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Iran FM arrived in Oman on official visit

Upon his arrival, Amir Abdollahian said he will hold talks with top Omani officials, including his Omani counterpart, during the Iranian delegation’s one-day visit.

The foreign minister added that his talks will focus on expanding cooperation with Oman.

Amir Abdollahian further noted that Iran and Oman enjoy “strong” ties and he will use his visit to try to upgrade political relations with Muscat to the current level of cultural, economic and trade ties between the two countries.

He said this will be within the framework of a four-sided agreement earlier signed by Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Four dead, dozens of cars damaged in Iran pileups

The crashes took place in a single location on opposite lanes on the road between the cities of Behbahan and Ramhormoz.

“The incident took place on two lanes. In one of the lanes, 9 cars smashed into each other and in the opposite lane, around 50 cars crashed, and three of them burst into flames,” said Khouseztan Roads Police chief, Colonel Reza Dolatshahi.

Dolatshahi added that three passengers of a single car and a passenger in another car were those who lost their lives. He further explained that foggy weather is thought to have caused the pileups.

Meanwhile, the relief operations department of Khouzestan’s Red Crescent Society said 33 people, including a pregnant woman, have been injured in the incidents.

SANA: US building Syria refinery to increase oil theft

According to the SANA news agency, the capacity of the new facility at Rmelan fields in the northeast of Hasaka province is estimated at 3,000 barrels per day.

The oil fields in Rmelan are one of the largest in Syria.

The armed conflict in Syria has been going on since 2011 with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces fighting different insurgent groups. In late 2017, Daesh was declared defeated in the country, pushing the issues of a peaceful political settlement, the country’s reconstruction, and the return of refugees to the forefront.

The US armed forces illegally control territories in the northern and northeastern parts of Syria, where the country’s major oil and gas fields are located. Damascus has decried the US presence there as occupation and pillaging.

Damascus, however, stresses the unlawful deployment is meant to plunder the country’s resources.

Former US President Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that American forces were in Syria for its oil.

After failing to oust the Syrian government with the help of its proxies and direct involvement in the conflict, the US government has now stepped up its economic war on the Arab country.

Taliban Foreign Ministry calls talks in Tehran “constructive”

The Taliban Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Hafiz Zia said in a tweet Amir Khan Motaqi who visited Tehran at the invitation of the Iranian Foreign Ministry held talks with Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

Hafiz added that Amir Abdollahian and Motaqi discussed economic issues between Iran and Afghanistan and they also held constructive negotiations over trade, oil products, transit and security issues.

He also quoted Amir Abdollahian and Motaqi as saying Afghanistan serves as an export bridge linking southern to central Asia and that Iran can use the route for exporting goods to regional countries and Afghanistan can also use Iran as a transit route.

Iran’s Farhadi loses Golden Globe race to Japan’s Hamaguchi

The other candidates at the foreign language category were ‘Compartment No. 6’ (Juho Kuosmanen, Finland), ‘The Hand of God’ (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy), and ‘Parallel Mothers’ (Pedro Almodovar, Spain).

“Drive My Car”, based on a short story of the same title by novelist Haruki Murakami, recently won the top prize and was selected for three other awards by a US film critic society, while it also won the award for best screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

On Saturday, members of the National Society of Film Critics gave the best picture, best director, best screenplay and best actor awards to “Drive My Car”.

The brooding and melancholic drama has also been nominated in the international feature film category for the 94th Academy Awards in March. “A Hero”, Norway’s “The Worst Person in the World”, Italy’s “The Hand of God” and Finland’s “Compartment No. 6” are among the 15 films that will advance to the next round of voting in the Oscars Best International Feature Film race, according to the Academy.

This was the fourth time the Iranian director is nominated for the foreign language film award at Golden Globe. His previous movies “A Separation”, “The Past” and “The Salesman” found their way into the final list in the category in 2012, 2014 and 2017, while “A Separation” won the award.

Farhadi has received two Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film for “A Separation” and “The Salesman”, making him one of the few directors worldwide who have won the category twice.

The Iranian filmmaker has also received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay for “The Salesman”. In 2021, he received the Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Prix for “A Hero”.

Intl. peacekeepers to stay in Kazakhstan until situation stabilizes

“Units of the Collective Peacekeeping Force will continue to execute their tasks until the situation in the country stabilizes fully,” Serdyukov said.

CSTO peacekeepers are protecting the important military, state and social facilities in Almaty and adjacent areas, he added.

“At the present, units of the peacekeeping forces are performing tasks to protect important military, state and socially essential facilities in the city of Almaty and adjacent areas,” Serdyukov continued.

A wave of deadly riots swept across Kazakhstan last week, following a sharp rise in gas prices. Despite the government’s attempts to quell the crowds and now-fulfilled promises to decrease prices, peaceful protests turned into violent clashes with law enforcement officers, as well as looting, arson and acts of terrorism across the country. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev asked for the CSTO assistance at the height of the violence, with several member-states of the alliance agreeing to deploy CSTO peacekeepers to Kazakhstan to safeguard vital infrastructure facilities in the country, while Kazakh law enforcement agencies work to bring the situation under control.

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov has claimed that thousands of jihadists were involved in efforts to wreak havoc in Kazakhstan.

“Kazakhstan came under attack by radicals that preached misanthropic ideology,” he said in a post on the embassy’s Facebook page, adding, “Thousands of jihadists and looters made an attempt to shatter the constitutional order.”

“They use weapons against peaceful citizens,” he went on to say, noting, “They damage government-owned and private property.”

The unrest followed the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, which gave rise to the spread of extremist ideas in the region, Antonov said.

He also added the rioters included terrorists and the uprising was an effort to oust the government.

“This is a new attempt at a color revolution with the help of gunmen and looters,” the ambassador continued, stating, “I’m sure Kazakhstan’s competent agencies will get to the bottom of the situation and terrorism will be uprooted from the Kazakh soil.”

More than 160 people were killed and 6,000 including several foreign nationals, detained in Kazakhstan during the unrest that shook the central Asian country.

Iran seizes opium hidden in screwdrivers bound for Europe

Over two kilograms of the illegal narcotics were found as border protection officials were inspecting the UK-bound postal shipments, which contained a large number of screwdrivers.

Iran has long been fighting a relentless battle against international drug networks.

The country, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, is used as a transit route for drug trafficking from Afghanistan to markets in Europe.

 

Afghan acting FM calls visit to Tehran “positive”

Amir Khan Motaqi told Afghanistan’s national television that he held positive talks with the Iranian side over trade, oil and transit as well as political and security issues.

He added that the Taliban want good relations with the whole region, especially neighboring countries.

A Taliban delegation headed by Amir Khan Motaqi arrived in Tehran Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile the Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman said during the visit, Motaqi will hold talks with Iranian officials over political and economic ties as well as the issue of Afghan refugees.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also said the heads of the Afghan ministries of commerce and industries are accompanying Motaqi during the visit to Tehran. The Iranian Foreign Ministry added that Tehran puts emphasis on the need to maintain economic and trade ties between the two countries in line with the interests of the Iranian and Afghan nations.

China thanks Iran for firm stance against US boycott of Winter Olympics

“We appreciate Iran’s firm position and support over the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games,” he said.

Recently, the United States announced officials of the country will not attend the event in February over what Washington called human rights violations in Xinjian Province, allegations that Beijing has firmly rejected.

Australia, Britain and Canada were also quick to join the boycott.

In the letter, Salehi-Amiri said Washington’s “hostile” move was a “clear example of instrumental use of the Olympic event to achieve dictatorial goals, increase tensions, and promote tyranny in the world.”

The letter said the non-participation of officials of the US and its allies in the opening and closing ceremonies of the event was “indicative of America’s growing oppressive sanctions aimed at causing disruption and fulfilling that government’s evil demands and objectives.”

Through the boycott, which is not the first of its kind, the US is after “harming the Olympics movement and weakening the chain of unity among nations,” it added.

Iranian FM: US seeks sowing discord between Afghanistan, neighbors

Amir Abdollahian was speaking in a meeting on Sunday afternoon with Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Molawi Amir Khan Motaqi in Tehran.
He said endeavors by the zealous people of Afghanistan showed that no foreign power can occupy and rule their country.

Amir Abdollahian stressed that Afghanistan’s assets frozen by the US should be released and given to the country for humanitarian considerations.
The Iranian foreign minister referred to the positive words of the Taliban leaders regarding the formation of an inclusive government, stressing the need to provide acceptable indicators in this regard.

Amir Abdollahian also said Tehran will continue giving aid to Afghanistan and will also use regional capacities for more humanitarian assistance to alleviate the problems of the Afghan people.

At the meeting, the Afghan delegation presented a report on the efforts of the new government in Kabul to counter Daesh and other terrorist groups as well as policies related to fighting drug production and trafficking in Afghanistan.

The Afghan delegation also said although the US left Afghanistan following a humiliating defeat, it continues its policies against the Afghan people and as a result of these policies, 80% of Afghans are below the poverty line.

At the meeting, the two sides also discussed Iran’s right to water of the Helmand River.

The Afghan delegation underlined its respect for international treaties, including the 1972 Helmand Agreement, saying the technical delegations of the two countries will meet soon and will resolve related issues.