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Firefighters Still Battling Blaze in Petrochemical Complex in Iran’s Mahshahr

Petrochemical Complex in Iran’s Mahshahr
Petrochemical Complex in Iran’s Mahshahr

A crisis management task force has been established to deal with the fire that started at the complex on Wednesday.

An order has been issued by the task force to drain all of the reservoirs of the refinery after one of them, which was full of Naphta, caught fire.

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, the governor general of Mahashahr said there have been no fatalities in the incident and that the fire is under control.

Currently, two firefighting helicopters are dropping water onto the blazing facilities of the complex, he said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to the report.

 

World’s Largest and Smallest Qurans Unveiled in Iran

World’s Largest and Smallest Qurans

In a ceremony held on Sunday, July 3, in the central Iranian city of Qom, the world’s largest and most valuable Quran was unveiled. The holy book, made up of silver and gold, has been hand-made using naked eyes. The book size is 180 x 135 cm.

During the ceremony, which was attended by Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, the world’s smallest handwritten Quran, with a size of 5 x 7 mm, was also unveiled.

 

Zionist Rabbi Calls for Execution of All Palestinians

Zionist Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu

According to a report by IRNA, as translated by IFP, the Zionist Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu has claimed that the followers of Torah are obliged to execute Palestinians as part of their divine duty.

The Israeli rabbi said operations against “occupying forces” in the West Bank have increased since early October.

“It is our responsibility to take revenge from the Palestinians,” he added.

Police Blames Pakistan for Martyrdom of 4 Iranian Border Guards

Iranian Police Spokesman, Saeed Montazer-al-Mahdi
Iranian Police Spokesman, Saeed Montazer-al-Mahdi

According to a report by Fars, as translated by IFP, Iranian Police Spokesman, Saeed Montazer-al-Mahdi, expressed deepest regrets over the martyrdom of four Iranian border guards in Iran’s southeastern border point of Jakigur, and said, “The terrorist militants managed to flee into Pakistan because of Islamabad’s neglect over its borders.”

He hailed the courageous resistance of Iranian soldiers, adding, “Terrorists sought to conduct malicious acts of terror inside the country, but the plots were fortunately thwarted and a huge amount of ammunition was confiscated.”

“Commanders of Iran’s border guards are probing into the issue and have lodged formal complaints against the Pakistani government. Their security officials are required to hand over the terrorists as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he underscored.

The so-called Jaish ul-Adl [Army of Justice] terrorist group is behind the recent terrorist attack. Jaish-ul-Adl has claimed responsibility for a number of criminal activities in Iran and Pakistan in recent years. This insurgent group is based in Sistan and Balouchestan province of Iran.

Last month, a police officer and five members of the terrorist group were also killed in Khash region in Sistan and Balouchestan, as reported by Press TV.

Iranian forces have recently engaged in clashes with terrorist groups, curbing their wicked terrorist plans on the border and within the country, arresting several of them and confiscating large amounts of explosives and bomb-making materials.

Palestine, Islamic World’s Pivotal Issue: Ayatollah Khamenei

Leader-1

The root causes of wars, insecurity and terrorism in the region and in the Islamic world are the arrogant powers, with the US at the top, Ayatollah Khamenei said on Wednesday, in a gathering of Iranian officials and people as well as ambassadors of Islamic countries, held in Tehran after the Eid al-Fitr prayers.

“They (arrogant powers) seek to deny the existence of a geography and a nation, whereas Palestine has a thousands-year history and the Palestinian nation also owns a land, and these facts are undeniable,” the Leader underscored.

“Palestine is the Islamic world’s pivotal issue, and no Muslim and even non-Muslim country with human conscience should forget it,” Imam Khamenei added.

The Leader also emphasized that the Zionist regime of Israel will be “definitely given a slap in the face” for its atrocities against the beleaguered nation of Palestine.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei decried insincere claims about fighting terrorism, saying that world powers are “supporting and fostering terrorism in practice”.

Making a reference to a US plot that turned a political turmoil in Syria into a civil, fratricidal war, Ayatollah Khamenei warned of the same scenario in Bahrain.

The Leader, however, made it clear that “Iran has not and will not run any interference in Bahrain’s affairs.”

“But if there is political awareness and wisdom in that country (Bahrain), they should not allow a political conflict to turn into a civil war, and should not pit the people against each other,” Imam Khamenei stressed.

Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa regime since early 2011, with Manama using harsh tactics to silence the protests.

Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Condemns Terrorist Attacks in Saudi Arabia and Iraq

larijani

“The terrorist blast in Saudi Arabia’s Qatif and the one in Medina, near the holy Mosque of Prophet, were sources of disappointment and grief,” Larijani said in an address to the Parliament on Tuesday, July 5.

The terrorist attack in Medina was even more shameless since it desecrated the sanctity of such a holy place as Prophet’s shrine, he went on to say, as reported by Mehr.

He further condemned the attacks, and expressed regret and sympathy with the “dear” people of Saudi Arabia, who suffered serious damages in these attacks.

“Iran has reiterated in many occasions that a strategic mistake lies in using terrorism as an instrument to achieve political ends,” he said, adding that such countries are making a big strategic mistake since the groups they support would return to pose active threats to these countries as well.

“We hope that these events would enlighten the people as well as governments in the region, giving them better insights to the nature of terrorism and a motivation to promote unity among Muslims.”

He also condemned Al-Karada market explosions in Baghdad, which killed and wounded 400 innocent citizens.

“Such barbarity conducted by these terrorists indicates their frustration of several defeats they suffered on the grounds in Fallujah and elsewhere in Iraq,” Larijani said.

He offered condolences to Iraqi government and people for the event, and expressed his hope that Iraqi people will find more success in future in defeating and destroying terrorists.

His comments came after suicide bombings in three Saudi Arabian cities over a 24-hour period.

Two of the attacks failed but four people were killed in the third one, all of which appear to be coordinated.

The first occurred before dawn on Monday, July 4, near the US Consulate in Jeddah. The attacker killed only himself after detonating an explosive according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Policemen were injured in the attack.

In Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, a suicide bomber attempted to launch an attack at a Shiite mosque on Monday evening, but failed, killing himself in the process, according to an official with knowledge of the event. There were no injuries.

But the deadliest attack occurred in Medina, where four people were killed and another person was wounded, according to an informed official.

The holy city of Medina is a major spot in Islam because that hosts the shrine of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

The bomber, who died in the explosion, targeted security officers, but it is unknown precisely who was killed, the source said.

Earlier on Sunday, July 3, an explosion in a busy shopping district in Baghdad, the Al-Karada market, killed at least 215 people and wounded dozens more.

Intelligence Ministry Refutes Sending Threatening Messages to Journalists

Religious Minorities Can Improve Iran's Global Image: Minister
Iran's Intelligence Minister Seyyed Mahmoud Alavi

Referring to the claims that the Ministry has sent threatening messages to Iranian journalists, Intelligence Minister Seyyed Mahmoud Alavi noted, “This organization has not sent any text messages to journalists. I do not believe an official source is behind the move, because the nature of such manoeuvres is clumsy and unprofessional”.

“Officials with the Intelligence Ministry may issue serious warnings to a single journalist for wrongdoing, but they never send threatening messages en masse to a large number of journalists,” he said in an interview with ICANA, as translated by IFP.

An anonymous source has recently sent a message to a wide range of Iranian journalists, giving them a “last warning” to cut their ties with “hostile” media. No one yet knows whether the country’s security bodies were behind the threat or not.

“All contact and collaboration with hostile elements based abroad, by mail or other methods of communication, is a crime and will be brought to justice. This text message is the last warning,” the message said.

Iranian media reported that numerous journalists and public figures including women and child rights activists received the text message on Thursday, June 30.

President Rouhani Lauds Late Kiarostami’s View of Life

“Abbas Kiarostami’s disinct and profound view of life and his inviting humans to peace and friendship will be (regarded as) a lasting achievement in the 7th Art (cinema),” President Rouhani said in a message posted on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

Kiarostami passed away at the age 76 in a hospital in Paris after months of battling gastrointestinal cancer. The award-winning scholar succumbed to a stroke in Paris on Monday, a few days after leaving Tehran.

Also on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, “Iran has lost a towering figure in international cinema. May the Almighty receive him in His Infinite Mercy. Rest in peace ostad (master).”

Late on Monday, Iranian Ambassador to Paris Ali Ahani confirmed the director’s death, saying that Iran’s embassy is taking necessary consular measures to repatriate Kiarostami’s body to his homeland.

Kiarostami made more than 40 films in Iran, including documentaries. He won the Palme D’Or, the top prize at Cannes, with his 1997 film Taste of Cherry.

But he shot his last two films outside the country.

Kiarostami was hugely influential in world cinema. The French-Swiss director Jean-Luc Godard is reputed to have said, “Film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami.”

He was the only Iranian to ever win the Palme D’Or.

Taste of Cherry was a minimalist film about a man looking for someone to bury him after his suicide. It examined Iranian civic and religious attitudes of the time.

In 2005 he teamed up with the British director Ken Loach and the Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olmo to make a three-part film called Tickets.

US director Martin Scorsese said Kiarostami was “a very special human being: quiet, elegant, modest, articulate and quite observant.

“He was a true gentleman and, truly, one of our great artists.”

The New York cinema magazine The Film Stage tweeted that “the world may have lost its greatest filmmaker”.

The British Film Institute tweeted that it was “saddened” at the news, while the Telegraph’s film critic Robbie Collin called him a “miracle-worker disguised as a close-up magician”.

Iran’s DM Urges Muslim Unity to Restore Security to Islamic World

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan
Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan

In separate messages on Tuesday, Dehqan expressed the hope that cooperation and unity among Islamic nations and governments would help security and calm prevail in the Muslim world again.

Eid al-Fitr, also called Feast of Breaking the Fast, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

On the day of Eid al-Fitr, Muslims attend prayers in congregation, listen to sermons and give Zakat al-Fitr or donations to the poor.

While a number of Muslim countries celebrated the Eid on Tuesday, most Muslims around the world, including Iranians, will mark the occasion on Wednesday.

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5

Iran Newspaper front pages

Newspapers on Tuesday covered the death of famous and acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami in the French capital Paris.

They also highlighted a statement by President Hassan Rouhani, which addressed the Iranian nation on the issue of huge salaries paid to certain executives. Rouhani vowed to pursue the issue until the eradication of corruption, and stressed that he will not take anyone as an exception.

 

Abrar:

1- 3 Days of National Mourning in Iraq

2- Iran Is Second-Biggest Threat to US: Democrat Party

3- Moscow Ready to Deliver 2nd Batch of S-300 Missile Defence System to Iran

4- Personal Information of 25% of Iranians Were Leaked, But No One Was Dismissed or Gave an Apology

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Abrar-e Eqtesadi:

1- 20% of Iranian Industries Are Shut Down

2- Saipa to Implement New Form of Contracts with Foreign Companies

3- Government to Discuss Ban on Imports of 870 Types of Goods [which have homegrown counterparts]

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Aftab-e Yazd:

1- Two Messages of an Absence: Why Aref Didn’t Take Part in President’s Iftar Ceremony?

2- Saudi Arabia Begins Cutting Subsidies: Riyadh’s Economic Problems

3- Almost $300 Received for German Embassy Interview

 

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Arman-e Emrooz:

1- Zarif’s Secret Meetings in Qom! FM Met Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi and Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani

2- Rouhani’s Important Statement to Iranian Nation: People Should Know, Anti-Corruption Campaign Will Confront Any Offender

3- Displaying Anti-American Hoardings to Become President: City Council Members Protest at Tehran Mayor’s Anti-American Billboards

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Asia:

1- Cutting People’s Access to the Internet Is Now Regarded as Violation of Human Rights

2- Italy’s 150-Strong Business Delegation En Route to Iran

Asia daily


 

Asrar:

1- Salaries of All Bodies and Powers to Be Monitored: Intelligence Minister

2- Trilateral Committee to Be Held to Discuss Bioterrorism: Health Ministry

3- Official Licence for Screening of Foreign Films in Iranian Cinemas

4- New Oil Contracts Should Be Revised: VP

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Ebtekar:

1- Rouhani Underlines Government’s Resolve to Eradicate Corruption

2- Inappropriate Water Resources Management and Missing Culture of Water Use

3- Dear User! There Is No Security in Your Network! [on leakage of Irancell users’ personal information]

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Emtiaz:

1- Iran on Verge of Population Aging Crisis

2- Ceremony Held in Australia in Honour of Master Shajarian

3- Iran’s New Oil Contracts to Be Unveiled

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Etemad:

1- President’s Report to People: All Bodies Urged to Declare the Salaries They Pay to Their Executives on Their Official Websites

2- $70bn Increase in Iran’s National Assets [a report on performance of National Development Fund’s resigned executives]

3- Suicide Operation in Medina

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Ettela’at:

1- It’s Necessary to Pay Attention to Transfer of New Technologies in Foreign Contracts: First VP

2- World Condemns Baghdad Terrorist Attacks

3- We’ll Not Rest in Confronting Terrorism: Zarif

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Haft-e Sobh:

1- Goodbye Decent Genius: Abbas Kiarostami Dies at 76

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Hamshahri:

1- President Promises to Make a Major Change in Banking System

2- Do Mobile Phone Operators Sell Their Users’ Information?

3- Takfiris [Extremists] Narrate the Story of Their Operation against Tehran

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Iran:

1- Kiarostami Arrived at “Friend’s House”: World Renowned Iranian Director Dies in Paris

2- A Report on Emerging Phenomenon of “Hair Donation”

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Javan:

1- Saudi Arabia’s Hands in Baghdad Slaughter: Iraqi Officials Consider Riyadh the Prime Suspect

2- If There’s a Need for Apology in Some Cases, We Should Apologize: Rouhani, Referring to Huge Salaries

3- We Received €600,000 for 50 Operations in Tehran: Captured ISIS Element

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Jomhouri Eslami:

1- Iran Strongly Slams Ahmed Aboul Gheit’s Remarks: Arab League Has Endorsed Aggression and Killing Brothers

2- US to Return from Syria with Empty Hands: Newsweek

3- Iraqi Army Preparing for Major Operation near Syrian Border

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Khorasan:

1- Fake British Bomb Detectors: How ISIS Suicide Attackers Entered Baghdad?

2- Top Shiite Cleric Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi Strongly Condemns the Film that Insults Sunnis’ Sanctities

3- Suicide Attack near Prophet’s Mosque in Medina

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Rah-e Mardom:

1- 8% of Iran’s Population Is Aged: We’re Getting Close to Population Aging Crisis

2- Record-Breaking Power Use during Summer

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Resalat:

1- Washington Isn’t Reliable under Any Circumstances: US Hostilities Continue

2- Iran Doesn’t Recognize Unfair Global Order: IRGC Lieutenant Commander

3- Issue of Unconventional Salaries Not Related to Any Particular Branch of Iranian Establishment: Rouhani

4- Larijani: Parliament Supports Government’s Efforts to Revive 6,500 Production Units

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Roozan:

1- Westerners’ Lives Seem to Be More Valuable than Those of Middle-Easters: Why Global Media Don’t Express Sympathy with Victims of Terrorism in Mideast

2- New Signs of Evolution in Regional Crises: From Putin’s Letter to Obama to Changes in Turkey

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Setareh Sobh:

1- A Look at Triangle of Russia, Turkey and Israel: Is There a Plot Coming?

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Shahrvand:

1- Towards Transparency: Rouhani Vows in His Statement

2- 17 Students Committed Suicide in Past Year

3- I Wanted to Boast My Talent by Leaking Personal Information of Irancell Users: Arrested Element

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5


 

Vatan-e Emrooz:

1- Failed Policies: What Iranian Oil Minister’s Adoption of Saudi Policy of “Market Share” Did to Iran’s Oil Incomes

2- Number of Baghdad Blast’s Victims Rises to More than 200

A Look at Iranian Newspaper Front Pages on July 5