NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Monday, August 28, 2023
IRAN DAILY
-- 25 YEARS FAR LESS THAN:
In recent years, a pressing concern within Israel has revolved around the uncertainty of its future. Israel’s reliance on the United States for its security renders any potential erosion of American hegemony a nightmarish scenario for the former’s survival. Consequently, anxiety about Israel’s fate has gripped the Zionist population residing in the occupied territories, spurring a remarkable trend of reverse migration from Israel — a phenomenon reflective of both internal and external developments.
The concept of security has evolved beyond its conventional and military framework, encompassing an array of diverse dimensions. Players now face complex threats that infiltrate every aspect of life. As a result, they have no choice by to adopt multidimensional policies to counter these intricate challenges. Implementing these strategies mandates a simultaneous focus on both hard and soft power. Israel, a major player in international relations, particularly in matters of security, has not been immune to the reverberations of these dynamics.
With the shifting tides within the international system, the traditional sovereignty of states has been diminished. New actors have emerged in the current labyrinthine state of the international system. Therefore, the examination of any issue needs an all-inclusive approach and one-dimensional analysis has become obsolete.
Given this backdrop, Israel has constantly hooked its security to the US. Because of its limited geographical expanse, the volatility of both fixed and variable geopolitical factors, and the threats posed by the Resistance Front, Israel’s ability to form a protective shield for the inhabitants of occupied territories is constrained. Thus, the potential waning of American hegemony looms as a major cause behind Israel’s profound anxieties about its future.
Israel-US dependence
Over the past seventy years, despite the fluctuating nature of their relations, the United States has stood by Israel since its recognition, becoming its foremost ally and supporter. This has led to a relationship characterized by mutual interests, a bond so robust that it has solidified into what can be termed as a special rapport. Such commitment has persisted through the tenures of US presidents, no matter Democrat and Republican, all have pledged unwavering support for Israel’s security.
Israel is seen as a strategic asset for the United States, reflecting the power of influential American Jewish factions, mutual interests, common values, and analogous institutions that influence their domestic and foreign policy directions. These features have acted as underpinnings that foster understanding and cooperation between Tel Aviv and Washington.
Their bilateral interactions span from the United States’ empathetic stance when Israel came into existence in 1948 to the forging of a distinctive partnership. These engagements have led to a situation where Israel, although compact in size, possesses outstanding military power and is tied to the United States in terms of both economic and military reliance. The US, meanwhile, tries to strike a balance in the region, through Israel. While some in the United States view the substantial aid and commitments to Israel as a trade-off against cultivating relations with diverse Arab nations, others perceive Israel as a crucial partner.
Israel is one of the two primary non-NATO allies of the United States in the Middle East. In broader terms, such relations are unprecedented. The United States has vetoed almost all anti-Israeli resolutions in the UN Security Council over the years.
Israel functions as a military stronghold for the US in the Middle East, offering a vantage point for Washington to assert its political, military, social, and economic influence over neighboring countries. The United States has channeled its resources to ensure Israel’s security, stability and recognition. Israel has enjoyed an array of benefits — economic, military, security, and political — similar to those enjoyed by the United States. Its security remains a cornerstone of America’s foreign policy.
Impact of diminishing US hegemony on Israel
US support for Israel over the past seventy years has emboldened the latter to commit any crime. However, the looming specter of a waning hegemony has emerged as a primary concern in shaping the present and future trajectory of the Jewish entity.
Israel’s security has become intertwined with its reliance on the United States. Should the US find itself unable to exert the same role within the emerging international order as it had in the past, the existence of Israel and those living in the occupied territories would be at stake. Moreover, two striking internal issues have taken center stage: a prevailing sense of desperation about Israel’s future and a surge in reverse migration. Simultaneously, the threats coming from the Resistance Front further exacerbate the situation.
Reverse migration
The Jewish Agency and affiliated organizations have placed the transfer of Jews to occupied Palestine on their agenda, offering a variety of incentives and launching extensive campaigns about the well-being and security of Israelis. Despite such efforts, roughly one-sixth of the seven million Jewish population has emigrated in recent years due to unfavorable economic conditions and growing insecurity.
While Israel does incorporate these returning migrants into its population statistics, it has denied them voting in the recent elections. This comes amid Israel’s economic woes, exacerbated by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with unemployment rates reaching 30%. Under such circumstances, it is natural to see little enthusiasm on the part of Jews to immigrate to occupied Palestine. In essence, the diminishing Jewish population has plunged Israel into a severe existential quandary, as its very foundation rests upon a Jewish populace.
This is a critical concern highlighted by Israeli media and experts, who perceive it as a prelude to the erosion of Israel. In 2010 alone, as many as 230,000 Israelis returned to their countries of origin. Statistics reveal that by annexing around 85% of Palestinian territories, Israel managed to draw over five million Jews to these areas between 1948 and 2016. Paradoxically, this occurred in tandem with a reverse migration trend, witnessing over 20% of these Jews returning to their native lands during the years 2000 to 2016.
According to experts, the current escalating trend of reverse migration constitutes the most daunting challenge to Israeli existence. By Israel’s classification, reverse migrants are those who have departed occupied Palestine for over a year for any reason and have resided overseas. Official records indicate that the minimal count of Israelis living abroad is 750,000 — equivalent to more than 10% of Israel’s overall population. Nevertheless, fresh data suggest that the number of Zionist Jews residing abroad far surpasses these figures. During Israel’s initial decade, the exodus of emigrants abroad was about 100,000. However, in 1980, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics disclosed that over 270,000 Zionists had resided abroad for over a year, accounting for 7% of Israel’s entire population at that time. This figure has grown significantly over the decades. Departing Jews, when pressed about their reasons for leaving, reply: “Don’t ask why we left Israel, ask why we remained there for so long.”
Desperation about future
Recent polls suggest that nearly half of Israel’s population consists of young individuals who prefer to live abroad. The primary reason cited by Israelis for their yearning to migrate hinges on the unfavorable conditions prevailing within the entity. Among those residing in the occupied territories, who initially migrated to Palestine enticed by an array of promises, optimism about Israel’s future has dwindled to a state of desolation. Credible statistics and surveys underscore that hope for the future has hit a record low over the past decade.
Resistance Front.
-- Likud warns against bringing Israeli cabinet down:
Israel’s Likud party is warning the smaller parties in the coalition against bringing down the Israeli cabinet over the actions of the Supreme Court.
The warning came after recent polls showed the right-wing camp led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an all-time low, Maariv reported.
Likud party officials said that they opposed acts to dissolve the cabinet in the event that the Supreme Court intervenes in recent legislation, reducing the court’s ability to apply the ‘Reasonableness Standard’ despite the law’s quasi-constitutional status as a Basic Law.
“Holding elections today is the surest way to bring about the collective suicide of the right-wing camp. Today, when the right-wing camp is at its lowest ebb, the polls are the strongest glue holding the ruling coalition together,” the sources said.
According to the sources, “the issue of [judicial] reform should be put aside, and if it is to be promoted, then it should be done only by consensus.”
“Only after we bring success in the fields of the economy and the personal security of the citizens, and when we succeed in improving the situation in Arab society, only then is it possible to think about elections. Now, we don’t have public credit. It’s all been wasted on the reform.”
-- Iran unveils Cesium-137 radionuclide as new nuclear feat:
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) unveiled a homegrown Cesium-137 radionuclide during a ceremony on Sunday, as the nuclear chief also announced that the nuclear enrichment continues based on the strategic framework law.
The material, which is used for multiple medical and industrial purposes, was unveiled during an exhibition in Tehran on Sunday, in the presence of the head of the AEOI, Mohammad Eslami, Press TV reported.
Asked about reports regarding Tehran slowing down its enrichment, Eslami said that Iran’s enrichment of uranium continues based on a framework established by the country’s Parliament.
In 2020, the Iranian Parliament passed a law requiring the government to take measures such as stepping up uranium enrichment beyond the limit set under Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal if other parties did not fully comply with the deal.
“Our nuclear enrichment continues based on the strategic framework law,” Eslami said, referring to a related legislation, Reuters reported.
Under the nuclear agreement, Iran could only enrich uranium to 3.67%.
Cooperation with AEA
Eslami further announced that Iran keeps cooperating with the IAEA within the framework of the safeguards agreement and that four disputed sites have been reduced to
two.
Iran and the IAEA are in a dispute triggered by the agency’s Israeli-influenced accusations, which were leveled against Tehran’s peaceful nuclear activities. The IAEA insisted on investigating what it claims to be “uranium traces” found at “undeclared nuclear sites” in Iran.
Eslami said that the negotiations aimed at resolving the dispute are advancing in the framework of the general policies of the Islamic Republic establishment.
“One of our urgent needs is nuclear diplomacy, especially with regional states,” he said. “We hope to have sustainable nuclear cooperation with different countries.”
Addressing the ceremony, Eslami also said that in addition to the nuclear fuel cycle, Iran is capable of designing, constructing, and maintaining nuclear reactors, noting that the country’s nuclear industry has a direct role in people’s lives.
The Iranian nuclear chief also hailed the production of Cesium-137 radionuclide as an invaluable nuclear achievement that eliminates the country’s reliance on other countries for the import of the substance.
The material used to be imported. Radionuclides (or radioisotopes) are radioactive atomic variations of elements. They are mostly produced by exposing suitable target materials to the neutron flux in a nuclear reactor for an appropriate time.
With a half-life of 30 years, Cesium-137 radionuclide does not exist naturally and is mainly found in used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.
It is used in radiation devices, brachytherapy, radiotherapy, calibration springs, and various types of industrial gauges.
The material is also required for radiating blood products, cosmetics, food, and other products.
He said that the material can be used in industrial instrumentation systems, oil and gas fields, and other sectors.
-- Phase 11 of South Pars reaches gas production stage:
South Pars’ Phase 11, the sole undeveloped section of the shared South Pars gas field, has reached the gas production phase, benefiting from governmental support and domestic resources. The national project is to be officially launched today in Asaluyeh, in southern Iran, in the presence of President Ebrahim
Raeisi.
Gas produced in Phase 11 will be transported from its offshore location in the Persian Gulf to the onshore processing facilities of Phase 12. Upon refinement, it will be injected into the national gas network, Tasnim news agency reported.
Announcing the inauguration of the project, Governor of Bushehr Province Ahmad Mohammadizadeh highlighted other operational projects in the Asaluyeh region, in the presence of the president and Minister of Oil Javad Owji.
The governor of Bushehr mentioned that Phase 11 of South Pars will be operational after two decades. He said that with the start of Phase 11 of South Pars, the initial daily gas production of this phase will be 15 million cubic meters, increasing to 56 million cubic meters in subsequent phases.
Mohammadizadeh considered the production of 50,000 barrels of gas condensate and 750 metric tons of sulfur per day as other features of Phase 11.
“With the inauguration of Phase 11 of South Pars, the chapter of the phases of this gas field will be closed,” he concluded.
-- Iran undone by Japan in final showdown:
Japan again proved to be in a league of its own in the continent by cruising to an emphatic victory over host Iran in the highly-anticipated final showpiece of the Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship in Urmia.
Having captured the bronze medal in July’s Volleyball Nations League, the Japanese came out on top in three sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-18) to avenge the final setback on home soil against Behrouz Ataei’s men two years ago.
The formidable trio of opposite spiker Yuji Nishida, skipper Yuki Ishikawa, and outside hitter Ran Takahashi spearheaded the triumph in a jam-packed Ghadir Arena, with the former chipping in a game-high 15 points.
Ishikawa scored 14 points before lifting the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, while Takahashi was named the joint Best Outside Hitter – alongside Qatar’s Raimi Wadidie – after a 10-point contribution in the final as Japan claimed a 10th title in the Asia’s flagship international volleyball event – first since 2017.
There were consolation prizes for the four-time champion Iran – which conceded only a single set against Iraq en route to the final – as Mohammad-Taher Vadi and Amin Esmaeilnejad picked up the Best Setter and Opposite Spiker awards respectively.
Meanwhile, Belal Nabel Abunabot of Qatar and Japan’s Taishi Onodera shared the Best Middle Blocker prize, with China’s Yang Yiming taking the award for Best Libero.
Earlier in the day, Qatar – the only team to win a set against Japan – rounded off a decent run in Urmia by beating China 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-18) in the third-place contest.
Japan will be flying high when hosting the USA, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt, and Finland in Pool B of the Olympic qualification tournament from September 30.
Iran, meanwhile, will be facing a daunting task against host Brazil, and reigning world champion Italy, as well as Cuba, Ukraine, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Qatar in Pool A.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
-- General: Iran Dominant Air Defense Power in Region:
The commander of the Iranian army’s air defense force said Sunday the Islamic Republic has made significant progress in production of drones and can now export its domestically-produced defense equipment to other countries.
“Today, we have reached such capabilities that we can export some of our defense products to other countries at will,” Brigadier General Alireza Sabahi-Fard told reporters here.
He said Iran is the dominant air defense power in the region, asserting that the country possesses the best and most advanced defense equipment in the world.
Sabahi-Fard also said that Iran excels in the field of electronic warfare.
The country has made headway in recent years based on an order by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said the general.
In the field of drone production, he said, “we have developed initiatives that the enemy does not know anything about.”
He said only a limited portion of Iran’s military capabilities have been publicized, which have already “astonished the enemy.”
In June, the air defense force announced plans for the unit to manufacture advanced long-range military equipment to deal with potential threats.
Iranian military experts and technicians have in recent years made substantial headway in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient.
Homegrown Iranian military products have also found many clients in the world.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, which are entirely meant for defense.
-- U.S. Racism: Three Black People Shot Dead in Florida:
A masked white man fatally shot three Black people inside a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store in a predominately African-American neighborhood on Saturday, in an attack where he used a gun painted with a swastika, officials said. The shooter, who had also posted racist writings, then killed himself.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters told a news conference that the attack that left two men and one woman dead was definitely “racially motivated.”
“He hated Black people,” Waters said after reviewing the man’s writings, which were sent to federal law enforcement officials and at least one media outlet shortly before the attack. He added that the gunman acted alone and “there is absolutely no evidence the shooter is part of any larger group.”
Waters said the shooter, who was in his 20s, used a Glock handgun and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with at least one of them painted with a swastika. He was wearing a bullet-resistant vest. He said the shooter had once been involved in a 2016 domestic violence incident and was once involuntarily committed to a mental hospital for examination.
The sheriff said the gunman had left behind in his writings evidence that leads investigators to believe that he committed the shooting because it was the fifth anniversary of when another gunman opened fire during a video game tournament in Jacksonville, killing two people before fatally shooting himself.
The shooting happened just before 2 p.m. at a Dollar General about three-quarters of a mile from Edward Waters University, a small historically Black university.
In a statement, the university said that shortly before the shooting, one of its security officers saw the man near the school’s library and asked him to identify himself. When he refused, he was asked to leave. The man returned to his car.
Sheriff Waters said the man was spotted putting on his vest and mask before leaving. He said it is unknown if he had originally planned to attack the school.
“I can’t tell you what his mindset was while he was there, but he did go there,” the sheriff said.
The shooter had driven to Jacksonville from neighboring Clay County, where he lived with his parents, the sheriff said. That house was being searched late Saturday.
Shortly before the attack, the shooter sent his father a text message telling him to check his computer. The father found the writings and the family notified 911, but the shooting had already begun, Sheriff Waters said.
Virginia Bradford lives in the neighborhood of modest brick and cinder block houses near the store. She frequently shops at the Dollar General, and said she meant to go there Saturday for detergent and bleach, but got sidetracked by other plans.
Unsettled by the racist killings, Bradford, who is Black, said she
doubts she’ll ever go back. “I won’t even send my kids up there anymore,” she said. “My nerves are bad.”
The shooting took place within hours of the conclusion of a commemorative March on Washington in the nation’s capital, where organizers drew attention to the growing threat of hate-motivated violence against people of color.
The attack on a shopping center in a predominately Black neighborhood will undoubtedly evoke fears of past shootings targeting Black Americans, like the one at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in 2022, and one at a historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
-- Lebanon’s Hezbollah Unveils Anti-Aircraft Missiles in Military Exhibition:
The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has put on display SAM-6 anti-aircraft missiles at a military exhibition in the eastern city of Baalbek.
The missiles were unveiled on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the liberation of the Jurud Sharqiya region from the grip of Daesh terrorists, the al-Manar television network reported.
The military exhibition kicked off at an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers, showcasing all the equipment and armored vehicles that Hezbollah had confiscated during the 1982, 2000, and 2006 wars with the Zionist regime and the 2017 battle with terrorist groups.
Speaking at the event, the chairman of Hezbollah’s political council, Ibrahim Amin al-Sayed, described the data-x-items displayed as “clear proof of the resistance’s power and efficiency to defeat and weaken the enemy.”
Such exhibitions, he added, are held in a bid to prevent consigning Hezbollah’s achievements to oblivion.
Sayed also censured certain Arab rulers for following the U.S. suit, warning that Washington is only after its own interests.
Earlier this month, Hezbollah unveiled the “Tharollah (AS)” guided missile system, which has “the precision to simultaneously hit and destroy targets.”
In May, Hezbollah launched large-scale military exercises in Southern Lebanon, showcasing its strength ahead of the 23rd anniversary of the country’s liberation from the Zionist occupation.
The resistance group was established following the 1982 Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.
Since then, it has grown into a powerful military force, dealing blows to the Israeli military during the wars in 2000 and 2006 and shattering the myth of the regime’s invincibility.
The movement has vowed to resolutely defend Lebanon in case of any other Israeli-imposed warfare.
Reporting last month, Israel’s Hebrew-language Maariv daily newspaper cited the regime’s military as expressing concerns about Hezbollah’s growing air defense capabilities in countering the regime’s aerial aggression on Lebanese soil.
-- Jafari, Seifi Win Silvers at World Para Powerlifting Championships:
Iran’s Amir Jafari Arangeh and Ali Seifi took two silver medals at the 2023 Para Powerlifting World Championships on Saturday.
Jafari Arangeh claimed a silver by lifting 202kg in the -65kg weight category.
Seifi also won a silver in the Total category with a total of 544kg. Chinese powerlifter Yi Zou snatched the gold with 633kg and the bronze medal went to Kyrgyzstan’s Esen Kaliev with 466kg.
Ahmad Aminzadeh and Mahdi Sayadi are two other Iranian powerlifters who have claimed gold and silver medals respectively in the +107kg weight class in the same competitions.
Aliakbar Gharibshahi and Saman Razi had also won a gold and bronze medal respectively in the -107kg class.
Around 500 elite powerlifters (including 56 juniors) from 80 countries vie for top honors at the Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City.
TEHRAN TIMES
-- U.S. backing for Sharmad, a terrorist ringleader, not surprising:
The meeting of Abram Paley (the U.S. envoy for Iran) with Jamshid Sharmahd’s family on August 26 once again provided a chance for Western think tanks to follow their scenario of portraying the arrested ones in Iran as “innocent” instead of terrorists. Western think tanks and media outlets have kept following the scenario of casting doubt on the verdicts of the Islamic Republic’s Judicial system anytime a foreigner is arrested in Iran, which is much different from what has happened in reality. It seems the West still does not believe in the victory of the Islamic Revolution which has put an end to the advantages of being a foreigner in Iran. The nationality is no longer a shied for individuals to protect them from standing trial. The prisoner swap agreement between the U.S. and Iran has also brought the reaction of the Westerners who shared their opinions about the deal. All in all, the Biden administration was criticized for its “alleged appeasement” of Iran, and Iran was congratulated for its access to $6bn of its frozen funds. Even in some cases the deal was termed as an incentive for Iran’s “hostile diplomacy”, or the release of the country’s illegally blocked funds was labeled as “ransom”, according to the Westerners. Needless to say, Iran is getting access to its own money which was illegally blocked, so there is no mercy so far.
-- Abdollahian talks to Taliban FM, demands Iran’s right from Helmand water:
Iran’s request to protect its water rights in the Helmand River and its sources in neighboring Afghanistan has been reiterated by Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian. Amir Abdollahian made the statement in a phone call on Saturday with Amir Khan Mottaqi, the Foreign Minister of the Taliban-run government. For the first time by a group of Iranian experts recently visited the Helmand River. According to the Iranian minister, the visits were made in conformity with the 1973 water-sharing agreement and would help to increase transparency in the water dispute. The Hindu Kush Mountains, west of Kabul, are the source of the Helmand River, the longest river in Afghanistan. The Helmand River flows in an arc southwest until it empties into the Hamoun wetlands, which are in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province. Iran and Afghanistan signed a contract in 1973 to develop a way of controlling each country’s usage of the river after more than a century of conflict over Helmand’s water supply.
-- i Over 100,000 residential units delivered to applicants in Government Week:
On the occasion of the Government Week (starting on August 24), 101,278 residential units were handed over to the applicants in a ceremony attended by President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday. The mentioned units were delivered to the applicants in the cities and villages throughout the country. As reported, the largest number of units that were delivered to applicants in different provinces belongs to Khorasan Razavi province with 9,477 units, followed by Tehran with 8,728 units, Hamedan with 7,258 units, Kerman with 6, 613 units, and Hormozgan with 5,224 units.
NOURNEWS