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.13566 Sunday DECEMBER 29, 2019 Dey 8, 1398 Jumada Al Awwal 2, 1441 Iran against World lives in Jahanbakhsh scores Persian bookstores to creating buffer zone post-West era, first ever goal receive “Letters from in Syria 2 Iran says 3 for Brighton 15 Ludwig Wittgenstein” 16 Over $9.4b paid for development projects in 9 months TEHRAN — Head of Iran’s Budget and northeastern province of South Khoras- Planning Organization (BPO) said the gov- an, Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht said: ernment has paid 395 trillion rials (over “Based on the statistics for the last $9.4 billion) for financing development nine months, we have paid 35 trillion ‘Marine Security projects across the country in the first nine tomans [350 trillion rials] for various months of the current Iranian calendar development projects throughout the year (March 21-December 22). country and thousands of billions more Speaking in a ceremony for inau- will be paid in the coming months”, guration of a housing project in the ILNA reported. 4 See page 2 Belt’ drill Ongoing Iran-China-Russia wargame not the last one: commander TEHRAN — The deputy Army command- remarks came in a news-analytic con- er for coordination affairs announced on ference to explain the specifications of Saturday that it will not be the last time the large-scale drill. that Iran, China and Russia will hold a The joint military exercise is viewed joint military exercise. by some analysts as a show of power and Iran, Russia and China started a naval solidarity between Iran and the great wargame, codenamed “Marine Security powers of China and Russia in the face Belt”, in the Sea of Oman in the Sea of of pressure by Washington. Oman and the north of the Indian Ocean on Some media in Iran referred to the Friday morning that will last for four days. war game as a “show of power by the Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari’s Easterners”. 2 Japanese protest plan to send Maritime Force to Middle East By staff & agencies participating in a U.S.-led coalition, Japanese protest in front of the prime is seen as a “product of compromise” minister’s office in Tokyo on Dec. 27, by experts. against the government’s plan to send In the weeks leading up to the govern- Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel ment’s formal approval for the dispatch to the Middle East, Kyodo News reported on Friday, Tokyo had to play a delicate on Saturday. balancing act between avoiding tensions Erfan Khoshkhoo Japan’s decision to send its navy with its longtime ally Washington and to the Middle East for informa- maintaining its traditionally friendly ties ISNA/ tion-gathering activities, instead of with Tehran. 13 ARTICLE New Iraqi election law: Mechanisms that have changed ARTICLE Ebrahim Fallahi By Ramin Hossein abadian (I) Definitions and purposes; (II) The right to According to the articles, the new election law Martin Love Tehran Times journalist After lots of arguments, the Iraqi parliament elect; (III) The right to nominate; (IV) Electoral allows voters to vote for specific candidates instead Political analyst from finally approved the new electoral law. Iraqi par- districts; (V) Electoral system; (VI) Voter resig- of party lists, with each candidate representing an North Carolina liamentarians approved all the articles of the new nation; (VII) Electoral campaign; (VIII) Judicial electoral district than a province. Therefore, experts election law on Tuesday by holding a meeting. rules (IX) General rules. believe that the approval of the articles will increase Promoting CNG as The law consists of 50 articles that were The fact is that the most important and the chances of individuals to run for parliament. Let the ICC do what the national fuel, passed and agreed upon by all the members of prominent features of the new electoral law lie Under the law, the country will be divided it alleges it will the parliament. in Articles 15 and 16. What these articles refer into various electoral districts based on the data to is in fact a development in electoral mecha- provided by the Ministry of Planning, and Ira- This is while that, previously, Iraqi parliamen- he sole country that truly is a threat challenges and nisms, which did not exist before, but now, with qi voters elect individual lawmakers instead of tarians had passed just some parts and articles to peace in the Middle East, as the the passage of the new law, will be applied to all choosing from party lists, and have each member merits of the law. Now, by passage of the new election world ought to realize by now, is law, some previous mechanisms in the election future elections. Experts and observers in the of parliament represent a certain electoral dis- T Israel. The only country in the Middle Iraqi political scene refer to Articles 15 and 16 trict instead of groups of legislators representing ollowing the implementation of have been removed and replaced with new ones. East that might benefit in ANY way from as the “spirit of the new law”. entire provinces. 13 the gasoline rationing scheme, the The law consists of nine chapters, as follows: another war is Israel, in part because Fgovernment has been promoting the it seems to thrive on warfare. War or use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as the threat of it, in the Zionist mentality, a replacement for gasoline, and has de- Libyan official: Turkish troops unwanted, destabilizing permits maintenance of its territorial clared the mentioned fuel as the country’s Turkey’s willingness to dispatch troops to Libya United Nations-supported but weak adminis- phone call last week, told reporters on Saturday expansions and human rights crimes national fuel. is “unacceptable” and such a move would con- tration of Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj is based. that a “proxy war in Libya” would, “instead of against the Palestinians and war crimes It has been said that people have also stitute unwanted meddling in the affairs of a Turkey has signed maritime and agreements stabilizing” the North African country across the against others (given the de facto backing been welcoming CNG after the rationing friendly country, the speaker of the north African with the Libyan government that controls the Mediterranean from Italy, only aggravate the by Israel’s benefactor, the U.S., and the because of the rise in gasoline prices and country’s parliament said Saturday. capital, Tripoli, and some of the country’s west. “incredible fragmentation” there. Trump Administration). since, being a cheaper fuel, CNG seems a According to the state-run Cyprus News Agency, The military deal allows Ankara to dispatch Conte called for stepped-up diplomatic pressure It certainly seems, at least, that as more affordable fuel for most of the people Aguila Saleh said in a joint statement with his Cypriot military experts and personnel, along with weap- to push for a political solution, and said Italian much as the Zionists would like to with lower income ranges. counterpart that Turkey’s actions are ratcheting ons, despite a UN arms embargo that has been Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio might soon return start another war, especially on Iran In theory, replacing gasoline with up tensions and destabilizing the wider region. violated by other international actors. to Libya to push Italy’s determination to work and its allies, that there is no other natural gas, which is a cleaner and more Saleh and Cypriot parliamentary speaker Dem- Turkey contends the maritime agreement gives for a “cessation of hostilities.” polity in the Middle East that stands accessible fuel in Iran, seems a very prac- etris Syllouris also reiterated their condemnation it economic rights to a large swath of the eastern “We can’t accept any military escalation,” the to benefit in any way from further war tical and beneficial plan, however, just of a maritime border agreement that Turkey signed Mediterranean sea. Greece, Cyprus and Egypt Italian premier said at a year-end news conference. in the region, and of course it is mar- like any other large-scale program im- with Libya’s Tripoli-based government - but which have denounced the deal as legally invalid as it Sarraj is battling an offensive launched in ginally questionable whether Israel plementing such a scheme on a national hasn’t been ratified, as necessary, by the Libyan encroaches on their maritime borders. April by the rival government based in eastern itself would benefit, especially if it level requires great preparation in terms parliament - as a “flagrant violation of international In Rome, asked about a possible Turkish Libya and forces loyal to commander Gen. Khalifa did not have American participation, of infrastructure and education. law that’s devoid of any legal basis.” military action in Libya in support of Serraj’s Hifter, who is trying to take Tripoli. and there is at least a small chance ***The rationing scheme On a surprise visit to Tunisia, Turkey’s Pres- forces, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said he The fighting has threatened to plunge Libya that it might not for a variety of both As one of the world’s energy-reach ident Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated that his had tried to discourage any attempt at a military into violence rivaling the 2011 conflict that ousted domestic and foreign policy reasons in countries, Iran also holds the title for the county would evaluate sending soldiers to Libya solution for Libya. and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi.