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Home Blog Page 4762

Iran’s top MP opposes motion to halt nuclear talks

May 10, 2015

The Iranian parliament speaker has voiced strong support for the nuclear negotiating team and called on fellow parliamentarians to avoid ill-thought-out reactions to the nuclear issue.

Bagher Hosseini, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, quoted Ali Larijani as making the comment Sunday in a meeting of a Principlist Caucus [the Followers of the Leader (Rahrovan-e Velayat)].

He said that the speaker also expressed bitter opposition to extreme reactions [to the process of nuclear talks], among them the motion – tagged with triple-urgency status – a number of Iranian MPs have signed [asking for a halt to nuclear talks until the US stops issuing threats against the Islamic Republic and apologizes to Iran].

The following is the translation of what else Hosseini quoted Larijani as saying in the meeting as reported by the Iranian Students’ News Agency:

The speaker stressed in the meeting, “We are at odds with the nuclear team over nothing, so we need to stay clear of hasty reactions and let the country’s negotiators successfully advance the objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the negotiating table.

“The Supreme Leader has voiced his support for the nuclear negotiating team, and we in parliament should follow the Leader’s lead, too”.

Larijani also said, “Currently, the US politicians – Democrats and Republicans – are at loggerheads, but we in Iran are not opposed to the country’s nuclear team; rather, we support our negotiators.

“By the same token, parliament should keep its distance from getting carried away and making immature decisions. It should [instead] release a statement in reaction to a Senate bill on Iran nuclear deal”.

Hosseini also said that a statement will be read out on parliament floor in reaction to the US Senate bill later Sunday.

Is a shakeup in the cards?

Emad Askarieh

May 10, 2015

It has been a while since speculations about a probable cabinet reshuffle by President Rouhani began to swirl, with many believing that some provincial governors and deputy ministers will be the likely targets of the shakeup. The following is the translation of a report released on May 10 by Fararu.ir, a news website, on who is likely to be on the chopping block:

The news was first made public by President Rouhani. During his Shiraz visit, when asked by journalists about the prospects of a cabinet reshuffle, the president said he would do that if necessary.

One week later, the president’s cultural advisor Hessamoddin Ashena said, “Visits to some provinces made it clear to the president that contrary to initial assumptions, some governors are not up to snuff to run provinces. Therefore, some changes are in the offing. Ministers and provincial governors are likely to be replaced as part of the reshuffle.”

Later, in another interview, however, Ashena said, “Any decision by the government will be made public through the government spokesman. My recent remarks were only a personal analysis and I raised the matter as a political analyst,” adding, no decision was made by the government as far as a reshuffle was concerned.

Other officials within the government have no knowledge of such a decision. Now the Cabinet reshuffle has become a talking point, but no one knows where it all started.

Although President Rouhani has granted a half-hearted green-light to a Cabinet shakeup, official news about change has yet to be made public. Over the last 22 months since he took office, except an unofficial report that the president dismissed Borujerd’s governor after he prevented Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, from making a speech, there have been no other dismissals.

The interior minister in an interview has told a daily that the president favors change and seeks to appoint governors who see eye to eye with his government.

Given what Ashena said, provincial governors are likely to take the brunt of a shakeup. Speculation is rife about the probable dismissal of some provincial governors in a number of cities and there are even reports that decisions on replacements are final.

The provincial governors who failed to deal with those who take the law into their own hands over the last few months seem to be atop the dismissal list.

There are some ministers the government seems to be willing to either dismiss or transfer. Among government officials from the vice president for parliamentary affairs to deputy interior minister, no one had knowledge of the probable reshuffle. Although, speculation is rife about change, it’s still unclear when such change will come.

Change is something which has always been resisted. Appointment of new provincial governors will probably leave many displeased. For the designation of a new provincial governor, one has to please many, something which makes it more difficult for the government to get it done.

We must wait and see whether or not the government will recruit new forces to act differently in the second half of its term.

Bill to halt Iran-P5+1 talks contradicts Iran’s Constitution: MP

Emad Askarieh

May 10, 2015

A senior lawmaker said that a bill that if passed would require a halt to nuclear negotiations between Tehran and P5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany) is against Clause 1 of Article 110 of the Constitution.

“This bill will surely be rejected by the Custodians Council,” member of Majlis (Iranian parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Mehdi Davatgari said on Saturday.

Davtgari’s remarks came after Javad Karimi Ghoddusi, another member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said that a group of Iranian lawmakers have prepared a bill that if passed would require a halt to nuclear negotiations between Tehran and P5+1 unless the United States stops its threatening rhetoric against the Islamic Republic.

Karimi Ghoddusi said that the bill, with a triple-urgency status, would oblige the government to halt nuclear talks with the six countries until Washington apologizes to Tehran and puts an end to threats against Iran.

Ghoddusi highlighted Iran’s independence and freedom, and said the Iranian lawmakers would not allow the hegemonic powers to undermine the rights of the Iranian nation.

According to the Iranian lawmaker, the bill would be presented to the Presiding Board of the parliament on Sunday.

The move follows Washington’s fresh threats of military action against Iran amid the ongoing talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.

US Secretary of State John Kerry as well as Vice President Joe Biden have recently said that the military option is still on the table regarding Iran.

On May 6, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei described as “unacceptable” the use of threats concurrent with the nuclear negotiations and said that Washington’s need for the nuclear talks is not less than Tehran’s, if not more.

The Leader also cautioned the Iranian negotiators to observe the country’s red lines in the course of the talks.

The US threats come as Iran and P5+1 are seeking to finalize a comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear program by the end of June. The two sides reached a mutual understanding in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 2.

Iran cites key oil technology success

Emad Askarieh

May 10, 2015

The Oil Ministry said its experts have been able to build a gas microbubble generator which facilitates drillings into oil wells – a technology which has so far been in the hands of the United States.

The generator was officially revealed by the Oil Ministry at the 20th International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition in Tehran.

“This technology will be soon tested in one of Iran’s most important oil fields,” said Mohammad Soleimani, a research director from the Oil Ministry.

“It is specifically helpful for fields that have suffered a huge degree of depletion,” Soleimani, who heads the Pardis Pazhuhesh Digging Technology Institute of the Oil Ministry, has been quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.

A majority of Iran’s oil fields are in the second half of their lifespan. Several of the country’s key fields – whose daily production stood in hundreds of thousands of barrels before the 1979 Islamic Revolution – are presently producing only a few dozen thousands as the result of a significant depletion.

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on May 10

Golrokh Askarieh

May 10, 2015

Comments by President Rouhani that Saudi Arabia committed a strategic mistake by launching airstrikes against Yemen dominated the front pages of Iranian papers on Sunday.

Abrar: The No. two at Mojahedin Khalq terrorist grouping has gone on trial in Paris.

Aftab-e Yazd: “There was a ban on meeting Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani when Ahmadinejad was in office,” said [his brother] Mohammad Hashemi.

“If a Cabinet minister or a governor general went to see Ayatollah Rafsanjani, Ahmadinejad would replace him. Whenever visiting foreign officials wanted to have a meeting with Ayatollah Rafsanjani, they were told the Ayatollah’s schedule was too busy,” he said.

Aftab-e Yazd: Parliament’s Article 90 Committee was there to save the previous government’s skin!

Despite insistence by the director of the Environment Protection Organization that the gasoline produced in petrochemical plants causes cancer and contributes to air pollution, the spokesman of the parliamentary committee says such gasoline [which was widely used when Ahmadinejad was in office] plays no role in air pollution.

Arman-e Emrooz: Changes in government get underway

According to a report by the daily, some ministers and provincial governors are to be replaced.

Asr-e Iranian: “The attack by Saudi Arabia on Yemen was a strategic blunder,” said President Rouhani at a gathering to mark Red Crescent Week.

Emtiaz: Iran has been named the least expensive tourist destination.

Emtiaz: An Iranian film has been nominated for four prizes in Washington.

Emtiaz: Iran is to turn into an exporter of gasoline.

Etemad: Moving [the administrative and political capital] from Tehran will carry a $78 billion price tag.

The announcement was made by the secretariat of the Supreme Urban Development and Architecture Council.

Etemad: Nine Airbus aircraft parked in hangars in Tehran.

Nine wide-body aircraft entered Iranian airspace on Friday.

Ettela’at: “Medical training needs to be reviewed,” Health Minister Hassan Hashemi told a gathering on medical training Saturday.

Hambastegi: “Holding parliamentary elections at a provincial level hurts the principle of representation,” said a deputy interior minister.

Hemayat: “A number of people have been arrested in connection with the incident in Mahabad,” said the deputy judiciary chief.

Iran: European rivalry over return to Iranian market is heating up.

Iran: Police officials say the incident [suspicious death of a young woman] in Mahabad was not suicide, but an accident.

Javan: Praise for the captain.

“I preferred to blow up in the air than divert to a Saudi airport,” said Behzad Sedaghatnia, the captain of the Tehran-Sana’a flight [that took Iran’s humanitarian aid to Yemen].

Jomhouri Islami: President Rouhani has criticized the Red Cross for its inaction over Yemen.

Khorasan: The managing director of the Telecommunications Company has been sacked.

Resalat: Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with its genocidal acts in Yemen.

Saheb Ghalam: “To create 900,000 new jobs a year, our economy needs to post an annual growth of eight percent,” said the labor minister.

Tejarat: “When sanctions are lifted, Iran will become the fourth largest producer of crude oil in the world,” predicted the oil minister.

MKO’s No. 2 goes on trial on terrorism, corruption charges in Paris

Emad Askarieh

May 9, 2015

Mehdi Abrishamchi, deputy leader of the anti-Iran Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO also known as MEK, PMOI and NCRI), went on trial in France on terrorism and financial corruption charges.

The court hearing for MKO’s number two was held in a Paris court on May 7 while a large number of former MKO members staged a sit-in outside the courtroom in support of Abrishamchi’s trial, demanding his imprisonment, Habilian Association reported.

The MKO, founded in the 1960s, blended elements of Islamism and Stalinism and participated in the overthrow of the US-backed Shah of Iran in 1979. Ahead of the revolution, the MKO conducted attacks and assassinations against both Iranian and Western targets.

The group started assassination of the citizens and officials after the revolution in a bid to take control of the newly-established Islamic Republic. It killed several of Iran’s new leaders in the early years after the revolution, including the then President, Mohammad Ali Rajaei, Prime Minister, Mohammad Javad Bahonar and the Judiciary Chief, Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who were killed in bomb attacks by the MKO members in 1981.

The group fled to Iraq in 1986, where it was protected by Saddam Hussein and where it helped the Iraqi dictator suppress Shiite and Kurd uprisings in the country.

The terrorist group joined Saddam’s army during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran (1980-1988) and helped Saddam and killed thousands of Iranian civilians and soldiers during the US-backed Iraqi imposed war on Iran.

[…]

Iran rejects link between Interests Section relocation, N-talks

Golrokh Askarieh

May 9, 2015

Iran has rejected a report about a connection between the relocation of the country’s Interests Section in Washington and the ongoing negotiations with the P5+1 on its nuclear program.

Dismissing a recent report by The Washington Post, Head of the Press Office of Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations Hamid Babaei has said the approval of Iran’s request to relocate its Interests Section was not related to Tehran’s nuclear talks with the six global powers.

The permission to change the mission’s building in Washington was issued last year following correspondence with the US Department of State, he added.

Babaei said the surge in requests for consular services, the limited space and deterioration of the building’s structure were among the reasons behind the request for the building’s relocation.

In a report Friday, The Washington Post claimed that the United States is allowing the Iranian Interests Section in Washington to move to new headquarters in what may be among the first negotiated deals with Iran since relations broke off in 1980.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries — the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — reached a mutual understanding on the parameters of a comprehensive agreement over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 2.

They agreed to finalize an overarching deal on Tehran’s nuclear program by the end of June.

Saudi airstrikes against Yemen strategic mistake: President Rouhani

Golrokh Askarieh

May 9, 2015

Assumptions by the new Saudi government that it can secure regional clout by bombarding another country are a big strategic mistake, President Hassan Rouhani told a gathering Saturday to mark the Red Crescent Week.

He further said the Red Crescent and the Red Cross should act impartially and rush to the aid of victims anywhere in the world they are. “All humans need to be treated as equals and that is the message of the Iranian Red Crescent Society to Yemen, Syria and people in distress in any other country.”

The President went on to say that the Muslim faith respects the rights of animals and plants, citing orders by the Prophet to his men not to harm trees in war.

They use fake accusations to prevent the delivery of Iranian aid to the people of Yemen, why don’t they step forward to deliver Iranian aid to the Yemeni people themselves, the president asked. “Pressure should be piled on the Red Cross to step in and do something for the Yemenis whose country serves as a historic test for the world.”

Ahmadinejad shouldn’t have remained president even for a single day: MP

Golrokh Askarieh

May 9, 2015

In a speech at Ghuchan University on May 7, Ali Motahari, a principlist Tehran deputy, took a swipe at his fellow MPs for their failure to react to the actions of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The following is the translation of part of the comments he made at a memorial of his father Martyr Morteza Motahari, as reported by entekhab.ir:

On Ahmadinejad presidency

Actions of former President Ahmadinejad in violation of law did not meet with a fitting response and the deputies of the 8^th and 9^th parliaments along with principlists are to blame for such failure, because they have a wrong interpretation of the rule of the jurisprudent.

Ahmadinejad openly said that he would implement the laws he deemed as constitutional and exclude the ones that he found in contrast with the Constitution. From my perspective, such a person should not have remained president even for a single day.

On cash subsidies, he acted against the law; the government [of President Rouhani] should talk with people honestly and tell them that the process was not well executed in the first place. People will accept it if they see honesty in the words of the government.

On 2009 presidential election

Justice must be administered and the share of blame everyone involved in the post-election developments receives should be determined; they must stand trial if necessary.

To assume that only two individuals were to blame and what others did was right amounts to burying our heads in the sand, because as long as justice is not delivered, the conscience of society won’t be soothed.

On President Rouhani’s controversial remarks

I don’t agree with President Rouhani when he said that the law enforcement is duty-bound to implement the law and not Islam, because our laws are Islamic.

The president might have meant the personal interpretation of Islamic rules [by police] in dealing with offenders.

On corruption and embezzlement

In the past few years corruption has not been limited to cases in which one or a few individuals have siphoned off money; rather, illegal money transfers and abuse of power for which the 8^th and 9^th parliament as well as the previous government should be held accountable were at the center of corruption cases.

The presence of injustice and discrimination will deny society mental equilibrium, giving rise to emergence of two classes in society: the disadvantaged suffering mental complexes and over-demanding rent-seekers.

Miscellaneous

I think it is up to the Foreign Ministry to decide whether or not to release the Iranian fact sheet, because its publication might be to the detriment of the talks. What matters is that we pay closer attention to the wording of the final deal.

In my opinion the initiative to have provincial elections has pros and cons. Personally, I favor the plan, because its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. All in all it is to the benefit of the establishment and revolution.

I do not approve of political classifications such as principlists and reformists and won’t fit in either category.

Foreign media support any criticism aimed at the establishment, but it does not mean that those who are critical of the establishment are in contact with foreigners.

The International Middle East Rally Championship (PHOTOS)

Fatemeh Askarieh

May 9, 2015

The southern Iranian city of Shiraz played host to the International Middle East Rally Championship on May7-8. The event brought together 11 Iranian and 14 foreign competitors.

Snapshots of the competition released online by different news agencies: