NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Sunday, October 8, 2023.
IRAN DAILY:
-- Luxembourg releases $1.7b of Iran’s assets
A sum of $1.7 billion of Iranian assets were released in Luxembourg following a ruling issued by the European country’s Supreme Court.
After the ruling of the Supreme Court of Luxembourg, judicial obstacles to Iran accessing $1.7 billion of the foreign currency assets of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) were removed, according to IRNA.
The foreign currency assets of the Central Bank of Iran, kept in the Clearstream Banking Institute of Luxembourg, had been seized in 2020.
They were released on September 28 as per the ruling issued by the Supreme Court of Luxembourg.
In the wake of the protest and legal pursuits of Iran, the Supreme Court of Luxembourg admitted the logical reasons of the Central Bank of Iran and overturned the previous ruling of the court in this regard and, finally, the Iranian foreign exchange resources were released on September 28.
These resources are now available to the Central Bank of Iran.
-- Tehran, Baku discuss joint projects
Senior officials from Iran and Azerbaijan held negotiations to fill the joint Khoda Afarin Dam with water, and to elevate the oil and gas swap deal in cooperation with Turkmenistan.
In a meeting with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Saturday, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash pointed to the new conditions in the region, and added that the idea of peace in the Caucasus promises the development of transit cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, based on the “Iran Road” initiative and planning for accelerating transit in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), IRNA reported.
Bazrpash emphasized the importance of strengthening and developing transport-transit cooperation within the comprehensive, purposeful and forward-looking framework, given the “Iran Road” initiative, and reiterated that the transit initiative of “Iran Road” is consistent with the mega projects of the Republic of Azerbaijan and can open a new chapter of transit and logistics cooperation for both sides.
The comprehensive program of promoting transit of up to 15 million tons of goods per year has been targeted in the 2023 Vision, the roads minister noted.
The Aras Corridor, from Aghband to Jolfa, will be put into operation as the East-West Corridor in Iran, in line with the initiative of “Iran Road,” he emphasized.
Bazrpash pointed to the tripartite statement between Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia in September 2022, entitled the “Baku Statement,” with regard to the development of the INSTC, and added that this statement entails considerable key backgrounds for constructive and progressive measures, in line with the development of all-out cooperation.
The chairman of the Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Commission further stated that the growth of transit and development in logistics and its functional indices are of paramount importance in the next five-year plan, and a golden opportunity for the development of bilateral ties.
Bazrpash also stressed the promotion of oil and gas swap deal in cooperation with Turkmenistan.
Iran’s roads minister further discussed the issue of transport in the Astara-Astara project, constructing the Aghband Bridge, facilitating the transit of Iranian fleet in Azerbaijan, and expanding cooperation in the field of Ro-Ro vessels in the Caspian Sea.
Strengthening of friendly ties
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, for his part, stressed the importance of the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a bridge and border and customs infrastructure, as well as coastal fortification projects in the area near Aghband settlement of the Zangilan district, saying that this would contribute to the further strengthening of friendly relations between the two countries.
Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan was continuing its activities on the creation of transport corridors in both bilateral and multilateral formats.
Aliyev underlined that the construction of roads and railways connecting the two countries was of great importance for the region and would serve stability and cooperation for the entire region.
He also noted the significance of the work carried out towards the development of the North-South transport corridor and further expansion of its capacity.
Saying that the agenda of bilateral relations covered not only the transport sector but also a broad range of other areas, the president hailed the activity of the Intergovernmental Commission, noting that good results had been achieved in all areas.
Aliyev pointed out that the Azerbaijani-Iranian friendship and cooperation were an important factor for the entire region.
-- Iran, Burkina Faso sign MoUs to broaden ties
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) and eight cooperation documents were signed between Iran and Burkina Faso in the fields of economy, construction and exports.
In a meeting of the Iran-Burkina Faso Joint Economic Commission, the documents were exchanged between the two sides on labor and social support, technical and vocational training, employment and development of entrepreneurship, upbringing and skill training, scientific and technical in the fields of pharmaceutical, energy and mine, environment and natural resources, science, research and technology, urban development and construction, according to mcls.gov.ir.
During the meeting, Iranian Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare Solat Mortazavi expressed hope that the exchange of the documents would lead to further development of collaboration in various economic, political and social fields.
Regarding the results of the First Iran-Burkina Faso Joint Economic Cooperation Commission, he said, “We will witness a considerable increase in the export of pharmaceuticals and techno-engineering services to the African country.”
Mortazavi visited Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, at the head of a high-ranking political and economic delegation in order to participate in the Iran-Burkina Faso Joint Economic Cooperation Commission and meeting with the senior officials of this African state.
Iran has a strategic view on the development of economic cooperation with African states, said the minister, adding that the expansion of economic cooperation with Burkina Faso is likely.
Mortazavi made the remarks at a meeting with Serge Gnaniodem Poda, the Burkina Faso minister of industrial development and trade in Ouagadougou.
Pointing to the serious determination of the government of Iran to develop economic and political relations with the African Continent, Mortazavi said the ground for the implementation of previous agreements will be paved during his visit to Burkina Faso.
Describing his country’s scientific capacities and capabilities of Iranian new technology-based firms, he noted that these experiences in the fields of industry, trade and aerospace can be a positive potential for cooperation.
“There is a readiness to cooperate in the fields of mining, cement, steel, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries,” the minister added.
Poda, for his part, said the activation of Iran-Burkina Faso Joint Economic Commission helps facilitate and accelerate the exchange of capacities.
“Iran’s valuable experiences, especially in the areas of skill training, children and the elderly, can help our country,” he added.
The minister noted that the fields of defense, transportation, construction, steel, tourism, agriculture and petrochemical industries can help to increase the level of ties between the two countries.
-- Al-Aqsa Storm a prelude to something bigger
The breakout of the Palestinian “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” against Israeli targets has become the top story of credible news sources of the world, debunking Israel’s claim, or should I say, shattering Israel’s dream of being unshakable. This operation is unlike any other, whether it be in terms of how the Palestinian fighters infiltrated the Israeli settlements, or how much they damaged the regime.
To describe the operation, I would borrow the term that Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah used two years ago: “Fath al-Jalil.” The term literally translates into “the glorious victory,” but can also be translated into “conquering Al-Jalil,” as Al-Jalil is the name of a region in northern Palestine.
Reacting to the threats and claims made by Israelis at the time, he stressed that when Hezbollah would start the war with Israel, it would enter the occupied territories and conquer the Al-Jalil region. Many who had a certain impression of Israel’s intelligence system and military capabilities took Nasrallah’s statement as just an instance of psychological warfare against the Israelis and ruled out its possibility.
The operation that broke out in Palestine in the early hours of Saturday was the fulfillment of Nasrallah’s promise by Palestinian fighters in another area of the battlefield. In fact, it was established that the promise of the Palestinian resistance group to infiltrate the occupied territories was not an exercise in psychological warfare; it is rather very much a reality now.
I believe the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was a prologue to something bigger. Henceforth, the history of clashes between Palestinians and Israelis will be divided into ‘before’ and ‘after’ Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. The intelligence bodies of a regime whose sphere of influence purportedly encompasses a large slice of the world — from Azerbaijan to Georgia to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman to Europe — did not realize that Palestinian fighters have been planning such a massive operation for at least a week, thereby catching Israel by surprise.
The number of Israelis that were either killed or taken captive during the operation is significant. What is more, this show of strength by the Palestinian fighters who infiltrated deep into the occupied territories will also surely leave psychological marks on Israeli settlers who will see the claim of Israel’s security for what it is: empty. A few years ago, during the prisoner swap between the resistance groups and Israel, 500 Palestinians were exchanged to free a single Israeli captive. Now, it has been said that 36 ranked Israeli military officials have been taken captive, which is a great achievement for the resistance.
It is also worth asking whether the fighters who entered the occupied territories during the operation embarked from the Gaza Strip. It is highly probable that some of these fighters moved not from the Gaza Strip but from the 1948-occupied lands to clash with the Israeli forces. If it is proven correct, it would be a significant development to see the armed fight with Israelis no longer being limited to the residents of the Gaza Strip. It would be cause for serious alarm for the Israeli regime.
-- Hamas surprise attack out of Gaza Strip stuns Israel
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas launched the largest attack on Israel in years, named “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm,” infiltrating areas occupied by Israel, following a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
More than 270 people have been killed in the fighting between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli Army.
“This storm, which started from Gaza, will spread to the West Bank and outside the country and all the places where our people and nation are present,” Hamas politburo chief, Ismail Haniyeh said.
Haniyeh called the operation historic and epic, saying the main reason for its start was “the criminal aggression of the Zionists in Al-Aqsa Mosque, which had reached its peak in recent days”.
“We’ve decided to say enough is enough,” said Mohammed Deif, a senior Hamas military commander, as he urged all Palestinians to confront Israel. “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth,” he said in an audio message.
Airstrikes on Gaza
In response to the attacks, Israeli warplanes pounded locations in Gaza – in what the Israeli military called “Operation Iron Swords” – and Israeli soldiers were engaged in ground fighting in several locations around the besieged Palestinian region.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said that at least 198 people were killed and more than 1,600 others were wounded on Saturday.
The Israeli Emergency Services estimated about 70 people were killed in Israel, with hundreds seriously injured.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hamas that it had made a “grave mistake” in launching the attack, which began at 6:30 a.m. local time on Saturday and involved barrages of rockets fired from multiple locations in Gaza as well as fighters crossing the fence separating Gaza from the occupied territories by land, sea and air.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message from military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Several Israelis arrested
Hamas released a video showing its fighters had captured three Israelis.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military confirmed that "soldiers and civilians" have been arrested by Palestinian fighters.
Videos posted on social media also appeared to show a heavy presence of Palestinian fighters in Sderot, which lies just 1km (0.6 miles) from Gaza.
The outbreak of major fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters comes after weeks of growing tensions along the fence separating Gaza from the occupied territories, and months of deadly clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
At least 247 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces so far this year, while 32 Israelis and two foreign nationals have been killed in previous Palestinian attacks.
Reactions to attacks
The fighting has drawn conflicting reactions from many countries.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani hailed the Palestinian operation as “a turning point and a new chapter” in the continuing resistance against the Zionists.
Kanaani said that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm “shows the Palestinian resistance is confidently capable of conducting hybrid and multilateral operations against the occupiers.”
Yahya Rahim Safavi, an adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyyed Ali Khamenei, also congratulated Palestinian fighters for launching the biggest attack on Israel in years, saying, “We will stand by the Palestinian fighters until the liberation of Palestine and Al-Quds.”
Israel blamed for violence
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “The Kingdom recalls its repeated warnings of the dangers of the explosion of the situation as a result of the continued occupation, and deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations against its sanctities”.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry also reacted to the developments, blaming Israel for the violence.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds Israel alone responsible for the current escalation due to the ongoing violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, the latest of which is the repeated raids on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of Israeli police,” the ministry said in a statement.
Lebanon's Hezbollah also praised Hamas for its “heroic operation”.
“Hezbollah congratulates the resisting Palestinian people,” the Lebanese movement said in a statement, hailing Hamas and its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, for the “large-scale, heroic operation”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly supports the Palestinian cause, urged Israel and Palestinians “to act reasonably” and avoid a further escalation.
Egypt, a key mediator in conflicts between the two sides, urged the Palestinians and Israel to “exercise restraint” and warned of the “dire danger of ongoing escalation”.
Egypt also called on the international community to “urge Israel to stop the attacks and provocative actions against the Palestinian people and to adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law with regard to the responsibilities of an occupying state”.
US condemns Hamas
The US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement that Washington “unequivocally” condemns attacks by Palestinian fighters and promised to ensure that the key US ally has the means to defend itself.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry called for Israeli and Palestinian forces to stop armed hostilities.
Many European countries also condemned the attacks on the occupied territories.
Tor Wennesland, United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, condemned “the multi-front assault against” Israeli towns and cities near Gaza.
-- Top general: Iraq’s anti-terror actions near Iran border ’insufficient’
Iranian top general considered Iraq’s actions to tackle the terrorist groups on the Iran-Iraq border as an important step, but not sufficient.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said on Saturday that the efforts of the Iraqi government and armed forces in clearing terrorist groups near Iran’s western border as a significant step, yet "insufficient", ISNA reported.
September 19 was the deadline, set by Iran, for the Iraqi-Kurdish authorities to implement a security agreement to take action against secessionist anti-Iran groups stationed in northern Iraq along the common border. The agreement was made in late March for the disarmament and expulsion of terrorists from the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq.
As part of the security agreement, the armed Kurdish groups in northern Iraq started pulling out from areas near the Iran border on September 19, as Baghdad faced the deadline.
Baqeri said that the issue of Iran’s borders with its neighbors and the insecurity the country faces at its borders are highly significant.
General Baqeri criticized the presence of separatist groups opposed to Iran along the borders of Sistan and Baluchestan, as well as in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. These groups have been carrying out acts of terrorism inside Iran, which has required a strong border presence to respond effectively.
Iraqi officials also confirm that this issue must be definitively resolved, the commander said.
In the agreement between the secretaries of the Supreme National Security Councils of Iran and Iraq, it was agreed that these groups would disarm completely within six months, he said.
“In recent weeks, these groups have been somewhat relocated from positions and strongholds near our border. However, the main agreement was not just a tactical relocation of separatist groups, or moving them further away from the border; our main focus has been their complete disarmament,” Baqeri concluded.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- IRGC Chief: Resistance Will Avenge Syria Attack
The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps warned the perpetrators and sponsors of a recent deadly attack on a graduation ceremony at a military college in Syria’s Homs, saying that resistance forces will exact an awful revenge for the crime. In messages to Syria’s defense minister and to chief of the general staff of the Syrian armed forces, Major General Hussein Salami strongly condemned the drone attack that has martyred at least 100 people and wounded 240 more at a military college in Homs province during a graduation ceremony.
-- Muslims Rally to Support Palestinians
Thousands of participants took part in a rally in Sanaa, Yemen to support Hamas’ “Al Aqsa flood operation” on Saturday while tens of others gathered in Kuwait City for the same reason.
Participants chanted in support of Gaza, Al-Aqsa mosque and Hamas while waving Palestinian flags. Hezbollah issued a statement saying it was closely following the situation in Gaza and was in “direct contact with the leadership of the Palestinian resistance”.
-- Significance of Captured Zionists
Israel’s military spokesman has so far declined to comment on whether Zionists have been captured during a wide-scale attack launched by Palestinian resistance groups early on Saturday.
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have said they captured several Israeli soldiers and released videos purportedly showing their fighters holding Zionists in custody.
Hamas’s political representative, Saleh al-Arouri, told Al Jazeera Arabic that they have Israeli commanders in custody.
Meanwhile, several Palestinian accounts on social media are posting videos and photos allegedly showing captured Israeli soldiers and settlers being taken back into Gaza.
Online footage on X, formerly known as Twitter, also shows Palestinians taking military vehicles back into the besieged enclave.
An Israeli security source, speaking to Reuters anonymously, said they were aware of reports of captives being held.
Much of the footage remains unverified. In the event that the reports are confirmed, the number of Zionist being held by the Palestinian groups, dead or alive, will likely become a politically hot-button issue in Occupied Palestine.
In Palestine, the fate of Palestinian prisoners held in Occupied Palestine is also an important issue, increasingly so under the most far-right regime in Israel’s history.
Over the past year, Israel’s far-right minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, has sought to clamp down on the rights of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
From limiting family visits to moving dozens of Palestinians to Nafha prison, widely considered to be one of the most notorious in the country, Ben Gvir has adopted a policy of making the lives of Palestinian prisoners incrementally more difficult.
There are around 5,200 political prisoners in Israeli jails, including more than 1,264 administrative detainees, according to Palestinian rights group Addameer.
Under the occupying regime’s
discriminatory system, Palestinians tried in military courts have a conviction rate of 99.7 percent, while Israelis are very rarely convicted over attacks on Palestinians.
About a quarter of Palestinian prisoners are held without charge or trial in a controversial practice known as “administrative detention”.
Muhammad Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing, said that Saturday’s attack was in part because the occupying regime of Israel had recently declined to participate in “humanitarian prisoner swap” agreements.
“Hundreds of our prisoners have spent 20 years and upwards in the darkness of jail cells. And tens of our brothers and sisters in prison have had their bodies exhausted by cancer and disease, and many have died as a result of medical negligence and premeditated slow murder,” said Deif.
In the past, captured Zionists have been important for Palestinians to facilitate the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails as part of prisoner-swap deals.
Perhaps one of the best-known cases is that of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid near Gaza in 2006. He was held for more than five years before being released in a prisoner exchange in 2011.
That exchange, commonly referred to as the “Shalit Deal”, was a significant and highly publicized event resulting in Shalit being released in exchange for the freedom of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Depending on how many Zionists have been captured at the end of this campaign, a similar prisoner exchange may take place that dwarfs previous ones.
The prisoner exchange of 2011 highlighted the high value placed on the return of captured soldiers by the Israeli regime that Hamas is likely to capitalize on.
There are also four Zionists, believed to be dead, who have been held in Gaza since 2014.
Two are soldiers captured during the Israeli war on the territory in the summer of 2014. The other two are settlers who had entered Gaza under unclear circumstances.
Prisoner exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group, have also taken place several times over the last four decades.
In 1985, the Jibril Agreement, named after Ahmed Jibril, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, resulted in Israel releasing over 1,150 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners, including some from Hezbollah.
This was done in exchange for the release of three Israeli soldiers - Yosef Grof, Nissim Salem and Hezi Shai - captured during Israel’s war on Lebanon in 1982.
In 2004, another prisoner exchange was carried out between Israel and Hezbollah.
Elhanan Tannenbaum was captured by Hezbollah in 2000 during a trip to Dubai and was held captive in Lebanon. In 2004, he was released in exchange for several Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In 2008, the Zionist regime and Hezbollah conducted another important exchange in which Israel handed over the remains of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters in return for the remains of two Israeli soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.
These soldiers were captured and killed by Hezbollah in a cross-border infiltration by the Lebanese group in 2006, which sparked a 34-day war on Lebanon. This exchange was facilitated with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
-- Dozens of Casualties as Quake Hits Herat
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit western Afghanistan on Saturday killing 15 and injuring dozens more, officials said, predicting the toll could rise after reports of landslides and victims trapped under collapsed buildings.
The United States Geological Survey said the epicenter was 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the region’s largest city Herat, and was followed by seven aftershocks with magnitudes between 4.6 and 6.3.
Crowds of residents fled buildings in the city at around 11:00 am (0630 GMT) as the quakes began, lasting just under three hours.
“We were in our offices and suddenly the building started shaking,” 45-year-old Herat resident Bashir Ahmad told AFP.
“Wall plasters started to fall down and the walls got cracks, some walls and parts of the building collapsed.”
“I am not able to contact my family, network connections are disconnected. I am too worried and scared, it was horrifying,” he said.
Men, women and children stood out in the wide streets, away from tall buildings, in the moments after the first quake and remained wary of returning to homes as aftershocks continued.
“The situation was very horrible, I have never experienced such a thing,” said 21-year-old student Idrees Arsala, the last to safely evacuate his classroom as the quakes began.
In a video statement, National Disaster Management Authority spokesman Mullah Jan Sayeq said “around 40” had been injured in tremors felt across three provinces, in addition to 15 killed.
“These are the preliminary numbers. There is the possibility the numbers could increase,” he said.
Earlier in the day he told AFP there had been landslides in nearby rural and mountainous areas.
Public health director of Herat province Muhammad Taleb Shahid put the fatality figure slightly lower at 14, with 78 injured, but agreed the tally would likely rise.
“We have information that people are buried under rubble,” he told AFP.
Hundreds of fatalities were possible, according to a USGS preliminary report.
“Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,” it said.
The USGS had earlier reported the first quake’s magnitude as 6.2. It had a shallow depth of just 14 kilometers, it said.
Herat -- 120 kilometers east of the border with Iran -- is considered the cultural capital of Afghanistan.
It is the capital of Herat province which is home to an estimated population of 1.9 million, according to 2019 World Bank data.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
In June last year, more than 1,000 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless after a 5.9-magnitude quake -- the deadliest in Afghanistan in nearly a quarter of a century -- struck the impoverished province of Paktika.
In March of this year, 13 people were killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by a magnitude 6.5 quake, which hit near Jurm in northeastern Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is already in the grip of a grinding humanitarian crisis, following the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
-- Iran: Gaza Operation ‘a Turning Point’
Iran on Saturday hailed the Palestinian operation against Israel as “a turning point and a new chapter” in their resistance against the Zionists.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm “shows the Palestinian resistance is confidently capable of conducting hybrid and multilateral operations against the occupiers.”
Kanaani extended congratulations to the Palestinian people and all resistance groups over the operation.
“What happened today is in line with the continuation of the victories of the resistance in the face of the Zionists in various fields, including in Syria, Lebanon and the occupied territories.”
He said the operation once again proved that Israelis are vulnerable in the face of a serious move and lack the spirit to resist.
The Iranian diplomat expressed hope that resistance would succeed in achieving more victories in the path towards the liberation of Palestine.
A top military adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Iran supports the “courageous” Palestinian operation against Israel.
Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said Iran will stand by the Palestinian fighters until the liberation of Palestine and Al-Quds. He expressed confidence the resistance front would also support the operation.
The senior Iranian military official lamented the fact that Israel keeps killing Palestinian children and youths as international organizations keep silent and show no reaction.
He emphasized that Zionists must be punished for their crimes against the Palestinian children. He urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take practical measures in that regard.
People in Tehran take to streets to celebrate Palestine’s successful operation
They gathered outside Palestine’s embassy in the capital, carrying placards and chanting slogans against Israel and the U.S. as they expressed their support and solidarity with the Palestinian fighters in their battle against the Tel Aviv regime.
-- Countdown Begins for End of Usurper Israel
Resistance forces rewrote history on October 7 in a heroic defensive operation inside the 1948 occupied territories of Palestine that shattered the myth of military might of the illegal Zionist entity and breathed fresh life into the Ummah and all conscientious people of other creeds who were of late dismayed at the treacherous turn of event by certain timid rulers of unelected regimes of the Arab world in meekly submitting their necks to the Israeli yoke.
There were scenes of jubilation all over the Free Muslim World (not its parts under the repressive rule of unrepresentative regimes that never allow people to express their Islamic aspirations) on hearing news and seeing pictures of fighters of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad liberation movements in a lightning operation dubbed “al-Aqsa Storm” taking control of several illegal Jewish towns, torching Israeli military bases, capturing tanks and armoured vehicles, making occupiers flee in panic, and herding scores of Zionist soldiers into Gaza as prisoners of war.
The racist/terrorist regime of child-killer Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that over a hundred of its soldiers had been killed and a thousand others injured in the surprise attack.
According to independent observers this means more than 300 Israelis troops may have been killed and several thousand injured, as drones and rockets rained down upon them in Sderot, Sde Boker, Arad, Dimona, Asqalan, Tel Aviv and even Qods, while commandos of the Resistance used paragliders to land in parts of the occupied lands and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the shell-shocked Zionist forces.
In response, the Zionist entity has launched an aerial attack on Gaza that has so far martyred some 200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, but has not daring to send any ground forces for fear of losing more military personnel to imminent death and capture.
It is said that at least 7,000 missiles were fired by the Resistance Forces, who still control Sderot and other illegal settlements built for Zionist thugs infiltrating the usurped land of Palestine from Europe and the US, and have vowed to extend their heroic operation into the occupied West Bank of River Jordan.
In Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin, the enemies of Palestinians and Muslims are horrified that their latest devilish plot to trap certain timid and treacherous Arab regimes into what they erroneously call the “Abraham Accord” had clearly failed.
In Beirut, Damascus, Amman, Baghdad, Sana’a, Tehran and all other Iranian cities, as well as in Pakistan, thousands of cheerful people took to the streets to celebrate the astounding victory.
Analysts are already discussing that if a few thousand rudimentary rockets could paralyze the Zionist entity, if the whole Resistance Front backed by the entire Muslim World decided it was time to launch the much-awaited liberation war, Israel will collapse in a day, since it is weaker than a cobweb.
The Ummah has never lost hope in the liberation of Palestine and al-Aqsa Mosque and is confident that if the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem could be ended by a united Muslim force of Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Iranians in 1187 after 88 years of precarious existence, why not the current 75-year usurpation by the Zionist entity, for which the countdown had already begun?
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- General Soleimani the most suitable international peace symbol: Iran FM
Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister, has shown reaction after the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave the Nobel Peace Prize to an Iranian woman who has been convicted of multiple instances of law-breaking and plot against the ruling establishment. “The most deserving symbol of international peace was the self-sacrificing general, who fought terrorism and the most violent criminals for two decades, and guaranteed the region and the world’s security,” the top diplomat wrote in a message on X on Friday. He was alluding to Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top anti-terror commander. General Soleimani spearheaded the Islamic Republic’s military advice to Iraq and Syria for several years, beginning in 2014, while the Arab countries grappled with an unrelenting terror campaign unleashed by the Takfiri Daesh group.
-- Behind the scenes of clear hostilities to Quran
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei said on October 3 that insults to the Quran cannot weaken it, yet the doers ruin themselves instead. He also called the Quran a book of wisdom, knowledge, and awakening which would only act as a threat to corrupt powers. “Today, the hostility toward Islam is clearer than ever. There was hostility in the past, [but] today it is clear. An ignorant example of this hostility, which is seen today, is the desecration of the Holy Quran. You see a foolish, ignorant person doing this in public with the support of a government. What this shows is that the problem is not just what we are seeing in the open. It is not just about insulting the Holy Quran. They think they can weaken the Quran with these kinds of acts. They are mistaken. They are ruining themselves,” said Ayatollah Khamenei on Tuesday. Insulting the Quran under the guise of freedom of speech Freedom of speech is literally a hot topic in the world; some countries, under the guise of freedom of speech, allow insults to Islamic sanctities, ignoring the most basic morals. Sweden and some other countries, under the pretext of freedom of speech, have permitted the preparators to insult Islam’s sacred book, which has hurt the feelings of Muslims. Their actions are absolutely disgusting; they desecrate the Quran and insult Islamic sanctities.
-- Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Committee chairmen hold talks in Baku
Iran’s Minister of Transport and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev held talks as the chairmen of the Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Committee in Baku on Friday to discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual interest. During the meeting, the two sides negotiated over promoting cooperation, border facilities, joint rail and road projects, and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as part of developing mutual relations, the portal of the Iranian Transport Ministry reported. The sides also discussed the details of an agreement to build a railroad passing through Iran that will link Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan.
-- Children’s film festival kicks off in Isfahan
The 35th edition of the International Film Festival for Children and Youth opened in the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday evening. The ceremony was attended by Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili, the Governor of Isfahan Seyyed Reza Mousavi, the Mayor of Isfahan Ali Qassemzadeh, and the secretary of the festival Majid Zeinolabedin as well as a large number of children and youth. “The festival offers a unique platform for Iranian children to unite and collectively aspire towards achieving great heights,” the minister said during the opening ceremony. The education and development of the new generation of artists must include a fundamental incorporation of culture and art in their learning journey, he added.
NOURNEWS