Baastermeh; A Turkmen Fish Pilau with Pomegranate

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December 23, 2017

Baastermerh, a popular Turkmen food, has been around since the distant past and is cooked and served in parties and ceremonies. One of the features of the food is that it is made with pomegranates, potatoes, onions and fish, which give it a unique taste. Turkmens usually use sturgeon to cook Baastermeh.

Ingredients:

Rice: 500gr

Sturgeon: 400gr

Potatoes: 2

Onions: 2

Pomegranate: One deseeded pomegranate

Butter: 80gr

Olive oil: 2 spoonfuls

Crushed coriander seeds: 1 teaspoonful

Turmeric: 1 teaspoonful

Salt and pepper: as much as necessary

Liquid saffron: 2 spoonfuls

Recipe:

Phase 1:

Leave the rice in a mixture of water and salt for several hours.

Clean the fish and cut it into pieces as big or small as you wish. Mix the olive oil, coriander seeds, salt, pepper, turmeric and saffron to make a special sauce. Lie the fish in it for several minutes.

Phase 2:

Boil the rice in a casserole before draining it.

Phase 3:

Pick a casserole, put it on the flame and put some oil in it. Wait until the oil gets hot. Put potato slices inside. Lay onion slices, pieces of fish and pomegranate seeds on the potato slices respectively. Then add rice, put the lid on, and turn up the heat. When vapour begins to come out of the casserole, add melted butter to the rice and turn down the heat. Put the casserole lid back on and let the food cook on low temperature for 30 to 60 minutes.

After Baastermeh is ready, remove the lid, put a bigger dish on the casserole and turn the casserole upside down.

Notes:

Turkmens usually make Baastermeh in as many small dishes as there are people to be served. When the food is ready, they turn the dishes upside down onto plates.

If sturgeon is not available, you may use any other boneless types of fish.

If you are using sour pomegranates, you can add some sugar to the pomegranate seeds to make its taste better.

Iran’s Larijani in Pakistan to Attend Anti-Terror Conference

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IFP Editorial Staff

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December 23, 2017

The top Iranian parliamentarian will join his counterparts from Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, China and Afghanistan for the two-day meeting.

It will be held on December 24-25 to discuss and address the challenges of terrorism and inter-regional connectivity.

The idea to hold such a gathering was put forward by Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan Sardar Ayaz Sadiq during the 2nd meeting of the Eurasian Parliaments’ Speakers in Seoul, back in June, according to Pakistani sources.

In 2015, Iran’s Interior Ministry unveiled plans for a series of joint meetings with Pakistani experts to discuss how the two neighbors can coordinate efforts in the fight against terrorism and narcotics smuggling.

Earlier in December 2014, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed the country’s preparedness to cooperate with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and extremism, after gunmen attacked a school in Peshawar and killed 132 students.

Iran has always called for concerted action by the regional countries in the fight against terrorism, and has launched security and intelligence cooperation with the neighbors in countering terrorist operations, particularly along the border areas.

“ISIS Element Outraged after His Turn to Commit Suicide Ignored!”

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IFP Editorial Staff

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December 23, 2017

Major General Soleimani, who commands the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has recounted a harrowing story about two ISIS militants.

The top general’s story indicates how deeply the Takfiri ideology has infiltrated the minds of the terrorists and how brazen the militants are in killing people.

The shocking tale shows that the acts of terror committed by ISIS and triggered by the Wahhabi ideology would not be eliminated simply by military operations, but that a well-thought-out plan and cultural work is needed to counter terrorist acts. In the meantime, as long as blatant injustice and poverty are the order of the day in the four corners of the world, there will be a breeding ground for violence and extremism.

In a video released in General Soleimani’s Instagram account, the top commander says when he was listening in on a conversation between two ISIS terrorists and their commander, he was really shocked.

The top general says he heard one of the terrorists complaining to his commander about a fellow terrorist.

The disgruntled terrorist was saying that it was his turn to conduct a suicide attack, but his fellow terrorist did not allow him to do so and assigned another militant to do the job, according to General Soleimani.

The complaining terrorist was even telling his commander that he would leave the group and defect to another terror cell because his right to carry out a suicide attack had been violated!

Iran Rejects Dutch MP’s Claim on Tehran’s Christmas Gift

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IFP Editorial Staff

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December 23, 2017

A video recently aired by POW channel showed Henk Krol, the parliamentary leader of 50PLUS party in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, dumping a Christmas gift he had received from the Iranian embassy. Krol claimed in this video that the gift had been sent only to male members of the Dutch parliament.

In reaction to the move, Iran’s embassy in The Hague said many women have been among the recipients of the message of the Iranian Ambassador as well.

According to a Farsi report by IRNA, the embassy announced in its statement that the video of throwing away of the Christmas gift sent by Iran’s embassy has been released by a cheap and yellow media.

Iran’s embassy said that every year the embassy sends a greeting card and a small gift to Dutch officials and salient figures on the New Year’s Eve.

“This year, the number of recipients of the message increased and the congratulatory message was sent to the parliamentary figures as well. Unfortunately, this person, with an incomplete and negative outlook at the Islamic Republic of Iran, claimed that the embassy congratulations were sent only to men. While the fact is that the New Year greetings have been sent to officials and personalities regardless of their gender, and many women have also been among the recipients of the greetings of the Iranian Ambassador,” reads the statement.

According to the statement, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also expressed regret at this ignorant act of the Dutch party figure.

Many Iranians living in the Netherlands have also denounced the move calling on this person to apologize.

Kish Island; A Tourist Destination for All Seasons

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IFP Editorial Staff

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December 23, 2017

The wide, palm tree-lined boulevards that circle the island of 100 square kilometres attract any tourist, especially during the autumn season when the weather is very pleasant. If you are energetic, walking is one of the best activities on this island, which is often called the Pearl of the Persian Gulf.

The Kish coastline is one of the least dangerous coasts in the world. Kish has gorgeous white sandy beaches for relaxing walks. The number of Kish visitors has leapt from 2.2 million a year in 2009 to 5.2 million in 2015, and an even bigger increase is expected.

Following you can see the Tasnim News Agency’s photos of the lovely island:

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A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on December 23

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IFP Editorial Staff

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December 23, 2017

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 5

The top story in almost all Iranian newspapers was the 5.2-magnitude earthquake that his Tehran and Alborz provinces on Wednesday night. Several reports and opinion pieces were published today on the insufficient preparedness for dealing with such an incident in Tehran.

The other major story in today’s papers was the UN General Assembly’s unanimous vote for a Resolution that urges the US administration to withdraw its controversial decision on Jerusalem al-Quds.

The above issues, as well as many more, are highlighted in the following headlines and top stories:

19 Dey:

1- World against US

2- Shock of Earthquake to Tehran

Abrar:

1- Letter of US Intelligence Experts to Trump: Iran Not Supporting Terrorism

2- Saudi Arabia: We Want to Enrich Uranium as Iran Does

3- Deputy FM Araqchi: We Won’t Accept Any Negotiation over Defence Issues

Abrar-e Eqtesadi:

1- 54% Increase in Iran-EU Trade Ties

2- Increase in Fuel Prices to Destroy 400,000 Job Opportunities

Aftab-e Yazd:

1- How Desperate We Are: A Report on People’s Behaviour after Tehran Quake

2- Playing with Paris’ Card: Why We Should Welcome French FM’s Imminent Visit to Tehran

3- Europe Worried about China’s Economic Growth

Arman-e Emrooz:

1- Domino of Earthquake

2- Stopping Support of Rouhani to Distance Us from Democracy: Zibakalam

Ebtekar:

1- We Consciously Don’t Regret Voting for Rouhani

A Report on Campaign of Rouhani’s Critics, Supporters

2- Escaping Tehran! A Review of Ways to Decrease Possible Damages of Tehran Quake

Etemad:

1- Problems of Generals: Have Strengths of Rouhani’s Gov’t Turned into Its Weak Points?

2- Attacking Ministers to Result in Weakening Gov’t (Editorial)

Ettela’at:

1- Global Community’s Decisive ‘No’ to Trump’s Claims on Quds

2- Possibility of Strong Quake in Tehran, Alborz Always Exists

Iran:

1- Earthquake Drills Imposed on Iran

2- Unprecedented Unity of 128 Countries against US

Jame’eh Farda:

1- Test of Tehran

Crisis Management, People’s Behaviours under Scrutiny after Earthquake without Damages

Javan:

1- Tehran Scared!

2- They Impose Sanctions on Palestine to Force It into Accepting ‘Deal of Century’: Islamic Jihad

Jomhouri Eslami:

1- Story of al-Quds Made US Isolated in the World

Kayhan:

1- Tehran’s Night Full of Stress

Praiseworthy Performance of Officials in Shortest Time Possible

2- Syrian People Show Their Solidarity, Power in First Anniversary of Aleppo Liberation

3- Washington Post: Time to Prosecute Bin Salman as War Criminal

Resalat:

1- Ayatollah Javadi Amoli: We Should Avoid Socialist, Capitalist Culture of West

Shahrvand:

1- United Nations’ Slap on Trump’s Face

Shargh:

1- Tehran Justice Chief Rejects Reports on Zaghari’s Release, Talks of Her New Case

Iran Hails UN Resolution against US’ Jerusalem Decision

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IFP Editorial Staff

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December 23, 2017

Iranian legislator Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh has lauded the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote in favour of a resolution that calls on the United States to withdraw its controversial recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital.

“The resolution on al-Quds issued at the UN General Assembly will draw the United States’ reaction, but as far as public diplomacy is concerned, it is a valuable resolution because [under the document] the US move was condemned at the US General Assembly for the first time, and only nine countries got on board with the Americans,” said Falahatpisheh as quoted by ICANA in a Farsi report.

He said the overwhelming vote is a clear message in the face of US President Donald Trump’s unfair policies as “the Americans failed to get other countries on board even by adopting a carrot and stick approach.”

“The United Nations had some shortcomings, but by accepting Palestine’s membership in the world body, the UN practically tried to counter the ‘ethnic cleansing’ policy of Netanyahu and Zionist extremists because Jewish and Christian Zionists claim that Palestinians cannot have a government,” said Falahatpisheh, who sits on the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.

He said the US was trying to offer extremist Zionists the biggest service by relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds.

“The UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote on the situation of holy al-Quds shows the United States’ carrot and stick policy toward world countries is a nonstarter, and that the United States’ hegemonic power is diminishing,” he noted.

The United Nations General Assembly passed a draft resolution on the status of al-Quds with 128 votes in favour, 9 against and 35 abstentions. The approval followed by the United States’ vetoing a resolution on the legal status of al-Quds and Trump’s financial threats against those opposing his decision to recognise al-Quds as Israel’s capital.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has openly threatened to cut off Washington’s aid to the countries that voted for the resolution.

Iran Judiciary Dismisses Reports on Nazanin Zaghari’s Release

By

IFP Media Wire

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December 23, 2017

Gholam Hossein Esmaili said, “None of the claims Western media have so far made with regard to this case is verifiable by the judicial authorities,” the Tasnim news agency reported.

“Apart from the [prison term] sentence that the individual is currently serving, she is facing a case involving another accusation, which has been sent to the court and the legal proceedings are underway,” he added.

Esmaili noted that the court has issued no sentence with regard to Zaghari’s new case and that it is still unclear whether she will be cleared or not.

“The court can convict or acquit her. If she is convicted, we don’t know what the sentence will be. So we don’t know when she will be able to be released,” the Iranian Judiciary’s Mizanonline news service quoted the official as saying.

On Thursday, The Independent cited Zaghari’s lawyer as saying that she could be released “within a couple of weeks.”

Iran’s intelligence authorities arrested Zaghari at the Imam Khomeini International Airport in April 2016 as she was on her way back to London. She was subsequently put on trial and handed a five-year jail term after being found guilty of spying and spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.

As per the released documents, Zaghari had played an active and leading role in holding training courses for recruits at BBC World Service Trust and the ZigZag Academy.

The ZigZag academy, the documents suggest, pursued two main goals, namely training and recruitment of human resources for the launch of BBC Persian Service and deployment of undercover reporters in Iran to gather intelligence.

She identified potential Iranian recruits and invited them to attend the training courses, received and reviewed their resumes, managed financial affairs related to the courses in Malaysia and India, picked trainers, assessed the performance of the participants and managed the ZigZag Academy’s websites.

The Telegraph has cited unidentified sources as saying that London was planning to transfer over £400 million ($528 million) in debt to Iran to have Zaghari released.

The debt is related to an arms deal signed during the 1970s, with the paper saying that Britain had sought legal advice about the transfer of money to Iran.

The British tabloid daily, The Sun, said Iran had demanded that Britain return the money which the former Shah of Iran paid in 1979 for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles, almost none of which was eventually delivered.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, dismissed the report earlier in November, saying that “the British government’s debt pay-off to Iran has no connection to the case of Mrs. Nazanin Zaghari and these two issues are two separate cases.”

Sochi to Host Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Late January

By

IFP Editorial Staff

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December 22, 2017

Sochi to Host Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Late January

Following eight rounds of talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana brokered by Iran, Russia, and Turkey, the guarantor states of Syria ceasefire, the dates of the Congress of Syrian National Dialogue were announced.

According to a Joint statement by Iran, Russia and Turkey released on Friday, the Congress will be held in Sochi on January 29-30.

Here is the full text of the statement:

The Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey as guarantors of the observance of the ceasefire regime in the Syrian Arab Republic:

reaffirming their strong and continued commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic;
welcoming progress in the implementation of the Memorandum on the creation of the de-escalation areas in the Syrian Arab Republic of 4 May 2017;

Welcome the achievements made in the fight against terrorism in Syria, particularly the defeat of ISIL and imminent liberation of all the Syrian territory from ISIL;
Reaffirm their determination to continue cooperation in order to ultimately eliminate DAESH/ISIL, Nusra Front and other terrorist entities as designated by the UN Security Council and to prevent the relocation of international terrorists to other countries and regions;
Express joint determination to continue coordinated efforts to ensure that the progress in reduction of violence is irreversible. They underscore the necessity to take urgent and active international steps in order to assist the Syrians in restoring unity of the country, and achieving a political solution of the crisis in accordance with the provisions of UNSC resolution 2254 (2015) through an inclusive, free, fair and transparent Syrian-led and Syrian-owned process leading to a constitution enjoying the support of the Syrian people and free and fair elections with the participation of all eligible Syrians under appropriate UN supervision;
Reaffirm their determination to closely interact on a regular basis to support preparation for and convening of the Syrian national dialogue congress in Sochi on 29-30 January 2018 with the participation of all segments of the Syrian society and call on the representatives of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the opposition that are committed to the sovereignty, independence, unity, territorial integrity and non-fractional character of Syria to actively cooperate. To this end three guarantors will hold a special preparation meeting in Sochi before the congress, on 19-20 January 2018;
Emphasize that they view the upcoming Syrian national dialogue congress as an initiative aimed at giving momentum to negotiation process under the UN auspices in Geneva and facilitating an intra-Syrian agreement based on mutual consent;
Adopt, with a view to building confidence between the conflicting parties in Syria, the “Regulation on the Working Group on the release of detainees/abductees and handover of the bodies as well as the identification of missing persons” and the “Joint statement on humanitarian mine action in Syria including the UNESCO list of cultural heritage sites”;
Reaffirm their determination to continue implementing the provisions of the Memorandum of 4 May 2017 and other decisions adopted earlier within the framework of the Astana process;
Emphasize the need to continue efforts aimed at strengthening the ceasefire regime and ensuring the effective functioning of all four de-escalation areas;
Express their sincere gratitude to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev and the Kazakh authorities for hosting in Astana the 8^th high-level International Meeting on Syria;
Decide to hold the next high-level International Meeting on Syria in Astana in the second half of February 2018.

Astana, 22 December 2017

Iran’s Beauties in Photos: Darak Beach

By

IFP Editorial Staff

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December 22, 2017

Darak, a village in the Zarabad county of Konarak city, is located where the Sea of Oman reaches the Indian Ocean. The hills and palm trees on the beach create lovely scenes. There are very few such beaches around the world.

Darak in local language means living by the sea.

Here are Tasnim News Agency’s photos of the Darak beach:

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