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Iran summons Saudi envoy over teens’ harassment at Jeddah airport

Ghashghavi

In the absence of the Saudi ambassador to Iran, the country’s chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Foreign Ministry last week, Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Ghashghavi was quoted as saying on Monday.

Ghashghavi also slammed the airport officials’ actions as a “heinous and inhumane crime.”

He added following the summoning, Saudi officials arrested the two suspects after carrying out investigations, and promised that appropriate measures would be adopted.

The airport officials reportedly separated the two Iranians from other members of their group, who were returning from their pilgrimage, and sexually assaulted them.

Terrorists behind assassination of police officers identified

Khuzestan-Terrorism

The terrorists who assassinated three police officers in Hamidieh, Kuzestan Province, have been identified and will soon be arrested, a top Judiciary official in Khuzestan Province said on Monday.

Secretary of the headquarters in charge of the campaign against crimes in Khuzestan Province Farzad Farhadi-Rad made the remarks in a meeting with the staff members.

He said that a working group comprised of IRGG, IRIP and intelligence officers, as well as Judiciary officials was established to survey the matter speedily.

The three police officers were martyred while on duty on April 2, 2015, in their police station in Gambouah Village of Hamidieh, Khuzestan province.

The bodies of the three martyrs were officially marched by their colleagues and the citizens of the city of Hamidieh and then buried in their hometowns of Hamidieh, Ahvaz, and Izeh, the cities all in Khuzestan Province.

Eight Iranian border guards killed by terrorists

Iranian Border

Eight border guards have been killed by terrorists in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan near the border with Pakistan, a provincial official says.

The eight were killed in a border area in the southeastern town of Negur on Monday when clashes broke out with terrorists who had entered Iran via the Pakistani border, IRNA quoted Sistan and Baluchestan Deputy Governor Ali Asghar Mirshekari as saying.

Negur is the main town of Dashtiari district in the Chabahar County, one of Iran’s southernmost regions.

During the ensuing gun battle, three of the assailants were also killed by Iranian forces.

Mirshekari added that the terrorists fled to Pakistan after the incident and that a request had been made to Pakistan to apprehend the culprits and hand them over to Iranian authorities.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) destroyed a terrorist group in the southeast of the country.

All members of the terror team which was affiliated with foreign spy services were killed in an operation by IRGC’s ground forces in Qasre Qand and Nik Shahr regions in Sistan and Baluchestan, according to a statement by the Public relations office of the IRGC’s Qods Headquarters.

Sistan and Baluchestan Province has seen similar attacks by terrorists who launch hit-and-run attacks and flee to neighboring Pakistan.

Iran has repeatedly criticized its eastern neighbor for failing to rein in the terrorists.

Principlist news website dissects parliamentary committee session attended by FM

Zarif

Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee met on Sunday to hear Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s explanations about recent nuclear talks in Lausanne, Switzerland and the joint statement they produced.

Alef, a news website run by Ahmad Tavakoli, an influential principlist MP and a onetime presidential candidate, published an opinion piece by Hamid Safari on the parliamentary committee session. The following is a partial translation of the piece:

[…]

There were three main problems associated with the meeting and its coverage.

First, the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee allowed MPs who did not have a seat on the committee to take part in the session and pose probing questions to the representative of the establishment – and not the policymaker – and level baseless allegations against him. […]

The session could have been convened with only members of the committee’s presiding board in attendance. Thus what transpired could have been averted.

Second, for the first time, images of a closed-door session on one of the biggest challenges facing the establishment over the past 36 years were aired by the national broadcaster.

At a time when the Supreme Leader is urging all political factions to throw their weight behind the nuclear negotiators, images of wrangling hit the small screen, suggesting there are deep divisions and tension in the country over such a vital issue. Such images could send the wrong message to the other party and the enemies of the Islamic system.

Third, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting repeatedly aired a report on the meeting which seemed to have given undue prominence to the anger of the foreign minister. Besides, even though the foreign minister was under pressure, he should not have thrown a tantrum.

Certainly the Iranians expect their top diplomat to be more patient, because the three-month period that lies ahead is more difficult than the past 18 months. The negotiating team has a heavier burden to shoulder and is likely to come under more criticism.

Zarif removed many ambiguities: Senior MP

Hossein Naghavi
Hossein Naqavi Hosseini

Senior member of Parliament Hossein Naghavi Hosseini said Monday that in his Parliament briefing on Sunday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had removed many ambiguities about the statement read out at the end of Lausanne talks.

Naghavi Hosseini, the rapporteur of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that the foreign minister assured the lawmakers that there were no differences between the text of the statement read out by him and the one read out by Ms. Mogherini.

Mr. Zarif also removed ambiguities about US fact sheet, lifting of UN sanctions and mutual guarantees of Iran and the other side, Naghavi Hosseini said.

“We have to accept the fact that Iran negotiates its nuclear case and the two sides sit at the negotiating table to reach an agreement,” Naghavi Hosseini said, adding that in no negotiations, one side receives all concessions while the other side gives all the concessions.

“No one is opposed to negotiations over Iran’s nuclear case because negotiations are the only way out of the nuclear dispute,” he stated.

He said that the negotiating team is expected to make use of the all-out support of the Iranian nation to further balance the received and given concessions in the comprehensive deal to be clinched in the future.

Public can tell well-intentioned critiques from factional ones: Deputy min.

Ghashghavi

Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular and Parliamentary Affairs Hassan Ghashghavi has described as positive the general reaction of parliament to nuclear talks between Iran and P5+1, saying, “Some critiques are tinged with political and factional interests, but public opinion can clearly distinguish a well-intentioned critique from a factional one.”

Ghashghavi was quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency on April 6 as saying, “We have accepted to live in a country where different voices can be heard and criticism is allowed, that’s why we are not concerned about well-meaning critiques at all.”

As for what happened in parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Sunday, he said, “What disappointed the foreign minister in the session was not the critical comment of a leading MP about the nuclear talks; rather, it was the unsubstantiated reference to a comment by the Supreme Leader.”

The deputy minister went on to say, “At the session, Javad Karimi Ghodoosi attributed some comments to the Supreme Leader in a private meeting with the foreign minister present.”

Ghashghavi added, “In reaction to the insistence by the MP, Zarif said that he would not allow such unsubstantiated quotes which are [reportedly] attributed to the Supreme Leader to be capitalized on at the expense of the respected position of the leader.”

Iranian negotiator defends the nuclear statement

Baidi Nejad

The Supreme Leader and President Rouhani were in on all decisions made in recent talks between Iran and P5+1 in Lausanne, Iranian nuclear negotiator Hamid Baidinejad told IRNA Monday as he criticized those who base their judgment of the nuclear statement on comments and reports by Western officials and media.

He said the intention of Westerners and their media is obviously in line with their enmity toward Iran which is not expected to be resolved with the Lausanne statement, because strategic differences between Iran and the West over the Middle East remain in place.

The Foreign Ministry official went on to say that the Western version of what has happened in the talks is certainly different from Iran’s. “They say we have prevented Iran from developing nuclear arms; whereas, we say we have maintained our peaceful nuclear program.”

Exposed to pressure from some local media, the Iranian negotiating team has to defend its performance by stressing its narrative and this makes the other party angrier, Baidinejad said.

In conclusion, he said all red lines of the establishment have been respected in the talks and the negotiating team has nothing to hide and supports the statement, confident in the fact that it is legally, technically and politically problem-free.

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

Iranian Newspapers Headlines
Iranian Newspapers Headlines

The appearance of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif before parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee and comments by President Rouhani and Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani about the nuclear understanding between Iran and P5+1 dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers on Monday.

 

Abrar: Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is likely to appear before a closed-door session of parliament Tuesday to expound on nuclear statement Iran and P5+1 issued in Lausanne, Switzerland.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Asr-e Eghtesad: Unemployment stands at 10.5 percent.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Asrar: Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has urged fellow MPs to make comments on the nuclear statement Iran and P5+1 issued in Lausanne only when they know all the facts about the talks.

Asrar: The economy minister has said that his ministry seeks to push inflation down to single digits this year.

Asrar:”We should not do things that might play into the hands of hardliners,” said Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Asrar: Foreign Minister Zarif had a heated dispute with an MP during his appearance in parliament.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Emtiaz: Hamid Derakhshan has resigned as coach of the capital’s Persepolis Football Club.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Etemad: During a meeting of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Tehran MP Ahamd Tavakoli spoke in support of Foreign Minister Zarif who was also on hand for the meeting.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Ettela’at: The economy minister said that termination of sanctions won’t settle the country’s economic problems overnight.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Iran: Parviz Fattah, a onetime energy minister, has been appointed as director of Imam Khomeini Relief Committee.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Payam-e Zaman: The minister of industries, mines and trade has said this year the focus will be on expansion of non-oil exports.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Qods: “Parliament is not poised to approve the Additional Protocol,” said the chairman of the chamber’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Roozan: “Don’t lie. The Leader has not admonished me,” Foreign Minister Zarif told Karimi Ghodoosi, an MP who spoke against the Lausanne statement during the top diplomat’s appearance in parliament.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Sayeh: The Iranian oil minister has said that exports of natural gas to Iraq will get underway later this year.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Sharq: The Afghan ambassador to Tehran has said that the Afghan president will soon pay a visit to Iran.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 


 

Tejarat: “The world has no other option than strike a deal with Iran,” said President Rouhani.

 

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on April 6

 

Rafsanjani commends skills of Iranian diplomats in nuclear talks

Rafsanjani

Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Sunday that the skills of Iranian diplomats removed the wrong mentality of Western states and proved Iran’s transparent and legitimate stand.

In separate meetings with local officials from different organs and Majlis representatives, he praised perseverance of the Iranian nuclear negotiators in the past 18 months.

When the Supreme Leader denounces proliferation and use of nuclear weapons, there will be no room for the Western skepticism, he said.

Calling Lausanne’s framework deal a significant outcome, he said the two sides should avoid provocative slogans which give pretexts to hardliners who seek to create obstacles for Iran and P5+1.

He expressed the hope that the world would recognize Iran’s right to nuclear program within coming three months.

In these series of talks the world put a seal of approval on the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities in the fields of agriculture, energy, health and civilian application of nuclear energy as part of the country’s legitimate rights which has roots in the patience and resistance of brave Iranian nation and their officials.

Rafsanjani appreciated the support made by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic revolution for the nuclear team and said it will take three months to clinch the final deal which is very sensitive and complicated.

Iran is determined to make use of nuclear energy to secure comfort and enhance living standards, he said.

The arbitrary international sanctions imposed on Iran were thwarted through national patience of Iranian nation, he said.

They imposed the heaviest economic sanctions against Iran but to no avail, he said, adding that they had no option except to sit at the negotiating table.

“We wish to continue nuclear activities with no limits and hope that the IAEA will carry out its duties,” he said.

Highlighting the speech delivered by US president at the US congress where he said that they had no option except to resolve the issue through talks, he said it was very logical of the two sides to express and exchange views at the negotiating table and now political parties and intellectuals of the two sides should exercise vigilance to bar hardliners to take the podium and deceive people by baseless statements.

Golestan environmental police take over stranded bear cubs

Bear-4

Environmental police in Golestan Province, in northeastern Iran, were dispatched to a provincial village on April 4 after they were contacted by locals who said they had spotted two stranded bear cubs in the vicinity of the village.

The head of the Public Relations Office of the provincial environment department said that the mother of the pair is unaccounted for.

Ahmad Dabaghian added that the cubs’ mother might have been killed by poachers or the locals and that an investigation is underway to figure out what has become of her.

He further said that the cubs which are a few weeks old are being looked after and in a few days a decision will be made as to whether to release the cubs – one male and the other female – back into the wild.

The following is a photo gallery that the website of Iran Environment and Wildlife Watch released of the two cubs: