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

Iran News
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- Health
- Human Rights
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- Lifestyle
- Sport
- Women
Culture
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Home Blog Page 5031

Berri Describes Refusing Iran’s Aid as Unreasonable

October 25, 2014

Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri referred to calls for rejecting Iran’s aid to the Lebanese army as irrational.

“Only a madman would refuse the donation in time of need,” Berri said in a televised interview aired Thursday, the Daily Star newspaper reported.

On September 30, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said in Beirut that Tehran would provide military equipment to the Lebanese army for the fight against terror.

On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham reiterated Tehran’s readiness to provide Lebanon with military assistance in its fight against Takfiri terrorism.

The Iranian official said the Lebanese army was in the frontline of the battle against terrorism.

Afkham also pointed to the failure of certain parties in fulfilling pledges of support for the Lebanese military.

She said Tehran awaits Lebanon’s response over the proposed arms transfer.

Lebanon has been rocked by the spillover of the conflict in Syria, where the Takfiri terrorists belonging to the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are operating.

Iran to produce 5,000 MW clean power in five years

Emad Askarieh

October 25, 2014

Iran is planning to produce 5,000 megawatts of electricity in the next five years using renewable energy sources, an Iranian official says.

“The Renewable Energy Organization [of Iran] has comprehensive plans underway with respect to utilization of clean methods of energy supply,” said the organization’s managing director, Yusef Armodeli, in a Friday interview.

“Iran has put the objective of producing 5,000 MW [of clean energy] from renewable sources in the next five years on its agenda,” he added.

At present, the country produces 10,000 MW of electricity from hydropower plants, Armodeli added.

He underlined the Iranian administration’s resolve to support the development of renewable energies and noted that the incentives provided by the government have attracted investors to the sector.

“The majority of [investment] requests are related to wind and solar power plants. This indicates that there are resources and demand for investment. Moreover, the industrial infrastructure for production [of energy] exists in the country,” Armodeli pointed out.

Due to its geographical and geological position, Iran enjoys enormous potential for production of different sorts of renewable energies, including geothermal, solar and wind power.

The country seeks to gradually shift its energy consumption toward renewable resources in a bid to derive the remarkable economic benefits of the sector and tackle its growing environmental issues.

Iran ready for joint investment in Qatar

Emad Askarieh

October 25, 2014

Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh in a meeting with visiting Qatari Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmad bin Jassim bin Mohammad al-Thani said Iran gives priority to its neighbors.

“Through unity and further sincerity we can halt extremist movements in the region and take steps towards consolidation of brotherly ties between the two countries.”

Pointing to the long-standing bilateral historical, cultural, political and economic relations, Nematzadeh said capacities of the two countries in different fields are abundant and efforts should be made to expand the fields.

He said despite pressures of the sanctions on Iran, fortunately all economic sectors are active and busy, adding that at least two banks should be established in both countries for the start of cooperation as it is essential for joint investment.

Meanwhile, the Qatari minister said in light of the support for the governments and removal of bottlenecks and activating of the private sector the two countries can place hope in the improvement of bilateral trade relations.

In another development, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia in a meeting with his Qatari counterpart stressed an increase in the level of economic relations and announced the will of the both sides for the formation of joint investment committee.

Tayyebnia said fortunately Iran-Qatar ties have always been satisfactory but the volume of bilateral economic and trade relations is still far from acceptable.

Also speaking at the session, Sheikh Ahmad bin Jassim bin Mohammad al-Thani expressed willingness to take advantage of the opportunity to promote the level of trade and economic relations between the two countries.

He pointed to the construction of Al Ruwais Port in Qatar and said by the end of the current year grounds will be prepared for an increase in trade and commercial transactions between the two countries.

Health minister comments on victims of recent acid attacks

Emad Askarieh

October 25, 2014

Iranian Health Minister Seyyed Hassan Hashemi says there have been nine acid attacks since the start of this year [March 21, 2014] and that victims, among them four men, have mostly needed outpatient treatment. According to Fararu, a news website, the following is what else the health chief, who is a veteran ophthalmologist, had to say on the sidelines of a gathering of university chancellors from across the nation:

Having examined a patient, the health minister said, “An acid attack victim who is in a Tehran hospital has undergone eye surgery. Her right-eye injuries are more serious. The damage to the left eye is almost 50 percent. She has to undergo several more surgeries.

“In cases involving chemical burns, if part of the skin that comes into direct contact with acid is washed profusely with water, there would be fewer complications. In this case too if those who rushed to the aid of the victim had washed her face with water, she would not have suffered such serious injuries.

“Other victims have not suffered as serious injuries as the woman who is hospitalized in the capital. I have made all the necessary recommendations with regard to the patient who is in an Isfahan hospital.

“The least the government can do at this stage is to provide financial support to the victims. Such violent behaviors deal a blow to society. In keeping with public expectations, such measures should be prevented.”

A look at newspaper headlines on acid attacks in Isfahan over the past few days:

Haft-e Sobh (Oct. 19): “We have found a lead on those who are behind acid attacks in Isfahan,” police reported. Police have so far confirmed four acid attacks allegedly by a motorcyclist.

Roozan (Oct. 19): “Acid attacks are an example of violence against women,” said the vice president.

Ebtekar (Oct. 19): “Suspicious acid attacks; who carries out these attacks on girls and women in Isfahan?”

Abrar (Oct. 20): “The heart-wrenching scar of acid on the face of Nesf-e Jahan (Half of the World),” wrote the daily in reference to recent acid attacks in the historical city of Isfahan.

Etemad (Oct. 20): “A recent series of acid attacks [in Isfahan] have met with public resentment in society.”

Arman-e Emrooz (Oct. 21): “Violation of Islamic dress code is not behind [recent] acid attacks,” said the Judiciary spokesman.

Ebtekar (Oct. 21): “The Judiciary will put the acid attacks case on a fast track.”

Emtiaz (Oct. 21): “Police are one step away from arresting the one(s) behind acid attacks.”

Hemayat (Oct. 21): “Death sentence is awaiting those behind acid attacks in Isfahan,” said Deputy Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.

Jomhouri Islami (Oct. 21): “Four individuals have been arrested in Isfahan in connection with the recent acid attacks,” said the deputy interior minister.

Isfahan-e Emrooz (Oct. 21): “Security agencies are monitoring the acid attacks,” said the Friday prayer leader of Isfahan.

Abrar (Oct. 23): “Acid attacks carry the death penalty if they are designed to terrorize the public,” the chairman of parliament’s Judicial and Legal Committee said.

Aftab-e Yazd (Oct. 23): “We are following new leads in the case involving acid attacks [in Isfahan],” Police Chief Brigadier General Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam said.

Esfahan Emrooz (Oct. 23): “Police investigations into acid attacks are underway. The public should not pay attention to rumors about the case,” said the prosecutor of Isfahan [where a recent spate of acid attacks has put residents on edge].

Etemad (Oct. 23): The health minister [who is an ophthalmologist] has examined the eyes of a girl who has suffered serious injuries in a recent acid attack in Isfahan.

Roozan (Oct. 23): People in Tehran and Isfahan stage rallies to condemn the recent acid attacks.

Kayhan (Oct. 23): “The acid attacks in Isfahan are unrelated to morality laws,” the vice president for legal affairs said.

Rouhani orders arrests of culprits behind acid attacks

Emad Askarieh

October 24, 2014

Rouhani on Thursday tasked the ministries of the interior, intelligence and justice with launching an investigation into the sensitive case after he was briefed about the acid attacks against young women in Isfahan.

The president also condemned the “inhuman acts” and expressed sympathy with the victims of the attacks.

Reports of a spate of acid attacks against women in Isfahan have triggered grave concerns among the Iranian public and led to widespread speculations in the press and social media.

Iranian authorities also said that security forces have arrested a number of suspects in connection with the attacks, but have not confirmed claims that the women were attacked because they were not dressed appropriately as required by the Islamic dress code.

On October 20, Iranian Judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i pledged serious and prompt action regarding the attacks.

He vowed maximum punishment possible for the perpetrators.

He described the acid attacks as unfair, murderous and violent and said, “The issue will be examined immediately and the perpetrators will be given the maximum punishment possible.”

On Wednesday, people held separate gatherings in the capital, Tehran and Isfahan to vent their anger over the acid attacks.

Iran, Kuwait stress unity among regional countries

Emad Askarieh

October 23, 2014

Most of the problems gripping the Middle East, including terrorism and extremism, are rooted in cultural issues, Iranian Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Ali Jannati said in a meeting with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah in Kuwait City on Wednesday.

“The enhancement of cultural cooperation among Muslim countries can remove many of the ongoing crises,” Jannati said.

The Iranian minister also underscored deep-rooted relations between the two nations, calling for the expansion of cultural and scientific exchanges between Tehran and Kuwait City.

The Kuwaiti emir, for his part, called for the promotion of ties between Iran and Kuwait, saying that strengthening relations between the two counties will contribute to regional peace and stability.

“Kuwait always welcomes unity and convergence among regional countries,” Sheikh Sabah stressed.

The Kuwaiti emir also expressed hope that talks between the Islamic Republic and six world powers will bear good results.

Iran and the P5+1 group – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany – are in talks to work out a final deal aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program as a November 24 deadline approaches.

Iranians remember late cleric; Leader leads memorial prayers

Emad Askarieh

October 23, 2014

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has led mass prayers at a ceremony in remembrance of the late prominent Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani.

The service was held in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Thursday.

The prayers were attended by people from all walks of life as well as dozens of senior clerics and high-ranking officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, Head of the Guardian Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani and Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi.

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi was among the military top brass attending the ceremony.

The prayers were followed by a procession where mourners paid tribute to the late prominent religious figure.

Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, 83, passed away in Tehran on Tuesday after he went into a coma on June 4 due to a major heart attack.

In a message of condolences following the demise of Mahdavi Kan on Tuesday, the Leader described the deceased cleric as an influential figure in the Islamic Republic and a true companion of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini.

“This great and pious man appeared always and everywhere in the position of a religious scholar and an honest politician and a candid revolutionary,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The late cleric who also was a veteran politician was elected chairman of the Assembly of Experts in March 2011. The high-ranking body of experts elects and oversees the activities of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.

The senior Iranian official was also a founder and the leader of the Combatant Clergy Association, a prominent religious, cultural and political foundation formed with the objective of protecting the achievements of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

Iran not to regress to state before nuclear talks

Emad Askarieh

October 23, 2014

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has envisaged a successful ending to the ongoing nuclear talks between Tehran and six major world powers, saying the Islamic Republic will not regress to the state before the negotiations.

“I just want to restate that we will not go back to the situation in the past; the state of affairs in the world and in the region is such that we will not return to the past and this is something that the world also disapproves of,” the Iranian president said on Thursday.

The president also referred to his negotiations with heads of state on the sidelines of the 69th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Kyrgyz capital city of Bishkek, and the 4th summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states in the Russian port city of Astrakhan, saying, “We found that no one, especially the European countries, wants the present situation (standoff on Iran’s nuclear energy program) to continue.”

“We have made every effort to reach a [final] nuclear deal. It is not an easy task to reach an agreement on a highly significant issue with not only one, but six world powers,” Rouhani further said, adding, “Our initial experience indicated that we can reach a successful agreement with them.”

Highlighting the measures taken to finalize the deal, President Rouhani said, “These steps, though, are less than what we expected.”

“There’s not much time left; however, a final deal could be reached in the remaining period of time,” the Iranian president said.

Iran and P5+1 – Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany – are in talks to work out a final deal aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program as a November 24 deadline approaches.

Sources close to the Iranian negotiating team say the main stumbling block in the way of resolving the Western disputes over Iran’s nuclear energy program remains to be the removal of all the sanctions imposed on Iran and not the number of centrifuges or the level of enrichment.

Tehran wants the sanctions entirely lifted while the US, under pressure from the pro-Israeli lobby, insists that at least the UN-imposed sanctions against Iran should remain in place.

Minister: ISIL retreat from Baghdad indebted to Iran

Emad Askarieh

October 23, 2014

Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati underlined Iran’s all-out fight against terrorists, saying that the country’s aid to Iraq helped stop the march of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists on Baghdad.

“Had there been no support by Iran, the ISIL terrorists would have entered Baghdad by now,” Jannati said, addressing a group of Kuwaiti lawmakers, clerics and university professors in Kuwait City on Wednesday.

He underlined that the Iran-Iraq joint efforts, especially Tehran’s cooperation with the new Iraqi government, resulted in thwarting the terrorist acts, and expressed hope that the Iraqi government could fully get rid of the foreign-backed terrorists.

The Iranian minister of culture and Islamic guidance reiterated that the most important challenge facing the region at present is extremism in Iraq and Syria, and said, “The same countries that supported terrorism and extremism in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria have now formed the anti-ISIL front. But this coalition will surely fail to destroy the terrorists and the ISIL in Northern Iraq and Syria.

He pointed to the failure of big powers in Syria, and said, “The big powers have now become disappointed at Syria because they thought they could topple the Syrian government in two months, but four years after the start of this war President Bashar al-Assad won the presidential election in that country.”

In September, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi underlined friendly and brotherly ties between the two countries, and said Tehran spares no efforts to help Baghdad in handling the current volatile situation.

During the meeting on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting in New York, President Rouhani stressed that Iran does not seek permission from any one to support Iraq’s security and development, and said, “Tehran considers Iraq’s security and stability as its own security and stability.”

In the strategic Middle East region, development and progress are possible only through consolidation of solidarity, he said.

Hailing Bagdad’s achievements in its fight against the ISIL terrorist group, President Rouhani said Iran would spare no assistance to Iraq in its current ordeal considering it a duty for Tehran both from the religious and neighboring aspects.

President Rouhani stressed any military act in Iraq, including bombarding the ISIL positions, by foreign countries should be made based on Baghdad’s demand and permission.

A big haul of birds of prey was seized in Hormozgan Province

Emad Askarieh

October 23, 2014

The Iranian environmental police have seized two dozen birds of prey from smugglers. What follows is the translation of a report by the website of Iran Environment and Wildlife Watch on the story on October 16:

The environment police of Jask, a town in Hormozgan Province [in the south], along with a group of environmental volunteers and officers from Lirdaf Police Station have seized a big haul of smuggled birds of prey.

Twenty-four birds of prey, including 19 peregrine falcons and five barbary falcons, were smuggled into Sistan and Baluchestan Province from Pakistan. The traffickers intended to smuggle the birds first to Bandar-e-Jask and then to Bushehr Province.

One individual has been arrested in connection with the case which has been handed over to provincial judiciary officials.

Unfortunately, as a result of improper transfer conditions, two of the invaluable birds died. The rest of them were fed, cared and medically examined by a vet in the presence of the director general of the Environment Protection Organization of Hormozgan and then were set free in the plains of the province.

Birds of prey are protected species in Iran and a majority of them are on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Birds of prey are at the peak of the food pyramid and play an important role in controlling the population of reptiles, rodents, and even some animals of the family Canidae.

Hunting, capturing and smuggling such birds into Persian Gulf countries have pushed this precious species to the point of extinction.

Arab falconers are immensely enthusiastic about birds of prey and ready to pay hefty prices for them. Arab sheikhs train falcons to hunt different animals, in particular bustards.

Under Note 2 of Article 13 of the Hunting and Fishing Act, anyone who tries to capture, hunt, sell, buy, carry, keep or smuggle birds of prey such as falcons, barbary falcons, saker falcons, and common kestrels can be sentenced to a maximum jail-term of three years and up to $600 in fines.

Aside from that, the compensation for the damage caused to the environment as a result of illegal hunting of birds of prey including falcons, barbary falcons, northern goshawks, and lanner falcons will be an additional fine of over $6,000.