Iran

TEHRAN, Jan 23 (NNN-TASNIM) – New Iranian satellite, Zafar, will be sent into orbit in a few weeks, the Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, announced on Wednesday.

Jahromi said, Zafar will be launched before Feb 11.

Two versions of Zafar have been manufactured, so that if the first launch fails, the second satellite will be immediately prepared as a replacement, he was quoted as saying.

The new satellite will be sent into space with the Iranian Simorgh satellite carrier, he added.

TEHRAN, Jan 22 (NNN-ONA) – Oman Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, arrived in Iran’s capital Tehran on Tuesday, for talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, over a number of issues, Khabar Fouri news website reported.

The Omani minister will discuss regional, international and bilateral ties with Zarif, Khabar Fouri said.

Abdullah’s unannounced visit comes amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.

TEHRAN, Jan 22 (NNN-PRESS TV) – Iran asked the French and U.S. accident investigation agencies, the BEA and NTSB respectively, for the equipment to decode the black box of the crashed Ukrainian plane.

The latest report by Iran’s civil aviation agency noted that, two Tor-M1 missiles were fired at the airliner from the north, and how the projectiles contributed to the crash were still under investigation.

21 Jan 2019; MEMO: Iran has expressed its intention to file charges against the US President Donald Trump at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague over the January 3 assassination of its top commander Qassem Soleimani.

“We intend to file lawsuits in the Islamic Republic, Iraq and The Hague Court against the military and government of America and against Trump,” Iran’s judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaeili, said during a press conference last week.

21 Jan 2019; MEMO: Iran said on Monday it could quit the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if European countries refer it to the UN Security Council over a nuclear agreement, a move that would overturn diplomacy in its confrontation with the West, reports Reuters.

TEHRAN, Jan 21(NNN-ISNA) – Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif will not attend the 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi announced on Monday.

Speaking to reporters at his weekly press conference, Mousavi said Zarif was scheduled to attend the Davos meeting, but “they abruptly changed the schedule despite the primary planning and the official invitation.”

Therefore, Zarif will not participate in the forum in Davos, the spokesman said.

TEHRAN, Jan 21 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed shortly after takeoff in the Iranian capital on Jan 8, was hit by two short-range TOR-M1 missiles, Iranian state IRIB TV reported today.

“Two TOR-M1 missiles were launched from the northern side at this plane,” the TV said, citing the latest report by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation.

“The way how the missiles caused the incident and the analysis of this measure is under study,” the report said.

TEHRAN, Jan 19 (NNN-IRNA) – The black box of the passenger plane which crashed over Tehran’s airspace earlier this month, will be sent to Ukraine for reading of the data, an official in Iran’s Aviation Organisation, said.

“The black box cannot be read in Iran, and following request by the Ukrainians, it will be sent to Ukraine,” said Hassan Rezaeefar, director of Incident Investigation of Iran’s Aviation Organisation.

TEHRAN, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday said that the U.S. assassination of Iran's Quds commander Qassem Soleimani was a "cowardice act" which hurts the U.S. superpower prestige.

During his Friday prayers sermon, Khamenei said the Americans could not face Soleimani in the battlefield and hit him "furtively."

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)'s missiles shower on the U.S. bases in Iraq was also a military "strike" on the U.S., he said.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader lashed out at Western countries as he led Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time in eight years, dismissing “American clowns” who he said pretend to support the Iranian nation but want to stick their “poisoned dagger” into its back.