Why did an on-pitch bombshell spill off-pitch?

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May 17, 2015

The result of a football match between Sepahan [a football club based in Isfahan] and Saipa from Alborz Province [a 2-0 win for the Isfahani club] broke differently in a Tabriz stadium where another soccer match was under way between the hosts Teraktorsazi – the city’s powerhouse – and Tehran’s Naft on Friday.

Entekhab, a news website, on May 16 ran an analysis on the football match in Tabriz and what ensued which turned a sporting event into a politically-tinged news story. The following is the translation of the analysis in its entirety:

Viewers saw on their TV screens the extreme joy of Tabriz-based team and their fans who were shouting cries of championship. Only seconds later, though, another scene showed Sepahan players relishing their championship. The soccer league seemed to have two champions this year!

A Football Federation official has reportedly approached Tractor Sazi’s bench in the final minutes of the match, saying that the showdown between Sepahan and Saipa ended in a two-all draw. [That would have crowned Tractor Sazi as this year’s champions.]

To prepare the ground for releasing the fabricated news, certain people allegedly interrupted TV and radio channels and cut off mobile [and Internet] communications three minutes before the final whistle of the decisive match between the hosts Teraktorsazi and Tehran-based Naft to prevent people from getting the correct news on the result of the match [which was crucial in deciding which team lifts the trophy].

The fake news of a draw [between Sepahan and Saipa which would have resulted in the championship of Tractor Sazi] circulated around and everybody bought what was sold unequivocally.

Happy with the sweet lie, Tractor Sazi fans ran onto the pitch after the game and started partying. Alireza Mansourian, Naft’s head coach, congratulated Toni Oliveira, the head coach of Tractor Sazi, who looked overjoyed too.

Their revelry did not last long, though. When fans in Tabriz learned that the championship of their favorite team has been nothing but a lie, they grew angry and the situation became explosive.

The truth was so shocking that even Teraktorsazi’s head coach couldn’t believe his ears: images released show him shell-shocked with disheveled appearance. The bombshell also sent a number of fans to the hospital.

Some media sources claim that Toni Oliveira’s son was behind the rumor. Even if those claims are accepted, one should ask: Did the stadium’s announcer break the news of Tractor Sazi’s championship and Sepahan’s draw simply with a gesture from Oliveira’s son? Did the head coach’s son prevent the result of the Sepahan-Saipa match from being displayed on the scoreboard? These questions and the ambiguities surrounding the case [have remained unanswered].

What is certain is that the government should form a fact-finding committee to look into the dramatic event which left people in Tabriz with a heavy heart, bring to justice those behind the incident, and make up, one way or another, for the trampled rights of Tractor Sazi.

Rumors to disrupt a presidential trip

The spread of the fake news [that Sepahan and Saipa played to a 2-2 draw] came just a few days before President Rouhani’s scheduled trip to the northwestern city of Tabriz. That the fake news came so close to a presidential trip fuels suspicions that it was a preplanned lie.

It seems that the Worriers and opponents of government have tried to interfere with the president’s trip to Tabriz (where Rouhani won an overwhelming number of votes in the 2013 presidential election).

There are reports that posters advertising a trip by [members of] the Government of Prudence and Hope were distributed among people – in a spontaneous, provocative manner – after angry Tractor Sazi fans filled the streets of the city.

The fans – who were sick at heart after realizing that their emotions have been played around with and thought they’ve been deceived by the Football Federation – started to tear the posters.

Observers say that the role of the opponents of the Government of Prudence and Hope – who have so far done whatever they have been able to, to throw a wrench into the works of government – in what played out in the Tabriz stadium should not be ignored.

There’s no denying of the fact that a suspicious and bungling move by some at the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and the Football Federation has definitely triggered such a nasty incident.

Instead of getting involved in a verbal row with the head coach of the national football team and micromanaging all sporting affairs, the sports minister (who was not among the president’s first options to take charge of the ministry) is expected not to let the [existing] opportunities slip, and to exercise resourcefulness and avoid imposing hefty costs and huge problems on government.

Iran’s aid ship to arrive in Yemeni port on May 21

By

Golrokh Askarieh

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May 17, 2015

The Iranian cargo ship “Nejat” (Rescue) loaded with 2,500 tons of aid supplies for war-stricken Yemen will dock in Hodeida port on May 21, the ship’s captain announced.

“It is four days since we set sail from Bandar Abbas and God willing, given the weather forecast, we will enter (Yemen’s) Hodeida port six days later on May 21,” Captain Masoud Qazi Mir-Saeed told the Tasnim News Agency on Friday evening.

He said currently the ship is located 30 miles from Omani coasts and is sailing toward the Gulf of Aden.

The captain emphasized that the ship is moving toward Yemen, adding that everything for the voyage is good and there is no problem.

The cargo ship, which belongs to Iran’s Valfajr Shipping Company, left Iran for Hodeida on Monday evening.

It has been loaded with 700 tons of flour, 1,200 tons of rice, 400 tons of canned food, 50 tons of medication and health products, and 50 tons of mineral water.

The ship’s journey comes after Yemen agreed to a five-day truce proposed by Saudi Arabia.

The ceasefire, which is to allow humanitarian aid in, came into effect at 11 pm (2000 GMT) on Tuesday.

On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to launch deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

Some seven weeks of deadly aerial attacks on Yemen have killed over 3,500 people and left some 6,200 others injured.

Nasrallah Lashes Out at US, Israel for Creating Takfiri Terrorism

By

Emad Askarieh

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May 17, 2015

Secretary General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Resistance Movement Seyed Hassan Nasrallah lashed out at the US and Israel for making arbitrary use of Takfiri terrorism to undermine the Islamic nation.

“We are witnessing a new Nakba,” Nasrallah said in a televised address on Saturday.

“The Nakba of the Takfiri militants was first brought to the region by the British Zionist project, now it is the American Takfiri Zionist project, and America is using this to weaken the Ummah and tear it apart and to seize control of its capabilities,” he added.

Every year on May 15, Palestinians all over the world hold demonstrations to commemorate Nakba Day, which marks the anniversary of the forcible eviction of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland by Israelis and the creation of the Israeli regime in 1948.

On May 15, 1948, Israeli forces displaced some 700,000 Palestinians, forcing them to flee to neighboring countries. Israeli soldiers also wiped nearly 500 Palestinian villages and towns off the map, leaving an estimated total of 4.7 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants dreaming of an eventual return to their ancestral homeland more than six decades later.

Battle for Qalamoun

Nasrallah praised the “victory” in Qalamoun as a major achievement for Lebanon, Syria, and the entire region.

The battles there took place from “hilltop to hilltop and from valley to valley,” he added.

Hezbollah, the Syrian army, and Syrian volunteer forces, as well as the locals in Qalamoun helped fighting the terrorists in the strategic area, he noted.

Referring to the major difficulties in the battle for Qalamoun, he said the high mountains and hills inside the area made the mop-up operation very difficult.

A total of around 300 square kilometers of the Syrian and Lebanese territory was retaken from the militants and some of their operation centers were also destroyed, Nasrallah added.

“The highest level of security was achieved for Syrian villages in Qalamoun and the same goes for Damascus-Homs road,” he said, adding; however, that as long as the militants are present in border areas, such as in Arsal outskirts and some parts of Qalamoun, there would be risks.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah fighters have cut off the supply lines of the militants from Lebanon to Syria.

He further described attempts by certain entities to pit Hezbollah against the Lebanese army as “foolish”.

The secretary general also criticized some Arab media for waging what he referred to as psychological warfare against Hezbollah. He added the media has overplayed the number of Hezbollah’s casualties.

“There have been thirteen Hezbollah martyrs in the battle so far,” he stated.

Nasrallah also stressed that the media was trying to portray the Takfiri militants as revolutionaries while they are in fact terrorists.

Since the most recent Syria-Hezbollah joint operations about nearly two weeks ago, al-Nusra Front Takfiri militants had been using Qalamoun mountainous region for transferring weapons and reinforcements from Lebanon into Syria, where they have been engaged in terrorist operations against the government.

Failure after failure

Turning to Yemen, he called for the condemnation of the US-backed Saudi aggression against the impoverished country.

He said the Saudi military campaign has failed to achieve any of its goals, saying Riyadh has gained nothing but “failure after failure.”

“This aggression won’t achieve its goals…. and it has failed in achieving its goals,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 53 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

[…]

World mum on rights violations in Bahrain

Touching upon the developments about the popular uprising in Bahrain, he slammed the violation of human rights in the Persian Gulf kingdom, saying that the people of Bahrain are facing torture and prison for their peaceful upraising.

“The situation in the prisons in Bahrain is very difficult, it’s not just against the most basic human rights and something awful is taking place… in light of international silence,” the secretary general added.

Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling for an end to the al-Khalifa dynasty.

[…]

Power vacuum in Lebanon

On the future presidential election in Lebanon, Nasrallah said the power vacuum has reached a dangerous point, urging the Lebanese people not to pin their hopes on foreigners to make decisions for them in this regard.

“Take these matters very seriously, it’s very important and sensitive, discuss the ways out and raise solutions for the power vacuum,” he said.

The power vacuum is considered the longest since 1990, which marked the end of Lebanon’s civil war.

In Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the president must be a Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim. Any presidential candidate would have to receive the backing of the two main political blocs, the March 8 alliance and the rival March 14 alliance, to win the necessary majority from the legislature’s 128 members.

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on May 17

By

Emad Askarieh

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May 17, 2015

The Supreme Leader’s comments at a meeting with senior state officials on a range of issues including Persian Gulf security dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers. Also in the news was the death sentence issued in Egypt against former President Mohamed Morsi.

Abrar: Yemen has withdrawn its ambassador from Tehran.

Abrar: “[Director of the Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar] Salehi underwent surgery only once and that operation went off without a hitch,” said the head of the Iranian Association of Surgeons.

Aftab-e Yazd: “An insecure Persian Gulf will be insecure for everyone,” said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei at a meeting with senior state officials.

“The US is not in a position to make comments about Persian Gulf security,” the Leader further said.

Aftab-e Yazd: All the harms caused by Ahmadinejad’s New Year gifts

The daily examines the debts the former government owed to the National Development Fund.

Aftab-e Yazd: The head of the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization has denied reports that a verdict has been issued in the case involving two Saudi officers molesting two Iranian teenagers.

Arman-e Emrooz: Change in Pasteur [a reference to the office of the President of the Islamic Republic] is certain to come.

The spokesman of President Rouhani has confirmed an Arman-e Emrooz report [earlier in May] that a government shakeup is around the corner.

Asrar: “We should not allow hardliners to interfere with the progress of the nation,” said Ali Younesi, an advisor to President Rouhani.

Asrar: Government Spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht has said that India has frozen $8.8 billion in Iranian credit.

Asrar: “The country’s tourism revenues will equal those of oil exports by 2025.”

The comment was made by the director of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization.

Emtiaz: “Websites that allow illegal downloading of movies are on police radar,” said Tehran police chief.

Hambastegi: “The fight against ossification stopped with the demise of Imam Khomeini,” said Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the architect of the Islamic Republic, in a meeting with Khuzestan political activists.

Kaenat: The government does not have enough money to sustain cash subsidies.

Payam-e Zaman: Some 18.9 percent of university graduates are unemployed.

Payam-e Zaman: Talks have been held with the Europeans for investment in the country’s gas industry.

Payam-e Zaman: Tehran International Book Fair has set a new record.

Sales amounted to around $20 million dollars during the fair that ran for 10 days.

Resalat: “The US will take its dream of inspecting Iran’s military sites to the grave,” said Tehran Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani.

Rooyesh-e Mellat: [Former Egyptian President Mohammed] Morsi has been sentenced to death.

Sharq: An indictment has been issued against those who attacked Tehran MP Ali Motahari, when he was in Shiraz in early March to deliver a speech at the city’s main university.

Rappers get official recognition to be part of Iran’s music industry

By

Emad Askarieh

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May 17, 2015

In recent years, rap music has grown in popularity with Iranian youth and it’s impossible for culture officials to brush aside its underground growth.

After the Government of Prudence and Hope took office, Ali Moradkhani, the deputy culture minister for arts, was the first one who dropped the hint in an interview two years ago when he said, “We are trying to make sure there is no such nothing as underground art. […] When those involved in underground [art] activities are authorized to work, they will comply with the law.”

Later, the director general of the Music Department at the ministry, Pirouz Arjmand, said that measures are being taken to recognize rap music, adding that the government tries to resolve every problem through expert studies.

In an analytical look earlier in May, Donyay-e Eghtesad, a daily, tried to review remarks by officials of Rouhani’s government on underground music, rap in particular, and the process which led to the first permit for a rap album. The following is the translation of a part of the report:

Arjmand said, “Although rap music has originated in the West, there are similar cultural pieces in our culture such as storytelling. What some of our poets who recited epic poetry did was very close to rap music.”

He said if underground rap albums met the requirement of the Music Department, which was compatibility with the genuine Iranian culture, they would be granted an official permit. His pledge was recently honored when a first rap album debuted on Iranian market.

In a ceremony to unveil the first rap album, Kaveh Abedin, the rapper, said his album was actually made a decade ago, when he was still a school student. “One of my friends had a good voice, another was good at playing the piano and I had a dream to pursue. The notion of producing an album came into being back then.”

On the process which led to the release of a permit for the album, Abedin said over the last decade, he applied for a permit almost every two years.

The official release of the first rap album seems to have opened a new chapter in the cultural and managerial policies of the culture ministry, a chapter which officially recognizes rap as part of Iran’s music industry. Until a few years ago, it was a distant dream for rappers to get a foothold in the Iranian music market, but believe it or not, the first album has now hit the music stores.

An uphill ride for Iran’s female motocross racers

By

Emad Askarieh

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May 17, 2015

It is an exciting experience to see female motocross* racers in their outfit ready to hit the road, dirt road that is. These women have good physical skills and great courage. Despite carrying an official permit from the Motorcycle and Automobile Federation, these women are not allowed to attend national competitions or go to the MX tracks at Azadi Stadium. But they can’t wait for a day when female motocross races are officially recognized in Iran.

Iranbanou, a supplement of Iran newspaper, has covered the story of Noora Naraghi and her mother Shahrzad Nazifi who practice together at a motocross track. It looks as if interest in motocross runs in the family since Nora’s father – Mehrshad – is a motocross champion. Noora is Iran’s first female champion [in 2009, she won Iran’s first-ever female championship in motocross] and has acquired a certificate in coaching from the US. The following is the translation of excerpts of the story:

The mom of the family credits her interest in motocross to her love for her husband, saying she first pursued the sport out of fun. She says Mehrshad started to train their two kids when they were four. “I’ve always encouraged my children to continue motocross as long as their practices don’t come at the expense of their education”.

The family’s son found his way to the national team, but his mom and sister weren’t allowed to hit the track for training.

Noora’s first shot at motocross came at the age of 4. Her dad is her trainer and she does other sports such as ping pong, volleyball and swimming just for fun. She says cycling and bodybuilding are a big help for racers.

She says although motocross is expensive, she has paid for it out of her own pocket. Noora has competed in a race along with Ashley Fiolek [a profoundly deaf professional motocross racer and the Women’s Motocross Championship in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012], saying Ashley can be a good model for female Iranian riders.

She says motocross is one of the most exciting sports. Noora hopes national competitions – when held – increase the number of women with an interest in the sport. She says performing acrobatic stunts [while jumping motocross bikes] is a variation of motocross [Freestyle Motocross] and should not be tried out on the streets.

A form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits

No Saudi permission needed for Yemen aid delivery: Iran official

By

Emad Askarieh

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May 17, 2015

A senior Iranian diplomat says Saudi Arabia is not in a position to make decisions regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen which has been targeted by Riyadh’s military aggression.

“Saudi Arabia cannot decide for the UN and the countries helping Yemen,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, said on Saturday.

He added that the Saudi regime’s blocking of aid delivery to Yemen has denied 20 provinces humanitarian aid.

Amir-Abdollahian reaffirmed Iran’s readiness to dispatch aid to Yemen, saying, “Tehran is ready to send humanitarian aid to all parts of Yemen, and [we] have stepped up the process of collecting and sending aid [to Yemen].”

Saudi Arabia started its military aggression 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 other major provinces, and to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.

The Riyadh regime has already blocked earlier Iranian aid deliveries to Yemen. Last month, it prevented two Iranian civilian planes from delivering medical aid and foodstuff to the Yemeni people.

In a move coordinated with the UN, Iran now plans to send planes carrying humanitarian aid to Yemen through Oman and Djibouti.

An Iranian ship carrying aid, including food and medical supplies, is also currently sailing through the Arabian Sea towards the Yemeni port city of Hudaidah.

In addition to the crew members, the ship is also carrying a number of volunteer doctors as well as international activists.

On Friday, the UN urged Saudi Arabia to ease harsh import restrictions on Yemen-bound cargo to speed up delivery of vital aid to the Yemeni people.

Iran, Oman launch new shipping route

By

Emad Askarieh

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May 17, 2015

Iran has inaugurated a new shipping route to Oman – a move expected to help diversify the country’s access to international export markets.

The route that has been established between Iran’s Shahid Rajaee and the Omani port of Sohar was inaugurated on May 14 through a ceremony at the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.

Iran’s media say two containers – each with a collective capacity of 200 TEUs or twenty-foot equivalent units – will be used to transport food items, agricultural products and perishable goods.

The containers will start making trips between Shahid Rajaee and Sohar every 15 days in the initial phase, but their trips could increase to once every week if the volume of trade in the route increases.

Iran and Oman in April signed an agreement to establish the new route during the visit to Tehran by a large Omani business delegation. The delegation was visiting the Iranian capital for talks on expanding trade and commercial cooperation between the two countries.

There are speculations that Iran and Oman plan to use the route to promote trade across the region.

President Hassan Rouhani told reporters during a visit to Ashkhabad in early March that Iran and Turkmenistan are determined to activate a “south-to-north economic corridor” that starts with Oman, passes through Iran and leads to Uzbekistan through Turkmenistan.

What could further testify this plan are official comments that the newly-established Iran-Oman shipping route could be used to transit goods from Oman’s projected Duqum port to Iran’s Chabahar port.

Iran plans to turn Chabahar into a starting point for major exports to Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond through Indian investments.

Iranians will not allow inspection of military sites: Senior cleric

By

Emad Askarieh

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May 17, 2015

A senior cleric said the brave Muslim nation of Iran will never agree to inspection of its military centers.

Seyyed Ahmad Khatami on Saturday rejected recent remarks by US President Barack Obama on the unprecedented inspection of Iran’s military sites after a nuclear agreement.

“If they want to step into our military settings, the people of Iran will break their legs,” he said.

He hailed Iran’s nuclear negotiations team for enjoying the nation’s trust and added, “If they sense any treatment with contempt, they will leave the negotiations table.”

Rejecting the threats by the White House that all options including the military action are on the table, he said, “We need to observe the Islamic principles and values and trust in Almighty God’s grace. Then, the enemies will not succeed.”

He also called for efforts to confront the Western cultural onslaught and said that spirituality will be the best defense against the enemies’ plots.