Iranian People Urged to Avoid Travelling during Nowruz Holidays amid Pandemic
President Hassan Rouhani said it would be forbidden to make trips to cities marked as “red” and “orange” in terms of the prevalence of COVID-19.
“We request people to avoid travelling during Nowruz holidays to protect their own health,” he said.
“It will be forbidden to travel to red and orange towns and cities,” he said.
“No one should make any plans to travel to these cities,” he stressed.
The president said the tolerance of the country’s health system “has a limit,” urging the public to cooperate when it comes to observing health protocols.
“The start of the vaccination drive in the country should not lead to people considering the situation as normal,” he said.
President Rouhani also complained that foreign vaccines are not distributed among countries fairly.
He also called for a change of lifestyle given that there have been numerous mutations in coronavirus.
“The coronavirus-style of living should continue for at least one year from now due to the many mutations of the virus,” said the president.
IAEA BOG’s Prudence Rescinded Anti-Iran Resolution: Envoy
Iran’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna Kazem Gharibabadi made the comment while elaborating on the actions taken to stop the adoption of the anti-Iran resolution by the three European countries.
“With the three European countries beginning to present a US-backed resolution against Iran at the Board of Governors, different measures were put on the agenda [to stop the move],” he said.
“The moves included extensive consultations with members of the Board of Governors in Vienna and the capitals of member states, the [Iranian] foreign minister’s sending a letter to his opposite numbers in different member states of the Board of Governors, Iran explaining its stances to the IAEA and Board of Governors’ members in a briefing text, tapping into the potential of the Secretariat of the IAEA and the agency’s director general to strive to maintain cooperation and interaction [between Iran and the IAEA], making special coordination with Russia and China, which expressed their opposition to the resolution, and sending messages by the Iranian president, foreign minister, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the deputy foreign minister for political affairs,” he explained.
“In all these consultations, messages and correspondence, it is clearly announced that the adoption of the resolution would be seen [by Tehran] as a destructive move on the way of Iran-IAEA cooperation which, among other things, would inhibit the recent agreement between Iran and the IAEA,” he noted.
“Anyway, the Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the prudence and vigilance of members of the Board of Governors and the IAEA director general to prevent unnecessary tension,” said Gharibabadi.
He also appreciated the stances adopted by Moscow and Beijing in that regard, urging the three European countries and the United States to take advantage of the existing diplomatic potential to fully and effectively return to their obligations under the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231 as Iran will respond to such a move with a goodwill gesture.
He also touched upon the IAEA chief’s announcement that a technical team from the agency would travel to Iran in early April.
“Such interactions between Iran and the agency is nothing new, and no new agreements or arrangements have been planned,” he said.
“The two sides have been working and interacting for quite some time to settle some issues pertaining to the Safeguards Agreement, and they have held several technical meetings over the past two years,” he said.
“The forthcoming meeting is in line with the same ongoing trend and is not at the level of the IAEA director general,” he said.
“Any engagement with the agency on Safeguards Agreement issues is aimed at resolving them as soon as possible, and we, too, have emphasized the necessity of goodwill and of the IAEA avoiding any politically-tainted move in this process,” he said.
Iran Rejects Arab Quartet’s ‘Provocative’ Statement, ‘Baseless’ Claims
“It is regrettable that some Arab countries are seeking to divert people’s attention from their wicked and destructive moves by arousing fictitious animosity instead of taking care of the key issues that the Arab world is facing, including attempts [by some Arab states] to pave the way for the Israeli regime’s presence in the region, disregard for the cause of Palestine, the perpetuation of the cruel war against Yemen’s Arab people and the creation of the worst humanitarian disaster in the contemporary era, and years-long support for terrorism and terror groups,” said Saeed Khatibzadeh on Friday evening.
“Countries whose destructive aggression over the past six years has not only destroyed basic infrastructure in Yemen, but also caused hunger, disease, displacement and poverty among millions of people, and who have the blood of innocent people on their hands, are trying to evade responsibility for these crimes by pressing baseless charges,” he said.
“The rehashing of futile claims about the three Iranian islands has had, and will have no bearing on the existing historical, geographical and historical realities, and these islands are an integral part of the Iranian territory,” said the spokesman.
He then highlighted Iran’s policy of good neighbourliness and mutual respect vis-à-vis neighbouring countries as well as non-interference in one another’s internal affairs.
He expressed hope the Arab League and some regional countries change their approach to one of dialogue and regional cooperation instead of issuing hollow and provocative statements which have no other result than the perpetuation of the current destructive trend.
Let’s Stop Posturing and Return to JCPOA, Zarif Tells Sherman
“JCPOA cannot be renegotiated—period,” wrote Mohammad Javad Zarif in a tweet reacting to remarks made by Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman at the US Senate.
“If 2021 is not 2015, it’s not 1945 either. So let’s change UN Charter & remove the veto—so often abused by US,” he added.
The top diplomat urged signatories to the JCPOA to fully comply with their obligations under the deal.
“Let’s stop posturing—which we both did 2003-2012 to no avail—& get down to implementing JCPOA—which we both actually signed on to,” he added.
Zarif Says to Present Iran’s Constructive Plan of Action on JCPOA
“As Iran’s foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, I will shortly present our constructive concrete plan of action—through proper diplomatic channels,” Zarif tweeted on Friday.
He made the remarks after Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, told the Financial Times that Tehran is prepared to negotiate with the US on the JCPOA if they send a clear signal that the anti-Iran sanctions will be lifted in a year.
In his Friday tweet, Zarif downplayed Rezaei’s comments and said, “Iranian polity is vibrant and officials express diverse opinions, but those opinions should NOT be confused with state policy.”
Iranian Security Forces Foil Hijack Attempt
According to a statement by the IRGC, a Fokker-100 plane operated by Iran Air departed Ahvaz at 22:10 (local time) and was en route to Mashhad when a hijacker tried to take it to a Persian Gulf state.
However, the pilot had an emergency landing in Isfahan and the hijacker was arrested, the statement added.
All the passengers and crew members are safe, and were taken to another plane to resume their travel, the IRGC said.
ILNA later gave more details of the incident, and said it was a family of four who first had a quarrel with a flight attendant, and then claimed they are carrying bombs with them.
The pilot was informed by one of the attendants, and after the emergency landing, it was revealed that there was no bomb in the plane, according to ILNA.
Ayatollah Khamenei Plants Sapling on Arbour Day
The Leader planted the saplings on Friday morning in a move to mark the Arbour Day and National Week of Natural Resources.
On Iran’s official calendar, 3 March is named as Arbour Day when people are encouraged to plant saplings.
This day is also the beginning of the National Week of Natural Resources. The first day of this week is dedicated to planting saplings.
What follows are photos of the Leader planting the two saplings:
Return Path to JCPOA Straightforward, Iran’s President Tells US
President Rouhani made the remarks in a virtual address to the 14th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) held on 4 March 2021.
What follows is the full text of the Iranian president’s speech:
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Your Excellency Mr Erdoğan;
At the outset, I would like to express my gratitude to you and to your colleagues for effective efforts during Turkey’s chairmanship of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), as well as for organisation of this important meeting. This is a great pleasure to have another opportunity to attend this august meeting of the honourable Heads of ECO Member States. I hope that this Summit will serve as yet another step towards integration, welfare, and prosperity of the nations of the ECO Region as well as the promotion of the ECO.
Honourable Presidents,
Economic Cooperation Organization constitutes a priority in the paradigm governing Iran’s regional and neighbourhood policies. ECO enjoys invaluable potential in terms of human and natural resources, energy reserves, complementary economies, interested private sectors, and an incomparable regionally and globally transit and transport advantages. In fact, ECO meets all the requisites for being a success story of regional integration.
There have been major steps towards the enhancement of economic cooperation within ECO and precious achievements have been made. However, in certain areas such as trade, the achievements have not met expectations. Despite the high trade potential and the necessary infrastructure in place, intra-regional trade remains as low as less than 10 percent– totally unacceptable. This has also been addressed in the ECO Vision 2025.
We are of the view that we need to concentrate on operationalization of the ECO agreed programmes and decisions with a view to accelerating the pace towards realization of the goals and objectives of the Organization. To that end, the following proposals are suggested:
- Implementation of ECO trade agreement as well as working out ways and means to expand intra-regional trade,
- Further activation of private sectors for the sake of trade boost,
- Strengthening and activation of the existing and new ECO agencies such as ECO Trade and Development Bank, ECO Reinsurance Company, ECO Regional Institute for Standardization (RISCAM), and ECO Chamber of Commerce,
- Removing the obstacles and challenges encountering transit and transport cooperation as the fundamental infrastructure for trade expansion.
The Islamic Republic of Iran remains ready to actively contribute to the operationalization of the ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA) and creating the necessary financial, banking and customs arrangements while having on board all ECO Member States. Given our geographical location, we are prepared to share our transport network as well as infrastructures and facilities along Persian Gulf and Oman Sea with ECO Members, particularly the landlocked countries, bridging them with international waters and markets.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The international community is now experiencing formidable challenges which have affected all facets of human life. The COVID-19 has deeply and destructively affected economic and welfare conditions of the countries in the world. No country can afford to tackle such challenges single-handedly. Rather, it requires collective will along with joint cooperation. Accordingly, we consider very timely and promising for ECO Region the theme of this Summit, namely “Regional Cooperation in the Post-COVID Era.”
In the time of the pandemic, the international community has disappointedly failed to act against unilateral measures and unlawful sanctions dragged into the realm of the fight against the disease, targeting the countries’ capabilities in their struggle against this global plague. The great powers’ depriving other nations of fundamental rights as well as their disrespect for international organisations necessitate response from the likeminded countries including through strengthening cooperation and creating a united front against these challenges.
In the last 4 years, the international community has witnessed the US illegal approach and a full-scale economic war against Iran. These cruel and illegal sanctions have inflicted irreparable damage to Iran’s government and people. As per Iran’s wisdom and insight, the JCPOA has so far survived despite the fact that the US had opted for its obliteration. The US, as the one who violated the Deal, shall lift all sanctions and take practical steps in order to be able to return to JCPOA. The Islamic Republic of Iran will reciprocate action by action. The return path to the JCPOA is straightforward, and if the US government is determined to return, there is no need for negotiations.
Allow me to announce that the US unlawful unilateral measures have failed to bring the great Iranian nation to its knees. Notwithstanding severe economic pressure, this nation has relied on its domestic capabilities and has even made breakthroughs and achieved great achievements including in the fight against COVID-19 and its impacts. A vivid example is the production of coronavirus vaccine by Iranian scientists, where we are prepared to extend cooperation with other countries, particularly ECO countries. We are also ready to exchange our views on how to deal with post-COVID era and lay solid foundations for regional cooperation.
Mr President,
Let me conclude by renewing my gratitude to you as well as to the organisers of this Summit in Ankara, and the colleagues in the ECO Secretariat in Tehran. Seizing this opportunity, I would also like to express my congratulations to my dear brother, H.E. Mr Berdimuhamedow, on the occasion of incoming ECO Chairmanship by Turkmenistan.
I thank you for your attention.
Iran Says IAEA Censure Resolution Shelved Thanks to ‘Intensive Diplomatic Efforts’
“Today’s development can maintain the path of diplomacy opened by Iran and the IAEA, and prepare the grounds for the full implementation of commitments by all parties to the JCPOA,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Thursday.
“Iran hopes the parties involved in the JCPOA would be able to tap into this opportunity, and guarantee the full implementation of the JCPOA by everyone through serious cooperation,” he added.
Britain, France and Germany scrapped the US-backed plan for the UN nuclear watchdog’s board to criticise Iran for scaling back cooperation with the agency, diplomats have said.
Three diplomats, who follow the IAEA closely, said on Thursday the so-called E3 had scrapped their plan for a resolution.
“Cooler heads are prevailing,” said one diplomat from a country on the board that had been skeptical about the proposed resolution.
Other countries had expressed concern that a resolution would undermine attempts to rescue the deal. Iran had also warned that the resolution will negatively impact its cooperation with the IAEA.
The European powers, all parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, were lobbying for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors to adopt a resolution at this week’s quarterly meeting.
However, Iran bristled at the prospect, threatening to end a recent agreement with the IAEA that limits the impact of its latest moves and enables monitoring of its facilities to continue in a black-box-type arrangement for up to three months.
