In cooperation with the provincial Department of Environment Protection in Isfahan, a group of environmentalists tried Sunday to save fish trapped in ponds of Zayanderud, the largest river in the central plateau of Iran.
Snapshots of volunteers involved in the rescue operation released online by Tasnim News Agency:
The documents released by the Yemen Cyber Army after it hacked the Saudi Foreign Ministry in May show that Riyadh has persuaded the US to place more Iranian IRGC commanders on its sanctions list.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry was hacked by the Yemen Cyber Army in May, and a copy of its information was sent to Fars News Agency (FNA) and another one to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
According to one of these documents, Mostafa bin Mohammad Habib Kowsar, the director-general of the Saudi foreign ministry for Asian states affairs, in a letter to the deputy head of the ministry’s department for bilateral relations has stated that he has received a telegraph from Khalid al-Tuwaijri, the Chief of the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia under King Abdullah, informing that Riyadh has come to realize changes in the IRGC’s chain of command.
According to Kowsar’s letter, Tuwaijri has proposed in his cable that the names of new IRGC commanders be added to the list of those Iranians who had been sanctioned internationally or unilaterally by the US which would lead to their travel ban and freezing of their assets.
The cable has also warned that Saudi Arabia doesn’t want to play an overt role in this regard and the information should be presented to the US officials secretively.
Kowsar has reminded in his letter that the measure will deliver an efficient and preemptive blow to Iran and the political future of these new IRGC commanders, and will send them a direct message to caution them that they are under international scrutiny.
Kowsar also says that Tuwaijri wants the Saudi foreign minister to be informed of what the intelligence agency has proposed.
Late in May, the Yemen Cyber Army released a portion of the information and documents that it had gained in its recent cyber-attack on Saudi Arabia’s Foreign, Interior and Defense Ministries.
The Yemen Cyber Army announced that it has hacked the website, servers and archives of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign, Interior and Defense ministries and would release thousands of these top secret documents.
The group claimed that it “has gained access to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) network and have full control over more than 3,000 computers and servers, and thousands of users. We also have access to the emails, personal and secret information of hundreds of thousands of their staff and diplomats in different missions around the world”.
The hackers’ statement, which said the cyber army has also attacked the Saudi Interior and Defense ministries and vowed to release their details later, was carried by several globally known hackers websites.
Following the hack in May, the Yemen Cyber Army sent a copy of its information to FNA and another one to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
“WikiLeaks released over 60,000 documents on Friday and vowed to release the rest in coming weeks, but we plan to release the documents in separate news items since many of them contain the names of foreign nationals who have demanded visit to Saudi Arabia, for example for Hajj pilgrimage, and their names have been mentioned among the Saudi agents. Thus releasing the list of names and documents might hurt innocent individuals who have done nothing, but applied for visa at a Saudi embassy for doing Hajj pilgrimage,” FNA English Editor-in-Chief Seyyed Mostafa Khoshcheshm said.
“The number of the documents is way beyond the 500,000 that has been announced by WikiLeaks, but they need to be checked first to make sure that they do not contain misleading information and are not harmful to innocent people,” he added.
Mehdi Hashemi, a son of the chairman of the Expediency Council, arrival at Tehran’s Evin Prison to serve a 10-year jail term dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers on Monday. The comments of the foreign minister, his deputies and the Iranian nuclear chief in defense of the nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1 also appeared on the covers of the dailies.
Ettela’at: “The West’s regime change policy on Iran failed,” said Foreign Minister Zarif in an Iranian diplomacy forum at Ettela’at Institute.
He further said no restrictions have been imposed on Iran’s defense capabilities [as a result of the Vienna deal].
The director of the Atomic Energy Organization said commercialization of nuclear industry is on the horizon.
Afkar: Russian warships have docked at Iran’s northern port of Anzali.
Aftab-e Yazd: Japanese giants in Tehran
The daily has a report on “Tokyo’s resolve to expand economic ties with Iran”.
Aftab-e Yazd: The father saw off the son, wishing him well.
Mehdi Hashemi, a son of Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who leads the Expediency Council, has reported to Evin Prison to serve a 10-year term.
Asr-e Rasaneh: “We have yet to receive any application from American firms,” said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.
Asrar: “The establishment should make a serious decision about health insurance,” said Health Minister Hassan Hashemi.
Asrar: “Those who were nowhere to be seen in the thick of the revolutionary struggles are now laying claim to the revolution,” said Mehdi Tabatabai, a senior religious scholar.
Ebtekar: “The efforts of the government supported by the Supreme Leader prevented hardliners [from achieving their goals],” said Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the chairman of the Expediency Council.
Ebtekar: “Claims that Iran suffered a defeat in nuclear talks are very traitorous,” said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Emtiaz: The illegal drugs trade in Iran is worth around $3 billion a year.
Etemad: A member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has said the chamber’s Cultural and Judicial Committee has decided to require police to write $30-plus tickets to women who fail to observe the Islamic dress code in their cars.
Farhikhtegan: Mehdi Hashemi has called on IRIB [state broadcaster] to air his defense arguments in court.
Ghanoon: Parliament took its nuclear revenge on the economy, issuing a third yellow card to the economy chief.
Hambastegi: “No country resents the nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1,” said the chairman of the Expediency Council.
Hemayat: Mehdi Hashemi has started to serve a 10-year jail term; the judiciary stuck to implementation of justice.
Jomhouri Islami: A new chapter has opened in economic cooperation between Iran and Japan.
Kayhan: IS has issued a threat against Saudi Arabia.
Kayhan: Reviewing the Vienna deal in the absence of critics?!
Sharq: Iran’s first female ambassador to be named shortly.
Sharq: The reports issued by the Central Bank of Iran are evidence that Ahmadinejad flouted rules and regulations.
♦ “The West’s regime change policy on Iran failed,” said Foreign Minister Zarif in an Iranian diplomacy forum at Ettela’at Institute.
He further said no restrictions have been imposed on Iran’s defense capabilities [as a result of the Vienna deal].
The director of the Atomic Energy Organization said commercialization of nuclear industry is on the horizon.
♦ A 121-story skyscraper is to be built in Tehran.
An official with the Foundation for the Oppressed has said that 11 spots in the capital are being studied for the construction of the skyscraper.
♦ President Obama has said that the Syrian crisis could be brought to an end in cooperation with Iran.
He has further said constructive ties with Iran can be a byproduct of the Vienna accord.
♦ The Iraqi prime minister has ordered unprecedented reforms in Iraq’s political structure.
The reforms eliminate the positions of vice-president and deputy prime minister.
♦ The Environment Protection Organization has issued a warning about land grab in mountainous areas of Damavand.
Building roads near Mount Damavand is a big mistake.
Residents of Zargar, a village only 100 km away from Tehran, are both Iranian and not! They have the looks of both Aryans and the Vikings! They are tall, and of course hospitable.
These villagers are Shiite Muslims who either work on farms or breed livestock. What distinguishes them from other Iranians is that their mother tongue is Romani, also known as Zargari by locals.
The origin of their language is more like a myth. These villagers themselves do not know to which part of the world they originally belong, what has brought them to Iran or how they have ended up being Shiite farmers speaking a different language in the heart of Farsi-speaking Iran.
The elderly remember an old man living in their village in the past who kept a record of his accounts in Russian. But after he passed away, Russian slipped into oblivion, and now villagers speak Romani and write in Latin.
A few years ago, some educated residents of the village posted a message in Romani on the web and appealed to those familiar with the language to visit Iran.
A few months later, three visitors from France and Britain traveled to Zargar. They were excited to find individuals sharing the same language with them in Iran.
The three Europeans were surprised about why unlike the 18,000 Roma people based in Europe the Iranian Roma did not have any institute to represent them or why they did not take part in annual Roma gatherings in Turkey.
There are different stories as to how these villagers have ended up in Iran. One narrative says that Roma people moved to Iran centuries ago from the north. Another suggests that they were originally Iranian and were recruited as soldiers for Shah Abbas’ Qizilbash army because of their bravery.
Still another says some 200 Roma were captured during a war between Iran and the Roman Empire and were pardoned by the Persian king. Later they took up residence in an area in the vicinity of what is Qazvin today.
Although these villagers are said to originally hail from other countries, they are in love with Iran and identify themselves as Iranian only.
Date cultivators across Bushehr Province are getting prepared to harvest their crops.
Snapshots of the harvest season in southern Iran posted online by Mehr News Agency:
Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi said on Sunday that the red lines have been upheld in the Iranian nuclear program.
Salehi told a meeting to survey the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed by Iran and P5+1, that the objective of the Iranian nuclear program is to commercialize output.
Salehi expressed hope that Iran will generate 3,000 megawatts of nuclear electricity within the next 10 years.
He said the idea to generate nuclear electricity dates back to before the Islamic Revolution.
He noted that after the nuclear talks, Iran faces no limitation to continue with its peaceful nuclear program.
He said that as far as verification is concerned, the IAEA should go on with its inspection – as has been the case over the past 30 years – in Iran which is an IAEA member and a signatory to the NPT.
“As long as the world order exists and as long as we have nuclear activities, the inspection will be in place for our country and all member states,” he said.
Salehi said that there will be another form of inspection: After the Vienna deal, we should do quantitative activities, minimizing the number of centrifuges, lowering the amount of reserves to 300 kilograms. In return, they will verify that Iran honors the IAEA Safeguards Agreement. So, they will terminate all sanctions.
He added, “As far as the verification is concerned, we have accepted limitations on the purchase of equipment and they offered a list of equipment subject to limitations. […]”
After the deal we struck in Vienna, we can purchase the equipment we need through official channels; and we will lodge an official complaint in case of any industrial wrongdoing.”
On talks with P5+1, Salehi said Iran managed to gain what it wanted in the deal.
[…]
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham on Sunday strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul which killed 15 people Friday.
At least 15 people were killed and over 400 others were wounded in the deadly truck bomb blast in the Afghan capital.
“The recent terrorist attack in Kabul showed that terrorism will do anything to achieve its inhumane and heinous objectives,” Afkham said
She extended Iran’s condolences to the Afghan government and nation, and expressed sympathy for the bereaved families of the victims of the terrorist attack.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran sees terrorism as a common enemy of all countries and accordingly voices its readiness to confront this common threat at regional and international levels,” said Afkham.
[…]
Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance says it has issued work permits for 110 foreign media outlets that have no offices in the country.
On Sunday, the ministry announced that 110 foreign media have been provided with temporary work permits since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21).
The ministry added that 141 international media already have active offices in Iran.
In an address on the occasion of National Reporter’s Day, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati pointed to the important role of media in today’s world, stressing that Tehran should employ the power of media to improve its global image, which has been unfairly tarnished over the past ten years.
The ministry also stated that it would immediately examine other requests by foreign media outlets for temporary and permanent work permits in the Islamic Republic.
A Russian navy fleet has docked at the northern Iranian port city of Anzali in a bid to boost friendly maritime ties between the two countries.
On Friday, the two Russian warships – Volgodonsk and Mahachkala – arrived in Anzali for a three-day stay with around 130 personnel on board.
Upon arrival, Capt. Kirill Taranenko, the commander of the Russian fleet, met with Rear Admiral Afshin Rezaei Haddad, the commander of Iran’s Fourth Maritime Zone in the port city.
“The maritime relations between Russia and Iran will be expanded and we will go ahead with our official and unofficial visits to Iran,” Taranenko vowed, adding that the two sides plan to hold a joint naval exercise during their stay.
Haddad also noted that the Russian forces are scheduled to visit Iranian navy units in the area.
“Iranian forces will most likely pay a visit to Russia in mid-October,” he went on to say.
This is the third visit by a Russian fleet to Anzali, with the first two being made in 2007 and 2014.
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