NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Sunday, September 3, 2023
IRAN DAILY:
-- Construction of Iran-Iraq cross-border railroad started:
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber have laid the foundation stone for the cross-border railroad line connecting the two neighboring countries.
According to a Saturday report by IRNA, Al-Sudani and Mokhber met at the common border and participated in the inaugural ceremony of the construction operation of the project.
The Iraqi prime minister, together with Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Mohammad Kazem Al Sadeq, had departed Basra International Airport in southern Iraq on board a helicopter to attend the event.
Al-Sudani thanked Tehran for the planned demining operations at the border to clear the way for the train line and for a railroad bridge over the border waterway, where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers converge before spilling into the Persian Gulf.
Bassem Awadi, spokesman for the Iraqi government, said the steps stipulated in Resolution 2333 of the Council of Ministers concerning the implementation of the railroad project linking Iraq’s Basra with the Iranian border town of Shalamcheh have already been taken, and today the executive phase of the project will commence.
He said the cross-border railroad project serves as an introduction to strategic transportation projects that would connect Iraq and neighboring countries, adding that the Baghdad government had been debating on and revising the project for many years.
Awadi further described the railroad connection as one of the most important transportation projects in the region, saying, “This project also effectively helps in the transfer of tourists and pilgrims between Central Asian countries and Iraq.”
Earlier, Mokhber said the Shalamcheh-Basra railroad project will become operational within the next two years with the cooperation of Iran and Iraq, harboring hope that the project would be a source of blessing for the two neighboring countries.
He emphasized that the strategic project can bring about a major change in the West Asia region.
In addition to connecting the railroads of the two countries, it would also act as complementary to the international transport routes, Iran’s first vice president said.
All regional and extra-regional countries need two North-South and East-West transport corridors, he said, adding that this project is one of the cases that has been on the agenda of the Iranian and Iraqi governments for a long time.
The Shalamcheh-Basra railroad, which will be 32 kilometers (19.8 miles) long, will connect Iran to the Mediterranean (Jordan and Syria), Mokhber noted.
After being in the pipeline for many years, Iran and Iraq signed an agreement for the construction of the Shalamcheh-Basra railroad in 2021. Prior to this, plans were shelved in 2014, the same year that Daesh Takfiri terrorists overran large swathes of land in northern Iraq and eastern
Syria.
After repeated delays, efforts were revived in April, with Baghdad and Tehran agreeing to implement the railroad link during a meeting between Iraqi Minister of Transport Razzaq Mohibis al-Saadawi and the Iranian Minister of Roads and Housing Mehrdad Bazrpash in Tehran.
The railroad project will reportedly become operational within the next 18 months.
-- Iran-Turkey seven-month trade surpasses $3b:
Trade between Iran and Turkey in the first seven months of 2023 reached $3.025 billion, according to the latest figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT).
The figure shows a 21-percent drop compared to corresponding figure of 2022, as Iran’s trade with the neighboring country stood at $3.846 billion in January-July 2022, Tasnim News Agency reported.
According to TURKSTAT, Turkey’s exports to Iran from January to July 2023 reached $1.663 billion, recording a two percent decrease compared to last year’s corresponding period.
Turkey exported over $1.701 billion worth of products to the Islamic Republic in the first seven months of 2022.
Turkey’s imports from Iran also registered a 36 percent decline and fell from $2.145 billion in January to July 2022, to $1.362 billion in the first seven months of 2023.
Based on the data previously released by the Turkish Statistical Institute, the value of Iran’s exports to Turkey increased by 19 percent, to reach $3.35 billion in 2022.
-- Iran drills 195 oil, gas wells:
National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) dug and completed the digging operations of 195 oil and gas wells since the current government took office in August 2021, the managing director of the company announced.
Hamidreza Golpayegani said the wells were discovery wells, development-delineation wells, and workover wells.
-- Iran’s heavy water ranks first in the world in terms of quality: AEOI:
Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said the heavy water produced in the country ranks first in the world in terms of quality, adding that Europeans are interested in its procurement from Tehran.
“Iran’s heavy water ranks first in the world in terms of quality. European countries seek to purchase it from us,” Kamalvandi said in an interview with Mizan news agency, affiliated with the Iranian Judiciary, published on Saturday.
He highlighted the AEOI’s accomplishments in using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Press TV reported.
He added that Iran sells one liter of heavy water for $1000.
Heavy water derivatives can be used in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer instead of the current high-risk methods and chemotherapy.
Tehran-IAEA relations
The AEOI spokesman also pointed to the current level of relations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Despite several ups and downs, Iran has tried to establish a balanced relationship with the [UN nuclear] agency, and the relations are improving,” he said.
Iran has repeatedly voiced its readiness to resolve differences with the IAEA within a framework of constructive and mutual interaction and technical cooperation.
The disputes between the two sides have been a sticking point in the talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Elsewhere in his remarks, Kamalvandi referred to the nuclear industry’s implications for people’s lives, explaining that it has an impact on electricity generation, agriculture, and radiopharmaceuticals, among other things.
-- US to send depleted-uranium munitions to Ukraine:
The Biden administration will for the first time send controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, according to a document seen by Reuters and separately confirmed by two US officials.
The rounds, which could help destroy Russian tanks, are part of a new military aid package for Ukraine set to be unveiled in the next week. The munitions can be fired from US Abrams tanks that, according to a person familiar with the matter, are expected be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
One of the officials said that the coming aid package will be worth between $240 million and $375 million depending on what is included.
Although Britain sent depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine earlier this year, this would be the first US shipment of the ammunition and will likely stir controversy. It follows an earlier decision by the Biden administration to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite concerns over the dangers such weapons pose to civilians.
The use of depleted uranium munitions has been fiercely debated, with opponents like the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons saying there are dangerous health risks from ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium dust, including cancers and birth defects.
A by-product of uranium enrichment, depleted uranium is used for ammunition because its extreme density gives rounds the ability to easily penetrate armor plating and self-ignite in a searing cloud of dust and metal.
The United States used depleted uranium munitions in massive quantities in the 1990 and 2003 Persian Gulf Wars and the NATO bombing of former Yugoslavia in 1999.
-- Turkish FM due in Tehran today:
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is scheduled to arrive in Tehran today to meet with Iranian officials, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry.
Fidan will meet with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to exchange views on regional and international issues.
“The visit will render the opportunity to discuss the possibilities for further advancing our bilateral cooperation in all fields with Iran,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- Tolou-3 Delivered to ISA for Launch Into Orbit:
Tolou-3, a remote sensing satellite manufactured indigenously in Iran, has been delivered to the Iranian Space Agency (ISA).
The homegrown Tolou-3 satellite had been ordered by ISA and Iran Electronics Industries, IRNA reported on Saturday. The Tololu-3 satellite was delivered to the Iranian Space Agency after successfully passing its tests. Tolou-3 which will be put into low Earth orbit (LEO) can dispatch photos needed to manage agricultural fields and water resources to the ISA.
-- Video of U.S. Police Killing of Black Woman Released:
An Ohio police department released body camera footage showing an officer fatally shooting a pregnant Black woman in the parking lot of a grocery store two weeks ago after she refused to exit her car and instead bumped him with her vehicle.
Video of the incident in Blendon Township on Aug. 24 followed demands by the family of the 21-year-old woman, Ta’Kiya Young, for the officer who fired the fatal shot to be held accountable.
“A theft suspect drove her car into one of my officers and the officer fired a single shot through the windshield,” Blendon Police Chief John Belford said in a statement accompanying the release.
But Sean Walton, a lawyer for Young’s family, said she was a victim. “We demand accountability for two precious lives - Ta’Kiya and her unborn daughter,” he said at a news briefing on Thursday. Walton was unavailable for comment on Friday.
Young’s death is among a spate of recent high-profile cases in the United States of police officers accused of using excessive force in the deaths of Black people and other minorities, sparking calls for U.S. criminal justice system reforms.
The incident took place in the parking lot of a grocery store in Blendon, 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Columbus, the state’s capital.
Police confronted Young after an employee said she was among several people who had shoplifted liquor from the store.
Video made public on Friday shows an officer standing next to Young’s vehicle as he repeatedly orders her to get out. A second officer comes around the front of vehicle and points a gun at the windshield, demanding that she exits.
Young can be seen turning the wheels to the right, away from the officer, before the vehicle begins moving toward him. It pushes him back as he puts his left hand on the hood, with his gun drawn in his right hand.
-- Axis of Resistance Leaders Meet in Beirut:
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met with head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ziad al-Nakhala and deputy head of the Hamas Political Bureau Saleh al-Arouri here Saturday, Hezbollah media reported.
The three resistance leaders reviewed and discussed the most recent updates and political developments in the region, with a special emphasis on Palestine – where events have escalated significantly. A joint assessment of the current situation was made accordingly.
Nasrallah, Arouri, and Nakhala reinforced the firm position of the Axis of Resistance in confronting the Israeli occupation, stressing that coordination and daily communication between all existing resistance factions in Lebanon and occupied Palestine are of utmost importance.
The meeting comes at a time when the occupying regime of Israel has stepped up its threats of assassinating prominent resistance figures.
Last week, Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu overtly threatened Arouri, saying, “He knows well why he and his friends are in hiding.” The threat came after Arouri warned of a regional war in the event that Israel continues its “extremist policies.”
In a speech on August 28, Nasrallah made it clear that “for any Israeli assassination of a Lebanese, Palestinian, Iranian, or any other person which is carried out on Lebanese soil – there will be a severe reaction, and we will not be silent about it.”
Talk of resuming political assassinations of resistance leaders, notably Hamas officials, has permeated the Israeli military and security establishment recently following an overwhelming surge of armed resistance operations in the occupied West Bank.
Arouri, currently based in Lebanon, is known to be a primary target for the Zionist regime, considering his position as commander of operations in the occupied West Bank – where Israel has been attempting to quell acts of resistance to no avail.
-- Iran Bag Three Medals in Paris Taekwondo Grand Prix:
Iranian taekwondo practitioners have snatched three medals at the 2023 Paris Taekwondo Grand Prix underway in France.
On the first day of the 2023 Paris Taekwondo Grand Prix late, Iranian taekwondo practitioners won one gold, one silver, and one bronze medals.
Mehdi Haj Mousaei and Abolfazl Zandi won gold and silver medals respectively in the -58 kg weight category.
Another Iranian fighter Mobina Nematzadeh (-49 kg) received the bronze medal in the sporting event.
Nahid Kiani (-57kg) lost the game against his Tunisian rival and was eliminated from the tournament.
Matin Rezaei (-68 kg) and Mehran Barkhordari (-80 kg) will compete with the opponents on the second day of the tournament.
-- Israeli Analysts Warn of Regime Pilots’ Plunging Competency:
Israeli analysts have disclosed that the competence of the Zionist regime’s army has declined due to the chasm within the regime, Arab48 reported on Friday.
Military analyst Tal Lev-Ram shared that the regime’s army is worried about the reception of the crisis within society regarding the army’s competence on the security fronts.
Lev-Ram said August was not a good month for the army, noting that September and October will reflect dramatic views about the army’s competence.
He pointed out that the immediate impact of the troops who declare their decisions to stop showing up for military service affects the Air Force, as between 20 to 25 percent are reserve pilots who have not received any training for two months.
The analyst said that the increasing protest will aggravate the crisis within the army, noting that the impact of the legislation related to the Haredim goes beyond the reserves.
Meanwhile, military analyst for Haaretz Amos Harel stated that the recruitment cohort in August passed successfully, but the real obstacle will arise in the coming months.
He expects that the protests among the army will become fiercer when the Haredim legislations start next month, noting that the problem goes beyond the reserves.
“The impact will affect the incentives for recruitment and the feelings of part of the regular troops and those in permanent service,” Harel explained, adding: “This possibility will be monitored by protest movements.”
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- Javad Rouhi, Westerners’ new plot: act 1 scene 2:
Death of Javad Rouhi in the hospital reminded the Western think tanks and media outlets to repeat their Mahsa Amini scenario this time with a new actor. Javad Rouhi was transferred to Shahid Beheshti Hospital due to a convulsion at 3:45 a.m. on Thursday, August 31. Despite the efforts of medical staff, he died in the hospital, according to Nowshahr Prison. After his death, the prison filed a case with the first branch of investigation. The prosecutor in Nowshahr and an investigator questioned Rouhi’s cellmates about him. According to the judicial order, cameras of the prison were reviewed, and the personal belongings of Rouhi, including his notes and medicines, were examined.
-- Pahlavi family cashing in on 2022 riots:
The descendants of the toppled Pahlavi regime are trying to make money off the back of the riots that occurred fall of last year in Iran. An organization called Persian American Women’s Conference (PAWC), claiming to be a nonprofit, is holding a conference on September 20 featuring Fox News Anchor Shally Zomorodi and the daughter-in-law of the last monarch of Iran, Yasmine Pahlavi. The conference which will be held in the most affluent district of California, Beverly Hills, will let you “resist, endure, and stand tall” with the two figures. It is not clear what will be discussed at the gathering but PAWC claims to “empower women by providing them with academic scholarships, internships, and mentorships”. Ticket prices range from $150 to $450, with the most expensive one allowing guests to have lunch with Yasmine Pahlavi at a private residence. Again, it has not been mentioned what the money raised by the sales would be spent on. Yasmin Phalavi has received scathing criticism from both pro and anti-Iranian social media users. People believe the woman who’s never held any official position is “making money by selling the blood of Iranian youth”. She has been rebuked for using every opportunity to make money and “tarnishing the image of the Iranian opposition”. Many are also questioning what Yasmine Pahlavi would be able to teach people considering her unimpressive background. They believe the holding of the conference goes to show how the Pahlavi family.
-- Iran’s Semnan joins Intl. Tourism Alliance of Silk Road Cities:
Iran has become a founding member of the International Tourism Alliance of Silk Road Cities officially launched in China’s Jingdezhen on Friday as a tool to help broaden tourism cooperation. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Iran’s deputy tourism minister Ali-Asghar Shalbafian, China-based diplomats, experts, and industry leaders from various countries. Initiated by the Chinese government, the alliance involves 57 cities from 26 countries, and it is open to adding new members, Shalbafian said. Iran has selected the ancient city of Semnan, which was one a hectic trading place on the Silk Road, to represent the country and its rich cultural heritage in the alliance, the official explained.
-- Gabon coup latest African domino effect against French neo-colonialism:
In another blow to France this week, Gabon’s military overthrew the very wealthy President Ali Bongo soon after he was declared the winner in elections that had been roundly condemned as fraudulent. Over the past three years, military officers have thrown the presidents of Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Chad, more recently Niger, and now Gabon. All six African states have one thing in common. They are all former colonies of France and have seen a sharp rise in anti-French sentiment, with the former colonial power standing accused of using its military presence in the region, in particular the Sahel, to increase instability. France is clearly seeing how its military presence in Africa is slowly diminishing. This is while the local population in these countries that had or continue to have French military presence on their territory have been living in poverty, seeing no financial benefits of the natural resources on their land. France’s strong ties with the former West African presidents also saw close economic ties to those natural resources. In Mali, two coups took place, the first in August 2020 and the second nine months later; President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was overthrown by the military who accused the president of the worsening security situation. Similar accusations were directed at France. In September 2021, Guinea’s Special Forces overthrew President Alpha Conde. In April 2021, Chad’s military took power after President Idriss Deby was killed on the battlefield while visiting troops fighting militants.
-- Iran envoy meets Armenian defense minister:
The Iranian Ambassador to Armenia, Mehdi Sobhani, met on Friday with Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikyan. The meeting took place amid a new escalation between Yerevan and Baku. “On September 1, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan received the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia Mehdi Sobhani,” the Armenian defense ministry said in a statement. The statement added, “The meeting was attended by the Defense Attaché of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia, Colonel Bahman Sadeghin. A number of topics of Armenian-Iranian cooperation, as well as regional security issues, were discussed.” Sobhani is a veteran Iranian diplomat with experience in serving in hotspots. Previously, he was Iran’s ambassador to Syria, where a decade-long conflict turned the Arab country into a hive of diplomatic activity. He has been recently posted to Armenia, which is locked in a dispute with Azerbaijan over a number of issues, including an Azerbaijani insistence to open a land corridor cutting through southern Armenia.
NOURNEWS