Sunday, April 19, 2026
Home Blog Page 4228

Army Wraps Up War Game in Southeast Iran

Army

The drill, codenamed “Muhammad Rasulullah-4” (Muhammad, the Messenger of God), began on Sunday in an area of more than 220,000 square kilometers southeast of Iran.

Army Wraps Up War Game in Southeast Iran

According to General Kamal Payambari, spokesman for the war game, the drill achieved all its purposes and produced valuable results in the ground warfare sphere.

Army Wraps Up War Game in Southeast Iran

Describing the drill as the largest-ever tactical combat exercise by the Army Ground Force Rapid Reaction Units, Payambari said a broad range of homegrown weapons were employed in the war game, which helped young officers to gain good experiences.

Army Wraps Up War Game in Southeast Iran

Under the theme of “regional security and sustainable peace with defensive power and Islamic unity”, the war game asserted that the regional countries can counter all threats under unity and solidarity, without the need for any foreign force, he explained.

The exercise covered a large zone, stretching from the Sea of Oman coasts to inland deserts.

Army Wraps Up War Game in Southeast Iran

Highlights of the war game included heliborne operation to deploy commandos, drone flights for reconnaissance, combat and assault operation, counterterrorism tactics, intense ground battle operations, and electronic warfare.

Army Wraps Up War Game in Southeast Iran

The Iranian armed forces hold routine military drills throughout the year.

In September, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said there will be no delay or slowdown in the country’s military tests and war games, adding that Iran has devised comprehensive defensive strategies to counter all threats.

Army Wraps Up War Game in Southeast Iran

Iran to Get First Airbus Planes by Next March

farhad parvareshGFarhad Parvaresh, the managing director of Iran’s flag carrier airline Iran Air, was quoted by media as saying Iran in the first batch could receive five planes from Airbus.

Parvaresh said that the France-based company had agreed to fund the sales of 17 planes to Iran, itself.   He added that Iran was trying to provide the funding for the purchase of the first three planes that would be delivered within the next few months.

“The removal of the sanctions has provided Iran with an opportunity to directly purchase planes from aircraft makers,” the official told Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

This opportunity, he added, should not be wasted and should be used as efficiently as possible.

On Sunday, Iran Air finalized a much-awaited agreement with US aviation giant Boeing to purchase 80 planes.  The purchase involved 50 twinjet narrow-body Boeing 737 planes and 30 long-range wide-body 777 aircraft at a total cost of $16.6 billion. They would be handed over to Iran within 10 years and the first deliveries could take place in 2018.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Parvaresh emphasized that a third plane purchase contract was expected to be concluded with Japan’s Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation shortly after the finalization of the contract with Airbus.

He added that Iran had found a financer to support the planned purchase of Mitsubishi Regional Jets (MRJs).

Special Tour of Tehran for Blind People

Blind People

According to a report by IFP, Rajabali Khosroabadi, the Director General of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Tehran Province, announced that the programme of “Tourism with the Voice of Kindness”, a plan for encouraging the blind to discover Tehran’s historical and cultural attractions, has started in late September and will continue until the National Day of Cultural Heritage in May 2017.

“It is a civil right to benefit from tourist attractions. No one should be deprived of it because of his disability,” he noted, according to a Farsi report by Nasim Online.

“By sending their voice messages about Tehran’s tourist attractions, the tour leaders, as well as students and graduates of tourism-related fields, can take part in the programme,” he added, noting that some prizes are considered for the 10 best voice messages as selected by the blind.

According to Khosroabadi, the first page of a tourism manual in braille is to be unveiled during in a tourism conference in Allameh Tabataba’i University campus.

Asghar Farhadi’s ‘The Salesman’ Nominated for Golden Globe Awards

The Salesman - Asghar Farhadi

The list of nominees for the Golden Globe Awards 2017 ceremony was announced on Monday by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The 74st annual Golden Globe Awards will be held on January 8, 2017.

Other nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film category in the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards are Divines (Houda Benyamina), Elle (Paul Verhoeven), Neruda (Pablo Larraín), and Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade).

The Salesman has already been chosen as Iran’s official submission to Academy Awards to represent the country in the upcoming Oscar race for the best foreign language film award, Fars reported.

Farhadi won the award for the best screenplay for “The Salesman” at the 2016 Cannes film festival while Hosseini grabbed one of the world’s most important cinema awards by winning the best actor. The film also received a fantastic reception at the Cannes film festival.

Farhadi has made the films Dancing in the Dust (2003), Beautiful City (2004), Fireworks Wednesday (2006), About Elly… (2009), A Separation (2011) and The Past (2013) before his latest film.

Farhdi’s most famous movie, “A Separation”,  grabbed global attention as it became the first Iranian movie to win an Oscar, the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards.

Iran’s FM Meets Egyptian Diplomat in Tehran

Zarif and Egypt

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif received the Egyptian diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran after months of speculation over the future of relations between the two countries.

Egypt does not have an embassy in Iran. The relations between the two countries turned hostile following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979.

After years of strained atmosphere, the two sides agreed to set up Interests Section offices in 1991 under President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s administration.

Steps were taken under President Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administrations to upgrade ties to embassy level, but led to no tangible outcome.

The two Middle Eastern countries, however, found common ground in the Syrian conflict as both emphasized the necessity for finding a political solution to the crisis.

Back in October, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, a senior advisor to Iran’s parliament speaker, praised Egypt for its “constructive and useful” positions on the Syrian crisis and campaign against terrorism.

In a meeting with Othman, Amir Abdollahian said “Iran and Egypt are two big and influential countries which can play a constructive role through mutual cooperation in the region to help soothe tensions.”

Othman also said that Iran plays an important role in the region and called for increased consultations between the two countries to ameliorate the volatile situation in the region.

Egypt’s stance on the Syrian crisis was close to that of Saudi Arabia during Mohamed Morsi’s tenure, as they both criticized Iran for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But things have changed since the ouster of Morsi and the ruling Egyptian government’s stance on the Syrian crisis has tilted towards that of Iran and Russia.

In October, Egypt voted in favour of a Russian-drafted UN resolution on Syria, a move that angered Saudi Arabia, Tehran Times reported.

Things may have taken a further turn in November, when Saudi Arabia informed Egypt that shipments of oil products expected under a $23 billion aid deal have been halted indefinitely.

However, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri recently denied reports of a rift between the two Arab countries, hailing a “special relationship” with Saudi Arabia.

German DM’s Attire in Saudi Arabia Sparks Controversy

وزيرة الدفاع الألمانية

According to a report by IFP, Ursula von der Leyen had said that while “of course [she] respect[s] the customs and traditions of the country”, she would not be wearing the conservative clothing usually required by all women in the Persian Gulf state, conservative German newspaper Bild reported.

“No woman in my delegation will be required to wear the abaya, as the [right] to choose one’s attire is a right shared by men and women equally,” she added, expressing anger at the pressure placed on visiting women to cover up.

The Minister was in Riyadh last Thursday for a meeting with her Saudi counterpart, Mohammad bin Salman al Saud, the Deputy Crown Prince. They discussed German support for the training of Saudi officers, some of whom will be travelling to study in the EU nation next year.

While the Prince was dressed in traditional Saudi attire including the long white “thobe” and the “ghutrah” head covering, Ms. von der Leyen wore a dark blue suit for the occasion.

After the minister’s attire was reported in Arabic media, some Saudis have condemned her behaviour on Twitter, Al Bawaba reported.

Von der Leyen is not the first Western woman to refuse to comply to the Kingdom’s strict dress code, as last year American First Lady Michelle Obama sparked outrage by going bare-headed on a visit with her husband. Her apparent indecency was condemned by Saudis.

Foreign visitors, however, have it easy in comparison to the locals. Social conservatism is so rigid in the country that last week a Saudi woman was inundated with death threats for sharing a picture of herself out and about without the hijab to cover her hair or the black abaya to obscure her body.Hijabro para oscurecer su cuerpo.

Liberation of Iraq’s Mosul to Be Declared Soon: Official

Ammar Hakim

The Iraqi army’s ongoing battle against ISIS to liberate the northern city of Mosul from the terrorist group is being carried out with the help of the country’s popular forces, Hakim said during a press conference in Tehran on Monday.

“Since ISIS is using the residents of this city as human shield, the progress is slow, but the operation is going on, and we will declare the liberation of Mosul in near future,” he went on to say, according to a Farsi report by Al Alam.

Hakim also stressed the need for preserving the Arab country’s territorial integrity, saying that deployment of any foreign troops in any place in Iraq must take place with the approval and coordination of the central government.

Highlighting unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq, he said that no foreign troops can participate in the operation without the coordination of the central government, Tasnim reported.

The National Alliance, comprising all Shiite groups and partisan blocs, is the largest political bloc in Iraq in the post-2003 era that holds 185 out of 328 parliamentary seats.

IMF Chief in Court over €400m Payout to French Tycoon

IMF

According to a report by IFP, Lagarde approved the payment from public funds to the businessman Bernard Tapie, who was a friend of the then president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Prosecutors say this “negligence by a person in a position of public authority” constituted a misuse of public funds, according to a report covered by Al Alam in Farsi.

Iran and Algeria Resolved to Promote Cultural Ties

Iran’s Culture Minister Reza Salehi Amiri in a meeting with his Algerian counterpart Ezzeddine Mihoubi on Monday pointed to the commonalities between the two countries in view of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 and Algerian War of Independence (1954–62), and said that Iran and Algeria have a long history of ties in the economic, political and cultural fields.

According to a report by IFP, Algerian minister of culture hailed Iranians’ hospitality and mentioned Ferdowsi as one of the most well-known literary figures in Iran.

Pointing to Iran’s achievements in recent years, he said that boosting cultural relations between the two countries is a necessity.

Mihoubi added that Algeria and Iran reached an agreement to cooperate in areas such as cinema, book fairs and restoring manuscripts.

Algerian Cultural Week began in Tehran on Monday in a ceremony attended by the culture ministers of the two countries.

Iran’s cultural week was held in Algeria last year with the participation of groups of Iranian artists.

The event took place within the context of a cultural agreement to make the people of the two countries more familiar with each other’s culture, customs and tradition.

The cultural week has been jointly organized by Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO), Algerian Ministry of Culture, Iran’s Cultural Center in Algiers as well as Iran National Library and Archives.

During the week, Algerian poets and writers are to hold meetings in Alzahra University and Allameh Tabataba’i University and Algerian musicians will perform traditional music, Iran Daily and ISNA reported.

There will also be an exhibition of visual arts, handicrafts and traditional attires. Five movies will be screened and an exhibition on local and traditional foods will be held during the event.

Trump Picks Rex Tillerson as His Secretary of State

Tillerson

According to a report covered by IFP, in naming him, the President-elect Trump is dismissing bipartisan concerns that Tillerson, the globe-trotting leader of an energy giant, has a too-cosy relationship with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.

A native of Wichita Falls, Tex., who speaks with a strong Texas twang, Tillerson, 64, runs a company with operations in about 50 countries, and has cut deals to expand business in Venezuela, Qatar, Kurdistan and elsewhere.

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, is one of the strong opponents of Tillerson. He said on Saturday that Tillerson’s connections to Putin were “a matter of concern to me” and promised to examine them closely if he were nominated, New York Times reported.

Other Republicans who have challenged Tillerson’s potential selection include Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who expressed concern about his relationship with Putin.