Here are Mehr’s photos of the artists appreciating the firefighters’ efforts and praying for the rescue of trapped ones:
Thousands of Buildings in Tehran Unsafe: Councillors
“The latest inspections of 17,000 buildings in Tehran found that almost 3,000 are highly unsafe and insecure,” said Masoumeh Abad, head of the Health and Safety Committee of Tehran City Council.
“Almost 40% of the buildings on Jomhouri Street (where Plasco was located) alone are in such a state,” said Mohsen Pirhadi, member of the presiding board of the council, on Friday.
Most buildings in central Tehran are part of the old urban texture housing the most important commercial activities in the capital city.
These building have rarely been retrofitted as per modern standards, and a majority lack adequate safety measures.
Plasco, a 17-storey commercial building in downtown Tehran collapsed on Thursday after a huge fire broke out on its upper floors.
Tehran to Host Conference on Sustainable Agriculture
The private sector’s participation in the agriculture sector and scientific agricultural solutions are among the main topics to be discussed in the upcoming event, IANA reported.
Senior Agriculture Ministry officials from South Korea and Hungary are scheduled to join the conference, alongside representatives of 48 countries, including Canada, France, Finland and India.
“The agriculture sector accounts for 12% to 13% of Iran’s gross domestic product, up from 9% to 10% three years ago when President Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2013,” Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati said.
“The sector has created between 19% and 20% of all the jobs in the country.”
Iran’s agriculture sector grew 6% during the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2016) compared with last year’s corresponding period, according to government data.
Tehran’s Collapsed Plasco Building ‘Permanently Closed’ in Google Map
Although visitors can see the red ‘permanently closed’ expression in Google Map, the building is still visible in Google’s aerial photos while there is no such a high-rise building anymore.
At Least 32 Killed after Passenger Train Derails in India
The express train from Jagdalpur to Bhubaneswar derailed near Kuneri station, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, around 30 kilometres outside the town of Raigarh.
“Most of the casualties and deaths are from the three sleeper-class compartments,” local police superintendent Ranga Rao said, according to media reports.
India’s state railways, built during British colonial rule, have an appalling safety record — the result of decades of underinvestment and a priority on keeping fares low for the 23 million passengers who use the network every day.
Syria to Be Reconstructed with Help of Iran, Russia, China: Assad
“We have started before the end of the crisis, we put the plans and we started with suburbs around Damascus and now we are planning in Aleppo and other cities to reconstruct new suburbs that’s been destroyed, but in a modern way,” President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Japan’s TBS TV.
“So, we haven’t waited, and we are not going to wait till the end of the crisis; we can start right away, as the Syrian people are determined to rebuild their country.”
“We built Syria, Syria was not built by any foreigners; we built it with our engineers, with our labours, with our own resources, with the help of some friends – financial help, not technical help. So, we have the ability to rebuild Syria,” he went on to say, according to a report covered by Etemad newspaper in Farsi.
“It [the reconstruction] takes time because it needs a lot of money. The Syrians, every Syrian is going to build his own house according to his resources even if it is limited,” the Syrian president noted, adding that the reconstruction will be realized with the support of “our friends Russia, China, and Iran.”
“It’s not about time; it will take time. Any reconstruction will take time, but the most important thing is that you have the ability to rebuild your country. We are not worried about that.”
Astana Talks to Bring Back Lasting Peace to Syria: Iranian Diplomat
Jaberi Ansari, who is heading the Iranian delegation to the Syria peace talks, told IRIB on Saturday that “the aim of this visit is to attend the Syria peace negotiations in the Kazakh capital of Astana with the purpose of [enforcing] a lasting ceasefire in Syria and preparing the ground for serious talks about sustainable peace between the Syrian government and the opposition groups.”
He added that Iran would participate in the Astana talks “with full readiness.”
The two-day talks, mediated by Iran, Russia, and Turkey, are to involve the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition to discuss a potential solution to the conflict in Syria. The negotiations will start on Monday.
The negotiations exclude the ISIS and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist groups, Press TV reported.
The Iranian diplomat said the Islamic Republic has always emphasized that the Syrian crisis has no military solution and “must be solved through peaceful means and political and serious talks.”
“The continuation of the Syrian crisis will have no result but the killing [of people] and the destruction of a Muslim country,” he added.
He expressed hope that the Astana talks will be a watershed in resolving the Syrian conflict.
The Astana talks will be addressing issues such as the further stabilization of the all-Syria ceasefire, effective confrontation with terrorism, and intra-Syrian dialog toward the achievement of a political solution to the crisis.
Iran’s Delegation to Astana Holds Talks with Russians and Turks
The Iranian delegation held separate meetings with the Russian and Turkish teams there on Saturday.
The Iranian and Turkish delegations, led by deputy foreign ministers of the two countries, held talks at Astana’s Marriott Hotel on Saturday, according to IRIB.
The unofficial bilateral talks followed a same meeting between Iranian and Russian diplomats.
The peace negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition will be held on January 23 and 24.
Jaberi Ansari has announced that Tehran will pursue a four-point plan that it had put forward earlier, entailing preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity, Tasnim reported.
The proposal includes plans to safeguard Syria’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty and put all issues to the vote of the Syrian people, he noted, saying Iran will pursue the same plan in the Astana talks.
20 Countries to Take Part in Int’l Conference on Development of Iran’s Makran Coasts
The international event, which is slated to open in Chabahar Free Trade Zone on Monday, January 23, is to explore avenues for the development of the Makran coasts, located in the country’s southeastern region on the rims of the Oman Sea.
The gathering will be attended by representatives of 30 companies from 20 countries and 35 domestic holding companies.
High-ranking Iranian officials, including First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, plan to participate in the conference.
The strategic area has attracted the attention of many Iranian decision-makers, particularly after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed the need for its development.
Back in November 2014, in a meeting with high-ranking navy commanders, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The issue of development of the coasts of Makran is also among those basic tasks, and the plans for that region should be carried out more rapidly.”
Iran Condemns Deadly Terrorist Attack in Pakistan
In a statement on Saturday, Bahram Qassemi offered his condolences to the Pakistani people and government as well as the bereaved families of victims of the terror incident.
“Terrorism is the most important security problem facing the region and the world,” he said, adding that it has indiscriminately targeted peace and security of countries and nations.
The Iranian spokesman further called for international cooperation and all-out efforts by regional and world countries to put an end to the phenomenon.
20 people were killed and 50 were wounded when a bomb struck a market in Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan on Saturday, Pakistani health and government officials said.
The bomb hit the crowded vegetable market in Parachinar city, the capital of Kurram tribal district on the Afghan border where officials said the death toll was expected to rise.
Government official Shahid Khan said explosion took place when the market crowded with retailers buying fruits and vegetables from a wholesale shop.
The blast was caused by an IED (improvised explosive device) which was hidden in a vegetable box.
Lashker-e-Jhangvi, a banned terrorist group that has attacked minority Shiite Muslims in the past, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The bombing took place in a predominantly Shiite area of Kurram, which has been attacked in the past by Sunni terrorists who have hideouts there.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed grief over the latest loss of life, his office said in a statement.
Shiite leader Faqir Hussain said all the bodies were brought to a Shiite mosque.
Parachinar is the capital of Kurram tribal region which has been the scene of high terrorist activities in the past years. Army carried out massive operation against terrorists here but they still have capacity to strike.
Iranian Book Offers Unconventional Way to Present God to Children
“Many families present the relationship between human beings and God to their children in the form of such old conventions as ‘God won’t love you any more if you do this’ or ‘God will love you if you do that’,” said Fariborz Lorestani, the author of children’s books who has recently published the three-volume series of “God, You Are Good!”, containing childlike prayers.
“I think, for a child, this is a merely contractual relationship with God, combined with strict discipline.”
According to a Farsi report by ISNA, he went on to say that the anecdotes of his series of books depict the presence of God through childlike experiences.
“Last night, the moon slept on a tree; the sparrow, in the moon; and I, beside my mother. O God, how good are you who want everyone to sleep happily!” we read in one of his tales named “Last Night”.
