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Trump Adds Six More Countries to His Travel Ban

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Trump Adds Six More Countries to His Travel Ban

Trump on Friday added six countries to his list of nations facing stringent travel restrictions, a move that will virtually block immigration from Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, and from Myanmar, where the Muslim minority is fleeing genocide.

Beside Nigeria, three other African countries, Eritrea, Sudan and Tanzania, will face varying degrees of restrictions, as will one former Soviet state, Kyrgyzstan. Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims could also be caught in the crossfire.

All six countries have substantial Muslim populations. The total number of countries now on the restricted travel list stands at 13.

Immigrant visas, issued to those seeking to live in the United States, will be banned for Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan. The ban will also prevent immigrants from Sudan and Tanzania from moving to the United States through the diversity visa lottery, which grants green cards to as many as 50,000 people a year.

The proclamation will take effect on February 22. Immigrants who obtain visas before then will still be able to travel to the United States, officials said. Nonimmigrant visas, including those for students and certain temporary workers, as well as visas reserved for potential employees with specialized skills, will not be affected by the ban.

Immigrants will be able to apply for waivers from the restrictions. The administration has said waivers are issued to those who would experience undue hardship if denied entry into the United States, although the process has been criticized as opaque.

The administration has argued that the ban, enacted in 2017 to restrict travel from Muslim-majority countries, is necessary to ensure that countries satisfy security requirements for travel into the United States, or face restrictions until they do, the New York Times reported.

The expansion of the restrictions, which already affected more than 135 million people in seven countries, is likely to hinder more than 12,300 potential immigrants in the next year from resettling, finding work or reuniting with their families in the United States. The effect on Nigeria, not only Africa’s most populous country but also its largest economy, could be particularly severe. The United States issued more than 7,920 immigrant visas to Nigerians in the 2018 fiscal year, the second-most of any African country.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity said Eritrea, Tanzania and Kyrgyzstan were being added to the list because each country had either had not satisfied the administration’s information-sharing requirements related to terrorism or did not have updated passport systems.

The officials said Sudan remained a state sponsor of terrorism, even though the country has transitioned to a civilian-run government from one ruled by its military.

While Nigeria has partnered with the American military, the officials noted an “elevated risk and threat environment in the country,” when justifying the travel restrictions.

The ban drew several legal challenges but, after some adjustments, was narrowly upheld by the Supreme Court in June 2018. The ban initially restricted travel from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Chad — as well as Venezuela and North Korea. Chad was later removed from the list. The court’s majority argued that the policy was not a Muslim ban, citing the inclusion of North Korea and Venezuela and the administration’s process of granting exemptions.

 

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UK Finally Leaves EU, Leaps into the Unknown

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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UK Finally Leaves EU, Leaps into the Unknown

The UK’s departure became official at 11 p.m. (2300GMT), midnight in Brussels, where the EU is headquartered.

Thousands of enthusiastic Brexit supporters gathered outside Britain’s Parliament to welcome the moment they’d longed for since Britain’s 52%-48% vote in June 2016 to walk away from the club it had joined in 1973.

The flag-waving crowd erupted in cheers as Big Ben bonged 11 times — on a recording. Parliament’s real bell has been silenced for repairs.

In a message from nearby 10 Downing St., Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Britain’s departure “a moment of real national renewal and change.”

But many Britons mourned the loss of their EU identity, and some marked the passing with tearful vigils. There was also sadness in Brussels as British flags were quietly removed from the bloc’s many buildings.

Whether Brexit makes Britain a proud nation that has reclaimed its sovereignty, or a diminished presence in Europe and the world, will be debated for years to come, AP reports.

While Britain’s exit is a historic moment, it only marks the end of the first stage of the Brexit saga. When Britons wake up on Saturday, they will notice very little change.

The UK and the EU have given themselves an 11-month “transition period” — in which the UK will continue to follow the bloc’s rules — to strike new agreements on trade, security and a host of other areas.

The now 27-member EU will have to bounce back from one of its biggest setbacks in its 62-year history to confront an ever more complicated world as its former member becomes a competitor, just across the English Channel.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Brexit a “historic alarm signal” that should force the EU to improve itself.

“It’s a sad day, let’s not hide it,” he said in a televised address. “But it is a day that must also lead us to do things differently.”

He insisted that European citizens need a united Europe “more than ever,” to defend their interests in the face of China and the United States, to cope with climate change and migration and technological upheaval.

In the many EU buildings of Brussels on Friday, British flags were quietly lowered, folded and taken away. This is the first time a country has left the EU, and many in the bloc rued the day. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lamented that “as the sun rises tomorrow, a new chapter for our union of 27 will start.”

But she warned Brexit day would mark a major loss for the UK and said the island nation was heading for a lonelier existence.

“Strength does not lie in splendid isolation, but in our unique union,” she said.

Johnson insisted post-Brexit Britain would be “simultaneously a great European power and truly global in our range and ambitions.”

“We want this to be the beginning of a new era of friendly cooperation between the EU and an energetic Britain,” Johnson said in a pre-recorded address to the country broadcast an hour before Britain’s exit.

Leader Pays Tribute to Imam Khomeini ahead of Revolution Anniversary

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Leader Pays Tribute to Imam Khomeini ahead of Revolution Anniversary

On the occasion of the of the 41st anniversary of the victory of Islamic Revolution in 1979, Ayatollah Khamenei paid tribute to the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini in his mausoleum in southern Tehran.

During the visit, the Leader also paid homage to the martyrs of the Hafte Tir bombing and the Iranian Prime Minister’s office bombing, both of which were carried out by the MKO terrorist group in 1981.

The office of Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Prime Minister of Iran, was bombed on 30 August 1981 by the MKO, killing Bahonar, President Mohammad Ali Rajai, and six other Iranian government officials.

The briefcase bombing came two months after the Hafte Tir bombing, which killed over seventy senior Iranian officials, including Chief Justice Mohammad Beheshti, then Iran’s second-highest official.

What follows are photos of Ayatollah Khamenei’s Saturday visit:

Iran Suspends All Flights to/from China over Coronavirus Threat

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iran Suspends All Flights tofrom China over Coronavirus Threat

Namaki said on Friday that no case of coronavirus infection has been reported in the country so far and added that the decision has been made in an emergency meeting in the presence of a number of Iranian ministers and the government spokesman after the virus was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Thursday that the coronavirus epidemic in China now constitutes a ‘public health emergency of international concern’.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, announced the decision after a meeting of its Emergency Committee, an independent panel of experts, amid mounting evidence of the virus spreading to some 18 countries.

Namaki further noted that he has sent a letter to Iran‘s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri asking the government to adopt new strategies regarding the coronavirus outbreak.

It has been set that Iranian nationals residing in China would be able to return to the country via exclusive flights while being fully supervised by the Health Ministry, Namaki said.

He noted that some 70 uninfected Iranian university students, who are now in Wuhan, would be returned home in cooperation with Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

“But these cases depend on the Chinese government’s cooperation. These individuals will be kept in quarantine and supervision for two weeks,” the health minister said.

In a Persian tweet earlier on Friday, Namaki demanded that the government prevent the entry of passengers from China amid the threat of coronavirus epidemic.

He added that he had asked the Iranian first vice president in his letter “to inform the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Roads about a halt to be put on the entry of all travelers from China (by land, sea and air) until further notice.”

Wuhan is in virtual lockdown, and nearly all flights at the city’s airport have been canceled and checkpoints block the main roads leading out of town. Authorities have imposed similar lockdowns on more than 10 cities near Wuhan as part of the ongoing containment effort.

The virus has so far killed 213 people and spread to at least 18 countries around the world, with the number of confirmed coronavirus cases standing at 9,809.

Iraq’s Top Cleric Rejects Trump’s ‘Unjust’ Plan for Palestine

By
IFP Media Wire
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Iraq's Top Cleric Rejects Trump's 'Unjust' Plan for Palestine

“The (Iraqi Shia) religious authority severely censures the recently-unveiled unjust plan, which is meant to give legitimacy to further occupation of usurped Palestinian lands,” Ayatollah Sistani said in a statement read out by his representative Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalaei during a sermon in the holy city of Karbala on Friday.

“The religious authority reiterates its support for the oppressed Palestinian people in line with their rights to regain their occupied lands, and establish an independent state. It calls on Arabs, Muslims and all freedom-loving people worldwide to back the (Palestinian) cause.”

Jordanian monarch voices support for Palestinian nation

Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdullah II has voiced the country’s full support to the Palestinians in their efforts to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

Speaking in a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, the Jordanian monarch said Amman is standing alongside the Palestinian people and their just cause in the face of all challenges on the path to attain self-determination.

For his part, Abbas thanked Jordan’s support for the Palestinian cause and nation, emphasizing that such positions reflect the deep-seated and fraternal relations between Palestinians and Jordanians.

Mass protest in Jordan against ‘deal of century’

Additionally, thousands of Jordanians took part in a demonstration in the capital Amman to protest against Trump’s plan.

The demonstrators converged outside Grand Husseini Mosque after Friday prayers in condemnation of the so-called deal of century, and described the initiative as in favor of the Israeli regime and a bid to kill the Palestinian cause.

They waved national Jordanian and Palestinian flags, and burned the Israeli flag in protest.

The protesters also called for the formation of a popular front to confront the so-called deal of the century.

Turkey will never recognize US Mideast plan: Erdogan

Separately, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will never recognize and accept the US so-called peace plan.

“This plan is aimed at the annexation of occupied Palestine territories,” Erdogan said during a meeting of provincial heads of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the capital Ankara on Friday.

He underscored that Jerusalem al-Quds is a “red line” for Turkey, and the Israeli-occupied sacred city is the key to world peace as it has been for thousands of years.

On Tuesday, Trump unveiled his so-called deal of the century, negotiated with Israel but without the Palestinians.

Palestinian leaders, who severed all ties with Washington in late 2017 after Trump controversially recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of the Israeli regime, immediately rejected the plan, with President Abbas saying it “belongs to the dustbin of history.”

Thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip poured out onto the street in immediate condemnation of the plan.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani condemned Trump’s so-called ‘peace plan’ for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as ‘the most despicable plan of the century.’

“Enough of these foolish attempts,” Rouhani wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

“The Most Despicable Plan of the Century,” he added.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also referred to Trump’s deal as a dangerous plan for the West Asia region which, describing it as a ploy devised to make up for the failures of the United States and the Israeli regime.

“We have to try to make all Muslim countries united against this illegal and inhuman agreement,” Larijani said while speaking in a phone conversation with Syrian Parliament Speaker Hammouda Sabbagh on Wednesday.

“In fact, this deal and treasonous conspiracy is designed to fulfill the wishes of the Israeli regime in the region,” Larijani noted, adding that despite the claims of the US officials, the plan has nothing to do with the interests of the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian president has said “a thousand no’s” to the plan.

“After the nonsense that we heard today, we say a thousand no’s to the deal of the century,” Abbas said at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered.

He said the Palestinians remain committed to ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a state with its capital in east Jerusalem.

“We will not kneel and we will not surrender,” Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians would resist the plan through “peaceful, popular means”.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has called the plan a “deal of shame,” said it was a very dangerous step which would have negative consequences on the region’s future.

It also said the proposal would not have happened without the “complicity and betrayal” of several Arab states.

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Iran Condemns US Blacklisting of Its Nuclear Chief

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Condemns US Blacklisting of Its Nuclear Chief

In a statement on Friday, Mousavi said, “Blacklisting this prominent scientific and political figure, which has been made only out of desperation, will have no effect on the development of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.”

“This is not the first time that he has been placed on the list of illegal and unilateral sanctions, just as it is not the first time that our nuclear scientists have been the target of the animosity of the US and the Zionist regime.”

The spokesman condemned the unwise move and said, “The US officials seem to have put such crude and absurd motions on the agenda against the Iranian nation to divert public opinion from the domestic developments stemming from Trump’s impeachment and the early failure of the so-called deal of the century.”

“On the one hand, the regime goes to London and repeats hackneyed and nonsense remarks in a meeting with the UK Foreign Secretary, and on the other hand, their so-called special representative conducts an even more useless interview in a dull and sham move,” he noted.

However, the US authorities appear “unaware that the maximum pressure policy has reached a dead-end for quite a long time, and Iran’s vigorous push toward independence and self-sufficiency will not stop by such idiotic measures.”

Deal of Century Not Even Deal of A Second, Iran’s Envoy Says

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Deal of Century Not Even Deal of A Second, Iran’s Envoy Says

In a post on the Twitter account of the Iranian Embassy in France, Bahram Qassemi said, “Deal of the century is not even the deal of a moment and a second.”

“The world and the history of humanity have seen many of such inept delusionists and such ‘null’ bargains,” the ambassador added.

“Sovereignty and victory belongs to the nations,” Qassemi noted.

In a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump unveiled his long-delayed Middle East plan, a proposal Palestinian leaders called a “conspiracy” that “will not pass”.

 

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Iran’s Top General Urges Muslim Condemnation of Trump’s Plan

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran’s Top General Urges Muslim Condemnation of Trump’s Plan

Major General Baqeri has sent separate messages to the defense ministers and the Army commanders of the Muslim countries following US President Donald Trump’s move to unveil a new plan for the Middle East and the Palestinian territories.

In the letter, the top Iranian commander has warned against the dire consequences of silence and inaction concerning the cruel US plan, known as deal of the century.

Major General Baqeri has also called on the Islamic nations to close ranks, set aside their differences by centering around Islam, and work in cooperation to support the Islamic resistance, according to IRNA.

The senior Iranian commander has finally urged the Islamic countries to make a concerted effort to expel the “usurpers and occupiers of the Islamic territories” and to take action against the US president’s move, which he said has defied logic and has violated the international law and regulations.

In a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday, Trump unveiled his long-delayed Middle East plan, a proposal Palestinian leaders called a “conspiracy” that “will not pass”.

Nearly 800 Tonnes of Narcotics Seized in Iran in 10 Months

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Nearly 800 Tonnes of Narcotics Seized in Iran in 10 Months

Speaking at the 86th meeting of the Committee on Combatting the Trafficking and Distribution of Drugs at Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Headquarters, the headquarters’ deputy commander for the international affairs and the fight against the smuggling and distribution of drugs, Nasser Aslani, gave a report of the Islamic Republic’s activities in the war on drugs during the first ten months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2019 – January 20, 2020).

He explained that Iran has begun to focus the efforts to combat drug trafficking on the intelligence and operational activities, noting that more than 798 tonnes of narcotic and psychedelic drugs have been captured in the 10-month period, which shows an 18 percent rise compared to the corresponding period a year before.

He said the illicit drugs seized in Iran during the 10-month period include 643,460 kilograms of opium (81% of the total), 16,756 kg of heroin (2% of total), 20,769 kg of morphine (2% of total), 68,973 kg of hashish (9% of total), 13,908 kg of crystal meth (2% of total), and 33,985 kg of other substances, which make up 4% of the total drug seizures.

Participants in the meeting also discussed the main approaches to combatting the smuggling and distribution of the narcotic and psychedelic drugs in Iran, and made a series of decisions.

Iran Urges Islamic States to Combat Trump’s ‘Fake’ Deal

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran's Role in Regional Security Acknowledged by Asian States Larijani

Describing the deal as “breach of all the international agreements, rules and resolutions” he said the “US President is attempting to portray the occupation … as official, and to confiscate by force the unquestionable rights of a resistant nation in favor of a few Zionists, without referring to international organizations – including the UN – and consulting the Palestinian parties, merely based on private, factional and Zionist interests.”

Stressing that Islamic nations believe that the issue of Palestine is the main priority of the Islamic world, he called upon Islamic states “to make the necessary efforts to combat the fake plan”, support Iran’s proposal registered in the UN for holding a Palestinian referendum, and use diplomatic capacities to resolve the Palestinian crisis.

Some major Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt have shown support for the deal, whereas Turkey has described it as an “annexation plan aiming at usurping Palestinian lands and killing a two-state solution.”

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