WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 12 Pages Price 40,000 Rials 1.00 EURO 4.00 AED 39th year No.13620 Wednesday MARCH 4, 2020 Esfand 14, 1398 Rajab 9, 1441 Harsh punishment Iran says ready to help Karim Bagheri on Instrument maker Zolfaqar awaits hoarders: replace poppy cultivation brink of becoming Iran Beitaneh picked as Living Judiciary 2 in Afghanistan 3 assistant coach 11 Human Treasure 12 ‘South Pars phase 11 development See page 9 No problem with Iran’s operations to start soon’ TEHRAN — National Iranian Oil Company opment status of most of the country’s (NIOC)’s deputy director for development joint fields in border regions has been and engineering affairs says the development clarified and development operations statistics on coronavirus: WHO operations of South Pars gas field’s phase for such fields are underway. 11 of development are going to be started “The executive operations at Balal in near future, Shana reported. and Farzad fields have also begun and See page 2 “The installation operations of the first the development projects of other joint jacket of phase 11 will be commenced in fields such as Azadegan, Yadavaran and the coming weeks,” Reza Dehqan said. Yaran in West Karoun region are being According to the official the devel- pursued as well,” he said. 4 Leader facilitates approval of next year budget TEHRAN — A member of the parlia- the Leader on Monday, requested ment’s presiding board announced on his state decrees for two important Tuesday that Majlis has received two issues. One of the speaker’s requests “state decrees” by Leader of the Islamic was about implementation of Article Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 85 of the constitution over the next concerning the next year budget and year budget and the other one was the Agriculture Ministry which is now about the caretaker of Ministry of run by a caretaker minister. Agriculture.” Citizens must Asadollah Abbasi said, “Majlis Iran’s next fiscal year starts on March Speaker Ali Larijani, in a letter to 21. 3 follow health tips Iranian diplomat wishes peace, friendship for all Indian citizens TEHRAN — Iran’s Ambassador to India, in which people with diverse religions in coronavirus Ali Chegeni, has expressed hope that all and ethnicities live peacefully with Indian citizens would enjoy “peace and each other. friendship” through wise decisions by the Chegeni made the remarks as he was Indian government and officials. summoned to the Indian Foreign Min- During a meeting with Indian For- istry over a tweet by Foreign Minister fight eign Ministry director general for polit- Mohammad Javad Zarif in which he had khamenei.ir ical affairs on Tuesday, Chegeni noted expressed dismay over violence against that India is famous among Iranians Muslims in India. 2 EDITORIAL Syrian forces shoot down Turkish drone in Saraqib ARTICLE Mohammad Ghaderi Syrian government forces have intercepted and against positions of terrorist groups in the area. SANA reported that Syrian army soldiers and Martin Love Tehran Times editor-in-chief targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging An unnamed Syrian military source said in a their allies entered the city on Monday after violent Political analyst from @ghaderi62 to Turkish military while flying in the skies over statement to SANA that the warplane was downed clashes with the extremists, and severely hitting North Carolina a strategic city in the country’s northwestern at 11:03 a.m. Damascus time (0903 GMT) on their positions and fortification lines. province of Idlib. Tuesday northwest of Ma’arat al-Nu’man. Saraqib has a strategic significance as it over- Which one is the Syria’s official news agency SANA reported Separately, the Turkish Defense Ministry said looks the 450-kilometer-long M5 highway. Javad Zarif’s that government air defense forces shot down in a statement that one of its F-16 fighter jets had The M5 highway starts in southern Syria, near ultimate winner the drone as it was on a mission over Saraqib, downed a Syrian military plane in Syria’s north- the border with Jordan, and runs all the way north brain should be located 27 kilometers (17 miles) north of Ma`arat western Idlib province, identifying the aircraft to the city of Aleppo near the Turkish border. in the U.S.: The al-Nu`man city, on Tuesday afternoon. as a high-performance Aero L-39 Albatros jet Since 2012, the M5 had been controlled by duplicated at The development came only hours after Syria trainer developed in Czechoslovakia. various foreign-backed militant groups. Syrian coronavirus or confirmed that one of its military aircraft had been A day earlier, Syrian government forces, backed government forces started regaining parts of the U.S. State armed violence? targeted by a missile fired by Turkish military by allied fighters from popular defense groups, the highway in 2014, but they were only able to Department forces as it was carrying out a combat mission had managed to retake Saraqib. take full control during the latest offensive. 10 ith only 4 percent of the world’s avad Zarif is so correct, saying that population, the U.S. has recorded the U.S. never should have invaded W35% of deaths due to firearms. Pakistan calls on Kabul to abide by Taliban prisoner swap deal JAfghanistan (nor should the U.S. According to official statistics by Gif- have invaded or attacked or sanctioned fords Law Center, 36,000 Americans are Pakistan has called on the Afghan govern- capital, Doha, a day earlier, that would see up and Afghanistan of harboring the Taliban’s so many countries since World War 2 for killed by guns each year—an average of ment to abide by a prisoner swap clause in to 5,000 Afghan Taliban prisoners released leadership and offering a safe haven to its that matter.) 100 per day. the U.S.-Taliban peace deal, the rejection of by the government, with the Taliban releasing fighters, a charge the country has consistently But one must be reminded of what Gun violence in the U.S. can occur in which saw the Taliban resume attacks in the up to 1,000 prisoners in return. denied, even though members of the group former U.S. Secretary of State Madelaine the form of gun suicide, gun homicide, northeast of the country. The prisoner releases were seen as a con- have been killed there. Albright suggested years ago: that giv- law enforcement shooting and uninten- In a statement on Tuesday, Pakistani Foreign fidence-building measure ahead of planned Notably, in 2016, then Taliban chief Mul- en the fact of the existence of the U.S. tional shooting. Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi called on direct talks between the Afghan government lah Akhtar Mansoor was killed in a US drone military’s might, it ought to be USED for Of the 36,383 Americans killed with both sides in the conflict to show restraint and and the Taliban - the first since the US’s nearly strike in the southwestern Pakistani province something, as if that could be good excuse guns each year, 22,274 are gun suicides come to the negotiating table for scheduled 19-year war in the country began – were due of Balochistan. for shattering countries and cultures that (61%), 12,830 are gun homicides (35%), talks later this month. to begin on March 10. The country has supported the US’s direct are not American, and murdering millions 496 are law enforcement shootings (1.4%), “The U.S.-Taliban agreement says that In response, the Afghan Taliban said on talks with the Afghan Taliban, facilitating the of people. This has been done repeatedly and 487 are unintentional shootings (1.3%). there will be an exchange of prisoners,” said Monday that it would be resuming attacks. peace process undertaken by the US’s Afghan especially since 9/11. These shootings take place in schools, Qureshi. “[Afghan] President [Ashraf] Ghani On Monday, an explosion killed at least peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, since 2018. Albright, a Jewess of questionable universities, cinemas, shopping centers, should ask the US for an explanation of the three people and wounded 11 others at a Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi said merit for the jobs she has attained (un- and even churches, affecting different seg- agreement.” football match in the northeastern Khost Pakistan continues to support an intra-Afghan less a doctoral degree is worth mention, ments of society of all ethnicities, genders, On Sunday, Ghani rejected a clause of province. dialogue process, but that both sides would or later that she was the first U.S female and age groups. the US-Taliban peace deal, signed in the Qatari Pakistan has long been accused by the US have to stop being “stubborn”. 10 who became the top U.S. “diplomat”), U.S. President Donald Trump is a key also said that the demise of some half a supporter of American gunmen and is million Iraqi children in the 1990s when resisting any move to amend the right to Iraq was under U.S. sanctions imposed bear arms in the United States. Trump by President Bill Clinton was “worth it”. announced to gunmen that they now This occurred largely because the U.S. have a real supporter in the White House prohibited the import of chemicals to make when he took office. Iraq’s water supplies free of bacteria and But high U.S. casualties are not lim- other pathogens. (Just imagine having ited to gun violence. According to the to drink from the Tigris River flowing U.S.