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Pakistan Frees 22 Detained Iranian Sailors

March 28, 2019

22 Iranian sailors returned to Iran thanks to coordination made by Iran’s consul general in the Pakistani port city of Karachi.

“Thanks to relentless efforts by Iran’s envoy in the port city of Karachi, the Iranian sailors were released by Pakistan’s national coast guards during the Persian New Year’s holidays,” a report by IRNA said.

According to the report, the sailors returned to Iran by an Iran Air flight after coordination made with local officials of both sides.

The sailors were detained five months ago after unintentionally entering Pakistan’s waters. This is the third group of Iranian sailors who have been released through coordination between the two sides over the past two years.

Earlier, 19 other Iranian sailors held in jail over trespassing onto Pakistan’s waters had been released.

Over the past two years, at least 50 Iranians who were held in jail in Pakistan’s Sindh Province have returned home.

Bakhtiari Tribe Still Faithful to Traditional Wedding Rituals

IFP Editorial Staff

March 28, 2019

In the wedding ceremonies of the Bakhtiari tribe, women and men form a large circle, performing their local dance with their special music. Children also take part in the event.

One of the attractions of the ceremony is the traditional and colourful Bakhtiari dresses women and girls wear.

Celebratory gunfire also plays an important role in the ceremony as a symbol of the courage of the Bakhtiari tribe.

If you are a lucky tourist, you may encounter this ceremony during your trip.

What follows are photos of this ceremony retrieved from Mehr News Agency:

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Iran Raps Hook’s ‘Cheap’ Comments on Oil Waivers

IFP Editorial Staff

March 28, 2019

Qassemi made the remarks on Thursday in reaction to Hook’s comments that the US will no longer give waivers on Iran sanctions.

“His cheap remarks once again indicated that he lacks a proper understanding of the world’s conditions, and the unstable, shaky, and downgraded position of the US at the international level,” Qassemi noted.

He described Brian Hook as a person who severely suffers from a chronic “Iran abuse syndrome”, as he always makes unwise remarks, and talks of his respective government’s efforts to continue and increase pressures against the great nation of Iran, repeating his malignant anti-Iran sentiments.

“Brian Hook should know that the United States of America can no longer achieve all its vicious and anti-human goals in today’s world and (that) the era of dictating excessive demands on other countries is over,” he noted.

“This American official must take a look at many of international developments and what’s going on in the world today so as to clearly understand the world and region’s developments are not in line with what he and the current rulers of the White House dream of,” Qassemi went on to say.

With such behaviours and remarks, the spokesman said, Mr Hook and the US government must definitely await a court of justice as vast as the entire world, where they will be held accountable before the eyes of all freedom-seeking human beings and those with a clear conscience for all their anti-human crimes and hostile measures and damages they have caused to the Iranian nation.

Qassemi’s comments came in reaction to claims by Hook that the Trump administration was not looking to grant any waivers or exemptions to any country for importing the Iranian crude or for other Iran sanctions.

In an interview on Wednesday, Hook rejected reports that the US would extend waivers to let a number of countries continue energy imports from Iran, saying, “The policy of the United States is that we are not looking to grant any new oil waivers. We did have to grant eight oil waivers in order to avoid shocking the global oil markets and causing a dramatic increase in the price of oil.”

The United States gave waivers to eight major clients of Iranian oil – China, India, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Greece, Taiwan and Turkey – after restoring energy sanctions in November.

Iran Produces Eye Drops to Repair Corneal Lesions

IFP Editorial Staff

March 28, 2019

The human amniotic membrane is one of the embryonic layers. Various studies have shown that this membrane can be used in many curative processes.

One of the possible uses of this membrane is to be applied as eye drops to repair corneal lesions by supporting limbal stem cells (stem cells that throughduplication repair the lesions created in the cornea).

According to a report by ISNA, researchers at Royan Research Institute and Semnan University of Medical Sciences have recently designed a different eye drop which is made from amniotic membrane (0 to 2 mg / ml) and is added to the limbal stem cell for 14 days.

In this way, they determined the proper and non-toxic density of eye drops made from amniotic membrane to repair corneal lesions. Then, the rate of genes related to stemming and the genes in the cornea cells were measured.

In the next step, the same damage was done in the cornea of 10 rabbits. The left eye was given the opportunity to take the normal course of recovery. They only received antibiotic drops to prevent infection.

However, to speed up treatment in the right eye, either every hour or every six hours, one milligram of eye drop made from the amniotic membrane was used.

According to Royan Research Institute, the results of this study,which are published in the Cell Journal, have revealed that limbal stem cells receiving 0.1 to 1 mg / ml of eye drops made from amniotic membrane produce more stem cells genes than those thatdid not receive the drops.

Also, in rabbits whose cornea were damaged, the use of eye drops made from amniotic membrane reduced the recovery time from 4 days to 3 days.

In the eye of the drop receiver, the infection rate and the eyelid inflation wasless witnessed.

The results of this study showed that the use of eye drops made from amniotic membrane in vitro increased the duplication of limbal stem cells, and in the animals, facilitates corneal repair without causing a particular side effect.

Iran Appoints New Ambassador to Netherlands

IFP Editorial Staff

March 28, 2019

The diplomat was nominated by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and was endorsed for the position by President Hassan Rouhani.

Kazemi Abadi earlier served as the acting chair of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Department for the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), the deputy minister of justice for intellectual property and international affairs, and at the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Directorate-General for International Legal Affairs.

Relations between Tehran and Amsterdam have soured in the past few years following the European country’s expulsion of two Iranian diplomats in June 2018, and Tehran’s reciprocal measure in February 2019.

Following Iran’s expulsion of two Dutch diplomats, the Netherlands summoned its ambassador to Tehran to hold consultations, and summoned the Iranian ambassador, describing the act as “unacceptable” and “having negative consequences” for bilateral relations.

On January 8, 2019, the Netherlands’ foreign and interior ministers wrote a letter to the parliament accusing Iran of murdering Mohammad Reza Samadi Kolahi.

The Dutch foreign ministry had earlier in June expelled the two Iranian diplomats.

Kolahi was the agent behind the blast at the central building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Party on June 28, 1981. In that explosion, more than 70 senior officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran were killed.

Dutch court records show that Kolahi was killed by members of a criminal gang in 2015.

Claims of Iran’s involvement in the incident come as the Dutch prosecutor explicitly stated in the course of the trial that there was no evidence of Iran’s complicity in the murder.

Iran Hails Luxembourg Court’s Decision on US’ Seizure of Iranian Assets

IFP Editorial Staff

March 28, 2019

“The success was accomplished following a lawsuit filed by the Central Bank of Iran and extensive efforts at the national level to protect the Iranian nation’s rights, particularly through cooperation between the Central Bank, the Foreign Ministry, the Legal Department of the Iranian President’s office, and the Centre for International Legal Affairs of the Iranian Presidency,” Qassemi said Wednesday.

He made the remarks in response to a question asked by reporters regarding a Luxembourg court’s ruling on release of $1.7 billion worth of the Central Bank of Iran’s frozen assets.

“There is no doubt that the era of Washington’s totalitarian and bullying behaviour towards other countries under various pretexts and baseless accusations is over,” he noted.

“The ruling at this stage indicated the world can still have courts that adopt independent approaches,” Qassemi added.

The United States has paid a hefty price and fabricated many lies to give the world a negative image of an independent country like Iran, he said, referring to the US’ exoneration of the main culprits behind the 9/11 attacks as an example of such efforts.

However, the spokesman added, the US must know it cannot steal the wealth and properties of the Iranians by spreading such lies.

“Mr Trump should learn that Iran and its smart and great people are totally different from other countries that openly offer them [the Americans] the wealth of their country and nation in order to enjoy the privilege of rented security and support,” he noted.

Qassemi once again highlighted the significant role of cooperation and interaction between various Iranian bodies in achieving this success, and said, “Through further empathy and synergy among the government and other Iranian bodies and organizations, and backed by the people and using legal means and the expertise of senior Iranian jurists, we will do our best to protect the rights of the Iranian nation in all legal and diplomatic areas.”

“From now on, the United States of America which has so far suffered numerous defeats in various legal and political campaigns against Iran, will witness even more retreats and defeats,” Qassemi vowed.

“With the experiences gained from the US’ hostile and frequent pressures, and through their intelligence, the Iranians will foil all cruel tricks of Washington,” he added.

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnasser Hemmati had earlier hailed the decision as “another important legal victory against the US”.

The Luxembourg court on Wednesday rejected a US request to compensate victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks by seizing Iranian assets, seven years after a New York court claimed there was evidence of Iran’s involvement in the incident.

The Luxembourg court said there were no grounds in international law to uphold a US ruling in 2012 to claim Iranian assets held with Luxembourg-based clearing house Clearstream.

“The rule on which the US court had relied to remove jurisdictional immunity is not in accordance with public international law and cannot be applied in the context of the Luxembourg case,” the court said in a statement.

Back in 2012, a New York court claimed there was evidence to show that Iran provided “material support and resources” to al-Qaeda operatives that carried out the attacks.

The New York court awarded the plaintiffs damages of over $7 billion.

Iran has denied any links to al-Qaeda or any involvement in the 9/11 attacks.

Darakeh: A Popular Haunt of Hikers in Northern Tehran

Fatemeh Askarieh

March 28, 2019

Darakeh is a tourist and leisure resort very close to the capital city. It lies on mountain slopes, making it an ideal place for hiking. Darakeh features scenic nature, a great mosque, prayer site, holy shrine and small bazaar.

Darakeh is second to none. It has mountains, gardens and rivers whose banks are covered with trees.

It is popular mainly because it lies next to the mountains to the north of Tehran and it has a pristine and fabulous path for those who go hiking there. Darakeh is also an ideal place for day-long trips to Mother Nature.

Darakeh neighbourhood has numerous luxurious summer houses and villas located in gardens crisscrossed by alleys.

Mountaineers have to pass through those alleys to get to the main mountain path. There are also restaurants and shops in Darakeh.

Locals offer their products at a location at the foot of the mountain. For example, local cherries are sold during summer, and blackberries and medlars picked from local gardens are sold during autumn.

The following are images of the Darakeh resort area courtesy of Karnaval.ir:

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