Iran’s Zarif Told Nigeria of Zakzaky Concerns: Delegate

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July 29, 2016

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif notified authorities in Nigeria of Iran’s concerns during his visit to the African country earlier in the week, according to an Iranian delegate who accompanied Zarif to Nigeria.

“While meeting with Nigerian authorities, including the president and foreign minister, Dr. Zarif expressed serious concern as to Zakzaky’s physical condition,” said Iranian cleric Ali Fallah Zaroumi, who accompanied the Iranian delegation as a representative of the Iran-based Al-Mustafa International University.

The Iranian top diplomat also “sternly demanded Zakzaky’s freedom as a person who has invited all Muslim sects toward preserving unity among each other,” Zaroumi added.

Nigerian Shia leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzakyk

The Nigerian clergyman’s freedom would indeed positively affect the struggle against extremists such as Boko Haram, Zarif told Nigerian authorities, who have been caught in a seven-year-long insurgency waged by the group denounced by various Muslim community.

On December 13, 2015, Nigerian forces raided the home of Zakzaky, who leads the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), and arrested him after killing those attempting to protect him.

A day earlier, soldiers had attacked Shia Muslims attending a ceremony at a religious center in the city of Zaria in north-central Nigeria, accusing them of blocking the convoy of the army’s chief of staff and attempting to assassinate him, which they denied.

Both incidents led to the deaths of hundreds of members of the religious community, including three of Zakzaky’s sons. Some sources have put the toll at over 1,000.

Iranian Spokesman Calls Renaming of Terror Group ‘Playing with Words’

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IFP Media Wire

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July 29, 2016

“The objective behind the game is to remove the group from terrorism list, but the ugly image of extremism and terrorism cannot be whitewashed through such moves,” Qassemi said Thursday night.

“Such measures are a sign of the political bankruptcy of the extremists’ regional supporters headed by Saudi Arabia as the father and principal supporter of al-Qaeda, Taliban, Daesh (ISIL or ISIS), al-Nusra Front and many other terrorist groups, particularly in Syria,” he stressed.

The Iranian spokesman also called on the international community to pay attention to the root causes of terrorism and its outcomes, and to pressure the founders and supporters of terrorist groups into uprooting the inauspicious phenomenon.

Earlier on Thursday, al-Nusra Front announced its break from the parent terror organization, al-Qaeda, in an apparent bid to gain more support from foreign powers.

The Takfiri terrorist group was formed months after the outset of the Syrian crisis in 2011. The group first enjoyed generous support from Daesh extremists, but broke from them in 2013 and paid allegiance to al-Qaeda terror network, which on Thursday endorsed the move as a necessary gambit to protect the group.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.

According to a new report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

Iranians Offer Oblations by Making Donations to Environment

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IFP Editorial Staff

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July 29, 2016

Animals, as well as humans, are not immune to the adverse effects of the protracted drought that the world is grappling with. Wetlands and marshes are drying up and animals’ wildlife habitats are inching forward to a complete destruction.

According to a report by Jam-e Jam, as translated by IFP, Morteza Jamshidian, the head of Isfahan’s Environment Department, expressed concern over the detrimental impacts of the prolonged drought on wildlife refuges of Muteh and Kolah Ghazi in the Iranian central city.

Jamshidian pointed to the 5,500 deer living in Muteh, 2,000 in Kolah Ghazi, and 1,400 in Ghamishlou which will have to get into the adjacent farms if their habitats are destroyed.

“Unfortunately these deer are ruthlessly hunted by the opportunists immediately.”

“Isfahan’s Environment Department has spent about 1bn rials [$29,000] to buy 100 tons of fodder and distributed them in the region for the animals; however, it is not enough to feed all of them.”

Charitable Groups Make Donations to Environment

In a bid to help animals survive the drought and at the same time offer oblations to God, Iranians make donations for animals. Oblation or Nazr, which is a solemn promise to do an act of charity in exchange for a divine favour, is a fine and ancient Iranian tradition.

A charitable Isfahani man set a precedent of the charitable move by making an oblation of 700kg fodder for the deer living in the region. Once the news was spread, several benevolent, generous farmers took the same path.

Another farmer from Isfahan donated 3.5 tons of fodder and as recently as a week ago, a charitable farmer made a donation to Kolah Ghazi wildlife refuge which was 4 tons of fresh hay from the products of 1.5ha of his farmland.

A charitable woman also paid for 600 kilograms of hay and handed it over to the rangers of Kolah Ghazi wildlife refuge in a bid to feed the hungry deer.

Grand Ayatollah Issues Fatwa on Oblations for the Sake of Animals

Asked if oblations for the sake of animals are compliant with Islamic jurisprudence or not, senior Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi said, “If the animals are in desperate need, offering oblation unto Allah to feed them is not against Islamic jurisprudence.”

Iranian Couple Running Mobile Café on Their Microbus

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Fatemeh Askarieh

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July 29, 2016

Farzad and Zekra are a creative couple who have turned their old blue Volkswagen microbus into a luxurious mobile café that gives its customers a sense of nostalgia.

The “Way Café” was just inaugurated a couple of weeks ago, but many people in Tehran have become its fans even in such a short period of time.

Here are photos of the café received from Tehran Picture Agency and Mehr News Agency:

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Iran Condemns Beheading of French Priest and Syrian Kid

By

IFP Editorial Staff

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July 28, 2016

“There is no doubt that such savage behaviours are hated and condemned wherever they occur,” Qassemi noted, as reported by the Foreign Ministry’s website and translated by IFP.

He further expressed Iran’s deep sorrow over such inhumane, cruel, and despicable moves, saying such similar polytheistic moves all convey the same message.

“All these crimes are inspired by a deviational thought created by the founding fathers of ISIS and Al-Qaeda,” he went on to say.

“Ignoring the pains and problems of displaced and innocent people of certain regional countries and the support provided for ISIS and Al-Qaeda and the spread of their Takfiri way of thinking in a bid to create, promote, and export hatred, violence, and terror have caused the disaster to spread everywhere like a chronic disease,” Qassemi noted.

“These moves are aimed at putting people of the world against each other and creating sectarian wars between them if possible,” he stressed.

“We have always emphasized that the entire world should unite in the fight against terrorism, and start a real and serious campaign,” Qassemi said, adding that such a fight requires common international resolve and enhanced global efforts aimed at eradicating terrorist thoughts.

Two men armed with blades who had taken several people hostage in a church in northern France on Tuesday, July 26, cut the throat of a priest there.

Also a recent video posted online showing US-backed Syrian terrorists brutally beheading a child caused public outrage.

The footage, which circulated on social media on Tuesday, July 19, showed a member of the Nureddin al-Zenki opposition militant group, which is supported by the US, cutting off the small boy’s head with a knife on a public road in Aleppo’s opposition-controlled al-Mashhad neighbourhood.

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 28

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IFP Editorial Staff

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July 28, 2016

Iranian newspapers on Thursday covered the ongoing terrorist attacks in different parts of the world including Syria’s Qamishli.

They also highlighted the progress made by Syrian army in retaking and liberating ISIS-held cities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s ongoing tour of Africa was also a top story.

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

Note: Newspapers in Iran will not be published on Saturday, which is a holiday to mark the martyrdom anniversary of sixth Shiite Imam, Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq.

Abrar:

1- British Churches on the Alert

2- Saudi Arabia and Kuwait File Lawsuit against Iran at the UN

Aftab-e Yazd:

1- Online Campaign to Block Internet Abusers

2- Hillary Clinton Becomes Final Candidate of Democrats: 3 Challenges She Faces

3- Zarif’s Smart Move to Choose Africa for His Diplomatic Trip

Arman-e Emrooz:

1- Rafsanjani: Assigning Affairs to People Is an Original Islamic Thought

2- Suggestion for Exhumation of Kiarostami’s Grave

Asrar:

1- Iran’s Presidential Elections to Be Held on May 19, 2017

2- 150 Killed and Wounded in Blast in Northern Syria

3- US Democrat Party Officially Support Nuclear Deal with Iran

Asr-e Rasaneh:

1- Iran’s Foreign Assets Become Positive: Possibility of Attracting $30bn of Capital

Ebtekar:

1- Deputy FM: Two Different Messages Are Sent from Washington

2- Has Rouhani Started Reshuffling His Economic Team? Head of Stock Exchanges Market Changed

Emtiaz:

1- 170 Four and Five-Star Hotels to Be Constructed in Iran: Official

Etemad:

1- A Woman’s Turn: Will Clinton Become First US President?

Ettela’at:

1- Bahrain’s Unprecedented Protests against Al Khalifa Regime: Any Move against Sheikh Qassim Will Open Doors of Hell to Al Khalifa Regime, Protesters Say

2- In a New Atrocity, Saudi Hirelings Mutilate 20 Yemeni Civilians

3- ISIS Terrorists’ Attack on Syria’s Qamishli Kill 50 and Wounds 170

Haft-e Sobh:

1- Astronomical Salaries: This Time in Football

2- Pokemon Go Is Filtered in Iran

Iran:

1- Hot Days of Tehran Stock Exchange Market: Constant Growth of Index Since Early July

2- No Need for Exhumation of Kiarostami’s Grave

3- ISIS’s Suicide Attack to Take Revenge from Syrian Kurds

4- Joint Measures to Reinforce Security of Iran-Pakistan Borders

Jame Jam:

1- Bahrain, the Biggest Prison in Western Asia

2- Smuggled Phones Sold in Cyberspace

Javan:

1- Order to Reconsider Deal with FATF: Transparency of Media Saves Iran’s Banking System

2- Iraqi Basij (Voluntary Forces) Becomes Official: Iraqi PM Turns Hashid al-Shaabi into Official Forces under Prime Minister’s Office

3- Sheikh Qassim’s No to Bahraini Court: Trial Postponed

Jomhouri Eslami:

1- 21% Growth in Value of Iran’s Non-Oil Export in Past 4 Months

2- Iranian and Foreign Analysts: JCPOA to Remain in Place Despite Change of Governments

3- Funeral Held for 127 Martyrs of Iran-Iraq War in 23 Provinces

4- Moscow: US No Longer Wants Overthrow of Assad

5- Bahraini People Pour into Streets in Protest at Trial of Sheikh Qassim

Ka’enat:

1- Syrian Army Approaches Nest of Terrorists in Aleppo

2- Huge Blast in Syria’s Qamishli Kills and Wounds 214

Kayhan:

1- US Has No Position in Iraq, Popular Forces to Liberate Mosul: Iraqi Media Official Tells Kayhan

2- People Surround Sheikh Qassim’s House: Al Khalifa Postpones Trial

3- Deputy FM: JCPOA Includes Balance and Termination of Sanctions, But Only on Paper!

4- Siege of Aleppo Is Completed; Syrian Army to Terrorists: Surrender!

Khorasan:

1- Increase in Non-Oil Exports after Months of Economic Downturn

Shahrvand:

1- Game of Billionaires: Disclosure of Money Iranian Football Players and Coaches Receive

Shargh:

1- Putin’s Conspiracy for Trump’s Victory

2- Zarif in Fourth Day of African Tour: It’s Time for Expansion of Economic Cooperation

Vaghaye Ettefaghieh:

1- Fallujah, the City of Ghosts: The City Burnt by Terrorists

2- Fear of Hope in Iran’s Parliament: A Report on Violation of Commitments by Certain Members of List of Hope

Iran Condemns Bomb Attacks in Syria’s Qamishli

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IFP Media Wire

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July 28, 2016

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi expressed condolences to families of victims of the bloody attack.

Branding terrorism as a common threat to the regional and global peace and security, Qassemi said tackling terrorism should start with a battle on its root causes, namely the radical, extremist and Takfiri ideologies which have been unfairly introduced as Islam.

He also called for efforts to cut off financial and military aids to the terrorist groups.

On Wednesday, two explosions struck the predominantly Kurdish town of Qamishli, killing at least 50 people and wounding dozens.

Syrian state TV said a truck loaded with explosives blew up on the western edge of the city, near the Turkish border. Minutes later, a motorcycle also packed with explosives blew up in the same area.

Daesh (ISIL) terrorist groups had claimed responsibility for the attack.

The notorious groups has carried out several bombings in Kurdish areas in Syria in the past.

Iran’s Zarif Meets Top Guinean Officials in Africa Tour

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IFP Media Wire

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July 28, 2016

During his stay in Conakry on Wednesday, the top Iranian diplomat met separately with Guinea’s president, prime minister, parliament speaker and foreign minister to discuss a range of issues, mainly political and economic cooperation between the two nations.

In a meeting with Guinean Prime Minister Mamady Youla, Zarif referred to a big economic delegation accompanying him in the visit as harbinger of a new chapter in the bilateral trade ties.

Youla also highlighted the ample investment opportunities available in Guinea, saying his country is eager to work with the Iranian companies.

The Republic of Guinea is a mineral-rich country in the West coast of Africa by the Atlantic Ocean. Its economy largely depends on agriculture, but also has rich deposits of diamond and gold.

The Iranian foreign minister started a four-nation tour of West Africa on Monday, which took him earlier to Nigeria and Ghana. He will leave Guinea for Mali on Thursday.

Back in February 2015, Zarif took another tour of Africa, and travelled to Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania with a high-ranking political and economic delegation.

Expansion of relations with African countries in all political, economic and cultural fields has been a matter of prime importance in Iran’s foreign policy agenda.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who took office in August 2013, has repeatedly stressed his government’s interest in boosting relations with the African nations.

China to Invest $3bn in Iran’s Fish Farming

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IFP Media Wire

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July 28, 2016

Chinese officials, during a recent visit to Iran Fisheries Organization, have voiced readiness to invest $3 billion in Iran’s fishery industry.

Hassan Salehi, the head of Iran Fisheries Organization, has been quoted by the media as saying that China’s decision to make the investment had been communicated to him through the country’s deputy agriculture minister during a recent visit to Tehran.

Salehi added that the priority points for the discussed investment are Iran’s southern island of Qeshm as well as the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

The official further emphasized that China’s fishery output presently stands at 30 to 40 million tons in oceans worldwide. The country, he said, can provide huge potential for Iran’s fishery industry.

Salehi also said apart from China – as well as South Korea that has recently announced readiness to invest in Iran’s fishery industry – investors from France, Russia, Norway, Iceland, and Thailand have also voiced interest in the same sector.

He emphasized that Iran is trying to introduce its Qeshm Island, located in the Persian Gulf, as an ideal place for investments in the fishery industry.

On Monday, South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in a statement released to the media announced that it plans to begin discussions with Iran on boosting bilateral cooperation in the fishery industry.

The statement added that the talks with Iran will also focus over the development of a joint fish farming venture.

Iran is seen as the largest fish farming nation in the Middle East, annually producing some 325,000 tons of fishery products through farming.

Iranian Girl Wins National Rally Contest

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Fatemeh Askarieh

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July 28, 2016

Leila Peykanpour, an Iranian girl from Isfahan, claimed the title in the first round of a national rally championship in KIA Pride Class.

According to a report by Fararu, as translated by IFP, the competition was held in Tehran’s Azadi Sports Complex. 46 drivers from eight provinces competed with each other in four classes.

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