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Russia, China navies hold joint patrol in Pacific

By
IFP Media Wire
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“The warships of the Russian Navy and the Chinese naval forces conducted the first patrol in the western Pacific Ocean from October 17-23,” the Russian defense ministry said in a statement, according to RIA Novosti.

The vessels traversed the Sea of Japan as part of the patrol and practised joint tactical manoeuvring, the statement read.

Russia was represented by 10 ships of the Pacific Fleet, while five vessels took part in the patrol from the Chinese side.

From 14-17 October, Russia and China held joint naval exercises “Maritime Interaction-2021” in the Sea of Japan. The crews worked out joint tactical manoeuvring, anti-mine support of detachments, as well as conducted artillery fire at sea targets, among other things, according to the Russian military.

The China’s Ministry of National Defense has also announced Chinese and Russian navy conducted their first joint naval patrols in the west Pacific from October 17 to October 23, according to CGTN.

The ministry added the recent naval patrols were aimed to deepen China-Russia comprehensive strategic relations in the new era and safeguard stability in the region and the whole world.

Turkey begins procedure to purchase F-16s from US

By
IFP Media Wire
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“Technical work” has started on Turkey’s purchase of US-made Block 70 Viper F-16s, Akar has said.

Akar’s remark came after a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. He added the purchase of the warplanes and the modernization of older F-16s in the Turkish fleet “also means the strengthening of NATO defense.”

The purported deal was first announced by Erdogan. On his return flight from an African tour on Sunday, he told journalists the US had offered it as compensation for Turkey’s investment in the F-35 program, which it was pushed out of under the Donald Trump administration in retaliation for its decision to purchase Russian S-400 long-range air defense systems.

“There is the payment of $1.4 billion we have made for the F-35s and the US had such a proposal in return for these payments,” Erdogan said.

“We are working to further develop our fleet from the modernization of the F-16s in our possession to new additional F-16 purchases,” he added.

Washington would not immediately comment on Erdogan’s remarks. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price stated that “the Department of Defense continues to be engaged in a dispute resolution mechanism with Turkey on the F-35 but I’m not going to prejudge the outcome.”

Turkey’s purchase of the Russian systems went through despite vocal objections from the US, which alleged that the hardware would give Moscow an opportunity to study the characteristics of F-35 warplanes and thus compromise all nations operating them. Ankara intended to buy 100 F-35s.

The Russian deal also led the US to sanction Turkish entities involved in its sealing. Turkey’s military procurement body, the Defence Industry Directorate, its chief, Ismail Demir, and three other employees ended up on Washington’s blacklist.

Ankara indicated it considered buying more of the Russian-made anti-aircraft missile systems and potentially other military equipment.

Russia says NATO plans in Afghanistan ‘catastrophe’

By
IFP Media Wire
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NATO is consistently pulling its forces to Russian borders amid calls for military deterrence of Russia, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Saturday.

“Amid the calls for military deterrence of Russia, NATO is consistently pulling its forces to our borders,” the Russian defense chief stated in response to a statement by German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

“The German defense minister must know well how such moves in the past ended for Germany and Europe. There can be only shared security in Europe, without infringements on Russia’s interests. But it is NATO that is unprepared for an equitable dialogue on this issue,” Shoigu pointed out.

NATO’s deterrence plan in Afghanistan resulted in a catastrophe, the Russian defense chief stressed.

“Moreover, the implementation of NATO’s deterrence plan in Afghanistan ended in a catastrophe that the entire world has to deal with now,” Shoigu added.

On October 21, the German defense minister stated in a live broadcast of the Deutschlandfunk radio station in response to a question about whether NATO was considering the scenarios of deterring Russia in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, including in the airspace with nuclear weapons that the military bloc should send Russia a clear signal that the alliance was ready to use such means to produce a deterrence effect in advance and discourage anyone from attacking Baltic areas or NATO partners in the Black Sea. Kramp-Karrenbauer stressed that this was NATO’s underlying idea and it would be adapted to Russia’s current behavior.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in a televised interview with NTV channel on Saturday NATO is living in accordance with the guidelines of the Cold War, focusing its main efforts on deterring the so-called “Eastern threat”.

“Having come this evolutionary path, NATO has actually found itself in the situation of 1949, and nowadays it lives under the Cold War schemes. The main efforts are focused on parrying the so-called ‘Eastern threat’,” the deputy minister added.

On October 6, NATO announced it was reducing Russia’s mission from 20 staffers to 10. The accreditation of eight diplomats was revoked and two vacancies abolished. The alliance asked the Russian diplomats to leave Brussels by the end of October. On October 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that Russia was suspending the operation of its mission to NATO altogether. Also, the activity of NATO’s Military Liaison Mission and Information Office in Moscow will be paused.

Pakistan: No deal on US use of airspace for Afghanistan missions

By
IFP Media Wire
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The rebuttal came after a CNN report claimed that the two countries are “nearing a formalized agreement” to give Washington access to Pakistan’s airspace for operations in Afghanistan.

“No such understanding is in place,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said in a statement.

“Pakistan and the US have longstanding cooperation on regional security and counterterrorism and the two sides remain engaged in regular consultations,” he added.

According to the CNN report, the US is currently using Pakistan’s airspace for “ongoing intelligence-gathering efforts” in Afghanistan, “but there is no formal agreement in place to ensure continued access to a critical piece of airspace necessary for the US to reach Afghanistan.”

Pakistan’s airspace will become even more critical for the US if and when it decides to fly out Americans and other people from Afghanistan in the future, the report added.

Islamabad, for its part, has time and again reiterated that it will not allow Washington to carry out counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan from Pakistani territory, following the US pullout and Taliban’s rise to power.

“Absolutely not. There is no way we are going to allow any bases, any sort of action from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan. Absolutely not,” Prime Minister Imran Khan stated in an interview in June this year, ahead of the withdrawal of US and NATO troops.

The government of Afghanistan rapidly collapsed on August 15 and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country in the face of the lightning advances of the Taliban that followed President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw American troops in a disastrous pullout. The Taliban announced the formation of a caretaker government on September 7.

US agencies review Biden’s handling of Afghanistan exit

By
IFP Media Wire
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“A number of US agencies have begun internal reviews of the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, particularly the final departure of military and diplomatic personnel, closure of the US Embassy, and the emergency evacuation of diplomats and eligible Afghan refugees from the country.

According to the report, “the reviews, which have been started separately by the offices of inspectors general at the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and State, as well as at the US Agency for International Development, aim to determine whether the administration adequately planned for and executed the withdrawal and subsequent evacuation and relocation of Afghan nationals, according to internal disclosures and US officials familiar with the internal discussions.”

The reviews, which have been started separately by the offices of inspectors general at the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services and State, as well as at the US Agency for International Development, aim to determine whether the administration adequately planned for and executed the withdrawal and subsequent evacuation and relocation of Afghan nationals, according to internal disclosures and US officials familiar with the internal discussions.

The probe has focused on the final departure of military and diplomatic personnel, closure of the US Embassy, and the emergency evacuation of diplomats and eligible Afghan refugees from the country.

After the United States announced the pullout of its troops from Afghanistan this past spring, the Taliban radical militant group launched a large-scale operation to establish control over that country.

On August 15, President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country, and the radicals swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance. On September 6, the Taliban declared its establishment of control over all of Afghanistan, and on September 7 announced the line-up of the interim cabinet, whose legitimacy has not yet been recognized by any country.

The POTUS has been facing criticism over the hasty troops’ pullout from the war-torn country which led to a humanitarian crisis and deaths of a dozen American forces in a Daesh-claimed bombing.

Iran Gets Another Shipment of Sinopharm Vaccine Containing 6mn Doses

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The shipment containing some 6 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine was handed over to the health ministry after arriving in Tehran on Sunday, October 24, 2021.

Seven cargoes containing 6 million doses of coronavirus vaccines each have arrived in Iran since September 26, 2021, said IRCS Director Karim Hemmati.

“As the first vice president has stressed that the IRCS should keep importing vaccines, this institution has been continuing to import vaccines in cooperation with the ministries of health and foreign affairs and has brought in as many as 30 shipments so far, and will keep importing the Sinopharm vaccine,” he said.

“Since May, the IRCS has imported a total of 94 million 390 thousand doses of the Sinopharm vaccine,” said Hemmati.

“In order to reach a tranquil society and put an end to the coronavirus pandemic, we need the cooperation of our dear people,” he said.

“As we considerably pushed down infection and fatality rates by inoculating large parts of society such as medical personnel, civil servants, senior citizens and other individuals, now, too, we can reach ideal conditions if those who haven’t been vaccinated yet come forward [to get vaccinated],” he noted.

The Leader: Normalizing ties with Israel, great sin and mistake

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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https://www.leader.ir/fa/pictures/album/2428/grid?img=69638_274.jpg

“These governments should reverse the move, which goes against Islamic unity and should make up for their great mistake,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Sunday during a meeting with participants in the 35th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, which is held every year on the birth anniversary of Islam’s holy Prophet Mohammad.

The Leader called for unity among Muslims saying it is a matter of principle and a clear religious duty, commanded by the Holy Quran.

Ayatollah Khamenei added “Unity and solidarity among Muslims is not a tactical issue, which some may imagine, we should, due to certain circumstances, be united. No, [Muslims’ unity] is a fundamental issue. Muslims’ synergy is necessary; if Muslims unite and work toward synergy, this strengthens all of them. Muslims’ unity is a clear religious duty [mentioned] in the Quran,” the leader said.

The leader said the reason for the emphasis on unity is the “wide distance among different denominations [of Islam]” and enemies’ serious efforts to increase those gaps.

“Today the words Shia and Sunni have entered the political jargon of the Americans while they basically oppose Islam and are hostile toward it,” the leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that the US and its puppets are trying to create sedition everywhere in the Muslim world, saying the recent tragic explosions against worshippers in Afghan mosques, which were claimed by Daesh terrorists, are cases in point, as “Americans clearly said they created Daesh”.

The leader further stressed that creation of a new Islamic civilization is not possible unless Shias and Sunnis unite.

“The main criterion for the unity of Muslims is the issue of Palestine and the more serious efforts are put into protection of Palestinians’ right, the stronger the Islamic unity will be,” he said.

The leader also touched on the issue of Islam and its potential for the Muslim world. Ayatollah Khamenei rejected the “insistence by political and material powers” to pose Islam as something other than a “comprehensive religion with planning for every aspect of the life of humanity”.

“The arena of activity of Islam is the full spectrum and aspects of the life of humans from deep within their hearts and religious issues to political, economic, social, security and international affairs,” the leader said.

Analyst: Negotiations a Must to End Sanctions

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

Hassan Beheshtipour told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) that Iran’s decision to meet with EU officials in Brussels sent the message that Iran wants to differentiate between Europeans and Americans.

But he said Europeans have shown that they cannot act independently from the US.

“The second [such] experience was after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal when despite Europe’s call on Iran not to exit the agreement and their pledge to compensate for the US pullout, they were only effective in political terms and could do nothing practically in economic terms,” he said.

“In economic terms, European companies do not act on their government’s say-so and are not ready for interaction with Iran for the fear of [antagonizing] the US, and even China and Russia had the same issue.”

“Iran’s argument is that it only enters negotiations if they lead to the removal of sanctions … but the other party says it will not remove all sanctions simultaneously. During the six rounds of talks in Vienna, they had agreed to remove certain sanctions … if Iran returns to its obligations and Iran says … there is no guarantee the US would not violate its [other] obligations. All these need negotiations [to settle].”

He added that Iran will need to end the sanctions as a major obstacle to its economic growth, even if it can advance economic reforms that minimize the impact of the bans.

Iranians Mark Anniv. of Prophet Mohammad’s Birth

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

On the eve of the joyous occasion, celebratory fireworks lit the skies of the holy city of Mashhad in northwestern Iranian province of Khorassan Razavi. The Holy Shrine of Imam Reza, the eight Shia Imam, is located in the city.

Other ceremonies were also held to mark the auspicious occasion.

Iran’s President Congratulates Muslims on Prophet Mohammad Birth Anniv.

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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In his messages, Ebrahim Raeisi expressed hope the joyous occasion will provide an opportunity for Muslim nations to band together.

“I hope we (Muslim nations), on this auspicious occasion, will look up to the Prophet Mohammad’s proper demeanour as an example and rely on our Islamic commonalities and draw on our willpower to take more serious steps in order to establish stronger and more stable relations to further promote Islam and the Prophet’s demeanour,” read the messages.

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