NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Sunday, October 1, 2023.
IRAN DAILY:
-- UAE repeated claims over Iranian isles in vain: MP
The UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy has recently renewed her country’s claim that Iran should end the “occupation” of the islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa.
Speaking at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, Hashimy said the United Arab Emirates will “continue to seek a resolution, either through direct negotiation or through the International Court of Justice. This has been our firm stance for decades.”
In an exclusive interview with Iran Daily, Iranian parliamentarian Yaqub Rezazadeh said the claims made by the UAE regarding Iranian islands will not lead anywhere and repeating such claims can only harm bilateral relations.
“The three islands — Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb — are an integral and permanent part of the Iranian territory, supported by historical documents,” said the member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the parliament.
The claim by the Emirati official, backed by the United States, drew a strong reaction from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which summoned Switzerland’s ambassador, who represents Washington’s interests in Tehran, to convey Iran’s strong protest.
In response to these baseless claims, it was emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to defend its territorial integrity and protect its security and interests against any threats from the US, particularly in the context of maritime security and commercial shipping.
Rezazadeh added that whenever American officials feel that Iran’s relations with regional and neighboring countries can be exploited to their advantage, they resort to such claims.
He also pointed out that in the case of the three islands, the right is undoubtedly on the Iranian side as historical documents demonstrate Iran’s ownership of these islands.
Iran’s sovereignty over the three islands dates back to ancient eras of the land, including the Medes, the Achaemenids, and the Sassanids eras. During these periods, Iranian rule and protection extended across the waters of the Persian Gulf and its islands, Rezazadeh said. So, Iran’s ownership of the three islands has historical and cultural evidence.
Etymologically speaking, the term “Tunb” — or more accurately “Tomb” — is a Persian word used in the local dialects of southern Iran to refer to a hill. The reason for this naming is that local sailors saw these islands as hill-like formations amid the waters.
The oldest historical text in which the name “Tunb” is mentioned is the book “Al-Fawaid fi Usul Ilm al-Bahr wa al-Qawa’id” by Aḥmad Ibn Mājid al-Najdī, who is the most renowned Muslim navigator of the 15th century.
Iraj Afshar, an Iranian linguist and historical geography expert, explained that the name of the Abu Musa island is derived from two other words: “Abu” and “Musa.” In ancient Persian, “Abu” — or “Abou” — means land, and “Musa” was the name of a historical person of Iranian descent who lived on this island before the Islamic era.
However, Rezazadeh noted that the UAE does not have any historical document of note that supports its claims in a legal dispute since these islands have always belonged to Iran.
Such disputes are usually incited by Israel and some regional countries to disrupt relations between the two neighbors, the MP said.
“If Emirati officials were to do their research and look into historical records, they would certainly not make such claims,” he added.
Rezazadeh concluded by emphasizing the positive and constructive relations between the two countries, which are economically and commercially beneficial to both sides.
He also highlighted the crucial role that the Persian Gulf plays as a global gateway for the largest export of oil and gas, where Iran’s cooperation with other countries benefits them.
-- Iran, Russia to expand cooperation in fishery sector
In a meeting with Ilya Shestakov, the head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery, the head of Iran’s Fisheries Organization (IFO), Hossein Hosseini, emphasized the expansion of fisheries cooperation.
The Russian official was invited to attend the International Exhibition of Fisheries, Aquaculture, Fishing, Seafood and Related Industries (IFEX) 2023, to be held in Tehran in the coming months, IRNA reported.
In case Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishery and Russian merchants and companies attend the Tehran exhibition, agreements signed in the fields of logistics, aquatic health and money transfer will be implemented, said Hosseini, who is a deputy minister of agriculture.
Hosseini also met the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Economy of the Republic of Guinea during his trip, in which the Guinean counterpart called for the expansion of fisheries cooperation and the use of Iran’s aquaculture potential.
-- Iran eyes reduction in costs by reducing work accidents: Minister
Iran has plans to register reduction in costs by decreasing work accidents, announced Iranian minister of cooperatives, labour and social welfare.
Speaking in the First National Conference of Occupational Safety and Health Vision in Tehran on Saturday, Solat Mortazavi said in order to protect the workforce, the government and state-run bodies should consider necessary measures to monitor the implementation of related laws and regulations.
“The main roles of the labor system’s social partners – the government, the workforce and the employers – are to protect the national capital which is in the form of human resources,” the minister said.
Mortazavi noted that greater productivity and efficiency of the workforce and workshops requires the employer community to provide the workplace with updated safety and health equipment.
“Workers should also try to improve safety with safe performances in the field of compliance with the principles of safety and health, along with updating their knowledge on safety issues,” the minister said.
The implementation of safety regulations will lead to a reduction in work accidents and a reduction in costs caused by fewer accidents, he concluded.
Meanwhile, speaking at the event, Ali-Hossein Raeiyati-fard, the deputy for labor relations of minister of cooperatives, labour and social welfare said, “Last year, with the cooperation of inspectors, technical committees and HSE officials, we managed to reduce work accidents in Iran by 14 percent.”
The official added that according to the labor law, the protection of the country’s workforce is the responsibility of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare.
-- Official: NIGC importing gas from Turkmenistan
The dispatching head of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) put the current gas volume imported from Turkmenistan into the country at 7.5 million cubic meters (mcm).
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Saeed Aqli stated that 93 percent of the fuel used in power plants in the country has been supplied by the National Iranian Gas Company for generating electricity, Tasnim news
agency reported.
Presently, repair and maintenance services of refineries are either underway or completed in order to forward the gas to the farthermost regions of the country in the cold season of the year, he further said.
The country is home to more than 39,000km of gas transmission network and 400,000km of electricity distribution grid, he added. In response to a question on importing gas from Turkmenistan, the manager said that Iran is importing gas from Turkmenistan and has so far imported 10 million cubic meters of gas from this country. He put the volume of gas imported from Turkmenistan to Iran at 7.5 million cubic meters.
Regarding the latest situation of gas swap deal with Turkmenistan, the official noted that gas swap will be made according to the request of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
-- Iran joins Electronic Communications Convention
Members of the Iranian Parliament have approved Iran’s membership in the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (the “Electronic Communications Convention”, or ECC).
Iran as a member of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) signed the Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts and joined the treaty as the 19th country after Russia, Azerbaijan, Singapore, and Bahrain, IRNA reported.
Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 23 November 2005, the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts aims to enhance legal certainty and commercial predictability where electronic communications are used in relation to international contracts.
It addresses the determination of a party’s location in an electronic environment; the time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic communications; the use of automated message systems for contract formation; and the criteria to be used for establishing functional equivalence between electronic communications and paper documents - including “original” paper documents - as well as between electronic authentication methods and hand-written signatures.
By establishing legal arrangements for Iran’s membership in the convention, a clear vision of the development of electronic documents between Iran and other member states would be created.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- 300 Academics Urge Biden to Uphold Palestinian Rights
More than 300 Palestinian, Arab, and international academics have signed an open letter addressed to the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, calling on Washington to uphold the fundamental rights of Palestinians.
They urged the Biden administration to respect the rights as outlined in the recent speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
-- Ghalibaf Says Invited to Egypt
Iran’s Parliament speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf says he is hopeful that Iran and Egypt will restore their diplomatic relations soon.
Ghalibaf noted that he recently met with his Egyptian counterpart at the assembly of the parliaments of the world emerging economies of BRICS members and held talks with him. Ghalibaf said he has been invited by his Egyptian counterpart to visit Cairo. He said ties between Tehran and Cairo can have huge economic, social and political impacts.
-- Thousands More Autoworkers Join Strike in U.S.
The United Auto Workers union expanded strikes against Detroit automakers, ordering 7,000 more workers to walk off the job in Illinois and Michigan to put more pressure on the companies to improve their offers.
It was the second time the union has widened the walkouts, which started two weeks ago at three assembly plants before the most recent addition of a Ford plant in Chicago and a General Motors factory near Lansing.
Union President Shawn Fain told workers in a video appearance that the strikes were escalated because Ford and GM refused “to make meaningful progress” in contract talks. Jeep maker Stellantis was spared from the third round of strikes.
Ford and GM shot back as a war of words with the union also intensified. Ford accused the UAW of holding up a deal mainly over union representation at electric vehicle battery plants, most of which are joint ventures with a Korean manufacturer.
“We still have time to reach an agreement and avert a real disaster,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said. The company said the work stoppages are starting to affect fragile companies that make parts for the factories on strike.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra blamed union leaders for the impasse.
“UAW leadership continues to expand the strike while upping the rhetoric and the theatrics. It’s clear that there is no real intent to get to an agreement,” Barra said in a statement.
The GM plant in Delta Township, near Lansing, makes large crossover SUVs such as the Chevrolet Traverse and Buick Enclave. A nearby metal parts stamping plant will remain open, Fain said.
The Chicago Ford plant makes the Ford Explorer and Explorer Police Interceptors, as well as the Lincoln Aviator SUV.
Fain said union bargainers are still talking to the companies, and he was hopeful they could reach deals.
Stellantis, he said, made significant progress Friday by agreeing to unspecified cost-of-living raises, the right not to cross a picket line and the right to strike over plant closures.
Raneal Edwards, a longtime GM employee who works at the Lansing-area factory, said she was “shocked but happy” to hear that her plant would join the strike.
“I feel like they don’t understand that this is about more than wages,” Edwards said. “It’s about having security at our jobs.”
Edwards said the UAW’s strategy of slowly adding more plants will work. “I love it because it keeps us on our toes. No one knows what’s next,” she said.
But in a note to workers Friday, Edwards’ boss, GM manufacturing chief Gerald Johnson, said the company has yet to receive a counteroffer from union leaders to a Sept. 21 economic proposal.
Automakers have long said they are willing to give raises, but they fear that a costly contract will make their vehicles more expensive than those built at nonunion U.S. plants run by foreign corporations.
Ford’s Farley accused the union of holding an agreement hostage over union representation of battery plant workers. On a conference call with industry analysts, he said high wages at battery plants would raise the price of Ford’s electric vehicles above those from Tesla and other competitors.
“Record contract? No problem. Mortgaging our future? That’s a big problem. We will never do it,” Farley said.
Ford’s battery plants, Farley said, have not been built. “They have not been organized by the UAW yet because the workers haven’t been hired and won’t be for many years to come,” he said.
Fain later accused Farley of lying and said the union gave Ford a counteroffer Monday but has not heard back. He stressed that there is no impasse, although they’re far apart on economic issues such as defined-benefit pensions for all workers and health insurance for retirees.
“We’ve had good discussions. There’s times we think we’re getting
somewhere, and then things just stop,” he said. Fain also said “job security in the EV transition” remains an issue.
The union insists that labor expenses are only 4% to 5% of the cost of a vehicle, and that the companies are making billions in profits and can afford big raises.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the expanded strikes show both sides are digging in for a potentially long battle.
Ives wrote in a note to investors that President Joe Biden’s administration is watching union demands collide with his push for cleaner electric vehicles. Biden, who has billed himself as the most union-friendly president in history, traveled Tuesday to the Detroit area to walk picket lines with workers at a GM parts warehouse.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump also traveled to the Detroit area this week for a rally at a nonunion parts maker.
Offers on the table from the companies will add $3,000 to $5,000 to the cost of an average electric vehicle that would be passed on to consumers, Ives wrote.
The electric vehicle battery plants are a huge issue for the union’s future. Some industry executives, including Farley, say building EVs will take up to 40% fewer workers because they have fewer parts. So the union is looking to organize battery plants and win top wages so displaced workers have somewhere to go, especially those making combustion engines.
Other industry officials, including GM CEO Mary Barra, say there will be enough jobs for all as the industry moves away from gasoline vehicles.
The automakers’ last known wage offers were around 20% over the life of a four-year contract, a little more than half of what the union has demanded. Other contract improvements, such as cost of living increases, restoration of defined-benefit pensions for newly hired workers and an end to wage tiers within the union are also on the table.
The union went on strike Sept. 15, initially targeting one assembly plant from each company. Then last week it added 38 parts-distribution centers run by GM and Stellantis. Ford was spared from that expansion because talks with the union were progressing then.
The union has structured its walkouts so the companies can keep making big pickup trucks and SUVs, their top-selling and most profitable vehicles. Previously it shut down assembly plants in Missouri, Ohio and Michigan that make midsize pickup, commercial vans and midsize SUVs, which aren’t as profitable as larger vehicles.
The new strikes against GM and Ford target crossover SUVs that are big money makers for both companies.
In the past, the union picked one company as a potential strike target and reached a contract agreement with that company to be the pattern for the others.
But this year, Fain introduced a novel strategy of targeting a limited number of facilities at all three automakers.
About 25,000, or about 17%, of the union’s 146,000 workers at the three automakers are now on strike.
-- Israel’s Economy Collapsing
Tens of thousands were set to rally across the occupied territories on Saturday night against the Zionist regime’s judicial overhaul for the 39th week after a week that saw the occupying entity’s religious-secular divide bitterly exposed by Yom Kippur clashes at a public prayer service in Tel Aviv.
Organizers said that this week’s protests would highlight the fractious and destructive nature of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rule.
“He is an expert in dividing and splitting people on sectarian lines, religious vs. secular, left against right — divide and conquer,” the organizers said in a statement ahead of the protests. “The economy is collapsing and all we get is provocations and the continued dismantling” of Israel, it added.
Organizers said that Saturday’s demonstrations would be held at approximately 150 locations across the occupied territories.
The protests come after a religious organization attempted to hold a public Yom Kippur prayer service in the heart of Tel Aviv with an improvised gender divider, sparking bitter confrontations between organizers and attendees and protesters, and unprecedented scenes of anger and accusations on the Jewish Day of Atonement earlier this week.
Over Yom Kippur on Sunday and Monday, heated arguments broke out around Rosh Yehudi’s religious services, with worshipers forced to decamp by angry protesters who say gender segregation — traditional in Orthodox Jewish prayers — is inappropriate in public spaces.
The city had said the event could go ahead but prohibited Rosh Yehudi from erecting a gender divider at the event. The organization appealed the prohibition with the supreme court, which rejected the petition, siding with the ruling of a lower court in favor of the Tel Aviv municipality.
This week’s events have been seen by many as an extension of the societal conflict unleashed by the Zionist regime’s judicial overhaul, which has spread to multiple areas of life and overlaps with sharply divergent visions of the occupying entity’s future and its character.
The protests came as the high court deliberated petitions against the reasonableness law, although it is not expected to rule for a number of weeks, if not months.
Earlier this month, an unprecedented panel of all 15 justices presided over a highly charged session in response to petitions against the law, enacted in July, which restricts judicial review of regime decisions using the rubric of reasonableness.
The law is the only component of the coalition’s broader judicial
overhaul program that has been passed by the Knesset so far, although legislation that gives the coalition almost complete control of the Judicial Selection Committee, and thus of appointing Israel’s judges, passed its first reading in March and could be passed at short notice at any time.
Like other parts of the radical agenda, the reasonableness law faced massive opposition from protest groups and opposition parties.
A court ruling striking down a Basic Law would be unprecedented. If the coalition were not to abide by such a ruling, it would potentially cause a constitutional crisis.
The high court also held hearings this week on petitions against a law that would bar the courts or attorney general from court or the attorney general from ordering a prime minister to step aside.
-- U.S. Pushed Ukraine Into War With Russia
A senior advisor to Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs says that the U.S. pushed Ukraine into war with Russia by providing it with weapons and munitions.
In an interview with Tehran-based Farhikhtegan newspaper published on Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati also said that the U.S. has opened a new front in Taiwan and stood against China by supporting Taiwan’s independence. Beijing claims sovereignty over the island.
Velayati said Washington further created tensions in another part of the world with a “mischievous plot” by branding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a “dictator”.
The senior advisor said Washington’s policies did not stop there and tied the developments in the South Caucasus to the U.S., explaining that Washington used Turkey as a proxy to get on board and disrupt the strategic region. The South Caucasus has been the focus of attention as NATO’s western entrance.
Velayati also said, “A point that has been highlighted by some Turkish officials and media in recent years is that the Azeris in Iran have been under pressure for years and the Turkish government seems to have a mission to liberate the Azeris from the domination of other ethnic groups that make up the Iranian identity.”
Noting that the U.S. controls three oceans in the world, namely Indian, Atlantic and Pacific, the Iranian Leader’s advisor warned that Washington wants to put Iran under pressure on the western side of the Indian Ocean, citing the recently-proposed corridor at the G20 summit – which bypasses Iran as a transit hub – in line with the policy.
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- UN condemns Israeli violations
At a UN Security Council session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many representatives of the 15 member states criticized Israeli violations against Palestinians, with notably strong criticism from Russia and China. Kicking off the session, Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, spoke via a video conference and updated the meeting with his latest report for the period June 15 to September 19, 2023. The senior UN official reiterated to the Security Council the Secretary-General’s appeal for an end to the occupation and a resolution of the conflict as members echoed those calls and underlined a need to return to peace negotiations. Wennesland pointed to the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements, demolition of Palestinian homes, daily Israeli violence and continued inflammatory rhetoric by the Israeli cabinet.
-- Great potential in ASEAN region for Iranian books
Iran is participating in the 43rd Indonesia International Book Fair (IIBF) and this is a positive step in the cultural relations between Iran and Indonesia, Iran ambassador to Indonesia said while visiting Iran stand at the fair on Wednesday. “The IIBF is smaller compared to the Tehran International Book Fair,” Mohammad Boroujerdi said adding that Iran has a regional brand in the field of book fairs, which provides an opportunity for cooperation between the two countries in the field of publishing and books, SNN reported on Friday. “The key point is that in order to cooperate with Indonesia, we must translate our books to Indonesian language, and if doing so, we will definitely have more audiences in Indonesia as the largest Islamic country and the fourth most populous country in the world,” he noted.
-- Iraq relocates militant groups near border with Iran
Iraq has expelled all separatist militant groups residing near the northern borders with Iran, according to Iraq’s Minister of Interior Abdul Amir Al-Shammari. During an interview with Al-Arabiya, Al-Shammari announced that the borders between Iran and Iraq’s Kurdistan region are completely under the control of Iraqi forces. The remarks came after the Arab country’s interior minister announced that Baghdad is committed to its security agreements with Iran. “We have taken necessary actions to remove terrorist groups from the Iraq-Iran border, and our constitution does not allow any side to use Iraqi soil to attack neighboring countries,” Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said just a few days ago. Tehran and Baghdad reached an agreement in March that all armed anti-Iranian separatist terrorist groups in Iraq’s Kurdistan region would be disarmed and relocated by September 19. “An agreement has been struck between Iran and Iraq, in which Iraq has committed to disarm armed separatists and terrorist groups present in its territory, close their bases, and relocate them to other locations before the 19th of September,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told a weekly briefing just a few days prior to the deadline.
-- 1st International Khorsheed Festival held in Mashhad
The First International Khorsheed (Sun) Media Festival was held at the Pardisan Hotel in the shrine city of Mashhad on Saturday with the presence of the president’s wife Jamileh Alamolhoda, other dignitaries, and female journalists from nearly 40 countries. With the slogan of “Women Enlighten”, the festival was planned in memory of Shireen Abu Akleh, the martyr of enlightenment. Women’s issues, including the role of women in social justice, family, women, and resistance media, the proper role model by women.
NOURNEWS