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Foreign tourists back in Iran amid Covid downward trend

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Russia

Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts for touristic affairs Ali Asghar Shalbafan wrote on his Instagram account on Friday that the National Headquarters for Corona Disease Management voted for issuing visas for tourists; then, the first group of foreign tourists arrived in Iran from Russia.

The deputy minister described the conveyance of new regulations for hosting foreign tourists to 31 provinces in Iran as a move in line with showing proper hospitality, writing that all governmental and private sectors are tasked with mobilizing their capabilities to provide foreign tourists with appropriate hospitality.

Russian tourists – the first foreign tourists from the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran – are scheduled to visit Iranian tourist attractions while observing all health protocols.

According to chtn.ir, the Russian tourists and tour guides have been allowed to travel to Iran following an agreement between Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation (Rostourism); so, they arrived in Tehran Thursday night.

The two countries had reached the consensus to develop tourism cooperation and hold tours, but the spread of COVID-19 pandemic stopped the plan.
The Russian tourists are going to stay in Iran for a week and visit Kerman, Shiraz and Isfahan as well as Lut Star eco camp.

Ezzatollah Zarghami, Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, played a key role in lifting visa ban for foreign tourists.

Iranian MP: Negative signs coming from Saudi Arabia

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Tehran Still Ready to Mend Ties with Riyadh Despite ‘Foolish’ Moves

Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini said Iran wants to strengthen ties with neighboring countries but the signals coming out of Saudi Arabia are not positive. The spokesman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee added that the Saudis initially showed they were interested in rebuilding ties.

He added that those signals have faded and not only are they not positive but they are even negative. Relations have been strained between Iran and Saudi Arabia over a host of issues.

Saudis claim Iran meddles in the internal affairs of regional countries. Iran also says Saudi Arabia helped create terrorist groups which wreaked havoc in Syria and Iraq. Tehran also wants Riyadh to end its war on Yemen.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have held several rounds of negotiations to resolve their differences. But it seems there has been no tangible breakthrough. Earlier this week, Saudi’s foreign minister said the talks with Iran have been cordial but have not made progress.

“Iran has 25 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Behrouz Kamalvandi added that only nuclear-armed countries can reach that point in uranium enrichment.

He said the AEOI was ordered to produce 120 kilograms of enriched uranium of 20% purity but it has exceeded the 210 kilogram mark.

He said Iran’s advancements in the nuclear and nano-technology fields create deterrence for the nation. Kamaldanvi said it’s unfortunate that people only speak about the energy aspect of the nuclear program of Iran.

He said the Islamic Republic has made much progress in non-energy areas and produced many medical items and pieces of equipment including infant kits which are capable of diagnosing over a hundred diseases in infants.

According to the AEOI’s spokesman, Iran has also made achievements in production of laser for medical and military purposes.

He described Iran’s nuclear accomplishments as miraculous.

Kamalvandi also spoke of the anniversary of the US embassy takeover by the Iranian students 42 years ago. He said the embassy siege ended the US domination in Iran. He made those remarks at a ceremony to inaugurate an exhibition of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear advancements which features many homegrown products and equipment.

US invites Iran to ‘serious’ nuclear talks

By
IFP Media Wire
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US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman speaks on the situation in Afghanistan at the State Department in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2021. - The US is pressing the Taliban to let Afghans flee through the US-controlled airport after violations of their promises, Sherman said Wednesday. "We have seen reports that the Taliban, contrary to their public statements and their commitments to our government, are blocking Afghans who wish to leave the country from reaching the airport," Sherman told reporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In an interview with the Al-Jazeera news channel, Sherman claimed, “we support the restart of the Vienna Talks and invite Iran to negotiate seriously.”

So far, six rounds of negotiations have been conducted in Vienna between the United States and other parties to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The sides say tangible progress has been made in the talks, but some differences remain.

One area of disagreement in the negotiations is the US insistence on maintaining some of the sanctions the Donald Trump administration imposed on Iran after leaving the agreement. In addition, the Joe Biden administration has stated that it cannot guarantee that the next US administration will not withdraw from the JCPOA again.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has emphasized that given that the United States is the side that violated the agreement, it is Washington that must return to the deal with the lifting of sanctions and that the implementation of US commitments must be verified. Tehran, of course, has emphasized that it is not insistent or in a hurry to return the United States to the deal.

Iran says US navy escorting stolen oil cargo, not monitoring

By
IFP Media Wire
-

The spokesperson has stated American forces had a mission to protect the ship.

On Wednesday, the IRGC announced its naval forces had thwarted an attempt by the US Navy to confiscate a tanker carrying Iranian crude in the Sea of Oman.

Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif stated on Thursday that US forces had a mission to protect MV Sothys, a Vietnamese-flagged ship which was boarded by IRGC forces after it became known the tanker was stealing a large Iranian oil cargo.

“They had come to provide support to the bandits of the Iranian oil and to escort them,” Sharif was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

The statement came after US Department of Defense rejected Tehran’s account of the incident which was extensively covered in reports published in the Iranian media on Wednesday.

IRGC’s Navy released a video showing Iranian forces had to repel American destroyers from MV Sothys.

However, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby noted on Wednesday that US forces had come to the scene of the incident only to monitor the situation.

Other sources in the US have made similar claims about the confrontation on Sothys but authorities in Washington have yet to provide any reason why US military had a major presence near a vessel that was carrying Iranian oil.

In reaction to the thwarted US attempt to steal Iran’s oil, thousands of Iranians have taken to the social media network Twitter to mockingly ask Washington whether or not it has learned its lesson through the encounter with Iran’s elite military force.

#Lesson_learned became a trending hashtag on Twitter on Thursday, a day after the IRGC released detailed footage of its confrontation, which occurred on October 25, against the US act of piracy targeting the Iranian oil shipment.

The United States has a history of carrying out piracy acts on Iranian oil tankers under the pretext that the shipments violate US sanctions against Iran.

In August last year, US forces confiscated 1.1 million barrels of Iranian petroleum from four tankers that were on their way to Venezuela.

Washington declared in November 2020 that the shipment had been sold for more than $40 million.

US approves $650m sale of missiles to Saudi Arabia

By
IFP Media Wire
-

The United States has approved a $650 million sale of air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon announced, in what would be the Biden administration’s first major weapons deal with the kingdom.

In a statement on Thursday, the Pentagon said the US State Department approved the sale to help Riyadh counter current and future threats.

“This proposed sale will support US foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important force for political and economic progress in the Middle East,” the Pentagon added.

It added that Massachusetts-based firm Raytheon would be the “principal contractor” for the sale of AIM-120C-7/C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and related equipment.

The sale comes months after Biden claimed he would end US support for Saudi Arabia’s “offensive operations” in Yemen, including “relevant arms sales”.

The State Department’s bureau of political-military affairs noted in a series of tweets on Thursday that the missiles are “not used to engage ground targets”.

“We’ve seen an increase in cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia over the past year,” it added.

“Saudi AIM-120C missiles, deployed from Saudi aircraft, have been instrumental in intercepting these attacks that also [put] US forces at risk and over 70,000 US citizens in the Kingdom at risk,” it said.

The sale does not require congressional approval, but lawmakers can block the deal by passing a disapproval bill in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The missile sale follows the US approval of a $500m helicopter maintenance deal for the kingdom in September.

Saudi Arabia’s critics were quick to slam the deal on Thursday.

“This has nothing to do with making the world a better place and everything to do with fueling our defense economy,” Marianne Williamson, an author and former presidential candidate, wrote on Twitter, adding, “America’s economy should not be built around merchandising death.”

As a candidate, Biden berated Saudi Arabia over the Yemen war and the killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, calling the kingdom a “pariah”.

A State Department spokesperson stated the air-to-air missile sale is “fully consistent with the Administration’s pledge … to lead with diplomacy to end the conflict in Yemen while also ensuring Saudi Arabia has the means to defend itself from Iranian-backed Houthi air attacks”.

The Saudi intervention in Yemen started in 2015 when the kingdom and a coalition of its regional allies started a bombing campaign against the country’s Houthi rebels, who had taken over the capital Sanaa and much of the country.

Saudi Arabia considers the Houthis to be Iran proxies, allegations that both the rebels and Tehran reject. The war has spurred a massive humanitarian crisis and the UN announced last year that approximately 233,000 people had died as a result of the conflict.

Amid increasing cross-border attacks by the Houthis and an offensive by the rebels to take the strategic city of Marib, Saudi Arabia offered a ceasefire in Yemen in March.

But the Houthis rejected the proposal, stressing that the Saudi-led air and sea blockade on the country must be lifted without conditions before the fighting will end.

Russia: Terrorists, drugs still threats in Afghanistan

By
IFP Media Wire
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“I can confirm that the terrorist and drug threats coming from Afghanistan’s territory, as well as the general situation in these areas in that country, are still a pressing problem for us. I can state with regret that the situation has not changed after the Taliban came to power,” Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

She added that terror attacks staged by the Islamic State terrorist group in Afghan cities could be seen as an example of that.

“Another destabilizing factor in the region is the United States’ attempts to deploy its military infrastructure and Afghan maintenance personnel in Afghanistan’s neighboring countries. We see serious risks for regional stability in such steps,” she stressed.

She also dwelled on the threat of increasing migration.

“Envoys of terrorist organizations, criminal elements, militants and so on may infiltrate into neighboring countries under the guise of refugees,” she continued.

After the Joe Biden administration announced the end of its US military operation in Afghanistan and the launch of its troop pullout, the Taliban embarked on an offensive against Afghan government forces. On August 15, Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance and gained full control over the Afghan capital within a few hours. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani claimed he had stepped down to prevent any bloodshed and subsequently fled the country. On September 6, the Taliban announced they had taken control of the entire country and announced a new interim government the following day. However, this government has not been officially recognized by any of the world nations.

The chief of the federal service for military-technical cooperation, Dmitry Shugayev, told the RBC US military hardware abandoned in Afghanistan may appear on the black market, which will create problems for the whole world.

“That the Americans have squandered a mammoth amount of money on weapons and other military equipment has become a terrible headache not only for Afghanistan, but for the whole world as well. To an extent, because various terrorist organizations are entrenched there. It should not be ruled out that they may lay hands on this arsenal, if they have not done so already,” Shugayev stated.

He also warned that there was a high risk that these weapons might begin to be sold on the illegal market.

“In other words, they may surface anywhere in the world. In all likelihood, some very unpleasant surprises may be in store for us. The more so, since the equipment the United States has left behind is a lot more serious than popguns,” Shugayev warned.

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that the US troops that pulled out of Afghanistan abandoned $85 billion of sophisticated weapons. Some mass media earlier mentioned a similar figure with reference to the former US president, Donald Trump.

Republicans say Iran nuclear deal will die after they retake power

By
IFP Media Wire
-

Biden promised Iran this week that the United States will not pull out of any new nuclear agreement reached between the countries and that all sanctions relief granted as part of that deal will be permanent.

Republican leaders, speaking to the Free Beacon, said they want to send Iran a direct message: Biden has no power to promise that sanctions will be lifted forever.

Biden, in a joint statement with Germany, France, and the United Kingdom issued this week during G20 meetings in Europe, pledged that the United States will remain in the nuclear deal permanently, as long as Tehran upholds its commitments under a revamped accord. European powers noted they “welcome President Biden’s clearly demonstrated commitment to return the US to full compliance with the [nuclear deal] and to stay in full compliance”. Biden and European leaders also committed to “provide sanctions lifting with long-lasting implications for Iran’s economic growth.”

Republican congressional leaders told the Free Beacon that the president has no legal authority to speak for Congress, which will not be bound by an executive agreement unilaterally reached between the administration and Iran. Sanctions, they added, are controlled by Congress, and Republicans will do all they can to ensure such crippling measures are put back in place.

With Democrats enjoying a slim majority in both the House and Senate—and the Biden administration’s popularity plunging ahead of the 2022 midterm elections—the Republican Party’s focus on Iran could make the hardline government think twice about reentering an agreement that could be void within a year.

“The thugs in Tehran better be on watch: Any sanctions relief pledged by the Biden team is not a foregone conclusion,” Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and chair of the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus of Republicans in Congress, told the Free Beacon.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.), an RSC national security task force leader and House Foreign Affairs Committee member, told the Free Beacon that Biden’s pledge to Iran is meaningless.

“President Biden does not have the authority to speak for Congress, and Congress is not bound by an executive agreement,” Wilson said.

“The Republican Study Committee has made it clear that when we retake the majority, we will work to reimpose all sanctions on Iran lifted by the Biden administration, whether as part of reentering the failed Iran deal or any other deal with Iran,” he added.

Republicans in Congress have been laying the groundwork to stop sanctions relief for Iran since February, when the Biden administration first announced it was negotiating a US return to the nuclear deal, which the Donald Trump administration walked away from in 2018. This has included a legislative push to codify the former administration’s crippling sanctions regime. That bill, known as the Maximum Pressure Act, already has the support of 109 members of the House, a majority of the Republican conference.

Banks, who is leading the charge in his role as RSC chairman, said “everyone should know this is a completely empty pledge” by Biden.

“Congress has the final say over when and how sanctions are lifted or reapplied,” Banks noted, adding, “Biden’s empty pledge cannot belie his administration’s eagerness to give Iran massive sanctions relief in exchange for a worthless nuclear deal, given its sunset clauses, approaching expiration date, in addition to Iran’s irreversible nuclear know-how.”

Iranian leaders appear to be aware that the Biden administration cannot promise permanent sanctions relief, or even a new deal. Tehran walked away from negotiations months ago and has only tentatively agreed to return to talks, even as the Biden administration promised to unwind every sanction imposed by the former Republican administration.

Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, stated on Wednesday that “the US president has no authority [and] is not willing to provide any guarantees [the United States will not leave the JCPOA again]”.

Iran FM: Tehran, Baku determined to overcome obstacles in bilateral ties

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

There may be differences of opinion on some issues, but it is important that there is a serious will on both sides to overcome the obstacles, Amirabdollahian said according to a report by the Foreign Ministry and the spokesperson’s information office published on Thursday night.

The top Iranian diplomat emphasized that he and the Republic of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, on behalf of the two countries, will continue their positive contacts and consultations for the comprehensive development of bilateral relations and clearing misunderstandings.

Amirabdollahian explained that in this framework, the two sides have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation for better management of public and media space, and to form a joint committee between the two countries.

He went on to say that “we consider our neighbors as our relatives and in this regard, we appreciate the principles governing these relations.”

Tensions between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan have been running high in recent months, with the Islamic Republic insisting that its northwestern neighbor has to force militants and Israeli agents out of border areas.

Iran says the security of its borders is a red line that must not be crossed.

“Tally Stick”, a combination of calligraphy and sculpture

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

Sadeghzadeh has said 15 sculptures are on display at the exhibition, adding that he called it “Tally Stick” because the title refers to the use of wood and calligraphy and also is a reminder of tally stick as a simple and old tool for counting.

“This collection is the result of two years of work and the word “everyone” is repeated in the works”, Sadeghzadeh said.

The Iranian artist also said he deliberately emphasized the meaning of “being together” because he wanted to say“one hand produces no sound”, a famous Iranian proverb meaning one cannot achieve much alone and that teamwork is better.

According to Sadeghzadeh, “For wood, I used pine trees that were on the cusp to falling. I got these sticks cut to the size of a human because I wanted the word “everyone” to be in the form of a human. The statues are human beings who complain about loneliness and the absence of events between people.“

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