Friday, September 30, 2022

Raisi says he lamented France’s passiveness regarding JCPOA

 ‘I complained about France’s double standards regarding human rights’

TEHRAN— Speaking in his 7th live interview since he took office late on Wednesday, President Ebrahim Raisi said he lamented France and its President Emmanuel Macron for its passiveness regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the official name for the 2015 nuclear deal.

Speaking about his meeting with Macron in New York on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, Raisi said that the main point he emphasized was that the Americans unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and the Europeans failed to fulfill their obligations. 

“Mr. Macron agreed that the Europeans did not fulfill their commitments. I said that this time we should focus on adherence to commitments. Our positions were such that he said that he will personally go and talk to the Americans and Europeans and will explain our positions to them and will inform us about it,” the president stated. 

Emphasizing that the West should provide guarantees that they will not again renege on their commitments in order to reach a good agreement, he clarified that Iran witnessed once that the U.S. withdrew from the JCPOA and the Western governments did not fulfill their commitments, so Iran must make sure it would not get caught in the same status again.

Explaining the details of his meeting with Macron which was scheduled for 45 minutes but it ran twice the original plan, Raisi said that he told Macron that he is negotiating with Iran on the one hand and proposing a resolution to the IAEA Board of Governors on the other.

“These issues do not go together and the point I emphasized to Mr. Macron was that you as Europe, how much do you follow in the footsteps of the Americans? Why are you following America with so much history behind your country? Of course, he said that his position is independent from the U.S.,” the president said. 

The president continued by saying that despite Macron's attempt to justify the political approach of the IAEA, he told the French leader that there are many examples of the agency's politicized approach. 

“First, sometimes the IAEA chiefs come to Tehran and after visiting our nuclear industry, they officially announce that there has been no deviation in Iran's nuclear activities, but as soon as they return to Europe, they are contacted by the Zionist regime. It is possible that their tone and rhetoric will change, which is a sign of a political approach to the issue,” he illuminated. 

Raisi clarified that he asked Macron why France is paying attention to the suspicions being raised against Iran's nuclear activities, but when the IAEA confirmed 15 times the lack of deviation in the nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, France didn’t take notice of that. 

Macron made a general comment on situation of human rights in Iran

In response to a question from the interviewer that Macron raised domestic politics in Iran, the president said, “No, there was no discussion on this issue in this meeting and only a general comment was made about the human rights situation in Iran, to which I replied that you know very well that today we are in the position of the claimant in the issue of human rights and attention to human rights issues are not because of your positions or demands, but due to the nature of the Islamic Republic.”

The president continued, “I told Mr. Macron that since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, paying due attention to human rights has always been emphasized, both inside the country and our own citizens, and in all parts of the world, and then I gave an example of human rights violations in Europe and America and said right where you and I are present (New York), how many human rights violations happen? Why is there no protest against them? This double standard of yours is definitely a problem and makes the world not believe your words especially in these issues.”

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Iran responds to statements by Albania and UAE at UN

TEHRAN – The Iranian mission to the UN in New York responded to allegations by Albania and the United Arab Emirates at the United Nations General Assembly.

The Iranian mission requested the floor to exercise the right of reply in response to the unfounded allegations and fabrications leveled against the Islamic Republic of Iran during the General Debate on Saturday, September 24, by the representative of the Republic of Albania.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects such fictitious accusations, which are unfounded and based solely on false and erroneous assumptions. As asserted in our letter dated 10 September 2022, addressed to the Security Council and the Secretary-General, published as UN document S/2022/685, Iran has categorically rejected any kind of attribution for the alleged cyber-attack on Albania's infrastructure,” the Iranian mission said in a statement. 

The statement said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has long been the primary target and the main victim of infrastructure cyberattacks, which in certain cases, have disrupted the delivery of public services and governmental functions. The Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes once again, its persistent position that cyberspace and the ICT environment must be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and that States must act cooperatively and in full compliance with applicable international law.”

It added, “Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the illegal actions carried out on September 8, 2022, by Albanian police forces against Iran's diplomatic premises in Tirana, where they used force to enter Iran's diplomatic missions without Iran's consent. Such unlawful acts, committed in the following unilateral termination of bilateral diplomatic relations by the Albanian Government on September 7, 2022, are a flagrant violation of international law, specifically the principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises.”

The statement concluded, “We recall the international obligations of the Republic of Albania under the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, which required all States to take all appropriate steps to protect diplomatic and consular premises from any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of these missions or impairment of their dignity and any attack on diplomatic premises, agents and consular officers.”

The Iranian mission also issued a separate statement in response to allegations by the UAE regarding the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. 

The Iranian mission took the floor to exercise the right of reply in response to the statement made by the representative of the United Arab Emirates, during the General Debate on Saturday, 24th September, in which once again assaulted Iran’s territorial integrity by repeating a baseless claim about Iranian three islands in the Persian Gulf.

“We regard such an irresponsible statement and unfounded claim as interference in Iran's internal affairs, which violates fundamental principles of international law, including the principles of good neighborliness and non-interference in the domestic affairs of other sovereign states, and we strongly reject it. The three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf have been and continue to be an inseparable and integral part of Iranian territory, and Iran reiterates its sovereignty over those islands. Therefore, any claim to the contrary is categorically rejected,” the Iranian mission said. 

It added, “Any decision with regard to and measures taken in those islands by Iranian officials has always been taken on the basis of the principle of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has always pursued a policy of friendship and good neighborliness towards all its neighboring countries and would like to express its aims at strengthening bilateral relations with United Arab Emirates; Meanwhile, I would like to reemphasize that the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its sovereignty over the aforementioned islands are not negotiable.”

It concluded, “It is also obvious that based on historical facts, established years before the birth of the United Arab Emirates, these islands were Iranian, are Iranian, and will remain Iranian. It should also be reminded that the term ‘Persian Gulf’ has been the only correct appellation for the body of water situated between the Arabian Peninsula and the Iranian plateau, since 500 years Before Christ, and will remain so forever.”

Iran’s 86th Naval Fleet starts sailing world oceans

Rear admiral Irani

Iran’s 86th Naval Fleet starts sailing world oceans

TEHRAN, (MNA) – The Chief Commander of Iran’s Army Navy Force Rear Admiral Shahram Irani on Friday announced the beginning of the mission of 86th Naval Fleet to sail azure waters across the globe.

Regarding the measures taken by Iran’s Army Navy in the field of international sailing, Irani said that after the incident happened to Iranian vessels when pirates stole the country’s vessel, Iran’s Army Navy started increasing security of its ships according to the recommendations of Leader of the Islamic Revolution as of 2007 in a way that the Army Navy has so far escorted about 5,000 vessels.

He announced the message of 86th naval fleet of the Army Navy Force “as peace and friendship”.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the chief commander of Iran Army Navy pointed to the simultaneous presence of three flotillas in high seas and stated that all these three destroyers have completely been manufactured by expert Iranian engineers which is the salient specification of the mission.

“Jamaran”and “Sahand” destroyers were put on sail in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea in one naval fleet while Dena destroyer has recently been sailed in 86th naval fleet, the Chief Commander of Iran’s Army Navy Force added.

Egypt’s Negative Stance on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

 Viktor MikhinDAM38342

If you read Cairo newspapers, one of the main topics of great concern to residents of Egypt’s capital, and indeed to all Egyptians, is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The headlines say a lot: “Ethiopia wants to monopolize all water sources,” “Ethiopia is trying to deceive the Nile Basin countries,” “Ethiopia is constantly trying to drive a wedge between the Nile Basin countries.” And this is no coincidence as, according to the famous saying “Egypt is a gift of the Nile,” the waters of this river are invaluable for the country, its economy and all its inhabitants. And this problem became a major source of concern for the Egyptians, both from the very beginning of construction and especially after the third filling of the GERD. The main purpose of the dam is to generate electricity to address Ethiopia’s acute energy shortage and to export electricity to neighboring countries. With a planned installed capacity of 5.15 gigawatts, the dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa, and one of the 20 largest in the world.

From the very beginning of construction, very sharp contradictions emerged between those countries with an interest in the equitable distribution of the Nile’s waters. Following Addis Ababa’s call for an Entebbe agreement on the redistribution of Nile waters in 2010, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea refused to sign it, considering themselves “left out.” The result was a major rift between countries sharing the waters of the same great river, given that some 71 billion cubic meters of water in the Nile flows from the Blue Nile, which originates in Ethiopia. The six states of the White Nile basin share only 13 billion cubic meters of water from this tributary of the common Nile.

The reader may know from geography classes that there is no physical connection and no conventional channels between the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and the source of the White Nile in the Equatorial Great Lakes. This means, as the Egyptian Al-Ahram complains bitterly, that the Ethiopian leadership is well aware of the lack of capacity and means to bring water from the Ethiopian source to the Upper White Nile region. Moreover, how will the policy of equitable redistribution work if Ethiopian water does not reach South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt? It is quite obvious, the newspaper says, that Ethiopia aims to “monopolize all the water sources emanating from its territory.” Cairo has never asked the Upper Nile countries to give up the optimum benefit from the river’s water, from which Egypt gets only a surplus after they have used it. But it opposes changing the course of the Nile or blocking its flow because it is against the natural flow of the river.

In line with its strategy, Ethiopia organized a meeting on September 5 to which only four of the 11 Nile Basin countries were invited: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan. Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and of course Egypt were not on the guest list. The Democratic Republic of Congo was slighted because it refused to sign the Entebbe Agreement against Egypt and Sudan after it realized the Ethiopian strategy of using riparian states as a screen in its strategy to monopolize control of the Ethiopian Nile headwaters. Recent exchange of visits between Rwanda, Burundi and Egypt and other signs of improved relations between Egypt and these countries have also displeased Addis Ababa, which seeks to deter Cairo from moving closer to the riparian countries because it fears Egypt’s growing influence. Besides being aware of Ethiopia’s monopoly plans for the Nile, the Egyptian leadership also knows, Al-Masry Al-Youm notes, that Addis Ababa has created problems, tensions and conflicts with all its neighbors, be it Somalia and Eritrea in the east, or Kenya and Sudan in the south and west.

Ethiopia gave its deliberately divisive conference the title “The Reasonable Use of Nile Waters.” It is immediately striking how disconnected this wording is from its original context in the UN Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. The correct formula, as stated in the law, is “reasonable and equitable” use of international river routes. But Addis Ababa is not interested in justice, so it did not mention it. In fact, in its quest to divide and conquer the Nile basin, it also cares little for the “reasonable,” the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper stresses. It is known that international law uses the term “equitable” as opposed to “equal,” which Ethiopia wants to place above international law. This is why, for example, international law has linked the concept of “equity” to the copious amounts of water resources on Ethiopian territory, such as rivers, artesian wells, lakes and precipitation, which should also be available to other neighboring countries.

In this context, one can refer to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which states that of the 122 billion cubic meters of water that flow through the Ethiopian river basin each year, only 71 billion flows into the Nile. There is also Lake Tana with a 40 billion cubic meters reservoir designed exclusively for use by Ethiopians. Ethiopia also receives 936 billion cubic meters of rainfall annually, which feeds its vast rangelands for 100 million cattle. As noted in the aforementioned report, the country has the largest number of animals on the continent and accounts for 24% of the agricultural sector’s income. In addition, there are 10 billion groundwater resources plus another 10 billion in the Tekeze Dam reservoir near the border with Sudan, which Ethiopia uses to generate electricity for agricultural and industrial purposes. Another 75 billion cubic meters of water are being stored in the reservoir of the giant GERD, which will also be used exclusively by Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has been called the largest source of water in Africa. Perhaps its pursuit of monopolizing control over all these water sources is motivated by a desire to sell it to other countries, including its neighbors in the Nile basin, who have the same rights to this water. The UN naturally disapproves, and has warned of potential water wars that could arise between countries sharing the same transboundary watercourse. The Ethiopian leadership uses a similar ploy by appealing to the international community, claiming that Ethiopia is a poor state and poor Ethiopians lack electricity, which can be obtained cheaply from Ethiopian rivers. At the same time, Addis Ababa suggests that Sudan, South Sudan and Egypt sell electricity before supplying their populations.

Ethiopia is a large agricultural country with 35 million cultivated hectares and exports a variety of organic and non-organic foods, livestock and coffee. This in itself is concrete proof of the abundance of water. In contrast, water-stressed Egypt cultivates only 3.5 million hectares of land and imports 65% of its food because of water shortages. The country has only eight million cattle compared to Ethiopia’s 100 million. Egypt has virtually no rainfalls and no conventional or freshwater lakes like Ethiopia. It has no river other than the Nile, not even its tributaries, and 95% of Egypt’s population lives on the banks of this river, because most of the rest of the country (94% of its area) is arid desert.

Obviously, it is futile to expect Ethiopia, with its abundant water resources, to freely pass the necessary amount of Nile water to irrigate the Egyptian lands. Moreover, it is unacceptable for it to try to throw dust in the eyes of the international community or the Upper Nile states under the pretext of “equal” as opposed to “equitable” use of its rivers’ waters, Al-Masry Al-Youm writes sarcastically. The country recently wrote an anthem in honor of the third filling of the GERD. The text refers to Blue Nile as a “traitor” who once gave away Ethiopian waters to other countries and peoples, but has now repented and returned to its homeland. This anthem, according to many Egyptians, is a blatant admission of the Ethiopians’ attitude towards their neighbors and their own self-serving ambitions.

Viktor Mikhin, corresponding member of RANS, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

13 properties in Yazd approved as national heritage in H1

TEHRAN – A total of 13 historical sites and aging structures across the central Yazd province were inscribed on the national heritage list during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year 1401 (started March 21), the deputy provincial tourism chief has said.

Old mansions, a public bathhouse, a school, and a cistern were among the properties added to the prestigious list, Abdolmajid Shakeri explained on Friday.

In July 2017, the historical structure of the city of Yazd was named a UNESCO World Heritage. Wedged between the northern Dasht-e Kavir and the southern Dasht-e Lut on a flat plain, the oasis city enjoys a very harmonious public-religious architecture that dates from different eras.

Yazd is usually referred to as a delightful place to stay, or a “don't miss” destination by almost all of its visitors. It teems with mudbrick houses that are equipped with innovative badgirs (wind catchers), atmospheric alleyways, and many Islamic and Iranian monuments that shape its eye-catching city landscape.

It is a living testimony to the intelligent use of limited available resources in the desert for survival. Water is brought to the city by the qanat system. Each district of the city is built on a qanat and has a communal center.

Buildings are built of earth. The use of earth in buildings includes walls and roofs by the construction of vaults and domes. Houses are built with courtyards below ground level, serving underground areas. Wind-catchers, courtyards, and thick earthen walls create a pleasant microclimate.

Partially covered alleyways together with streets, public squares and courtyards contribute to a pleasant urban quality. The city escaped the modernization trends that destroyed many traditional earthen cities.

It survives today with its traditional districts, the qanat system, traditional houses, bazaars, hammams, water cisterns, mosques, synagogues, Zoroastrian temples, and the historic garden of Dolat-Abad. The city enjoys the peaceful coexistence of three religions: Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism.

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UNESCO assessing Masouleh for World Heritage

TEHRAN – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is assessing the northern Iranian village of Masouleh in Gilan province, Mehr reported on Wednesday.

A team of UNESCO assessors and cultural heritage experts are currently in Iran to evaluate Masouleh for possible inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list, the report added.

Back in August, the provincial tourism chief Vali Jahani announced that Iran has completed an all-inclusive dossier for Masouleh to have it registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

A number of measures have been taken in this to avoid obstacles to the world registration of Masouleh and to provide the necessary grounds, he noted.

The scenic village is famed for its Lego-shaped earthen houses built on another’s rooftop. Home to some of the most stunning landscapes in the country, Masouleh is one of the many stepped villages that are quite common to find around the country, especially in Kordestan and around Mashhad. They have been built on a hill so steep that the roof of one house is the pathway for the next.

Whereas practically, all stepped villages in Iran have been able to keep their rural and traditional essence, for some reason, Masouleh has evolved into a popular touristic destination that especially attracts domestic vacationers.

Thanks to a pretty developed tourist infrastructure, Masouleh is receiving the attention of all the guidebooks, portraying it as a dreamy mountain village so, slowly, it is becoming the prime destination for those travelers who have a little more than two weeks in Iran.

The village is pretty, composed of some yellowish houses which disappear behind the mist during the early morning hours. Being the most visited stepped village in Iran, Masouleh has all types of opinions.

On the one hand, the well-traveled backpackers will tell you that Masouleh is not worth the journey unless you don’t mind eating in overpriced restaurants or trying to bargain ridiculous fares with taxi drivers. On the other hand, less demanding travelers will tell you that Masouleh is such a lovely village that you can’t miss.

Surrounded by green valleys, misty forests, and 3,000m peaks, Masouleh is the ultimate trekking destination in Iran, offering several trails that include both day treks and multi-day treks.

Iran, home to several stepped villages

Iran is home to several magnificent stepped villages, of which the most popular ones are Masouleh, Kang, and UNESCO-tagged Uramanat.

Kang in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, which has been recently inscribed on the national heritage list, with an antiquity of more than 3,000 years, is situated at a distance of some 30 km from Mashhad, the provincial capital.

The village, located on the highlands of Mount Binalud, is also adjacent to Neishabur, known for its turquoise handicrafts and mines.

Uramanat in the west of the country is also another stepped village, which is considered a cradle of Kurdish art and culture from the days of yore.

Stretched on a steep slope in Uraman Takht rural district of Sarvabad County, the village is home to dense and step-like rows of houses in a way that the roof of each house forms the yard of the upper one, a feature that adds to its charm and attractiveness.

UNESCO added Uramanat cultural landscape to its list of world heritage sites in 2021.

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Palestinian child is killed; where is the West's uproar?

TEHRAN- A seven-year-old Palestinian child has died after running away from Israeli troops who were chasing him until he fell from a high place and the silence of the West speaks volumes. 

Beit Jala hospital has confirmed the death of Rayyan Suleiman as well as the account of his death. The child was brought to the hospital after his heart stopped functioning and all efforts to revive him failed. The tragic death happened after Rayyan left school in the village of Toqou of Bethlehem town.

Officials say Rayyan and other students with him had been running for their lives. In other words, running away from the regime's military in fear of their lives.

To make matters worse, his father says he laid his son down in a car and rushed him to hospital only to be stopped by the Israeli military. Only after the regime's soldier saw the boy dead, they allowed the vehicle to proceed to the hospital.

Israel claims its soldiers ran after Rayyan after he and other children were throwing stones at the Israeli military occupation troops. Palestinian residents, however, say there was no stone-throwing at the time. 

The Israeli argument itself is laughable. How can a military the possesses sophisticated weapons provided by the U.S.  be afraid of stones? How frightened was the Israeli military of children throwing stones that it claims to have run after them for that reason.

The truth is, as has been documented by experts, Israel uses this tactic of scaring away children at a young age to try and get them and their family to leave the land they and their parents and ancestors were born in.

Every year, hundreds of Palestinian children are detained by Israeli occupation forces. They are the only children in the world who are systematically prosecuted through military, rather than civilian, courts. And to make matters worse, the most common charge is throwing stones – for which the maximum sentence is 20 years in prison, according to Save the Children.

This is not how children should live their lives. In fact, just about everywhere else in the world, this is NOT how children live their lives. There are very few exceptions - extreme exceptions - and the children living under the apartheid Israeli military occupation is one of those exceptions.

The double standards of the West who publicly advocate for human rights and privately offer substantial support toward such atrocities is disturbing. The West is very quick to make noise, issue statements of condemnation that more than often lead to incitement of insecurity and violence. Provoking violence and riots in Iran and other countries are examples.

Of course, the irony recently is that the British were supporting Iranian rioters murdering police officers under the name of "freedom", but when Iranian rioters attacked British police in the UK, they were quick to be condemned. 

Here the silence of the West over the death of a little boy at the hands of Israel speaks volumes. The United States and the United Kingdom have been providing billions of dollars in military assistance and supporting the regime at the United Nations so that it continues to commit atrocities against Palestinian children.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the incident as "an ugly crime" by Israel. 

The Gaza based Hamas resistance movement strongly condemned the ongoing Israeli atrocities against innocent Palestinian children across occupied Palestine, saying it reflected the “sadist” Israeli policies practiced against children and civilians.
The movement has mourned the death of Rayyan and warned the regime that its atrocities against Palestinian children, people, land, and sanctities will not provide Israel any security but rather, will only boost the Palestinian people's willpower to defend their indigenous land and rights until the full liberation of their country.

It has also called on all human rights and humanitarian organizations to expose the Israeli crimes against Palestinian children and take serious action to blacklist its authoritarian rulers over the murder of children.

The reality is that not many Palestinian children can escape Israeli forces and stay alive or maintain the very little freedom they currently have. 

Last year in May, the regime murdered 67 Palestinian children during a seven-day time frame alone, and the West stayed silent. This year, the regime has murdered dozens of children. During a two-day period, from 5 -7 August, the UN Human Rights Office documented the Israeli killing of 17 Palestinian children and injuring another 151. It gives a clear idea of how Israel has total disregard for the life of a Palestinian child and unfortunately for Rayyan; he will and always will be just a number.

According to research provided by Defence of Children International, the Israeli forces and its armed settlers have killed around 2,000 Palestinian children since the start of the second Intifada in September 2000. In other words, this disturbing number means that on average, the Israelis have murdered a Palestinian child every three days. 

On the other hand, being arrested by the regime's forces is something Palestinian minors also fear greatly. Reports by more than one international rights group have said that the Israeli occupation's ruthless military has arrested more than 14,000 Palestinian children since September 2000.

Research by Save the Children found that Palestinian Children who are arrested (as the fate of Rayyan most likely would have been) and taken to Israeli military dungeons face inhumane treatment such as beatings, strip searches, psychological abuse, weeks in solitary confinement, and being denied access to a lawyer during interrogations; that have been described as very inhumane against adults let alone children.

The charity group says it has consulted with more than 470 children from across the West Bank who have been detained over the past ten years. It found that most children were taken from their homes at night, blindfolded, with their hands painfully bound behind their backs. Many of the respondents said they were not told why they were being arrested or where they were being taken. Hundreds remain in prison.

The CEO of Save the Children, Kevin Watkins, has decried the fact that it has been so many years since the UK’s own Children in Military Custody report highlighted the devastating injustices faced by Palestinian children in Israeli military custody. Since then, thousands more detained children have suffered systematic abuse, all while the recommendations made to fix a broken justice system have gone nowhere.

“The UK Government constantly calls on the Government of Israel to ensure human rights are respected, but words have so far not resulted in action. Our findings paint a stark picture – of young boys and girls subjected to serious mental and physical abuse, resulting in scars they will carry for years to come. The Israeli military detention system continues to render Palestinian children entirely defenceless."

In August, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet expressed alarm at the high number of Palestinian children that have been killed and injured in the occupied Palestinian territory this year.

"Inflicting hurt on any child during the course of conflict is deeply disturbing, and the killing and maiming of so many children this year is unconscionable,” said Bachelet.

There is no respect for international law when it comes to the regime occupying the country of Palestine and committing countless massacres against children. The double standards by the West toward this child killing machine is a stain on humanity.

Iran second most innovative country in region

TEHRAN – According to the Global Innovation Index (GII 2022) report, Iran is the second most innovative country in the Central and South Asian region and the third among low-middle income countries.

Iran ranked 53rd in the world with 7 steps up compared to 2021.

According to the 2022 GII, Switzerland, the United States of America, Sweden, England, and the Netherlands are the most innovative economies in the world, and China is on the verge of entering the world’s 10 most innovative countries.

The top global companies increased their R&D spending by almost 10 percent to more than $900 billion in 2021, more than in 2019 (before the pandemic).

The drivers of this increase were mainly four industries of "Information and Communication Technology Hardware and Electrical Equipment", "Information and Communication Technology Software and Services", "Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology" and "Construction and Industrial Metals".

In the annual ranking of innovation capacity and output of world economies, key changes are observed in the top 15 countries. Vietnam (48th), Iran (53rd), and the Philippines (59th) are middle-income economies with the fastest growth in innovation performance to date.

With 7 ranks of promotion compared to 2021, Iran has been ranked 53rd in the world, second in the Central and South Asian region, and third in low-middle income countries, and for the second consecutive year, the innovation development rate is higher than expected.

Iran is leading in indicators such as trademark registration (rank 1) and science and engineering graduates (rank 2). In terms of innovation outputs, Iran has a performance similar to high-income European economies such as Latvia (rank 41) and Croatia (rank 42).

Over the few past years, with the support of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, the Iranian house of innovation has been set up in several countries to develop the global market for knowledge-based products.

These centers have already been set up in countries such as Russia, Turkey, China, Syria, Kenya, Iraq, and Armenia.

Mehdi Ghalehnoei, an official with the vice presidency for science and technology, said in February that in the past Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20, knowledge-based companies gained about $800 million in revenue from export, and in the current year, the figure seems to reach up to $2 billion.

Africa, neighboring countries, Southeast Asia and Eurasia are our export target priorities, and we hope to create Iranian innovation and technology in all these areas, he added.

--------Innovation development in 5 years

Knowledge-based companies and creative startups have grown over the past five years, and Iran has risen 45 places in the Global Innovation Index, according to the UNESCO 2021 Report.

The Global Innovation Index in Iran from 2015 to 2019 has risen from 106 to 61 with continuous improvement, showing 45 steps of growth.

The development of accelerators and innovation centers over the last five years has led to a rapid increase in startups and knowledge-based companies.

Between 2014 and 2017, exports of knowledge-based goods grew by a factor of five, before slumping in 2018 after the U.S. withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (2015), commonly referred to as the nuclear deal, and re-imposed sanctions.

The report states that innovation in Iran has developed rapidly over the past five years, and by the end of last year, 49 accelerators and 113 innovation centers had provided services to start-ups with the participation of the private sector.

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Venezuela Urges UNESCO to Defend Cultural Rights Against Sanctions

Venezuela Urges UNESCO to Defend Cultural Rights Against Sanctions

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Venezuelan Culture Minister Ernesto Villegas urged the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to take action to safeguard peoples' cultural rights from the negative effects of other nations' sanctions on Thursday.

UNESCO should offer a "mechanism to protect the cultural rights of people, their heritage and cultural diversity, from unilateral coercive measures," otherwise known as sanctions, Villegas said during a session of the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT 2022), being held in Mexico City, Xinhua reported.

Sanctions can "severely" impact communities, not only in Latin America but worldwide, said Villegas.

"Those who have calculated the numbers say that half of humanity is being subjected to sanctions," he added.

Venezuela supports MONDIACULT's goal to officially recognize culture as a "global public good" in a joint declaration to be issued at the end of the conference, the official said.

The Venezuelan government has repeatedly denounced the negative impact that U.S.-imposed sanctions have had on its people, both socially and economically.

Iran condemns Western statement on terrorist bases' attack

Iran condemns Western statement on terrorist bases' attack

TEHRAN, (MNA)- Condemning the West statement on attacking terrorist bases in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that Iran reserves right to defend its national security against acts of aggression from any territory.

Nasser Kan’ani on Friday condemned the statements issued by some countries including Germany and the United States on attack of Iran’s Armed Forces to the base of terrorist groups in Iraq’s Kurdistan region which fomented recent domestic riots in Iran.

He reiterated that Iran reserves its right to defend its national security against acts of aggression from any territory and resolutely opposes any terrorist act.

Iran's  Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the positions of terrorist groups in Iraq’s Kurdistan region with missiles and drones on Sep. 28.

Several members of these terrorist separatist groups have been reportedly killed in the new round of missile and drone attacks by IRGC.

Unfortunately, the countries that issued the statement, while violating their international responsibility in fighting terrorism, continued their regrettable habit of selective and discriminatory behavior and at the same time they issue such unilateral statements that are against the interventions and violation of the sovereignty of the countries, he added.

IRGC’s Hamzeh Seyed al-Shohada launched a number of 73 surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and dozens of destruction drones to Iraq’s Kurdistan region which were precisely struck the terrorist positions and targets and led to their complete destruction.

Earlier on Monday, the IRGC’s Ground Force launched artillery and drone attacks against terrorist bases and pounded the gatherings, training camps, and operations rooms of terrorist groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan region with smart and precision-strike weapons. 

Iran has on countless occasions warned Iraq’s Kurdistan that it will not tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along its northwestern borders, saying the country will give a decisive response should those areas become a hub of anti-Islamic Republic terrorists.

Putin signs decree on accession of ‘four new regions’ into Russia

(L-R) The Moscow-appointed heads of Kherson region Vladimir Saldo and Zaporizhzhia region Yevgeny Balitsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donetsk separatist leader Denis Pushilin and Lugansk separatist leader Leonid Pasechnik react after signing treaties formally integrating four regions into Russia, at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 30, 2022. (Photo by AFP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree for the formal accession of four regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to the Russian Federation, a move Kiev has decried as wholly illegal.

Presiding over a signing ceremony with the Russian-installed heads of the four regions in the Kremlin on Friday, Putin announced that people in these regions are now considered Russian citizens as they have made their choice in referendums.

The Russian leader stressed that Ukraine has to respect the will of the people, vowing to defend the Russian land with all means.

The development came after people in the four regions voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation in a referendum.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the hastily organized votes breached international law and called the referendums “worthless.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also depicted Russia’s accession as “a dangerous escalation,” while US President Joe Biden said Washington will never recognize Russia’s accession of Ukrainian territory.

Putin: Russia ‘not striving’ for return of Soviet Union

Putin also said on Friday that Russia was “not striving” to recreate the Soviet Union, an accusation repeatedly leveled against the Russian leader by Western powers.

“The USSR is no more. We can’t bring the past back. And Russia doesn’t need it anymore. We are not striving towards that,” he said.

Putin once famously said that anyone who didn’t regret the passing of the Soviet Union had no heart, but anyone who wanted it restored had no brain.

Prior to the accession, the Russian president had notified the parliament about the measure, the head of Russia’s lower chamber of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin said on Friday.

Volodin confirmed on the State Duma’s official Telegram channel that Putin had informed the parliament of official requests by the regions.

Kremlin to declare Ukraine regions 'formal integration' into Russia on Friday
Kremlin to declare Ukraine regions 'formal integration' into Russia on Friday

Any attack on new regions is an attack on Russia: Kremlin

Meanwhile, Kremlin has announced that any attack on the new territories is considered an attack on Russia itself.

Asked by reporters if an attack by Ukraine on the new territories would be considered an attack on Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “It would not be anything else.”

Russia has said that it would fight to take the whole of the eastern Donbas region, with Putin saying last week he was willing to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia’s “territorial integrity.”

Asked what would happen to the territory that is not under Russian control, Peskov said: “It is to be liberated.”

Luhansk and Donetsk, with a combined population of about 6 million before the offensive, are collectively known as the Donbas, a mostly Russian-speaking center of coal mining and heavy industry until their economies were wrecked by the fighting from 2014 onwards.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the 2014 Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.