Monday, April 27, 2026
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Iran calls on Europe to fulfill obligations regarding Afghan refugees

“We expect international organizations and Europe to live up to their financial obligations in the area of refugees,” Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in a meeting with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi in Tehran on Monday.

Vahidi said Iran has always treated foreigners well from a humanitarian point of view, but this cannot be used as a pretext by Europeans to not fulfill their responsibilities, and that they must keep in mind that the main destination of these migrants is Europe.

“Our feeling is that the Europeans have the impression that the Islamic Republic of Iran accepts the refugees and therefore they do not worry about the flow of these refugees towards their own borders,” the Iranian interior minister stated.

He referred to the United States actions in Afghanistan and said the US is behind the current situation in the country, it has blocked Afghan funds and is the root cause of the plight of the Afghan people.

Referring to medical and educational services provided for Afghan citizens living in Iran, Vahidi said: “Foreign nationals living inside the country, like Iranian citizens, receive appropriate health and medical services.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never built a wall to prevent the entry of immigrants, while international support for the services that Iran provides to foreign nationals is insignificant,” the Iranian interior minister noted.

Iran has hosted millions of refugees from the neighboring country over the past decades.

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August, thousands of Afghans have been flocking to Iran on a daily basis.

Russia warns of military response if NATO ignores concerns

“I said that we would find forms to respond, including by military and military-technical means [if NATO ignores Moscow’s concerns again],” the high-ranking Russian diplomat told TASS on Monday.

“I reaffirm this. We will have to balance the activities that are of concern to us, because they increase the risks, with our countermeasures,” Ryabkov added.

The senior Russian diplomat also stressed that Russia would seek to prevent this scenario and was aware of the need to hold a dialogue to avoid serious implications.

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released two Russian draft documents on the provision of legal security guarantees from the United States and NATO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier called on NATO to begin substantive talks on reliable long-term security guarantees to Russia. He stressed that Russia needs legally binding guarantees because the West has failed to fulfill its verbal commitments.

As Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov told US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that Moscow was ready to immediately begin talks on draft documents on security guarantees. Russia will be represented at these talks by Ryabkov.

Earlier, Peskov stated Moscow is considering various moves in response to NATO’s possible deployment of weapons near Russia’s borders.

When asked if Russia could deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus, he noted, “It is no secret that the deployment of various kinds of weapons near our borders, which can pose danger to us, clearly requires adequate steps to balance the situation. Various options are available.”

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said earlier that the former Soviet state was ready to host nuclear weapons on its soil if a threat emanated from NATO. President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, in turn, stated that Minsk would propose Moscow take such measures if NATO deployed nuclear weapons to Poland.

Welcoming Yalda 1400

This year, we will celebrate Yalda Night after a very long period of coronavirus restrictions and social distancing.

Last year, few families observed the ancient custom of visiting grandparents and gathering at the Yalda Night table, with many paying a visit to their grandparents online.

But this year, amid the coronavirus vaccination campaign and decreasing fatalities, it seems that people are widely welcoming the celebrations marking the winter solstice.

Tajrish Bazaar on the eve of Yalda Night

Yalda Night is one of the most important Iranian customs and celebrations that’s several thousand years old.

Iranian families have long celebrated the last day of autumn called Yalda.

Today, this old tradition is still celebrated enthusiastically, and Iranians, wherever they are, have long been preparing and buying Yalda gifts and nuts.

IRGC Ground Force commandos exercise offensive operations in Persian Gulf

Raisi lauds general Soleimani’s efforts in soft war, armed conflict

In a meeting with general Soleimani’s family members, and officials in charge of preparations for the second anniversary of the U.S. assassination of the general, the Iranian president said on Monday that Soleimani was upset by the fact that certain people were influenced by destructive propaganda campaigns and sought to correct them.

“Hajj Qasem belongs to the Islamic Ummah and the character of that great martyr should be introduced to everyone as an influential figure in the Islamic world,” the Iranian president stated.

Raisi noted that general Soleimani was not just a person, but rather a school, and a messenger for all societies.

Iran is preparing to mark the second anniversary of the high profile assassination on January 3.

General Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who played a key role in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq and elsewhere in the region, were killed in a U.S. drone strike which was directly ordered by former U.S. president Donald Trump.

The drone attack triggered Iran to launch missiles on an Iraqi military base hosting U.S. troops injuring scores of them.

Yaldā Night with Covid

In the past two years, the Covid pandemic has given a different feeling to the night because we have heard less about those gatherings.

Farzaneh Babaee, a first grade elementary school teacher, talks about her experience of trying to keep the passion for Yaldā alive in her students:

“Now I had to make Yaldā a happy occasion for the children far from the classroom, the kids, the blackboard and color chalks which all worked miracles. I first tried to distance myself from all the sorrow injected to my soul by the Coronavirus news and then think of colors, sounds, tastes and whatever that made this night meaningful for me over these years.

Yaldā Night with CovidI returned to my memories, the red color that had been running through my mind since the morning of the last day of autumn and I wanted to bring it out of my heart, put it on the table and share the happiness with my family. Grated pomegranates, the bowl of nuts, and basloqs soaked in coconut powder, which I did not even think of eating at other times of the year, would sit down with a few other edibles that night to give a picture of the warmth and light that we wished for on those Yaldā nights.

When you give in yourself to dreams and get detached from what is going on in your surroundings, you can make a plan for those you love if you want to. By recalling the tastes and colors, I picked up the Divan of Ḥāfeẓ to get a fal (fortune telling) for myself and feel it with all my heart before Yaldā and make a memorable Yaldā night for my pupils from a distance. That was how we greeted the first Yaldā Night during the Covid-stricken year when its days were mingled with reports of death and infection.

Yaldā Night with CovidEach student was supposed to recite a poem from Ḥāfeẓ and to memorize the couplet they liked and to send to their friends that night. Some mothers had been preparing Yaldā Yaldā Night with Covidedibles since the morning of the last day of autumn: The red boiled beetroots that were cuddling; red jellies topped with pomegranate seeds were put in the fridge; and the kids were eager to experience being with their family for a few seconds longer at night, with a new understanding of the letters of the alphabet and a sense of belonging to a group called the class.

The sun disappeared from the sky on last day of autumn sooner than we thought. By now, the kids have had a lot of happy and fresh experiences. Now with the arrival of the darkness, they passionately saw the sky full of stars. Now all my boys were sitting in clean clothes and with combed hair at the table which was decorated with cashmere and velvet.

Yaldā Night with CovidAnd one by one, they sent me videos of themselves reciting Ḥāfeẓ pomes and sending Yaldā congratulations and also a display of red, round, and sweet edibles that symbolize this ancient feast. Although we were apart, this was the first year that we were really together in the dark of Yaldā Night.”

 

Turkey says likely to operate 5 Afghanistan airports

Speaking in a joint news conference with Malaysian Counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah, Cavusoglu said a delegation consisting of experts will travel to Doha, first, then to Afghanistan to discuss operating Kabul airport.

He noted that the Turkish and Qatari delegations will make joint proposals to the interim Taliban-led government in Afghanistan and will discuss it on Wednesday. A Turkish and Qatari company signed a joint agreement to operate five airports in Afghanistan, and not just the Kabul airport.

“We will operate the airports jointly with Qatar if conditions are favorable,” Cavusoglu added.

On Sunday, the foreign minister discussed the operation and maintenance of Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport and other airports in a meeting with acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Cavusoglu and Muttaqi met on the sidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Islamabad.

Following the meeting, Cavusoglu stated, “We once again reminded them of the issue of inclusiveness,” indicating that he urged the Taliban to be inclusive in terms of ethnicity and politics.

He added that he also discussed with Muttaqi his planned visit to Afghanistan.

After the Taliban seized control of the country, Turkey offered technical and security assistance to operationalize Kabul’s airport. Keeping the airport open after foreign forces handed over control is vital to keeping Afghanistan connected with the world and maintaining an uninterrupted supply of aid for distribution.

Turkey has been working with Qatar to reopen the airport in the Afghan capital for international travel. However, repairs are needed before commercial flights can resume.

The Turkish government has taken a pragmatic approach to the recent events in Afghanistan. Underlining that new realities have emerged in Afghanistan, Ankara said it would move forward accordingly while keeping communication with all relevant leaders open.

Iran Covid: 511,000 more vaccines administered

The Health Ministry said on Monday that a total of over 113,751,000 doses have been administered in Iran, with well over 50 million people fully vaccinated. Over four million people have also received their booster shots.

The latest figures also showed that 41 more people lost their lives to the respiratory disease and nearly 2,400 new cases have been registered over the past 24 hours.

Currently, 53 cities are declared as yellow zones (medium risk) and 395 are blue (very low risk), and no cities are red (very high risk) or orange (high risk).

On Sunday, Iran confirmed its first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant with health officials urging people to get their booster shots to improve immunity against the new highly contagious strain.

Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Kamal Heidari said the Omicron infected person was a man who recently returned to the country from the United Arab Emirates.

The Health Ministry announced on Monday that over 18-year-olds, who had their second dose three to four months ago, can get their booster jab.

Iran has suffered five waves of the disease with over 131,000 fatalities. It has now managed to contain the outbreak thanks to an intensified vaccination campaign.

Iran has imported tens of millions of coronavirus jabs over the past months and has stepped up domestic production of Covid-19 shots.