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Iran President Calls for Expansion of Ties with Belarus

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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“The valuable achievements of relations in the past 25 years and the removal of obstacles offer us bright prospects,” Rouhani said in a message to his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko posted on president.ir website.

Rouhani said the long-standing cooperation between the two governments has greatly benefited the two nations in recent years, encouraging Tehran and Minsk to actively work towards broadening relations.

“I’m confident friendly relations between Iran and Belarus will further develop in line with the interests of the two nations,” he said.

Tehran and Minsk established diplomatic relations in 1992. The two countries have enjoyed good relations in recent years, which are reflected in regular high-level meetings and various agreements.

Iran Holds First Women’s Triathlon National Championship

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The event was attended by 19 teams competing in youth, teens, under-21, and adult divisions.

The following are IRNA’s photos of the competition:

Tehran’s Dead Trees Turned into Magnificent Artworks

By
Fatemeh Askarieh
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The artistic event, which is called “Derakhtestan” (Land of Trees), is part of a larger event called “Baharestan” (Land of Spring) which is underway in Tehran to prepare the city for the advent of spring.

During the event, which started on the Arbour Day, skilful sculptors carve and decorate the dead trees of Valiasr Street and turn them into special artworks.

What follows are photos of the beautiful trees retrieved from the official website of Tehran Municipality:

Russia’s Central Election Committee under Attack from 15 Countries (+Video)

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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According to the Commission’s secretary, the Central Election Committee’s website had earlier come under a DDoS attack from 15 countries.

“We are registering what is in fact a cyber-attack on our information centre,” the commission’s secretary, Maya Grishina, said.

The commission’s website was attacked soon after voting began. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack peaked between 2am and 5am on Sunday, chairperson Ella Pamfilova said.

The attack originated from 15 countries, according to Pamfilova.

The first polls opened in Russia’s Far East at 20:00 GMT on Saturday, March 17, and the last polls in the Kaliningrad exclave will close at 18:00 GMT on Sunday, March 18.

The first round of the 2018 Russian presidential election will be contested by a total of eight candidates on March 18. Should no candidate reach a majority, a second round will take place three weeks later scheduled for April 8.

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Putin Casts His Ballot in Russia Presidential Elections (+Video)

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Putin took part in the election through self-nomination. Answering the question of what result he will consider successful, Putin said, “Any that gives the right to serve as president.”

The first polls opened in Russia’s Far East at 20:00 GMT on Saturday, March 17, and the last polls in the Kaliningrad exclave will close at 18:00 GMT on Sunday, March 18.

The first round of the 2018 Russian presidential election will be contested by a total of eight candidates on March 18. Should no candidate reach a majority, a second round will take place three weeks later scheduled for April 8.

During the presidential elections, over 1,000 international observers will work in Russia, according to Chairperson of the CEC of Russia Ella Pamfilova.

Erdogan Says Afrin under Full Control of Turkish-led Forces

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The Turkish troops have entered the town centre at around 5 a.m. local time (GMT0200), according to Anadolu Agency’s correspondents on the ground.

In an hour time, troops entered the town centre from east, west and north sides. During the entrance, some mines placed by terrorists at entry points of the district exploded as the so-called Free Syrian Army fighters advanced into the town centre, it was learned.

Without encountering any kind of resistance, they took complete control of the town centre.

FSA — after taking control of the biggest neighbourhoods Ashrafieh, Jamiliyah and Mahmudiyah in the town centre’s north — advanced to the old bus stop area, according to the correspondents.

The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines are currently being defused. Turkey says it is taking utmost care to not harm any civilians.

Turkey on January 20 launched Operation Olive Branch to remove PYD/PKK and ISIS terrorists from Afrin, its military says.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from terrorist cruelty and oppression.Erdogan Says Afrin under Full Control of Turkish-led Forces

Meeting between Iran FM, Omani Counterpart Cancelled

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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“In view of the continuation of the severe illness of Mr Zarif, which began Yesterday and even led to a brief hospitalisation, the foreign minister has been advised by his doctor to be on complete bed rest,” Bahram Qassemi said in a Saturday statement.

“All plans and meeting on Saturday and Sunday, including his meeting with Mr bin Alawi, have been cancelled,” he said.

Qassemi noted that bin Alawi, who is in Tehran at the head of a politico-economic delegation, has so far held constructive meetings with several officials, including Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani and Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif.

The spokesman said the Omani foreign minister will meet with President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday noon.

Bin Alawi, who arrived in Tehran on Friday, will also attend a luncheon to be held in his honour, he added.

Rasht Turns into Iran’s First City of White Nights

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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In a ceremony attended by Iran’s Vice-President Ali-Asghar Moonesan, the plan was officially launched for the first time in Rasht.

“The national plan of White Nights is expected to be launched in other cities of Gilan province in the near future with the aim of attracting more domestic and foreign tourists,” a Farsi report by the IRIB News Agency quoted him as saying.

According to the plan, the cities of White Nights will have special places where tourists can buy handicrafts and other artworks 24 hours a day.

Reza Alizadeh, the General Director of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Office of Gilan province said the plan was launched in the Cultural Pedestrian of Rasht.

The plan makes the cultural and tourist activities of the city 24/7 in a bid to attract foreign and domestic tourists. “During the White Nights, the handicraft artists can get in touch directly with the ordinary people for selling their products at an appropriate price.”

He went on to say the White Nights plan is among initiatives developed with the aim of attracting further tourists to Gilan province.

 

White Nights Create More Jobs

Moonesan, who is also the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization, said the White Nights plan has great advantages including job creation.

Speaking to reporters, Moonesan said the plan makes the city more active and provides the people with a new public space.

There are about 75 booths along the Cultural Pedestrian of Rasht which display and sell various handicrafts deeply rooted in the city’s history and culture.

Rahim-Mashaei, Another Ally of Ahmadinejad, Arrested in Iran

By
IFP Media Wire
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The Office of Prosecutor General of Tehran announced on Saturday that Rahim Mashaei, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s chief-of-staff, has been arrested by the police with a warrant issued by the office.

The statement has added that the ex-official, who is also a staunch ally of former president, has been arrested for investigation.

A few days earlier, Rahim Mashaei had set fire to a court verdict sentencing Hamid Baghaei, another figure in Ahmadinejad’s trilateral alliance, to imprisonment.

Thousands in Iran May Lose Their Jobs If Telegram Blocked

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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According to Saeid Mahdiyoon, the Basij commander of Iran’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, 180,000 families are currently involved in the online business, which has a total turnover of tens of millions of dollar.

Afshin Kolahi, a deputy head of new and knowledge-based businesses of Iran Chamber of Commerce, recently noted that 10,000 to 15,000 businesses are currently run in Iran completely through the cyberspace.

He says the two numbers are not conflicting, because 10 to 15 thousand Telegram-based businesses can directly or indirectly create jobs for 180,000 families.

There are 754,516 Farsi channels in Telegram with an average daily visit of 2.5 billion, a Farsi report by Shahrvand newspaper said. Out of these channels, 264,347 are regularly updated, according to the data provided by Iran’s National Cyberspace Research Centre.

Seyyed Morteza Mousavian, the head of the IT Development and Digital Media Centre of Iran’s Culture Ministry, says 19,000 channels have been registered by the centre so far.

“9,000 of them either sell their products or offer services,” he added, stressing that such figures only involve those who have officially registered their channels.

If we accept that 180,000 Iranian families are earning a living using Telegram, then almost 0.75 per cent of Iranian families are making money using the messaging app. Given the low costs of creating jobs in the IT sector, this figure can be rapidly raised through the development of the cyberspace in the country.

Mahdiyoon believes domestic and indigenous messaging apps must be supported and reinforced to be used once Telegram stops offering its services to Iranian people.

But is it really possible to replace Telegram with a home-grown version? Why hasn’t any Iranian app been successful so far in recruiting members and developing the number of its users?

Kolahi says blocking Telegram or a prescriptive use of similar Iranian apps or any other limitation will not be successful in convincing people to use an alternative messaging application. “We have repeatedly tested these methods, and wasted financial resources on them.”

“The market must be a competitive one. If an appropriate strategy is chosen in the design and replacement, the indigenous version can quickly find its market. A good product will soon satisfy its users,” he added.

During the days when Telegram was temporarily restricted amid the recent protests in Iran, Kolahi told Shahrvand that only a limited number of Telegram users temporarily switched to Iranian apps, mostly for family chats or receiving educational contents.

“Business owners have not yet made any serious decision to switch to these messaging apps,” he noted, stressing that an online shopping centre usually spends three years on attracting followers.

“Online business owners believe switching to another network like WhatsApp would lead to the bankruptcy of that business as they may lose their customers,” Kolahi said, adding that businesses do not welcome the switching.

With an Alexa ranking of 19 in Iran and over 40 million users in the country, Telegram is one of the most-visited websites in the Islamic Republic, but these days it is intertwined with many economic, social, and even political issues of the country.

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