Venice hosted a 56th International Art Exhibition (May 9-November 22, 2015).
Iranian artists took part in the event which was held at the Giardini, the Arsenale and in various locations across the city of Venice, for a seventh time.
The following images of what the Iranians artists had to offer at the arts event have been released by Honaronline.ir:
Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Valiollah Seif on Sunday called on Sweden to restore ranking of Iranian banks to prior levels before the sanctions.
Seif made the remarks in a meeting with a visiting Swedish delegation.
He said that restoration of ranking of Iranian banks to the prior level would help develop banking relations.
Referring to longstanding ties between Iran and Sweden, Seif said that Iran’s policy focuses on establishing proper economic relations with longstanding trade partners.
The governor of Central Bank of Iran added Iran is eager to revive trade ties with Sweden so that the trade between the two countries would return to the level it stood before the sanctions.
The comments of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani on freedoms in an Islamic establishment and elections dominated the front pages of reformist-leaning newspapers on Monday. Also on the covers of dailies were the comments of the parliament speaker and events preceding Student Day.
Ettela’at: The Executive and Judiciary are determined to counter large-scale land grab.
A senior judicial official has said that the last two decades have seen the number of land grab cases grow. The reason: Emergence of corrupt individuals. Countering these individuals who have links to corridors of power requires Jihad-style determination.
Abrar: A Western news website has praised the Leader for the letter he has recently written to Western youth.
Abrar: All prisoners behind bars for misdemeanor accidents in Kermanshah Province have been freed.
Afarinesh: An Islamic state awards freedom to its citizens and won’t limit them, said the chairman of the Expediency Council.
Aftab-e Yazd: Divisions in the ranks of principlists have become more public, making unity more unlikely, an analysis by the daily suggests.
Amin: Some are fabricating red lines, said Tehran MP Ali Motahari.
Arman-e Emrooz: The story of suspicious dolls
Some 300 dolls containing hazardous material have been seized from Iranian pilgrims returning home from Iraq where they took part in the Arba’een March.
Asrar: [A massive] Public turnout would translate into defeat for hardliners, said Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
He further advised parties against going to extremes in making decisions and implementing them.
Asrar: Most principlists do not approve of the Stability Front [a hardline faction of the principlists], said Mohammad Reza Aref, a reformist leader and former vice-president.
Ebtekar: Election of a moderate clergyman changed the way the world looks at Iran, said Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Ebtekar: President Rouhani is to present next year’s spending package to parliament on Tuesday.
Ebtekar: A single-rate foreign exchange system will be introduced six months after the termination of sanctions, said the governor of the Central Bank of Iran.
Emtiaz: Three top tourist towns will be named during the New Year holiday [March 2016], said the director of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization.
Emtiaz: Authorities have seized antiques dating back to the Sassanid and Parthian periods in Bijar.
Emtiaz: Police have arrested 8,000 car thieves, muggers and handbag snatchers in the capital.
Etemad: Ayatollah Rafsanjani has slammed double standards in dealing with the comments of the Supreme Leader.
Hambastegi: Rivalry between reformists and principlists does not amount to enmity, said Rasoul Montajabnia, a senior reformist leader.
Hemayat: Those who encroach upon public funds will never have peace of mind, said a deputy attorney general.
Hemayat: The co-defendant in the so-called oil case [of which Babak Zanjani is the main defendant] has been charged with money laundering, forgery and corruption on Earth.
Iran: The parliament speaker has called on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to declare Iran’s case closed.
The call came after a report by the UN nuclear chief said that there has been no diversion in Iran’s nuclear program.
Javan: A sick doctor removes the sutures of humanity.
A doctor in a hospital in Khomeinishahr ordered the stitches he had just put in the chin of a four-year-old patient taken out when he found out his mother cannot afford the hospital fees.
Jomhouri Islami: Iran and India have struck a $3 billion deal on development of a gas field.
Jomhouri Islami: Hamid Baeedinejad, a senior official with the Iranian Foreign Ministry, has said that intensive talks will be held in Vienna to draft a P5+1 resolution which is hoped to set the stage for the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Kaenat: The minister of labor has said cash subsidies of 2.943 million Iranians have been cut off.
Kaenat: Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action has been the best option.
Kayhan: Heavy snowfall has closed roads and promoted officials to order schools closed in several provinces.
Mardomsalari: The parliament speaker has said that the world of Islam takes on senseless violence and blind prejudice.
Resalat: Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to the Supreme Leader, has described President Assad as a red line for Iran.
Rooyesh Mellat: Iran and Bosnia have deep political and cultural roots, Foreign Minister Zarif said.
Saheb Ghalam: Commercial and industrial ties between Iran and Sweden will be boosted.
Sayeh: The capital has been blanketed by its first autumnal snow.
Sayeh: The Europeans are interested in taking part in oil projects on the western bank of the Karoon River.
Setareh Sobh: The Health Ministry has issued an influenza warning.
[More than] 20 have already lost their lives to the flu.
Tejarat: Saeed Mortazavi [a former director of the Social Security Organization on trial for corruption] has been implicated in the trial of Babak Zanjani [who is also on trial for corruption].
Vaghaye-e Etefaghiye: The office of the former president has said that Ahmadinejad has no plans for the upcoming elections.
♦ The Executive and Judiciary are determined to counter large-scale land grab.
A senior judicial official has said that the last two decades have seen the number of land grab cases grow. The reason: Emergence of corrupt individuals. Countering these individuals who have links to corridors of power requires Jihad-style determination.
♦ The vice-president for women and family affairs has blamed the negligence of the previous government for the spike in social harms.
Studies suggest over the past few years no plans or policies to curb social harms have been on the agenda.
♦ Germany has warned Saudi Arabia against financing terrorist groups.
The German vice-chancellor said many threats against Germany originate from Wahhabist hubs.
♦ A hopeful presence of the public [on the scene] will buttress the foundation of the establishment, said the chairman of the Expediency Council.
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani further said that those who view themselves as custodians of the public and thus entitled to deciding their destiny should not take any measure that might render people indifferent.
♦ The health minister has blamed financial problems for failure to implement the so-called researcher physician project in universities.
♦ Assad has said London and Paris top the list of terror sponsors.
The Syrian president said British and French airstrikes on Syria are illegal.
♦ Ali Akbar Velayati said Iran won’t leave Assad alone on political and war fronts.
The advisor to the Supreme Leader further said Iran has a duty to ease tensions between Russia and Turkey and that emergence of new tensions on top of those which already exist won’t serve anyone’s interest.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s new ambassador to Iran stressed the need for the expansion of bilateral relations in light of a lasting nuclear deal recently finalized between Tehran and six world powers.
The new Bosnian envoy, Kemal Muftić, met Foreign Minister Zarif in Tehran on Sunday to submit a copy of his credentials.
During the meeting, Zarif hoped that the “new developments” and upcoming termination of anti-Iran sanctions under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) would help expand the political, economic, cultural and parliamentary relations between Tehran and Sarajevo.
For his part, Muftić expressed optimism that the two countries would take “new strides” in bilateral ties considering Iran’s progress and the new developments ushered in by the JCPOA.
Iran and Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14 reached a conclusion on the lasting nuclear agreement that would terminate all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program after coming into force.
Senior Iranian officials have met with the European Union (EU)’s deputy foreign policy chief a day before a planned meeting with representatives from all P5+1 member states over the closure of all past and present issues regarding the Iranian nuclear program.
Majid Takht-e Ravanchi and Abbas Araghchi, Iranian deputy foreign ministers, met with the European Union’s political Director Helga Schmid, at Palais Coburg Hotel in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Sunday.
A joint commission comprising the Iranian officials and their counterparts from P5+1 group of countries – the United States, Britain, France, China, and Russia plus Germany – is to convene in the Austrian capital on Monday.
Iran and the world powers concluded a nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in Vienna on July 14. Under the JCPOA, limits are put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.
On the same day, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed a roadmap for “the clarification of past and present issues” regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
P5+1 countries must now submit a resolution, as per Article 14 of the JCPOA, to the IAEA Board of Governors for the closure of the file of the so-called possible military dimensions regarding the Iranian nuclear program. The board’s approval of the resolution would seal the case.
The Monday meeting is set to discuss the draft of the resolution prepared by P5+1 countries.
The Traditional Tiling Workshop in North Khorasan is the only such workshop which has its own kiln.
The workshop provides all the tiles used in mosques and holy places as well as other areas in the northeastern province.
The following pictures have been released by Mehr News Agency:
With the US presidential elections heating up, Alef.ir’s Barzin Jafar-Tash has taken a look at the future of Iran’s ties with the West.
The following is the translation of the piece that was released by the news website on December 5:
The victory of Justin Trudeau in Canada was good news for Iran. The news was so good that some analysts described it as the collapse of the last anti-Iran stronghold in the West. On his first working days, Trudeau pulled out of the US-led anti-Daesh coalition and called for the resumption of ties with Iran. His foreign minister has also officially announced that the days of having special relationship with Israel are numbered.
In Britain too, the Labour Party by electing Jeremy Corbyn as party chairman, to a large extent, led the political atmosphere of the country toward wisdom. Jeremy Corbyn is critical of the intervention policies of the US and the West in the Middle East and is one of the veteran activists of the Labour movement.
As for Palestine, Jeremy Corbyn believes in a two-state solution and his meetings with members of the Lebanese Hezbollah Movement have proved problematic for him.
Given the problems France is grappling with and the threat of Daesh, French President Francois Hollande, too, can no longer emerge as a staunch supporter of Israel against Iran.
In such circumstances when blind, loud advocates of Israel are nowhere to be seen in the West, an atmosphere has been prepared for Iran’s political and economic maneuvering. Iran can capitalize on this atmosphere to boost its political ties with the world, the West in particular.
However, this proper international atmosphere will probably undergo change with the 2016 US presidential elections. In the Democratic camp, opinion polls put veteran US Senator Hillary Clinton in the lead with a vast margin.
Given Hillary Clinton’s record of currying favor with Israel and having animosity toward Iran, things will become hard for Iran in case she wins the 2016 elections.
In the Democrats’ last party debate, when she was asked which enemy she made during her political career she was most proud of, she said without hesitation and in a loud voice: “Well, in addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies…the Iranians…. probably the Republicans.”
According to opinion polls, in the other camp (the Republicans), there is a neck and neck competition. Jeb Bush and Senator Ted Cruz who are among the Republicans mainstream – and almost logical – hopefuls are lagging behind Ben Carson and with a wider margin behind Donald Trump.
Trump, the billionaire businessman, with his controversial and dramatic campaign is in the lead with a comfortable margin.
Trump who is known for his racist stances has problem with all US minorities from blacks, to Hispanics, to women and Muslims. He is also one of the staunch opponents of the Iran nuclear agreement. Trump believes that with this agreement, Iran has fooled the US.
In general, none of the Republican candidates have much of a chance versus Hillary Clinton.
Senator Bernie Sanders is the only hopeful for the US presidential elections whose opinions with regard to Iran and Israel differ from other candidates and his triumph can herald a new era both for Iran and the world.
The 74-year-old Sanders is from Vermont. He has been a Black Civil Rights Movement activist and as he says he is the only Socialist at the US Congress. He has turned down big financial aid from corporations and political lobbies, and identifies himself as the representative and supporter of the low- and middle-income families of society. Sanders was among the first Senators who boycotted Netanyahu’s speech at the US Congress, he has rallied behind nuclear agreement with Iran and has publically announced he does not support Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, in primaries and caucuses Senator Bernie Sanders has his work cut out for him taking on a powerful and well-known Clinton.
In such circumstances, the victory of any of the US candidates, except for Senator Bernie Sanders, will create a hard international atmosphere for Iran in 2016.
All these candidates are unconditional supporters of Israel and share a harsh and sometimes irrational enmity toward Iran.
In a condition like this, the wisest approach Iran can adopt during the remaining one year till the US presidential elections is to take advantage of the current logical and proper situation in the West to advance its interests and stabilize its rational image in the court of public opinion in the West.
If Iran takes that step, even the election of an anti-Iran and pro-Israel president will not tilt the balance, and the project that identifies Iran as a security threat and isolates Iran will not be placed back on the agenda.
With the nuclear agreement nearing implementation, the threat Daesh poses to the West and the existence of moderate and logical governments in the West, now it remains to be seen what will happen to Iran-West ties.
UNDP Resident Representative and United Nations Resident Coordinator in Iran Gary Lewis has described as praiseworthy Iran’s efforts to control AIDS, saying that Iran’s performance in fighting AIDS is exemplary in the Middle East and the entire world.
Tuesday December 1 marked World AIDS Day. To celebrate the occasion, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, “World leaders have unanimously committed to ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in September. This commitment reflects the power of solidarity to forge, from a destructive disease, one of the most inclusive movements in modern history.”
The theme of World AIDS Day through 2015 is “Getting to Zero.” Zero new HIV Infections. Zero Discrimination. Zero AIDS Related Deaths”. Vaghaye-e Etefaghiyeh, an Iranian newspaper, on December 6 published an interview it conducted with Mr. Lewis five days earlier on World AIDS Day 2015 – On the Fast Track to End AIDS. The following is the translation of the interview in its entirety:
Q: Where do you think Iran stands now as far as AIDS prevention and treatment is concerned?
A: The number of Iranians living with HIV/AIDS is estimated to be around 80,000. Of that figure only 23,000 have been diagnosed. Of the latter figure, only 6,000 are under treatment. Under new goals, the UN seeks to raise to 90 percent the number of patients who are aware of their HIV status. It also seeks to see 90 percent of people with diagnosed HIV infection receive treatment. The UN also wants 90 percent of all people receiving therapy to have viral suppression.
With the help of science and technology the world has managed to reverse the AIDS epidemic and slow it down. Thanks to the global fight against the epidemic, the number of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths has declined sharply. The figures are on a downward trend since an all-time high of 2004. So we can take the fight against HIV/AIDS one step further and bring the curtain down on it by 2030.
Q: How can you end the AIDS epidemic?
A: We can secure our goals when we follow a strategic approach. In fact, we want to devise on three fronts the strategies Iran wants to adopt in taking on AIDS. As I said by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status. By 2020, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy. And by 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression. It is known as 90-90-90 [An ambitious treatment target to help end the AIDS epidemic]. A large number of countries have promised to implement plans to achieve these goals.
Q: What are your plans for stemming the spread of AIDS in children?
A: All UN activities on HIV come in line with its country programs for fighting AIDS. One such plan is about vulnerable children. We are conducting research to find answers to the existing questions. We have screening plans to measure the AIDS epidemic and other indicators such as nutrition and anemia [or blood deficiency]. One target of AIDS programs is to prevent Children of Labor from catching the viral disease. These children are most likely susceptible to AIDS due to young age and their vulnerability to social harms. They are among those groups which are the target of AIDS prevention programs. I have no statistics available about these children.
Q: How do you evaluate the performance of the Iranian government as far as the AIDS [risk] reduction program goes?
A: The [UNODC] Country Program for HIV in Iran is proverbial in the Middle East and the world; it is pragmatic since it has been pieced together based on knowledge and science, and it has the backing of the United Nations. That’s why I can say that Iran has set an example in the world.
Ten years ago when I was on a mission in South Asia, I told Maldivian officials to travel to Iran and learn about its program [about HIV prevention and treatment]. The focus the Iranian government has put on HIV programs is remarkable. The role the Iranian media outlets play in this regard is perfect too. That you [in the media] convey our message to the Iranians shows that dissemination of information plays a key role in Iran.
An Iranian university professor has said that Western youth join ISIS in pursuit of serenity and a respite from senselessness and monotonous life which prevails in Europe.
Ebrahim Fayyaz, a professor of social sciences at the University of Tehran, made the comment in an interview with Mosalas, a weekly news magazine (the 289th issue) and added that the Western civilization has got closer to the verge of collapse for which monotonousness is to blame. During the extensive interview, Dr. Fayyaz took a sociological look at the reasons why European youth are lured to join ISIS, the terror group’s notorious ideology, as well as the Arba’een March and its goals and message, violence in the name of Islam, and the exit strategies.
The following is PART TWO of the translation of the professor’s remarks on the presence of Western youth in the ranks of ISIS terrorists:
The Western world and ISIS appeal to the youth
The first reason behind ISIS recruitment of young people is capitalism in Europe which has been prevailing there for years and has rendered everything monotonous and senseless. The new generations of Europeans show reactions to such monotonous rhythm of life and senselessness and complain about their uncertain future.
In the 1960s, the youth in France had complaints about the dominant senselessness, monotonousness and rationality in Europe. As a result the student movement was established in 1968. The structures that emerged in the 1970s and 1990s gave rise to postmodernism and thus such senselessness came to the surface more than before. Economic factors too came into play and it became clear that the stage was set for the growth of the movement in suburban Paris.
Members of this movement – even if they were highly educated – were treated as second- and third-class citizens in France. If they were Arabs of Moroccan or Algerian origin, they were viewed as Arab servants. I’ve heard it from Iranian expatriates in France that even those members of this movement who have found their way into top partisan tiers, are still known as Arab servants. It means that a sort of modern slavery is in place in France by which some ostensibly free people are treated as slaves.
In other words, suburban Paris has been enslaved by urban Paris. That night an attack was launched by suburban Paris against urban Paris where plays and music were performed, and the rich bought tickets to watch a football match. Urban Paris is home to the old aristocracy in France which has taken on a new form.
Suburban Paris, by contrast, is the place where the second and third class citizens live and are bitterly opposed to and disapprove of urban Paris. Protests are ongoing in a violent fashion and it is just the beginning. Perhaps the French government and state institutions can clamp down on this movement militarily, but they cannot deliver a cultural blow to it and the movement will reproduce its own culture.
A case in point is the cultural reproduction of the black community in the US in defiance of slavery, although there is no end in sight to the violent treatment and willing killing of the blacks in the US. Although dominated by capitalism, the West is extremely racist. They claim that they are against racism, but the reverse holds true. They have strong belief in racism. The blacks are given a racial treatment in the United States, and in France migrants, Arabs, residents of suburban Paris and non-Parisians suffer from racial discrimination.
These people are extremely humiliated in France and their French accent is demeaned. Aristocracy is ruling there through capitalism. Rightist parties led by Ms. Marine Le Pen represent the aristocracy, with socialists being in charge of executive leadership. The socialists who lead the highest social class in France have disguised themselves in socialism clothing to pursue their capitalist agenda.
Institutionalization of ISIS ideology among European youth
Two points should be discussed here: How are the youth lured to join ISIS? Will these young people carry out ISIS-style measures when they return to countries such as Germany? I should clearly say that such measures will never be carried out in Germany and Britain, and if they do happen, it would be on a limited scale, thanks to a special structure in these countries which does not allow it. But such measures are doable in France due to its culture.
The reason why the ISIS discourse is appealing in Europe and can lure the youth should be traced to the viewpoints of Ibn Khaldun [a Muslim historiographer and historian, regarded to be among the founding fathers of modern sociology, historiography, demography, and economics].
The civilized areas with sedentary culture [In cultural anthropology, sedentism (sometimes called sedentariness) simply refers to the practice of living in one place for a long time] are strongly corrupt. Repetition and senselessness are the order of the day in such areas, aristocracy has been institutionalized and life – in different periods of time – is monotonous and unchanged.
At this point, people who make up the population of society feel a spiritual void and look for a way to reclaim spirituality. Since ISIS is apparently an Islamic group, Muslims in Europe who have been extremely humiliated join the [terror] group in pursuit of serenity and a respite from senselessness and monotonous life.
For instance, a Japanese man who used to live in Tokyo had joined ISIS although he was not a Muslim. Asked about the reason why he had joined the group, he said that he was sick and tired of living a senseless life in Tokyo, adding that he had joined ISIS to overcome this crisis [of lack of spirituality]!
ISIS is seeking to destroy all signs of civilization and make its presence felt militarily. ISIS is an anti-hygiene group. Those who have had contacts with members of the group say that up close the body odor of ISIS fighters is disgusting. They do not take a shower, because they have a tendency to live a barbaric life in the wild.
ISIS members wear very long beards which are similar to a broom; they dislike shaving, because they want their faces to look like creatures who lived in the pre-human era. They bring to mind the nostalgic situation of the early years after the advent of Islam; they live in deserts, have anti-urban mood and are interested in destruction; that’s why they take a hammer to civilizational and historic works.
On the surface, they want to say that they are fighting against polytheism and atheism, but below the surface they are exactly what Ibn Khaldun has described; ISIS members are nomads who oppose sedentism. [Al-Qaeda leader Osama] Bin Laden and the Taliban too had similar tendencies. Bin Laden took pride in living under the trees in villages getting kicks from giving up on civilization [and living in the wild]. He was the son of a multibillionaire family with a stake in giants such as Football Club Barcelona and Chelsea FC, but he personally found calm in living in Afghanistan’s deserts.
Therefore, the main indicator is an escape from civilization toward an uncivilized society. These individuals seek to leave the harsh, rational, monotonous and closed atmosphere of Europe. They have always lived in cities and have seen no village or desert. A life alive with [action] and excitement is appealing to young people.
This mainly holds true about European Muslims, and non-Muslims in Europe leave for countries such as India to embrace Buddhism. I have encountered such people in the deserts of India and Thailand who have shown tendency toward mysticism.
The Western civilization has hit the peak of civilizational rationality and offers no option for the future. It has reached its end .The Western civilization is going around in circles; no thinker in the West can say that they are elite. They all say that they have become Easternized. The West, which is creating knowledge-based structures such as postmodernism, is returning to the East. […]
Today nobody enjoys calm and tranquility in the West; they have no hope in the future; they are in present time moving around in circles, and this has rendered them [mentally or psychologically] exhausted.
Political leaders in Europe are suffering from a kind of stupidity and mental backwardness, something which can be referred to as civilizational stupidity; when civilization makes everything rational, monotonous and circular, nothing will be left for the future. That’s why young Muslims in Europe join the ranks of ISIS and non-Muslims are blended into the nihilistic movements of Buddhism in India, China, Thailand, and so on. This reveals that the Western civilization is on the verge of collapse and monotonousness is to blame for it.
What comes next is military action which takes a toll [on nations]. ISIS carries out military operations and deals a blow to France. The United States is losing its clout in the Middle East and cannot serve its own interests in this region. The US has a two-pronged approach to dealing with the Middle East: on the one hand, it is leading the fight against ISIS, and lends logistical and military support to the [terror] group on the other hand.
This brings us to the conclusion that the Western civilization has hit a cul-de-sac, mentally and structurally. The paradigm the West has introduced has failed. The Western paradigm – referred to as a knowledge-based structure which is expected to respond to the questions raised by the young people and the generations to come – is no longer existent, neither for the West, nor for other countries.
We can say with certainty that formation of groups such as ISIS has been the [direct] result of the West’s failed paradigm. In other words, the Western civilization has suffered a paradigmatic failure and is undergoing a paradigmatic revolution.
Rational discourses such as Shiism – building on the wisdom of Imam Ali and under the umbrella of Imam Hussein – can get a big job done by charting the Revolution’s course. Today people can properly take care of this objective.
[…]
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