A north-bound bus with 40 Iraqi nationals on board plunged into a ravine on Tuesday, killing 23 passengers on the spot and leaving others injured.
The cause of the deadly crash in Mazandaran Province is under investigation.
The following are images the Iranian Students News Agency has released of rescue efforts:
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif on Wednesday called for cooperation among regional states to fight terrorism and extremism.
Upon arrival in Moscow to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference themed ‘Security and Stability in Region’, the Iranian top diplomat told IRNA extremism is a menace which threatens every country in region and added, ‘To counter it, regional and trans-regional cooperation is required.’
Zarif said he will hold bilateral and tri-lateral meetings with his counterparts from China, Russia and Tajikistan.
‘In the meetings, we will discuss extremism in the region, latest nuclear developments, the situation in Yemen, Syria and Iraq and Daesh as well as bilateral issues,’ he added.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an inter-governmental and international organization that was founded on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai, China.
Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the founding member countries. Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have observer status in the organization.
President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Iranians are determined to defy unjust pressures, smash sanctions and foil the plots hatched against their country.
Addressing a large gathering to mark the demise anniversary of the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini at his mausoleum, the president praised the leadership and statesmanship of late Imam Khomeini in leading the Islamic Revolution to victory in 1979, and said, ‘Imam Khomeini’s message resonates in our people’s mind, enabling us to stand against the plots hatched by major powers in the region.’
Iran has not only resisted and secured peace inside the country, Rouhani added, it has also assisted regional nations and will continue doing so.
‘The Iranian nation is helping the peoples of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and other regional nations in their fight against terrorism, violence and extremism. Relying on Almighty Allah’s power, we can ultimately defeat these machinations.’
President Rouhani also criticized certain governments in the region which he said are misusing their natural resources and purchasing arms to use against oppressed nations such as the Yemeni people.
Referring to the sharp drop in crude oil prices from 120 dollars per barrel to 40-50 dollars, he said Iranians have proved successful in the face of challenges over the past 36 years.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says Iran’s return to global oil market will be gradual once international sanctions against the country are lifted.
Speaking at the 6th OPEC International Seminar in the Austrian capital city of Vienna, the Iranian minister added, “Immediately or one month after the sanctions are lifted, we will pump half a million barrels per day to the market and after 6-7 months, we will reach one million barrels [a day] and I don’t believe that with the maturity of OPEC it will have a bad effect on the market.”
Emphasizing that Tehran attaches great importance to its share of the market, Zanganeh said, “…for long-term and mid-term, the new form of Iranian contract for new projects … will be introduced and we [will] sign new contracts based on this new framework and structure, which we believe will be more attractive for the investors” and international oil companies.
Zanganeh went on to note that “oil market stability through supply balance will remain [a] priority for OPEC in all circumstances.”
He added that oil price must be held at a level that would motivate investment and promote competition.
“The energy industry must be depoliticized, free from sanctions and limitations and [with] access to financial services, technology and markets,” in order to ensure further development of production capacity in OPEC member countries, Zanganeh said.
Upon his arrival in the Austrian capital, he called for an “appropriate decision” by OPEC to curb a global oil supply glut.
“It’s very clear that we have oversupply in the market and this oversupply puts pressure on the price,” Zangeneh told Press TV, adding, “And now it’s our responsibility to review this situation and to take an appropriate decision for balancing the market but it depends on consensus among all OPEC members.”
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is hosting its 6th International Seminar at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, on 3−4 June 2015. The theme of the event is “Petroleum: An Engine for Global Development.”
Major topics to be discussed at the seminar include the global energy outlook, market stability, oil investments, technology and the environment, and the state of the world economy.
An alligator has found its way onto a gas platform in southern Iran, apparently in search of food.
The giant gator caused no problem for the personnel and was eventually led back to the swamp with the help of workers of the rig.
Iranian Vice-President for Legal Affairs Elham Aminzadeh strongly deplored certain countries for sponsoring terrorism in the Middle East, urging these states to cut their financial aid to terrorist groups.
Aminzadeh on Wednesday stressed that the violent terrorist groups in the region cannot survive without receiving aid from certain countries, and called for an end to the financial aid provided for these groups by the governments supporting them.
“The financial transactions carried out by certain governments for these groups should be stopped as soon as possible,” she said in an address to the International Conference on World without Violence in Imam Khomeini’s View in Tehran.
Some rich countries today are helping racist extremist groups stream from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere into the region, she added, reiterating that the aid should be cut immediately.
In similar remarks in December last year, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called for a halt to the financial supports certain countries have been giving to the terrorist groups in the Middle East region.
“The countries that supported the terrorists should immediately stop funding them and disown them,” President Rouhani said at the inaugural of an international conference on ‘World Against Violence and Extremism’ (WAVE), held in Tehran at the time.
On December 18, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to approve Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s WAVE proposal.
Wave Act asks the UN member states to unite against extremism, violence and sectarian conflicts in all their forms.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has condemned the Saudi aerial and naval blockade of Yemen.
“It is unacceptable that wounded Yemenis, particularly children and women, are denied access to medical aid because of the continuation of the cruel naval and aerial blockade, and that it is not possible to move them out of Yemen for treatment,” Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday.
He made the remarks in a meeting with Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Yemen Cedric Schweizer in Tehran.
The Iranian diplomat also emphasized that the Geneva-based ICRC plays a significant role in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the defenseless Yemenis, calling for the quick transfer of food and medical consignments to Yemen.
Amir-Abdollahian also voiced Iran’s readiness to put its humanitarian supplies at the disposal of ICRC.
Schweizer, for his part, briefed the Iranian deputy foreign minister on the ongoing ICRC efforts in Yemen, urging regional countries to send their humanitarian aid consignments to Yemen via ICRC bureaus in the southern Omani port city of Salalah as well as the African country of Djibouti.
On May 27, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement that innocent Yemeni people are paying the “highest price” for the deadly Saudi aggression against the country.
WHO Director General Margaret Chan warned about the dire medical situation in Yemen due to the Saudi airstrikes and the ongoing conflict in the country, saying, “Almost 8.6 million people are in urgent need of medical help.”
According to the UN, nearly 2,000 people have been killed and 7,330 injured due to the conflict in Yemen over the past weeks.
Saudi Arabia launched military attacks against Yemen on March 26 – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which currently controls the capital, Sana’a, and major provinces, and to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani underlined that Syria is defending Muslim nations against the Zionist regime of Israel and terrorist and extremist groups.
“Syria is at the forefront of efforts to defend the Islamic territories against the Zionist regime and the unbridled wave of Takfiri terrorism,” Shamkhani said Tuesday in a meeting in Tehran with Syrian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham.
Undermining Syria would definitely lead to crises and uncontrollable situations in all neighboring and regional countries, he added.
Shamkhani went on to say that the US and its regional allies are openly training and equipping Takfiri terrorists and violating the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
He said these countries are mistaken if they think they can provide security for the Zionist regime by creating crises in the region.
The Syrian parliament speaker, for his part, appreciated Tehran’s supports for Damascus and said the assistance provided by certain countries for the extremist and terrorist groups in Syria has been “a dark record” for them because they have preferred to serve the interests of colonial powers instead of their own nations.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) currently controlling parts of it, mostly in the east.
The US and its regional allies have been supporting the militants operating inside Syria for more than four years.
Bisotun, a centuries-old historical site, is located in the western Iranian province of Kermanshah.
Its multi-lingual inscriptions have been crucial to the decipherment of cuneiform script.
Almost a decade ago, the historical site made it onto the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The following images of the site have been released by Tasnim News Agency:
With the country preparing for a ceremony to mark the 26-year anniversary of the demise of Imam Khomeini, images of the founding father of the Islamic Republic dominated the front pages of Iranian dailies on Tuesday. Comments of the government spokesman about rallies for and against nuclear negotiations also appeared on the front covers of the newspapers.
Afkar: “Our conditions [for a nuclear deal] are clear, final and non-negotiable,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to the Supreme Leader.
Aftab-e Yazd: “The Interior Ministry should crack down on illegal gatherings,” Government Spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said in a news conference.
Aftab-e Yazd: Will Parviz Fattah challenge [incumbent] Hassan Rouhani in 2017 elections?
The daily has gone behind the scenes of principlist preparations for the presidential elections which are almost two years away.
[Fattah served as energy minister under Ahmadinejad and is currently the head of Imam Khomeini Relief Committee.]
Amin: Iran’s national volleyball team has suffered a second defeat against host USA in the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World League.
Asr-e Rasaneh: Iranian expatriates are to be offered insurance.
Ebtekar: “There are certain things about Imam [Khomeini] which remain unsaid; I won’t make them public for now,” said Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Ebtekar: There are uncertainties about a visit to Iran by the Gypsy Kings.
Ettela’at: The Ministry of Cooperatives has been tasked with excluding high-income individuals from the cash subsidies scheme.
Ettela’at: Thousands of Iraqi and Lebanese popular forces have arrived in Syria to take on IS terrorists.
Hambastegi: “We need to trust the understanding of the public,” said the grandson of the late Imam Khomeini.
Jomhouri Islami: An agreement has been struck with China on the return of oil sales cash to Iran.
Jomhouri Islami: The aircraft Mahan Air has recently purchased will take to the air as of Wednesday.
Mardomsalari: Scholars from 50 countries are in Tehran to attend ceremonies marking the 26th anniversary of the demise of Imam Khomeini.
Qods: The rise in gasoline prices has prompted parliament to summon the oil minister for explanation.
Rah-e Mardom: “The government does not see diversity of parties and political leanings as being counter to national unity,” said Intelligence Minister Seyyed Mahmoud Alavi.
© All Content by IFP News ( Iran Front Page ) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
