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IRAN FRONT PAGELatest News and Views From Iran, Middle East and the World

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Home Blog Page 4824

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on June 24

June 24, 2015

The all-important comments of the Supreme Leader about nuclear talks with P5+1 dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers on Wednesday. The approval by the Islamic Consultative Assembly of a bill on a possible nuclear deal with the world powers and the reaction it drew from the Executive also made front-page headlines.

Ettela’at: “Termination of sanctions should not be contingent on Iran’s fulfillment of its commitments,” said the Supreme Leader in a meeting with senior state officials.

Ayatollah Khamenei further said that under the present circumstances and given the country’s existing potential, implementation of a resistance-based economy is quite possible.

A closer look at Ettela’at front page on June 24

Abrar: “The case involving former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is going through legal procedures,” Tehran’s Justice Department said.

Abrar: “The private sector is on the ropes,” said Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.

Abrar: MPs would not back down; impeachment of the minister of roads and urban development remains on track.

Afarinesh: “Iran’s accession to any treaty should secure the blessing of the Islamic Consultative Assembly first,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to the Supreme Leader.

Afkar: President Rouhani is to host an Iftar banquet to be attended by 300 principlist and reformist political players.

Aftab-e Yazd: “The Iranian nuclear negotiators are trustworthy, brave, gallant and pious,” the Supreme Leader said at a meeting with senior state officials.

Aftab-e Yazd: “Ahmadinejad prevented the release of figures on addicts and addiction,” said the head of the Expediency Council’s independent anti-drugs committee.

Arman-e Emrooz: “Five-hundred-seventy-five individuals are behind up to one third of all banking arrears,” the minister of economy and financial affairs said.

Asrar: “Those who were defeated in [the 2013 presidential] elections should not expect President Rouhani to back down,” said Akbar Torkan, a senior adviser to the president.

Asrar: “Resumption of Minor Hajj visits to Saudi Arabia by Iranian pilgrims hinges on security guarantees by Saudi officials,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Ghashghavi said.

Emtiaz: “Thanks to sanctions, $26 million in aid for Iran’s environmental projects was frozen,” complained the director of the Iranian Environment Protection Organization.

Etemad: Three Iranians have fallen victim to Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever.

The Health Ministry has warned about the indigenized imported diseases.

Etemad: The Supreme Leader has once again thrown his weight behind the nuclear negotiating team.

Etemad:”[Under the previous government] Threats to dig up dirt became rampant and accusations were leveled against the heads of two branches of government,” said the Judiciary chief.

Kaenat: Some 100 tons of Iran’s hazardous waste was eliminated in France.

Kayhan: A Saudi fighter pilot has committed suicide after seeing the bodies of Yemeni children killed in one of his bombing runs.

Payam-e Zaman: “To revive the economy, I have full confidence in the private sector,” said President Rouhani.

Resalat: “[Nuclear] talks are likely to be extended for a few days,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Setareh Sobh: The oil minister has said that an oil derrick [Iran purchased from a foreign firm] went missing when the previous government was in office.

Shahrvand: “The harm illicit drugs cause to Iranian economy adds up to $13 billion a year,” said the head of the Expediency Council’s independent anti-drugs committee.

Highlights of Ettela’at newspaper on June 24

Golrokh Askarieh

June 24, 2015

♦ “Termination of sanctions should not be contingent on Iran’s fulfillment of its commitments,” said the Supreme Leader in a meeting with senior state officials.

Ayatollah Khamenei further said that under the present circumstances and given the country’s existing potential, implementation of a resistance-based economy is quite possible.

♦ [Government Spokesman Mohammad Bagher] Nobakht said the parliamentary bill that requires the government to safeguard the country’s nuclear achievements runs counter to provisions of the Constitution.

Government views parliament’s involvement in issues which fall within the jurisdiction of the Supreme National Security Council as unconstitutional.

♦ A countdown is on for Syrian Kurds to fight their way into the self-proclaimed capital of the IS caliphate.

Kurdish fighters have liberated the town of Ain Issa and taken up positions only 50 km away from Raqqah.

♦ The country’s scientific growth has stabilized.

Deputy Science Minister Vahid Ahmadi, PhD, further said that Iran’s share of science production is 1.53 percent and has not declined.

♦ Foreign Minister Zarif and three European foreign ministers have agreed on how to continue drafting a final comprehensive nuclear deal.

♦ “As many as 15 million new cases were filed with the Judiciary last year [ended March 20, 2015],” said Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani.

He further said that corruption which is primarily rooted in massive banking loans should be uprooted.

♦ Some 3.5 million hectares of the country’s lands are on the verge of degradation and destruction.

♦ ISIL child-killer fathers new child

♦ Official: $26m in global aid for Iran’s environment frozen

Fair nuclear deal must serve Iran interests: Leader

Emad Askarieh

June 24, 2015

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran seeks to reach a fair deal with P5+1 over its nuclear program, one that will serve the country’s national interests.

“All Iranian officials, while insisting on [the country’s] red lines, are pursuing a good deal which is fair and honorable and in line with Iran’s interests,” the Leader said in a meeting with the heads of the three branches of government and other senior officials on Tuesday.

A study of the American demands shows that they intend to turn Iran’s nuclear industry into a “caricature” after dismantling it and abolishing the country’s nuclear identity, the Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the Americans are also making efforts to deprive the Iranian nation of the great advantages of nuclear industry while maintaining pressure and sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The Leader said Iran has always made rational demands since the beginning of the talks with P5+1 and emphasized that all “cruel sanctions” on Tehran over its nuclear program must be lifted.

Ayatollah Khamenei commended the Iranian nuclear negotiating team for its faithfulness and bravery in the talks, and said the negotiators are meticulously making efforts to settle the outstanding issues.

The Iranian negotiators have managed to bravely announce Iran’s stance on the nuclear issue, the Leader said, adding that they may possibly make some mistakes but they are “brave and faithful”.

He pointed to all nuclear powers’ refusal to sell 20 percent enriched fuel to Iran for the production of nuclear medicine at the Tehran Research Reactor and said young Iranian scientists have succeeded in producing the fuel and confounding the opposite side.

Iran’s red lines in nuclear talks

Ayatollah Khamenei reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s red lines in its nuclear negotiations with P5+1 and said, “Despite insistence by the Americans, we do not accept long-term restrictions [on nuclear activities] for 10 or 12 years. We have told them how many years of restrictions is acceptable to us,” the Leader said.

He stressed that proceeding with research and development in the field of nuclear technology even during the time of restrictions is another red line for the Islamic Republic.

The Leader further emphasized that all economic, monetary and banking sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council and the United States against Iran must be immediately lifted on the day of signing a possible final nuclear deal while other bans must be terminated based on a rational timetable.

“The lifting of sanctions must not be contingent on the implementation of Iran’s undertakings. They should not say that you (Iran) should fulfill your commitments and the [International Atomic Energy] Agency (IAEA) should then verify it in order for the sanctions to be lifted. We do not accept this issue at all,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated.

He said Iran opposes the P5+1 group’s fulfillment of its commitments after the IAEA’s report “because the agency has repeatedly proven that it is not an independent and fair body and so we are pessimistic about it.”

The Leader further expressed Iran’s firm opposition to “unconventional inspections, questioning Iranian figures, and the inspection of military sites” as other red lines for the country.

Nuclear deal possible if excessive demands not pressed: Rouhani

Emad Askarieh

June 24, 2015

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says a comprehensive nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of countries is possible if the six world powers do not put forward excessive demands.

“If the opposite [negotiating] side makes no excessive demands, the deal will be attainable,” Rouhani said during a meeting hosted by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Tuesday.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani as well as other senior officials were on hand for the meeting.

The president added that Iran’s foreign policy is based on constructive interaction with other countries while maintaining national independence and dignity as the country’s red lines.

He said the settlement of the nuclear issue within the framework of safeguarding the country’s nuclear rights is among the Iranian administration’s priorities.

The Iranian nation’s resistance against ill-wishers’ pressure and failure of sanctions against Tehran have brought powerful countries to the negotiating table with Iran, the Iranian president added.

Rouhani emphasized that the bans have failed to yield the results expected by the West, and noted that the Iranian nation is capable of solving its social, economic, political and cultural issues even when sanctions are imposed on the country.

Despite sanctions, Iran has succeeded in bringing down inflation and increasing the investment rate in cooperation with the nation, he stated.

[…]

What is blocking a nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1? An expert view

Emad Askarieh

June 24, 2015

Negotiators of Iran and six world powers face each other at a table in the historic basement of Palais Coburg hotel in Vienna

Ali Khorram, an expert in international affairs, says disagreements between Iran and P5+1 over the inspections regime and how the Additional Protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) should be implemented are preventing the two sides from striking a final comprehensive deal over Tehran’s nuclear program.

On June 23, Fararu.ir, a news website, published a report featuring excerpts from an interview with Khorram, an academic and former Iranian diplomat. The following is the translation of that report:

Ali Khorram, a university professor, said the implicit positions adopted by diplomats and negotiators suggest that the main hurdle separating the two sides from a deal before an end-of-June deadline has to do with inspections and the way the Additional Protocol should be carried out.

He further said that P5+1 want Iran to implement the Additional Protocol in a way that officials in Tehran do not approve of, adding: “The Additional Protocol allows inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct snap inspections of suspected undeclared sites. At the same time, the same Protocol says that if the suspected sites are located in areas about which the host nation is sensitive, like a military site, inspections should respect the national sovereignty and other considerations of the host nation.”

In other words, Khorram said, the Protocol does not guarantee IAEA inspectors access to sites anytime, anywhere. “The fact that P5+1 put forth any such demand [access anytime, anywhere] is not negotiable.”

The former diplomat further said Iran’s rejection of a demand that is not prescribed by international law as far as implementation of the Additional Protocol is concerned does not mean that Iran is placing the Protocol off its agenda.

“Basically, nuclear talks are being held to remove ambiguities surrounding Iran’s nuclear program through more transparency and confidence-building on the one hand, and have Iran’s nuclear program recognized as fully peaceful on the other. That would not be possible unless certain Additional Protocol restrictions and inspections which go in scope beyond previous inspections are accepted,” he said.

Khorram further said, “When Iran says that its nuclear program has not had and does not have any diversion, there should be a way for the international system to substantiate it. The international system in question does not mean P5+1, but an organization that works under the auspices of the UN: the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Some countries and institutions with links to Israeli lobby are trying to force Iran to accept the Additional Protocol and inspections of military sites. That is an example of going too far. The fact that some inside the country claim that signing the Additional Protocol is a red line and should be forgotten altogether is an example of not going far enough.

“Iran’s concerns about the way the Additional Protocol should be implemented can be eased, because the protocol itself addresses such concerns by saying that environmental sampling of sensitive sites such as military centers can be done from afar which makes inspections of military sites unnecessary.

“So Iran can say that it implements the Additional Protocol in keeping with the NPT provisions and won’t go above and beyond what is mentioned in the treaty. To keep saying that Iran won’t allow inspections of its military sites will only generate more sensitivity.”

He further said that the other 124 countries that have signed the Additional Protocol do share the concerns of the Islamic Republic of Iran when it comes to inspections of military sites, but their concerns have not resulted in their opting out of the treaty.

On whether Iran and P5+1 will be able to clear the hurdles before the June 30 deadline, Khorram said that he believes the two sides will clinch a deal that addresses the concerns of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In conclusion, he said that over the past two years, the two sides have cleared bigger hurdles. This latest obstacle is unlikely to divert the talks from a deal to deadlock.

Possible Failure in Nuclear Talks No Big Deal, Iran’s FM Says

Emad Askarieh

June 23, 2015

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said if nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers fail, it would not be a disaster.

If the diplomacy fails, “It won’t be the end of the world,” Zarif told the New Yorker.

But in that case, “The US will have lost a major opportunity, probably unique,” Iran’s top diplomat added.

“But, for us, our population is accustomed to making necessary sacrifices to preserve its dignity and its rights.

“It’s not about nationalism or chauvinism. It’s simply about having historical depth. Several years are a brief period in the history of a country with millennia as its depth.”

Zarif’s comments come as Iran and P5+1 continue negotiating to hammer out a lasting accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s civilian nuclear program.

Meanwhile, the Iranian parliament on Tuesday approved the details of a bill requiring the government to safeguard the country’s nuclear rights in a possible deal with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia – plus Germany.

During an open session of the parliament, the bill was approved with 213 votes in favor, 10 against and five abstentions. It demands that the total removal of anti-Iran sanctions be included in the text of any final nuclear agreement with the six countries, and urges the lifting of all sanctions imposed on Iran on the same day that the Islamic Republic starts to fulfill its obligations under a final accord.

Major change in regional relations is in the offing: Leader’s advisor

Emad Askarieh

June 23, 2015

Head of the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati said on Tuesday that Iran and Syria enjoy brotherly, historical relations.

Velayati made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Syrian Interior Minister Major General Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Sha’ar.

“The relations between Iran, Iraq and Syria, with a long history of civilization, are exemplary,” he said, adding a major development in regional relations of the three countries will unfold next week”.

Al-Sha’ar, for his part, conveyed the warm greetings of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Iranian nation and officials.

“Iran has always stood by Syria,” he said, reiterating that Damascus and Tehran are fighting terrorism in the region.

Syrian interior minister arrived in Tehran on Sunday. He met with his Iranian counterpart Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli in Tehranon Monday.

During the meeting, the two ministers reviewed regional developments and explored ways of expanding mutual relations. They also focused on the need to fight terrorist groups.

They also signed an agreement on mutual cooperation in security and police areas.

Iran buys ‘most advanced’ oil vessel

Golrokh Askarieh

June 23, 2015

Iran has bought an acid treatment vessel used to improve oil and gas productivity, for which the country relied on major energy companies.

“With this purchase, the Iranian oil and gas industry has been equipped with one of the world’s most advanced oil vessels for the first time,” a statement by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said on Monday.

Drilling services, such as acidizing of Iranian wells, were provided by US and British companies but they unilaterally suspended cooperation with the Islamic Republic after sanctions were imposed on Tehran.

The purchase of the acidizing ship is the second major procurement in Iran’s energy industry since NIOC bought a vessel crane for installation of giant oil and gas platforms in the Persian Gulf.

According to NIOC, the vessel called Deep Cleaner logged a record after improving productivity from gas wells at Phase 16 of the giant offshore South Pars gas field 2.5 times.

Deep Cleaner is “the most advanced ship of its kind” in the Middle East, the company also said.

Acidizing involves pumping of acid into geologic oil and gas formations to improve the stimulation of wells. It is performed on new wells to maximize initial productivity and on aging wells to boost recovery of resources.

Years of sanctions have hampered Iran’s development of its huge oil and gas fields. The country owns the fourth biggest oil and first gas reserves in the world.

Recent openings in the wake of nuclear negotiations have raised hopes among international companies for return to Iran, but officials say new tie-ups would require active partnership of Iranian firms and transfer of technology.

On Monday, an energy official said as many as 30 European and Asian companies have held negotiations with Iran in recent months for participation in the country’s oil and gas investment plans.

“Over the past few months, a number of big delegations from European and Asian companies have traveled to Tehran in groups of eight to 10 people and started technical and contractual negotiations with Iran,” the Ministry of Petroleum’s Mehdi Hosseini said.

US companies are also greatly interested but no direct talks have been held with the Americans so far, he added.

Deputy Minister of Petroleum Abbas Shari Moqaddam said negotiations have been held with German, Dutch, Swiss, Italian, Indian, Japanese and French companies.

Iranian MP: Nuclear deal should clear parliament

Golrokh Askarieh

June 23, 2015

The chairman of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee says that under the bill the chamber passed on safeguarding the country’s nuclear achievements, the results of nuclear talks should secure parliament’s approval.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi said this to reporters on the sidelines of a parliamentary session on Tuesday and added that the government’s representative at the session was expected to rally behind the parliamentary bill. The following is the translation of what else the MP said as reported by Mehr News Agency:

He said the bill, which requires government to protect the country’s nuclear rights and achievements, lends fresh support to nuclear talks, adding the Supreme National Security Council has [set and] communicated the red lines to the nuclear negotiating team and they are obliged to respect the red lines.

Today parliament came to the aid of the negotiating team so that the other side can understand that Iran attaches great significance to the case, he said.

As for speculations that a bill put forward by the Supreme National Security Council would tie the hands of negotiators, Boroujerdi said that the bill underwent some modifications so that it does not tie their hands.

The question [approval of the result of the talks] has been envisioned in the Constitution’s Article 77 [International treaties, protocols, contracts, and agreements must be approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly] and Article 125 [The President or his legal representative has the authority to sign treaties, protocols, contracts, and agreements concluded by the Iranian government with other governments, as well as agreements pertaining to international organizations, after obtaining the approval of the Islamic Consultative Assembly], he said.

The constitutional articles were not directly mentioned in the bill since they are clear, he said, adding that a mention of these two articles would mean that the results of the talks should be debated on the floor.

The MP further said that in addition to parliament’s approval, two constitutional articles were also included in the bill, adding it was a move to highlight the need for the implementation of the Constitution.

“The government’s representative did not comment in the session. I think a number of MPs had some views to share with the chamber, but they accepted not to make comments since we were supposed to speak with one voice,” Boroujerdi said, adding the Cabinet’s envoy too should have come on board.

Asked about the strident tone in the parliament speaker’s voice, Boroujerdi said that the top MP asked fellow deputies not to make comments and show solidarity – although it is part of their legal rights to express their views in parliament, adding the government’s representative too should have followed suit [by making no remarks on the bill].