Tehran, Moscow Set Roadmap for Strategic Economic Co-Op

Iran’s parliamentary Japan’s TonenGeneral Iran’s 2016 Olympic Iranian theater 21112group to visit 4 buys ﬁrst oil uniforms revealed troupe pays tribute

NATION Damascus ECONOMY from Iran: sources SPORTS ART& CULTURE to Anton Chekhov

WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y ‘Iran resolved to open new chapter in cooperation with ASEAN’ 2

12 Pages Price 10,000 Rials 38th year No.12611 Sunday JULY 31, 2016 Mordad 10, 1395 Shawwal 26, 1437 Failed coup Al-Nusra strengthened Turkish Tehran, Moscow set roadmap rebranding unity: ambassador for strategic economic co-op just ‘word EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW By Ali Kushki and Parvin Telli Iran and Russia are to sign a five-year Iranian Communications and Informa- Vaezi and Novak, who co-chaired play’: Iran strategic cooperation plan on more tion Technology Minister Mahmoud the Russian-Iranian intergovernmental TEHRAN — Two weeks after the July 15 coup, the Tehran than 70 industrial projects. Vaezi to Moscow, starting from July 26, commission on trade and economic POLITICAL TEHRAN — Irani- Times sat face-to-face with Turkish ambassador to Tehran The two countries conferred on tak- and his meetings with various Russian cooperation, told reporters about the deskan Foreign Ministry Riza Hakan Tekin to hear his remarks about the pre- and ing bilateral economic partnership into senior officials including Energy Minister outcomes of their meeting in a news spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on post-coup Turkey. a new level during the four-day visit of Alexander Novak. conference on Friday. Thursday that changing the name of Too strong to be defeated by tanks and helicopters, Al-Nusra Front to Jabhat Fatah al-Sh- said the ambassador, hailing the Turkish people’s will. See page 4 am is just a “word play”. Following is the first part of the interview. “This play is targeted at removing Your country has been in a complicated this group from the list of terrorism situation over the past two weeks, experiencing a while the ugly face of extremism and coup and this is what we would like to start with. terrorism cannot be purified by such What happened? actions,” he said. A: Right. This it is no longer a secret due to access The terrorist nature of the group to media outlets, not comparable with other coups in will not be changed by such actions, Turkey’s contemporary history from this perspective. Qassemi asserted. What happened has to do with Fetullah Gülen’s terrorist He said that such actions indicate fail- group which had infiltrated into virtually all important ure of the policy adopted by supporters state institutions, including the Army, security organiza- of extremism in the Middle East region tions, interior ministry, and judicial organizations. This with Saudi Arabia at the top. had been going on, it was understood, for many years The Iranian Foreign Ministry official and they sought to obtain power through this very il- called Saudi Arabia “founding father legal and wildwild act par-par- and main supporter” of al-Qaeda, Tal- ticularlticularlyy throughthrough their iban, Daesh (ISIS) and other terrorist people in armarmy.y. groups, especially those active in Syria. See page 2-9 Qassemi called on the international community to pay attention to the roots of terrorism and exert pressure against supporters of terrorists. The al-Nusra Front announced on Thursday that the group has ended its affiliation to al-Qaeda and would re- form under the new name of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

Sputnik The leader of the al-Nusra Front, Mohamad al-Golani, announced that the group will have “no ties with any foreign party”. Iranian movies line up According to Reuters, earlier on Thurs- Germany, Italy and France send most tourists to Iran day, bin Laden’s successor as Al Qaeda for Melbourne festival leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, gave the Nusra TOURISM TEHRAN — Most of countries can obtain visa on arrival at Front his blessing to break away. desk ARTTEHRAN — A lineup of Iranian movies are the tourists who apply the country’s airports with one-month deskcurrently on screen at the Melbourne In- for getting visa to visit Iran are from Ger- validation, he added. ternational Film Festival (MIFF), which opened in Melbourne, many, Italy and France, the head of Ira- In October 2015, Soltanifar said the Zarif calls Australia on July 28. nian Tour Operators Association, Ebra- easing of visa rules was opening the Asghar Farhadi’s acclaimed drama “The Salesman” is a high- him Pourfaraj, told IRNA on Thursday. door for the return of foreign tourists extremism light of the lineup. The social drama won awards for best screen- “Not taking religious tourists [visiting to Iran. play and best actor at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in May. holy shrines] into account, Europeans Earlier this month, Cultural Heritage, The number of foreigners visiting ‘common pain of Also among the films are “A Dragon Arrives” by Mani Haqi- rank first among tourists who visit the Tourism, and Handicraft Organization Iran has grown 12 percent in each of Islamic world’ qi and the joint Iranian-American production “Radio Dreams” country,” he said. Director Masoud Soltanifar announced the past two years. by Babak Jalali. The number of foreign tourists who that Iran has increased its visa on arrival In 2014, Iran hosted over five million visited Iran was doubled after the nucle- extension from 1 month to 3 months. tourists, bringing in some $7.5 billion in POLITICAL TEHRAN — Irani- Earlier in February, desk ar agreement in January 2016, he said. For the time being, citizens of 190 revenue. an Foreign Minister “Radio Dreams” won the Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thurs- Tiger Award at the Rot- day that extremism is “the common terdam Film Festival. JCPOA has been a success so far: Fitzpatrick pain of the Islamic world”. The lineup also in- During a meeting with Mali’s Prime cludes two acclaimed INTERVIEW sides have respected their fends the report by the UN “was correct to criticize Iran’s Minister Modibo Keita, Zarif also said documentaries, Mehrdad Oskui’s “Starless Dreams” and By Javad Heirannia obligations. secretary general about the missile program”. that Iran is ready to cooperate with Mali Rokhsareh Qaem-Maqami’s “Sonita”. “I judge the JCPOA to be Resolution 2231 which en- The resolution calls upon in fighting terrorism and extremism. “Starless Dreams” is the winner of the Amnesty Interna- TEHRAN — Mark Fitzpat- a success, so far,” Fitzpatrick dorsed the July 2015 nuclear Iran not to test missiles capable tional Film Prize at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival and the True rick, director of the non-pro- tells the Tehran Times. agreement between Iran and of carrying nuclear warheads. Vision Award at the 2016 True/False Film Festival while “Son- liferation program at the However Fitzpatrick de- great powers, arguing Ban “Iran is called upon not ita” has received the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Fes- International Institute for to undertake any activity tival and Audience Award at the International Documentary Strategic Studies (IISS), says “The quarterly IAEA reports related to ballistic missiles Film Festival Amsterdam. Around 360 movies from over 60 the nuclear deal between published since the deal was designed to be capable of countries are at the festival that runs until August 14. Iran and great powers, offi- delivering nuclear weapons,” cially called the JCPOA, has signed confirm that Iran has met part of the resolution states. Iran basketball earns spot been a “success” so far as the all the conditions.” 9 at U19 Worlds Asia’s June Iran oil imports jump “Mali has been cradle of moderate SPORTS TEHRAN — Iran defeated South Korea 88- 47.1% y/y to more than 4-year high Islam but we are upset about presence desk63 at the 24th FIBA Asia U18 Championship of extremist groups in Mali,” he said. semifinals. Imports of Iranian oil by four major buy- August crude sales to Asia, the Med- pan, China and India, imported 1.72 Zarif also said that Iran has “very In the match held in Tehran’s Azadi Hall on Saturday, the ers in Asia in June jumped 47.1 percent iterranean and from the port of Sidi million barrels per day (bpd) in June, good relations” with Mali. Iranian team booked a place in the final match. from a year ago to the highest level in Kerir in Egypt, in a continuing effort to government and ship-tracking data He added that the two countries Earlier on the day, the Japanese team defeated Lebanon more than four years, evidence Tehran’s regain market share in these regions showed. Japan’s trade ministry on can expand cooperation in areas of 75-59. Iran will meet Japan in the final on Sunday and South determination to recoup market share, post-sanctions. Friday released official data showing culture and economy. Korea face Lebanon in the bronze-medal match. lost under international sanctions, is Tehran’s oil sales hit 4-1/2 year high its imports almost tripled from a year Iran can provide Mali with its expe- Iran advanced to the 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship paying off. in June, nearly doubling since Decem- earlier to 275,000 bpd last month. riences in countering drug trafficking, as one of the tournament’s top three teams. Iran is regaining market share at a ber as sanctions were lifted on its oil Iran has also gained new customers he also said. The 2017 FIBA U19 World Championship will be held in faster pace than analysts had project- exports in January. this year. Japanese oil refiner Tonen- Keita said that Iran proved that all Cairo, Egypt from 1 to 9 July 2017. ed since sanctions were lifted in Janu- By discounting prices for its crude General Sekiyu has bought its first oil problems can be resolved through ary, helped by securing more tankers against Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Iran has from Iran since becoming independ- “courage” and “effort”. through a temporary shipping insur- attracted new customers in countries ent from U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil “Iran can be a role model for all de- TEHRAN TIMES ance fix. such as Poland and spurred higher Corp, three industry sources familiar veloping countries,” he said, calling for Iran’s Leading International Daily Robust Iranian oil sales may contin- demand from existing buyers in Asia. with the matter said. expansion of relations. ue as OPEC producers cut prices for The four countries, South Korea, Ja- (Source: Reuters) “We have many common views. The government of Mali supports Advertising Dept expansion of relations with Iran espe- The Tehran Times new pocket-sized glossary is now available on the cially in sphere of economy,” the prime Te l : 021 - 430 51 450 market. The reader-friendly is a rich source of the most common minister noted. journalistic terminology collected by the daily’s retired staff. Zarif started a tour of West Afri- ca on July 24. He was accompanied It can benefit a wide range of tastes from students to professional by representatives of 35 companies journalists. from private sector. He visited Nigeria, For more information contact: Ghana, Guinea, and Mali. He arrived in Tehran on Friday [email protected] (021) 430 51 603-4 morning. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y NATION 2 JJULYULY 331,1, 22016016 http://www.tehrantimes.com/international

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS Multi-layered defense strategy in place UN envoy to visit Iran for securing borders, commander says ahead of Syria peace POLITICAL TEHRAN — Com- across the Iraqi territory, mounting a di- talks deskmander of the Army’s rect threat to Iran. Ground Forces says with a multi-layered The multi-layered technique contrib- defense strategy in place, the Iranian utes to better reconnaissance operations TEHRAN – United Nations Special Envoy for Syria borders are the most secure ones in the and more prompt reactions, he explained. Staffan de Mistura will arrive in Tehran on Sunday world. to hold talks with senior Iranian officials ahead of “The Iranian Army’s Ground Forces Earlier in June, Pourdastan said de- the resumption of peace talks on the five-year-long play a key role in securing borders and stroying Daesh beyond borders was a conflict in Syria. recently, we have deployed units at a major strategy for Iran. He will exchange views with Iranian Foreign Min- number of layers,” Tasnim reported on He also had asserted Iran would PRESSTV ister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Deputy Foreign Saturday, quoting Brigadier General Ah- order its forces into combat within Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi mad Reza Pourdastan. 40 kilometers outside its borders with Ansari, Press TV reported. Iran shares land borders with seven Iraq as a preemptive measure just in countries of Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Turk- case. ‘Iran resolved to menistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Af- To keep its forces prepared for real open new chapter ghanistan. combats as well as testig of new warfare, in cooperation with With Iraq alone, it shares more than Iran will stage regular military maneuvers 1400km borders, the longest compared year round. ASEAN’ to other neighbors. This year, the Army will stage three TEHRAN — Iran is determined to open a new Pourdastan seems to be referring to military drills in southeastern, southwest- chapter in its cooperation with the member coun- the borders with Iraq after the self-pro- ern, and central parts of the country, ac- tries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations claimed Daesh captured swathes of land cording to Pourdastan. (ASEAN), the Iranian deputy foreign minister for Asia and Pacific affairs has said. IRIB In a meeting with Indonesian Foreign Min- ister Retno Marsudi in Jakarta on Friday, Ebra- him Rahimpour thanked Indonesia as an ASEAN Iraq would have fallen without Iran, ambassador says member for its support for Iran’s accession to the POLITICAL TEHRAN — The Iraqi ambassador backed by Westerners, support the terrorists and kill the bloc’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), deskto Tehran has said that his country Muslims under the name of human rights,” he regretted. IRIB reported. would have fallen into the hands of Daesh if Iran had The ambassador added that terrorism and violence Rahimpour said Indonesia has a special status in Iran’s not rushed to the support of the Iraqi army and popular have been spread in the Mideast to destabilize the region. foreign policy, adding a planned visit by Indonesian Pres- mobilization forces. He added that the regional countries are able to re- ident Joko Widodo to Tehran will accelerate implemen- In an interview with IRNA published on Saturday, Rajeh solve their problems without foreigners. tation of previously signed bilateral agreements. Saber Abboud al-Mousavi said that Iran’s support for Iraq ‘Strategic ties’ in fight against terrorists is “historic” and “important”. Ambassador Abboud al-Mousavi also said that re- Cleric condemns Saudi The ambassador said Iran has an advisory presence lations between Iran and Iraq are “strategic” and both crimes in Yemen in Iraq upon a request by the Iraqi government, he said. countries seek peace and stability in the region. He also dismissed claims that Iran is interfering in Elsewhere, the ambassador said that there is no way Iraq’s internal affairs. but “dialogue” and “cooperation” among Islamic coun- The diplomat expressed hope that other Islamic tries to settle regional crises. countries would follow the path taken by Iran in fighting Iran and Iraq had warned of the consequences of mil- TEHRAN — Tehran’s Friday prayers leader con- terrorism. itary presence in Syria and the fact that the crisis cannot Mousavi also expressed hope that the situation in demned Saudi Arabia for its continued slaughter- “Unfortunately, some of the regional countries, be resolved militarily, he added. Iraq and Syria will be improved. ing of civilians in Yemen, ABNA reported. “The Saudis in an attack on a Yemeni village ABAN worsened their black record of killing the Yemeni civilians. They attacked the villages and massacred Iran’s parliamentary group to visit Damascus all their residents and cut their bodies into pieces,” Ayatollah Kazzem Seddiqi told worshippers. POLITICAL TEHRAN — Three the country’s legislature elected in June. As a key parliamentary body, the se- The Syrian Army has succeeded in be- “What human rights body approves of the Saudi deskmembers of the Iranian “As decided by the presiding board curity committee discusses security and sieging a rebel-held sector of the strate- regime’s behavior?” the ayatollah asked. Parliament National Security and Foreign of the Majlis National Security Com- foreign policy issues. gic city. Policy Committee will start a five-day vis- mittee, a group consisting of the com- On July 3, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, Another key development is the Iraqi defense chief it to Syria on July 31, showing unfailing mittee’s Chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the committee spokesman, said, “The Thursday announcement by the al-Nusra thanks Iran for military support for the Syrian government amid Shahrouz Barzegar, and I will be head- visit is in line with the latest political and Front that it was ending its relationship support the recent Syrian army victories, Tasnim ing for Syria for a five-day visit,” said field developments in Syria and the com- with the Al Qaeda. reported on Saturday. Hajar Chenarani, a member of the se- mittee members are to review the de- Iran has announced the rebranding On the visit’s agenda will be meetings curity committee. velopments as well as meet some Syrian does not change the terrorist nature of with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad This is the first international visit of the officials.” the group which has been wreaking hav- TEHRAN — The Iraqi defense minister has lauded and Parliament Speaker Hadiyeh al-Ab- committee members after the new Irani- The visit comes amid recent develop- oc in the country along with other terror- Iran for its “continuous support” for his country in bas, the first female speaker in history of an parliament was sworn in on May 28. ments in the Syrian province of Aleppo. ist groups operating there. anti-terrorism campaigns, saying Tehran is helping Baghdad to take back the strategic city of Mosul FARS from Daesh. “There is a great military cooperation between Iran’s Defense Ministry and its Iraqi counterpart, Failed coup strengthened Turkish unity: ambassador and as part of this military cooperation, Iran supports Iraq’s Defense Ministry and Iraqi security forc- 1 es, directly or indirectly, in the liberation of Mosul,” They used tanks, helicopters and F16s and even Khalid al-Obeidi said, Fars reported. bombed the parliament and the civilians who were re- He underlined that Iranian military engineers sisting this coup attempt. But, thanks to God and due and advisers are providing support and advice in to the unity of our people who entered the scene re- full coordination with the Iraqi Army, adding that gardless of their political background, the coup failed. the Iranian advisers are present in the country with Even those opposing the government resisted the coup the consent of the Iraqi government. attempt. Also, the media played a very important role dur- IAEA says hasn’t leaked ing the coup. You know, these guys tried to send their document on Iran’s message through the public TV because they invaded nuclear program the TRT headquarters (the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation) and made their statement read by one of the anchor women. But, thanks to other media, es- TEHRAN — The International Atomic Energy Agency pecially the private ones, our president’s message was has said it disagrees with any statement by Iranian offi- transmitted to the Turkish people. Other Turkish officials cials implying that the agency has leaked confidential also called on the Turkish people to resist and take to the streets to resist the coup plotters. The parliament information relating to Tehran’s nuclear energy plans. /Majid Haghdoust also made an amazing performance, holding a morn- EAEA “The IAEA received a letter from Iran this week which referred to a leaked document and to the ing meeting immediately on that night. Coupled with

this, other parties, even those opposing the current Tasnim possibility of leakage by the Agency of parts of Iran’s initial declaration of its Additional Protocol,” government made a very strong declaration against the attempt. Now, we are in the restoration stage. Our the IAEA said in a statement published on its web- state-run institutions are being done to strengthen our We heard that as many as 45 newspapers have government, institutions, and official bodies are trying to site on Friday. democracy. Because they have nothing to do with de- been shut down. Is that right? clean up the state from these terrorist groups who have “The Agency has sent a letter in reply strong- mocracy or human rights or the will of the people. What A: Those newspapers have been openly supporting been infiltrating into the organizations for decades. ly disagreeing with and rejecting any statement they were aiming all this time was a creeping infiltration Fetullah Gülen for many years. This group is not a tradi- We try to punish all perpetrators of this wild act who implying that the Agency has leaked information into official bodies of our country and waiting for the tional group, not even a traditional terrorist organization. killed civilians and bombed our parliament. We all be- related to Iran’s initial declaration of its Additional right moment to seize power. They have been very secretive; they have always been lieve we emerged very strongly from this unfortunate Protocol,” the statement added. That is the only motivation behind these all purges carrying out activities under the disguise of other things. event. I think the abortive coup has strengthened the or detentions or firings as you would like to call it. We They, for example, started with the interface dialogue. unity of the Turkish people, which is very important. Police sieze over 3 tons experienced a serious incident. I don’t know if incidences They have established many schools, high schools, and Coup plotters had never imagined this. like bombing a parliament or using tanks to kill civilians universities. You may think they are doing very good of drugs in Iran Also, as Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said who only had flags in their hands have ever happened things if you don’t know what they really are doing. Or on the eve of the coup the era of coup is over. So, the anywhere else in the world. you may think they are helping the society by making Turkish people proved that very dramatically, scarifying Accordingly we have to be very careful and we investment in education or establishing some hospitals. themselves. Coup plotters martyred 246 people, show- have to clarify that nothing has been done against But, all these media, educational institutions are a tool to ing to the world, to our region and to the world that TEHRAN — Iran’s police on Friday seized 3.4 tons other people. The sole aim of all these activities is to take power. And with their media, they have been trying even tanks and F16s are doomed to failure in the face of drugs from armed smugglers in the southeastern clean up both our state structure and other compo- to disseminate propaganda but in a very smart way. of the will of our people. This was one of the most im- province of Sistan-Baluchestan. nents like newspapers. Fetullah Gülen has a very divisive mindset. He, for in- portant lessons of what happened in Turkey at the coup Hossein Rahimi, the provincial police chief, said stance, is categorically against Iran; he and his group did in one operation the police seized over two tons night. IRNA ‘Fetullah Gülen has a very everything to block Turkish-Iranian relations. He has very Your government has been elected by votes cast of drugs following an armed clash with smugglers offensive views towards Shias and does not accept them by the Turkish people. Don’t you think the widespread divisive mindset. He, for near the city of Saravan, IRNA reported. as Muslims. What has been going on in Turkey after the post-coup purges may question democratic principles In another operation on the same day in Khash instance, is categorically against coup in terms of detention, in terms of closure of media of your country? How do you put these two together? County, they arrested three smugglers and seized Iran; he and his group did or other media, has not been done to impose a certain A: This is a very good question but these purges or 900 kilogram of opium, he added. view on Turkey or eliminate some opposition figures. It is all these activities to find who were behind the coup everything to block Turkish- The police also seized 496 kilograms of opium to finish up this organization with all its elements. in Iranshahr country on the same day, Rahimi said. and who the elements of this terrorist group are within Iranian relations’ 9 I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

http://www.tehrantimes.com/international JJULYULY 331,1, 20162016 INTERNATIONAL 3 U.S. led strikes kill dozens of civilians in Syria Damascus denounces U.S.-led ‘massacre’, calls on UN to intervene Iraqi Commander Declares At least 28 civilians have reportedly been petrated by the U.S.-led coalition and the Full Liberation of Fallujah- killed and several wounded in U.S.-led terror groups operating in Syria, saying air strikes on the suburbs of the north- both sides are trying to exacerbate the Ramadi Highway ern Syrian city of Manbij, according to a situation across the country following the monitoring group. Syrian army’s recent victories in Aleppo The commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, Hadi The reports on Friday come a day city. al-Ameri, announced that the Fallujah-Ramadi highway has after the U.S.-led coalition announced it It also called on “the UN Security completely been purged of terrorists. had enough evidence of civilian casual- Council to enforce its anti-terrorism res- “The Iraqi security ties from its attacks on the same area last olutions against the countries backing and Hash al-Shaabi week to launch a formal investigation. terrorism.” (popular forces) could Meanwhile, Syria has called on the The letters said in conclusion that Syr- liberate the highway United Nations to take immediate action ia would not give up its fight against ter- during their effots to against the so-called U.S.-led coalition, rorism while pursuing a political solution retake al-Khalediya and to prevent it from conducting further to the crisis “without foreign interfer- Island,” Ameri said on airstrikes. ence.” Saturday. In two separate letters sent to UN The U.S.-led coalition has been con- Noting that Bo- Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and ducting airstrikes against what are said bali, Abu Obaid and the UN Security Council President Koro to be the Daesh terrorists inside Syria al-Qartan villages and Bessho on Friday, the Syrian Foreign since September 2014 without any au- a number of towns Ministry strongly denounced the U.S.-led thorization from Damascus or a UN adjacent to the high- coalitions “atrocities committed against mandate. The coalition has repeatedly way have also been civilians,” and called for bringing the per- been accused of targeting and killing freed, he underlined petrators to justice, Syria’s official SANA civilians. It has also been largely inca- that liberation of news agency reported. led airstrikes against al-Nawajah village U.S., Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for pable of fulfilling its declared aim of de- these villages and The letters written after U.S.-led war- east of Manbij on July 23, a few days af- the so-called “moderate opposition” stroying Daesh. towns indicates the planes launched airstrikes on the town of ter another deadly U.S.-led raid left 120 groups, calling it an overt support for Syria has been gripped by for- collapse of Fallujah and Ramadi. Ghandour, which is more than 23 kilo- civilians dead near Manbij. the terrorists wreaking havoc across the eign-backed militancy since March The Iraqi popular forces, supported by the air force, could re- meters (14.2 miles) away from the vi- On July 22, the military coalition also world, specifically in Syria. 2011. UN special envoy for Syria Staf- take 3km of al-Khalediya Island (23km East of Ramadi) only hours olence-ridden city of Manbij, in Syria’s killed at least 20 civilians in Manbij and The letters further said that any an- fan de Mistura estimates that over after the start of operations to liberate the region on Saturday. strategic northern province of Aleppo on claimed the lives of at least 30 more, in- ti-terror campaign in Syria is doomed to 400,000 people have been killed in The attacks to free al-Khalediya Island in al-Anbar prov- Thursday. cluding 11 children, in the same city on failure unless done in cooperation with the conflict. ince from the ISIL terrorists are being led by al-Jazira and At least “45 civilians were brutally June 9, in aerial attacks purportedly con- the Syrian government and in accord- The UN has stopped its official casualty Badiya operations command center. killed… and 50 others were injured” in the ducted against positions of Daesh in the ance with international law and the UN count in Syria, citing its inability to verify An army officer said on Saturday that the Iraqi forces en- deadly airstrikes, the report further said. area. Charter. the figures that it receives from various tered al-Khalediya Island from al-Zouya region. The development came after at least The Syrian Foreign Ministry also cen- The ministry also cited remarkable sources. Reports said earlier this week that commanders of the ISIL (Source: agencies) 15 people were killed and injured in US- sured the ceaseless support of France, similarities between the “massacres” per- terrorist group have ordered their forces and family members to leave their last bases and strongholds in Western Iraq as Iraq’s military forces are preparing to launch massive mili- Erdogan drops ‘insult’ lawsuits and condemns West tary operations in the region, local sources said Tuesday. Turkish prosecutor claims CIA, FBI trained coup plotters “The Iraqi military forces are preparing to capture the last ISIL strongholds in Western Iraq and the military equipment Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is drop- over their alleged links with the coup plot – which Anka- ing to the Gulen movement. The operations carried out for these operations have been fully supplied and trans- ping all lawsuits filed against people accused of “insult- ra claims was masterminded by U.S.-based Muslim cleric by prosecutors and security officials during the Dec. 17 ferred, and we are waiting for the final order by the joint op- ing” him, as a one-off gesture. Fethullah Gulen. process can be taken as a good example of this,” the erations command center to attack al-Khalediya Island and Prosecutors have opened almost two-thousand cas- More than 60-thousand people have been detained, document says, referring to a high profile corruption Heet town in the Western parts of al-Anbar province,” Head es since he took power 18 months ago. removed or suspended as part of the purges. probe that targeted senior government officials between of the Security Committee of al-Anbar province’s Council Ra- “I take this opportunity to withdraw all the lawsuits, CIA, FBI trained coup plotters December 17 and December 25 of 2013, as reported by jeh al-Issawi said on Tuesday. for this once, against those who showed disrespect to Meanwhile, a Turkish prosecutor has claimed that the the Turkish Hurriyet daily. Also, a local source in Western Iraq said that the ISIL com- me and insulted me in every way,” Erdogan confirmed. CIA and FBI provided training for the followers of pow- The investigation affected many officials linked to the manders and their families have fled the al-Baghdadi island Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey punishable erful U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish Cabinet, which was headed by Recep Tayyip Er- in the Western parts of Heet, one of the most notorious ISIL by up to four years in jail, but the law has previously Ankara blames for the coup attempt earlier this month. dogan at that time. Erdogan, who is now Turkey’s pres- bases. been invoked only rarely. Critics accuse Erdogan of intol- The indictment, prepared by the Edirne Public Pros- ident, called it “a judicial coup” attempt, while accusing The source added that ISIL commanders, fearing the Iraqi erance and say he is using the law to stifle dissent. ecutor’s office and accepted by the local Second Heavy Gulen and his movement of orchestrating it with the army and popular forces’ rapid advance, have fled towards Erdogan also rejected Western criticism of purges in Penal Court, seeks the harshest possible punishment for help of some “foreign forces.” al-Qae’m town in Western al-Anbar. Turkey’s military and other state institutions, following 43 suspects that have allegedly been linked to the failed The indictment states that Gulen loyalists received US (Source: FNA) the recent failed coup. coup attempt on July 15, including the coup’s supposed training and infiltrated judicial and security institutions. “Let me say this explicitly. Any country and any leader mastermind, Fethullah Gulen, the arch-nemesis of Turk- “This [failed coup] attempt aimed to weaken the state who does not worry about the sake of Turkish democ- ish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. with all its institutions by getting rid of the government racy, about our people’s right to live and about our na- The prosecutor said on Thursday that members of completely. Those in the Gulen movement who work in tion’s future, the future of our people, as much as they what it describes as “the Fethullah Terrorist Organiza- the judicial and security institutions and who received worry over the fate of put schists, are not our friends. tion” were trained by the Central Intelligence Agency the aforementioned training, took on this task and U.S. delegation meets They should know this,” he told hundreds of supporters (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). moved into action,” the document says, as quoted by Assad in Damascus at the presidential palace in the Turkish capital. “The CIA and FBI provided training in several sub- the Anadolu news agency. Late on Friday, 17 journalists were formally arrested jects to the cadre raised in the culture centers belong- (Source: Euro News) Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad says the United States’ poli- cies are in contrast with the interests of the American people and the world as a whole. Clinton campaign also hacked in attacks on Democrats Assad made the Hillary leads Trump by 6 points after Democratic confab: Reuters/Ipsos poll remarks in a meeting with representa- A computer network used by Democrat- day after she formally accepted her party’s tives of the US Peace ic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s nomination for the Nov. 8 election. Council, the Amer- campaign was hacked as part of a broad Nearly 41 percent of likely voters favor ican branch of the cyber attack on Democratic political or- Clinton, 35 percent favor Trump, and 25 World Peace Council ganizations, people familiar with the percent picked “Other,” according to the international organ- matter told Reuters. new July 25-29 online poll of 1,043 likely ization on Thursday, The latest attack, which was disclosed voters, which overlapped with the Demo- SANA reported. to Reuters on Friday, follows two other cratic National Convention in Philadelphia. “The US poli- hacks on the Democratic National Com- The poll has a credibility interval of 4 cies are at a collision mittee, or DNC, and the party’s fundrais- percentage points. course with the inter- ing committee for candidates for the U.S. The presidential tracking poll reflects ests of the US citizens House of Representatives. a slight change of wording from previous and the peoples of A Clinton campaign spokesman said surveys, replacing the “Neither/Other” op- the world,” Assad said. in a statement late on Friday that an an- tion given to respondents with just “Oth- “The role of the alytics data program maintained by the er.” An internal review had found the word United States as a su- DNC and used by the campaign and a “Neither” has, at times, siphoned support perpower should otherwise be positive and based on foster- number of other entities “was accessed away from one or the other candidate. ing knowledge, science and technology instead of chaos and as part of the DNC hack.” Former Secretary of State Clinton destruction,” he said. “Our campaign computer system has delivered an upbeat keynote address at Trump, a 70-year-old New York busi- provided respondents with the option Washington and some of its international allies have been been under review by outside cyber se- the Democratic convention on Thursday nessman and former reality TV show host to choose from Clinton, Trump, Libertar- lending generous financial and military support to the mili- curity experts. To date, they have found night, as she became the first woman to who has never held political office, re- ian candidate Gary Johnson and Green tants who have been fighting the Syrian government since no evidence that our internal systems accept the presidential nomination from sponded in a Twitter post late on Thurs- Party candidate Jill Stein, has Clinton and 2011. The foreign-backed militancy has cost thousands of have been compromised,” said Clinton a major party. [nL1N1AD041] day that “Hillary’s vision is a borderless Trump tied at 37 percentage points. lives. campaign spokesman Nick Merrill. In the biggest speech of her more than world where working people have no Of the alternative party candidates, A US-led coalition grouping dozens of countries has been Clinton leads Trump 25-year-old career in the public eye, Clin- power, no jobs, no safety.” Johnson came in third with 5 percentage bombarding Syria since September 2014 without authoriza- Democratic presidential candidate ton, 68, cast herself as a steady leader at Both candidates were on the cam- points, followed by Stein at 1 percentage tion from Damascus or the United Nations. The coalition pur- Hillary Clinton held a 6- percentage-point a “moment of reckoning” for the country, paign trail on Friday, kicking off what is point, according to the July 25-29 survey ports to be targeting the positions of Daesh. lead over Republican rival Donald Trump, and contrasted her character with what expected to be a hotly contested general of 1,426 likely voters, which has a credibil- In a statement to journalists, Henry Lowendorf, who head- according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll with new she described as Trump’s dangerous and election battle. ity interval of 3 percentage points. ed the visiting American delegation to Syria, said the group (Source: Reuters) wording that was released on Friday, the volatile temperament. A separate Reuters/Ipsos survey that had held “fruitful and constructive” talks with Assad. “We had the honor to meet President al-Assad. He was straightforward and wanted us to be so. We related to him Bahrain forces arrest senior Shia cleric what we saw and he provided rational, accurate and wise Bahraini regime forces have arrested yet another senior religious scholar Sheikh Issa Qassim. In March that year, troops from Saudi Arabia and the answers for our questions… He impressed us with his insight Shia cleric as the ruling Al Khalifah regime continues a Sheikh Qassim himself has been stripped of his citi- United Arab Emirates — themselves repressive Arab re- not only about the situation in Syria but also about world heavy-handed crackdown on the Shia community in the zenship and is being tried at a court over trumped-up gimes — were deployed to the country to assist Mana- powers,” he added. country. charges. ma in its crackdown on protests. Earlier in the week, Assad told a visiting delegation of Bahraini forces arrested Seyyed Majid al-Mashaal, the Earlier on July 24, Bahraini forces arrested two Shia Bahrain has already sentenced Sheikh Ali Salman, an- Greek parliamentarians that Western countries started sup- secretary of Muslim Scholars Council, after raiding his clergymen, identified as Sayed Yassin al-Mosawi and other revered opposition cleric, to nine years in prison porting anti-Damascus militants because they could not bear home on Saturday morning. Sheikh Jassim al-Kayyat, over their participation in a sit- on charges of seeking regime change and collaborating to see the Arab country leading an independent existence. On January 29, 2014, a Bahraini court decided to dis- in outside the residence of Sheikh Qassim to denounce with foreign powers, which he has denied. Although many Western countries have been supporting solve the council, which includes a number of prominent the regime’s decision to revoke his citizenship. Sheikh Salman was the secretary general of the the anti-Damascus militants, some of them have come to Bahraini Shia scholars, and ordered the liquidation of its Since February 14, 2011, thousands of anti-regime al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, which was Bahrain’s realize the importance of Damascus’ fight against terrorism, assets. protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bah- main opposition bloc before being dissolved by the re- sending delegations to Damascus and voicing tacit willing- Bahrain’s Islamic Scholars Council was founded in rain on an almost daily basis, calling on the Al Khalifah gime earlier this month. ness to restore ties with the government of President Assad. 2004 under the leadership of prominent Bahraini Shia rulers to relinquish power. (Source: Press TV) (Source: SANA) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 4 ECONOMY JJULYULY 31,31, 22016016 http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy

NEWS Tehran, Moscow set roadmap for Japan's TonenGeneral buys first oil from Iran: sources strategic economic co-op Japanese oil refiner TonenGeneral Sekiyu has bought its first oil from Iran since becoming independent from U.S. oil major Exxon Establishing free trade zone and building 1,400MW power plant are among 70 projects undertaken by Russia and Iran Mobil Corp, three industry sources familiar with the matter said. The company bought the Iranian spot cargo through a trad- 1 Broadening trade ties ing house due to attractive pricing and the shipment arrived “My colleague [Vaezi] and I have agreed Relations between Russia and Iran have Japan earlier this month, the sources said. to sign in the near future a roadmap for pro- improved dramatically in recent years, with TonenGeneral, formerly a unit of Exxon Mobil, previously jects in the field of industry between Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting Teh- could not buy Iranian oil due to its affiliation with the U.S. oil and Iran… This roadmap is currently being ran in November last year, Novak said, accompany. finalized and it consists of more than 70 spe- cording to the Moscow Times. TonenGeneral bought a controlling stake in itself from Exxon cific projects to be implemented between “During this time, our trade turnover has in 2012, reducing Exxon's stake from 50 percent to 22 percent Iran and Russia,” Novak told the TV channel increased by 70 percent, and we have agreed as the oil major pulled back from Japan due to the country's Rossiya 24. to create the necessary legal framework to declining oil demand. Building 1,400MW power plant aid the growing relationships between entre- Exxon Mobil has since sold that remaining stake in Japan's The sides signed a contract for the con- preneurs in our two countries.” second-biggest oil refiner by capacity, shedding its last holding struction of a power station in Iran’s southern The ministers also agreed on a further 13 in TonenGeneral by early this year. Hormozgan province. The power plant’s four treaties dealing with trade, customs clearance TonenGeneral Sekiyu, an aggressive buyer of cheaper crude generators will have a 1,400-megawatt ca- and investment. grades, is known for having one of Japan's highest ratios of spot pacity, RT reported. Improving communication ties crude compared to term volumes, and will consider buying According to Vaezi, Tehran plans new en- Moscow and Tehran will hold talks on the more Iranian oil depending on economics, the sources said. ergy contracts with Russia in the near future. resumption of the Russian search engine Yan- Approving deal on €2.2b loan to dex in Iran, the ban on which can be removed A TonenGeneral spokesman said the company cannot com- Iran’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi (L) and Russian Iran before the end of the year, according to the ment on the spot crude purchase. Energy Minister Alexander Novak explored avenues of economic cooperation in Moscow. Iran has been regaining market share faster than analysts had Russia and Iran have prepared a package Iranian communications minister, Sputnik re- expected after sanctions were lifted in January, and its exports of agreements on allocating a 2.2 billion euro work and will submit proposals of the action Enhancing banking relations ported. are projected to be above 2 million barrels per day for a fourth loan to Tehran for infrastructure projects in plan for the FTZ preparation,” he explained. Moscow and Tehran have also agreed to “Four different committees will be set up month in July. Iran, including the construction of the afore- Expanding oil ties continue cooperation in the banking sector, after the meeting I had. They will organize eve- Japan's crude imports from Iran nearly halved last year from mentioned power station, TASS reported. Almost all Russian oil and gas companies with the central banks meeting in August, RT rything and will cover many issues, including 2011 levels due to the sanctions, but there are signs of a recovery “These two draft agreements were coor- have shown an interest in energy exploration wrote. Yandex,” Vaezi said. in imports this year, with industry sources saying some Japanese dinated in the Russian government - 2.2 bil- and production projects in Iran, Novak admit- “Development of the interbank lending In addition, Russia’s Roscosmos space cor- buyers are looking to hike purchases of Iranian oil on a spot lion euros in total in the framework of agree- ted, RT reported. opportunities, mutual credit, provides addi- poration might receive an order for the supply basis. ments will be provided as an inter-state loan,” Gazprom is interested in developing Ira- tional opportunities and momentum for our of components for Iranian satellites, Russian Japan has imported 192,180 bpd of Iranian crude January- Novak said. nian gas supply and production, said the companies in cooperation,” Novak said. Minister of Communications and Mass Media May this year, up 1.9 percent from the same period a year ago. Establishing free trade zone Russian energy minister, while Lukoil wants to “As far as I know, the nearest meeting be- Nikolai Nikiforov said. (Source: Reuters) The two sides expect a joint study group resume cooperation in the Anaran oil project tween our [Russia and Iran] central banks will As reported, before going to Moscow, Ira- working on the establishment of a free trade which it had to abandon in 2010 due to West- be held in August. A relevant working team nian communications minister, visited Russian zone (FTZ) by the end of 2016, Novak was ern sanctions against Iran. meeting to summarize once again measures city of Astrakhan, which has turned to be a hub quoted by Sputnik as saying. In two or three months Iran will reach its for cooperation development in this [bank- for Iranian businessmen in Southern Russia. Tehran examining “We discussed the issues related to the pre-sanctions oil output level of four million ing] sphere will be held in September,” Novak During his stay in Russia, Vaezi also met study into the possibility of establishing the barrels a day. As Vaezi announced, the coun- said. with Russian Minister of Communication and alternatives for U.S. dollar FTZ and have noted the progress made in try has already regained 80 percent of the “We have agreed that the president of the Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov and Minister of this direction. We expect that by the end of market share it held before the U.S. and EU Central Bank of Iran (CBI) will pay a visit to Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. According to a report on Friday, a senior Iranian official has the year, a joint study group will finish the imposed sanctions on its oil industry in 2012. Russia,” Vaezi affirmed. (Source: agencies) told Reuters that Tehran is examining alternatives for dollar based banking transactions. "Iran will continue to work with small banks, institutions as long as major European banks U.S. allows American-made planes to be flown to Iran are reluctant to return to Iran," said the official. He said, "Our estimation is that this uncertainty will con- The United States said on Friday it would al- as Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, or others fly- obtain licenses to sell civil aircraft to Iran, Syria, and North Korea. Iran was an excep- tinue for a few years. We are in talks with many countries, low foreign airlines to fly U.S.-made aircraft ing frequently to Iran are expressly allowed but a proposed deal between Boeing Co. tion to this, said Jonathan Epstein, an attor- mainly China, Russia and African countries to widen our to Iran, providing greater assurance to avia- to use U.S.-made planes, or planes with and Iran has drawn the ire of members of ney at Holland & Knight in Washington. banking cooperation aimed at resolving existing banking, tion companies as Iran tries to re-establish U.S. parts, to fly there. the U.S. Congress, who are trying to block "Technically there was no legal way to fly financial problems.” trade and business links following the lifting Iran and world powers reached a deal it. to Iran, so U.S. lessors tended to say no, or Iranian Officials have been to Russia several times since of sanctions. on Tehran's nuclear program last July that The license issued on Friday has no im- it caused a lot of angst in the U.S. leasing the nuclear deal, while Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign As- allowed for the lifting of most sanctions on pact on the proposed Boeing deal. community that these planes were being Zarif has also visited African countries in recent days, with sets Control on Friday issued a license al- the country, although many U.S. sanctions Because of a quirk in the law, U.S.-made flown there," said Epstein, who advises avia- lowing U.S.-made planes to have "tempo- remain in place. planes could be flown to other countries tion leasing firms on sanctions issues. Iran expressing willingness to boost economic cooperation. (Source: Reuters) Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Iran in January, dis- rary sojourn" in Iran, meaning airlines such The deal allows for U.S. companies to under U.S. sanction, such as Cuba, Sudan, cussing trade opportunities. That same month a top Iranian central bank official said the Industrial and Commercial Bank PICTURE OF THE DAY SHANA/Hasan Hosseini South Pars phase 21 platform of China wanted to open branches in Iran. (Source: Reuters) installed after weather subsides

ECONOMY TEHRAN — Pars Oil and Gas Company desk(POGC) personnel, standby in the Persian Gulf OPEC oil output set to for almost a week, finally succeeded Friday afternoon to fix the plat- reach record high in July: form of South Pars gas field’s phase 21 on its jacket in the Persian Gulf. The 2,700-ton platform was built in Khorramshahr yard in a survey 20-month period and moved by Abouzar barge last Friday to be installed on its current location but the operation was postponed OPEC's oil output is likely in July to reach its highest in recent due to weather conditions. history, a Reuters survey found on Friday, as Iraq pumps more According to Farrokh Alikhani, the deputy managing director of and Nigeria manages to export additional crude despite militant POGC, with this platform, 28.3 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas attacks on oil installations. will be added to the current 420 mcm daily production of the giant Top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia has kept output close to a gas field. record high, the survey found, as it meets seasonally higher do- Phase 21 of South Pars includes 11 rigs which will be put into op- mestic demand and focuses on maintaining market share rather eration within the next 110 days. than trimming supply to boost prices. South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Gulf, is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, ac- Countries has risen to 33.41 million barrels per day (bpd) in July counting for about eight percent of the world’s reserves, and ap- from a revised 33.31 million bpd in June, according to the survey proximately 18 billion barrels of condensate. based on shipping data and information from industry sources. South Pars is divided into 24 standard phases, of which phases The increase in OPEC production has added to downward 1-10, 12, 15 and 16 are fully operational. Each standard phase is pro- pressure on prices. Oil has fallen from a 2016 high near $53 a jected to produce 50 mcm of gas per day. Phases 17 and 18 as well barrel in June to $42 as of Friday, pressured also by concern as 19 are operating at half capacity. about weaker demand. Phases 20 and 21 are projected to produce 50 million cubic me- OPEC's production could rise even further should talks to ters of sweet gas per day for home consumption and will recover reopen some of Libya's oil facilities succeed. Conflict has been one million tons of Ethane per annum for petrochemical industry keeping Libyan output at a fraction of the pre-war rate. consumption. They will also recover 1.050 million tons of Liquefied "This could shortly release more oil into an already abun- Petroleum Gas (LPG) per year, produce 75,000 barrels of gas con- dantly supplied market," Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank said, densate and recover 400 tons of sulfur per day for exports. although earlier hopes of a restart have not been realized. "It therefore remains to be seen whether this time will be different." Iran emerges 4th Apple asks U.S. California regulator OPEC's output has climbed due to the return of former member Indonesia in 2015 and another, Gabon, this month, skewing biggest oil supplier Supreme Court to rule says testing to begin historical comparisons. July's supply from the remaining mem- to India in April-June against Samsung over on Volkswagen diesel bers, at 32.46 million bpd, is the highest in Reuters survey re- patents fix cords, starting in 1997. Supply has also risen since OPEC abandoned in 2014 its his- Iran counted for 5.1 million metric tons of In- Apple Inc on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Volkswagen AG and the California Air Re- toric role of cutting supply to prop up prices as major producers dia’s total crude import during April-June 2016 Court to clear the way for the iPhone maker sources Board will begin testing hardware and Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran pump more. according to a statement submitted to parlia- to secure hundreds of millions in damages software that could help the German automaker In July, the biggest increase of 90,000 bpd has come from ment by Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in a case avoid buying back as many as 475,000 diesel Iraq, which has exported more barrels from its southern and July 25. over smartphone design patents. cars sold in the United States with improperly northern ports despite a pipeline leak that restrained southern India bought 34.9 million metric tons crude The world's top smartphone rivals have designed pollution controls, the head of the exports. oil from Middle East out of total imports of 53.2 been feuding over patents since 2011, board told Reuters. Nigeria, where output has been hit by militant attacks on oil million tons during the mentioned period. when Apple sued Samsung in a northern Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols said facilities, has nonetheless exported slightly more in July than Imports from Africa were 8.4 million tons and California court alleging infringement of the the agency is working with the German au- June, the survey found, although crude exports remain signifi- South America 6.5 million tons. Iraq stood at the iPhone's patents, designs and trademarked tomaker to test potential fixes for three genera- cantly below the 2 million bpd seen in early 2016. top in the list for oil suppliers to India during appearance. tions of Volkswagen cars equipped with 2.0-liter Output in two major producers is largely stable. Iran, OPEC's April-June 2016 with 11 million metric tons of Apple said there was no need for the diesel engines and pollution control systems im- fastest-growing source of supply expansion this year after the crude shipped to the country. Supreme Court to send the case back to a properly designed to operate only during gov- lifting of Western sanctions, has pumped only 20,000 bpd more lower court for further proceedings. ernment pollution control tests. as the growth rate tops out for now, the survey found. NEWS IN BRIEF (Source: Bloomberg) NEWS IN BRIEF I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y http://www.tehrantimes.com JJULYULY 331,1, 22016016 HISTORY & HERITAGE 5

Tourism on the rebound in Iran NEWS More visitors have been exploring Iran visited the southern city of Shiraz with his French tourism falls victim since last year’s landmark nuclear deal wife Sera, told Al Jazeera. to terror attacks and the lifting of sanctions. Sera said Iran has been on the cou- When the video “Don’t go to Iran” first ple’s travel radar for close to a decade, At the annual Paris-Plages event tourists and locals hit the internet this spring, the title made but friends and family at home were share bottles of rosé and lounge on artificial beaches some Iranians fear it would be yet an- initially worried about their safety: “Eve- on the banks of the Seine. This year, the merrymak- other effort to taint the country’s image. ryone was, like, freaking out,” she said. ers have been joined by a less jovial group: camou- But it was quite the opposite. French “Some people’s impression of Iran is ter- flaged soldiers with automatic rifles hanging from filmmaker Benjamin Martinie said the rorists, no alcohol and veils, because they their shoulders. video aimed to clear up misconceptions don’t really understand.” “It’s a bit disconcerting,” says Serena, an American about Iran, by countering common ste- But is Iran ready for a tourism boom? tourist from Vermont. “But I guess this is the new nor- reotypes through clips from his recent According to Mojtaba Rahmanian, mal.” visit. The video has now been viewed the cofounder of Iran Travel Service - a Other tourists seem to be even more unnerved after an hundreds of thousands of times on You- company that offers a variety of tours to 18-month stretch that has featured a spate of deadly terror- Tube and Vimeo, and is frequently shared Iran - the industry is growing rapidly, and ist attacks from Nice to Normandy and left France under a among Iranians within the country via will need significant investment in order prolonged “state of emergency”. social media. to continue. Through June, France reported a 5.8 per cent fall in “I would say a lot of people might “We need more five-star hotels, and air passenger traffic compared with the same period not know [much] about Iran, outside of more service of a high calibre,” Rahma- a year earlier. Hotel reservations in the Riviera region the things you hear on the news,” Mar- nian told Al Jazeera. have dropped as much as 30 per cent in the weeks tinie, who specializes in travel videog- As part of its 20-year economic plan, after the Nice attack, according to the economy min- raphy, told Al Jazeera. “Iran is changing, Iran has an ambitious goal to host 20 istry. and the tourism potential is really high. million overseas tourists annually by ing hotels or purchasing plane or train they need a guided tour, the price has “There is clear pressure on France as a destination,” Pierre- The warmth of the people, the cultural 2025, and is in need of more places to tickets within the country. The use of gone up for them, and a lot of people Francois Riolacci, Air France-KLM’s chief financial officer, warmth and the many amazing land- house them. credit cards is still not available in Iran, don’t like travelling that way,” Rahmanian warned this week. scapes are all assets.” With exhausted infrastructure fre- forcing many tourists to bring cash. said. For France, the most visited country in the world, tourism After the 2013 election of President quently cited as an issue for the tour- Despite these issues, Rahmanian For those who do, Rahmanian said is a central cog in an economy that has struggled to generate Hassan Rouhani, who is viewed as a ism industry, a recent deal to bolster says he has seen an increase in visitors his tours allow for customization, so growth. The industry, which attracted 83m overseas visitors moderate, the number of incoming tour- tourism ties with Turkey gave the green through his own tours. that tourists can add experiences not last year, accounts for 7 per cent of output and employs more ists to Iran surged by a nearly a quarter light for several Turkish investors to “Last year, tourists were mostly from included in their preset packages: than 2m people. to 4.8 million, according to the World build hotels in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Australia and Germany, but we’ve seen a “Tourists recently have found an inter- “We can’t allow ourselves to tolerate the threat of Tourism Organization. The landmark Tabriz and Mashhad. Hotel groups from lot more from places like Italy, Spain, and est in the Kurdistan region and Hawra- a new retreat or even of stagnation in this sector,” said 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and France and Spain have also invested in even the United States too,” he said. man, because it’s a bit more untouched Jean-Marc Ayrault, minister of foreign affairs, after an world powers, along with the lifting of Iran in recent years, while Iran has bol- “We even had two Americans come and natural.” emergency meeting in July with tourism business lead- sanctions, has opened the door for more stered tourism ties with China by estab- to Iran for their honeymoon,” Rahmanian For his part, Martinie says that while ers and public officials. It was a day before the Nice visitors: Last year, the country’s tourism lishing tourism offices in Shanghai and added, noting that they customised their he had some of the same concerns about massacre. affairs department reported 5.2 million Guangzhou, in the hope of attracting tour to include a trip to northern Iran, a Iran that many tourists do, he found the The UK’s vote to leave the EU, precipitating a sharp fall in tourists, with each spending an average Chinese tourists and investors. trendy mountainous region covered in country to be “incredibly welcoming and the pound,has also not helped. France is now a pricier desti- of $1,700 during their stay, bringing in a “We’ve seen a lot of Americans take forests. helpful. nation for British tourists. total revenue of more than $8bn. an interest in wanting to explore Iran - As part of its efforts to attract more “Iran is a very hospitable country,” he Before this month’s attack on Nice — in which 84 people Iran is home to 21 UNESCO-designat- but because they need a guided tour, the visitors, Iran has recently allowed for said. “People will go out of their way to were killed by a man driving a 19-tonne truck — the damage ed World Heritage sites, more than any price has gone up for them, and a lot of citizens of 190 countries to obtain a 30- help you with something or to have you had mostly been confined to Paris, France’s top attraction. other country in the Middle East. From people don’t like travelling that way.” day visa on arrival, although nationals of over for dinner.” In April and May, hotel stays in the capital were down 10 per the 2,500-year-old ruins of Persepolis to The lifting of sanctions has also ena- several countries - including the US and The popularity of his video within Iran cent from the previous year. the large, historic bazaars of Tabriz and bled Iran to upgrade its ageing fleet of the UK - are not eligible to travel to Iran in the ensuing months was not a surprise, Still, the most recent numbers were not as bad as they Tehran, there is a variety of cultural op- passenger planes, while airlines such as independently, and must be bound to a he added. had been in the weeks after the November attacks on the tions for tourists to embrace. Air France and British Airways have an- tour guide. “Every time Iranians see something city that claimed 130 lives. And France’s successful hosting “Even now, it was hard for us to get nounced that they will resume flights to “Because of improved political rela- that could change the image of their in June and July of the 2016 European football champion- hotels. It was completely full, mainly in Tehran. tions between the two countries, we’ve country,” Martinie said, “they will share it ships, an event free of terror incidents, raised hopes of a Tehran and Isfahan,” Leo Wong, a tourist But Rahmanian says tourists may still seen a lot of Americans take an interest to do their best to change it.” wider turnround. from the United Kingdom who recently face challenges when it comes to book- in wanting to explore Iran - but because (Source: Al Jazeera) (Source: Financial Times)

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6 INTERNATIONAL JULY 31, 2016 http://www.tehrantimes.com The real plot against America By Timothy Egan mechanics — you need everyone to The emails show ofﬁce gossip — lefty extremists — that is, myopic to the play their assigned roles. catty, sometimes crude back-and-forth greater good, guided by a Trumpian n retrospect, it worked out much You start with a stooge, a fugitive by party operatives, and a bias for one sense that they alone know how to solve better than planned. Who’d have holed up in London, releasing stolen candidate. Ho-hum. To make the plot the world’s problems, and everyone else Ithought a pariah nation, run by an emails on the eve of the Democratic work, reporters have to take the bait. is a sellout. Angered at the contents of authoritarian who makes his political National Convention, in the name On cue, they decry the fact that poli- the cybertheft, they boo any mention of opponents disappear, could so easily of “transparency.” Cyberburglars rely tics is going on inside a major political their party’s nominee. And told by Sena- hijack a great democracy? It didn’t take on a partner in crime to pick up sto- party. The horror — Democratic hacks tor Sanders, the man who brought them much. A talented nerd can bring down len goods. And WikiLeaks has always saying nasty things about Senator there, that booing is too easy, they boo a minnow of a nation. But this level of been there for Russia, a nation with no Bernie Sanders. his call to unite to save their country political crime requires more reﬁned transparency. Next, lefty extremists have to act like from a monster. 9

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No clean bill of health for NEWS IN BRIEF UK and China regulators discuss framework for EU banks in stress test ﬁnancial projects

Banks from Italy, Ireland, Spain and Spain's Banco Popular, Bank of Ire- British and Chinese securities watchdogs are discussing an agree- Austria fared worst in the latest Eu- land and Austria's Raiffeisen all end- ment that will pave the way for landmark financial services projects ropean Union stress test, which the ed the test below this level at 6.62 between the countries, sources said, easing fears that Britain could region's banking watchdog said on percent, 6.15 percent, and 6.12 per- be a less attractive partner for such deals after last month's vote to Friday showed there was still work cent, respectively. leave the European Union. to do in order to boost credit to the "We are aware of our capital situa- Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the China Secu- bloc's economy. tion and have been implementing for rities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) are cooperating on a regula- Eight years since the collapse of some time appropriate measures to tory framework for a scheme for distributing fund products in each Lehman Brothers sparked a global strengthen our capital base," Raiffei- other's jurisdiction and a proposed London-Shanghai link for trad- banking meltdown, many of Europe's sen CEO Walter Rothensteiner said. ing shares, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. banks are still saddled with billions Popular earlier said that it had fired Britain, home to the EU's biggest finance sector, has been of euros in poorly performing loans, its chief executive Francisco Gomez pushing in recent years to deepen its financial services ties with crimping their ability to lend and put- after its profit was nearly wiped out China, which has agreed to these and other cross-border financial ting off investors. in the second quarter. It said the EBA services schemes as part of the UK-China Economic and Financial Italy's Monte dei Paschi, Austria's tests had not included the 2.5 billion Dialogue (EFD) program. Raiffeisen, Spain's Banco Popular and euro share issue it completed in May The UK's former Chancellor George Osborne and Chinese vice two of Ireland's main banks came out to clean up toxic retail assets. premier Ma Kai said at last September's EFD meeting in Beijing with the worst results in the EBA's test Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank that they would explore the creation of a London-Shanghai equity of 51 European Union (EU) lenders. both scored core ratios of below 8 link and mutual funds recognition scheme, but neither govern- "Whilst we recognize the extensive percent, although Deutsche said it ment has provided further details. (Source: Reuters) capital raising done so far, this is not was on track to reach at least 12.5 a clean bill of health," EBA Chairman percent by the end of 2018. Andrea Enria said in a statement. Of the banks tested, 37 are based "There remains work to do." in the euro zone and supervised by Warning for currency traders: Italy's largest lender, UniCredit, retical economic shock which ended in 2014, and a weak result could raise the ECB, which said the results re- was also among those banks which with the Italian lender, the world's question marks over dividend pay- flected progress in repairing balance worst to come for dollar fared badly, and it said it will work oldest, having a core equity capital ments. sheets. with supervisors to see if it should ratio of minus 2.44 percent. More resilient "The banking sector today is more The dollar is set to fall 5 percent in the next few months, the take further measures. This was the third stress test in the Like Monte dei Paschi, Allied Irish resilient and can much better ab- Federal Reserve isn’t raising interest rates anytime soon and Germany's biggest banks, EU since taxpayers had to bail out Banks was also below the 5.5 percent sorb economic shocks than two years U.S. economic data is only going to get worse. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, lenders in the 2007-09 financial cri- level at 4.31 percent, but said it has ago," said Daniele Nouy, who heads That’s what Morgan Stanley chief global currency strategist were also among the 12 weakest sis, with no pass or fail mark this time undergone fundamental restructur- supervision at the ECB. Hans Redeker told clients in a note published Thursday, cit- banks in the test, along with British round. The test involved scenarios ining and is now sustainably profitable. At the start of the test, the banks ing in-house indicators showing U.S. domestic demand is set rival Barclays. cluding EU economic output 7.1 per- Markets will also look at how many had an aggregate core ratio of 12.6 to fade in the coming months. It didn’t take long for markets Monte dei Paschi, Italy's third larg- cent below the baseline over the next banks were able to maintain a core percent, with all capital requirements to prove him prescient. The greenback fell 1.3 percent Friday, est lender, had been scrambling to three years and a 20 percent drop in ratio of capital to risk-weighted as- factored in. However, this fell to 9.2 capping its worst week since April, after the Commerce De- pull together a rescue plan and win interest income. sets of 7 percent. This is a typical percent by the end of the test, a drop partment said U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product approval for it from the European Analysts have informally set a level for triggering the writedown of of 340 basis points, equivalent to 226 advanced at about half the rate economists had forecast. Central Bank ahead of the test results. basic pass mark of 5.5 percent, the bonds issued by banks to replenish billion euros of capital. The dollar had rallied in recent weeks on mounting spec- The Italian bank confirmed less threshold set in the last round of tests capital. For the first time, the EU test in- ulation the Fed will hike rates in the coming months following than an hour before the results that cluded the impact of conduct risks better-than-expected data on jobs, retail sales and industrial it had finalized a plan to sell off its The EBA looked at how banks could such as fines and settlements. production. Dollar bulls’ hopes were dampened Wednesday entire portfolio of non-performing EBA said the total hit from conduct after a lukewarm policy statement from Fed officials that sig- loans and had assembled a consor- withstand a three-year theoretical economic costs was 71 billion euros. The largest naled only a gradual pace towards tighter monetary policy. tium of banks to back a 5 billion euro shock which ended with the Italian lender, impact was from credit or losses on They were dashed after Friday’s GDP print, which showed a 1.2 capital increase. the world's oldest, having a core equity loans, totaling nearly 350 billion eu- percent annualized increase in the April-June period, less than The EBA looked at how banks capital ratio of minus 2.44 percent. ros across all the banks tested. the 2.5 percent median forecast of economists surveyed by could withstand a three-year theo- (Source: Reuters) Bloomberg. (Source: Bloomberg) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

8 MED & SCI JJULYULY 31,31, 22016016 http://www.tehrantimes.com

NEWS IN BRIEF Iran’s 'dying' saltwater giant Lake Solar capture technique turns CO2 into burnable fuel Urmia turns blood-red Engineers at the University of Chicago have created a new kind of solar cell that efficiently converts atmospheric carbon dioxide A drought of epic proportions at Lake of Stuttgart, has been observing Urmia’s into usable hydrocarbon fuel — and it does so using only sun- Urmia has brought the Iranian UNESCO gradual disappearance. He indicated that light for energy. site to the brink of disappearing off the alarming depletion of the lake at 1.03 cu- In a new paper published face of the Earth, and is turning its once bic kilometers per year has allowed algae in Science, engineer Amin blue waters blood-red. known as Dunaliella salina to take hold. Salehi-Khojin and colleagues While once Urmia spanned an area “Previous research suggests that describe the new system, five times larger than Hong Kong, its Dunaliella salina [algae] is responsible for which can turn CO2 into fuel volume has decreased dramatically since reddening of Lake Urmia,” Tourian said. at a cost that’s comparable to 1972. “In the marine environment, Dunaliel- producing gasoline. A study by hydrology experts at the la salina appears green; however, in con- “Instead of producing University of California in 2014 painted ditions of high salinity and light intensity, energy in an unsustainable the picture of a dying natural resource, the microalgae turns red due to the pro- one-way route from fossil highlighting how desiccation, or drying, duction of carotenoids in the cells.” fuels to greenhouse gas, we had reduced the 5,000 sq km (1,930 sq In 2014, Iranian President Hassan can now reverse the process mile) lake by almost 90 percent. Rouhani announced funding of $5 bil- and recycle atmospheric Its catastrophic demise has been lion to save the former popular tourist carbon into fuel using sun- compared to the loss of the Aral Sea, location. light,” noted Salehi-Khojin in where poor irrigation and farming prac- However, there are fears that the a press statement. tices contributed to it drying up almost damage done is beyond repair. To make it work, the researchers used a photosynthetic cell, completely. “The results from satellite imagery as opposed to a conventional photovoltaic cell. So instead of Massive salt content in the Ur- revealed a loss of water extent at an av- converting sunlight into electricity and then storing that energy mia’s dwindling waters has now given levels drop during the hot summer months, ing increasingly common. Satellite moni- erage rate of 220 sq km per year, which in batteries, the new device converts atmospheric carbon di- it a deathly tinge, turning it a dramatic microscopic algae and bacteria become toring of the site has revealed that the indicates that the lake has lost about 70 oxide directly into fuel. In essence, it does the work of plants. blood-red color. more apparent, causing the unusual hue. latest reddening occurred between April percent of its surface area over the last But instead of turning fuel into sugar, the “artificial leaf” delivers Scientists working with NASA’s Earth The color phenomenon has occurred and July of this year. 14 years,” said Tourian. synthetic gas, or “syngas,” which is a mixture of hydrogen gas Observatory have explained that as water a number of times before but is becom- Mohammad Tourian, of the University (Source: RT) and carbon monoxide. To make the process efficient, the researchers turned to a family of nano-structured compounds called transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). These compounds served as active NASA orders a second SpaceX crew mission to the ISS catalysts, breaking carbon dioxide’s chemical bonds. Experi- ments showed that the new catalyst is 1,000 times faster than NASA has ordered a second mission from SpaceX to 2017 or early 2018, and SpaceX is currently building four conventional catalysts, and about 20 times less expensive. send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). versions of its crewed Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, In the future, a solar farm could deploy thousands of these The order is part of the Commercial Crew Program, California, for the missions NASA has ordered. Two of those which was started by NASA six years ago as a way of four vehicles will be used exclusively for testing. “artificial leaves,” which in addition to producing fuel would re- Control systems move significant amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. making sure the United States continues to have hu- (Source: Gizmodo) man access to space. NASA ordered a first mission from The Crew Dragon capsule is similar to the spacecraft SpaceX back in November of 2015, and it ordered two that SpaceX uses to send cargo to the ISS, but it's fitted with from Boeing — the other company involved in the CCP life support and control systems. It can hold up to seven — in May and December of 2015. crew members, though NASA says a standard crew mission Recovery of dopamine NASA initially embarked on this program because the to the ISS will only carry "as many as four crew members function emerges with Space Shuttle program was scheduled to end in 2011. and about 220 pounds of pressurized cargo." SpaceX plans This left the agency with no primary space vehicle, and to use a further-modified version of its Crew Dragon cap- recovery from smoking NASA has since had to rely on Russia's space agency, Ro- task for millions of dollars less once their spacecraft are sule to someday send humans to Mars. scosmos, to launch astronauts to the space station. That completed and tested. NASA typically orders these mis- NASA has not yet decided which of the two CCP com- partnership has been effective, but it hasn't been cheap: sions two to three years before their launch date in order panies will be the first to send astronauts to the ISS. In A new study in Biological Psychiatry reports that smoking- NASA pays Roscosmos about $80 million per seat to get to give the companies enough time to develop the space- today's statement about the new order from SpaceX, the related deficits in brain dopamine, a chemical implicated astronauts to the ISS. craft (and the launch vehicles that will send them to space). agency said that the decision will be made "at a later time." in reward and addiction, return to normal three months SpaceX and Boeing will be able to accomplish the same Those first crewed CCP flights are loosely scheduled for late (Source: The Verge) after quitting. The normalization of dopamine systems suggests smoking-related deficits are a consequence of chronic smoking, rather than a Could slight brain zap during sleep Can drones speak whale? No, but risk factor. These findings raise the possibility that treatments might be developed that normalize the dopamine system in smokers. boost memory? they can come close According to first author Dr. Lena Rademacher, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Lübeck in Germany, a major challenge Stimulating a targeted area of the brain Ecologists used drones to create more in understanding substance-related disorders lies in uncovering with small doses of weak electricity while accurate lists of the whale and dolphin why only some individuals become addicted. you sleep may enhance your ability to re- pods near Hawaii for the first time this Researchers think some people could possess a trait that member what you learned the night be- summer. predisposes them to addiction, and suspect that brain circuits fore, new research finds. Drones entered the public conscious- involving dopamine may be involved. "We work with the brain, that's re- ness either as military weapons or as an Researchers are uncertain if smoking induces those abnormalities ally unique about what we do. We listen obscure hobby that occasionally crash- or if they already exist and contribute to risk of nicotine addiction. in to brain activity and can boost what landed on the White House lawn. The Senior author Dr. Ingo Vernaleken, Professor at RWTH the brain already wants to do," said the drone involvement with the National Aachen University in Germany, led a team of researchers exam- study's senior author, Flavio Frohlich. He's Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- ining dopamine function in chronic smokers before and after an assistant professor of psychiatry at the tion's recent whale-watching expedition long-term cessation. Neuroscience Center at the University of is a window into a growing list of non- The researchers used a brain imaging technique called posi- North Carolina in Chapel Hill. military functions for the drones, which tron emission tomography to measure an index of the capacity While you sleep your brain is not idle, play an increasing role in police work, real for dopamine production in 30 men who were nicotine-depend- but is actively storing things you learned estate, or even firefighting. ent smokers and 15 nonsmokers. during the day for later use. Stimulating received tACS synced to their natural Drone use in animal research and oth- Associated Press, because the drones After performing an initial scan on all participants, 15 smok- the brain enhances what the brain is al- sleep spindles, while others were given er forms of ecology is in its early stages, do not disturb the whales. This is an im- ers who successfully quit were scanned again after three months ready doing naturally, Frohlich said. sham stimulation. as researchers work with both the tech- portant requirement for drones used in of abstinence from smoking and nicotine replacement. During sleep, electrical brain activity os- On the second night, the process nology and process, improving their ob- wildlife observation, as they must be en- (Source: EurekAlert) cillates, and can be seen as waves on an was reversed. Those who received tACS servational reach via drone. gineered to avoid disturbing the animals electroencephalogram (EEG). These waves, received sham stimulation, while those "I believe that drones for conservation themselves, according to engineers with called sleep spindles, appear to be involved given sham stimulation the first night re- and research are akin to the invention of the University of Florida's Unmanned Air- in sorting and storing memories, he said. ceived tACS. the microscope for cellular biology," said craft Systems Research Program. Martian gully theory "We know there are a number of disor- The investigators found no improve- Iain Kerr, the chief executive officer of the The Hawaii research relied on a hexa- doesn't hold water, ders of the brain where sleep spindles are ment in test scores for associative word whale and ocean research organization copter drone, which can carry larger and impaired," Frohlich said. The researchers pairing but a substantial improvement in Ocean Alliance, during an interview with higher quality cameras than more com- study finds hope to test tACS on patients with schizo- the finger-tapping task among those who UAS Vision. Dr. Kerr uses a DJI Phantom mon hobby drones, according to Drone- phrenia and Alzheimer's disease, he said. received tACS, compared with those given drone to collect not only photos, but also bly. The higher power level better suits Common memory tests sham stimulation. DNA and respiratory information, from them to the rough winds and seas where In spite of the flowing gouges they leave behind, gullies on To see if stimulating these spindles This finding shows a direct link between blue whales in the Sea of Cortez. the NOAA researchers were operating. the Red Planet may not have been formed by liquid water, could boost memory, researchers had electric activity during sleep and consolida- "If we truly want to understand what ef- Using drones enabled NOAA scientists according to data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. 16 men take two common memory tests tion of motor memory, Frohlich said. fects humanity is having on wildlife we need to operate from a large, single boat during The findings, described in Geophysical Research Letters, -- associative word pairing and motor Dr. Sam Gandy, director of the Center to study them in a non-invasive manner," a month-long mission around Hawaii's out- showcase the complexity of Martian geology and highlight how sequence tapping tasks, which involved for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai Hos- Kerr said. "Today's drones are the ultimate lying islands. Before they might have taken some features on Mars are formed in ways that are unlike any- repeatedly finger tapping a specific se- pital in New York City, said, "My tendency realization of non-invasive research." several smaller boats, which maneuver thing on Earth. quence before going to sleep. is to believe it. There is good evidence Better wildlife photos more easily around the marine mammals Scientists think that Mars, During the first night of the study, par- that the brain remains accessible for input For Hawaii researchers, camera drones but can also be a liability in the often severe our rusty, dusty next-door ticipants had electrodes placed at specific despite the absence of consciousness." could produce better wildlife photos than weather around the Hawaiian Islands. neighbor, was once a far more points on their scalps. Some participants (Source: HealthDay News) photographers on boats, they told the (Source: The CSM) Earthlike planet, with a thick atmosphere that could support puffy clouds, lakes of liquid water and perhaps even Breastfeeding within hour of birth provides baby’s ‘first vaccine,’ says UNICEF microbial life. All of that, if it indeed ex- The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on moment they are born until they are six months old, over to promote breastfeeding and improve infant nutrition. isted, is long gone now — but Friday that some 77 million of the world’s newborns -- or 800,000 lives would be saved every year,” she added. Particularly concerning is the situation in sub-Saharan scientists can look for clues in 1 in 2 -- are not breastfed within the first hour of birth, de- Breastmilk is a baby’s first vaccine, the first and best pro- Africa, where under-five mortality rates are the highest the planet’s geography, find- priving them of essential nutrients and antibodies and thus tection they have against illness and disease. worldwide; early breastfeeding rates increased by just 10 ing physical and chemical exposing them to an increased risk of death. Putting the baby to the breast also provides them with percentage points since 2000 in East and Southern Africa, signs that water once filled or According to the agency, delaying breastfeeding by two the essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact and remained unchanged in West and Central Africa. flowed across a surface. to 23 hours after birth increases the risk of dying in the first with their mother that protects them from disease. Even in South Asia, where the rates of early breastfeed- For example, NASA’s 2004 rovers Spirit and Opportunity, 28 days of life by 40 percent. Newborn’s chances ing initiation tripled in 15 years, from 16 percent in 2000 to as well as the 2012 rover Curiosity, have all found evidence Delaying it by 24 hours or more increases that risk to A delay for this critical first contact not only decreases 45 percent in 2015, the increase is far from enough: 21 mil- that ancient Mars must have been awash in water. Curiosity 80 percent. the newborn’s chances of survival, it limits milk supply and lion newborns still wait too long before they are breastfed. has even found chemical and mineral evidence for a long- “Early breastfeeding can make the difference between reduces the chances of exclusive breastfeeding. UNICEF has also found that that women are not getting the lived series of lakes, along with signs of the right chemical life and death,” France Bégin, UNICEF Senior Nutrition Ad- UNICEF has presented this information against the back- help they need to start breastfeeding immediately after birth ingredients for life. viser, said in a press release. drop of the upcoming World Breastfeeding Week, which is even when a doctor, nurse of midwife is assisting their delivery. (Source: The LAT) “If all babies are fed nothing but breastmilk from the celebrated annually from 1 to 7 August in over 170 countries (Source: UN News Center) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y http://www.tehrantimes.com/international JULY 31, 2016 WORLD IN FOCUS 9

A number of militants operating in the Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri eastern areas of the Syrian city of Alep- said Thursday that Nusra leaders “can po have laid down their weapons and Militants surrender to sacrifice without hesitation” the or- surrendered themselves to government ganizational and party ties if those NEWS troops, who are making more gains in the links conflict with their unity and embattled province. Syria Army in Allepo working. Turkey kills 35 militants The capitulation took place in Aleppo’s Nusra Front breaks ties with al-Qaeda “Your unity and unification is more after they try to storm Salaheddine neighborhood on Saturday, important to us than any organizational Syria’s official SANA news agency report- link,” said Zawahri. base, officials say ed. Many had expected the announce- The report further noted that tens of ment as there were speculations that by Turkey’s army killed 35 Kurdish militants after they attempted families went out through the corridors distancing itself from al-Qaeda, Nusra to storm a base in the southeastern Hakkari province early on set up by army forces for the safe depar- would seek to secure more financial and Saturday, military officials said. ture of the civilians trapped by terrorist arms support from rich Arab states of the The overnight attack came hours after clashes in Hakka- groups in Aleppo’s eastern districts. Persian Gulf region. ri’s Cukurca district between soldiers and militants from the The families were sent by the Syrian The break in ties could also facili- Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that left eight soldiers dead, army to makeshift centers upon their ar- tate relations between Nusra and other the officials said. rival to the Salaheddine neighborhood, armed groups in Syria. The militants attempted to take the base in three differ- the report added. Nusra and Daesh, another Takfiri ent groups, but were spotted by aerial reconnaissance. An Earlier this week, the Syrian army sent text group which is mainly operating in east- air operation was launched, killing 23 of them, the officials messages to residents and terrorists in eastern Syria, have been excluded from a said. ern Aleppo, saying it will grant safe passage cessation of hostilities agreement engi- Four more were then killed in a ground operation, they to people wishing to leave the area. neered by the United States and Russia said. The remaining eight were killed in clashes in Hakkari’s Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also since the end of February. Cukurca district. vowed amnesty for those who turn in US Secretary of State John Kerry and Friday’s clashes in Cukurca also left 25 soldiers wounded, their weapons, stressing that the policy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the officials said. has been exercised by Damascus since said last week that they had agreed on Turkey’s military - NATO’s second-largest - is grappling the beginning of the crisis in the Middle “concrete steps” to save a failing Syria with the insurgency in the mainly Kurdish southeast as its Eastern country. truce and tackle extremist groups like senior ranks undergo a major shake-up in following a July Meanwhile, Russia announced several Nusra and Daesh. 15-16 coup attempt. corridors for civilians and surrendering Kerry said Washington has proposed On Thursday, Turkey announced an overhaul of the militants to leave Aleppo’s eastern parts. closer cooperation with Russia in shar- armed forces, with 99 colonels promoted to the rank of Aleppo Province also completed ar- Abu Mohamad al-Jolani ing intelligence to coordinate air strikes general or admiral and nearly 1,700 military personnel rangements to receive the citizens flee- against Nusra militants. given dishonourable discharges over their alleged roles ing militant-held eastern Aleppo and army has managed to liberate a number of Jolani said Nusra would change its Nusra was created months after the in the coup. house them in well-equipped temporary areas from the grip of the extremists. name to Jabhat Fath al-Sham (The Con- start of the conflict in Syria in 2011. The About 40 percent of all generals and admirals in the mili- accommodation centers. Nusra Front breaks ties with quest of Syria Front), saying the new group first enjoyed support from Daesh, tary have been dismissed since the coup. However, the so-called Syrian Ob- al-Qaeda group “will have no links whatsoever with but split from the group in 2013 and In the southeast, the military has frequently carried out servatory for Human Rights, a UK-base Meanwhile, The al-Qaeda branch in foreign parties.” joined al-Qaeda. air strikes after a 2 1/2-year ceasefire and peace process monitoring group, said that several Alep- Syria, al-Nusra Front, has announced its He said Nusra took the step “to remove Intelligence officials from some between the government and the PKK broke down last po residents, who were seeking to exit, break from the parent terror organization the excuse used by the international com- Persian Gulf states have reportedly summer. were turned back by terrorists. in an apparent bid to gain more support munity, spearheaded by America and Rus- met Nusra leader Abu Mohammad Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and sol- Since March 2011, Syria has been from foreign powers. sia, that they are targeting the Nusra Front, al-Jolani several times in the past few diers have been killed since then. Some cities in the predom- gripped by militancy it blames on some In a rare televised message on Thurs- which is associated with al-Qaeda.” months to encourage him to abandon inantly Kurdish southeast have been engulfed in the worst Western states and their regional allies. day, Nusra chief in Syria Abu Mohamad The statement was preceded by an al-Qaeda and to promise funding for violence since the 1990s. The Takfiri terrorists operating in the al-Jolani said his group will be rebrand- audio message from al-Qaeda leaders, in his terror outfit once it distances from More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict Arab country have suffered major setbacks ed and will end connections with entities which they endorsed the break in organ- al-Qaeda. since the PKK - designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the over the past few months as the Syrian outside Syria. izational ties. (Source: agencies) United States and the European Union - began its insurgency in 1984. (Source: Reuters) Failed coup strengthened Turkish unity: ambassador

2 I want to merge two of my form. They are doing everything secretly. icans to extradite Fetullah Gülen and council to take measures to stop activ- The real plot against America questions. Why are you calling Gülen They are like a terrorist sect. This is a very Americans are asking for evidence. ities of the group both within and out- a terrorist and what evidence do you unique situation in terms of the history of How far do you think you would be side Turkey. So, there has already been 6 But Russia still has to seal the deal. Some work have to support your claim that he is politics or in terms of history of terrorism successful in handing over the evi- a process of gathering information or remains. If enough angered lefties won’t go for the Demo- behind the coup? in the world. dence and they will return Gülen to making some legal cases against the cratic nominee, a longtime foe of Vladimir Putin, it will be A: This is still very fresh. It was July 15 We don’t have such a group, such an you? group. just enough to put a Putin puppet in the White House. And and just two weeks have passed. If you example in any country. They have been A: We are confident in terms of the You know Gülen has been living in the it would also usher in the term that drove the right wing don’t call them terrorists, how would you very well organized not only in Turkey evidences we will be providing to the United States since 1999, for almost 17 crazy when George H.W. Bush used it — a New World define them? They are not political ac- but also outside Turkey. For many years, United States’ authorities. This is not a years. We have sent them some files. But, Order. tors, they are not civil activists; they are they have been establishing lots of or- new thing. The first time the true na- this is a much serious thing. What has hap- What’s in it for Russia? Well, everything. Territory. He- not members of religious groups. You ganizations, NGOs mainly, also schools. ture of the group was known was about pened in Turkey was open. I cannot talk in gemony. Its takeover of the Crimean Peninsula has brought can only call them a terrorist group be- They have schools all over the world. two-and-a-half years ago, in December details about files which would be present- sanctions and condemnation from the West. What stands cause of what they are doing. They are Probably, they want to rule the world 2013 when they tried to detain high ed to the U.S. authorities. But now we have between Putin and further aggression in, say, the Baltic killing civilians. They are infiltrating into because they have established schools in Turkish officials through their judiciary more information about that. For example, States, is a NATO pact that has kept Europe safe for nearly 70 state institutions with the aim of getting Africa, in Asia, and in the U.S. I know they personnel within the Turkish system. Of our chief of staff of armed forces who was years. And if you thought Trump stiffed the poor suckers who power through illegal means. have schools even in the United States. course, we realized that these people detained by coup plotters that night and signed up for his “university,” wait till you see how he treats If they wish to have political activities They may in the long run want to have have something else in their minds. So, resisting the military guy who carried out some of our oldest allies. like many other political groups, if they a universal empire. Who knows because Turkish authorities from then on start- the coup and, said one of the coup gener- Plus, Putin despises Hillary Clinton. Like Trump, his skin want to rule the country which is a legit- this is not a healthy mind what is behind ed scrutinizing this group and their als had asked him to support them and talk is rice-paper-thin, albeit a paler shade of orange; and, like imate thing, they can establish a political this and this is why we define them as ter- elements within state-run bodies. The on phone with he wished so. This is only Trump, he never forgets a slight. He still hasn’t gotten over party, what they never did. If they don’t rorist group. There is no other definition decision was taken in 2014 at the Na- one telling evidence and I’m sure there are Clinton’s comment on George W. Bush’s infamous look into want to establish a political party, they for them. tional Security Council of Turkey. Last many other official documents, showing Putin’s soul. As a former K.G.B agent, said Clinton, “he doesn’t can join one political party as their plat- Your government is asking Amer- May, another decision was made at the Gülen is behind the scene. have a soul.” What’s in it for Trump? Help at winning the ultimate throne of his gilded dreams. And maybe some investment money JCPOA has been a success so far: Fitzpatrick from Russian oligarchs close to Putin, one of many things Trump may be hiding in his tax returns. The two narcissists 1 Iran has been insisting that its missiles have not introduced some ambiguity about the mandatory nature expand its uranium enrichment program after the share a love of torture, authoritarian rule, and women on been designed to carry nuclear weapons. of this restriction. Hence Ban Ki-moon said it was up to first 10 years of the nuclear deal. It said that “confi- runways in bathing suits. In an interview with Radio New Zealand in March 2016, the Security Council to determine if Iran’s missile launches dential document eases Iran nuke constraints”. Why But then, a wild card, something unplanned. Putin didn’t Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, “We were a violation of the resolution. did the AP publish such a report at this time? expect Trump to be so all-in with his collusion. He knows stated when the nuclear deal was approved by the Secu- While the U.S. and Russia both criticized Ban Ki- A: The AP report about the ‘confidential docu- Trump is a fool, world class in only one thing — ignorance. rity Council and during the course of nuclear discussions Moon’s report on grounds that it went beyond the UN’s ment’ which eases Iran’s nuclear constraints adds im- He doesn’t need spies for that. He knows Trump is a man that we will continue with our defense capabilities and that mandate, they objected to very different portions of the portant detail to what was already known about the who will say anything, and deny in the same breath that he these defense capabilities have nothing to do with nuclear report. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin questioned JCPOA’s treatment of centrifuge R&D. I believe it is ever said it. The Talented Mr. Trump. weapons.” the use of the word ‘restrictions’ in relation to Iran’s mis- useful for the public to know these details, so that Last November, before a national television audi- In a tweet posted on March 15, Zarif also said, “Nei- siles and the UN’s mandate in this regard. US Ambassa- independent assessments can be made about the ence, Trump said of Putin, “I got to know him very well.” ther JCPOA nor SC Res prohibit Iran from missiles not dor Samantha Powers questioned the inclusion of Iran’s agreement. I do not know why it was published at And Wednesday, Trump said, “I never met Putin.” That designed for nuke warheads. Read the document: It’s complaints about sanctions relief to date, and noted that this time, but I assume the document was provided to was a standard Trump lie, on one end or the other. But plain English not legalese.” this subject is included in UNSCR 2231 and thus is be- AP by a government that is worried about Iran’s ability even Putin couldn’t fathom that Trump really will say Fitzpatrick also endorses the leak of information yond the UN’s mandate. after year 11 of the agreement to ramp up its enrich- anything. about the content of the nuclear deal, saying, “I be- The Associated Press recently claimed it has ment capability, with the potential this gives for a nu- So there was the Republican Party nominee for pres- lieve it is useful for the public to know these details, so obtained a document that outlines Tehran’s plans to clear weapons program. Releasing the information at ident inviting an American adversary to wage cyber- that independent assessments can be made about the the one-year anniversary of the JCPOA was probably war against the country he wants to lead. If that wasn’t agreement.” While the U.S. and Russia done to draw attention to the serious concerns about Trump’s shoot-somebody-on-Fifth-Avenue moment, nothing will be. What’s more, he was way too obvious Following is the text of the interview with Fitzpatrick: both criticized Ban Ki-Moon’s Iran’s future intentions. Q: Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, in What is your assessment about the implemen- about the role of the other pawns in the scheme. “I think his recent report claimed that the Iranian missile report on grounds that tation of the JCPOA? you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press,” he program is “not consistent” with the spirit of the it went beyond the UN’s A: I judge the JCPOA to be a success, so far. The deal said to Mother Russia. Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Even mandate, they objected to has succeeded in doing what it set out to do: effectively Also, he’s getting carried away with his dictator-philia. On the U.S. and Russia criticized Ban for the report, say- blocking all paths to a nuclear-armed Iran. The quar- Thursday, he said Putin was a better leader than President ing he had overstepped his mandate. very different portions of the terly IAEA reports published since the deal was signed Obama. D’oh! In public, at least, you’re supposed to root for For example, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Saman- report. Russian Ambassador confirm that Iran has met all the conditions. In addition, the home team. tha Power, told the council, “The United States disagrees Vitaly Churkin questioned the communications are working well. The United States Trump misses the old days, back when you could “knock strongly with elements of this report, including that its and the other powers have also met their obligations the crap out of” a demonstrator. Yeah, the old days. Back content goes beyond the appropriate scope. We under- use of the word ‘restrictions’ regarding sanctions relief. It is true that Iran has yet to when it was disqualifying for an American politician to flirt stand that Iran also disagrees strongly with parts of the in relation to Iran’s missiles see the full economic benefits it had expected from the with treason. report.” Regarding these comments what is your assess- and the UN’s mandate in deal, but this is not the fault of the U.S. government. This all seems too preposterous to be planned. Where are the conspiracy nut jobs when you really need them? Even ment of the report? this regard. US Ambassador One reason is that Iran’s non-transparent banking prac- A: Ban Ki-moon was correct to criticize Iran’s missile tices make international banks cautious about entering fiction, Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America,” about a fas- program, which is being developed in defiance of UN Samantha Powers questioned into risky business that in the past has resulted in mas- cist-lite president during World War II, does not have this lev- Security Council Resolution 2231. Annex B of the reso- the inclusion of Iran’s sive fines for several of them. The Paris-based Financial el of absurdity. lution calls on Iran not to undertake any activity related complaints about sanctions Action Task Force is keeping Iran on its high-risk blacklist. But it unfolds, still, if not according to Russia’s design, to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering U.S. sanctions still prohibit transactions involving mem- then according to Russia’s will. Trump is now a national nuclear weapons. The ballistic missiles that Iran has tested relief to date, and noted bers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Given security risk, actively rooting for a foreign adversary to have a range and throw-weight that makes them intrin- that this subject is included the size and opaque nature of the IRCG’s involvement tamper with an American election. And very soon, he will sically capable of delivering nuclear weapons. This is why in UNSCR 2231 and thus is in the Iranian economy, foreign businesses find it hard start receiving classified briefings on that adversary. Ehh- the UN Secretary-General said the missile program is in to be certain that potential Iranian business partners are hhhcellent! contradiction of the JCPOA. The use of the verb “calls up” beyond the UN’s mandate. not connected with the IRGC. Source: (The NYT) I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 10 SOCIETY JJULYULY 31,31, 20162016 http://www.tehrantimes.com/society

NEWS IN BRIEF Collaboration with non-resident Iranian hemodialysis center soon in Iranian elites gaining strength

Tajikistan SOCIETY TEHRAN — Collabora- into other universities and research centers desktion with non-resident as well,” he said, adding “After eight months TEHRAN — Iran will open a hemo- SOCIETY Iranian elites is now gaining strength after a some 35 elites and experts started working deskdialysis center in Tajikistan in the near scheme to encourage them to return to the with us.” future, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, Amir Mo- country started one and a half years ago. “Over the second eight months of the hsen Ziaee, has said. Since then, some 240 elites graduated execution of the scheme, we received a “Due to some issues we still have with the gov- from top 100 prestigious universities most- great feedback as the number of the elites ernment of Tajikistan we don’t know when exactly the ly in the U.S. and Canada have agreed to grew into 205,” he added. center will be opened, but we are completely ready return to Iran, Nasim news agency quoted Birang went on to say that elites can and are waiting for the foreign ministry to provide Ali-Morteza Birang, a vice president for in- collaborate with academic centers in Iran necessary coordination,” Ziaee said, Tasnim news ternational affairs, as saying on Thursday. in different forms including taking one-year agency reported on Friday. The scheme went into effect in Febru- post-doctoral courses, giving academic Soon in case we reach a final agreement, Iran’s Red ary 2015 in association with Iran’s National speeches, teaching for a one-month period Crescent Society hemodialysis center will be inaugurated Elites Foundation (governmental organ- in universities in Iran, and setting up knowl- in Tajikistan, he noted. ization with the purpose of recognizing, edge-based companies. organizing, and supporting Iran’s elite tal- Currently some 1,250 experts and elites Flood hits 6 provinces, ents), Birang noted. have applied for this scheme, he highlight- “First we started the pilot scheme in col- ed, noting that it only takes 25 days to pro- 985 people receive laboration with five of the research centers cess the applications and finally accept or in Iran and started to develop the scheme Ali-Morteza Birang reject them. relief services

SOCIETY TEHRAN — Over the past five days, deskflood hit six provinces of Iran and Little girl has tea party with officer who saved her life some 985 flood victims received relief services, the direc- A fully uniformed police officer sitting in a tiny chair, at a “We do tea parties all the time,” said photographer tor of Rescue and Relief Organization has said. tiny table, with a tiny girl -- having a tea party. Chelle Cates, “but we don’t normally invite grown men Flood has stricken provinces of Sistan- Baluchestan Cpl. Patrick Ray, 30, saved 2-year-old Bexley’s life a to them.” and Kerman in southeast, Fars in south, Golestan in year ago when she choked on a coin at her home in Cates said Ray was a natural. north, Khorasan Razavi in northeast, and South Khorasan Rowlett, Texas. “He picked up that tiny little chair and sat down,” she in east, Nasser Charkhsaz said, YJC reported on Saturday. “Her lips were completely blue,” her mother, Tammy said, “I didn’t give him a lot of direction.” He added that some 292 individuals were provided Norvell, 41, told CNN. The two unlikely friends shared Apple Jacks and Oreos. with emergency accommodation as well as 9 who were She called 911, and Ray was there within minutes. “He just talked to her and asked her how her Oreos saved from death. “I could not believe how fast he got here,” Norvell said. were,” she said. Additionally, water was pumped out of 15 flooded He was able to pry Bexley’s mouth open to perform a But why mark a day that could have ended tragically? houses and 63 cars got stuck in flood were pulled out of “finger sweep.” His body camera captured the moment “I wanted to make something positive out of a nega- the water, he stated. she started breathing again. tive thing,” Norvell told CNN. “It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard in my Ray saved Bexley’s life that day, “I’m not going to entire life,” Ray told CNN affiliate KTVT. let someone like that walk out of my life,” Norvelle He came to check on Bexley in the hospital after To celebrate a year of life after that scary day, Bex- said. doctors determined she swallowed a coin. ley’s mother, Tammy Norvell, wanted to do something It was the beginning of a beautiful (albeit unlikely) LEARN ENGLISH “Last time I checked, that was not their job descrip- to commemorate the occasion. friendship. Being Forced Out of a tion,” Norvell said. She decided on a photoshoot, in the theme of a tea party. (Source: CNN) Position

Julianna: Ha ha! The wicked witch is dead! Rare, foul-smelling 'corpse flower' blooms in Hugo: What are you talking about? Julianna: Bettina is stepping down as chairperson of the New York City committee. I thought this day would never come. NEW YORK (AP) — A foul smelling It started emerging Thursday after- It's one of the largest flowers on earth Hugo: That’s a big surprise. I never thought I’d live to see the willingly give up plant known as the "corpse flower" is fi- noon after more than 10 years of and can reach 6 feet in height. It emits day when Bettina would her position. nally blooming at the New York Botanical growth. the stench to attract pollinators. Julianna: It wasn’t her choice exactly. The rest of the com- Garden in New York City. It's native to Sumatra's equatorial rain The bloom at its peak only lasts about forced her out mittee , saying they couldn’t work with her Visitors were waiting in line more forests and emits an odor like rotting 24 to 36 hours — and it could be years anymore. Oh how the mighty have fallen! than an hour to see the rare bloom. flesh while it's briefly in bloom. before the flower blooms again. Hugo: But I thought she had the support of the higher-ups and they wanted her in the position. IN FOCUS IRNA/ Kazem Yousefi Julianna: Well, she’s somehow fallen from grace and they can’t wait to see the back of her. It’s nice to see her get her comeuppance – finally! Hugo: Maybe we’re not getting the full story. Maybe she had personal reasons for leaving. Julianna: Whatever the reason, we’ll be rid of her once and for all. Hallelujah! Hugo: How do you know the next chairperson won’t be worse? Julianna: Bite your tongue! (Source: eslpod.com) Words & phrases wicked witch: from a character in The Wizard of Oz who is a very evil and ugly witch; a very unpleasant or cruel woman step down: to leave your job or official position, because you want to or because you think you should willingly: prepared to do something, or having no reason to not want to do it give up: to stop doing something, especially something that you do regularly force somebody out: compel someone to leave a job or position, especially by indirect means mighty: very strong and powerful, or very big and impressive fall: to lose power, loser your position of power Kandovan, northwest of Iran, exemplifies manmade cliff dwellings which are still inhabited. The houses are excavated inside volcanic rocks and tuffs. higher-ups: someone who has a high rank in an organization fall from grace: a situation in which someone stops being respected by other people or loses their position of authority, especially because they have done something wrong ENGLISH IN USE see someone’s back: to be happy that someone is leaving LEARN NEWS TRANSLATION or because you no longer have to deal with something comeuppance: a punishment or something bad which hap- pens to you that you really deserve ﺍﻳﺴﺖ ﻗﻠﺒﻰ ﻧﺨﺴﺘﻴﻦ ﻋﻠﺖ ﻓﻮﺕ ﭘﺎﻳﺘﺨﺖ ﻧﺸﻴﻨﺎﻥ full story: everything that has happened Heart failure leading cause of death in Tehran be rid of: to have taken action so that something or some- ﺍﻳﺴﺖ ﻗﻠﺒﻰ ﻧﺨﺴﺘﻴﻦ ﻋﻠﺖ ﻓﻮﺕ ﭘﺎﻳﺘﺨﺖ ﻧﺸﻴﻨﺎﻥ ﺩﺭ ﺳﻪ ﻣﺎﻩ ﻧﺨﺴﺖ ﺍﻣﺴﺎﻝ ﺑﻮﺩﻩ ﺍﺳﺖ. one is no longer there to worry or annoy you Heart failure has been the leading cause of death in Tehran in the first three ﻣﺪﻳﺮﻋﺎﻣﻞ ﺳﺎﺯﻣﺎﻥ ﺑﻬﺸﺖ ﺯﻫﺮﺍ(ﺱ) ﮔﻔﺖ: ﺩﺭ ﺍﻳﻦ ﺑﺎﺯﻩ ﻯ ﺳﻪ ﻣﺎﻫﻪ 13 ﻫﺰﺍﺭ ﻭ 409 ﻧﻔﺮ ﺩﺭ ﺷﻬﺮ .once and for all: if you deal with something once and for all, months of the current Iranian calendar year, which corresponds to spring ﺗﻬﺮﺍﻥ ﻓﻮﺕ ﻛﺮﺩﻩ ﺍﻧﺪ ﻛﻪ ﻛﻪ 1252 ﻧﻔﺮ ﺑﻪ ﻋﻠﺖ ﺳﻜﺘﻪ ﻯ ﻗﻠﺒﻰ ﺟﺎﻥ ﺧﻮﺩ ﺭﺍ ﺍﺯ ﺩﺳﺖ ﺩﺍﺩﻩ ﺍﻧﺪ ﻭ ﺷﺎﻣﻞ you deal with it completely and finally The director general of Behesht-e Zahra cemetery organization said that during hallelujah: used to express thanks, joy, or praise to God 648 ﻧﻔﺮ ﻣﺮﺩ، 598 ﻧﻔﺮ ﻣﻮﻧﺚ ﻭ ﺷﺶ ﻧﻔﺮ ﻧﻮﺯﺍﺩ ﺍﺳﺖ. the 3-month period, 13,409 people have died, stating, 1,252 of the deaths are bite your tongue: an expression said to someone who has ﺍﻛﺒﺮ ﺗﻮﻛﻠﻰ ﺩﺭ ﻣﺼﺎﺣﺒﻪ ﺑﺎ ﺧﺒﺮﮔﺰﺍﺭﻯ ﺻﺪﺍ ﻭ ﺳﻴﻤﺎ ﮔﻔﺖ: ﺑﻴﺸﺘﺮﻳﻦ ﺁﻣﺎﺭ ﻓﻮﺕ ﺷﺪﮔﺎﻥ ﻣﺮﺑﻮﻁ ﺑﻪ ﮔﺮﻭﻩ .resulted from heart failure including 648 men, 598 women and 6 infants just stated an unpleasant supposition that unfortunately Most of the deaths are related to the adults aged 65 or more that come to about ﺳﻨﻰ 65 ﺳﺎﻝ ﺑﻪ ﺑﺎﻻ ﻣﻰ ﺷﻮﺩ ﻛﻪ 7632 ﻧﻔﺮ ﺷﺎﻣﻞ 3958 ﻣﺬﻛﺮ ﻭ 3674 ﻣﻮﻧﺚ ﺍﺳﺖ. maybe true 7,632 deaths comprising 3,958 men and 3,674 women, Akbar Tavakkoli told IRIB.

Without water, ENGLISH PROVERB QUIZ OF THE DAY PHRASAL VERB In the land of the blind the 191) Choose if the sentence is true or false. Wipe off everything one-eyed man is king He’s always lately for class. a) True Meaning: clean (board, table) withers b) False For example: Explanation: a man of even limited ability has an The teacher asked Lee to wipe (Quiz No. 190 answer: b) advantage over a person who is less able off the board. I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

http://www.tehrantimes.com/sports JJULYULY 31,31, 22016016 SPORTS 11

II’m’m tthehe pplayerlayer ttoo watchwatch thisthis FOOTBALL Messi’s retirement: We’ll lure him to come back, sseason,eason, sayssays AAlirezalireza JJahanbakhshahanbakhsh says Argentina’s FA chief

SPORTS Iranian international midfielder Alireza The acting head of Argentina’s FA, Armando Perez, insisted deskJahanbakhsh, who is experiencing his he would do all he could to lure Lionel Messi out of interna- second year at AZ Alkmaar, believes this season’s Erdevisie tional retirement during an upcoming visit to the Barcelona could be his best as he’s going to be the player to watch. superstar in Spain. “We’re at the beginning of the season and we have not “We need Messi,” Perez stressed to AFP on Friday, with Ar- reached our best forms. Last year was Vincent Janssen’s gentina left in shock after the five-time world player of the year season as he scored 27 goals in 34 appearances for AZ but announced his retirement this season is going to be mine. I will make every effort to following a penalty shootout improve during the season and play my best football for defeat to defending champi- AZ,” Jahanbakhsh told AZFanpage website. ons Chile in last month’s Copa Jahanbakhsh played 63 minutes in the AZ Alkmaar America Centenario final. 1-0 win over Greek side PAS Giannina at the UEFA Europa “I get to Madrid on Satur- League third qualifying round match on Thursday. He be- day. I’ve spoken with Jorge, lieves the team could have played better but the result is his father, who told me he the most important thing. would be available on these “Obviously a win is the most important thing, however days,” said Perez, the head of we could have played better and if we were more accurate a FIFA-appointed normalisa- in front of the goal we could have won the game with a tion committee currently in better result,” the 22-year old said. charge of the AFA. “We had a very good pre-season preparation. As you “We’ll see what he tells me. can see the first official match is always difficult. I didn’t play I want to know the reasons that my best game but I will be better game by game. We have drove him to quit the national team and to see if I can do some- a long season in front of us and this was just the beginning. thing to get him to come back,” he added. Perez is also due to meet Hopefully, next week is a little better,” he added. Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli, the man who led Chile past Argentina Jahanbakhsh, who joined AZ last summer, scored four to their maiden Copa America title a year ago and is AFA’s “number goals and provided eight assists in all competitions in his one candidate” for the vacant manager’s role. first season at the club. “I spoke to him and I know he wants to manage the national team. But we have a huge obstacle in economic terms because he’s under contract with Sevilla,” said Perez. Sampaoli, 56, joined Europa League champions Sevilla last month after replacing Carlos Queiroz introduced Nekounam Unai Emery and the club have ruled out the Argentine’s depar- ture or any job-sharing arrangement. He has a six-million-euro as an assistant – report release clause, although Perez conceded the AFA didn’t have the funds available to buy Sampaoli out of his contract. SPORTS Iran national football team head coach improve his knowledge in a new atmosphere,” Portuguese “But we’ll try and free it up one way or another,” he said, with deskCarlos Queiroz has officially invited for- coach Carlos Queiroz said. Perez also due to holds talks with sportswear giant Adidas over mer captain Javad Nekounam to join him at Team Melli as Nekounam spent most of his professional career a new deal with the Argentine federation. his assistant. with Osasuna, appearing in 197 official games and (Source: vanguardngr) “We have asked Javad with the most respect and honor scoring 31 goals during his two spells and also being to join us at the Iran national team technical staff. He is a team captain. complete professional and a role model. I believe Javad He has represented the Iranian national team 151 times, has a bright future in coaching and he can be a big man- playing several major tournaments including two World Bastian Schweinsteiger ager. I think he will be important for Team Melli and he can Cups and four Asian Cups. announces retirement from international football Iran’s 2016 Olympic uniforms Iran wins World Team Snooker revealed Championship Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from international football. SPORTS Both Iran’s men’s SPORTS Iran claimed the ti- Three weeks after Germany were knocked out of Euro 2016 deskand women’s 2016 desktle of the 2016 IBSF following a semi-final defeat against France, Schweinsteiger has Olympic uniforms are revealed on World Team Snooker (Men) Champion- said he is stepping down as captain of the national team and Thursday. ship on Friday. ending his international playing career. The Iran National Olympic Commit- The Iranian team consists of Soheil “Dear fans of the Germany national team I have just asked tee (NOC) has unveiled official coun- Vahedi and Amir Sarkhosh knocked out the national team coach not to consider me any more for his na- try’s Olympic uniforms. Team China 5 frames to 2 to win the tional team selections in future The Iranian Olympic delegation competition. since I would like to retire,” the comprises 63 athletes representing Iranian players were in outstanding Manchester United midfielder 14 sports federations including the form and gave a brilliant start with su- announced on Twitter. Athletics, Archery, Boxing, Cycling, perb break of 75 points in second to take It also looks likely that Fencing, Judo, Rowing, Shooting, 2 frames lead, ibsf.info reported. Schweinsteiger will be looking Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Though Chinese pair Chen Zifan and for a new club after he was Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Wres- Yuan Sijun recovered to come at par by omitted from United’s squad tling federations. bronzes. winning next two frames but that re- sealed the match 5-2. for Saturday’s friendly with Ga- Iran looks forward to outdo its per- The 2016 Summer Olympic Games mained only winning frames to them as The IBSF World 6-Red & Team Snook- latasaray in Gothenburg. formance at London 2012, when it won will begin on August 5 and runs until Soheil and Sarkhosh put in all efforts to er Championship took place at Sharm-el- Schweinsteiger won 120 four gold medals, five silvers and three August 21. secure next three frames in a row and Sheikh, Egypt from 20-30 July, 2016. caps for Germany having made his debut in June 2004. A decade later he was part of the team who won the World Iran’s Meghdid wins bronze at Grass Ski Cup in Brazil and shortly after became captain of his country. His international CV includes two third-place World Cup fin- Junior World Championships ishes and a runners-up spot at the 2008 European Champion- ship. Schweinsteiger, 31, reached the semi-final of every major tournament in which he was involved, with his overall record Navid Meghdid from Iran claimed a bronze medal at FIS Grass Ski World Cup host is welcoming the world’s best standing at 81 wins, 19 draws and 20 defeats. He also scored 24 the Grass Ski Junior World Championships underway in youngsters born between 1995-2000. times for Germany. Dizin, Iran. The Championships kicked off with an opening cere- “My thanks go to the fans, the team, the DFB [German Foot- The Iranian representative finished in third place in giant mony on July 26, 2016 followed by super combined rac- ball Association], the coaches and the Germany national team,” slalom races on Thursday. es for both genders which were won by Kristin Hetfleisch Schweinsteiger said. “I was able to run out 120 times for my A total of 38 participants from eight nations are current- (AUT) and Martin Bartak (CZE). country and experience moments which were indescribably ly competing for medals in the season’s highlight event for The Championships will continue with slalom and giant beautiful and successful. young Grass Skiing talents. slalom races and conclude with a super-G on Friday, July 29. “Jogi Löw knew how much Euro 2016 in France meant to me It is the second time since 2010 that the experienced (Source: Tasnim) because I desperately wanted to win this title, which we have not been able to bring back to Germany since 1996. It wasn’t to be and I have to accept this. Football: Former Brazil striker Adriano now Walter Zenga appointed as new “By winning the 2014 World Cup, we did something historic and also achieved something emotionally which will never be re- living on the wild side with gang members Wolves head coach peated again in my career. Therefore it is only right and sensible to call it a day now and wish the team all the best for qualifying ex-striker, who suited up for his coun- took over the second tier side from for the 2018 World Cup, and for the final tournament. try, as well as for Parma and Inter Mi- long-standing owner Steve Morgan. “To finish with, I would like to say to the fans ‘it was an honour lan, relies on a deadly gang known as Zenga, whose previous managerial to be able to play for you, many thanks for everything I was able the Red Command for protection as he stint was in the Middle East with Al-Shaab to experience with you!’ Yours, Bastian Schweinsteiger.” lives in the slums. last season, has managed sides including (Source: Gaurdian) Adriano once earned Steaua Bucharest, Red Star Belgrade, and £80,000-a-week, but how things have Catania, Palermo and Sampdoria in Serie changed. He was recently photo- A during an 18-year coaching career. graphed holding rifles along with Red “We’re delighted to appoint Walter as CHESS Command gang members, and was the new head coach of Wolves. Walter is Iran wins World U-16 Chess also seen throwing up gang signals. a hugely passionate personality who lives This is not the first controversial in- for football and is fiercely determined to Olympiad 2016 cident in Adriano’s life. The 34-year-old succeed in everything he does,” Wolves has been arrested for drug trafficking director Jeff Shi said in a statement. Iran claimed the title of the World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad Former Brazil striker Adriano, once re- before, and a woman was once shot in Wolverhampton Wanderers have ap- “We are looking forward to working with 2016 on Friday. garded as one of the deadliest strikers his car after a night of clubbing. pointed former Italy goalkeeper Walter him, and supporting him in the shared aim of The Iranian team defeated Romania 2.5-1.5 in its final match. in football, is living a very different life He last played for Miami United, a Zenga as their new head coach, the Eng- trying to help Wolves achieve promotion back The competition took place in Poprad, a city in northern Slovakia. nowadays. fourth tier team in the United States. His lish Championship club said on Saturday. to the Premier League.”The 56-year-old, who The tournament provided a great platform for junior chess players. The 34-year-old is without a club, contract was cancelled in May, and no Wolves acted quickly in naming a re- kept five clean sheets for hosts Italy when they The Chess Olympiad is organized by the NR Klub delegated and is said to be living among violent one knows if he is actively looking for a placement after they sacked manager finished third in the 1990 World Cup, will for- by the Slovak Chess Federation, which started with an opening gangs in Brazil. club at the moment. Kenny Jackett on Friday, a little more than mally take charge of the squad on Monday. ceremony on July 27. Brazil lawyers claim that the (Source: YahooSport) a week after China-based Fosun Group (Source: Reuters) (Source: Tasnim) b

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NEWS IN BRIEF Iranian theater troupe pays U.S. center screens Abbas Kiarostani’s “Close-Up” tribute to Anton Chekhov

ARTTEHRAN — Iranian theater troupe desk ARTTEHRAN – The U.S. Walker directed Parchin by Hamid Amjad deskArt Center paid tribute to paid tribute to Russian author and playwright Anton Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami by screening Chekhov (1860 – 1904) before their performance of of his 1990 masterwork “Close-Up” on July 28. “Three Sisters and Others” at Tehran’s City Theater “Close-Up” is a documentary drama about Complex on Thursday evening. Hossein Sabzian’s real-life impersonation “Three Sisters and Others” is an adaptation of one of of the famous Iranian director Mohsen Chekhov’s outstanding plays, “Three Sisters”. Makhmalbaf and lying his way into the life of Russian ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan a family. and a number of ambassadors from diﬀerent countries The film was previously screened at the including Spain, Pakistan and Ireland attended the Walker Art Center in 1998 as a part of the honoring ceremony at the theater packed with a Walker Dialogue and Retrospective series. large audience that night, the Persian service of MNA reported. Speaking at the ceremony, Amjad said, “There is no Nora Ephron’s need to say that Chekhov belongs to a large country, “Heartburn” which is not conﬁned to a limited geographical area. He is a bright symbol of Russia and its culture, history and translated into people, of course, but he has another land too, a land, Persian which is even larger and richer, and is dominated by literature, art and plays. ARTTEHRAN – “Heartburn” by “Tonight, representatives from the two lands are deskU.S. writer Nora Ephron has present: Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan, who is the recently been translated into Persian by Mahsa historical and geographical representative of Chekhov Malek-Marzban. in this play, and on the other side, scholars and masters The book is an autobiographical novel based such as (actor and director) Akbar Zanjanpur and on Ephron’s life story about her marriage and (composer) Loris Tjeknavorian,” Amjad added. divorce from her second husband. Levan Dzhagaryan, who was surprised to see such a A screen adaptation of the book, starring large audience that follows works by Chekhov, expressed The cast and crew of “Three Sisters and Others” acknowledge the audience after the opening performance of the play at Tehran’s Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, was released his delight that works by their beloved Russian author City Theater Complex on July 24, 2016. (Photo by Elaheh Askari) in 1986. go on stage in Iran. a serious play.” Nasehi and Jamshid Jahanzadeh are among the main Aamout Publications in Tehran is scheduled Zanjanpur for his part also said, “I am so happy that Afshin Hashemi, Reyhaneh Salamat, Masumeh members of the cast. to publish the book in the near future. I am among a serious artistic group and I am watching Rahmani, Maral Atashi, Behnsuh Bakhtiari, Alireza The play will be on stage in August and September.

Iranian expert Kayhan Kalhor to join Silk Road Pop singer Fereidun Aserai reveals Mohsen Jafarimazhab on tour of U.S. cancer diagnosis to speak on Polish ARTTEHRAN — ARTTEHRAN — Iranian State Archives deskAccomplished deskpop singer Fereidun CULTURE TEHRAN — Iranian expert Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Aserai, 60, who shot to fame with hits deskMohsen Jafarimazhab is Kalhor along with the multinational “Hello” and “The Stranger” over ten years scheduled to deliver a speech on the Polish ensemble Silk Road will give concerts ago, revealed on Saturday that he has State Archive in a session, which will be held across the U.S. from August 7 to 27. been diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. at the National Library and Archives of IRAN French-born Chinese-American His doctor made a radiofrequency (NLAI) on Monday. top cellist Yo-Yo Ma will accompany ablation (RFA) on his larynx last week The session has been organized by the NLAI the group during the summer tour, and he must spend six months in and the Iranian and Islamic Studies Center which starts at Tanglewood in Lenox, convalescence, Aserai told the Persian (IISC). MA and will come to end at the service of Honaronline. Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. “Thank God, I feel better now,” he said. Longwood Gardens in The Silk Road Ensemble was “The problem that I could hardly make However, he said that he will perform Pennsylvania, the Freeman Stage at formed in 2000 with the help of Yo- my voice heard began early in Ramadan in Salmanshahr on August 11 and in Bayside in Selbyville, Delaware and Yo Ma as a way of bringing together … I told my doctor that my pain began Tehran on August 12. WHAT’S IN ART GALLERIES Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia are innovative performers and composers after I gave 40 performances in a month; He also plans to release a single song among the other destinations for the representing traditions from around he told me that he suspects that I have titled “Tell that You’re in Love” on August 5 Painting ensemble. the world. cancer of the larynx,” he added. to celebrate his 60th birthday. Iranshahr Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition of paintings by Hos- Mehran Riazi sein Maher. PICTURE OF THE DAY Mehr/ Venice Intl. The exhibit titled “Monu- ment” runs until August 9 at the gallery, which can be found at Film Festival 69 Sepand St., oﬀ Karim Khan Ave. to screen Iran’s Sa Gallery is playing host to an exhibition of paintings by Royal Moham- madian. “Malaria” The showcase entitled “The Silent Song” will run ntil Au- ARTTEHRAN — Iranian gust 5 at the gallery located deskdirector Parviz at No. 134, 8th Bustan St., oﬀ Shahbazi’s “Malaria” will go on screen Pasdaran Ave. in the Horizon section of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, Negar Gallery is playing host to an which will be held from August 31 to exhibition of paintings by September 10. Fereshteh Khaleqi. The social drama starring Saghar The exhibition titled “When Qana’at and Saed Soheili tells the There Is No One Around” will story of a young girl who elopes with be running until August 3 her boyfriend to spend her time in the at the gallery located at 33 company of a band of street musicians Delaram Alley, East Roshanai in Tehran. St., in the Qeitarieh neighborhood. Afterwards, she plans to deceive her father and brothers by saying that she A collection of paintings by Mitra Davar- has been kidnapped and wants them panah is on show in an exhi- to promptly send the ransom money. bition at the Niavaran Cultural Over 30 films from around the Center. globe will compete in the section dedicated to works that represent the The exhibit runs until Au- Sadeq Vafai (L) and Rasul Hassanpur act in a scene from “Suspense in the Depths of the Atlantic” at Tehran’s Nasser Khosro Hall on July 26, 2016. Vafai is gust 5 at Gallery No. 2 of the also the director and writer of the play, which tells the story of a German submarine assigned the mission to attack ships of the Allies during World War II. latest aesthetic and expressive trends center. in international cinema.

Photo A selection of photographs displaying Adaptation of “The Yalta Game” to go on stage in Tehran scenes of ordinary life of the ARTTEHRAN — Iranian playwright composed in 1899 in Yalta, a works in international festivals, but this Fahimeh Abedini and Aida Kolahi are Gilani people in the past and desk present time on display in an troupe Dimak directed resort city on the southern coast of the is the ﬁrst time I will stage a puppet play collaborating in this project. exhibition at the Arasbaran by Albert Beigjanian will stage the Crimean Peninsula. in Iran,” said director Beigjanian who is Beigjanian has previously worked Cultural Center. puppet play “The Suitcase and the The play will go on stage at the 16th of Armenian origin. as a producer with Levon Haftvan who The exhibit arranged in Cute Dog” based on Irish playwright Mobarak International Puppet Theater “Puppet plays have always been staged “The Yalta Game” at Tehran’s collaboration with private collector Kobra Brian Patrick Friel’s “The Yalta Game” in Festival running from August 22 to 28, interesting for me because they require Konesh-e Moaser Hall in April. Alipur runs until August 3 at the center, Tehran. the director told the Persian service of artistic creativity, while my inner child is The play tells the story of an which can be found on Jolfa St., off Shariati Friel wrote the play based on Anton ISNA on Saturday. still a child and doesn’t want to grow accountant who vacations alone, Ave. Chekhov’s short story “The Lady with “I mostly work on puppet plays up,” he added. leaving his wife and family behind in the Little Dog”, which the Russian outside Iran. I have performed many Puppeteers Mohammadreza Maleki, Moscow.