Muqarnas is a form of ornamented vaulting applied to the underside of domes or semi-domes above porches, entrance gates, underside of minarets, top of porches of mosques, top of altars inside mosques and other structures. Muqarnas ornaments are made with bricks, plater, tiles and wood or metal.
Muqarnas ornaments are very similar to beehives. They are built in the form of layers built on top of one another in order to decorate buildings, and sometimes gradually change in appearance from one geometric shape to another.
By looking at natural icicles and limestone cones inside caves in Iran, one finds out that the first Muqarnas artists were inspired by the same stalactites and stalagmites and built similar shapes on the inside and outside of buildings using bricks, plaster or cement.
Muqarnas ornaments are usually applied to concave surfaces underside ceilings, but could also be applied to the top of walls, ceilings, corners of gates, etc.
Muqarnas was very popular in Iranian architecture before the advent of Islam. Of course, it was somehow different from the Muqarnas art after the advent of Islam. During the Achaemenid era, the Muqarnas art underwent considerable changes and grew into more beautiful designs in the Parthian era.
Muqarnas also influenced and led to the evolution of other ornamental arts and handicrafts such carpet weaving, tilework, the stucco art, etc.
Many an exquisite Muqarnas artwork on portals as well as inside domes, prayer halls and altars led to the ever-growing evolution of the tiling art and wood carving, which was applied to wooden pillars inside mosques, etc.
Unrivalled samples of such woodcarving can be seen in mosques dating back to the Safavid era.
Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami (right) speaks in a press conference with Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri after a joint visit to an exhibition of Iranian defence products in Tehran / Photo by IRNA
Brigadier General Amir Hatami said Iran has developed such capability on the back of self-sufficiency.
“When we came under sanctions during the Holy Defence era (the eight years of the Iraqi-imposed war on Iran in the 1980s), we adopted a strategy and realized the importance of self-reliance given [other countries’] refusal to sell arms to us,” said the defence chief in a televised interview on Sunday night.
“We need to rely on ourselves in order to safeguard the country’s territorial integrity,” he said.
The top general underlined that US sanctions turned out to be an opportunity for Iran to stand on its own feet.
“The pressure and sanctions imposed on us by the US for years led us to move, so much so that we can now produce and provide 90 percent of our defence needs inside the country,” he said.
General Hatami said Iran’s defence capabilities are a bitter pill to swallow for Washington.
“It is very hard for the Americans to see Iran has developed such a capability,” he said.
The senior commander said the White House has tried its utmost to strip Iran of its legitimate rights.
He underscored the US had been trying over the past year to extend the UN arms embargo on Iran, which expired on October 18, 2020.
“The Americans asked the UN Security Council repeatedly to keep the restrictions in place or impose new restrictions, but they were discredited,” said the defence chief.
“Today, all bans on weapons sales were lifted and we are authorized to procure whatever we need in the world legally and in accordance with the UN Security Council’s approval, and we can also provide other countries with what they need,” he noted.
Hatami said despite the US and its arms-producing allies which only think about profit, Iran will sell weapons only to those who do not abuse it, and those who are despised by the US.
“Many countries have already talked to us; we have held negotiations with some countries, and the grounds are totally prepared for exchanges [of weapons], both for selling [arms to other countries] and for supplying certain needs [buying weapons],” he noted.
“Of course our sales will be much more extensive [than our purchases],” he added.
General Hatami said all nations have the right to defend their territorial integrity, and Iran will be a good and successful actor in this regard as it seeks to preserve peace.
He said Iran’s goal is first to become self-sufficient and powerful in terms of defensive capabilities, and second to support the countries that seek to defend their existence.
Meanwhile, he gave an assurance to regional countries that the Islamic Republic wants peace, stability and security for the region and the world. “This is the clear defense policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“You can’t find any move against this policy in the past four decades …. Wherever we took action, it was meant to create peace, help establish security and stability in the region. We honestly showed it to the entire world in the course of fight against the terrorists trained by the Americans,” Hatami said.
A Shahab-3 surface-to-surface missile is on display at an exhibition by Iran's army and IRGC in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sept. 25, 2019. / Photo by AP
In a statement, the mission announced the expiration of the arms restrictions on Iran in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
According to the statement, governments will no longer be required, as of October 22, 2020, to get permission from the UN Security Council to transfer weapons and related equipment to/from Iran.
“Moreover, travel bans on individuals mentioned on List 2231 will be cancelled,” it read.
“It should be emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always regarded as baseless, unfair and illegal all sanctions and restrictions imposed on Iranian people,” said part of the statement.
The statement also touched upon the United States’ illegal efforts over the past months to reinstate the UN arms embargo as well as international sanctions on Iran, but to no avail.
The statement said the Trump administration’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal amounted to “economic terrorism” against Iranian people, saying Washington tried to keep Iran from reaping the benefits of the agreement.
“Iran has many friends and trade partners as well as a strong weapons industry inside the country which can meet the country’s defense needs against any foreign aggression,” read the statement.
The PCR test is the proven method to diagnose COVID-19. The consignment of these apparatuses worth more than $2.8 million has been purchased with the humanitarian aid offered by Germany and other international partners. That will increase the capacity of Iran’s national laboratory tests.
Currently, some 27 thousand PCR tests, on average, are carried out at the country’s labs.
WHO representative in Iran Christoph Hamelmann says it is of significance to boost the capacity of conducting tests in order to identify and separate COVID-19 patients in the early stages of the disease and track infected individuals.
This, he says, plays a key role in the early prevention of the spread of the disease and its effective treatment.
According to the WHO official, the equipment that Iran has bought will be instrumental in increasing the rate of recovery among patients who are in critical condition suffering from coronavirus.
The equipment purchases will be sent to reference laboratories to 24 provinces across Iran.
Since the outbreak of the disease in Iran, the WHO has actively supported the Iranian health ministry by providing medical equipment and items.
In a press briefing on Saturday, Sima-Sadat Lari said the virus has killed 252 patients since Friday noon, raising the overall death toll to 30,375.
So far, she added, 427,400 patients have recovered from the disease or been discharged from the hospital.
Lari said 4,744 patients are also in critical conditions caused by more severe infection.
The spokeswoman noted that 4,511,154 COVID-19 tests have been taken across the country so far.
She said the high-risk “red” zones include Tehran, Qom, Mazandaran, East Azarbaijan, Isfahan, Yazd, Ardabil, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Hamadan, West Azarbaijan, Bushehr, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Alborz, Lorestan, Markazi, Ilam, South Khorasan, Kermanshah, North Khorasan, Semnan, Gilan, Zanjan, Qazvin, Kurdistan, and Kerman provinces.
The “orange” zones also include Golestan, Hormozgan, and Fars provinces, she added.
Zarif made the remarks in a Sunday meeting with Head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah, who is visiting Tehran at the head of a delegation for talks with Iranian officials.
The Iranian top diplomat also reaffirmed Iran’s support for the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the process of peace under the leadership and management of Afghans, and the agreements among the participants in the intra-Afghan negotiations.
The top Iranian diplomat admired Abdullah for his participation in the political process and assuming responsibility to run Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation.
For his part, Abdullah Abdullah expounded on the most recent developments in Afghanistan and the latest status of the intra-Afghan talks.
Abdullah, the former chief executive officer of the Afghan unity government, is on a three-day trip to Iran for talks on the Afghan peace process, the intra-Afghan dialogue in Qatar, and the need for regional consensus and support for the Afghanistan peace efforts.
He is going to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani.
The Iran Air flight was en route from Turkey to one of the Persian Gulf countries when it experienced an engine problem and was forced to land at Imam Khomeini International Airport near the capital, Tehran.
Iranian experts repaired the engine in three days despite the problems Iran is facing due to the US sanctions.
The faulty engine was taken to the engineering and repair unit of Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport and transferred back to Imam Khomeini airport after undergoing repair.
Hamid Baeedijenad said the lifting of the restrictions was another defeat for the United States.
“The termination of the arms embargo on our country in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2231 is one of the key accomplishments of the JCPOA; the US has failed in its diplomacy against Iran,” he noted.
“Today, the international community once again backed multilateralism and opposed the United States’ efforts to sabotage the enforcement of one the important achievements of international diplomacy,” said the top diplomat.
“No unilateral action can block the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution and the lifting of arms restrictions on our country,” he noted.
The ambassador said Washington made every effort it could to stop the termination of the arms embargo, by failed to win international support.
“The US failed in its diplomacy, and this is a clear reality,” he said.
Baeedinejad further said Britain, France and Germany, the three EU signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, played a key role in terminating the UN arms embargo on Iran.
He also appreciated the support by other EU members as well as Russia and China in that regard.
The 11-year-old student reportedly died after leaving home due to cardiac arrest resulting from intense anxiety caused by the challenge.
The “Momo Challenge” is a hoax and an Internet urban legend that was rumoured to spread through social media and other outlets.
It was reported that children and adolescents were being enticed by a user named Momo to perform a series of dangerous tasks, including violent attacks, self-harm and suicide.
There are reports that the challenge has led some users to actually commit suicide.
It is now spreading in Iran, and is particularly targeting children who are using messenger apps for online education amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
