Mehdi Torabi and Manucher Safarov from FC Persepolis and Mohammad Reza Akhbarishad from FC Tractor were selected as the best players via fans’ votes, the AFC website announced on Saturday.
Akhbarishad plays as the goalkeeper in Iran’s Tractor football team and Torabi is a midfielder in Persepolis.
Safarov is a Tajik defender who played in Tajikistan’s Istiklol club in the 2021 AFC Champions League, but he now plays in Iranian side Persepolis.
A day earlier, the number of deaths and infections were respectively 34 and 1,703.
While much of Europe and the US is struggling to roll back a resurgent pandemic fueled by the new Covid variant known as Omicron, Iran has succeeded in containing the outbreak. Despite that, experts are warning about quote tsunami of Omicron cases in case of relaxation of health protocols.
Few numbers of Omicron cases have been logged in the Islamic Republic. Iran’s nationwide vaccination campaign has been credited with the downward trend.
Nearly 8 million people have received their third dose of vaccine, or their boosters.
Pars Oil and Gas Company announced in a statement that planning is underway to carry out repairs and return the phase 16 platform to the production circuit.
It also dismissed reports of a fire at the facility saying no fire broke out on the platform and the facilities are safe.
On Friday, a gas pipeline carrying gas from platform 16 leaked on the seabed. The outlets of the platform were immediately closed and the leak was completely contained.
The company explained that following the incident, the leaded gas on the water surface caught fire due to a lightning strike at a distance of 15 kilometer from the site which was stopped immediately after production was halted.
Despite the incident, Pars Oil and Gas Company, while compensating the gas deficit from other platforms, is committed to maintaining production according to the approved plan, the company added.
A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Arabic-language Shafaq news agency that three projectiles slammed into a base, which accommodates US forces in Dayr al-Zawr and sits near the border with Iraq, on Friday.
Witnesses, who preferred not to be named, noted successive explosions were heard after the rockets targeted the military base.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries and the extent of damage caused.
The US military later responded to the attack, and struck the rocket launchers with 155mm howitzers.
Furthermore, the General Organization of Radio and Television Syria (ORTAS) reported late on Friday that a number of rockets had been fired on a military airbase housing US occupation forces in the country’s northeastern province of Hasakah.
The report added that the rockets landed at the edge of base in al-Shaddadi town, which lies on the southern outskirts of the provincial, without no immediate reports about casualties.
Back on December 13 last year, four powerful explosions were heard inside a military facility housing US occupation forces in Syria’s Dayr al-Zawr province, after a number of rockets targeted the base.
The Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik News Agency, citing local sources, reported at the time that the projectiles slammed into base at the US-occupied al-Omar oil field.
The sources added that plumes of thick black smoke could be seen rising from the site.
They said that a large number of US military aircraft patrolled the skies over the base after the rocket attack. No group claimed responsibility for the assault.
Meanwhile, local residents of a town in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah have prevented a US military convoy from attempting to pass through their community.
Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that a US convoy of five armored vehicles was forced on Friday afternoon to turn around and head back in the direction it came from after Tell Hamis locals blocked the road, and prevented its movement.
The report added that US-backed Kurdish militants affiliated with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) escorted American occupation forces until they left the area.
Additionally, US forces brought in reinforcements from neighboring Iraq into areas in northeastern Syria, SANA reported.
The American forces brought in generators, refrigerators and a number of battle tanks through al-Waleed border crossing between Iraq and Syria, the official Syrian news agency said, adding that 40 military vehicles entered the Syrian territories.
The US military has stationed forces and equipment in eastern and northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
Damascus, however, says 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.
A number of sports authorities also took part at the public march.
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei made the comments in a meeting with Soleimani’s family as well as members of a commission set up to honor him on Saturday.
“Today in our region, Soleimani is a symbol of self-confidence and bravery as well as the secret to resistance and victory,” said the Leader.
“As some have aptly put it, ‘martyr’ Soleimani is more dangerous to his enemies than ‘general’ Soleimani,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader also said general Soleimani was tough on “villains and corrupt people” both at home and abroad, “so much so that even the news of his presence in a region would destroy the enemy’s morale.”
“The enemies were under the delusion that with the martyrdom of Soleimani, Abu Mahdi and his other companions, it would be all over,” said the Leader.
“But today, thanks to his blood, the US has fled Afghanistan, is inevitably pretending to be leaving Iraq and has announced that it will have an advisory role there without military presence,” he noted.
The Leader then urged Iraqi officials to be vigilant against this US move.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted the gains made by the Yemeni army and popular forces in Yemen.
“In Yemen, the resistance front is making gains,” he said.
“In Syria, the enemy has been brought to its knees and has no hope for the future,” the Leader noted.
“On the whole, the resistance and anti-hegemony front in the region is more dynamic and hopeful today than two years ago as it keeps working and moving forward,” he said.
The Leader described the martyrdom of the top general as a national as well as an international event, adding late general Qassem Soleimani has turned into a role model for the younger generation.
He said the nationwide commemoration of the martyrdom of general Soleimani shows Iranian people are appreciative of the services and efforts by this great martyr.
The Leader said general Soleimani’s school of thought was marked by sincerity and devotion.
The figure represents one of the lowest death tolls in 30 years, since the International Federation of Journalists first began publishing annual reports in 1991 on journalists killed in incidents related to their work. Sixty-five deaths were recorded in 2020.
But the IFJ said the numbers in 2021 confirm a trend showing that media staff are most often killed for exposing corruption, crime and abuse of power in their communities, cities and countries.
“These 45 colleagues we lost to violence this year remind us of the terrible sacrifice journalists across the world continue to pay for serving the public interest and we remain in the debt to them and thousands of others who paid the ultimate price,” stated IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger.
Bellanger said that “the only tribute fit for the cause to which they gave their lives should be unrelenting pursuit for justice.”
The IFJ, which represents around 600,000 media professionals across the globe, said that the 45 journalists and media workers were killed in 20 countries. Of those, 33 died in targeted attacks. Nine were killed in Afghanistan, eight in Mexico, four in India and three in neighboring Pakistan.
The organization added that 2,721 journalists have been killed around the world since 1991.
A creative artist in the city of Saleh Abad, Hamadan Province, has used colorful pottery fragments to decorate the walls of a house turning it to a palace of light and color.
Schools were closed on Saturday in the cities of Chabahar and Konarak in Saistan and Baluchestan Province as torrential rain flooded public places.
The port city of Konarak received over 170mm of rain in 48 hours, getting the highest amount of precipitation in the country during that period.
Meanwhile, rainy weather dumped over 134mm of rain on Chabahar.
Urban infrastructure and residential areas, especially on the outskirts of the two cities, have sustained some damage.
Officials say over 40 percent of homes and public places in Konarak have been inundated and that local facilities are not enough to tackle the problems caused by the deluge.
Houses are flooded with water and relief teams are already on the ground to help affected families.
Makeshift shelters have also been set up to house those struck by the deluge.
Tents and blankets have been distributed among affected families, too.
“Indeed, we observe some progress on two tracks: at the negotiating table and in public assessments of the situation at the Vienna Talks. Now for the first time since June these assessments contain cautious positive elements,” Russia’s Permanent Envoy to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanovm, wrote on Twitter Friday.
“That means that the negotiators really move ahead,” the Russian negotiator in Vienna talks added.
“I wholeheartedly wish all participants in the Vienna Talks and all supporters of the nuclear deal throughout the world to see the JCPOA fully restored early next year! It would bring sanctions lifting, reduced tension in the region and strengthened nuclear non- proliferation,” he continued.
Vienna talks focused on lifting sanctions will continue on Monday (January 3, 2022) after a short recess due to the New Year’s holidays.
Iran’s chief negotiator to the Vienna negotiations stated good progress has been made regarding anti-Tehran sanctions removal during negotiations with the P4+1 group over the past days.
The main focus of the eighth round of talks has been on lifting sanctions, Ali Bagheri Kani noted on Thursday afternoon as delegations prepared to go back to their countries for a New Year break before they return to the Austria’s capital.
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