The river is located in Kavand village in the city of Ardal.
The main habitats of the brown bears in Iran are Caspian forest areas, Arsbaran forests, and Zagros forests as well as high mountain meadows near the forests and downstream valleys.
French magazine claims Russia recruiting Afghans to fight in Ukraine
L’Obs added that the Russian army also started recruiting former service members of the Afghan army trained by the US-led NATO troops for the Ukraine war a year ago.
According to this report, the Russian contractor group Wagner is responsible for employing the former members of the Afghan armed forces.
The report invoked statements by former Afghan interior minister Haibatollah Alizai who was the last commander of the Afghan army before the Taliban takeover of the country in 2021.
L’Obs further cited a former Afghan army officer with his alias being Sadeq as saying that he took part in missions in Afghanistan alongside the US forces but after the Taliban takeover, he was forced to flee to Iran.
Sadeq tells the French magazine that he is confident that he will not return from the Ukraine war alive but he is waiting for the Russian embassy in Tehran to give him a green light.
L’Obs added that with the expiry of Sadeq’s visa, he is living illegally in Iran.
He is afraid of being sent back to Afghanistan and he says that in Iran, two people took him to a building that he did not know where it was and they gave him a final deadline to go to the Russian embassy in Tehran to be transferred to Moscow.
The magazine quoted former Afghan interior minister Haibatollah Alizai as also saying that 6 former generals of the elite forces of the Afghan army, who were trained by the US, are now cooperating with Russia under pseudonyms to recruit and organize Afghan forces.
They act, Azizai noted, as mediators between the Russian side and the Afghan military. Each of them is allegedly responsible for a group of hundreds of troops.
The Russian embassy in Tehran has not commented on the French magazine’s report.
The report comes as the Western media and governments admit that Russia has already the upper hand on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Iranian motorcyclist wins Russian Superbike Championship
Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted the public relations of the Motorcycling and Automobile Racing Federation of Iran as saying that Sasan Akbari, the champion of the 1000cc class of Iran, who went to the Moscow tournament with the support of the federation, was able to win the 1000cc BMW motorcycle class.
This is the first championship of an Iranian competitor in the Russian league.
Maziar Nazemi, head of the Motorcycling and Automobile Racing Federation, says the policy of the federation is to support such champions to win numerous medals in international competitions.
Nazemi congratulated Akbari on his win. This year, Akbari also participated in the Qatar Super Stock 600 tournament.
This motorcyclist, who is the safety and rescue ambassador of the Iranian Motorcycling and Automobile Racing Federation, also participates in search and rescue operations during natural disasters on behalf of his peers in the federation.
Kremlin says Putin to visit North Korea within hours
“At the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a friendly state visit to the DPRK on June 18-19,” the Kremlin said.
North Korea’s Kim paid an official visit to Russia in September 2023. Russia became the first country on the North Korean leader’s itinerary since the pandemic. During his stay in Russia’s Far East, the North Korean president invited his Russian counterpart to make a return visit when he thinks fit.
The only time Putin visited North Korea was in July 2000, two months after his first inauguration is president. During that visit, he discussed bilateral and international issues with Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, who held the post of the republic’s leader then. Putin visited the mausoleum for Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, and laid flowers at the Liberation Monument honoring Soviet Army soldiers.
Netanyahu dissolves Israel’s War Cabinet
According to public broadcaster KAN, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had made a forceful request to join the Cabinet.
The move came after opposition leader Benny Gantz quit the emergency government earlier this month following disagreements over a post-war strategy on the Gaza Strip.
It originally included Netanyahu, Gantz, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Ron Dermer, Gadi Eizenkot, and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri.
Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 37,300 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 85,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded in early May.
Iranians perform Eid al-Adha prayers
In the capital Tehran, the prayers were held at the University of Tehran with senior cleric Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari leading the congregation.
In the northeastern city of Mashhad, worshippers prayed at the shrine of the eighth Shia Imam, Ali ibn Musa al-Reza.
The festival, which falls on the 10th day of the Dhu al-Hijjah month on the lunar calendar, marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage.
It also honors Prophet Abraham’s submission to God.
Below you can find some pictures of the prayers in Iran:
Muslims in Iran, other countries mark Eid al-Adha
Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey celebrated the occasion on Sunday but some other countries, including India, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, and Oman, marked the holiday on Monday.
Worshipers in Iran’s capital, Tehran, and other cities in the country joined the congregation prayers of Eid al-Adha on Monday morning.
The festivity honors Prophet Abraham’s submission to God’s order to sacrifice his son as a test of his faith. However, before he sacrificed his son as a show of his obedience, God provided him with a ram to sacrifice instead as a reward.
The ongoing Israeli carnage in the Gaza Strip has dampened the spirit of the festive eid. Muslims across the world prayed for an end to the suffering of the Palestinians.
Iran, Iraq emphasize enhancing ties in all fields
Mokhber and Rashid held a telephone conversation on Sunday.
The Iraqi president congratulated the Iranian nation, government and Leader of the Islamic Revolution on the occasion of Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice).
Rashid also once again expressed his condolences over the martyrdom of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his companions in a tragic helicopter crash last month.
Rashid said the Iraqi government is making efforts to enhance cooperation with Iran in all areas, and considered deeper economic relations as a necessity to fulfill the interests of both nations.
Iran’s acting president, for his part, expressed his gratitude for the solidarity shown by the Iraqi government and people over the martyrdom of President Raisi and his entourage.
Mokhber also stated strengthening trade and economic cooperation between the two countries will lead to further promotion of bilateral relations in the political field.
He also praised Iraq’s effective and “dignified” stance on regional and international issues, in particular about the Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Iran rejects E3 statement on its nuclear program as invalid
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran condemned the joint statement of the three European countries—Germany, the United Kingdom, and France—regarding Iran’s nuclear program as baseless, invalid, and containing false claims.
“As it has been repeatedly stated, Iran’s nuclear program has always been entirely peaceful, and nuclear weapons have no place in Iran’s military and defense doctrine,” it said.
“The bitter irony of the situation is that the countries with a political and non-constructive approach, who themselves are responsible for and the architects of the current situation regarding the JCPOA, accuse Iran of emptying the JCPOA of its content.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to continuing constructive interaction and technical cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) within the framework of its rights and obligations. It has implemented and will continue to implement its peaceful nuclear projects and plans in accordance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement,” it added.
“It is emphasized that Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities are not reactive but are based on the national nuclear development program and will continue within the framework of its international rights and obligations. The incorrect speculations of the Westerners in this regard, like their other errors, will lead nowhere.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been ready for constructive interaction and dialogue and believes that goodwill, avoidance of fruitless and failed politicized actions of the past, along with demonstrating seriousness and a pragmatic approach, are necessary to address the issues and concerns of all parties,” the statement read.
Iran says Hajj pilgrimage is an opportunity for Muslims to renounce Israel, US amid Gaza war
In a message on X on Sunday, Kanaani said, “The philosophy of the Abrahamic Hajj and its rituals and practices teach Muslims and believers everywhere in the world how to declare their renunciation of Satan and those with satanic traits in the real world.”
As Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has declared in his annual Hajj message, he added, the issue of bara’at (renunciation of the polytheists) this year should go beyond just a Hajj ritual and extend to all Muslim nations of the world.
Muslims from around the world have converged in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to perform Hajj rituals as Israeli attacks have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
“The renunciation of the Zionist regime and its supporters, especially the US government, must be manifested in the words and actions of nations and governments, and it should tighten the leash on the executioners,” the spokesperson continued.
