The Covid deaths and infections have jumped in the recent days.
Health authorities attribute this to the Omicron strain of the disease which is highly contagious.
The number of cities marked red, that is, the highest level of risk from Covid, has been increasing in Iran as well.
Officials are urging people to strictly observe health protocol. They also say those who have not got their boosters yet should do so asap in order to contain Omicron which is spreading like wildfire across Iran.
On the same day back in 2009, Iran successfully launched a domestically-produced satellite named Omid (literally meaning ‘hope’), joining the club of nations which enjoy the capability to launch satellites.
Omid was put into orbit by the satellite carrier Safire II.
Thereafter, the day was designated as National Space Technology Day in Iran.
Omid was Iran’s first home-made satellite and the first scientific breakthrough in the nation’s endeavor to indigenize the space technology.
The move also featured efforts to set the stage for spotting potentialities in domestic industries as well as in the domain of developing equipment to produce, assemble and test satellites, and to promote space activities by the private sector.
“US de facto is continuing to pump up tension in Europe,” Peskov said, adding that the deployments are “the best proof that we, as Russia, have an obvious reason to be worried.”
On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced additional US military deployments to eastern Europe. They will include roughly 2,000 US troops to Poland and an additional few thousand to southeastern NATO countries, including Romania.
Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby earlier said that the United States was ready to send 8,500 troops to Europe but a final decision had not been made yet. He specified that the deployments would include combat, reconnaissance, aviation, medical and transport units. He added that the United States was not planning to deploy troops in Europe outside the territory of its NATO allies. President Joe Biden stated in a talk with journalists on Friday that he would be moving the troops to Eastern Europe “in the near term.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also told reporters Wednesday that officials would no longer describe a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine as “imminent” because it implies that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a decision on whether to invade.
“We stopped using it because I think it sent a message that we weren’t intending to send, which was that we knew that President Putin had made a decision,” Psaki told reporters during a briefing.
Psaki noted that the “vast majority” of times she had talked about an invasion she has said Putin “could invade at any time.”
“That’s true,” Psaki said, adding, “We still don’t know that he’s made a decision.”
During a briefing last week, Psaki described a potential invasion as “imminent.”
Peskov told the media on Thursday Moscow has noticed no changes in Washington’s rhetoric regarding Russia’s alleged preparations for an invasion of Ukraine.
“No, we have noticed no changes [in the rhetoric],” he said when asked if the Kremlin had taken note of the fact that the United States had stopped using the word “inevitable” in the context of Russia’s alleged preparations for an invasion of Ukraine.
The West and Kiev have recently been spreading allegations about Russia’s potential ‘invasion’ of Ukraine. Peskov castigated these claims as “empty and unfounded,” serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have very serious consequences.
Local sources told Al Jazeera on Thursday at least 12 people, including seven children and three women, were killed in the overnight operation near the Turkey border in the province of Idlib, the last rebel enclave resisting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
The raid hit a densely populated area where tens of thousands of people displaced from Syria’s war live in makeshift camps or overcrowded housing.
Several residents, speaking to The Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, also reported civilian deaths and said they saw body parts scattered around a house in the village of Atmeh.
In a statement, the Pentagon announced the “mission was successful” but provided no details on who was the target of the raid, or if there were any casualties.
“U.S. Special Operations forces under the control of U.S. Central Command conducted a counter-terrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said, adding, “There were no U.S. casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available.”
Reuters news agency reported the raid was believed to have targeted a suspected al Qaeda-affiliated fighter, but there was no other information on the person’s identity and no immediate reports of any fighters being killed.
Residents said they heard heavy gunfire during the operation, indicating resistance to the raid.
Video clips posted by the pro-rebel Syria TV channel showed a wounded child being carried by emergency rescuers as well as concrete debris.
The channel added the videos were taken in Atmeh, which is along the border across the southern Turkish province of Hatay.
Charles Lister, senior fellow with the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told Reuters he had spoken to residents who said the operation lasted more than two hours.
“Clearly they wanted whoever it was alive,” Lister continued.
“This looks like the biggest of this type of operation” since the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi raid, he noted, referring to a 2019 US special operations raid in northwest Syria that killed Daesh leader.
Residents and rebel sources told Reuters several helicopters landed near Atmeh and explosions were heard near the home of a foreign fighter.
The fighter who was the suspected target was with his family at the time of the raid, said a rebel official who declined to be named.
One resident stated several people were killed in the raid, while another added rescuers pulled out at least 12 bodies from the rubble of a multistorey building.
Another social media post said the casualties included three women and seven children.
Witnesses added the raid appeared to have ended, but unidentified reconnaissance planes were still hovering in the area.
The rebel official announced security from Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, the main rebel group that controls parts of northwest Syria, hurried to the location after the raid.
The northwest of Syria – Idlib province and a belt of territory around it – is mostly held by Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra Front, which was part of al-Qaeda until 2016.
Several foreign fighters who split from the group have set up the Huras al-Din (Guardians of Religion) group, designated by the US as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, which has in recent years been the target of coalition attacks.
For years, the US military has mostly used drones to kill top al-Qaeda operatives in northern Syria, where the fighter group became active during Syria’s war, which has gone on for more than 10 years.
US-led coalition operations against remnants of Daesh sleeper cells are more frequent in northeastern Syria, which is held by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The bombardments targeted areas in west and north of the capital overnight on Wednesday, February 2, 2022.
The relentless attacks come as Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud had, in his recent comments, proposed a ceasefire while levelling accusations against the Yemenese Ansarullah Movement.
He had claimed the ceasefire would apply to Yemen and would be enforced under the UN supervision.
In reaction to Riyadh’s plan to end the war on Yemen, Ansarullah Spokesman and head of the negotiating team of Yemen’s National Salvation Government Mohammed Abdul-Salam said the proposal contains nothing new.
Saudi Arabia’s plan to stop fighting was put forward after the Yemeni military backed by forces of popular committees carried out drone attacks on Aramco oil installations in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia launched a deadly campaign against Yemen in March, 2015 to return to power fugitive former Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Large numbers of Yemenis have been killed in the attacks with millions more internally displaced.
The UN has described the situation in Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
This comes as the health ministry has instructed all medical centers nationwide to go on alert amid a sixth peak in the disease.
“In recent days, we have seen a rise in the number of infections due to the spread of the coronavirus and its new variants,” said deputy health minister Kamal Heidari.
“Accordingly, the decisions made at the 104th session of the National Coronavirus Task Force were communicated to the health departments of medical schools across the country,” he added.
Based on the decisions, said the official، all health centers offering urgent services were told to be on alert.
He added vaccination centers continue to offer services to the public, and give third-dose jabs to citizens aged 18 and above.
He said the continuation of the Covid inoculation program for 9-12 age groups, the cancelation of all nonessential missions and meetings, the provision of standard and appropriate personal protection gear and the supply of standard disinfectants were among other decisions made by the coronavirus task force.
In a letter to the US Wrestling Federation, President of Iran’s Wrestling Federation Alireza Dabir announced the team will not be coming to the US for the friendly competitions which were scheduled to be held on February 12, 2022.
“Regrettably, I have to announce that the National Wrestling Team of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not be able to take part in friendly competitions with the United States’ national team as visas have not been issued to six members of the team,” he wrote in the letter.
“Your country’s officials refused to issue visas despite all preliminary arrangements made by members of the Iranian team, presenting all necessary documents and repeated follow-up inquiries,” he explained.
He said there was no option left, but to cancel the trip.
The unprecedented missile and drone attacks by Yemeni troops have rattled the UAE and led it to look for ways to bolster its defenses against future strikes.
Israel and the UAE had a back-channel defense and intelligence relationship for more than two decades that only became more public after the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
The Yemen’s Houthis have launched at least three recent attacks targeting the UAE, which is a member of the Saudi-led coalition that has waged an aerial campaign against Yemen since 2015.
A Houthi military spokesperson this week threatened to continue the attacks on the Persian Gulf country, linking them to the ties between the UAE and Israel.
Following the first attack, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) in a letter that Israel was ready to provide intelligence and defense assistance.
In Abu Dhabi last week, Israeli officials met with Emirati military officials, who said the Persian Gulf country needed assistance with its missile defense and counter-drone technology, according to Israeli officials.
The officials tell me one critical field that was discussed was detection and early warning.
Emirati officials declined to comment.
Emirati ambassador to Washington Yousef Al Otaiba and ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Monday that the Joe Biden administration and other world powers should deploy sanctions against the Houthis to pressure them to agree to a ceasefire.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to MBZ and stressed that Washington will continue to provide early warning intelligence and collaborate on air defense, the Pentagon said.
Austin told MBZ the U.S. will send the Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Cole to the UAE and will deploy F-18 and F-22 fighter jets in the UAE.
Israel’s Ministry of Defense and national security agencies are expected to discuss the Emirati requests in the coming days, Israeli officials told Axios.
The officials say they want to help the UAE as much as they can while not jeopardizing sensitive technology that Israel doesn’t want shared.
“We will be happy to help whoever is our friend as much as we can, and if the Emiratis want, we will be happy to cooperate. It is their decision,” Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz stated on Monday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has announced Israel should formally designate the Houthis as a terror organization.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the outgoing commander of U.S. Central Command, is also expected to visit the UAE next week for further discussion on bolstering defense cooperation, a source with direct knowledge of the issue added.
On Thursday, the UAE announced it intercepted three drones that entered its airspace over unpopulated areas early on Wednesday in the fourth such attack on the Persian Gulf commercial and tourism hub in the past few weeks.
The Houthis have not yet announced a new operation and Wednesday’s drones attack was claimed by a little-known group calling itself the “True Promise Brigades”, according to U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group. The group’s only other claim was in January 2021, when it said it launched a drone at Saudi Arabia.
The UAE Defense Ministry said it was “ready to deal with any threats” and was taking “all necessary measures” to protect the country which prizes its reputation as a safe business haven.
Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a war against the Arab world’s most impoverished nation in March 2015. The war has been seeking to restore power in Yemen to Riyadh’s favorite officials.
The death toll of the war, now in its seventh year, will reach an estimated 377,000 by the end of 2021, according to a recent report from the UN’s Development Programme.
The fighting has seen some 80 percent of the population, or 24 million people, relying on aid and assistance, including 14.3 million who are in acute need.
So far, a number of critics believe Braf-e-Akhar is the best film screened this year and have commended the roles main actors, Amin Hayaei and Majid Salehi, played.
The movie has been produced under harsh cold conditions of northern Iran and casts a different look at the routine life of a veterinarian.
The third day also saw government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi visit the venue of the festival. During his visit he said films should naturally reflect the realities and priorities of a country, though he, speaking in the capacity of the representative of the government, called for promoting hope.
Nevertheless, he stressed that one cannot constrict artists and tell them they should go for a specific type of film that raises hopes.
Meanwhile, the public relations’ office of the festival announced that, starting from Thursday, only photographers of official news agencies will be allowed to cover the red carpet arrivals and news briefings, seeing the surge in coronavirus cases in Tehran, which pushed the city back into the red alert covid status.
Amir Abdollahian also spoke of the Zionist regime’s presence in the Persian Gulf in an unmistakable reference to the UAE’s normalization of ties with Tel Aviv.
He said the presence of the Israeli regime in the Persian Gulf poses a threat to all regional nations.
Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan also said the UAE is trying to encourage all Yemeni sides to find a political solution with the support of the United Nations.
The two top diplomats also discussed bilateral ties between Tehran and Abu Dhabi.
Amir Abdollahian described ties between the two countries as positive and progressing, saying good meetings and consultations have happened between them.
The Emirati foreign minister for his part said his country is serious about expanding ties with Iran.
Iran and the UAE support opposing sides in the Yemen war. But they have maintained their diplomatic ties despite their differences on the Yemen conflict and some other issues.
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