WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 8 Pages Price 50,000 Rials 1.00 EURO 4.00 AED 43rd year No.13982 Saturday JULY 3, 2021 Tir 12, 1400 Dhi Al Qada 22, 1442 Gen. Soleimani Iran learn fate at 2022 70% of petchem catalysts Iran, Serbia seeking assassination clear example World Cup qualification to be indigenized by to develop relations in of ‘state terrorism’ Page 2 Round 3 Page 3 Mar. 2022 Page 4 geoscience Page 7 Who is the new Judiciary chief? TEHRAN — On Thursday, Leader of the Mohseni Ejei was the Special Prosecutor Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali of the Clergy of Tehran from 1995 to 1997 Khamenei appointed Gholam Hossein and the Special Prosecutor General of the Mohseni Ejei as the new Judiciary chief. Clergy since 1998. He also served, from Ezhe’i has been working in the Judiciary 1998 to 2002, as the head of the Special for 37 years. He has held numerous key Judicial Complex for Investigating the positions in the Judiciary. Crimes of Government Employees. The Tehran Times decided to introduce Mostly known for his time as the min- the new Judiciary chief to its readers. ister of intelligence in Mahmoud Ahmad- Ejei, born in 1956 in a village near Is- inejad’s first administration, he quit the fahan, began serving in the Judiciary in administration following a spat between 1985 as the representative of the Judiciary him and the former president in 2009. in the Ministry of Intelligence. Continued on page 2 Industrial, mining projects worth over Three endgame $850m inaugurated TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani on A steel ingot production unit, a tile and Thursday inaugurated six major industrial ceramic production plant, a tobacco pro- and mining projects worth 35.77 trillion cessing unit, and a sponge iron pelletizing rials (over $851 million) in four provinces unit, were among the inaugurated projects. scenarios loom large through video conferencing, IRNA reported. The inauguration ceremony was attend- The mentioned projects were inaugu- ed by senior industry officials including rated in Zanjan, Yazd, Hormozgan and East Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Al- Azarbaijan provinces in the 78th series of ireza Razm Hosseini and some officials inauguration ceremonies since the previous from the mentioned provinces. over Vienna talks Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20). Continued on page 4 “Sun Children” director Majid Majidi receives IAA’s first Plaque of Glory TEHRAN – Oscar-nominated director to honor an artist for his/her lifetime Majid Majidi was honored on Thursday achievements every year. with the first edition of the IAA Plaque “This film was produced to generate of Glory by the Iranian Academy of Arts motivation for the construction of schools (IAA). for child workers across the country, how- He received the honor during a special ever, screening the film was thwarted by the See page 3 ceremony at the IAA following a screen- pandemic, and I hope organizing meetings ing of his latest acclaimed movie “Sun like this could help achieve the aim,” said Children” about child labor. Majidi after receiving the award. Getty Images The academy has established the award Continued on page 8 Ex-FM Mottaki says Rural development budget increases U.S. forces leave Afghanistan’s Bagram Saudi Arabia tricked by 2.5 folds airbase after 20 years U.S. into Yemen war TEHRAN – The budget for rural development than 20 households and 23,000 villages have less After nearly 20 years, the United States mili- on Saturday, Reuters news agency reported. projects has increased by 2.5 times in the current than 20 households. tary has left Afghanistan’s Bagram airbase, the The withdrawal from the airbase is the clear- n an exclusive interview with the [Iranian calendar] year (March 2021-March 2022) Thus, more than 97 percent of the country’s epicenter of its war to remove the Taliban and est indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 Tehran Times, former Iranian compared to that of the previous year, deputy head rural population lives in villages with over 20,000 hunt down the al-Qaeda perpetrators of the 9/11 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing foreign minister Manouchehr of the Housing Foundation of Islamic Revolution, households. attacks, two U.S. officials have said. a departure, months ahead of President Joe I has announced. Rural-urban migration reverse The airbase was handed over to the Afghan Biden’s promise that they would be gone by Mottaki says Saudi Arabia de- ceived the United States into the A total of 80 trillion rials (nearly $1.9 billion In Iran, where villages account for generating National Defense and Security Forces in its September 11. war against Yemen in 2015. at the official rate of 42,000 rials) were allocated 20-23 percent of the value-added in the country, entirety, they said on Friday on condition of It was clear soon after the mid-April an- The former foreign minister, who this year for the implementation of rural devel- the development of rural areas has been always a anonymity because they were not authorized nouncement that the U.S. was ending its “forever served as the chief of the unity council opment projects across the country, IRNA quoted top agenda of the governments’ activities. to release the information to the media, The war,” that the departure of U.S. soldiers and of the principlists in the run-up to the Mohammad-Reza Shamloo as saying on Friday. Many efforts have been made over the past Associated Press reported. their estimated 7,000 NATO allies would be June 18 presidential election, also says The credit will be spent on preparing, reviewing, couple of years by the government to support vil- One of the officials also said the U.S. top nearer to July 4, when the country celebrates President-elect Ebrahim Raisi will pri- and implementing the rural plans, improving the lagers and slow down the trend of migration from commander in Afghanistan, General Austin its Independence Day. oritize relations with neighbors during rural infrastructure, and the development of the rural areas to cities. S Miller, “still retains all the capabilities and Announcements from several countries his incoming administration. villages, he explained. Rural tourism, agritourism, religious tourism, authorities to protect the forces”. analyzed by The Associated Press show that Mottaki who was trying to encourage He went on to note that so far, the development and ecotourism are alternatives or complementary At its peak, Bagram airbase saw more than a majority of European troops left with little principlists to gather around Judiciary plan of more than 3,700 villages in the country has economic activities that could further stimulate 100,000 U.S. troops pass through its sprawling ceremony – a stark contrast to the dramatic Chief Raisi for the presidential election been prepared and reviewed. rural development while decreasing rural com- compound 50km (30 miles) north of capital, Kabul. and public show of force and unity when NATO argues that the president-elect has a “clear Currently, 26 percent of the country’s population munity dependency on one main economic sector An Afghan official said the base would be offi- allies lined up to back the U.S. invasion in 2001. understanding” of Iran’s foreign policy. lives in villages, around 39,000 villages have more (agriculture, forestry, energy, or mining). cially handed over to the government at a ceremony Continued on page 5 Following is the text of the interview: What is the attitude of President Raisi’s administration towards Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action? How S. Arabia key pillar of U.S. presence in the region: researcher It is in China’s long- will the administration negotiate if BY MOHAMMAD MAZHARI (Persian) Gulf as a means to maintain a presence declaration, don’t you think that disputes term interest to the negotiations are not over until TEHRAN - An assistant professor at the Defense there,” the strategic risk consultant says. surface again? July, and how do you predict the Studies Department of King’s College London The war on Yemen has turned into a dark The root causes of the (Persian) Gulf crisis have confront U.S. sanctions: administration’s response if the U.S. says that Washington uses Riyadh as a means chapter in the history of Saudi Arabia. However, not been addressed – particularly not between does not lift all sanctions. to maintain its presence in the region. Western powers, including the U.S., are keeping Qatar and the UAE. So, while the symptoms of GWU professor The JCPOA is a “sad story” that has “Saudi Arabia remains a key pillar of U.S. to arm tyrannical states in the Persian Gulf region. the crisis are currently suppressed at least in BY M. A. SAKI plagued the country for almost 18 years, presence in the region,” Andreas Krieg tells the Following is the text of the interview: the (Persian) Gulf, we see the symptoms of this TEHRAN – A professor from the George Washing- the core of its issue is Iran’s peaceful Tehran Times. While Saudi Arabia, the United Arab ideational conflict already surfacing in other parts ton University says that it is in China’s long-term nuclear activities and if in 2003 the ad- “Leading from behind means that Washing- Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have ended of the Middle East (West Asia). interest to blunt U.S. sanctions, which have become ministration of the time knew that these ton uses military support to its partners in the the blockade on Qatar under the Al Ula Continued on page 5 a weapon in its foreign policy.