NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.
IRAN DAILY:
-- Iran, Armenia sign MoU on workforce exchange, economy
Tehran and Yerevan inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to cooperate in the fields of labor exchange, technical and professional training.
Signed by Iranian Labour and Social Welfare Minister Solat Mortazavi and his Armenian counterpart Narek Mkrtchyan, the MoU also covers economic cooperation between the two countries in the fields of petrochemicals, road and construction materials, and medicine, IRNA reported.
Speaking in a meeting with Armenian delegation in Tehran, Mortazavi said, “Iran is fully prepared to send workforce to Armenia while establishing techno-vocational training centers in the country, as well as transferring experiences to empower the disabled and war victims.”
Referring to the rise in the economic exchanges between the two countries, the Iranian minister said, “Economic exchanges between Iran and Armenia have improved slightly, reaching $700 million, but we should aim for $3 billion in bilateral trade with a proper planning.”
Mkrtchyan, for his part, admired Iran’s interest in boosting trade ties with Armenia, saying, “In the few days that our delegation has been in Iran, we established ways of cooperation more than expected, and this is a source of satisfaction.”
“By signing this memorandum, we can move things forward and implement the MoU as soon as possible. I am sure that we will make arrangements so that the Iranian workforce will consider Armenia as their home when they enter the country,” the Armenian minister noted.
An Armenian delegation led by Mkrtchyan visited Iran during October 29-31, with the aim of giving new momentum to the cooperation between the two countries in the field of labor and social protection, getting to know the best respective practices and innovative initiatives of Iran, as well as developing a constructive dialogue in this regard.
-- Oil Ministry inks contracts worth $34m with NTBFs
The Iranian Oil Ministry has signed contracts worth $34 million with new technology-based firms (NTBFs) in the past year.
According to a report by Shana on Tuesday, by the implementation of the signed deals with Iranian startups, the country will save $305 million annually.
The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has signed six contracts, with a total value of $15 million, the report added.
The ministry also has plans to sign 20 contracts, worth $135 million, with domestic firms during the current and next year.
Oil Minister Javad Owji told an international energy meeting in July that the country has plans to invest some $250 billion in its massive oil and gas sector until 2031.
The minister said Iran’s plans to maintain and expand its petroleum facilities have remained unaffected by US sanctions that bar the country’s access to foreign investment and technology.
“Today, Iran carries out expansion and repair in its oil and gas refineries without the presence of foreign experts,” he said.
Experts say that US sanctions on Iran, which have been in place since early 2018, have failed to dent the country’s ability to expand its massive petroleum industry.
They believe a major expansion in the Iranian natural gas sector in recent years has compensated for the relatively low levels of production and exports of crude oil in the country.
Iran is currently producing some 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, and more than one billion cubic meters per day of natural gas.
The country has some 10 active oil refineries and 21 natural gas refineries, while it also counts on massive hard currency revenues from its petrochemicals sector.
-- Iran’s ceramic, tile production at 720m cubic meters
Over 140 ceramic and tile production units are currently active in Iran, producing 720 million cubic meters of products each year, announced the head of Iran Ceramic Producers Association (IRCPS).
“Today, all kinds of ceramic tiles in different sizes and designs are produced in the country, as the production technology of the ceramic tile industry has been localized,” Morteza Saftarizadeh told IRIB News.
He said the private sector’s efforts to have a serious presence in the industry has resulted in the increase of production by domestic manufacturers, as there are 120,000 people working directly in the industry.
The official pointed to cheap energy, the existence of rich mines and the development of related industries in the supply chain as the advantages of the industry, noting that such advantages have made the production more cost efficient.
According to Saftarizadeh, currently, Iran is the fifth-largest producer of ceramic tiles in the world, and more than 46 percent of the country’s total production is exported.
-- Iran eyes energy stability as shortage bites
The chronic energy shortfall in Iran has been a thorn in the side of both industries and households for years. It’s a perplexing situation, given that Iran boasts the second-largest natural gas deposits on the planet, totaling about 34 trillion cubic meters. Moreover, when it comes to proven crude oil reserves, the country is ranked third globally with over 206 billion barrels at its disposal. The energy deficit becomes even more troublesome during peak seasons with electricity use breaking records every summer and heavy gas consumption in northern regions causing a pressure drop in the national distribution network every winter.
Iran has already rolled up its sleeves to tackle the pressing issue. The country has pinned its hopes on renewables, considering such endless sources of energy to be a trump card to make electricity and partially fulfill its ever-growing demand for power.
A country blessed with vast deserts that get plenty of sunshine and strong winds, Iran has drawn up a grand plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of clean energy through solar panel farms and wind parks by 2027 and 50,000 MW by 2031.
To make the dream come true, the government has recently loosened the purse strings to allocate about $5 billion from the National Development Fund to finance renewable energy projects such as solar and wind power plants. The investment is aimed at creating 10,000 MW of green electricity in the next two years.
Iran isn’t stopping there as the country is dishing out incentives to industrial sectors, especially steel and petrochemical industries that have been hit hard by seasonal power outages, to set up solar or wind parks in their vicinities to not only meet their own electricity needs but also contribute to the national grid’s capacity with the surplus.
In mid-October, Iran broke ground on two solar farms in southeastern Kerman and Yazd provinces, together packing a punch of 500 MW, to provide local industries with green electricity. The Kerman solar power plant, once up and running, will churn out 400 MW of electricity annually, to become the biggest solar park in Iran, right in the heart of the Lut Desert.
On top of that, Iran is eyeing a partnership with China’s Qinghai province — a solar powerhouse home to the world’s second-largest solar farm — to help implement renewable energy projects in Iran’s northwestern Ardabil province, where local authorities have plans to generate 1,000 MW of clean power annually.
However, these projects have yet to yield results, and fresh government data suggest an uphill task ahead.
According to the latest Energy Ministry figures, renewable power plants, including wind, solar, biomass, and hydroelectric facilities with capacities less than 10 MW, contribute only 1,101 MW, or 1.2% of Iran’s yearly electricity generation, which looks more like a drop in the ocean.
A local media report on October 28 added to the gloomy outlook, revealing that Iran’s renewable energy capacity had grown by only 21% (less than 200 MW) over the past two years and indicating that clean energy projects coming online are quite sluggish.
When it comes to the natural gas sector, Iran’s efforts seem to be paying off more tangibly. Two years ago, Iran renewed a gas swap deal with its northern neighbors, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, to make sure the pressure inside its gas pipelines stays steady during cold months.
Furthermore, it is doing its utmost to get the most out of its gas fields in the southern region, especially the colossal South Pars (SP), which is the world’s largest gas field and is shared with Qatar.
Iran’s two major players in the energy game, the South Pars Gas Co. (SPGC) and the South Zagros Oil and Gas Production Co. (SZOGPC), which are responsible for 95% of the country’s gas production, have cranked up output and extraction, all in preparation of the upcoming winter.
Back in August, the SPGC, Iran’s number one gas producer, added up to 15 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas to Iran’s daily production of 760 mcm, after bringing on stream the only underdeveloped phase of the SP’s 24 phases.
The SZOGPC, on the other hand, announced plans earlier in October to extract an extra 7 million cubic meters of natural gas every day before the winter hits.
And that’s not all. Iran has high ambitions. The country aims to boost daily gas production by 55%, beating the milestone of 1.2 billion cubic meters within the next five years.
However, all these measures seem to be insufficient as President Ebrahim Raisi said on October 23 that the country was facing what he called a “severe energy imbalance,” demanding more action be taken.
“I urge the relevant authorities to minimize the impact [of the energy shortage] on various sectors including industry, agriculture, and household consumption by redoubling their efforts to promptly address this issue,” Raisi said.
Just a day later, Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Najafi said the country had failed “in practice” to tackle the energy deficit despite efforts to boost gas production.
“We need more infrastructure investments in the gas sector,” Najafi said, adding that Iran needed at least $25 billion in investments to further develop its gas industry.
The MP also implied that Iran had fallen behind other nations in effectively harnessing its shared gas fields.
The upcoming five years are make-or-break for Iran, a country whose energy infrastructure has remained underdeveloped for quite some time due to Western sanctions that have diminished its revenues and scared away foreign investments. If the country fails to achieve at least half of its energy improvement goals, the pinch of the unfolding crisis would be more painful.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- ‘Fruitful Talks’ Held With Taliban on Water Share
Iranian vice president and the head of the country’s Department of Environment said Tuesday that Tehran and Kabul have had fruitful talks on the sharing of water from Helmand river.
Ali Salajeghe said Afghan officials have pledged to release the water share of the Hamoun Wetland in Iran as soon as there is enough precipitation in Afghanistan. He said further talks are still underway between Tehran and Kabul in this regard.
-- Mission: No Change in Iran’s Stance on Palestine
Iran’s mission to the United Nations says a yes vote to a recent UN General Assembly resolution on the situation in Gaza represented no change in its official policy with regards to the issue of Palestine.
Sources at the mission told IRNA that Tehran approved the Jordan-proposed resolution on the need for a ceasefire in Gaza with reservations, including the fact that it would not accept a two-state solution to resolve the conflict in Palestine and will never recognize a state run by the “cursed regime of Israel”.
-- Yemen’s Ansarullah Launches Missiles, Drones at Zionist Targets
Yemen’s Ansarullah group said it launched a “large number” of drones and ballistic missiles towards Occupied Palestine on Tuesday, after Israel’s military claimed it downed an approaching “aerial target” off the Red Sea city of Eilat.
The operation was the third targeting the occupying regime of Israel and there would be more, Ansarullah military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised statement.
Saree said the attacks would continue until “Israeli aggression” stopped, referring to the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
After an initial warning of a possible “hostile aircraft intrusion”, which sent residents of the tourist resort of Eilat running for shelter earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military had said its “systems identified an aerial target approaching” the occupied territories.
Saree said the aerial assault, comprising drones as well as ballistic and cruise missiles, was carried out “out of a sense of religious, moral, humanitarian and national responsibility” for the people of Gaza, in the face of the weakness of the Arab world, and of the collusion of some Arab countries with Israel.”
“We affirm that the position of our Yemeni people towards the Palestinian issue is firm and principled, and that the Palestinian people have the full right to self-defense and to restore their full legitimate rights, and that what destabilizes the region and expands the circle of conflict is the persistence of the Zionist enemy entity in committing crimes,” Saree said.
Drone infiltration sirens sounded in Eilat on Tuesday morning, with the Zionist military initially saying it had identified an “aerial target” approaching the territory.
Rocket sirens also sounded in several central regions, including Tel Aviv following Israel’s heavy bombing of the residential Jablia camp in Gaza, according to Israeli media.
Yemen’s Ansarullah leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said on October 10 that if the U.S. intervenes in the Gaza conflict directly, the resistance group will respond by firing drones and missiles, and take other military options.
Ansarullah sees itself as part of the “Axis of Resistance” which encompasses resistance factions in Iraq and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
The movement has battled a Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in a conflict. During the fighting, Ansarullah targeted strategic assets in the Persian Gulf, most notably energy facilities in Saudi Arabia.
The Zionist military said Tuesday it used the “Arrow” aerial missile system for the first time since the October 7 outbreak of the war with Hamas to intercept a surface-to-surface missile in the Red Sea fired towards its targets.
A spokesman told Reuters the two aerial incidents were separate. In the second incident, Israeli fighter jets intercepted other aerial targets, he added.
Last week, the occupying regime of Israel accused Ansarullah of sending drones that caused explosions in two Egyptian towns on the Red Sea, saying they were intended to strike Israel.
The Pentagon said a U.S. Navy warship intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones launched Ansarullah of Yemen, potentially toward Israel, on October 19.
-- Iranian FM Meets Hamas Leader Haniyeh in Doha
Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian here Tuesday met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in second such encounter since a conflict erupted between the Palestinian resistance group and the Israeli regime on October 7.
Amir-Abdollahian was briefed about the latest situation of people in Gaza amid ongoing Israel aggression on the small blockaded territory.
“The region is at a critical juncture and the resistance groups in the region make decisions independently and they do not necessarily wait for political decisions,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
“Therefore, if the war crimes of the Zionist regime continue and the scope of conflict and war widens, no party will remain unaffected by the consequences and repercussions,” he added.
For his part, Haniyeh said the Palestinian resistance is at the peak of its strength and capabilities.
Therefore, instead of engaging with the resistance forces, the occupying regime continues to target Palestinian civilians, he said.
He added that the amount of explosives used against the residents and residential areas of Gaza exceeds the volume of the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, expressing regret that the Israeli attacks are carried out with full support from the United States and some European countries.
Haniyeh serves as head of the political bureau of Hamas, the top office in the resistance group which is based in Doha and deals with various issues, including attracting foreign support for Gaza’s fight against Israel and its decades-long occupation of Palestine.
Amir-Abdollahian and Haniyeh had met in Doha on October 14, a week after Hamas launched a successful military operation against Israeli settlers and military forces in the occupied territories near Gaza.
The operation, dubbed Al-Aqsa Flood, led to some 1,400 deaths on the Israeli side and was described as the worst defeat suffered by the regime in 75 years since its creation.
Israel has used the operation to justify a brutal military campaign against Gaza, which has left more than 8,500 Gazans dead, including over 3,500 children.
Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Qatar earlier on Tuesday to coordinate and discuss efforts needed for an immediate stop in the fighting in Gaza.
Tehran has announced it is ready to use its relations with Hamas to work out a ceasefire deal between the group and the Zionists, although Iran does not have any relations with the regime.
The Iranian foreign minister held meetings with senior Qatari officials on Tuesday before departing for Turkey to continue his diplomatic efforts to help find a solution to the crisis in Palestine.
-- Genocide at Jabaliya Refugee Camp
An Israeli airstrike on the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza on Tuesday martyred at least 200 Palestinians, according to Palestinian officials speaking to Al-Jazeera Arabic.
Officials at the Indonesian Hospital said they had seen at least 50 fatalities, with the health ministry putting the death toll at 200 so far.
The Zionist regime had carried out “over 30 hours of relentless bombing on the Gaza Strip” on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera English correspondent Youmna Elsayed who is based in Gaza.
“Three massive massacres have taken place in Jabalia camp, Al-Shati and Al-Nuseirat,” she added.
The Palestinian interior ministry said there were 400 dead and wounded in total. A ministry spokesperson said an entire residential complex had been destroyed.
“These buildings house hundreds of citizens. The occupation’s air force destroyed this district with six U.S.-made bombs. It is the latest massacre caused by Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip,” interior ministry spokesperson Iyad al-Bazum told reporters.
“The international community must act immediately to stop Israel before it is too late.”
Footage from the camp showed buildings completely leveled to the ground, and panicked Palestinian residents carrying wounded children away from the scene.
A correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic on the ground said it will take “weeks” to save and pull people from under the rubble due to the scale of destruction.
“The massacre is huge, it is impossible to count how many homes have been destroyed. People’s limbs are scattered around everywhere,” he added.
Civil defense teams rushed to the scene to try and rescue people, searching through the rubble with their bare hands. Many families were in their homes when the bombs hit.
Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian humanitarian and physician, said that Gaza is now in the “darkest hour,” and that Israel had committed the “worst massacre,” following the bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp.
“This is the time everyone should stand together and denounce any attacks against civilians,” he said.
“This is the worst massacre I have seen, at least 15 buildings have been completely destroyed. These are barbaric Israeli attacks which have happened while the medical sector is breaking down. It is clear that these are war crimes and there is no excuse for it,” he added.
He also called on countries to stop supplying the Zionist regime
with fuel as long as it continues to bomb civilians in Gaza.
At least 8,610 Palestinians have been martyred in Israeli bombardment since October 7, which came after a surprise operation by Hamas that day in which around 1,400 Zionists were killed and at least 240 were taken captive.
The Palestinian death toll includes 3,542 children and 2,187 women, according to the health ministry.
Around 2,000 people are still missing, including 1,100 children. The vast majority of these people are believed to be dead and buried under rubble.
At least 21,543 have suffered injuries of various severity.
Jabaliya camp is the largest of eight refugee camps in the besieged Gaza Strip, housing over 116,000 people officially registered with UNRAWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. The actual number of people in the camp is likely to be much higher.
It was established in 1948 following the Nakba (or catastrophe), when 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes to make way for the creation of Israel.
The camp is 1.4 square kilometers, and includes 32 UNRWA installations, 26 schools and two health centers.
Before the Zionist regime’s complete siege on the enclave and ruthless bombardment, Jabalia camp was already struggling with electricity cuts and contaminated water supply due to the 16 year blockade on the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA said three of its staff members had been killed in Israeli air strikes in the last 24 hours.
A total of 67 of their staff members have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Gaza has become “a graveyard for children”.
“Our gravest fears about the reported numbers of children killed becoming dozens, then hundreds, and ultimately thousands were realized in just a fortnight. The numbers are appalling; reportedly more than 3,450 children killed; staggeringly this rises significantly every day,” the organization said.
“Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the director general of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human rights resigned over the “text-book case of genocide” unfolding in Gaza.
In a letter dated October 28, Volker Turk stated that he was writing “at a moment of great anguish,” as the world sees “a genocide unfolding before our eyes.”
He said his organization appears “powerless to stop it.”
“The current wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people, rooted in ethno-nationalist settler colonial ideology, in continuation of decades of their systematic persecution and purging, based entirely upon their status as Arabs, and coupled with explicitly statements of intent by leaders in the Israeli government and military, leaves no room for doubt or debate,” the letter read.
-- Blinken Heckled at Senate Hearing for Israel Aid
A group of protesters repeatedly interrupted a U.S. Senate hearing on Tuesday where Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin were speaking about a $106 billion budget request, of which $14bn would go to the occupying regime of Israel amid its bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza.
Numerous protesters repeatedly yelled “Ceasefire now!” with their hands covered with red paint - a reference that the Biden administration had “blood on its hands” - over Israel’s killing of Palestinian civilians.
One at a time the activists waited for Blinken to begin his testimony before shouting over him.
“Not one senator is calling for a ceasefire, shame on you all!” one protester yelled.
After several individual disruptions, the large group stood up and shouted: “Blinken you are funding genocide!” and “Blinken you have blood on your hands!”
“From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go! Defund genocide! Let Gaza live,” the group chanted, referencing the budget requesting allocating funds to the U.S. southern border.
Gabriela Viera, a senior advocacy manager at Detention Watch Network, told Middle East Eye that “militarizing our borders and incarcerating migrants has never made our communities safer, and neither has propagating this agenda abroad”.
Seven activists were arrested for their participation in the protest. A separate disruption was also organized by the anti-war group CodePink.
During each moment of disruption, Blinken stopped his speech to wait for the activists to be removed before continuing.
The protest, organized by Muslims for Just Futures, Detention Watch Network, and several other progressive groups, is one of many disruptions organized by pro-Palestine activists across the country.
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, around 200 protesters demonstrated outside of the Israeli arms maker Elbit Systems. Nine people were arrested, according to local news reports.
The Biden administration has refused to call for a ceasefire to the conflict so far and has instead offered support to the Zionist regime’s aerial bombardment of Gaza and a ground incursion of the Strip.
Last week, the Biden administration put forward the emergency budget request, which would include money for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, funds for the U.S. southern border, as well as money for Israel.
While the bulk of the funding is for Ukraine, it still includes a hefty $14.3 billion for the occupying regime of Israel.
The budget request includes funds for the “potential needs of Gazans fleeing to neighboring countries”.
In a October 20 letter, the Office of Budget and Management said the current crisis “could well result in displacement across border and higher regional humanitarian needs and funding may be used to meet evolving programming requirements outside of Gaza”.
The letter, coupled with a push for Egypt to open a humanitarian corridor and the reluctance of U.S. officials to call for Israeli restraint, has raised fears that the White House is endorsing the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
-- FM Amir-Aabdollahian: Zionist Crimes in Gaza Escalating Regional Clashes
Iranian Foreign
Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian on Tuesday denounced the Zionist regime’s relentless atrocities against the Gaza Strip as a reason behind the escalation of clashes across the region, warning the U.S. and Israel that the resistance groups won’t remain silent on these crimes.
Amir-Abdollahian met with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed some important bilateral issues, developments in Palestine and initiatives aimed at ending Zionist war crimes against the oppressed people of the besieged Gaza.
During the meeting, Amir-Abdollahian highlighted the might of the Palestinian resistance in its powerful resilience and fight against the Zionist military.
He also said that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has become “deplorable” due to the Zionists’ barbaric attacks, warning of “unpredictable consequences” of the Zionist atrocities supported by the U.S. and some European governments.
Amir-Abdollahian noted that Muslim countries should use all their power to end the Zionist war crimes and genocide against the oppressed Palestinian nation and lift the human blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The Qatari emir, for his part, said that all nations consider Tel Aviv’s crimes against Palestinians unacceptable and intolerable, noting that worldwide anti-Israel protests show global disgust at the regime’s atrocities.
He further emphasized that Doha will continue its efforts to end the ongoing Israeli attacks against Gaza and stop the war.
Sheikh Tamim also described as very important his recent talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi about developments in Palestine.
Amir-Abdollahian also with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in second such encounter since a conflict erupted between the Palestinian resistance group and the Israeli regime on October 7.
Haniyeh serves as head of the political bureau of Hamas, the top office in the resistance group which is based in Doha and deals with various issues, including attracting foreign support for Gaza’s fight against Israel and its decades-long occupation of Palestine.
Amir-Abdollahian and Haniyeh had met in Doha on October 14, a week after Hamas launched a successful military operation against Zionist settlers and military forces in the occupied territories near Gaza.
Heading a political delegation, Amir-Abdollahian travelled to Doha as part of diplomatic efforts related to the Palestine issue.
This is the second trip by the top Iranian diplomat to Doha since October 7, when the Palestinian Hamas
resistance group conducted a surprise raid against the occupying entity.
The operation, dubbed Al-Aqsa Storm, led to some 1,400 deaths on the Israeli side and was described as the worst defeat suffered by the regime in 75 years since its creation.
Israel has used the operation to justify a brutal military campaign against Gaza, which has left more than 8,500 Gazans dead, including over 3,500 children.
-- Palestinians Resolved to Make Gaza Graveyard of Zionism
A century ago during the First World War Gaza was a remote outpost of the weakened Ottoman Empire whose demoralized Turkish military defenders, faced with the British-engineered ‘Arab Revolt’ had no stomach for fight, yet they beat back the Allied invaders during most of 1917 in the first two battles (March 26 and April 17) before losing the Third Battle of Gaza (November 1-3), largely because of Khedive Egypt’s traitorous complicity with Britain, and fleeing all the way to Anatolia, thereby surrendering all of Palestine and Syria, since they lacked local support.
The deceitful British betrayed the Arabs whom they had incited against the Ottomans, and to the shock and surprise of the people of Palestine, handed their homeland in 1948 to the illegal non-Semitic Zionist migrants form east Europe (Khazars who had converted to Judaism) by creating the spurious state called Israel.
As a result, the Gaza Strip, placed under Egyptian rule, became a large refugee camp to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes and hearths in Haifa, Bayt Laham, Nazareth, Asqalan and etc.
In 1967 it was occupied by the illegal Zionist entity, which, faced with the stiff resistance, decided in 1994 to hand over Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, but it was only in 2005 that all Israeli soldiers and the Zionist settlers fully withdrew from this strip with the granting of limited self-rule governance.
Usurper Israel, however, continued to infringe upon the freedom and liberties of the people of Gaza who had no control over their own airspace and were subjected to frequent artillery shelling and aerial attacks, resulting in the wars of 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021, mainly because of the emergence of the Hamas Movement as the elected representatives of the besieged people.
Today, Gaza after three weeks of relentless bombing that has martyred over 9,000 civilians (mostly women and children), injured 25,000 others, displaced some 800,000 from their destroyed homes, and reduced the infrastructure to shambles, including schools, colleges, mosques, churches, hospitals, and markets – all with the instructions and weapons of the US – has been subjected to a ground attack by the Zionist regime in a bid to re-occupy it.
As we go to the press, the Gazan defenders have beaten back the invaders on all three fronts, destroying over a dozen tanks and armoured vehicles, with a vow to turn Gaza into the graveyard of Zionism.
The year 2023 is not 1917, and the Gazans are not a foreign force detached from the land, but an indigenous and native people determined to offer sacrifices to safeguard their homes and hearths.
This means the Israelis and their godfather the US have made a strategic blunder on the assumption of decimating the Palestinian Resistance Movement whose indomitable spirit will inflict a historical defeat on the aggressors and lead to the liberation of all of Palestine.
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- Russian professor proposes free trade regime and common technological space with Iran
Russian Professor Andrey Bezrukov suggests establishing a free trade agreement and a common economic and technological space between Russia and Iran. “I would even propose the establishment of not only a free trade regime between our countries but the formation of a common economic and technological space that would mutually benefit both Iran and Russia,” Bezrukov tells the Tehran Times in an exclusive interview. Bezrukov, a distinguished expert on international relations and a professor at MGIMO (an institute run by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), also says, “Iran is undoubtedly one of the most significant global players today and is expected to play an even larger role in the future.” With Iran-Russia relations standing at the crossroads of global geopolitics, Mr. Bezrukov’s perspective carries invaluable weight, offering a unique opportunity to navigate the intricate landscape of this critical partnership. The interview with Professor Bezrukov sheds light on the dimensions of Iran-Russia relations. It also has the potential to foster greater consensus among Iranian experts, helping to bridge internal divides and misunderstandings. Following is the text of the interview: Tehran Times: Iran and Russia have maintained a complex historical relationship.
-- Palestinians halt Israeli ground offensives
The al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it had fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli forces on Tuesday, adding that troops were trying to infiltrate south of Gaza city. A Hamas spokesman confirmed the presence of Israeli tanks in Salah ad-Deen highway, located in the middle of the Strip, which he pointed out the Palestinian resistance forces have prevented them from moving north toward Gaza city. Reports from inside Gaza have also said that attacks by the resistance fighters forced the occupation troops to withdraw from the Salah ad-Deen area, east of the Zeitoun neighborhood in central Gaza, following heavy clashes. Hamas said it also attacked two Israeli tanks and bulldozers in northwest Gaza with missiles. The al-Qassam brigades added its fighters targeted Israeli forces “with Al-Yassin 105 shells, and destroyed a Zionist vehicle east of Erez (located one kilometer north of the Gaza Strip), with an explosive device and two Al-Yassin 105 shells.”
-- Iran or US: Who is spreading terror in West Asia?
The Israeli brutality has so far resulted in the martyrdom of over 8,500 Palestinians, including some 3,500 innocent children whose bodies have been mutilated by the barbaric raids of the Tel Aviv army. Some Western human rights claimants and media outlets have kept portraying the oppressors as the oppressed and vice versa, presenting this biased view that the death of 1,500 usurpers is more painful than the martyrdom of 8,500 innocent Palestinians. If Hamas defends its homeland and fights against the aggressor, it is called a “terrorist and leverage for Iran,” in the eyes of the Westerners. If Palestine had not been usurped and occupied, if the innocent had not been displaced from their homeland, there would not have been an aggressor and occupying tyrant called Israel. Is Iran the cause for the martyrdom of Gazans’ martyrdom? They are defending their homeland and sacrificing their lives.
-- Israel will be pulverized if onslaught on Gaza widens: Iran’s diplomat
Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs has issued a dire warning saying that the Israel regime will be completely destroyed if its continuing assault against the Palestinian resistance in the beleaguered Gaza Strip continues to grow. Ali Bagheri Kani made the remarks in a televised interview on Monday as Israel has been pounding the blockaded Gaza since October 7. The operation of the Palestinian resistance against Israel was characterized by Bagheri Kani as “an irreparable earthquake in the Zionist regime’s military and security system.” “If the war expands any further, we cannot say that Israel would lose because nothing will remain of Israel to be described as a loser or winner,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister stressed.
NOURNEWS