WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 16 Pages Price 20,000 Rials 1.00 EURO 4.00 AED 39th year No.13330 Sunday FEBRUARY 17, 2019 Bahman 28, 1397 Jumada Al thani 11, 1440 It would be No action yet by CNPC for Nasrollah Sajjadi named “Tattoo” wins Crystal ‘suicidal’ to go to war developing South Pars Iran’s Chef de Mission Bear for best short at with Iran 2 phase 11 4 for 2020 Tokyo 15 Berlin festival 16 Ambassador: U.S. wants to make Venezuela another Syria or Libya Farewell to victims of terror By Negar Asadi & Javad Heirannia Here is an excerpt of the interview: TEHRAN — Venezuelan Ambassador to Q: Opposition leader Juan Guaido ques- IRGC chief: Pakistan expected to punish anti-Iran terrorists Tehran Carlos Antonio Alcala Cordones tioned legitimacy of President Maduro’s government on January 30 and took the See page 2 says the U.S. is seeking to create a situation similar to Syria and Libya in his country. people to streets that caused the current In an interview with the Tehran Times developments in Venezuela. What is your and Mehr news agency on Wednesday in analysis of the crisis and the U.S. role in it? his office, the ambassador said that the A: Guaido was an MP, however, Ama- U.S. plots against the Maduro government zonas State and three of the MPs cheated are intended to find access to Venezuela’s in parliamentary elections in 2016 and the abundant natural resources. National Assembly of Venezuela 2 Expediency Council delays vote on Palermo for two weeks POLITICS TEHRAN — left it for the next meeting,” he told IRNA. deskGholamreza The United Nations Convention Mesbahi-Moghadam, a member of Iran’s against Transnational Organized Expediency Council, said on Saturday Crime (UNTOC), which is also called that the council will study the Palermo the Palermo Convention, is a 2000 United bill in the next meeting which will be Nations-sponsored multilateral treaty held in two weeks. against transnational organized crime. “In today’s meeting, the number of Ratification of Palermo is a prelude those who were for the bill and against it to join the Financial Action Task was high. So, we did not hold voting and Force (FATF). Hezbollah ‘stronger than ever’: Nasrallah Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan The United States thinks “the source of Nasrallah said Saturday that U.S. Secretary of power is in the weapons, or with money,” Alieh Saadatpour Alieh State Mike Pompeo was correct in his concern and so the U.S. sanctions Hezbollah to try that Hezbollah is now “stronger than ever.” to limit its power, he added. During a ceremony to commemorate However, Nasrallah said Hezbollah Hezbollah’s Martyrs’ Day, Nasrallah said now has in each of its geographical the party’s power has been increasing line- divisions - of which he said the party Tehran Times/ Tehran Times/ arly - “daily, of course - to reach its current had 35-40 - more than what Hezbollah power, even under inauspicious conditions. had altogether in 2000. 13 EDITORIAL Spiegel: MKO members in Albania camp receive horrific training ARTICLE Mohammad Ghaderi POLITICS TEHRAN — A German maga- The German weekly magazine said those who quoted the fugitives as saying. Martin Love Tehran Times editor-in-chief deskzine has revealed that members left the cult group say the members are being It also said some MKO members are active in Political analyst from @ghaderi62 of the MKO, also called MEK, undergo horrific tortured and subjected to psychological trauma. construction work, some sit behind computers North Carolina training in a camp in Albania, the Mehr news Talking to 15 members of the group, the mag- to post fake news on Twitter and Facebook about agency reported on Saturday. azine said the camp in which 2,000 members Iran, and some others try to enlist new members Will the political Der Spiegel said the members held in the camp are kept is 50 times the size of a soccer field. through Telegram. Coexistence practice “cutting throats with knife”, “breaking The residents of the camp, 35 kilometers Der Spiegel says the reason why Albania face of France hand”, “removing eyes with finger” and “tearing from Tirana, are not allowed to own mo- supports this group is not clear and the Interior between Sunnis change? down mouth”. bile sets, watch and calendar, Der Spiegel Ministry has refused to provide answers. and Shias must be olitical and social equations are a primary goal wrapped up in France! Protests The five 2019 U.S. threats in NIS report against President Emanuele t may seem improbable but the very P By Heshmatollah Rahnama services. In fact, the horror is not limited to him the “typical challenges” such as drug trafficking Macron continue. Most analysts from key to whether the world enjoys real and has spread among social sectors that have and traditional adversaries. European affairs, however, believe that TEHRAN — A major U.S. intelligence report (and somewhat relative, if not absolute) released in Washington on January 22 released the core power of the country in hand. It admits that the U.S. national security policy I Macron will not have a chance to sur- “peace” going forward, as well as the fate The report warns that the strategic space is is adopted by taking “enemies” and technological vive in the presidential race in the next the threats the U.S. faces in 2019. The document of the U.S. as any kind of somewhat re- changing rapidly and the United States “faces advances in various fields, such as cyberattacks presidential election. claims the threats come from three countries spected but former imperial (and absurdly an increasingly complex and uncertain world in and military. The increasingly complex, intercon- On the other hand, many analysts Russia, China, and Iran as the U.S. intelligent imperious) power, depends on two things: which threats are becoming ever more diverse nected, and transnational nature of these threats believe the likelihood of a nationalist agencies have to keep a close eye on immigrants the end of U.S. disrespect for international and interconnected.” also underscores the importance of continuing presence at the Elysees Palace is high! and cyberattack. laws, most evident in the “regime change” The observed risk in the strategy is that the and advancing IC outreach and cooperation with Le Pen is now trying to remove Macron U.S. President Donald Trump’s top concern wars, and on the fate of the Palestinians country’s “intelligence community” remains in international partners and allies. 7 from power through holding an early is America’s national security and intelligence and whether they are given civil rights elections; “It is necessary to implement and released from bondage in their own proportional representation and dissolve country. Listening to honest voices, for the National Assembly in order to hold #MBSNotWelcome trends in Pakistan ahead of MBS’ visit a change, anywhere in the US will be the country’s salvation and turn the U.S. in new proportional elections”. By Syed Zafar Mehdi protestors have unequivocally denounced the visit of school children in Yemen and usurper of the the right direction after three decades at Simultaneously, she attempts to attract TEHRAN — Ahead of Saudi crown prince Mo- and criticized the Imran Khan government for Ummah’s oil wealth is certainly not welcome least of what the wisest Americans could the attention of French citizens to herself hammad Bin Salman’s (MBS) much-publicized playing host to the ‘butcher of Riyadh’. in Pakistan.” call a treasonous misdirection. as France’s next president. “We believe maiden visit to Pakistan starting Sunday, the Social media has been abuzz with posts and It criticized the Pakistan government for One such honest voice of late is Ilhan that the way out of the crisis is essentially chorus against his visit is growing louder. pictures expressing anger and outrage over the “raising fuel prices” while “freely burning fuel Omar, the first Muslim Somali-American political. This decision excludes any use Many peaceful demonstrations have been crown prince’s visit to Pakistan. for Pakistan Air Force JF-17 jets to provide am- woman of color ever in the U.S. House of violence that only adds chaos to ad- carried out in different cities of Pakistan over Hashtags like #MBSNotWelcome and #Mur- munition for MBS’s jets.” of Representatives. Twice in the past versity,” Le Pen said in a letter published the past one week to denounce the ‘red carpet dererBinSalman have been trending on Twitter A Twitter user Muhammad Waqas taking a week she fearlessly brought condemna- on the party’s website. welcome’ being given to MBS by the Pakistan and Facebook. dig at Islamabad said the government that keeps tion upon herself by the usual culprits Le Pen also emphasized that the polit- government. Hizb ut Tahrir, a religio-political organization, complaining of poverty is providing “lavish wel- ical solution to the recent crisis depended (most of the corrupted U.S. Congress and Calling him the ‘murderer of Yemeni children’, in a statement posted on Twitter said “the butcher come for the butcher of Yemen”. 6 on the French officials, while uttering Trump himself) by calling out the undue that French President Emmanuel Ma- and obvious influence of the lobby group cron “is deprived of sympathy for the known as AIPAC on matters pertaining people, constrained by arrogance and to the Zionists and Israel. Her comments indifference of the elites.” were deemed “anti-Semitic” and in fact As the French National Front can make they were not.