Kazem Gharibabadi, the Iranian ambassador to the UN office at Vienna, told reporters the diplomatic victory was achieved thanks to the resistance of the Iranian delegation attending the OPEC talks in Vienna.
Elaborating on the details of the deal, he said the OPEC members are supposed to cut their output by 800,000 barrels and non-OPEC members by 400,000 barrels.
The output cut will take effect as of January 2019, he added.
The 193-member UNGA voted 87-57 in favor of the resolution Thursday while 33 members chose to abstain, leaving Washington with a plurality vote that fell short of the two-thirds requirement to adopt the resolution.
The US had originally called for a simple majority vote, but the world body opted for a two-third majority instead after a narrow 75-72 vote, with 26 abstentions.
The resolution attempted to condemn Hamas for carrying out rocket attacks against Israel and using “airborne incendiary devices” against Israelis living in occupied Palestinian lands.
The resolution came weeks after Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups fired over 400 rockets into Israel during a two-day flare-up of violence following a botched Israeli attack against a Hamas commander.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley said before the vote that the assembly could make history condemning Hamas, which she referred to as “one of the most obvious and grotesque cases of terrorism in the world.”
“For the sake of peace, and for the sake of this organization, I respectfully urge my colleagues to support this resolution,” she said.
“The General Assembly has passed over 700 resolutions condemning Israel. And not one single resolution condemning Hamas. That, more than anything else, is a condemnation of the United Nations itself,” she added.
China and Russia were among those voting the measure down. India abstained despite having recently forged warmer ties with the Tel Aviv regime. The measure was welcomed in Europe and the Americas.
After the US draft’s failure, the UNGA voted 156-6 to adopt an Irish resolution that called for “the achievement, without delay, of a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East” on the basis of UN resolutions, specially the December 2016 measure.
The resolution also reaffirmed “unwavering support” for a two-state solution along “the pre-1967 borders.”
Tel Aviv tried to undermine the defeat, with Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon saying that a majority vote was within reach had the vote “not been hijacked by a political move of procedure.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also hailed the 87 countries for taking “a principled stand against Hamas.”
Hamas hails ‘slap’ to Trump
Following the vote, Hamas hailed the failure of the resolution as a “slap” to US President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The failure of the American venture at the United Nations represents a slap to the US administration and confirmation of the legitimacy of the resistance,” the group’s spokesman Sami Abu Zahri wrote on Twitter.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also commended the outcome.
“The presidency thanked all the states that voted against the American draft resolution, affirming that it will not allow for the condemnation of the Palestinian national struggle,” the PA’s office said in a statement.
Golzar is one of those stars whose appearance in a film may guarantee the movie’s success in the box office, as he is one of the highest-grossing artists in the Iranian cinema.
He started his artistic career in 1999 by playing guitar, keyboard instrument, and percussion as a member of Aryan music band. During those years, he along with Aryan band gained an unexpected fame and managed for the first time to attract the attentions of most Iranian youths and teenagers.
The fame opened his way into the Iranian cinema, where he began his new career in the industry by performing in “Sam and Narges” movie. Over the next two decades, he performed as the main actor in about 30 Iranian films. He also appeared in Salaam Mumbai, a 2016 joint cinematic project between Iran and India.
His handsome appearance also led him to modelling and advertisement industries in Iran. A brief tour of Tehran or any other city in Iran will make you familiar with his face on the billboards promoting various types of goods from juices to toothpastes and from leather to men’s clothing.
He has also sung over 20 songs and held tens of concerts as a singer in various cities of Iran over the past years.
Now, two decades after beginning his artistic career, Golzar is one of the most popular figures in Iran particularly among the youths and teenagers who follow him in movies, concerts, advertisements and social media.
These days, Golzar is hosting “Be the Winner” game show in his first-ever presence in the state TV.
Faced with growing criticisms over hosting the show over the past weeks, the Iranian superstar has said he deems the critical comments as highly constructive for the future of his show, and that they have contributed to his show day by day.
In reply to a question on how many hours he studies to host the show each week, he said “as a host I’ve already doubled the time of my studying. In the new series, I also have a role in framing the questions of the show. Meanwhile, I’m going to introduce new books to our audiences in the new editions.”
Be the Winner is a TV show which revolves around the general knowledge of the competitors. They can win a hefty amount of money by correctly answering the questions asked by the host.
Ten years ago, concerns about the future of Islamic and Iranian arts and the aesthetic identities of national arts in Iran prompted Farshchian – as one of the leading artists in Iran with high sensitivity to the survival of Iranian arts – to raise the idea of establishing the university to protect the country’s artistic heritage.
He believed the university needed to be established in order to compensate for inefficient academic centres which have pushed the original Iranian arts to extinction.
“Unlike other universities, the new academic centre is set to establish a new record by relying mainly on traditional and post-traditional methods,” said Bahman Namvar Motlaq, the dean of Farshchian University, who has been picked up by Farshchian as his representative to follow up the arrangements to launch the new university.
He went on to say that the university is aimed at training original, indigenous and wise artists like Farshchian. “We want to train new masters to protect our aesthetic identities against distinction.”
According to Namvar, the project to establish the university had been halted for 20 years due to bloated bureaucracy. “But fortunately, with the help of Azad University, we did it and the dream of Master Farshchian finally came true.”
He also said the new centre, which is expected to preserve Iran’s traditional arts, will admit students at the PhD level in the near future.
In the first years, the university will admit students only in three majors of miniature, calligraphy and pottery, he noted.
“Meanwhile, we are going to outsource some related majors to other provinces because most of our prominent art masters live in other cities like Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Yazd, Mashhad and many others.”
Namvar regretted that over the past years, large Iranian universities have failed to bring up leading artists in traditional arts and said to remove the problems the founders of Farshchian University have decided to establish the new centre based on student apprenticeship system.
In his first interview after the inauguration of the university, Farshchian told IRNA the centre is aimed at training young masters.
“For example, there was a Caravanserai in Isfahan which an Iranian engineer turned it into the Abbasi Hotel with his creative management. The hotel is unique in the world. Our centre is expected to train new generations of art masters with innovative and creative minds who mainly work instead of theorizing.”
Elaborating on the idea of globalizing the Iranian arts, he said the arts have the capacity to turn into globalized ones. “I’m one hundred percent sure that the centre can attract the world’s attention to find the original Iranian arts.”
Farshchian also said anybody admitted by the university should know what the nature of art is. “Art is a kind of worship. It is not only a means for making ends meet. Students should enter here with love and leave it with love. It should turn into a symbol otherwise it would be deemed as a failure.”
Farshchian University of Iranian-Islamic Arts was inaugurated on October 22 in a ceremony attended by the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Minister of Science, Research and Technology, Head of the Board of Trustees of Azad Islamic University as well as a number of artists, academics and cultural figures.
The university will begin to admit students as of next academic year.
Born in 1930, Farshchian is an Iranian contemporary painter who has had a leading role in the development of traditional Iranian arts.
Some of his masterpieces have been presented by Iranian foreign ministers as gifts to the heads of states from across the world.
It’s been a while that Europeans have made themselves committed to fill in the gap created in the Iran nuclear deal by the US withdrawal to provide the Islamic Republic with a chance to reap its economic fruits from the nuclear accord, Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters, he said one of the mechanisms that the Europeans are working on is the SPV, which as they say will be finalized soon.
“It’s not easy to build a consensus among 27 members of the European Union on the mechanism but they said all-out efforts are underway to achieve the goal soon,” he added.
Salehi also said based on the promises given by the Europeans, the Islamic Republic hopes that their proposed package to salvage the Iran nuclear deal could be implemented by the end of the current year.
In response to a question on Tehran’s decision in case the Europeans fail to meets Iran’s expectations, he said Europeans’ proposed package is set to be drafted in cooperation with the Islamic Republic.
Iran and the remaining signatories of the JCPOA are involved in efforts to salvage the nuclear deal following the US unilateral withdrawal back in May. The US also re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic vowing to reduce to zero Iran’s oil exports.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he referred to the European Union’s decision to ditch the US dollar in all its oil transactions.
“Based on the latest report that I received and as a European commissioner underlined, the European Union has decided to use euro in its oil trade with other countries which amounts to 300 billion euros. This means they are going to ditch the US dollar in their trade,” he said.
The Iranian official underlined that the European Union used the dollar to pay for 85 percent of the oil they bought, but with the new mechanism, it is going to use only euro.
Salehi also said if the mechanism is implemented, the dollar would be isolated further in the world and the US will no longer be able to do whatever it likes in economic fields.
Mansour Haqiqatpour, a national security advisor to Iranian parliament speaker, says the Thursday terrorist attack was part of the enemy’s plot to disrupt the security of Chabahar, which is strategically important for all-out development of Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and other Central Asian states.
The enemies seek to turn the regional balance into their own favour but the intelligent units of the Islamic Republic will foil their plots, he added.
The region can serve as a bridge linking particularly the Central Asian states with no access to free waters to Oman Sea, he said.
“Given the clear-cut strategic approach of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution towards the development of Makran coasts in south-eastern Iran, we are going to witness the sustainable development of the region in the next years.”
He went on to say that today China and Pakistan are seeking to expand Gwadar port in Pakistan to turn it into a leading hub. “On the other side, in a geopolitical rivalry, Iran along with its friendly states like Russia, India and Afghanistan are after expanding Chabahar port.”
“It goes without saying that Iran is tapping into the port city’s extraordinary and strategic capacities to achieve its desired goals. That’s why we are witnessing some mischievous acts made by our regional rivals in the form of terrorist attacks.”
However, he said, the Islamic Republic’s officials enjoy security and political maturity to press ahead with the development of Makran in terms of security along with its economic, political and social development.
He said the attack failed to shatter the unity of Chabahar’s local people, adding such attacks will end up in increased friendly, brotherly and affectionate relations between various political and religious ethnic groups of the region.
Haqiqatpour underlined that in Makran, the Shiites and Sunnis are working hand in hand to develop the region and their cooperation symbolizes the Islamic unity in the region.
“But the enemies can’t tolerate the unity. So, they resort to mischievous acts to mislead public opinion from what is happening in Western Asia, particularly in Saudi Arabia.”
He called on the security forces to provide the region with appropriate security coverage to pave the way for further foreign investments and international cooperation between Chabahar region and the outside world.
“One of the main goals of such attacks could be creating insecurity to ward off foreign investors. But they have never managed to achieve their goals,” he added.
A suicide car bomb explosion on Thursday in front of a police headquarters in the city killed a conscript and an officer, and wounded several others including a woman and a child.
The suicide attacker driving a Nissan car was seeking to enter Chabahar police headquarters but faced a counterattack by the law enforcement forces and desperately exploded his car outside the building leaving a number of ordinary people dead and wounded.
The governor of Chabahar elaborated on the motives behind the terrorist attacks in Chabahar and said as the only pacific port of the Islamic Republic, Chabahar port city is highly significant for Iran and can play a leading role as an energy hub connecting regional and Central Asian states together through Oman Sea in the future.
The Ansar al-Furqan terrorist group has officially claimed responsibility for Thursday attack in Chabahar. Iran, in cooperation with India, has in recent years been developing the port city of Chabahar in order to turn it into a regional hub of trade.
In a tweet, Zarif said the terrorists who killed and wounded innocent people in Chabahar were “foreign-backed”.
“As we’ve made clear in the past, such crimes won’t go unpunished: In 2010, our security services intercepted & captured extremists en route from UAE,” he warned.
“Mark my words: Iran WILL bring terrorists & their masters to justice,” he added.
A car bomb explosion in front of a police headquarters in the port city of Chabahar in Sistan and Baluchestan province killed a conscript and an officer, and wounded several others this morning.
The suicide attack, which took place near one of the police headquarters of Chabahar, has so far killed police officer Dariush Ranjbar and conscript Nasser Darzadeh, a deputy governor-general of Sistan and Baluchestan province said.
At least 40 others including eight women and five child have also been wounded as a result of what IRGC Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour describes as a “blind” terrorist attack.
One of those wounded in the incident is in critical conditions, according to local officials.
The suicide attacker has been killed in the car bomb, officials said.
The Ansar al-Furqan terrorist group has officially claimed responsibility for the attack.
Iran, in cooperation with India, has in recent years been developing the port city of Chabahar in order to turn it into a regional hub of trade. The city is particularly important for facilitating trade between India and Afghanistan.
Bijan Namdar Zanganeh made the remarks in reaction to Hook’s Wednesday meeting with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih one day before OPEC’s 175th meeting in Vienna.
“If Mr. Hook has come to Vienna to apply for US membership in OPEC, and this is the reason why he meets OPEC members, the request can be reviewed,” Zanganeh told SHANA.
Otherwise, he added, the US official has adopted an unprofessional, naïve, and meddlesome approach.
“OPEC is an independent organization, not a part of the US Department of Energy to take orders from Washington,” said Zanganeh, who arrived in Vienna late Wednesday to attend the OPEC talks on Thursday and Friday.
Hook’s meeting with the Saudi official came after Riyadh indicated a need for steep reductions in output from January. However, it has come under pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has urged Riyadh to refrain from output cuts in order to keep oil prices low.
OPEC members will meet on Thursday and hold talks with allies such as Russia on Friday. The meetings are expected to be focused on a deal to reduce output.
‘Iran must be exempted from oil output cuts’
Upon arrival at Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna, Zanganeh told reporters that Iran has always supported OPEC and its decisions for the stabilization of the market, but at this juncture, “Iran will not join any deal on production level as long as the [US] sanctions are in place.”
The Islamic Republic must be exempted from any future decision on oil production levels between OPEC member states and the countries which are not part of the body, until the US bans are lifted, he reiterated.
“There are many offers on oil production cut, and those members who want to reduce their oil output should make the decision,” Zanganeh said.
He also noted that Iran will not join the Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), which is monitoring the implementation of the oil output cut deal and issues recommendations for changing its conditions.
The JMMC acted beyond its mandate during the past 12 months, Zanganeh said, noting that the existence of the committee was unnecessary. He also emphasized that the committee should act in line with its mandate.
The minister also pointed to the recent fluctuations in the global oil prices caused by certain OPEC and non-OPEC members’ output rise, and said the desirable oil price for Iran is between $60 and $70.
While OPEC members are going to discuss the details of a deal on their production level, Iran’s OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardabili believes an agreement is unlikely to be reached.
Ardabili says any meaningful cuts in production must be made by the countries which have pumped above their quotas in breach of a 2017 deal between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers.
The deal is monitored by the JMMC, which is dominated by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Ardabili said the committee has unilaterally allowed certain members to produce above their quotas since May despite being “obliged to inform other OPEC members of any change in production and secure their consensus.”
Despite the Iranian official’s remarks, Kuwait’s oil ministry said on its Twitter account on Wednesday that a long-term cooperation agreement is expected to be signed between OPEC and non-OPEC countries.
The possible deal will come after some OPEC and non-OPEC members motivated by an urge to get a better market share sharply increased their oil production, which led to a $30 drop in oil prices from their highest point.
The production surge took place in the run-up to Trump’s pledge to sanction Iran’s oil sector on Nov. 4 and later decide to give waivers to some customers.
Major producers such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait pounced on the occasion to produce as much oil as they could, anticipating a steep drop in Iran’s exports which did not happen.
The move has frustrated many producers, prompting Qatar to announce that it was quitting OPEC to focus on gas in a swipe at Saudi Arabia.
Newspapers today widely covered the Iranian Parliament’s ratification of an amendment to a bill on Iran’s accession to the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) convention, which had been earlier rejected by the Guardian Council.
Also a top story was the Iranian officials’ comments about Europe’s efforts to establish the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a financial channel aimed at facilitating trade with Tehran and bypassing the US sanctions.
The Yellow Vest protests in France and French President Emmanuel Macron’s abandonment of his tax fuel hikes also remained a top story, with some papers covering the rally of some Iranian students in front of the French embassy in Tehran in protest at the French police’s brutality against protesters.
The above issues, as well as many more, are highlighted in the following headlines and top stories:
Abrar:
1- Rouhani: Europe’s Talks with Iran on Defence Capabilities Not Acceptable
2- We Should Deal with CFT with National Consensus: Foreign Ministry
3- Larijani: Iran Leader Wasn’t Opposed to CFT Discussion in Parliament
4- Austria Ambassador: JCPOA Key Measure to Ensure Int’l Security
5- Parliament Amends CFT Bill
Aftab-e Yazd:
1- Controversy over Alleged Dual Nationality of Iranian Lawmaker
Arman-e Emrooz:
1- Short Take on Law that Bans Employment of Retired Officials [Editorial]
Ebtekar:
1- Zarif’s Impeachment Cancelled
2- CFT Once Again Passed by Parliament
3- Iran Has Freest Universities of World: Rouhani
Etemad:
1- Strange Day of Ratifying CFT Amendments in Parliament
2- Istanbul Prosecutor Issues Arrest Warrant for Close Aides of Bin Salman
3- Iran’s Missile Program Not to Be Restricted: Zarif
Ettela’at:
1- Iran Seeding Clouds Using Airplane, Drone
2- West Fails to United UN Security Council against Iran
Haft-e Sobh:
1- Controversial Election of 25-Year-Old Woman as Deputy Interior Minister in Afghanistan
Iran:
1- Iran First VP: We Have New Clients for Our Oil
2- Americans Sending Messages to Iran on Daily Basis: Rouhani
Jame Jam:
1- Exporters Refuse to Sell Gov’t 15 Billion Euro Earned from Their Exports
Kayhan:
1- Yellow Vest Protester: Macron’s Promise Not Enough; We’ll Continue Protests
2- 500 Physicians from 21 Countries Attend Second Congress of Iran-Europe Heart Surgeons
3- Students in Tehran Hold Rally in Front of French Embassy to Protest Police Brutality in Paris
4- Tunnel Controversy in Lebanese-Israeli Borders
Resalat:
1- Qalibaf Criticizes Officials’ Distance from Ordinary People, Leading to Aristocracy, Injustice
2- Yemenis Have Missiles with Range of 400km, Accuracy of 10m: Iranian General
Shargh:
1- Iran-Europe Financial Channel to Be Established in Coming Weeks: Rouhani’s VP
2- Bin Salman’s Case to Be Discussed in Senate
3- Iran Leader Calls for Promotion of Islamic Prayers (Salah) at Schools
4- Iran to Overcome Sanctions by Selling One Million Barrels of Oil
Vatan-e Emrooz:
1- Europe Working Confidentially to Register SPV!
Food diversity in the Turkmen-majority Golestan province is no less than that in the province of Gilan, both in northern Iran. Turkmens are experts in using pulses and meat to make food and can use them to cook different types of meals.
A key tourist attraction in Golestan province and its Turkmen-majority areas is to try local traditional foods which cannot be found anywhere else.
Chekdarmeh
Some of these foods have even been registered on the National Heritage List and are well-known by all Iranians. One of the meals which is very popular in Golestan province and every tourist would go try it is “Chekdarmeh.”
Chekdarmeh is Turkmens’ most important and famous food made with rice and lamb. And instead of tomato paste, they use natural ingredients such as tomatoes and carrots which have no preservatives. All Turkmens try to mostly use natural materials in their foods.
Chekdarmeh, also known as Chiekdirmeh or Chegdermeh, is traditionally cooked in a special cauldron called Qazan.
In addition to Chekdarmeh, there are other types of popular local foods made with pulses and meat for those who are not vegetarians.
Qayesh
Qayesh is another traditional Turkmen food made with minced meat, special spices, traditional yoghurt, mint and tomato paste. What is interesting about this food is that Turkmen women are more interested in it than men, who also refer to this meal as “ladies’ food.”
Qayesh is made with paste and literally means “slow movement” because the meal is delicious and one feels heavy and listless after eating it. Qayesh is also cooked by Turkmen women in North Khorasan province.
Joosh-Manti & Loqmei-Manti
Joosh-Manti is one of the oldest foods cooked by Turkmen people all year round. It is made with minced meat, paste, sauce and yoghurt. There is also spinach-Manti for vegetarians as it is made with vegetables and spinach. Loqmei-Manti is similar to Joosh-Manti, but is cooked differently.
Lahmajoon
Turkmens cook a food called Lahmajoon, which literally means “a mixture of meat and paste.” It is made with a piece of thin round-shaped paste on which ingredients such as minced meat, chopped vegetables, onions and tomatoes, etc. are poured. The paste is cooked flat open or rolled.
Turkmen Boorg
Boorg contains a thin layer of paste with meat, vegetables and cheese cooked on a cast iron dish. This food is cooked in different ways by Turkmen people.
All the above-mentioned foods can be tried in many of the restaurants in Turkmen-majority cities in Golestan province. Every tourist would love to taste a delicious traditional food after visiting the ancient Gonbad-e-Qabus monument which is registered on the world list of heritage sites.
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