There were also 3,109 new cases including 593 hospitalizations.
Since the start of the pandemic, 6,134,465 people have contracted Covid in Iran. The majority of them, that is, 5,923,316 people have recovered from the disease. Meanwhile, the nationwide vaccination campaign is continuing in Iran with the number of total doses administered so far crossing the 107 million mark. Since Saturday, 388,614 doses were given to people across Iran.
The number of people who have received the first dose of vaccine has reached 58,094,169. Meanwhile, 48,149,791 people have received the second dose. The number of those who have been given the third dose, also known as the booster shot, is 1,287811,017.
The total number of doses administered in Iran is 107,531,771 doses while the Health Ministry has said all people over 40 years old can get their boosters now.
Now 2 cities in Iran are marked red, which means the risk of Covid is very high there. Meanwhile, 9 cities are orange, 153 yellow and 284 blue. Blue cities face the lowest level of risk from Covid.
A range of factors were instrumental in lowering the number of Covid deaths and infections in Iran including a fast vaccination drive across the country, unrelenting efforts by the government and people’s help with the inoculation process.
The vast majority of people in Iran welcomed the vaccination campaign and the number of what is known in the other countries as anti-vaxxers is very low.
40+ citizens urged to get booster shots in Iran
Yemen: Saudi peace plan ‘immature’, includes ‘unrealistic’ demands
In a tweet on Sunday, al-Houthi drew a sharp contrast between the peace proposal put forward by the Houthi Ansarullah movement and the one drawn up by the Riyadh regime and said the latter was not in line with the Yemeni nation’s interests.
“Our initiative was for the sake of the Yemeni nation, and not the result of initial and exploratory talks with Saudi authorities, who are torn between their inadequacies and failures, on the one hand, and their unrealistic demands, on the other,” he wrote.
He added, “What we have offered in Ma’rib for the sake of Yemen (including fatalities and casualties) is the result of understanding the importance of stopping the aggression, lifting the siege, taking national interests into consideration, and knowing the fact that the Yemeni war is devastating for Saudi Arabia.”
Earlier this year, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud presented the “peace” initiative to end the war in Yemen, which would include a partial reopening the Sana’a airport and the Hudaydah port — both of which are under the control of the Sana’s government — to let in humanitarian aid.
The top Saudi diplomat told a news conference on March 22 that political negotiations between representatives of the Saudi-backed government of Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi Ansarullah movement would resume as part of the initiative.
Reacting to the proposal, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the spokesman for Ansarullah, said afterwards that it offered “nothing new,” and did not meet the movement’s demand for a complete lifting of the blockade on Sana’a airport and Hudaydah port.
“We expected that Saudi Arabia would announce an end to the blockade of ports and airports and an initiative to allow in 14 ships that are held by the coalition,” he added.
A “humanitarian right” should not be used as a pressure tool, Abdul-Salam noted.
Many analysts view the Saudi plan as a political trap and believe that the Riyadh regime is seeking to portray itself as an advocate of peace by presenting this plan, so as to legitimize the occupation and guardianship of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing Ansarullah movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.
Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s incessant bombardment of the impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
Iranian Para Powerlifter Wins Gold Medal
Gharibshahi lifted 251kg while the previous record was 247kg.
Meanwhile, Sodnompiljee Enkhbayar from Mongolia won the silver medal with 244kg. Saman Razi, also from Iran, came third and won the bronze medal with 235kg. This is one of the compulsory tournaments to qualify for the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France. The competitions will conclude later on Sunday in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
Iran’s Bagheri: Tehran not to retreat from demands in Vienna
In an exclusive interview with the Italian News Agency, ANSA, Bagheri emphasized Iran’s clear stance that all oppressive US sanctions against Iran must be lifted. Bagheri added that it was the US that first left the Iran nuclear deal, JCPOA, and Washington now must take the first step toward reviving the agreement.
He noted that Iran’s proposals to the other signatories to the JCPOA for the purpose of reviving the deal are substantiated and logical and they can serve as a basis for talks.
Bagheri was referring to Iran’s initiatives laid out in two draft documents the Iranian negotiating team presented to the P4+1 group of countries in Vienna last week. Earlier, Bagheri said in an exclusive interview with Al-Jazeera that Iran’s proposals aimed at removing the sanctions are such that the other side cannot reject them.
The chief Iranian negotiator added that if the 4+1 agrees to the two drafts, Iran will present a third draft concerning the sanctions removal verification.
Iran says with the proposals having been presented to the 4+1, , namely Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, the ball is now in the West’s court.
After Iran put forth its proposals, the 4+1 negotiators returned to their capital from Vienna for consultations with their governments.
Explosions heard inside US military base in Syria
Syrian state television reported on Sunday that multiple explosions had been heard inside the US base in the Al-Tanf region in eastern Homs.
The American military has not commented on the reports so far.
Last month, the New York Times reported that the base was targeted by “suicide drones” in October, alleging that the attack was coordinated by Tehran.
The desert base, located along the M2 Baghdad-Damascus highway, has been held by American forces since 2016. At the time, it was used to train Washington-backed opposition forces, fighting against the government of President Bashar Assad.
Damascus previously called the base “a sanctuary for the terrorists in the region”, stating that the anti-government militants are getting their weapons there.
American forces are operating on Syrian territory without the consent or authorization of the United Nations. Damascus has repeatedly stressed that the presence of US troops in Syria is illegal because they were never invited for deployment.
Over 20 countries deeply concerned over ‘Taliban summary killing’
The countries in a joint statement said that the summary killings of the former men in uniform are clear abuses of human rights and in contradiction with the general amnesty announced by the Taliban, according to Khaama press news agency.
The countries include the United States of America, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine.
The world is expressing worry after Human Rights Watchdog released a report alleging the Taliban fighters of retaliatory killings and disappearance of military personnel of the previous Afghan government.
The joint statement called on the Taliban to fully enforce their general amnesty equally on common Afghan and former Afghan security forces and government officials.
“Reported cases must be investigated promptly and in a transparent manner, those responsible must be held accountable, and these steps must be clearly publicized as an immediate deterrent to further killings and disappearances,” reads the statement.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has not commented on the allegations yet.
Meantime, a spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Ahmadullah Wasiq stated the level of civilian casualties has dropped to zero showing the lowest level ever in the past 40 years.
Pajhwak News Agency-Afghan news agency- has reported five killings in the past week.
Wasiq in a Twitter post said the survival of the Islamic system – Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – is the guarantor of securing the lives and properties of the Afghan people.
He added that the support of the system is the obligation of every Afghan.
The claim comes as Daesh is still inflicting casualties to both the Taliban fighters and civilian people across the country.
On the other hand, the Human Rights Watchdog report over retaliatory killings of former Afghan security forces by the Taliban also questions the claim.
The Taliban have not reacted to the allegations of the HRW yet.
It is worth mentioning that the war of the past two decades would kill and wound up to 300 people every single day that including civilians, the Taliban fighters, and former Afghan security forces.
Europe seeking to please US in Vienna talks: Iran
The official was quoted by ISNA as elaborating on the latest developments pertaining to negotiations in Vienna between Tehran and other signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“Although the Iranian negotiation team’s approach has been based on interaction and flexibility since day one, unfortunately the three European countries do not have enough freewill to make decisions,” said the official.
“The Europeans’ ongoing concern is to keep the American delegation satisfied and coordinate their positions with those of the US team. This is while the talks are being held between Iran and the 4+1 group, not between Iran and the US”, the official added.
“It is clear that the Western sides, which came to Vienna under the delusion that they would give minimum concessions and get maximum concessions, were not fully satisfied with Iran’s proposed documents and clear demands,” he said.
“However, none of these countries could find fault with these legal texts or described them as being contradictory to the JCPOA,” said the official.
As the foreign ministry official noted, the Europeans said they were not ready to offer the benefits clearly stated in the JCPOA.
“The most important challenge to making headway with the talks is the United States’ reluctance to fully lift sanction,” he said.
“We believe whenever the US abandons its ‘maximum pressure’ campaign and the Europeans show the necessary political will in the negotiations, then a path will open to rapidly reaching an agreement,” the official explained.
He said Iran believes the draft proposals it has submitted to the other parties are negotiable, and added Tehran has urged the other sides to the talks to present their clear texts and proposals based on “common principles and within the framework of the JCPOA.”
“One of the points stressed during talks with the other side is that all sanctions imposed within the framework of the ‘maximum pressure’ policy clearly aimed at eliminating the JCPOA must be lifted; so, all sanctions are related to the JCPOA,” he said.
“As long as this issue is not settled, other issues cannot be finalized,” said the official.
“The method and timing of verification as well as issues related to the US giving guarantees that it won’t withdraw from the deal again are among the topics to be discussed as talks continue,” he said.
Iranian Diplomacy: Why the Vienna talks were not so fruitful?
Nouri cites the transfer of power in Germany and the elections in France as two reasons why the European troika did not take the negotiations seriously.
Another reason, according to the expert, is the resetting of foreign policy in Britain after the Brexit. He believes that London is seeking to further bolster ties with Israel as an ally outside Europe as per the periphery alliance strategy, given that its ties with the EU is strained following the UK’s divorce from the bloc.
As for the IAEA’s reports on Iran, Nouri says the agency’s chief Rafael Grossi failed to fulfill his professional duties toward Iran in terms of neutrality and somehow sided with the other parties to the nuclear deal, JCPOA.
The other factors the article cites as reasons for the fruitlessness of the Vienna talks are what he calls the unprofessional lineup of the Iranian negotiating team and their big demands of the other sides.
Nouri said the Vienna talks call for negotiators who have a full command of the topic of the negotiations.
He writes chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri is not a world class interlocutor despite being a decent and revolutionary person.
Also, Nouri says ever since President Raisi took office, political right-wing groups have made the success of any nuclear talks with the West conditional on the lifting of all nuclear and non-nuclear sanctions, and on the unlocking of Iran’s frozen assets. “This demand is seen as impractical by the US, which decreased chances of success in talks. “
Finally, Nouri believes that political negotiations do not require a large negotiating team. He says in any political and security talks, the number of negotiators must be limited and this can prevent the leakage of sensitive information and can increase chances of a breakthrough in a stalemate.
Official: Drone made emergency Landing in Iran’s Kouhrang
Jafar Mardani told Fars News Agency that the drone was being used by the meteorological organization as part of a cloud fertilization project in the area, when the incident happened.
He said the UAV began its flight from the provincial capital Shahr-e Kord on Thursday and headed to the western parts of the province for the project.
Mardani added that the drone was forced to use its parachute and make an emergency landing due to “adverse weather conditions in Kouhrang area and strong winds” there.
The drone, he said, was carried from the local heights to the village of Meymeh on Saturday and “was transferred by land to its origin by experts”.
Media reports earlier reported the drone had crashed. It came after local people shared footage on social media, which showed the drone being carried by a chopper to Meymeh.
Iran, Kyrgyzstan call for all-out expansion of cooperation
They made the call during a meeting between Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Vice Admiral Ali Shamkhani and Chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s National Security Council Talatbek Masadykov in Tehran.
During the meeting, Shamkhani said Tehran is ready for all-out cooperation with Bishkek in different spheres. He added that Iran has specifically potential for joint work in the fields of transit, energy, science, medicine, Information Technology and knowledge-based companies.
Shamkhani also touched on the situation in Afghanistan. He said the “complicated” situation in the country, and in the wider region, is a result of the 20-year occupation of the Afghanistan and other “wrong policies of the US”, which are to blame for regional crises.
“Seeing the need for establishing lasting peace, stability and security in Afghanistan, we consider formation of an inclusive government with the participation of all tribes as a key factor in the realization of this objective,” he added.
Masadykov, in turn, said his country is willing to upgrade political, security and economic ties with Iran.
He called for cooperation with Iran to use its southern ports as a transit route for Kyrgyzstan’s imports saying this is a priority for Bishkek.
Masadykov also called for security cooperation against terrorism, narcotics and organized crime.
The official added that regional countries should join hands to help restore stability to Afghanistan and prevent a humanitarian crisis and growth of terrorism in the country.
