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First-Graders Ring in New School Year in Iran On-Line

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Upwards of 1.6 million first-graders rang in the new school year on Thursday and embarked on their journey across the realm of science and knowledge.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, classes are held on-line via an application called Shaad developed for the same purpose.

“The Ministry of Education guarantees students’ health, and this year, we will offer higher-quality education to students through Shaad and TV,” said Acting Education Minsiter Alireza Kazemi.

“Coronavirus dealt serious harm to the country, but the education domain bore the brunt of it and we should pave the way for high-quality education by gradually opening schools,” he added.

Meanwhile, he noted that first-graders must go to school at least one day a week while observing health protocols in order to socialize with their teachers and classmates.

“First, we should guarantee students’ health. So, we begin the school year virtually and via Shad,” he said.

Moscow’s security chief: AUKUS security pact against Russia, China

By
IFP Media Wire
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A new geopolitical deal that will see the US and UK team up with Australia to station nuclear submarines deep down in the Pacific Ocean is a hostile step aimed not only at Beijing, but at Moscow too, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.

Patrushev stated the pact between the three nations, known as AUKUS, will inevitably be yet another military bloc aimed at containing and confronting the two strongest non-Western powers.

According to the interview, Patrushev compared the pact to QUAD, a strategic dialogue format between the US, India, Japan, and Australia, designed to strengthen Washington’s position across Asia. According to him, the group is “a military-political bloc with a pronounced pro-American character”.

“Just the other day, another military bloc was formed in the region – the American-British-Australian AUKUS, which pursues the same goals,” the top official added.

According to him, the new deal, which will see London and Washington hand over the technical know-how for Canberra to develop and deploy nuclear-powered submarines, is a threat to “the entire security architecture in Asia”.

France, which saw its long-delayed multibillion-dollar deal to supply Australia with a fleet of new submarines canned as a result of the new pact, has hit out at the decision. The French envoy to Australia accusing his host country of “treason in the making”. Jean-Pierre Thebault stressed that all options were on the table in terms of a diplomatic response after his nation was “stabbed in the back”.

Saudi Arabia seeks talks with Iran, concrete results

By
IFP Media Wire
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In a pre-recorded message to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, King Salman also said he supported efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and expressed concern about Iran’s destabilizing use of regional proxies.

“We support international efforts aiming at preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons,” he stated, adding, “We are very concerned about Iranian steps that go counter to its commitments as well as daily declarations from Iran that its nuclear programme is peaceful.”

Iran and Saudi Arabia have cut diplomatic ties in 2016, but have recently been holding talks in Iraq aimed at reducing tensions.

“Iran is a neighboring country, and we hope that our initial talks with it will lead to concrete results to build confidence… based on respect of sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs,” the king continued.

Since intervening in Yemen’s war in 2015 to prop up the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, rights groups say the Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly targeted non-military sites – including schools, factories and hospitals. At the same time, Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for ballistic missile and drone attacks that have struck deep into Saudi Arabia and targeted civilian infrastructure.

“The kingdom maintains its legitimate right to defend itself… the peace initiative in Yemen tabled by the kingdom last march ought to end the bloodshed and conflict,” the Saudi king said.

“Unfortunately, the terrorist Houthi militias reject peaceful solutions. They have placed their bets on a military option,” he added.

In his address, King Salman reiterated his commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

“Peace is the strategic choice of the Middle East region which goes through a just, durable solution to the question of Palestine,” he noted.

Although he has long been considered a supporter of the Palestinian cause, analysts suggest his young son and the country’s de-facto ruler – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – may be open to normalizing relations with Israel.

Source: Middle East Eye

U.S., Israel hold secret talks over Iran nuclear deal

By
IFP Media Wire
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It is the first time a top-secret U.S.-Israel strategic working group on Iran has convened since the new Israeli government took office in June.

The meeting last week was held via a secure video conference call and led by national security adviser Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart, Eyal Hulata.

The Israeli side stressed the need to move ahead with a “plan B” on Iran due to the stalemate in diplomatic talks and Iran’s nuclear acceleration.

The U.S. side stressed that it was also concerned about the stalemate and said Washington would impose additional sanctions on Iran if talks don’t resume soon, an Israeli official told Axios.

A White House spokesperson told Axios that the U.S. “remains engaged in ongoing consultations with the Israeli government on a range of issues related to the challenge posed by Iran”.

A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday that Tehran would be ready to resume Vienna nuclear talks in a few weeks.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met on Tuesday in New York with the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, and will meet this week with the foreign ministers of Germany, France and the U.K. to discuss a possible resumption of the Vienna talks

U.S. and Afghan officials claim Ahmad Massoud fled

By
IFP Media Wire
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Ahmad Massoud, son of the late Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, fled to Tajikistan shortly after the Taliban seized control of the Panjshir Valley in September 6, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official, a Pentagon consultant, and two former senior Afghan government officials.

Massoud was joined a few days later by Amrullah Saleh, the former Afghan vice president and longtime intelligence chief, who left Afghanistan by helicopter, the senior U.S. official and two former Afghan officials said.

The retreat of the two key Afghan resistance figures contradicts public claims that they are still in Afghanistan and holding out against the Taliban and signals a remarkable shift in their fortunes: For the first time in decades, the United States government and the CIA do not appear to be backing them. Massoud and Saleh are both seeking military aid and equipment from the West, but the Joe Biden administration is not supporting them and has given no indication of whether it will provide future assistance, according to the two former Afghan officials and a retired U.S. intelligence official.

Neither Massoud nor Saleh has been seen in public since the Taliban took Panjshir. Both come from the mountainous northeastern province, a perennial base of Afghan resistance, first against the Soviet Union and later the Taliban.

Massoud is currently in a “safe house” in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, according to a former senior Afghan government official who spoke with him last week, while Saleh is in a nearby location.

Saleh last tweeted on September 3, as the Taliban began encircling Panjshir. In an accompanying video, he dismissed reports that he had already fled Afghanistan as “totally baseless”.

“The RESISTANCE is continuing and will continue,” Saleh tweeted, adding, “I am here with my soil, for my soil & defending its dignity.”

On Monday, Ali Maisam Nazary, a spokesperson for Massoud, told The Intercept that Massoud “is inside Afghanistan … in an undisclosed location”, while Saleh could not be reached for comment.

Saleh, who once worked as an aide to Ahmad Shah Massoud and served many years in senior positions in Afghanistan’s U.S.-backed government, tweeted last month that he was the legal successor to former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, citing Ghani’s decision to flee to the United Arab Emirates.

The U.S. has long supported opposition groups in Afghanistan, going back to the CIA’s role in arming Afghan mujahideen to fight the Soviets under President Ronald Reagan. Ahmad Shah Massoud, a legendary resistance commander, received CIA funding under Reagan and subsequent U.S. administrations, as his militia ousted the Soviets from Kabul and later led the opposition to the Taliban. Massoud was assassinated by Al-Qaeda operatives two days before the 9/11 attacks.

Source: The Intercept

Iran FM calls for measurable actions by JCPOA parties

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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“Unfortunately, Britain is also part of this inaction, and this approach must change”, Amirabdollahian said during the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said the U.S. government, with the silence and support of Europe, continues to enforce its illegal sanctions, and at the same time claims that it wants to return to the JCPOA.

“This is a clear contradiction that is being carefully observed by the Iranian people. For the current Iranian administration the assessment standard is measurable actions by the parties to the JCPOA not their words”, the top Iranian diplomat noted.

The Iranian foreign minister also said during this meeting that mending bilateral ties between Iran and Britain requires serious measures, stressing the necessity of repayment of Britain’s four-decade-old debts to Iran.

The British foreign secretary stated that her country is ready to repay its debts to Iran.

Referring to the nuclear deal, Elizabeth Truss said the main issue now is the attention of all parties to the timing of the resumption of the negotiations process.

Russia regrets Biden’s UN speech

By
IFP Media Wire
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“Unfortunately, we did not hear any statement to the effect that relations should still be built on the basis of mutual respect, taking into account each other’s interests, on an equal footing,” Peskov told journalists.

“However, these are principles that we adhere to ourselves,” he added.

Peskov also stressed that, for Moscow, “it was important to hear [US President] Biden speaking about the end of wars and the start of the age of diplomacy”.

“It was certainly a comfort to hear this,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Peskov continued.

Source: TASS

France to return envoy to US after Macron-Biden call

By
IFP Media Wire
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FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden and France's President Emmanuel Macron walk along the boardwalk during the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, Britain, June 11, 2021. REUTERS/Phil Noble/Pool

Diplomatic relations between France and the United States are on the mend after Biden and Macron spoke for the first time since the trilateral AUKUS alliance was announced.

The deal between the US, the UK and Australia sank France’s $60bn submarine contract, leading to the unprecedented recall of its ambassador from Washington.

In a joint statement following the call on Wednesday, Macron said the ambassador will return in the next week after Biden reaffirmed his “on-going commitment” to France and Europe.

The pair agreed to meet in person at the end of October, likely around the Group of 20 Summit in Europe, to reach a “shared understanding”.

“The two leaders agreed that the situation would have benefited from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners,” the statement added.

“The two leaders have decided to open a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence and proposing concrete measures toward common objectives,” it read.

France says it received little notice before its contract to build submarines for Australia was publicly scuttled by the AUKUS pact, announced by Biden and UK Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison on 15 September.

It led to a furious reaction from France, which recalled its ambassadors from Australia and the US, and cancelled an event to mark the 240-year US-French relationship dating to the Battle of the Capes.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Franceinfo radio that it was a “unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision”.

“A knife in the back,” he added, noting that it killed the French submarine deal with Australia that involved “a lot of technological transfers and a contract for a 50-year period”.

Despite the escalating rhetoric, the call between Macron and Biden was described by the White House a “friendly”.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated the 30-minute call was “extensive”, and that they would continue their next steps in repairing the relationship once the French ambassador returns to the US.

“Acknowledging there can be closer coordination and consultation I don’t think is going to be the height of concern for most of the American people, but anyone who is concerned about our relationship with France can rest assured that they had a friendly phone call and we had a path forward,” Psaki continued.

“It was friendly, it was one where we’re hopeful and the president is hopeful this is a step in returning to normal in a long important abiding relationship that the United States has with France,” she added.

While the tone of the conversation was framed as congenial from within the Biden administration, the office of Macron was less cordial when describing its intentions for the call.

The French president planned on discussing “the crisis of trust” between the two countries and expected “clarifications and clear commitments” from Biden on why he kept a European ally in the dark.

Macron’s office announced he wanted acknowledgement the deal should have been discussed, and that it raised “a matter of trust about which we need to draw together all the consequences”.

The joint statement put out by the two leaders reflected the US’s concession to France that the deal should have been discussed ahead of time, while acknowledging France’s presence in the Pacific.

“President Biden reaffirms the strategic importance of French and European engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, including in the framework of the European Union’s recently published strategy for the Indo-Pacific,” the statement said.

“The United States also recognizes the importance of a stronger and more capable European defence, that contributes positively to transatlantic and global security and is complementary to NATO,” it added.

The White House’s conciliatory response was in stark contrast to the UK, whose prime minister said France should “get a grip” and give him a “break”.

“Fundamentally a great step forward for global security. It’s three very like-minded allies standing shoulder-to-shoulder, creating a new partnership for the sharing of technology,” Johnson said, adding, “It’s not exclusive. It’s not trying to shoulder anybody out. It’s not adversarial towards China, for instance.”

The White House refused to be pulled into the interactions between the UK and France, while adding that Biden takes responsibility for his part in the frayed diplomatic tensions.

“I can’t speak to [Mr Johnson’s] comments and whether they’re constructive or not from other countries,” Psaki noted.

Source: The Independent

Poll shows 80% of Palestinians want Abbas to resign

By
IFP Media Wire
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The survey found support for Abbas’ Hamas rivals remained high months after the 11-day Gaza war in May, when the group was widely seen by Palestinians as having scored a victory against a far more powerful Israel while the Western-backed Abbas was sidelined.

The latest poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 45 percent of Palestinians believe Hamas should lead and represent them, while only 19 percent said Abbas’ secular Fatah deserved that role, showing only a slight shift in favor of Fatah over the last three months.

“This is the worst polling we’ve ever seen for the president,” said Khalil Shikaki, the head of the center, who has been surveying Palestinian public opinion for more than two decades.

“He has never been in as bad a position as today,” he added.

Despite his plummeting popularity and refusal to hold elections, the international community still views the 85-year-old Abbas as the leader of the Palestinian cause and a crucial partner in the peace process with Israel, which ground to a halt more than a decade ago.

His Palestinian Authority administers parts of the occupied West Bank under interim agreements signed with Israel at the height of the peace process in the 1990s. Hamas drove Abbas’ forces out of Gaza when it seized power there in 2007, a year after winning parliamentary elections.

Abbas’ latest woes began in April, when he called off the first Palestinian elections in 15 years as Fatah appeared to be headed for another embarrassing loss. Hamas’ popularity soared the following month amid protests in Jerusalem and the Gaza war, as many Palestinians accused the PA of doing nothing to aid their struggle against Israeli occupation.

The death of Nizar Banat, a harsh critic of the PA who died after being beaten by Palestinian security forces during a late-night arrest in June, ignited protests in the occupied West Bank calling on Abbas to resign.

His security forces launched a crackdown in response, beating and arresting several demonstrators.

The poll found that 78 percent of Palestinians want Abbas to resign and just 19 percent think he should remain in office.

It found that 63 percent of Palestinians think Banat was killed on the orders of PA political or security leaders, with only 22 percent believing it was a mistake. The PA recently announced that 14 security officials who took part in the arrest will stand trial. Sixty-nine percent of those polled felt that was an insufficient response.

Sixty-three percent of Palestinians support the demonstrations that broke out after Banat’s death, and 74 percent believe the PA’s arrest of demonstrators was a violation of liberties and civil rights, the poll found.

Source: Arab News

Iran thrash Bangladesh at AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 qualifiers

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The 5-0 win at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Wednesday leaves Iran just one victory away from qualifying for their first ever AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

Iranian captain Behnaz Taherkhani scored from the penalty spot twice while Melika Motevalli, Golnoosh Khosravi and Hajar Dabbaghi each scored one goal during the onslaught against Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi side had lost their first match with the same result against Jordan on Sunday.
Iran will face Jordan on Saturday to decide which team will finally emerge at the top of group G.

India will host the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup from Jan. 20 to Feb. 6.

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