Archive for the ‘Iran’ Category

Iran’s Ahmadinejad joins Twitter despite ban – The Guardian

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tweeted: In the name of God Peace be upon all the freedom loving people of the world. Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/AP

Irans hardline former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become the latest political figure to join Twitter, despite having been instrumental in getting it banned in the country.

One of Ahmadinejads first tweets from his personal account was a video in which he called on people to follow him at @Ahmadinejad1956.

In the name of God Peace be upon all the freedom loving people of the world, he wrote in English.

The Twitter biography reads: Husband, dad, grandfather, university professor, president, mayor, proud Iranian.

Despite the service being blocked for ordinary citizens, many of Irans top officials tweet regularly, including the president, Hassan Rouhani, and the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Even the office of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, maintains accounts in several languages.

Iranian users who can get round the restrictions using privacy software were quick to point out the irony that Twitter was banned after mass protests against Ahmadinejads re-election in 2009.

The protests, which came after accusations of election-rigging, were considered the first time in the world the service was used to promote and organise demonstrations, and earned the nickname the Twitter revolution.

Twitter and other social media sites would go on to play a significant role in protests around the Middle East during the Arab spring a couple of years later.

Ahmadinejad, who was president from 2005 to 2013, has been pushing for a return to frontline politics in the run-up to the presidential election in May.

However, his erratic and insubordinate style saw him fall out with the conservative establishment during his time as president, and Khamenei advised him last year against running again.

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Iran's Ahmadinejad joins Twitter despite ban - The Guardian

Netanyahu to meet Putin, says Iran seeks permanent foothold in Syria – Reuters

JERUSALEM Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday to voice opposition to what the Israeli leader charged were Iran's attempts to establish a permanent military foothold in Syria.

"In the framework of a (future peace agreement) or without one, Iran is attempting to base itself permanently in Syria - either through a military presence on the ground or a naval presence - and also through a gradual attempt to open a front against us on the Golan Heights," Netanyahu told his cabinet in public remarks on Sunday.

"I will express to President Putin Israel's vigorous opposition to this possibility," he said.

Iran, Israel's arch-enemy, has been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's staunchest backer and has provided militia fighters to help him.

Russia, also Assad's ally, is seen as holding the balance of power in achieving a deal on Syria's future. In Geneva on Friday, the first U.N.-led Syria peace talks in a year ended without a breakthrough.

Israeli leaders have pointed to Tehran's steadily increasing influence in the region during the six-year-old Syrian conflict, whether via its own Revolutionary Guard forces or Shi'ite Muslim proxies, especially Hezbollah.

Majority-Shi'ite Iran says its forces are in Syria to defend holy Shi'ite shrines. However, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces said in November the Islamic republic may seek to set up naval bases in Yemen or Syria in the future.

Last year, Avi Dichter, the chair of Israel's foreign affairs and defense committee, said Iran had tried several times in the past to move forces into the Syrian Golan Heights, next to territory that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Dichter said those moves were repelled, but gave no details.

Netanyahu has said that Israel has carried out dozens of strikes to prevent weapons smuggling to the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah via Syria. Two years ago, Israel and Russia agreed to coordinate military actions over Syria in order to avoid accidentally trading fire.

"I hope that we'll be able to reach certain understandings to lessen the possible friction between our forces and their forces, as we've successfully done so far," he said at the cabinet meeting, referring to the Russian military.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Ros Russell)

BAGHDAD More than 40,000 people have been displaced in the last week from the Iraqi city of Mosul, where U.S.-backed forces launched a fresh push towards the Islamic State-held old city center on Sunday and closed in on the main government complex.

PARIS France's conservatives appeared to be at war with themselves less than 50 days from the presidential election as Francois Fillon clung on to his struggling, scandal-tainted campaign and senior party members fought to oust him as their candidate.

DUBAI Iran has indicted a member of its nuclear negotiating team who was arrested last year on suspicion of spying, and detained an Iranian-American on charges of defrauding people under the guise of helping them emigrate, the Iranian judiciary said on Sunday.

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Netanyahu to meet Putin, says Iran seeks permanent foothold in Syria - Reuters

US Navy fleet blown up in new Iranian film – The Straits Times

TEHERAN A new animated film from Iran shows the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet being blown out of the water in the latest effort to build up the legend of the country's most celebrated general.

Director Farhad Azimi told local media that his 80-minute Battle Of The Persian Gulf II is "a response to the gibberish of Hollywood and American politicians". Four years in the making, its expensive graphics, thumping soundtrack and barrages of missiles are a slick addition to Iran's propaganda efforts.

It stars a commander with a salt-and-pepper beard, explicitly modelled on Major-General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' external operations arm, the Quds Force.

Maj-Gen Soleimani heads operations in Syria, Iraq and beyond, and has become a prominent fixture in the media in recent years, often pictured on the front line or alongside Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. His high profile has led to speculation he may emerge as a presidential candidate, though he has so far denied any desire to move into politics.

Battle Of The Persian Gulf II cost some five billion rials (S$218,000) to make - part of increasing military propaganda efforts that in many ways mirror the close involvement of the Pentagon in Hollywood's more gung-ho blockbusters.

It comes at a time of mounting tensions, after US President Donald Trump warned that any Iranian boats harassing the US Navy - a regular occurrence in the Gulf, according to the Pentagon - would be "shot out of the water".

Mr Azimi said he wanted to highlight Iran's defensive capabilities.

"If one bullet is fired by the enemy towards Iran, we will respond firmly," he said.

The film has premiered in Iran's second city, Mashhad, and is due to arrive in Teheran next week. The film-makers are also hoping to show it in China and Russia.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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US Navy fleet blown up in new Iranian film - The Straits Times

British mum in prison in Iran collapses while waiting for vital hospital visit – Metro

Nazanin Zaghari_Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison last year (Picture: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe/PA Wire)

A British mother who is prison in Iran has collapsed while still waiting for vital hospital treatment on her neck.

Nazanin Zaghari_Ratcliffe is awaiting treatment for several out of place neck vertebrae, damage caused by months of having no bed, poor exercise and stress.

But despite the recommendations of specialists thecharity worker has been still not been admitted to hospital from the country;s notorius Evin Prisonfor emergency treatment.

The 38-year-old, from Hampstead in London, has been in prison in Iran since April, after being arrested while visiting family in Tehran.

The dual-nationality citizen, who was on holiday with daughter Gabriella at the time, was jailed for five years after being accused of being a Western Spy despite no evidence being put forward to support the claims.

Her family have been pressing for her to receive hospital treatment that they have been told is vital.

Her husband, Richard, explainedon change.orgthat her neck and back problems have worsened over the last few months.

Without urgent treatment Nazanin runs the risk of permanent impairment, he wrote.

This week she collapsed again. She had been complaining of nausea and headaches, of an increasing inability to do anything apart from lie down.

It seems due also to psychological strains. Nazanin reports increasing unexplained panics, suffering severe insomnia at night waves of worries in the quietest hours, magnifying the alone.

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During the day suddenly unable to get calm, feeling inescapable pressures.

Feeling the interrogators presence, even where they are not. That drip feed of cruelties does not magically drain away.

Nazanin and Richards two -year-old daughter is also still in Iran, and is living with her grandparents in the same city her mother is imprisoned in.She is able to visit her once a week

The Foreign Office has said previously that it is prepared to bring her home, but has been able to do less in her mothers case as Iran doesnt recognise dual-nationality citizens.

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British mum in prison in Iran collapses while waiting for vital hospital visit - Metro

Iran’s Fintech Association Launched – Financial Tribune

A group of Iranian fintech companies has formed Irans Fintech Association, soon after the Central Bank of Iran put forward the idea. Nasser Hakimi, the director of CBIs IT Department, had proposed that fintech firms create a forum to identify challenges, prepare key questions and contact the regulator for solutions. Currently, CBI is not able to help innovators case by case, considering the large number of financial innovators But once the forum is established, the regulator would be able to help fintechs quickly and efficiently, he told Way2pay.ir. This would be beneficial for both fintechs and CBI. The regulator would become familiar with the latest market trends. The association, called Fintech A, is set to bring industry players under a single roof, mainly to find a solution to their problems and boost innovators relations with regulatory bodies.

Ongoing Concerns We would be able to address the ongoing concerns over the operation of fintech firms through close interaction with CBI, Center for E-Commerce Development and the judiciary, Milad Jahandar, the founder of Bahamta application, was quoted as saying during the first meeting of the association last week. Bahamta is an Iranian application for management of micro-payments. We want to prevent controversies, like what happened to ride-hailing applications, he said and called for all fintechs to join the association, referring to fraught relations between taxi drivers and domestic ride-hailing companies. ZarinPal, Bahamta, Hesabit, PayPing, Poolam and Mehrabane are among founding members of the association. Mostafa Amiri, the founder of ZarinPal, said they are ready to negotiate with regulators. We need to form a unique voice today, otherwise we would lose the market to foreigners once they enter the Iranian market, he said. Amiri criticized current regulations regarding the operation of fintechs and said the document prepared by the Center for E-Commerce Development leaves no space for creating new businesses. It is our task to come up with solutions for meeting regulators concerns and prevent inefficient regulations, he said. Back in December, the center announced that it would regulate the operation of unofficial payment tools, referred to as aggregators, after profiling owners and their users. The framework requires users to provide a phone number (owned by the business) for being allowed to use payment services. The measure has been repeatedly criticized for neglecting issues concerning the operation of startups.

CBIs Stance However, Hakimi said the framework developed by the e-commerce authority is not approved by the central bank. CBI is working on another framework that defines redlines for the operation of fintech firms, he said. According to CBI regulations, innovative financial services are allowed to operate as long as they are not involved in money creation, currency exchange and offering their own payment tools (like cards) andattract deposits. It was announced earlier that CBI was working on a project to create a safe and healthy environment for innovators and fintech firms, and to authorize their operations. Hakimi said it takes at least three months to finalize the project.

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Iran's Fintech Association Launched - Financial Tribune