A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on October 3

By

-

October 3, 2016

Newspapers on Monday covered the remarks made by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting with seminary scholars.

They also talked about Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s address to the Iranian Parliament and his responses to a hard-line MP.

The upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualification Match between Iran and South Korea also received great coverage. The match is scheduled to be held in Tehran on the night before Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of third Shiite Imam. Senior cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi has urged Sports Ministry to cancel the game because people are supposed to mourn at that night.

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

Abrar:

1- Leader: If Islamic Establishment Makes a Mistake, Seminary Should Warn

2- Residents of Syria’s Raqqa Break Their TV Sets in Fear of ISIS Terrorists

3- US Threatens to Impose Sanctions on Russia about Syria

4- Gulen’s Brother Arrested

5- Erdogan: ISIS Is the Result of Syrian Crisis

6- Abadi: ISIS Has Caused $35bn Damage to Iraq

Abrar-e Eqtesadi:

1- 150,000-Barrel Increase in Iran’s Oil Exports

2- Germans’ $3bn Investment in Iran

3- 15 Foreign Requests for Investment in Iran’s Oil Fields

4- Iran Ready for Cooperation with Norway in Carrying LNG

Afarinesh:

1- Larijani: US Lacks Required Resolve for Destroying Inauspicious Phenomenon of Terrorism

Afkar:

1- Export of Nano Products to 18 Countries

Aftab-e Yazd:

1- Rouhani Reminds Opponents of Government: How Centrifuges Were Imported to Iran

2- Political Corruption Fosters Other Types of Corruption; Reformists Not Forced to Support Rouhani; We’re Rather Willing to Support Him: Reformist Theorist

Arman-e Emrooz:

1- Zarif’s Response to Hard-Line MP: How Dare You Lie?

2- Senior Cleric to Sports Minister: Cancel the FIFA World Cup Qualifying Match between Iran and South Korea! [as it coincides with the night before Ashura, the day to mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein]

Asrar:

1- Senior MP: Iran Doesn’t Recognize German Official’s Pre-Condition

2- Iranian Tourist Murdered in Istanbul

3- Saudi Arabia Turns to Gregorian Calendar in Its Administrations

4- Iran’s Central Bank Looking for Connection to Int’l Credit Cards: Chief

Ebtekar:

1- Nuclear Chief: Airbus and Boeing Will Pave the Way for Entry of Major Banks and Insurances to Iran

2- Zarif’s Storm: Hard-Line MP Continue Attacking the Laughing Minister

Etemad:

1- Senior Cleric Calls for Cancellation of Iran-South Korea Match Coinciding with Muharram Mourning: Can You Prevent Spectators from Applauding after a Possible Goal Scored in the Game?

2- Government’s Promise in Tourism Conference: We’ll Guarantee Foreigners’ Investment for Building Hotels in Iran

3- Shouting the Wrath of Diplomacy in Reaction to an MP’s ‘Politically-Motivated’ Remarks; Zarif: Don’t Spoil the Establishment’s Image

Ettela’at:

1- Zarif: We’ll Strongly Stand against Greed; People and Leadership Are Pillars of Our Power

2- Current Regional Conflicts Have Nothing to Do with Ethnical or Religious Issues: Deputy FM

3- US Army: Creating a No-Fly Zone in Syria Would Lead to World War

Iran:

1- Zarif’s Reaction to Ambiguities and Accusations: I’m Proud that My Brothers Qassem Soleimani, Hassan Nasrallah, and Ramadan Shalah Are in Contact with Me and Thank for Iran’s Policies Every Day

2- NY Times: Trump Have Been Evading Taxes for 2 Decades on Pretext of Bankruptcy

3- Dust Pollution in Khuzestan and Sistan and Baluchestan Provinces: Level of Pollution 6 Times Higher than Critical Level

Javan:

1- Larijani: Astronomical Salaries, a Stain on Iran’s Management System

2- Zarif: We’ll Counter Violation of Promises

Jomhouri Eslami:

1- FM Zarif: Current JCPOA Status Approved by Board that Monitors JCPOA Implementation

2- Mossad Chief: Israel Unable to Counter Intifada

Kayhan:

1- In Spite of Domestic Capabilities, Power Ministry Assigns the Construction of a Plant to a Foreign Company

2- 22 Emirati Troopers Killed and Their Warship Is Totally Destroyed by Yemeni Forces

Khorasan:

1- Explicit Questions and Zarif’s Harsh Responses in Parliament

2- Marine Shock to Saudi Coalition: How Emirati Warship Was Annihilated by Ansarullah Missile

Resalat:

1- Ayatollah Khamenei: Through Soft War, They Intend to Distance People from Jihad and Resistance

2- Those Who Received Unconventional Salaries Will Be Deprived from Government Posts

Shargh:

1- Zarif’s Eight Stormy Minutes in Parliament

2- First VP: Iran Invites Iranian and Foreign Investors to Cooperation

Vaghaye Ettefaghieh:

1- Leader’s Advisor: Russia Will Never Be Disintegrated

2- Through Dominating the Power and Interaction with Saudis and Zionist Regime of Israel, Russia Wants to Decrease Iran’s Influence in Syria

3- More than 70% of HIV Patients Yet to Be Identified

All Terrorists Sent by ISIS Nabbed in Iran: Senior MP

By

IFP Media Wire

-

October 3, 2016

“The ISIS terrorist group has dispatched several (terror) teams to Iran from Syria’s Raqqa and Iraq’s Mosul,” Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Monday.

He added that all of the terrorists were arrested after falling into Iranian forces’ intelligence trap from the moment of their deployment.

Boroujerdi did not say when or how the militants were captured.

Despite being in a volatile region, Iran enjoys good security within its borders thanks to the competence and proficiency of its intelligence and security forces.

The forces have foiled several malicious attempts by terrorist elements against the country in the past few months.

On June 13, troops from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force killed five members of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) terrorist group in an ambush in Sardasht region in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan.

On the same day, Iranian police forces killed five members of the Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group in an exchange of fire in Sistan and Balouchestan, while a trooper was also martyred.

Two days later, the IRGC forces killed a number of militants in clashes with two terrorist teams trying to intrude into Oshnavieh border area near the frontier with Iraq.

On June 20, the Intelligence Ministry announced that its force thwarted a major plot hatched by Takfiri-Wahhabi groups for several terrorist attacks in Tehran and a number of other provinces, with terrorists arrested and a large amount of bombs and explosive material confiscated.

And on September 20, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence forces arrested two terrorists in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan.

Germany to Press US to Reduce Iran Sanctions: Economy Minister

By

IFP Editorial Staff

-

October 3, 2016

Speaking at the opening of an economic forum, Gabriel said Germany wanted to “remind the United States of the commitment to get to an effective dismantling of sanctions”.

Iran’s Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khazaei said 10 economic agreements would be signed on the sidelines of Gabriel’s visit. “I hope that this will smooth the way between both countries,” he said, as reported by Reuters and covered by Iranian media outlets.

Gabriel has gone to Iran with a plane-load of industry executives. Remaining US sanctions and political concerns have so far held back a hoped-for business boom between the two countries.

Claims on West’s Role in Regional Security Big Lie: Shamkhani

By

IFP Media Wire

-

October 3, 2016

“The claim about the West’s contribution to the establishment of regional security is a big lie and its bloody and costly results can be seen in many countries in the region,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said in a meeting with the head of Iraqi National Intelligence Service, Mustafa Kadhimi, in Tehran on Sunday.

He added that the Iraqi army, backed by popular forces, have managed to make continued achievements in the fight against Takfiri terrorism and the elimination of Daesh terrorists from many areas in the country.

Shamkhani said continuation of military gains by the Iraqi army would prompt terrorists to increase their activities against the security of the country, which requires security and intelligence services to play their important role in managing the new conditions.

The SNSC secretary expressed Iran’s readiness to transfer its intelligence and security experience to Iraq in the campaign against terrorism, noting that “establishment of sustainable security in Iraq is among the unchangeable priorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The senior Iranian official further said Iran and Iraq enjoy great potential to boost economic, political, security and cultural cooperation.

He added that continued consultations between senior Iranian and Iraqi officials can play a key role in thwarting the enemy plot to partition and undermine Muslim countries.

For months, Iraq has been preparing for the assault on Daesh in Mosul, which fell into the hands of the terrorists in 2014.

Government forces have managed to recapture all the other places that Daesh had seized, with the last major one being the city of Fallujah, which was liberated in late June.

The operation for Mosul is highly significant as estimates say about half of the city’s pre-war population of two million still remains there.

Based on available intelligence, Daesh has between 4,000 and 5,000 terrorists in the city, making the situation more complicated.

Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh terrorists mounted an offensive there more than two years ago, and took control of swathes of Iraqi territory.

The militants have been committing heinous crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.

Exchange of Intelligence, Inevitable in Anti-terror Fight

The Iraqi official, for his part, praised Iran’s influential role in fighting terrorism and boosting regional security and stability, saying that the Islamic Republic’s success in the campaign against terrorism and the establishment of security inside the country and at its border areas showed the unparalleled success of Iran’s security example.

Kadhimi added that further exchange of intelligence and cooperation between regional countries for the elimination of terrorist groups constitute an inevitable approach, which must be adopted by those countries.

US, Regional Allies Lack will to Uproot Terrorism: Iran’s Larijani

By

IFP Media Wire

-

October 3, 2016

“Unfortunately, the US along with some of its regional allies is using the phenomenon of terrorism as a tool and does not have the necessary resolve to eradicate this ominous and dangerous phenomenon,” Larijani said in a meeting with a senior member of Belgium’s Parliamentary Assembly Dirk Van der Maelen in Tehran on Sunday.

He added that some countries’ support for the terrorist Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in Syria is very dangerous and “can further complicate the situation in Syria and the entire region.”

The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which started in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to a UN estimate.

A ceasefire, brokered by the US and Russia in Syria, expired on September 19 after being in place for only a week. Damascus refused to extend it after US-led airstrikes killed over 80 of its soldiers and wounded some 100 others at a military base in the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr in violation of the truce.

Necessity of Diplomacy to Settle Regional Issues

The senior Belgian parliamentarian, for his part, said his country opposes the killing of innocent people in Palestine, Syria, Yemen and other regional countries.

Like Iran, Belgium believes that regional issues must be settled through political approaches and dialogue, Van Der Maelen added.

He said direct consultations between Tehran and Brussels on mutual and regional issues are very important and can help restore peace to the region.

Respecting Syria’s Territorial Integrity Key to Crisis Resolution

Meanwhile, a senior advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that respect for Syrian people’s will and the country’s territorial integrity is the key solution to the crisis in the Arab country.

“Syria will never be divided and the only solution to the Syrian crisis is [based on] respecting the people’s national will and protecting the country’s territorial integrity,” the Leader’s advisor on international affairs, Ali Akbar Velayati, said in a meeting with Van der Maelen.

He added that countries that are supporting terrorism and those, which have created Takfiri and terrorist groups in the region, have now found themselves in a predicament from which they cannot easily escape.

He added that the US made a “big mistake” in Dayr al-Zawr, where it only killed innocent people.

On September 17, a Syrian army air base in Dayr al-Zawr came under attack by US-led warplanes in violation of a nationwide ceasefire deal, which had been mediated by Russia and the US.

More than 80 Syrian soldiers lost their lives and some 100 others were wounded in the US-led airstrikes, which helped Daesh terrorists make some gains in the area.

ISIS Leader al-Baghdadi Severely Poisoned by Unknown Individuals

By

IFP Media Wire

-

October 3, 2016

Arabic-language Iraqi Media News Agency, WAA, cited a local source in the northwestern Nineveh Province as saying that “accurate information” showed Baghdadi’s food had been poisoned by unknown individuals.

Meals prepared for him and the other three for lunch had, according to the source, been poisoned in the Be’aaj district, located southwest of Nineveh.

The source added that the four are suffering from “severe poisoning” and “have been transferred to an unknown location under strict [cautionary] measures.”

ISIS has reportedly launched a campaign of arrests in an attempt to find those responsible for poisoning the food.

ISIS has been ravaging Iraq and Syria since 2014. The terrorist group has overrun territory in both countries and has declared the city of Raqqah in Syria and Mosul in Iraq as its so-called headquarters.

Syrian and Iraqi government forces have been fighting the militants to win back the occupied areas.

Iran Warns US against Targeting Syria Army

By

IFP Media Wire

-

October 3, 2016

Speaking on Sunday, Ali Akbar Velayati said the Syrian nation can fight back potential American aggression.

“It is almost six years that the people of Syria have been resisting interference by foreigners, especially the Westerners, with the US at the top,” Velayati said. “The Syrian nation has the capability to withstand US military intervention, and the Americans will not do that (launch aggression).”

A foreign-backed militancy has been going on in Syria since March 2011, with a plethora of armed groups — each supported by one foreign country or another — fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Recently, there has been talk of a scenario in which the US would directly target the Syrian Arab Army, which is the army of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Velayati, who is an adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said the US has suffered a defeat in military campaigns both in Afghanistan and Iraq and a third adventure, in Syria, would hand Washington its third defeat — a more stinging one.

So far, the US has been supporting, with the provision of military hardware and likely intelligence sharing, what it calls “moderate” militants fighting the Syrian government. Despite a recent case in which the US directly targeted Syrian soldiers, which it said happened by mistake, Washington has refrained from direct military involvement in the Arab country.

President Barack Obama has previously portrayed involvement in another Middle East war as harmful to US interests. His reluctance to invade Syria, despite numerous past threats, has angered a number of Arab dictatorships opposed to President Assad.

Recently, however, militant sources claimed the US was resolved to prevent the fall of the Syrian city of Aleppo, a bastion of anti-Damascus militants that is the target of an ongoing Syrian and Russian campaign for liberation.

The US State Department also recently warned that it would be considering the suspension of “bilateral engagement” with Russia in Syria unless Moscow took “immediate steps to end the assault on Aleppo.”

Iran Lauds Palestine’s Resistance to Israel

By

IFP Media Wire

-

October 3, 2016

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Sunday commemorated the anniversary of al-Aqsa Intifada, which left more than 3,000 Palestinians dead.

The spokesman also highlighted the international community’s hatred for the Israeli crimes, including violation of the rights of Palestinians, Judaization of al-Quds, desecration and destruction of the al-Aqsa Mosque, expansion of settlement homes, as well as killing, imprisonment and torture of people.

Qassemi further underscored that the Palestinian people’s resistance and their steadfastness in defending their principles will foil the Israeli attempts.

The Second Intifada began in September 2000 following a visit by Israel’s then leader, Ariel Sharon, to Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount) in al-Quds (Jerusalem), in a move that was denounced by Palestinians as highly provocative.

Vakil Mosque in Iran’s Shiraz

By

IFP Media Wire

-

October 2, 2016

Karim Khan, the founder of Zand dynasty in 18th century, built it as part of his grand development project in the heart of his capital city. The mosque is connected to Vakil Bazaar and almost attached to Vakil Bathhouse with a lane in between. Before you enter the mosque, you can see one of the corridors getting you to the middle of the main passageway of Vakil Bazaar on the left-hand side. Therefore, there has been easy access from different directions for everyone to find their ways to the mosque.

The entire structure is extravagantly built with spacious sections in mind. There’s a vast courtyard with a relatively long pool in the middle of it. Around the courtyard, there are two eyvans (iwans) at the Northern and Southern sides in a symmetric way. On Eastern and Western sides, there are not any eyvans hence finalizing the structure as a twi-eyvan courtyard plan, according to Iran Destination website.

The vast courtyard is covered by stone slabs, which has recently undergone some reconstruction and new slabs have been installed. Such flooring is extended from all corners to the central pool and vise versa. As there’s no garden in the courtyard, this flat space has added to the greatness of the courtyard and allows the beauty of the tile façade of all sides shine and project their livelihood.

The decoration on the Shirazi “haft rangi” (seven-color) tiles of the entrance portal and these two eyvans are eye-catching and similar. Tree-of-life patterns are clearly occupying major parts of these sections giving a peaceful wave to the square feel of the façade tiles.

At the Southern Eyvan, there’s an entrance leading to a roofed columned hall (shabestan) with 48 monolithic pillars joining one another on top through vaulted brickworks. The pillar shafts are carved in a spiral way and decorated in form of acanthus leaves at their capitals. Color of the stone pillars and those of brick-formed ceiling match.

All ceiling decoration has been made by plain bricks except the one line coming from the southern eyvan directly toward the mihrab of the mosque. This part is an amazingly splendid corridor-like pathway set by its ceiling tile decoration embellished by Shirazi “haftrangi” (seven-color) tiles.

The builders of the mosque have made a minbar (preacher’s seat) out of a piece of green marble with a flight of 14 steps leading to the seat on top. This minbar is an exemplary work at Zand-period mosques.

It won’t easily happen to see several Zand monuments when you are traveling in Iran unless you visit Shiraz and pay a visit to such sights. Therefore, it is recommended to spend some quality time in these buildings and quench your thirst for the taste of Zand architects and their masterpieces. Also, Shirazi artists have their own lively touch no matter which period they have been living in. That’s why I think you won’t regret spending more time at this beautiful city.