Iran

20 Aug 2020; MEMO: The Managing director of Iranian Ports and Maritime Organisation, Mohammad Rastad, said yesterday that Tehran is considering building another oceanic port on the Makran coastal strip on the Gulf of Oman.

Rastad said the project is currently being researched, noting that the new port is distinguished by its proximity to international trade lines which would provide access to deeper waters and allow the reception of major ships.

16 Aug 2020; MEMO: Iran’s president said on Saturday the United States suffered a humiliating defeat with the UN Security Council’s refusal to extend an arms embargo on Tehran, while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the action a “serious mistake”, reported Reuters.

TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces on Sunday urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to reconsider the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel, official IRNA news agency reported.

In a meeting with the commanders of Iran's armed forces and media directors, Mohammad Hossein Baqeri expressed regret over a recent agreement between the UAE and Israel to normalize ties, saying it is "unacceptable" for the UAE to clinch political and economic deal with Israel.

15 Aug 2020; MEMO: Members of an Iranian heavy metal band called Arsames have fled their homeland after they were sentenced to 15 years in prison for playing “Satanic” music.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned a historic deal establishing full diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, calling it a stab in the back to all Muslims, state TV reported Friday.

Iran, in the ministry statement, called the normalizing of ties between the two countries a dangerous, “shameful” measure and warned the UAE against Israel interfering in the “political equations” of the Persian Gulf region.

TEHRAN, Aug 13 (NNN-IRNA) – Senior Iranian officials, said that, the U.S. bid to renew a UN arms embargo against Iran lacks a “legal” basis.

In a telephone conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, Iran’s President Rouhani said, the United States has “no right” to use mechanisms of the landmark Iranian 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), for its objectives.

12 Aug 2020; MEMO: Iran has threatened to respond appropriately and firmly if the arms embargo that has been imposed on it since 2015 is extended. According to government spokesman Ali Rabiei, any resolution that violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231 would be unacceptable and lack compliance with international law.

TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Intelligence Ministry has disbanded five spying teams connected with foreign espionage services and arrested a number of people in this regard, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.

The arrested people "had plans to spy on Iran's nuclear, political, economic, military and infrastructural projects for the U.S. CIA, Israeli Mossad, and the spying services of a number of European countries by employing complicated and diverse intelligence methods," Tasnim quoted an unnamed Iranian Intelligence Ministry official as saying.

10 Aug 2020; MEMO: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has visited the Lebanese Embassy in Tehran to express his condolences following last week’s devastating blast at Beirut Port which has now claimed the lives of 200 people and wounded at least 5,000.

08 Aug 2020; MEMO: To reduce the overwhelming dependence on crude oil exports, which have been hit hard by sanctions, Iran is slowly shifting focus towards petrochemicals, the country’s second-largest export industry, Anadolu Ageny reports.

Three major petrochemical projects worth $1.6 billion were inaugurated on Thursday as part of efforts by the Iran government to boost non-oil revenue at a time when oil exports have plummeted.