Iran

21 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Iranian parliament yesterday voted in favour of amending the presidential election law to allow members of the Expediency Council and the Supreme Council for National Security to run in the presidential elections scheduled for June 2021.

Iran's Tasnim news agency said 151 lawmakers of the 242 who attended yesterday's session voting in favour, 35 against and 14 abstained.

21 Dec 2020; MEMO: Iran has refused to allow any Arab country to participate in any future negotiations on the nuclear deal.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday that the country's nuclear program and the agreement are "a matter of national security, and not a regional file open for negotiations", adding that the inclusion of some Arab countries in any negotiation on the nuclear deal is "rejected".

19 Dec 2020; MEMO: Shop closures and traffic restrictions in Iran will begin earlier on Saturday in an effort to avert a resurgence of coronavirus infections and deaths as Iranians prepare for the Yalda Night winter festival, Reuters reports.

"Let's not gather, so we don't become fewer," President Hassan Rouhani said in televised remarks on Saturday, urging Iranians not to hold extended family gatherings on Yalda Night, or Shab-e Yalda.

17 Dec 2020; MEMO: Iran said on Thursday that around 60,000 nurses have contracted the coronavirus across the country, including 100 of them losing their lives, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to the Iranian ISNA news agency, head of the Nurses Association Mohammad Mirzabeigi said that out of 145,000 nurses across the country, around 60,000 of them have so far contracted the novel coronavirus.

(Reuters) - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Washington’s hostility toward the Islamic Republic would not end when U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office.

“The hostility (against Iran) is not just from Trump’s America, which will not end when he leaves, as (President Barack) Obama’s America also did bad things to ...the Iranian nation,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website.

Astara, Dec 15, IRNA -- A member of the board of directors of the Iran-Russia Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday that trade between the two countries has increased from $ 1.7 billion last year to $ 2.2 billion this year (to end March 20, 2021).

During his visit to the container export hub of agricultural products from Astara port to Astrakhan port, Russia, Jalili Jalalifar said that development of economic ties with neighboring countries is one of Iran's important strategies.

Tehran, Dec 16, IRNA – The JCPOA Joint Commission meeting kicked off today (Wednesday) with the participation of the Iranian delegations and the P4+1 group via videoconference.

The meeting is aimed at examining how to implement the JCPOA to deal with challenges concerning the deal.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi is leading the Iranian delegation in the meeting.

Tehran, Dec 16, IRNA – Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said overcoming the hollow strong image of hegemonic powers through soft power and expelling the US from the region are the harshest blows to be inflicted on enemies.

The Supreme Leader made the remarks here on Wednesday when he received the organizers of a commemoration ceremony on the first martyrdom anniversary of the IRGC Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

16 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Iranian parliament approved the amendment of the presidential election law, whereby anyone who holds a nationality other than the Iranian one or resides in another country, either now or at any time before, is prohibited from running for the presidency.

Of the 239 MPs, 152 voted in favour of amending the presidential election law, 56 voted against and six abstained, some failed to attend the session.

Tehran, Dec15, IRNA – President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that the US sanctioners who had predicted collapse of Iran's economy in a short-term period are now leaving the White House while their dreams did not come true.

President Rouhani made the remarks at an economic session held in Tehran this morning.

Although economic war did create many difficulties, but, ultimately the Iranian nation won the US war and is now more powerful and resistant than any other time, the President noted.