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Iran: Exaggerating Israel’s empty grandeur not a sign of power

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Shamkahni said, “Is inflating the empty grandeur of the Zionist regime by a ruler who claims to lead the Islamic world a sign of power or being a Muslim?”

He also said only governments fearing their ethnic groups crack down on them, which is not the case with Iran, a “heaven of different ethnicities”.

According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) the tweet comes after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about Iran’s move to beef up its forces near the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

He was speaking to reporters on board the presidential plane on his way back to Turkey from a three-leg visit to the African countries of Angola, Togo and Nigeria.

In response to a question about Iran’s military movements near the border and Azerbaijan’s ties with the Zionist regime, Erdogan said the Islamic Republic will avoid a confrontation with Azerbaijan due to Baku’s relations with Israel.

He also said there are many Turks living in Iran and that “Tehran knows this and it is not easy”.

Erdogan added that the new administration in Iran does not want tension.

Iran has repeatedly demanded that the Republic of Azerbaijan avoid allowing the Zionist regime to take a foothold in Azeri soil.

Iran parliament speaker warns of U.S. plot to ignite regional wars

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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“In Afghanistan and throughout the region, these hidden hands are at work to perpetuate insecurity in the region by launching religious wars. The recent crimes in Afghanistan and the extensive plans of the Americans and the Zionists to create chaos and division in Lebanon and Iraq, and to provoke some heads of state in the region are all in this direction,” the Iranian parliament speaker said in the closing ceremony of the 35th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran on Saturday.

He said American troops may have apparently withdrawn from the region, but they are still planning to create unrest in this part of the world.

Ghalibaf went on to say that the issue of Palestine has united the Islamic Ummah and formed a united resistance front against the “usurping Zionist regime”.

The Iranian parliament speaker said Israel’s “myth of invincibility” has crumbled because the regime has suffered defeats in several confrontations with popular resistance forces involving Shia and Sunni brothers in Palestine and Lebanon.

The Islamic unity conference, which began on Tuesday, was attended by over 400 Muslim scholars, thinkers and religious leaders from across the world.

Edward Snowden posts new Farsi tweet

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Snowden recently launched a Persian account on Twitter. This is his third tweet in Farsi. He started his account by tweeting a famous Persian saying which literally translates into “The wall has rats, and rats have ears.” The proverb means people should be cautious when they say something as spies could be eavesdropping.

The second tweet read, “I would just say there’s got to be a reason why felines are popular”.

Snowden did not explicitly explain what he meant by the tweets nor did he give a reason for launching a Persian account on Twitter.

The former US intelligence consultant in 2013 leaked classified documents to journalists describing surveillance programs run by the NSA to tap people’s cell phones and internet communications.

Some view him as a hero but others call him a traitor to his country. Following the leaks, Snowden fled the US. He was later granted asylum in Russia and is now living there.

Iran FM: Nuclear talks with 4+1 to resume soon

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The 4+1 group is comprised of China, Germany, France, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Hossein Amir Abdollahian made the remarks on Saturday in a meeting with the new Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Tehran.

Amir Abdollahian and the Economic Cooperation Organization’s new Secretary General Khosro Nazeri held talks over ECO’s role in the region and in strengthening cooperation among member states.

Amir Abdollahian expressed satisfaction with the implementation of infrastructure and long-term projects in the fields of transportation, trade, finance and banking.

He voiced hope that incomplete projects will be finished during Nazeri’s tenure.

The Iranian foreign minister also voiced regret over the recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan which is a key member of ECO.

Amir Abdollahian referred to recent negotiations between Iran and the European Union in Tehran and Brussels, saying the nuclear talks between Iran and the 4+1 group of countries will soon resume.

In the meeting, ECO’s secretary general appreciated Iran’s effective help with his appointment as ECO’s chief and gave a report on the activities of the body including arrangements that are afoot to hold the ECO summit in Ashgabat on November 28 with the presidents of member states in attendance.

He underlined Iran’s key role in ECO and urged the Islamic Republic to continue supporting the important regional organization.

US says senior al Qaeda leader killed in Syria

By
IFP Media Wire
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US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday that another US airstrike had killed a senior al Qaeda commander in Suluk, in Syria’s northern Raqqa Governorate.

“A US airstrike today in northwest Syria killed senior al Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al Matar. We have no indications of civilian casualties as a result of the strike, which was conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft,” CENTCOM spokesperson Maj. John Rigsbee stated in a Friday release, referring to the MQ-9 Reaper combat drone.

Earlier on Friday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki asserted the US’ “right to respond” to an attack against the US garrison at at-Tanf in southeastern Syria on Wednesday. However, CENTCOM said that attack, which involved rockets and kamikaze drones, was believed to have been carried out by “Iran-backed militias”, an American term for militant groups that oppose the US presence in Iraq and Syria. That makes it unlikely the strike was the response to which Psaki referred.

However, the US has carried out several other strikes against al Qaeda-aligned groups in Syria in recent weeks, following statements by President Joe Biden in August that outlined the next phase of the US war on terror, a conflict that has increasingly taken a back seat as the US’s grand strategy shifts to a great power competition with Russia and China.

“Today a terrorist threat has metastasized well beyond Afghanistan: al Shabaab in Somalia, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQQP), al Nusra in Syria, Daesh attempting to create a caliphate in Syria and Iraq and establishing affiliates in multiple countries in Africa and Asia,” Biden noted in a televised speech two days after the US-backed Afghan government collapsed before a Taliban blitzkrieg.

“These threats warrant our attention and our resources. We conduct effective counterterrorism missions against terrorist groups in multiple countries where we don’t have permanent military presence. If necessary, we’ll do the same in Afghanistan,” he added.

“We’ve developed counterterrorism over-the-horizon capability that will allow us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on the direct threats to the United States in the region, and act quickly and decisively if needed,” he continued.

Iran keeps up vaccination campaign, Covid deaths lowest in months

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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‘Iran’s Average COVID-19 Death Toll 2.5 Times That of World Average’

The Saturday announcement shows that over 79,500,000 doses have been administered in the country so far.

The ministry also reported 124 new fatalities, the lowest in months, bringing the total death toll to over 125,000 since the beginning of the outbreak in early 2020.

The Islamic Republic has accelerated its inoculation campaign over the past months and sped up vaccine imports and domestic production.

Meanwhile President Ebrahim Raeisi has warned that Iran should not allow another wave of the deadly disease to take it by surprise.

“By taking the necessary measures and through preparations, we must prevent the recurrence of the country’s problems in the face of the fifth wave of the coronavirus,” Raeisi told the National Coronavirus Task Force on Saturday.

Iran has been hit by five waves of the disease but has now somehow managed to bring the outbreak under control. However, the relatively high number of infections suggests that another wave could still be looming.

The Health Ministry figures showed that over seven thousand new Covid-19 cases have been identified over the past twenty four hours.

ICRC warns of humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The Red Cross has urged the international community to engage with Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers, stressing that aid groups on their own would be unable to stave off a humanitarian crisis.

Afghanistan has been plunged into crisis by the abrupt end of billions of dollars in foreign assistance following the collapse of the western-backed government and return to power by the Taliban in August.

The ICRC has since increased its efforts in the country while other organisations were also stepping up, Director General Robert Mardini said.

But he told Reuters that support from the international community, who had so far taken a cautious approach in engaging with the Taliban, was critical to providing basic services.

“Humanitarian organisations joining forces can only do so much. They can come up with temporary solutions,” he added.

The United Nations on Thursday announced it had set up a fund to provide cash directly to Afghans, which Mardini said would solve the problem for three months.

“Afghanistan is a compounded crisis that is deteriorating by the day,” he added, citing decades of conflict compounded by the effects of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mardini stated 30% of Afghanistan’s 39 million population were facing severe malnutrition and that 18 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance or protection.

The Taliban expelled many foreign aid groups when it was last in power from 1996-2001 but this time has said it welcomes foreign donors and will protect the rights of their staff.

But the militants, facing criticism it has failed to protect rights, including access to education for girls, have also announced aid should not be tied to conditions.

“No humanitarian organisation can compensate or replace the economy of a country,” Mardini continued.

UK to beef up security for MPs following fatal stabbing

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The Home Office launched a review into MPs’ safety after Sir David was killed during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, five years after Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered in similar circumstances.

A court heard that 25-year-old Ali Harbi Ali, who has been charged with the Conservative MP’s murder, purportedly first plotted to kill an MP two years ago.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) alleges the murder has a terrorist connection because of its “religious and ideological” motives.

He will appear in a crown court dock for the first time on Friday after being remanded in custody.

Sir David, who was 69, had been MP for Southend West for 38 years having first entered Parliament in 1983, and leaves behind his wife Julia and their five children.

In a letter from Home Secretary Priti Patel and Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to MPs, first reported by The Times newspaper, they say politicians will be “rightly concerned about their own safety and security and that of their staff” following Sir David’s killing.

Ms Patel and Sir Lindsay add that a “trained and accredited security operative” will be available to attend constituency surgeries from Friday and “urge” MPs’ to “take up this service”.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, the home secretary told the Commons that intelligence officers had upgraded the threat level for MPs to “substantial”, meaning a fresh attack is deemed likely.

Ms Patel said there had been a “change in risk” after an independent review by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) in the wake of the fatal stabbing of Sir David.

It is understood that the threat against MPs was previously deemed to be “moderate”, meaning an attack is “possible but not likely”.

The JTAC divides threat levels into five categories; low, moderate, substantial, severe and critical.

“While we do not see any information or intelligence which points to any credible, specific or imminent threat, I must update the House that the threat level facing members of this House is now deemed to be substantial,” the home secretary told MPs, adding, “This is the same level as the current national threat to the UK as a whole.”

Ms Patel stated she would ensure that security and intelligence agencies, as well as counter-terror police, would see the change “reflected in their operational posture”.

Earlier on Wednesday, police confirmed a man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence after a mock gallows was erected by a group protesting against COVID-19 vaccines.

On Tuesday, Michael Gove had to be escorted to safety by police officers after he was surrounded by protesters on Horseferry Road in Westminster.

Video footage that emerged online showed Mr Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, being spotted by demonstrators as he walked in public.

As demonstrators ran towards the Conservative MP, he was quickly encircled by police officers who led him into a nearby office building.

Mr Gove later posted on Twitter: “Thank you to the Met for their swift reaction – I’m grateful to their officers for their thoughtfulness.”

Number 10 condemned “harassment and intimidation” of the cabinet minister by anti-lockdown demonstrators as “completely unacceptable”.

Asked about the incident involving Mr Gove on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said: “The harassment and intimidation of anyone going about their daily business is completely unacceptable.

“We will expect the police to take this kind of behaviour seriously,” he continued, adding, “While peaceful protest remains an important cornerstone of our democracy, threatening, intimidating or abusive language cannot be tolerated.”

The Metropolitan Police said that no arrests were made but that officers would review both video footage being shared online and their own officers’ body-worn cameras.

Poll shows just 37% approve Biden performance

By
IFP Media Wire
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With supply chain issues, lagging jobs numbers and a border crisis, among others weighing down Biden’s administration, low polling has become something of a regular occurrence, but his latest numbers show the president may be losing key support.

In a survey released Wednesday by Grinnell College, only 37% said they approved of the job Biden is doing as president, while half disapproved. His handling of specific issues caused a lack of faith as well, with only 27% approving of his handling of immigration, and just 36% approving of his job on the economy.

While Biden’s support among Democrats remains strong, his standing with Independents appears to be falling. 

“In 2020 exit polling, President Biden won independent voters by a 54% to 41% margin,” pollster J. Ann Selzer said in the Grinnell College report, adding, “If the election were held today, our poll shows former President Trump winning that group 45% to 28%. It is a massive shift in a demographic that helped carry Biden to victory less than two years ago.”

When asked whom they would vote for president if the election were held today, likely voters were split on Biden and Trump support, with 40% saying they would back each of the potential candidates. Others said they would cast their ballots for someone other than Trump or Biden. 

Biden critics have pointed to the latest disappointing poll as another sign public trust in the Democrat president is crumbling.

As some pointed out, the poll numbers are similar to the latest findings on Biden in a Quinnipiac University survey also released this week. 

In that poll, 37% said they approved of the president’s performance, while 52% disapproved. That study also found falling support with Independents, with 56% not supporting Biden’s agenda, while 28% indicated they do. Quinnipiac also found similar results in another poll earlier in the month.

In a separate Politico/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday, over 60% of Americans said the administration and Biden were at least somewhat responsible for the current inflation crisis in the US, with a majority of Independents and Republicans agreeing Biden is at fault, and 41% of Democrats also agreeing.

EU halts free trade talks with Australia again

By
IFP Media Wire
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Australian trade minister Dan Tehan stated the 12th round of talks with the EU had been postponed for the second time this month, this time until February 2022. 

The talks were previously put off by a month from mid-October.

“The European Union have advised the Australian government that Round 12 of the FTA negotiations will now take place in February,” Tehan said in a statement to Reuters.

The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation European Union, said it had not scheduled a resumption of trade talks in November, with no new date set for the 12th round to take place.

A mid-November round could have been awkward timing given it would have coincided with the end of global climate change talks in Scotland, with Brussels seeking greater commitments on climate action from Canberra as part of the trade deal.

Australia in September cancelled a deal with France’s Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines and will instead build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with US and British technology, after striking a trilateral security partnership called AUKUS with those two countries.

The cancellation angered France, which accused both Australia and the United States of stabbing it in the back. Paris recalled its ambassadors from both Canberra and Washington.

In solidarity with France, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen questioned whether the bloc could strike a trade deal with Australia.

The new development comes just weeks after Tehan told Reuters he expected to finalise a free trade agreement with the EU by the end of next year.

Australia has sought to mend relations with the EU and France in recent weeks, appointing a senior aide to Prime Minister Scott Morrison as envoy to the 27-nation bloc.

The French ambassador to Australia returned this week to Canberra where he has said he intends to evaluate Australia’s stated commitment to repairing ties.

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