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Official: Iran destination for some 63% of Afghan refugees
Ali Kazemi said Iran has been doing its utmost to be hospitable to the Afghan refugees while respecting their dignity, criticizing a lack of international support for Tehran’s efforts to properly host the nationals of its crisis-torn neighbor.
“International organizations and other countries are expected to provide more assistance in this regard in line with their humanitarian responsibilities arising from human rights documents,” he added.
Kazemi highlighted an Iranian law that binds the government to provide equal support to all minors bellow the age of 18 who live inside the Islamic Republic’s borders, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity and religion.
Iran is hosting around four million Afghan refugees without any substantial international aid. The global community has repeatedly praised the Islamic Republic’s hospitality to Afghans.
The August 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan made matters worse and sent another huge influx of asylum seekers into neighboring countries including Iran.
Iranian president’s office rejects rumors of cyberattack on its website
In a statement, the Presidency said its website, president.ir, was undergoing maintenance as a new overhauled version was unveiled.
“Las week, the new version of the website was unveiled, and today it was made temporarily unavailable by the technical team of the website as a security improvement project was being completed,” it said.
Iran busts ‘Israeli-tied’ terror group planning assassinations
Hojjatoleslam Abdollahi, the head of the Judiciary’s intelligence department, said the 14 members of the terror group were arrested by intelligence forces in Iran’s West Azarbaijan Province in coordination with the Judiciary.
The terrorists, he added, were planning to identify certain individuals and assassinate them.
The Israeli regime has a long record of sabotage operations in Iran, mainly targeting its nuclear facilities.
The regime has the blood of several senior Iranian nuclear scientists on its hands.
Iranian-made hypersonic missile to be unveiled soon: Senior IRGC cmdr.
Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Aerospace Division of the IRGC, said Monday that the hypersonic missile has undergone testing and would be unveiled soon.
“The hypersonic missile has a high speed and can maneuver in and out of the atmosphere,” said the commander.
“This new missile is capable of passing through all missile defense systems. It targets the enemy’s anti-missile systems and is a big leap in the field of missiles,” Hajizadeh added.
Last week, Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile, named Khaibar or Khorramshahr-4, with a range of 2,000 kilometers and capable of carrying warheads weighing over a ton.
Iranian military experts and technicians have made great progress in manufacturing a broad range of equipment by relying on the country’s domestic capabilities, making the armed forces self-sufficient in the defense sector, despite the tough sanctions in place against the country.
Interior minister says situation at Iran-Afghanistan border normal after Taliban attack
Vahidi’s remarks came two days after two Iranian border guards were killed as heavily-armed Taliban forces opened fire at a border post in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province in violation of international law.
He said that tensions have eased on the eastern border with Afghanistan and that the area is now secure after a deadly unprovoked attack by Taliban forces.
“We do not have any problem at the moment. The border point is in peace and open to traffic,” he stated, adding, “There was a shooting by Afghan border guards, and naturally, we delivered a due response.”
The interior minister also noted that the brief clashes ended and negotiations were held with the Taliban in this regard.
During a visit to Sistan and Baluchestan on Sunday, Commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Force Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari warned that the Islamic Republic will change its approach if Afghanistan fails to respect international regulations and the principles of good neighborliness.
He further said that the border areas with Afghanistan are under complete control of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces.
In August 2021, the Taliban managed to seize power after making sweeping advances across Afghanistan in the midst of a messy withdrawal of US-led foreign forces as well as the rapid collapse of the country’s security forces.
Iran says it does not recognize the ruling administration in Kabul, underlining the need for the formation of an inclusive Afghan government.
Recently, a long-lasting water dispute has resurfaced between Iran and Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s non-compliance with the 1973 water-sharing treaty and denying Iran its water rights under the pact have heightened tensions between Tehran and Kabul.
Over the past few weeks, high-ranking Iranian officials have urged the de-facto Taliban government in Kabul to adopt an effective measure to address the long-lasting issue by providing Iran its due share of water from the Helmand River Basin.
Water scarcity is taking a heavy toll on Iran’s southwestern Sistan region by harming its agriculture and water bodies.
Ayatollah Khamenei says expansion of Iran-Oman relations beneficial for both countries
The Leader made the remarks in a meeting with Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said in Tehran on Monday.
Ayatollah Khamenei described the relations between Iran and Oman as long-standing, deep-rooted, and good, stating, “We believe that the expansion of bilateral relations in all fields is beneficial for both countries.”
He referred to the negotiations that have taken place between the Iranian and Omani sides, saying, “The important thing is that these negotiations should be followed up seriously until tangible results are achieved, and eventually relations should be expanded.”
He further stressed the importance of the increasing cooperation between Oman and Iran, due to the fact that both countries share the very important Strait of Hormuz waterway.
In the meeting, the Sultan of Oman pointed to Egypt’s willingness to resume relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In response to this, Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized that Iran welcomes this position and has no problems in this regard.
With regards to the Sultan of Oman’s satisfaction with the restoration of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the Leader stated, “These matters are the result of the good policy of Mr. [Ebrahim] Raisi’s administration to expand and strengthen relations with Iran’s neighbors and other countries in the region.”
Ayatollah Khamenei also expressed hope that with the expansion of relations between the Islamic governments, the Islamic nation will regain its glory and greatness. He added that bringing the potentials and capacities of the Islamic countries together will benefit all Islamic nations, countries and states.
During this meeting, which was also attended by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the Sultan of Oman expressed great satisfaction at meeting with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. He underlined that Oman’s policy is to expand ties with its neighbors, in particular with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“During the negotiations in Tehran, opinions were exchanged and various fields of cooperation were discussed. We hope that with the continuation of these talks, the relations between the two countries will expand even further than before and that its practical results will become evident for both sides,” Sultan Haitham added.
UN says acute food insecurity to deteriorate in several countries, including Afghanistan and Yemen within months
“The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warn that acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 18 hunger hotspots – comprising a total 22 countries – during the outlook period from June to November 2023,” the report said.
Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali and Haiti have been added to the list of the highest-concern-level countries to Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen remaining on the list, according to the report.
“The report spotlights the risk of a spill-over of the Sudan crisis – raising the risk of negative impacts in the neighbouring countries, shows that deepening economic shocks continue to drive low- and middle-income nations deeper into crisis, and warns that a likely El Nino climatic phenomenon is raising fears of climate extremes in vulnerable countries around the globe,” FAO added.
Over one million people are expected to leave Sudan, and another 2.5 million within the country will face acute food shortage in the coming months.
The report also urges immediate humanitarian actions to save lives and prevent deaths from starvation in the hotspots.
In early May, the Global Report on Food Crises for 2023 by Food Security Information Network and Global Network Against Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian organizations founded by the United Nations and the European Union, said that around 258 million people in 58 countries experienced acute food insecurity in 2022 due to conflicts, climate change and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 193 million a year earlier.
Turkish lira sinks to record low after Erdogan’s victory
The currency was at 20.05 to the dollar during Asian hours, just shy of the 20.06 record low hit on Friday.
The lira, prone to sharp swings before regular trading hours, has weakened more than 6% since the start of the year and lost more than 90% of its value over the past decade with the economy in the grip of boom and bust cycles, rampant bouts of inflation and a currency crisis.
Since a 2021 crisis, the authorities have taken an increasingly hands-on role in foreign exchange markets with daily moves having become unnaturally small and mostly recording a weakening while FX and gold reserves have dwindled.
“The current set up is just not sustainable,” said Tim Ash at BlueBay Asset Management.
“With limited FX reserves and massively negative real interest rates the pressure on the lira is heavy,” he added.
Erdogan prevailed despite years of economic turmoil which critics blame on unorthodox economic policies which the opposition had pledged to reverse.
“An Erdogan win offers no comfort for any foreign investor,” stated Hasnain Malik, head of equity research at Tellimer.
“Only the most optimistic would hope that Erdogan now feels sufficiently secure politically to revert to orthodox economic policy,” Malik continued.
Erdogan’s surprisingly strong showing in the first round of the election two weeks ago had triggered a selloff in Turkey’s international bonds and a spike in costs to insure exposure to its debt amid fading hopes of a change in economic policy.
The nation’s dollar bonds slipped to their lowest in at least six months last week, while the cost of insuring exposure to Turkey’s debt via credit default swaps (CDS) rose to a seven-month high.
On Monday, the bond maturing in 2036 was stable, Tradeweb data showed. CDS too were steady after closing at 666 basis points on Friday. It was around 480 bps before the election.
In his victory speech, Erdogan acknowledged that inflation was the most urgent issue, but said it would also fall, following the central bank’s policy rate that was cut to 8.5% from 19% two years ago.
Analysts were cautious in how much economic change Erdogan’s new government would herald.
“Erdogan is unlikely to embrace an outright economic orthodox approach,” Wolfango Piccoli, co-president at advisory firm Teneo, said, adding, “However, some adjustments to the current heterodox approach could be adopted with the aim of gaining time ahead of the March 2024 local elections.”
Trading is expected to be thin on Monday, with many markets in Europe, as well as the United States closed for holidays.
President Raisi congratulates Turkey’s Erdogan on reelection
In a message issued on Sunday, Raisi considered Erdogan’s election victory as signaling the continued valuable trust that the Turkish people have in the incumbent president.
Iran’s president expressed confidence that in the coming period, the friendly relations between Iran and Turkey, which are based on strong historical, cultural, and religious bonds, good neighborliness, mutual respect and common interests of the two nations, will further strengthen and the close cooperation between the two countries will provide more suitable conditions for strengthening the peace and stability and development of the region.
Ahmet Yener, who heads Turkey’s highest election authority, the Supreme Election Council, said late on Sunday that with 99.43% of the ballots counted, Tayyip Erdogan gets 52.14%, and Kemal Kilicdaroglu – 47.86%.
Erdogan, 69, was first elected as the president of Turkey in 2014 and re-elected to the post in 2018. So far, only the first three presidents of Turkey were elected to three consecutive presidential terms – the founder of the republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1923-1938, four terms), his successor Mustafa Ismet Inonu (1938-1950, four terms) and Mahmud Celaleddin ‘Celal’ Bayar (1950-1960, three terms).
