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Syrian Kurds Announce Start of Campaign to Retake Raqqa

By
Fatemeh Askarieh
-
mosul

The announcement by the Syria Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish, Arab and Christian forces, was made Sunday at a press conference in Ein Issa, north of Raqqa, attended by commanders and spokespeople for the group.

An official who read out a statement said the operation to liberate Raqqa, dubbed the “Euphrates Rage” operation, had officially begun.

The statement said that 30,000 fighters will take part in the operation, AP reported.

The announcement comes as Iraqi forces had entered the eastern edges of the ISIS-held city of Mosul and were working to push deeper into the last ISIS urban bastion in Iraq. But the Kurdish officials said the two campaigns were not coordinated, but simply “good timing.”

The SDF is dominated by the main Syrian Kurdish fighting force known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG. The United States considers the group as the most effective force against the IS, but Turkey views them as a terror organization and claims it’s linked to Turkey’s outlawed Kurdish group. Turkish officials including President Recep Tayip Erdogan have said they will not accept a role for the Kurds in the liberation of Raqqa.

Turkey’s defense minister last week suggested that instead of the Kurds, Turkish-backed forces can present an “alternative.”

But Kurdish officials have rejected any role for Turkey, or the opposition forces it backs inside Syria, in the Raqqa campaign, and US officials have also acknowledged that the YPG will be a major part of any Raqqa offensive.

“Our hope is that the Turkish state will not interfere in the internal affairs of Syria,” said an unidentified SDF official at Sunday’s press conference. “Raqqa will be free by its own sons.”

Saudi Arabia to Behead Disabled Man Over Taking Part in Rally

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Munir al-Adam

The kingdom’s secretive Specialized Criminal Court in the capital Riyadh sentenced Munir al-Adam to death for alleged “attacks on police” and other offences that it said occurred during demonstrations in Eastern Province in late 2011.

The 23-year-old is partly blind and was already partially deaf at the time when the Saudi forces arrested him. Adam, however, says he is now totally deaf in one ear as a result of being brutally beaten by police while in custody.

In a statement, Adam’s family strongly rejected the verdict, saying he had been tortured into confessing.

Adam, a steel cable worker, also said that he had only signed a document admitting to having committed the announced offenses after being repeatedly beaten by security guards. He also said he had been accused of “sending texts” to organize anti-government protests while he was too poor to own a cell phone.

‘Appalling Case’

Reprieve, a UK-based international human rights organization, has already expressed its deep concern over Adam’s case.

“Like so many others, Munir was arrested for allegedly attending protests, and tortured into a ‘confession’ – he was beaten so badly that he lost his hearing. It’s a scandal that Munir now faces beheading on the basis of a bogus statement that he has since recanted,” she added.

Saudi Arabia to Behead Disabled Man Over Taking Part in Rally

Described by his family as a kind and simple young man, Adam was reportedly arrested in February 2012 for taking part in demonstrations in his home town of Qatif the previous year, when he was only 18 years old.

Foa added that concerns for the fate of Adam come shortly after the highly-criticized re-election of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Riyadh has been under fire for having one of the world’s highest execution rates. The Saudi authorities do not even spare mentally disabled people from the death penalty. Moreover, most executions are performed in public places and in some cases decapitated bodies are left hanging in public squares as a deterrent.

“In Saudi Arabia, where people are routinely sentenced to death after grossly unfair trials, we have seen a dramatic surge in the number of executions in the past two years which has shown no sign of abating in 2016,” Sara Hashah, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa spokesperson, said in a statement in July.

“Saudi Arabia’s authorities must end their reliance on this cruel, inhuman and degrading form of punishment immediately,” she added.

Beheading with a sword is the most common form of execution in Saudi Arabia.

Eastern Province has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the oil-producing region.

Iran’s Intelligence Minister Draws a Painting with Kids

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
636140306388229413

 

According to a report by Jame Jam Online, as translated by IFP, Intelligence Minister Seyyed Mahmoud Alavi paid a short visit to the ongoing Press Exhibition in Tehran.

During the tour, he visited a booth dedicated to children, and started drawing a painting along with other kids.

Here’s the painting drawn and signed by Alavi:

 

636140306407056287

Iran to ship carpets to US ‘directly’ soon

By
IFP Media Wire
-

Hamid Karegar, the head of Iran’s National Carpet Center, was quoted by the domestic media as saying that exports of Persian carpets to the US used to be carried out from Germany.

On the same front, Karegar said Iran had shipped a cargo of carpets to Los Angeles from Hamburg after the removal of sanctions in January.

The cargo weighed above 1,000 tons and had a total value of about $37 million, he added.

“As of the calendar month of Bahman (21 January-February 2017), Iran will export carpets directly from its own ports,” the official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.

Karegar said Iran used to export as much as $80 million of Persian carpets – globally known as one of the oldest and most valuable oriental handicrafts – to the US. He added that the sanctions, however, brought the exports to the world’s largest buyer to zero in 2010.

He further added that Iran had exported $134 million worth of handmade carpets, or 2,330 tons, to 80 countries between March and September this year.

The exports over the period, he emphasized, showed an increase of 18 percent in value and 11 percent in weight compared to the same period last year.

Karegar also said Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade was trying to have the designs of Persian carpets registered internationally, stressing that this is meant to prevent rivals producers such as India and Pakistan from copying Iranian designs.

The official said Iran has a total of 40 carpet designs that each belong to a different geographical region. He added that 29 of those designs have been internationally registered in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over the past two years.

10 Iranian Pilgrims Killed in Suicide Blast in Iraq’s Samarra

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-
Iraq

A suicide bombing struck a car park in the city of Samarra, a holy site for Shiite pilgrims, ABNA reported.

IraqAn Iranian official in Iraq told ISNA that 10 Iranians have been killed in this terrorist attack.

According to ISNA’s report, as translated by IFP, Mohammad Javad Daneshyar said the early observations indicate that the majority of Iranian pilgrims are from Sistan and Baluchestan and Horomozgan provinces.

“These pilgrims were getting out of the bus in Samarra car park when the suicide ambulance moved towards them and the explosion led to their death,” he noted.

Sunday’s attacks came amid a wide-scale offensive aimed at ousting the ISIS terrorist group from the northern city of Mosul.

In mid-2014, ISIS captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, before overrunning vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west.

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

Almost all newspapers on Sunday covered the remarks made by President Hassan Rouhani in the opening ceremony of the 22nd Press Exhibition, which is underway in Tehran.

They also covered the US presidential elections and the ongoing competition between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, whose difference has decreased to lowest levels.

The ongoing efforts by the anti-ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria, and the terrorist group’s escape from its last strongholds also received great coverage.

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

 

Abrar:

1- Press Exhibition Opened by President Rouhani

2- IRGC General: We Don’t Say the Americans Have Created Takfiris [Extremists]

3- Saudi Arabia Sentences Friday Prayer Imam to Prison Because of Referring to an Actor as an Infidel

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Abrar-e Eqtesadi:

1- Government’s Expenses in Past 6 Months Were $5.2bn More than Its Income

2- Iran’s Exports to US Stands at $62m

3- Tehran-Caracas Petchem Partnership Cancelled: Iran Buys Venezuelan Side’s Shares

4- Oil Agreement between Iran and Poland

 

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Afkar:

1- Rouhani: Power of Culture Is Much More than that of Gun and Diplomacy

2- Artists Urge President to Pay Serious Attention to Air Pollution

3- Iran and ITER Sign First Document of Cooperation

 

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Aftab-e Yazd:

1- Zahra Ahmadipour Elected by President Rouhani as Head of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization: Another Woman in Rouhani’s Cabinet

2- Tehran Prosecutor-General: Underground Singer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Asrar:

1- Rouhani: Extremism Should Not Have Any Audience in Iran

2- Military Advisor to Leader: ISIS Was Hit by Iran 40km Away from Our Borders

3- Zarif May Meet Lebanese PM Hariri in Beirut

4- North Korean Leader: We’ll Turn US to Ashes

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Amin:

1- Rouhani: Iran’s Security Dependent on Security of Culture and Media Professionals

2- Iran to Officially Join ITER by End of 2016: Salehi

3- 11 Turkish MPs Arrested at Night

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Asr-e Rasaneh:

1- Iran’s Petchem Exports to Europe Doubled

2- Nationwide Distribution of Euro IV Gasoline in Iran

3- Negotiations for Delivery of Purchased Planes Will Soon Yield Results: Transport Minister

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Etemad:

1- Clinton or Trump: Which One Is Better for Iran? Experts Discuss the Issue

2- Mousavian, Int’l Relations Expert, Urges JCPOA Opponents Not to Raise Accusations against Iran’s Establishment

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Ettela’at:

1- Media Can Increase Hope and Satisfaction in Society: Rouhani

2- Intelligence Minister: Intelligence System’s Connection with People Is a Necessity

3- VP for Women Affairs: Early Marriage and Poverty Are Barriers to Girls’ Education

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Hemayat:

1- Iraqi Flag Raised over Government Buildings of Hammam al-Alil Town: Last ISIS Base in South of Mosul Is Retaken

2- Judiciary Chief: Judicial Talks between Iran and Iraq Were Constructive

3- Deputy Commander of IRGC Quds Force: Syria’s Fate Will Be Determined This Year

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Iran:

1- Iran’s Might Stems from People’s Power: Intelligence Minister

2- We Won’t Accept False Remarks about Iran’s Territorial Integrity: First VP Warns in Meeting with Turkey’s Economy Minister

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Javan:

1- Doctors Making Profit by Hiding Patients’ Cancer: 90% of Cancers Can Be Prevented and Cured

2- ‘Muhammad, the Messenger of God’ Becomes Turkey’s Third Best-Selling Film

3- Rouhani: Let’s Run in the Fresh Air of JCPOA; Constructive Criticism Is an Art, Criticize Us and Shows the Right Path If We’re Wrong

4- ISIS Gives Up Ambitions of Caliphate: In His New Strategy, al-Baghdadi Calls for Network Actions after Fall of Mosul and Aleppo

 

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Jomhouri Eslami:

1- Iran’s First VP Strongly Criticizes Turkey’s Collaboration with Persian Gulf Cooperation Council against Iran

2- European Banks Are Resuming Ties with Iranian Banks

3- New Scandal for Clinton: She Has Received $30m Aid from Saudi Arabia and Qatar

 

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Kayhan:

1- 8,500 University Professors Write Open Letter to Heads of 3 Branches of Iran’s Establishment: Why Was Iran’s Nuclear Industry Shut Down, But Sanctions Were Not Removed?

 

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Khorasan:

1- Second Phase of RouhaniCare Started Yesterday: Free Health Services Provided in Six Metropolises

2- Monkey Predicts Trump Will Become US President; Famous Singers Join Clinton’s Campaign

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Payam-e Zaman:

1- IRGC General: Pen Is Our Most Powerful Weapon

2- Iraqi PM: We’ll Cut Off ISIS’ Head

3- Some Are Upset by Removal of Anti-Iran Sanctions

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Resalat:

1- President: Hundreds of Sanctions Are Removed, a Few of Them Have Remain in Place

2- New York Times: 80% of US Voters Believe Presidential Candidates Are Cheaters

  • Majority of Voters Hate US Government and Politics
  • 40% of Trump Voters Said They Won’t Accept the Results of Elections If He’s Not Elected

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Roozan:

1- Opium a Major Cause of Cancer among Iranians: Some People Use Opium More than Cigarette

2- Iranian Girl Wins Gold Medal in World Wushu Championship

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Saheb Qalam:

1- Rouhani: Iran’s Security Not Ensured by Missile and Tank

2- Details of Iran’s Ultimatum to India over Gas Trade

3- Isfahan’s Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium Inaugurated by First VP after 22 Years

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Shargh:

1- Iran’s Economy Gripped by Issue of Exporting Materials in Raw State: Giving Away the Market to Foreigners

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

 

Vatan-e Emrooz:

1- King Kong: US Mainstream Media Terrified and Confused by Trump; His Fans Are More Important than Him

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on November 6

Suicide Bombers Strike in Two Iraqi Cities, Killing 11: Officials

By
Fatemeh Askarieh
-
mosul

The suicide attacker detonated an ambulance packed with explosives in Tikrit on Sunday, killing nine people at the southern entrance to the city, police and hospital sources said, as Reuters reported.

The bomber struck during the busy morning rush hour. Authorities declared a curfew in the city, saying they had information that further attacks were possible.

In Samarra, about 50 km (30 miles) south of Tikrit, two people were killed when a suicide car bomber struck a car park for Shiite pilgrims visiting the city’s al-Askari Holy Shrine, sources said.

The attacks took place as Iraqi troops and security forces, backed by a US-led international coalition, were fighting to drive ISIS militants out of the northern city of Mosul which they have controlled for the last two years.

Iran, ITER Sign Confidentiality Agreement

By
Fatemeh Askarieh
-
Ali Akbar Salehi-ITER Director

Launched by Europe, United States, China, India, Japan, Russia and South Korea 10 years ago, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project aims to build the world’s largest experimental reactor, or tokamak.

It would generate energy through nuclear fusion, rather than the fission process currently used in nuclear power stations around the world. Fusion could prove cleaner, safer and more efficient, according to Reuters.

“Under the document, the two sides agreed to keep confidential each other’s information during their cooperation,” said Salehi.

Salehi, a nuclear physicist, also said a second agreement has already been drafted which details bilateral cooperation between the two sides which will be signed in the near future.

“We hope to sign the agreement in the near future,” he added.

Earlier in July, Salehi visited the ITER headquarters in southern France, saying there was “general agreement” for cooperation on the ITER.

While details of the future cooperation document are unknown, a full membership to the project should not be the case, as Bigot told Reuters in an interview in July.

“After that they told us they had a long-standing interest in fusion and they would like to consider how to join the ITER project, but clearly not as a full member,” he said.

Full members provide experienced engineers and scientists and substantial financial contributions.

“They felt that full membership is not best for them, but consider association in some specific areas or fields where they can contribute. Now it’s up to them to make up their mind,” Bigot said.

Bigot’s July comments, however, are thrown into doubt by Salehi who said Iran will enter into all-encompassing cooperation on the project.

“The project is an executive, technical, and scientific one which demands extensive scientific activity. That is why we enter into an all-encompassing cooperation,” he added.

Iran’s participation in the project is an outcome of the nuclear deal it concluded with six world powers in July 2015, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Under the deal, EU and E3+3 countries and international participants will engage in joint projects with Iran, including through IAEA technical cooperation projects, in the field of peaceful nuclear technology, including nuclear power plants, research reactors, fuel fabrication, agreed joint advanced R&D such as fusion.

Iran Finishes 2nd at Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Iranian national team

The spirited Iranian team was defeated against Brazil 6-2 at Dubai International Marine Club.

Iran opened the campaign with a 6-2 victory over USA, beat Egypt 4-1 and defeated Russia 3-1 on penalties after 3-3 draw with the holder.

Team Melli defeated Tahiti 8-6 in semifinals.

Earlier in the day, former champion Russia defeated Tahiti 4-3 in the third-place play-off.

The 2015 winner was blown away by Brazil 7-0 in semis.

Final Standings
1 – Brazil
2 – Iran
3 – Russia
4 – Tahiti
5 – Poland
6 – Egypt
7 – UAE
8 – USA

Iran Finishes 2nd at Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup

Iran-Turkey Can Thwart Powers’ Plots in ME: First VP

By
IFP Media Wire
-
Jahangiri - Nihat Zeybekci

“If Iran and Turkey reach a common understanding of the threats that powers have created in our region, they can put an end to their game,” Jahangiri said in a meeting with Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci in Tehran on Saturday.

He added that Iran and Ankara may have different views on certain regional issues but noted that such differences would never lead to a halt in Tehran’s support for Ankara in the face of regional threats and instability.

“Iran would not like to see Turkey sharing the same stance with Riyadh on issues such as Baghdad, Shia [Muslims] and Iran. Riyadh is supporting terrorists and Daesh and we have so far differentiated between the positions of Ankara and Riyadh,” the Iranian vice president said.

He added that Shias have never sought to cause sectarian strife and stressed the importance of collective efforts to restore stability to the Middle East at the earliest.

Jahangiri further expressed Iran’s keenness to improve relations with Turkey without any limitation and urged the two countries to speed up bids in order to remove the obstacles in the way of bolstering economic cooperation.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes the presence of companies of the friendly, brotherly and neighboring country of Turkey and we expect that these firms will have a more serious presence in Iran’s economy,” he said.

Iran and Turkey have differences over the crisis in Syria, but the two sides have been working to maintain close relations and stress the need for joint efforts to uproot terrorism.  While Iran supports the government of President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey backs the Syrian opposition groups fighting the government forces.

Since March 2011, Syria has been gripped by deadly militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies. More than 400,000 people have reportedly been killed in the war.

 

‘Enhanced Iran-Turkey Ties Beneficial to Nations’

Zeybekci, for his part, said he is visiting Tehran with the purpose of holding talks with senior Iranian officials on ways to develop trade and economic cooperation.

He warned that the obstacles in the way of boosting trade relations would not be beneficial to either side and said the expansion of ties would serve the two nations’ interests.

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