Tehran did not allow U.S. Armenia to ease Iran’s Faghani selected Photo exhibit chronicles 21112to use its airspace against 4 Iran’s access to global to officiate Olympic military operation NATION Taliban in 2001: legislator ECONOMY markets: envoy SPORTS football final ART& CULTURE againstgainst Daesh in SSyria WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y Turkish FM pays surprise visit to Iran 2 12 Pages Price 10,000 Rials 38th year No.12628 Saturday AUGUST 20, 2016 Mordad 30, 1395 Dhi Al Qaeda 17, 1437 Turkey likely to review ONGC to ties with S. Arabia: Iran says military clout at finalize talks Georgetown professor on Iranian gas Shireen Hunter believes Erdogan’s service of resistance front project by end visit to Russia was made necessary by economic factors POLITICS TEHRAN — Defense front, noting it equips the front with a mus- in the service of our armed forces, but at of Sept. deskMinister Hossein De- cle much more powerful than that of the the disposal of the resistance front…,” said EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW hqan said on Friday that Iran’s military enemy. Hossein Dehqan, addressing thousands ECONOMY TEHRAN — Talks By Javad Heirannia desk arsenal is at the service of the resistance “The (military) capabilities are not only of Friday prayers in Tehran. 2 with India’s Oil and TEHRAN - Shireen Tahmaasb Hunter, a professor of po- Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on litical science at Georgetown University, tells the Tehran the development of Farzad-B off- Times that Turkey might “reconsider its relations with some shore gas field are underway and the Arab states, including Saudi Arabia” in the wake of the final agreement is set to be made by failed July 15 coup. the end of September, the managing Hunter also says the visit of Turkish President Recep director of Pars Oil and Gas Compa- Tayyip Erdogan to Russia was a victory for Vladimir Putin Kimia Alizadeh ny (POGC), Ali-Akbar Shabanpour, as “Erdogan had to apologize for the dawning of Russian said. airplane and the killing of the pilot.” wins Iran’s first After a meeting between POGC of- Erdogan has criticized the West for what he viewed ficials and those from ONGC, Shaban- as tepid support after some military officers seized com- woman Olympic pour said that expert teams of the two bat aircraft and fired on parliament and protesters, killing companies will continue studies to more than 250 people. medal reach the final agreement within the During his visit to Russia on August 9 the Turkish leader next 45 days, Shana news agency re- ported on Thursday. repeatedly thanked Putin for his rapid offer of aid follow- SPORTS Rio de Janeiro — Kimia Al- The POGC managing director ing the coup attempt. Erdogan also called for relations deskizadeh claimed the first ever noted that during the Thursday between the two countries to return “to their pre-crisis Olympic medal by an Iranian woman in Rio meeting, which followed the visit level, or even higher.” on Friday. paid by Indian Minister of Petrole- However Hunter says, “It is very unlikely that Turkey will Alizadeh, 18, defeated Sweden’s Nikita um and Gas Dharmendra Pradhan change its basic WesternWes orientation.” Glasnovic 5-1 in the under-57kg division to to Iran in early April and his ne- FoFollowingllowing is tthehe text the interview: win the historic medal. gotiations with Iranian Oil Minister PresidentPresident Erdogan has an- “I am so happy for Iranian girls because Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on the nnouncedounced that he plans to make it is the first medal, and I hope at the next project, the Indian company’s pro- ssomeome changeschanges ini the Turkish foreign Olympics we will get a gold,” said Aliza- posed “financial investment mod- ppolicy.olicy. What could be the chang- deh, who wears a head covering under her Mehdi Zare el” was investigated in presence of ees?s? headguard. A: It is very unlikely that See page 11 the director of the Investment and TuTurkey r k e y will change its basic Business Department of National WesWesternte orientation. Iranian Oil Company and experts of the two sides. See page 9 Times/ Tehran 4 Israel sponsors ‘Tehran favors good ties with regional states’ ARTICLE By Gary Lewis concerts by Persian POLITICS TEHRAN — The Iranian For- Qassemi’s comments came as Kuwaiti Parlia- “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always sought musicians in Antalya: deskeign Ministry said on Friday ment Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim told Asharq stability, security and progress for its neighboring UN Resident Coordinator that Tehran prioritizes good ties with neighbor- Al-Awsat in an interview that Kuwait and other countries based on its principled policy,” he added. in Iran Iranian singer ing and regional countries. Persian Gulf littoral states are interested in ex- He said Iran welcomes any practical action “Undoubtedly, good relations with the neigh- panding ties with Iran. and behavior which is based on good will and ex- ARTTEHRAN — Rahim desk bors and the regional countries is the priority of Qassemi said that Iran and its neighbors pressed hope that some countries’ “unconstruc- We are succeeding in Shahriari, the Iranian the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy,” minis- have great capacities for political and economic tive” policies would not have negative influence singer who performs in Azerbaijani, try spokesman Bahram Qassemi said. relations and countering terrorism. on the governments’ will to establish relations. our path to reaching has said that all the Persian music con- certs annually organized in Antalya, a “One Humanity” tourist resort in southwest Turkey, are Iran’s tourism sector growing, but is it enough? being supported by Israel. By Maysam Bizær n today’s world of regional conflict safe to visit, and another major advantage for Iran’s high unemployment rate, as these devel- and disaster, more than 130 million ndowed with ancient history and rich the nation’s tourism industry is that the World opments prompted the administration to look I people are dependent on human- Ecultural treasures, Iran is among the Economic Forum found the country to be the for new sources of income. Rouhani’s moderate itarian assistance simply in order to top 20 countries in terms of the high- world’s cheapest tourism destination in 2015. policies and efforts to improve relations with survive. est number of tourism attractions. From the However, ever since the 1979 Islamic Revo- the West, which ultimately resulted in the his- Around the world, there are brave world-renowned 2,500-year-old ruins of Perse- lution, pilgrims en route to holy Shia sites have toric deal on Iran’s nuclear program in 2015, women and men who follow their hu- polis to the archaeological mounds in Susa and constituted the lion’s share of foreign tourists. have all been fruitful for the tourism sector. manitarian impulse to go to the aid of Meymand villages, Iran is home to 21 UNES- The war with Iraq in the 1980s followed by Figures released by the Iranian Cultural Her- their fellow human beings. Every day, CO-designated World Heritage sites; the latter years of political isolation over its nuclear pro- itage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization they are prepared to face danger – two were added to this list a year ago. gram also contributed to major underinvest- (CHTHO) show that 4.8 million foreign tourists and to meet – and resist – adversity. Speaking at a press conference in Contrary to many of its neighbors in the Per- ment in Iran’s tourism sector. visited the country in 2013, almost 25% high- Tehran on Thursday, he said that major August 19th is designated as World sian Gulf region, Iran enjoys a highly diverse cul- The Iranian tourism industry began to ex- er than the corresponding figure for 2012. In Humanitarian Day (WHD). concerts in Turkey are organized by ture as it is home to many different ethnic and re- perience a rebirth after Hassan Rouhani was 2014, Iran hosted more than 5 million foreign GEM TV, a Persian-language enter- This is the day when we honour ligious groups. It is also among the countries that elected president in July 2013. His administra- tourists, bringing in some $7.5 billion in reve- – specifically – all humanitarian aid tainment satellite channel with head- enjoy four genuine seasons, giving every visitor tion has taken steps to fulfill its election promise nues. Moreover, last year, official figures put the quarters located in Dubai. workers. These are our sisters and the chance to choose from a wide range of activi- to boost tourism. This may have been facilitat- number of incoming tourists at more than 5.2 brothers who stand in the front lines of Israeli companies sponsor the ties and tastes. Iran is considered to be generally ed by the sudden fall of oil prices along with million, generating over $8 billion. 5 concerts to draw Iranian concertgo- war and disaster. These are the peo- ers to Antalya, a favorite destination ple who, day-in-day-out, face danger of Iranian tourists over the past dec- Average precipitation in Iran satisfactory in current water year: official to help those affected by natural dis- ade, Shahriari said during the press SOCIETY TEHRAN — Iran’s average above average rainfalls, he added. asters or complex emergencies. These conference that he organized to brief deskprecipitation has been sat- Referring to the past 30 years regarding are the people who sometimes, lay the media about his tour of Iran set to isfactory so far over the current water year Iran’s condition Fateh stated that “what hap- down their lives to help others.