US Admits Iran’s Missile Testing Not Prohibited in UN Resolution

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook openly admits that missile testing is not prohibited in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorses the 2015 nuclear deal.

US Admits Iran’s Missile Testing Not Prohibited in UN Resolution: Zarif

According To Iran News, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook openly admits that missile testing is not prohibited in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorses the 2015 nuclear deal.

In a post on his Twitter account, Zarif hit back at the European parties to the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which recently accused Tehran of ignoring the UN resolution.

“Brian Hook has given our E3 #JCPOA partners a timely reminder, openly admitting that missile testing is NOT prohibited in Security Council Resolution 2231,” the Iranian top diplomat wrote.

“One of the deficiencies of the Iran nuclear deal is that it ENDED the prohibition on Iran’s ballistic missile testing,” Zarif quoted Hook as saying.

Zarif’s post came after the three European parties to the JCPOA, namely France, Germany and the UK, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, alleging that “Iran’s developments of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles” go against the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Ambassadors from the three European nations have also called on Guterres to inform the Security Council in his next report that Iran’s ballistic missile activity is “inconsistent” with the call in the resolution endorsing the JCPOA.

Resolution 2231 calls upon Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”

Iranian officials have time and again underscored that none of the country’s missiles have been designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads, because nuclear weapons have basically no place in Iran’s defense doctrine.

 

Source : irannewsdaily.com/

IRGC cmdr says enemy not aware of Iran’s full extend of power

The IRGC commander Major General Hussein Salami said today’s Revolutionary Guards are ready more than ever to defend the revolution and Islamic Iran, and the enemies will see Iran’s true power in battle field.

Major General Hussein Salami, after visiting Fars Island and assessing the situation and readiness of the units and fighters stationed in Bushehr on Thursday, said in a speech that Iran’s military power had been repeatedly tested and enemies know only a small part of the reality of our defense capability, although they know that the military and security power of the Islamic Republic of Iran is invincible, IRNA reported.

Top military commander went on to say that the deterrent power of Islamic Iran is built based on overcoming great enemies and by the grace of God we are ready to uphold the national security, territorial boundaries and independence and territorial integrity every day and our people are also confident that the military personnel have the enemies under their surveillance around the clock.

General Salami reiterated that we have developed and expanded our equipment and power based on the strategy of overcoming the transnational arrogant powers and have displayed parts of it in various fields and some operational dimensions.

Our enemies have seen both the technological capability of our equipment and the will and determination of our warriors to defend the values ​​of the Islamic Revolution; we are a tested power in the region and therefore will see our true power in the battle field, he added.

 

Source : Iran-Daily

Iran saffron exports down due to smuggling, restrictions: Exporters

Iranian exporters of saffron, a highly expensive spice with incredible healing powers, said that smuggling and restrictions have caused a decline in exports this year.

A member of Iran’s Saffron Council said that exports of the food additive declined to just over 40 tons between April and June this year, down 15 percent compared to the similar period in 2018 when over 50 tons of the Iranian saffron was sold in markets across Europe and Asia.

Ali Hosseini told ILNA that the declining in saffron exports would continue for the next two or three months as European customers have either decreased purchases due to the holiday seasons or prefer to wait for new harvests coming from Iran.

He said each kilogram of the Iranian saffron is priced between €700 and €1,000 in the European markets but the price prescribed by the Iranian government is well below – between €450 and €600.

Exporters and farmers have been lamenting that underpricing has caused a surge in the smuggling of saffron to neighboring Afghanistan, where the Iranian product in repackaged and exported to countries like India.

Hosseini said in an interview two weeks ago that India’s low tariffs on saffron imported from Afghanistan, compared to higher duties levied on Iran’s saffron, were encouraging more and more people to transfer the spice in large quantities from Mashhad to Afghanistan.

Authorities believe the illegal businesses have cost Iran saffron exports dearly as exporters have decreased their shipment to the United Arab Emirates, a top buyer of the Iranian saffron, because of declining inventories.

 

Source : Iran Daily

Iran reports 12-pertcent increase in DRI pellets output

Iron mills across Iran managed to increase their output of direct-reduced iron (DRI), pellets that can be melted to make steel, in the past four months.

A report by the IRNA published on Monday showed that DRI output in 19 major mills across Iran had reached 9,236,687 tons between late March and late July, an increase of 12 percent compared to the similar period in 2018.

The report said that the highest surge in production, around 50 percent, had been recorded in Sefid Dasht Steel, located in central Iran, while production in Mianeh Steel, located in the northwest, was down by 37 percent.

It said seven out of the 19 iron mills were among industrial units that had resumed production after around a decade of closure.

Iran is among the 10 leading steel producers of the world with an annual capacity of 35 million tons. The government seeks to increase output to 55 million tons by 2025 despite sanctions imposed by the US.

Iranian steel mills produced around 25 million tons of steel ingots in the 12-month period ending in March, of which some 30 percent was exported, according to official government data.

Officials say US sanctions, enacted in November, have failed to curb iron ore and steel production in Iran this year.

Another report published on Monday detailed output figures for products meant to convert iron ore to metallic iron.

The report by IRNA said production of iron concentrate in Iran had increased by three percent between late March and late July to top 15,103,165 tons.

It said output for iron ore pellets decreased slightly by one percent in the same period to stand at 14,403,672 tons while sized ore production was down 37 percent on 1,662,958 tons.

 

Source : Iran Daily

NIOC: Iran to present oil at stock exchange for sixth time

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The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) announced on Saturday that the sixth round of introducing Iran’s crude oil at the stock exchange will start as of August 21st.

A base price of $52.80 is recommended for every single barrel of heavy crude oil, of which two million barrels is planned to be sold, the NIOC said, according to IRNA.

On July 1st, Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri announced that the government is to offer the country’s oil through the national stock exchange, as the US has targeted the Iranian oil sector in order to minimize the country’s exports.

Those who buy Iran’s oil can receive the cargo three months after the deal, the NIOC noted.

Reportedly, the decision to present crude oil at the stock exchange has been taken based on the ‘resistance economy’ policies set by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on March 21, 2017.

Despite the world’s criticism over Washington’s anti-Iran measures, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and reinstated unilateral sanctions on Tehran in November of the same year.

Trump claims that this time, the US has imposed the “highest level” of economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to Iranian officials, oil is a strategic product and the world needs the commodity. Those countries which have already stopped their oil imports from Iran are now seeking to find ways to indirectly purchase oil from the Middle Eastern state.

 

Source : Iran Daily

Rouhani: Persian Gulf countries can protect region’s security

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Political Desk

Iran and other Persian Gulf states could protect the region’s security and foreign forces were not needed, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, repeating a longstanding rejection of a US maritime security mission in the region.

“There is no need for foreign forces to ensure security and stability in the Persian Gulf. The countries of the region can maintain their security through unity and dialogue, and no doubt they will not benefit from US claims and actions,” Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting.

Rouhani said the US and others are after sowing the seeds of discord among regional Muslim countries and emptying their coffers.

He said regional countries have historically had and will continue to enjoy brotherly relations, stressing that any division and discord will only benefit their enemies.

“Throughout history, the countries of the region have been and will be neighbors and brothers, and their division is in favor of the enemies,” Rouhani said.

The United States has announced plans to form a coalition to supposedly protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz from what it calls an Iranian threat following a series of mysterious attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman.

Washington has accused Iran of having a hand in those attacks, a claim Tehran has strongly rejected. Tehran has warned that such sabotage operations may be part of a general ploy to target Iran amid increasing regional tensions.

The US has asked its allies, including Germany, Japan, France, Britain and Israel, to join the coalition.

The call has, however, not been warmly received, with Israel and Britain becoming the only parties which have said flat out that they would join the alliance.

Rouhani also scoffed at an Israeli plan to join the US-led maritime coalition, saying the regime is not even capable of securing the areas it has occupied.

The Israelis “should try providing security where they are if they are really capable of doing that,” Rouhani said.

He called Israel the main element behind terrorism, warfare, and bloodletting in the region and said, “Wherever they established a presence, they brought about bloodshed and terror.”

“No one should be baited by these claims and statements [about Israel’s potential presence in the Persian Gulf] because it is clear to all how it would end,” the president noted.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on August 7 that Tel Aviv would be part of such a US-led coalition to “protect the security of the Persian Gulf.”

Katz said that Israel was determined to stop “Iranian entrenchment” in the Middle East and strengthen its relationship with Persian Gulf countries.

A day afterwards, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said Iran considered such possible Israeli presence in the region to be a clear threat to its national security, and reserved the right to counter it.

Rouhani likewise denounced Tel Aviv’s “hollow statements” about a role in “providing security” in the region.

He described all the slogans being advertised about the creation of a new naval coalition in the region as “ostentatious and impracticable.”

Reuters and Press TV contributed to this story.

 

Source : Iran-Daily

Iran expresses concern over developments in Kashmir

National Desk

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff expressed concern over recent developments in Indian-controlled Kashmir, saying that military approaches adopted by Pakistan and India would further complicate the situation in the area.

Pakistan reacted with fury this week after India revoked the special status for the portion of Kashmir that it controls, calling the action illegal, a claim New Delhi denies.

Major General Mohammad Baqeri in a phone conversation with Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa cautioned the two neighbors to avoid any “hasty decision” in Kashmir without considering the wishes of the region’s people.

“The parties are expected to refrain from any hasty decision on the fate of the (Kashmir) region, without regard to the people’s will,” Baqeri said.

Seeking to tighten its grip on the region, India this week withdrew special rights for Jammu and Kashmir State. It has cut off almost all communications, prohibited assemblies of more than four people and detained hundreds of political and separatist leaders.

The constitutional change will mean that non-residents will be able to buy property, get government jobs and take college places in the state, to the fury of arch-rival Pakistan, which claims the region as its own and accuses India of trying to change the demographics of its only Muslim-majority state.

Pakistan said on Saturday it had canceled a bus linking Lahore with India’s capital New Delhi, the last remaining public transport link between the neighbors divided by a dispute over the Kashmir region.

Pakistan has already cut two rail links, suspended bilateral trade and expelled India’s ambassador, all part of what it called a diplomatic effort to protest against the decision.

 

Source : Iran Daily

ISIPO CEO: Exports by Iran’s industrial units fetched $4b in a year

ISNA

A total of 1,100 units operating in industrial parks across Iran exported products worth $4 billion in the year to March 2019, said the head of the board of directors of Iran Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization (ISIPO).

Speaking on Saturday, Mohsen Salehinia added Iran has attracted $2 billion in foreign investments for developing the country’s industrial parks, IRNA Persian Service reported.

He noted that this amount of investment has been made by 210 foreign investors.

Salehinia put the total number of units located in the Iranian industrial parks at 43,650, of which 33,800 are operational and close to 9,800 are inactive.

Also a deputy industry, mine and trade minister, Salehinia added these units have created jobs for 710 individuals.

Salehinia said of the active units, close to 40 percent are operating at half capacity, 30 percent are using between 50 percent and 70 percent of their capacity and 30 percent more than 70 percent.

He noted that a plan is being carried out to activate 1,350 of the 9,800 inactive units, adding 200 units have so far become operational under this project which is expected to be fully implemented by March 2020.

In addition, Salehinia said, 78,800 contracts have been signed with the applicants seeking to build units in the country’s industrial parks, of which 44,000 have led to the establishment of units that are currently operational.

“As per these contracts, 34,000 units are under construction. In addition, land is being allocated for building 18,000 units.”

He put the total number of the industrial parks and zones in Iran at 811, adding of this figure 500 are parks and 310 are industrial areas.

“A total of 37,000 hectares of land have been allocated for the construction of industrial units.”

He said 17 percent of the units in Iranian industrial parks are operating in the field of producing foodstuff, 22 percent are involved in chemical industries, 12 percent in the field of nonmetal and mining industries, seven percent in cellulose industries, five percent in textile manufacturing, four percent in generation of electricity and production of electronic devices, 27 percent in metal industries and six percent engaged in services sector.

Salehinia noted that so far, 57,000 small-scale power plants have been built in the country’s industrial units.

He said plans are underway to create 438 industrial parks in rural areas of Iran.

“Currently, 60 export management firms have been set up. These companies have formed a number of export consortiums.”

 

Source : Iran Daily

Leader: Hajj a ‘model’ uniting all Muslims together

Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Saturday described the Hajj as a “model” demonstrating Islamic principles and uniting all Muslims together in the worship of God.

In his annual Hajj message, Ayatollah Khamenei also described as a “crime against humanity” the US-sponsored blueprint on the Middle East conflict, calling on Hajj pilgrims and everyone in the world to oppose it.

“The ploy of the ‘deal of the century,’ which is being plotted by the oppressive America and its treasonous cohorts is a crime against humanity, not just the Palestinian nation,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in the message which was read at a rally held by Iranian pilgrims in the plain of Arafat near Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca.

“We are inviting everyone to actively participate in defeating the enemy’s ploy and deception and believe that with the power and strength from God, this and all other ploys of the imperialist front is doomed to failure vis-a-vis the efforts and faith of the resistance front,” he added.

The “deal of the century,” a backchannel plan to allegedly reach a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, is reported to recognize Israeli occupation of Palestine in exchange for economic incentives. The plan has widely been rejected by the Palestinians.

Ayatollah Khamenei described Palestine as one of the most important issues of the Muslim world regardless of sect, race, or language.

“The greatest injustice of recent centuries has occurred in Palestine. In this painful drama, all that a nation had – their land, homes, farms, belongings, dignity, and identity – has been confiscated,” the Leader said.

“With God’s assistance, this nation has not surrendered to defeat, has not given up, and today, they are fighting evermore passionately and more bravely than yesterday, but the ultimate outcome requires assistance from all Muslims.”

The White House has yet to unveil US President Donald Trump’s full Middle East plan that is led by Trump’s advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Unlike his predecessors, Trump has not endorsed the Palestinian demand for statehood or the long-standing “two-state-solution.”

Kushner has so far presented a $50-billion economic revival plan for the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.

The Palestinian leadership has broken off diplomatic ties with the White House, accusing Trump’s administration of bias toward Israel. Washington has not said when it will present the full peace plan.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s message came as millions of Muslims poured onto the plain southeast of the holy city of Mecca to mark the Day of Arafat on the second day of the annual Hajj congregation.

The Leader said the pilgrimage presents an opportunity for oppressed Muslim nations to “spread awareness” and denounce oppression and the rule of “arrogant world powers.”

Every year, the Leader issues a message on the occasion, giving guidelines on the need to uphold the rite of Bara’ah, or the “disavowal of the infidels” and unite Muslims around the key messages of Islam.

“The ritual of Bara’ah, which means shunning all forms of cruelty, oppression, vulgarity and corruption of the tyrants of the time, and rising against bullying and extortion of the haughty of the eras, is one of the great advantages of Hajj, and an opportunity for oppressed Muslim nations,” the Leader said.

“Today, renouncing shirk [polytheism] and kufr [disbelief] of the arrogant powers headed by America means rejecting the killing of the oppressed, and waging wars. It means condemning the centers of terrorism such as Daesh and the American Blackwater. It means the Islamic Ummah’s cries at the infanticidal Zionist regime and its backers and sponsors,” he said.

The ritual of Bara’ah, Ayatollah Khamenei further said, is an opportunity to “condemn the warmongering of America and its associates in the sensitive West Asian and North African regions, where they have brought the pain and suffering of nations to the breaking point, and yet they impose grave tragedies on them each and every day. It means shunning racism and discrimination based on geography, race, and the color of skin. It means repudiating the arrogant and vicious behavior of aggressive and seditious powers vis-a-vis the dignified, noble and just behavior which Islam invites everyone to embrace.”

Each and every able-bodied Muslim, male or female, is required to complete the religious trip to the holy city of Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they have sufficient financial capacity to do so.

Press TV and Reuters contributed to this story.

 

Source : Iran Daily

Iran says reserves right to counter Israeli presence in US-led Persian Gulf coalition

Iran’s Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said on Friday that possible Israeli presence in a US-led coalition in the Persian Gulf is a clear threat against Iran’s national security, stressing that Tehran reserves the right to counter the move.

The Iranian official said, “Within the framework of the country’s deterrence and defensive policy, the Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to counter this threat and defend its territory,” according to Foreign Ministry’s official website.

His remarks came after Israeli media reported that Tel Aviv will join what the US claims an effort to boost security of navigation in the Persian Gulf.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the Israeli regime is part of the US-led coalition to “protect the security of the Persian Gulf,” Ynet reported.

The presence is a crisis-provoking and destabilizing element in the Persian Gulf, Mousavi said, adding, “The US regime and the illegitimate Zionist regime are responsible for all the consequences of this dangerous move.”

 

Tension-provoking move

 

Referring to US efforts to form a coalition against Iran in the Persian Gulf, Mousavi said the Islamic Republic believes the coalition is tension-provoking in nature.

“Iran believes the presence of ultra-regional forces in the Persian Gulf under any name and title will not only fail to help reinforce the region’s security, but will further prepare the ground for tension and crisis in the sensitive Persian Gulf region,” he added.

He said Iran is opposed to the formation of such coalitions and considers it as a tension-creating and deceitful move.

Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami also in separate phone conversations with his Kuwaiti, Qatari, and Omani counterparts said that the coalition will foment insecurity in the region.

Hatami said that regional security could only be provided by regional countries, noting that foreign presence here would have insecurity and instability as its only concomitants.

 

US failure

 

The US has so far failed to convince its allies to join the coalition amid its attempts to trouble Iran’s foreign oil sales as part of its sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently said that Washington had failed to set up a unified maritime mission in the Persian Gulf because it’s “alone in the world” and “countries that are its friends are too ashamed of being in a coalition” with the US.

On June 30, the US officially asked Germany to participate – alongside Britain and France – in the coalition, a request that was declined by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas a day later. The UK, however, later accepted to join the coalition.

“At the moment, the Britons would rather join an American mission. We won’t do it”, Maas said earlier this week, after previously stressing that “there can be no military solution” to the standoff in the region.

Germany is, however, not Washington’s only European ally to have been unwilling to be part of its naval force. France has also been reluctant to join the mission.

In Asia, Japan has also refused to join the coalition.

Japan’s government sources said on Thursday that Tokyo may send vessels to patrol off Yemen rather than joining the US-led coalition, according to japantoday.com.

The administration of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is reluctant to send the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Strait of Hormuz, a key sea lane through which around a fifth of the world’s oil passes, out of concern that doing so could hurt Tokyo’s friendly ties with Tehran.

But it is under mounting pressure from Washington to participate in the US effort with Pentagon chief Mark Esper earlier this week urging Japan to “strongly consider” it, the Japanese media said.

Despite the US efforts against Iran, one of the Washington’s closest allies in the Persian Gulf region is also trying to restore ties with Iran.

Recently, a delegation from the United Arab Emirates visited Tehran and signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance maritime border security cooperation.

Tensions have been running high between the US and Iran since Washington’s decision in May last year to abandon the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Tehran as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign aimed at forcing it to renegotiate a new deal that addresses its ballistic missile program and regional influence as well.

Tensions between the two nations deteriorated after Iran shot down a US surveillance drone on June 20 following its violation of Iranian airspace.

Several oil tankers were also targeted near the Persian Gulf last month, with Washington and its ally Saudi Arabia quickly blaming Iran for the suspicious attacks.

Tehran has rejected the accusations of its involvement as baseless, saying the incidents in the Sea of Oman appear to be false flags meant to frame the Islamic Republic.

The United States has engaged in significant regional military buildup, including by sending an aircraft carrier, a bomber task force, an assault ship, and around 1,500 additional forces to the Middle East.

Tehran has time and again said that it does not seek military confrontations with the United States, yet stands ready to defend its interests in the region.

 

Press TV and IRNA contributed to this story.

 

Source : Iran Daily