NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
IRAN DAILY:
- West uses IAEA as a tool: AEOI
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami said on Tuesday that Western powers use the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) as a
tool.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony of the achievements of his organization in the field of radiopharmaceuticals, Eslami dismissed the International Atomic Energy Agency chief’s claims over Tehran’s failure to work with the UN nuclear watchdog’s inspectors, noting that “We act according to safeguards; when they introduce an inspector, we have the right to accept or reject.”
On Monday, the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi alleged that Tehran has failed to answer questions about its past nuclear activities at three sites and has denied access to the sites for the nuclear agency’s inspectors.
We do not have any activities other than safeguards and the NPT framework; the IAEA’s report is based on JCPOA, Eslami said.
But when the parties did not fulfill their commitments, pressure on Iran is not acceptable, the AEOI head added.
In early October, Iran announced it had barred from future activities in the country a few European IAEA inspectors, who have a history of “harsh and political behavior” against Tehran. Tehran has put the number of the delisted inspectors at “three or four,” explaining that the number is a tiny fraction of the total 127 approved inspectors.
Regarding the sale of Iran’s heavy water, Eslami said at the unveiling ceremony, “We sell our heavy water officially.”
The US bought it once, and today we have requests from other countries, he further noted, stating that our strategy is to process heavy water and use its derivatives.
Regarding nuclear cooperation with Iraq, he noted that the country has reached an agreement with AEOI on radiopharmaceuticals according to which Iranian radiopharmaceuticals are being sent to the neighboring country.
“We are ready to extend our ties,” Eslami said.
- Russia says it’s working on major new agreement with Iran
Russia and Iran will speed up work on a “major new interstate agreement,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
It did not detail the scope of the agreement, which comes amid growing political, trade and military ties between Moscow and Tehran that the United States views with concern, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Russia said the two countries’ foreign ministers agreed in a phone call on Monday to speed up work on the agreement, which was at “a high stage of readiness.”
Last week President Vladimir Putin held five hours of talks in the Kremlin with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
The Kremlin last month said Russia and Iran were developing their relations, “including in the field of military-technical cooperation,” but declined to comment on a suggestion by the White House that Iran may be considering providing Russia with ballistic missiles.
Iranian authorities have said military cooperation with Russia is expanding day by day. Iran said last month it had finalized arrangements for Russia to provide it with Su-35 fighter jets, Mi-28 attack helicopters, and Yak-130 pilot training aircraft.
- Tehran, Riyadh to resume direct flights in near future
The head of Iran Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) said that direct scheduled flights between Iran and Saudi Arabia will resume in the near future, adding that the Umrah pilgrimage flights to the Arab country will soon be launched by two domestic airlines.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Mohammad Mohammadibakhsh said direct scheduled flights between the two countries will be resumed soon, in line with bolstering bilateral ties in the field of aviation, Tasnim news agency reported.
He further said the country’s air industry has provided four strategies for the development of the air fleet.
Developing the air fleet and establishing consecutive relations between industry, knowledge-based companies and higher education centers seem necessary to present technological achievements and progress, Mohammadibakhsh highlighted.
In this regard, the organization has invited prestigious foreign and international companies to organize an air industry show, he added.
Regarding the participation of knowledge-based companies in the air industry show, the CAO chief added that 2,000 parts and equipment related to the air industry have been designed by competent domestic knowledge-based companies.
Organizing the exhibitions in the field of aviation industry conveys a message to the world that Iran’s aviation industry, despite cruel sanctions, has become more developed by relying on domestic capabilities and constructive relations with the academic centers and knowledge-based companies, he added.
- Iranian NTBFs export $1b worth of products
The deputy head of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund of Iran put the value of products exported by the country’s new technology-based firms (NTBFs) at $1 billion.
Talking to IRNA, Siavash Malekifar pointed to the high capacities and potentials of start-ups in various fields and the number of employees working for Iranian NTBFs at 266,000.
He also highlighted the activities of the fund, saying it was founded in 2010, and currently offers 78 types of high-quality services to applicants.
The fund is ready to share experiences with other countries to provide them with high technical know-how, he added.
The official also said that 41 events have so far been held in the country by the Innovation and Prosperity Fund.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has frequently expressed appreciation for the significant and outstanding role of around 150 domestic knowledge-based companies in the country, vowing that his administration will make its utmost efforts to support the activities of these firms.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
- Iran Plans Mass Production of Yasin Training Jets
Iran will mass produce the Yasin training jet in an attempt to enhance the efficiency of pilot training programs within the armed forces, Defense Minister Brigadier General Muhammad-Reza Ashtiani said Tuesday.
“With full support from the Defense Ministry, this training plane will soon enter the field of training pilots in the country and will undergo mass production,” Ashtiani said during a visit to the flight test stages of the Yasin jet.
- Tehran Court Begins Trial of 104 MKO Terrorists
A court here Tuesday began hearing charges against members of the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) over crimes against Iranian citizens. Branch 11 of the Criminal Court of Tehran province began hearing indictments which contained in over 700 pages, being read with the presence of families of the victims of terrorism, eyewitnesses to the heinous terrorism in the 1980s, as well as correspondents. According to the criminal court, some 104 members of the terrorist group and a legal entity (the MKO) face legal charges for their crimes.
- Russia, Iran Plan ‘Major New Interstate Agreement’
Russia and Iran will speed up work on a “major new interstate agreement”, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
It did not detail the scope of the agreement, which comes amid growing political, trade and military ties between Moscow and Tehran that the United States views with concern.
In a statement, Russia said the two countries’ foreign ministers agreed in a phone call on Monday to speed up work on the agreement, which was at “a high stage of readiness”.
Last week President Vladimir Putin held five hours of talks in the Kremlin with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
The Kremlin last month said Russia and Iran were developing their relations, “including in the field of military-technical cooperation”, but declined to comment on a suggestion by the White House that Iran may be considering providing Russia with ballistic missiles.
The new announcement comes after Israel’s hardline prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with Putin on Sunday and voiced “robust disapproval” of Russia’s cooperation with Iran.
Iranian authorities have said military cooperation with Russia is expanding day by day. Iran said last month it had finalized arrangements for Russia to provide it with Su-35 fighter jets, Mi-28 attack helicopters and Yak-130 pilot training aircraft.
In 2001, Tehran and Moscow signed a 10-year cooperation deal that was lengthened to 20 years through two five-year extensions.
The two countries are planning to ink a document on bilateral long-term strategic cooperation, which may determine their future relations for the next twenty years.
Last week, Raisi and Putin held extensive talks in the Kremlin, with the Russian leader lauding Tehran-Moscow ties as “very good.”
“We have very good relations with Iran. And we will enhance them in every possible way... That is why we do our utmost in order to develop relations with Iran, and will keep this up in the future,” TASS news agency quoted Putin as saying.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov also signed an agreement last week to make
joint efforts to counter unilateral sanctions imposed on the two countries.
Iran and Russia, as two close and strategic allies, have over the past years deepened their relations in various fields, including military and defense, despite being under heavy Western sanctions.
Heading a high-ranking military delegation, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Tehran in September upon an official invitation by Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Muhammad Bagheri.
Bagheri said at the time that Tehran and Moscow are working to draw up a long-term military cooperation agreement in the near future as the world moves towards an increasingly multipolar order.
- Iran’s FM: U.S. Doesn’t Give Any Credit to Human Rights
Iranian Foreign
Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian has ensured Washington’s all-out support for the Zionist regime amid the genocidal war on Gaza, saying “the United States does not give any credit to human rights”.
Amir-Abdollahian, who is in the Swiss city of Geneva for a meeting of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters on Tuesday that the war in the besieged Gaza Strip could easily spiral out of control and engulf the whole region if the Zionist aggression is not stopped.
Iran’s top diplomat lamented the unfortunate timing of the Geneva event to commemorate 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at a time when the world is witnessing “genocide” in Gaza.
“We are witnessing genocide in Palestine, and worse, the United States, which is the host of and home to the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, single-handedly vetoed the resolution to stop the massacre of women and children,” he said.
The United States on Friday used its veto power in the UN Security Council to block a draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
On Monday, Amir-Abdollahian, in a separate phone conversations with his Turkish, Chinese and Russian counterparts, has called for international “maximum efforts” to end the Zionist regime’s genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In a telephone conversation, Amir-Abdollahian and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov talked about the bilateral ties and regional issues, including the latest developments regarding the Zionit war on Gaza.
Iranian minister said that the U.S. government has practically given the Zionist regime the go-ahead to continue its genocidal crimes in Gaza by vetoing the UN Security Council’s demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged enclave, the Iranian foreign minister said.
Amir-Abdollahian also underlined the necessity of taking immediate action to stop the war crimes by the Zionist regime and to get more humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
For his part, Lavrov expressed satisfaction with the trend of cooperation between Russia and Iran under the current circumstances in the occupied Palestinian territories.
He underscored the need to continue international efforts toward achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, increasing the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the territory, and forming an independent Palestinian state.
Amir-Abdollahian in talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, said diplomatic initiatives and immediate provision of aid to the people of Gaza are needed to assuage the pain inflicted by the Israeli regime’s war on the besieged territory.
Iranian official stressed the importance of strengthening ties between Tehran and Ankara as well as the upcoming meeting between the two countries’ presidents.
He also said Iran considers Washington’s all-out support for the Zionists as the reason behind the continuation of the occupying regime’s atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
For his part, Fidan appreciated Iran’s diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, emphasizing that Palestine is the central issue of the Muslim world.
The two ministers also stressed the need to intensify diplomatic efforts that aim to exert pressure on the Zionist regime to accept the ceasefire calls and stop its war on Gaza.
Iran’s foreign minister has once
again warned about the spillover of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza to the rest of the region, saying the regime’s prime minister can only survive through continued war and genocide.
Amir-Abdollahian in a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the two sides discussed bilateral and regional issues, especially the ongoing situation in the occupied Palestinians territories.
Iran’s top diplomat criticized the United States’ recent vetoing of a United Nations Security Council resolution, which demanded an immediate end to Israel’s genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir-Abdollahian said the war has already spread across the region, adding, “If Israel’s attacks on Gaza do not stop immediately, the region may see an explosion at any moment and all involved sides may lose control.”
“Unfortunately, the American side does not correctly understand the risk of further spillover of the war,” Iran’s top diplomat said, adding, “The survival of Benjamin Netanyahu, as a White House ally, is only possible through continuation of war and genocide.”
Amir-Abdollahian warned that the situation in the region would not remain the same if Israel’s military aggression on Gaza continued.
The Iranian foreign minister, meanwhile, lauded China’s constructive efforts aimed at establishing peace and stability in the region.
For his part, the Chinese foreign minister lamented the U.S.’ vetoing of the Gaza ceasefire resolution at the Security Council, saying, “Establishment of ceasefire and immediate transfer of humanitarian aid [to Gaza] is of importance to China.”
So far, at least 18,000 people, including 7,729 children and 5,153 women, have been killed in Zionist strikes in the Gaza Strip, and at least 49,229 others wounded.
TEHRAN TIMES:
- Iran unveils new nuclear achievements
Iran has unveiled three new radiomedicines with applications for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of a number of diseases. The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who was present at the unveiling ceremony held in the capital Tehran, said the new drugs bring the number of the Iranian-produced radiopharmaceuticals to 50. “10 more radiodrugs will hit the production line in the upcoming months,” Mohammad Eslami said on Tuesday. Eslami also took the time to answer questions by reporters. When asked about the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) latest accusations against Iran, the official said Tehran has not expelled any of the UN agency’s inspectors from the country, while emphasizing that Iran has the right to vet those seeking to enter Iranian nuclear sites. “We have accepted about 120 inspectors, and right now, as we are speaking, two inspectors are visiting [nuclear sites] in a routine manner,” Eslami stated. He said that Iran has so far rejected to provide entry for 5 IAEA inspectors, adding that none of the individuals had entered the country to begin with. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi claimed in September that Tehran had barred several of the organization’s inspectors from monitoring Iran’s nuclear program. He condemned Iran for its “disproportionate and unprecedented” move. “When they introduce inspectors, we have the right to investigate, and no authority or law can impose inspections on us. The use of the phrase ‘I condemn’ is legally baseless,” explained Eslami. Several of Iran’s nuclear scientists have been assassinated by Israel in the past years, with the regime also attempting to carry out numerous sabotage attacks in Iranian nuclear sites. Reports by the West Asian country’s intelligence agencies have shown that Israel managed to identify the scientists and nuclear facilities through spies serving as IAEA inspectors in Iran.
- Passing the crisis
The recent Al-Aqsa Storm Operation has once again brought attention to the ongoing crisis in Palestine. The Israeli regime’s continued occupation and apartheid across Palestinian lands, including the territories occupied in 1948 as well as the pre-1967 borders in the West Bank and Gaza, has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis that cannot be denied. The Tel Aviv cabinet’s crossing over the borders was authorized by the United Nations General Assembly’s Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947. Along with the legal approach, from a moral standpoint, it can be seen as an occupation. According to UN Security Council Resolution 242, Israel must return to the borders before the 1967 war. The Knesset adopted the Jewish State law on July 19, 2018, declaring Israel a Jewish state, which has resulted in an apartheid system. The emergence of resistance groups against the occupation has proved that ignoring the condition of the Palestinian nation and denying the violation of the Palestinians’ obvious rights will not secure Israel.
- Yemeni missile hits Israeli-linked ship
- Yemen’s Ansarullah forces announced on Tuesday the implementation of a military operation against a Norwegian ship that was loaded with oil and heading to the “Zionist enemy entity” after the ship’s crew rejected all calls and warnings. The Norwegian-flagged tanker was hit by an anti-ship missile near the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The complex aerial attack caused a fire onboard the tanker, which was sailing under the Norwegian flag. No casualties have been reported. A statement by the official spokesman for Ansarullah’s Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e, said that “the naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a qualitative military operation against the Norwegian commercial tanker STRINDA which was loaded with oil and headed to the Israeli entity, and it was targeted with an appropriate naval missile.” He stressed that the operation came as “a victory” for the Palestinian people “who are currently being subjected to killing, destruction and siege in the Gaza Strip, Iran begins trial of MEK members TEHRAN- The first court hearing for the trial of 104 members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) took place on Tuesday with five lawyers representing the accused. Held at the 11th Branch of the Criminal Court of Tehran Province, the trial of MEK members was chaired by Judge Dehghani, and court advisors were Morteza Tork and Amin Naseri. The judge stated that the court oversees a case received from Tehran’s General and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office. The case involves the indictment of the terrorist group known as the Mojahedin Khalq, as well as 104 individuals from the group’s central cadre and its main agents. Page 3 P
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