The victims were delivering aid to locals in a village in Kurdistan province amid the coronavirus outbreak when they were shot by terrorists.
Two of the aid workers were killed and one was wounded. The victims were members of the Basij (voluntary) Force, an affiliate of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
The IRGC has vowed that it will take vengeance upon the masterminds and perpetrators of this crime.
Ingredients:
Ground meat: 500gr
Rice: Half a cupful (rinsed)
Herbs including coriander, chives, parsley and dill: 7 spoonfuls
Whey: 500gr
Onions: 4 average-size onions
Small potatoes: 2 potatoes
Dried mint: 2 spoonfuls
Chicken breast: one breast (ground)
Liquid oil: As much as necessary
Ingredients to be Inserted inside Meatballs:
Prunes: As many as the meatballs
Fried onions: As much as necessary
Walnut and raspberry: As much as needed
Eggs: 2
Dried mint: 2 spoonfuls
Turmeric: one and a half spoonfuls
Salt: One and a half teaspoonfuls
Red pepper: ¾ of a teaspoonful
Black pepper: ¾ of a teaspoonful
Recipe:
First, sauté some of the onions. Then grate one of them and remove the onion juice well. Mix the grated onion with the ground meat and chicken and knead it well.
Afterwards, add chopped herbs and eggs plus salt, pepper and turmeric to the mixture and knead it well. It is very important to knead the meatball meat because this will keep meatballs from falling apart. You must keep kneading the meat to a point when the mixture does not fall apart if you hold it with one hand. Now, the meat is ready. Add rice in the middle of kneading the meat, so that the rice will not be mashed up.
Take an amount, as big as a tangerine, of the mixture and insert some raspberries, walnut, one prune and sautéd onion inside it. Roll it into a meatball. Then press it a little bit to push out bubbles of air. Leave the meatballs in the fridge for two hours.
Grate the remaining onions and remove their juice. Then Sauté them. Meanwhile, grate the potatoes and remove their juice. When the onions turn gold, add dried mint. After mint is sautéd, add the potatoes and wait until the mixture begins to boil. Then add the meatballs one by one. The meatballs will not fall apart when they are completely cold and the sauce is completely hot.
Leave the dish on low heat for 30 minutes without the lid on, and for another 20 minutes with the lid on. Then add as much whey as you desire. Take care whey does not boil for more than 15 minutes. Garnish the meatballs with sautéd onions and walnut.
The negotiations came in a meeting between Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanitan Hanif Atmar and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi, who has travelled to Afghanistan heading a high-ranking delegation to follow up on the agreements already reached between the two countries during a recent meeting to Tehran by Atmar, especially to finalize the text of a comprehensive cooperation document between the two countries.
In the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on bilateral relations and the peace trend in Afghanistan as well as regional and international issues and problems, including the difficulties causes by the coronavirus pandemic.
The two sides also discussed bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation, including cooperation on trade via the Iranian port city of Chabahar as well as transit routes in Central Asia.
In the meeting, the two sides also agreed on a roadmap and the establishment of a timetable to finalize the comprehensive cooperation document.
The Iranian diplomat reiterated Tehran’s backing for a peace process owned and led by the Afghan government. He expressed hope intra-Afghan talks attended by all political parties in the country will get underway as soon as possible.
What is significant, said Araqchi, is to preserve the accomplishments of Afghan people after four decades of war, especially the Constitution and democratic structures created in the country during peace talks.
He recalled common concerns and interests that Iran and Afghanistan share as well as the facilitating role that neighbouring countries have in that regard, highlighting Iran’s preparedness to help the Afghan government advance the peace process.
During his trip, Araqchi is to sit down for talks with other senior Afghan authorities as well.
In a meeting held via videoconference on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Malaysian opposite number Hishammuddin Hussein highlighted the need to utilize the barter trade mechanism to advance the interests of both nations.
They also said finalizing a preferential trade agreement and holding a joint Iran-Malaysia economic commission will help further enhance mutual trade.
The two top diplomats agreed to hold a meeting of the joint commission as well.
Given the status of Malaysia as an active member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Zarif urged his counterpart to play a role in settling the Yemen crisis through political means.
Zarif also expressed Tehran’s support for any initiative by Kuala Lumpur to establish peace and put an end to the Yemen crisis.
He said Iran will actively contribute to efforts aimed at helping peace take hold in the Arab country.
The Malaysian foreign minister, in turn, highlighted his country’s unchangeable stance on the issues of Palestine and pinpointed the status of Palestine in Malaysian people’s hearts.
Persian architecture attaches great importance to the light, which is a sacred element in the nation’s culture.
Combined with the glass art, the light leaves unique impacts on Iranian buildings.
What follows are Honar Online’s photos of well-known colourful windows used in Persian architecture:
In her press briefing on Wednesday, Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 2,388 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 264,561.
The spokeswoman said 227,561 patients have so far recovered from COVID-19, but 3,411 are still in severe conditions of the disease.
She further stressed that so far 2,048,049 COVID-19 tests have been taken across the country.
She further noted that out of the country’s 31 provinces, 12 are currently considered as high-risk “red zones” and 13 are in orange zones in terms of coronavirus transmission.
Lari said Khuzestan, West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Khorasan Razavi, Zanjan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Golestan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Bushehr, and Mazandaran provinces are considered as “red zones”.
She said Tehran, Fars, Ardabil, Isfahan, Alborz, South Khorasan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Lorestan, Hamadan, Yazd, Kerman, and North Khorasan provinces are also considered orange (alarming) zones.
In a statement marking the 5th anniversary of the conclusion of the JCPOA, Iran asked the three European countries not to be swayed by Washington.
“Unfortunately, the situation has unfolded in such a way that we need to remind the remaining parties to the JCPOA as well as UN member states of the rights and duties stipulated in this agreement, which was reached through tough and complicated negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 group representing the international community, and which was approved by UN Security Council Resolution 2231,” read the Wednesday statement.
“[the points to be reminded range] from the emphasis that Resolution 2231 puts on the ‘promotion and facilitating of the development of ordinary economic and trade transactions and cooperation with Iran’ and the ‘full implementation of the framework’ of the JCPOA and Resolution 2231 to the importance of the system governing the lifting of sanctions on the JCPOA as one of the main pillars of the deal,” the statement also read.
The statement also called on the international community to do whatever it takes to preserve the deal.
“The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as a major product of multilateralism diplomacy, enjoys the overwhelming support of the international community, and is now facing serious danger on the fifth anniversary of its conclusion. If the international community does not take enough care to guarantee a balanced implementation of the deal coupled with the goodwill of the signatories to the agreement, the JCPOA can turn into another victim of the US government’s unilateral approach,” it read.
“Accordingly, international responsibility for it and its consequences solely falls upon this country (the US) and governments aligned with it,” it added.
The statement also highlighted Washington’s illegal pullout from the deal has dealt a heavy blow to it.
“On the fifth anniversary of the agreement, the international, legal, technical, strategic and political substance of this deal has been severely corroded due to the United States’ illegal and destructive moves. The remaining signatories to the JCPOA are well aware of that, and unanimously believe that the main reason conducive to the current circumstances has been the repeated violations of [UNSC] Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA as well as the United States’ unilateral and illegal withdrawal from an agreement which was achieved after years of arduous multilateral talks,” the statement added.
It also lashed out at the US for failing to live up to its obligations under the accord.
“The US government’s non-compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA and Resolution 2231 coupled with a lack of willpower on the part of other signatories to restore the lost balance in the JCPOA has further complicated the circumstances surrounding the JCPOA and has, in practice, caused the Islamic Republic of Iran not to be able to enjoy the benefits of the JCPOA such as the lifting of nuclear sanctions despite its abidance by its obligations,” said the statement.
It highlighted that the deal was aimed at resolving the row over Iran’s atomic work in a peaceful manner.
“The JCPOA is a negotiated diplomatic solution, with a comprehensive and final nature, to peacefully resolve a chronic, fabricated crisis over the peaceful nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” it said.
President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday Iran is keeping a close watch on the developments pertaining to the lifting of the arms ban, which expires in October, 2020.
“Tehran is closely watching movements in this domain,” he noted.
“The 4+1 countries should know that what is important today is not only Iran’s relations with them or with regional countries; rather, if they don’t act tactfully under the US sway, they will deal a major blow to international law, multilateralism and respect for international agreements, and it will be detrimental to everybody,” said the president.
“We hope, through the vigilance of countries, especially the 4+1 group, with regards to the expiration of the arms embargo on Iran, the US will, as always, fail this time, too, to advance its political and legal moves against Tehran,” he said.
President Rouhani reiterated that Iran will never capitulate to coercion and pressure by major powers, especially the United States.
“Despite the US efforts, Iran has never been, and will never be isolated, and its development schemes will not stop, and the Americans should know that they will never achieve their objectives despite their insistence on moving against the interests of the Iranian nation.
President Rouhani touched upon the fifth anniversary of the conclusion of the JCPOA, saying the United States’ illegal pullout from the deal was the result of efforts by Zionists, heads of reactionary states in the region and radicals in the US.
He said achievements of the JCPOA have been preserved despite the US attempts to wreck them.
Iran proven to be seeking peace, years-long anti-Iran campaigns losing their credit and enemy failing to harm Iran’s national interests are among the achievements of the JCPOA, he said.
By withdrawing from the agreement, Ali Rabiee said, the US also stopped Iranian people from reaping the benefits of the nuclear deal.
“In no period of time ever have ill-wishers of Iran, whether in the US or in countries bearing grudges against Iran in the region, or in other countries, been so powerful, and [in no period of time] has a country’s economy been under as much pressure of sanctions as Iran’s,” he noted.
The spokesman underlined challenges emanating from economic pressure have been coupled with the massive economic and social repercussions of the coronavirus outbreak, making it all the more necessary to focus on cooperation both within the Establishment and among people from different walks of life.
“The pressure caused by sanctions, the US bullying, and economic as well as livelihood problems are difficulties which have been created for people,” he said.
“We are also facing the effects of the coronavirus outbreak which has even harmed dynamic economies in the world, and undoubtedly, all-out cooperation, synergy and an understanding of issues are needed to successfully get through and mitigate problems is society,” he added.
Brigadier General Esmail Qa’ani made the comments in reaction to a massive fire raging for days now aboard the US Navy warship USS Bon Homme Richard which is docked at a San Diego base.
“What has happened in the United States now, especially the warship incident, is the result of the US government’s action, behaviour and crimes,” said General Qa’ani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
“It is divine promise that anyone who commits oppression and crime will meet divine retribution,” he added.
The top commander warned Washington against playing blame games.
“They should not look for a culprit and accuse others,” he noted.
“This is the fire that they themselves have lit, and the same fire has engulfed them today,” he added.
“We should tell them that this incident (the warship fire) is a response to their crimes,” he noted.
“This incident was caused by your own elements, and God Almighty punishes you with your own hands,” he added.
“You are still having your good days. Very difficult days and tough incidents are ahead of you and the Zionist regime [of Israel],” he said.
“The reality is that the US military is weary and worn-out, and its equipment has turned into scrap metal,” the top general said.
“It’s been a long time and US Navy commanders have been saying that these warships are merely scrap metal. The US should admit what situation it is in, and should stop oppressing humanity and its own people,” he said.
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