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Even Underground Tunnels Used to Get Married in Iran!

July 21, 2018

For a very long time Iranians provided the water they needed through subterranean channels called qanat.

Qanats are old man-made structures that provide all or part of the required water in parts of Iran which face water shortage; hence, they are highly valuable and have a special status.

Qanats are also culturally significant as they were associated with symbolic ceremonies and customs in Iran in the past. Now, the revival of those rituals can keep them from slipping into oblivion, and at the same time can serve as an effective way to attract local and foreign tourists in order to further promote the country’s tourism industry.

The qanat technology was developed in ancient Iran by the Persian people sometime in the early 1st millennium BC, and spread from there slowly westward and eastward.

In old times, people in some parts of Iran believed it was possible to solve the problem of inadequate water production by finding a wide for qanats based on an old tradition!

Ali-Asghar Semsar-Yazdi, a senior advisor at the Iranian International Centre for Qanats and Historical Structures, has weighed in on the ancient “Qanat Wedding” rituals and customs.

“The rituals, which were practiced in some parts of the country in the not-too-distant past, have now been forgotten,” he told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

“In ancient communities, some people believed that if a qanat stopped producing adequate water due to drought or any other reason, the problem would be solved by holding a wedding ceremony for that qanat,” he said.

“In order to hold wedding rituals for a qanat, a widow native to that village would be [symbolically] wed to the qanat in a ceremony similar to the wedding celebrations held nowadays, and the woman was regarded as the qanat’s spouse till the end of her life,” he said.

Semsar-Yazdi also referred to a ritual in which the woman would take a dip in the qanat’s water after the wedding ceremony.

“The qanat needed to cover the expenses of its wife. So, the owners of the qanat would meet her expenditure by paying her an allowance on behalf of the qanat; in other words, this expense was added to other expenses of the qanat such as dredging, digging and renovation [expenses],” he said.

He noted the last “qanat’s wife” died around 40 years ago and there is no qanat’s wife left. He also said the city of Yazd is stranger to qanat wedding ceremonies.

“As far as it has been observed, no qanat wedding rituals were held in Yazd, and no Yazdi woman was wed to a qanat as its wife; however, cities such as Isfahan and Shahrood hosted such ceremonies,” he said.

In 2016, UNESCO inscribed the Persian Qanat as a World Heritage Site, listing the following eleven qanats: Qasebeh Qanat, Qanat of Baladeh, Qanat of Zarch, Hasan Abad-e Moshir Qanat, Ebrāhim Ābād Qanat in Markazi Province, Qanat of Vazvān in Esfahan Province, Mozd Ābād Qanat in Esfahan Province, Qanat of the Moon in Esfahan Province, Qanat of Gowhar-riz in Kerman Province, Jupār – Ghāsem Ābād Qanat in Kerman Province, and Akbar Ābād Qanat in Kerman Province.

Pilot’s Error Main Cause of Iranian ATR Plane Crash: Official

IFP Media Wire

July 21, 2018

In a recent meeting with the managers of Iranian airlines in Tehran, the Civil Aviation Organization official, Hassan Rezaeefar, put the blame for the fatal crash on poor handling of the situation in the cockpit.

He said the pilot had brought down the plane below the minimum allowable altitude, managed the situation inappropriately, failed to run through the flight checklists, used the autopilot system in a wrong time when the plane was approaching the airport, and ignored a request from the co-pilot.

The official also blamed the co-pilot for an error in the checklist request process.

The ATR plane, operated by Aseman Airline, was flying from capital Tehran to the city of Yasouj on February 18 when it crashed into near the top of Mount Pazanpir with a height of 4,300 meters.

In March, the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran released a preliminary report that mentioned the medical history of the pilot.

The report said the renewed license of the 62-year-old pilot of the plane had imposed limitations on his flight conditions, considering the pilot’s open-heart surgery and his age.

It said the airline had failed to take into account the medical limitations.

Prior to November 2006, the age limit for pilots was 60, but it was increased to 65 years under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules.

Following the fatal crash, all ATR planes at the disposal of Iran’s Aseman Airlines were temporarily banned from flying.

Turkey Working to Avoid Negative Impacts of US’ Sanctions on Iran

IFP Media Wire

July 21, 2018

The ministry made the announcement in a statement on Friday after a US delegation of Treasury and State Department officials held talks with Turkish authorities in Ankara on upcoming Washington’s sanctions against Tehran.

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from a nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015.

The US president also said that he planned to reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

The Turkish foreign ministry’s statement further emphasized that Iran was an important neighbor for Turkey and that Ankara would continue to monitor the US sanctions within this framework.

Washington has said it would be returning the sanctions in August and threatened the countries that maintain business with Iran despite the bans with “secondary sanctions.”

It has also warned countries against keeping up their crude purchases from Iran from November 4 onward.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that the Islamic Republic has lodged a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the United States’ “unlawful” move to re-impose “unilateral” sanctions against Tehran.

“Today Iran filed a complaint [with] @CIJ_ICJ to hold US accountable for its unlawful re-imposition of unilateral sanctions,” Zarif said in a post on his official Twitter account on Monday.

Late last month, however, Ankara said it remained determined to maintain trade ties with Iran.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on June 29 that his country remains determined to maintain trade ties with Iran.

“If the United States’ decisions are aimed at peace and stability, then we’ll support them, but we don’t have to follow every decision. Being allies doesn’t mean following every decision word for word,” Cavusoglu told the Turkish broadcaster NTV in an interview.

Iran has been Turkey’s leading supplier of crude oil for most of the past two decades, ceding first place to Iraq only for three years during the recent period of US sanctions.

Imports last year came to 11.493 million tonnes, or 44.6% of the total supply, at an average of 230,800 barrels per day (bpd), up 66% from the 6.939 million tonnes supplied in 2016, according to reports.

Iranian First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said on July 10 that the upcoming US move to re-impose sanctions on Iran will create “difficult conditions” for the country but the Islamic Republic will forcefully resist against the United States’ economic war.

“Given the enemy’s economic war, we will face new and difficult conditions and must stand against this war with full power,” Jahangiri said.

His remarks came a day after Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the three major European signatories to the landmark nuclear deal with Iran had agreed to establish trade ties with Iran independent of the US dollar.

Lavrov said the decision by France, Germany and Britain would mainly concern small and medium-sized companies.

Iranian Lake Changes Colour throughout the Day!

IFP Editorial Staff

July 21, 2018

The naturally occurring phenomenon happens in Arous (Bride) Lake, located in Halimeh Jan village of Roudbar country.

The lake changes colours because of a type of green microalgae.

Before noon, the lake is green, like the jungle surrounding it, because the microalgae cover the surface of the water.

In the afternoon, as the wind starts blowing, microalgae go down and the lake becomes blue.

What follows are photos of the magnificent lake:

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Iran Condemns Israel’s “Jewish Nation-State” Law as Racist

IFP Editorial Staff

July 21, 2018

In a Friday statement, Qassemi said the legislation bears witness to the racist nature of the Tel Aviv regime.

“The illegitimate and racist Zionist regime [of Israel] was formed upon the occupation of Palestine and the massacre of its real owners, and the recent move by this regime’s parliament is yet another testimony to the racist nature and approach of this regime over the past 70 years,” said the spokesman.

He further lashed out at Washington for backing Israeli measures.

“The United States’ all-out support for the Zionist regime [of Israel] and the Trump administration’s move to relocate his country’s embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds as well as efforts by certain Arab countries to normalize their relations with the usurpers of Palestinian territories and failure to bring this regime to justice for violating international rules and regulations and killing oppressed Palestinian people on a daily basis have emboldened them to press ahead with their policy of Judaizing Palestine and ethnic cleansing, which will undoubtedly lead to further instability and insecurity in the region,” said the spokesman.

“Gone are the days of racism and Apartheid,” he noted, adding that “racism in occupied Palestine will be stamped out, too, thanks to the perseverance and resistance of Palestinian people as well as Muslim and freedom-seeking nations across the world.”

The Israeli legislation has been widely criticized. Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, slammed the legislation, saying it legitimizes Israeli racism. The Palestinian Authority also condemned it as a declaration of war. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the law will not change the historical status of al-Quds as the eternal capital of Palestine. He added the legislation will not discourage Palestinians in their legitimate struggle to resist the Israeli occupation and establish their independent state. Abbas urged the international community to stop such laws which he described as racist. Turkey condemned the move as well, accusing Israeli officials of seeking an apartheid system. The European Union also voiced grave concern over the issue.

The Israeli legislation says only Jews have the right to self-determination. It does not recognize Arabic as an official language in the occupied territories, either.

Sky Burial; Ancient Tradition of Iran’s Zoroastrians

Fatemeh Askarieh

July 20, 2018

Sky Burial; Ancient Tradition of Iran’s Zoroastrians

The burial traditions in historical periods are known through archaeological evidence and sacred texts like the Zoroastrians’ Avesta as well as Pahlavi texts.

With the recognition of the Zoroastrian religion in Iran, body burial was strictly prohibited and the only way to eliminate the corpses was to place the deceased in rows so their bodies would be feasted upon by birds of prey.

In a Zoroastrian religious text, which is a collection of religious rules and instructions, there are references to the ways to treat with the bodies of the dead. According to these texts, the dead should be put in structures known as dakhma to be feasted upon by birds of prey, because the burial or burning of the corpses would cause the sacred elements of water, soil, and fire to become dirty and it is forbidden to do so.

However, according to the researchers, even in Zoroastrian texts, there are indications that a significant number of people opposed the change in funeral practices, which resulted in penalties. Given that the time passed between the burial and the exhumation, only physical punishments were imposed on the perpetrators, which were practically subject to fines.

According to the findings, for a long time, it was generally thought that burial was more based on putting the corpse outdoor. But extensive scientific studies revealed that the Sassanids, in addition to the tradition of placing the body in the open air, used other burial practices. This can be interpreted in relation to religious communities within the Sassanid Empire and perhaps related to the class division of society in this era.

According to Samer Nazari, a graduate of archaeology at the Isfahan University of Art and his colleague, “the coexistence of religious communities including Christians, Jews, Manicheans, Buddhists and other religious sects in the Sassanid community is one of the main reasons for the diversity of burial practices in this era. At the end of the Shapur I era, the Zoroastrianism was the official religion of the country, but Manichean religion, along with other emerging sects should not be ignored. This comes as Buddhism was also spreading in the East, and Christianity and Judaism were expanding in the western regions.”

Prohibiting Burial of Corpses to Keep Water, Soil Clean

Based on the available information, it is not possible to attribute the burial practices specifically to a particular group, but according to the teachings of the Zoroastrian School, we are aware of the prohibition of burying bodies for the purpose of keeping water and soil clean. Thus, the most dominant burial method during the Sassanid era was to put the deceased body in a dakhma, or towers of silence.

The dakhmas or towers of silence were common until Pahlavi era (20th century). At the time of Pahlavi, the dakhmas were shut down and turned into a burial chamber. But some of the dakhmas are registered as national heritage with domestic and foreign tourists visiting them. The most famous Zoroastrian dakhma is in Yazd province.

Zoroastrian dakhma is known as tower of silence. This dakhma is located 15 km south-east of Yazd near the Safaeiyeh area and on a low-altitude mountain called the mountain of the dakhma.

Although there are Zoroastrian dakhmas in Tehran, Kerman, Sirjan, Isfahan, Taft, Ashkezar, Ardakan, Fars province, etc., the dakhmas of Yazd have more visitors as they are located in the religious capital of Zoroastrianism close to the city and other monuments.

Zoroastrian Dakhma or Tower of Silence

In the past, the site had two dakhmas, which, according to historical documents and Zoroastrian words, both were used for a period of six months. One of these structures is the Maneckji Limji Hataria dakhma, or the Great Maneckji, which is located on the left.

Maneckji, known as Maneckji Sahib, travelled to Iran during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, as the representative of “the Association for the Improvement of the Zoroastrian Conditions in Iran,” in order to reduce the pressure on Zoroastrians. Zoroastrians still owe their existence to his efforts.

The second building is Golestan dakhma. During the Qajar period, the difficulty of passing through the mountainous road of the Maneckji caused problems for the burial of the corpses. That is why the Golestan dakhma was built in smaller dimensions. This dakhma could be seen 150 metres west of the Maneckji. The diameter of this dakhma is 25 metres and the height of the wall is 6 metres from the surface of the hill.

The inner surface of the Zoroastrian dakhmas is flat and rounded, all covered with large boulders and consists of three parts: feminine, masculine and childish. Perhaps it’s not bad to know that the end of the circle space, which is attached to the wall around the dakhma, is for the corpses of men, the middle part is for women and the inner circle is for children.

The bodies were placed on these slates according to their gender, and the birds of prey, especially vultures started to eat their flesh. After eating the flesh and becoming completely dry under the sun, the bones were poured into a well in the centre of the circle, called the bone well, to turn into dirt.

All burial practices from leaving the body inside the dakhma until its disappearance lasted about six months to one year. When the dead were placed inside the dakhma, it was customary to mourn, wearing white clothes for three days in ruined buildings next to the dakhmas known as “Khileh”.

Interestingly, in a documentary entitled “The Lovers Wind” made by the famous French director Albert Lamorisse in 1970, part of it was dedicated to the Zoroastrian dakhmas of Yazd. At that time, the dakhma was still open.

Below are photos of this Zoroastrian dakhma retrieved from retrieved from various source:

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“Israel’s Claim of Stealing Iran’s Nuclear Data Laughably Absurd”

IFP Media Wire

July 19, 2018

Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for Iran’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations, was responding to recent reports by The New York Times and other news outlets about the details of Mossad’s purported operation near the Iranian capital in the rather Hollywood-style scenario.

The scenario was initially unveiled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is widely known to have a penchant for theatrics. Netanyahu went live on television in late April for yet another dubious show against Iran and put on display what he claimed to be records from a secret warehouse in Tehran.

Netanyahu claimed Israeli agents had managed to break into the warehouse in an overnight raid and bring back “half a ton of the material” consisting of 55,000 pages and another 55,000 files on 183 CDs.

The Israel premier’s vaudeville — which came only days before the US announced its withdrawal from the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal with Iran — was meant to persuade the world that Iran has been lying about its nuclear program, without providing even a single piece of evidence.

The New York Times published an article on July 15, in which it elaborated on the purported Mossad operation, which it claimed lasted for over six hours.

Reacting to the report, Miryousefi once again rejected Israel’s claims in a statement and said, “It’s almost as if they are trying to see what outlandish claims they can get a Western audience to believe.”

“Iran has always been clear that creating indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction is against what we stand for as a country, and the notion that Iran would abandon any kind of sensitive information in some random warehouse in Tehran is laughably absurd,” he added.

Netanyahu’s April 30 show was so cheaply theatrical that it was quickly held up to ridicule inside Iran and abroad, with observers raising serious questions about the purported Mossad raid.

Back then, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the Israeli premier “the boy who can’t stop crying wolf is at it again,” recalling a similar anti-Iran rant by Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly in 2012– during which he used a cartoon bomb in an attempt to portray the Islamic Republic as a threat.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also said that Netanyahu was playing a baseless childish and naive game against Iran.

The Israeli leader was back then involved in an intense lobbying campaign aimed at dissuading Washington and the other parties to the Iran deal from supporting the landmark agreement, officially dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Except in the US, Netanyahu’s claims, however, fell on deaf ears.

Reacting to the show hours later, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said on May 1 that Netanyahu’s presentation failed to question Tehran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal and that any such claims should solely be assessed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA — which uses strict mechanisms to monitor the technical aspect of the JCPOA’s implementation — has repeatedly confirmed Iran’s full commitment to its side of the bargain.

The latest New York Times piece comes as Iran and its other parties in the deal — Russia, China, France, Britain plus Germany — are engaged in a diplomatic process aimed at working out ways to keep the JCPOA in place despite Washington’s pullout in May.

“Russia to Do Its Best to Prevent Escalation of Iran-Israel Conflict”

IFP Editorial Staff

July 19, 2018

“Sometimes conflicts do arise, and we are naturally concerned about the possibility of a military confrontation between Iranian and Israeli forces in Syria,” Dzhagaryan told the Russian newspaper Kommersant on Wednesday.

“We do our best to prevent this. To prevent the escalation of conflict,” Dzhagaryan added.

His comments come as Ali Akbar Velayati, the special envoy of Iran’s Leader, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both visited Moscow on the same day last week, and held separate meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, fuelling speculations that Moscow is trying to mediate between the two sides.

After Netanyahu’s meeting with Putin, diplomatic sources said that “Russia is acting to push Iranian forces from near the Syrian border” with Israel.

However, Dzhagaryan portrays a different reality: “Iran is not a country that you can put pressure on. This is a big state, pursuing an independent foreign policy. It is only possible to work with the Iranians through persuasion, whereas pressure is counterproductive.”

When asked to comment on Tehran’s role in resolving the Syrian conflict, Dzhagaryan recalled that Iran’s military presence in Syria is legitimate. “Just like the Russian military, the Iranians are there at the invitation of the legitimate Syrian government and are participating in the operation to eradicate terrorists.”

In response to the question of Russia’s continued consumption of Iranian oil after November despite threats from Washington, the ambassador said, “We do not recognize unilateral American sanctions, from our point of view, they are illegal.”

“Our trade and economic relations are developing quite dynamically. We have a number of large-scale projects, including the second and third stages of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, the construction of four power units of the Sirik Thermal Power Plant and electrification of a railway stretch between Garmsar and Ince Burun. Despite threats from the US, today I see no obstacles for implementing these projects,” he said, adding that work on them continues in normal mode.

According to the Russian envoy, the Iranian authorities are doing their utmost to prevent the country’s isolation and any further negative trends in the national economy. “We are ready to provide assistance to Iran in that matter.”

“For us, Iran is a friendly country. We cooperate in various spheres, and in some of them, for example, in terms of ending the war in Syria and launching a full-fledged political settlement process, Iran is one of our key partners,” the diplomat concluded.

Putin’s Envoy Briefs Iran on Helsinki Meeting with Trump

IFP Editorial Staff

July 19, 2018

In a meeting held in Tehran, Alexander Lavrentiev held talks with Saeed Iravani, the deputy secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council for foreign policy and international security.

During the talks, the Russian representative presented a comprehensive report on the negotiations held in a recent summit between Trump and Putin.

The Russian official said Moscow has committed itself to supporting international agreements and urges countries to refrain from unilateralism and using economic and trade tools to impose their political will on other nations.

Lavrentiev touched upon the Kremlin’s transparent and firm position on the Iran nuclear deal, and said Russia regards the imposition of unilateral sanctions against Iran as a violation of this international agreement. He said the Russian president reminded Trump in their meeting that Washington’s sanctions are unconstructive and detrimental.

He expressed hope that continued talks by China, Russia and other European countries with the United States will make the White House change its stance with regards to unilateral policies. He also hoped that already agreed deals within the framework of the JCPOA will serve as the basis for further action.

He also stressed the need for Iran and Moscow to press ahead with their political and security cooperation in Syria.

He said the Russian government’s determination to continue joint work to combat terror has not been undermined, and the two countries will continue to move on the same path until stability and security are fully restored to Syria.

Iravani, in turn, expressed his gratitude to the Russian president for immediately sending a special envoy to Tehran, and described the move as a clear sign of both countries’ compliance with the rules of mutual cooperation and strategic collaboration.

“The Russian president’s fundamental and firm stances on the United States’ unilateralism and breach of promises show Russia’s commitment to international regulations and the logic of talks and understanding in order to tackle political and security challenges,” said the Iranian official.

Iravani appreciated Russia’s abidance by and support for the JCPOA as well as its non-stop efforts to [help] fulfil the commitments undertaken by other signatories to this international agreement.

“As stipulated in numerous reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Islamic Republic of Iran has lived up to all of its obligations under the JCPOA and believes the continuation of this trend is contingent upon the securing of Iran’s legal rights and the fulfilment of the obligations undertaken by the other countries which are parties to the deal,” he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he touched upon the recent developments in Syria. He recalled the gains made by the Syrian army and popular forces in the south with the support of countries which are members of the anti-terror coalition.

“The recent achievements are a key step toward promoting the political process within the framework of the negotiations in Astana and Sochi,” he said.

He noted Iran believes it is very important to keep pursuing a political solution to the Syria crisis while boosting the trend of intra-Syrian talks, and supports efforts made in that regard.

Iravani noted the level of Tehran-Moscow cooperation shows the negative moves by the Israeli regime as well as its hit-and-run actions have no bearing on Iran-Russia cooperation, and that the two countries will continue to reinforce Syrian armed forces in the war on terror within the framework of the current coalition.