The head of Iranian Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Hamid Mohammadi said the Iranian cleric attacked on Wednesday by three elements in Mecca is currently in good condition.
“Fortunately, there is no need for surgery. He will leave hospital very soon,” he added.
“Iran is seriously following up the issue with Saudi officials,” he added, according to a Farsi report by Al Alam News Network.
Iran attaches great significance to the security of its pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, he noted, adding that the country is following the issue seriously.
Mohammadi also said the Saudi police have arrested at least three people in connection with the attack and investigations are underway into the issue.
Later on Friday, Seyyed Ali Qazi-Askar, the Iranian Leader’s representative in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs, also paid a visit to the wounded cleric.
Kordi, who was expected to travel to Myanmar on Friday through Qatar, sent an email to Myanmar Football Association extending his resignation in protest against the mass murder of Rohingya Muslims in the country.
According to a Farsi report by the Varzesh 3 news website, Kordi has coached some leading Asian football clubs like Al Ahli, Al-Sad, Al-Arabi, Eram Kish, Persepolis, and so on.
He was the head coach of Myanmar futsal teams in various age groups. He was also the technical manager of Myanmar football youths teams.
Myanmar’s security forces have been attacking Rohingyas and torching their villages since October 2016 to push them out of the western state of Rakhine.
The attacks have been intensified since August 25, with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi ignoring international demands to call off the operation.
Thousands of Rohingyas have already fled their homeland to take refuge in Bangladesh. Many people have been killed during the perilous boat journeys on the Naf River, which separates the two neighboring countries.
The refugees have also tried to cross the border into Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Lotfi Zadeh passed away in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday, Iranian NASA scientist, Firouz Naderi, announced the news on his Instagram page.
Apart from being a famous mathematician, Lotfi Zadeh was also a computer scientist, electrical engineer, artificial intelligence researcher and professor emeritus of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.
His impressively long list of awards includes, among other things, over 20 honorary doctorate degrees from prestigious universities.
He is best known for inventing the field of ‘fuzzy logic’ in mathematics in 1965 which enabled computers and machines to understand human instructions and expressions that are incomprehensible for conventional computer programs.
The fuzzy logic has become one of the most cited theories of the 20th century. The concept led to the development of diffuse logic which opened up a whole new field of research and laid the groundwork for a new generation of more efficient technological devices, including in video cameras, washing machines, medical instruments and complex systems such as automatic trains, plants, waste management and intelligent control of car engines.
The concept also transformed industrial processes by simplifying the design of products and making them more user-friendly, efficient and easy to upgrade, while reducing production costs.
The renowned scientist also pioneered the development of the Z-transform method in discrete time signal processing, digital signal processing, digital control and other discrete-time systems used in industry and research.
He was the author of 245 academic papers and held editorial positions in 75 scientific journals.
Lotfi Zadeh was born in the former Soviet Union republic of Azerbaijan in Baku in 1921 to an Iranian father and an Iranian Jewish mother.
In 1931, the family moved to Iran and Lotfi Zadeh continued his education in the country until he graduated from the University of Tehran with a degree in electrical engineering in 1942.
In 1943, Lotfi Zadeh immigrated to the US and stayed there for the rest of his life. In 1946, he received an MS degree in electrical engineering from MIT and in 1949 he received his PhD in electrical engineering from Columbia University.
“The question really is not whether I am American, Russian, Iranian, Azerbaijani, or anything else. I have been shaped by all these people and cultures and I feel quite comfortable among all of them,” the scientist said in an earlier interview.
What follows is the full text of Zarif’s letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres:
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Excellency,
Pursuant to my letter dated 6 January 2017, I would like to once again draw your attention to the alarming situation of the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar. The recent horrifying news coming out of the region reveals the scope of the atrocities committed against this community. The indiscriminate systematic attacks against Muslims by extremist elements and some associated with the security forces have resulted in significant loss of life and exacerbated a history of discrimination, injustice and desperation. The gravity of the situation has caused serious anguish among the peoples of the world regardless of their faith and nationality.
Should the systematic and extensive violation of the basic human rights of the Rohingya Muslims be left unattended, it would encourage extremism and instigate violence even beyond the borders of Myanmar and become a destabilizing factor for the whole region.
Forcing people out of their homeland and displacing them in other countries will not resolve this deep-rooted crisis. The Government of Myanmar needs to address the long-standing grievances and the plight of its Muslim community including through effective restoration of their right to be recognized as equal citizens and enjoy protection against violence and discrimination.
The international community and Islamic countries expect the government of Myanmar to put an immediate end to the ongoing violence against Rohingya Muslim community, allow unhindered access of humanitarian assistance to the violence-stricken regions, bring those responsible for the atrocities to justice and put in place necessary measures to prevent their recurrence in the future. It is disappointing that such minimum global demands are yet to receive a proper response.
Meanwhile, it is also expected that the United Nations act swiftly and undertake all necessary measures towards addressing international concerns about the deteriorating situation in Myanmar. The United Nations’ support for de-escalating violence, ensuring humanitarian assistance for the people in need and finding a sustainable solution for the crisis is essential and urgently needed.
The Islamic Republic of Iran stands ready and willing to support all such efforts towards the achievement of a durable and peaceful solution to the crisis, ensuring full respect for the human rights, wellbeing and security of the Rohingya Muslim Community in Myanmar.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
“The recent tragic events unfolding with regard to the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is another situation where innocent people are falling prey to the evils of intolerance and extremism,” Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Gholamali said.
“We strongly condemn the ongoing violence against the Rohingya Muslims and call for its immediate end. Hundreds of innocent people have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.”
Addressing a High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace held at the UN Headquarters, Khoshroo said the Culture of Peace is the essence of the UN Charter and lies at the heart of the work of this organization.
“The United Nations […] has been created to save humankind from the scourge of war. Thus, this organization bears a paramount responsibility to combat the evils of extremism and terrorism as well as to promote peace and a culture which nourishes, supports and sustains it,” he added.
Khoshroo referred to unilateralism and coercive measures in international relations as the cause of instability, insecurity and expansion of terrorism and extremism, and said, “The successful cases where diplomacy has proved to be effective, such as the JCPOA, should be regarded as patterns of action in international affairs.”
“No one should be allowed to beat the drum of threat and to ridicule the international community. The failed and violent experiences of the past should not be repeated,” he went on to say.
“The Middle East region has turned into an exhibition of modern and deadly weapons,” he said, adding that each of those weapons cause a scar on the feeble body of peace.
“It is in such circumstances that extremism finds a fertile ground to expand and violence becomes the only possible means of interaction,” he noted.
“We have to combat cultures of unilateralism and extremism simultaneously. When the so-called ‘alliances’, in parallel with terrorist groups, pour bombs over sacred places, schools and hospitals they suffocate the culture of peace with their iron hands.”
He finally referred to the idea of ‘A World against Violence and Extremism (WAVE)’ proposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN General Assembly, and once again invited all peace-loving nations to close ranks for the cause of peace.
Supporting the oppressed Myanmar Muslims and bringing the world attention to their plight is “the historic and inevitable responsibility of all nations and communities,” the IRGC said in a Thursday statement.
The IRGC stands ready to make any contribution and play any role in supporting and helping those displaced and wounded by these crimes, the statement added.
The Iranian government is expected to “activate the revolutionary diplomatic means and use the capacities and will of the international community and other Muslim countries … to rescue the Rohingya Muslims who are mostly Sunnis.”
It further noted that the ongoing killing in Myanmar amid the indifference of human rights groups has all the signs of an organized plot against Muslims.
“The terrible crimes of extremist Buddhist groups and the Myanmar army against Rohingya Muslims … suggest an organized anti-Islamic plot that, if not stopped, will result in another major genocide in the history of mankind,” IRGC said in a statement.
The IRGC denounced “the duplicity of the so-called advocates of human rights in the face of painful developments in various parts of the world,” saying their contradictory actions were “meaningful.”
“The ineffective global response to the genocide of Rohingya Muslims and the deadly silence of the international human rights organizations and the lack of consensus and a powerful front to deal with the perpetrators of such crimes are a huge humanitarian crisis today,” it said, according to Press TV.
The IRGC further said “the displacement of over 100,000 people and the carnage of at least 400 oppressed and defenseless Myanmar Muslims have sparked the outrage of the Muslim world and increased the responsibility of the Myanmar government in the face of this tragic incident.”
The International Paralympic Committee named Rahman as the world’s Best Male Athlete of the Year during its 2017 Paralympic Sports Awards held in Abu Dhabi’s National Exhibition Centre on Thursday.
The awards, partnered by Allianz, recognise the achievements from last year’s Paralympic Games.
Belarusian swimmer Ihar Boki and Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug were also on the shortlist for the best male category.
Rahman had smashed the world record and won gold at the Rio Paralympics 2016 on September 14.
In his first attempt in the +107kg category, the Iranian Paralympian lifted 270 kilograms and broke the Paralympics record.
The 28-year-old Iranian then lifted weights of 300 and 305 kilograms to smash his own record of 296 kilograms again.
Rahman, who was representing Iran for the second time at the Paralympics, then requested for the weights to be set at staggering 310 kilograms, the equivalent of two baby elephants or a Siberian tiger, outside the three scoring competition lifts, and triumphantly repeated his astonishing success for a fourth time.
The Syrian national football team, composed of both pro- and anti-government players, managed to gain a draw against Iran on Tuesday in Tehran and advance to the next round of FIFA World Cup qualifications in Asia.
Following the victory, two of the dissident players, Omar al-Somah and Firas al-Khatib, in separate messages praised Syrian President Assad for his support for Syrian national team.
In a TV interview with Syrian TV, al-Somah thanked Assad’s support for the Syrian national football team, and said his permanent support for Syrian sports and athletes will have positive outcomes.
Al-Khatib also explicitly expressed gratitude to the Syrian president for his full support for Syrian national football team.
The move, however, has outraged many Saudi people who did not expect the two players, particularly Somah who plays for popular Saudi club Al-Ahli, to send messages of appreciation to the Syrian president.
Many Saudi social media users have since harshly slammed the two players for their pro-Assad remarks.
Due to his life in self-exile as well membership in a Saudi football club, Somah may be viewed as a dissident of the Syrian government, and this is a point which the Syrian government and Football Federation are completely aware of. However, they decided to include him in the Syrian national team and this created a strong motivation in Somah to revise his anti-government stances.
He managed to win the hearts of the Syrian nation by scoring a last minute equalizer to Iran, and owes this achievement to Assad’s non-political approach towards national sport.
The Iran-Syria match with such political achievements reveals that national enthusiasm is still alive under the ashes of the civil war underway in the war-torn country.
“Iran will continue to back Syria in its battle against terrorism,” Zarif said during a Wednesday phone conversation with Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem.
The Iranian foreign minister also congratulated Muallem for the Syrian army’s breaking of years-long Daesh siege of the eastern city of Dayr al-Zawr.
He also highlighted the significance of boosting the Tehran-Damascus relations in all fields.
For his part, Muallem voiced his country’s gratitude for Iran’s continued support, and vowed that the Syrian army would not rest until the country is liberated from the scourge of Takfiri terrorism.
On Tuesday, Syrian army forces, backed by allied fighters from popular defense groups, reached the eastern city of Dayr al-Zawr and broke a nearly three-year-long siege imposed by Daesh.
Shortly after breaking the siege, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad extended his congratulations to government troops on the major breakthrough against the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group
Daesh overran large parts of Dayr al-Zawr province, including its many oil fields, in mid-2014 as it seized areas in Syria and neighboring Iraq.
By early 2015, the Takfiri terrorists were in control of parts of Dayr al-Zawr city, and besieged the remaining parts of it under government control.
According to a statement by Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organisation, a group of unknown elements on Wednesday evening (18:30 local time) attacked Iranian cleric Hossein Esmaeili, who was accompanying the pilgrims of Isfahan
The cleric was en route to his hotel room when he was attacked and wounded in his shoulder and side.
The terrorists escaped with a motorcycle, according to the statement.
Immediately after the attack, the cleric was transferred to a hospital by Iranian and Saudi medics. Reports from Mecca indicate he is in relatively stable condition now.
Three suspects have been arrested by the Saudi police so far, the statement added.
The attack came as Saudi authorities have repeatedly emphasized their ‘special’ treatment of Iranian pilgrims as per a deal they had signed with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian pilgrims this year went on the pilgrimage after one year of absence. In 2016, Iran boycotted the Hajj pilgrimage in protest at the Saudi mismanagement, which had claimed the lives of hundreds of Iranians in a 2015 crush in Mecca.
