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4 European states announce support for Gaza cease-fire mediation, saying ‘too much at stake’

By
IFP Media Wire
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“We, the Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages and are encouraged by the constructive approach adopted so far,” a joint statement read.

They welcomed the continuation of technical work in the coming days, including on both humanitarian provisions and specific arrangements concerning hostages and detainees.

The foreign ministers emphasized that senior officials are expected to reconvene before the end of next week, with the goal of finalizing the agreement.

“We urge all parties to continue to engage positively and flexibly in this process. We underline the importance of avoiding any escalatory action in the region which would undermine the prospect for peace. There is too much at stake,” they added.

Talks continue to end the conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by Palestinian group Hamas that claimed 1,200 lives and around 250 were taken as hostages.

The blockaded enclave has since been leveled, with most civilians homeless and hungry.

Russia claims Ukraine firing Western-made missiles at civilian infrastructure

By
IFP Media Wire
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The incident marks the latest escalation since Kiev sent troops into what its Western allies recognize as Russian territory on August 6. Previously, HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) attacks had only been conducted on regions which were formerly part of Ukraine.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told journalists that during the day, there had been several “terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime against civilian targets on Russian territory.”

“In particular, for the first time, Kursk Region was hit by Western-made rockets, most likely from an American HIMARS,” she said.

The Ukrainian attack “completely destroyed” a bridge over the Seim River in the region’s Glushkovsky District, killing volunteers who were assisting local residents with evacuation, the spokeswoman stressed.

“As we have said earlier, all those responsible for these inhumane acts will face severe punishment,” Zakharova warned.

The acting governor of Kursk Region, Aleksey Smirnov, confirmed on Friday that the bridge over the Seim River had been destroyed.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow announced at the time that since the start of the incursion into Kursk Region, Russian forces have eliminated at least three HIMARS systems operated by Ukrainian troops.

Earlier this week, it also published a video of one of the US-made multiple rocket launchers being blown up by an Iskander ballistic missile strike in Ukraine’s Sumy Region, which borders Russia.

According to Moscow, Kiev’s losses in the fighting in Kursk Region already total 3,160 troops and several hundred units of military hardware, including 44 tanks and 43 APCs.

2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid on vehicle in West Bank’s Jenin, Hamas vows retaliation

By
IFP Media Wire
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“Two martyrs were brought to Jenin Governmental Hospital as a result of the occupation’s bombing of a vehicle in the city,” the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced its crews transported an 18-year-old from the vehicle that was bombed in Jenin.

The drone attacked a vehicle in the Batikha Square in Jenin, witnesses told Anadolu news agency.

The Palestinian movement Hamas’ armed wing vowed to face the Israeli regime with strong revenge following the latter’s assassination of two of the unit’s commanders, Rafaat Mahmoud Dawasi and Ahmed Walid Abu Ora, in the occupied West Bank.

Over the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which escalated with the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 635 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,500 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the ministry.

In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

UK official quits over London’s ‘complicity in war crimes’ in Gaza

By
IFP Media Wire
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One of the sources, a British government official familiar with developments in the Foreign Office, told MEE that a senior official in the department sent an email to staff after Smith’s apparent resignation, saying their concerns were heard and a listening session would be held soon.

The Foreign Office declined to comment.

The apparent resignation letter by diplomat Mark Smith first emerged when prominent journalist Hind Hassan posted its contents on X on Friday evening.

“It is with sadness that I resign after a long career in the diplomatic service, however I can no longer carry out my duties in the knowledge that this Department may be complicit in war crimes,” the purported letter says.

The letter continues by noting its author was a former penholder involved in the arms exports licensing assessment process in the Middle East and North African Department and therefore “a subject matter expert in the domain of armed sales policy”.

“There is no justification for the UK’s continued arms sales to Israel yet somehow it continues,” the letter adds.

“I have raised this at every level in the organisation, including through an official whistle blowing investigation and received nothing more than ‘thank you we have noted your concern’.”

The writer says being disregarded in this way “is deeply troubling. It is my duty as a public servant to raise this”. It concludes with a call to officials “to join the many colleagues who have also raised concerns over this issue”.

Gary Spedding, an independent cross-party consultant on Israel-Palestine, stated the resignation is a “significant development”.

“This reveals the serious concerns and discomfort internally among Foreign Office officials and employees over their potential complicity in violations of international humanitarian law,” he added.

“The threat of prosecution from lawyers hangs over their heads. This is an outrageous position that the government has put our civil servants into and must be addressed urgently by a massive policy shift regarding Israel-Palestine.”

The letter posted on X attracted widespread support online. It appeared to be the first known resignation by a British official over Israel’s war on Gaza.

“I hope that more diplomats will follow the brave lead of Mark Smith and speak up against the enablers of Israel’s atrocities,” Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, posted on X.

Yasmine Ahmed, Human Rights Watch’s UK director, described Smith as “courageous”.

“As George Orwell said ‘Freedom is the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear’,” she posted.

There have been signs of growing tension in certain corners of the civil service over the government’s policies in relation to Israel’s war on Gaza, 10 months after the war broke out.

Earlier this year, a former aid civil servant reported in Declassified UK that he had been told that as many as 300 staff in the Foreign Office had formally raised concerns of Britain’s complicity and support for Israel’s war.

Last month, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents British civil servants, requested a meeting with the Cabinet Office over the war in Gaza and its implication for government employees.

The Cabinet Office would not confirm to MEE whether it would hold the request meeting with the employees, saying that it continued to have “regular discussions with civil service unions, including PCS”.

Sources told Middle East Eye in late July that the new Labour government planned to introduce restrictions to arms sales.

But a Times report on 29 July later suggested that the announcement has been delayed as the government reviews evidence to identify which UK-made weapons may have been used in suspected war crimes.

Lammy told MPs earlier this month that given the attacks by the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas on Israel, it would “not be right to have a blanket ban between our countries”.

He suggested he was looking at offensive weapons Israel could use in Gaza as part of the review he had ordered.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

By
Fatemeh Askarieh
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Iran tourism Tabriz

Besides natural attractions and historical sites in the city, the handicrafts of Tabriz catch the eyes of every traveler.

Tabriz, located in East Azarbaijan Province, is Iran’s third largest city and once served as the country’s capital for a long period of time.

The city is home to many tourist destinations and important historical monuments, the most important of which are Masjed-e Kabud (Blue Mosque), El Goli Building, Grand Bazaar, Arg-e-Alishah, the rocky village of Kandovan, Saint Stepanos Church, among other sites.

 

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

 

Tabriz, the city of art and handicrafts

This article seeks to present the most remarkable handicrafts of the region, ranging from bags, shoes, and leather to hand-woven carpet, tableau rugs, kilims and baskets. Let’s get to know the most popular and the most famous of them:

The leather industry

The city of Tabriz is known as the capital of Iran’s leather industry and has long hosted multiple leather-producing factories and workshops making hand-made or machine-made shoes. Tabriz is the provider of a large portion of leather products of the country.

By wearing hand-made shoes of Tabriz, any individual will gradually find out about the many differences that these shoes have compared to other models. Hand-made shoes have been registered as Tabriz’s handicrafts and enjoy a special place among the people.

Leather products of Tabriz are well-known globally and are exported to various countries.

Woven rugs, Tabriz’s oldest handicrafts

Iranian carpets and rugs are famous worldwide and the best of them come from Tabriz. Rug weaving dates back to the pre-Safavid era, with ancient and antique carpets being on display in the world’s renowned museums.

Tabriz has been registered as the global hand-woven rug city by World Crafts Council and enjoys global fame.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

Verni (kilim), an unparalleled souvenir

Verni (kilim), called Soumak in Azeri language, is a type of lintless one-layer underlay with simple designs like those of other kilim types.

Based on data obtained from the past, the art of weaving vernis has been passed down from nomads, whose women and girls used to weave the warps and wefts with care.

Vernis are usually woven with wool, silk, cotton, and animal hair, and are normally navy blue, cream, crimson, blue, white and pinkish-purple in color.

Villagers and nomads of Azarbaijan still continue to weave vernis to this day with love and leave behind superb designs.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

Silversmithing, an art passed down from the Sassanid era

Silversmithing became popular in the Sassanid era and still remains so to this day. Silver articles and dishes are made with hammering, pressing, bending, and casting.

The art entered East Azarbaijan from Turkey in 1915, and that is why Tabriz is seen as the birthplace of silversmithing in Iran.

Silversmiths in Tabriz are very professional. Using silver articles in home decorations gives a dazzling beauty to their surroundings.

Although prices of silver have recently witnessed a sharp rise, silver articles, like those made of gold, have kept their own specific customers.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

Weaving kilims

Weaving kilims goes back a long time. Kilims are woven with wool, goat hair, or silk. They are used to cover walls or the ground or serve as a blanket.

Besides the abovementioned, skillful artisans in Tabriz also weave baskets and jajim, and do needlecraft, pottery, miniature, kalamkari, and etc.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

The answers to your questions about Tabriz handicrafts

1. What are the most famous handicrafts of Tabriz?

Among the best known and most popular handicrafts of Tabriz are hand-made leather products, carpets and hand-woven rug tableaus, kilims, jajim, besides needle-crafted fabrics.

2. What are the modern and contemporary handicrafts of Tabriz?

Halftone stone tableaus are among the most valuable modern handicrafts of the city and are highly popular. Portraits of famous people or celebrities are designed with tiny stones on the tableau and you can order any image or portrait that you wish. Mafakher Park is home to a number of outstanding tableaus made with stone. Saber Asghari was the first to create this art and is himself one of the best known figures in the field.

3. Where to buy handicrafts in Tabriz?

There are different places in Tabriz where you can find handicrafts. Newly, you can purchase them from online stores. If you are a tourist, make sure not to miss the city’s bazaars listed below:

  • Grand Bazaar, a UNESO heritage site

Grand Bazaar is the world’s largest traditional covered market with a length of 1 kilometer. Around 40 industries are active in the market and offer their products for sale.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

  • Amiriyeh Grand Bazar, a place for artists

The market is located on Daraei Street. The stores mainly sell silver and copper articles and products made of wood, carved wood, and mosaic. The market offers a variety of handicrafts of Tabriz and has a store that sells Azarbaijan’s traditional local clothes.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

  • Permanent Handicrafts Mall, the largest in Iran’s northwest

The mall was founded in 2016 with 30 stores on Tavanir Street. It is the largest of its kind in the country’s northwestern region. There, you can find unique handicrafts.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

  • Friday Handicrafts Bazaar

On Friday, June 10, a market was set up at Dokamal Garden in Tabriz to offer handicrafts for sale, marking the World’s Handicrafts Day. Tabriz’s Friday Bazaar serves as a link between artists and art lovers.

Iran tourism: The best and most famous handicrafts of Tabriz

 

Here are more photos of Tabriz’s Friday Handicrafts Bazaar, taken from Miras Ariya News Agency:

 

Kremlin spokesman: Putin anxiously waiting to meet Iran President Pezeshkian 

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Kremlin

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russian President Vladimir Putin is anxiously looking forward to meeting with Pezeshkian.

Peskov said, “We hope the Iranian president will come to the summit because we will be pleased to meet him”.

He added that Putin is preparing to hold talks with Pezeshkian.

Iran’s Ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, also confirmed that Russia has invited the Iranian president to the BRICS summit.

The Iranian ambassador did not rule out the possibility of Iran and Russia signing a comprehensive partnership treaty during Pezeshkian’s stay in Russia.

On July 8, Putin held talks with Pezeshkian on the phone and congratulated him on his election as Iran’s new president.

Iran joined the emerging economies, BRICS, on January 1, 2024. The grouping’s summit is scheduled to be held in Kazan, Russia in October.

BRICS is comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Iranian parliament starts reviewing record of President Pezeshkian’s picks for cabinet posts

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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President Pezeshkian himself attended the parliament session to defend his proposed ministers and plans.

In an address to lawmakers, the president stressed the importance of maintaining unity and cohesion among the three branches of government in order to resolve Iran’s problems.

Pezeshkian threw his full support behind the ministerial picks and called for efforts to address the national and international challenges Iran is facing.

He also noted that honesty and transparency on part of the government will strengthen bonds with the people. “If people’s voice is not heard in time, there will be growing frustration, which will result in the loss of hope and the destruction of the nation’s assets”, Pezeshkian said.

A number of MPs spoke at the parliament session in support of and in opposition to the president’s picks for ministerial posts.

One of the supporters of the president’s proposed ministers, Ruholamini, singled out Pezeshkian’s pick for health minister. Ruholamini said the president has chosen someone for health minister, a field in which Pezeshkian is an expert.

The lawmaker added that there is no reason for MPs to not approve the president’s proposed minister.

Salehi, an opponent of the proposed ministers, warned that if parliament fails to speak unanimously, it will face many challenges in the future.

The Parliament’s vote for the proposed cabinet will take place on Wednesday.

Israel reduces Gaza Strip to over 42 mn tons of rubble: Report

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

According to the news agency, removing it all may take years and cost $700 mn, while rebuilding Gaza could cost over $80 bn.

“The task will be complicated by unexploded bombs, dangerous contaminants and human remains under the rubble,” Bloomberg notes, adding that according to the UN estimates, “reprocessing only half of such rubble would be enough to rebuild Gaza’s entire road network.”

At least 40,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 2023; 70% of buildings have been destroyed and 2.2 mn people, cut off from water, food and medical care, have been forced to leave their homes. In addition, more than half of the enclave’s farmland has been destroyed and it will be extremely difficult to restore the agricultural sector, the agency points out.

“The cost of rebuilding will be prohibitive. Construction sites on this scale have to be empty of people, creating another wave of displacements,” Bloomberg quoted Mark Jarzombek, an architectural history professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as saying.

“What we see in Gaza is something that we have never seen before in the history of urbanism,” he said, adding: “It’s not just the destruction of physical infrastructure, it’s the destruction of basic institutions of governance and of a sense of normality.”

At least 10 killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon, among deadliest since Gaza war

By
IFP Media Wire
-

The death toll from the attack in the Nabatieh area included “a woman and her two children” and left five other people wounded, two critically, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday, adding that a residential building was hit.

Israel’s military claimed on its Telegram channel that the air force had struck a weapons warehouse of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah overnight “in the area of Nabatieh”.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported a brick mill at the outskirts of the northern town of Wadi al-Kfour was hit, and among the dead were the caretaker of mill, a Syrian national, and his entire family.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

The strike is among the deadliest in Lebanon since Hezbollah started trading near-daily fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas and in solidarity with the Palestinian people since the October 7 attack on southern Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza.

According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, Israel, Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon exchanged at least 8,533 attacks across the border from October 7 to July 31.

Israel conducted about 82 percent of these attacks, totalling 7,033 incidents, killing at least 601 people in Lebanon.

Hezbollah and other armed groups were responsible for 1,500 attacks that killed at least 23 Israelis.

Tensions have soared after a deadly rocket attack in July killed at least 12 people – many of them children, in a Druze village in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Tel Aviv blamed on Hezbollah. The group denied it was responsible for the attack.

Israel then killed Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander, in a missile attack in the suburbs of Beirut.

Hezbollah has promised to retaliate, as has Iran, for the killing in Tehran of Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

The assassinations by Israel and threats of retaliation have prompted fears of a major regional escalation.

Since Israel and Hezbollah last went to war in 2006, the Iran-aligned armed group has increased its military strength, according to analysts.

On Friday, Hezbollah released a video appearing to show its fighters transporting large missiles through tunnels at an underground facility in what appeared to be Lebanon.

Hezbollah has repeatedly said that only a Gaza ceasefire deal will stop its attacks on Israeli forces in northern part of the occupied territories.

Iran’s parliament due to vote on Pezeshkian’s proposed cabinet ministers within days: Qalibaf

By
IFP Media Wire
-

Qalibaf stated on Saturday that the review of the ministers introduced to Parliament will continue in the open sessions until Wednesday, after which the voting will take place.

According to Qalibaf, the specialized committees of Parliament, which have been reviewing the qualifications of the proposed cabinet members since the list was presented last week, have worked continuously. From today, related discussions will also continue in the parliamentary sessions.

Qalibaf’s remarks came as Pezeshkian along with his deputies, appeared in Parliament on Saturday to defend his proposed ministers and plans.

Pezeshkian referred to his proposed government as a government of national unity and emphasized that this government is committed to securing the rights of all Iranian citizens.

He added this will be done within the framework of the Constitution and the general policies of the system, which have been approved by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

President Pezeshkian stressed the importance of listening to the voice of the Iranian people, who are “facing difficult economic conditions, witnessing injustices in various areas, and feeling discontent”.

He also added that if the people understand that we are seeking to solve their problems without any racial, ethnic, or regional discrimination, they will firmly support the Islamic Establishment, and this will be achieved through unity and solidarity.

The president emphasized the need to fight corruption in Iran and described his main agenda for running the country as a transformation of the economic situation.

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