The Iranian parliament should go through the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action clause by clause but at the end of the review process hold an up-or-down vote on the deal, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
Araghchi, who was a senior member of the negotiating team which represented Iran in talks with P5+1, further said there would be no deal if even a single party to the talks rejected the Vienna accord.
What would happen if the text of JCPOA fails to secure the go-ahead of all seven countries involved in the talks (Iran and P5+1) is anyone’s guess, he said, adding in case of rejection the two sides should decide whether to resume the talks.
He added if the Iranian MPs rejected the deal and told the Foreign Ministry what in the text of the deal prompted them to turn it down, the reason behind their opposition would be raised with the other party. “They [P5+1] will either accept to make corrections, or they may call for the talks to resume.”
A member of Iranian parliament has said that transfer of water from Iran’s northern neighbors, namely Georgia and Armenia, will help save the world’s largest salt lake, the Orumiyeh Lake, which is on verge of drying up.
“Agreements on the issue have already been signed and water from Georgia and Armenia’s Kera Fountains and Swan Lake will be channeled southward using three pumping stations along the way, all three of which will be on Iranian soil,” said Ali Alilu in a press conference.
He said that transferring water from the Caspian Sea is not economically viable firstly due to the high levels of water pollution and secondly because of high costs associated with such a project.
“The 36 billion cubic meter reservoir of the Orumiyeh Lake has shrunk to two billion cubic meters today and redirecting a portion of water flowing in Aras and a number of smaller rivers will do nothing to save the lake,” he reiterated.
Alilu said that the bulk of the water transfer project needs to be implemented in Iran and the project is predicted to be finalized within two years.
He said that the water will be both bought and bartered from those two countries and the purchased water will flow to Iran at 60 to 80 cubic meters per second.
The MP emphasized that President Hassan Rouhani’s government, especially his Department of Environment (DOE) headed by Masoumeh Ebtekar, has been very successful in its bid to save the Orumiyeh Lake.
“If the drying of Orumiyeh Lake had continued unchecked, as was the case during the previous government, five provinces would have soon faced serious environmental hazards, and a grave human catastrophe,” he said.
Alilu said that making investment to save the Orumiyeh Lake can be viewed as national investment to save the environment, human lives, the cattle and agriculture in six Iranian provinces.
In the days since the conclusion of the Vienna accord, members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have come up with three ideas as far as the role of parliament in reviewing the Iran nuclear deal goes. These three ideas have to do with differences across party lines in the chamber.
Tabnak.ir, a news website, on August 10 ran an analytical report on political bickering in the Iranian parliament over how to review the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The following is the translation of the report in its entirety:
These three views can be reviewed according to the role – lesser or stronger – parliament is given in the review process of JCPOA:
I. Review of JCPOA in a special parliamentary committee, not on parliament floor
II. Review of JCPOA on parliament floor and a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote to the general outlines of JCPOA without going into details
III. Review of every single article of JCPOA on parliament floor and possibly changing [parts of] it.
The first view, which has been supported by Speaker Ali Larijani, does not want JCPOA to be reviewed in parliament at all. If there is going to be any review, it argues, it should be held in a parliamentary committee. Days after the conclusion of the deal, the top MP underlined that parliament should not get involved in the review process, saying that the nuclear issue is dealt with under the supervision of the Supreme Leader. He argued that parliament should not be concerned about it, [because] the country’s expediency will be decided on and a report will be submitted to the chamber.
Ali Larijani
Larijani’s view drew mixed reactions, especially from the principlist critics in parliament. The speaker seems to have gradually backpedalled on his initial stance in recent days, describing parliament’s involvement as a factor which contributes to greater support for the deal and to building a consensus among politicians.
According to the Constitution, the Islamic Consultative Assembly should make comments on such international treaties, he said, adding there are some cases – Resolution 598, for instance – on which parliament has not passed any judgment. We solve the nuclear issue; perhaps it is a better idea if parliament comments, something which will help lend support [to the deal] and form a consensus [in the country], Larijani further said.
His recent remarks and his willingness to have parliament’s comments on and support for JCPOA probably suggest that JCPOA can be reviewed in a special parliamentary committee, because he does not say outright that the deal should be reviewed on parliament floor and just stresses that it is good to have parliament’s view as well. The review of JCPOA in a special committee was raised from the very beginning. Accordingly, a special committee whose members are picked on parliament floor will review the general outlines, not the details, of JCPOA after it wins the blessing of the Supreme National Security Council.
The second view calls for the review of JCPOA on parliament floor, without touching its details. The floor review entails an in-house vote in a plenary session of the chamber with MPs saying a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the general outlines of JCPOA. Under this arrangement, articles of the deal won’t be reviewed on parliament floor and deputies can merely voice their confirmation of or opposition to the general outlines of JCPOA.
Abbas Ali Mansouri Arani
Abbas Ali Mansouri Arani, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, says, “Deputies will provide a simple yes or no answer to one question on JCPOA: Do you approve of JCPOA?. They will only voice their agreement or opposition. Except this, nothing will be discussed in the open session of parliament, and the MPs will not allowed to get involved in [the review of] the text. Any changes to JCPOA’s text, even the slightest, require all six countries [which made up P5+1] to come together and make comments on those changes. This is not feasible”.
The third view, which is mainly pursued by members of the Islamic Revolution Stability Front, says the government should submit JCPOA in the form of a bill to parliament and then deputies should review the details and every article of JCPOA on parliament floor. It also allows MPs to make changes to the deal. If JCPOA cannot be changed, it should be either accepted or rejected in its entirety.
Mohammad Soleimani
Mohammad Soleimani, an MP who is also a member of the Islamic Revolution Stability Front, explained this view in comments he made in parliament, “By getting involved in the text and making well-reasoned and responsible comments in favor or against the text, the Islamic Republic of Iran will know that what it is going to sign.
“I wonder why some, especially in the government and a member of the negotiating team, are concerned about parliament’s involvement in [reviewing] the text. What is it in the text that should not be made public? Who would stand to lose if people and MPs learned about the upsides and downsides of the deal and voted for it insightfully?
“An expert review of JCPOA should focus on the text and let go of marginal issues, speeches and slogans. The negative aspects of the text of the deal cannot be sugarcoated through double-dealing. Contradictory, ambiguous speeches and interviews will not help carry out a task that requires expertise.
“Is it possible not to be concerned after [hearing] baseless and misleading claims that Fordow, Arak and Natanz [Iran’s three nuclear facilities] are inefficient? Breakthroughs and glories cannot be downplayed by simplification, double-dealing, and offering the proverbial worthless thing to charity. The country should not be left in the grip of problems in the future. Denying parliament its legal right is not acceptable no matter who does it, the government, parliament’s Presiding Board or the chiefs of caucuses in the chamber.”
The chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces has said that ISIL will be eliminated following the developments expected to unfold in the region.
Major General Hassan Firouzabadi made the comment in an interview on Sunday and added that the terrorist group and its allies will be history in the future. Tasnim News Agency on August 9 published the top general’s remarks, and the following is the translation of part of his comments on developments in four Arab nations, namely Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain:
Syria
Thank God, the key breakthroughs Damascus has achieved on different fronts have injected new life into the central government in Syria which has proved steadfast and capable of maintaining the country’s national interests and respecting its constitutional boundaries.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its allies are crumbling under the pressure of developments which are expected to play out in the country down the line.
Iraq
Mischievous measures are being taken in this country. The respected people of Iraq, Sunnis and Shiites alike, should remain vigilant. The existing shortages are not genuine. A call for street protest – sparked by certain groups which are mostly non-Muslims – an explosion targeting power lines transferring Iranian electricity to Iraq and other acts of sabotage are all aimed at showing the inefficacy of the country’s central government.
Yemen
The resistance [movement] in Yemen will be the [ultimate] winner and measures by those opposing the Yemeni people will lead nowhere. At times, they make headlines by the money they spend on what they seek and by the mobilization of hired mercenaries, but such developments have no root in Yemeni soil and in the hearts of its people. These measures will fade as fast as they have happened.
Bahrain
The situation on the ground has shown that “the one-vote-for-each-citizen” demand cannot be suppressed. The Bahraini government has to reach an agreement with the country’s elite before the opportunities slip away. It should also release popular leaders from jail to steer the developments in the right direction and serve the interests of the Bahraini government and people.
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.
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.
