense cooperation agreement.

Tehran stressed the two countries will hold joint military exercises in the coming February.

Despite facing severe Western sanctions, Iran and Russia, two strong allies, have significantly strengthened their relationship in multiple domains, such as military and defense, over the past few years.

Iran finishes 2nd at 2023 World Wrestling Championships

By
IFP Media Wire
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The freestyle competitions of the world championships were held in Belgrade from September 16 to 19, with Iran’s freestyle wrestling team securing the runner-up title.

This marks the ninth time Iran has achieved a second-place victory in the prestigious games.

Amirhossein Zare won the gold medal in the 125-kilogram weight category, Amir Mohammad Yazdani and Hassan Yazdani won silver in the 70-kilogram and 86-kilogram weight categories, respectively, and Mohammad Nokhodi secured a bronze in the 79-kilogram weight class.

In the team standings, the United States emerged as the champion with a total of 148 points. Iran claimed the runner-up position with 110 points, while Georgia stood in the third place with 80 points.

Iran’s national freestyle wrestling team has consistently been a strong contender in world events, achieving championship titles in 1961, 1965, 1998, 2002, and 2013.

Moreover, Iran has secured the runner-up position eight times in 1971, 1973, 1995, 2006, 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2022, and has come third place 14 times.

Prior to the 2023 World Championships, Iranian wrestlers had already accumulated an impressive tally of 51 gold, 56 silver, and 49 bronze medals.

Football a platform for further expansion of ties between countries: Iran president

By
IFP Media Wire
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During the meeting that took place on Wednesday, Raisi considered football to be a fascinating sport, especially among the youths, and one of the important sources of liveliness across society.

“It is necessary for the policymakers and those who are involved in football to pay special attention to enhancing professional ethics among the sportspeople and across the competition arenas, alongside trying to improve players’ technical and tactical competence,” Raisi said.

He also considered football to be among the appropriate platforms for further convergence of countries and expansion of relations among them, advising that FIFA be heedful of efforts by some politicians to exert influence on the sport and direct it towards political goals.

The FIFA president, for his part, expressed appreciation of Iran’s efforts at the development of sports, especially football, throughout the Islamic Republic as well as Tehran’s constructive interaction with the international football association.

Infantino voiced readiness on the part of his association to lend support to those involved in the field of football in Iran and introduce the country’s football talents and culture to the world.

He also proposed that Tehran host a match between Iran stars and world stars in the near future. The Iranian chief executive agreed to the proposal.

Release of 5 American prisoners showed true face of Iran’s humanitarian motives: President Raisi

By
IFP Media Wire
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Ebrahim Raisi

“…I do think that the accomplishment was something that led to the happiness of the families of the prisoners, as well as having been able to show the true face of our humanitarian motives and efforts,” Raisi said in an interview with CNN, excerpts of which were released on the American channel’s website on Wednesday.

The comments came two days after Iran allowed five US citizens who had been convicted by Iranian courts to return to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange deal with the US in which five Iranian prisoners were also released by Washington.

The president noted that those detained in Iran had “committed crimes,” however, the Iranian citizens were “unfairly” jailed in the United States.

The deal which was first publicized in early August concluded on Monday after Qatar, which mediated the deal, confirmed the transfer of some $6 billion worth of Iranian funds from South Korea, where they had remained blocked for several years because of US sanctions.

Raisi told CNN that Iran will use the funds to procure the needs of the Iranian people despite suggestions by US officials that Tehran will face limits on spending the funds.

“We will certainly keep to the core of our belief that the objective is to spend those funds to respond to the needs of the Iranian people,” he added.

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria interviewed the Iranian president in New York where he has been staying since earlier this week to attend the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Raisi delivered a speech to the UNGA late on Tuesday where he strongly criticized the United States for its continued but unsuccessful efforts to exert pressure on the Iranian nation through the use of sanctions.

Saudi-Israel normalisation getting ‘closer’: MbS

By
IFP Media Wire
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MbS

“Every day, we get closer,” the crown prince told US broadcaster Fox News, according to excerpts seen by Reuters of an interview scheduled to air later on Wednesday.

The interview with the crown prince came as US President Joe Biden’s administration presses ahead with an effort to broker historic ties between the two regional powerhouses, Washington’s top Middle East allies.

The normalisation talks are the centrepiece of complex negotiations that also include possible Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, as well as discussions of US security guarantees and civilian nuclear help that Riyadh has sought.

MbS told Fox’s, Special Report, that the Palestinian issue was “very important” to Riyadh.

“We need to solve that part,” he said when asked what it would take to get a normalisation agreement.

“We got to see where we go. We hope that will reach a place, that it will ease the life of the Palestinians, get Israel as a player in the Middle East,” he added, speaking in English.

US officials have privately touted the potential benefits of a regional mega-deal, which would be a foreign policy win as Biden seeks re-election in November 2024.

MbS also stated that if Iran got obtained a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would “have to get one”.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that its nuclear program remains purely peaceful as always and that the Islamic Republic had no intention of developing nuclear weapons as a matter of an Islamic and state principal.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued an official fatwa (religious decree) clearly establishing that any form of acquisition, development, and use of nuclear weapons violate Islamic principles and are therefore forbidden.

Saudi Arabia, along with Israel, has long been an adversary of Iran, but relations have improved since Riyadh and Tehran agreed to restore diplomatic relations in March.

The broadcast of the crown prince’s comments will follow a meeting between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, in which they pledged to work together towards Israeli-Saudi normalisation, which could reshape the geopolitics of the Middle East.

Both leaders also stressed Iran could not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.

The interview with Fox’s anchor, Bret Baier, was the royal’s first on US TV since 2019. Saudi Arabia has been embroiled in controversy, particularly following the crown prince’s alleged role in the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

After a week of lead-up interviews with various Saudi government and business leaders, Baier told Fox that he had seen the country undergo “tectonic changes at a scale and pace and degree that no country in modern times has seen”.

“These changes have been positive,” he added.

Netanyahu tells Biden Israel-Saudi normalisation agreement reachable

By
IFP Media Wire
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The meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday was the first between the two leaders since Netanyahu returned to power late last year.

The Biden administration has been pushing to establish formal ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, two top US allies in the Middle East.

“I think that under your leadership, Mr President, we can forge a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” the Israeli prime minister told Biden ahead of their talks.

“I think such a peace would go a long way first to advance the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict, achieve reconciliation between the Islamic world and the Jewish state, and advance a genuine peace between Israel and the Palestinians. This is something within our reach.”

The discussions came as Israel continues to intensify violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories, drawing criticism from Palestinian rights defenders who have urged Biden to hold Israel accountable for abuses.

But on Wednesday, the US president called Netanyahu a “friend” and heaped praise on Israel.

“You’ve heard me say many times: Were there no Israel, we’d have to invent one, and I mean it,” Biden said.

He also lauded a newly announced initiative to create an economic corridor from India to Europe, including by rail through Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

“It’s a big deal,” he stressed.

Few Arab states have recognised Israel since its establishment in 1948, but former US President Donald Trump’s administration helped secure agreements to establish relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020.

Sudan also agreed to join the so-called normalisation deals, known as the Abraham Accords.

Amid Israeli leaders’ calls for a similar pact with Saudi Arabia, Saudi officials have said Riyadh is sticking by the Arab Peace Initiative. That plan conditions normalisation with Israel on its withdrawal from Arab territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state, as well as finding a “fair solution” to the plight of Palestinian refugees.

In addition to the normalisation campaign, the Biden administration is pushing to include Israel in its Visa Waiver Program, which would allow Israelis to travel visa free to the US despite concerns about Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian Americans.

Despite their continued alliance, US-Israeli relations have been marked by recent friction between Biden and Netanyahu.

The US president publicly clashed with Netanyahu earlier this year over the Israeli prime minister’s push to overhaul Israel’s judiciary, a move that his liberal critics say would weaken the rule of law in the country.

On Wednesday, Biden alluded to Netanyahu’s judicial plan, which has been put on hold for months.

“Today, we’re going to discuss some of the hard issues,” Biden added.

“And that is upholding democratic values that lie at the heart of our partnership, including checks and balances in our systems and preserving the path to a negotiated two-state solution.”

Meanwhile, the US government has criticised Israel’s push to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as racist comments by ultranationalist ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet.

Biden also had not invited Netanyahu for an official visit to the White House, leading to criticism from US Republicans and speculation about tensions between the two leaders.

US officials regularly stress that American support for Israel, which leading rights groups have accused of maintaining a system of apartheid against Palestinians, is unwavering. Israel receives at least $3.8bn in US military aid annually.

As the two leaders met, Jewish-American and Israeli demonstrators protested in New York.

The protesters – several of whom were waving Israeli flags – rallied “to raise their objections” to the judicial overhaul plan, Al Jazeera reported. Many of the demonstrators say that they don’t think Biden should be even meeting with Netanyahu.

Later in the day, the White House announced in a statement on the meeting that Biden invited Netanyahu to visit Washington, DC “before the end of the year to continue direct collaboration”.

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