Senior Iraqi figures attend martyrdom anniversary of General Soleimani

Tehran, IRNA – Senior Iraqi figures have participated in a ceremony to commemorate Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani and Iraq’s Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The ceremony was held in Iran’s embassy in Baghdad on the eve of the 3rd martyrdom anniversary of the two top commanders who lost their lives in a US drone attack in Baghdad in January 2020.  

Speaking during the ceremony, Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Mohammad Kazem Al-e Sadeq said that creating peace, stability and security were among the main goals of these two martyrs.

Local media reported that a delegation of Ulema from the released Iraqi areas went to the tomb of Martyr al-Muhandis and paid tribute to the commanders of victory.

Two commemoration ceremonies were also held in Basra and Baghdad.

Qasem Soleimani, the great martyr of Jerusalem

by Sayid Marcos Tenório

People attend a commemoration ceremony held within the first anniversary of the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani on January 03, 2021 in Bahgdad, Iraq. [Murtadha Al-Sudani – Anadolu Agency]

The date of 3 January invites us, on the one hand, to reflect on the fight against terrorism and, on the other, to continue fighting for justice, freedom and sovereignty. That’s because, on this date in 2020, a direct order from US President Donald Trump materialised in a terrorist attack that martyred the commander of the Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani and Commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

As a motive for Soleimani’s murder, the US cited his support for the demonstrations taking place on 27 December, 2019, in front of the US Embassy in Baghdad, and the false allegation of invasion (that did not occur), which would have resulted in the deaths and injuries of US and Iraqi citizens. However, we know that the motives for the murder are different. They are related to Soleimani’s role in the victories against the US in the Middle East and the loss of its status as the only player in the region, and the increase in the role of Russia and China with Iran as the centre of this anti-terrorist articulation.

It is also known that General Soleimani’s strategic actions contributed to cutting off the flow of arms from the US and Israel, not only to Daesh and other terrorist groups operating in the Middle East, but also to other regional buyers. As the world’s largest arms manufacturer and for the success of its arms trafficking business, the US needs the action of terrorist groups. With the successive defeats of the terrorists of Daesh in Syria and Iraq led by Soleimani and Al-Muhandis and the consequent fall in the arms business, the US decided to assassinate the general who was the symbol of resistance against these armed gangs.

The assassination of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis outside of a war situation and on foreign territory was more than a violation of Iraqi sovereignty – it was an explicit act of state terrorism and a violation of conventions and international law. This action was yet another futile attempt by the US and its partners to curb the “axis of resistance” that involves Iran, Syria, the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces, the Yemeni Houthis, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian Popular Front and the Polisario Front of Western Sahara, among other movements.

Soleimani and Al-Muhandis were not the only ones and will not be the last. May the names of scientists martyred in terrorist attacks be remembered, such as Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, Majid Shahriyari, Darioush Rezai, Mostafa Ahamdi-Roshan, and others. These are murders that reflect the criminal spirit dominating the structure of the US and Israel. US illegalities provide cover and encouragement for the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories and abroad.

General Soleiman played an important role in Hezbollah’s victorious strategy that humiliatingly expelled the Zionist invader’s forces from Lebanon in 2006. He gave important encouragement and support to the uprising of Yemen’s Houthis against the Saudi regime. He played a central role in the defeat of Daesh in Syria, as well as in the creation, training and actions of Al-Hashd Al-Sha’abi’s militias led by Al-Muhandis, who were responsible for the collapse of terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq.

The martyrdom of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis showed the world that the revolution is alive and will be victorious. Furthermore, the enemies of the Iranian nation were humiliated by the greatness of the assassinated general, who became the martyr of Jerusalem as a key figure in the victorious strategy against terrorism by the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and their allies in the Middle East and Eurasia.

Soleimani was born to a poor family in the Qerman region on 11 March, 1957. He began his military career with his entry into the Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In the 1980s, he was appointed commander of the 41st Division of the Iranian army during the Iran-Iraq war. His accession to the command of the Iranian Quds Force of actions abroad took place in 1997. He was promoted to the rank of major general by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Imam Ali Khamenei on 24 January, 2011, a post where he remained until his martyrdom.

The importance of Soleimani in the fight against terrorism was not just military; he also played an important political role. In 2015, he convinced Russia to enter the Syrian war more effectively in the trilateral alliance between Russia, China and Iran to confront terrorist gangs in the Middle East, as well as in the realisation of joint maritime military exercises in the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean, instrumental in breaking the US monopoly on the region’s seas.

During Soleimani’s funeral in Tehran, Khamanei declared that those who planned and carried out the general’s assassination would surely pay the price, as revenge will inevitably occur when conditions permit. According to Khamanei: “Soleimani’s shoe is worth more than Trump’s head.” In addition, the leader pointed out that the martyrs’ funerals attended by millions of people in Iran and Iraq were a severe slap for the US, but the hardest slap will be the elimination of the arrogant US presence in the region.

Soleimani sacrificed himself for the most important cause of humanity today – the just struggle for the liberation of Palestinians, with a focus on reclaiming Arab and Palestinian lands and lifting the sacred mosque of Al-Aqsa from the siege and destruction attempts by the state of Jewish supremacy that took over Palestine since 1948.

The US terrorist attack that martyred Soleimani, Al-Muhandis and several other Iranian and Iraqi martyrs who accompanied them reflects the criminal sense that dominates the mindset of the leaders of the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia. This action constitutes a safe conduct for all crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories and abroad.

The crime by this terrorist consortium, led by the US, was not even remotely a victory over the resistance struggle against the terrorism it disseminated. The US, Israel and Saudi Arabia were the ones who were defeated because the resistance struggle continues until the final victory, as a legal right guaranteed by international laws and conventions and recognised by the United Nations Charter.

Pakistan army and corrupt politicians hell-bent on excluding PTI from elections

Crescent International

Imran Khan, Pakistan's most popular politician languishes in prison as the army and corrupt politicians deny him participation in elections scheduled for February 8, 2024

Unless the courts intervene—a slim chance—the Pakistan army and corrupt politicians are hell-bent on excluding the largest political party from the February 8, 2024 general elections.

Some observers have even expressed fear that elections may be postponed or even cancelled altogether.

What is the reason for such illegal acts?

The former prime minister Imran Khan and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) are extremely popular with the masses.

If allowed to participate, the party will sweep the polls.

Khan is currently languishing in jail on bogus charges, all part of the army’s plot to keep him out of politics.

Why does the army want to keep him and his party out of politics?

The Pakistan army is no longer a professional force.

It has become a bunch of mercenaries working for the Americans for a fistful of dollars.

In March 2022, the Americans ordered the Pakistan army to remove Imran Khan from power.

This message was communicated by Donald Lu, a third ranking state department official, to Pakistan’s then ambassador in Washington Dr Asad Majid Khan.

The ambassador duly notified the foreign office as part of his diplomatic duty.

Lu’s message, however, was meant for the Pakistan army chief who at the time was Qamar Javed Bajwa.

This American agent immediately started the ball rolling and with the intelligence chief, another lowly creature, plotted the removal of Imran Khan through vote buying in parliament.

Unfortunately, most Pakistani politicians have no ideological commitment.

They will sell their mothers for a few dollars or even a visa to the US for their son or nephew.

The requisite number of politicians sold their mothers, and some their daughters, to vote against Imran Khan in parliament.

The army then installed a bunch of criminals, murderers and rapists in power who ruined the country’s economy.

It could be asked, why the army does not grab the reins of power directly?

If it can find corrupt politicians to carry out their orders, it is not necessary for the army to take over directly.

This has the advantage of getting their orders complied with and if things go wrong, as they have done since April 2022 when Imran Khan was ousted from power, they do not have to take the blame.

In fact, the army hides behind a whole range of institutions that it has marshalled for its political engineering project.

These include corrupt politicians who are willing to abide by army’s illegal commands.

The courts also take orders from the army.

Never popular, the judges have become a thoroughly despised bunch.

And then there is the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) headed by a vile creature, Sikandar Sultan Raja.

They all comply with the army’s orders.

Let us recount what has transpired so far.

The ECP’s role is to hold free, fair and transparent elections in the country.

Yet all its actions are geared toward denying the most popular party from participation.

According to the constitution, elections should have been held by November 7, 2023 since the previous government had resigned on August 7.

A caretaker government was inducted, again headed by an army-approved clown whose mandate is for 90 days during which time he must arrange for elections.

Yet this clown struts about the world acting as if he will rule forever.

He does so because he knows that the army is backing him.

It was the Supreme Court that ordered elections be held on February 8, 2024.

While the date has been announced, the ECP and its minions have done everything in their power to deny PTI candidates from registering for election and subsequently, it has disqualified nearly 90 percent of its candidates.

On December 15, when the Supreme Court ruled that the ECP should ensure a “level playing” field for all political parties, that very night, the electoral body announced that PTI cannot have its electoral symbol, “the bat”.

The cricket bat symbolizes Imran Khan’s prowess in cricket.

It was under his captainship that Pakistan won the world cup in 1992, for the first and last time.

Every political party wants to grab the bat symbol, aware that many people will not be able to recognize the candidate at the ballot box.

But with the bat symbol, they might sneak into parliament.

PTI lawyers have vowed to challenge the rejection of their candidates in the Supreme Court.

How the court would rule is difficult to predict.

As pointed out, judges take their orders from the army, or more precisely, from the few generals who act as a mafia.

The Pakistan army is no longer capable of defending the country’s borders or liberating any territory, such as Kashmir from the clutches of India.

So, it resorts to conquering its own people.

The army has reduced Pakistan into a mess.

The economy is in ruins; there are deep social and political divisions and thousands of people have been kidnapped and made to disappear.

Hundreds of people from Balochistan, the majority of them young women, have camped outside the National Press Club in Islamabad since December 20, asking the authorities for answers about their loved ones who have disappeared.

They are referred to as “missing persons”.

In 2010, there was a government commission to look into the cases of “missing persons”.

In other words, the state acknowledged the kidnapping of people from Balochistan.

The reason successive governments have not been able to do anything about the missing persons is that all these people have been kidnapping by the army.

Thousands of other Baloch youth have been murdered in cold blood in what is referred to as “police encounters”.

What does all this have to do with Imran Khan and the reasons behind denying his party a fair chance at elections?

First, the Americans do not want Imran Khan back in power.

He is too independent-minded and will refuse to take orders from them.

The ugly Americans want puppets, not independent-minded leaders.

Second, Imran Khan has vowed that when he returns to power, he will go after all those people who have violated the constitution or indulged in corruption and put them on trial.

These include politicians, the bureaucracy, judiciary, police and even senior army officers.

This is what terrifies these criminals and crooks.

They do not want Imran Khan in power, hence their desperate attempts to deny him participation in elections.

Without free and fair elections, Pakistan will not be able to overcome its economic crisis that is the direct result of political uncertainty.

The army and a bunch of criminals masquerading as politicians will rather destroy Pakistan than allow Imran Khan’s party to contest the elections that they know the PTI is sure to win.

This is the tragedy of Pakistan.

Without PTI’s participation in elections, the result will be a farce.

The masses will not accept it.

There is fear that civil war might erupt in the country.

Will the army take heed? Perish the thought.

Imran KhanPakistan ArmyPakistan Tehreek-e-InsafPakistan electionscorruption in Pakistan

Hezbollah warns of escalation in cross-border clashes with Israeli regime

Tehran, IRNA - Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem has warned the Zionist regime if it insists on its warmongering attempts, they will receive stronger blows from the Resistance in the future.

Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Sunday that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm is creating a new phase in the region which will lead to cultural, and political progress plus an expansion of the resistance after the end of the war, Lebanese Al-Manar TV website reported.

Referring to the Zionist regime’s proposals on northern Palestine and southern Lebanon, he said that the Israeli regime is trying to show that it has options that allow the settlers to safely return to the north and keep Hezbollah and Resistance out of southern Lebanon, but they should know that the Zionist regime is not in a position to impose its options.

He added that the Zionist regime cannot return the settlers to the north, nor will it be able to achieve anything in this war or the end of it.

The Zionist regime must first halt the Gaza war to stop the war on the Lebanese front, and if they persist in warmongering attempts, they will receive stronger blows from the Resistance in the future.

The remarks came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his hollow threats against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and said that the regime restore security to the northern residents through diplomatic option or a military operation.

Bishop hails religious freedom enjoyed by Armenians in Iran

Sari, IRNA – Catholic Bishop Sarkis Davidian has said that Armenians living in Iran enjoy religious and social freedom thanks to the attitudes of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The bishop made the comment on Sunday in the northern city of Nour, Mazandaran province, as he met with the provincial governor on Christmas and on the eve of the New Year.

We are living in Iran freely and should be grateful to the leader of the Islamic Revolution for that, Davidian said.

“Thanks to his kindness, Armenians are in peace and enjoy religious and social freedoms,” the bishop added.

The head of Armenian Catholic diocese of Iran also praised the country for its efforts to ensure peace and tranquility in the region, saying that respected individuals such as Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, and recently, Brigadier General Seyyed Razi Mousavi, have sacrificed their lives as part of those efforts.

The bishop meanwhile condemned the Israeli regime’s crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, as well as “vicious policies” of major powers.

Tel Aviv's gamble and Washington's diminishing chances

BY: Mohammad Ghaderi

The "ceasefire" in Gaza has now become a serious and global demand; The option that the Israeli regime is also looking for; Of course, with the "temporary" clause in it as of "temporary ceasefire"! The prolongation of the war without any achievements, the pressure of the Israeli prisoners' families on "Benjamin Netanyahu" and his cabinet, the anger of the world public opinion in response to the crimes of Tel Aviv, and the crossing of all the red lines of the war by this regime have put the Zionist regime in an unprecedented deadlock.

NOURNEWS- Resolution 2720 of the UN Security Council regarding the Gaza war, which was approved with 13 votes in favor and abstentions from the United States and Russia, although due to the limited openings it creates in the aid system for the defenseless people of Gaza, it is considered a small step in the direction of reducing the current crisis. However, the United States, by removing the proposed clause of the “ceasefire” request in this resolution, is still on the path of discounting and downplaying the killings that the Zionist regime has carried out in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the approval of this resolution, along with the developments that are taking place in the diplomatic process of “ceasefire” negotiations with the mediation of the US and Qatar, sheds light on another dimension of Tel Aviv's hidden policy to provide the necessary grounds to realize its field goals on the battlefield.

It was last Tuesday that Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced with a new position plan that Tel Aviv is ready for a second “ceasefire” in Gaza and the transfer of more humanitarian aid to Gaza to allow the release of prisoners. Although this position was not surprising considering the process of developments in the field, it was thought-provoking in terms of the level of political and strategic conflict.

The proposal of the idea of ​​a second “ceasefire” in the Gaza war, which is the result of the talks between “William Burns”, the head of the US intelligence agency, and “Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani”, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, this time not in “Doha” but in “Warsaw”, the capital of Poland has been chosen as the place for negotiations to reach a new agreement and tries to provide the ground for an immediate stop to the war before the New Year by adding political pressure to the leaders of the Israeli regime; The plan, whose translation for Tel Aviv is simply summarized in the “prisoner exchange” case, and if the desired names are not included in the announcement list, it will close the way for any political dialogue between the mediators.

Although the evidence suggests changes in Washington's behavior towards the war to reduce the scope of the crisis and set a perspective for the “end” of the said war, but in the Israeli camp, a different game is going on. The move of the leaders of Tel Aviv on the orbit of all win or all lose, which has shown its result in a full-scale political gamble.

The words of a member of the security cabinet of the Israeli regime, in defining the main goals of this regime, which are “the return of prisoners” and “the destruction of Hamas”, when he talks about the “ceasefire” negotiations, show the difficulty of the diplomatic process between Hamas and the Zionist regime. It makes it clear and reveals that any change in the field situation also has obstacles of the same magnitude.

These phrases depict the sides of Israel's borderless actions in killing the people of Gaza, when the “ceasefire” negotiations led by the United States and Qatar began in a European capital a few days ago, and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's political office, at the request of Egypt, went to this country and spoke about the desired conditions of the resistance, i.e., “first a permanent ceasefire and second the exchange of prisoners”, but Tel Aviv put forward the precondition of “first the exchange of prisoners and then the dialogue about the ceasefire” to release its prisoners through the channel of these talks in exchange for a short break in the relentless military attacks, build a shield against global criticism and at the same time proceed with the reconstruction of the forces until the full realization of his demands in the field.

The answer to how Israeli leaders talk about “prisoner exchange” before accepting a “ceasefire” even if it is temporary, and influenced by the new developments in the diplomatic scene, i.e., the resolution approved by the Security Council, which did not mention “ceasing the war”, have kept the “Warsaw” talks at a standstill, is not very complicated.

The solution of the politicians leading the Joe Biden government to keep Israel satisfied in the current situation is to help carry out a “prisoner exchange” to reduce Benjamin Netanyahu's domestic expenses and allow him to have something to say to the Israeli people about his costly war.

The close association of the United States with Tel Aviv up to the current stage of the war is at a time when the President of the United States, the secretary of defense, and the Secretary of State of this country have reminded Israel to think of solutions as soon as possible to determine the prospects of the war; This means that the consequences of Washington's full-scale participation in Israel's widespread crimes on the status of “Biden”, who plans to remain president for the next four years, does not allow his long-term association with “Netanyahu”, so in a situation where the Palestinian resistance has any Making the negotiation for the “prisoner exchange” conditional on the announcement of an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, and at the same time emphasizing that it will present its desired list of prisoners, not the names considered by Tel Aviv, it seems that the Zionist regime is in a deadlock which has not any much chance to get out of it with any result.

Iran, Indonesia agree to launch robotic telesurgery center

TEHRAN, (MNA) – Iran and Indonesia have agreed as part of a joint venture to open a robotic telesurgery center at a hospital in the Asian country’s port city of Makassar.

Over a virtual meeting between Iran’s Vice President for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-based Economy Rouhollah Dehghani, and Indonesia’s Minister of Health Budi Gonadi Sadikin on Sunday, the two sides agreed on setting up the center.

In a robotic telesurgery center operations will be carried out by using a robotic surgeon that is controlled by a human based at a faraway distance.

Under the agreement, the “Indonesia-Iran Remote Robotic Surgery Center” will be established in collaboration between Iran’s vice presidency for science, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran’s Sina Robotics Company, Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, Hasanuddin University and Indofarma Company.

“It is a source of pride that since 2019, after Indonesia’s then-minister of health visited Iran, the cooperation between the two countries in the field of remote robotic surgery has begun and was followed by Budi Gonadi Sadikin, and after four years, it has brought about remarkable achievements,” Dehghani said at the virtual meeting.

Dehghani explained that during Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi’s trip to Indonesia in May his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo expressed his satisfaction about a robotic telesurgery project between the two cities of Bandung and Yogyakarta, which are 500 km apart.

Building on that successful experience, he added, Indonesia’s Minister of Health proposed to carry out a similar project across the Indonesian archipelago between the cities of Madan and Makassar that covered a distance of 3500 km.

According to Dehghani, the latest agreement can help boost the resilience of the two countries’ health industries and promote their cutting-edge medical equipment in robotic telesurgery.

“It can also serve as a model for other areas and [inspire] other successful collaborations between Iran and Indonesia,” he added.

In a separate agreement in August, Iran and Indonesia clinched a deal that enabled exports of Iran’s domestically manufactured robot surgeons to the Southeast Asian country.

Under the agreement, which was inked between Iran’s Sina Robotics Company and Indonesia’s Indofarma, the Islamic Republic was also trusted with setting up two centers in Indonesia that would be devoted to the development of robotic surgery.

In June, Iran became the second country in the world to successfully try its hand at robotic telesurgery.