Archive for category: News

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says growing extremism and sectarianism in the Middle East pose a great security threat to the whole world.

“Our region is today faced with a serious and severe danger, which is the danger of unrestrained extremism and sectarianism as a result of the wrong policies of a number of regional players,” Zarif told a Monday gathering of Iranian ambassadors, governors-general and economic officials in the capital, Tehran.

Zarif highlighted the importance of drawing on the situation created following the conclusion of a nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 group to advance the policies associated with the “resistance economy,” develop the country, and help improve people’s livelihood. He also urged further cooperation between ambassadors and governors-general to achieve the goals.

“The JCPOA and the post-JCPOA atmosphere are opportunities we can use to advance our objectives,” Iran’s top diplomat said.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – finalized the text of the agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in the Austrian capital of Vienna on July 14.

Under the JCPOA, limits are put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a set of commitments by the P5+1, including the removal of all nuclear-related economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.

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The Pentagon is ready to compensate the families of Iraqis killed by American bombs during US airstrikes against purported Daesh (ISIL) positions there, a new report says.

The Pentagon is about to get a $5 million fund to pay the families of civilians killed by 3,586 American airstrikes reportedly targeting Daesh terrorists in the Arab country.

This is while the US refuses to publicly acknowledge killing or wounding any civilians.

The $5 million sum, buried deep in the annual defense budget bill the House passed Thursday, is supposed to be used in Iraq when the US military harms a civilian or destroys their property.

However, no such fund exists for Syria, where because of the escalating conflict, it is more difficult to assess the damage caused by American bombs.

So far, the Pentagon has only acknowledged killing a few of Syrian civilians despite viable reports suggesting that the death toll in Iraq and Syria is well within the hundreds zone.

The fund for Iraq falls under a program that is actually intended for Afghanistan– dubbed the Commanders’ Emergency Response Program (CERP).

Under CERP, US commanders can approve up to $2,500 per person or damaged property, but higher-ups are allowed to sign bigger sums if needed.

This means the US could hand out up to 2,000 “condolence payments” to Iraqis over the next year.

The new annual defense policy bill authorizes $10 million to be spent on CERP in Afghanistan in the 2016 fiscal year.

US Congress is also allowing up to $5 million of that funding to be used for condolence payments in Iraq, should American “combat operations” lead to “damage, personal injury, or death.”

The Senate is expected to pass the bill this week, after which it will go to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.

As of November 3, the US has reportedly carried out 3,586 airstrikes in Iraq and 2,578 Syria.

More than one million Iraqis were killed as a result of the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq in 2003. It is not yet clear if Washington is also willing to admit fault for those deaths as well.

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A ceremony was held to mark the 40th day after the funeral of clerics victimized in Mina tragedy in attendance of hundreds of people in A’zam (Grand) Mosque on Sunday.

In a ceremony held at A’zam mosque of Qom on Sunday, the fortieth day after the funeral of clergymen passed away in Mina tragedy was commemorated.

The event was jointly organized by Iranian Leader’s Representative Office in Hajj and Pilgrimage Affairs, Seminary Services Center, The Custodianship of Qom’s Holy Shrine, and the Governor General of Qom Province.

Many senior clerics attended the event among them were Grand Ayatollah Alavi Gorgani, Grand Ayatollah Shobeiri Zanjani, Ayatollah Bushehry, and Ayatollah Moghtadaei.

The unjust massacre of pilgrims in Mina will soon entangle the Al-Saud House, said Hosseini Khorasani one of the figures who gave speech in the ceremony.

He added that it is a pity that those who call themselves as the Custodians of Holy Shrines of Mecca and Medina dodged a simple extension of sympathy to Muslims of the world who suffered losses in Mina tragedy.

‘It is because of the hallucination of wealth and illusory power that Saudis feel unrestrained from principles of reason, humanity, and international etiquette,’ the cleric affirmed.

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Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said on Monday that existing crises in Syria and Yemen should be resolved through political means and invited all parties to sit at negotiations table.

Referring to deeply rooted relations between Iran and Belgium which date back to some 125 years ago, he said he is to send a set of historical archives indicating profound relations between the two countries.

Talks on human rights issue could be on the agenda Iran-European Union talks, he said, adding that grounds for expansion of economic cooperation between Iran and Belgium are well prepared.

Welcoming nuclear deal between Iran and G5+1, he expressed the hope that talks would be continued after lifting of economic sanctions, thus enabling both sides to broaden economic cooperation, he said.

All should help find political solutions to regional issues such as displacement of a huge number of people as there is no military solution to this end, he said.

Belgium is determined to broaden cultural, scientific and academic cooperation inlcuding nuclear medicine with Iran, he said.

He also extended an invitation to his Iranian counterpart to pay an officials visit to Belgium.

The Belgian foreign minister leading a 20 member economic delegation arrived in Tehran on Sunday.

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Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugee children of school age are not provided with education in Turkey, a new report says.

According to data released by Human Rights Watch on Monday, only one third of the Syrian refugee children in Turkey are attending school. Of more than 700,000 children, only about 200,000 were attending classes in the previous school year, the report said.

Turkey has been hosting more than 2 million refugees from Syria since the country’s crisis began in 2011.

“If a child doesn’t go to school, it will create big problems in the future – they will end up on the streets, or go back to Syria to die fighting, or be radicalized into extremists, or die in the ocean trying to reach Europe,” read the report.

The 62-page report documented the obstacles that prevent Syrian children from getting formal education in Turkey. Language barriers and financial difficulties were among the impediments mentioned in the report.

Many other children face bullying and social integration difficulties that lead them to drop out, the report said. Other refugee children are not attending school due to working to financially support their families.

Turkey allowed Syrian children to attend public schools last year, but did not provide sufficient schools for non-Turkish speakers.

Human Rights Watch called on Ankara to work quickly to secure these children’s education.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011. More than 230,000 people have reportedly been killed and millions displaced due to the violence fueled by the foreign-sponsored militants in Syria.

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