By Manijeh Rezapoor

By Faranak Bakhtiari

Tehran Times journalistBy Afshin Majlesi

See page 3

W W W . T E H R A N T I M E S . C O M I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

E3 foreign ministers do not support triggering snapback mechanism

‘No apologies whatsoever!’ Chicago mayor defends ban on protests in HER neighborhoodProgressive Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has insisted that a ban on demonstrations in her neighborhood is necessary to ward off any threats to her family, despite vocal support for citizens’ right to peacefully protest elsewhere.

The Chicago Police Department has ordered officers to bar protesters from Lightfoot’s Logan Square neighborhood and arrest any who refuse to leave, the Chicago Tribune reported on Thurs-day, citing a recently surfaced police directive from July. Though the progressive Democrat mayor has frequently applauded “peaceful pro-tests,” she argues the ban is needed for her own safety, Rt reported.

“I think that residents of this city, under-standing the nature of the threats that we are receiving on a daily basis – on a daily basis – understand I have a right to make sure that my home is secure,” Lightfoot told reporters when asked about the directive, though declined to

outline any examples.Since a wave of mass demonstrations kicked

off after the death of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement in Minneapolis, crowds of activists have gathered outside Lightfoot’s home on several occasions to protest against police brutality and department funding. Following one event in late July that drew hundreds to the neighborhood, however, police have largely kept demonstrators away, apparently enforcing the CPD directive.

Through the weeks of unrest – which in Chica-go has frequently descended into riots and loot-ing – Lightfoot has vacillated between support and vocal condemnation of protesters. In a leaked recording of a conference call with city officials published in June, the mayor said Chicago Alder-man Raymond Lopez was “full of s**t” when he voiced concerns about violent protests reaching residential neighborhoods. 1 0

By staff and agencyIn a joint statement on Thursday the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, whose countries are signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPO), issued a joint statement saying they cannot support the United States’ action in triggering the snapback mechanism to return all the UN sanctions on Iran.

“France, Germany and the United Kingdom (‘the E3’) note that the U.S. ceased to be a participant to the JCPoA following their withdrawal from the deal on 8 May, 2018. Our position regarding the effectiveness of the U.S. notification pursuant to resolution 2231 has consequently been very clearly expressed to the Presidency and all UNSC members. We cannot therefore support this action which is incompatible with our current efforts to support the JCPoA,” said the statement published by the UK Foreign Ministry’s website.

It added, “The E3 are committed to preserving

the processes and institutions which constitute the foundation of multilateralism. We remain guided by the objective of upholding the authority and integrity of the United Nations Security Council. We call on all UNSC members to refrain from any action that would only deepen divisions in the Security Council or that would have serious adverse consequences on its work.”

The three European countries also noted that they remain committed to the JCPOA despite the significant challenges caused by the U.S. withdrawal.

On Thursday, the U.S. sent a letter to the UN Security Council requesting to initiate the “snap-back” mechanism, which allows a participant to the JCPOA to seek the reimposition against Iran of UN sanctions lifted under the nuclear deal.

The U.S. took the move following its failure last week at the UN Security Council in its attempt to extend arms embargo on Iran which will expire in October in accordance to Resolution 2231.

On the occasion of World Mosque Day

Fifty-one years ago, on August 21, 1969, an extremist set fire to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa

mosque, which is of very high sig-nificance for Muslims as once be-ing their first qibla or direction of prayer. The fire swept through an area of nearly 1500 square meters of the mosque, burning an ancient pulpit, altar, arches, pillars, walls, and ultimately causing a collapse.

It was early on Thursday morning when the alarm was sounded; Al-Aqsa Mosque was on fire! People, both Muslims and Christians, rushed to the mosque to quell the flames despite short but fierce clashes with the Israeli occupation forces who tried to prevent their entry.

The blaze, however, burned for hours with flames soaring from windows just below the dome, before it was finally ex-tinguished despite water shortages and delays in pumping water engines.

A suspect was soon recognized; Den-nis Michael Rohan, an Australian-born Christian tourist, who was detained on 23 August. Rohan was declared to be insane and hospitalized in a mental institution but Muslim-majority nations were skeptical about possibly being cheated. Days later, over 20 Muslim-majority nations submit-ted a complaint to the UN Security Council to conduct a thorough investigation.

“It was indicative of the true nature of the occupying, aggressive and terrorist Zi-onist regime, and on the other hand was a sign for the awakening of Muslims and (the necessity of) safeguarding our religious and Islamic identity,” President Hassan Rouhani said, addressing the 13th Conference of the World Mosque Day held in Tehran in 2015.

Mosque, according to Islamic tradition, is any house or open area of prayer in Islam. The Arabic word masjid means “a place of prostration” to God, and the same word is used in Persian, Urdu, and Turkish. The first mosques were modeled on the place of worship of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); the courtyard of his house at Medina.

Iran is home to countless mosques and holy shrines in the country, many of which represent a combination of symmetry, geometric designs, and vibrant colors creating an astonishing view which no visitor can forget easily. The architecture of the mosques in the country varies from one region to another. However, they often boast very complex structures in which color variations, tiles, and symbolic designs are utilized. 8

Online tazieh performance safe solution for pandemic: performer Ala’eddin Qasemi

TEHRAN — Ala’eddin Qasemi, a major performer and director of tazieh plays, has said that online performance is a safe and ultimate solution as tazieh performances from across the country are being prepared to go on stage during the lunar months of Muharram and Safar amid the COV-ID-19 pandemic.

“Tazieh means mourning, that is, we perform and the audience sits and watches and reacts, but if gatherings are not permitted these days, the per-formance could be broadcast on TV channels and online platforms for interested people,” Qasemi told the Tehran Times in an exclusive interview.

During the Muharram rituals, millions of Mus-lims commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (S).

“Only the members of the troupes will gather to give a performance and this could certainly lessen the risk while it would allow people to experience the rituals during the mourning days of Muharram,” he added.

However, he said that so far he has not received a proposal for any online performances.

Qasemi further noted that these days are hard days for the actors, especially for the stage actors, and that tazieh actors and performers are not exceptions.

He added, “We don’t know what to do. It was about two months ago we talked about having a performance in Mehrab Hall during Muharram, but up to now there has been no word on it.” 1 2

TEHRAN – Although the important role of doctor in our lives was all clear to everyone, the outbreak once more has shown us how immense is the contribution of doctors and medical staff in extreme circumstances and how hard the saving of a nation is.

In Iran, National Doctor’s Day is commemo-rated on the first day of the sixth calendar month of Shahrivar (this year falling on August 22) commemorating the birthday of Avicenna, the

distinguished Iranian physician, and writer of ‘The Book of Healing’, who is regarded as the father of early modern medicine.

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, physicians and doctors have been recognized for their selfless devotion and efforts this year. Working around the clock, fighting at the frontline against the pandemic, putting their lives in danger made us salute and admire these exceptional caregivers.

The sacrifices made by the medical staff to treat the coronavirus patients, when all their relatives

were forced to leave them, the medical community stood still that many of them even lost their lives.

Since March 25, it is reported that 164 health-care workers in the country have lost their lives due to the coronavirus infection, according to Es’haq Jahangiri, Iran’s first vice president.

Here, we will remind some of the brave doctors who have been leading the battle against COVID-19 at the forefront, and their uttermost commitment to keep the nation safe in these challenging times was truly exceptional but are no longer among us. 9

National Doctor’s Day: a salute to our healthcare warriors

12 Pages Price 50,000 Rials 1.00 EURO 4.00 AED 42nd year No.13742 Saturday AUGUST 22, 2020 Shahrivar 1, 1399 Muharram 2, 1442

We are the nation of Imam Hussein

Surface-to-surface missile with

1,400km range named after General Soleimani unveiled

TEHRAN – Iran on Thursday unveiled a number of new homegrown missiles, includ-ing long-range ballistic and cruise missiles, as the Islamic Republic marked the National Defense Industry Day.

Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said Iran had inaugurated a sur-face-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 1,400 kilometers named after top anti-ter-ror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the U.S. military in January. 3

Min

istr

y of

Def

ence

AUGUST 22, 2020

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

P O L I T I C S

TEHRAN — Gerard Araud, a former French

ambassador to the United States, has said that the Western allies of Washington have rejected legitimacy of snapback mechanism which says a lot about the international sta-tus of the U.S.

“That the closest western allies of the US unambiguously reject the legitimacy of using the SnapBack procedure set in R. 2231 confirms their commitment to the JCPOA, their opposition to the maximum pressure policy against Iran and says a lot about the world status of the US today,” Araud tweeted on Friday.

Also Wendy Sherman, the former under-secretary of state for political affairs who led the U.S. negotiating team that concluded the Iran nuclear agreement, told MSNBC in an interview on Thursday, “My take is that the president has once again isolated the United States from the rest of the world and instead of isolating Iran from the rest of the world.”

Colin H. Kahl, Joe Biden’s national security advisor from 2014 to the end of

the administration and now a professor at Stanford University, also said in a tweet on Friday, “A diplomatic standoff over restoring international sanctions against Iran may be the most vivid example yet of how the United States has largely isolated itself from the world order — instead of isolating Tehran, as the Trump administration intended.”

In a joint statement on Thursday the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, whose countries are signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPO), issued a joint statement saying they cannot support the United States’ action in triggering the snapback mechanism to return all the UN sanctions on Iran.

The U.S. on Thursday formally began the process of activating snapback mechanism aimed at reimposing all the UN sanctions on Iran.

Richard Haass, the president of the Coun-cil on Foreign Relations, also tweeted on Friday, “America First truly has become America alone. Foreign policy unilateralism has isolated the US more than Iran. Cake & eat it diplomacy, withdrawing from the JCPOA then seeking its benefits, is a non starter.”

By staff and agencyEU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that the United States cannot be considered to be a participant to the 2015 nuclear deal and cannot trigger the snapback mechanism to restore UN sanc-tions on Iran.

“I take note of today’s announcement by the U.S. regarding the so-called UN sanctions “snapback mechanism” under UN Security Council resolution 2231. As I

have repeatedly recalled, the U.S. unilat-erally ceased participation in the JCPOA by presidential Memorandum on 8 May 2018 and has subsequently not partici-pated in any JCPOA-related activities. It cannot, therefore, be considered to be a JCPOA participant State for the purposes of possible sanctions snapback foreseen by the resolution,” he said in a statement published by the European Union’s official website on Thursday.

He added, “As coordinator of the JCPOA Joint Commission I will continue to do everything possible to ensure the preserva-tion and full implementation of the JCPOA by all. The JCPOA remains a key pillar of the global non-proliferation architecture, contributing to regional security.”

The U.S. on Thursday formally began the process of activating snapback mech-anism aimed at reimposing all the UN sanctions on Iran.

TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on

Friday that the United States will never realize its “illegal demand” from the UN Security Council to activate the snapback mechanism.

“This is while the United States has no status to take such action which is contrary to international law and terms of the 2231 resolution. It [the U.S.] has just pre-sented a demand to the rotating presidency of the Security Council,” Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

He noted that all the signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, have rejected the U.S. status to take such action, noting that Washington has become totally isolated.

“All the remaining parties to the JCPOA, three Eu-ropean countries of Germany, France and England and also Russia and China, have strongly opposed the United

States’ illegal and unfounded demand and have informed the president of the Security Council. Other members of the Security Council will adopt similar position in the coming days,” he said.

Elsewhere, Khatibzadeh said that the U.S. seeks to

continue economic terrorism and psychological warfare against Iran.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump formally notified the United Nations on Thursday that it wants all UN sanctions on Iran restored.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered the notifica-tion to the president of the UN Security Council, and later told reporters the U.S. had the right to reimpose sanctions under UN resolution 2231 which endorses the JCPOA.

The U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018.Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht-Ravanchi

said on Thursday the U.S. letter was “inadmissible”.Dmitry Polyansky, a Russian deputy ambassador to

the UN, condemned the U.S. move on Twitter.Germany, France and the UK also rejected the move

and stressed their continuing support for the nuclear agreement.

TEHRAN — NHK has learned that the head of the

International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, is planning to visit Iran for the first time.

Diplomatic sources say IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi hopes to visit Tehran as early as next week to hold talks with senior Iranian officials.

He is expected to ask for Iran’s cooperation over the IAEA’s inspections of two facilities where it is claimed that the country is suspected of storing undeclared nuclear material.

Grossi is also expected to talk with Iranian officials about a nuclear facility in Natanz in central Iran, where a fire broke out last month.

The IAEA plans to release its updated report on Iran’s nuclear program in early September, ahead of a board of governors meeting in the middle of the month.

The UN nuclear watchdog’s board of gov-ernors adopted a resolution in June calling on Iran to give inspectors access to the two sites. The resolution was proposed by Britain, France

and Germany.At a meeting of the IAEA board of governors

in June via video conference, Iranian Ambas-sador to the IAEA Kazem Gharibiabadi said, “Iran acknowledges the IAEA’s right for asking legitimate questions, seeking transparency or demand of access for its mission; meanwhile, Iran also emphasizes its right as a member state to request that the IAEA provide solid evidence and supporting documents and arguments in this regard.”

Richard Haass say: “America First trulyhas become America alone.”

Ex-diplomats: Trump isolating U.S. not Iran

Instead of isolating Iran, U.S. finds itself on the outside over nuclear deal: NY TimesA diplomatic standoff over restoring international sanctions against Iran may be the most vivid example yet of how the United States has largely isolated itself from the world order — instead of isolat-ing Tehran, as the Trump administration intended, The New York Times said on Thursday.

At nearly every step President Trump has taken in his dogged pursuit to demolish a 2015 accord limiting Iran’s nuclear program, he has run into opposition, including from America’s strongest allies in Europe.

On Thursday, the opposition turned into open defiance.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to New York to per-

sonally demand that the United Nations Security Council “snap back” the sanctions on Iran for violating some terms of the nuclear deal. The act was born of frustration: His closest allies had rejected an American effort to recast the terms of the deal by extending an arms embargo against Iran that begins to expire in October. Only the Dominican Republic voted with the United States.

Mr. Pompeo, sounding incredulous, again accused Iran of fo-menting terrorism, destabilizing west of Asia and trying to hide its nuclear and weapons programs from international inspectors. But he directed some of his harshest words toward diplomats from Britain, France, and Germany, whom he said “chose to side with ayatollahs”.

“It’s not a matter for anger or frustration,” Mr. Pompeo said. “We’ll follow the rules of the UN Security Council, and that will lead to the sanctions being reimposed.”

Never mind that Iran’s major violations were in response to Trump’s decision to exit the nuclear agreement. And set aside the legal contortion that underpins America’s insistence that it is still a “participant” in the international accord, with the author-ity to restore the economic penalties, despite Trump declaring in 2018 that he was “terminating United States participation.”

The bigger issue is that even if Pompeo succeeds, he may be reimposing sanctions that no U.S. allies are willing to enforce. And that could not only weaken American authority worldwide, it may also show adversaries how to sidestep the United Nations in future global disputes.

“We call on all UNSC members to refrain from any action that would only deepen divisions in the Security Council or that would have serious adverse consequences on its work,” diplomats from Britain, France and Germany wrote in a joint statement issued moments after Pompeo spoke.

They maintained that since the United States left the nuclear agreement, it has no right to act under its provisions. “We cannot, therefore, support this action,” the European diplomats wrote.

The rejection last week by the Security Council of the arms em-bargo issue has already been wrapped up in election-year politics: Pompeo was quick to note that the nuclear agreement had been reached by the “Obama-Kerry-Biden” triumvirate.

But in making his point, Pompeo further fractured the group of nations that negotiated the original accord with Tehran.

“They are pushing our allies (Europeans) to balance against us, along with our adversaries (China and Russia),” said Jon B. Alterman, a geostrategy and security expert at the Center for Stra-tegic and International Studies in Washington. “It’s unthinkable to me why you would intentionally lose a fight like this, at the UN.”

Pompeo is instead preparing to declare victory.Wielding a veto threat to dissuade defectors, he has demand-

ed that UN sanctions be restored on Iran’s energy, military, and financial industries.

Britain, France, and Germany have largely been left to hold the accord together, creating festering diplomatic resentments and fueling perceptions of the United States as an unreliable partner. The countries cite a different legal technicality in the nuclear deal to prevent Trump from forcing through international sanctions.

In January, after Iran began compiling and enriching nuclear fuel beyond the limits of the agreement, European officials for-mally accused Tehran of violating the deal. That set off a dispute mechanism that is part of the 2015 accord. A Security Council diplomat said it must be resolved before international sanctions were restored.

Negotiations between Europe and Iran continue without a deadline for completion.

Pompeo isn’t waiting. He claims the agreement allows the United States to act, regardless of whether it has declared it is leaving the accord.

Yet Wendy R. Sherman, the chief American negotiator during the Obama administration, said the United States “does not have standing” to restore the sanctions and was unlikely to convince European diplomats that it did.

(See full text at tehrantimes.com)

Joe Biden hails Muharram amid doubts over his sincerity

TEHRAN — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden implicitly praised the martyrdom of

Imam Hossein (AS) in what appears to be a bid to win the hearts of Muslim voters despite the fact that he, during his tenure as Barak Obama’s vice president, imposed sweeping economic sanctions on a country that is widely known for its love the Imam.

“As our Muslim friends and neighbors mark the start of the Islamic New Year and honor the sacrifice made during the holy month of Muharram, let us all recommit to standing together in the struggle for compassion, equality, and justice,” Biden said in a tweet on Friday.

Biden didn’t mention Imam Hossein by name, but his mention of “the sacrifice made during the holy month of Muharram” was widely seen as an allusion to the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, who was martyred in the Battle of Karbala on October 10, 680 (Muharram 10, 61 AH).

Biden’s tweet may ring hollow for many Muslim Shiites who remember the days when Biden played a pivotal role in organizing the Obama administration’s efforts to impose economic sanctions on Iran.

Russia requests UNSC meeting over U.S. sanctions snapback: sourceUNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News/Sputnik) — Rus-sia has requested a UN Security Council meeting to be held on Friday following the U.S. move to invoke the reimposition of all UN sanctions on Iran, a diplomatic source at the United Nations told Sputnik on Thursday.

“Yes, the meeting has been requested for Friday,” the source said.Earlier in the day, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a

letter informed the Security Council president that Washington had started the procedure to invoke all UN snapback sanctions.

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

U.S. not a participant to nuclear deal and cannot trigger snapback: EU’s Borrell

IAEA chief mulling over visit to Iran: NHK

U.S. illegal demand will never be realized, Iran says

Rejecting legitimacy of snapback says a lot about intl. status of U.S., says former French ambassador to Washington

TEHRAN – The Chinese mission to the United Nations said in a tweet on Friday

that the United States is not a participant to the 2015 nuclear deal and therefore it is “ineligible” to invoke the snapback mechanism to return all the UN sanctions on Iran.

“The United States, as a nonparticipant to #JCPOA, is ineligible to demand the Security Council invoke the #snapback mechanism. US letter does not constitute the ‘notification’ specified in #UNSCR2231 and shall not be deemed as a trigger of snapback,” said the tweet.

In a statement on Thursday, the Chinese mission had also said the U.S. demand to trigger the snapback has no legal ground and common sense.

“It is nothing but a political show staged by the United States. It receives no support of the Security Council members and no acknowledgment of the international community,” read the statement.

It also said, “The JCPOA, endorsed by UNSC Resolution 2231, has the force of international law. In May 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and reinstated illegal unilateral sanctions against Iran. This vi-olated the JCPOA and UNSC Resolution 2231. Having quit the JCPOA, the United States is no longer a participant to the JCPOA and has no right to demand the Security Council

invoke a snapback as stipulated in Resolution 2231. In the meantime, a snapback mechanism should never be invoked until all efforts are made to exhaust dispute resolution process specified in the JCPOA. Therefore, the JCPOA participants and overwhelming majority of the Security Council mem-bers believe that the U.S. demand has no legal basis, and a snapback mechanism has not been invoked. Ambassador Zhang Jun has sent a letter to the President of the Security Council, expressing China’s opposition to the U.S. demand.”

“China will work with relevant parties to continue to

uphold the just position, resolutely preserve the JCPOA and UNSC resolution, safeguard multilateralism, the authority of the Security Council, the international non-proliferation regime and regional peace and stability, and seek a political and diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. At the same time, we are firmly against U.S. unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ against other countries in the name of Iranian nuclear issue, and will continue to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.”

‘We are guided exclusively by obligations and international law’

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also said Thursday that Moscow will not stop cooperating with Iran in defiance of U.S. threats of sanctions, Xinhua reported.

“We are guided exclusively by our own interests, our obligations and international law,” Ryabkov was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened to punish those countries that oppose its effort to re-impose sanctions on Iran.

Russia condemns U.S. intentions to restore United Na-tions sanctions against Iran, Ryabkov said.

It is regrettable that as a result of Washington’s irrespon-sible actions, the UN Security Council is plunging into a very serious crisis, which distracts the Security Council from working on a wide range of issues within its mandate and creates certain political and psychological tensions, he said.

Despite Washington’s latest moves on Iran, Russia will continue to cooperate with the United States because without dialogue the situation could become even worse, Ryabkov said.

“The JCPOA participants and overwhelming majority of the Security Council members believe that the U.S.

demand has no legal basis,” the Chinese mission to theUN says in a statement.

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

China: U.S. is ineligible to invoke snapback mechanismRussia says not to stop cooperating with Iran despite U.S. threats

Wendy Sherman Richard Haass Colin H. Kahl Gerard Araud

3I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

I R A N I N F O C U SAUGUST 22, 2020

U.S. may blackmail JCPOA parties into overlooking snapback of UN sanctions

TEHRAN— The U.S. push to force a return of international sanctions on Iran was met

with strong opposition from the international community, a move that could prompt the U.S. to use blackmail against parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The U.S. diplomatically explosive decision to demand a snapback of all UN sanctions on Iran sent shockwaves across the world, prompting a diplomatic backlash against the U.S. unilateralism at the UN Security Council.

Parties to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Com-prehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), rejected the U.S. move with one voice, declaring that the U.S. had no right to notify the Security Council of Iran’s “significant non-performance” as defined in the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which was adopted in 2015 to endorse the JCPOA.

“France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (“the E3”) note that the US ceased to be a participant to the JCPOA following their withdrawal from the deal on May 8, 2018. Our position regarding the effectiveness of the US notification pursuant to resolution 2231 has consequently been very clearly expressed to the Presidency and all UNSC Members. We cannot, therefore, support this action which is incompatible with our current efforts to support the JCPOA,” the E3 foreign ministers said in a joint statement on August 20, moments after the U.S. sent a letter to the Security Council demanding to initiate the “snapback” mechanism, which allows a participant to the JCPOA to seek the re-imposition against Iran of the multilateral sanctions lifted in 2015 in accordance with resolution 2231.

Similarly, EU High Representative Josep Borrell, who is also the coordinator of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA, said that the U.S. has “ceased participation” in the nuclear deal, and thus it cannot trigger the snapback mechanism.

“As I have repeatedly recalled, the US unilaterally ceased par-ticipation in the JCPOA by presidential Memorandum on 8 May 2018 and has subsequently not participated in any JCPOA-relat-ed activities. It cannot, therefore, be considered to be a JCPOA participant State for the purposes of possible sanctions snapback foreseen by the resolution,” Borrell said in a statement on Thursday.

Russia and China also strongly opposed the U.S. measure, saying the U.S. had no legal authority to initiate the snapback mechanism.

“The U.S. demand has no legal ground and common sense. It is nothing but a political show staged by the United States. It receives no support of the Security Council members and no acknowledgment of the international community,” Chinese per-manent mission to the UN said in a statement.

The statement also said, “Having quit the JCPOA, the United States is no longer a participant to the JCPOA and has no right to demand the Security Council invoke a snapback as stipulated in Resolution 2231.”

Russia called the U.S. move “a big mistake which can have extremely negative implications” and vowed to challenge it.

In a tweet on Thursday, Maria Khrenova, the TASS news agency correspondent at the United Nations, said that Russia will chal-lenge the U.S. push to trigger the snapback of the UN sanctions. Her tweet was retweeted by Mikhail Ulyanov, the permanent representative of Russia to international organizations in Vienna.

“Our position and not just ours is that [the] U.S. doesn’t have legal right or reason to initiate this thing. Of course, we will challenge it,” Khrenova quoted Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya as saying.

The opposition to the U.S. measure was not limited to the JCPOA parties. Others also opposed it.

“For Belgium, the case is crystal clear: the USA cannot trigger a snapback of sanctions through the JCPOA since it ‘ceased its participation’ to the JCPOA in May 2018,” The Belgium mission to the UN said in a tweet.

Facing a global backlash against its measure, the U.S. seems to be on a collision course with the international community over the triggering of the snapback mechanism, with little or no support from its closest allies on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

In light of this backlash, some experts and former officials of the Trump administration began a tit-for-tat approach toward Washington’s European allies after they refused to support the U.S. request for the snapback mechanism.

“One positive outcome from the French decision to ignore the plain text of a Security Council Resolution and try to strip its ally of its P5 rights: no longer must anyone at @StateDept play nice on France’s request to renew the mandate for the @UNIFIL_ billion dollar boondoggle,” tweeted Richard Goldberg, the former official at Donald Trump’s National Security Council.

The mandate of the United Nations Interim Forces in Leba-non (UNIFIL) expires on August 31. The UN is considering the idea of extending the mandate of UNIFIL in Southern Lebanon. French and Lebanese officials have exchanged views on the issue in recent days. While France supports extending the mandate of the UNIFIL forces, some experts in Washington make the case for reforming or even ending the operation of the UNIFIL forces.

Goldberg called for punishing France by vetoing the extension of the UNIFIL mandate if it opposed the snapback. Similarly, he called on the U.S. to cut foreign aid to countries standing up against the U.S. at the Security Council.

“Burying the lede: ‘The United States will be carefully watching, and remembering, which of our partners and allies stand with us.’ Recipients of US foreign aid on UNSC include: Indonesia, Estonia, Tunisia, Vietnam, Niger, South Africa. UK wants FTA [free trade agreement]. France wants UNIFIL mandate,” the former official tweeted.

The U.S. has yet to announce how it would force other countries to give up on the snapback. Whether it would take note of Goldberg’s extortion advice remains an open ques-tion. But the U.S. may resort to blackmailing the remaining JCPOA parties given the sweeping opposition to its gambit at the Security Council.

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

P O L I T I C A Ld e s k

TEHRAN — As the U.S. requested a return of all

UN sanctions on Iran, the Iranian people made preparations for commemorating the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who was martyred in the Battle of Karbala on October 10, 680 (Muharram 10, 61 AH).

The Imam’s martyrdom has long been a source of inspiration for Muslims around the world through the centuries. They see him as a hero who sacrificed himself and his family to stand up against oppression.

Imam Hussein (AS) was born in Medina in January 626 to a family of modest means. However, his piety and righteousness earned him widespread popularity among Muslims from all walks of life, which along with his sta-tus as the progeny of the Prophet, made him a target for the Umayyad Caliphate.

Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, sought to pressure the Imam into paying allegiance to his son, Yazid, as he touted him as the next caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. But the Imam refused to offer allegiance to Yazid, who was known for his dissoluteness. When Yazid came to power in 680, Imam

Hussein was still refusing to offer allegiance and traveled to Mecca in a bid to stay away from the Caliph’s mounting pressures. In Mecca, he was approached by the people of Kufa, who were longing for the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate. They urged Imam Hussein to overthrow the caliphate. The Imam went to Kufa only to realize that the people of Kufa have reneged on their promise of help. Eventually, the army of the caliphate, led by Omar ibn Sa’ad, intercepted the Imam’s caravan in the plain of Karbala and martyred the Imam and his companions.

The Battle of Karbala had a deep influ-ence on the Shiite Muslims. Every year, they hold mourning ceremonies to commem-orate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, who became a symbol for the fight against oppression and arrogance.

“Imam Hussain (AS) was a symbol of hon-or, and because he firmly withstood, he was also a symbol of dignity. This is the honor and dignity attributed to Imam Hussein. Some people might say something, but never stand for what they say and retreat; these people cannot take pride in what they say,” Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on March 29, 2002.

Imam Hussein’s resistance against Yazid

also became a guiding principle for Iran in dealing with the U.S. Over the past five years, there have been calls for negotiating with the U.S. in line with what some of the Twelve Imams did with their enemies, especially Imam Hassan (AS), the brother of Imam Hussein who reached a peace deal with the father of Yazid, Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan.

However, the Leader of the Revolution dismissed these calls as “utmost simplifi-cation”, saying what the Imams did wasn’t equivalent to modern-day negotiations.

“These people say how is it that Imam Ali (AS) and Imam Hussein (AS) negotiated with their enemies, but now negotiating with the United States is prohibited?” wondered the Leader at an October 2015 meeting with the IRGC’s navy commanders.

“Such an analysis of the issues of Islamic history and the issues of the country is ex-tremely simplistic because Imam Ali (AS) did not negotiate with Zubair and Imam Hussein did not negotiate (AS) with Omar ibn Sa’ad in the sense of today’s negotiation, which means making a bargain. They both admonished their enemies and advised them to fear God,” the Leader explained.

Calls for negotiations with the U.S. are based on the proposition that the White House really

wants a negotiated solution to tensions between Iran and the U.S. This is while many experts believe that Donald Trump’s administration doesn’t want to solve the problems with Iran. Instead, it seeks Iran’s surrender, just as Yazid’s policy toward Imam Hussein (AS).

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad offered several diplomatic initiatives to deescalate tensions between Tehran and Washington, including an offer to swap pris-oners. However, the U.S. refused to alter its maximalist position on Iran, a move that contributed to the continuation of tensions between the two sides.

Now that Iran has refused to negotiate under the pressure of sanctions, the U.S. is making efforts to restore all UN sanctions on Iran, even though its allies and rivals alike say the U.S. has no legal authority to trigger the snapback process, a mecha-nism built into the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to allow the accord’s parties to restore the UN sanctions in case Iran fails to uphold its commitments under the deal.

In light of U.S. pressures, this year’s Mu-harram could once again inspire the Iranian people to withstand the U.S. pressures by following the lead of Imam Hussein (AS), who chose freedom over humiliation.

TEHRAN — Iran has summoned the chargé d’affaires of the United Arab Emir-

ates (UAE) over the UAE coast guard’s act of shooting at a number of Iranian fishing boats in the Persian Gulf on Monday in which two fishermen were killed.

In a statement on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said right after the incident, relevant Iranian officials put on their agenda an immediate investigation into the tragic event.

According to the statement, after the situation on the ground was carefully examined, the UAE envoy was summoned to the ministry in the early hours of the following days by the director of the International Legal Affairs Department of the ministry.

At the ministry, the Iranian diplomat condemned the UAE vessels’ harassment of the Iranian fishing boats, saying the responsibility for this illegal and

out-of-norm move rests with the UAE government.He stressed that those arrested as well as the fishing

boats seized must be released, and bodies of those killed must be handed over to Iran.

The diplomat also demanded compensation for the damage, and called on the UAE to take the necessary measures to prevent such events in the future.

The UAE charge daffaires, for his part, expressed regret over the incident, and underlined that he will inform Abu Dhabi of the developments accordingly.

In less than 24 hours, another meeting was also held between the UAE envoy and the Iranian official to follow up on the outcome of the previous talks.

Following these developments in Tehran and thanks to efforts by the Iranian embassy in the UAE, the Abu Dhabi government sent an official note to Tehran ex-pressing deep sorrow over the incident and expressed

its readiness to make up for all the damage inflicted.Also, through the coordination of both countries’

border guards, the seized fishing boat and its crew were released.

The incident comes amid Tehran’s strong condem-nation of Abu Dhabi for agreeing to normalize ties with Israel under a deal brokered by the U.S.

The deal was announced on August 13, after a phone call between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, according to Aljazeera.

Iran has called the UAE move a treasonous act against the Palestinian cause.

President Hassan Rouhani has warned Abu Dhabi that the agreement must never prepare the ground for the presence of the Zionist regime in the Persian Gulf.

Nation of Imam Hussein (AS) stand united to confront U.S. oppression

1 “We are mature in the defense industry,” Hatami said at the ceremony, adding, “Iran provides more than 770 defense items, counting for up to 90% of the needs of the armed forces.”

“The country’s defense advances in the last four decades are not comparable to any similar period,” he pointed out.

According to Hatami, in the last few years, Iran has achieved remarkable progress in defense sector, in par-ticular, in the recent three years among which it can be referred to as the unveiling of the Kowsar fighter jets.

“The advanced Yasin training jet was designed and built with a new and indigenous platform. With the pro-duction of Yasin, A90, and Fajr 3 training aircraft, which are in the operational testing phase, the complete cycle of

training aircraft will take place,” the defense chief added.The Thursday ceremony was attended via video con-

ference by President Hassan Rouhani.Hatami explained that Martyr Soleimani ballistic missile

has a range of 1,400 kilometers and Martyr Abu-Mahdi cruise missile has a range of 1,000 kilometers.

The defense industry “with 770 various product groups can meet the demands of the Iranian Armed Forces in wars,” Hatami stated.

In the missile sector, Hatami said, deterrence power is a significant factor in today’s world.

On January 3, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered strikes that martyred General Soleimani, chief of the IRGC Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the

second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

In the early hours of January 8, the IRGC attacked the U.S. airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar province in western Iraq as part of its promised “tough revenge” for the U.S. terror attack.

During the ceremony, President Rouhani praised all Iranian academics, experts and science-based firms for working hard to pave the way for the country’s defense sector to grow stronger.

He also underlined the importance of cruise missiles for Iran’s defense industry. “The fact that we have increased the range from 300 to 1000 in less than two years shows the country is on the path of production and self-suffi-ciency in this field.”

Surface-to-surface missile with 1,400km range named after General Soleimani unveiled

Tehran summons UAE envoy over killing of fishermen

U.S. cannot benefit from fruits of its unlawful act, Zarif warnsTEHRAN — The Unit-ed States cannot benefit

from the fruits of its unlawful act, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a letter to the chairman of the UN Security Council on Thursday, pointing to the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehen-sive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and its efforts to invoke parts of the JCPOA to impose sanctions on Iran.

“Based on the universally accepted general principle of law, the United States cannot benefit from the fruits of its unlawful act of withdrawal from the JCPOA by assuming that it has no obligation to submit its notification alongside a description of good-faith efforts,” Zarif wrote in his letter.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday officially informed the UN Security Council it is demanding the restoration of all UN sanctions on Iran, insisting that the U.S. has the legal right to “snap back” UN sanctions even though U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the UNSC-endorsed deal between Iran and six major powers.

Zarif said the U.S. has no right to abuse mechanisms enshrined in the JCPOA to restore UN sanctions after they were lifted under the accord.

He said the dangerous and unlawful position of the United States defies the established norms of international law and procedures, which have been put in place through centuries to safeguard the world from chaos.

As part of an illegal underway push, the United States has been trying to invoke the so-called “snapback” mechanism in the nu-clear deal, although by leaving the JCPOA the United States forfeited all of its rights under the nuclear deal

Washington also launched a bid to pre-vent expiry of an arms embargo against Iran that will expire in October under the accord,

but the move received almost no support at the UN Security Council meeting last week, prompting Washington to threaten to trigger the JCPOA mechanism that would restore all of the UNSC sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

In his letter, Zarif underlined that given the baseless and illegal nature of the United States’ bid, it has to be “rejected on the part of the Security Council and the international community.”

“It is imperative that the international community be wary of such [attempts at] abusing the Security Council’s mechanisms,” he wrote.

“Iran advises the Council to stop this abuse of mechanism -- which carries serious re-percussions for the international peace and security,” he added.

The Iranian foreign Minister also had a phone conversation with UN Secretary Gen-

eral Antonio Guterres on Thursday, when he highlighted the responsibility of the UN Security Council and the secretary general with regard to the U.S. unlawful act.

“All parties to the JCPOA, the Security Council member states and international jurists all share the view that the U.S. is no longer a party to the JCPOA, and Washing-ton’s move has no basis as per the Security Council Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA,” Zarif said, according to the Foreign Min-istry website.

He warned that the U.S. move will have dangerous consequences for international law, and will result in nothing but damaging international mechanisms and discrediting the Security Council.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran expects the secretary general and the Security Council member states to fulfil their legal duties and counter the U.S. administration’s rogue be-

havior,” Zarif pointed out.Guterres, in turn, vowed to carefully

consider the points made by the Iran’s chief diplomat.

‘Trump administration will be once again isolated disgraced’

On Friday, Zarif wrote on his Instagram account that the Trump administration will be once again isolated and disgraced at the world stage.

“Last night, Pompeo, in his own illusion, activated the mechanism for returning the repealed Security Council resolutions, but at the same time, Iran, along with Russia, China, the European Union, Germany, France, and Britain in separate letters described the Trump administration’s action as illegal,” Zarif wrote.

“Some other members of the Security Council are likely to take similar stances today, once again isolating and disgracing the Trump administration at the world stage,” he said.

The chief Iranian diplomat added that such circumstances are unprecedented in the history of the UN Security Council.

Earlier, France, the UK and Germany released a joint statement telling the U.S. that it could not use “snapback” measures against Iran as it is no longer part of the nuclear deal.

“France, Germany and the United Kingdom note that the U.S. ceased to be a participant to the JCPOA following their withdrawal from the deal on May 8, 2018,” the statement said. “We cannot therefore support this action which is incompatible with our current efforts to support the JCPOA.”

In response, Pompeo on Thursday accused the three European countries of “siding with the ayatollahs”, claiming that “their actions endanger the people of Iraq, of Yemen, Leb-anon, Syria, and indeed their own citizens as well.”

TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion

Organization (TPO) said that along with the implementation of the preferential trade agreement with the members of Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Iran is considering ways for removing the non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in trade with the union, TPO news portal reported.

“Apart from the [preferential trade] agreement and the commodity items that we agree on, what should be considered as a side benefit of this agreement for both sides is the removal of non-tariff barriers to trade between the parties,” Hamid Zadboum said in a conference on promotion of trade with EAEU in Tehran.

Speaking in the conference, Zadboum underlined some of the problems in the way of trade between Iran and EAEU, including banking and money transfer problems, the lack of Iranian banking branches in some member countries, transportation problems and high transit costs, delays in issuing visas

in some member countries, as well as customs problems, and expressed hope that they will be removed following the implementation of the preferential trade agreement.

Zadboum further mentioned a working group established for monitoring the imple-

mentation of the preferential trade agreement between Iran and EAEU, and said: “We held the first meeting of the joint working group in the form of a video conference with the Eurasian Economic Union last month.”

Emphasizing the positive outcomes of

the mentioned meeting, the official said that all the agreements reached in the working group meeting were signed by both parties in the form of a protocol and were turned into a document that was exchanged between the two sides.

“In this document, we agreed to hold pre-liminary talks three weeks before the start of the main negotiations, and to follow up on the side issues of the agreement, including standards, plant quarantine, transport and transit, and banking, each of which could have a working group,” he explained.

According to the official, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) pursues the joint banking work-ing group, Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) will be in charge of the joint customs working group, while Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) follows up on the joint working group on rules of origin and the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development is in charge of the joint transportation and transit working group.

TEHRAN – Afghanistan’s Commercial Attaché in Tehran has called for Iranian

mining companies’ investment in his country’s mining sector, IRIB reported.

Speaking in a meeting with the representatives of the Iranian private sector at the place of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA), Ahmad Saeed pointed to his country’s mines as a unique opportunity for Iranian companies active in the mining industry, saying the bases are prepared for the activity of Iranian companies in Afghanistan.

Noting that based on the Afghanistan government’s plans, all provinces of the country will be equipped with fiber optics by 2023, Saeed underlined the telecommunications sector as another opportunity for Iranian companies in the Afghan market.

The official further pointed to the lack of sufficient knowledge and information as one of the problems in the way of developing economic relations between the two

countries and said: “The Commerce Department of the Afghan Embassy is ready to interact and cooperate with the Tehran Chamber [of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture] to pave the way for the two countries’ private sectors to know each other better.”

In the meeting, which was attended by managers of several Iranian companies active in the mining and mineral industries, telecommunications equipment, power plants, construction, as well as fruits and vegetables, the TCCIMA Deputy Head for International Affairs Hessamedin Hallaj referred to the holding of several joint meetings between TCCIMA and the Commerce Department of the Afghan Embassy for drawing a roadmap for trade cooperation between the two countries’ private sectors and said that several proposals have been made by the two sides in this regard.

“Several proposals were made by the Commerce Department of the Afghan Embassy, including the establishment of Iranian factories in Afghanistan or joint

border areas, as well as the development of cooperation in energy, minerals, medical equipment, and food industry, to strengthen the trade ties,” Hallaj said.

TEHRAN — Iran Mer-cantile Exchange (IME)

will start preselling trades of residential units via standard parallel salaf bonds by the next month, the IME director of economic studies announced.

Javad Fallah said, “IME is seeking at-traction of liquidity by the capital market to provide financing for the construction of houses; so, we are intending to offer slaf bonds to achieve this goal”, Tasnim news agency reported on Friday.

The official said that the IME have re-ceived the salaf bonds from Housing In-vestment Company, which is affiliated to Bank Maskan (Housing Bank).

These bonds enable the people to pre-pur-chase the residential units based on the amount of their money.

A standard parallel salaf is an Islamic contract similar to futures, with the difference being that the contract’s total price must be paid in advance.

It also should be mentioned that a com-mercial property has been offered at the IME for the first time on Wednesday.

As reported by the IME International Af-

fairs and Public Relations Department, the side market of the IME hosted the offering at the base price of 10.639 billion rials (about $253.3 million).

On July 25, a member of Iran’s Securities and Exchange High Council announced that the country’s real estate stock exchange would be established by the next four-six months.

The establishment of such exchange is in line with the government’s policy of providing housing units for the underprivileged, and many efforts have been already made to pre-pare the required infrastructure in this due.

The head of Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) had previously announced that the

exchange was due to be established in the middle of the previous Iranian calendar month (early July).

When established, it will be the country’s fifth major stock exchange. The four other ones are TSE, Iran’s over-the-counter (OTC) market, known as Iran Fara Bourse (IFB), Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX), and Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME).

Deputy Head of Iran Chamber of Com-merce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) says the establishment of the country’s real estate stock exchange is go-ing to promote transparency in this market.

According to Hossein Selahvarzi, estab-lishing this stock exchange is going to be an opportunity for making the transactions in the housing market more competitive and transparent, and will gain people’s trust for participation in mass construction projects.

Earlier this month, speaking in a meeting with the officials from Iran’s Mercantile Exchange, which is in charge of the es-tablishment of the real estate exchange, Selahvarzi said: “We are studying various aspects of the project.”

The official noted that the Real Estate

Exchange Company is going to be estab-lished with an initial capital of 50 trillion rials (about $1.2 billion), of which 50 per-cent will be offered to people in the form of underwriting, while 25 percent will be shared among government agencies and another 25 percent is given to private sector companies.

“Companies wishing to participate must submit their initial application; these com-panies will be allocated up to 2.5 percent of the total capital which would be 1.25 trillion rials (equal to nearly $29 million)”, he added.

Underlining the great capacities of this exchange, Selahvarzi said the capital market has the ability to define practical tools for financing the real estate market and large construction projects, and it will make peo-ple more confident in participating in the implementation of such projects.

I late June, Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Farhad Dejpasand announced the establishment of the country’s real estate stock exchange.

The minister had stated that the Economy Ministry was finalizing the issue with the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO).

TEHRAN — The head of Iran Small In-dustries and Industrial Parks Organization

(ISIPO) has said that 21 percent of the country’s total 9,800 idle production units have been revived by the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry, IRNA reported.

According to Mohsen Salehinia, ISIPO plans to revive 1,500 units, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the current Iranian calendar year (ends in March 2021) of which so far 468 units have resumed operation, reviving 8,000 job opportunities.

Providing liquidity is the main issue for many of the country’s production units, so based on the arrangements made, these units can receive part of their needed liquidity through bank facilities, the official said.

“Currently, the share of the country’s production and industrial units in receiving bank facilities is about 31 percent and it is necessary to allocate a larger share of banking facilities

to the country’s production and industry,” Salehinia added.Given the position of production in the country’s economy

and employment, and the fact that production units are facing lack of liquidity to supply raw materials and equipment, it

is necessary to increase their share of bank facilities up to at least 40 percent, he stressed.

The ISIPO head further said: “despite all the limitations, we are currently witnessing an increase in production in some units active in the field of home appliances; also, according to the plans made and by solving the problems in the way of the production and industrial units, we will realize the motto of “surge in production” by the end of this year.”

In late June, ILNA reported that ISIPO revived 211 idle production units during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20).

ISIPO managed to revive 1,185 idle production units across the country during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), according to Ali-Asghar Mosaheb, ISIPO deputy head for small industries affairs.

According to the official, the mentioned units returning to operation created direct jobs for 21,618 persons.

TEHRAN – Tehran Chamber of Commerce,

Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce for cooperation in drawing a roadmap for expansion of trade between the two countries.

As reported by the TCCIMA portal, the MOU is aimed at developing the trade re-lations between the two countries’ private sectors, mainly by exploring opportunities for boosting economic ties between the

two neighbors. Speaking in the signing ceremony, He-

samedin Hallaj, TCCIMA deputy head for the international affairs, noted that the Tehran chamber of commerce has fo-cused its efforts on developing relations with the neighboring countries, adding: “Iran and Turkey have had good relations in recent years and now Tehran chamber of commerce intends to put the expansion of these relations on the agenda through this memorandum.”

He further expressed hope that under

the framework of this memorandum the two sides would access information about each other’s companies and the problems in the way of the traders of the two countries will be identified and resolved.

“We are trying to draw a roadmap for the expansion of the relations between the two countries by using the capacities of the Tehran Chamber and the Joint Chamber,” Hallaj stressed.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Mehrdad Saa-dat Dehghan, the chairman of the Iran-Tur-key Joint Chamber of Commerce, noted

that the chamber plans to open an office in Turkey after the travel restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak are removed.

“We are looking to open the office of the Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber in Istanbul after the normalization of travel conditions [resulted from the coronavirus outbreak] between Iran and Turkey.”

He also noted that the Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber’s ranking has upgraded from 28 to gold according to the evaluations of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA).

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

AUGUST 22, 20204 E C O N O M Y

Iran exploring ways for removing NTBs in trade with Eurasia

E C O N O M Yd e s k

E C O N O M Yd e s k

E C O N O M Yd e s k

E C O N O M Yd e s k

E C O N O M Yd e s k

E C O N O M Yd e s k

E C O N O M Yd e s k

Over $38m worth of juice exported in 4 months

TEHRAN – Iran exported nearly 48,000 tons of fruit juice valued at $38.107 million

to other countries in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-July 21), the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

As reported by IRNA, the exported products included fruit juices, mixtures of juice with vegetables, fruit extracts, fruit juice essential oils, non-alcoholic beverages, concentrated fruit juices, citrus juices including oranges, grapefruits, grape juice, apple juice, and pineapple juice, according to Ruhollah Latifi.

More than 35 countries were the destination for the Iranian juice exports, including Germany, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mal-dives, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Turkey, Pakistan, New Zealand, Russia, Norway, Turkey, and Kuwait.

According to Latifi, Pakistan with more than $9.665 million worth of imports stood in the first place among the top export destinations, followed by Turkey with more $6.525 million, and Afghanistan with $6.151 million.

As reported, Iran also imported 2,111 tons of the mentioned products worth over $2.101 million during the said four months.

Turkey, Brazil, Belgium, UAE, Spain, Thailand, India, and Italy were the main exporters to Iran in the mentioned period.

Thailand was the top juice exporter to Iran with 1,007 tons of pineapple juice and condensed pineapple juice worth $2.106 sent to the Islamic country.

TEDPIX falls 11% in a weekTEHRAN — TEDPIX, the main index of the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), which

is Iran’s major stock exchange, dropped 11.3 percent in the past Iranian calendar week (ended on Friday).

The index stood at 1.757 million points at the end of the past week, IRNA reported.

As reported, most of the trades were conducted through the indices of National Iranian Copper Industry Company, Ghadir Investment company, Bank Saderat, Mobarakeh Steel Company, and Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company, while transportation, paper products, ceramic and tile, cement and chalk were the most traded items at the TSE during the previous week.

TEDPIX had also experienced a two-percent drop in the week ended on Friday, August 14.

It should be mentioned that the index had hit the record high of two million points on August 2, and while it had been experiencing an unprecedented trend of rising over the recent months, it witnessed several days of drop in the past two weeks.

Gaining 45,672 points on August 2, the TSE’s main index had stood at 2.007 million, notching up another outstand-ing record in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20).

It had hit the record high of 1.5 million points on June 30, and then it climbed half a million points in just one month

to hit the record high of two million.Iranian stock market, which had been experiencing some

unprecedented growth in the past Iranian calendar year, continued its trend of growth during the present year as well.

It’s been a while that the capital market in Iran had been unbelievably flourishing; we have been witnessing new record highs continuously posted by the TSE since the year start, and climbing to the peak of one million points, something almost unbelievable just some time ago, came true in early May.

Such prosperous status of the capital market led to a highly absorbing of liquidity.

As announced by the head of Iran’s Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO), the amount of liquidity absorbed by Iran’s capital market reached 500 trillion rials (about $12 billion) during the first quarter of the current year (March 20-June 20).

Hasan Qalibaf-Asl said, “It is while the total amount of liquidity entered into this market stood at 300 trillion rials (about $7.14 billion) during the past year.”

But since two weeks ago, when the stock market experi-enced some trend of falling, the liquidity is being exited from this market, and some experts say that such exit of liquidity will increase the inflation rate.

In an interview conducted by the Tasnim news agency last week, Shayan Zahrakar, a capital market expert, said that when the liquidity is bringing out of the capital market, it will lead to higher inflation.

“Without the support of the government, it could not be expected that there will be again the long lines of investors for buying shares at the stock market and the money flowing from the parallel markets to the capital market”, he noted.

Majid Mohammad Alizadeh, another capital market ex-pert, told IRNA in another interview that the government’s support can surely bring growth back to the stock market.

Afghanistan calls for Iran’s contribution to its mining projects

TCCIMA inks co-op MOU with Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber

IME to start residential units preselling via salaf bonds by next month

21% of Iran’s idle production units revived

5I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

E N E R G YAUGUST 22, 2020

TEHRAN – The head of Iran’s Petroleum En-

gineering and Development Company (PEDEC) has said that considering pro-gress in Goreh-Jask oil pipeline project, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will be able to export its first oil cargo from Jask terminal by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2021).

According to Touraj Dehqani, the development of the project is going on uninterrupted and the project has reached over 50 percent of physical progress, IRNA reported.

“With the main pumping stations of the project going operational, we will witness the beginning of the oil transfer from Goreh to Jask by the end of the year,” Dehqani said.

“Of course, like other parts of the project, Jask export terminal itself has developed and progressed,” he added.

The official noted that if the re-quired storages at the Jask terminal

were not ready by the end of the year, alternative options such as the use of

single-point-mooring (SPM) storing the oil will be on the agenda.

The PEDEC’s goal is to export the first oil cargo from Jask oil terminal in the last month of the current Iranian calendar year (starts on February 19, 2021).

Goreh-Jusk oil pipeline project was inaugurated in late June by President Hassan Rouhani.

The pipeline will transfer one million barrels of heavy and light crude oils per day to Jask oil terminal in the southern Hormozgan Province to be exported.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the project, the Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said this project was one of the most strategic projects in the Rouhani administration.

Zanganeh said a total of $300 million has so far been invested in the project while another $800 million to $850 million is needed for its full operation.

“We hope that exports from Jask will begin as the government’s most strategic project by the end of this [calendar] year (March 20, 2021),” the minister noted.

TEHRAN (Shana) — Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the end of the oil age would be caused by the introduction of new technologies rather than the end of oil reserves.

Speaking in a televised interview on Wednesday evening, he underlined the role of technological advances in replacing new and renewable energies in the world, saying: “Person-ally, I think we should do our best to produce maximum oil; The development of technology is increasing day by day and we may reach a point where oil can no longer compete with new energies.”

He said oil revenues must be deposited in the national development fund of Iran (NDFI) so that the resources could be used for developing projects such as petrochemical plants, petro-refineries and other industries.

“If we do not produce oil today, maybe one day we will need to get international permission to sell oil (in terms of the environment),” he said. “We must also produce the maximum amount of natural gas, because endorsement of alternative energies by the society is not going to take a hundred years.”

Increased production capacity of joint oil fieldsThe Oil Minister touched on the productivity and de-

velopment of joint oil and gas fields, and said: “Our most important joint oil fields in terms of volume and importance of reserves are located in the west of Karoun River. Our daily production capacity in these fields in 2013 was about 70,000 barrels, which has now reached about 400,000 barrels; That means an increase of about 6 times in seven years.”

Zanganeh, stating that during this period only about 150 wells have been drilled in South Azadegan field, continued: “The daily oil production capacity of Azar joint field will soon reach 60,000 barrels and we will officially announce it; the contract for the development of Azar and West Paydar fields has also been signed; the contract for Forouzan and Resalat fields has also been signed in recent days in the form of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC).

He expressed hope that in the future, the daily oil produc-tion capacity the West Karoun fields cluster would exceed one million barrels, and said: “In this regard, recovery rate is very important because in this region due to special ge-ology and fluid type, recovery rate is low and currently the Petroleum Institute of the University of Tehran is specifically studying the Azadegan field in order to find ways to increase oil recovery rate in this field. The results of the studies of this body show that a 10% increase in the recovery rate of Azadegan is possible.”

Drilling of the 1st south pars phase 11 well by fallZanganeh further referred to South Pars as the world’s

largest gas reserve, saying Iran’s production capacity from the gas field was 280 million cubic meters back in 2013 which

has now seen a 2.5-fold jump having reached 700 mcm/d.He also said that during this period, 26 offshore platforms,

228 wells, 2,160 km of sea pipelines and 30 refining trains had been commissioned in the massive field.

Regarding Phase 11 development plan, he noted the with-drawal of Total and CNPC International from the project, adding Petropars, the Iranian partner of a consortium to develop the phase, is scheduled to drill the first well in the phase by fall.

“We hope that gas be transferred to onshore facilities within a year,” he said, adding the contract to develop Farzad gas field would also be signed this calendar year to March 20, 2021.

We must be ready for the post-sanctions eraIn response to a question about the possibility of fluid

migration in joint fields, the oil minister did not rule out this possibility, and said: “In some joint fields, the area of the field on the opposite side is much larger than ours. At the same time, it should be noted that despite the sanctions, in which no one is willing to work with us, great work has been done in various sectors of the oil industry and good capacities have been created.”

There is no going backReferring to the significant progress of oil industry in Iran,

Zanganeh said: “There is no going back. The oil industry, in terms of management, services and equipment, is not comparable to 20 years ago. At that time we could not do one meter of offshore pipe laying and now we can lay one kilometer of pipes into the sea in one day. Today we can build the most complex oil rigs inside the country. When Total held Phase 11 tenders, all the winners were Iranian companies, but due to Trump’s malice, those contracts with Iranian companies were not enforced.”

Countdown starts for inauguration of largest APG processing facilities

In another part of his interview, the oil minister said the operation of launching the largest facility for collecting and processing associated gases in Khuzestan province, namely the Persian Gulf Bidboland gas refining project, has begun in Behbahan. $3 billion has been spent to build the refinery which can receive about 2 billion cubic feet of gas, which is equivalent to two phases of South Pars, daily, and sweeten, separate and send them as feedstock petrochemical plants.

Oil market and the coronavirusAsked about the future of the oil market due to the corona-

virus pandemic and the global economic downturn, Zanganeh said: “The situation in the oil market has not recovered yet, but with the action taken by OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), which I think was an im-portant step, Brent crude is now above $45 a barrel, which is not a price in jeopardy.”

Zanganeh noted that oil prices have now risen by more than $30 compared to May and that the continuation of this trend would depend on economic conditions.

“OPEC reports indicate that economic growth in coun-tries other than China is negative and still this prediction has not changed given the circumstances of the corona outbreak.”

To the question that it is said that the United States wants to prevent export of Iran’s petroleum products to Venezuela, and has already seized a shipment, and whether Iran would still continue this cooperation under these circumstances, he stated: “Our cargo was not confiscated. The shipment belonged to Venezuela, we had sold it free on board (FOB).”

The official added: “The United States wanted to declare a success with this news and say that they have hit Iran, as if they needed it very much. After all, this is a war and both sides are working against each other.”

Iran, largest petrol exporter in regionZanganeh pointed out that Iran’s daily gasoline production

capacity has increased from 56 million liters at the beginning of the Rouhani administration to the current figure of 107 million liters per day.

“At the beginning of this administration, Iran was one of the largest importers of gasoline and diesel and one of the US threats was to prevent the import of gasoline to Iran; Iran currently exports both gasoline and diesel, and there is evidence to believe that Iran is the largest exporter of gasoline in the region.”

4-fold leap in export of petroleum productsThe Minister of Petroleum pointed to a fourfold jump in

the export of petroleum products, and added: “The annual exports of products have increased from about 5.8 to 5.9 million tons in 2012 to nearly 23 million tons currently.”

Whenever the commodity cycle reaches a trough, all eyes turn to China. Asia’s biggest powerhouse has through years of explosive growth become the top—or one of the top—importers of many commodities, leading the producers of these commodities to base their own growth strategies on China’s insatiable appetite. Nowhere is this truer than in oil and gas. And now the pandemic has bared the shaky foundation of this dependence. It could hardly be argued that China is an important factor in the oil markets. It is the second-largest consumer of crude oil—most of which it imports—and the second-largest LNG importer in the world. This has turned the country into a natural focus of growth strategies in the oil and gas industry. Every oil demand forecast and every gas demand forecast inevitably has China specifically—and Asia more generally—as the drivers of future growth.

The pandemic has not changed this. Asia, and China in particular, are still seen as drivers of future oil and gas demand growth.

The problem is, this growth will not be as robust as analysts forecast before the crisis. What is more, this growth will be delayed, potentially wreaking havoc with companies’ near-term plans.

China gobbled up millions of barrels of oil when prices fell in March and continued to fall through May. One could say with a decent

degree of certainty that if it was not for China, prices would have slumped a lot lower. In that, the country shined as what some have called “the Asian tooth fairy”.

But even this tooth fairy’s storage space is finite and as global storage filled up with unsold—and unsellable—crude, so did Chi-na’s, raising questions about how long it could continue to soak up the world’s excess crude.

China’s crude oil imports over the first half of the year rose by some 10 percent from the sale period of 2019. The latest data suggests they have continued to be robust in July, even as they slipped 3 percent from June. On top of that, reports emerged that Chinese state oil companies had booked tankers for at least 20 million barrels of U.S. oil this month and next.

So far, so good. But there is always a but. In July, Bloomberg reported that China had started selling crude oil from its storage. Now, this piece of information had the potential to shake up global markets like nothing else.

China, the default buyer of the world’s oil, was now selling it, after having bought it on the cheap in the spring. While the selling can hardly be called the beginning of a trend, it did represent an unforeseen event in an industry already rocked by unforeseen events this year. China is not obligated to keep buying oil at this pace forever. If it suits it, China could take advantage of the higher prices and sell this oil, in competition with the rest of the sellers.

There is a congestion of oil tankers at the moment in Chinese ports. For weeks now, according to a Wall Street Journal report, tank-ers have been piling up at the ports, waiting to unload in what in some cases are already full storage tanks. According to brokers that the WSJ cited, the pileup is made up of at least 80 tankers, more than half of the Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), each with a capacity to ship 2 million barrels of crude. The world’s top crude oil importer seems to have nowhere to put the oil it ordered earlier this year in hopes that demand for fuel would increase quickly.

“The swift increase in imports in recent months is an optimistic sign for the global economy. However, the pace has been so quick that it has challenged the logistical capabilities of Chinese ports,” said OilX analysts earlier this month in comments on early Chinese oil import data.

Indeed, demand for oil in China rebounded quickly to about 90 percent of its pre-crisis level, but then things began to slow down,

as people remained reluctant to spend amid still heightened uncertainty about the future. Although not as vital as it is for the U.S., con-sumer spending is an essential indicator of any economy’s recovery, so that reluctance to spend was counted towards the downward risks for oil demand.

Then there is the already present fuel glut in Asia, caused by none other than Chinese refineries. Higher oil import quotas, low oil prices, and strong pre-crisis demand led to this glut, and it came back to bite its makers with falling margins and, most recently, a wave of refinery shutdowns across Asia as demand continued to stall.

On the positive news front, there are ex-pectations that an ambitious infrastructure spending program devised by Beijing to jump-start the economy will push up demand for at least diesel to a record high this year.

Will that be enough to keep Chinese oil imports as strong as they were during the second half of the year? We have yet to see.

So, one of the many unpleasant truths about the modern world that the coronavirus has bared is the oil industry’s dangerously strong reliance on a single source of demand growth. Effectively, oil exporters have got-ten used to putting most of their eggs in the Asian basket, and this has backfired. In all fairness, oil demand has been devastated across the world, not just in Asia. Yet the hit from Asia—and specifically China—has been particularly painful.

By Irina Slav

E N E R G Yd e s k

OPEC+ needs to fix daily oversupply of more than 2m barrels, document showsSome members of the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations would need to slash output by an extra 2.31 million barrels per day (bpd) to make up for their recent oversupply, an internal OPEC+ report seen by Reuters shows.

The surplus seen between May and July ought to be compen-sated for in August and September, the report said.

OPEC+ - which includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers including Russia - stepped up their joint output cuts to a record 9.7 million bpd in May before tapering them to 7.7 million bpd this month.

In April the impact of the new coronavirus on air and road travel and other areas of the global economy sent benchmark oil prices below $16 a barrel.

The ongoing spread of the virus is now threatening oil demand recovery forecasts.

The internal report seen by Reuters did not say how the ad-ditional cuts would be distributed over August and September. But if the 2.31 million bpd figure is adopted and spread equally over the two months, it would take OPEC+ oil cuts to about 8.85 million bpd.

The report shows OPEC+ expects oil demand in 2020 to fall by 9.1 million bpd, 100,000 bpd more than in its previous forecast, before rising by 7 million bpd in 2021.

However, OPEC+ also see an alternative scenario in which a stronger and more-prolonged second wave of infections hits Europe, the United States, India and China in the second half of the year.

Under this scenario, demand is forecast to fall by 11.2 million bpd in 2020, sending OECD commercial oil inventories in the fourth quarter to 233 million barrels above the latest 5-year av-erage, the report showed.

Stocks would stand at 250 million barrels above the latest 5-year average in 2021.

Data shows among OPEC members, Iraq and Nigeria were the least compliant and even the United Arab Emirates, which made additional voluntary cuts in June, overproduced by around 50,000 bpd over the May-July period.

Among non-OPEC participants, Russia and Kazakhstan over-produced by 280,000 bpd and 190,000 bpd, respectively.

U.S. oil, gas rigs rise by one to 289 on week, as Permian rigs hit 11-year lowThe U.S. oil and gas rig count rose by one to 289 on the week, rig data provider Enverus said Aug. 20, while Permian Basin rigs dropped to an 11-year low in the West Texas/New Mexico play.

The Permian, which has produced oil and gas for about a century, clocked in with 128 rigs for the week ended Aug. 19, down one. But as recently as the first week of March, 428 rigs – 300 more than currently – were working in the basin, Enverus data show.

The week’s Permian rig volume is the lowest since August 2009, a time when unconventional drilling for oil was in its infancy and the industry was recovering from the Great Recession, which began in December 2007.

Although the Permian is both the largest U.S. oil producing basin and players there call it one of the most economic, upstream opera-tors are being prudent during the current period of low crude prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Matt Andre, an analyst with S&P Global Platts Analytics, said.

“We think producers are practicing capital discipline,” Andre said. “Second-quarter 2020 earnings talked a lot about maintenance mode for the oil plays and although $40/b WTI may be above breakeven, it’s not the profit they’re looking for.”

“Coming out of an oil price collapse, we believe producers are being extremely conservative with their money,” he added.

WTI, which had been hanging just below $50/b at the beginning of March, plummeted to the teens in April and was still in the $20s/b in early May. Prices are currently in the low $40s/b – enough for most public producers to maintain current production and meet financial goals for now.

The domestic rig count, which troughed at 279 in mid-July, has now crept slightly off the bottom but remains at historic lows. It appears to have roughly stabilized as it seeks its next range while industry pauses drilling to focus on maintaining production before launching more well completions later this year.

So far in August, the domestic rig count is flat with the 287 July average. At its lowest, it was down 67 percent from early March levels.

For the week ended Aug. 19, oil rigs gained one for a total of 201, while gas rigs held steady at 88.

“In our last update, we noted that private operators were helping to put a floor in on total U.S. land horizontal activity and that trend continued again last week,” investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt said in an Aug. 17 investor note.

“However, those gains were more than offset by public operators collectively continuing to curtail activity, with ExxonMobil – the largest U.S. land horizontal rig operator – continuing to lead the charge lower.”

By the week ended Aug. 7, ExxonMobil had just 29 rigs running in Q3, compared with 47 rigs on average in Q2, said TPH, which uses both Enverus data and its own research in calculating rig counts. For the same two respective quarters, EOG Resources had five rigs, as opposed to 10, Diamondback Energy had 13 compared with seven, and Concho Resources had nine rigs versus 12.

Enverus data shows that for the week ended Aug. 19, most of the eight most prominent unconventional basins registered changes of just one rig up or down. The exceptions were the Haynesville Shale in East Texas/Northwest Louisiana, up two to 37, and the Marcellus Shale mostly in Pennsylvania, which at 25 rigs remained the same week on week.

The round of Q2 earnings conference calls that finished in early August brought some badly needed confidence to an industry wracked by months of uncertainty from low oil demand in the wake of the pandemic. Operators that had curtailed oil output as wells became uneconomic at prices not seen in 20 years, by early August had re-stored the bulk of their volumes, and began, or planned, to restart some limited drilling and well completions.

In short, some of the former clouds of invisibility on H2 2020 had begun to lift during the calls, allowing operators to look forward to what they believe will be a more solid year in 2021.

Rig providers, particularly the largest drillers, indicated that Q3 rig counts will be down sequentially. investment bank Credit Suisse said. For Q3, Patterson-UTI and Helmerich and Payne each came in at declines of around 28 percent quarter on quarter, and Nabors Drilling at 19 percent lower for the three month period, investment bank Credit Suisse said.

“These guides roughly approximate our expectation for a 25 per-cent sequential decline ... but represent significant improvements from the Q3 quarter-to-date average,” the bank said in an Aug. 7 investor note.

Iran expected to export 1st oil cargo from Jask terminal by Mar. 2021

Technology could end oil age: Zanganeh

The oil industry’s biggest weakness is its reliance on China

AUGUST 22, 20206I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

ADVERTISEMENTS

TEHRAN TIMESIran’s Leading International Daily

Advertising Dept

021 - 430 51 430Tel:

t imes1979@gmai l .com

tehrantimes79

tehrantimes79021 - 430 51 430Tel:

times1979@gmail.com

The Tehran Times new pocket-sized glossary is now available on the market. The reader-friendly is a rich source of the most common journalistic terminology collected by the daily’s retired staff.

It can benefit a wide range of tastes from students to professional journalists. Persian equivalents have been given for all entries, including idioms and expressions. The glossary also includes example sentences for entries the authors thought it would be a bit difficult to learn.

For more information contact:

7I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

ANALYSIS/INTERVIEWAUGUST 22, 2020

By Mohammad Mazhari

From the first day of the Hariri assassination, the March 14 alliance sought to exploit the incident, through a political accusation against Syria at the beginning

and Hezbollah lately.

Pakistan has pushed for action on Kashmir since August last year when India revoked the Muslim-majority region’s special status.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have faced challenges in their

close bilateral relationship, with Riyadh in recent times flexing its influence over the

south Asian state.

BY Mohammad Mazhari

U.S. policies towards Iran must be understood in terms of Israeli lobby: ex- Senate candidate

TEHRAN — Mark Dankof, a former U.S. Senate candidate, says Washington’s policies towards Iran must be understood in terms of the Israeli lobby stranglehold on American presidential administrations.

On Thursday, the Trump administration formally demanded the UN Security Council to reinstate all UN sanctions against Iran, sparking an immediate confrontation with Russia and other members of the Security Council, who called the U.S. move illegal.

The United States claims that under the Security Council resolution approving the agreement, it retains the right, as an initial party, to invoke the provision to “reinstate” the sanctions.

But Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany and virtually everyone country on the council say the Trump administration has no right since it is no longer a party to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

U.S. action sets the stage for a confrontation that could lead to a credibility crisis for the Security Council.

In this regard Dankof, a broadcaster for The Ugly Truth Pod-cast, tells the Tehran Times that there is no logical rationale for U.S. counterproductive lunacy.

“It must be understood in terms of the Israeli lobby strangle-hold on American presidential administrations,” Dankof adds.

Following is the full text of the interview: The UN Security Council has rejected the U.S. proposal

to extend the Iran arms embargo. In this regard, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, “It wasn’t a defeat. It was a rout.” What is your opinion?

A: It was a deserved rout and an absolute embarrassment and foreign policy catastrophe for the United States. I am among those on the American Right who supported and still support JCPOA. Pat Buchanan and David Stockman are two other ex-amples, Stockman having written an outstanding defense of the treaty in several places. He has also rightly attacked Trump for the Soleimani assassination.

In the end, the UN Security Council members know that the treaty is solid, undermined by the Israeli lobby’s control of the United States’ foreign policy regardless of which political party takes power.

The illegitimate unilateral withdrawal of the Trump admin-istration from the deal broke the American word of honor not only to Iran but also to the other signatories.

The notion that the United States insists it can continue to dictate policies on Iran and the JCPOA terms having withdrawn as a party to the deal is especially outlandish, and an insistence no one else outside of Mr. Trump’s Zionist entourage is buying.

How do you assess Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Iran? Was it successful?

A: It is an obvious failure. The Europeans are increasingly disenchanted with Washington’s Zionist war drum beating, and the “maximum pressure” approach is simple and understandably strengthening the Russian and Chinese political and economic relationship with Iran at American expense.

Do you think that the rest of the world, including the Euro-pean countries, will cooperate with Trump’s administration to ruin the nuclear deal by triggering “snapback” sanctions on Iran?

A: With the exception of the UK, I believe the other European powers will balk at this idea. The German resistance to illegitimate American interference with the Nord Stream 2 deal with Russia is both an example of a reassessment of post-war American dictation of policy to Europe, a situation that will exacerbate resentment of American dictation on Iran policy and JCPOA, and eventually force a reassessment of NATO and neo-conservative militarism toward Russia in the post-Cold War world where the Reagan-Bush I pledges to Gorbachev have been systematically broken in the same way that the American promises on JCPOA have been.

It is beginning to dawn on Europeans that the Zionist neo-con-servative foreign policy on both Iran and Putin’s Russia makes them more vulnerable and far less secure. It is my hope that a comatose American electorate eventually figures this out in terms of their own self-interest and national security.

On May 8, 2018, the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the nuclear deal) unilaterally while Iran was committed to its obligations. Now Trump tries to use the deal to unite the other signatories against Iran? What kind of logic is this?

A: There is no logical rationale whatsoever for this counter-productive lunacy. It must be understood in terms of the Israeli lobby stranglehold on American presidential administrations, Congress, and mainstream media (MSM) in the United States. Trump is perhaps the worst example of this yet, in terms of an absolute blank check being issued to Israel on Gaza, Lebanon, the Occupied Territories, and East Jerusalem. This is not changed by the 2020 election year fraud of the American-brokered “deal” between Israel and the UAE, which does nothing for the Palestin-ians at all. Netanyahu admitted that his annexation policies are “still on the table.” You can be assured they will reappear after the first Tuesday in November in the United States.

Do you expect that America will recognize the reality of a multi-polar world?

A: I do not believe that this reality has yet dawned on an Amer-ican National Security and foreign policy establishment drenched in false notions of Empire, and false doctrines of American and Israeli Exceptionalism. A $26 trillion dollar national debt, the rise of competing economies and military establishments around the world, and an American domestic scene mired in the more political and cultural division than I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime suggest the obvious end of the post-WW II American Empire for reasons similar to the end of the old British Empire and the dissolution of the USSR. But the American political oligarchy seems presently oblivious to this obvious reality.

What about former Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton, and his advocacy of a “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, as he expressed this in his recent interview with the BBC?

A: “John Bolton is an Apostle of World Zionism, the Israeli government, and the Israeli lobby solely interested in a war for Netanyahu and neo-conservative regime change in Iran. He ap-proves of the Soleimani assassination and Marxist MEK terror operations in Iran and from the latter’s Troll Farm in Albania. His ideas, if implemented, would likely ignite World War III. Innocent Americans would die alongside innocent Iranians and others. It is not illegitimate to tag him as a war criminal with a psychopathic psychological profile. He is, simply put, a dangerous man.”

A growing schism between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has unfolded in recent weeks as tensions threaten their strategic partnership.

The problems began when Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi hinted that he had lost faith in the Saudi-led Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), saying that if a high-level meeting was not held to discuss the Kashmir crisis then other options, such as meetings with other Islamic countries, would be explored.

Since August last year, Pakistan has pushed for action, when India revoked the Muslim-majority re-gion’s special status, but with limited success. The OIC has only held low-level meetings on the Kashmir crisis despite Islamabad’s demands. It was unusual, however, that Qureshi voiced such forceful opinions publicly.

Irked by these comments, Riyadh did not issue an official statement, but Saudi ex-ambassador to Pakistan, Ali Awadh Asseri, responded with an article in Arab News.

“Where does FM Qureshi’s diatribe stand after this? Will PM Imran Khan remind him to be careful in future, as any damage to our brotherly ties goes against our respective national interests and public aspirations?” he wrote.

In the past, the 57-member OIC had supported Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir, and the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, established in 1994, held a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last year.

The bilateral crisis escalated last week after Saudi Arabia forced Pakistan to repay $1 billion given as part of a $6.2 billion package announced in late 2018. The deal consisted of a $3 billion loan and $3.2 billion oil credit facility, which was announced during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Pakistan. Riyadh is also yet to respond to Pakistan’s request to extend the oil credit facility, which expired last month.

Soon after, the Saudi envoy to Pakistan met with the Pakistani army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. Over the weekend, Bajwa visited Riyadh for prescheduled military talks, but it was also a good opportunity for some damage control. According to a statement from Pakistan’s Army, the chief met his Saudi counterpart to discuss “military to military ties, including training exchanges.”

The Pakistan Army Chief also met Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman who later tweeted, “Met today with my brother, H.E General Qamar Bajwa, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff. We dis-cussed bilateral relations, military cooperation, and our common vision for preserving regional security.”

A special relationshipOver the decades, Saudi-Pakistan bilateral relations

have remained strong and relatively stable. Initiated in 1940, when Saudi delegations visited leaders of the All India Muslim League in Karachi, Saudi-Pakistan

relations have been known for their depth and a bond of trust.

Over the decades, the two countries have worked together on various bilateral, regional, and global forums. Pakistan is also a founding member of the OIC, which was created in 1969.

In this equation, Riyadh’s role remained most-ly economic, while Islamabad was more focused on providing support on the security front. Since the 1960s, Pakistani troops have had a sizable presence in the oil-rich state and have provided assistance and training to the Saudi military. Furthermore, some 70,000 Pakistani nationals are estimated to serve in Saudi Arabia’s armed forces.

Having had a bilateral security cooperation agreement since 1982, Islamabad has assisted the Kingdom in defense production capabilities, and Pakistani special forces were often appointed to guard the royal fami-ly. Saudi pilots and soldiers have also received their training in Pakistan or from the troops stationed in the Kingdom in training and advisory roles.

Notably, when the Saudi-led Islamic Military Al-liance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT) was launched in 2015, the ex-armed forces chief of Pakistan, General Raheel Sharif, was asked to head the 41-nation army.

On the economic front, Riyadh has helped Islam-abad in times of financial crisis or during sanctions. In addition, nearly three million Pakistanis work in Kingdom and send home remittances to the tune of up to $8 billion every year.

Saudi Arabia has long been suspected of bankrolling Pakistan’s nuclear program and was among the few countries that congratulated Islamabad after its first nuclear trials in response to India’s nuclear tests in the late 1990s.

Where the foreign policy is concerned, both coun-tries issued a joint policy statement in 2014 expressing a common understanding of Kashmir, Afghanistan, Palestine, and other conflicts in the Middle East (West Asia).

Cracks appearOver the years, both countries have also faced

challenges in their close bilateral relationship, with Riyadh in recent times flexing its influence over the south Asian state.

In December, Saudi Arabia used its influence to dissuade Pakistan from attending a Kuala Lumpur Summit, where 400 Muslim leaders, scholars, and thinkers from 52 countries convened to explore solu-tions for problems that affect the Muslim world. Riyadh considered the event a direct challenge to the OIC.

In 2015, both countries faced another divergence when Pakistan refused to join Saudi and Emirati forc-es in their military operations in Yemen, opting to stay neutral as it did not want to aggravate sectarian issues at home.

On a geopolitical level, Saudi business relations

with India have recently received a massive boost, which may partly explain Riyadh’s reluctance to be proactive in Kashmir. This is a major discrepancy between the two allies, as drawing attention to the Kashmir crisis is a top priority for Pakistan.

Since 2014, ties between Riyadh and New Delhi have been on an upward trajectory, and on his maiden trip to India last year, Mohammed bin Salman discussed investment plans worth over $100 billion. India’s Reliance Industries, the largest private-sector cor-poration in the country, intends to sell 20 percent of its shares to Saudi Aramco, making it one of India’s largest foreign direct investment deals.

For the moment, Saudi Arabia will have to delicately balance its ties with India and Pakistan, nuclear rivals and neighbors who have fought several deadly wars over the Kashmir crisis.

Likewise, any upgrade in ties between Pakistan and Iran will require extra vigilance to avoid a heavy-hand-ed Saudi response. For decades, Pakistan’s foreign policy has focused on balancing ties with Tehran and Riyadh on an equal footing.

Recently, China and Iran discussed the possibility of a strategic partnership, which, if it materializes, could see Iran joining the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). On a trip to Pakistan last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced large investments in Gwadar, and Islamabad will have to balance relations with both rival countries delicately.

Moreover, in a new development, Riyadh has con-structed a nuclear technology facility and started several joint nuclear projects, including one to extract uranium from seawater, with Chinese help. Therefore, Saudi Arabia is getting closer to Beijing, which already has a growing footprint in the GCC region. Even the UAE has inaugurated its first nuclear power plant in the Arab world with Chinese cooperation.

In past Saudi Arabia had shown little interest in a nuclear program, as Pakistan, the only nuclear Muslim state, had always guaranteed the security of the Holy Sites in Saudi Arabia and helped in military matters.

Eventually, these moves could have implications for Saudi-Pakistan relations. Even though Islamabad would remain a close defense ally, China has also become an important strategic partner.

Sabena Siddiqui is a foreign affairs journalist, lawyer, and geopolitical analyst specializing in modern China, the Belt and Road Initiative, Middle East (West Asia), and South Asia.

(Source: The New Arab)

TEHRAN — After 15 years of work, on August 19, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon handed down its verdict on the Hariri assassination charges.

The judgment was initially scheduled to be delivered in May but was delayed twice—first due to the coronavirus pan-demic and second as a gesture of solidarity for the victims of the massive explosion in Beirut on August 5, which devastated the city.

In this regard, Maher al-Khatib, a Lebanese writer, tells the Tehran Times that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has politicized Rafic Harir’s assassina-tion case. “The court failed to provide evidence for its claims,” he argues. “It failed to provide evidence for its claims.”

Following is the full text of the in-terview:

What is your comment on the ver-dict issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon?

A: It is not possible to understand the verdict of the International Tribunal for Lebanon, without returning to the full path that it went through over the past years and before that the process that the international investigation commissions have gone through.

The two paths showed the fact that the court was highly politicized, and the verdict of the hearing session confirmed this.

For the most part, it presented just a political analysis of the process of the Lebanese events before 2005.

The court reached certain conclusions underlining that Hezbollah and the Syrian state had an interest in the assassination of Hariri.

However, the court failed to provide evidence for its claims.

Consequently, what the court reached, in the end, maybe aimed at defending its objectivity, while it presented what was

previously known but in a softer way. Given Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s

statements, what will be the response of Hezbollah to the court’s ruling?

A: A few years ago, Hezbollah an-nounced that it was dealing with the International Tribunal on the basis that it did not exist, after it was turned into a political tool in the hands of the United States of America and Israel, in addition to other international and regional powers.

Therefore, it will not have any reac-tion to the verdict issued by the court; however, its silence is an affirmation of its previous position on it, which means that it does not recognize the court and its verdict.

How did the March 14 alliance has tried to use the International Tribunal to undermine Hezbollah’s status in Lebanon during the past years?

A: From the first day of the Hariri

assassination, the March 14 alliance sought to exploit the incident, through a political accusation against Syria at the beginning and Hezbollah lately.

Accordingly, many considered that the court had become a tool consumed by this alliance to the maximum extent, the aim of which was to blockade Damascus and later to surround Hezbollah inside Lebanon.

Despite the content of the verdict is-sued by the international court, there are those within the March 14 alliance which sought to go far in interpreting it, by emphasizing that it deals with Hez-bollah as a political organization, which is identical to the positions issued by some regional and international parties.

In light of the international tri-bunal’s statement, do you expect an in-ternationalization of the Beirut blast?

After the verdict issued by the Inter-national Tribunal, many political forces and features affiliated with the March 14 alliance considered that it has proved that the court was not politicized, on the basis that they did not incriminate all the individuals mentioned in the prosecution.

So, they tried to use it as a justifica-tion to support their call for the inter-nationalization of the investigation on the Beirut blast.

On the other hand, the March 8 alli-ance saw that the verdict issued by the court, regardless of being politicized or not, indicates that the Lebanese judicial organs can reach better results and faster.

They insist on refusal to go to the in-ternationalization of cases in Lebanon.

Based on Lebanon’s current political balances today, which are different from the conditions of Hariri ‘s assassination in 2005, I rule out the option of interna-tionalizing investigations on the Beirut port explosion.

However, Lebanon is ready to use in-ternational expertise, including French and American.

Could Saudi Arabia be parting ways with Pakistan?

Special Tribunal for Lebanon failed to provide evidence for its claims: Lebanese analyst

“The Europeans are increasingly disenchanted with Washington’s

Zionist war drum beating”

8I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

HERITAGE & TOURISM AUGUST 22, 2020

TEHRAN – Three fields of handicraft, which were obsolete in Eshtehard city,

Alborz province, have recently been revived, a provincial tourism chief has said.

Forgotten fields of weaving Kilim, ruduzi (a kind of traditional embroidery) and seraji (a kind of traditional leatherwork) have been brought back to life by organizing training courses, CHTN quoted Mohtaram Bidgoli as saying on Thursday.

The courses were held observing health protocols and social distancing rules, the official added.

Alborz province is surrounded by Mazandaran, Tehran, Markazi, and Qazvin provinces. Its name is driven by the Alborz Mountains. The significant part of the mountains is located in the north part of the province.

Historical resources and documents as well as archeo-logical studies indicate that Alborz has a rich culture dating

back to prehistoric times. Iran exported $523 million worth of handicrafts during

the past calendar year 1398 (ended March 19). Of the figure, some $273 million worth of handicrafts were exported offi-cially through customs, and about $250 million was earned via suitcase trade (allowed for customs-free and tax-free transfer) through various provinces.

Back in May, deputy tourism minister Pouya Mahmoud-ian noted that due to the outbreak of coronavirus, suitcase exports of handicrafts has been completely stopped since the month of Esfand (the last month of the Iranian calendar year, started February 19), and official exports of handicrafts experienced a steep decline.”

“Some 295 fields of handicrafts are currently practiced across Iran with more than two million people engaging, majority of whom are women… Handicrafts also play an important role in the economy in our rural villages,” she said.

TEHRAN – Iranian po-lice have recently confis-

cated three historical relics from a home in Dehdez city, Izeh county, southwestern Khuzestan province.

The recovered objects have been esti-mated to date back to the Parthian era (247 BC – 224 CE), provincial tourism official Ahmadreza Hosseini announced on Friday, ILNA reported.

The clay objects include a water bottle and two small containers that were used to store spices and liquids, the official added.

Establishing a primary residence at Ctesiphon, on the Tigris River in southern

Mesopotamia, Parthian kings ruled for nearly half a millennium and influenced politics

from Asia Minor to northern India, until they were overthrown by Sasanian armies from southwest Iran in the early third century CE.

Parthian wealth obtained through lucra-tive trade networks resulted in substantial patronage of the arts, in particular, relief sculpture, statuary (large and small scale), architectural sculpture, metalwork, jewelry, and ceramics; coins with images of Parthian rulers form another important category of objects.

Izeh is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites of Susa, Tchogha Zanbil, and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System yet it is a region of raw beauty where its visitors

could spend weeks exploring. The province is also a cradle for handicrafts and arts whose crafters inherited from their preceding gen-erations.

Lying at the head of the Persian Gulf and bordering Iraq on the west, Khuzestan was settled about 6000 BC by a people with af-finities to the Sumerians, who came from the Zagros Mountains region. Urban centers appeared there nearly contemporaneously with the first cities in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium. Khuzestan, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, came to constitute the heart of the Elamite kingdom, with Susa as its capital.

TEHRAN – The annual Muharram ritual of Tasht Gozari was held at the

UNESCO-registered Sheikh Safi al-Din Khanegah and Shrine Ensemble in the northwestern province of Arde-bil on Wednesday, observing health protocols and social distancing rules.

Iranians, who are mostly Shia Muslims, hold special ceremonies during the first ten days of the lunar month of Muharram, which began on Friday, to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his 72 loyal companions.

While Iran is still fighting the coronavirus outbreak, this year’s Muharram mourning rituals across the country would be different from previous years.

Tasht Gozari is one of the most popular rituals in Ardebil and nearby cities. People gather mostly in the Jame Mosque of the city and fill some big washtubs with water and put them in a corner of the mosque. Mourners then start the ceremony with Sineh-Zani [beating the chest] according

to the rhythm of a sung eulogy.After the ceremony, some men put the washtubs on their

heads and turn them among the people so that they can drink the water, which is considered blessing water.

Despite the shortage of water, Imam Hussein (AS) asked his companions to pour water they bring with themselves in washtubs for Al-Hurr ibn Yazid al Tamimi, a commander of Yazid’s army, and his companions. This sacrifice made Hurr choose Imam Hussain (AS) over Yazid and fight for him.

Tasht Gozari ritual is usually held in three days, however, this year the ceremony was limited and with less time due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Sheikh Safi al-Din Khanegah and Shrine Ensemble is named after Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardebili (1253-1334), who was a Sufi philosopher and leader of Islamic mystic practic-es. Developed between the early 16th century and the end of the 18th century, this place of spiritual retreat enjoys principal elements of traditional Iranian architecture to make the best use of existing space for accommodating a

variety of functions.Sprawling on a high, windswept plateau, whose altitude

averages 3,000 meters above sea level, Ardebil is well-known for having lush natural beauties, hospitable people, and its silk and carpet trade tradition.

1 Here is a select of ten magnificent mosques travelers should not miss while vis-iting the country:

Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque of Isfahan

Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque is a stunning example of intricate Iranian architecture, standing strong since the early 17th century. It is also very famous for having a very pic-turesque dome that makes extensive use of delicate cream-colored tiles, changing color throughout the day from cream to pink. Some say the sunset is usually the best time to witness the change.

The exterior panels boast collections of arabesques and floral designs that have be-come a signature motif of the masterpiece. The portal itself contains some stalactite-type stone carving used to decorate doorways and window recesses with rich concentrations of blue and yellow motifs.

Nasir al-Mulk Mosque of ShirazThe atmospheric Nasir al-Mulk Mosque

sometimes referred to as the “Pink Mosque”, situated in downtown Shiraz, southern Iran, has long been a prime destination for inter-national and domestic travelers. The name “Pink Mosque” is driven from abundant pink-colored tilework that dominates its courtyard and exteriors facade.

When standing outside the mosque, you may not guess what waits for you inside. Just step in and discover the magic blend of the light, color is interwoven with arabesque designs and tilework.

Sheikh Safi al-Din Khanegah of Ardebil

Sheikh Safi al-Din Khanegah and Shrine Ensemble is a microcosm of Sufism where arrays of harmonious sun-scorched domes, well-preserved and richly-ornamented fa-cades and interiors and, above all, an at-mosphere of peace and tranquility have all made a must-see stopover while traversing northwest Iran.

The ensemble is named after Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardebili (1253-1334), who was a Sufi philosopher and leader of Islamic mystic practices. It embodies the essence of Sufi traditions by having a microcosmic ‘city’, which embraces a mosque, a madrasa, a library, a cistern, a bathhouse, kitchens, a hospital, as well as religious houses amongst others. The place also boasts a remarkable collection of antique artifacts.

Shah-e Cheragh Mosque of ShirazShah-e Cheragh (“King of Light”) is a major

mausoleum and pilgrimage site in Shiraz. The dazzling shrine of mirrored tiles is where Sayyed Mir Ahmad, one of the brothers of Imam Reza (AS), is laid to rest. Each day, it draws hundreds of the faithful from all over the country or even abroad.

The mausoleum boasts architectural el-ements and motifs from various centuries and its courtyard and tilework represent relatively modern embellishments from the late-Qajar period. Its blue-tiled dome is flanked by dazzling gold-tipped minarets.

Imam Mosque of IsfahanAt the southern end of Isfahan’s main

square stands the big, grand and impressive Imam Mosque, which is not only impressive because of its sheer size and incredible decorations, but also helps to get a good impression of the needs and challenges of always on-going restoration works. The craftsmanship continues and is intricate with amazing views both on the façade and the interior. The monuments boast perfect proportions and iconic blue-tiled mosaics.

Originally named Masjed Shah (“the Shah Mosque”), its construction began in 1611

during the rule of the Safavid King Shah Abbas the Great who reigned from 1588 to 1629. The mosque’s topmost dome was completed in the last year of his sovereignty. Visitors to the mosque are mainly overwhelmed with good views of the main dome with its glorious profusion of turquoise-shaded tiles.

Jameh Mosque of YazdSoaring above the old city of Yazd, the

12th-century Jameh Mosque of Yazd (Mas-jid-e Jameh) is graced with a tiled entrance portal (one of the tallest in Iran), flanked by two 48m-high minarets and adorned with inscriptions from the 15th century.

The terms “Jameh Mosque” or “Masjed-e Jameh” or “Friday Mosque” is used in Iran for a grand communal mosque where mandatory Friday prayers are performed: the phrase is used in other Muslim countries but only in Iran does it designate this purpose.

Vakil Mosque of ShirazBeing in Shiraz without a visit to Mas-

jed-e Vakil (Vakil Mosque), which is part of a bigger 18th-century ensemble, may be tantamount to a trip to Istanbul while missing the Blue Mosque. The mosque has a recessed entrance decorated with Shirazi rose-pink tiles, a splendid inner courtyard

surrounded by beautifully tiled alcoves and porches, two vast iwans (porticos), and a pleasingly proportioned prayer hall.

The mosque is connected to a bazaar of the same name and almost attached to a bathhouse with a lane in between. As one enters the mosque, they can see a corridor leading to the Vakil Bazaar on their left.

Blue Mosque of TabrizThe Blue Mosque, known as Masjed-e

Kabud in Farsi, is one of the notable historic buildings standing tall in the northwestern city of Tabriz. The place of worship has long been distinguished for the grandeur of its intricate blue tilework and calligraphy for which it is nicknamed. The ornament took artists about a quarter-century to cover every surface.

Completed in c. 1465 it is remarkable for its simplicity, brickwork, and a great size as well. The mosque survived a devastating earthquake in 1727. However, many parts of it caved in due to a quake struck later in the same century. Many parts of the structure were rebuilt in 1973.

Gohar Shad Mosque of MashhadSituated within the holy shrine complex

of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad, the great mosque of Goharshad is a remarkable Is-lamic structure due to its age, architectural characteristics, and rich tile decorations.

Made of brick and plaster in the 15th century, the monument used to be served as a free-standing mosque and currently serves as one of the prayer halls of the complex that is one of the tourism centers in the country and has been described as “the heart of the Shia Iran”.

Agha Bozorg Mosque of KashanStanding tall in the oasis city of Kashan,

the 19th-century mosque Agha Bozorg Mosque is simply one of many top desti-nations in central Iran that lure not only the faithful but travelers and architecture buffs. It boasts a good-looking symmetry in its traditional design that is embellished by intricate plasterwork, woodwork, mir-rorwork, and geometric tilework patterns.

The massive structure includes sev-eral congregational halls, adjoining ar-cades, tiled minarets, massive badgirs (wind towers), and an austere dome. The mud-brick walls, arches, and ceilings are covered with Quranic inscriptions and mosaics as well.

T O U R I S Md e s k

T O U R I S Md e s k

T O U R I S Md e s k

On the occasion of World Mosque Day

A glimpse of Muharram mourning rituals across Iran: Bil Zani(Part 3/8) One of the other Muharram rituals in South Khorasan prov-ince is Bil Zani. This is one of the ancient traditions that are on Iran’s national heritage list. Birjand and Khusf cities are the main centers for the ritual.

The ritual shows unity amongst the people of the city. They gather in a place to hold the mourning ceremony. Then they lift their bils (shovels) and move them in the air chanting the name of Imam Ali (AS), Heydar Ali, simultaneously. This symbolic event reminds the procession ceremony of Imam Hussein (AS) companions during Ashura.

The originThe ritual of Bil Zani, also called Bil Gardani, is a reminder

of Banu Asad tribe. Three days after Ashura, Banu Asad tribe reached Karbala and encountered the bodies of Imam Hussein (AS) companions. Then they dig the earth with their shovels and bury them. Bil Gardani in South Khorasan province is a symbol of the event.

South Khorasan province is home to many historical and natural attractions such as Birjand Castle, Dragon Cave, Furg Citadel, and Polond Desert. It is also known for its famous rugs as well as its saffron and barberry which are produced in almost all parts of the province.

Bangladeshi envoy calls Zanjan tourist sites ‘extraordinarily beautiful’

TEHRAN – Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Tehran Gousal Azam Sarker traveled to

the northwestern Zanjan province on Thursday, praising the province for its extraordinarily beautiful tourist sites.

He considered the tourist attractions as one of the most important capabilities and advantages of the tourism in-dustry in the region.

The official paid visits to Rakhtshooy Khaneh Edifice Museum and Zolfaqari Archaeological Museum.

During the visits, the ambassador proposed joint ventures in the field of tourism and handicraft exports, CHTN quoted provincial tourism chief Amir Arjomand as saying on Friday.

Zanjan is one of the cities founded by Sassanid King Ar-dashir I (180-242 CE). The province makes a base for wider explorations with the architectural wonder of Soltaniyeh, the subterranean delights of the Katale-Khor caves, colorful mountains, and the UNESCO-registered Takht-e Soleiman ruins are nearby.

In late January, Zanjan was designated as a “world city of filigree” by the World Crafts Council after the WCC asses-sors visited various craft workshops, stores, exhibits, and bazaars of the city in a two-day itinerary in last December.

Filigree consists of curling, twisting, or plaiting fine, pliable metal threads and soldering them at their points of contact with each other with a metal groundwork.

Jameh Mosque of Saveh undergoes partial restoration

TEHRAN – A partial restoration and ren-ovation work has been commenced on the

12th-century Jameh Mosque of Saveh, which is sometimes referred to as “a museum of Islamic architecture”.

The rooftop of the mosque is the key element of the mosque being restored through tasks such as applying a traditional plaster of clay and straw; bandaging, cleansing, and plas-tering, CHTN reported on Thursday.

Sources say that the mosque has continuously been a busy place of worship, yet has undergone restoration projects since the time it was completed in the 12th century onwards.

The Seljuk-era Jameh Mosque of Saveh is still a big source of charm for the faithful, sightseers, and buffs of history and Islamic architecture. It comprises a courtyard, porch, minaret, dome, and two archaic altars ornamented with Kufic calligraphic works.

The mosque is named after Saveh, the in the central Iranian city. The terms “Jameh Mosque” or “Masjed-e Jameh” or “Friday Mosque” is used in Iran for a grand communal mosque where mandatory Friday prayers are/were performed: the phrase is used in other Muslim countries but only in Iran does it designate this purpose.

H E R I T A G Ed e s k

H E R I T A G Ed e s k

Tasht Gozari ritual held observing health protocols

Three neglected crafts revived in Eshtehard

Iranian police seize Parthian-era relics in southwest

A painting by French architect Pascal Coste, who visited Isfahan in c. 1840, depicts the main courtyard and two iwans of the Imam Mosque (then the Shah Mosque) in the central Iranian city.

9I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

AUGUST 22, 2020

1 Not just a doctor, but a fatherDr. Vahid Iravani, neurologist, born on

March 23, 1964, was graduated in general medicine from Ahvaz Jondishapur University of Medical Sciences, who did not give up humanity during the outbreak, not thinking about his own life, and continued to serve the patients who came from far and near.

It was in the first days of March that he developed symptoms of a cold, rested at home for a few days, and as soon as he got a little better, he went back to work. But this recovery did not last long, the corona had penetrated the doctor’s body and involved his lungs. He became ill again, this time much more severely, his wife also became ill and the two were hospitalized; but there was no way back for the doctor and left us on March 14.

Seyedeh Monireh Kazemi, his wife, says nothing but humanity when talking about him.

“His patients believe that Dr. Iravani was not just a simple doctor, but just like a father, he helped not only with medicine

and disease but also with our problems. For example, if the patient was an unem-ployed young man, he was trying to find a job,” she says.

A sincere person sought to help others

Dr. Gholamreza Fakhri, an anesthesiol-ogist and intensive care specialist, was born on January 21, 1971, in Bushehr city.

He first studied general medicine at Semnan University of Medical Sciences and then specialized at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

A physician whose history of compas-sionate service to patients is well known to his colleagues and patients. A person who served in the field of intensive care for patients with COVID-19 in Noorafshar Hospital from the earliest days of the out-break, until finally martyred on April 17, after enduring 5 days in the ICU of Masih Daneshvari Hospital.

Of course, martyrdom was not a new path for the family in which he grew up, and before

that, his brother, Mohammad Javad Fakhri, had been martyred in 1983 in Iran-Iraq war.

Dr. Marzieh Pourakbari, his wife, em-phasizing on his kindness and humanity and said that he always tried to provide services to those in need; he served at all times and in all circumstances and never thought about money and salary.

“He was only eager to serve the patient. It was the love of service to others that made us remember him today as a heavenly man. We lived together for about 24 years and I testify that he was not an ordinary man and sincerely sought to meet the needs of others,” she said about Dr. Fakhri.

Always at the frontlineDr. Habibollah Peiravi, vascular surgery

specialist and former chancellor of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, born on August 19, 1957, is one of the physicians who fought against the epidemic but lost his life on March 9.

A doctor who was not only a doctor, but according to his wife, dedicated his whole life

to untying the knots of his patients’ problems, and he was a friend for his patients that even gave up his life in serving the people.

Dr. Shirin Niromanesh, his wife, who is also serving patients in obstetrics and gynecology these days, says that the doctor had a very gentle spirit and wanted to choose the field of pediatric surgery as a specialty, but due to the Iran-Iraq war conditions, he chose the field of general surgery, because it seemed that he might have been more able to serve the wounded during the war.

The doctor was frequently present in the front line hospitals over a four-year period during the war, and he served the war-wound-ed around the clock, she added.

He visited many patients free of charge, and provided financial assistance to those patients in need; his main concern was to educate more knowledgeable students and thought that the more capable his students were, the better prepared they were to serve the people, and this was his reward, she said.

The rate at which humanity is consuming the Earth’s re-sources declined sharply this year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to researchers.

Consequently, Earth Overshoot Day, the point at which human consumption exceeds the amount nature can regenerate in a year, has moved back by over three weeks from 29 July in 2019 to 22 August this year.

According to research conducted by Global Footprint Network, an international research organisation, coro-navirus-induced lockdowns led to a 9.3% reduction in humanity’s ecological footprint compared with the same period last year. However, in order to keep consuming ecological resources at our current rate we would still need the equivalent of 1.6 Earths.

“Earth Overshoot Day is a way to illustrate the scale

of the biological challenge we face,” said Mathis Wacker-nagel, president of Global Footprint Network. Although Wackernagel said this year’s data was encouraging, he called for further progress to be made “by design not by disaster”.

The three week shift between the dates of Earth Over-shoot Day in 2019 and 2020 represents the greatest ever single-year shift since global overshoot began in the 1970s. Since then, rising populations and increasing levels of per capita consumption have seen Earth Overshoot Day move earlier into the year, with the date arriving in July for the first time in 2019.

“It’s a Ponzi scheme, we’re using up the future to pay for the present,” said Wackernagel. “Most countries have pretty strict laws about businesses running Ponzi schemes

but somehow in the ecological domain we think it’s okay. We’ve only got one planet and that’s not going to change. We’ve got a very simple choice, one-planet prosperity or one-planet misery.”

Previous economic crises have seen the date pushed back temporarily, such as the 2007-08 financial crisis which saw the date retreat five days further into the year.

David Lin, who leads the research team behind Earth Overshoot Day, explained: “This year it was particularly tricky because we wanted to give an indication of how Covid-19 affected 2020 results”.

Lin’s research found that there was a major drop in CO2 emissions (down 14.5% compared with the same period in the previous year), and in commercial forestry (down 8.4% on 2019).

TEHRAN — The participation of Iranian women in research and development is

higher than the global average, Masoumeh Ebtekar, the vice president for women’s and family affairs has said, quoting the UNESCO 2020 report on Women in Science.

“Our women’s participation in research and development has increased from 27.7 percent in 2019 to 31.2 percent this year, which is above the global average of 30 percent,” she wrote on her Twitter account on Thursday.

“The increase in the share of women in research and

development is mostly due to their increasing share in knowledge-based companies,” she highlighted.

Overall, women account for a minority of the world’s researchers. Despite the growing demand for cross-na-tionally-comparable statistics on women in science, national data and their use in policymaking often re-main limited. The UNESCO report presents global and regional profiles, pinpointing where women thrive in this sector and where they are under-represented, the UNESCO report reads.

Relief Foundation plans to support female-headed households with home-based jobs

Climate change: ‘Unprecedented’ ice loss as Greenland breaks recordScientists say the loss of ice in Greenland lurched forward again last year, breaking the previous record by 15%.

A new analysis says that the scale of the melt was “unprece-dented” in records dating back to 1948, BBC reported.

High pressure systems that became blocked over Greenland last Summer were the immediate cause of the huge losses.

But the authors say ongoing emissions of carbon are pushing Greenland into an era of more extreme melting.

Over the past 30 years, Greenland’s contribution to global sea levels has grown significantly as ice losses have increased.

A major international report on Greenland released last De-cember concluded that it was losing ice seven times faster than it was during the 1990s.

Today’s new study shows that trend is continuing.Using data from the Grace and Grace-FO satellites, as well

as climate models, the authors conclude that across the full year Greenland lost 532 gigatonnes of ice - a significant increase on 2012.

The researchers say the loss is the equivalent of adding 1.5mm to global mean sea levels, approximately 40% of the average rise in one year.

According to a calculation by Danish climate scientist Martin Stendel, the 2019 losses would be enough to cover the entire UK with around 2.5 metres of melt water.

Both last year and 2012 were marked by “blocking” events, the researchers say, where disturbances in the jet stream saw high pressure systems become stuck over Greenland, resulting in enhanced melting.

“We seem to have entered a realm of more and more extreme melt in Greenland,” said lead author Dr Ingo Sasgen, from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany.

“It’s expected that something like the 2019 or 2012 years will be repeated. And we don’t exactly know how the ice behaves in terms of feedback mechanisms in this vigorous range of melting.”

“There could be... hidden feedbacks that we are not aware about or that are maybe not perfectly described in the models right now. That could lead to some surprises.”

While 2019 broke the record, both 2018 and 2017 saw decreased ice losses, lower than any other two-year period since 2003.

The authors say this was due to two very cold summers in Greenland followed by heavy snows in autumn.

However the return to high levels of melting in 2019 is a major concern. Five of the years with the biggest mass loss have now occurred in the past decade.

“What really matters is the trend,” said Dr Ruth Mottram, from the Danish Meteorological Institute in Copenhagen, who wasn’t involved with this new study.

“And that trend as shown through the Imbie (Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise) project and other work is tracking the high end of projections.”

TEHRAN — Imam Khomeini Relief Foun-

dation plans to extend home-based em-ployment programs in a bid to support fe-male-headed households.

Fifty-five percent of the families support-ed by the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation are women heads of households, Seyed Morteza Bakhtiari, head of the Founda-tion said on Thursday.

In this regard, the home-based employ-ment program in the form of small workshops is pursued as an essential element for the empowerment of these women, he stated.

He went on to note that creating jobs and empowering the financially-struggling fam-ilies is the Foundation’s top priority so that 200,000 job opportunities will be created for supported families this year.

Last year, the Relied Foundation launched

about 33 percent of the country’s employment, he further added.

This year, 65 percent of employment op-portunities will be opened up in rural areas to support economic resilience, he highlighted.

A total of 62 trillion rials (nearly $1.4 bil-lion at the official rate of 42,000 rials) have been allocated from banking resources, rural employment, and others in this regard, he said and expressed hope that the fund to be fully allocated.

Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation works to provide employment in deprived areas and empowers financially struggling families, other services such as building or buying housing, cultural services, medical services, and other facilities are provided, for example, in the field of treatment, more than 80,000 patients of incurable diseases are currently under the Foundation’s coverage.

Human consumption of the Earth’s resources declined in 2020

National Doctor’s Day: a salute to our healthcare warriors

Iranian women’s participation in research, development above global average

S O C I E T Y

LET’S LEARN PERSIAN(Part 6) (Source: saadifoundation.ir)

ENGLISH IN USE

20,000 residential units to beconstructed for the deprivedThe Welfare Organization and the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to construct 20,000 housing units for the financially struggling families, Mehr reported.Alireza Tabesh, the Foundation’s head, and Vahid Qobadi Dana, the Organization’s head, inked the MOU during a meeting held in Tehran on Monday.As per the agreement, 20,000 housing units will be provided to breadwinners with disabilities, breadwinner women, and the ex-addicts under the Organization’s coverage residing in villages with a population of less than 25,000, Qobadi Dana explained.

احداث ۲۰ هزار واحد مسکونی برای محرومانــداث ــرای اح ــترک ب ــه مش ــم نام ــر تفاه ــزاری مه ــزارش خبرگ ــه گ بــرای محرومــان بیــن بنیــاد مســکن انقــاب ۲۰ هــزار واحــد مســکونی ب

اســامی و ســازمان بهزیســتی کشــور منعقــد شــد.بــا روســتایی مســکونی واحــد هــزار ۲۰ احــداث نامــه تفاهــم ــامی و ــاب اس ــکن انق ــاد مس ــس بنی ــش رئی ــا تاب ــور علیرض حضــنبه ــورروز دوش ــتی کش ــازمان بهزیس ــس س ــا رئی ن ــادی دا ــد قب وحی

ــید. ــا رس ــه امض بــزار ۲۰ ه ــه منظــور ســاخت ــه ب ــم نام ــن تفاه ــت: ای ــا گف ن ــادی دا قبــت ــان سرپرس ــوار، زن ــت خان ــن سرپرس ــرای معلولی ــکونی ب ــد مس واحو روســتاها در کــه اعتیــاد بــای از بهبودیافتــگان و خانــوار، تحــت و نفــر ســاکن ۲۵ هــزار از بــا جمعیــت کمتــر شــهرهایی

می شــود. منعقــد هســتند؛ بهزیســتی پوشــش

LEARN NEWS TRANSLATION

S O C I E T Yd e s k

S O C I E T Yd e s k

Shifting between angry and sedate, Joe Biden made his big convention speech appealing to American unity with divisive rhetoric, making vague feel-good promises, and reusing a very specific rhetorical trick from four years ago.

Democrats, Biden argued in the final speech of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, were the uni-fying “light” of America to the divisive “darkness” of President Donald Trump. He underscored that point by never actually referring to the “occupant of the White House” by name, as if he were a fantasy villain, RT reported.

It wasn’t quite plagiarism, but the “dark” stuff was definitely recycled – Biden’s against climate change, after all – from 2016, when Democrats used it to de-scribe Trump following the Republican convention that nominated him. Cartoonist Scott Adams noticed the “linguistic kill shot” at the time and pointed it out on his blog, and later in his best-selling book about the art of persuasion.

Yet whoever wrote the speech was not a genius, as evidenced by lines such as “This is not a partisan moment,” literally delivered at a party convention.

Barack Obama’s former vice president – and don’t

you forget it! – definitely seemed in better form on Thursday evening than during much of the summer, which he spent in the basement of his Delaware home, often struggling to string together coherent sentences.

“We choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege,” Biden said, finally delivering the line he famously flubbed a year ago. Yet in attempting to paint a contrast between “hope and light and love” his party supposedly offered and Trump’s “darkness… anger… fear… division,” he actually invoked three massive fictions, which he pretended were facts.

First of all, he argued Trump somehow “failed to protect America” from the coronavirus. The five million infected and 170,000 dead, the economic consequences of lockdowns that Democrats have championed – all Trump’s personal fault, he insisted, while offering nothing different except a national mask mandate.

“No miracle is coming!” he told America, even as he promised magical instant tests and “science.”

The second fiction was ‘Russiagate’. A President Biden, he said, would “not turn a blind eye to Russian bounties on the heads of American soldiers” or “put up with foreign interference in our most sacred dem-ocratic exercise.” These were direct references to a debunked New York Times story – the bounties were groundless speculation – and Hillary Clinton’s excuse for losing in 2016, which Democrats clearly remain obsessed with to this day.

The third, and biggest one of all, was the repeated-ly debunked libel that Trump had called Neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville in 2017 “very fine peo-ple.” Biden cited it as his reason to run for president, clearly believes it happened, and his allies in the me-dia have pretended it happened – but none of that makes it so.

American ‘darkness’: Biden recycles Clinton’s 2016 language in final DNC speech

10I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

I N T E R N A T I O N A L AUGUST 22, 2020

Iraqi resistance groups threaten to tar-get the American interests in the Arab country if Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kha-dhimi’s ongoing visit to Washington fails to produce an agreement on U.S. forces’ withdrawal from the Iraqi soil.

The statement was released on Thurs-day -- concurrent with the premier’s meetings with American officials at the White House -- by the resistance groups that form part of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror force, Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network reported.

The PMU, which includes such re-sistance groups as the Kata’ib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, has been integrated into the Iraqi Defense Forces as a result of its successful and indispensable contribution to the coun-try’s defeating the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in late 2017.

The groups considered expulsion of the troops to be Baghdad’s top priority,

urging the PM to accord primacy to a law approved by the parliament that mandates the forces’ withdrawal.

The legislature passed the law in Jan-

uary shortly after a U.S. drone strike as-sassinated Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps

(IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the PMU’s second-in-command, in Baghdad alongside many others. The attack came while General Solemani was paying an official visit to the Iraqi capital.

“If an agreement on the expulsion of U.S. forces from Iraq is not concluded in Washington, we reserve the right to target America’s interests in Iraq,” the statement warned.

“We do not expect Kadhimi to return to his own country from Washington with new expansionist plots and sce-narios devised by the United States,” the statement read.

According to Press TV, the groups also weighed in on a recent agreement that ena-bled full normalization of relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

It condemned the development and cautioned, “We confront treacherous rulers and regimes that are considered to be cheap tools for prolonging the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.”

Iraqi resistance groups threaten to target U.S. interests in case of no deal on troops pullout

Israel principal threat to security in Middle East: NasrallahThe secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has called Israel the greatest threat to peace and security in the Middle East region, warning against mischie-vous plots being hatched by the Tel Aviv regime.

“The principal threat nowadays in our region is the ex-istence of the occupying Zionist regime,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech broadcast live on the local Arabic-language al-Manar television network from the Lebanese capital Beirut late on Thursday.

“If one wants to confront the Israeli enemy, they must know the history of Palestine. We must know who these invaders are, where they came from, and what their goals, strengths and weaknesses are,” he added.

The Hezbollah chief further noted that the United States was established through mass murder of Native Americans, dismissing reliance on the U.S. administration to reclaim rights from the Israeli regime as “pointless” because they both have the same terrorist nature.

“Today, the United States represents the toughest chal-lenge to world nations and the greatest threat to interna-tional peace and security. The U.S. is a racist and savage state, which has been established on unjust foundations and racial discrimination. It hides behind fake news as well as fraudulent and misleading policies,” Nasrallah highlighted.

Arab regimes supporting Israel complicit in crimes against Palestinians: HouthiThe leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement has roundly denounced attempts by a number of Arab states to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, saying such countries are complicit in the Tel Aviv regime’s crimes against the Palestinian nation.

“The Arab regimes supporting the Zionist regime are indeed partners in crimes against Palestinians,” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech broadcast live from the capital, Sana’a, on Thursday evening.

He also censured efforts by certain Arab states to portray a good image of the Tel Aviv regime, emphasizing that such countries are actually turning a blind eye to facts, and telling lies in a bid to justify their normalization of ties with Israel.

“The Zionist regime was created through stealing Pales-tinian land and killing innocent people. Israel is the worst enemy of the Muslim world, and has been sinister, destruc-tive and illegal ever since its creation,” Houthi pointed out.

The Ansarullah chief then condemned a deal that will lead to full normalization of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

He said that the United States and the Tel Aviv regime only think of exploiting Arab regimes in the Persian Gulf region.

“Persian Gulf Arab regimes do not seek peace for Mus-lims, but rather try to sow the seeds of discord and division among Muslim nations,” he noted.

Under the agreement between Israel and the UAE, the Tel Aviv regime has allegedly agreed to “temporarily” suspend applying its own rule to further areas in the occupied West Bank and the strategic Jordan Valley that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged to annex.

According to Press TV, Israeli leaders, however, lined up last week to call UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s bluff that Israel’s annexation plans were off the table after the deal.

“There is no change to my plan to extend sovereignty, our sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, in full coordination with the United States,” Netanyahu said in Jerusalem al-Quds, using the biblical name for the occupied West Bank.

Mahathir: UAE-Israel deal to divide Muslims into “warring factions”

TEHRAN— Malaysia’s former premier Mahathir Mohamed has strongly denounced

the normalization deal reached by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, describing it as “a step backwards for peace” and a step that will stir up conflicts in the Muslim world.

In recent press remarks, Mahathir, a long-time defender of the Palestinians, said the UAE’s agreement with Israel would “divide the Muslim world into warring factions and in this, the Israelis would add fuel to the fire.”

“They will increase the ability of the contestants to fight each other and there will be no peace even between Muslim countries,” the -95year-old Malaysian leader said.

“It bolsters the stand taken by Israel that Palestine belongs to Israel. Of course there will be a reaction from the Palestinians and those who are sympathetic towards the Palestinians. This will mean prolonging the war in the West Asia,” he added.

Hamas: Any hand harming Aqsa Mosque will be cut off

TEHRAN — The Hamas Movement has warned that any aggressive act against the

Aqsa Mosque “will be met with fierce resistance from the Palestinian people who will not allow the fire to reach it again,” describing the Mosque as “a red line.”

“The hand that tries to extend to it (the Aqsa Mosque) will be cut off,” Hamas said in a statement on the 51st an-niversary of the arson attack on the Aqsa Mosque.

The Movement pointed out that Israel’s systematic ban-ishment of Muslim worshipers from the Aqsa Mosque and the detention of Sheikh Ra’ed Salah are attempts to take over the holy site, stressing the need for the Palestinians to close ranks to confront the occupation and its malicious plans.

Hamas also expressed its categorical rejection of any step to normalize Arab ties with the Israeli occupation state, calling such practice as “a stab in the heart of the Palestin-ian cause” and “a betrayal of the Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem and Palestine.”

INTERNATIONALd e s k

INTERNATIONALd e s k

Resistance News

Trump redoubles vow to withdraw troops from Iraq

Tribes vow to fight U.S.-backed militants in northeastern SyriaA number of Arab clans, tribes and na-tional elites have voiced their support for popular resistance forces against U.S. troops and their allies, accusing the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and other militant groups of stealing the country’s resources.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the elders and notable members of various tribes in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo pledged after a meeting to take action against the “American occupiers” and the U.S.-backed mercenaries and Turkish-backed militants, and to liberate Syrian territories.

The participants stressed their resolve to extend moral and material assistance to the popular resistance until the full ex-pulsion of foreign-backed militants and liberation of the Syrian soil.

They also hailed consecutive victories achieved by the Syrian government forces in Aleppo, Idlb and other areas over the past few months “under the courageous leadership” of President Bashar al-Assad.

Security conditions are reportedly dete-riorating in the areas controlled by the SDF in Hasakah and Dayr al-Zawr provinces amid ongoing raids and kidnapping of civilians by the U.S.-sponsored militants.

According to Press TV, locals argue

that the SDF’s constant raids and arrest campaigns have generated a state of frus-tration and instability, severely affecting their businesses and livelihoods.

Residents accuse the U.S.-backed mil-itants of stealing crude oil and failing to spend money on service sectors.

Local councils affiliated with the SDF have also been accused of financial corrup-tion. They are said to be embezzling funds provided by donors, neglecting services and not meeting the people’s basic needs.

In recent months, the U.S. has dis-patched fresh military convoys to Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah. The presence of U.S. forces in northern and eastern Syria has particularly irked civilians, and local residents have on several occa-sions stopped American military convoys trying to enter the regions.

U.S. President Donald Trump has once again promised Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to withdraw the few U.S. troops who are still in Iraq.

In his first meeting with the Iraqi pre-mier which took place at the White House on Thursday, Trump said that although he was looking forward to the day when all U.S. troops could leave Iraq, American businesses were already making “very big oil deals” there.

“We’ll be leaving shortly,” he told re-porters. “We have very few soldiers in Iraq ... but we’re there to help. And the prime minister knows that.”

He, however, did not elaborate on the exact time U.S. troops would exit the country.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also told reporters Wash-ington was working with Baghdad to bring the number of U.S. troops in Iraq “down to the lowest level as quickly as we can.”

The United States has had nearly 5,000 troops in the Arab country, and coalition allies another 2,500.

In June, the U.S. and Iraq affirmed their commitment to the reduction of American troops in Iraq in coming months, with Washington declaring no plan to maintain permanent bases or

a permanent military presence in the country.

Iraqi lawmakers unanimously ap-proved a bill on January 5, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country following the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s PMU, and their companions in a U.S. airstrike authorized by Trump near Baghdad International Airport two days earlier.

Later on January 9, former Iraqi prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, called on the United States to dispatch a delegation to Baghdad tasked with formulating a mechanism for the move.

Libya’s UN-supported government Friday announced a cease-fire across the country and called for demilita-rizing the contested strategic city of Sirte, which is controlled by rival forces.

In a separate statement, Aguila Saleh, speaker of the rival east-based House of Representatives, also called for a cease-fire, AP reported.

Both administrations called for an end to an oil blockade imposed by rival forces since earlier this year.

The Tripoli-based government also called for parliamentary and presi-dential elections to be held in March.

Libya was plunged into chaos when a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country has since split between rival east- and west-based administrations, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

Eastern forces of military com-

mander Khalifa Hifter launched an offensive in April 2019 trying to capture the capital Tripoli. But his campaign collapsed in June when the Tripoli-al-lied militias, with Turkish support, gained the upper hand, driving his forces from the outskirts of Tripoli and other western towns.

The UN Support Mission in Libya welcomed both statements, and called for the expulsion of all foreign forces and mercenaries in Libya.

1 Yet just one day prior, the mayor issued a harsh state-ment slamming protests that had “devolved into criminal conduct,” saying some activists showed up “armed for all-out battle” with police, though she has continued to encour-age “peaceful” demonstrations since.

The order banning protests on Lightfoot’s block makes no distinction between peaceful and violent protest, however,

saying the neighborhood “should be locked down” and that officers should immediately call for back-up at the first sign of a gathering. But despite a constant police presence around the mayor’s home, no arrests have been made on her block since the order was issued earlier this summer, with only two “public peace” violations reported there since July 21, according to city statistics cited by the Tribune.

Libya’s government announces cease-fire, calls for elections

‘No apologies whatsoever!’ Chicago mayor defends ban on protests in HER neighborhood

S P O R T S 11I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

S P O R T Sd e s k

S P O R T Sd e s k

S P O R T Sd e s k

S P O R T Sd e s k

S P O R T Sd e s k

S P O R T Sd e s k

AUGUST 22, 2020

The AFC Asian Cup has always captivated audiences with its moments of sheer genius, brilliant celebrations and - above all - stunning goals.

Legends and national heroes have made their impact on the Continental stage, and we close off the AFC Asian Cup Bracket Challenge Round of 32 with four iconic goals from Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ali Daei, Sun Ke of China PR, Saudi Arabia’s Saeed Al Owairan and Kim Jung-woo of Korea Republic.

Ali Daei (IRN) vs Sun Ke (CHN)Ali Daei (IRN)1996 AFC Asian CupKorea Republic v Islamic Republic of Iran (16.12.1996)With the quarter-final against Korea Republic tied

at 2-2, Islamic Republic of Iran legend Ali Daei turned the game on its head when he went on to hit four goals in the second half for a 6-2 victory, with his second one of the greatest goals in the history of the AFC Asian Cup, as he perfectly controlled a 30-yard cross with the inside of his right boot, before shifting his body to hammer

a half-volley into the top right-hand corner from just outside the box.

Sun Ke (CHN)2015 AFC Asian CupChina PR v Uzbekistan (14.01.2015)Supersub Sun Ke netted with a stunning curler

against Uzbekistan to secure China PR a quarter-final

berth for the first time since 2004 with the midfielder sending his effort past the outstretched arms of cus-todian Ignatiy Nesterov.

Saeed Al Owairan (KSA) vs Kim Jung-woo (KOR)Saeed Al Owairan (KSA)1992 AFC Asian CupSaudi Arabia v Thailand (02.12.1992)Defending champions Saudi Arabia got off to a great

start against Thailand with Saeed Al Owairan netting a fabulous free-kick in the fourth minute, with the forward striking a left-footed shot past Thailand goalkeeper Kump-anat Oungsoongnem into the top right corner of the net.

Kim Jung-woo (KOR)2007 AFC Asian CupIndonesia v Korea Republic (18.07.2007)Kim Jung-woo’s long-range effort against Indonesia

ensured Korea Republic a spot in the quarter-finals with the defensive midfielder striking home an unstoppable drive from outside the penalty box.

(Source: the-afc)

TEHRAN – Seyed Mohammad Mousa-

vi, who is a member of Iran volleyball golden generation, has turned 33 today.

He has surprised the world in the recent years and is considered as one of the top four middle blockers at the world.

Mousavi, undoubtedly, has played a key role in Iran’s success over the past years due to his eye-catching skills.

Mousavi started volleyball 16 years ago when he was 17 and has won more than 10 continental gold medals since then.

The 2-meter player has won Asian Championships on three occasions. He has also claimed two gold medals in Asian Games and Asian Cup each.

As a club player, Mousavi has won several gold medals with Paykan, Kalleh, Matin and Sarmayeh Bank at the AVC Asian Club Championship.

He helped the Persians qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games for the first time, where Iran finished in fifth place. Now, he can play a vital role in the Tokyo Games since the Iranians are ready to win a medal for the first time ever.

Mousavi played for Polish team AZS Olsztyn last season and was named as the best defender of the PlusLiga season.

He has returned to Iran for the up-

coming season. Saipa hope to win the Iran Super

League title with Mousavi. Mousavi was invited to national team

in 2008. He was named Best Block-er at the 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament, where Iran ended up on sixth place and missed qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He was named twice the Best Blocker in Asian Championship.

He made a brilliant performance in 2013 World League and was named Best Middle Blocker in 2015 World Cup.

TEHRAN — Iran inter-national midfielder Saeid

Ezatolahi officially joined Danish football club Vejle Boldklub for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old defensive midfielder, who played for Belgian team Eupen on loan last season, has penned a three-year contract with Vejle Boldklub.

Ezatolahi penned a five-year contract

with Rostov in 2015 and was loaned to Russian teams Anzhi Makhachkala and Amikar Perm.

He also was a member of English football team Reading but failed to make an impact.

Ezatollahi represented Iran in 2018 FIFA World Cup.

“Vejle Boldklub have shown great interest, and I want to play for a club that believe in

my qualities and see me as an important piece of the team,” he said. “I want to show that to my teammates and the club’s fans.

“At the same time, I know that the club have a strong development environment and a coach who wants technical football. So, I look forward to showing my worth in the red jersey and earning the respect that good performances command.”

TEHRAN — Sepahan football team could have finished second in Iran Professional

League (IPL) but they ended the league in fifth place.Sepahan were held to a 1-1 draw by Paykan and failed to

qualify for the AFC Champions League next year.Sepahan, as one of the most decorated football teams in

the Persian Gulf League, need changes right now.Long-serving coach Amir Ghalenoei, who stepped down

as head coach of Sepahan two weeks ago, played a vital role in the club’s disappointing results and now the Yellows are not among IPL top four after many years.

IPL champions Persepolis defeated Saipa 3-0 in Teh-ran and Esteghlal finished in second place after defeating already-relegated Shahin 4-1 in Bushehr.

Foolad, headed by ex-Iran captain Javad Nekounam, made a big splash, booking a place in the ACL play-off round for the next season after beating Tractor 1-0 in Ahvaz.

Tractor will get direct entry into the ACL if they win Hazfi Cup. It will be disappointing for them if Naft Mas-jed Soleyman win the title and if it will happen, Naft replace Tractor as one of Iranian teams in the continental competition.

If Persepolis or Esteghlal win the title, Tractor will qualify for the ACL play-off as the IPL fourth team.

In Mashhad, Shahr Khodro and Nassaji shared the spoils in a goalless draw. Machine Sazi escaped relegation from IPL with a 1-0 win over Sanat Naft in Tabriz.

Zob Ahan also suffered a 3-2 home loss against Gol Gohar.

TEHRAN — Pars Jonoubi football team were relegated from the Iran Professional

League (IPL) on Thursday.Pars Jonoubi had to defeat Naft Masjed Soleyman to

escape from relegation but lost 1-0 and were relegated from the IPL and will play in the Azadegan League next season.

Omid Singh scored a late goal for the hosts.Last week, Shahin Bushehr had become the first team

to relegate from the competitions.

Both teams are from Bushehr Province.Persepolis claimed the title for the fourth time in a row

and Esteghlal became runners-up.Football Club Pars Jonoubi Jam, commonly known as

Pars Jonoubi Jam, are an Iranian football club based in Jam, Bushehr. They were promoted to the Persian Gulf Pro League in 2016–17 season.

The club are owned and supported by the PSEEZ (Pars Special Energy Economic Zone).

Bracket Challenge - Ro32: Ali Daei (IRN) vs Sun Ke (CHN) || Saeed Al Owairan (KSA) vs Kim Jung-woo (KOR)

Mohammad Mousavi turns 33 today

Saeid Ezatolahi joins Vejle Boldklub

Sepahan fail to qualify for ACL, Foolad do it

Pars Jonoubi relegated from Iran Professional League

Cheick Diabate wins IPL Golden Boot

TEHRAN — Esteghlal football team striker Cheick Diabate clinched Iran Professional

League (IPL) Golden Boot.

Diabate scored two goals in Esteghlal’s 4-1 win over relegated Shahin in Bushehr and was crowned the top scorer.

The Malian player joined Esteghlal last season on a two-year contract.

Paykan forward Shahriar Moghanlou and Persepolis striker Ali Pour came second and third with 13 and 12 goals.

Fenerbahce open door to Sayyadmanesh

Iranian football player Allahyar Sayyadmanesh is deemed surplus to requirements at Turkish football team Fenerbahce.

Newly-appointed coach Erol Bulut has wanted the club to part company with Sayyadmanesh.

Zanka and Frey are two other players Bulut is not going to work with them.

Sayyadmanesh joined Fenerbahce last year from Esteghlal on a five-year deal but failed to meet expectations.

The -19year-old forward was a member of Iran football team who qualified for the 2017 FIFA U17- World Cup quarter-final in India.

He made his Iran national football team debut on June ,6 2019 against Syria and scored a goal.

(Source: Ensonhaber)

Hazfi Cup final date announced

Tasnim — The Iran’s Hazfi Cup final will be played on September 3 behind closed doors.

Persepolis will meet its archrivals Esteghlal on August 26 in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium in the competition’s semifinal.

Tractor will also host Naft Masjed Soleyman in Tabriz in the same day.

Iran’s Football League Organization announced that the final match will be held on September 3.

Esteghlal are the most decorated team in Hazfi Cup compe-tition, winning the titles seven times.

Iranian students win six medals at intl. poomsae event

MNA — Iranian students won six medals at the first virtual tournament of ISF World School Taekwondo Poomsae Cham-pionship, which was held in Nepal.

The event was hosted by Nepal School Sports Federation under the banner of the International School Sports Federation.

About 292 boys and 268 girls from across the world partic-ipated in this mega event which was judged by international referees of Taekwondo.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was held online in two age groups of 12 to 14 and 15 to 17 years by the World Student Federation.

The Iranian students were asked to record a video of their poomsae performance and send it to the provincial authorities.

After evaluation of all videos, performances of 82 students were selected by the technical committee of Iran’s Taekwon-do Federation and were submitted to Nepal to be judged by international judges.

In the age category of 12-14 years, Sanaz Taghipour from Tehran was ranked second. Narges Bolqand and Amir Hossein Esmaeili both from Isfahan finished third in girls and boy’s groups, respectively.

In the age category of 15-17 years, Zeinab Toghyani and ahtab Taji Rostammabadi both from Isfahan finished second and third, respectively.

In the boy’s category, Mohammad Amin Gomarian stood at the second place.

Three of the referees at the event were from Iran.

Iran to build beach volleyball camp in AzerbaijanVolley.ir — Iran volleyball federation will construct a beach volleyball camp in Aras Free Zone, located in the northwest of Iran.

The project included the construction of the 7,000 square-me-ter camp.

The delegation, including Tofigh Kaboli, head of Beach Vol-leyball Committee, Nader Ansari, international referee, and Fa-rajollah Farajollahi, head of East Azarbaijan Committee, showed up in Aras for this purpose after the Aras Free Zone’s officials announced their readiness to build the camp.

Chief Executive of Aras Free Zone Organization Mohsen Nariman talked about the project with Kaboli.

The construction of the camp will start as soon as possible, they reached an agreement.

Iran has improved in beach volleyball during the past years and hosted many international events including 2019-2020 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in Bandar Torkaman and Qeshm.

TEHRAN — The execu-tive board of Iran Football

League Organization on Wednesday an-nounced that no Iranian team are permitted to sign a foreign coach and player for the next Iran Professional League (IPL) season, but it seems is not the best possible way.

Earlier, such a decision had been ratified only for two Tehran giants, Persepolis and Esteghlal, by the Iranian Ministry of Sport and Youth, the owner of the two clubs.

The reason was that both teams have had a lot of financial problems in recent years and could be banned from signing players for the next transfer windows by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee after failing to pay the salary of their former foreign coaches and players.

Now, however, all the IPL teams are re-quired to follow the order made by the Iran Football League Organization.

The decision to ban the signing of for-eign players and coaches is not taken to ensure a future for Iranian football, but, surprisingly, such a decision was made only to prevent further complaints against

the Iranian football teams!The FIFA Players’ Status verdict, which

obliged the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) to pay more than six million euros to Marc Wilmots, the for-mer national team coach, along with many complaints against the Iranian clubs by the

overseas players and coaches, have brought the Iranian football authorities to the conclu-sion that a ban on foreign players and staff might be necessary at the current situation.

However, such a decision can decrease the excitement of the IPL matches and jeopardize the development of the Iranian teams due to

closing doors to the good foreign coaches.In Iran, a strong football coaching struc-

ture is missing. What we have now is certainly not good enough to produce top players and high-level teams.

In recent years a few foreign coaches, such as Branko Ivankovic, Carlos Queiroz, and Andrea Stramaccioni have had a great impact on the Iranian teams both in the club and national team level.

We need to bring in such foreign coaches who are able to prepare our teams at the highest level, keep them in the country for a certain number of years, and benefit from their knowledge.

On the other hand, the ban on signing foreign players causes an unreasonable in-crease in the price of domestic players and it will put more financial pressure on the Iranian clubs in the long run.

The best way to prevent financial com-plaints against the Iranian teams by foreigners is to develop a legal and codified framework for how to conclude contracts with them, rather than banning the clubs from signing overseas staff.

Maybe not the best way to prevent Iranian clubs from signing foreigners

No. 18, Bimeh Alley, Nejatollahi St., Tehran, IranP.o. Box: 14155-4843

Zip Code: 1599814713

Tehrantimes79 Tehrantimes79 Tehrantimes79

Prayer Times Noon:13:07 Evening: 20:04 Dawn: 5:00 (tomorrow) Sunrise: 6:30 (tomorrow) AUGUST 22, 2020

Managing Director: Mohammad Shojaeian Editor-in-Chief: Ali A.Jenabzadeh

www.tehrantimes.comI N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

A R T & C U L T U R E

Editorial Dept.: Fax: (+98 21) 88808214 — 88808895 editor@tehrantimes.com Switchboard Operator: Tel: (+98 21) 43051000 Advertisements Dept.: Telefax: (+98 21) 43051430 Public Relations Office: Tel: (+98 21) 88805807 Subscription & Distribution Dept.: Tel: (+98 21) 43051603 Webmaster: webmaster@tehrantimes.com Printed at: Jame Jam Bartar Borna - 44197737

Painting Farshid Maleki and Hamed

Sahihi are displaying their latest paintings in an exhibition at Tarrahan Azad Gallery.The exhibit runs until September 8 at the gallery that can be found at 5 Salmas Square, off Fatemi St.

A collection of paintings by Farbod Elkai is on view in an exhibition Dastan Basement Gallery.The exhibit named “It Is Possible to Stay Here for a While” will be running until August 28 at the gallery located at 6 Bidar St., off Fereshteh St.

Vista Gallery is playing host to an exhibition of paintings by Razieh Aarabi. The exhibit titled “Plastic Painting” will run until August 28 at the gallery located at No. 11, 12th Alley, Mir Emad St.

WHAT’S IN ART GALLERIES

GUIDE TO SPIRITUAL AWAKENING

The aim of my revolution is to reform the society and revive the true teachings of Islam.

Imam Hussein (AS)

A R Td e s k

C U L T U R Ed e s k

TEHRAN — World-renowned Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi has been selected

as president of a festival, which will put its spotlight on short films covering rituals Iranian families will practice in their homes to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS) this year.

The Mourning at Home Short Film Festival has been launched by the Rahe Iman Charity Organization this year to encourage people to stay at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic and organize the rituals for their family members.

Only one-minute-long films and movies under three minutes are allowed to participate in the festival and submissions should be sent to the organizers by the end of September 21.

Movies will be judged by a jury composed of Majidi and Iranian filmmakers Reza Mirkarimi and Narges Abyar.

The festival also intends to highlight top Islamic clerics’ calls for conducting the Muharram rituals at home due to the pandemic.

The Rahe Iman Charity Organization has been established with contributions from Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Sistani to raise living standards among people living in poverty in the remote border towns of southeastern Iran.

Shia Muslims commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions with rituals that begin every year from the first day of the lunar month of Muharram.

TEHRAN — Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi has said that

the coronavirus outbreak in Iran has caused an estimated loss of over 10,000 billion rials (about $45.5 million, based on the free-market rate) in the art and culture sectors by April 19, the end of the first month of the Iranian calendar year.

He made the remarks on the live TV program “Negah-e Yek” broadcasted on IRIB Channel 1 on Wednesday.

“For example, the Tehran International Book Fair had an estimated sale of 1200 to 1300 billion rials (about $5.5 to $6 million) last year. In the film industry, the sale was about 3 trillion rials (over $13.6 million),” He said.

However, the book fair was canceled this year, and the Iranian movie theaters have mostly been closed over the past six months due to the pandemic.

Salehi said, “We have also experienced a big loss in visual

arts, music and theater, that is, about 120 theater halls have been closed just in Tehran. The same has been true in other cities.”

He added that insurance for the members of the Art Credit Fund, which was 350 billion rials (about $1.6 million), has been paid, and, based on an enactment approved by the Coronavirus Combat and Prevention Headquarters, those interested applicants can register for a facility.

The culture minister further noted that a sum of 120 billion rials (about $5.5 million) will be paid to members of the Art Credit Fund as livelihood assistance, while 2000 billion rials (over $9 million) will also be paid as loans to the artists and owners of cultural venues.

Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance canceled all art, cultural and cinematic events across the country in February in an attempt to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The Association of Iranian Theater Owners asked President Hassan Rouhani to lift the coronavirus restriction on cinemas, calling for reopening of the theaters across the country based on the health protocols during the pandemic on May 20.

Later, the Cinema Organization of Iran announced that the movie theaters in the so-called “white areas” or regions with no coronavirus hospitalizations in the past two weeks would be allowed to reopen, while the protocols issued by the Coronavirus Control Operations Headquarters for the theaters must be observed.

The cinemagoers were asked to observe social distancing, while the employees were asked to wear face masks and plastic gloves.

In late June, all movie theaters resumed activities after a four-month-long closure, but were forced to close once again due to a sharp rise in the number of coronavirus infections and deaths.

Filmmaker Majid Majidi presides over festival of shorts on family rituals for Muharram

Iran culture sector suffers over $45m hit due to COVID-19: minister

1 “You know that tazieh invites the audience to come and sit next to one another. We cannot separate them. Tazieh is a performance from heart to heart,” he said.

“The truth is that nothing is clear yet. We have talked and have been invited for the performances before, but now in these hard days, we do not know what will happen. We will have to wait and see,” he noted.

“Tazieh must be performed in a place like tekyeh or hosseinieh [places for seasonal religious rituals]. It needs viewers. We are not hopeless and we hope there will be something good happening,” he remarked.

He said that he doesn’t like to be far from the audience, that is, if he cannot see the audience, he would not get the right feelings.

He added that tazieh troupes usually go on stage based on invitations from various organizations, and noted, “Given that there are no contracts and no agreements, there will be nothing.”

“The performers want their money after each performance. If I invite them, I must first get the money in advance. If they would say do it without viewers, okay, we would do it,” he concluded.

However, the Rudaki Open-Air Theater announced that it will be hosting tazieh performances during the first

ten nights of Muharram.Rudaki Foundation Managing Director Mehdi Afzali

has invited tazieh expert Ahmad Azizi, the head of Sayyid al-Shuhada Tazieh Troupe, to give performances.

Azizi said that the troupe will begin their performances every night after the evening azan (call to prayer) for ten nights.

“A big stage has been set up in the area and rows of seats observing social distancing have also been situated, observing health protocols proposed by the Health Ministry, so that the mourners can make the best use of these days and nights,” Azizi said.

Pointing to the high position of ritual art and plays, especially tazieh, among the Iranian nation, Azizi said, “We know that we are experiencing a different situation this year due to the spread of coronavirus, but the love of the Muslim nation towards Imam Hussein (AS) cannot be disturbed without repercussions.”

“The management of the Rudaki Foundation in addition to Iran’s Dramatic Arts Center, has had good cooperation with the troupe, and we hope the audience will make the best use of the performances,” he concluded.

In addition, several cultural and religious centers across Tehran will be hosting over 50 tazieh performances

on Imam Hussein (AS) in a program titled “Mourning of the Sun”.

A number of the performances will also take place in the courtyards of Imamzadehs, the tombs of the Shia Imams’ descendants.

The courtyards of the cultural centers of Khatam, Eshraq, Razi and Bahman, as well as Imamzadeh Ali-Akbar (AS) in Chizar, Imamzadeh Ahl ibn Ali (AS) in Khavaran and Imam Hussein Square are among the main locations for the tazieh performances.

According to the director of the Khatam Cultural Center, Seyyed Ahmad Musavi, the performances will take place in open spaces observing health protocols.

The performances will begin on Friday and will continue until September 17.

Hojjatoleslam Meisam Amrudi, the director of the Art and Cultural Organization of the Tehran Municipality, had also announced earlier that the courtyards of its cultural centers will be dedicated to Muharram mourning ceremonies.

He added that the decision has been made to support the mourning groups across capital.

“About 60 cultural centers and culture houses with a capacity of over 20,000 individuals will be dedicated to the groups,” he said.

Online tazieh performance safe solution for pandemic: performer Ala’eddin Qasemi

A R Td e s k

Artist to bring Ashura tragedy to life in teahouse paintingTEHRAN — Artist M o h a m m a d r e z a

Mohammad-Hossein plans to recreate the tragedy of Ashura in a huge teahouse painting.

The painting titled “That My Peace of Soul Is Going” will be done before the people in the courtyard of Tehran’s Resaneh (Media) Cultural Center over two months.

The art project will commence at 7 pm on Saturday, the first day of the lunar month of Muharram, and will be completed on October 8, which is the last day of the month of Safar.

Shia Muslims commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions with rituals that begin every year from the first day of Muharram.

The rituals reach their climax on Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, the day upon which Imam Hussein (AS) and his companions were martyred in Karbala as a result of their valiant stand against the injustices of the oppressive Umayyad dynasty in 680 CE.

The artwork will be auctioned to raise funds for an offering, which will be presented

during Arbaeen next year.Arbaeen marks the end of the 40-day

mourning period following the martyrdom

of the Imam and his loyal companions on Ashura.

Mohammad-Hossein is one the pupils

of Abbas Bolukifar, a pioneer of the Iranian teahouse painting. He has portrayed stories about Ashura in over 20 huge teahouse paintings, which are on display at various religious centers across Tehran.

The teahouse has had various functions in different eras during its 400-year history in Iran. Teahouses used to be places where people gathered to spend their leisure time listening to a naqqal, an Iranian traditional storyteller, narrating stories from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. People talked and exchanged views, and along with lutis, wise and generous people, helped poor people.

Teahouse painters emerged in such an atmosphere. They listened to the discussions and tales, using them as subjects for the paintings they drew on the walls, tiles, stones and canvases. Sometimes, teahouse owners commissioned the painters to draw the stories.

With their own unique perspective not used in other styles, teahouse painters drew motifs entirely based on their imagination. The themes of such paintings are epics, traditions and religion.

A poster for the art project “That My Peace of Soul Is Going”.

A poster for the 1st edition of the Mourning at Home Short Film Festival.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi in an undated photo.