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OPEC chief hails Iran’s role in world’s oil cartel

Sanusi said as a founding member of OPEC, Iran continues to play a key role in the organization through its clever guidance and careful experience.

He made the comments in a message to Iranian Oil Minister Javad Ouji.

While congratulating the Iranian oil minister on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution’s victory, Barkindo said, “Some of the best talents and well-known experts who have shaped the history of OPEC and, more broadly, the history of the oil industry over the past 60 years are from your country.”

Barkindo added that since the establishment of OPEC, Iran has been determined to promote dialogue and cooperation, including through the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC), which is a truly outstanding achievement by members and allies.

The OPEC chief noted that Iran continues to play its role as a powerful ally and brings the right experiences and guidance to members of organization.

“We look forward to another year of committed teamwork based on our mutual efforts to maintain market balance and, in turn, help the world get out of the Covid epidemic”, Barkindo added.

Elsewhere in his message, the OPEC secretary general said committed Iranian oil and gas industry students and employees are a source of significant technological advances and continue to be inspiring. He expressed confidence that Iran and OPEC will move toward an age of growth and prosperity that will benefit both producers and consumers.

Russia steps up diplomacy as Vienna talks reach ‘final stage’

In a chain of tweets on Sunday, Russia’s lead negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov said, “Very intensive consultations” were held on Sunday as efforts continue in the Austrian capital to save the nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Ulyanov said he sat down with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Baqeri Kani, in the Austrian capital for talks “on the remaining outstanding issues.”

Later, he met with US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley “at the final stage” of the Vienna talks.

The Russian diplomat also exchanged views with his counterparts from the three European parties to the JCPOA, namely France, Britain and Germany.

Reports coming out of Vienna suggest a significant increase in Russian diplomatic efforts as talks are said to have entered a sensitive and serious stage.

So far, many parts of a final agreement have reportedly been written down.

The nuclear agreement has been in crisis since 2018, when the US unilaterally abandoned the deal and re-imposed tough sanctions on Iran, under former US president Donald Trump.

The negotiators in Vienna are trying to secure a removal of the US sanctions and bring Washington back to compliance.

Tehran says the sanctions should be removed in a verifiable manner, and that Washington should give guarantees that it won’t violate the agreement again.

UN warns of ‘extreme poverty’ in Yemen

“The currency depreciation and rising food prices have pushed many in Yemen into extreme poverty,” WFP said in a statement.

As a result, “hunger is rising, leaving many dependent on food assistance,” it added.

The humanitarian situation in Yemen is aggravated by the depreciation of the local currency, which reached more than 1,200 riyals against the US dollar in 2022.

Before the outbreak of the Yemeni conflict in 2014, the dollar price was 215 Yemeni riyals in the local market.

On Monday, the UN Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also warned that “11 million people [in Yemen] will end up closer to starvation” due to the shortage of funding for the life-saving activities in Yemen.

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.

Russia denies negative role in Vienna talks

The Russian embassy in Tehran

The Russian embassy said in a tweet that the accusation is totally baseless and shows that those who make such claims are unaware of efforts by Russia and Ulyanov to revive the 2015 nuclear, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA.

The tweet also said Iranian officials including former foreign minister Mohamamd Javad Zarif have time and again openly thanked Russia for its constructive role in the negotiations over the JCPOA.

The Russian embassy urged those who make “wrong comments” to obtain the details about the matter from the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Falahatzadeh’s comment come as the Iranian Foreign Ministry has said Russia’s role in the Vienna talks is positive.

Russia is among the remaining signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, trying to revitalize the agreement.

A secret police prison turned museum in downtown Tehran

The museum, known as a dark tourist destination, takes visitors on a bitter historical tour of the site during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty, when it witnessed countless abuses of political prisoners.

The site puts on display the statues of famous figures and inmates, which were built with great elegance, as well as mannequins set up to depict the torture that the prisoners endured at the facility.

The building has a circular architecture with nested, narrow corridors designed to reduce the possibility of escaping to zero.

The high iron railings and concrete walls are also proof of the building’s terrifying impenetrability, which made it a perfect place for SAVAK to secretly torture the inmates in impunity.

Iran unveils 10 upgraded missile and ammunition defense systems

The unveiling of the domestically built systems happened in the presence of Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohamamd Reza Ashtiani.

He said a key factor in enhancing the defense capability of Iranian armed forces is the use of efficient systems, products and equipment to deal with enemy threats. The defense chief added that changes in the battlefield require appropriate response tools.

He urged Iran’s Defense Industries Organization to think of smartening and increasing the range of defense systems as a main strategy.

Iran unveils 10 upgraded missile and ammunition defense systems

The defense minister also said today, 10 Iranian defense systems are capable of using the “one shot, one target” approach and operational clash at a distance.

The unveiled defense systems include various types of surface-to-air missiles, helicopter and UAV payloads, as well as long-range and intelligent ammunition for artillery and mortars, which increase both range and accuracy in destroying targets.

Fajr fest: Tehran’s City Theater hosts stage, street performances

Zarif rejects any tie to luxury construction project in N Iran

Javad Zarif

The ex-minister on Sunday rejected as a sheer lie the claim made in a viral video that he was spending huge sums on the construction of a building in northern Iran.

“The claim that this building, or even a single meter of it, belongs to me or anyone associated with me is 100 percent a lie,” Zarif said.

Iran Covid: Infection cases jump again

Coronavirus Figures Continue to Rise in Iran

The deaths push to 133,718 the number of those killed by the Coronavirus in Iran since the pandemic engulfed the world. According to the Health Ministry, 25,812 new Covid infections were logged in the past day. The Saturday caseload was slightly more than 18,000. The latest infections include 2,543 hospitalizations.

The head of Tehran’s Taskforce for Fighting Covid has said the number of new Covid patients in the capital keeps soaring. Alireza Zali said1,007 people were admitted to hospitals over the past day of whom 290 patients were put at ICU wards. The dominant variant in Iran is now Omicron.

Most Iranian cities are marked red, which means they face the highest level of danger from Covid.

Many others are orange while there are no blue cities across the country where people face the lowest level of threat from the virus.

This as healthcare workers in Iran are busy inoculating people. Over 21 million Iranians are now triple-vaxxed. The total number of Covid vaccine doses administered is more than 137,000,000. Authorities are urging all citizens to get their third doses, also known as boosters. They say people may need to get a fourth dose of Covid vaccine.