NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Sunday, October 15, 2023.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- FM Amir-Abdollahian Demands Immediate UN Action
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said here the United Nations must put an immediate end to Israel’s brutal aggression against the Palestinians “before it is too late.”
“The opportunity for a political approach is just for today and tomorrow is too late,” Amir-Abdollahian said in a meeting with the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland.
-- President Raisi Calls for Halt to Israeli ‘Killing Machine’
President Ebrahim Raisi said Saturday Muslim countries and free nations in the world must take a “decisive and immediate” action to stop the Israeli “killing machine” as the war on the besieged Gaza is claiming more civilian lives. In a phone call with Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, Raisi warned the unlimited support by Western countries, particularly the United States, for the crimes of Israel has led to more complication and deterioration of the situation.
He said the Palestinian resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm following the intensification of the regime’s crimes in recent months. The operation, he said, has upset the Zionist-Western calculations.
The Iranian president also raised the alarm about plots by Israel and its allies to carry out a massacre in Gaza and force the Palestinians to evacuate the city as the Tel Aviv regime continues to cut off water and electricity and prevents the entry of medicine and food.
Raisi also urged that United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and other international circles to address the current dire situation in Gaza.
-- Iran Urges Stop to Israeli Crimes ‘Before It’s Too Late’
Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, warning that the war might expand to other parts of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that would make the Zionist regime suffer “a huge earthquake.”
Hussein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement has taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible.
The occupying regime considers Hezbollah its most serious adversary, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles that can hit anywhere in Occupied Palestine. The movement, which has thousands of battle-hardened fighters who participated in 12-year war on Syria, also has different types of military drones.
Hezbollah fighters have been on full alert along Lebanon’s borders following last Saturday’s operation by Hamas that left hundreds of Zionists dead.
On Friday, Hezbollah said its fighters fired several rockets at four Israeli positions along the Lebanese border. Amir-Abdollahian added: “I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this entity before it’s too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because it might be too late in few hours.”
The Iranian foreign minister said he will be contacting UN officials in the Middle East because “there is still an opportunity to work on an initiative (to end the war) but it might be too late tomorrow.”
The possibility of a new front in Lebanon brings back bitter memories of a monthlong war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 that ended in a tense stalemate.
Amir-Abdollahian said he met Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who briefed him on the movement’s conditions in Lebanon.
“I know about the scenarios that Hezbollah has put in place,” Amir-Abdollahian said. “Any step the resistance (Hezbollah) will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity.”
“I found out in the conversations with the resistance leaders that their response will make the regime regret and will change the current map of the occupied territories,” he said.
Underling the resistance front’s high capabilities to act independently, Amir-Abdollahian said, “Iran actively supports the resistance of the Palestinian people against the occupation and its war crimes at political and media levels.”
“Today, the Zionists are in the worst condition and the victorious Operation Al-Aqsa Storm proved this once again,” he said.
“Today, the leaders of the resistance enjoy remarkable cohesion, have designed the whole scenarios and everyone’s finger is on the trigger,” Amir-Abdollahian added.
Asked about the time of the resistance front’s response to Israeli atrocities, he said, “In case of procrastination by the international community and the United Nations ... the response will be done at the right time desired by the resistance.”
In Damascus, Amir-Abdollahian met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, emphasizing that the resistance front possesses the capability to stand up against the apartheid Israeli regime for a long period of time.
He also scoffed at Washington’s call on Palestinian groups to exercise restraint while it is supplying the Zionist military with various types of ammunition to be used against ordinary people in the Gaza Strip.
Amir-Abdollahian said some international and Western authorities are in contact with Iranian officials, and the two sides are exchanging views on the latest developments in Palestine.
He said Iran and Syria’s support for the Palestinian resistance is known to all, but the recent operation by fighters from Hamas and other groups was purely Palestinian in nature.
Amir-Abdollahian also pointed to the critical and miserable situation in Gaza, stressing the need for concerted efforts to prevent further Israeli atrocities in the enclave.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has therefore demanded an emergency foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and voiced its readiness to host such an event,” he said.
President Assad said Israeli authorities and their advocates want to reverse the course in light of the recent developments or use the Palestinian attacks as an excuse to root out the resistance front.
Such an approach is being directed under the tutelage of the United States and certain Western countries, the Syrian leader said.
He said the reason why Westerners stand by Israel is because of the regime’s acute political, economic and social crises, and their concerns of a looming collapse.
-- Gaza Movement Will Lead to Complete Victory
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Saturday the movement that has started in Palestine will continue and lead to the complete victory of the Palestinians.
Ayatollah Khamenei touched on the situation in the Palestinians territories, including the besieged Gaza Strip which is currently under the most ferocious Israeli airstrikes for a seventh day since a Hamas blitzkrieg last Saturday.
“Today, one of the manifestations of the power of Islam is the very events that are happening in Palestine,” he said during a meeting with prominent Nigerian cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky here.
“The incidents of the recent days in Palestine, especially the bombings and the martyrdom of women, children and men, injure the heart of every human, but they also show the incredible power of Islam in Palestine,” he said.
“And with the grace and mercy of God Almighty, this movement that has started in Palestine will go further and lead to the complete victory of the Palestinians.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Everyone in the Islamic world has a duty to help the Palestinian people.”
The Leader said the Islamic movement is expanding in different parts of the world such as Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, and “with God’s grace, the success of this movement will continue with greater strength”.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the formation of the Islamic system and a government based on the political Islamic thought in Iran after many centuries is one of the aspects of the power of Islam.
“The Islamic Republic has become stronger day by day since its establishment and will become stronger in the future,” he said.
The Leader also appreciated Sheikh Zakzaky’s efforts and those of his family in Africa, saying the growing power of Islam in the world despite immense conspiracies is a result of such efforts.
“You are an example of a real mujahid [Islamic fighter] in the cause of Allah and we hope that you will be able to continue your fight” for the sake of Islam, Ayatollah Khamenei said.
Zakzaky and his wife arrived in Tehran to a warm welcome Wednesday after the termination of his home arrest in Abuja.
In 2015, Nigerian army troops attacked Sheikh Zakzaky’s residence and a place of worship belonging to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, killing over 3,040 of his supporters in Zaria, Kaduna state.
Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife have lost their six sons, three of whom were killed during the Zaria massacre.
-- Gaza Missiles Hit Deep Into Zionist Cities
Thousands of Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday from the path of an expected Israeli ground invasion, while the Zionist regime pounded the area with more airstrikes.
The occupying regime has been attacking the besieged enclave frenziedly after Hamas fighters stormed through occupied towns last Saturday and killed some 1,300 Zionists.
Gaza authorities say more than 2,200 people have been martyred, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded.
Israel had given the population of the northern half of the Gaza Strip, which includes the enclave’s biggest settlement Gaza City, until Saturday morning to move south.
As the deadline passed, troops were massing around the Gaza Strip. Outside Gaza, hardline prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli infantrymen and told them to be ready for “the next stage,” without elaborating.
Hamas has told people not to leave and says roads out are unsafe. It says dozens of people had been martyred in strikes on cars and trucks carrying refugees on Friday.
In Gaza City’s Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood, in the area Israel ordered evacuated, warplanes bombed a residential area during the night hitting several houses, according to residents who took refuge at the nearby Al Quds hospital.
“We lived a night of horror. Israel punished us for not wanting to leave our home. Is there brutality worse than this?” a father of three said by telephone from the hospital.
“I was never going to leave, I prefer to die and not leave, but I can’t see my wife and children die before my eyes.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent said it had received an Israeli order to evacuate the hospital by 4:00 pm, but would not do so because it had a humanitarian duty to keep providing services to the sick and wounded.
One million people, almost half Gaza’s population, have fled their homes in the past week including hundreds of thousands headed south from northern Gaza after the Israeli order, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said.
In Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli planes struck a four-storey building overnight, neighbors rushed to rescue people.
A Gaza journalist filmed an ambulance crew searching for survivors of a nighttime airstrike. A paramedic could be seen walking into an alley lit by a headlamp when a huge flash from another strike burst in front of him. Medics raced into ambulances and sped off as planes roared above. One injured medic screamed: “My eyes! My eyes!”
Hamas’s armed wing said nine captives including four foreigners had been killed overnight due to Israeli airstrikes.
Attacks on Gaza failed to halt Hamas missile strikes deep into Israeli cities. Air raid sirens wailed in central Occupied Palestine on Saturday and rockets smashed into a greenhouse in Asqalan and wounded four people at a kibbutz.
Hamas has vowed to fight until the last drop of blood, and says the order to leave the north of the enclave is a trick to force residents to give up their homes.
The Israeli violence in Gaza has been accompanied by the deadliest clashes at Lebanon’s northern border since 2006, raising fears of war spreading to another front.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement said it had fired at five Israeli outposts in the Shebaa Farms area with guided missiles and mortar bombs.
The United States has firmly backed its ally the occupying regime of Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a lightning tour of the Middle East, sought China’s cooperation in preventing the Israel-Hamas conflict from widening during a phone call with his Chinese counterpart.
Washington is determined to ensure Iran and resistance groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah do not enter the conflict.
Israeli raids on the eighth day of its ongoing bombardment in Gaza have killed an average of over two Palestinians every 10 minutes, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement.
Saturday was shaping up to be the deadliest day since the Zionist regime started a brutal indiscriminate bombing campaign in Gaza.
Non-stop raids across overcrowded areas on Saturday have so far left at least 310 people martyred by the time of filing this report. Scores more were martyred since this tally was announced by the Palestinian ministry of health.
On average, at least 273 Palestinians have been killed each day since 7 October. However,
the intensity of Israeli shelling appears to be growing each day, with the daily death toll spiking with it.
The intensifying bombing campaign is happening while Israel cuts electricity, fuel, food and water supply to Gaza and blocks aid from entering through Egypt.
Palestinian civilians and officials in Gaza have warned that a humanitarian disaster is unfolding with hospitals, medics, relief agencies, and news organizations nearing a complete collapse of their operations.
Clean and drinking water is running out, forcing people to use dirty water from wells and increasing risks of waterborne diseases, the UNRWA said.
Water supply has also been impacted by the total electricity blackout imposed by Israel since 11 October.
An Israeli army veteran who was involved in a 1948 massacre of Palestinian civilians called on Zionists to “erase the memory of... families, mothers and children”.
Ezra Yachin, 95, is one of more than 300,000 army reservists mobilized by Israel since war broke out with Hamas in Gaza a week ago.
“Be triumphant and finish them off and don’t leave anyone behind. Erase the memory of them,” Yachin said while addressing Israeli troops this week, in a video that has since gone viral.
“Erase them, their families, mothers and children. These animals can no longer live.
“Every Jew with a weapon should go out and kill them. If you have an Arab neighbor, don’t wait, go to his home and shoot him.”
Israeli columnist and journalist Gideon Levy said the Zionist regime’s order to forcibly eject 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza from their homes within 24 hours is “impossible, illegal, inhuman and impractical”.
“In other words, Israel is threatening to commit a war crime the likes of which we have not seen since the Nakba of 1948,” Levy said in an op-ed published on Middle East Eye.
“These are dark days. Dark days for Israelis, who woke up last Saturday to a reality that turned upside-down their conception of their world that they had embraced for years.”
-- Blinken’s Blinkered Mission to Satrapies to Whitewash Israeli Crimes
For the past two-and-a-three quarter years we have constantly heard the name ‘Antony Blinken’, a dyed-in-the-wool Zionist, serving as Secretary of State to the US regime of Joe Biden, and presently on a tour of pro-American Arab states to try to whitewash the crimes against humanity of Usurper Israel by depicting the liberation movement HAMAS as ‘terroristic’ and not representing the persecuted Palestinian nation.
Descended from Ukrainian Jews on his father’s side and Hungarian Jews on his mother’s side (Khazar converts to Judaism, of course, and not the Israelite tribes of the past who share Semitic roots with the Arabs), he first landed in Tel Aviv to felicitate child-killer Benjamin Netanyahu for the genocide in Gaza with tidings of more lethal weapons from the US for massacre of defenceless people.
His tone during talks with senior officials of Arab states – foreign ministers, prime ministers, presidents, princes, and kings – was authoritative like that of an overlord giving orders to appointees to take necessary steps (brutal if required) to control the religious and nationalistic sentiments of the Muslim people they rule from bursting into open anger against Israel and support for the Palestinians.
The person who had advocated the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 while serving as Democratic Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee actually conveyed to the world the plain truth which the so-called ‘friendly Arab’ rulers go to great lengths to hide.
The reality is now crystal clear. These unelected rulers do not represent the people they rule and are nothing more than satraps of a hegemonic power (formerly of Britain and now of the US) given the permission to lavishly enjoy the wealth of the lands under their control, provided they slavishly serve imperialist interests, including subservience to Usurper Israel and its legitimizing of the illegal occupation of Palestine, even if it requires desecration and destruction of the sacred al-Aqsa Mosque and obliteration of the entire Palestinian nation.
This reminds us in the Islamic Republic of what the Iranian people endured for 54 humiliating years under the unrepresentative Pahlavi duo of father and son, who were imposed upon the nation as direct appointees of London, which during World War 2 handed them over to Washington’s thralldom.
It was the Iranian people’s Islamic grassroots movements under the inspiring leadership of Imam Khomeini (RA) which in 1979 cast into the dustbin of history a rootless regime and freed Iran from western hegemony.
No wonder, the US, Britain, and their comrades-in-crimes against humanity have continued to intensely hate the Islamic Republic for the past 45 years through all sorts of plots, such as an abortive invasion, an 8-year unsuccessful imposed war, an unabated spate of terrorism, an unceasing propaganda tirade, and an unsuccessful string of sanctions – all of which have failed to stop the spectacular progress in all fields of Iran and its positive influence on the peoples of the region and beyond, including the unstoppable struggle of the Palestinian people for the liberation of their homeland.
In short, Operation Al-Aqsa Storm is indeed a terrible earthquake, which despite the brutal western-supported massacre of the people of Gaza will soon see the obliteration of the illegal Zionist entity, whether the blinkered Blinken (a non-Semitic Jew) and the duped so-called Christian heads of North America and Europe who have turned a blind eye to the slandering of Jesus and the Virgin Mary by Israel, like it or not.
-- Envoy: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood Purely Palestinian Decision
Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations has categorically rejected groundless accusations about the Islamic Republic’s involvement in retaliatory Palestinian strikes on the occupied territories.
Amir Saeid Iravani, in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, dismissed the allegations, reiterated recently by the Israeli regime’s envoy, saying the Palestinian operation was a purely Palestinian decision.
It came days after The Wall Street Journal claimed that Iranian security officials helped plan Palestinian resistance movement Hamas’s surprise attack against the Israeli regime and gave the greenlight for the operation.
Top Iranian officials, including Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi, have already dismissed the claim while reiterating the Islamic Republic’s support for Palestinian resistance.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically and explicitly rejects any unfounded claim about its involvement in Palestine’s response to Israeli occupation and aggression,” Iravani told Guterres in the letter.
“The recent decisions and measures taken by Palestine’s resistance groups are solely determined by the Palestinians themselves and are firmly rooted in the fundamental principle of self-determination,” he added.
Stressing that Palestinian people have endured 75 years of relentless aggression, violence, racial discrimination and apartheid policies imposed by the Zionist regime, Iravani said the occupation of their lands continues with the siege of their cities, the destruction and confiscation of their property and agricultural lands, and the forced displacement of residents from their homes by the Israeli regime.
Denouncing Israel’s ongoing crimes against Palestinians as a clear violation of the norms of international law, Iran’s UN envoy said, “It is regrettable that the international community’s response to these severe violations has fallen short in holding those responsible accountable.”
Iravani said, “The absence of accountability and the deafening silence of the United Nations Security Council have reduced long-standing UN resolutions to mere words.”
The ambassador further warned against the continuation of Israeli crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and called on the international community to step forward and stop the violence.
“Now, the world is witnessing yet another horrific uptick in atrocities and collective punishment against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip that qualify as crimes against humanity and war crimes, orchestrated by the Israeli regime,” he said.
“Failure of the international community to intervene promptly could lead to a full-fledged humanitarian crisis with far-reaching consequences,” he added.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran urges the international community, United Nations member states, and, in particular, the Security Council to shoulder their responsibilities and take decisive action, compelling the Israeli regime to put an end to its occupation, atrocities, and aggressive actions, and to steadfastly comply with its international obligations, including those under international humanitarian law and human rights law,” Iravani added.
-- Thousands Rally in London, New York in Solidarity With Palestinians
Thousands of people rallied Saturday in central London for a pro-Palestinian protest following police warnings that anyone showing support for the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas could face arrest.
Attendees, who gathered near BBC News’ headquarters through the morning, began a march through the British capital ahead of an afternoon rally near parliament and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street office and residence.
Some displayed Palestinian flags and placards -- bearing slogans including “freedom for Palestine”, “end the massacre” and “sanctions for Israel” -- as they made their way towards the end-point for a series of planned speeches.
“I think all just people around the world, not just in Britain, must stand up and call for this madness (to end),” Ismail Patel, chairman of the Friends of Al-Aqsa campaign, told AFP at the demonstration.
“Otherwise, in the next few days, (we) might see a catastrophe unfolding.”
The rally comes as the occupying regime intensifies its war to destroy Gaza, relentlessly pounding the coastal strip and deploying tens of thousands of troops nearby ahead of a likely ground offensive in the enclave.
Furthermore, thousands of people took to the streets of Times Square in New York City on Friday wearing red, black and green, the colors of the Palestinian flag, shouting their support for Palestinians in lieu of the bombardments Israel is inflicting on the Gaza Strip.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” swarms of people shouted on the already-crowded streets of Times Square on Friday.
Security was packed in what was anticipated to be one of the largest protests in New York City in support of Palestine in the last few days.
In New York City, police officers stood on every corner monitoring the protests and the counter-protests that were to follow.
“Every member of the New York Police Department (NYPD) will be ready and be in uniform tomorrow,” New York Police Department chief of patrol John Chell said on Thursday.
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- UN condemns Israel’s deadline for Gaza evacuation
The United Nations has branded the Israeli evacuation order for more than one million Gaza residents to head to the southern Gaza Strip as “horrendous” and says the small enclave was rapidly becoming a “hellhole”. The UN Palestinian refugee agency has hit out at Israel’s order, saying, “This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and further push people in Gaza into abyss,” General Philippe Lazzarini, its commissioner, said. More than 423,000 people have already been displaced, he added. “The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling. Gaza is fast becoming a hellhole and is on the brink of collapse. “There is no exception, all parties must uphold the laws of war; humanitarian assistance must be provided at all times to civilians,” Lazzarini remarked.
-- U.S. shifts blame to Iran to fade Israel’s defeat
The Wall Street Journal published an analysis on October 13 titled “America’s Middle East Imperative: Contain Iran.” It was an attempt by Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh to mitigate Israel’s defeats. Washington and Tel Aviv have always sought excuses for their miscalculations by blaming Iran. The article follows the same footsteps by claiming that the Hamas Storm operation was backed by Iran since the scale of Israel’s casualties has made the Zionists evade responsibility and claim the operation was backed by Tehran. Pursuing its policies in West Asia, the White House counted too much on Tel Aviv and Riyadh, hoping for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords and leave the Palestinian cause to be gradually forgotten. Neither the heavy expenditure of the U.S. nor its closest ally Israel could extend the hands of the White House in the region.
-- ‘Everyone’s finger on the trigger,’ Iran FM says
The secretary-general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Sayid Hassan Nasrallah, has reaffirmed the combat readiness of the resistance forces in the Arab country, telling the visiting Iranian foreign minister that all options are on the table. Hezbollah’s warning comes amid brutal Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip that is causing huge civilian casualties. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met with Nasrallah in Beirut as part of a regional tour that included Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. In the meeting, the situation in Palestine was discussed. The two sides also discussed the complete readiness of the Palestinian resistance groups to confront the Israeli aggression. The Iranian foreign minister briefed the Hezbollah chief on Iran’s diplomatic efforts regarding Palestine, including the push for an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Amir Abdollahian also explained Iran’s efforts to end the cruel Israeli siege of Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, including medicine, food, water, electricity, and fuel, to the people of Gaza.
-- Qatar committed to transferring Iran’s freed funds through SWIFT, LCs: chief banker
Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani, the governor of Qatar Central Bank has said that Qatar completely adheres to all its obligations with Iran and there is no obstacle in the way of transferring the Islamic Republic’s freed funds through SWIFT and Letter of credit (LC). The Qatari official made the remarks in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad-Reza Farzin on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Morocco, IRNA reported on Saturday. Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani pointed to the fundamental and good measures that have been taken in the past few days regarding the use of Iran’s financial resources in Qatar, saying, “The rumors rose about this in the past one or two days have no real value and were mostly like a joke and a media gossip.” Iran rejected a report that said the country had been barred from accessing its $6.0 billion funds recently unfrozen and transferred to Qatari banks as reported by U.S. media.
-- Iran denies allegations of meddling in Al-Aqsa Storm attack
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has categorically rejected Israel’s accusation that Iran intervened in the Palestinians’ response to the regime’s occupation of their lands and repeated aggressions against them. Amir Saeid Iravani made the remarks in letters written to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Security Council President Sérgio França Danese on Friday. The Islamic Republic “strongly rejects any claims made by Zionists about Iran’s meddling in the unprecedented Palestinian operation dubbed Al Aqsa Storm against the regime,” Iravani stated. Below is the text of Iravani’s letter: I am writing to you in response to the letter dated 7 October 2023 from the representative of the Israeli regime addressed to the United Nations Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council (S/2023/742). In the letter, the representative of the Israeli regime has once again endeavored to justify and cover up the ongoing heinous crimes against the vulnerable and defenseless people of Palestine by making baseless allegations against my country.
NOURNEWS