During the Saturday talks, the two sides discussed the latest developments in bilateral ties, the development and deepening of Tehran-Caracas ties in all fields, and the most important regional and international issues.
Tehran Warns London against Further Provocation
“UK government should contain those domestic political forces who want to escalate existing tension between Iran and the UK well beyond the issue of ships,” Hamid Baeidinejad tweeted on Sunday. “This is quite dangerous and unwise at a sensitive time in the region.”
He added, however, that Iran “is firm and ready for different scenarios.”
The UK has seized an Iranian supertanker for allegedly violating unilateral European Union (EU) sanctions. And Iran has impounded a British tanker “for failing to respect international maritime rules.”
Reports of sanctions
On Saturday, local outlets reported that the British government was drawing up plans to target Iran with sanctions in response to the Islamic Republic’s detainment of the British tanker.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was expected to use a House of Commons statement to announce a package of diplomatic and economic measures, including possible asset freezes, The Telegraph reported.
Also on Sunday, Tobias Ellwood, Britain’s junior defense minister, said London was “going to be looking at a series of options …We will be speaking with our colleagues, our international allies, to see what can actually be done,” according to Reuters.
Baeidinejad, the Iranian ambassador to the UK, seemed to be reacting to those reports.
On July 4, British naval forces in the Strait of Gibraltar off Spain seized the supertanker Grace 1 on the accusation that it was carrying Iranian oil to Syria in violation of the EU’s unilateral sanctions on the Arab country.
While Tehran denied that the supertanker was bound for Syria, it condemned the seizure as “maritime piracy” and warned that the move would not go unanswered.
Later, Spain said the UK had taken the action at the request of the United States.
On Friday, Iran seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf “for failing to respect international maritime rules.” The tanker failed to respond to pertinent authorities after an accident involving an Iranian fishing boat and changed route instead.
‘UK officials should not be sidekicks of Trump’
Meanwhile, Richard Burgon, member of the British opposition Labour Party, suggested that Britain had to resist serving the United States in reaction to the Islamic Republic’s capture of the British vessel.
British officials should not become the “messengers or sidekicks” for US President Donald Trump over Iran’s seizure of the UK-flagged tanker, he said.
“I think we can play a very positive role in this… Our role is to speak up for conflict resolution, de-escalation, the nuclear deal,” Burgon said, adding, “But what we don’t want to do is end up being the messengers or sidekicks of Donald Trump.”
Traditional ‘Locho’ Wrestling Contest Held in Mazandaran
Annually, the people of Mazandaran gather together on July 19 to hold the Feast of the Dead, a part of which is the Locho wrestling contest.
The contest, which dates back to more than a thousand years ago, is held to choose the Pahlavan of the region.
What follows are photos of the contest retrieved from Mizan News Agency and Young Journalists’ Club (YJC):
‘High Number of Requests for Adoption of Children in Iran’
Montazer Shabar says the high number of requests has prolonged the process of adoption.
The development comes after single women over 30 years of age were authorized to adopt children.
“Under the Adoption Law approved in 1974, single individuals were not permitted to adopt a child; the law was amended in 2013 whereby single women were allowed to adopt children, which has increased the number of requests for adoption,” said Shabar, the director general of the Office for Children and Young Adults of the Iranian Rehabilitation Organization.
“Single men are still an exception to the rule,” he said.
“According to the law, single women can only assume the guardianship of girls, and not boys,” he added.
“Single men can adopt neither girls nor boys,” said the official.
He said single women over 30 years old are eligible to adopt children.
The official underlined that there are no legal restrictions in that regard for women who get married after adopting a child.
“However, one should note that there are priorities when it comes to adoption, and families who can never have children take precedence over single ladies,” he added.
The official said in addition to the minimum age limit, single women demanding to adopt a child should be in good physical and mental condition, should be able to afford to adopt a child, and should have a clean criminal record as well as a clean record with regards to social maladies.
“The Rehabilitation Organization’s regulations on granting guardianship are not strict; moreover, our criterion is, by no means, how well-off families are. What is important for adopting a child is the economic situation of the applicant family. The family should be able to afford to provide the necessities of themselves and those of the child, and should be healthy enough in order to take care of a child,” he said.
At the moment, there are two rehabilitation centres for boys with a capacity of 190 people, and one for girls which can accommodate 25 individuals.
Iran Ready to Tackle Biotechnology Sanctions: VP
Iran will soon focus on a significant amount of support for medicine and vaccines needed for livestock and poultry, Sattari said during a visit to a knowledge-based company in the vicinity of Tehran.
He also announced the advancement of knowledge-based companies in biotechnology, human and animal medicine, and vaccines, adding that the young people who have ideas can, after a while, run knowledge-based companies and become a producer.
“We have great companies in this field, and we hope that this new move in the field of livestock and poultry will enable the country to be independent in producing medicines and vaccines,” said the vice president.
For a brief review of Iran’s achievements in various fields of science and technology, check the book “Science and Technology in Iran: A Brief Review – 2019”
At the moment a good ecosystem has been created in this field turning the country into the first regional power in biotechnology, he added.
“We import $600 million worth of pharmaceuticals only in the human sphere annually, and we can produce 80 to 90 percent of it inside the country using the existing projects that are underway,” concluded Sattari.
5 Social Media Marketing Hacks for Small Brands
The best social media marketing hacks will help boost follower count, drive healthy engagements and build your brand on social media.
Read on to know about the 5 best social media marketing hacks for small brands.
How often have you picked up your cell phone when you were going to sleep and started scrolling casually?
Chances are that if you are like me, you will realise that you have spent quite a lot of time on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube.
I do not blame you; social media is quite an addictive platform.
You start seeing something, and then go on to something else. You keep jumping between pages and brands. Before you know it, you have spent over an hour, just scrolling.
From a Social Media Marketing perspective, the platforms offer infinite possibilities for brands. Social media offers opportunities for-
- Advertising
- Marketing
- Brand Awareness
- Brand Loyalty
- Customer Relationship
- Reputation Management
- Lead Generation
- Sales Conversions
Many experts in an article of this nature will keep telling you to choose platforms correctly. They will keep suggesting things that is known and common to almost everyone under the sun.
Using a social media marketing tool is not a hack! Posting regularly on social media is not one either.
They might be good practices or part of a hygiene. But they are definitely not a hack.
In this article, we will look at how small brands can effectively utilise 5 social media marketing hacks to succeed. Before we get to the list, it would be worthwhile to discuss the implications of social media for small brands.
Social Media Marketing: Business Opportunities for Small Brands
If I were to tell you that there are over 4 billion potential customers for your brand on social media, would you believe me.
Chances are you will.
In the past couple of years, social media has emerged as one of the most potent and important digital platforms for brands. No brand can afford to ignore social media
Social Media is highly beneficial for small brands to grow their business for multiple reasons.
As compared to traditional forms of marketing and advertising, social media is much more affordable, effective and controllable.
This means that small brands can work on their creativity and tricks rather than simply compete with big brands when it comes to pumping money.
In many ways, experts herald social media as an equalizing force in the digital industry.
While there have been severe criticisms regarding declining organic reach and the use of money, social media still continues to be a top attraction for small brands.
- Social media is an important platform for a small brand when it comes to growing their business and branding.
- It acts as a credible platform and intermediary for making direct communications with new users and existing consumers.
- High engagement on the platform has a strong impact on your website traffic and metrics.
Long story short, every small brand must maintain a presence on social media platforms that appeal to their industry.
5 Social Media Marketing Hacks for Small Brands-
- Win your Competitor’s Followers for your Brand-
Consumers are not as loyal as they are made out to be. If that were so, brands would stop bidding on competitor brand names on Google AdWords. The best part about this trick is that you can learn from your competitor.
Simply go to your competitor’s page and see their followers. Create a list of the followers and start following them. Once you have started following them and reacted on a few of their photos, send them a message.
Win over them by stating how you love their content, and would want them to try your brand. People want to be courted and made to feel special on social media. This is why this strategy has a high success rate. You do not have to go elsewhere to look for potential consumers.
If you give them the attention, they will start following and engaging with your social pages. You will increase your follower count in no time and add to your store’s footfall.
- Keywords work on Social Media Platforms as well-
Most brands and agencies are unaware of the fact that keywords work on social media in exactly the same way they do on Google. This is because you browse social media on a search engine.
If you are creating content on social media, make sure that it follows all the guidelines of keyword research. If you are linking it back to your website, ensure that you use the same keyword in the content part. Alt tags on images on social media also follow the same rule.
For small brands looking to rank on search, it is essential that you do your keyword research effectively. Google links up the most opportune content based on keywords and shows it on search.
For example, if you have shared a link from your blog post on your social media and it has seen high engagement; whenever people search for the keyword, they will be taken to your social media post.
- Live Sessions and Video Content-
If your social media feed is not peppered with video content, you will lose out on at least 50% engagement and follower count. This is because videos have great organic reach on social platforms. Live Sessions have even higher organic reach!
Your content strategy should follow a video first approach. It does not matter whether you are shooting real videos, or stitching together images and placing texts on them. What matters is that you upload as many videos as possible.
Live Sessions are also something that most people like viewing from brands. For small brands, this can be a big turning point. Live sessions are highly engaging, exciting, and users are notified whenever their brand is ‘live’!
People love authenticity and brands being genuine. If small brands are able to communicate with audiences through once-a-week live sessions, they will see a marked improvement in engagement.
- Make Ambassadors of your Followers and Consumers-
A small brand needs to remember that it cannot afford celebrities to do its marketing. What it needs is local families, communities, soccer teams to advertise and market its brand. This entails engaging with 100 followers/consumers aggressively.
All a small brand needs to do is create memorable occasions for its users. Think of creating a selfie wall in your store. Create a strong hashtag that you spread around the community. Have community specific contests and giveaways.
The aim is to promote a healthy and entertaining social ecosystem around your brand. If people start seeing that Joe enjoys such a celebrity status at the local diner, they would want to live that too. It is this psyche, which small brands need to tap into on social media.
Creating inexpensive brand merchandise like t-shirts, caps, and handing them out is a great idea. Use small offline promotions and amplify them on social media.
- Narrate your Digital Personality on Social Media-
Do not get confused with the title. Try to understand what it means. Users on social media want brands to have an opinion on social issues. They like brands with personalities; brands which are not afraid to take sides or speak up.
While this might sound controversial, it is good for your business. The world is torn because of so many issues- Global Warming, Gender Equality, LGBTQ Rights, and Immigration Wars. If you are able to espouse your opinion on social media, you will attract followers who identify with your views.
This is not risky; this is clever and smart from a marketing standpoint. The new generation of digital natives want brands that have a certain personality. Small brands can take help from this and win potential consumers.
Conclusion
The best social media marketing agencies incorporate hacks that are new, innovative and different. They only appear to be challenging, as you have not probably heard of them before. However, if you are reading this right now, you get a competitive edge over others.
Small brands can also look at growing by using blog outreach services. These services help connect with social media influencers who promote and publicise brands on social media. They enjoy high follower counts and command substantial engagement rates.
By following the above 5 hacks, you can grow your business by using social media as a platform. Small brands face many challenges as compared to big brands, especially when it comes to digital marketing budgets. However, social media offers a level playing field if you are smart, creative and committed.
Two IRGC Forces Killed in Shootout with Terrorists
The incident happened in the town of Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan province near the border with Pakistan.
The gun battle occurred Saturday night when IRGC commando Mohsen Naqibi and local Basij member Abdolkhaleq Derazehi were shot dead, said the Public Relations Department of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
Two Iranian security forces were also wounded.
Iran has repeatedly called on Pakistan to tighten control along the common border and fight off the terrorist groups, reminding the Islamabad government that the burden of ensuring security along the 900-km joint border has always fallen on Tehran alone.
Iran Cyber Police Warn against Using FaceApp
The warning came after the growing use of the application by users of social networks.
“The server for this software is located outside the country and, hence, users should know that all photos and information they share with this software are transferred to a server abroad,” said Colonel Touraj Kazemi, the head of the Iranian Cyber Police (ICP).
He said the ICP are looking into the security vacuums of this software.
“There are some points which users of this software should take into account, and use this software only if they are willing to accept those risks,” the colonel added.
“Users of the FaceApp software should know that any photo or information they make available to this software are saved in a server outside the country and may be used for different purposes later on,” he added.
“The second point is the software’s access to different files. Given that the software can pick an image from the gallery of photos [on the phone], users should know that this software has access to all photos on their mobile phones and may copy those images,” he noted.
“At the end and after photos are processed, it is possible to publicly share them with specific hashtags, which means some users may unknowingly share their images on social media networks and come to realize what they have done only after some time,” he said.
He urged users of FaceApp and similar applications to avoid using such software and, at least, study their terms of service and access regulations first if they insist on using them.
Iranian Designer of Disneyland Praised in Tehran
Ahmad Jafari, a creative and distinguished Iranian architect, has been professionally involved in designing amusement parks in different countries.
A ceremony was held at the Centre for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults last week to honour the noted architect.
Jafari was employed by the Walt Disney Company as an architect in 1966 and served as an architecture designer and art director there until 2004.
The executive director of the architecture section of the Disney Company says signs of Jafari’s designs can still be seen in Disney parks all across the globe. He has praised Jafari’s creativity in designing the parks. He says architects as influential as Jafari are far and few between.
“All of us still see your ‘design’ fingerprints scattered in the parks throughout the world… your creativity has helped define the Disney built environment. It is indeed a very small club of people can claim to have had such involvement and influence,” said Val H. Usle, executive director of architecture at The Walt Disney Company, who awarded Ahmad for “Recognizing 35 magical years with the Walt Disney company”.
Born in 1938 in the Iranian city of Arak, Jafari graduated from Tehran University with Masters in Architecture. In 1963 he moved to United States and studied Architecture at the University of Utah and worked in an architecture firm as an intern architect in both Utah and California.
After a few months, he left the university and joined Disneyland engineering department as an architect in 1966.
He was the senior director of the architecture atelier of Disneyland in the United States. He has now returned to Iran after 50 years to share his experience with Iranian youth. He has also developed several iconic projects in Iran including Azadi Sports Complex and Mehrabad Airport, both in Tehran.
He is also designing a theme park called “The One Thousand and One Cities.” The park is a tourist spot at the international level and is being constructed in Tehran.
“All Iranian architects long to develop a design which tells a story. In fact, such designs express the relation between the architect and people. Mr Jafari is the only Iranian architect who tells a story in his designs.” said Mohammad Beheshti, an architect and the former head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, in the ceremony.
“We don’t know of any other architect whose designs are coupled with such a special sort of story-telling,” he added.
“His designs are coupled with frolicking, delicacy, mischief and coquetry, in such a way that his works draw people of all generations and classes of society, especially children and young adults,” Beheshti added.
In the ceremony, Jafari himself said he hopes “The One Thousand and One Cities” theme park will be built in Iran.
The ceremony also featured a documentary depicting Jafari’s life.
A book called “The Architect of Dreams” which details the story of this prominent architect’s life was also unveiled at the event.
Maduro Praises Iran’s Support for Venezuela
“I appreciate your support for Venezuela against the siege of imperialism,” Maduro said in a Saturday meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Caracas.
He also expressed his country’s preparedness to strengthen its bilateral relations with Tehran.
During the Saturday meeting, which Maduro called a “successful session”, the two sides also conferred on various aspects of bilateral relations as well as other issues of mutual interest.
Zarif was in Caracas to attend a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), where he delivered a speech.
