Saturday, December 27, 2025
type here...
Home Blog Page 1464

Iranian defense chief: West policy to revive unipolar order endangering NPT

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Iran’s Defense Minister General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani

Speaking at the meeting of the defense chiefs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in New Delhi, General Ashtiani added that the West’s measures in the Ukraine crisis attests to this fact.

The defense minister of Iran said the West uses proxy wars as a tool to gain supremacy in the world.

Genetal Ashtiani warned that the foundations of the arms control regimes as well as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT, and other international conventions are in danger as a result of such developments.

He stressed that all this has caused the foreign policy doctrine of the Islamic Republic to consider membership in organizations built on multilateralism, such as the SCO, because they can serve as a point for convergence of global common interests and security.

The Iranian defense chief noted that the SCO has been an influential organization since its formation and it needs to push for strengthening policies that create a balance in the international arena.

Ashtiani underlined that the SCO has a responsibility to contribute to the shape of the new emerging world order.

He further spoke about challenges faced by the international community, saying the grave threat that the world faces today when it comes to the fight against terror is the adoption of double standards for this purpose.

Ashtiani referred to the assassination of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani by the US and said that there is no doubt that the killing was nothing but supporting terrorism.

The Iranian defense minister in other comments spoke about Iran’s defensive doctrine.

He said respecting sovereignty of world countries and adopting a non-religious and non-sectarian policy are the unchangeable principles of this doctrine.

Ashtiani said this doctrine’s message is a message of peace and friendship to the region and the entire world.

Iranian FM: We will continue supporting Lebanese resistance against Zionist regime

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Hossein Amirabdollahian

Amirabdollahian was speaking at Maroun El Ras, which is a village in southern Lebanon, just one kilometer from the border with occupied Palestine.

Amirabdollahian noted that Iran has remained beside Lebanon in hard times and it will continue to be friends with Lebanon during peacetime.

The Iranian foreign minister also said the Lebanese resistance proved that the Zionists only know the language of force.

Amirabdollahian also spoke about the situation in Palestine.

He said Iran believes that the only solution to the Palestinian issue is a referendum among real inhabitants of Palestine including Muslims, Christians and Jews.

He further renewed Iran’s support for the Palestinian resistance groups, saying that Tehran announces this support loud and clear.

The top Iranian diplomat has held meetings with many Lebanese officials during his two-day stay in the country.

In all the meetings, Amirabdollahian reaffirmed Iran’s backing for the Lebanese government, resistance and army.

Iranian president: Iran can be a pioneer in gas and oil industries

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Ebrahim Raisi

Raisi added that Iran can also be a pioneer in the oil and gas industries in the world as well.

The president made those comments during the inauguration ceremony of Phase One of the Hoveizeh Persian Gulf Gas Refinery in southern Iran.

Some 75 percent of the equipment used in this refinery has been made in Iran.

Iran has taken a long stride in the development of its oil and gas industries in the past few years.

This comes as the country has been under harsh sanctions imposed by the US and some other Western governments.

People in Iran’s Mashhad camp outdoors overnight after quake

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

Related pictures:

Harvest of roses in north-central Iran

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Harvest of roses in Iran

The province of Qom, with 380 hectares of farms, has been one of the major centers for cultivation of roses.

This year, it is expected that the crops will exceed the 700-ton mark.

More in pictures:

US targets Russia’s FSB, IRGC’s intelligence unit over detention of Americans

By
IFP Media Wire
-
White House

The sanctions also targeted four senior commanders within IRGC’s IO, although among them were at least one individual who had been already been subject to previous US sanctions.

FSB, which was targeted because officials said it was involved in the detention of at least one US citizen whose name was not disclosed, was also subject to previous US sanctions.

Speaking to reporters in a briefing call on the condition of anonymity, senior Joe Biden administration officials stated Thursday’s move aimed to show that there would be consequences for those who tried to use US citizens for political leverage or seek concessions from Washington.

“Our actions are a clear and direct warning to those around the world who wrongfully detain US nationals of the potential consequences of their actions,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The move, the US officials noted, aimed to promote accountability, and by doing so prevent and deter further politically motivated detentions of Americans abroad, adding Thursday’s sanctions were just the beginning and that there was possibly more to come.

Last month, Russia’s FSB arrested Evan Gershkovich, a US reporter working for the Wall Street Journal and accused him of espionage, a charge he has denied. Paul Whelan, a former US Marine, has also been serving a 16-year jail sentence in a Russian penal colony over spying accusations. He denies any wrongdoing.

Ties between the United States and Russia have sunk to their worst in decades following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, however the two former Cold War foes have managed to carry out compartmentalized diplomacy which resulted in two prisoner swaps last year.

In one, Washington has secured the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner who was held in Russia on drug charges, by commuting the sentence of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The plight of Americans detained by foreign governments has moved into the spotlight with Griner’s case. Although the US government does not provide figures, there are more than 60 such detainees, according to the James Foley Foundation, named after an American journalist abducted and killed in Syria.

At least several of them are jailed in Iran.

Iran has repeatedly expressed its readiness for swift implementation of a prisoner swap deal with the US while urging Washington to free Iranians imprisoned in the US without tying the issue with irrelevant issues.

Back in mid-August, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani reaffirmed Tehran’s commitment and determination to implement the agreement concerning the issue of prisoners, calling on the US to fulfill its commitments than “performing theatrical shows”.

UNSC calls on Taliban to ‘swiftly reverse’ crackdown on Afghan women’s rights

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Afghan Women School

The resolution – drafted by the United Arab Emirates and Japan – describes the ban as “unprecedented in the history of the United Nations” and says it “undermines human rights and humanitarian principles”. The resolution also asserts “the indispensable role of women in Afghan society”.

UAE’s ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, said more than 90 countries co-sponsored the resolution – “from Afghanistan’s immediate neighbourhood, from the Muslim world and from all corners of the earth”.

“This … support makes our fundamental message today even more significant – the world will not sit by silently as women in Afghanistan are erased from society,” she told the UNSC.

The UNSC vote came days before a planned international meeting, regarding Afghanistan, in Doha on May 1-2. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will convene behind closed doors special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries to work on a unified approach to dealing with the Taliban.

“We will not stand for the Taliban’s repression of women and girls,” The United States deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told the UNSC, adding, “These decisions are indefensible. They are not seen anywhere else in the world.”

“The Taliban edicts are causing irreparable damage to Afghanistan,” he continued.

Earlier this month, the Taliban began enforcing the ban on Afghan women working for the UN after stopping most women working for humanitarian aid groups in December. Since toppling the Western-backed government in 2021, the group has also tightened controls on women’s access to public life, including barring women from university and closing girls’ high schools.

The Security Council resolution also recognises the need to address substantial challenges facing Afghanistan’s economy, including through using assets belonging to Afghanistan’s Central Bank for the benefit of the Afghan people.

Washington froze billions of the bank’s reserves held in the US and later transferred half of the money to a trust fund in Switzerland overseen by US, Swiss and Afghan trustees.

“As of today, what we have seen is only that assets have been transferred from one account to another, but not a single penny returned to the Afghan people,” China’s deputy UN ambassador, Geng Shuang, told the UNSC.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, also called for the return of the Afghan Central Bank assets.

4.6-magnitude quake shakes northeastern Iran

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Earthquake Iran

The epicenter of the tremor, which occurred at 2:09 a.m. on Friday local time, was around 41 kilometers from the city of Mashhad, the provincial capital, Iranian media reported.

The quake was felt in Mashhad and sent many onto the streets in panic.

Local officials said rescue teams were sent to suburban regions, but no damage had so far been reported.

FM underlines Iran’s support for stability, security in Lebanon

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Hossein Amirabdollahian

Amirabdollahian made the remark in a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikat in Beirut on Thursday.

The top Iranian diplomat emphasized the necessity of expanding ties between the two countries in various fields, especially in the field of economic and trade cooperation.

Expressing Iran’s readiness to cooperate in solving the energy and electricity crisis in Lebanon, Amirabdollahian stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to provide Lebanon with the experiences and technical assistance needed in construction, commissioning an d maintenance of power plants.

He outlined Iran’s standpoints on developments in Palestine, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

Mikati, for his part, called Iran an important country in the region while appreciating Tehran’s constructive stance toward Lebanon.

During a joint press conference with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Rashid Bouhabib on Thursday in Beirut, Amirabdollahian said that the Islamic Republic supports any agreement between different Lebanese groups to choose a new president and called on other countries to respect Lebanon’s choice without interfering in its internal affairs.

The senior Iranian diplomat stated that he had told his Lebanese counterpart that Tehran is ready to further expand economic, trade and tourism ties with Lebanon.

Amirabdollahian is on an official two-day visit to Lebanon, where he is expected to hold talks with senior Lebanese officials.

Before his visit to Lebanon, the minister traveled to Oman for high-level talks with the Arab country’s officials.

Turkey inaugurates its first nuclear power plant

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Turkey nuclear power plant

On Thursday, Putin and Erdogan took part virtually in a ceremony inaugurating the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which is Turkey’s first nuclear power plant built by Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom.

The ceremony, during which Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also made some remarks, saw first loading of nuclear fuel into the first power unit at the site in Turkey’s southern Mersin province.

“This is a flagship project. It brings both mutual economic benefits and, of course, helps to strengthen the multi-faceted partnership between our two states,” Putin said via a video-link, describing Akkuyu as “the largest nuclear construction project in the world.”

The Russian leader also noted that the new plant would mean that Turkey would import less Russian natural gas in the future.

“But Turkey will enjoy the advantage of a country that has its own nuclear energy, and nuclear energy, as you know, is one of the cheapest,” Putin stated.

Erdogan, for his part, tanked his Russian counterpart for his support on Akkuyu, adding that Ankara “will take steps to build a second and a third nuclear power plant in Turkey as soon as possible.”

“With the delivery of nuclear fuels by air and sea to our power plant, Akkuyu has now gained the status of a nuclear plant,” the Turkish leader further said during his virtual address to the first nuclear fuel delivery ceremony.

Although Turkey is a member of the US-led NATO, Erdogan has managed to maintain close relations with Putin despite the current war in Ukraine.

The Turkish leader could also broker, along the United Nations, a deal last year that allowed the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports.

According to a statement by Turkey’s presidential office, Erdogan held a phone call with Putin prior to the inauguration ceremony, discussing the situation in Ukraine and the Black Sea grain deal.

The $20-billion, 4,800-megawatt project to build four reactors in Akkuyu town will add Turkey to the small club of nations with civil nuclear energy.

“We plan to complete the physical launch [of the plant] next year … in order to be able to produce electricity on a steady basis from 2025, as we agreed,” said Andrei Likhachev, head of Rosatom, during the ceremony.

An intergovernmental agreement for the Akkuyu nuclear power plant was signed between Ankara and Moscow in May 2010, said Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency in a report, adding that the plant’s groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 3, 2018, after which construction started on the first unit.

1...1,4631,4641,465...5,126Page 1,464 of 5,126

© All Content by IFP News ( Iran Front Page ) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Us

Popular Articles

Editor Picks