Iran MPs take symbolic dust storm protest to parliament floor

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February 15, 2015

MPs representing Khuzestan, Ilam and Kermanshah provinces attended an open session of the chamber on Sunday with protective face masks on in a symbolic move to protest against poor air quality in southern cities and what they called the poor performance of the related government bodies.

Meanwhile, in remarks on the quality of air in southern Iran, top MP Ali Larijani said that officials should pay serious attention to the question of particulates which has created pain for people in southern and western provinces, although the problem has its roots in the deserts of neighboring countries.

The parliament speaker also said that it takes extensive measures by the government to make up for certain shortcomings at home and pursue an active diplomacy to galvanize the collective will of neighboring countries.

A dust storm which has disrupted life in Khuzestan Province over the past two weeks has prompted the government to order schools closed for three days and to shut down public offices for one day.

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on Feb. 15

By

Emad Askarieh

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February 15, 2015

An Expediency Council decision to ban the military from getting involved in electoral campaigns dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers on Sunday. Also on the covers of dailies were the comments of the intelligence minister that a terrorist cell has been busted in the southeast.

Abrar: “Iranian tourists face no problem going to Egypt,” said the head of the Egyptian Interest Section in Tehran.

Afkar: “A terrorist cell has been busted in the southeast,” said the intelligence minister.

Aftab-e Yazd: “The problem of particulates started some eight years ago,” said Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani [in an indirect swipe at the Ahmadinejad administration].

Arman-e Emrooz: Military officials have been banned from factional politics in elections.

Asr-e Iranian: Each hour the number of addicts increases by three. Female deaths as a result of drug abuse have increased 15 percent.

Asr-e Rasaneh: The oil minister has ordered the industry to launch long-term cooperation with universities.

Asrar: Parliament’s Research Center is opposed to holding electronic elections.

Eghtesad-e Pooya: “Iran has exported $42 billion in non-oil products,” said the head of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.

Emtiaz: Some 34,000 villages are now empty.

An estimated 11 percent of the metropolitan population lives on the edges of major cities.

Etemad: Iranian poet Houshang Ebtehaj has been hospitalized in Cologne, Germany.

Ettela’at: “IRIG has turned into a nightmare for IS terrorists in Iraq,” said the commander of the Iranian Revolution Guards.

Jomhouri Islami: A first artificial heart transplant in Iran has been conducted successfully.

Kar va Kargar: “Westerners should act wisely to prevent tension sweeping the region,” Ayatollah Rafsanjani said on developments in Yemen.

Kayhan: An advisor to the director of the environment organization has criticized the president’s special envoy.

The advisor has said the health minister pops up in affairs which are unrelated to his specialty.

Kayhan: The Education Ministry is offering loans to teachers to visit Antalya, Turkey!

Mardomsalari: In a symbolic move, students have formed a human chain around the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant to support the Iranian nuclear negotiators.

Qods: ”Admitting that 15 million Iranians are not in government databanks is unpleasant,” said a member of parliament.

[The comment came after a government official said the names of millions of people who receive cash subsidies are not in databanks.]

Resalat: “Those who have endangered the country’s security won’t be allowed to run for public office,” said the spokesman of the Guardian Council.

Ruyesh-e Mellat: Following the fall of the Iraqi town of Al-Baghdadi, IS is only a short distance away from a US base.

Tehran Times: Iran unveils new drugs to treat MS, cancer and diabetes.

US has not killed Bin Laden: Former Pakistani spymaster

By

Emad Askarieh

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February 15, 2015

Recent comments by Pakistan’s lieutenant general Mohammad Asad Durrani that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has helped the United States in tracking down Bin Laden and later killing him in a covert operation are not true, said retired Pakistani lieutenant general Hamid Gul, who once sat at the helm of ISI. The following is a partial translation of an interview the Islamic Republic News Agency conducted with the former Pakistani official.

On Bin Laden

“That the US claims it has killed Bin Laden is basically untrue. Bin Laden died of natural causes in 2005. The individual the US claims it has killed in 2011 in Abbottabad was not Bin Laden,” lieutenant general Hamid Gul said. “The Americans are not trustworthy and their claims are not true.”

On IS

“The reason why IS terrorists have been unable to make their way into Pakistan is that they face a big hurdle called Iran,” the former director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence said, adding, “The terrorist grouping knows no boundaries and seeks to expand the area under its control at any cost. But for the group to infiltrate Pakistan, it has to cross Iran and Afghanistan. We all know that crossing Iran is impossible.”

On Iran-Saudi Ties

“In the years since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has had some disagreements with Arab countries, but with the rise to power of King Salam in Saudi Arabia new developments have been set in motion which could narrow the gap between Tehran and Riyadh,” the former Pakistani official said.

“Because of American plots, Arabs have always been baselessly concerned about Iran,” he said, adding, “Tehran should now reach out to Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, and convince them there is nothing to be worried about and that the fears the US has instilled in their ranks are groundless.”

Sepandarmazgan, Persian Feast to Respect Women, Earth, Life

By

IFP Editorial Staff

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February 14, 2015

Sepandarmazgan is a day Iranians observe in honor of love, affection and earth, each year.

Traditionally, the earth is praised and women are venerated during this day which is celebrated on the 29th of Bahman in the Persian calendar [February 18] . But does it have anything to do with the Western Valentine’s Day?

In its Feb 14th issue, Amordad weekly ran an opinion piece by Mobed Ardeshir Khorshidian, the head of Tehran’s Mobeds Association. He speaks about about the Persian Day of Love in this article, trying to clear up the confusion surrounding the Iranian celebration and the similar Western feast.

The following is a partial translation of the piece:

Sepandarmazgan Isn’t Equivalent to Valentine Day

An underlying principle of Zoroastrianism – which is one of the foundations of this land’s [Iran] culture – is the equality of the rights of all humans, including men and women.

Sepandarmazgan is a Zoroastrian festival. The date of the festival as observed in the Sassanid era was on the 5th day of the month Spandarmad. Iranian always held “name-feast” celebrations when the name of the day and the month of the day coincided.

That said, Bahman 29 [February 18] has been designated as Mozdgiran [Esfandgan] or Sepandarmazgan; a day to show respect to mothers and women. Men would seat their beloved wives and daughters on the highest place on this day; offering them generous gifts which were spiritually invaluable. Persian men expressed their gratitude and love for the nearest and dearest in their lives this way.

Women in Persian Culture

On such an auspicious day, women were relieved of household chores. Instead, men would take charge of the housework to learn more about the importance of big responsibilities women shoulder in their lives, develop an understanding of women’s status, and express thankfulness for what women usually take care of.

In the Iranian culture, zan (woman), zamin (earth) and zendegi (life) have one root which means zayandegi (reproduction). Accordingly, [ancient] Iranians used to believe that “woman” is the embodiment of reproduction in the world.

Persian men used to call their wives as hamsar (spouse) which – in Farsi – means the one who is equal with her husband; as well as kadbanoo (housewife; the one who is good at housekeeping) which means the light and manager of the house. In the eyes of Iranians, women – like life and the earth – are of high and lofty value.

Recently, certain Iranian theoreticians have tried to call Sepandarmazgan* as the Iranian Day of Love in a bid to prevent people from marking the Valentine’s Day, which has nothing in common with the Iranian culture and religion. Although such a move is appropriate and conscientious, it has been pursued out of a lack of knowledge.

Mehregan; the Persian Day of Love

Iranians should know that the Day of Love for Persians is the day of Mehr in the month of Mehr which is celebrated as “Mehregan” [an Iranian festival celebrated in honor of Mithra, the divinity of covenant, and hence of interpersonal relationships such as friendship, affection and love. The festival falls on the 196th day of the Iranian year or 10th Mehr and 2nd October].

Mehr means love which comes with loyalty to [one’s] promise, and it cannot be confined to Jashne Esfandgan [the Esfandgan Feast is celebrated on Sepandarmaz Day] in which women [and mothers] are honored.

Iranians believe that beside harboring love for women and life, people should love the whole universe and its single and unique Creator. Therefore, the Iranians celebrate Mehregan- the Persian Day of Love- to honour the love for family members, relatives, coreligionists, fellow countrymen, fellow humans and all the symbols of goodness in nature.

Trees are sacred to Iranians

By

IFP Editorial Staff

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February 14, 2015

Trees were regarded as holy in ancient Iran. They have been also respected in Islam. But the way they are treated today shows no trace of sanctity or respect whatsoever.

Etemad newspaper on Feb. 3 ran an opinion piece by Ali Yachkaschi – a professor of environmental science, environmental activist and author – on the sanctity of trees in ancient Iran and the place of trees in Iranian culture. What appears below is a full translation of the piece:

Tress and forests were of immense significance in Iranian mythology which hails trees as good humans who have turned into trees after their death and have been given an eternal life. So cutting huge fruit trees was a practice widely frowned upon.

Ancient Iranians believed that anyone who cuts a tree would lose a loved one in the same year. Unlike what the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) claims, designation of a tree-planting day dates back to [the Prophet] Zoroaster’s time in a bid to protect and develop green space and forests. Zoroaster himself would plant a sapling on the tree planting day each year.

Platanus, cedar and Ziziphus were among the trees which were popular with the Iranians. The huge platanus tree has a wide leafy shade. People used to say that it would help prevent a breakout of fever and infectious diseases.

They held a similar belief about cedars which have had a key role in [ancient] Iran’s literature and art. Today medicine has proved that certain trees help kill microbes by emitting different kinds of essence into air.

Cedars hold a special place among tree species in Iran. Ancient Iranians always showed respect for them. Cedar was sacred for the Persians who showed high esteem for the tree. They also believed that eating cedar’s pollen, leaves and buds would lead to greater longevity. According to Persian myths, cedar had originated from the paradise, so it was called the Minoo [Paradise] tree.

The spiritual impact of this tree on Iranians was so much that its signs are still evident in all manifestations of the civilization. Islam too attaches vital significance to trees and forests. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), for instance, said that breaking a tree branch amounts to cutting an angel’s wing. The Prophet has even stressed – in different hadiths – the spiritual reward associated with planting trees and the scolding that comes with cutting them, or their branches.

Several hundred years Before Christ, Xerxes [of Persia, a king of the Achaemenid Empire] created the world’s first protected area. During a military offensive in which he took his troops to Asia Minor, Xerxes delegated the protection of a cedar forest to a royal guard.

According to reliable historic texts, Iranians made considerable practical efforts to take care of tree planting, forestry and forest management 445 years Before Christ, and drew up codified and legally binding laws in this regard.

Sperber holds that Iranians were the first people who established a forestry organization and paid special attention to sustainable development. “Others planted [trees] and we ate the fruits; we are expected to plant [this time] so that others can eat the fruits” is the meaning of “sustainable development” an Iranian old village man said in response to Anooshiravan [Khosrau] 14 centuries ago.

Von Hagen, a renowned German forester in the 19^th century who was inspired by the old village man’s words, writes, “Exploit the forest as much as its trees grow and hand it over to posterity at least the way you got it from those living in the past.”

These comments which have been known as Hagen’s “golden words” mark the start of scientific thinking about sustainable development in Europe and the world. Later laws were passed on the exploitation of natural resources based on economic interests of European countries.

The International Union for Protection of Nature was held for the first time in Bern, Switzerland in 1913, and 35 years later the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was formed. It set the stage for the establishment of the first world park.

In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden and designated Dasht-e-Arjan National Park in south-western Iran as an international park where researchers from all over the world could do studies. For the first time the conference took into account the whole universe whose resources should be tapped into based on the principle of sustainable development.

An important question arises here: how come the wide expanses of forests are being destroyed in a country which attaches so much significance to the trees and forests, and treats them as holy things? As a case in point one can make mention of 2 million hectares of forests in northern Iran which were cut down in the first half of the 20^th century.

The answer to this question cannot be offered here in this article, but we can in brief point to a change of attitude and consumption patterns in modern times, something which has resulted in irregular exploitation of natural resources, among them forests.

I hope I can elaborate on this topic in another piece and provide an answer to this vital question.

Tehran’s environmental issues are serious but solvable: Mayor

By

Emad Askarieh

-

February 14, 2015

“Today, we have major problems on the environmental front. Rather than saying that the lives of citizens are on the line, we must say that environmental hazards are claiming lives. In cooperation with the government and the private sector, the municipality can within four years turn all garbage produced in Tehran into clean energy,” the Iranian Students News Agency quoted Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as telling the opening ceremony of a first trash incineration power plant in Iran. The following is a partial translation of a report on his speech at the event:

In comments aimed at Director of the Environment Protection Organization Masoumeh Ebtekar, Ghalibaf said, “You might say that we have budget and legal constraints, yet in my opinion, such problems are basic. We have failed to tap into our monetary and legal potential.”

He further said, “Let’s accept the fact that our grave problem is managerial in nature, because everyone wants to embark on a new cycle and set aside what others have done. We must accept that the danger is truly serious.”

Touching on the crippling problem of air pollution emanating from a recent dust storm in Dezful and Ahvaz, in Khuzestan Province, Ghalibaf added, “It might be said the dust storm has external roots and not much can be done to address it. What has been done for the cities of Tabriz, Isfahan and Tehran whose pollution has roots in internal and industrial problems which can be brought under control?”

Underlining that to improve environmental conditions, measures which do not need any money or additional rules can be taken, the mayor said, “Such measures require willpower which is missing, because it looks as if the lives of people are not important to some. These measures are not something which the municipality, the government or the public can undertake on their own; rather every single individual should feel duty-bound to pull their weight.”

Saying that mobile sources [motor vehicles, marine vessels and aircraft] account for 70 percent of air pollution, he added, “When we can swiftly bring things under control, but we do not bother, how will we answer to God later [for evading our responsibility]? We might hold interviews and gloss over things, but how would we answer to God on Judgment Day?”

The mayor added, “As a person who serves the public in the City Hall, I feel obliged to assume responsibility. I stand ready to turn Tehran into a truly habitable place if I am offered support and if faultfinding attempts are set aside.”

He further said, “Production of garbage is a serious issue our city is dealing with. We do not want to tell residents to consume less, rather we want them to avoid wastefulness because such practices are an unforgivable sin from the perspective of our religion. Besides, on the economic front, potential will go down the drain.”

Highlighting that environmental standards have been observed in the establishment of the trash incineration plant, Ghalibaf stated, “We can set up such power plants across the city. There are over 20 incineration power facilities across Tokyo. We can copy that here in Tehran.”

Describing sloganeering as unnecessary in dealing with environmental issues, the Tehran mayor said, “Blue sky and clean earth is not a slogan; in fact they can come true as a result of enormous measures by the municipality.”

Stressing that today’s major environmental issues have put lives from unborn babies to the elderly on the line, Ghalibaf added, “If those in authority at the national level feel that construction in Tehran poses a threat to the public, Tehran Municipality is poised to stop issuing construction permits to industrial, residential and commercial applicants.”

Underlining that Aradkooh trash incineration facility and the waste digestion power plant can only treat 1/20 of garbage produced in the capital, he went on to say, “We do not want to adopt a destructive approach to this matter. It has been more than half a century since we started using Kahrizak, a suburb of Tehran, as landfill. Now those who were in charge in the past must now answer what has been done in the past 50 years to prevent the contamination of water, soil and air? Presently, we do not dump hazardous waste in this area and we have adopted the technology of incineration to treat trash.”

The Tehran Mayor concluded, “We must try to encourage the private sector to fully finance trash incineration facilities.”

The report above was originally published under the headline “Environmental problems claim lives: Ghalibaf”.

Iran’s car sales up 32%

By

Emad Askarieh

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February 14, 2015

Iran’s auto production and sales rose 32 percent in 2014 from the year before as the industry started emerging from sanctions, an official has said.

As many as 1.1 million units were sold in the current Iranian year which ends on March 21, 2015, head of the commerce and sales office of Saipa Co. Mohammad Reza Abbasi said. Iran sold 737,000 cars in 2013 as the industry suffered under sanctions.

Sales however picked up after the Europeans lifted the sanctions on the Iranian auto industry under a temporary nuclear agreement reached in November 2013.

Abbasi said that Saipa saw both production and sales rise by 32 percent in 2014.

Saipa and Iran Khodro account for 82 percent of the country’s auto market.

Abbasi said that Saipa has currently two plans in the works in order to defeat sanctions and increase sales.

He said the automaker will start producing a low-cost car, Saina, in the first half of the new Iranian year. Saipa will also unveil more than 10 models at the next auto show in the central city of Isfahan.

Iran’s auto industry is the biggest in the Middle East. The country produced 1.6 million vehicles in 2011, the year new sanctions were introduced by the Europeans.

Pieces of Life are there on the table at an art gallery

By

IFP Editorial Staff

-

February 14, 2015

You are taken off guard. This is the very first reaction art lovers show when they visit the final exhibition underway at Assar Art Gallery in Tehran this year [ending March 20, 2015].

On February 3, honaronline.ir, a news agency focusing on the world of art, filed a report on Life, a unique work by Reza Lavasani – a painter and a gifted sculptor – at the Tehran gallery. The following is a partial translation of the report:

Life, the only work on display at the gallery, is just one piece of conceptual art by Reza Lavasani. Life, which has occupied the whole gallery space, is simply a magnificent large table which narrates life from the artist’s perspective.

Visitors have to walk around the table and watch the objects and creatures on it to grasp their own interpretation of Life. So it is quite natural that everyone will have their own interpretation of life depending on their experience.

Plates, dishes and spoons as well as statuettes of a horse and a bird, a vase and candlesticks sit on a 17-meter L-shaped table with a huge chandelier hanging overhead. What is amazing is that all pieces of this artistic work have been made of papier-mâché [or paper mache, the French for “chewed paper” which is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste].

As for the papier-mâché installations, Maryam Majd, who is the Assar Art Gallery’s curator, said that it is a museum work and the Assar Gallery is to put it on display in different museums around the world.

She further said that Reza Lavasani, who has won the first prize of [Tehran’s] 4th Biennial of Sculpture [and 6th Biennial of Illustration], has an artistic style of his own.

She went on to say that Life has not been created instantaneously; rather, it is the result of a special look at the universe. That’s why it took Lavasani three years to create Life.

Majd said that Life is a selection of Reza Lavasani’s life from the past to the present, saying it does not end at this point and his take on life goes on.

“Looking at Life, we first see glory and grandeur, but a closer look reveals the ups and downs that lie ahead [for everyone] in life. We see tablecloths which have been crumpled, and finally we see a life which has been minimalized; it has become simplified. Technically, everything in Life is patchy – in other words, it is in pieces, like the life itself which exists in a piece and the other pieces are added to it.

[…]

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WTO stresses support for Iran’s tourism industry

By

Emad Askarieh

-

February 14, 2015

Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization Taleb D. Rifai has underlined that the WTO is resolved to develop the tourism industry in Iran.

Rifai, who is in Iran to attend the 8th International Tourism Exhibition in Tehran, made the remarks during a tour of the exhibition.

“My presence in Iran means that the WTO is planning to help with promotion of tourism industry in Iran,” Rifai said on Thursday.

He reiterated that the World Tourism Organization is resolved to help Iran with its tourism industry.

Tourism companies from South Korea, Turkey, India, Switzerland, Venezuela, Armenia, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Tunisia and Malaysia are participating in the 8th International Tourism Exhibition in Tehran.

In January, Iranian Vice-President and ICHHTO Chief Massoud Soltanifar reiterated that the number of foreign tourists visiting Iran in recent months has considerably increased as they see the country as a safe destination despite the Western propaganda.

“Despite smear campaign (by Western countries), foreign tourists see Iran as a hospitable, clam and safe country,” Soltanifar said.

“I believe that our country has very high potential for attracting foreign tourists,” the ICHHTO chief added.

He noted that Iran is among the world’s top 10 attractive tourist resorts.

Soltanifar noted that 4.8 million tourists visited Iran last year, and said, “Half of the foreign tourists visited the country’s holy cities of Mashhad and Qom in the period.”

He said that during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-September 22), the number of foreign tourists showed a 200 percent rise compared to the corresponding research in Australia.

He said that 90 percent of the foreign tourists come to visit Iran for its natural, historical and religious sites, and said, “Only 10 percent of foreign tourists come to Iran to attend conferences.”

Soltanifar said Iran has over one million historical and natural sites, adding that only 31,100 or nearly three percent of them have been registered.

In August, the ICHHTO chief said that the foreign tourists brought around $5.5 billion of revenues to the country despite all sanctions and limitations.

In March, Soltanifar invited foreigners to visit Iran’s various tourist destinations, and stressed that the country enjoys a high level of security for foreign tourists.

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on Feb. 14

By

Emad Askarieh

-

February 14, 2015

Air pollution in the southwest and government efforts to settle the problem dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers on Saturday. At attack on a Shiite mosque in Pakistan along with the silence of some Western media outlets over the killings of three Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina also appeared on the covers of dailies.

Abrar-e Eghtesadi: Iran opens talks with three world electricity giants.

Abrar-e Eghtesadi: European and US firms are forming coalitions to find their way back onto the Iranian market.

Aftab-e Yazd: Two senior government officials are to visit Iraq to follow up on efforts to tackle the problem of particulates.

The visits are part of broader efforts by the Rouhani administration to settle the air-related problems of Ahvaz, the provincial capital of Khuzestan. A dust storm in the city of late has reduced the quality of air there.

Aftab-e Yazd: Iran offers discount to secure new oil markets.

Asr-e Iranian: Western media have kept silent on the murder of three Muslims in the US.

Asr-e Rasaneh: The preferential trade deal between Iran and Turkey might be reviewed.

Asr-e Rasaneh: Car sales in Iran have registered a 32 percent hike.

Asr-e Rasaneh: Fourteen local consortiums stand ready to invest in a gas pipeline project to export natural gas to Iraq.

Asrar: “Faultfinding with the nuclear negotiating team is not logical,” said vice-president for parliamentary affairs.

Asrar: The European Union has imposed new sanctions on the National Iranian Tanker Company.

Ebtekar: “The Expediency Council is determined to supervise the workings of all three branches,” said the secretary of the council.

Ebtekar: Opponents of a nuclear deal are tight-lipped.

Following the recent comments of the Supreme Leader in which he supported a nuclear deal, the so-called Worriers [supporters of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who are bitterly opposed to President Rouhani] are conspicuously absent in the media.

Ettela’at: Don’t shed the blood of innocent Muslims and non-Muslims.

In a message to the Iraqi army and popular forces fighting IS terrorists, Grand Ayatollah Sistani said those who specifically target non-Muslims are traitors.

Ettela’at: Iraq’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has sent a letter of appreciation to the Supreme Leader.

In the letter, the deputy secretary general of the union has said Iraqi Kurds owe a debt of gratitude to the Iranians.

Hamshahri: The West has once again resorted to sanctions.

Iranian students in Massachusetts were subjected to scientific sanctions, as the European Union placed the National Iranian Tanker Company on its sanctions list.

Hemayat: “A two-phase deal is a Western ploy to push excessive demands,” said the deputy judiciary chief.

Iran: “The legitimate rights of non-Muslim tourists should be respected,” said the first vice-president.

Jomhouri Islami: An attack on a Shiite mosque in Peshawar has left scores of worshippers dead or injured.

Jomhouri Islami: “There are no hurdles in the way of implementing the sentence of the former VP,” said the justice minister.

Kaenat: The Iranian vice-president has met with Pope Francis.

Kaenat: Renowned director Majid Majidi has been named administrator of National Cinema School.

Khorasan: “By seeking a two-phase deal, the US seeks a repeat of the Oslo Accords,” said an advisor to the Supreme Leader.

Sayeh: “The previous problems between parliament and government have been settled,” said the vice-president for parliamentary affairs.

Shahrvand: Transfer of some $2.3 billion in oil money to four foreign countries

Fifteen months after the arrest of Babak Zanjani [who stands accused of massive corruption] his case has gotten more complicated with revelations that he has transferred oil money to foreign countries.

Shahrvand: The names of 7-15 million Iranians appear in no databanks.

This complicates efforts to eliminate high-income individuals from the list of people eligible for cash subsidies.

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

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

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

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

Iran MPs take symbolic dust storm protest to parliament floor

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on Feb. 15

US has not killed Bin Laden: Former Pakistani spymaster

On Bin Laden

On IS

On Iran-Saudi Ties

Sepandarmazgan, Persian Feast to Respect Women, Earth, Life

Sepandarmazgan Isn’t Equivalent to Valentine Day

Women in Persian Culture

Mehregan; the Persian Day of Love

Trees are sacred to Iranians

Tehran’s environmental issues are serious but solvable: Mayor

Iran’s car sales up 32%

Pieces of Life are there on the table at an art gallery

WTO stresses support for Iran’s tourism industry

A look at Iranian newspaper front pages on Feb. 14

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