NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Sunday, October 29, 2023.
IRAN DAILY:
-- Crude exports to China top 1.8 mbd: Kpler data
Iran's oil exports to China topped 1.8 million barrels per day in October, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.
Foreign experts and journalists have admitted that the structure of sanctions against Iran’s oil sales has completely collapsed, Fars news agency wrote on Saturday.
Kpler announced on Friday a record daily exports of more than 1.8 million barrels of Iranian oil to China this month.
In October, Iran was the largest exporter of oil to China, after Russia, as the country surpassed Saudi Arabia by a significant margin. This jump in exports is mainly due to the huge volume of oil reserves in Iran’s floating storage.
Earlier, Kpler had announced in a report that Iran’s floating storage has become zero, while at the beginning of the incumbent government in 2021, about 60 million barrels of Iranian oil remained floating on sea storages, with no customers.
According to the released statistics, the average daily exports of Iranian oil to China during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year was 1.235 mbd, which is 84% more than the figure for the same period last year.
However, the historical record-breaking of Iran’s oil exports has been accompanied by different reactions among domestic and foreign journalists and experts.
Homayoun Falakshahi, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler, wrote on his X page: “Iran has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China’s top seaborne oil supplier in October (Russia remains first when including piped flows), thanks to a massive destocking of crude from floating storage. Arrivals of Iranian crude have averaged >1.8 mbd mtd, a new record - data from @Kpler”.
Javier Blas, energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg also wrote on his X page: “Not only is Iran boosting its production, but it has all but liquidated its massive holding of floating oil storage. Either the White House allowed it, or it is unable to stop it; either way, the sanctions regime has crumbled.”
-- Iran to prepare comprehensive plan for transit: Deputy minister
Iran’s Roads and Urban Development Ministry has started preparation of a comprehensive plan for the development of the country’s transportation industry, said Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Shahriar Afandizadeh on Saturday.
“The country’s comprehensive transportation plan is a document based on which all of the country’s short-, medium-, and long-term plans for the development of transportation infrastructure should be organized in all sub-sectors,” Afandizadeh explained, ISNA reported.
As the most important upstream document for the development of the country’s transportation infrastructure, the plan came under the spotlight decades ago but hasn’t been realized so far due to various reasons.
“Over the past few years, the plan has been specifically put on the agenda of the Roads Ministry and will be finalized soon,” he said.
According to the official, to compile the mentioned plan, the country’s top scientific and academic centers and consulting engineers, with the highest ranks in the field of road and transportation, have cooperated with the ministry.
The plan is being drafted in three main sections, including determining the optimal transportation network based on environmental and economic indicators and criteria.
Transport expo
Meanwhile, the Seventh International Exhibition of Transportation, Logistics, and Related Industries (Iran Trans Expo 2023) will be held in Tehran during December 18-20, IRNA reported.
The exhibition is organized by Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and the Fund for Innovation and Prosperity of Unions and Associations.
According to Gholamreza Rezaei, the director of the exhibition, the main goal of the exhibition is to showcase the latest achievements and products in the transportation industry in order to promote competitiveness among the companies and entities active in the sector.
The exhibition will be participated by companies from Iran and several foreign countries including, Russia, China, Spain, and France, Rezaei told reporters.
He noted that due to the capabilities of knowledge-based companies and startups, in order to maximize their participation, financial support programs and facilities have been considered for such companies.
-- Iran exports $10.4m stems of flower, ornamental plants
An official at Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture said that the official statistics show the country exported about 12,300 tons of ornamental plants and flowers, worth about $10.4 million, in the last Iranian year (March 21, 2022, to March 20, 2023).
Elham Fattahifar told IRNA that Iran produces over four billion flowers and ornamental plants, in an area of over 8,250 hectares of greenhouses and open spaces.
Some 610 billion ornamental plants and flowers are cultivated on 640,000 hectares throughout the world per annum, she said adding that Iran ranks fifth among nations in Asia, with the plantation of over 4.295 billion flowers and ornamental plants.
The statistics show that Iran produced ornamental plants and flowers worth around 940 billion rials (about $1.9 billion) in the Iranian year (March 21, 2021, to March 20, 2022), the official noted.
According to Fattahifar, the highest production level of ornamental plants and flowers in Iran belongs to Tehran Province, with 1,720 hectares under cultivation, followed by Mazandaran and Markazi provinces, with 1,322 hectares and 1,133 hectares, respectively.
-- Iran bags 44 golds, pips Japan to runner-up spot
The two-horse race for the runner-up place in the 4th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China, ended in Iran’s favor as the country overtook Japan to finish behind China in the medals table.
Having spent the best part of the seven-day event in the second place, the Iranians had fallen behind the Japanese on Friday before the final-day heroics saw Iran ultimately collect 44 golds – two more than what the Japanese tallied.
Iranian athletes also grabbed 46 silvers and 41 bronze medals while the host, as expected, dominated the Games with 521 medals – including an all-time record of 214 golds.
Fatemeh Amirzadegani and Mehrdad Moradi brought the curtain down on a glittering athletics campaign for Iran in Hangzhou as the former was the first to cross the finish line in the women’s 400m T12 final, with the latter walking away with the ultimate prize of the men’s event.
Zafar Zaker, meanwhile, registered a best attempt of 33.58m to take the silver in the men’s javelin throw F55 contest.
In the chess competitions, Maliheh Safaei won the women’s individual rapid gold in the VI-B1 RND7 class with the Iranian women also beating Indonesia to the top spot in the team event of the category.
Abolfazl Kazemian (silver), Leila Zarezadeh (bronze), and Atefeh Naqavi (bronze) were also among the Iranian medalists on Saturday as the country notched up a total 15 chess medals – including four golds – in Hangzhou.
Elsewhere on the final day, the Iranian powerlifters dominated the men’s superheavyweight contest, while Nikoo Rouzbahani’s 126kg lift sealed the women’s +86kg bronze for her.
Ahmad Aminzadeh bagged the men’s +107kg gold, thanks to a third lift of 266kg.
Aminzadeh’s fellow Iranian Mahdi Sayyadi settled for the silver with 244kg – nine kilograms clear of Jordanian bronze winner Jamil Elshebli, who had won the gold at the Tokyo Paralympics two years ago.
Aminzadeh went on to pay tribute to the late Iranian sensation Siamand Rahman, who passed away at the age of 31 in 2020 but remains the world record holder of the men’s superheavyweight class with 310kg, describing the two-time Paralympic champion as “an unrepeatable legend, whose absence will always be felt in the Iranian team.”
There were also medals for Iran in blind football – men’s silver – as well as archery competitions – Mohammadreza Zandi’s bronze in the men’s individual W1 open event – as the country celebrated a best-ever finish in the medals table since the Asian Para Games were first introduced in 2010.
Female athletes took credit for 40 medals of Iran’s haul – 12 of which were golds – with archers Zahra Nemati and Mohammadreza Arab teaming up for the sole Iranian mixed medal in Hangzhou – a team recurve open gold.
The athletics competitions were the most prolific event for the Iranians, yielding 20 golds, coupled with 20 silvers and 10 bronzes.
Iranian swimmer Sina Zeighaminejad also enjoyed a memorable run in this year’s Games, collecting three gold medals and a silver.
-- Ganjzadeh wins world karate bronze
Iran’s Sajjad Ganjzadeh finished his campaign at the World Karate Championships in Budapest with a bronze medal.
Representing the country in the men’s kumite +84kg contests, Ganjzadeh – an Olympic champion two years ago – bounced back from a last-four loss to Frenchman Mehdi Filali to beat Croatian Andelo Kvesic 1-0 in the third-place bout.
In a repeat of the final showdown at the Tokyo Olympics, Ganjzadeh had defeated Saudi karateka Tareg Hamedi before a quarterfinal triumph against Babacar Seck of Spain.
A winner of seven world medals prior to the event in Budapest, Ganjzadeh celebrated a third major medal in 2023, following the bronze in July’s Asian Championships as well as the gold medal at the recently-finished Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Ganjzadeh was also a part of the Iranian kumite team – a winner of three successive world golds between 2014 and 2018 – which was stunned by a 3-2 defeat against Azerbaijan in the last-eight round in Budapest.
Ganjazadeh’s medal was the first at this year’s event for Iran, which had to send a depleted squad to the Hungarian capital after the host country refused to issue entry visas for the male kata representative Ali Zand as well as the country’s female kata trio and the whole para karate team.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- Iran: Zionists Commit Crimes With U.S. Support
Iran’s foreign ministry said Saturday the occupying regime of Israel would not dare commit so many crimes and genocide against Palestinians if it weren’t for the United States’ support.
“If it weren’t for the support offered by the U.S. and some Western governments, would the Zionists dare commit so many crimes and genocide against Palestinians?” ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani wrote on X. The Zionist regime, he said, has stepped up its air, sea and ground strikes on different parts of the coastal sliver and the brutal killing of Palestinian civilians.
-- Over 40,000 Illegal Immigrants Arrested
The commander of the border guard police of Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan on Saturday announced the arrest of 40,509 illegal Afghan nationals at the Iranian borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Brigadier General Reza Shojaei told IRNA that those arrested were attempting to enter Iran illegally. Shojaei emphasized that maintaining border security is a top priority for his border guard forces.
-- Poll: U.S. Household Expenses Outpacing Earnings
About 2 in 3 Americans say their household expenses have risen over the last year, but only about 1 in 4 say their income has increased in the same period, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
As household expenses outpace earnings, many are expressing concern about their financial futures. What’s more, for most Americans, household debt has either risen in the last year or has not gone away.
Steve Shapiro, 61, who works as an audio engineer in Pittsburgh, said he’d been spending about $100 a week on groceries prior to this past year, but that he’s now shelling out closer to $200.
“My income has stayed the same,” he said. “The economy is good on paper, but I’m not doing great.”
About 8 in 10 Americans say their overall household debt is higher or about the same as it was a year ago. About half say they currently have credit card debt, 4 in 10 are dealing with auto loans, and about 1 in 4 have medical debt. Just 15% say their household savings have increased over the last year.
Tracy Gonzales, 36, who works as a sub-contractor in construction in San Antonio, Texas, has several thousand dollars of medical debt from an emergency room visit for what she thought was a bad headache but turned out to be a tooth infection.
“They’ll treat you, but the bills are crazy,” she said. Gonzales said she’s tried to avoid seeking medical treatment because of the costs.
Relatively few Americans say they’re very or extremely confident that they could pay an unexpected medical expense (26%) or have enough money for retirement (18%). Only about one-third are extremely or very confident their current financial situation will allow them to keep up with expenses, though an additional 42% say they’re somewhat confident.
“I’ve been looking forward to retirement my entire life. Recently I realized it’s just not going to happen,” said Shapiro, of Pittsburgh, adding that his wife’s $30,000 or so of student debt is a financial factor for his household. The couple had hoped to sell their house and move this past year, but decided instead to hold on to their mortgage rate of 3.4%, rather than facing a higher rate. ( The current average long-term mortgage rate reached 7.79% this month. )
About 3 in 10 Americans say they’ve foregone a major purchase because of higher interest rates in the last year. Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. adults have student debt, with the pandemic-era payment pause on federal loans ending this month, contributing to the crunch.
Will Clouse, 77, of Westlake, Ohio, said inflation is his biggest concern, as he lives on a fixed income in his retirement.
“A box of movie candy — Sno-Caps — that used to cost 99 cents is now a dollar fifty at the grocery store,” he said. “That’s a 50% increase in price. Somebody’s taking advantage of somebody.”
Yet even as Americans have expressed gloomy sentiments about the economy, many have continued spending, which drove a strong quarter of growth from July though September, when the economy expanded at an annual pace of 4.9%.
Even so, wages and salaries have largely trailed inflation since the pandemic, leaving most households worse off, though economists debate which measures are the best to use. In the past 12 months, however, average hourly pay has started to pull ahead of prices, rising 0.5% faster.
Americans are generally split on whether the Republicans (29%) or the Democrats (25%) are better suited to handle the issue of inflation in the U.S. Three in 10 say they trust neither party to address it.
Geri Putnam, 85, of Thomson, Georgia, said she’s been following the ongoing auto workers strikes with sympathy for the workers’ asks.
“I don’t think it’s out of line, what they’re asking for, when you see what CEOs are making,” she said. “I think things have gotten out of control. When you can walk into a store and see the next day, across the board, a dollar increase — that’s a little strange. I understand supply and demand, the cost of shipping, et cetera. But it seems to me everyone’s looking at their bottom lines.”
Putnam also said she sees her six
children struggling financially more than her generation did.
“They all have jobs and have never been without them,” she said. “They’re achievers, but I think at least two or three of them will never be able to buy a home.”
A slight majority of all Americans polled (54%) describe their household’s financial situation as good, which is about the same as it’s been for the last year but down from 63% in March of 2022. Older Americans are much more confident in their current finances than younger Americans. Just 39% of 18- to 29-year-olds describe their household finances as good, compared to a majority (58%) of those who are 30 and older. People with higher levels of education or higher household incomes are more likely than Americans overall to evaluate their finances as solid.
About three-quarters of Americans describe the nation’s economy as poor, which is in line with measurements from early last year.
Among those who are retired, 3 in 10 say they are highly confident that there’s enough saved for their retirement, about 4 in 10 are somewhat confident, and 31% are not very confident or not confident at all.
Clouse, of Ohio, said the majority of his money had gone towards caring for his wife for the past several years, as she’d been ill. When she passed away this past year, his household lost her Social Security and pension contributions. He sees the political turmoil between Republicans and Democrats as harming the economy, but remains most frustrated by higher prices at the supermarket.
“Grocery products going up by 20, 30, 40%. There’s no call for that, other than the grocery market people making more money,” he said. “They’re ripping off the consumer. I wish Mr. Biden would do something about that.”
About 4 in 10 Americans (38%) approve of how Biden is handling the presidency, while 61% disapprove. His overall approval numbers have remained at a steady low for the last several years. Most Americans generally disapprove of how he’s handling the federal budget (68% disapprove), the economy (67%), and student debt (58%).
-- Millions Rally in Solidarity With Palestinians
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators rallied in cities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia on Saturday to show support for the Palestinians as Israel’s military widened its air and ground aggression on the Gaza Strip.
In one of the biggest marches, in London, aerial footage showed large crowds marching through the center of the capital to demand the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak call for a ceasefire.
“The superpowers at play are not doing enough at the moment. This is why we’re here: we’re calling for a ceasefire, calling for Palestinian rights, the right to exist, to live, human rights, all our rights,” said protester Camille Revuelta.
“This is not about Hamas. This is about protecting Palestinian lives,” she added.
Echoing Washington’s stance, Sunak’s government has stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, and instead advocated intermittent pauses to allow insignificant aid to reach people in Gaza.
Britain has supported the Zionist regime’s brutal campaign against Gaza. There has been strong support from Western governments, but the Israeli atrocities have prompted anger in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere across the world.
In Malaysia, a large crowd of demonstrators chanted slogans outside the U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Addressing hundreds of thousands of supporters at a huge rally in Istanbul, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that his country was making preparations to proclaim Israel a “war criminal” for its actions in Gaza.
Erdogan’s government recently restored full diplomatic ties with Israel, whose foreign minister on Saturday said he had ordered the return of the Zionist regime’s diplomatic mission from Turkey to reassess ties.
Iraqis took part in a rally in Baghdad and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian protesters in Al-Khalil called on Saturday for a global boycott of Israeli products.
“Don’t contribute to the killing of the children of Palestine,” they chanted.
Elsewhere in Europe, people took to the streets of Copenhagen, Rome and Stockholm.
Some cities in France have banned rallies since the war began, fearing they could fuel social tensions, but despite a ban in Paris, a rally took place on Saturday. Several hundred people also marched in the southern city of Marseille.
In New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, thousands of people holding Palestinian flags and placards
reading “Free Palestine” marched to Parliament House.
In London, special restrictions were in place restricting protests around the Israeli embassy.
Saturday’s march was peaceful, but police said they had made two arrests. Police estimated the turnout at between 50,000 and 70,000 people.
Hundreds of protesters demanding a ceasefire forced the closure of Grand Central Terminal, one of New York City’s major transit hubs, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.
“Grand Central Terminal is closed until further notice due to a protest,” the MTA said on its website, urging commuters to use alternate stations and plan for extra travel time.
“Mourn the dead, and fight like hell for the living,” read one banner raised inside the building.
Images on social media showed protesters pouring out of the train station and onto 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and a large crowd being detained by law enforcement.
The group Jewish Voice for Peace, which organized the demonstration, posted a video on Instagram showing police in the station escorting a long line of protesters, who were wearing shirts reading “Cease Fire Now” and “Not In Our Name” with their arms secured behind their backs.
“HUNDREDS OF JEWS AND ALLIES ARE GETTING ARRESTED IN WHAT IS LIKELY THE BIGGEST MASS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE NYC HAS SEEN IN TWO DECADES,” the group wrote in the post.
The scene echoed last week’s sit-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, where Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building. More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating.
-- Gaza Fighters Confront Zionist Troops With ‘Full Force’
The occupying regime of Israel on Saturday said it had expanded its ground invasion in Gaza, sending in tanks and infantry backed by massive strikes from the air and sea, with Hamas and other resistance fighters saying they were ready to confront attacks with “full force”.
Zionist war minister Yoav Gallant said that the war against the besieged territory had entered a new stage.
The bombardment, described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war, also knocked out most communications in Gaza. This largely cut off the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people from the world, while enabling the Zionist military to control the narrative in the new stage of its brutal aggression.
His comments signaled a gradual ramping up toward what the occupying regime has threatened to evolve into an all-out ground invasion of northern Gaza, but many observers doubt Israeli troops to venture into the deadly trap of war-seasoned Palestinian fighters.
Early in the war, Israel amassed hundreds of thousands of troops along the fence. Until now, troops had conducted brief nightly ground incursions before fleeing back to the occupied territories.
Hamas said on Saturday its fighters in Gaza were ready to confront Zionist attacks with “full force”.
“The Al-Qassam brigades and all the Palestinian resistance forces are completely ready to confront aggression with full force and frustrate its incursions,” Hamas said in a statement.
“Netanyahu and his defeated army will not be able to achieve any military victory,” Hamas said referring to Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Palestinian group said late on Friday that its members were fighting with Israeli troops in areas near the Gaza fence.
More than 1,400 Zionists were killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7 operation, according to the Israeli regime.
Palestinian fighters have fired thousands of rockets into Zionist targets over the past three weeks.
The conflict has threatened to ignite a wider war across the region. Arab nations — including U.S. allies and ones that have reached peace deals or normalized ties with Israel — have raised increasing alarm over a potential ground invasion.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza on Saturday rose to just over 7,700 people since Oct. 7, with 377 deaths reported since late Friday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. A majority of those killed have been women and minors, the ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told reporters that the disruption of communications has “totally paralyzed” the health network. Residents had no way of calling ambulances, and emergency teams were chasing the sounds of artillery barrages and airstrikes to search for people in need.
An estimated 1,700 people remain trapped beneath the rubble, according to the health ministry, which has said it bases its estimates on distress calls it received.
Some civilians were using their bare hands to pull injured people from the rubble and loading them into personal cars or donkey carts to rush them to the hospital. In a video posted by local news media, Palestinians were sprinting down a ravaged street with a wounded man covered in the dust of a building’s collapse while he winced, eyes shut, on a stretcher. “Ambulance! Ambulance!” the men shouted as they shoved the stretcher into the back of a pickup truck and shouted at the driver, “Go! Go!”
Some Gaza residents traveled by foot or car to check on relatives and friends. “The bombs were everywhere, the building was shaking,” said Hind al-Khudary, a journalist in central Gaza and one of a few people with cellphone service. “We can’t reach anyone or contact anyone. I do not know where my family is.”
The World Health Organization appealed to “the humanity in all those who have the power to do so to end the fighting now” in Gaza. “There are more wounded every hour. But ambulances cannot reach them in the communications blackout. Morgues are full. More than half of the dead are women and children,” it said in a statement, and it expressed “grave concerns” about reported bombardment near hospitals in the northern half of Gaza.
Palestinians say this war is robbing them not only of their loved ones but also of the funeral rites that long have offered mourners some dignity and closure in the midst of unbearable grief. Overcrowded cemeteries have compelled families to dig up long-buried bodies and deepen the holes.
Across Gaza, terrified civilians were huddling in homes and shelters with food and water supplies running out. Electricity was knocked out by Israel in the early stages of the war.
More than 1.4 million people have fled their homes, nearly half crowding into UN schools and shelters, following indiscriminate
bombings of the Zionist regime in northern Gaza.
The military issued warnings Saturday, in leaflets dropped over Gaza. A large number of residents have not evacuated to the south, in part because the occupying regime has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones where conditions are increasingly dire.
Amid an inhuman blockade, Gaza hospitals have been scrounging for fuel to run emergency generators that power incubators and other life-saving equipment.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which runs an extensive network of shelters and schools for nearly half the displaced Gaza residents, has lost contact with most of its staff, spokeswoman Juliette Touma said Saturday. She said that coordinating aid efforts was now “extremely challenging.”
The intensified air and ground aggression raised new concerns about dozens of captives dragged into Gaza on Oct. 7. On Saturday, hundreds of relatives of captives gathered in a square in downtown Tel Aviv and demanded that the regime put the return of their loved ones ahead.
The spokesman of the Hamas military wing on Saturday offered a comprehensive swap of captives for the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The spokesman, using the nom de guerre Abu Obeida, said in a televised speech that the price for freeing the captives, said by Israel to number 229, is “emptying the Zionist prisons of all detainees.”
The Zionist army spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said four captives were released in recent days through mediation by Qatar and Egypt. Hagari dismissed news reports about a possible ceasefire deal in exchange for the release of captives.
In a written statement, UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was surprised by Israel’s unprecedented escalation of bombardments overnight on Gaza.
“This situation must be reversed,” he wrote.
The UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities. It was the first UN response to the ongoing Israeli brutalities.
-- Scholz’s Foolish/Fiendish Support for Israel’s Crimes
The casualty toll of the unabated almost 3-week genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip is nearly 8,000 dead, of whom 2,000 are innocent children, while most of the other victims are women, in addition to twenty-five thousand injured – many of them in critical condition in the absence of medicine, bombing of hospitals and killing of doctors, nurses and paramedics – all of which have shocked the civilized world, yet the German Chancellor has ignored these crimes against humanity by issuing a statement that could either be called foolish or fiendish.
Olaf Scholz, at last Thursday’s 5-hour long summit of European Union in Brussels on ways to tone down the carnage of the defencless, even raised the eyebrows of many of his counterparts – none of whom sympathetic to the Palestinian cause but articulately concealing their pro-Israeli stance, when he said:
“Israel is a democratic state with very humanitarian principles guiding it, and therefore, you can be sure that the Israeli army, in what it does, will also observe the rules that follow from international law. I have no doubt about that.”
His sadistic remarks showed his slavish mentality towards Zionism, which since the end of World War 2 and forging of the myth of the holocaust, has made European leaders, especially those of Germany, to laud the savagery of Usurper Israel against the indigenous people of Palestine as ‘humanitarian’.
Scholz and his ilk appear as no more than puppets who have sacrificed the dignity of Europe by acting as per the script drafted by Britain and the US – the creator and the blind backer of the illegal Zionist entity respectively, or more properly, the two victors of the 1939-45 war that killed 50 million Christians and many Muslims, while only a few thousand Jews may have lost their life.
It is a pity that the proud German people who gave to the world such eminent figures as Johannes Gutenberg (scientist), Martin Luther (religious reformer), Johann Sebastian Bach (musician), Johann Wolfgang Goethe (poet/philosopher), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer), Otto von Bismarck (statesman), and Paul Gottlieb Nipkow (inventor) are being held hostage by the non-Semitic Khazar converts to Judaism who were illegally installed as rulers of Palestine and mischievously called ‘Israelis’, while they have no connection whatsoever to the ancient Israelite tribes, most of whose descendants today are Muslims and Christians – mercilessly being massacred by the Zionists.
It is time the German people wake up to the realities and assert their independence from the American stranglehold which has detached most Europeans from their history and turned their countries into US military bases for proliferation of terrorism worldwide – in Ukraine, in Africa, and in West Asia.
As for the Palestinians, they will never be decimated from their homeland and continue to offer martyrs in tens of thousands until the last Zionist is kicked off from the Levant.
-- Indigenous Arms Tested as Drill Wraps Up
The Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Force has launched the upgraded versions of a series of domestically-developed missiles during large-scale military exercises in Isfahan which end on Saturday.
Codenamed Eghtedar (Authority) 1402 and held in Nasrabad region, the drill saw the Army Ground Force’s mobile assault brigades, armored divisions and squadrons of helicopters fire upgraded versions of Shafaq (Dawn), Almas (Diamond) and Dehlaviyeh missiles.
Dehlaviyeh twin-arm laser-guided missile launcher was recently installed on the M113 armored personnel carriers of the Army Ground Force.
Iranian military experts have extended the range of both the ground-based and air-based versions of Dehlaviyeh missile from 5.5 kilometers to 8 kilometers.
Iranian forces also launched the air-based version of Shafaq missile during the drills. The missile is reportedly capable of carrying a 50-kilogram warhead at a maximum speed of Mach 2.2. It can destroy targets within a range of 20 kilometers.
Homegrown Almas missile is paired with an automatic fire control system, and can strike various targets within a range of 8 kilometers. The air-based version of Almas is mounted on Bell Cobra 209 choppers and combat drones.
Moreover, the Iranian Army Ground Force employed high-explosive Sina and Fateh smart bombs, which can detonate fixed and mobile targets within a range of 10 kilometers, in the drills.
The bombs are reportedly furnished with a warhead of between 300 to 1,000 grams, and can be used against various targets in ground combat. They are said to have an operational period of 10 to 15 minutes.
They enjoy an intelligent guidance system, and have the ability to track targets from the moment they are launched until they hit them. The bombs were tested and assessed in action for the first time during Eghtedar 1402 military drills, and successfully destroyed the designated targets.
Additionally, Bell 206 helicopters of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force conducted nightly combat operations.
The choppers flew over the exercise area, surveyed it and transmitted collected information online to the command control center.
Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters also launched air-to-surface missiles, destroying the positions of the mock enemy. They were hit with the help of night vision systems.
On Saturday, an attack helicopter of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Force successfully test launched the domestically-developed Haydar air-to-ground missile.
The missile fired by a Bell 214 chopper struck the designated target from a distance of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) away, and completely destroyed it.
The Haydar is reportedly furnished with the Global Positioning System (GPS), enabling the pilot to have complete control over the projectile and navigate it towards the intended target.
It is said to be 3.83 meters long and weighs nearly 40 kilograms. The air-to-ground missile is capable of carrying a 20-kilogram warhead, and can destroy fixed and mobile targets within a range of tens of kilometers.
The missile, given its significant destructive power, will be employed to destroy armored units as well as concrete bunkers of the enemy.
Moreover, Ababil-4 multirole tactical unmanned aerial vehicles dropped indigenous Qaem-5 bombs on mock enemy positions, hitting designated positions at a distance of 7 kilometers away.
Qaem-5 smart glide bomb comes with an infrared seeker mode that enables it to engage with various fixed and mobile targets both at night and day, and in adverse weather conditions.
Iranian military forces hold routine exercises according to a detailed schedule in various parts of the country in order to test their weaponry and equipment and evaluate their combat preparedness.
Iranian officials have repeatedly underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran’s defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiations.
The chief commander of the Iranian Army on Saturday lauded the country’s progress in military capabilities and defense power, stressing that the Islamic Republic maintains full defensive and combat readiness to deal with any potential threat.
Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said the Army Aviation, with the preparation and formation of more than 200 helicopters during Eghtedar 1402 military drills, successfully carried out numerous flight missions in both combat and combat support fields in day and night.
Mousavi underlined that the said capabilities as well as the accurate transportation of troops by helicopter in different locations bespoke the leap and improvement of the fleet’s capabilities at the West Asia level.
The commander described his evaluation of the ongoing drills as positive and said the Army plans and organizes several exercises in accordance with its schedule to improve training and defense and combat preparations throughout the year.
“Eghtedar 1402 military drills by the Army’s Ground Force have been conducted with the aim of evaluating the level of training and reviewing the points of weakness and strength, and finally developing and promoting the country’s defense and combat power in the face of forthcoming threats,” Mousavi noted.
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- The humiliation of international law
What is happening in the Gaza Strip is unprecedented in human history. This densely populated area is being bombarded with hundreds of missiles every day. Thousands of people have been martyred and every second that passes we see more children and women being brutally martyred by the Zionist regime. As this viciousness occurs in broad daylight, one might wonder where international law is and what it is being done by international lawyers. The barbarity of the Zionist regime in Gaza might be another reason for those who have always questioned the efficacy of international law to remain convinced that it is just as fruitless as they claim. Law students around the world may now view international law merely as a means to hold moot courts and entertain themselves. If not so, international law and international mechanisms must act now accordingly.
-- Thousands of Gaza workers in Israel go missing
Thousands of Gazans working in Israel have gone missing following the rise of escalations in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian workers in Israel are believed to be held in detention camps, according to Aljazeera. The Israeli regime has so far refused to confirm the missing workers. Human rights groups and trade unions believe some of the workers have been illegally detained in military facilities in the occupied West Bank, following the revocation of their permits to work in Israel. Authorities in Israel have so far refused to release the names of those they are holding. Thousands of workers are thought to have been rounded up by the Israeli army and transferred to undisclosed locations.
-- Raisi urges Islamic world to take decisive stance in support of Palestine
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has stressed the need for Islamic governments to take decisive, united, and clear positions in support of Palestine given that the Zionist regime has created catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Gaza by cutting off water and electricity to the besieged enclave and preventing the delivery of food and medicine. In a telephone conversation on Saturday with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Raisi noted that Western powers, particularly the United States, have given the Zionist regime the green light to commit atrocities against Gazans. He additionally pointed out that in order to put an end to the war machine and atrocities of the murderous Israeli regime, Palestine urgently needs the world’s serious and effective assistance, especially from Muslim countries. The two leaders also weighed plans for closer Muslim unity to stop the Israeli regime’s “war machine”. The emir of Qatar condemned the crimes committed by the Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip, calling them evidence of the debased double standards of the West.
-- Iran, Russia to invest $38b in developing INSTC
Iran and Russia are going to invest about $38 billion in the development of Trans Caspian shipping lines as part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), Iran’s Maritime News Agency (MANA) reported. Addressing an international conference dubbed “The North-South Corridor; a New Concept” in the Russian city of Astrakhan on Friday, the Iranian director of the Russian Port of Solyanka, Dariush Jamali, branded the corridor as “a key element of the Eurasian transport network”. In this conference, which was attended by the governor-general of Russia’s Astrakhan, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, manager of Afghanistan Railway Company, and head of Iraq Railway Company, Jamali pointed to the three western.
NOURNEWS