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Iranian FM says two British citizens released on humanitarian grounds

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian

Amir Abdollahian said, “I expressly declare that there is no relationship between the release of Iranian assets and the freedom of the people who had been tried and jailed in Iran on charges of espionage and related issues by the Iranian Judiciary.”

Amir Abdollahian added that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri were freed on humanitarian grounds.

He noted that it would be a mistake to tie their release to Britain’s decision to pay back its debt to Iran.

The Iranian foreign minister also said Tehran secured the UK’s debt several days ago.

Amir Abdollahian also spoke about the Vienna talks, saying Iran and the P4+1 group of countries are very close to the finish-line of the negotiations.

He said if the US accepts two of Iran’s demands, he will go to Vienna to sign the deal.

The Iranian foreign minister also dismissed allegations that Russia has tied a deal in Vienna to the Ukraine crisis. He said Moscow has promised to come to Vienna in as short a time as possible once Iran’s demands are met by the US.

Amir Abdollahian added that Iran had four red lines in the negotiations, of which two ones have been secured and two others including economic guarantees remain.

He said the onus is now on the US side and if they accept Iran’s demands, a deal will be reached quickly.

On talks with Saudi Arabia, the top Iranian diplomat said they will definitely happen but no date has been set for the negotiations yet.

Amir Abdollahian made those comments on the sidelines of the diplomatic feast marking Nowruz at the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Khatibzadeh: Iran seeks strengthening friendship with regional countries

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh

Khatibzadeh also said the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi tries to achieve that goal by relying on commonalities between Iran and other regional nations.

He underlined that today’s world needs peace and co-existence more than ever before.

Khatibzadeh also congratulated the Persian New Year, saying, “We believe that Nowruz and the new century mark the beginning of our great endeavors.”

Khatibzadeh was speaking at a ceremony attended by foreign ambassadors and diplomats at the diplomatic club of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The Raisi administration has made increased relations with neighbors and regional countries the centerpiece of its foreign policy. The administration however says this does not mean that Iran is not after boosting ties with extra-regional nations.

IRGC Navy commander says missiles can evade electronic warfare

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Missile

Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said the range of the missiles has been increased and their maneuvering capability has been enhanced.

Tangsiri also said the explosive oomph of the projectiles has increased several times compared to the previous ones.

He announced the delivery of smart subs to the IRGC’s Navy for the first time, saying this will considerably beef up the force’s deterrence capability in order to counter underwater threats.

Tangsiri added that over the past two years, many homegrown warships, missile launch pads and smart submarine torpedoes have been delivered to the IRGC’s naval combat unit.

He noted that all the military hardware has been developed as a result of non-stop efforts by Iranian scientists at the Ministry of Defense and the country’s knowledge-based companies.

Iran has strengthened its military deterrence in recent years due to steady threats from adversaries like the US and the Zionist regime.

Iran judiciary confirms release of Nazanin Zagheri and Anoushe Ansari

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri

The two were in custody in Iran for espionage for Britain. “Nazanin Zaghari was convicted to four years in prison for espionage for the British spy agency.

She has completed her jail term and, accordingly, her exit ban has been removed and she was released some time ago,” judiciary spokesman Zabihollah Khodaeian told the IRIB.

“She is implicated in another case for which she has been convicted to one year in prison, but this case has, so far, not been enforced.”

This comes as Fars News website cited “official sources” as saying that Zaghari was released in return for release of 530 million dollars of frozen Iranian assets and the release of an Iranian national held in Britain.

Iranian officials had earlier said Zaghari headed a spy training network in the region and her arrest exposed several spying networks in Iran and other countries.

The spokesman also talked about the release of Anousheh Ashouri, stressing that he was convicted to 10 years in jail for collaboration with foreign security agencies.

Khodaeian said Ansari requested parole 4 years and 7 months into his prison term.

“Seeing his age and physical health, the court granted his parole and he has been released,” the spokesman said.

US: ISIS attacks to ‘ramp up’ in summer due to Taliban failure

By
IFP Media Wire
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Taliban

Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, McKenzie said that while the Taliban has been “less firm” when it comes to opposing al Qaeda, they have demonstrated a commitment to taking on Daesh (also knows as ISIL or ISIS), even if it is not enough.

“The Taliban is attempting to maintain pressure on ISIS. They’re finding it difficult fo do so,” McKenzie noted in response to a question from Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.

McKenzie added that in recent months ISIS has carried out “some high-profile attacks” in Afghanistan, including in the capital city of Kabul.

This, he said, was even before the time of year when such attacks are typically on the rise. “We’re coming out of the winter; traditionally this would now begin the fighting season,” McKenzie said.

“It is my expectation that ISIS attacks will ramp up in Afghanistan as we go into the summer,” he added.

McKenzie was not confident at all that the Taliban would stop al Qaeda from being active, saying he believes that “they’re much less firm on the al Qaeda issue as far as opposing them and being able to limit them.”

The Taliban infamously harbored al Qaeda and its former leader Usama bin Laden prior to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. After a 20-year war that saw them temporarily toppled from power, the Taliban swiftly retook control of Afghanistan in 2021 as American forces withdrew. During the US withdrawal, ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing at an airport in Kabul. Casualties included 13 US service members.

Covid-19 claims 109 lives in Iran as Omicron keeps receding

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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COVID in Iran

According to the figures published by the ministry on Wednesday, 3,010 people have tested positive for COVID-19 during the past 24 hours, bringing the total caseload to 7,133,139.

With the new fatalities taken into account, 139,289 people have died of COVID-19 since early 2020, when the virus causing the disease was first detected in Iran.

In the past day, 521 patients were hospitalized, the data showed. The figures released in recent days show a steady decline in the number of deaths, infections and hospitalization, which means the sixth wave of COVID-19, driven by the Omicron variant, is receding.

So far, 145,482,902 doses of vaccine have been administered across the country of nearly 84 million.

Despite the declining numbers, health authorities have warned of a new wave of infections following the two-week Nowruz holidays if people fail to get vaccinated and observe health protocols.

Local Iranians hold funeral for late Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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funeral for late Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani

The participants beat their chests as a sign pf mourning. There were many young people among the mourners. Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani died of a disease.

Iran’s leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Tuesday offered condolences over the passing of the senior cleric to his family and his followers.

The leader said Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani faithfully stood by people on different issues relating to the Islamic Revolution and the country and threw his full support behind the Islamic establishment.

Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani was born in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf in June 1939. His father, Seyyed Sajjad, was one of the scholars and jurists of Gorgan.

Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani has authored several books on jurisprudence, principles of jurisprudence and hadith. Apart from religious research and writing books, the late cleric engaged in social activities such as constructing mosquées and clinics as well as establishing riba-free loan granting funds in different parts of Iran.

‘Two detained dual citizens including Zaghari-Ratcliffe on way to airport to leave Iran’

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

“Both of them are on their way to the airport in Tehran to leave Iran,” Hojjat Kermani added on Wednesday.

Iran’s Judiciary officials have not yet commented on the report.

On Monday Kermani said, Zaghari’s five-year jail term came to an end earlier this month, and that he was hopeful there would be “good news soon” on her release.

“Zaghari’s British passport has been given back to her, but it is not clear when she will exactly exit the country,” he added.

Zaghari was arrested by Iran’s intelligence forces at Imam Khomeini International Airport in April 2016 as she was about to board a plane to London.

In June that year, Zaghari was charged with involvement in post-election riots that engulfed Tehran and some other cities in 2009 and plotting against the government. In April 2021, after spending the final year of her term under house arrest, Zaghari was sentenced to a further year in prison and a one-year travel ban over propaganda against the Iranian government.

Fars news agency also reported on Monday Zaghari could be released within days in return for Britain paying $530 to Iran to settle a debt related to an unfulfilled military contract that dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Ashouri was also detained in August 2017 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for cooperating with Israel’s spy agency Mossad and two years for obtaining 33,000 euros in “illicit funds” nearly a year later.

UK says looking at ways to pay Iran debt

By
IFP Media Wire
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Liz Truss

Truss was asked by Sky News if Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was going to be able to return to London soon.

She stated she had made her case a priority, and added that she had also made repaying the Iranian debt a priority.

“We have been clear this is a legitimate debt that we do owe Iran and we have been seeking ways to pay it,” Truss said.

She noted that there was a British team in Iran but would not give any further details.

The British and Iranian governments say there is no connection between the debt and the legal case.

A British-Iranian dual national, Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has been in custody in Iran since 2016 after being accused of being a spy. She was taking her daughter to visit family when she was arrested at Tehran Airport and sentenced to five years in jail, spending four in Evin Prison and one under house arrest.

According to her family, she was told by local authorities that she was being detained because of the UK’s failure to pay an outstanding £400m debt to Iran.

Tehran has announced that the issue of paying off Iran’s debt by the UK government has nothing to do with the case of Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian national who has been jailed in Tehran for spying for London.

Iranian officials have criticized the British government for repeatedly delaying the payment of its debt to Tehran up to the present time.

‘Riyadh itself a party to conflict:’ Yemen says no to negotiating in Saudi capital

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Persian Gulf Cooperation Council

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a senior member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, said on Tuesday that Riyadh was itself a warring party and was not an impartial host.

Leading a coalition of its vassal states and with the support of a number of Western countries, Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015.

The aggressor countries have since been bogged down in Yemen, where the Houthi movement and popular committees have teamed up with the regular armed forces to fight back the invaders.

Earlier, an unnamed Saudi Persian Gulf diplomat told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council was laying the groundwork for a meeting in Riyadh that would convene all sides to the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

The diplomat said intense efforts were underway to hold the meeting, to which he said some 400 senior diplomats, figures, and tribal leaders — including from the Yemeni Houthi movement — had been invited.

The Saudi-led war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.

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