WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 16 Pages Price 40,000 Rials 1.00 EURO 4.00 AED 39th year No.13549 Monday DECEMBER 9, 2019 Azar 18, 1398 Rabi’ Al thani 12, 1441 Competence of parliamentary Tehran voices hope A bright future ahead Mohammadi honored at candidates is assessed based to resolve Sheikh of Iran beach soccer: Japanese environment on constitution 2 Zakzaky’s problems 3 Paria Shahriari 15 painting contest 16 Prominent figures register for See page 4 parliamentary polls Rouhani submits TEHRAN — Saturday marked the seventh are male and 12 percent female, adding and last day that parliamentary hopefuls that 248 current and 633 former members were able to enroll for the upcoming elec- of the parliament also registered. tions. The Iranian parliament has 290 mem- Jamal Orf, who serves as the head of bers who are elected by the people for the Interior Ministry elections headquar- four-year terms. $473b budget ters, said on Sunday that 16,145 people The elections will be held in over 200 registered to run for the elections. constituencies across the country’s 31 He said 88 percent of the registrants provinces. 3 Kish to host Symposium of ECO bill to Majlis Tourism Investment Opportunities TEHRAN — Iran’s southern Kish Island is aimed to identify the factors affecting will host the Symposium of ECO Tourism investment in the tourism sector, introduce Investment Opportunities on December capacities and opportunities for investment 11-12. in Iran and other ECO member states, The event will bring together invest- and explore ways to attract investment ment companies in the fields of tourism and toward the growth of the tourism industry. hospitality, as well as relative executives ECO is an inter-governmental re- and officials from the Economic Coopera- gional organization encompassing tion Organization (ECO) member states. countries from Europe, Caucuses and According to organizers, the symposium Central Asia, 10 Evidences prove Saudi involvement in delivering arms to terrorists in Syria Another evidence has surfaced to reveal these weapons were made in the Bosnian the involvement of the Saudi regime in village of Novi Travnik. buying and delivering weapons to the “One of the shipment papers carried the terrorist organizations in Syria. dispatcher’s name: Ifet Krnjic,” Fisk said, In an article published by the UK’s Fisk clarified that he travelled to Bosnia “The Independent” Newspaper, British to meet this person and ask him how these ‘Budget of resistance’ to writer and journalist Robert Fisk said that weapons arrived to Syria. Krnjic acknowl- “hundreds of mortars along with their edged that his signature was on one of these Mona Hoobehfekr shipment documents and factory instruc- documents and said that the Saudis had sent counter sanction effects tions were found in one of the hideouts of these weapons, specifically a Saudi minis- “Jabhat al-Nusra” terrorist organization in ter and three Saudi army officers who had ISNA/ Aleppo. The shipment papers indicate that visited Krnjic at the factory. 13 ARTICLE No trains and no compromise as France faces a winter of discontent ARTICLE Ramin Hossein Abadian With hardline unions threatening indefinite strikes schemes at midday on Wednesday. he said. “It’s dangerous to have a social crisis Martin Love Mehr News Agency over pension reforms, there is apprehension at As hardline union leaders vowed to continue because it results in people turning to more Political analyst from journalist the political perils facing Emmanuel Macron. striking indefinitely, there were warnings that populist parties.” North Carolina Emmanuel Macron will seek to placate angry the country was entering a dangerous period. In the town of Joigny – 93 miles (150km) strikers this week while honoring his election Caroline Janvier, who entered parliament south-east of Paris in Yonne, the heart of the Finding a pledge to shake up France’s pension system in as one of Macron’s La République en Marche outer commuter belt around the French capi- A search for a delicate balancing act that will define his po- “citizen” MPs in the 2017 general election, denied tal known as la France péripherique – the local replacement for litical future. the government was panicked but admitted it railway station, like many in rural France, was counters to U.S. Ministers are looking at possible concessions was “a moment of apprehension for everyone”. deserted last Thursday. Notices announced that Adel Abdul Mahdi that could defuse the strikes and protests that “Everyone in the country is still traumatised no trains would be stopping there. imperialism is have paralyzed the country since last week. by the gilets jaunes (yellow vest protesters) and In nearby villages, school buses continued nder the Iraqi constitution, the pres- concerned the violence will start again,” she said. their rounds, carrying only a handful of pupils necessary and hard ident must ask the grand coalition Transport chaos continued this weekend and “Nobody wants a repeat of that.” to classes not cancelled by striking teachers, as in the parliament to nominate a new ew often learn anything until it is U unions have called for another day of industrial Jean Grosset, director of the social dialogue thick fog descended over icy fields. candidate, which usually takes some time. too late, and even then they may action on Tuesday, putting further pressure on observatory at the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, a While schools and colleges are expected to Although Iraqi political groups have not learn much that matters except the government. left-wing think-tank, feared that if the government be open again this week, nobody can predict F always needed a lot of consultations to in a context of a disaster that probably After last-minute consultations, the prime refused to compromise there would be long-term when normal public transport services will be make the final decision, it seems even could have been avoided. The reference minister Édouard Philippe will give full details of consequences. “If there’s a hardening of attitudes resumed. Rail workers have declared their strikes more difficult to agree on a candidate, here is to the relatively comfortable and the controversial changes to the country’s pension in France it could create a perilous situation,” “renewable” on an open-ended daily basis. 13 especially as there is a pressure by the well off, say the mid to upper levels of a protesters. shrinking middle class in a society such Meanwhile, some figures are calling as the U.S. has. for the resignation of the heads of the Pensacola shooting: FBI investigators search for attack motive Walk around the campus of the uni- three branches of the government and A Saudi airman accused of killing three people lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force and a with foreign allies. versity here in central North Carolina and holding an early election. after opening fire in a Navy classroom ap- student naval flight officer. One of the three students who attended the there is a wealth of entertainments like Currently, the Iraqi president is ex- peared to have posted criticism of U.S. wars “I’m against evil and America as a whole has dinner party hosted by the attacker recorded video sports teams and presentations and parties tensively consulting with political groups and quoted former al-Qaeda leader Osama turned into a nation of evil. I hate you because footage from outside the classroom building while of all kinds aside from classes and study. and parliamentarians to make a final de- bin Laden on social media hours before the every day you [are] supporting, funding and the shooting was taking place, an official said, Idyllic it can appear. Everyone seems to cision. Some conditions have been stated shooting spree. committing crimes not only against Muslims adding that two other Saudi students watched act, at least, just like their forebears on for the new prime minister that makes The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors but also humanity,” the group quoted the alleged from a car. campus seemed to act say 50 years ago, it even harder for the president to come media, said the suspect posted a short manifesto gunman as saying. According to the official, 10 Saudi students at the height of the U.S. war on Vietnam. to a decision. on Twitter prior to the attack at the naval base U.S. defense chief Mark Esper said on Saturday were being held on the base while several others Except for one thing: The Iraqi politicians believe that in in Pensacola, Florida, on Friday. he was not yet prepared to label the attack as were unaccounted for. On campuses back then there exist- addition to an agreement on a new prime The attacker allegedly hosted a dinner party “terrorism”. The assault, which prompted a significant ed student protests and occasional rage minister or his acceptance by people, the earlier in the week where he and three others “No, I can’t say it’s terrorism at this time,” law enforcement response and base lock- over the Vietnam War – not so much on interpretation of the constitution is another watched videos of mass shootings, a United Esper said, adding that he believed investigators down, ended when a sheriff’s deputy killed campuses in the relatively conservative problem for electing new prime minister. States official told The Associated Press. needed to be allowed to do their work. the attacker. Eight people were wounded, southern states, but for sure on campuses According to Article 76 of the constitu- The FBI on Saturday formally identified the The suspect was on the base as part of a U.S.