Iran

01 July 2020; MEMO: Iran’s appeals court has confirmed a five-year prison sentence for Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah on security charges, the judiciary’s official Mizan news agency reported on Tuesday.

Adelkhah was sentenced in May to a total of six years in prison. She denied the charges and her lawyer said at the time that she would appeal against the sentence.

TEHRAN, July 1 (NNN-IRNA) – At least 19 people were killed, in an explosion at a clinic, in the northern district of Iran’s capital Tehran, on Tuesday, said Jalal Maleki, spokesman for the Firefighting Organisation of Tehran.

Maleki told the media that, 15 of the dead were women and four were men.

In the explosion, six other people were injured, he said.

Also, 20 people who were trapped in the building at the time of the explosion were rescued by firefighters, he added.

(Reuters) - The shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran in January was due to human error and not an order from senior military authorities, the military prosecutor for Tehran province, Gholam Abbas Torki, said on Monday, Tasnim news agency reported.

There was no indication that the downing of the airliner, which killed all 176 people aboard, was due to a cyber attack on Iran’s missile or air defence systems, Torki said, adding that three people were under arrest related to the accident.

Tehran, June 27, IRNA - Flights between Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) returned to normal, Iran's Embassy in Abu Dhabi announced on Saturday.

Iranian airlines can directly make their demands and receive permission from the UAE, the Embassy said through a statement.

After following-up measures taken by the Iranian Embassy, permission has been given to fly Dubai to operate flights from Iran to UAE.

Passengers should see https://smartservices.ica.gov.ae to get coronavirus test before flying, according to Iranian Embassy.

28 June 2020; MEMO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that his country is experiencing its toughest year because of U.S. sanctions coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reports.

The coronavirus crisis has exacerbated economic problems that worsened after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 from Iran’s nuclear deal with major powers and reimposed sanctions. On Monday, Iran’s rial currency fell to its lowest ever level against the U.S. dollar.

TEHRAN, June 26 (Xinhua) -- A gas tank exploded in a public area of Parchin, east of capital Tehran, on early Friday, a defense ministry official told IRNA news agency.

The explosion did not affect a nearby military base in Parchin district, said Davood Abdi, head of the defense ministry's public relations office.

The fire was brought under control and no casualties had been reported, he said, adding that the cause of the blast is under investigation.

TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's Parliament on Tuesday approved a plan to stop Iran's "voluntary" implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), semi-official Fars news agency reported.

23 June 2020; MEMO: Iran said its relationship with the UAE has improved and it is ready for dialogue with Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reported a top Iranian military official saying yesterday.

The news channel reported Yahya Safavi, the adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader for military affairs, saying: “Our relationship with the UAE has improved and Abu Dhabi’s attitudes towards us have changed.”

TEHRAN, June 23 (NNN-IRNA) – Three international drug trafficking gangs were disbanded, in Iran’s capital city of Tehran, Police Commander, Hossein Rahimi, said on Monday.

In the police operation, over 1,000 kg of narcotics were seized, and 27 illicit drug traffickers were arrested, Rahimi was quoted as saying.

Rahimi said that Iran is always in danger of importing illicit drugs to the country, because of its proximity to Afghanistan.

TEHRAN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's international forward Karim Ansarifard will leave Qatari football club Al-Sailiya at the end of the season, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

The 30-year-old striker joined Al-Sailiya from English second tier outfit Nottingham Forest in July 2019 on a one-and-a-half-year contract.

Ansarifard has been reportedly linked with a move to Iran's Persepolis.