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S t r a i g h t T r u t h

U.S. Afghan Exit: “May History Never Forget This Cowardice”

From Inside

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Loading, unloading of goods in ports up 14% in 5 months yr/yr

TEHRAN - Loading and unloading of goods in the ports of Iran rose 14 percent during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), as compared to the same period of the previous year, the portal of the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) reported.

According to PMO’s Ports Affairs Director Ra-vanbakhsh Behzadian, loading and unloading of goods at the country’s commercial ports reached 58.99 million tons in the mentioned period, while the figure stood at 51.73 million tons in the past year’s same five months.

During the said five months, unloading and loading operations in the container sector reached 8.66 million tons, for dry bulk the figure stood at 17.77 million tons, in liquid bulk the figure was 1.94 million tons, while for general cargo (general and miscellaneous goods) it was 8.37 million tons and for the petroleum products loading and unloading volume amounted to 22.24 million tons, Behzadian said. Page 4

Iran’s Afghanistan envoy meets German counterpart

TEHRAN - Iran’s special envoy for Afghanistan Mohammad Ali Taherian held talks on Sunday with his German counterpart Jasper Wieck over the lat-est political and security developments in the war-torn Afghanistan, according to a statement by the Iranian foreign ministry.

Taherian underlined the need for all sides to stick by a political solution to the Afghanistan con-flict and make efforts to form an inclusive and plu-ralistic government as the only option for ending war and violence there.

Jasper Wieck supported the approach and called for continued consultations and cooperation be-tween Iran and Germany to establish lasting peace and stability with the participation of all ethnic groups and factions in Afghanistan.

The meeting came amid an ongoing U.S.-led evacuation mission in Afghanistan that led to evacuating more than 100,000 U.S. and Afghan citizens from Kabul’s airport. On Monday night, the U.S. announced the end of its 20-year military mis-sion in Afghanistan.

The Taliban also confirmed the complete U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, celebrating the end of U.S. occupation.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that Page 3

Iranian cheetah in critical condition

By Faranak Bakhtiari

TEHRAN – The population of Asiatic cheetahs in Iran is less than 40, which means that under the current situation and in the long run, not only is it not possible to maintain the species’ population and health but the genetic diversity will be lost and face extinction.

Fourteen years ago, the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) proposed August 31st as the “National Chee-tah Day” in Iran to encourage the conservation of the last remaining population of Asiatic cheetahs. The National Cheetah Day is now endorsed and celebrated by the Department of the Environment (DOE), Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project, and several Iranian NGOs every year. Page 7

TEHRAN — After 20 years of invasion, Kabul ex-perienced its first night without Americans.

The U.S. troops stayed in Afghanistan for 19 years, 10 months and 25 days. On August 31, the last plane carrying U.S. troops left Kabul airport, ending two decades of misery.

“I’m here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third country nationals, and vulnerable Afghans,” General Frank McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters at a Pentagon

briefing. “The last C-17 lifted off from Hamid Kar-zai International Airport on August 30th, this af-ternoon, at 3:29 p.m. East Coast time, and the last manned aircraft is now clearing the airspace above Afghanistan.”

“There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure,” McKenzie said.

“We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. But I think if we’d stayed another 10 days, we wouldn’t have gotten everybody out,” McKenzie added.

Biden also issued a statement saying that the past 17 days have seen the U.S. troops execute the “largest airlift in U.S. history, evacuating over

120,000 U.S. citizens, citizens of our allies, and Af-ghan allies of the United States.”

He added that they have done it with “unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve.”

Celebratory gunfire resounded across the Af-ghan capital on Tuesday as the Taliban took control of the airport following the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, marking the end of a 20-year war that left the Islamist group stronger than it was in 2001.

Forced into a hasty and humiliating exit, Wash-ington and its NATO allies carried out a massive but chaotic airlift over the past two weeks, but still left behind tens of thousands of Afghans who helped Western countries and Page 2

TEHRAN – Archaeologists have been able to pro-vide insights into the life of Persian soldiers and lo-cals whose remains were found near the Great Wall of Grogan in northern Iran.

Stretched across Golestan province, the defen-sive wall is about 200 km in length and it was built to prevent the invasion of the northern tribes of the time. It is said to be the longest architectural

work of ancient Iran, which was completed in 90 years.

“During recent excavations, we conducted a study on the diet of Sassanid soldiers and native people of the region who lived adjacent to the wall and its associated structures,” ILNA quoted ar-chaeologist Hamid Omrani Rakavandi as saying on Monday. Page 6

By Mohammad Mazhari

TEHRAN - Ali Mourad, a Lebanese political researcher, is of the opinion that Iran’s move to send fuel tankers to Lebanon “resembles a slap

on Washington’s face”.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced on Thursday that a tanker would set off from Iran to bring desperately need-ed fuel to Lebanon in defiance of U.S. sanctions. Through such a declaration, Nasrallah proved that Hezbollah is the main player in the Lebanese poli-tics. Page 5

Free at last, free at last

Great Wall of Grogan: excavations give clues to life in northern Iran

Iran’s help to Lebanon resembles a slap on Washington’s face: Lebanese researcher

Report

Report

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Interview

The United States has completed its hasty military withdrawal from Af-ghanistan after the last of its planes took off from Kabul airport, marking a historic day in the country’s history.

All U.S. service members have now departed, bringing an end to a 20-year military occupation that claimed the lives of more than 2,400 American troops and hundreds of thousands of Afghans. The financial loss for the U.S. taxpayers has been at least $2 trillion, although experts say this is a conser-vative figure and does not include oth-ers aspects, such as future costs for injured veterans.

During a news conference at the Pentagon headquarters, the head of U.S. Central Command, General Ken-neth McKenzie, announced the “com-pletion of our withdrawal”. He said the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, was onboard the final flight from Kabul.

McKenzie said, “The last C-17 lifted off on 30 August at 3.29pm (EDT) and the last manned aircraft is clearing the airspace above Afghanistan now”.

He noted that since August 14th, the U.S. and its allies had evacuated 123,000 people, following the Taliban’s swift takeover.

“The withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001,” he said.

“The cost was 2,461 U.S. service members and civilians killed and more than 20,000 who were injured. Sadly, that includes 13 U.S. service members who were killed last week”.

In another sign of the desperate evacuation process, McKenzie admit-ted U.S. forces destroyed, at the last moment, 73 American aircraft at Kabul airport as well as scores of armored vehicles and a high-tech rocket de-fense system.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf con-firmed “the last U.S. soldier has left Kabul airport and our country gained complete independence.” Page 5

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Motaghian takes gold at javelin: Paralympics 2020TOKYO – Hashemiyeh Motaghian made history by winning the first ever gold

medal in athletic in the Paralympic Games in the women’s section.

On Tuesday, Motaghian claimed a gold in the women’s javelin - F55 with a throw of 24.50 meters. She also bettered the world record by 47 centimeters.

Brazilian thrower Raissa Rocha Machado won the silver with 24.39 meters and bronze medal went to Latvian Diana Dadzite with 24.22 meters.

Motaghian won Iran’s sixth medal in the 2020 Paralympic Games.

• UN chief announces readiness to cooperate with Iran P2

• Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Kazakhstan to hold joint drill in Caspian Sea P2

• Iranian Army tests new generation of Mersad-16 missiles P2

• Javanmardi takes Iran’s seventh gold at Paralympics 2020 P3

• Iran’s Afghanistan envoy meets German counterpart P3

• IAEA chief, EU discuss JCPOA P3

• Tehran hosting Islamic banking conference P4

• POGC to begin new drilling operations in South Pars gas field P4

• Shrimp farming area grows 12% P4

• Fall of Kabul reminds defeat of U.S. adventure in Saigon: professor P5

• Seven-colored velvet revived after centuries of neglect P6

• Stepped village in southwest Iran undergoes restoration P6

• No Traces of lambda variant of COVID-19 in Iran P7

• ‘Surge in Afghan narcotics production a result of U.S. crimes in region’ P7

• “White and Colorful” by Mohammadreza Masumi wins gold medal at Issyk-Kul exhibit P8

• “Kabul House” built to bridge cultural gap between Iranians, Afghans P8

• “Balora”, “Kal Fatemeh” honored at Apricot Tree Ujan doc festival P8

From page 1 might have qual-ified for evacuation. It is odd that Biden is bragging about the clown-ish evacuation. Many political pun-dits said that the evacuation had an uncanny resemblance to the Saigon evacuation.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yusuf, said, “The last U.S. soldier has left Kabul airport and our country gained complete independence,” Al Jazeera TV reported on Monday.

A contingent of Americans, esti-mated by U.S. Secretary of State Ant-ony Blinken as under 200 and possi-bly closer to 100, wanted to leave but were unable to get on the last flights.

Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the U.S. withdraw-al a “national disgrace” that was “the direct result of President Biden’s cow-ardice and incompetence.”

“The president made the morally indefensible decision to leave Ameri-cans behind. Dishonor was the presi-dent’s choice,” he said in a statement.

Biden has said the United States long ago achieved the objectives it set in ousting the Taliban in 2001 for har-boring al Qaeda militants who mas-terminded the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

The 20-year conflict took the lives of nearly 2,500 U.S. troops and an estimated 240,000 Afghans and cost some $2 trillion.

Only 38% of Americans approved of Biden’s handling of the Afghan pull-out, while 51% disapproved, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll re-leased on Monday. Three-quarters of respondents wanted U.S. forces to re-main in the country until all American civilians could get out.

General McKenzie told the press briefing that the chief U.S. diplomat in Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, was on the last C-17 flight out, which left at one minute before midnight in Kabul.

“Every single U.S. service member is now out of Afghanistan. I can say that with 100% certainty,” he said.

The strangest thing last night was Blinken’s remarks. Blinken has been bending over backwards these days to cover up for Biden’s joke of evacua-tion. He said on Monday night that the U.S. job in Afghanistan is not over.

“A new chapter of America’s en-gagement with Afghanistan has be-gun. It’s one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission is over. A new diplomatic mission has be-gun,” Blinken said. He then went on to propose a 7-point plan, four of which primarily focused on getting the forces out safely and pleading to the Taliban to create a safe passage, but the sixth point, is the one essential to this article.

“Sixth, we will con-tinue our humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. The con-flict has taken a terrible toll on the Afghan people. Millions are internally displaced. Millions are facing hunger, even starvation. The Covid-19 pan-demic has also hit Afghanistan hard. The United States will continue to support humanitarian aid to the Af-ghan people,” Blinken said without even mentioning who is responsible for all the aforementioned issues.

What Blinken seems to be for-getting is that 20 years of invasion brought nothing but hunger, misery, pain, and homelessness to Afghan-istan. This is the irony of the United States. They invade countries to bring democracy, law and order, and happi-

ness, but they keep mis-calculating. Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq are clear examples of the damages the U.S. caused by invading them. The wreckage in Afghanistan and Iraq

alone speaks volumes. Taliban 2.0As for the Taliban, they have sought

to present a more moderate face to the world and erase memories of the harsh fundamentalist rule they practiced in the 1990s. The desperation by many Af-ghans to flee the country showed clear-ly the fear inspired by the group.

Their seizure of Kabul on Aug. 15 af-ter the Western-backed government

collapsed without a fight and Presi-dent Ashraf Ghani fled, completed a rapid campaign that saw them sweep up all the major cities in a week.

Now in full control of the country, the Taliban must revive a war-shat-tered economy without being able to count on the billions of dollars in foreign aid that flowed to the previ-ous ruling elite and fed systematic corruption.

Banks remain closed, despite promises they would reopen, and the economic hardship facing those left behind has worsened dramatically.

The population outside the cities is facing what UN officials have called a catastrophic humanitarian situation worsened by a severe drought. The UN refugee agency says up to half a mil-lion Afghans could flee their home-land by year-end.

Mockery of U.S. evacuation around the world

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokes-man Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Tues-day that 20 years of U.S. occupation brought Afghanistan nothing but “death and destruction”.

“20 years of US occupation brought Afghanistan nothing but death & de-struction. It’s now a historic opportu-nity for Afghan leaders to put an end to their people’s plight by ending violence & forming an inclusive government. #Iran stands with the brotherly nation of #Afghanistan,” Khatibzadeh tweet-ed on.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua on August 22 took a jibe at the U.S. over Taliban’s return to power in Afghani-stan, saying that the U.S. left the coun-try back to where it was 20 years ago.

Mocking the U.S., Xinhua, in a three-minute-long video shared on social media, said, “When you feel life is go-ing nowhere, just think”. It added the regime of Afghanistan “changes from Taliban to... Taliban”.

“When you feel life is going nowhere, just think: with 4 U.S. presidents, 20 years, 2 trillion dollars, 2,300 sol-diers’ lives... the regime of Afghanistan changes from Taliban to... Taliban,” Xin-hua captioned the video on Twitter.

The United States has made a fool of itself with its catastrophic evacu-ation. A pure example of mismanage-ment.

TEHRAN - The former Iranian am-bassador to Afghanistan says that the Taliban have not presented a clear plan to govern Afghanistan, noting they have put ideological and ethnic superiority on their agenda.

“The Taliban government has not been formed in Afghanistan and the country is in a kind of turmoil. Everything can hap-pen in this situation,” Abolfazl Zohreh-vand told IRNA on Tuesday.

“Recent events have shown that in general the Afghan society is not pro-Tal-iban,” he said, referring to developments in Afghanistan.

The senior expert on Af-ghanistan added that the Taliban have not presented a clear plan for governing Afghanistan, arguing that the political structure of the Islamic Emirate was unclear and the nature of this thinking was ambigu-ous.

“It is not clear whether the Taliban want to continue to have ideological and ethnic supremacy on the agenda, and share power with different ethnic groups and tribes in the political structure in-tended by the Taliban,” he stated.

“However, the Uzbeks and Hazaras, Af-ghanistan’s main ethnic groups, have no role in power, and the Tajiks are in a posi-tion of resistance in the Panjshir Valley. In addition, well-known politicians such as Abdullah Abdullah are under house ar-

rest,” the former diplomat explained.“U.S. scenario for a new round of

crisis in Afghanistan”Zohrehvand also said, “Another im-

portant point about the developments in Afghanistan is based on what scenar-io the Americans want to manage a new round of crisis in Afghanistan.”

“Certainly, they will not have a mili-tary presence at this stage, but they can provide financial, intelligence support and organize forces remaining inside the country, as over 18,000 trained Afghan forces cooperated with the U.S. military

and NATO during the U.S. presence in the country,” the expert remarked.

The former Iranian am-bassador to Afghanistan also called the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghan-istan a “military defeat”.

He noted, “At a time when the public opinion is aware of

the destructive role of the United States in destroying Afghanistan, the Americans want to revive their military power in Af-ghanistan, but the important point is that in these circumstances, there is no alter-native to the United States.”

The former diplomat went on to say that “the escape of people from Afghan-istan, scenes of which were seen at Ka-bul airport, showed that this alternative could not be the Taliban, and the alterna-tive force must be able to fill the vacuum for playing role in Afghanistan.”

The former Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan pointed to the recent in-cidents at Kabul airport, saying, “The United States has turned this situation into political capital for its future role in Afghanistan.”

He claimed the Taliban’s fast victory was the result of a U.S. intelligence plan, saying, “Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, was heard to have sent a message to some security and military officials in important provinces such as Balkh, Herat and Kabul that do not resist in the face of the Taliban ad-vances.”

“This shows that the United States is implementing a new plan to compen-sate for its military defeat and to con-tinue playing a role against Iran, Russia and China. The failure to resolve the Panjshir Valley issue is also a capacity that the Americans are aware of, and with all this, Afghanistan’s situation and game are entering a new phase,” he underscored.

“Panjshir resistance is Afghani-stan’s only hope”

Referring to the resistance of Ahmad Massoud in Panjshir valley, Zohrehvand said, “Panjshir is a potential and the only point of hope for the people of Afghan-istan in the face of the hegemony of the Taliban and Pakistan.”

“If the Panjshir resistance against the Taliban prove successful, the protests and uprisings against the Taliban will definitely spread. The suppression of

Ahmad Massoud’s forces may also lead to a new confrontation with the Taliban in the country. In any case, the Taliban’s confrontation with Panjshir will end to the detriment of the Taliban.”

The former ambassador stated that Panjshir has become the Achilles heel of the Taliban, underlining, “It seems that the Taliban are not willing to show flex-ibility and continue to raise the issue of the Islamic Emirate.”

He added, “The Taliban usually talk about being in power, while ‘being in gov-ernment and building power’ and ‘partic-ipation in running the government and the share of tribes in power’ are different issues. If it is just a matter of being in power, the people will not accept it.”

“The will of the Afghan people is important for Iran”

Referring to the remarks of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution about Afghan-istan, the former diplomat said, “As the

Leader said, Iran supports the people of Afghanistan, the nation of Afghanistan and the unity of this country are more important to Iran than anything else.”

“Afghans are permanent residents of the region and the main components of the nation are of interest to Iran,” Zohre-hvand pointed out.

“From this point of view, if the peo-ple accept the Taliban, Iran will respect their opinion, and if they want to resist it, Iran will pay attention to it, and this depends on the decisions of the Afghan people.”

“Afghanistan has entered a new round of crisis”

On the flood of migration to Iran’s bor-ders by Afghan nationals, Zohrehvand also said, “The Afghan society has suf-fered a complete collapse and the result is migration and displacement which is very worrying for the people of this coun-try and we must make arrangements for Afghan refugees to settle on the border and let the international community do its tasks.”

“The situation in Afghanistan is chang-ing very quickly,” he said, noting, “Giv-en the Taliban’s financial situation and budget, there will be serious problems in running the country, and it seems that the country has entered a new round of crisis.”

Zohrehvand concluded by saying in such a situation “the only solution to the Afghan crisis is to form a coalition gov-ernment and resolve the Panjshir issue.”

TEHRAN - Admiral Sergei Ekimov, Deputy Com-mander of the Russian Caspian Fleet, said on Tues-day that Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and the Republic of Azerbaijan will hold a joint naval exercise in the Cas-pian Sea.

The top Russian military official said warships from the mentioned countries will hold the joint naval ex-ercise in early September after the end of the Sea Cup competition, IRNA reported, quoting RIA Novosti.

Ekimov added, “During a few days, we will practice joint actions in the Caspian Sea.”

The Russian military official has previously said that the Caspian Sea is a sea of peace and friendship, and that all the Caspian littoral states are committed to this significant issue and “we are trying to pass it on to the next generations.”

Admiral Ekimov expressed satisfaction regarding arrangements made by Iran’s Navy’s Northern Fleet

to host the Sea Cup competitions, saying, “The Sea Cup competitions are held every year better than the previous round, and this year, with the decision of the Russian Ministry of Defense, it was decided to hold this competition with Iran as the host.”

The sixth round of the International Sea Cup com-petitions started with the participation of about 400 military personnel from Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakh-stan and Iran on August 25 in Anzali port.

Joshan and Peykan missile launchers from Iran; Mangistav and Sari Arka ships from Kazakhstan; Makhach Qala and Astrakhan, and 738 SB from the Caspian Sea fleet of Russia; and G-122 and G-124” warships from the Republic of Azerbaijan will take part in the Sea Cup competition, which will be held within the framework of the Armia-2021 International Military Competition.

The competitions will run until the September 4th.

TEHRAN — In separate messages to the Prime Min-ister and King of Malaysia, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has congratulated the country’s national day.

The text of President Raisi’s message to the Prime Minister of Malaysia is as follows:

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

His Excellency Mr. Ismail Sabri Yaakob,Prime Minister of Malaysia,I would like to express my congratulations on Ma-

laysia’s National Day to your Excellency and the people of your country.

Expressing satisfaction with the growing trend of bilateral relations, I hope in the light of common Is-lamic, cultural, economic and political ties between the two countries, we will witness more and more de-velopment and strengthening of friendly and brother-ly relations in order to ensure the interests of the two nations and the unity of the Islamic Ummah.

I ask God Almighty for your health and success, and for the happiness and well-being of the Malaysian people.

Seyyed Ebrahim RaisiPresident of the Islamic Republic of Iran

TEHRAN — Major General Seyed Abdolrahim Mousavi, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and new Defense Minister Brigadier General Ashtiani met on Tuesday.

At the meeting, Mousavi praised the combat and defense readiness of the Army.

The Army chief particularly lauded the Armed Forces’ services to the country in difficult and critical conditions. He cited the Armed Forces’ help to the Health Ministry to contain the corona-virus as an example.

He added that the ministry has provided the hardware and software requirements of the army in the fields of ground, air, defense and naval war-fare.

“Undoubtedly, the role of the army of the Is-lamic Republic of Iran in protecting the borders of Islamic Iran and improving the defense capa-bility of the Army will frustrate the enemies and thwart their conspiracies and sinister plans,” the top general remarked.

Abdolrahim Mousavi also praised the fruitful efforts of Brigadier General Hatami and congrat-ulated General Ashtiani on his appointment as Minister of Defense.

Hatami held the post of defense minister in the second term of the Rouhani presidency.

The Army chief noted that the ministry has been able to meet the strategic defense needs of the Armed Forces by relying on domestic and in-digenous capacities.

The army chief wished success for Ashtiani for taking over responsibility at the Defense Minis-try and expressed hope that the ministry and the Army take important steps to effectively promote the country’s deterrence power.

TEHRAN – The Iranian Army successfully test-fired a new generation of Mersad-16 missiles in north cen-tral province of Semnan on Tuesday morning.

The missile test took place on the eve of Army Air Defense Day which falls on September 1.

The missile precisely hit the designated target.The Mersad-16 missile system enjoys new tech-

nology, an air defense official said. It is able to count-er electronic warfare and simultaneously engage with several hostile targets.

Iran’s first fuel tanker that set sail toward Lebanon two weeks ago has entered the Mediterranean Sea, as a second ship also begins its journey to assuage the sufferings endured by the Lebanese people under se-vere fuel shortages and American sanctions.

Data from TankerTrackers, a global tanker tracking website, showed that the first ship has already en-tered the Mediterranean, Iranian news outlets report-ed on Monday.

Citing informed sources, Lebanon’s al-Manar tele-

vision network also confirmed the report.Meanwhile, Hebrew sources said that Lebanon’s

resistance movement Hezbollah is at a state of alert in case the Israeli regime makes a miscalculation with regard to the ship.

On August 19, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned the US and Israel that the vessels carrying Iranian fuel would be regarded as “Lebanese territory,” as he announced the departure of the first ship from Iran.

TEHRAN - Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran’s Foreign Min-istry spokesman, said on Tuesday that two decades of the occupation of Afghanistan by the United States brought nothing except “death and destruc-tion”.

“20 years of US occupation brought Afghani-stan nothing but death & destruction,” Khatibzadeh tweeted.

Khatibzadeh also advised Afghans not to lose the opportunity to bring an end to the miseries of the Afghan people now that the United States has left the Central Asian country by forming an inclusive government.

“It’s now a historic opportunity for Afghan lead-ers to put an end to their people’s plight by ending violence & forming an inclusive government,” the spokesman stated.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated Teh-ran’s stated policy toward Afghanistan, saying, “Iran stands with the brotherly nation of Afghanistan.”

2 S t r a i g h t T r u t h

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

TEHRAN TIMES

POLITICS

Evacuation is a pure example of

mismanagement

Free at last, free at last

Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, and Kazakhstan to hold joint drill in Caspian Sea

“Afghanistan has entered a new round of

crisis”

Taliban have not presented clear plan for running Afghanistan, ex-ambassador says

Raisi congratulates Malaysian leaders on national day

TEHRAN — In a message to the Iranian pres-ident on Monday, the Secretary General of the United Nations congratulated Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi on his presidency, saying the UN is willing to fully cooperate with the new Iranian adminis-tration.

The text of Antonio Guterres’s message to President Raisi is as follows:

His Excellency Ayatollah Seyyed Ebrahim RaisiPresident of the Islamic Republic of IranI would like to congratulate you on your presi-

dency of the Islamic Republic of Iran.Your presidency coincides with a critical time

for your country, the region, and the world, as we face many common challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and long and devastating conflicts, including in the Middle East.

Iran’s remarkable human and natural resourc-es are an asset for improving the well-being of its citizens, as well as other peoples of the world. The United Nations and I personally are interest-ed in working with the new government under your leadership to achieve peace and securi-ty, sustainable development and human rights around the world.

I count on your “cooperation” to continue to advance the values and aspirations set out in the Charter of the United Nations.

Your Excellency, please accept my best wishes and best regards.

With warmest greetings,Antonio Guterres

UN chief announces readiness to

cooperate with Iran

Army chief meets new defense minister Iranian Army tests new generation of Mersad-16 missilesIran says U.S. just brough ‘death and

destruction’ to Afghanistan

Hezbollah on alert as first Iranian fuel tanker for Lebanon enters Mediterranean

TEHRAN – After two decades of war and destruction, the United States announced the end of its military mission in Afghanistan, leaving the country stateless and chaotic. With the U.S. gone, neighbors of Afghanistan find themselves in a situation that could spiral out of control if they sit back.

On Monday midnight, the last U.S. service member boarded a military plane to leave the untidy and messy airport of Kabul, creating a historic moment that could go down in history as the day when the U.S. surrendered to an enemy it failed to defeat for two decades.

When the U.S. attacked Kabul, the Taliban was in power and when it fled Kabul two decades later the Taliban was still in power. So, what the U.S. has achieved during this war other than death and destruction? Nothing. Of course, the U.S. is not going to live with the consequences of its Afghan fiasco. Afghanistan’s immediate neighbors will have to bear the brunt of U.S. adventurism.

In recent weeks, thousands of Afghans fled their country after the Taliban took over Kabul. Many of them tried to enter Iran. Others escaped to Pakistan. In addition to the influx of refugees, Afghanistan’s neighbors face growing dangers of insecurity in a country where the state historically had no deep clout over society.

These fears have also led some Afghans to seek help from neighboring countries. These Afghans believe that neighbors such as Iran and Pakistan are in a position to act in harmony to help Afghans form an inclusive government that would have to tackle challenges and meet the needs of Afghans from all walks of life.

Mohammad Esmail Qassem Yar, a former head of Afghanistan’s Loya Jirga in the period after the Bonn

conference, has underlined the need for convergence among Afghanistan’s neighbors. “Certainly, our neighbors, especially Iran and Pakistan, can play an effective role in maintaining peace and stability in Afghanistan through cooperation and convergence. Otherwise, the consequences of Afghanistan’s problems on its neighbors are certain,” Qassem Yar told Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations (SCFR).

He assessed the history of Iran-Pakistan positions in helping to solve Afghanistan’s problems and efforts for convergence as constructive and positive, adding that “Fortunately, the Taliban have emphasized so far that they are not the Taliban of yesterday,

they are paying attention to the needs of the time, they are thinking about the future, they want the country to develop and the people to enjoy prosperity. Therefore, with such a view, it seems that Afghanistan’s neighboring

countries will have more opportunities to establish constructive channels of negotiations and continue dialogue.”

The government formation process would serve as a litmus test of whether the Taliban have changed

for the better. The formation of an inclusive government will put the group’s claims of change to a real test.

“Certainly, the real manifestation of the change in the Taliban’s approach will be the formation of a pluralistic and

inclusive government in Afghanistan with the presence of all influential and interested parties in the country. We got such a promise in Doha and both sides have agreed to form a joint government,” the former Afghan leader added.

Iran and Pakistan have already reiterated that the Taliban should refrain from marginalizing other ethnoreligious groups and form an inclusive government. On Tuesday, as the Taliban celebrated the end of U.S. occupation, Iran once again underlined the need for an inclusive government in Kabul.

“20 years of U.S. occupation brought Afghanistan nothing but death & destruction. It’s now a historic opportunity for Afghan leaders to put an end to their people’s plight by ending violence & forming an inclusive government. Iran stands with the brotherly nation of #Afghanistan,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter.

Whether the Taliban would include other Afghan groups in the new government remains to be seen. But any effort to exclude others on the part of the Taliban would alienate neighboring countries as most of them have ethnoreligious extensions into Afghanistan.

Afghanistan, Qassem Yar said, needs to have close cooperation with its neighbors. “We share a common destiny with our neighbors, and cooperation and attention to peace and stability in the region are essential in this regard. Of course, Russia and China have stated that they do not intend to intervene or mediate, but these two countries certainly have an important role to play in the region, and if they take positive action in cooperation with countries such as Iran, India and Pakistan, they will be welcomed,” he noted.

TEHRAN – International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi has met with the head of the European Union delegation to the UN organizations in Vienna to discuss a number of issues including the situation around the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The meeting came amid uncertainties over the resumption date of the Vienna talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Stephan Klement, the EU ambassador to the Vienna-based international organizations who also serves as Special Advisor on the Iran nuclear issue to the European Union External Action Service, said on Twitter that he met the head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Tuesday.

“Happy to welcome @rafaelmgrossi at @euunvie to discuss our strong cooperation with @iaeaorg and pertinent issues of common interest including #JCPOA as well as the upcoming Board of Governors and 65th General Conference #IAEAGC,” Klement said on Twitter.

The JCPOA was signed in 2015 but the U.S. withdrew from it in May 2018. Since April, six rounds of talks have been held between Iran and the remaining parties to the nuclear deal as well as the U.S. but the talks have not resulted in any tangible results.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the new Iranian foreign minister, has recently expressed hope that other sides would return to negotiations with wisdom.

In a recent telephone conversation with EU’s chief negotiator Josep Borrell, he warned that the Americans would not benefit from threatening language and that if they continued to do so, it would not send a constructive message to the new government.

“I made it very clear to the EU negotiator that the Americans would not earn any things through threatening language, and that if they continued this

behavior, it would not be a constructive message for the new government,” he said.

Speaking in a televised interview, Abdollahian added, “We are not looking to escape the negotiating table. The thirteenth government considers negotiations as negotiations that have tangible achievements in the interests of the Iranian people. Naturally, this message has had its positive effects on the other side.”

The foreign minister emphasized, “A negotiation is a tool of diplomacy and we hope that good things will happen and the other parties will be present at the negotiating table on the basis of wisdom.”

He noted, “The other side understands that a process takes two to three months for the new government to take office. This is one of the issues on the agenda of the foreign policy apparatus and the government.”

In a recent speech, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stated that the country’s diplomacy should not be overshadowed by the nuclear issue. He stressed that the Americans have passed all limits in impudence and brazenness

regarding the nuclear negotiations.

“It was they who withdrew from the JCPOA, but they speak as if it was Iran who withdrew from it,” the Leader asserted, referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by its acronym. He added, “In reality, it was they who mocked the negotiations. The Europeans acted in the same way.”

Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated that the current U.S. administration is no different from the previous administration and that the new administration makes the same demands that the Trump administration did.

The Leader also touched on the Afghanistan issue and outlined the contours of Iran’s position on the war-torn country.

“Behind the scenes of U.S. foreign policy there lies a predatory wolf that sometimes changes into a cunning fox. Today’s situation in Afghanistan is an example of this,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that the nuclear talks in Vienna are not intended to rewrite the text of the 2015 nuclear deal, noting the talks to revive the JCPOA do not need “mediation.”

“We do not have direct or indirect talks with the United States in Vienna or anywhere else, and the talks in Vienna took place between Iran and the P4+1,” the spokesman told a weekly press briefing.

Khatibzadeh added what the Biden administration has done so far is an insistence on the failed policies of the Trump administration.

“If they are looking for better results. They must reconsider their behavior in putting maximum pressure on the Iranian people, which is in fact economic terrorism, and only then will they see that the path to dialogue in Vienna is going well,” he pointed out.

Mahdavikia officially named Iran U23 football team coachTEHRAN – Former Iran national football team winger Mehdi Mahdavikia has been named as new coach of

the country’s U23 football team on Sunday.

He has penned a deal with Iran football federation until 2024 Olympic Games.

Mahdavikia, who has worked at the Hamburger SV Academy in the past years as an assistant, will lead the team in the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2022 Qualifiers, where the Iranian team have been drawn in Group B along with Tajikistan, Nepal and Lebanon.

Iran U23 football team were without a coach since January 2020 where the team were knocked out from the 2020 AFC U23 Championship under leadership of Hamid Estili.

Mahdavikia, 43, represented Iran at the 1998 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. He scored against the U.S. in the 1998 World Cup.

Motaghian: words can’t describe how happy I amTOKYO – Hashemiyeh Motaghian says that the words can’t describe how happy she is.

She made history by winning the first ever gold medal in athletic in the Paralympic Games in the women’s section.

On Tuesday, Motaghian claimed a gold in the women’s javelin - F55 with a throw of 24.50 meters. She also bettered the world record by 47 centimeters.

Brazilian thrower Raissa Rocha Machado won the silver with 24.39 meters and bronze medal went to Latvian Diana Dadzite with 24.22 meters.

“Words can’t describe how happy I am. I had won Para Asian and world championship gold medals and just needed to win a Paralympics gold,” she added.

“I worked hard to win the gold medal. My success secret was training,” Motaghian stated.

Powerlifters Rouhollah Rostami, judo athletes Vahid Nouri and Mohammad Reza Kheirollahzade, long jumper Amir Khosravani and shot putter Mahdi Olad have already won five gold medals for Iran.

Javanmardi takes Iran’s seventh gold at Paralympics 2020 TOKYO – Para shooter Sareh Javanmardi won Iran’s seventh gold medal in the 2020 Paralympic Games

on Tuesday.

She claimed the gold in the P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 with world record score of 239.2.

Iran’s Sareh Javanmardi won the gold medal with a world record score of 239.2. Rubina held the previous world record with 238.1.

Turkey’s shooter Aysegul Pehlivanlar won the silver with 234.5 points and the bronze medal went to Krisztina David who scored 210.5 points.

“I am very happy since I had two difficult years ahead of the Games,” Javanmardi told Tehran Times correspondent. “I will also participate at the mixed 50 m pistol SH1 on Saturday and I hope I will win a gold medal once again,” she added.

Javanmardi won Iran’s seventh gold medal in the 2020 Paralympic Games.

Powerlifters Rouhollah Rostami, judo athletes Vahid Nouri and Mohammad Reza Kheirollahzade, long jumper Amir Khosravani, shot putter Mahdi Olad and javelin thrower Hashemiyeh Motaghian have already won six gold medals for Iran.

Lyon set to sign Sardar Azmoun as personal terms agreed TEHRAN - L’Équipe report that Lyon are closing in on the signing of Iranian striker Sardar Azmoun from

Zenit St. Petersburg, having agreed personal terms with the player.

The 25-year-old’s contract with the Russian club expires at the end of the season, and Les Gones have emerged as the favorites to sign Azmoun despite previous competition from Roma and Bayer Leverkusen.

The forward has spoken with Lyon manager Peter Bosz multiple times, and expressed his desire to seal a move to Ligue 1. The two clubs are close to an agreement around the €15m mark, after Lyon made an initial offer of €11m at the start of the week. Nevertheless, Zenit also insist that they secure a replacement before they allow for Iranian international to leave.

Iranian archer Biabani snatches silver at Paralympics 2020TOKYO – Ramezan Biabani from Iran won a silver medal in the men’s individual compound – open in the

2020 Paralympic Games on Tuesday.

He lost to his Chinese rival Zihao He 147-143 and won the bronze.

The bronze medal went to Xinliang Al who defeated Slovakian Marcel Pavlik 144-142.

Iran sitting volleyball into 2020 Paralympics semisTOKYO – Iran sitting volleyball team defeated China in straight sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-14) and qualified for

the semifinal round of the 2020 Paralympic Games.

Iran will play Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday in the semi-final round.

Iran have already defeated Germany and Brazil in the Games.

Iran have made the final at every Games since debuting sitting volleyball and have won six gold medals - making them clear favorites.

Hosts Japan are debuting in the men’s tournament, and are in Group A with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Russia Paralympic Committee (RPC) and Rio 2016 bronze medalists Egypt.

Group B is led by Iran, but also features Brazil, China and the last qualifiers, Germany.

IAEA chief, EU discuss JCPOA

3S t r a i g h t T r u t h

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TEHRAN TIMES

IRAN IN FOCUSA moment for regional cooperation

on Afghanistan

“We share a common

destiny with our neighbors.

Taherian underlined the need for all sides

to make efforts to form an inclusive

and pluralistic government

Iran’s Afghanistan envoy meets German counterpartFrom Page 1 Iran seeks the

establishment of an “inclusive” government in Afghanistan, and is ready to facilitate intra-Afghan talks.

Speaking at his weekly press briefing, he added that what the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said about Afghanistan has been Iran’s firm policy on the country over the past 40 years.

In his recent speech during a meeting with new president Ebrahim Raisi and his cabinet team, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei touched on the Afghanistan issue and outlined the contours of Iran’s position on the war-torn country.

“Behind the scenes of U.S. foreign policy there lies a predatory wolf that sometimes changes into a cunning fox. Today’s situation in Afghanistan is an example of this,” he said.

Explaining the current situation in Afghanistan, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution stated, “Afghanistan is our brother country, with the same language, religion and culture. The source of all the crises in Afghanistan is the U.S. The U.S. committed all sorts of atrocities during their 20-year occupation of that country. These ranged from bombing wedding and mourning ceremonies, to imprisoning individuals, and included increasing the production of addictive drugs by tens of times. They did not take a single step for the development of Afghanistan.”

Explaining the position of the Islamic Republic on Afghanistan, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “We support the Afghan nation. Governments come and go. It is the Afghan nation that will remain. The nature of our relations with other governments depends on the nature of their relations with us. May God bring the best situation for the nation of Afghanistan.”

Khatibzadeh reiterated this policy. “We have always stood by the people of Afghanistan and our priority has been to ensure peace, stability and progress in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is our dear neighbor. It is in our realm of civilization, and a statement I read at the ministry last week emphasized that the lives, honor, and properties of the Afghan people must be respected by all groups in the country. What we think will bring peace and stability to Afghanistan is the formation of an inclusive government in this country that reflects the ethnic and demographic composition of Afghanistan,” he noted.

Khatibzadeh added, “In this regard, the responsibility of the future government of Afghanistan will help fulfill their definite obligations, and we are waiting to see the formation of an inclusive government and the commitment of that government to fulfill its responsibilities, and based on that, Iran and the international community will make their decisions.”

The spokesman said that what Iran seeks is that Afghans decide for their future.

“What is clear from the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which I have read before, is that we seek the people of Afghanistan to decide their own destiny, and no force outside Afghanistan can decide for the people of Afghanistan and their future. Afghanistan should be allowed to create an inclusive government in the country by facilitating inter-Afghan dialogue, not a minority government against the majority or a government with only one group, but a government that reflects the demographic

and ethnic composition of Afghanistan,” he elaborated.

Khatibzadeh said that the Taliban, as a group, is part of Afghanistan and part of the future of the country.

“We have announced ourselves to hold the second round of inter-Afghan talks in Tehran. Of course, this depends on the fact that all groups can participate in it,” he added.

Large numbers of Afghans are trying to flee their country fearing a renewed new civil war as the Taliban took over the capital Kabul on August 16. However, Taliban has sought to allay concerns and promised to establish a comprehensive government.

The Deputy Commander of Iranian Police Border Guard Jalal Setareh said on Sunday that every day an average of 2,000 Afghan nationals are requesting to enter

Iran from the borders.

The top police official said Afghan immigrants are treated with respect and dignity and are often returned to their home country.

“There are no special problems on the eastern borders. However, a number of oppressed Afghan people go to the eastern borders to enter the Islamic Republic of Iran which they are treated with the utmost respect and dignity,” he stated.

The police official aded, “We share the pain and suffering of the Afghan people and sympathize with them…. Afghans are asked not to go to the borders and stay in their own country, so that, their problems will be solved.”

From page 1 He noted that the loading and un-loading operations in the dry bulk sector grew by six percent in the mentioned period compared to the last year’s same time span, while in the liquid bulk sector the figure increased by 47.9 percent, in the general cargo sector the growth was 19.4 Per-cent and the petroleum sector also experienced a growth of 22.6 percent compared to the same pe-riod last year.

While Iran is combating the U.S. unilateral sanc-tions on its economy, the country’s ports as the major gates of exports and imports play some sig-nificant role in this battle. This role makes all-out support to ports and more development of them serious and vital.

Such necessity has led the government to de-fine projects for more development of the ports and also take some measures to encourage in-vestment making in ports, in addition, to facilitate

loading and unloading of goods, especially basic commodities, there.

It is worth mentioning that PMO has defined a high number of projects to develop and improve the country’s ports, as the country aims to double the capacity of its ports in a course of five years.

TEHRAN - The 25th meeting of the Board of Rep-resentatives of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) was held on Tuesday in which the attendees addressed some of the major issues that the new government would be facing in the short term.

The meeting was attended by TCCIMA Head Ma-soud Khansari as well as the chamber’s board mem-bers, IRIB reported.

Speaking in the meeting, Khansari pointed to the Coronavirus pandemic and inflation as the two main challenges that the new government would be fac-ing.

“The most important challenge facing the 13th government is the coronavirus and its economic impacts, which has also caused many casualties due to the negligence and improper management by the previous government,” he said.

The TCCIMA head noted that inflation is the second challenge facing the new government, adding: “Infla-tion is increasing every day, so that annual inflation reached 45.2 percent last month (ended on August 22), while at the end of the previous [Iranian calen-dar] year (March 20), this rate was 63.4 percent.”

According to the official, inflation hinders eco-nomic stability and investment in the country, while making it impossible for investors to predict the fu-ture.

“The monetary base also grew by 9.2 percent last month, which is a worrying rate, so we hope that the government will do serious work for managing infla-tion to solve these problems as well,” Khansari said.

Stating that budget deficit is one of the main reasons for inflation in the country, he added that the treasury has announced that 1.9 quadrillion ri-als (about $45.2 billion) of budget allocation has not been realized in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 22) and if this trend continues it will lead to increasing inflation in the country.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the official pointed to the allocations for the imports of medicine and basic goods, saying: “In the first four months of this year (March 21-July 22), $15 billion was allocated for im-ports (of basic goods), of which $6.4 billion was sub-sidized.”

He also expressed hope that sanctions would be removed from the country’s economy as negotia-tions continue.

TEHRAN – Iran’s Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), which is in charge of developing the country’s giant South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf, is preparing to begin new drill-ing operations in this field, an official with the company announced.

Ali Akbar Majed, head of POGC’s Oil and Gas Engineering Department said planning is un-derway for drilling a new descriptive well at the northern part of the mentioned field to as-sess the possibility of new reserves, the POGC portal reported on Tuesday.

According to Majed, identifying and explor-ing undeveloped parts of the South Pars gas field is among POGC’s top programs for main-taining production from this joint field.

“Due to the natural decrease in the pressure of the South Pars field gas reservoir follow-ing its production over the last 20 years the production rate of this reservoir will inevitably decline even more in the coming years, so the company has put exploring the undeveloped parts of the field on the agenda by drilling new wells,” the official said.

He further noted that last year another de-

scriptive well was drilled in the eastern part of the South Pars gas field and the results of the drilling operations will become available to the Oil Ministry in the near future.

South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilo-meters of which are in Iran’s territorial waters and the remaining 6,000 square kilometers, called North Dome, are situated in the Arab country’s territorial waters.

The field is estimated to contain a signifi-cant amount of natural gas, accounting for about eight percent of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of con-densate.

The development of the South Pars field started in 1998 and 29 different phases were defined for the project along with a separate oil block. The field, however, is currently divided into 24 standard offshore phases, the output of which is processed by 14 gas refineries on land.

Since the beginning, the field’s development project has gone through so many ups and downs and many foreign and domestic com-panies have contributed to the completion of the field’s various phases.

Despite all the U.S pressures which led to the departure of almost all of the foreign com-panies from the project, and despite all the technical and engineering problems faced in the process, Iran has managed to proudly fin-ish the development of almost all the phases of the field and even the field’s oil layer is also producing nearly 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil.

TEHRAN- The value of export from Mazandaran province in the north of Iran has risen 35 percent during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, a provincial official announced.

Ali Yousefi-Manesh, an official with the province’s customs department, stated that 352.063 million tons of non-oil prod-ucts worth $107.234 million was exported from the province in the mentioned five-month period, showing also 13 percent rise in terms of weight.

He said that the first five destinations for export from Mazandaran were Iraq with 53,000 tons of goods worth $42.675 million, Russia with 103,000 tons worth $24.957 million, Kazakhstan with 89,000 tons worth $7.424 million, Turkmenistan with 85,000 tons worth $7.377 million, and Romania with 2,094 tons worth $3.094 million.

The 10 main export items of Mazan-daran during this period were cement, minerals, crude oil, dairy products, wood and wooden objects, plastics, various food products, paper, fruit juice and kiwi, he stated.

The official further named Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Tur-

key, and Britain as the main sources of imports and barley, corn, wheat, animal fats and oils, petroleum coke, wood, oil-seeds, machinery and components, base oils and paper as the major imported items during the first five months of the present year.

As announced by the head of the Is-lamic Republic of Iran Customs Adminis-tration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 38 percent during the first five months of the current year, as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi said that Iran has traded 59.3 million tons of non-oil products worth $34 billion with other countries in the mentioned period, which indicates also 14 percent growth in terms of weight on an annual basis.

The official put the five-month non-oil exports at 45.5 mil-lion tons valued at $17.661 billion, with a 63 percent rise in value and 20 percent growth in weight.

The IRICA head mentioned methanol, natural gas, polyethylene, semi-finished

iron products, iron ingots, gasoline, lique-fied propane, iron rods, urea, and bitumen as the main exported products in the said time span.

He said major export destinations of the Iranian non-oil goods were China with about 12.3 million tons worth $5.9 billion, Iraq with 12 million tons worth $3.163 bil-lion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with five million tons worth $1.9 billion, Turkey with 1.375 million tons worth $1.1 billion,

and Afghanistan with 2.165 million tons worth $885 million.

The official further announced that Iran has imported 13.8 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $16.631 billion in the first five months of the present year, with a 21 percent growth in val-ue and a 0.5 percent fall in weight year on year.

According to the offi-cial, the country’s trade balance was over $1 billion positive in the mentioned five months.

Mir-Ashrafi named cellphones, live-stock corn, sunflower oil, barley, meal, wheat, soybeans, sugar, and rice as the

main imported commodities.The United Arab Emirates with 4.436

million tons of goods worth $5.391 billion was the top exporter to Iran in the said period, followed by China with 1.1 million tons of goods worth $3.6 billion, Turkey with 1.578 million tons worth $1.8 billion, Germany with 431,000 tons worth $668 million, and Switzerland with 692,000 tons worth $572 million, the official stat-ed.

The official also noted that over 4.727 million tons of goods were transited through Iran in the said period, register-ing a 95-percent rise compared to the same period in the previous year.

The IRICA head has announced that the value of Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $73 billion in the past Iranian calendar year.

Mir-Ashrafi has put the weight of non-oil trade at 146.4 million tons, and said that the figure shows a 25-million-ton annual decline, which is the result of sanctions and coronavirus pandemic.

Iran’s non-oil export was 112 million tons valued at $34.5 billion, and that of import was 34.4 million tons worth $38.5 billion in the past year, the official added.

Among the country’s non-oil export destinations, China was the first, with im-porting $8.9 billion worth of products, Iraq was the second with importing $7.3 billion, the United Arab Emirates the third with importing $4.6 billion, Turkey the fourth with importing $2.5 billion, and Afghani-stan the fifth with importing $2.2 billion, Mir-Ashrafi announced, and named gas-oline, natural gas, polyethylene, propane, and pistachio as Iran’s major exported products during the past year.

He further named Iran’s top sources of non-oil imports in the said time, as China with exporting $9.7 billion worth of prod-ucts to the Islamic Republic, the UAE with $9.6 billion, Turkey with $4.3 billion, India with $2.1 billion, and Germany with $1.8 billion, respectively, and mentioned corn, cellphone, rice, oil meal and oil seeds, wheat, and raw oil as the major imported items.

TEHRAN– TEDPIX, the main index of Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), lost 27,810 points to 1.496 million on Tuesday.

As reported, 14.227 billion securities worth 120.751 trillion rials (about $2.875 billion) were traded at the TSE on Tuesday.

The first market’s index lost 20,997 points, and the second market’s index dropped 54,071 points.

TEDPIX rose 50,000 points, or three percent, to 1.55 million in the past Iranian calendar week (ended on Friday).

During the past week, the indices of National Irani-an Copper Company, Mobarakeh Steel Company, Social Security Investment Company, Iran Khodro Company, and Barekat Pharmaceutical Group were the most widely followed indices.

Iran’s new Minister of Finance and Economic Af-

fairs Ehsan Khandouzi has underlined the capital market as one the major priorities of his ministry during his tenure, outlining the programs for improv-ing this market.

As ISNA reported, increasing the role of the capital market in financing production companies and proj-

ects, diversifying financial instruments in the capital market, eliminating unnecessary regulations and barriers, facilitating the entry of companies into the stock market, reducing the cost of issuing bonds by facilitating relevant regulations, canceling monopo-lies and facilitating licensing for stock market-relat-ed services such as portfolio management, market-ing and brokerage, reforming corporate governance to manage conflict of interest between major and minor stakeholders and finally providing incentives for people to invest indirectly in the capital market have been mentioned as the major programs that the economy ministry is going to pursue in order to improve the capital market.

According to Khandouzi, the stock market is one of the most important pillars of the economy as it will play a significant role in financing government proj-ects and supporting economic growth.

The minister had previously mentioned financing the government and ensuring economic growth as the main priorities of the Economy Ministry during his tenure.

“The main responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs is to finance the government and ensure economic development using sustainable, safe, and low-risk methods,” Khandouzi said on Thursday, the first day of his work as economy minister.

Earlier on Wednesday, the parliament had approved Khandouzi to take office as the new Economy Minister mainly because of his comprehensive plans for im-proving the capital market.

In a report presented to the parliament on the men-tioned day, the parliament’s Economic Committee had stated that Khandouzi’s capital market reform plan was one of the reasons why the committee approved the minister.

Tehran hosting Islamic banking conference

TEHRAN – Iran’s 31st Islamic Bank-ing Conference kicked off at the place of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in capital Tehran on Tuesday, IRIB re-ported.

The two-day annual event is at-tended by the managing directors of the country’s banks, university pro-fessors, and monetary analysts, as well as senior government officials including the CBI Governor Akbar Ko-meijani and the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Ehsan Khan-douzi.

As reported, in this conference, issues such as banking governance, reform of banking laws, banking busi-ness model and the role of banks in supporting domestic production are discussed in specialized roundtables.

Speaking in the opening ceremony of the conference, CBI Governor Ko-meijani pointed to the recent upward trend of the value of the national cur-

rency against the U.S. dollar, and said this trend will continue in the coming months.

He also mentioned the supply of foreign currency for the imports of COVID-19 vaccines, and noted: “Last year, measures were taken to supply the foreign currency needed to pro-vide coronavirus vac-cines, and this process has accelerated in re-cent months, and now we have no problem in this regard.”

Komeijani also em-phasized the signifi-cant role of the bank-ing system in funding the government and realizing the budget bill income expectations, and said: “Last year, the Central Bank sold more than 1.26 quadrillion rials (about $30 billion) of Islamic bonds, of which about 51 percent were bought by

banks and the rest by individuals and legal entities in the financial market; this provided a great opportunity to offset the budget deficit.”

“If this tool was not used, the bud-get deficit would have been met by the banks and that would have caused the monetary base to grow,” he said.

Further in the con-ference, Khandouzi also delivered a speech in which he empha-sized the need for im-plementing justice in the banking system.

The official also ad-dressed the import-ant issue of direct-ing liquidity towards production and said:

“Today, about 97 percent of money and liquidity is created by banks. So, the question that arises is whether this liquidity is directed toward the

production sector and entrepreneurs through the credits provided by the banks or enters the non-productive sector? Do banks use their mon-ey-making power to build or to de-stroy the country’s economy?”

He further stressed the need for strict monitoring of the coun-try’s banking system and said: “In the country’s banking system, the policy maker and the supervisor should not be the same. The policy-maker must implement his policies and the supervisor should oversee these policies and their implemen-tation.”

“Today, new technologies have made it possible for both bank managers and supervisors to mon-itor various banking processes. Technologies such as digital cur-rency allow the central bank to pre-vent money laundering and tax eva-sion by controlling the flow of money in the country,” Khandouzi explained.

4 S t r a i g h t T r u t h

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

TEHRAN TIMES

ECONOMY

Loading, unloading of goods in ports up 14% in 5 months yr/yr

The two-day event is attended by

officials, experts, and monetary

analysts.

Iraq, Russia, Kazakhstan,

Turkmenistan, and Romania

were Mazandaran’s

top export destinations.

POGC to begin new drilling operations in South Pars gas field

‘Inflation, COVID-19 major challenges facing government’

Export from Mazandaran province increases 35% in 5 months

CBI Governor Akbar Komeijani

TCCIMA Head Masoud Khansari (C)

TEHRAN- The area under shrimp farming in the country has risen 12 percent in the current Iranian cal-endar year (began on March 21), as compared to the previous year, according to an official with Iran Fisher-ies Organization (IFO).

Isa Golshahi, IFO’s director-general for quality im-provement, processing, and market development, said that the area under shrimp farming has reached about 13,607 hectares with an increase of about 12 percent compared to the previous year.

He stated that the highest area under shrimp farm-ing belongs to Bushehr province (in the southwest of the country), adding that the area under shrimp culti-vation in this province is about 6,053 hectares, which is 53 hectares more than the area targeted in the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021).

The official has recently stated that cooperation with the relevant organizations such as chambers of commerce, Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the non-governmental sector to open new markets in the international arena is one the agenda of the IFO’s plans.

Over the past two years, the efforts of the Aquatics’ Production and Trade Union of Iran, and the non-gov-ernmental sector have led to the addition of markets in countries such as Oman and Malaysia to Iran’s tar-get export markets in this field, he has noted.

Fishery production has increased noticeably in Iran in recent years.

Enjoying high quality, Iran’s fishery products were sold easily in the export markets, and also some new export destinations welcomed these products in the past two years; as new markets including China, South Korea, and the Eurasian Union nations opened up for Iranian fishery products.

As announced by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil exports reached $10.7 billion in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year, up 69 percent compared to the last year’s same period.

According to Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi, Iran exported 30 million tons of non-oil commodities in the mentioned three months, registering a 38-percent rise com-pared to the figure for the last year’s Q1.

Iran’s top five non-oil export destinations during this period were China with $3.1 billion worth of ex-ports, Iraq with $2.3 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over $1.3 billion, Turkey with $595 million, and Afghanistan with $570 million.

Shrimp farming area

grows 12%

TEDPIX slides 27,800 points on Tuesday

From page 1 Mourad says the move by Iran is a game changer which will abort U.S. efforts to halt Iran’s support for Lebanon.

“They were not ready for receiv-ing such a game-changing move, which will break the U.S. veto on any Iranian help to the Lebanese people and resemble a slap on Washington’s face,” Mourad tells the Tehran Times.

In a report on Monday, Press TV reported that Iran’s first fuel tanker that set sail toward Leb-anon two weeks ago has entered the Mediterranean Sea. It said a second ship also begins its journey to assuage the sufferings endured by the Lebanese people under se-vere fuel shortages and American sanctions.

The Lebanese researcher says fuel shipment was a shock to the U.S. and its lackey in Lebanon.

“Sayed Nasrallah’s declaration regarding Iranian fuel ships put the Americans and their agents at shock,” Mourad notes.

In recent years, Hezbollah has shown that it can play a key role in geopolitical developments in the Arab world, including Lebanon.

Although pro-West groups in Lebanon immediately slammed the move in their media outlets, they failed to obstruct fuel shipment.

“Regarding what Washington will do, it was obvious that they didn’t see that happening, thus they reacted in a way that reflect-ed their fear of losing their cards in Lebanon when the U.S. ambassa-dor admitted that Washington was preventing energy projects with Jordan and Egypt through Syria,” Mourad remarks.

Following is the text of the in-terview:

Could you update us about the main reasons for the fuel crisis in Lebanon that has triggered vio-lence and protests?

The fuel crisis is due to the acts of the Central Bank governor who is refusing to sign the financial credit necessary to buy fuel. Gov-ernor Riad Salame claims since a year ago that the reserves he had are not sufficient to contin-ue covering the financial credit to cover the fuel and goods imports. But Riad Salame was actually do-ing two things: He was fulfilling a policy that coincides with the American goals, creating pressure on the whole Lebanese population to target popular support for both President Aoun and the Resistance Axis. And secondly, he is benefiting the fuel importing and distributing

companies because the majority of those companies are owned by the ruling class that is responsible for the financial crisis. He is trying to benefit them now that the state rentiers have evaporated and they need more assets. Riad Salame is their partner and enabler.

How do you as-sess Sayyed Has-san Nasrallah’s move to call for im-porting fuel from Iran?

Of course Sayed Nasrallah’s declara-tion regarding Irani-an fuel ships put the Americans and their agents in shock. They were not ready for receiving such a game-changing move, which will break the U.S. veto on any Iranian help to the Lebanese people and resembles a slap on Washington’s face. U.S. agents in Lebanon immediately

attacked the move in their media and press releases but this won’t change anything. Regarding what Washington will do, it was obvi-ous that they didn’t see that hap-pening, thus they reacted in a way

that reflected their fear of losing their cards in Lebanon when the U.S. am-bassador admitted that Washington was preventing en-ergy projects with Jordan and Egypt through Syria from taking place.

How do you see the repercussions of fuel shipment by Iran to Lebanon?

The U.S.-led coa-lition in Lebanon is acting hysterically

since the declaration. Once they claimed that no Iranian tankers sailed towards Lebanon, or they try to project fear over possible U.S. sanctions on Lebanon when it

receives the Iranian fuel. They even tried to spread conspiracy theories that Hezbollah will bring back to Lebanon the fuel smuggled to Syr-ia months ago and then claiming it is the Iranian fuel. The U.S. embas-sy and its agents in Lebanon can do nothing but screaming, and the most remarkable thing here is that their crowds have been welcom-ing Sayyed Nasrallah’s declaration regardless of their leaders’ refus-al, and that was understandable because the crisis hit the whole population and those crowds are asking: why our leaders don’t bring Saudi or Emirati or American fuel tankers as Hezbollah is doing?

Lebanon faces fuel and elec-tricity shortages. The question is that why are some parties trying to deter Lebanon from trade with Iran?

The parties and groups who are trying to hamper any economic trade between Iran and Lebanon are the remnants of the March 14 bloc and some new groups who express the U.S. through the title of NGOs. Washington is investing with those NGOs through fund-ing and training. Of course, those groups are using propaganda tools and tactics to divert and distort facts about the crisis in Lebanon and its roots, as well as attacking the Aoun (FPM) - Hez-bollah alliance, falsely promoting the fantasy that this alliance is responsible for the crisis and now taking an “adventure” by import-ing Iranian goods and products that will put sanctions on Leba-non as if the current situation is not worse than a situation in a U.S. sanctioned state.

How can Hezbollah respond to Israel if the latter targets Iranian tankers on their way to Lebanon? Do you predict a military clash?

Of course Sayyed Nasrallah de-clared an important defying rule of engagement in case of Israeli or U.S. aggression or sabotage of the awaited Iranian fuel ship. When he said the ship is regarded by us as Lebanese property, this means the resistance will retaliate and attack lands occupied by Israel in case of a Zionist attack on the ship. Tel Aviv won’t dare to attack the ship and this puts the Zionist enemy in a dilemma, because if it doesn’t attack the ship, the resistance will win popular support even among the rival Lebanese blocs. And if it decides to attack it, the resistance will attack its facilities and bases and infrastructure. In both ways, it is the loser and the resistance is the winner.

By Payman YazdaniTehran – Nader Entessar a professor of politi-

cal science, talks of the worst and best scenarios in case the Taliban rule over Afghanistan and the possible domestic and regional opportunities and consequences of it.

The Taliban rapidly advanced in Afghanistan and took control of the capital city Kabul. Knowing the real essence and nature of the Taliban, domestic and regional consequences of its rule over Afghan-istan and the U.S. approach towards the group and the recent developments of the country are of great importance.

There are two different attitudes towards the Taliban nowadays. Some optimistically believe that today’s Taliban is different from the group that existed two decades ago and the others pessimis-tically believe that the existing changes to the Tali-ban’s behavior are just a tactic to gain power in the country and today’s Taliban is not different from the previous one.

Following is the text of the interview with Nader Entessar, professor emeritus of political science at the University of South Alabama:

What do you think of the above-mentioned two different attitudes towards the Taliban?

Of course, it is too early to know how the Taliban will operate once they are in complete control of Afghanistan’s government. So far, they have said all the right things, but I remain skeptical. The Taliban may have learned some lessons from their previous rule in Afghanistan, but I have seen no concrete evidence that they are a different group from what they were two decades ago. At this time, I remain pessimistic about the long-term do-mestic and regional impact of the Taliban rule.

To what extent the U.S. policy and its interven-tions are responsible for the current instability and violence in the country and the sufferings of the country’s people?

When the U.S. invaded and occupied Afghan-istan, the country was already in shambles as its sociopolitical and economic structures had been destroyed by years of civil war and the Taliban’s misrule. The U.S. promised to establish a stable, prosperous, and democratic Afghanistan. But af-ter two decades of occupation and engaging in its longest war in history, the U.S. failed in its stated mission and was forced to accept a hasty retreat.

The fall of Kabul in 2021 reminded me of the fall of Saigon in 1975 which occurred after another mis-adventure by Washington, albeit at a different time and under different circumstances, but both were the results of arrogant imperial “nation-building” undertakings.

In the optimistic best scenario what can be the challenges and opportunities of the Taliban’s domination for the people of Afghanistan?

Under the optimistic scenario, the Taliban will bring some stability inside Afghanistan and a modicum of understanding with the country’s neighbors.

In the pessimistic worst scenario what can be the challenges and opportunities of the Taliban’s domination for the people of Afghanistan?

In the worst-case scenario, the Taliban will try to impose a draconian system in Afghanistan, leading to further deterioration of life in the country and threatening the security of Afghanistan’s neigh-bors and broader Central Asia in the long run.

In the optimistic scenario what can be the chal-lenges and opportunities of the Taliban’s domina-tion for the other countries of the region?

In the best-case scenario, the Taliban will be able to implement what they have said they intend to do, namely normal relations with Afghanistan’s neighbors and not allowing the country to be used as a springboard by groups that threaten security of the region.

In the pessimistic scenario what can be the challenges and opportunities of the Taliban’s domination for the other countries of the region?

The Taliban’s misrule can provide major chal-lenges to Afghanistan’s neighbors and regional sociopolitical and economic stability. For example, India may withdraw or significantly scale back from the Chabahar project as it may not be economical or even feasible to rely on Afghanistan as a tran-sit route to Central Asia. If this happens, Iran will obviously be affected by the downfall of its Chaba-har port project. The reinvigorated extremism will obviously threaten the security of many regional countries and Central Asia. As was the case more than two decades ago, the Taliban’s misrule will also result in another major refugee crisis that will negatively impact Afghanistan’s neighbors, especially Iran that is still grappling with the con-sequences of the previous massive Afghan refugee influx.

From page 1 It’s the first time in almost 20 years that no foreign soldiers have any presence on Afghanistan’s soil.

Following the departure announcement of U.S.-led foreign forces, celebratory gunfire erupted across the capital. Fireworks also lit up the sky above Kabul as the Taliban celebrated.

Media reports describe “the closing hours of the evacuation were marked by extraordinary drama, American troops faced the daunting task of getting final evacuees onto planes while also getting themselves and some of their equipment out.”

Following the withdrawal, U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement, “now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended.”

Biden added that “it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned. Their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops”.

During a briefing, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced Washington has suspended its diplomatic presence in Kabul and transferred its operations to Doha, Qatar. He says “given the uncertain security environment and political situation in Afghanistan, it was the prudent step to take.”

Highlighting the path ahead for Washington, Blinken claimed that the U.S. will “maintain robust counterterrorism capabilities in the region.”

He noted the U.S. will engage with the Taliban but not rely on them. “Going forward any engagement with the Taliban will be driven by one thing only: our national interests,” he said, adding, “Every step we take will be based not on what a Taliban government says but by its actions.”

However, the remarks have not gone down well on Capitol Hill; many in Congress are furious at the White House. Among the damning assessments by U.S. senators was one by Senator Ben Sasse, who said:

“This national disgrace is the direct result of President Biden’s cowardice and incompetence. The President made the decision to trust the Taliban. The President made the decision to set an arbitrary August 31st deadline. The President made the decision to abandon Bagram Air Base. The

President made the decision not to expand the perimeter around Karzai International Airport. The President made the decision to undermine our NATO allies”.

Senator Sasse goes on to say “the President made the decision to break our word to our Afghan partners. The President made the decision to tell one lie after another as the crisis unfolded. The President made the morally indefensible decision to leave Americans behind. Dishonor was the President’s choice. May history never forget this cowardice”.

Other Congress members have said the embarrassing withdrawal for Washington is a culmination of the measures taken by four consecutive U.S. administrations that presided over the two-decade occupation.

Elsewhere, it has been revealed that the Pentagon was prepared for a mass casualty event hours before Thursday’s bomb attack at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport.

According to detailed notes of classified calls provided to U.S. news site, Politico, the Pentagon was aware of an imminent attack at Kabul Airport hours before the explosion killed nearly 200 people including 13 American troops.

The news site says top Pentagon officials held a meeting, discussed the options, and decided to keep the so-called Abbey Gate section of the International airport open longer so that evacuations could continue.

A second defense official says the intelligence about the security threat at Kabul airport detailed on the calls was relayed up and down the chain of command.

The Pentagon has strongly condemned the release of the information.

Spokesperson, John Kirby, told the news website “this story is based on the unlawful disclosure of classified information and internal deliberations of a sensitive nature”.

Kirby added “as soon as we became aware of the material divulged to the reporter, we engaged Politico at the highest levels to prevent the publication of information”

The Pentagon also says “we condemn the unlawful disclosure of classified information and oppose the publication of a story based on it while a dangerous operation is ongoing”.

The White House refused to comment further, but the information could be

explosive for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, U.S.-led Western powers have been forced to accept the reality of the Taliban’s control as they backed a watered-down UN resolution that says it “expects” the Taliban to honor a commitment to allow Afghans to leave the country and “requests” that Kabul airport be securely reopened, but falls short of demanding an UN-sponsored safe zone in the Afghan capital.

The UNSC resolution indicates no specific reprisal if Afghanistan is sealed off following the 31 August deadline for the final U.S. withdrawal that ends its battle to crush the Taliban.

The draft from the 15-strong council, co-written by the U.S., UK and France, simply notes a “statement of 27 August, 2021, in which the Taliban committed that Afghans will be able to travel abroad” and “expects that the Taliban will adhere to these and all other commitments”.

The text also “calls on the relevant parties to work with international partners to take steps to strengthen security and to prevent further casualties, and requests that every effort be made to allow for the rapid and secure reopening of Kabul airport and its surrounding area”.

The text in effect leaves the security of the airport to the Taliban. However, it remains unclear if and when the Taliban can operate the international airport.

The attempt to keep the Security Council united means no specific consequence is spelt out if the Taliban does not heed the calls in the resolution.

The final result will be viewed as a setback for France, which at the weekend led calls for a UN safe zone. Britain widely saw the proposal as ineffective without the presence of the UN or other troops.

At the session, China heavily condemned the nations that occupied Afghanistan, saying they should learn a lesson from the 20 years disaster. Beijing’s envoy to the UNSC also says Afghans should be left alone to decide their future.

With a new chapter emerging and uncertainty in the air, a Taliban spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, gave an indication of what lies ahead in the immediate future by sharing a statement by the group’s political

office in Doha, Qatar, in which the Taliban calls on employees of all universities in Afghanistan to resume their work from Tuesday.

The statement says both male and female employees should return to work adding the Ministry of Higher Education calls on deans, professors, and administrative staff to return to their jobs on Tuesday. The statement concludes they should “resume their administrative and academic works including making due preparations for

starting classes.”The United States led the

invasion of Afghanistan with the aim of toppling the Taliban rule. 20 years later, it has fled with the Taliban returning to governance. During those 20 years, Afghan civilians have suffered significantly. Massive U.S. tax money has gone to waste, money that could have closed the gap on growing inequality in America or going to much-needed services back home.

The U.S. military-industrial complex made a nice profit and can be considered the only winners of this catastrophic military adventure, the longest in America’s history.

In terms of the war itself, it has been a humiliating defeat for Washington and its Western allies.

The abandonment of former President Ashraf Ghani amid the swift Taliban takeover of the country and the capital Kabul is a message to other nations in West Asia.

Those who rely on Washington for security will be alarmed as to how a government and its forces collapsed so quickly after two decades of American investment in resources and troops, and how Washington was unable or unwilling to anticipate the collapse.

At the same time, the chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen says Saudi Arabia and its U.S.-backed ally should take a lesson from Afghanistan and devise a plan to end the nearly seven-year war.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi says, “The Yemeni nation will never accept occupation and guardianship, no matter how long the conflicts and confrontations last.”

He adds “Yemen will be the graveyard of the aggressors”.

5S t r a i g h t T r u t h

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

TEHRAN TIMES

INTERNATIONAL

Sayed Nasrallah’s declaration regarding

Iranian fuel ships put the

Americans and their agents at

shock

The U.S. military-industrial

complex made a nice profit and can be

considered the only winners of

this catastrophic military

adventureBeijing’s envoy to the UN says

Afghans should be left alone

to decide their future

Iran’s help to Lebanon

resembles a slap on Washington’s face:

Lebanese researcher

U.S. Afghan exit: “May history never forget this cowardice”

Fall of Kabul reminds defeat of U.S. adventure in Saigon: professor

Yemen’s allied defense forces have decisively escalated their counterattacks on Saudi Arabia’s allies in Ma’rib, the capital of a hugely strategic west-central Yemeni province of the same name, and are reportedly on the verge of recapturing the whole city.

The Yemeni army and Popular Committees were reported on Tuesday to have advanced as far as the city’s “government buildings.”

The advancements were made possible, despite heavy Saudi bombardment of the flashpoints in the city from above, Yemen Press Agency reported. It came after the forces successfully pushed back against the kingdom’s allies there, namely Riyadh-backed militants and al-Qaeda terrorists, the outlet added.

The terrorists, it added, have been forced to abandon their positions and beat a retreat towards the city’s administrative buildings.

The Yemeni forces “are not far from” reestablishing Sana’a’s sovereignty over the city, Yemeni media sources noted.

The two sides are now engaged in intense confrontation “using heavy weaponry,” local sources noted.

The Saudi-led coalition, meanwhile, tried to shift the Yemeni allies’ attention away from their pending victory by trying to create diversionary clashes in other places. It, however, failed in its bid, the Yemeni outlets said.

The locals said the coalition’s forces had suffered considerable human and material losses during the developments. “A large number” of the enemy’s military commanders were either killed or injured during the advances, they announced.

The coalition invaded Yemen in March 2015 in a self-proclaimed bid to restore power in the country to Saudi Arabia’s favorite officials.

Seven years on, however, it is still nowhere close to realizing that avowed aim.

The invasion has, meanwhile, killed tens of thousands of Yemenis in the process. The military aggression and a simultaneous siege of Yemen has also turned the Arab world’s already poorest nation into the scene of, what the United Nations has deplored as, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Yemeni forces have invariably retaliated heavily against the war, striking targets that lie as far as the capital of the kingdom itself and its war ally, the United Arab Emirates.

Pledging never to lay down their arms until Yemen’s complete liberation, the forces have been focusing on Ma’rib and its surrounding province’s recapture for many months now.

Yemen defense forces not far from recapturing whole

Ma’rib: reports

From page 1 “We have conclud-ed that meat constituted their main diet,” said the archaeologist who pre-sides over the cultural heritage office of the lengthy barrier.

“Excavations revealed [fossilized] remains of beef and mutton expect-ed to constitute the main diet of the locals who also ate a kind of native deer existed nearby.”

The ancient residents were also consuming pork though its con-sumption started to decrease by the advent of Islam, the archaeologist explained.

“Wheat, barley, grapes, walnuts and seabirds, and fish are other foods consumed by the people of the region.”

Speaking about the then atmo-sphere of the barrier, Omrani Raka-vandi said: “There are remnants of moats, fortresses, brick kilns, wa-ter canals, embankment dams, and other structures, which were made along the Great Wall of Gorgan during the Sassanid era (224-651 CE).”

“Next to the wall, we also discov-ered more than 25 military areas, which were used probably as the res-idence of the people and indigenous communities during peacetime. Yet, they were used as places for training Sassanid soldiers during wartime,” he stated.

“All of these have been mentioned in historical sources and we have been discovered them during archae-ological excavations.”

Also known as Red Wall, which in some ancient texts is referred to as the Red Snake, this wall is the longest brick ancient barrier between Central Europe and China, longer than Hadri-an’s Wall and the Antonine Wall put together and the third-largest wall in the world after the walls of China and Germany.

Most parts of the gigantic monu-ment are still hidden underneath the surface through some segments that

have so far been unearthed and even restored to former glory.

Archaeological excavations have so far identified ditches, brick kilns, earthen dams, water canals, 38 forts, and watchtowers attached to the wall, and more than 25 castles in the southern margin of the wall as well as several ancient sites from prehis-toric, historic, and Islamic eras.

The gigantic bar-rier is also more than three times the length of the longest late Roman defensive wall built from scratch, the Anastasian Wall west of Constanti-nople. The combined area of the forts on the Gorgan Wall exceeds that of those on Hadrian’s Wall about three-fold.

According to UNESCO, the Gorgan Wall is remarkable not only in terms of its physical scale but even more so in terms of its technical sophisti-cation. To enable construction works,

canals had to be dug along the course of the defensive barrier, to provide the water needed for brick produc-tion. These canals received their water from supplier canals, which bridged the Gorgan River via qanats. One of these, the Sadd-e Garkaz,

survives to 700 m in length and 20 m in height but was originally almost one kilometer long.

The Gorgan Wall and its associat-ed ancient military monuments provide a unique testimony to the engineering skills and military

organization of the Sassa-nian Empire. They help to explain its geographic extent, from Mesopota-mia to the west of the Indian Sub-continent, and how effective border defense contributed to the Empire’s prosperity in the interior and its longevity. These monuments are, in terms of their scale, historical impor-tance, and sophistication, of global significance.

Golestan is reportedly embracing some 2,500 historical and natural sites, with UNESCO-registered Gon-bad-e Qabus – a one-millennium-old brick tower – amongst its most fa-mous.

A glimpse of Persian art and ar-chitecture under Sassanids

The Sassanid era is of very high im-portance in the history of Iran. Under Sassanids, Persian art and architec-ture experienced a general renais-sance. Architecture often took gran-diose proportions such as palaces at Ctesiphon, Firuzabad, and Sarvestan that are amongst highlights of the ensemble.

Crafts such as metalwork and gem-engraving grew highly sophis-ticated, yet scholarship was encour-aged by the state. In those years, works from both the East and West were translated into Pahlavi, the lan-guage of the Sassanians.

Rock-carved sculptures and bas-reliefs on abrupt limestone cliffs are widely deemed as characteristics and striking relics of the Sassanian art, top examples of which can be traced at Bishapur, Naqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab in southern Iran.

The dynasty evolved by Ardashir I and was destroyed by the Arabs during a period of 637 to 651. The dy-nasty was named after Sasan, an an-cestor of Ardashir I. Under his leader-ship who reigned from 224 to 241, the Sassanians overthrew the Parthians and created an empire that was con-stantly changing in size as it reacted to Rome and Byzantium to the west and to the Kushans and Hephthalites to the east, according to Britannica Encyclopedia.

The Sassanid archaeological landscape also represents a high-ly efficient system of land use and strategic utilization of natural to-pography in the creation of the ear-liest cultural centers of the Sassanid civilization.

TEHRAN – The quake-stricken vil-lage of Kareyak in southwestern Iran has undergone some rehabilitation works. The village is situated in Sisakht county of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ah-mad province.

A number of historical houses have undergone restoration as part of the project, which is being carried out in collabo-ration with the private sector under the su-pervision of the cultural heritage experts, the provincial tourism chief said on Tuesday.

A budget of one billion rials (almost $24,000 at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) has been allo-cated to the project, Majid Safai added.

Following full restoration, some of the houses are planned to become eco-lodges in order to attract more

tourists to the area, he explained.“One of the most important prior-

ities for tourism development in this village is attracting more credit to preserve the old texture of the village and support investors in boosting eco-tourism,” he mentioned.

He also noted that the mudbrick houses will be restored to their closest original states using their tra-ditional architectural plans.

Back in May, the of-ficial announced that the province’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Department is preparing a dossier to register the village on the national heritage list.

Some of the village’s houses were damaged in a magnitude 5.6 earthquake that struck Sisakht and surrounding areas in February.

The quake was felt in several cities and villages around the epicenter.

According to officials, some 2,000 houses in Sisakht and 38 neighboring villages were damaged by the incident and around 60 people were injured.

Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad is best known for being home to a variety of nomadic tribes. Sightseers may live with a nomadic or rural family for a while or enjoy an independent stay and assist them with day-to-day life. It also

opens up an opportunity to feel rustic routines, their agriculture, traditions, arts, and culture.

Iran, home to several stepped vil-lages

Iran is home to several magnificent stepped villages, of which the most popular ones are Masouleh, Uraman, and Kang, which could be included on the World Heritage list.

Roughly a millennium old, Masouleh is one of the most famous villages in Iran, and hence one of its most touris-tic ones.

Also known as the historical city of Masouleh, it features the earth-colored houses that are stacked photogenically on top of one another like giant Lego blocks, clinging to a mountainside so steep that the roof of one house forms the pathway for the next.

The existence of numerous grave-yards inner and outside of the city proves its old texture. The storied and terracing plan of the city is parallel to the mountain slope.

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

The village, located on the highlands of Mount Binalud, is also adjacent to Nishabur, 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 Ur-aman Takht rural district of Sarv-abad 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.

Earlier in July, UNESCO added the Ur-amanat cultural landscape to its list of world heritage sites.

TEHRAN – A massive entrance gate is being constructed to lead sightseers to Shahdad, which is a famed slice of Iran’s Lut desert.

Organizing tours, regulating and guiding tour-ists, as well as protecting the UNESCO-registered Lut Desert are the main objectives of the project, the director of the World Heritage site said on Tuesday.

A budget of six billion rials (about $143,000 at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) has been allocated to the project, which is scheduled to be completed within four months, Moein Afzali said.

Situated in southeastern Kerman province, Shahdad is home to shifting sands, salt plains, meteorite fields, and rocky terrain, which offers visitors breathtaking vistas and unparalleled se-

renity of the intact nature and wilderness.It has long been a destination for adventurers,

nature lovers, off-roaders, and trekkers.

The Lut Desert, widely referred to as Dasht-e Lut (“Emptiness Plain”), is a large salt desert encircled by the provinces of Kerman and Sistan- Baluchestan, and South Khorasan. It is the world’s 27th-largest desert and was inscribed on UNES-CO’s World Heritage List on July 17, 2016.

Seven years of satellite temperature data analyzed by NASA show that the Lut Desert is the hottest spot on Earth. Based on the research, it was the hottest during 5 of the 7 years and had the highest temperature overall: 70.7°C in 2005.

The desert is also considered one of the top ar-eas in the world for finding meteorites, thanks to its unique parameters. In recent years, significant finds have been made, with the efforts of national and international teams of researchers.

TEHRAN – Fresh rounds of resto-ration work have been commenced on two historical fortresses, which are lo-cated in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

“The Safavid-era (1501–1736) Paskuh Fortress and historical castle of Kuhkan both located in the town of Sib-va-Su-ran (Sib and Suran) have undergone restoration,” a local tourism official said on Tuesday.

A total budget of 1.2 billion rials ($28,500 at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) has been al-located to the projects, Abdolsalam Mo-

hammadi said. The projects involve strengthening

rooftops and walls using cob materials as well as repairing the damaged parts, the official added.

Both historical structures have been inscribed on the national heritage list.

From ancient to modern times, de-fensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest.

Fortresses were designed primari-ly to defend territories in warfare and were also used to solidify rule in a re-

gion during peacetime.Many of the fortifications of the

ancient world were built with mud brick, often leaving them no more than mounds of dirt for today’s archaeolo-gists.

Sistan-Baluchestan was previously shunned by potential foreign and do-mestic travelers though it is home to several distinctive archaeological sites and natural attractions, including two UNESCO World Heritage sites, namely Shahr-e-Soukhteh (Burnt City) and Lut desert, parts of the latter is situated in

Kerman province.For mainstream Iranians, the name

of Sistan-Baluchestan was conjuring up

stories of drought, desiccated wetlands, and dust storms. On the international scale, foreigners may consider it rem-iniscent of the big red blot on the Iran safety map.

In ancient times, according to En-cyclopedia Britannica, the Baluchistan region provided a land route to the In-dus Valley and the Babylonian civiliza-tions. The armies of Alexander the Great marched through Baluchistan in 326 BC on their way to the Hindu Kush and their return march in 325 experienced great hardships in the region’s barren wastes.

TEHRAN – A lavish type of Iranian velvet, which was once on the verge of oblivion, has been reproduced recently by a team of craft-ers and cultural heritage experts.

Experts say such a seven-colored velvet was popular during the Safavid era (1501-1736).

The project has been carried out by the Tra-ditional Arts Research Group of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

In many museums around the world, Sa-favid velvet weaving masterpieces are on display, while there is no sample in Iranian museums, Ruhollah Dehqani, the head of the project said.

Therefore, a high-quality image of a sam-ple of these fabrics was obtained by contact-ing foreign museums, he explained.

From the image analysis and the experi-mental texture defect elimination, the origi-nal weaving method and texture design were determined, and the first sample of sev-en-color velvet after the Safavid period was woven, he added.

However, due to the lack of machines for weaving this kind of velvet, the experts had to modify the available velvet machines, he noted.

Despite its difficulty in production, velvet weaving was widely used by poor and rich alike for a variety of purposes from clothes to decorative items, he said.

He also noted that the velvet fabric is a dis-tinctive characteristic of Iranian culture, and besides having a widespread application in all of Iran and its neighboring countries, it has been exported to many countries throughout the world.

Velvet is a type of tufted fabric that has an even distribution of cut threads and a dense file, giving a distinct appearance to the ma-terial. According to historians, velvet dates back to the early Islamic period when weav-ers decided to make a precious cloth suitable for binding the Holy Quran.

For a time, Iranian velvet was used for weaving clothing for the royal families. During the Safavid Dynasty, velvet weaving reached its peak. At that time, velvet was used to decorate the imperial court and was viewed as Iran’s primary souvenir by other nations.

When velvet weaving in the Safavid period expanded so rapidly, velvet was used in var-ious ways, such as wedding gowns and bed-covers. Velvet was produced in that era with a wide variety of patterns and was mostly giv-en as gifts to kings and courtiers from other countries.

Iranians developed a taste for foreign machine-made textile during the Qajar era (1789-1925). This led to the decline of Iranian textiles, which affected the art of weaving as well.

6 S t r a i g h t T r u t h

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

TEHRAN TIMES

TOURISM Great Wall of Grogan: excavations give clues to life in northern Iran

Iran is home to several

magnificent stepped villages famed for having

Lego-shaped earthen houses.

Wheat, barley, grapes, walnuts

and seabirds, and fish are other foods

consumed by the people of the region.

Stepped village in southwest Iran undergoes restoration

Seven-colored velvet revived after centuries of neglect

Gate opening to UNESCO-designated desert under construction

TEHRAN – Six historical properties including a mosque, tower, and a cemetery, which are located in Ardebil province, have recently been added to Iran’s national heritage list.

The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts has declared the inscriptions in offi-cial documents it submitted to the governor-gen-eral of the northwestern province, CHTN reported on Sunday.

A historical house, the archaeological site of Ka-man-e Abi (Blue Bow), and a Koushk ( tiny summer dwelling) were the other properties added to the prestigious list, the report said.

National registration is expected to lay the ground for the historical monuments and sites gaining additional care and maintenance.

Sprawling on a high, windswept plateau, Arde-bil is well-known for having lush natural beauties, hospitable people, and its silk and carpet trade tradition. It is also home to the UNESCO-registered Sheikh Safi al-Din Khanegah and Shrine Ensemble.

The mountainous province is very cold in winter and mild in summer, attracting thousands every year. The capital city of Ardebil is usually recorded as one of the coldest cities in the country in winter.

According to Britannica, Persian historians have ascribed a founding date to the city in the Sassanid period, but its known history does not begin until the Islamic period.

Ardebil once shared in trade with Russia via the Caspian, but such activity has stagnated. Its indus-try consists of a cement factory and the making of carpets and rugs. Local warm mineral springs are frequented.

TEHRAN – Police in southern Iran have found the base of an ancient column, believed to be belonging to ruins of the UNESCO-designated Persepolis.

Recovered from a house in Marvdasht near Persepolis, the stone object approximately mea-sures 50 by 50 cm with a height of 40 cm.

One person was detained in that regard and finally surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation, CHTN quoted a Police com-mander as saying on Monday.

The accused was traced and lastly arrested af-ter the authorities received reports from cultural heritage aficionados about the [illegal] posses-sion of the relic.

Persian columns are the distinctive form of col-umn developed in the Achaemenid architecture of ancient Persia, probably beginning shortly before 500 BC. They are mainly known from Persepolis, where the massive main columns have a base, fluted shaft, and a double-animal capital, most with bulls.

Achaemenid palaces had enormous hypostyle halls called apadana, which were supported in-side by several rows of columns. The Throne Hall or Hall of a Hundred Columns at Persepolis, mea-suring 70 × 70 meters was built by the Achae-menid king Artaxerxes I. The apadana hall is even larger. These often included a throne for the king and were used for grand ceremonial assemblies; the largest at Persepolis and Susa could fit ten thousand people at a time.

Persepolis, also known as Takht-e Jamshid, whose magnificent ruins rest at the foot of Kuh-e Rahmat (Mountain of Mercy) is situated 60 kilometers northeast of the city of Shiraz in Fars province. The city was burnt by Alexander the Great in 330 BC apparently as revenge to the Persians because it seems Xerxes had burnt the Greek city of Athens around 150 years earlier.

New restoration work starts on fortresses in southeast Iran

Iranian police recover

Achaemenid artifact

Properties in northwest Iran approved as national heritage

No Traces of lambda variant of COVID-19 in Iran

TEHRAN – The lambda variant of COVID-19 has not been reported in Iran so far, Alireza Zali, the head of the Coronavirus Control Operations Headquarters in Tehran, has said.

Referring to the fact that the lambda variant has been identified in about 40 countries worldwide, he said: “Although the [lambda] virus cases of infection have been seen in our neighboring countries, no trac-es of the mutated virus have been reported inside the country so far,” IRNA reported on Tuesday.

The Coronavirus Control Opera-tions Headquarters has decided to exert tougher measures along bor-ders and launch broader quarantine centers at land and air passenger terminals, he explained.

Lambda variant was first reported in December 2020. The number of cases reported from this variant is increasing in different countries, in-dicating it to be highly transmissible.

Domestically-made vaccinesMass vaccination against COVID-19

started on Iranian citizens with the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine on February 9.

While Iran continues efforts to mass-produce local candidates, over 21 million doses of foreign vaccines have already been imported and oth-ers are expected soon.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, 14 vaccines are be-ing domestically developed in the country which are in different study phases.

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first Ira-nian-made coronavirus vaccine, is in the process to be registered by the World Health Organization, Asghar Abdoli, an expert in the vaccine pro-duction project, has stated.

The whole process of the vaccine development and clinical trials must be presented in detail from the be-ginning, which we are doing, he said, adding, “in addition to presenting the

documents, we must also defend our scientific achievements in person.”

“Our first article on the pre-clin-ical phase of COVIRAN vaccine will be published soon.”

Vaccine development technical knowledge is native to the country. In other words, the whole process is carried out in Iran, he noted.

The Iranian-Australian corona-virus vaccine Spikogen started the third phase of the clinical trial with the participation of 17,000 people on August 7.

The first phase of the study was performed on volunteer Australians and received the necessary approval, the second phase was administrated

to 400 Iranians, which has had no serious side effects, Payam Tabarsi, researcher of the vaccine study proj-ect said.

The second human testing showed good results, with 70 percent an-tibody, he stated, adding, the delta variant is now very strong and many vaccines have not been effective against the mutant.

Iran is also producing vaccines jointly with two countries of Cuba and Russia, which may also be released by September.

The Iranian-made Sputnik vaccine is undergoing the final testing phase, and Pastu Covac received the emer-gency use license.

(Part 6)Most favorable for the adaptive evolution of a tax-

on are areas where a genus or a group of genera have limited competition and varied living conditions. Fre-quently described examples include island flora and fauna (e.g., in the Galapagos or Hawaiian Islands).

As the Tethys receded, the newly exposed land was colonized mainly by species of Mesogean stock. The uniform conditions on the plains with their extremely arid continental climate, permit-ted only a few forms of life. Hence the variety of biotopes, which might have allowed a further sub-division of species, is low.

Conditions in the mountain systems are much more diverse and favorable, especially at higher altitudes, which receive more annual precipitation and are subject to lower average summer tem-peratures. The isolated locations of these moun-tain stocks makes possible, as with island floras, a further subdivision of species.

Many of the genera named above have evolution-ary centers in Persia, which may coincide with the centers where the respective taxa originated (Niko-lay Vavilov’s gene-center theory), or they may rep-resent secondary centers of evolution. At least they testify that in the named taxa an adaptive radiation occurred on Persian territory.

The Vegetation of PersiaNine different climatic zones, or large ecosys-

tems (zonobiomes; Walter, 1973), can be distin-guished between the equator and the poles. For each there is a typical zonal vegetation. The north-ern region of Persia, encompassing Azerbaijan, Giln, and Mzandarn, falls in the zone of deciduous forests (zonobiome VI, the typical temperate zo-nobiome with short periods of frost).

The interior Persian highland belongs to the des-ert and semidesert zone (zonobiome VII, with cold winters). In humid mountain areas it borders on the zone of mixed sclerophyllous woodlands and conifers (zonobiome IV, e.g., Juniperus and Quercus woodlands) with winter rains; in the south it adjoins low-lying hot deserts and semideserts (zonobiome III, encompassing, for example, subtropical or semi-desert scrub in the Persian Gulf region).

Sometimes, less because of climate than be-cause of special soil parameters (e.g., a high water table or ion richness) an “azonal vegetation” can be observed in a different climatic zone. In Persia the extensive endorheic salt marshes in the arid basins are host to such azonal vegetation (e.g., Haloxylon and Tamarix scrub).

The mangroves at a few places on the Persian Gulf coast should also be considered azonal vegetation. Zonal vegetation can also appear outside the char-acteristic climatic zone if specific local conditions of a biotope duplicate those of another climatic zone.

For example, predominantly calcareous soils and a southern exposure frequently lead to the appear-ance of “extrazonal vegetation” from a warmer, dry-er climatic zone, such as cypress groves in a few hot, dry valleys of the northern Alborz forming islands in the zone of deciduous forests.

In the mountains the climate changes much more rapidly than on the plains, owing to rising altitudes. For that reason, a clearer and sharper delineation of vegetation zones can be observed. From low to high altitudes hill, mountain, subalpine, alpine, and nival belts can be distinguished. In the northern moun-tains of Persia, the Alborz, the nival belt terminates in the area of Damvand and possibly Ta?t-e Solaymn.

The alpine belt in the Alborz extends down to about 3,200 m. It is also present in the central area of the Zagros, between Hamadn and Shiraz (prob-able lower limit: 3,500 m). Another high mountain area with a broad alpine belt is the ShahKuh be-tween Sirjn, Bam, and Kermn.

General characteristicsThe description of Persian vegetation is a clas-

sification based on a combination of physiognomic and ecological factors proposed by Frey and Probst (1977) for the Near East.

Forests. Deciduous forests of the Hyrcanian type are limited to the southern Caspian lowlands and the adjacent northern foothills of the Alborz. The forested area extends from ?leSh in the west to Golestn National Park east of Gorgn, though isolated patches of such forests occur as far east as Mehmnak, west of Bojnurd.

Today the lowest belt of this Caspian jangal (forest) has retreated before a vast area of culti-vation, mainly of rice, cotton, and tea. The forested area encompasses the greater part of the Hyrca-nian subprovince, which also includes some scrub form ations.

These forests are relics of the Arcto-Tertiary and Indo-Malesian floras of the Tertiary. During the Ice Ages the region obviously served as an area of ref-uge, where Pliocene forests managed to survive, though less varied in species.

(Source: Encyclopaedia Iranica)

Flora of Iran

COVID-19 UPDATES ON AUGUST 31

New cases 31,319

New deaths 643

Total cases 4,992,063

Total deaths 107,794

New hospitalized patients 4,685

Patients in critical condition 7,879

Total recovered patients 4,205,927

Diagnostic tests conducted 28,892,685

Doses of vaccine injected 27,501,586

ENGLISH IN USE

Rainfalls brings life back to Gomishan wetland

Gomishan international wetland, northern province of Go-lestan, is once again partially filled with water with recent rainfalls, the provincial chief of the department of environ-ment has said.

Over the past few days more than 60 percent of the wetland was filled due to the recent rainfalls and now 20,000 hectares of the wetland are covered with water, Amir Abdous said on Tuesday.

Due to the decrease in the water level at the Caspian Sea the wetland has been dried specially during hot seasons, Abdous said, adding that in winter a small part of the wetland was covered with water.

بارندگی های اخیر زندگی دوباره به تالاب گمیشان بخشید

المللی بین تالاب از بخشی آبگیری از گلستان زیست محیط حفاظت مدیرکل گُمیشان در این استان خبر داد

به گزارش خبرگزاری ایرنا امیر عبدوس روز سه شنبه گفت: بارندگی های اخیر زندگی دوباره به این زیستگاه مهم بخشید و بیش از ٦٠ درصد تالاب بین المللی گُمیشان آبگیری شد.

وی افزود: به علت پایین رفتن سطح آب دریای خزر تغذیه این تالاب از سوی دریا به حداقل ممکن رسیده بود و تقریبا تمام سطح تالاب بین المللی گمیشان در فصول گرم

سال کاملا خشک و در زمستان نیز بخش بسیار اندکی زیر آب قرار داشت.

7S t r a i g h t T r u t h

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

TEHRAN TIMES

SOCIETY

LEARN NEWS TRANSLATION

Iranian cheetah in critical condition

From page 1 Morteza Pourmirzaei, managing director of the Iranian Cheetah Society, emphasizes that the Department of Environment must pay at-tention to accurate and expert data to protect this species.

According to the latest scientific data in 2017, Iran has less than 40 cheetahs, showing that the cheetah population is shrinking. The cheetah habi-tat in the southern part of the country is stretching to over three million hectares, but is hosting only a few cheetahs, he noted.

“International experience has shown that when fenced in several thousand hectares, cheetahs be-

have normally, find and mate, and after pregnancy, females can be completely separated from males.

This method is used in South Africa and has been effective in increasing the cheetah population. In fact, this is the only way to reproduce in a semi-natural en-vironment and then introduce the cheetah to nature,” he explained, ISNA reported on Wednesday.

Referring to the existence of 16 cheetahs in Sem-nan province, Pourmirzaei stated that “a species with a population of less than 100 cannot maintain its health in the long run, while with a population of less than 50, it will not be able to maintain its ge-netic diversity in the long run, so that, the species

is in a critical condition.

At present, each individual cheetah is important, but a small increase in the number of such species, although important, alone does not make much dif-ference in the cheetah’s extinction.”

He went on to say that the camera traps in the breeding habitats of cheetahs such as Turan and Miandasht protected areas, show that the situation is quite critical, and more measures should be taken to protect and reproduce the cheetah.

For about 10 years, there has not been any evidence of female cheetah presence in the southern habitats, which includes Yazd, Kerman, South Khorasan, and Isfahan, he lamented.

The government should consider accurate and expert data for decision making, while expert opin-ions were not taken into account in captive breed-ing, he concluded.

Captive breeding or habitat protection?

Iman Memarian, a wildlife veterinarian, said that “Whether reproduction in captivity or semi-captive conditions does not save the Asian Cheetah from ex-tinction, because even this type of reproduction has not been successful in South Africa.

More importantly, cheetahs born in these condi-tions cannot return to nature.

Asiatic cheetah born in captivity will never learn the skills to survive in nature and will not be able to reproduce in nature, thus a captive breeding plan cannot be considered as a measure to prevent the extinction of the cheetahs, he lamented.

So that, protection of natural habitats can be more effective, as the species can naturally reproduce in the environment and proper condition, he stated.

Fastest mammal endangered

Over the past 60 years, Iran is home to the last known population of Asiatic cheetah, which once roamed across vast ranges of the west and south Asian countries, from the Middle East to India. List-ed as critically endangered by the IUCN, the Asiatic cheetah is among the rarest cats in the world at the subspecies level, with fewer than 50 believed to re-main in Iran.

Cheetahs’ habitats in Iran are stretching over 12 million hectares of land area and over the past 16

years only experts collaborating with the CACP proj-ect have strived to count 48 cheetahs using trap cameras and other technical methods, Majid Kharra-zian-Moqaddam, director of aquatic wildlife and bio-diversity office at the DOE, said in August 2018.

Roadkill constitutes 70 percent of cheetahs’ fa-talities, as some 42 Asiatic cheetahs have been killed in the country during the past 16 years, 28 of them died in road crashes and 14 others were either killed in conflicts with guard dogs or due to other unknown reasons, he lamented.

For one Abbasabad-Mayami road, linking north-central Semnan province to Mashhad, the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, is one of the deadliest roads for Asiatic cheetahs as 8 cheetahs have been killed in this area over the past 10 years.

Roads fragmenting cheetahs’ habitats are the main threats for the species, while guard dogs and stray dogs, drought spells, decreasing population of the prey species to support the cheetahs, and habitat loss are also other factors endangering the sparse population of the cheetahs in the country.

‘Surge in Afghan narcotics production a result of U.S. crimes in region’TEHRAN – The United States, along with oth-

er major crimes committed in Afghanistan, has caused just as much damage in the field of nar-cotics, as the production of drugs has reached 9,500 tons in recent years, Eskandar Momeni, the director of headquarters for the fight against narcotics, said on Tuesday.

According to figures released by the United Na-tions in 2000, Afghanistan produced about 200 tons of narcotics, but in recent years it has grown to 9,500 tons.

In the meantime, there has been an increase in the production of methamphetamine, which re-quires special science and technology that can only be provided by the United States, he lamented.

Another U.S. crime in Afghanistan was the in-crease in the country’s drug users, he said, adding, drug consumption has tripled in the last decade, so the United States has left a deep scar in Afghani-stan and the region.

“We also have documented reports that NATO planes themselves are transiting drugs,” he noted.

Expressing concern over the increase in the production of methamphetamine in the region, he stressed that “this issue has a negative impact on the confrontation, treatment and prevention of

narcotics in the country, and this situation should be predicted in programs and scenarios.”

Iran is the leading country in the fight against narcotics worldwide; despite its proximity to Af-ghanistan, which is the largest producer of nar-cotics, he explained.

According to the UN Office, the Islamic Republic’s continuous efforts to combat narcotics trafficking came up with the seizure of more than 90 percent of opium, 70 percent of morphine, and 20 percent of world heroin.

‘Common understanding, global action’Iranian deputy anti-narcotics police chief Naqi

Mahmoudi has stressed that the drug trafficking fight requires a common understanding and action by all members of the international community, and no country alone can address the challenges in this area.

Despite the conditions caused by the coronavi-rus outbreak and the imposition of harsh sanctions against the country, fortunately, with the efforts of anti-narcotics police in 2020, drug detection in-creased by 41 percent.

After the Islamic Revolution (in 1979), 3,800 were martyred, 12,000 were wounded and disabled in the fight against drug trafficking.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has praised Iran’s efforts to fight against narcotics trafficking on the occasion of Interna-tional Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The organization also officially announced that the world’s first place in the discovery of opium, heroin, and morphine belongs to Iran.

According to UNODC, Iran remains one of the ma-jor transit routes for drug trafficking from Afghan-istan to European countries and has had a leading role at the global level in drug-control campaigns.

UNODC World Drug Report 2020 estimates that in 2018, 91 percent of world opium, 48 percent of the world morphine, and 26 percent of the world heroin were seized by Iran.

Tougher measures along borders

and more quarantine centers

at passenger terminals planned.

TEHRAN – Iranian photographer Mohammadreza Masumi has won a gold medal at the 2nd Issyk-Kul International Exhibition of Photography in Kyrgyzstan.

He received the honor from the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) in the Travel Section of the exhibit for his photo “White and Colorful” depicting an aerial photo of a snow-covered green space.

Masumi was a jury member of the

2nd Naryn International Exhibition of Photography 2021 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

He has also been honored at several other international events, including the 3rd International Art Photographic Salon Varadinum in Romania in 2019.

He won the Varadinum Silver Medal in the Travel Section of the contest for his single photo “Cold Road”.

In the Travel Section of the Issyk-Kul exhibition, Iranian photographer

Mir-Ali Parandak also won the FPC Trophy for his photo “Tawaf”, which shows Muslim pilgrims turning around the Kaaba.

His fellow Iranian photographer Omidreza Purnabi was awarded an honorable mention for his photo “Colorful”.

Several other Iranian photographers were also honored in various categories of the showcase.

In the Open Monochrome Section, Mohammadreza Masumi’s “Birdman”

won the FPC Trophy, while Asghar Besharati’s “Form” and Mehdi Kazemi Bumeh’s “Yazdi Handkerchief” were awarded the FIAP Ribbons.

“Beautiful Eyes” by Mohammad Esteki and “Missal” by Mehdi Zabolabbasi won honorable mentions.

The FIAP Gold Medal of this category was given to Kostadin Madzharov from Bulgaria for “A Look at the Sky”.

Zabolabbasi’s “Linchan” and Hadi Dehghanpur’s “Corona Bride” also won honorable mentions in the Open Section, while Samir Al Busaidi from Oman received the FIAP Gold Medal for “Reading of Pump”.

In the Water Section, Asghar Besharati’s “Camal”, Abbas Hajihossein Kalantar’s “Water Color” and Mahmud Kameli’s “Whirlpool” won honorable mentions. The FIAP Gold Medal of this category went to “Grizzly Bear Catches Fish” by Jie Fischer from the U.S.

In the Sea Section, Asghar Besharati’s “Boat” won an honorable mention, Italian photographer Fausto Meini received the FIAP Gold Medal for “With Salty Lips”.

Mohammad Esteki was awarded an honorable mention for “Move” in the Landscape Section, which gave its FIAP Gold Medal to Italian photographer Marzio Vizzoni for “Balloon over Bagan”.

The winners were selected by a jury composed of Yulia Artemyeva, Geza Lennert, and Saeid Arabzadeh.

“Kabul House” built to bridge cultural gap between Iranians, Afghans TEHRAN – Iranian filmmaker Masud Kargar who

directed the documentary “Kabul House” about an Afghan restaurant in Tehran has said that his film aims to bridge the cultural gap between Iranian and Afghan people.

The film borrows its title from the restaurant, which was established by an Afghan family to offer Afghan cuisine.

“I learned about the family and I gradually found their moral characters interesting,” Kargar told the Persian service of ILNA on Monday.

Tasting Afghan food is not the sole matter to attract customers to the restaurant, he noted and added, “They want actually to meet the family.”

“Iranian people most have met Afghans from the working class and they know little about an Afghan artist or painter or a literary Afghan family; in ‘Kabul House’ we wanted to introduce people from this class. We wanted to tell Iranian people that there are many cultural figures from Afghanistan living in our country; we wanted to teach them to co-exist with these people and learn about their culture,” Kargar said.

Millions of Afghan people fled to Iran after the Soviet Union invaded their country in 1979. Wars

are still going on in the country and it seems that there is no end to the oppression of Afghans as the Taliban seized the country again.

“Afghans could immigrate to some other countries, but they chose to live in Iran because they felt a strong cultural affinity with Iranians; however, we do not have a good outlook on Afghans and people from the East as a whole,” Kargar lamented.

Kargar said that when he was making the documentary Talian was an isolated group and he did not have any plan to comment about the group.

He added that Afghan migrants in Iran feel resentful about some minor Iranian officials’ positive attitude toward the Taliban, which has been greatly exaggerated by foreign media.

“The Afghan expatriates living in Iran consider the positive attitude as Iran’s official orientation toward Taliban, while the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has not made any comment in support of the group,” Kargar stated.

He said that Afghan people do not expect Iran to support Taliban insurgents and added, “When the Iranian television airs a program produced to give a positive image of Taliban, they feel that the Iranian

government has left them alone in the pursuit of national interests.”

He noted that such an attitude can waste the efforts made over the past two decades to improve cultural ties between Iranian people and Afghan migrants.

A poster for the documentary “Kabul House” by Iranian filmmaker Masud Kargar.

“Balora”, “Kal Fatemeh” honored at Apricot Tree Ujan doc festival

TEHRAN – Iranian films “Balora” and “Kal Fatemeh” have won prizes at the Apricot Tree Ujan International Documentary Film Festival, the organizers announced on Monday in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

Directed by Abdolqader Khaledi, “Balora” won the special jury prize in the short documentary competition.

In this documentary, Khaledi and his crew are looking for people

who may have information about a particular style of old and forgotten Kurdish singing called Balora.

In times when there were no means of mass communication, this form of singing was also used to communicate with other people in the mountains.

Balora has had aspects of romance, satire, and humor, as well as a description of the death of a hero, the extent of which depends on the taste,

imagination and skill of the poet, since there is a strong element of improvisation.

Performing it requires special skills because it requires the coordination of the fingers and proper breathing while singing. Through this form of singing, Kurdish women have cried out their desires, aspirations, and sufferings, not in a quiet and secretive voice but in a loud and free voice in the mountains. This film reflects some of these cries.

“Kal Fatemeh” by Mehdi Zamanpur Kiasari received Martin Adoyan Award.

The film was screened in the feature-length documentary category.

It is about Kal Fatemeh, a woman who lives on her own farm away from the village with her two sons. She runs a farm and rears cattle for a living, meeting many challenges. She grieves over her daughter’s situation, as she has had an unhappy past.

Iranian film scholar Leila Hosseini

was a member of the jury, which also had Armenian film critic Sara Nalbandyan and Bulgarian filmmaker Zlatina Rousseva.

“Elsewhere, Everywhere” by Isabelle Ingold and Vivianne Perelmuter from Belgium won the grand prize in the feature-length competition.

The film is about a young man in a room somewhere in England. On a computer screen, images from all over the world. One click is all it takes to cross borders. But it’s the tale of another journey that we witness unfolding in bits and pieces, that of Shahin.

The grand prize in the short film competition went to “Spirits and Rocks: an Azorean Myth”, a co-production between Switzerland and Portugal directed Aylin Gökmen.

The special jury prize in the feature-length competition was given to “Strip and War”, a Belarus-Poland co-production directed by Andrei Kutsila.

Iranian documentary “Balora” directed by Abdolqader Khaledi.

A figurine from Susa.

Art in Iran: Neolithic to Median

Part 3

Furthermore, the patterns are often heavier than those of the Susiana, especially those with the frog-like forms, or they are wider; in short, the sophisticated balance observed at Susa is lacking here.

Lastly, the patterns of Fars have elements approximating denticulation which may link these patterns with those potteries found further to the east, all the way to Turkmenistan and northwest India. The pottery of Talle Bakun, however, is far more varied and therefore more interesting than that of any of the more eastern sites.

Stamp seals paralleled in their decoration the development observed in painted pottery. From about 4500 to 3500 BC and even later, the majority are shaped like buttons or low hemispheroids, that is, with a plain raised back and a circular or oval base which served as a sealing surface.

The earliest such seals have linear geometric designs carved on the base. These are often surprisingly similar to those seen at the same early period, the sixth millennium BC, in the sites of northern Mesopotamia or north Syria, hundreds of miles to the west, suggesting some form of exchange and connection across the northern trade routes from Iran to Syria.

In the late fifth and early fourth millennia BC, many seal designs were based on the cross which divides the sealing surface into four quadrants, each filled by chevrons or by parallel lines in rows slanting in alternating directions, as in examples excavated at Seh Qabi and the numerous seals from Susa of this type.

Most of the seals from sites in Fars have an elaborately shaped sealing surface decorated with attractively grouped, deeply cut incisions, often forming designs based on a cross or triangle.

Gradually animal figures, mostly horned, appeared in the seal designs of western Iran but those of eastern sites like Tepe Hesar continued geometric patterns.

Iconographically, most interesting are those seals which have a semi-human figure with the head of a goat or moufflon, holding, or restraining, or perhaps being menaced by one or two serpents.

The subject was especially favored in Lorestan, from which the examples illustrated by Amiet are said to come, but recent excavations at Susa have yielded such a goat demon on a sealing found in level 25, equated by Amiet with level Ba of Le Breton.

Art of the emerging urban development,

late fourth to early third millennium BC

The period of early urban development covers the Mesopotamian phases of protohistoric art and the First Early Dynastic period. In terms of the recent excavations on the Acropolis of Susa this period comprises levels 18-14B.

In both Iran and Mesopotamia, the history of art of this period is based on impressions of cylinder seals which came into use at that time to be rolled over clay lumps marking jars or round balls enclosing counting devices or, somewhat later, tablets inscribed with numerals and, at a still later stage, tablets bearing texts.

Very few original cylinders belonging to the earlier part of this period have been found. In what seems to have been the first style of cylinder seals the figures were hollowed out with a bow drill.

The deep, round cavities produced by that instrument created a massive relief in the clay

impressions of the cylinders. An original of this type, made of gypsum, was found at Uruk in the clay fill of the Anu Ziggurat between levels C and D-E.

The massive relief style of the figures is now recognized as being not of the Jamdat Nasr period, as was first thought, but probably of a date before Uruk Eanna IV b. In Susa, figurines in the style of such massive relief comprise an extraordinarily rich repertory of animals, monsters, and occasionally humans.

Well-proportioned, carefully executed small figures constituting a new style appear to have developed from the first style, although this sequence cannot be precisely documented.

The subjects represented in Susa, craftsmen at work, for example weavers or potters, agricultural workers, or hunters differ from those represented at Uruk, where ritual themes

predominate.

The seals found at Chogha Mish reflect a choice of themes related to those of Susa. These divergences may indicate differences in the meaning and use of cylinders in Iran and Mesopotamia at that time.

A third style found among the impressions from Susa is called proto-Elamite after the script which came into use about 3000 BC, roughly contemporary with the Jamdat Nasr phase of Mesopotamia and continuing into what was

the First Early Dynastic period there.

The relation of this style to that of the foregoing one with small carefully carved figures cannot yet be clearly recognized. Figures of animals in various combinations or in connection with plants are often hollowed out of the stone in subtle relief but are then forcefully outlined by deep engraving which deprives the designs of the naturalism manifested in the earlier ones.

Source: Encyclopedia Iranica

To be continued

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Book showing how medical industry invents epidemics published in PersianTEHRAN – Iranian publisher Sorush has recently

released a Persian translation of “Virus Mania: How the Medical Industry Continually Invents Epidemics, Making Billion-Dollar Profits at Our Expense”.

First published in 2007, the book has been written by Torsten Engelbrecht and Claus Köhnlein. It has been translated into Persian by Mohammad Mozaffarpur.

A daily scan through the news gives the impression that the world is constantly invaded by virus epidemics.

The latest headlines feature the human papillomavirus (HPV) alleged to cause cervical cancer and the avian flu virus, H5N1.

The public is also continually terrorized by reports about SARS, BSE, hepatitis C, AIDS, Ebola, and polio. However, this virus mayhem ignores very basic

scientific facts: the existence, the pathogenicity and the deadly effects of these agents have never been proven.

The authors of “Virus Mania”, journalist Torsten Engelbrecht and doctor of internal medicine Claus Köhnlein, show that these alleged contagious agents are, in fact, particles produced by the cells themselves as a consequence of certain stress factors such as drugs, malnutrition, pesticides and heavy metals.

The central aim of this book is to steer the discussion back to a real scientific debate and put medicine back on the path of an impartial analysis of the facts.

It will put medical experiments, clinical trials, statistics and government policies under the microscope, revealing that the people charged with

protecting our health and safety have deviated from this path.

To substantiate these statements, the authors cite dozens of highly renowned scientists and present approximately 1,100 pertinent scientific references.

The topic of this book is of pivotal significance. The pharmaceutical companies and top scientists rake in enormous sums of money by attacking germs and the media boosts its audience ratings and circulations with sensationalized reporting.

“The primary purpose of commercially-funded clinical research is to maximize the financial return on investment, not health,” says John Abramson of Harvard Medical School.

“Virus Mania” will inform you on how such an environment took root and how to empower yourself for a healthy life.

“White and Colorful” by Iranian photographer Mohammadreza Masumi won the FIAP Gold Medal at the 2nd Issyk-Kul International Exhibition of Photography in Kyrgyzstan.

In Susa, figurines in the style of such massive

relief comprise an extraordinarily rich repertory of

animals, monsters.

“White and Colorful” by Mohammadreza Masumi wins gold medal at Issyk-Kul exhibit

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021