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Iran to launch largest radiopharmaceutical center

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Radiopharmaceuticals

The director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami told reporters on Tuesday, “We have a radiopharmaceutical company in Iran and the company is under sanctions. Basically, human rights and human lives have no meaning for the westerners.”

“Our country has managed to become a hub in radiopharmaceuticals in the region in a self-reliant manner, and this year, we will launch the largest radiopharmaceutical production center with the presence of the president,” he added.

Eslami also said that Iran will hold its first international nuclear conference within a month, adding experts from 30 countries have expressed willingness to take part in the event.

He stated that, “The conference will be an important event and for the first time we can have a realistic narrative of our country’s scientific and technological status with the literature appropriate for an international conference.”

For decades, Iran has been reeling from the US-led western sanctions over its nuclear program, which it says is solely for peaceful purposes.

Turkey says imposed restrictions on export to Israel over Gaza war

By
IFP Media Wire
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The Turkish Trade Ministry said that Israel continues to “flagrantly violate international law”, ignoring calls for ceasefires and the uninterrupted provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza. These calls include decisions by the UN Security Council and judgments by the International Court of Justice.

“The decisions of the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice are legally binding,” the ministry’s statement said.

“Turkey has repeatedly stated that it will monitor the implementation of all these decisions.”

Effective immediately, the ministry has restricted the export of 54 products to Israel, encompassing items such as aluminum wires, steel, cement, construction materials, granite, chemicals, pesticides, granites, engine oils, jet fuel, and bricks.

“This decision will remain in effect until Israel, acting within its obligations under international law, declares an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and facilitates a sufficient and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the statement added.

On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced that Turkey would take certain measures against Israel following Tel Aviv’s refusal to grant aerial access to Gaza for humanitarian air drops.

This development occurred after the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered a defeat in the 31 March local elections, losing votes to the Turkish Islamist New Welfare Party (YRP), which managed to secure victories over the AKP in several cities.

There is a consensus that the country’s economic problems, including declining real pensions and salaries amid runaway inflation, played a primary role in the AKP’s electoral defeat.

While Turkey’s continuing trade with Israel was not the biggest issue prompting conservative voters to stay home or switch parties, it was a factor among others, which even Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged during a party meeting earlier this week on the election results, according to party sources.

Speaking about the AKP’s worst election defeat since 2002, Erdogan stated on last week: “Unfortunately, even on an issue like the Gaza crisis, for which we did everything we could and paid the price, we failed to fend off political attacks and convince some people.”

Since the 7 October Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli war on Gaza, which Erdogan calls genocidal, Turkey has gradually increased its criticism of Tel Aviv. It recalled its ambassador for consultations, suspended energy talks, and backed Palestine on the international stage, from the UN General Assembly to western capitals through the Gaza Contact Group. Ankara also floated the idea of a guarantorship system to work towards a two-state solution.

In the early months of the conflict, while western capitals backed Israel’s war on Gaza, Erdogan used his platform to expose its genocidal actions. Turkey is also the largest humanitarian donor to Gaza, along with the UAE, according to Israeli government data, while dozens of Palestinian patients have travelled to Turkey from Gaza for medical treatment.

But it has avoided more punitive steps, arguing that they haven’t worked in the past when Ankara faced other crises with Tel Aviv. Although bilateral trade with Israel has dropped by 33 percent since 7 October, it has nonetheless continued.

Last year, as Turkish parliamentarians and pro-government circles boycotted companies accused of supporting Israel, one Turkish journalist began spotlighting the Turkish-Israeli trade. Metin Cihan, who lives in exile in Germany due to his past reporting on the killing of a Turkish girl, dug into open-source data on maritime trade.

“While Israel’s massacre continues, I listed the ships shipping from Turkey to Israel,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter) on 12 November, including the names of dozens of ships. He later shared another list, noting: “We were shipping from our ports to Israel with an average of seven ships a day. We sent 13 more ships yesterday.”

As he started to regularly publish the names of ships going between Israel and Turkey, his tweets received millions of views.

“Israel’s crude oil, fuel, iron and steel, etc. logistics were provided through our ports,” he added.

Cihan has also exposed persons and companies close to the government that trade with Israel.

US warns of sanctions against Chinese banks that aid Russia, citing Ukraine war

By
IFP Media Wire
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Russia Ukraine War
Local residents react at a site of an apartment building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kryvyi Rih.

“We continue to be concerned about the role that any firms, including those in the [People’s Republic of China], are playing in Russia’s military procurement,” Yellen said in remarks during a press conference at the close of her trip to China on Monday.

“I stressed that companies, including those in the PRC, must not provide material support for Russia’s war and that they will face significant consequences if they do,” she continued.

“And I reinforced that any banks that facilitate significant transactions that channel military or dual-use goods to Russia’s defense industrial base expose themselves to the risk of U.S. sanctions.”

The Joe Biden administration has previously warned China against supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has now stretched on for more than two years.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed last year that Beijing had provided Moscow with nonlethal assistance and was considering sending lethal aid.

Blinken, Yellen and other administration officials issued stern warnings to the Chinese government, and the State Department sanctioned several Chinese companies that it said were violating export control measures placed on Russia.

The latest warning from Yellen to Chinese banks comes as additional U.S. aid to Ukraine has stalled in Congress in the face of opposition from Republicans.

UNSC refers Palestine’s full membership bid to committee

By
IFP Media Wire
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UNSC

Malta’s U.N. Ambassador Vanessa Frazier proposed that the committee meet on Monday afternoon to consider the application, adding that deliberation has to take place this month. Malta is president of the Security Council for April.

“We sincerely hope after 12 years since we change our status to an observer state, that the Security Council will elevate itself to implementing the global consensus on the two state solution by admitting the state of Palestine for full membership,” Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters after the meeting.

The Palestinian Authority last week formally asked for renewed consideration by the United Nations Security Council of its 2011 application to become a full member of the world body. The Palestinians are a non-member observer state at the United Nations, the same status as the Holy See.

The committee of the 15 members first assesses an application to see if it satisfies requirements for U.N. membership. The application can then either be shelved or put forward for a formal vote in the Security Council. Approval requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the U.S., Russia, China, France or Britain.

“The committee has to deliberate within the month of April,” Frazier told reporters ahead of the meeting.

The Security Council earlier on Monday met behind closed doors to discuss the letter from the observer state requesting renewed consideration of their application.

Mansour told Reuters last week that the aim was for the council to take a decision at an April 18 ministerial meeting on the Middle East.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan stated earlier on Monday that a Palestinian state would be a threat to Israel’s national security.

“Granting the Palestinian statehood is not only a blatant violation of the UN Charter, it also violates the fundamental principle that everyone can understand of reaching a solution a lasting solution at the negotiating table,” Erdan told reporters.

“The UN has been sabotaging peace in the Middle East for years. But today marks the beginning of the point of no return.”

 

China says supports holding conference on Ukraine with participation of Moscow, Kiev

By
IFP Media Wire
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Lavrov Wang

“We hope for the soonest ceasefire. China supports the timely convening of an international conference which both Russia and Ukraine would agree to, with the equal participation of all sides and a fair discussion of all peace plans,” he said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov following bilateral talks in Beijing.

The top Chinese diplomat reiterated that on the Ukrainian issue, China firmly follows the four principles set forth by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In March 2022, Xi laid these four principles out, emphasizing that they must be implemented in the context of the Ukrainian conflict. According to him, it is necessary to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, as well as the goals and principles of the UN Charter, seriously treat the legitimate security interests of all countries and support all efforts on a peaceful settlement of the crisis. Later, these principles formed the foundation of China’s official position on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis published in February 2023.

Chinese authorities are decisively against unilateral pressure measures, Wang continued.

“We will stand out for support of universally accessible economic globalization, decisively counter unilateral measures and protectionism,” the minister stated.

Unilateral sanctions “violate international law, undermine the global order and contradict the trend of global development”, Wang said.

“The Chinese side is decisively against that,” the foreign minister stressed.

Lavrov said at the news conference with Wang that Russia and China agreed that any meetings on Ukraine ignoring Moscow’s interests are futile.

“We discussed the current situation around the Ukraine crisis,” Lavrov stated.

“We and our Chinese colleagues supported the conclusion that any international meetings that <…> ignore Russia’s position while promoting the <…> so called peace formula of [Ukrainian leader Volodymyr] Zelensky and are therefore disconnected from reality are futile,” he added.

Moscow is grateful to Beijing for its unbiased and balanced position on Ukraine as well as for the willingness to play a positive role in resolving the crisis by political and diplomatic means, Lavrov continued.

Commenting on the 12-point peace initiative on Ukraine proposed by China last year, Russia’s top diplomat lauded the plan for addressing the root causes behind the Ukraine conflict, “primarily in the context of ensuring indivisible security, including in Europe and the world over”.

Iranian prisoner Nouri transferred from cell to ‘security suite’ in Sweden

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Hamid Nouri

Speaking to Fars News Agency, Majid Nouri said on Tuesday that his father, who is serving a life sentence, had been taken to the suite after 1600 days of spending in a cell.

He said that according to the notes that his father gave to the Iranian embassy, he is no longer in the cell and has been transferred to a suite in a security region with reportedly more facilities compared to the cell.

Majid took a trip to Sweden two weeks ago to visit his father, but the Swedish police detained him upon entry over a lawsuit filed by the anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) with the blood of over 17,000 Iranians on their hand. He was also denied visiting his dad.

Nouri was accused by Swedish authorities of involvement in the execution and torture of MKO members in the 1980s, however Iranian officials have criticized his ‘politically-motivated’ detention and life sentence as illegal.

Iranian MP: Turkey’s dam construction will have huge impact on Iran’s northwest

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Water Crisis

Ahmad Alirezabeigi was speaking about Turkey’s dam construction on Aras River and its ramifications for Iran.

Alirezabeigi added that Iran is not a member of the respective international convention regarding Aras, to force Turkey to stop what it is doing.

He said Turkey’s action will leave more than 83% of the Aras River discharge and this will have a huge impact on Iran’s northwest.

Alirezabeigi also said Iran has a contract with the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the right to the Aras water, noting that in addition to Iran, the countries of the Caspian basin, including Azerbaijan, also have a share of the Aras basin, because the end of the river reaches the Caspian Sea, and the construction of Turkey’s dam will prevent the water from entering the Caspian.

Russia’s Putin twice as popular as US President Biden in ME and African states: Poll

By
IFP Media Wire
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Putin Biden

The poll was conducted by Al-Monitor in partnership with data analytics firm Premise across Egypt, Türkiye, Iraq and Tunisia between March 4 and March 22, 2024, and questioned 2,670 respondents in the four states about their views on power dynamics in the region.

When asked which of the three world leaders they viewed “most favorably,” some 44.4% chose Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by Chinese President Xi Jinping with some 33.8%, while only 21.7% said they preferred US President Joe Biden.

Putin was seen more favorably across all four states, most of all in Egypt (51.6%). Biden was slightly more popular in Iraq (29.2%) of all states, but still polled third after Putin (35.5%) and Xi (35.3%).

Al-Monitor suggested that Washington’s popularity suffered due to its support of Israel’s war in Gaza, but noted that a multitude of other factors could be influencing opinions. The respondents were almost split on whether Washington (30%) or Moscow (28%) could “most successfully mediate political disagreements in the Middle East.” However, over 40% agreed that the US was still “best equipped to help resolve the Israel-Hamas war,” compared to Russia’s 27.9% and China’s 13.4%.

Almost half of respondents saw Russia (49.5%) and China (47.9%) playing “more important regional roles” than 10 years ago, while only 37.1% could say the same about the US. In another decade, Beijing (28.9%) would rival Washington (29%) as the “most influential” in the Middle East, they said.

Those polled said they would like their governments to “forge closer ties” with Beijing (43.2%) and Moscow (39.7%), while only 29.7% sought more cooperation with Washington. Almost two-thirds of participants believe Chinese economic investment has had a positive impact on their country, while 52.3% saw positives in economic cooperation with Russia. The US economic investment was seen as positive by 39.7%, while 29.8% reported negatives.

Iranian attack on Israel would likely be carried out by ‘regional proxies’: US

By
IFP Media Wire
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Israeli strike on Iranian consulate in Syria

Tehran is wary of a dramatic escalation in the fighting, the sources said, and does not want to give the United States or its allies an excuse to attack Iran directly.

Iran and its “proxy militia groups” also do not appear poised to attack US troops or other assets in the region for similar reasons, the sources added. The sources claimed, however, that Iran does not have perfect command and control over all of its proxy forces, so the possibility of an attack on US assets cannot be completely ruled out.

Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed that the resistance groups in West Asia are not directed by Tehran and do not take orders from Tehran.

The US and its allies have been bracing for a possible attack against Israeli and US assets in the region in retaliation for an Israeli strike last week on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, which killed seven Iranian military officials.

The sources told CNN that US intelligence assesses that Iran has urged several of its “proxy militia groups” to simultaneously launch a large-scale attack against Israel, using drones and missiles, and that they could attack as soon as this week. There is some debate, however, about whether they will wait until after Ramadan ends to strike, stated one of the sources.

“The threat is very clear and credible,” one of the sources said, adding, “They have put the pieces in place to conduct the attack now. Just waiting for the right time.”

Last Monday, Israeli warplanes bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, located next to the embassy building in Damascus’s Mezzeh district.

The attack killed two senior Iranian military personnel who were on an advisory mission to Syria as well as five of their accompanying officers.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps announced Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, and his deputy General Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi were among the seven martyrs of the terrorist attack.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has vowed that Iran will “punish” Israel and make the evil regime “regret” its crime of assassinating the country’s military advisors in Syria.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has also stated Israel had resorted to indiscriminate assassinations after back-to-back failures in the face of the resistance, warning that the regime’s latest crime against Iranian military advisers in Syria “will not go unanswered”.

Date for Rafah invasion is set: Netanyahu

By
IFP Media Wire
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Benjamin Netanyahu

The prime minister also said that “entry into Rafah” was necessary for a “complete victory over Hamas”.

Netanyahu’s comments come after Israel announced it had withdrawn from Khan Younis in southern Gaza after months of fierce fighting that left much of the city in ruins.

Rafah, where about 1.5 million Palestinians are estimated to be sheltering, is located in the southernmost part of the besieged enclave.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Over 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 76,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Senior Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zahry has told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu’s remarks that a Rafah attack is imminent “raises questions about the purpose of resuming negotiations”.

“The success of any negotiations depends on ending the aggression,” said Zahry, adding that the group’s “demands are clear: an end to aggression against our people”.

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