WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 16 Pages Price 10,000 Rials 38th year No.12907 Tuesday AAUGUSTUGUST 222,2, 22017017 Mordad 31, 1396 Dhi Al Qaeda 29, 1438 Belgium new European Iran holds first Women Ex-Iran table “20th Circuit Suspects” buyer of Iran’s in Science Award tennis player from Iran joins petchem products 4 12 Vahabzadeh dies 15 APSA race 16 It’s Saudi turn to take steps, Iran says Hojaji is outgrowth POLITICS TEHRAN — Irani- He said that Iran is ready to expand deskan Foreign Ministry ties with its neighbors and establish spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on security in the region. Monday that Iran has taken the nec- “Regional security is an important essary actions to mend ties with Saudi issue for Iran. We do not want securi- of revolution Arabia and now it is Riyadh’s turn to ty just for ourselves but for the whole See page 2 take steps in this regard. region and all the regional countries The relations between Iran and should pay attention to this matter,” Saudi Arabia started deteriorating af- the spokesman noted. ter 464 Iranian pilgrims were crushed Qassemi also said that Iran wel- to death in a stampede in Hajj ritual in comes good relations between the September 2015. countries in the region especially be- Tehran and Riyadh have also been tween Iraq and Saudi Arabia. at odds over the Saudi war on Yemen, He added Iran seeks to expand the Saudi suppression of pro-democra- relations with the countries in the re- cy movement in Bahrain, and also the gion and help establish regional peace kingdom’s support for militants in Syria. and stability. “All the regional countries “We hope that Saudi officials would ana- should make efforts and interact with lyze regional situation in a more realistic way,” each other to establish security in the Qassemi said during a press conference. region.” 2 Abdolrahim Mousavi appointed Army chief POLITICS TEHRAN — In sep- armed forces deputy chief of staff from deskarate decrees on 2016 to 2017. He was second-in-com- Monday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah mand of the Army from 2008 to 2016. Ali Khamenei appointed Major Gener- Ataollah Salehi, 67, served as the al Ataollah Salehi as deputy chief of the Army chief from 2005 until 2017. As Iranian Armed Forces and Brigadier head of Iran’s regular military he was a General Abdolrahim Mousavi as com- member of the Supreme National Se- mander of the Army after promoting curity Council. him to the rank of major general. Salehi was the third Army chief Ayatollah Khamenei also thanked since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Salehi and Mousavi for their loyal ser- The new appointment came one vices to the Islamic Republic and wished day after the parliament gave the them good luck in their new military highest votes for Brigadier General posts. Amir Hatami to confirm him as de- leader.ir Abdolrahim Mousavi, 57, served as fense minister. ARTICLE Most don’t understand the relationship between Judaism, Christianity and Islam: anthropologist Over 200 By Hamid Bayati By Jalal Heirannia nis Michael Rohan, a self-described Christian, ric care and died in 1995. terrorists killed Tehran Times journalist TEHRAN — Head of the anthropology de- who was influenced by extremist right-wing The world-wide reaction, including from in airstrike in partment at the State University of Minnesota evangelical Christians. He wanted to set fire Jewish authorities, was one of horror. Despite is of the view that a majority of non-Muslims to the Mosque to allow the Jews to rebuild the fact that there are extreme right-wing Dayr al-Zawr: are not aware of the relationship between di- the Jerusalem Temple of Solomon, the foun- Jewish groups who have called for the de- Russia Qatar crisis: Are vine religions. dations of which according to tradition were struction of the mosque, mainstream Jewish “Most non-Muslims (and many Muslims) the underpinnings for the mosque. authorities ?produced an equivocal response, Russia’s Defense Ministry says its air- the Saudis the real don’t understand the interrelationship be- Mr. Rohan was later declared to be insane. but in the end agreed that the Al-Aqsa craft have eliminated more than 200 tween Judaism, Christianity and Islam,” Prof. He was transported to Australia for psychiat- mosque was sacred religious ground and ISIL (Daesh) terrorists on their way to puppet-master? William O. Beeman tells the Tehran Times must be protected. the eastern Syrian city of Dayr al-Zawr. Following is the text of the interview: What roles can mosques play for n June 5, four Arab states sev- ‘The Al-Aqsa mosque The operation also destroyed On August 21, 1969, an attempt a better understanding of Islam by ered ties with Qatar accusing represents not only around 20 SUVs laden with large-ca- O was made to put al-Aqsa Mosque on fire; non-Muslims? it of supporting terrorism, an liber weapons and mortars, as well as the action led to naming August 21 as the holy traditions of A: ?Most non-Muslims (and many Mus- allegation denied by Doha. armored vehicles, including tanks, the World Mosque Day. Why should we re- lims) don’t understand the interrelationship The quartet comprising the House Islam, but also the unity Ministry said in a statement on Mon- member this day? between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Is- of Saud regime, Egypt, the United of all the “Abrahamic” day. A: The membar (altar) of the Al-Aqsa lam reveres all of the religious history of the Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain sev- The city contains relatively large Mosque was set on fire by an Australian, Den- religions’ other two religions. 13 ered diplomatic ties and cut all land, concentrations of the Takfiri group’s sea, and air routes with Qatar. terrorists and is subject to offensives The administration of Saudi re- Environment matters: Couple tie the knot, pledge to plant thousand-plus trees by both the Syrian Army and its allies, gime-backed and resigned Yemeni and Russian warplanes. President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, By Maryam Qarehgozlou In case of the young Iranian bride, developing countries, are inflicting irrepara- The Ministry said the city was now Libya, the Maldives, Djibouti, Sene- TEHRAN — In a symbolic gesture to safe- she opt for planting 1372 trees marking ble damages to the environment and natural witnessing “international terrorists… gal and the Comoros later joined the guard the environment a young bride from the year [in the Iranian calendar] she was resources. trying to regroup and equip their last camp in ending diplomatic ties with the western province of Ilam made the groom born in an attempt to protect the envi- From north to south, east to west cities in base in Syria.” Qatar, while Jordan downgraded its to pledge to plant 1372 trees as her “mahr” ronment and garner more attention to Iran are all facing environmental challenges “The defeat of ISIS (Daesh) in the diplomatic ties. - a mandatory payment paid or promised to this matter. to some extent resulted from shortsighted Dayr al-Zawr region will be a strategic They later issued a list of 13 sweep- pay by the groom under Islamic law. Environmental issues have become a policies over the years. Desertification, wa- defeat for the international terrorist ing demands for Doha to meet in or- A mahr (or mahriyeh) is typically specified global concern for some years now. The ter shortage, drying wetlands, persisting air group in the Syrian Arab Republic,” the der for the relations to be normalized. in the marriage contract. While the mahr is growing population with unquenchable thirst pollution, sand and dust storms, etc. are all statement said. Based on the list, Doha was asked to often money, it can also be anything agreed for development have violated the limits to the outcomes of flawed policies adopted Earlier in the month, Russian De- end its support for Egypt’s biggest upon by the bride such as jewelry, home the life-sustaining resources earth can pro- regardless of their environmental ramifica- fense Minister Sergei Shoigu said if the banned opposition party the Muslim goods, furniture, a dwelling or some land. vide us. Industrialization, most significantly in tions. 13 group lost the city, it would potentially Brotherhood, shut down Al Jazeera mean it had suffered an ultimate de- news network, sever all ties with the feat. Lebanese Hezbollah resistance move- “This is perhaps the main point at ment, close down a Turkish military the Euphrates, which will in many ways base on its soil, downgrade relations indicate the end of the fight against with Iran and “compensate” the sanc- ISIS,” he said. tioning countries for unspecified harm. Dayr al-Zawr, however, still con- Qatar dismissed the 13-point list. tains some 125,000 civilians, a fact that Well so far everything seems as a polit- could slow down the military opera- ical row led by the House of Saud regime. tions targeting the city. Let’s not bother whether the quartet’s ac- Bouthaina Shaaban, the political tion was right or wrong, or discuss each Harvesting and media adviser to Syrian President states record of human rights, sponsoring Bashar al-Assad, said in an interview terrorism, preaching hatred, and any oth- paddy fields on Friday that the six-year-old for- er issues regarding each of the quartet’s eign-backed militancy in her country states domestic or international issues. I was nearly over as foreign states had have a bigger stake! in Gilan cut their backing for Takfiri terrorist A lion’s share of the global media groups.