IRAN on Saturday started ceremonies of commemorating the 33rd anniversary of the demise of late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, in the presence of senior Iranian officials and other officials from various countries of the world
‘Imam Khomeini was the spirit of the Iranian Islamic Republic, and therefore, introducing his figure to the younger generation is important to help them manage the country wisely in the future’, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said in a speech during the ceremonies.
He added that this generation, which is expected to address the national responsibilities in managing the country’s affairs in the future, needs a real mechanism in order to continue the march in a correct way.
Khamenei said that the enemies are seeking to pit the Iranian people against their government and the Islamic establishment but all to no avail.
The leader said Western countries mainly pin their hopes on the popular protests in order to overthrow the Islamic Republic.
‘By launching psychological warfare, recruiting mercenaries, and staging media campaigns against Iran, they attempt to set people against the Islamic establishment,’ he said.
However, the Leader noted the enemy is making miscalculations as they did before by erroneously believing that they can cause public dissent in the country.
He said the enemy makes these mistakes as they get ‘wrong advice’ from ‘Iranian traitors’ who say: ‘Count on the Iranian people to rise up against the Islamic establishment.’
Ayatollah Khamenei said the Iranians’ interest in the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic establishment is growing day by day, citing the funeral procession held for Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.
He also underlined that the West has plundered nations all the way from Asia to Africa and South America for the last three centuries.
Ayatollah Khamenei also emphasised the enemy’s lies, deceptions, and psychological warfare must be exposed.
He touched upon the recent illegal seizure of an Iranian oil tanker by Greece and the confiscation of its oil by the US, praising Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for retaliating Athens’ act of piracy.
Days after the Iranian oil tanker was captured by Greece in its territorial waters, the IRGC naval forces seized two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf over violations.
The leader said that the enemy has ‘accused Iran of stealing’ in their media campaigns, however, ‘taking back what is stolen from you is not called stealing, you are the real thieves.’
In a speech last Friday night, Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, said that Imam Khomeini had always relied on people and believed in them, as well as he had cared for the weak and the deprived, and he had always confronted the colonialism and arrogance.
The mottos invoked by the US to carry out its conspiracy schemes against Syria are merely lies, said the former Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, stressing Iran is consistent with supporting Syria against all those schemes.
In an interview with SANA’s correspondent in Moscow on Friday, Haddad Adel condemned the aggressive act of the US forces in Syria, which is accompanied by the failure of the mottos of freedom and human rights, that proved to be futile and cannot be passed onto the Syrians who knew civilisation development before the birth of these countries.
‘The Syrian people, with their steadfastness in the face of the US and Atlantic aggression and their aides, are able to achieve their independence, freedom and sovereignty,’ he underscored.
Haddad Adel expressed confidence that Syrians will also overcome all difficulties.
Just as the US forces fled from Afghanistan, they will also withdraw with a lot of shame and disgrace from Syria, he said affirming Iran’s firm support for Syria and its people in the face of Western conspiracies.
Earlier, Head of National Security and Foreign Policy Committee at the Iranian Shura Council, Vahid Jalalzadeh, had also reiterated his country’s support to Syria, saying that it will go forwards with this support.
In an interview with Iranian al-Alam TV channel last Thursday, Jalalzadeh expressed Iran’s desire to continue boosting trade with Syria and Iraq.
On the nuclear negotiations with the West, Jalalzadeh referred to Iranian government’s decision to continue the negotiations.
He added that negotiations have made progress with Europeans and preliminary approvals have been reached, but Tehran has conditioned the implementation of its commitments to the return of the American side to its pledges in full.
Jalalzadeh added that the exchange of letters between Iran and Washington continued through the EU coordinator.
‘America’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal has assured us that safeguards do not work,’ he said.
Jalalzadeh stressed that, over the course of the nuclear negotiations, Iran had proved itself to be the most compliant state in international law and that IAEA would not reach any conclusion through pressure.
- The 31st General Conference of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned assaults by the US-backed separatist Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia against journalists in Syria, demanded it abolish these violations and to release the correspondent of the Syrian Al-Ekhbariya channel, Muhammad Al-Saghir immediately along with fadhel Hammad and Khaled al-Hasan.
The General Conference called on the SDF’s militia to immediately release al-Saghir, holding it fully responsible for his life and for violating freedom of expression, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
The General Conference called on international human rights and humanitarian organisations to exercise pressure on the SDF militia to release him immediately. It also sent a message of greeting and solidarity with Syrian journalists who are facing violence and terrorism because of their professional work.
Meanwhile, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that the European Union insists once again on repeating lies about the situation in Syria and that is completely disconnected from reality.
The European Union ignores the positive developments that the country has witnessed, particularly the great achievements in the fight against terrorism, the consolidation of stability, the expansion of national reconciliations, and the settlement of legal status of many citizens through amnesty decrees , an official source at the Ministry said in a statement last Friday.
The sources added that the EU remains a prisoner of the past due to its blind dependence on US policy, the loss of independence of its decisions and its full involvement in the aggression against Syria.
The source indicated that the European Union and United States bear full responsibility for the suffering of the Syrians as a result of the illegal unilateral coercive measures.
The sources noted that Syria, whose people and army confronted the terrorists and their supporters, will not be deterred by the miserable positions of the European Union and will manage to overcome the repercussions of the aggression on Syria and rebuild what was destroyed by terrorism.
- Tal Tamer town and its villages in Hasaka countryside witnessed a black-out as Turkish occupation forces shelled the 66 KV line that supply the electricity station on Saturday, according to a SANA reporter.
Director-General of Electricity company in Hasaka, Anwar Akla, told SANA that the Turkish occupation forces fired artillery shells on Um al-Keif village, damaging the 66 KV line that supplies Tal Tamer station, leading to a complete blackout.
He added the company is set to send technical staff to repair the damage as soon as possible.
Material damage occurred to the civilians’ homes and properties due to several rocket-propelled shells fired by the Turkish occupation-backed terrorist organisations and targeted al-Berka village, northwest of Hama.
‘Al-Berka village in Hama countryside came under three shells’ attack this evening. The attack caused damage to several homes, public and private properties,’ a source at Hama Police Command told a SANA reporter.
The SANA reporter, quoting the source, indicated that the rockets were launched from the southern outskirts of Jisr al-Shughur in Idlib countryside, where terrorist groups affiliated with the so-called ‘Turkistan Islamic Party’ are deployed.
Turkish occupation forces and their terrorist mercenaries attacked a number of villages in the northern countryside of Raqqa.
Local sources told SANA that the Turkish occupation-backed terrorist groups on Friday launched artillery on the village of Al-Dibs and its surroundings in the countryside of Ayn Issa town, causing material damage to homes, properties and agricultural lands.
The sources pointed out that the Turkish occupation aircraft have flown over Raqqa city since dawn, while the occupation’s drones continue their spy flights.
The Turkish occupation and its mercenaries bombarded areas in Ayn Issa area and the village of Qazali, west of the city of Tal Abyad in Raqqa northern countryside, and attacked the villages of Umm Harmala and Dada Abdul Shamal, and the town of Abu Rasin in the north western countryside of Hasaka, destroying residential homes and causing damage to infrastructure.
