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.13378 Thursday MAY 2, 2019 Ordibehesht 12, 1398 Sha’aban 26, 1440 If we fail to secure Delay in judicial IPL: Persepolis IIDO director says multilateralism the ‘rule proceedings held by Tractor Sazi translation cannot fill of jungle’ will prevail 2 ‘unacceptable’ 3 in Tabriz 15 cultural vacuums in Iran 16 Iranian, Syrian private sectors See page 2 seek to bolster trade ties By Ebrahim Fallahi The event was attended by a Syrian TEHRAN – Iranian and Syrian officials, trade delegation headed by the Chairman By executing 2030 entrepreneurs and businessmen once of Chamber of Industry of Damascus and again came together on Wednesday in its Countryside, Samer al-Debes, the a business forum in Tehran to explore Chairman of Iran-Syria Joint Economic ways for enhancing trade ties. Committee Keyvan Kashefi, Hassan Da- The business forum which marked the naiefar the senior advisor to Iran’s first agenda, they seek two sides’ sixth gathering in the past six vice president in Syria and Iraq affairs, as months was hosted by Iran Chamber of well as the Syrian Ambassador to Tehran Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agri- Adnan Mahmoud and representatives of culture (ICCIMA). Iranian private companies. 4 to train soldiers Platforms for national satellites set up in low-Earth orbit TEHRAN – The Iranian Aviation Tech- The Iranbus 15 project, which is 15 kg for U.S. and UK nology Development Headquarters of vice imaging satellite platform, is made by the presidency for science and technology has consortium of the Sharif University of set up three platforms for the national Technology and the Malek-Ashtar Uni- operational satellites in low-Earth orbit, versity of Technology. IRNA reported. Another is the Iranbus 70 project, a The headquarters established a consor- 70 kg imaging satellite platform with 5 tium of universities and knowledge-based meter resolution, built by the Amirkabir companies active in the field of space industrial university and the Khaje Na- technology. siroddin-e Toosi University. 11 Iraqi premier warns ISIL weakened, not defeated TEHRAN— Iraqi Premier Adel Abdul al-Baghdadi showed him in what appeared Mahdi said the ISIL terrorist group group to be a “very simple and isolated” location, had been militarily weakened but not Mahdi said on a visit to Berlin. defeated as the recent deadly Sri Lanka “One and a half years ago Daesh (ISIL) bombings had shown. controlled large areas in Iraq and Syria, An ISIL propaganda video released and now Baghdadi appears in an isolated, with a purported appearance by the ex- unknown location,” he said about the world’s khamenei.ir tremist group’s elusive supremo Abu Bakr most wanted man, AFP reported. 13 PERSPECTIVE CNN poll shows Biden in commanding lead among Democrats ARTICLE M.A.Saki Mahnaz Abdi Deputy editor-in-chief TEHRAN — Former Vice President Joe Bid- 100-day mark of his time in office. At accounting firms and banks connected to Head of the TehranTimes en’s announcement of a bid for the Demo- the same time, the share who say they Trump. Economy Desk cratic presidential nomination earned him strongly approve of the way the President Even with growing concern about over- an 11-point polling bounce, leaving him head is handling his job (35%) is at its highest reach, majorities want Congress to investigate and shoulders above the rest of the Demo- level ever in CNN’s polling. whether Trump committed obstruction of With or without cratic candidates. The American public increasingly feels justice in the course of the Mueller investi- NIOC selling oil sanctions, Iran The first national poll taken after Biden that Democrats in Congress are going too gation (58%) and to pursue legal action to announced his bid has him well ahead of the far in investigating the President -- 44% obtain the full, unredacted version of the at IRENEX while needs to say Democratic field with 39% to his closest rival say Democrats are doing too much on that Mueller report (61%). The public is divided at 14% for Sanders. This represents a dou- score, up from 38% saying so in March. That on Barr’s handling of the release of Mueller’s U.S. tightening goodbye to oil ble-digit Biden bounce from our last poll. shift stems largely from independents, 46% report -- 44% approve and 43% disapprove, sanctions Other polls also indicate Biden’s up since his of whom now say congressional Democrats with a wide partisan gap. money announcement. are going too far. About two-thirds still say Trump ought to ational Iranian Oil Company sold Meanwhile, with Robert Mueller’s inves- Congressional Democrats have called for release his tax returns (66%, including 52% 70,000 barrels of heavy crude oil at xcept Norway, almost all oil produc- tigation finished, Donald Trump’s approval Attorney General William Barr to testify this who consider it important for the President to Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) ing countries have made themselves rating stands at its highest level since April week, including in front of the Senate Judiciary do). And most, 54%, say the President is not N for the first time on Tuesday. Emore or less reliant on oil money. 2017 in a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, as Committee on Wednesday, and have issued doing enough to cooperate with Democratic Offering heavy crude at IRENEX came Only oil producing countries with a the share who say Democrats in Congress are subpoenas to try to gain access to the full, investigations. after NIOC offered light crude at this stock small population, such as Kuwait and Qatar doing too much to investigate the President unredacted version of Mueller’s report and The poll finds no change in the share of market in eight rounds. which is also a great gas exporter, have so rises 6 points. for former White House counsel Don McGahn Americans who say they believe the Pres- Like offering light oil, one billion bar- been safe from fluctuations in the oil mar- Trump’s approval rating remains largely to testify. The Treasury Department recently ident ought to be impeached compared rels of heavy oil was offered at IRENEX ket. But, countries with large population, negative in the new poll -- 52% disapprove missed a deadline set by House Democrats with a March survey conducted before the with 35,000 barrels as the least amount such as Iran, are prone to volatility in the and 43% approve -- but that approval for turning over the President’s tax returns, completion of Mueller’s investigation into of sales. oil market, let alone the mad sanctions figure is the highest -- by one point -- and the Trump administration is fighting Russian interference in the 2016 presi- The base price for heavy crude was introduced against the country. since a CNN poll completed around the subpoenas issued for financial records from dential election. planned to be $63.51 but the product was There is no doubt that oil money has finally offered at $60.68. affected politics, economy, management Successful sales of heavy crude at Iran’s system, culture, spending and consump- Hundreds demand election boycott in Kazakhstan stock market happened while the U.S. is tion habits and many other issues in oil TEHRAN — Hundreds of Kazakhs rallied in In Almaty, protesters chanted “I have a According to Reuters, Nazarbayev abruptly tightening pressure on the country’s oil rich countries. their two main cities on Wednesday, calling for choice” and “Old man, go away” and waved resigned in March after almost three decades industry as the Trump administration For example, Iran now has one of the a boycott of June presidential elections that banners reading “No to despotism and dic- in power and endorsed ally and former Senate announced last month that it would end cheapest energy prices in the world. This they dismissed as a cover for an orchestrated tatorship”, as families on a day out looked on speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, all but guar- waivers on crude purchase granted to Iran’s has led to an extravagant use of energy, handover of power. and techno music blared. anteeing his success. primary oil buyers in a bid to push Tehran especially an excessive use of private car, Crowds gathered in the main amusement park Police, who have broken up smaller anti-gov- The political transition in the central Asian oil sales to zero. in the country. in the commercial hub Almaty and a square in ernment protests in the past, only detained a state neighboring Russia and China is closely Since the U.S.’s withdrew from Iran’s Let’s make an example to clarify that the capital Nur-Sultan in protests called by one handful of people who tried to take the demon- watched by foreign investors who have pumped nuclear pact in May 2018, vowing to oil money is not the road to progress and of the main rivals of veteran leader Nursultan stration outside Almaty’s Central Park, and a few tens of billions of dollars into its energy and mining drive Iran’s oil exports down to zero, a vibrant economy. In the 1970s, Iran was Nazarbayev. stragglers left after the rally ended in the capital. sectors since independence. the Islamic Republic has been taking more developed than South Korea, but now various measures to counter the U.S. South Korea is much more successful than actions and to keep its oil exports levels Iran in terms of economy and technology.