Iran

18 Oct 2020; MEMO: The head of the Iranian Commission of National-Security and Foreign-Policy, Mojtaba Zonnour, asked support from members of parliament to begin a dismissal investigation of President Hassan Rouhani, Anadolu Agency reports.

Zonnour made the request by claiming Rouhani is responsible for the problems in Iran.

He said studies for Rouhani’s dismissal is still underway.

Tehran, Oct 16, IRNA -- Special aide on International affairs to the Iranian parliament speaker Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday that one of the characteristics of today's world is that the US is no longer an empire to create world order because it is facing many problems at home and abroad and is collapsing to zero.

Tehran, Oct 17, IRNA – Iran's Ambassador to China Mohammad Keshavarzzadeh in a Twitter message described Foreign Minister Mohmmad Javad Zarif's trip to Beijing as a timely accelerator to the comprehensive leadership partnership.

Zarif's visit has received millions of reflections in the Chinese public opinion despite some analysis, he said.

Following the close consultations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and China, foreign minister left for China on Friday, October 9, to meet with Wang Yi, a member of the State Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China.

TEHRAN, 0ct 16 (NNN-IRNA) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a telephone conversation with his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Thursday voiced his country’s readiness to help achieve sustainable peace and solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh region dispute within the framework of a regional initiative by Iran, Turkey and Russia, and the Minsk Group.

During the phone talk, the Azeri foreign minister elaborated on the latest battlefield developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

16 Oct 2020; MEMO: Iran and the US will reach a new deal to exchange prisoners ahead of the US presidential elections slated for November, the Jadeh Iran news site reported.

The site quoted sources stating that the deal would also include freeing $7 billion of Iran’s frozen funds by Washington.

13 Oct 2020; MEMO: The Iranian Foreign Ministry yesterday welcomed two proposals for dialogue with Gulf states under the auspices of Russia and China.

TEHRAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Judiciary's High Council for Human Rights has urged the world to oppose U.S. "crimes" of embargoes barring Iranians' access to medical and humanitarian supplies.

"The enforcement and intensification of unjust, illegal and inhumane embargoes by the U.S. regime ... have not only caused problems for Iran's normal economic, financial and banking relations, but also made purchase of medicines, diagnostic kits and laboratory equipment practically impossible," the council said on Sunday in a statement, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

10 Oct 2020; MEMO: The Iranian rial fell to a new low against the US dollar on Saturday as the economy reels under pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic and US sanctions.

The dollar was selling for as much as 304,300 rials on the unofficial market, up from 295,940 on Friday, according to the foreign exchange site Bonbast.com.

The economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad’s website gave the dollar rate as 303,300, up 6,000 rials from Friday.

10 Oct 2020; MEMO: Downplaying the impact of new US sanctions on Iranian banks, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Friday said the move is a “political propaganda” to appease domestic audience in the US, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to the head of Iran’s Central Bank, Rouhani struck a defiant tone, saying the new US sanctions targeting Iranian financial institutions “cannot break the resistance of Iranians”.

(Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday called new U.S. sanctions on Iran’s banks an attempt to prevent purchases of medicine and food, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

“The President called the U.S. effort to create serious obstacles for fund transfers for the supply of medicine and food cruel, terrorist and inhumane,” IRIB said.