Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — During its 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran embraced the protest cry of “neither East nor West,” rejecting both the U.S. and the Soviet Union, then locked in the Cold War. The phrase to this day hangs over the doors of Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

TEHRAN, Apr 18 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri, yesterday criticised some Arab states for normalising ties with Israel, saying, interactions with Israel can not ensure these countries’ security.

History has proven that aggression and occupation will never lead to order, stability and calm, Bagheri told a meeting with Iranian army commanders, according to the foreign ministry’s website.

Because of its occupying and aggressive nature, Israel has caused insecurity and tensions, he noted.

TEHRAN, Apr 17 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Ehsan Khandouzi, cancelled his trip to attend a World Bank meeting in the United States, due to the “delay” in issuing of U.S. visas.

Following the U.S. government’s delay in issuing visas for the Iranian delegation to the spring summit, Khandouzi cancelled his visit to the United States, local media reported.

TEHRAN, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said Saturday that the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) continues to monitor activities in Iran's nuclear sites, but it has no access to the recorded information in its cameras.

"Monitoring continues, but until a (nuclear) agreement is reached, the information will remain with us and will probably be deleted," Behrooz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the AEOI, was quoted by Iran's Arabic language news network Al-Alam as saying.

1 April 2022; Tehran, IRNA – While Moscow faces increasing Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, Western clothing brands are now expected to be replaced with Iranian ones in the Russian market over a span of three years. According to a proposal made by the Russian Council of Shopping Centers (RCSC), Western clothing brands that have left the Russian market due to sanctions over the country’s military operation in Ukraine could be replaced by Iranian companies that produce leather clothing, shoes, and bags.

16 April 2022; Tehran, IRNA – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday that Iran condemns desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden and expects immediate reaction from the Swedish government.

The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns burning a copy of the Holy Quran in Linköping, Sweden, by a Danish racist, extremist element which was done under the protection of the Swedish police under the pretext of freedom of speech, Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

TEHRAN, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy announced Friday it has seized a vessel in the Gulf waters carrying 250,000 liters of smuggled fuel, the second such seizure during the past days, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The ship's seven crew members have been detained and are undergoing legal interrogation procedures, said Gholam Hossein Hosseini, head of the Public Relations Department of the IRGC's second naval zone.

15 April 2022; MEMO: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday announced its installation of surveillance cameras in a new centrifuge workshop at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility.

The IAEA said in a statement that the "uranium-enriched centrifuges with machines moved there from its now-closed Karaj facility."

"On 13 April 2022, Iran informed the Agency that the machines would start operating at the new workshop the same day," the statement added.

15 April 2022; MEMO: Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, said on Thursday that the Islamic Republic will confront Israel "wherever it feels necessary," the semi-official Nour News Agency reported.

"Wherever we identify a Zionist threat, we will harshly confront them. They are too small to confront us," said Qaani, whose unit is in control of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations, according to Reuters.

12 April 2022; MEMO: Iran's Supreme Leader said, on Tuesday, that his country's future should not be tied to the success or collapse of nuclear talks with world powers, Iranian state media reported, adding that the negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal "are going well", Reuters reports.