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.13392 Sunday MAY 19, 2019 Ordibehesht 29, 1398 Ramadan 13, 1440 Iran able to defeat It is the U.S. that Yahya Golmohammadi Iranian cinema enemies in ‘doesn’t know named Iran U23 shines at Argentine intelligence war 2 what to think’ 2 football coach 15 labor film festival 16 Iranian, Iraqi businessmen gather See page 2 for Iftar dinner in Baghdad TEHRAN — Officials, businessmen Investment Commission (NIC), as well and entrepreneurs from Iran and Iraq as heads of Iraqi chambers of commerce gathered together for an Iftar dinner in and representatives of private companies Friday evening at the Iranian embassy from both sides were among the event’s in Baghdad, IRNA reported. attendees. Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad As reported, on the sidelines of the Iraj Masjedi, along with the governor of event, the two sides held talks on ways Iraq’s Central Bank Ali al-Alagh and Sami of expanding cooperation in various al-Araji, the chairman of Iraq’s National areas. 4 Over 7,200 villages to be linked with National Information Network TEHRAN — Over 7,200 villages across the Information Society Day (WTISD) is country will be connected to the National annually celebrated on May 17 to help Information Network on the occasion of raise awareness of the possibilities that the World Telecommunication and In- the use of the Internet and ICT can bring formation Society Day, the Information to societies and economies, as well as of and Communication Technology (ICT) ways to bridge the digital divide. Ministry announced, Mehr reported on The internet coverage will expand inter- Saturday. net-based market through providing infra- Plan to smooth The World Telecommunication and structure and ICT development. 11 Syria says its air defenses intercept production ratified several Israeli projectiles TEHRAN — The Syrian army says its air in the Syrian capital, said several loud defense units have brought down sever- explosions were heard near Damascus. al projectiles fired from Israeli-occupied SANA, in a later update, quoted a mil- territories. itary official as saying that the projectiles Syria’s official news agency SANA, came from “the direction of” Syria’s south- citing its correspondent, said that the western province of Quneitra near the Israeli aerial aggression occurred on Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, adding Friday night. that the air defense units had “countered” president.ir Other reports, quoting some residents them. 13 PERSPECTIVE Nigerian army opens fire on protesters demanding release of Zakzaky REPORT Hanif Ghaffari TEHRAN — The Nigerian army has opened fire Zakzaky’s legal team has long called for his Ramin Hossein Abadian Head of the Politics Desk of on protesters demanding the release of top Muslim release, saying he is suffering from health issues Mehr News Agency the TehranTimes cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been that require urgent medical care abroad but the journalist held for four years on trumped-up allegations. state high court in Kaduna has denied the request. Several people were seriously injured after A group of medical experts and consultants, John Bolton’s being shot by soldiers at the rally on Friday night. who conducted health assessments on Zakzaky U.S. faking The protesters were calling for justice for the and his wife earlier this month, suggested that political death leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), the two need to be taken abroad without further insecurity in Iraq: who has been held since December 2015 following delay for treatments. ohn Bolton, U.S. National Securi- a deadly raid by the Nigerian army troops on his The cleric and his wife were unable to attend New strategy to ty Advisor, continues to promote residence in the country’s northern Kaduna State. a court hearing back in March this year, due to war and terror and violence in his push Baghdad into J According to press TV, Sheikh Zakzaky, who dire health conditions, according to their lawyer foreign policy. Bolton’s title is basically is in his mid-sixties, lost his left eyesight in the Femi Falana SAN. tied to crime, war and terror. In George raid. His wife also sustained serious wounds while “My clients are yet to access any form of compliance W. Bush’s presidency, people like Dick more than 300 of his followers and three of his Back in 2016, Nigeria’s federal high court or- medical attention even after the court had or- Cheney and John Bolton have become pparently, the U.S. government sons were killed in the violence. dered his unconditional release from jail following dered so,” he said, referring to a court order the messengers of the White House’s is not going to end its suspicious The cleric has been kept in custody along his a trial but the government has so far refused to on January 22 to avail the cleric and his wife defeat in the world. This time Bolton and hostile actions in Iraq anytime wife and a large number of his followers ever since. set him free. access to medical care. A has also become a messenger for de- soon. These activities have been rapidly feating Trump and the United States in increasing over the last five months, in- the world. The U.S. National Security tensifying pressure on Iraq into yielding Adviser is having difficult days. John to the White House demands. Bolton has not been able to achieve his Iraq will remain part of ‘axis of resistance’ despite foreign plots: al-Kaabi A few months ago, Donald Trump se- goals toward the Islamic Republic of TEHRAN— Iraq’s Harakat al-Nujaba managing a media war against the resistance According to Press TV, last week, during an cretly went to Iraq and visited the American Iran. Many American analysts say the Secretary General Akram al-Kaabi says and are seeking to target our youth and our unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, armed forces based in Ayn al-Asad in the National Security Adviser to the Trump Iraq will remain part of the “axis of resist- moral values,” he added. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Al Anbar province. government has become the symbol of ance” despite foreign-backed attempts to The popular resistance force chief added the Iraqi government to restrain the country’s This visit clearly was an act of under- the White House’s failure in the inter- detach the Iraqi society from the regional that it was unfortunate that some of “Iraq’s popular mobilization and anti-terror forces, mining the Iraqi national authority; it national system. developments. elite and leaders” had been influenced by this saying that they posed a “threat” to U.S. in- violated the standard politic rules and Bolton’s story is a sad story for Amer- “Our enemies want Iraq to be an apathetic foreign-backed trend. terests. regulations and greatly offended Iraqi of- ican citizens! He is today a symbol of society and not react to what is happening “If our positions are based on the enemy’s Washington has also notified Iraqi officials ficials. It induced strong reactions from the embarrassment of all Americans. in our region. This goes against our beliefs,” media objectives, this will surely deviate us,” that U.S. may even directly attack the groups different parties and political coalitions in Bolton was one of the influential officials said al-Kaabi. he said. without coordinating with Baghdad if it per- Iraq, each releasing separate statements in the country since the start of the war Al-Kaabi stressed that based on Islam- The Harakat al-Nujaba leader made ceived any threat. and requesting the immediate expulsion in Iraq in 2003, by the George Walker ic beliefs, Iraq can’t be separated from the the statements as the United States has Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Iraqi of U.S. troops. Bush administration until 2008 (when greater Muslim world and the regional “re- recently ratcheted up pressure seeking Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi dismissed Such derogatory actions were repeated the neocons in the United States were at sistance axis”. to hamper efforts of a unified front coun- the comments, saying that Iraq had not ob- by Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State the head of the political and executive “Major organizations affiliated with the Zi- tering foreign intervention and terrorism served “movements that constitute a threat who made an unannounced visit to Iraq. equations of the country). Bolton and onists, the United States and the Saudis are in the region. to any side.” 13 En route to Baghdad, Pompeo told his entourage have repeatedly become reporters “I wanted to go to Baghdad to the symbol of the failure of the United speak with the leadership there, to assure States in the West Asia region.However, them that we stood ready to continue to Bolton’s defeat in the United States is ensure that Iraq is a sovereign, indepen- now far broader! John Bolton, the U.S. Community dent nation.” National Security Adviser, continues his It seems that Pompeo was trying to anti-Iranian negotiations in various suggest that Iran is the one who is a threat fields. In recent months, he has been Iftar at to Iraq independence and national sov- busy discussing the presence of Iran in ereignty! Syria and, on the other hand, engaging Tehran’s Imam U.S. actions in Iraq doesn’t stop here. in negotiations with other countries over Many Arab media have now exposed how Iran’s sanctions.