When it comes to cotton, harvesting starts when the bolls open partially. In tropical regions, they are harvested in September and in temperate climate, the harvest season starts in October and is carried out into early January.
In Iran time is ripe now to pick cotton growing in the fields. Mehr News Agency on December 3 posted online a handful of pictures of harvesting cotton in Sharafuyeh in Larestan County, Fars Province. Take a look:
The inauguration of a railway project that links Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in Central Asia via Iran to the Persian Gulf dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers on Thursday. President Rouhani’s comments at the inaugural that neighbors are Iran’s top foreign policy priority also drew front-page attention. And news about a terrorist explosion outside the residence of Iran’s ambassador in Sana’a, Yemen appeared on the front pages of the dailies too.
Abrar: The Islamic Consultative Assembly has required the Defense Ministry to move military facilities out of big city limits.
Afarinesh: Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham has dismissed rumors that Iran has struck a political deal with the West.
Aftab-e Yazd: “Formerly, some managers seemed less than determined to take on corruption,” said Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani.
Aftab-e Yazd: “Our hands are tied; we can’t release information on offenses. Laws that require officials not to release information on corruption cases until a final verdict has been handed down should be rescinded,” said Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi.
Arman-e Emrooz: A bomb has gone off outside the residence of Iran’s ambassador to Yemen. The Iranian diplomats and embassy personnel have escaped the blast unhurt.
Arman-e Emrooz: “If the US seeks to secure Israeli satisfaction in the [nuclear] talks, it won’t achieve any result,” said Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Asr-e Iranian: “No sanctions are lifted unless oil sanctions are lifted,” said Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.
Asr-e Rasaneh: “Iran is the 19th largest economy in the world,” said the director of the State Tax Organization.
Asrar: Hossein Rezazadeh, a former world weightlifting champion, should quit his seat on Tehran City Council if he wants to contest the top post at the Weightlifting Federation.
Ebtekar: The British Embassy in Tehran will gradually resume its functions.
Eghtesad-e Pooya: “All Iranians are now under basic medical insurance coverage,” said the minister of cooperatives, labor and social welfare.
Etemad: The tax exemption of three major institutions has been rescinded.
Etemad: The opponents of [President Rouhani’s] government have launched a seemingly vain attempt to cancel the credentials of Ali Motahari [a Tehran MP who has broken ranks with fellow principlist deputies to side with the government on many issues].
Ettela’at: With the inauguration of Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railway, Central Asia has been linked to the Persian Gulf on tracks.
Haft-e Sobh: Five of the septuplets a young woman gave birth to in Mashhad earlier this week have died.
Hamshahri: The Norwegian ambassador to Tehran has said that her country will try to solve the problems Iranian students face in the Scandinavian country.
Hemayat: “The Iranian Judiciary won’t bow to Western media onslaughts,” vowed Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani.
Iran: Iran is to play host to 2015 Men’s Asian Volleyball Championships.
Javan: “Iran owes its security to its popular, revolutionary structure rather than nuclear talks,” said Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari.
Jomhouri Islami: “A new round of talks will be held with P5+1 by the end of the month [December 21],” said the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
Jomhouri Islami: Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani, a prominent source of emulation, has protested the Chinese government for its tough line in dealing with Muslims.
Kayhan: That the White House has said even if a comprehensive deal is struck, sanctions will remain in place amounts to admission that the nuclear case is a mere excuse [to pressure Iran].
Kayhan: The reasons behind a recent hike in bread prices will be examined at parliament’s Economic Committee.
Khorasan has described the launch of Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railway project as “Iran’s giant stride toward becoming a regional transit hub”.
Resalat: [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s cabinet collapsed.
Roozan: “Unfortunately parties have failed to act as well as they are expected to,” said Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Shahrvand: The Crisis Management Organization of the capital has denied reports on social networks that an earthquake warning has been issued in Tehran.
Information and communication ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have called for closer media cooperation at the end of their conference in Iran’s capital, Tehran.
The 10th Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers (ICIM) issued a final communiqué on Wednesday, emphasizing the need for closer media cooperation among OIC member states in an effort to show the true image of Islam.
The participants in the conference called for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, saying media in the OIC member states should cover Tel Aviv’s atrocities against the Palestinians and the regime’s attempts to Judaize the occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem).
They also stressed the significance of media convergence to help strengthen peace and tranquility in the Islamic world, saying media can play an important role in countering all forms of violence, extremism and racism.
The ministers also condemned the crimes perpetrated at the hands of the ISIL terrorists who are wreaking havoc on Iraq and Syria, expressing support for media activities to help stop the spread of hatred and discrimination against Muslims.
The 10th Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers kicked off in Tehran on Monday.
Six thousand Americans are waiting to visit Iran by nine Golden Eagle Danube Expresses in 2015.
The train has already entered Iran twice, but it would come to Iran nine other times. The Golden Eagle Company’s manager said that all tickets for Iran were sold out and 45 percent of the passengers are Americans.
The train would start 14-day visits from Budapest, Hungary, and then passes through Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey to arrive in Iran.
Then the passengers would visit Zanjan, Yazd, Shiraz, Tehran, Kerman and Mashhad cities in a week-long trip.
The train whose design is similar to those of the 1950s is equipped with bathrooms and warm water and is fueled with coal. It costs 9 to 15 thousand dollars to visit Iran by the train.
12,000foreign visitors have called for visiting Iran after the train’s first arrival in the country.
The train which includes 13 wagons is able to carry 102 people (65 passengers and 35 crew members).
President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic is keen to further expand relations with its neighbors, especially Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
“Expansion of ties with neighbors is a top priority of Iran’s foreign policy,” Rouhani said in a Wednesday meeting with his Kazakh and Turkmen counterparts, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, in the Turkmen city of Inche Boroun.
Referring to the recent inauguration of a railroad connecting Iran to the two Central Asian neighbors, Rouhani said the move would prepare the ground for the enhancement of trilateral and regional relations.
“We must make efforts [to forge] closer ties in order to establish stronger peace, stability and security in the region and set the stage for the promotion of trilateral relations,” Rouhani added.
The Iranian president also said the formation of a joint commission will step up economic cooperation among the three countries, adding that Iran’s private sector is ready to work with Turkmen and Kazakh companies.
Nazarbayev, for his part, said that the railroad aims to strengthen interactions among regional states.
The Turkmen president emphasized Iran’s significant role in the region and said trade with the Islamic Republic, which has a strong economy, could help the economic development in his country.
Berdimuhamedow also stressed that the railroad would pave the way for many achievements for the three neighboring states in economic and political areas.
The three presidents on Wednesday attended a ceremony to put the railroad into service in Inche Boroun on the Iran-Turkmenistan border.
The railway can connect great countries like Russia, China, Pakistan, Turkey and Iraq to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. It is 920 kilometers in length and will shorten the distance between the Persian Gulf, Central Asia and Europe.
Iran has summoned the Yemeni chargé d’affaires in Tehran after a car bomb attack targeted the residence of the Iranian ambassador to Sana’a.
The Wednesday blast, which took place in the diplomatic district of Hada in the Yemeni capital, left three people dead and several others wounded.
The attack also damaged the Iranian envoy’s residence, but no Iranian diplomat was hurt in the incident.
The Yemeni official was summoned to Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey the Islamic Republic’s vehement protest to his government.
Tehran also laid emphasis on the need for the identification and punishment of the perpetrators and provision of relevant support for the protection of Iran’s diplomatic premises.
The Yemeni official voiced regret over the terrorist incident and said he would immediately communicate Tehran’s message to Sana’a.
December 3 marks the International Day of People with Disability. Several Iranian newspapers on Wednesday ran news and special reports on the day. Mardomsalari dedicated four full pages to the physically challenged people and their problems. The following is the translation of a piece by Hamidreza Shokouhi, the editor of the Social Desk of the daily, which opened the paper’s coverage:
The way non-disabled people look at people with disability is not correct. That is what we have heard over and over, but nobody has ever tried or wanted to solve this attitude problem.
My view of the disabled people was not correct either. To be frank with you, I cannot remember how I looked at them. Perhaps I thought they were not capable enough, and deserved sympathy…
However my friendship with a physically-challenged person back in high-school years changed my mindset. We hit it off and our enduring friendship has already lasted 15 years.
He had a motor skills-related condition. He did not need a wheelchair to get from A to B, but he had problem walking. He was a poet too composing great sonnets; he loved Mowlana’s Mathnavi. Years came and went ….
Now he is married. He has secured a master’s degree in literature from a prestigious public university in Tehran and has released several books, not to mention the fact that he has failed to secure the go-ahead of officials to get some of his poems published!
He is a journalist going to great lengths to reflect in the media the problems people with disability are wrestling with. He has launched a special page for disabled people in several newspapers including Hamshahri, Etela’at and Mardomsalari.
He is actively involved in Baavar (Belief) Association which zeroes in on people with disability. His wife, Masoumeh Nouri, is an educated, capable woman and a journalist too.
He pens articles for Mardomsalari every now and down. We have kept in touch. His name is Seyyed Mohsen Hosseini and his pseudonym is Taha. He is among a handful of high-school friends I am still in touch with.
As far as the question of disabled people go, he is the one who changed my perception and opened the doors to a new world in which I developed new insight into society, an insight which the time I spent at a social sciences faculty failed to provide me with.
Through him I made friends with more people who had disabilities. Saeed Zarouri was one of them. Unlike Mohsen, who is crazy about poetry and books, Saeed is an adventurist. His friendship helped me get familiar with another angle of the life of people with disability, those who crave for adventurist activities such as diving, paragliding and many other activities I myself do not dare get involved in!
I really like to see all people develop a correct understanding of the life of people with disability, like what I did. The only thing I can do is to try my best to reflect their problems. To that end, I have dedicated the social supplement of Mardomsalari (December 3 issue) to those people to mark the occasion.
It is worth mentioning that almost all materials which appear in this supplement have been penned and compiled by disabled people; naturally they can write about themselves better than non-disabled people.
I have experienced how it feels to become one with people with disability. It was a pleasant experience awash with fresh feelings. I wish all of us could develop a correct understanding of how people with disability lead their lives. I wish nothing stood between us. It may seem hard, but by no means is it impossible.
I’d like to say, Happy International Day of People with Disability.
The same supplement also featured images of people with disability engaged in diving and paragliding as well as the comments of the head of parliament’s Caucus to Support People with Disability on what measures the chamber is taking to ease the problems these individuals are facing.
Leading classical composer Hossein Alizadeh’s refusal to accept France’s Chevalier of Legion of Honor has been a hot-button issue in Iran over the past few days. Internationally-acclaimed vocalist Mohammad-Reza Shajarian described it as “objection to those among us who have taken and still take advantage of such awards”. IFP released a translation of his reaction to Alizadeh’s move on Tuesday.
Today, Haft-e Sobh, a daily, carried a front-page piece on what Ali Moalem, the head of the Iranian Academy of Arts and a poet whose poems mainly have a revolutionary theme, said in response to the comments of Shajarian. The following is a partial translation of his strongly-worded criticism of Shajarian:
[…]
There is still confrontation [between us and the West]. In a showdown when two sides have lined up against each other, it is impossible for the army of our enemy to honor our commanders with awards. [If it happened,] it would convey the wrong message; that’s why those who are wise, including Alizadeh, don’t accept such an honor.
Some individuals like Dariush Mehrjui [an Iranian director], and Mohammad-Reza Shajarian judge themselves by such titles. Based on such judgment, people realize that these individuals don’t want to be on this side [Iranian side]; rather they prefer to get an award from the other side [our enemy]. […] This is a confrontation where one won’t welcome any thing that makes him indebted to the enemy.
I may have been offered such an award! Why would they want to offer me such a prize? Because their world is not like ours; they denounce us as primitive and backward, and no award is offered to someone for backwardness. They offer this award to someone to say that this individual is like them and has got a lot in common with them.
These awards reflect their interest in advertising. Whether such awards should be accepted or turned down requires tactfulness. A wise individual should size up everything to see if it is worth accepting the award. If it results in remorsefulness later, they should not accept it.
Anyway, they [the West] act in a way that is beneficial to them. […] Shajarian has taken two or three missteps of late. For instance, his famous pre-Iftar prayer which was a fixture [on radio and TV before sunset during the fasting month of Ramadan] touched people and made them pray for him. Why did he ask the prayer to be taken off the air? I think such a move cannot stem from wisdom.
Or what he has done on stage of late does not fit his status. A figure who has always performed with dignity and grace on the stage is not expected to depict behaviors which are suitable for [people as young as] his son and are typical of teenagers. He is a mentor who is not supposed to show such manners. […] I wish he had valued himself.
News on the confirmation of a bylaw focusing on the release of and free access to information appeared on page 2 of Shargh newspaper on December 3. The daily reported the bylaw obliges all public and state institutions to provide the public with free access to information without asking for the reason behind the request. Below comes the translation of part of that report:
The board charged with reviewing the cabinet’s decisions to see if they conform to the existing laws studied and later approved a bylaw which calls for the provision of free access to information.
The bylaw which was adopted on January 24, 2010 during the tenure of the eighth parliament and communicated to the government of former President Ahmadinejad one week later had required the previous government to piece together executive regulations for the law within six months.
However under the previous government, the legislation was allowed to languish. And when the eleventh government took over, it tried to draw up the executive regulations.
[…]
Mohsen Esmaeli, a jurist and member of the Guardian Council, has said, “The release of and free access to information law recognizes the right of Iranian citizens to free information and allows them to request access to public information, people’s private information excluded, without citing any reason.
“All government and public institutes are obliged to provide citizens with such information according to the existing rules and without inquiring about reasons for access to the information. Naturally when the right is recognized for every single Iranian, the right of reporters has been reaffirmed too.
“The law recognizes the rights of reporters to release and have free access to information. Under the law, an office holder who refuses to provide reporters with public information can be prosecuted for infringement of the law. […]”
“The sixth chapter of the law has mentioned civil and penal punishments for denying access to such information; it means any delay in giving and disseminating information which may cause losses for citizens and media should be compensated for by the violator(s).”
Behestan Castle is a historical castle in Mahneshan, a town in northwestern province of Zanjan. The fort, designed to defend those in power as well as ordinary people against probable attacks, was built during the Achaemenid Empire [First Persian Empire].
The upper levels of the castle were for defensive purposes, whereas the lower parts were used as a storage depot. Standing at the heart of a mountain made of heavily compacted soil consisting of conglomerate rocks, this ancient structure has been exposed to erosion thanks to strong winds and a river flowing nearby.
Archeological research suggests that the castle has been in use five centuries after the dawn of the Islamic era.
The following is a photo gallery that Young Journalists Club has released about this timeless tourist attraction:
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