Torrential rain and heavy snow have swept across large parts of the country in recent days.
Although the precipitation wreaked havoc on many areas, destroying homes and infrastructure, it left people in a festive mood in many regions where such high levels of snow and rainfall have been a rare occurrence.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a resolution issued on the Holocaust at the United Nations General Assembly and its articles are unrelated to the Islamic Republic, and called it an abuse of international mechanisms by the Zionist regime to cover up its crimes, declaring it completely null.
The statement reads:
As our country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York has in an explanatory statement officially proclaimed the Islamic Republic of Iran’s stance on the Holocaust resolution, it is reiterated that the racist Zionist regime abuses international bodies to cover up its daily crimes against Palestinians. This move by the Zionist regime is another attempt at abusing international mechanisms to cover up the regime’s daily crimes, which unfortunately have the unconditional support of the West these days.
As is clear to all, the atrocities during the Second World War took place with the two motives of racism and expansionism, two satanic traits inherited and represented now by the Zionist regime. The regime’s racist approach has been affirmed in numerous international documents, and in spite of the solid will of the international community, Israel remains the sole racist regime with an expansionist ideology.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has considered genocide an act to be condemned and unjustifiable under any circumstances, and that is the reason why, during the Second World War, Iran hosted people displaced by the conflict in some European countries. This is while the faux Zionist regime has constantly attempted to exploit victims of the World War II and Jews as justification for its egregious and aggressive acts.
This regime and its leaders have over the past seven decades committed all acts of criminality and specially crimes against humanity against the people of Palestine and the peoples of regional countries by violating international law. Genocide, assassinations, ethnic cleansing, the demolition of houses, and siege are some of the crimes that the Zionist regime is constantly in the process of committing.
The statement concludes: The Islamic Republic of Iran once again stresses that historical research is needed to avoid the repetition of historical catastrophes, which should be conducted without political prejudgments; and thus, such constrictive approaches are not acceptable, and such a resolution is not deemed based on consensus, and is thus null.
Iranian media reported that Hossein Mousavi, who serves at a court in the northern city of Sowme’eh Sara, Gilan Province, ruled that the girl was not allowed to marry her 25-year suitor since she was still a child.
According to the judge, the 13-year-old student is not spiritually ready yet for undertaking the role of a spouse or a mother.
Under Iranian law, the legal age for marriage is full 13 years for girls and 15 years for boys. It is, however, acceptable for children younger to be married with permission from the father or a judge.
Washington’s latest sanctions target Adel Diab, Adnan Ayad and Jihad Adnan Ayad, The US Department of Treasury said in a post on its website on Friday.
“Today’s action exposes and targets Hezbollah’s misuse of the international financial system to raise and launder funds for its destabilizing activities as the Lebanese people suffer during an unprecedented economic crisis in Lebanon,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
“Treasury is committed to disrupting Hezbollah’s illicit activity and attempts to evade sanctions through business networks while the group doubles down on corrupt patronage networks in Lebanon,” Nelson added.
The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions on three businessmen it claimed had ties to Hezbollah.
The move came at a time when Lebanon is facing a financial meltdown with its currency losing more than 90 percent of its value during the past two years.
The US designated Hezbollah as a “terrorist” organization in 1997, but the group has rejected the label and presents itself as a resistance force against Israel.
Hezbollah has blamed US sanctions, including measures against neighboring Syria, for the worsening economic crisis in Lebanon.
The large protests were held in the capital, Sana’a on Friday, hours after Saudi-led warplanes bombarded a temporary detention center in Sa’ada and left over 180 people, including African migrants, dead or injured.
Reports said the fatalities included three children and 60 adults, with the number expected to rise as efforts are still underway to save those trapped under the rubble.
The angry protesters shouted slogans against the “aggressor coalition” and its key parties, namely Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which they say have been committing war crimes in Yemen with the support of the US and their other allies.
The demonstrators also renewed the call for the coalition to lift the crippling siege imposed on the country since the onset of the Saudi-led war in early 2015.
In a statement, Yemen’s INSAN human rights organization slammed the Saudi-led raids as a major human rights violation and war crime, criticizing the international community’s silence in the face of such deadly acts of aggression.
Such double standards applied to the issue of human rights expose the true nature of so-called rights organizations and the countries claiming to be advocates of human rights, it said.
It also called on the international community to adopt a transparent position against the crimes committed by the Riyadh-led military coalition against Yemen.
Behrouz Kamalvandi said Friday that the construction of new units at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is being developed jointly by Tehran and Moscow, was on the agenda of Raisi’s talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
He said Raisi and Putin discussed how to further promote bilateral strategic cooperation in the nuclear sphere.
Kamalvandi said Iran-Russia nuclear cooperation could be divided into energy-related and non-energy-related issues, in both of which bilateral relations are going well.
Iran uses the radioisotopes supplied by Russia for medical, industrial and agricultural purposes, the atomic official added.
“Cooperation is underway between the two countries for the construction of the second and third units at the Bushehr nuclear plant in line with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s plan to produce at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity using nuclear energy, despite a delay in the payment [to Russia], he said.
“We expect the technical teams of Iran and Russia to begin the required cooperation and exchanges of information in order to start new projects in Iran,” Kamalvandi said.
He said each project at the power plant was worth $5 billion alone and would thus constitute a significant part of economic relations between the two countries.
Ms. Masoumeh Salehi said currently one million people suffer from the Alzheimer’s. Salehi blamed the upward trend on a growth in the number of elderly people in Iran.
She also warned that the disease has a deep psychological, economic and social impact on the families of the patients.
The CEO of the Iranian Association of Dementia and Alzheimer’s added that 10 to 15 percent of the Alzheimer’s cases are genetic but preventive measures during childhood and youth will decrease the likelihood of people getting the disease by 40 percent.
Salehi said the Covid-19 pandemic has a negative impact on people’s mental health and will increase the number of dementia and Alzheimer’s cases in Iran as well.
She also spoke of pollution. Masoumi said pollution negatively affect the brain’s function and will bring about a hike in the number of dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.
She noted that Alzheimer’s has no cure for the time being because the exact cause of the disease is unknown.
Raisi on Friday traveled to the city of Jiroft, which has been hardly hit by heavy flooding caused by torrential downpours in recent days following months of drought.
Upon arrival, the president paid a visit to the regions worst hit by the natural disaster in the southern parts of the province. He then attended an emergency meeting with Kerman’s Governor Ali Zeinivand and local commanders of the police force and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
During the meeting, the governor briefed Raisi on the large scale of the damage inflicted on the region, assuring the president the relief operations quickly began across the affected regions.
Relief and rescue operations are underway on the ground and from the air, he said.
Fortunately, the official added, the flooding caused no significant casualties.
Over the past week, heavy rain and snowfalls have caused flooding in many parts of Iran.
The southern half of the country, especially the provinces of Sistan and Baluchistan, Kerman, Fars and Hormozgan, are the worst hit by the downpours, with many villages and towns in the affected areas surrounded by water.
Meanwhile, 20 people died of Covid countrywide, pushing the total death toll since the pandemic’s onset some two years ago to 132,172.
This comes as Iran is pressing ahead with a nationwide vaccination campaign that has seen 14,013,465 people triple-vaxxed. The total number of vaccine doses administered is nearing the 128 million mark.
The upward trend of the Coronavirus cases has caused concern among officials. They are urging people to not relax health protocols with a member of the National Taskforce for Fighting Coronavirus saying Iran is already facing a sixth wave of Covid caused by Omicron. Minoo Mohraz said the wave will shoot up Covid cases in the new couple of weeks.
Abedin Khorram made the remark in a meeting with Çetin Taner, the new consul general of Turkey in the provincial, Tabriz.
The administration of Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi is determined to promote the country’s political, economic, and cultural relations with neighboring states, said the provincial chief, adding that Tehran-Ankara ties will grow day by day, particularly through cooperation between Tabriz and Turkish cities.
Khorram said all possible obstacles in the way of bilateral ties will be removed, calling for the Turkish consul general to further pave the way for the issuance of visas for Iranians.
He voiced the province’s readiness for attracting investors, saying East Azarbaijan enjoys the necessary infrastructure for that end in the industrial areas, namely Foreign Investments Township, Sahlan Special Economic Zone, Besat Township, and Aras Free Trade-Industrial Zone.
The governor general asked the Turkish Consulate General in Tabriz to introduce the tourist attractions and handicrafts of East Azarbaijan Province to the Turkish people.
Taner, for his part, said “I am convinced that the two countries can develop their bilateral relations in the political, cultural, scientific, and investment sectors,” said the diplomat.
Concerning the customs procedures, he continued, “We will follow up the necessary measures and your cooperation is needed.”
Shifting to the investments by his fellow countrymen in East Azarbaijan, Taner expressed hope that the guarantees would encourage them to invest in the Iranian province.
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