NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Tuesday, December 12, 2023.
IRAN DAILY:
- Netanyahu going down, taking Israel with him
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking Palestinians, Israelis, and even Iranians hostage to negotiate for a longer time in office and does not care what the cost will be. The historian Max Hastings revealed in his memoirs that at a dinner table, he heard the young Netanyahu say, “In the next war, if we do it right, we’ll have a chance to get all the Arabs out... We can clear the West Bank, sort out Jerusalem.”
- IRGC Ground Force stages security drill in western Iran
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force staged a large-scale combined and specialized drill in a border region in Iran’s western province of Kermanshah, as part of preparations to confront potential security threats against the country. The drill was held by the Najaf Ashraf Base of the IRGC Ground Force in Qasr-e Shirin County on Monday and involved various units, Press TV reported. The forces partaking in the exercise employed the latest tactics to evaluate their preparedness in the face of latent security threats, and sinister plots being devised by anti-Iran terrorist outfits.
- Raisi clarifies measures to modify pillars of economy
President Ebrahim Raisi explained the main measures taken by his government to reform the economic structures in the Iranian Economy Conference on Monday. The conference titled, “Iranian Economy: Modifying Structures, Resolving Shortages, and Playing a New Role in the International Arena,” was attended by economic experts and high-ranking officials, reported president.ir.
- Tehran, Damascus agree to form committees to pursue implementation of MoUs
Officials from Iran and Syria agreed to set up joint committees to pursue the implementation of cooperation documents inked between the two sides, announced the head of the Iran-Syria Joint Economic Cooperation Commission.
During a meeting with the visiting Prime Minister of Syria Hussein Arnous in Tehran, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash pointed to the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and six cooperation documents between the two countries, and said five committees will be formed for following up on the implementation of the cooperation documents, according to Tasnim news agency.
The two countries also inked a cooperation agreement on reconstructing the factories damaged in Syria by Iranian companies and also export of technical engineering services, he said.
He expressed satisfaction with the results of talks held between the two countries, which he said enjoy high potentials to boost the level of their cooperation in all fields.
The 15th meeting of the Iran-Syria Joint Supreme Committee for Economic Cooperation was held in Tehran with the participation of Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber and the Syrian
premier.
- Russian, Iranian oil sellers boost prices as Venezuelan crude rallies
Sellers of sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran are hiking offer prices to China after Venezuelan crude rallied following the suspension of US sanctions on the South American producer, trade sources said.
Washington’s six-month waiver of sanctions on Venezuela has intensified competition for the OPEC producer’s heavy oil, lifting prices and reducing supply to top buyer China, Reuters reported.
That has forced some Chinese independent refiners, known as teapots, to seek the next-cheapest oil with demand expected to rebound in early 2024 when Beijing issues new annual import quotas.
This could help boost oil revenues for Moscow and Tehran and lessen the impact of sanctions imposed by the US.
“Iran and Russia have seized a good timing to hike prices, which will undoubtedly help them to increase their revenues,” a China-based trader said.
In two months, discounts for Venezuelan crude delivered to China have narrowed to $11 per barrel, from $20, below benchmark ICE Brent, slowing demand from teapots, while Indian refiners and international trading houses such as Vitol, Gunvor and Trafigura have resumed purchases with the lifting of sanctions.
So far, only one deal for Venezuelan crude to China in January has been spotted, two Chinese market sources said, at a discount of $11 a barrel against ICE Brent on a delivered basis.
That compares with discounts as deep as $14 a month earlier, and around $20 when the US sanctions were in place.
“People chose Venezuelan crude mainly for its low prices,” said another China-based trader. “Very few refiners are willing to pay such high prices for such low quality crude.”
The price surge for Venezuelan oils has deterred Chinese buyers struggling with thin margins and limited crude import quotas, pushing them towards the Russian and Iranian grades.
ESPO Blend oil cargoes loading in January traded at parity to a premium of 10-30 cents per barrel to ICE Brent at Chinese ports on a delivered basis, according to the traders, rebounding from small discounts for December-loading cargoes.
“Chinese demand is back. They actively ask for ESPO, and Urals is also considered,” said one Russian oil seller.
High freight costs on trans-Pacific routes also improved demand for ESPO, which is exported from the Far East Russia port of Kozmino, a short distance from China, the seller said.
The bullish sentiment also buoyed demand and prices for Iranian oil, traders said. Iranian oil discounts narrowed sharply to $6 a barrel against ICE Brent, from $13 a barrel two months ago, they said.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
- Global strike in solidarity with Gazans
Shops, schools and government offices shut across the occupied West Bank and occupied East Al-Quds and several other countries Monday as Palestinians and their supporters worldwide staged a general strike protesting against Israel’s relentless onslaught in the Gaza Strip. Activists had called for a strike in solidarity with the besieged territory covering businesses, public workers and education.
- Hamas targets Tel Aviv with missiles
The military wing of Hamas said Monday it targeted southern Tel Aviv with missiles in response to the Zionist regime’s barbaric bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Qassam Brigades announced in a brief statement that the resistance forces had fired missiles at southern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv and the city of Holon “in response to the Israeli massacres against civilians in Gaza.”
- IRGC stages specialized drill in Kermanshah
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force on Monday staged a large-scale combined and specialized drill in a border region in Iran’s western province of Kermanshah, as part of preparations to confront potential security threats against the country. The drill was held by the Najaf Ashraf Base of the IRGC Ground Force in Qasr Shirin county and involved various units. The forces partaking in the exercise employed the latest tactics to evaluate their preparedness in the face of latent security threats, and sinister plots being devised by anti-Iran terrorist outfits.
- Iran FM: War Already Spread to Lebanon, Yemen
Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian on Monday warned Israel and the U.S. that they would never be able to realize their goal of wiping out Hamas even if they spend a decade more to fight the Palestinian resistance movement. “Neither Israel nor the U.S., even if they spend another 10 years in Gaza, will be able to obliterate Hamas,” Amir-Abdollahian said while addressing the Doha Forum in Qatar via video conference on Monday. The minister said the fighting has clearly expanded to the Lebanese and Yemeni fronts.
- Resistance Forces Continue Retaliation Against U.S. Bases in Syria
Local media in Syria reported a second attack against the U.S. bases in Syria on Monday.
Lebanese Al-Mayadeen news network, which is close to the resistance groups in the region, reported on Monday afternoon that several explosions were heard around the American military base in al-Khadra village near the al-Omar oil field in the eastern suburb of Dayr al-Zawr province in Syria.
This was the second attack after news sources reported that several explosions were heard at the U.S. military base in al-Shadadi district in al-Hasakah province of Syria earlier on Monday.
There have been no reports of casualties and possible material losses in those explosions yet.
The American bases in Syria and Iraq have been targeted several times with rockets, missiles and drones by the Iraqi Islamic Resistance groups over the last few weeks after the Zionist regime backed by the United States conducted a deadly aggression on Gaza on October 7.
Meanwhile, a major Iraqi anti-terror group says its forces will remain prepared with “their fingers on the trigger” until complete expulsion of all American occupation forces from the country.
Kata’ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades) made the announcement in a Sunday statement. It is part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which is an umbrella group for resistance movements in Iraq. The PMU has been recognized by the government in Baghdad as a legitimate force to defend the country against security threats, especially those posed by terrorist groups.
Kata’ib Hezbollah affirmed in its statement that the same resistance fighters who managed to defeat the U.S.-made Daesh Takfiri terrorist group will maintain their war preparedness until Americans are expelled from Iraq.
Back in 2017, the PMU played a decisive role in helping the Iraqi army defeat the Daesh terrorist outfit, which Kata’ib Hezbollah described as a creation of the United States and its allies.
“The same Iraqi people who supported the country, and humiliated and defeated the United States and its creation Daesh, will keep their fingers on the trigger until expulsion of the occupiers,” Kata’ib Hezbollah said.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement says it has ramped up strikes against Israeli targets in support of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip who are under a genocidal war waged by the occupying regime.
Through several consecutive statements carried by Lebanon’s al-Manar television network the movement said it had hit many such targets on the country’s border with the occupied territories.
The first strike hit the Jal al-Allam site, using “appropriate weapons” and “achieving a direct hit,” the movement said.
A simultaneous “aerial attack with assault drones” hit a newly-established command headquarters of the Israeli army south of the Ya’ara Barracks, Hezbollah added.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, killing over 18,000 Palestinians so far. Tel Aviv has also cut off one of the most densely populated places in the world from basic supplies, such as water, electricity, and fuel. Shortage of medical supplies and food has left 2.3 million Palestinians at risk of starvation.
TEHRAN TIMES:
- Never-Dying Resistance
The Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip has trapped the Israeli army in several areas and is attacking the regime's ground forces from zero distance. The Israeli military's massacres of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and the destruction of almost the entire coastal enclave have been well documented. The power of the Palestinian resistance in attacking the Israeli military's ground forces appears to be steadfast and contrary to the regime's claims it is nowhere near the verge of collapsing.
- ‘US veto of UN resolution indicates greenlight for Israel brutality’
Iran asserted that the US vetoing a UN resolution for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is tantamount to a support for the Israeli regime’s continued cruelty against the Palestinian people.
Nasser Kanaani made the remarks on Monday during his weekly news conference in Tehran, following the United States’ use of its veto in the United Nations Security Council on Friday to prevent a draft resolution calling for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
- Tehran is planting 5,000 saplings in memory of Gaza martyrs
In a ceremony held on Sunday to mark Human Rights Day, some five thousand saplings started to be planted in Tehran’s Saadat-Abad Forest Park in memory of innocent children and women killed in Gaza. Ensieh Khazali, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, and Naser Abu-sharif, the representative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in Tehran, attended the ceremony, IRNA reported. Moreover, 313 olive saplings with identification cards named after Iranian and Palestinian women and children martyred were planted.
NOURNEWS