WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 16 Pages Price 20,000 Rials 1.00 EURO 4.00 AED 39th year No.13281 Tuesday DECEMBER 18, 2018 Azar 27, 1397 Rabi’ Al thani 10, 1440 Sanctions Iran doesn’t sit Esteghlal, Persepolis Jamal Shurjeh fills in only hurt ordinary silent toward to be ceded to private for late director in TV Iranians 2 destabilizing actions 2 sector 15 series on Moses (AS) 16 Iran’s Syria negotiator talks “Exodus” named best constitution, election with Assad POLITICS TEHRAN — Iran’s and Russia’s delegations in the Astana deskSyria negotiator Hossein talks on Syria. Jaberi Ansari on Sunday evening met with The upcoming talks will focus on the President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. committee to draft a new Syrian consti- Top on the agenda of the meeting was tution and usher in elections. doc at Cinéma Vérité See page 16 the process of setting up a committee to On Friday, a UN statement said the draft a constitution for Syria. United Nations special envoy for Syria Staf- Jaberi Ansari’s trip came a day after he fan de Mistura will hold talks with senior hosted Russian president’s special envoy officials from Iran, Russia and Turkey, as for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev. guarantors of the Syria peace process in The two diplomats preside over Iran Geneva this week. 2 Iran travel balance turns positive as inbound tourism jumps TOURISM TEHRAN — Iran’s trav- said Vali Teymouri, deputy director of deskel balance turned positive the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and in the first seven months of the current Iranian Tourism Organization for tourism affairs, calendar year 1397 (started March 21), a pos- CHTN reported. itive reading since two years ago. Making direct comparisons for the past “The travel balance shifted positive as two [Iranian] years, he said Iran recorded a total of 4,704,509 outbound travels were over three million foreign arrivals and registered against 4,739,413 inbound ones more than five million travels abroad in over the first seven months of the year,” the same period last year. 10 ‘Iran expects EU to extend Airbus OFAC license to deliver purchased aircrafts’ ECONOMY TEHRAN — Farzaneh with foreign aircraft makers and said Iran deskSharafbafi, the manag- is strictly following these contracts. Shahab Ghayoumi ing director of Iran Air, Iran’s national flag On January 28, 2016, Iran Air signed carrier, said on Monday that Iran expects a deal with the French giant plane maker EU to get the U.S. approval for extending Airbus for the purchase of 118 Airbus jets the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets worth $27 billion, however only three are Control (OFAC)’s license for importing delivered to the country. Tehran Times/ Tehran Times/ the airplanes Iran bought from Airbus. Iran Air also signed a contract in April Speaking in a press conference, the 2017, to buy 20 planes from Franco-Italian Documentarian Hossein Torabi (2nd L) accepts a lifetime achievement award at the 12th Cinéma Vérité festival. official mentioned the deals Iran Air has turboprop maker ATR. REPORT ‘Reforming Muslim countries and Islamicity indices’ ARTICLE Mohammad Homaeifar Following is the text of the interview: countries bears little resemblance to Qur’anic EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Mudasir Sheikh Before I ask you about the progress you teachings. The religion has been limited by some Tehran Times journalist By Javad Heirannia Researcher and writer have made in this program of reform and insti- to the so-called Five Pillars and to memorization from Kashmir TEHRAN — Professor Hossein Askari, an expert tution-building in Muslim countries since we last of the Holy Book with little understanding of its on Saudi Arabia who also teaches international spoke about a year ago, can we begin by reminding deeper message for thriving communities. Most Red Sea legal business at the George Washington University, our readers what this project is all about. What Muslims have not spent the time to understand believes that Islamicity Indices are based on are Islamicity Indices? the deeper meaning of their faith and its appli- U.S. military regime: Spider’s Qur’anic teachings. A: Islamicity Indices are based on Qur’anic cation in their time. “The Holy Qur’an and its interpretation by teachings. The Holy Qur’an and its interpretation In the first place these indices, divided into four industrial complex’s dream against Iran the Prophet Mohammad tell us what Muslim by the Prophet Mohammad tell us what Muslim broad areas of teachings—on the economy and societies should strive to do,” Hossein Askari, societies should strive to do. Unfortunately, for financial system, legal system and governance, perpetual warfare won’t be realized who served as special advisor to Saudi finance centuries, Muslims have abrogated their respon- human and political rights, and international minister, tells the Tehran Times. sibility to go directly to this source and debate relations and then combined into an overall in- tockholm International Peace Re- n Wednesday December 12, Sau- He adds that “Unfortunately, for centuries, and discuss its application in their times. Instead, dex—provide us with an easy way to convey the search Institute (SIPRI) on 10 De- di Arabia’s Riyadh hosted the first Muslims have abrogated their responsibility to they have allowed rulers to spoon feed them an central message of Islam for Muslim communities Scember 2018 released its report on OArab-African conference of foreign go directly to this source and debate and discuss interpretation of Islam that is far from that en- and are also helpful for showing the meaning of the sale of weapons and other military ministers of six countries bordering the its application in their times.” visaged in the Qur’an and what we see in Muslim Islam to non-Muslims. 7 hardware by the world’s largest 100 weapon Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a strategic manufacturers. The U.S. weapon man- area vital to global shipping. ufacturers dominated the ‘top hundred Representatives from Egypt, Djibouti, ‘Rohingya refugees want to go back home but with safety and dignity’ list’ with a 57 percent share of arms sales. Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Jordan gath- By Syed Zafar Mehdi The governments of Myanmar and Ban- feasible to accept the Rohingya. Bangladesh, for According to the report, the U.S. compa- ered in Riyadh to discuss the initiative. TEHRAN — Prof. Nasir uddin is a cultural an- gladesh have been discussing repatriation of valid reasons, wants to repatriate the Rohingya nies benefitted from the U.S. Department The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the thropologist based in Bangladesh, and professor Rohingya refugees. Do you think the timing is refugees because it has exerted huge process on of Defense’s ongoing demand for weapons. Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and of anthropology at Chittagong University. He right for them to return? it. However, I think it is not safe for them to be The pro-war U.S. foreign policy is Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the has been working with Rohingya people in the A. At this stage and under the situation pre- repatriated at this stage. meant to serve the interests of military south through the Bab el Mandeb strait borderland of Bangladesh and Myanmar for more vailing in Rakhine state, I don’t think it is safe Many Rohingya refugees were detained industrial complex as the U.S. has a long and the Gulf of Aden. To the north lie than two decades and has written on the Rohingya for the Rohingya refugees to return to Myanmar. recently while trying to flee to Malaysia. Could history of waging unilateral, belligerent the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, refugee situation extensively in the form of both In fact, there are four stakeholders in the entire you tell us what exactly took place? wars across the globe from Vietnam to and the Suez Canal. About 15 percent of academic and popular pieces. His forthcoming repatriation process: Bangladesh, Myanmar, A. If you are talking about the recent case, to Syria and constant escalation from the global trade is made through the Red Sea. ethnography is named The Rohingyas: A Case Rohingyas and the international community. my knowledge, it was Myanmar which detained 93 South China Sea to the Black Sea and from Alfred Thayer Mahan is one of Ameri- of Subhuman (Oxford University Press, 2019). None expect Bangladesh are in the position Rohingya while they attempted to flee to Malaysia. Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Kerch. ca’s leading geopolitical theorists. He was In an interview to Tehran Times, Prof. Nasir of supporting repatriation process at this stage. According to the available information, the boat The creation of al-Qaeda, scraping peace in the last wave of European imperialist uddin talks about repatriation of Rohingya refu- Rohingya refugees don’t want to go back because heading to Malaysia was carrying 28 men, 33 wom- treaties, sanction game and orchestrating expansionism and the globalization of gees from Bangladesh to Myanmar, detention of they think that they are not safe in Myanmar as en, and 32 children from the Darpaing displacement Shia-Sunni conflicts are all part of the American power. He considered sea power Rohingya trying to flee to Malaysia, his fieldwork the situation there has not changed yet. camp in Rakhine’s Sittwe township. It was seized on U.S. military industrial complex agenda. as the basis of national power. in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps and what could be Myanmar has always been reluctant to bring Nov.