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Iran Covid: Number of vaccines administered crosses 108 million mark

So far, 1,574,982 people have received the third shot, also known as the booster. 

Meanwhile, Iranian Health Ministry figures released on Tuesday show 79 people have died from Covid-19 over the past 24 hours. 

The total death toll from the disease in Iran since the start of the pandemic that engulfed the whole world is 130,356. 

Two cities in Iran are marked red, which means the risk of Covid is very high there. 9 cities are orange, 153 yellow and 284 blue. Blue cities are where people face the lowest level of risk from Covid. 

A range of factors helped maintain the downward trend in 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 have welcomed the vaccination campaign. 

Iranian authorities have relaxed some curbs put in place to contain Covid. But they urge people to be cautious as a sixth wave of the outbreak is still a possibility.

Shahreza back to ancient tradition of cooking Samanu

Samanu has been cooked in Shahreza for 500 years with the same rituals of the past, including in a zinc cauldron, heated by firewood, and of course, with faith and as offering for the members of Prophet Mohammad’s household specially his daughter Fatemeh Zahra. 

The nutritious paste is the only food solely prepared using water and flour, and has no other additive, including salt and sugar.

The sweet taste of Samanu is drawn from the golden grains of wheat, germinated and milled into flour with its germ and bran.

Samanu is cooked in a mud furnace and the master cook, who prepares it, adds certain amounts of flour and water to the zinc cauldron, which are determined by his experience. 

The cook then patiently stirs the mix until it is reduced to a paste without any water. This is called “frying”, which leaves a brown product with a nice fragrance. 

Then, the cook adds some water to dilute the mix and the process of reduction is repeated a few times.

After 18 hours, a white cloth is placed over the cauldron to steam the mix. A zinc tray is also put on top and a volume of the Holy Quran, a mirror, candles, a comb, chocolate and a pot of water are then put over the tray.

Samanu takes 7 more hours to steam, during which firewood is removed from underneath. 

The traditional Samanu cooking method in Shahreza is unique and is a ritual performed every year when the cold seasons come around.

Report: Vienna talks to resume on Thursday

During the recent round of the Vienna talks, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and chief negotiator Ali Bagheri and EU Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Enrique Mora finalized the date on which the talks aimed at removing the anti-Iran sanctions will restart. 

Meanwhile, Ali Bagheri, who is Moscow for talks, has met with his Russian counterpart Sergi Ryabkov at Russia’s Foreign Ministry. 

Iran’s Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali was also present in the meeting. 

Bagheri and Ryabkov reviewed the latest round of talks between Tehran and the P4+1 group, namely Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. 

The two officials underlined the need for continued consultations by Tehran and Moscow over international issues and the Vienna talks. 

The latest talks between Iran and the P4+1 ended on Friday. During the negotiations, the Iranian delegation presented two documents to the other side which laid out Tehran’s proposals for the resolution of the deadlock in the Vienna talks. 

Iran says one document outlines Iran’s proposals for the removal of sanctions on the country and the other one contains proposals on Tehran’s nuclear activities. 

After the drafts were submitted, the P4+1 members went to their capitals for consultations.

Official daily: Iran negotiators to safeguard national interests with or without agreement

“In this regard, it should be noted that the principle of negotiation is not aimed at reaching an agreement, but designed to secure Iran’s national interests, and if a bad agreement is detrimental to national interests, it certainly should be avoided,” the daily wrote in an opinion piece.

It says now that all P4+1 members have acknowledged the accuracy of Iran’s proposed drafts and deem them as a good and appropriate basis for continuing consultations and negotiations, the media and even political strategy within the country should be focused on a good agreement to serve national interests.

In this context, victory means securing Iran’s national interests regardless of reaching an agreement or not, and defeat means harming the country’s national interests even if the two sides manage to hammer out a deal.

The opinion piece warns about attempts by the Western media and the Persian-language anti-Iran media and even some political spectrums inside Iran to describe reaching any agreement as success, and the continuation of negotiations as a failure.

The Iranian delegation entered the 7th round of negotiations in Vienna with clear and unequivocal demands that fully comply with the 2015 agreement and even the draft of the sixth round of the talks, and this has disrupted the West’s planning, it adds.

Yemeni forces say pounded many targets in Saudi Arabia

He also said other targets hit by Yemeni missiles and drones were in the city of Jeddah and in Jizan, Najran and Asir regions. 

Saree added that the Yemeni forces used new ballistic missiles and 25 long-range assault drones in the operation. 

The Yemeni Army’s spokesman noted that six Samad-3 UAVs and several Zulfaqar missiles hit the Saudi Defense Ministry and King Khaled Airport as well as other targets in Riyadh. 

According to Saree, sux Samad-2 and Samad-3 drones were fired at King Fahd Airbase and the Aramco Oil Company in Jeddah. 

He warned Saudi citizens to stay away from military sites because “they are legitimate targets for attacks”.

Saree said, “We will respond in kind to intensified attacks and will conduct many military operations as part of our legitimate defense against continued attacks and siege of Yemen.” 

Meanwhile, the Saudi -led coalition continued their aerial bombing of Yemen. Warplanes did over 30 airstrikes against different Yemeni cities. 

The Saudi war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis since its onset in March 2015. The UN has described the situation in Yemen the worst humanitarian crisis on earth.

Iran FM: Removing all sanctions only way to revive JCPOA

In his article published in Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, the Iranian foreign minister stressed that the United States and the three European signatories to the JCPOA must understand that the current window of negotiations will not remain open forever.

The Islamic Republic intends to keep up its active diplomatic efforts to lift the illegal U.S. sanctions, but at the same time has effective tools to neutralize the impact of these sanctions and protect the country’s sustainable economic development, Amir Abdollahian added.

The top diplomat stressed that Tehran is ready for fruitful negotiations to fully revive the JCPOA and is determined to achieve a positive outcome in Vienna.

“Despite the non-fulfillment of Western commitments under the nuclear deal, Iran is ready to demonstrate its goodwill in achieving the ultimate goal of lifting unilateral and illegal U.S. sanctions, and to pursue fruitful negotiations in Vienna,” he wrote.

The Iranian foreign minister said the current situation regarding the nuclear deal is due to Washington’s actions, which over the past four years has spared no effort to destroy the JCPOA, while Tehran has made every effort to keep the deal alive. 

He noted that UN Security Council Resolution 2231 has explicitly called on all parties to the nuclear deal to support the deal and to refrain from any action that could harm the agreement.

Iran and the P4+1 group – China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany- resumed their talks last week to find a way to remove sanctions against Tehran and allow the U.S. to return to the 2015 deal.

Iran security chief: U.S. seeks to create new regional crises

“The United States is infuriated by the collapse of Daesh in Syria and Iraq, and the victory of the resistance front, which has increased the strategic power of this front, and (America) is seeking to create new crises,” Shamkhani told the Syrian top diplomat.

He said the plot to create a security crisis in Syria was jointly hatched by the U.S. and Israel, and warned of its dangerous consequences, which “could jeopardize the security of the entire region”.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council noted that foreign occupation in Syria will cause insecurity and the spread of violence, adding that aggression and occupation in history have resulted in nothing but retreat and humiliating defeat.

Shamkhani condemned Israel’s repeated attacks on Syria, saying they are in line with the regime’s brutal aggression against Palestine and Lebanon. He added that resistance and forceful fight are the only way to get rid of the “Zionist cancerous tumor” in the region.

Referring to the strategic relations between Iran and Syria in the political and security fields, Shamkhani emphasized that such close ties should be extended to other sectors, especially the economic field, and announced Iran’s full readiness in this regard.

Faisal Mekdad, for his part, thanked Tehran for its full support for the Syrian people and government.

“With the defeat of the united terrorism front and the establishment of relative stability in Syria, a new chapter in cooperation between the two countries has begun with the priority of economic relations,” the Syrian foreign minister stated.

He called the illegal U.S. military presence in Syria a violation of the principle of sovereignty and encroachment on the country’s territorial integrity, adding that the United States seeks to revive terrorist cells to prevent lasting stability in Syria.

Mekdad described the continuing Israeli atrocities in the region and the repeated military aggression against Syria as a clear example of state terrorism.

“Terrorism, military aggression and oppressive sanctions cannot undermine the Syrian people’s determination to resist coercion and excessive demands,” the Syrian foreign minister added.

Referring to the vast capacities for bilateral economic cooperation, Mekdad said Iranian quality goods are popular among the Syrian people, calling for increasing the presence of Iranian public and private companies in the Syrian market.

Iran marks national university student’s day in ceremony in Tehran

This year’s ceremonies are being held under the motto of “forthright, transparent, university-student like”.

During the ceremonies at Tehran-based Sharif University of Technology, the minister of science, research and technology and minister of health were also accompanying President Raisi.

The president visited an exhibition on the achievements of the Center for Research and Knowledge-Based Companies of Sharif University of Technology. The exhibition is set up with the motto of “Propellant for Innovation, Expression of Self-Esteem”.

The president was briefed on the latest achievements of the professors and students of Sharif University of Technology in the fields of aerospace, car industry, telecommunications, water and energy, solar power plants, environment, agriculture, electronics, medicine and medical equipment.

University students also offered their viewpoints and proposals to the president, who reiterated the government’s support for technological activities.

During the ceremony, President Raisi emphasized the importance of preserving and attracting academic elites, describing university top students and technologists as the country’s assets.

He said Sharif University of Technology should spearhead efforts to preserve the elites, adding that this university is an important center for attracting top students in Iran.

Pointing out that today change is necessary in all areas, Raisi said “Changing the current situation to the desired status should be based on science and innovation.”

“With science and technology, we can create change in different fields of industry and agriculture and stop selling raw materials, and this is possible, just as we have made significant progress in the industries that were subject to the most restrictions and sanctions,” the Iranian president added.

The president noted that Iran is facing problems including drought and universities can undoubtedly play an important role in resolving these problems.

Raisi also stressed that government bodies and companies do not have the right to use foreign products when domestically manufactured quality goods are available to them.

In this meeting, a number of professors of Sharif University of Technology expressed their views on the government’s support for research and academic activities and the relationship between the government and universities.

The National University Student’s Day is marked every year in Iran on November 7 to commemorate three students, who were killed by forces of the previous Pahlavi regime during protests against an official visit by then US Vice President Richard Nixon.

The visit took place in 1972, nearly 18 years after the US intervened in Iran to reinstate the Pahlavi regime in the hugely controversial coup of 1953.

Deadly bus collision in Iran leaves 9 dead, 16 injured

A passenger bus and a tractor trailer were involved in the crash that happened early on Tuesday, 10 kilometers away from the central city of Kashan, on the highway that links it to the city of Qom.

The Deputy for Relief and Rescue at the Red Crescent Society of Isfahan Province, Dariush Karimi, said the injured have been taken to hospitals in the nearby cities.

The Red Crescent Society’s top official in Kashan, Mansour Mir Aboutalabi, also said the bus and the tractor trailer collided head-on after the truck entered the oncoming lanes in the highway. He said the cause of the truck’s diversion was drowsiness of the driver.

The bus was heading to Tehran from the city of Dehdasht in the western province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

China: US, as initiator of “crisis” should remove anti-Iran sanctions

“As the one who started the Iranian nuclear crisis, the US should lift all illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran, China and other third parties, and Iran should resume fulfilling its nuclear commitments on this basis,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said in his regular presser.

“Although there was no breakthrough in the negotiations in [Vienna], all parties showed a serious attitude and agreed to return to the JCPOA exactly as it is. On the basis of the text reached in the previous six rounds of negotiations, the parties held comprehensive and in-depth discussions on the lifting of sanctions and issues in the nuclear field, and the Iranian side proposed written amendments to the text in these two areas. These interactions help all parties to better understand the position of the new Iranian government,” he added.

The spokesman also called on all sides to adhere to the political direction of dialogue and negotiation, warning that “finger-pointing and pressuring will lead nowhere”.

During the talks that began on November 29, the Iranian side presented two draft proposals on the removal of the bans and its nuclear activities.

The US and the three European signatories to the nuclear deal almost immediately dismissed Iran’s proposals as unacceptable and excessive.

However, Tehran has stressed that its proposals strictly fall within the framework of the nuclear deal and the previously agreed texts with the P4+1. Tehran says the talks will resume shortly after the European representatives consult with their capitals and are ready to return to the negotiating table.