Archive for category: News

A security source in Kirkuk announced on Saturday, that ISIS militants had beheaded 10 of its elements on charges of treason and cooperation with the government southwest of the province.

“militants belonging to ISIS have beheaded 10 members of the organization by slaughtering them by the sword in Hawija market (55 km southwest of KirkuK, under the pretext of treason and cooperation with the government, as well as leaking information about the organization’s leaders, ” The source said.

The source added: “the beheading process took place in front of a gathering of people,” adding that “their bodies were transferred to an unknown destination.”

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The ISIS extremist group has vowed to execute 180 Christian hostages from the Assyrian minority who were kidnapped in February in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah, an Assyrian monitoring group reported.

The terrorist group has demanded a ransom of $12 million for the release of the Assyrian hostages.

Director of the Assyrian Human Rights Network, Osama Edward, said there have been indirect negotiations with ISIS in order to release the Assyrian hostages.

“However, the negotiations, led by Bishop Ephrem Otnaial, head of the Church of the East in Syria, have been suspended due to the unbearable demands of the terror group,” Edward said.

“ISIS threatened to execute the 180 hostages if we didn’t pay the ransom,” he added.

“The terror group has demanded $12 million as ransom. Therefore, internal rifts emerged among Assyrian officials on how to respond to ISIS,” a member of the Civil Peace Committee in Tel Temir said under the condition of anonymity.

On Wednesday, ISIS published a footage showing the execution of three Assyrian hostages.

In February, ISIS militants launched a major offensive on Assyrian villages in the vicinity of Tel Temir town in Hasakah province, during which they took hundreds of civilians as hostages.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made assurances that his administration is resolved to pursue the issue of a recent deadly crush in Mina, Saudi Arabia, in which hundreds of Hajj pilgrims, including 465 Iranians, were killed.

Addressing a huge gathering of people in the northern city of Sari on Monday, President Rouhani expressed sympathy with the bereaved families of the victims of the Mina tragedy and praised the stance taken by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei on the issue.

“The duty of the (Iranian) administration to the victims has not been discharged completely,” he noted.

“Our follow-up efforts in diplomatic, political and even legal areas will continue until all aspects of the Mina disaster are clarified,” the president said, adding that his administration is duty-bound to make the efforts.

Earlier on September 30, Ayatollah Khamenei sent a clear message to the Saudi government after the September 24 crush of people in Mina.

The Leader criticized Riyadh for failing to fulfill its duties to repatriate the bodies of the victims to Iran.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has had respect for fraternity in the Islamic world up to now, showing self-restraint and Islamic politeness, Imam Khamenei explained.

“However” the Leader underlined “they (Saudis) should know that the slightest disrespect for tens of thousands of Iranian pilgrims in Mecca and Medina and failing in their duties to transfer the holy bodies (of pilgrims to Iran) will result in Iran’s severe and tough reaction.”

The Leader also called for the formation of a “fact-finding committee” with the participation of the Muslim countries, including Iran, to make an inquiry about the incident.

Many Iranian pilgrims still remain missing following the tragic event.

Iranian officials say some 4700 Hajj pilgrims from different countries died in the tragedy.

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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham condemned Israel’s efforts to judaize the al-Aqsa Mosque in the Holy Quds.

Afkham expressed concern about continued judaization in Holy Quds and holy sites especially al-Aqsa Mosque by the Zionist regime of Israel.

She further called on all Muslim governments and nations as well as international community to react immediately to stop crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza strip.

Afkham criticized attack of Jewish settlers and the occupying forces on the Palestinians inside al-Aqsa Mosque and prevention of Muslims from entering the mosque.

Over recent days, the Israeli forces and vandals stepped up sacrilegious assaults on the holy al-Aqsa Mosque—the third holiest site in Islam—and tightened military grip around the necks of the peaceful Muslim sit-inners who have been maintaining vigil at the Mosque.

Tension has mounted across the West Bank districts and Jerusalem with Israel’s repeated assault of al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, particularly its growing attempts to temporally divide the site between Muslims and Jews.

The situation has also been significantly deteriorating since the deadly arson attack on the Dawabsheh’s family home on July 31, which was carried out by Jewish settlers.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, Twenty three Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army and security forces since the beginning of October 2015.

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IRGC Lieutenant Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami underlined that Iran’s policy towards Israel will not change, and said that the fake regime will disappear from the international scene in the near future.

“Iran’s policies towards the terrorist groups and the Zionist regime will not change, and this regime will be vanished from the global political scene,” General Salami told reporters on Sunday.

He pointed to the recent remarks of the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei who said that Israel will not be alive in 25 years from now, and said, “The life of the Zionist regime is coming to an end and as the Supreme Leader said Israel will disappear from the global political landscape in coming decades.”

Last month, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei described Israel as a “fake” regime, and said there won’t be any Israel in 25 years from now.

“Some of the Zionists have said that given the results of the nuclear negotiations (between Tehran and the world powers), they have been relieved of concerns about Iran for 25 years, but we tell them that basically, you will not see the next 25 years and with God’s grace, nothing under the name of the Zionist regime will exist in the region by then,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a large number of Iranians in Tehran.

He added that the heroic spirit and morale of Muslim fighters will not let the Zionists feel comfort and tranquility in the next 25 years.

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