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US says sees path for deal with Iran

By
IFP Media Wire
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The comments are another sign that the Biden administration is somewhat optimistic as nuclear negotiations in Vienna get closer to a decision point. Last week, White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk stated the US and Iran are “in the ballpark” of a possible deal. 

Biden administration officials have set the end of January or beginning of February as an unofficial deadline for the talks, in large part because they believe Iran’s nuclear advances will soon render the 2015 deal ineffective. 

Iranian officials have rejected western diplomats’ remarks about a deadline for reaching an agreement in Vienna talks, and stressed Tehran is only after a good agreement. 

The State Department official, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity, noted the talks are entering “the final stretch” this week. 

“There are still significant gaps but we can see a path for a deal if decisions are made quickly by Iran,” the official stressed. 

The official reiterated that the US will only be able to continue talks for a few more weeks, otherwise the Iranian nuclear program will be too advanced. 

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh separately on Monday said the Vienna talks have made significant progress. 

“There are still important issues left in the field of sanctions removal … Progress [made] must be acceptable in the fields of verification and assurances,” he added. 

The State Department official said the Biden administration is ready to hold direct talks with Iran, stressing such negotiations will increase the chances for a deal. 

“It will be unfortunate if we lose the chance for a deal because there were no direct talks,” the official continued. 

In recent days, the US and Iranian officials have voiced openness to meeting directly to discuss nuclear deal, after months of negotiations in Vienna between Tehran and the other signatories to the accord. 

Iran insists that the talks must lead to the removal of all American sanctions that were imposed against Tehran following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the landmark agreement in May 2018. Tehran has also demanded credible guarantees that Washington will not abandon the deal again.

Iranian institute says ready to produce 100 covid jabs by march 2023

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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“So far five million doses of Razi vaccine have been delivered to the health ministry and another five million does are ready to be delivered,” caretaker of the institute’s vaccine production department Dr. Mohammad Hossein Fallah Mehrabadi said. 

“Officials have pledged that the vaccine will become available in almost all vaccination centers of the country starting this week.” 

The Razi Covo-Pars vaccine is the second Iranian anti-covid shot to complete its clinical trials after its first doses were unveiled in March 2019. 

The vaccine is a protein recombinant jab and has passed through the strictest control regimes based on the guidelines of the World Health Organization and domestic protocols. 

This comes amid a resurge in the disease cases across Iran due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

Prominent Iranian Shiaa cleric Ayatollah Saafi passes away

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The late ayatollah was born in the central Iranian city of Isfahan on February 20, 1919 and was among the distinguished students of grand ayatollahs Boroujerdi, Hojjat, Khansari and Golpaygani.

He is credited for writing more than 80 books on different areas of Fiqh – Islamic jurisprudence – and training numerous students during his decades-long teaching career at seminary schools in the central Iranian city of Qom.

He has won several Velayat Book of the Year and Mahdaviat Book of the Year prizes.

Ayatollah Saafi was also a member of the Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council in the early years after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.

40th Fajr Film Festival kicks off in Tehran, other cities

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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On the first day, two films “Biro” about the goalkeeper of the Iranian national team Alireza Biranvand and the film “The Loser Man” directed by Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian were screened for critics. 

In the Simorgh section, which is the main part of the festival, 22 Iranian films will be screened. Following the announcement of the list of qualified films in this category, a number of critics and directors criticized the removal of some films by the jury. 

Meanwhile, despite the current coronavirus surge in Iran, reports indicate that on the first day, health protocols were rarely observed. 

From Tuesday, the public can watch the movies in theaters in Tehran and other Iranian cities. The director of cinema affairs of the festival earlier announced that 30 cinemas in Tehran and other cities (62 halls with 14896 seats) will screen festival fims. 

The 40th Fajr Film Festival, marking the anniversary of the victory of Iran’s  Islamic Revolution, will run through February 11 and will end with an awards ceremony.

Taliban reject UN report of ex-Afghan officials killings

By
IFP Media Wire
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Taliban

On Monday, Reuters reported that UN Chief Antonio Guterres in a report to the UN Security Council stated the UN mission in Afghanistan “continues to receive credible allegations of killings, enforced disappearances and other violations” against former officials, security force members and people who worked for foreign troops in Afghanistan.

“The mission has determined as credible reports that more than 100 of those individuals have been killed – more than two-thirds of them allegedly by the Taliban or their affiliates – since Aug. 15,” the report said as quoted by Reuters.

“Human rights defenders and media workers continue to come under attack, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and killings,” it added.

The The Ministry of Interior (MoI), reacting to the report, said that after the general amnesty no one has been killed by Islamic Emirate forces.

The MoI rejected the UN’s report, saying the UN should make itself familiar with the realities on the ground and not rely on information that may have been provided by “biased circles.”

“The Islamic Emirate killed no one after the general amnesty,” the MoI added.

The MoI said some members of the former security forces might have been targeted due to personal disputes, adding that it is investigating such cases.

Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also rejected the UN report, stressing that under the general amnesty no one is allowed to take such actions.

Guterres also raised concerns over Afghanistan’s economy noting it is on a downward spiral and he called for the injection of liquidity into the country.

“To pull it back from the brink, liquidity must be rapidly injected. Time is of the essence. Without action, lives will be lost, and despair and extremism will grow,” he continued.

The UN chief has also recommended that the Security Council approve a restructuring of the UN mission in Afghanistan to deal with the situation, including the creation of a new human rights monitoring unit.

Russia says to retaliate possible UK sanctions

By
IFP Media Wire
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Peskov blasted the threats as “an attack on businesses”.

“The British foreign secretary spoke about some sanctions. But here, I think, we must call everything by its proper name. Sanctions are something legitimate and something formally approved via a decision of the UN Security Council,” Peskov said on Monday.

“In this case, we are talking about an undisguised attack on businesses,” he added.

According to the official, any such aggression will bring countermeasures from Moscow to protect Russia’s national interests.

British media outlets previously reported that the cabinet plans to announce a new round of sanctions against Russia on 31 January, targeting energy companies and other “strategic” industries. At the same time, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stated the government would present a new draft law in the UK Parliament in a bid to widen the anti-Russian sanctions list.

The threats come amid deteriorating ties caused by the Ukrainian crisis, as London continues to accuse Moscow of planning an invasion of Ukraine and seeking to install a “puppet government” in Kiev.

Moscow, in turn, blasted the allegation as “fake” and said that the escalation is deliberately being hyped up by the UK and the US, who are planning a provocation against Russia in Ukraine.

Simon Clarke, Chief Secretary to the UK Treasury, speaking on the Sky News Monday once again threatened Moscow with sanctions amid heightened tensions between the two sides.

“We are very clear that if Russia takes further action against the Ukraine, then we will further tighten the sanctions regime targeting those businesses and people with the closest links to the Kremlin,” he asserted.

Western powers accuse Russia of amassing troops near the Ukrainian border to invade the country. Moscow rejects the allegations and says the deployments are defensive in nature.

Kremlin officials accuse the West of Russiophobia, saying it has no right to lecture Moscow on how to act after it expanded the NATO military alliance eastwards after the fall of the Soviet Union, and sowed seeds of chaos and mayhem in Iraq and Syria.

IAEA: Iran moves centrifuge-parts production from Karaj to Isfahan

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran informed the IAEA that it would produce the parts in the city of Isfahan instead of at the TESA Karaj workshop, according to the IAEA.

It added that IAEA inspectors had installed surveillance cameras in Isfahan on Jan. 24 and that the production of the parts there had not started then.

Back in December, Tehran announced it has voluntarily allowed the IAEA to replace the damaged cameras at the Tessa Complex in Karaj with new ones. According to reports, Iran’s initiative prevented a misunderstanding with the IAEA over an issue which was raised during Director General Rafael Grossi‘s visits to Tehran in September and December.

Allowing the IAEA to install new cameras at TESA Karaj Complex is seen as another attempt by Iran to give diplomacy a chance as the country is involved in negotiations with the remaining nuclear deal parties to remove US sanctions and bring Washington back into the landmark agreement.

Covid-19 infections surge in Iran

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Nearly 29,000 people with the disease have been detected over the past 24 hours compared with nearly 22,000 on Sunday, Iran’s Health Ministry announced on Monday.

The latest official figures also show that 30 more people have lost their lives to the respiratory disease compared with 44 on Sunday.

Days ago, Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi announced the beginning of a new wave of coronavirus pandemic, as the number of people infected with the new strain keeps surging.

The minister urged more caution and said getting booster shots as soon as possible can play a significant role in preventing a fresh surge in the number of Covid-19 deaths and infections.

Iran’s intensified national vaccination program has seen a total of well over 132,200,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine administered, with more than 54,000,000 people fully inoculated. So far, nearly 17,300,000 people in the country have had their third shots.

Yemeni general: Future attacks on UAE will be more powerful

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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General Abed bin Mohammad al-Thawr, head of the Spiritual Guidance Office of the Yemeni Armed Forces, added that the Yemeni armed forces are now able to carry out advanced operations deep inside the aggressor coalition member states, especially the United Arab Emirates. 

He said Operation Storm Yemen 2 sent a message to the UAE leader Muhammad bin Zayed that he should know he will suffer a lot, the cost of his efforts to please Israel is very high, and Abu Dhabi will pay the price. 

Al-Thawr maintained that Operation Storm Yemen woke up the UAE, but now the Emirati people must know that the dangers ahead will be the result of the stupidity of their rulers and they will not be able to bear the consequences. 

He noted that if the leaders of the UAE leave the fate of their country in the hands of bin Zayed, they should know that they have exposed the UAE to Yemeni forces. 

“The UAE is trying to gain a foothold in the region through its aggression against Yemen, but the move has been counterproductive and we see that the UAE is destroying itself,” he said.

Al-Thawr added that the United States is playing an increasingly active role in supporting the crimes of the Saudi-Emirati-Zionist coalition against the Yemenis and Palestinians. 

The general however said Yemen’s future attacks will be more painful and will push back the UAE to square one.

Biden, Qatari emir to discuss Iran, energy

By
IFP Media Wire
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Biden, Qatari emir to discuss Iran, energy

Qatar is the world’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and may divert supplies to Europe if the Ukraine conflict disrupts Russian gas deliveries to the continent.

Ukrainian and Western officials have sounded the alarm several times in recent months of an imminent offensive, pointing to Moscow’s troop movements near its border with Ukraine, where they estimate 100,000 Russian soldiers are stationed. However, the Kremlin has repeatedly rejected accusations that the country’s armed forces are planning to strike its neighbor, with its Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov calling such claims “groundless.”

Tamim will also meet separately with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and discuss arms sales and other military issues with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, an official told reporters.

Biden’s agenda for the Oval Office meeting will also include the Iran nuclear talks and relations with Afghanistan, where Washington’s interests are now represented by the small Persian Gulf country.

Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian was in Doha for high-level talks with the Qatari FM as well as the Qatari Emir.

Also on Thursday, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held meeting with Amir Abdollahian in Tehran in what some observers suggested could be related to the emir’s upcoming US visit.

But, Iranian media sought to douse the speculation, saying some are “fabricating” that the Tehran meeting is a means to facilitate direct talks with Washington.

However, in recent days, the US and Iranian officials have voiced openness to meeting directly to discuss nuclear deal, after months of negotiations in Vienna between Tehran and the other signatories to the accord.

The Qatari emir’s visit comes as the negotiating delegations are expected to go back to Austria’s capital to resume talks in the coming days.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh stressed that the negotiations can yield a reliable agreement once Tehran receives the “right answer” from the other sides to its rightful demands.

Iran insists that the talks must lead to the removal of all American sanctions that were imposed against Tehran following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the landmark agreement in May 2018. Tehran has also demanded credible guarantees that Washington will not abandon the deal again.

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