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Iran’s Beauties in Photos: Pomegranate Blossoms

By
Fatemeh Askarieh
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Pomegranate-10

Iran’s Zagros Mountains, which run across the country from the northwest to the south, are famous for being a perfect habitat for pomegranates, which are known in Persian as Anar.

Having trumpet-like flowers, the fruit blossoms in late May and early June; and is enjoyed by Iranians in autumn and winter. Iran is the second largest producer of pomegranates In the world. The fruit also plays a central role in local cuisine and culture.

These photos show pomegranate blossoms in Shahreza, in the southern part of Isfahan Province.

 

 

Iran Carrying Out JCPOA Commitments Quickly, US Too Slowly

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Mohammad Javad Larijani

According to a report by Javan Online, as translated by IFP, Larijani referred to the recent US seizure of Iranian assets as an instance of violating the JCPOA, and stressed that it was not the first time US had done so.

“What the Americans did was against international regulations, but it could also be considered as being against the spirit of the JCPOA,” Larijani said.

“It is mentioned in the text of the JCPOA that all parties are recommended to avoid making any move that leads to mutual distrust. The recent move by the US administration has definitely led to our distrust of them.”

“Of course, this was not the first time the Americans have violated the JCPOA; one can find many instances of the issue. For example, we were not obliged to carry out our commitments all at once, while they do theirs little by little,” Larijani stressed.

“If the two sides were just supposed to issue orders, but nothing happens based on these orders, we could have issued orders for the filling of our reactors with cement, but prolonged the implementation of the order for five years based on the Westerners’ ‘slow-drip’ policy.”

“The Americans claim to have issued the order to lift sanctions, pay frozen money, and encourage the banks to reintegrate with us, but all of them have basically remained at the level of an order, and none of them have been implemented.”

“Of course, I believe we should have predicted such violations and disloyalty by the Western side and known that we would be dealing with an unreliable partner,” he added.

Larijani further hailed the efforts made by the government to pursue the JCPOA implementation and the return of Iran’s frozen assets, saying, “I believe if the Westerners and the US witness Iran’s firm reaction to their dishonest behaviour, they will realize that such moves have made us distrustful of them, and will back off from their actions.”

On April 20, the US Supreme Court upheld the Congress and President Barack Obama’s actions to hold Iran financially responsible for the 1983 bombing that killed 241 Marines at their barracks in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The ruling, strongly denounced by Iran, allows the families of the Marines and victims of other attacks that courts have linked to Iran to seize some $2bn in assets held in New York’s Citibank, belonging to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which had been blocked under US sanctions.

World’s Longest Tunnel Opens Deep beneath Swiss Alps

By
Fatemeh Askarieh
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Le-tunnel

According to a report by CNN covered by KhabarOnline, the 57-kilometre long (35-mile long) Gotthard Base Tunnel is billed as Switzerland’s “construction of the century.”

It creates a high-speed rail link deep beneath the famous mountain range, connecting northern and southern Europe. With characteristic Swiss punctuality, this major engineering feat has been completed on schedule.

Reaching a depth of 2,300 meters (7,545 feet, almost 1.5 miles) the tunnel will slice an hour off the travel time between Zurich, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy.

Trains will travel the tunnel, which runs between the towns of Erstfeld in the north and Bodio in the south, in only 20 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 250km an hour (155 mph), according to the Swiss Travel System.

The project is expected to have benefits both for travel and trade, and provide a direct and economic route for freight transport.

tunnel2It overtakes the 53.9km Seikan Tunnel in northern Japan as the longest rail tunnel in the world, relegating the 50.5km Channel Tunnel between Britain and France into third place.

The line, which will begin full operations in December, is celebrating its grand opening on Wednesday, with European dignitaries including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern among those scheduled to attend.

The inauguration will establish a mainline rail corridor through Europe from Dutch port of Rotterdam in the north to the Italian port of Genoa on the Mediterranean. It is expected to bring significant environmental benefits by diverting freight sent by road on to rail instead.

“The main reason for the construction of this tunnel was to get the goods traffic off the motorway and onto the trains,” Simon Peggs of AlpTransit Gotthard AG, the company behind the construction of the tunnel, told CNN when the tunnel was completed

“It’s just getting more and more [busy] every year and it was estimated that by 2020, the roads would be so blocked that something had to be done.”

It is anticipated that the economic benefits of increased trade and travel efficiency will make inroads into the tunnel’s $12 billion construction cost.

The new tunnel, green-lighted by the Swiss public in a national referendum in 1992, bypasses the scenic original Gotthard line.

tunnel3

That line, popular with tourists for its panoramic views as it winds through the mountain range, crossing 205 bridges in the process, will continue to operate, the Swiss Travel System says.

About 2,600 workers have been involved in the construction of the tunnel, with at least eight losing their lives in the process. The final two meters of rock were drilled through amid fanfare six years ago.

Official Urges Iranians Not to Go to Hajj from Third Country

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Officially Declares Cancellation of This Year's Hajj Pilgrimage

As reported by Tasnim, Ohadi pointed to his recent talks with Saudi Hajj officials, saying that in the second round of the negotiations, the Saudis followed the same “improper” approach they had adopted toward the issue of Iranians’ Hajj pilgrimage in the first round.

Regarding this year’s Hajj, the Saudi authorities’ discrimination and hatred, as well as their attempts to take political revenge, had “reached a peak”, he said.

“This year, due to the psychological atmosphere against Iran created by the Saudis and [their] failure to provide consular services to Iranian pilgrims, it is not advisable for any [Iranian] nationals to go on Hajj pilgrimage from another country,” the official warned.

 

Saudis’ Scenario to Block Way of Iranian Pilgrims to Mecca

According to IFP’s translation of a report by Mashreq, Ohadi further said that drama which played out, preventing Iranians from going on Hajj, was a tool to take political revenge on Iran, unlike what Riyadh claims.

“Before the severance of ties, coordination meetings for this year’s Hajj were delayed by Saudis, which proves that Riyadh had a pre-arranged plan to deprive Iranians from Hajj,” he noted.

 

On May 24, an Iranian delegation travelled to Saudi Arabia at the official invitation of new Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten to hold last-ditch talks with the Arab kingdom’s officials on the dispatch of Iranian pilgrims for the annual rituals in September.

Tehran had insisted in the talks that visas for Iranian pilgrims should be issued in Iran and that the safety of travellers to Saudi Arabia must be ensured, given the disaster in Mina that killed many pilgrims in the previous Hajj pilgrimage. However, Riyadh refused to accept Iran’s conditions.

More than 460 Iranians were among the thousands of pilgrims who died on September 24, 2015, in a crush in Mina, near Mecca, during the Hajj pilgrimage. The incident marked the worst ever Hajj tragedy.

Battle for Fallujah: What’s Happening to the Civilians?

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Fallujeh

According to a report covered by Al Alam News Network, a Fallujah resident told the AFP news agency by telephone that many civilians were fearful of what ISIS might do as fighting intensified.

“Their treatment of the people is getting worse and worse every day. There is a feeling of panic among them, it seems,” said the resident, who gave his name as Abu Mohammed al-Dulaimi.

“Daesh is angry because they don’t feel supported and they have been seen insulting people on the streets, shouting things like: ‘Cowards, you are not with us,’” he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

“Yesterday, they were rounding up young men from several parts of the city – we think maybe around 100 of them – and taking them to an unknown location,” he said.

He went on to say that many civilians were now eager to see the security forces recapture the city but that there was fear of what the terrorists might do as defeat loomed.

Many civilians – most estimates say around 50,000 – are trapped inside Fallujah. The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) spoke of “reports of several hundred families being used as human shields by ISIS in the centre of Fallujah.”

UN deputy representative to Iraq Lise Grande described the reports as “credible” and said the families being pushed into the city centre were at “extreme risk”.

Officers in the Iraqi forces say ISIS has been forcibly recruiting men and ever younger boys to man its defence.

A 40-year-old woman reached by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NARC) inside Fallujah painted a dire picture of the conditions.

“The stocks in the hospitals are running low. There is no medicine for ordinary people. The doctor is affiliated with ISIS and he refuses to help ordinary people,” the aid group quoted her as saying.

“Instead of providing adequate treatment, doctors often simply amputate a patient’s arms or legs if they are in pain. There are no anaesthetics left.”

Thousands of civilians have escaped ISIS-controlled areas since the start of the operation to retake the city on May 22-23, but nearly all of them were from outlying areas.

The 50,000 civilians still believed trapped in the city centre would have to dodge ISIS booby-traps and incoming shelling from Iraqi troops to reach safety.

“People who managed to flee have told us of extreme hunger and starvation. We haven’t been able to see this for ourselves or assist people inside the town, and we are extremely concerned about the full extent of the terrors unfolding there,” said Nasr Muflahi, the NRC’s Iraq director.

ISIS has come under mounting pressure on the battlefield in recent weeks, with Kurdish forces also gaining ground in the north in a two-day operation that wound up on Monday east of Mosul, the terrorists’ other urban bastion in Iraq.

Rouhani: Nation Determined To Achieve Goals of the Islamic Revolution

By
Golrokh Askarieh
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Rouhani and Nobakht

Preserving unity, coherence, coordination, the spirit of sacrifice and moderation are all needed to achieve the late Imam Khomeini’s aspirations, Rouhani said at the cabinet session.

“Today, the implementation of Resistance Economy policies, creating economic growth and job opportunities, and improving public living conditions are among the important goals of the Islamic Revolution,” said the President.

Referring to the 27th anniversary of the demise of the late founder of the Islamic Republic and father of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini, which is remembered on June 3, Rouhani said the late Imam taught the lesson of resistance in line with independence.

He further hoped that the Iranian people, as well as the country’s officials, will continue moving towards the Imam’s path, with the help of the guidelines of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Zarif Urges US to Remove ‘Psychological Banking Barrier’ in Trade with Iran

By
Golrokh Askarieh
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Iran FM Mohammad Javad Zarif

“It seems that there is a psychological barrier,” Zarif told reporters during his visit in Helsinki, Finland, on Tuesday May 31, calling on Washington to do more to assure banks that they can do business with Iran following the removal of anti-Tehran sanctions.

“Some European countries, even European banks, continue to be concerned about retribution by the United States. I believe that (in) the United States, they need to go further in order to provide reassurances to the banks that this will not take place,” Reuters quoted the Iranian Foreign Minister as saying.

Travelling with a 60-strong delegation of Iranian businessmen, Zarif arrived in Finland on Monday night after a two-day visit to Poland.

During his visit, Zarif held a meeting with Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto in which the two sides explored avenues for the development of cooperation. Zarif also extended an invitation of President Hassan Rouhani to his Finnish counterpart to visit Iran.

Earlier in the day, the Iranian top diplomat had met with Finnish Parliament Speaker Maria Lohela, during which they discussed ways to boost the two countries’ ties. He later held a meeting with Martti Ahtisaari, the tenth president of Finland from 1994 to 2000, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a United Nations diplomat.

First VP Embraces MP’s Criticism of Oil Contracts, Calls for Amendments

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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eshagh jahangir
eshagh jahangiri

Here’s IFP’s translation of a report by Alef news website:

 

After Tavakkoli, a member of the previous Iranian Parliament, published a letter he had written to Jahangiri to urge him to modify new oil contracts, the Iranian First VP commended the letter, and ordered Zanganeh to prepare proposals for amendments to be approved in the Cabinet.

Tavakkoli, who is also the chairman of the Transparency and Justice Watch NGO, noted in his letter that the new model of oil contracts is against national interests and the Establishment’s strategic interests.

He called for a major reform in the government’s strategy for attracting foreign investment and technology in the oil and gas industry.

In response to the criticism, on Tuesday May 31 Jahangiri wrote the following letter to Zanganeh and urged him to offer appropriate corrections to the Cabinet:

“The letter written on May 21 by Dr. Tavakkoli, entitled ‘A report on the discussions between a group of critics and the Oil Ministry officials: Why the government should strategically change its approach in attracting foreign investment?’ was read by First VP Eshaq Jahangiri. He wrote as a footnote:

Dear Mr. Zanganeh, Minister of Oil, and Mr. Mohammadi, member of the Expediency Council,

Thank you for your efforts to take critical views into account: please present the government with your proposals for amendments for adoption [by the government] as soon as possible.

I appreciate the critics who have tried to make the framework of contracts more complete, and declared their opinions in person or through letters, or by publishing them in the media.”

(Jahangiri’s letter to Zangeneh, as published on the government website)

 

In his critical letter, Tavakkoli had asserted that the new oil and gas contracts are in violation of Iran’s regulations, breach the country’s national sovereignty, contradict the principles of Resistance Economy, collapse the National Iran Oil Company [NIOC], promote the sale of crude oil [the Leader has repeatedly discouraged the sale of raw materials, and called for them to be refined before being sold], provide enormous interest rates for foreign companies, and bestow oilfields across the country to foreign companies at least for 7 years of excavation and 25 years of development and operation. He thus concluded that the IPC [Iran Petroleum Contract] is against the country’s national interests.

It is worth mentioning that earlier this year, Zanganeh called Tavakkoli a “sympathetic critic”.

According to a report by Press TV,IPC is replacing buyback deals. Under a buyback deal, the host government agrees to pay the contractor an agreed price for all volumes of hydrocarbons the contractor produces.

Under the IPC, however, the NIOC will set up joint ventures for crude oil and gas production with international companies, who will be paid with a share of the output.

Under the IPC, different stages of exploration, development and production will be offered to contractors as an integrated package, with the emphasis laid on enhanced and improved recovery.

The architects of the new contract say foreign companies can no longer rush out of their contractual obligations if sanctions are ever re-imposed on Iran. Critics, however, cite numerous shortcomings which seriously hinder the new formulation.

Iran and Russia in Talks over Electricity Exchange

By
Golrokh Askarieh
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Electricity

Payam Baqeri, head of the Export Committee of the Iranian Power Industry Union, told the Azerbaijan Press Agency (APA) that Iran and Russia have long been negotiating over electricity swaps during summer and winter.

Accordingly, Iran will export electricity to Russia during winter and Russia will power up Iran’s electricity grid during summer, when local heat raises power consumption.

The report said a significant issue for the two sides has been picking a route for the power transfer.

It said that currently two routes were available; one from Iran to Armenia and then Georgia before reaching Russia, and the other from Iran to Azerbaijan and then Russia, via Georgia again.

The official reportedly said that given the existing conditions for power exchange, the swap was likely to take place through Azerbaijan.

He said the two neighbours have already synchronized their power grids.

Navy 40th Flotilla Returns Home, Ending 55-Day Mission

By
Golrokh Askarieh
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Iran Navy 40th Flotilla

The flotilla was welcomed by Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari to the southern Iranian port.

The mission of the Iranian flotilla was to execute the Supreme Leader’s orders, preserve the country’s interests in free waters, fight against pirates and provide security for shipping lines. The flotilla was also carrying a message of peace and friendship to the world. It attended a joint exercise with naval forces of India.

Coincident with its return, the 41st Iranian flotilla started an international mission after being seen off by Navy commanders.

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