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Top Iranian Officials Attend Parliament’s Closed Session on JCPOA

May 20, 2018

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, MP Mohammad Vahdati said that before holidng its regular open session, the parliament began the closed session on the JCPOA Sunday morning.

The closed session is underway with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Massoud Karbasian, and Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi in attendance, he added.

The lawmaker went on to say that during the meeting, the ministers and diplomats will brief the MPs on their talks with European countries about the JCPOA.

Last week, Zarif made a tight diplomatic trip for negotiations on how to save the JCPOA in the wake of the US withdrawal from the multilateral nuclear deal.

The foreign minister held meetings with Chinese and Russian officials in Beijing and Moscow and then traveled to Brussels for talks with the European parties to the JCPOA.

He was gauging international readiness to guarantee Iran’s interests if it decides to remain in the nuclear pact a week after US President Donald Trump announced that the US was walking away from the JCPOA.

In a speech from the White House on May 8, Trump accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and seeking nukes before announcing the US withdrawal from the 2015 agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the controversial decision, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran weighs plans to remain in the agreement with the other five parties, provided that they ensure full benefits for Iran.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has also underlined that any decision to keep the deal running without the US should be conditional on “practical guarantees” from the three European parties to the JCPOA.

Iran President, Jordan King Meet for First Time in 15 Years

IFP Media Wire

May 20, 2018

The short meeting between Rouhani and the Jordanian monarch was held in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Friday on the sidelines of an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) about the recent massacre of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The relations between Iran and Jordan have not been cordial since the 1979 Islamic Revolution because of Jordan’s policies against Iran and its support for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980-1988 imposed war on the Islamic Republic.

The tense ties between the two countries also have their roots in Jordan’s financial and arms support for some Takfiri terrorists in Syria and some other parts of the Middle East.

Back in January, the king of Jordan accused Iran of meddling in a number of Arab countries’ affairs. He told CNN that Saudi Arabia was not the only country concerned about Iran’s “destabilizing activities, but also all states in the region, especially after we saw the repercussions of these policies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon.”

In response, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi slammed the Jordanian king’s allegations against Tehran and its regional role, saying such a stance runs counter to the realities on the ground and to the people’s call for peace and security.

“Such unfair statements cannot deny Iran’s stabilizing role and relentless efforts in the fight against terrorism and its contribution to establishing security in the region,” he said.

Iran Determined to Boost Women’s Role in National Development

IFP Editorial Staff

May 20, 2018

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to help boost participation of women in the job market as part of five-year development plans,” said Gholam-Hossein Dehqani, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs.

Speaking in a workshop held last week in Tehran on challenges to boosting women entrepreneurship in Iran and Japan, Dehqani said women play an important role in the global trade and there is no reason they cannot play the same role in Iran.

Dehqani said the government is working to provide women with appropriate job opportunities, support equality in wages for men and women, protect security and health of women in the workplace, help them maintain life-work balance and set heavy punishment or those who harass female workers.

Moreover, the diplomat said the government is working to facilitate women’s access to internet and technology, a report by women.gov.ir said.

The deputy foreign minister said the Iranian parliament has also enacted legislations aimed at empowering women, including a bill to protect women from violence.

Dehqani said the Iranian government will remain faithful to its obligations to improve the status of women within the Islamic context, expressing hope Iran and Japan will expand cooperation on issues related to women’s entrepreneurship and will be able to help boost the role of women in the society and family.

Iranian Woman Highly Educated

Massoumeh Ebtekar, the Iranian vice-president for women and family affairs, told the same gathering that the incumbent administration has put boosting women entrepreneurship on its agenda, as Iranian women are highly educated and capable of participating in economic activities.

“A big part of Iranian women holds university degrees. Besides that, the number of women studying at universities is more than men in all majors except for engineering ones,” she said.

However, Ebtekar said women have less participation in the job market, a problem that needs to be fixed.

She expressed hope the conference, aimed at transferring experience between the two countries on women entrepreneurship, will help improve conditions of women in Iran and Japan.

Iran, Japan to Form Joint Committee on Women Entrepreneurship

The workshop was held by Iran’s Vice-Presidency for Women and Family Affairs, Japan’s Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Iran’s Foreign Ministry and the National Library of Iran.

Executive Director at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation Junko Chano said Iran and Japan will form a joint research team to explore and assess the situation of women entrepreneurship in Iran and Japan and come up with solutions to improve them.

The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, an affiliate of Nippon Foundation, is a public foundation corporation that conducts research activities, policy recommendations, and international collaboration aimed at the formation of a new governance system of human society that is more sustainable for environment, oceans, and human welfare.

The foundation has been involved in several projects to promote mutual trust and understanding between Iran and Japan.

The two countries have held two rounds of a joint symposium in 2016 and 2017, which provide a platform for cooperation between the two nations in areas such as economic empowerment of women, introducing successful models of entrepreneurship and supportive government policies.

Iran Unveils 110-Year-Old Rug with Portrait of National Hero

IFP Editorial Staff

May 20, 2018

It is estimated that the rug has been woven between 1911 and 1922 when Mirza Koochak Khan was still alive.

The 110-year-old rug was unveiled in a ceremony during the National Cultural Heritage Week.

The rug is decorated with a Persian poem in praise of Mirza in Nastaliq calligraphy.

The weaver of the rug is said to be an Iranian man named Molla Mahmoud Madihi. He was one of the leading eulogists and carpet weavers of his time in the city of Kashan. Madihi wove one of his poems in praise of Koochak Khan in the rug.

The rug is 2.2 x 1.3 centimetres. It used to be owned by an Iranian residing in Australia named Korki. But an Iranian collector from the Northern Province of Gilan bought the rug and returned it to Iran.

What follows are Tasnim’s photos of the rug:

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Free Entry Draws Huge Crowd to Tehran Museums

IFP Editorial Staff

May 19, 2018

World Museum Day has been celebrated globally every year on May 18 since 1977.

In Iran, it marks the beginning of National Cultural Heritage Week, which ends on May 24.

Official events are organized during the week to highlight the importance of museums and cultural heritage sites.

The following photos retrieved from IRNA show people visiting the National Museum of Iran, the Science and Technology Museum, the Islamic Era Museum and Moqaddam Museum.

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Iran-EU Joint Committee to Address Oil Trade Problems

IFP Editorial Staff

May 19, 2018

“In this working group, we will try to come up with solutions to allow Iran to keep the level of its oil [exports] intact,” Canete said after a meeting with Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh on Saturday.

Zanganeh has vowed Tehran would spare no efforts to maintain its oil production and exports at current levels, and predicted it would overcome the difficulties resulting from the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

Iran, which has the world’s fourth-biggest oil reserves, produces some 3.8 million barrels of oil per day, 70 percent of which goes to China and other Asian countries, and 20 percent to Europe.

Iran’s trade with the European Union is around 20 billion euros, which is evenly split between imports and exports.

The EU on Friday started implementing the “blocking statute” process to shield EU companies doing business with Iran. The statute aims to neutralise the extraterritorial effects of US sanctions in the EU.

Despite the tough diplomatic efforts, however, the chances of the Iran nuclear deal surviving the impact of US sanctions were dealt a blow when the Danish shipping group A P Moller-Maersk said it was joining an exodus of companies ceasing commercial activity in Iran.

Maersk, the world’s largest oil shipping container firm, said on Thursday it would honour customer agreements entered into before 8 May, but then wind them down by 4 November, as required by the re-imposed US sanctions.

The announcement came after the French oil firm Total announced on Wednesday that it was going to pull out of its 50.1% stake in the South Pars 11 oil field. Total said it would only retain its investment if the US gave it a specific exemption from the planned sanctions. Its joint venture partners in China are likely to take over its share of the investment.

Iran’s oil exports were at 1m barrels a day, mostly to Asia and some European countries, before sanctions were lifted. They subsequently climbed to 2.5m barrels.

Europe to Open Channel to Facilitate Iran Banking Transactions: Official

IFP Editorial Staff

May 19, 2018

“Europeans are after creating a banking channel to allow funding [of projects] and financial transactions,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran.

Speaking in a Saturday press conference, Kamalvandi said Europeans are working hard to finalize a mechanism to counter anti-Iran US sanctions.

“They are trying to activate the mechanism before August 8, when the US sanctions on Iran will be restored, to protect their companies so they are not obliged to observe extra-territorial sanctions imposed by other countries,” Kamalvandi said, according to Fars News Agency.

Kamalvandi’s comments came shortly after a meeting between Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi and EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Miguel Arias Canete in Tehran.

US President Donald Trump pulled the country out of the deal on March 8, when he announced the US will snap back its anti-Iran sanctions suspended under the pact and will impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Iran has announced the deal could remain in place only if European parties to the pact give Tehran firm assurances that its interests will be served if they remain in the deal.

Iran’s Nuclear Chief Hopeful EU Can Save JCPOA

IFP Editorial Staff

May 19, 2018

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said the EU has pledged to facilitate creation of banking connections between Iran and Europe and replace dollar with Euro in its trade with the Islamic Republic.

Salehi said the EU has also pledged to revive and expand a 1996 regulation adopted by the EU to give Europeans protection against the application of US sanctions at the time, including the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act passed in the same year.

“We cannot be confident unless these promises are honoured. We hope we will see that soon,” Salehi said, speaking to reporters after a meeting with EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Miguel Arias Canete, IRNA reported.

Salehi said the US pullout was an “unwise” move that once again proved assertions by top Iranian officials that the US cannot be trusted with keeping its words.

“Some did not believe this [assertion] before. But now the whole international community admits this and knows that the US is not a reliable side in international transactions,” he said.

Iran has announced the deal could remain in place only if European parties to the pact give Tehran firm assurances that its interests will be served if they remain in the deal.

On Tuesday, the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini voiced the bloc’s regrets of the US’ move and reiterated the EU’s determination to keep the nuclear deal in place.

Canete, who arrived in Tehran late on Friday for a two-day visit, aimed to reassure Iran that the 28-nation EU wants to keep trade open despite the US withdrawal from the pact.

During his stay, Cenete will also discuss Iran-EU cooperation on peaceful nuclear energy in the framework of the nuclear deal.