In a Sunday statement, Qassemi rejected any use of violence, and offered condolences to the families of the victims.
He also expressed Iran’s solidarity with Ethiopian people and government in their path towards progress and democracy.
Ethiopian officials say two people have died and dozens more are injured, after an explosion at a huge political rally for the new premier.
He was whisked away immediately after the blast, thought to be from a grenade thrown amid thousands of people in Addis Ababa’s Meskel Square.
Nine police officials, including the deputy head of the Addis Ababa police commission, have been arrested over alleged security lapses, Al Jazeera reported.
This has turned Iran into the fifth country in the world which can design and produce the cutting-edge and complicated machine. The other four include Japan, Germany, Italy and Sweden.
In a press conference in Tehran, Behrouz Sabokdast, the CEO of an Iranian knowledge-based company involved in the production of hemodialysis machine, said it was designed and produced to offer medical services to the patients with chronic kidney failures who need to be on dialysis three times a week, a report by Tasnim News Agency said.
“We began to design and produce the machine under international sanctions back in 2013 and after two years we obtained the full know-how to develop the required software and hardware,” he added.
“We didn’t receive any part of the technology from other countries. Rather, we put hard efforts into acquiring the know-how inside the country without relying on any foreign company,” he said.
He said the knowledge-based company is capable of producing about 1,000 hemodialysis machines annually and expressed hope that the firm would export between 100 and 200 machines to other countries like Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kenya in the near future.
The CEO said at least 70 machines have already been installed in at least 10 medical centres in a number of cities including Tehran, Qom, Hamadan and the quake-hit Sarpol-e Zahab.
He said the number of dialysis patients in Iran has increased by six percent over the past years, adding this means the company needs to install 400-500 other machines in the country.
The minbar was repaired and unveiled in Lat-Qazi mosque in the 7,000-year-old Arangeh village in Alborz Province, west of the capital Tehran.
The wooden minbar has been restored by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), ISNAreported.
Mohammad Ali Najafi, the governor of Alborz province, told the unveiling ceremony that Iranians should pay more attention to protecting their cultural heritage.
“We should work to preserve our heritage. We are proud of Arangeh and this minbar, which shows the depth of the religious belief of its people,” he said.
The historical minbar has six steps and bears engraved decorations, including intricate carvings and lacquer work.
Among techniques employed in its adornment are woodwork and strap-work based on geometric designs. It also bears engravings from the Holy Quran verses.
In an address to a meeting of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce on Sunday, Zarif said the US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal has tarnished the country’s image at the international arenas.
“In the past, most countries refused to cooperate with Iran because the country was portrayed as a notorious state in the world but today this is the US under Trump administration which has to pay the price of being notorious for its pullout of international treaties,” he was quoted as saying in a report by ILNA.
He underlined that though Trump’s anti-Iran threats may inflict a blow on Tehran in the short term, they would end up in the country’s interests in the long run.
He said many maintain that the US withdrawal from the JCPOA means that the nuclear accord suffers from some flaws.
“This comes as Trump has already pulled out of a number of other international treaties like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Paris Agreement and Asia-Pacific Ocean Economic Cooperation. Does it mean that all these international treaties were flawed?”
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian top diplomat said to achieve its goals, the US doesn’t hesitate to resort to tricky measures and psychological war. “It is now seeking to force Iran to pull out of the JCPOA.”
He went on to say that except for the US and a few tiny states in the Persian Gulf, no other state in the world is following in the footsteps of the US when it comes to the JCPOA. “Even Canada says that it wants the nuclear deal to be preserved.”
According to Zarif, Iran can play a leading role in the JCPOA’s success or failure. “But we should have this point in mind that the failure of the nuclear deal is dangerous for Iran. We may decide to leave the deal in the coming stages but at present this is not our choice.”
Zarif further asked why on the earth some people inside the country should cast doubt on its achievements. “They maintain that the JCPOA has had no achievement for the Islamic Republic.”
He concluded that the enemies are seeking to inflict a heavy blow not on the Islamic establishment but the whole Iran, and thus all Iranians, from reformist and conservative to non-partisans and even opponents of the Islamic Establishment, must unite against the country’s enemies.
The top story in many newspapers today was the ultimatum given by Iranian officials to the European Union over the deadline for offering their plan to save the Iran nuclear deal.
Several papers also covered the Sunday presidential and parliamentary elections held in Turkey, in which incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, hopes to secure another re-election in the most fiercely-fought polls in the country.
Also a top story was former president and reformist leader Seyyed Mohammad Khatami’s criticism of a letter by a group of reformist figures who called for direct and unconditional talks with the US. Khatami said such talks would be against the country’s national interests and destroy Iran’s dignity.
The above issues, as well as many more, are highlighted in the following headlines and top stories:
19 Dey:
1- Iran Gives Europe an Ultimatum: Tehran Cannot Wait Any Longer
2- Rouhani Must Do Something for Creating Job Opportunities in One Month
Abrar:
1- Iran Nuclear Chief: It’s Not Possible to Save JCPOA If Iran’s Interests Not Secured
Afkar:
1- Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi: Trump’s Irrational Behaviours Discredited US More than Ever
Aftab-e Yazd:
1- Ramin Rezaeian: I Won’t Let Ronaldo Spend an Easy Day against Iran
Arman-e Emrooz:
1- Araqchi: JCPOA Parties Must Offer Their Package to Save the Deal by End of June
Asrar:
1- Iran Bans Import of over 1,400 Commodities
Ebtekar:
1- Erdogan’s Dreams vs. Challenge of Ballot Boxes: Most Decisive Turkey Elections Begin
Etemad:
1- Ex-President Khatami Criticizes Reformists’ Call for Negotiation with US
Ettela’at:
1- Europe Must Find Formula to Save JCPOA: Kharrazi
Europeans Can Bypass US Sanctions
Ghanoon:
1- Half of Iran Grappling with Water Tension
Iran:
1- Erdogan’s Duel with Opponents
56 Million Turks to Go to Polls in 180,000 Stations
Jame Jam:
1- Trump’s Reverse Decision
TIME’s Cover Photo Makes Trump Take Back His Strange Immigration Decision
Javan:
1- Queiroz: I Watched It for 500 Times, Our Goal against Spain Was Correct!
Iran’s Head Coach Strongly Blasts Uruguayan Referee’s Performance
Jomhouri Eslami:
1- Special Working Group Formed to Counter Those Disrupting Forex, Gold, Car, House Markets
Kayhan:
1- People’s Problems vs. Government’s Concerns!
Insulting Wisdom of 80 Million Iranians
2- $2.7 Million Bottle Caps Imported Last Year!
Khorasan:
1- Trezeguet: Iran to Have Easier Match against Portugal than It Had against Spain
Rah-e Mardom:
1- Araqchi: I Can’t Understand Why Some Enjoy Return of Sanctions
Resalat:
1- White House’s Brutality Unveiled: UN Says US Measures Clear Example of Torture
Rooyesh-e Mellat:
1- Parliament Speaker: Expansion of Iran-Georgia Business Cooperation to Strengthen Ties
Sayeh:
1- Iran Nuclear Chief in Oslo: It’s Not Possible to Save JCPOA While Re-Imposing Sanctions
Shahrvand:
1- Vahid Amiri: I Won’t Try to Nutmeg Ronaldo; We Just Want to Defeat Portugal
Shargh:
1- Speaker Controls 5% of Parliament’s Budget
Vatan-e Emrooz:
1- Maariv: Bin Salman, Netanyahu Have Secretly Met in Jordan
2- Queiroz Warns about FIFA’s Possible Exertion of Power
Iran Coach Worried about Policy of Keeping Stars in the World Cup ahead of Portugal Match
The small town of Lalejin celebrated its designation as the World Pottery Capital by the World Crafts Council in 2016.
Around 80 percent of Lalejin’s population are potters, ceramists and involved in related jobs. Undoubtedly Lalejin is one of the important centres of pottery and ceramic productions in Iran.
What follows are the photos of the historical city and its handicrafts retrieved from Fars News Agency:
“According to a [draft] motion the faction and the parliament’s research centre are working on, we seek to allocate a quota of seats for women,” Parvaneh Salahshouri told IRNAon Saturday.
In the current parliament, women have the largest share of seats in the history of the Islamic Republic’s parliaments. The previous record belonged to the fifth parliament that had 14 women legislators.
“The victory of 17 women in the latest parliamentary elections showed the Iranian society welcomes bigger presence of women in the parliament,” she said.
The lawmaker said despite the increase in women’s presence in the current parliament, only six percent of seats are filled by women, a figure which lacks luster when compared to other countries.
For example, she said, over 20 percent of the seats in Saudi Arabia’s parliament and over 27 percent of seats in the Afghan parliament are reserved for women.
The next elections for the 290-member Parliament are scheduled for early 2020.
While Iran and Saudi Arabia have no diplomatic relations, they have agreed to deal with the issue of Hajj regardless of political differences, Ali Qazi-Askar, the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Hajj and pilgrimage affairs said.
According to the official, some 85,000 Iranian will go to this year’s Hajj considering that the Saudis remained committed to the previous year’s agreement on respecting the dignity of Iranians.
Although Iran has planned to limit its pilgrims’ stay in Saudi Arabia to 28 days, some travelers may have to remain there as long as 40 days due to some problems in Saudi airports, the cleric added.
Qazi-Askar also highlighted the efforts to provide the best amenities for the Iranian Hajj pilgrims, saying Iran has made a modern catering facility in Mecca that could cook 80,000 servings.
In 2016, more than 1.8 million pilgrims attended Hajj, but Iranians stayed at home after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran boiled over following a deadly crush of people during the 2015 pilgrimage.
On September 2, 2015, thousands of people lost their lives in the deadly crush after Saudi authorities blocked a road in Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds of pilgrims to collide.
The crush was the deadliest incident in the history of the pilgrimage. According to an Associated Press count based on official statements from the 36 countries that lost citizens in the disaster, more than 2,400 pilgrims were killed in the incident.
Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 4,700 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.
Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli says the number of Iranians drug addicts has decreased from 3.7 million under former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to 2.8 million now.
According to a report by Fars News Agency, efforts by the government and non-governmental organizations have also led many addicts to stop using highly dangerous drugs and return to using traditional substances such as opium, Rahmani Fazli said.
However, the minister said the significant growth of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, which is currently estimated to produce over 10,000 tonnes of opium per year, is a big threat to the country and greater efforts are needed to fight addiction in Iran.
The minister said non-governmental organization could play a bigger role in curbing drug addiction in the country.
Due to its geographical location, which is next to Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer of opium, Iran has been turned by smugglers into a major conduit for narcotics trade and trafficking to Europe and beyond.
Seizing around 500 tonnes of drugs annually from dealers on eastern borders, Iran plays an important part in efforts to slow the growth of drug addiction rate worldwide.
Nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers have lost their lives fighting dealers over the past decades.
World Cup fever is on again. As the drama of the world’s most-eagerly anticipated sports tournament unfolds in Russia, millions of people across the world have been glued to televisions watching the matches, celebrating victories and crying for those who failed to make it to the next round.
Iranians are no exception, as they are obsessed with football and see the brilliant performance of their national football team, Team Melli, in the world cup.
But the city of Abadan in Khuzestan province, south-western Iran, is quite different. They care about the defeats and wins of the Brazilian national team much more than they do for Iran! They often joke that Brazil is part of Abadan, and they will always remain loyal to the Seleção.
In a reportpublished earlier this week, Shahrvand daily writes that in Abadan, a city in southwestern Iran, football is a part of life, not just a hobby.
Everything stops when Brazil plays in a World Cup match, with people waiting for Brazil to win so they can go to streets and celebrate an amazing play.
Many people in the city are wearing yellow shirts; portraits of Neymar are seen on storefronts; and Brazil national flag can be seen flying on car windows.
There are also barefoot kids playing football in dusty alleys in poor neighbourhoods, trying to mimic tricks by Brazilian players they see on the television.
Brazil Is Our Love
Amir Somiri, an Abadani fan of football, says Brazilian players would be surprised to know they have such hardcore fans in Iran.
“Brazil, in Abadan, is our life, our dream, our love, everything. I love Brazil,” he said.
“Where does such a love come from,” we ask. “Abadani people find Brazilians to be like themselves,” Amir replies.
“We love them as they are warm people, just like us. They are brunette and cute, just as we are,” he said.
Amir said he holds bitter-sweet memories of watching Brazil matches in the World Cup.
Notably, he remembered the humiliation on the scale of the 7-1 defeat against Germany in 2014, which shocked the entire city.
“After the demolition, I had awful nightmares for a couple of nights. I couldn’t accept that,” he said.
Amir, who was speaking Tuesday, said he is confident this year’s cup will be different for Brazil.
Although Brazil was held 1-1 by Switzerland in their World Cup opener on Monday, Amir says Brazil is poised to win the cup.
“The result of last night game made me upset. Although we draw the match but without a doubt we will advance to the next stage as the leading team of our group,” he said,
“God willing, we will win the cup,” he said.
Brazil later managed to defeat Costa Rica 2-0 on Friday, increasing its chance to advance to the next stage.
Brazil Was Part of Abadan
The passion for Brazilian football is so great that Abadan’s main football club, Sanat Naft, has a flag and uniform similar to that of Brazil.
Inside the local stadium, fans chant “Abadan Berezilete”, literally meaning “Abadan is just like Brazil!”
Amin, another Abadani fan of football, says he is boast of supporting Brazil, as they play with passion.
“Here, people hold an extremely positive feeling towards Brazil, as they play with passion. They play for the love of the sport and for the supporters that are all around them,” he said.
He says for Abadani people, love for football has no boundaries and women and men alike love Brazil.
According to Amin, Abadani people love Brazil so much that they say the country has been part of Abadan before the earth’s continents separated millions of years ago!
“A few weeks ago, the Brazilian ambassador to Iran came to Abadan… They agreed to make Abadan the sister city of a Brazilian town. But the whole Brazilian nation are our brothers and sisters,” he said.
Brazilian ambassador to Iran visiting the city of Abadan in the south-west, where everyone is a fan of the South American football team
Sociological Factors
Mohammad Ali Alasti, a sociologist, says similarities between Abadan and Brazil may have led the Abadani people to associate the city with Brazil.
According to Alasti, poor people in underdeveloped and developing countries, including Iran and Brazil, find watching football a good way to forget about their misery and that could be a reason why both the Abadani people and Brazilians love football so much.
Abadan is an oil-refinery city hit hard by the Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980s. The city even went under the siege of Iraqi forces, and hundreds of Iranians were martyred until the siege of the city was broken in 1981.
Abadan has not completely recovered from the war, and the effects of the war can be seen in many places of the city.
“Most of Brazilians and Abadanis live in poverty, despite the fact that their countries possess enormous wealth. They are also similar in their physical characteristics and have warm-blooded mentality. Similar living conditions and physical characteristics have caused this association,” Alasti said.
Mohammad Ali Najafi, the governor of Alborz province, told the unveiling ceremony that Iranians should pay more attention to protecting their cultural heritage.
Brazil Is Our Love
