“World needs leaders who urge dialogue and compassion not walls and exclusion,” Iranian FM Zarif wrote on his Twitter account.
The Iranian foreign minister called on the world leaders to promote dialogue and compassion throughout the world.
Zarif also appreciated the stance taken by Catholic leader Pope Francis who has strongly criticized atrocities, committed against Myanmar Rohingya Muslims, defending their rights to “live their faith”.
A new-generation gas station, called self-service filling station, became operational in Tehran, Iran’s capital, for the first time in a Tuesday (February 7) ceremony attended by Abbas Kazemi, the deputy oil minister.
According to a report by IFP, this new type of filling station has three single fuel dispensers equipped with fixed POS (point of sale) terminals.
The initiative has been launched in view of the high price of land in districts located in the central core of Tehran as well as the slowed pace of setting up large filling stations which has prolonged the time it takes for people to fill their gas tanks.
Currently, 284 gasoline and fuel stations are operating across Tehran, of which 150 are located in the central core of the city.
Addressing a group of his students in Tehran last Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei cited a hadith to refer to the use of expensive cars by clerics and seminary students as an act of wastefulness.
According to a Farsi report by Ayatollah Khamenei’s official Telegram channel, the Leader had been informed in a letter that some seminary students came to the classes in expensive cars that were worth as much as $52,000.
“Islam has banned wastefulness for all people,” he stated, “Anyone can be wasteful, whether he is rich, average or poor.”
“Islam prohibits wastefulness. The use of these expensive cars is illegitimate,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned that sometimes these expensive cars are used on the pretext of security issues.
“Be aware that our main duties include practicality, piety, discretion, virtue, inquisitiveness, and not pursuing the material lures and superficial luxury.”
Earlier, the Leader had also criticized the officials who used state-owned cars while having a personal one.
“I heard that a cleric and politician had been using a state-owned car despite owning one!”
“I wrote that he didn’t have such a right,” Ayatollah Khamenei added. “In response to my order, they said it was common among the clerics.”
The Leader stressed that the officials who owned personal assets don’t have the right to use state-owned facilities.
“If you own a car, go to the Ministry using the same one! Why do you use the state-owned cars?”
This year, the rallies to mark the 38th anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution were held with greater enthusiasm due to an intensified verbal conflict between Iran and the US, provoked after Donald Trump came to power.
In response to the US administration, Iranians once again displayed their country’s rich literature and culture – prominently featured by poetry and metaphors – by inviting the Americans to visit Iran!
In some of most fascinating, thought-provoking scenes of the rally, people held placards to invite the Americans to Iran, saying that they would be welcome here.
According to a report by IFP, based on the field observations, the number of people who attended the recent rallies attendants was greater than that of the last year: both participants and observers believe that Trump’s anti-Iran rhetoric, exciting to Netanyahu more than anyone else, was the main reason for a more massive participation.
A few millions of people in Tehran participated in the rally alongside their families, little children, and grandparents.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guide’s Foreign Media Department announced that more than 230 journalists and photographers from 84 foreign media outlets went to the iconic Azadi Square of Tehran and its adjacent streets on February 10 to cover the million-strong attendance of Iranian people in the rallies.
They were from 26 countries, including Spain, Australia, Afghanistan, the US, Albania, Azerbaijan Republic, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, Turkey, China, Japan, Russia, Syria, Switzerland, Sweden, Iraq, France, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Colombia, South Korea, Lebanon, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) had provided the foreign TV channels with the rally’s broadcast frequencies so that they would be able to display different parts of this event through live coverage, including the speech of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.
Michel Setboun, the photographer of the French weekly Paris Match, was one of the foreign photographers who had another opportunity to capture the moments of this annual gathering through the lenses of his camera. He had recorded the Islamic Revolution’s events in his photos between 1978 and 1981, and accompanied Ayatollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic, from Neauphle-le-Château to Tehran.
The tournament was held in Kish Island on the occasion of 38th anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
The winners of the tournament were selected as new members of Iran’s national cable ski team.
Here are photos of the games:
Speaking at a joint press conference with Sweden’s prime minister in Tehran on Saturday, President Rouhani called for EU’s backing for trade between Iran and European banks and companies in order to tap into the post-JCPOA situation for serving the mutual interests of the two sides.
He further said Iran and Sweden are determined to restore economic relations to pre-sanctions levels, adding that Tehran counts on the potential of the Export Guarantee Fund and pursues closer banking ties with Sweden to that end.
President Rouhani described the Swedish PM’s landmark visit to Iran with a big economic delegation, including representatives of 40 major corporations, as a sign of both countries’ serious resolve to enhance relations, discuss ways to ease tensions in the Middle East, and contribute to regional and international peace and stability.
For his part, Stefan Lofven described it as an honor to be the first Swedish prime minister to pay an official visit to Iran, saying the high-ranking delegation accompanying him in the visit indicates the significance Stockholm attaches to closer ties with Tehran.
The Scandinavian country’s premier went on to say that his talks with President Rouhani earlier in the day revolved around regional developments, human rights issues, the crisis in Syria, Iran’s relations with other major regional players such as Saudi Arabia, and stronger trade interaction.
In a meeting of high-ranking delegations before the press conference, Iran and Sweden signed five memoranda of understanding on various issues, such as academic and scientific cooperation, road construction, and telecommunication, as well as women and family.
The medal was handed to Nayef, who is deputy prime minister and minister of interior, by CIA Director Micheal Pompeo on Friday during a reception ceremony in Riyadh.
Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, and several other senior Saudi officials were also in attendance.
In a statement after receiving the medal, Nayef said he appreciated the CIA honor and framed it as a recognition of what he called Saudi Arabia’s anti-terrorism efforts under the directives of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
“Saudi Arabia rejects and denounces strongly terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” the crown prince was quoted as saying by the Saudi media.
“The kingdom has been keen to combat terrorism based on its conviction that terrorism has no identity and no religion, and from its belief that the terrorists are committing these acts stemming from their deviant ideologies and evil thought,” he stated.
“All negative religious, political and social ideologies that use religion as a tool throughout human history, do not reflect the absolute truth about religion,” Nayef added.
This is while Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism is widely preached and practiced, stands accused of supporting terrorist groups fighting the Syrian government since 2011.
Daesh and other Takfiri terror groups use the extremist ideology to declare people of other faiths as “infidels” and thus to kill them.
In his statement, Nayef also underlined the importance of the “strong and historic” US-Saudi ties, saying the two sides would not allow anything or anyone to come between the allies.
Relations between Washington and Riyadh strained last year over congressional legislation seeking to make it easier for families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who allegedly carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks came from Saudi Arabia and available evidence suggests some of them were linked to high-ranking Saudi officials.
Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a military campaign against Yemen since March 2015 to reinstate the country’s resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, and undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The Saudi war has killed more than 11,400 Yemenis, and taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.
The Pentagon has been providing logistic and surveillance support to the Saudi regime in the military aggression against Yemen. Riyadh has purchased billions of dollars worth of American warplanes and other weaponry that it is using in Yemen.
The company said in a regulatory filing that from 2012 to 2016 it “processed and delivered orders of consumer products for certain individuals and entities located outside Iran covered by the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act (ITRA).”
Amazon said it reported the transactions to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
The world’s biggest e-commerce retailer said it will cooperate with a review by the agencies, and added that this could result in “penalties,” according to the filing, as reported by Bloomberg.
In 2012, President Barack Obama signed the ITRA to strengthen trade restrictions on Iran and try to persuade the country to stop its nuclear activities. This law imposes civil penalties and takes other action against foreign subsidiaries of US companies engaging in transactions with Iran. In January 2016, the US lifted some of the economic sanctions tied to the nuclear program.
Amazon said Friday it sold a variety of consumer products to individuals and unspecified groups controlled or owned by the Iranian government. The goods ranged from apparel to software to pet products and cost $50 to about $2,400, according to the filing. Amazon said it doesn’t plan to sell to these accounts in the future.
“Our review is ongoing and we are enhancing our processes designed to identify transactions associated with individuals and entities covered by the ITRA,” Amazon said.
“Bassem Al-Moussawi, the secretary-general of [Iraq’s] Hezbollah, was killed when unidentified assailants opened fire on his car in Basra province’s Al-Hayyaniya district,” the Basra police force spokesman, Major Jumaa Al-Hamrani, told Turkish state-run Anadolu.
An associate of Al-Mousawi was injured in the attack, after which the gunmen fled the scene, Al-Hamrani said.
No group has yet has claimed responsibility for the assassination.
The documents were signed between the concerned Iranian and Swedish officials in the presence of the visiting Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran on Saturday.
Löfven had been officially welcomed by the Iranian chief executive earlier in the day. He is in the Islamic Republic at the head of a high-ranking political and economic delegation on a three-day visit.
The documents enabled cooperation in the areas of innovation and technology, higher education and research, road construction, communication and information technology, and family and women’s affairs.
Upon the conclusion of the event, the Iranian president and the Swedish prime minister attended a press conference.
President Rouhani said, “The visit by the Swedish prime minister and a ranking delegation [to Iran] signifies the two countries’ serious will to develop bilateral ties and consult toward the reduction of tensions in the region as well as international peace and stability.”
The countries are determined to have the level of bilateral ties returned to the pre-sanctions era, he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president said the European Union (EU) should fully support European firms and banks so that the opportunities that have been created as a result of a nuclear deal between Iran and six other countries can be tapped in the best possible way.
The nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, namely the US, the UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany. It lifted nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, offering big opportunities for foreign businesses.
Rouhani also hailed Sweden’s “moderate” approach vis-à-vis Iran, which he said was maintained even when Tehran was under sanctions over its nuclear work.
Löfven, for his part, stressed the historic nature of his visit, of which he said he was “very proud.”
He added that the ranking of his accompanying delegation indicated the importance his country attached to Iran and to relations with the Islamic Republic. He also announced that his visit was to be followed by several more high-level trips by Swedish officials to Iran.
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