New York Times | Iran Bans Zumba, and Its Fans Fume New York Times TEHRAN To those Iranians shaking their hips and backsides to Latin American music during Zumba exercise classes, Iran's Muslim clerics and an American company have the same message: Stop it. It's illegal. The country's Zumba fans, however, are ... |
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Iran Bans Zumba, and Its Fans Fume - New York Times
Iranian sportsmen and women have received five more medals, including two gold ones, at the ongoing fifth edition of Confdration Sportive Internationale Travailliste et Amateur (CSIT) World Sports Games in Latvia to raise their countrys medal count in the multinational and multi-sport event.
On Friday, Morteza Nazemi took part in the mens discus throw competitions in the Latvian capital city of Riga, and received the gold medal.
He dedicated his precious medal to the families of the victims of an explosion at a coal mine in the northeastern Iranian province of Golestanlast month. At least 35 workers lost their lives in the mishap, while 73 others sustained injuries.
In the men's 4x100m relay division, the Iranian outfit, comprised of Rouhollah Mohammadi, Reza Malekpour, Omid Najafpour and Hadi Khoubyari, scooped the gold.
Ahmad Foroud was also the second fastestrunner in the mens 5000m category of the CSIT World Sports Games, and claimed the silver medal.
Furthermore, Iran's female triplejumper Aylin Babakisettled for the bronze.
She added a silver medal to the Islamic Republics medal tally by registering 1.66 meters in the final contest of womens high jump.
The fifth edition of the CSIT World Sports Games kicked off in Riga, Latvia, on June 13 and will run through June 18, 2017.
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Iranian athletes bag 5 more medals in CSIT World Sports Games - Press TV
Forbes | Understanding The New Iran Sanctions Forbes Acting as a major wake up call for Iran, the US Senate on Thursday sent a strong message to the mullahs through a bill fit to place new sanctions targeting Tehran's ballistic missile program, its support for regional and global terrorism and human ... US Senate's Iran Sanctions Are Breach of Nuclear Deal: Senior Iranian Official Senate votes to punish Russia and Iran over election interference, aggression Senate passes sweeping sanctions bill targeting Iran, Russia |
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Understanding The New Iran Sanctions - Forbes
CAIRO Iran's support to Shi'ite groups in Iraq is obstructing efforts to bridge the sectarian divide ahead of a parliamentary election next year, Iraqi Vice President Iyad Allawi said on Friday.
Iraqi leaders hope to restore control over all Iraqi territory, defeating Islamic State, before an election due by the middle of next year.
"Iran has been interfering even in the decision (making process) of the Iraqi people," he told Reuters. "We don't want an election based on sectarianism, we want an inclusive political process ... we hope that the Iraqis would choose themselves without any involvement by any foreign power."
Allawi, a secular Shi'ite politician who has supporters among some Sunnis, was in Cairo to meet Egyptian leaders including President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for discussions about oil and the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya.
Iraq lies on the faultline between Shi'ite Iran and the mostly Sunni Arab world. Deep-running animosity and distrust between the two sides is fueled by sectarian divides.
Tensions grew further after Iran, by leveraging its ties with Iraq's Shi'ite majority, has emerged as the main powerbroker in Iraq after the United States withdrew its troops in 2011, eight years after it toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni.
Tehran denies interfering in Iraqi politics, saying the military assistance it provides to Shi'ite paramilitary groups is meant to help defeat Islamic State, the Sunni insurgents who declared a "caliphate" over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have dislodged Islamic State from Iraqi cities the militants captured, and are about to fully capture Mosul, which used to be their de facto capital in the country. The group however remains in control of swathes of territory by the Syrian border and inside Syria.
Both of Iraq's current and previous prime ministers, Haider al-Abadi and Nuri al-Maliki, belong to the Dawa party, a Shi'ite group with close ties to Iran.
But Abadi has managed relations with the Sunnis better than Maliki, and also improved Baghdad's ties with Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional foe.
"This is the right time to have a fair election that nobody interferes in, neither Iran nor anybody else, nor Turkey, nor Syria nor the U.S.," said Allawi.
Allawi has previously accused Tehran of blocking his bid to become prime minister in the 2010 elections, even though his group won the largest number of seats, albeit with a narrow margin.
(This version of the story was refiled to fix typos throughout after formatting glitch, makes clear was speaking to Reuters)
(Reporting by Amina Ismail; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Alison Williams)
BRUSSELS EU officials see the start of Brexit talks on Monday as a sign Theresa May is accepting their format for negotiations but they expect no quick deals and are wary the prime minister may try to break with Brussels protocol.
LONDON Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Friday that a list of grievances involving Qatar was being drawn up and would be presented soon.
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Iran should stop interfering in Iraq, Iraqi VP Allawi says - Reuters
In April, Boeing justified its recent deal to sell more than a hundred variants of its 737 and 777 planes to Iran Air by asserting that the agreement creates or sustains approximately 18,000 jobs in the United States.
Since the implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement in January 2016, government-owned Iran Air has flown at least 134 flights from Tehran to Damascus, even while this route does not appear in Iran Airs formal booking system. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies' researchshows that these flights are unlikely to be civilian flights, but rather airlifts of weapons and military personnel that enable Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to continue waging war against his own population.
Boeing produces the 737 and 777 variants at its Renton and Everett facilities, respectively, in the state of Washington. Orders for the popular 737 have caused a backlog of an estimated 4,430 aircraft, meaning that customers have to wait several years for the planes they order.
Production at the Renton facility increased in 2013 from 35 to 38 planes per month. Last year, production at the facility stood at42 planes per month, with a goal of 47 planes per month in 2017. Boeing has even announced a goal of 57 planes per month at the facility by 2019. Rather than witnessing an increase in the number of jobs in these facilities, from 2013 to 2017, Boeing data shows that it in fact cut 15,000 jobs in Washington since 2013 (from 86,000 to 71,000), increasingly relying on automated production lines.
Did those jobs go to other states or shift to different Boeing facilities? Boeings annual reports indicate that the answer is no. From January 2013 to January 2017, Boeing cut 25,643 jobs even while orders have continued to come in. Yet, during this period, Boeings annual revenue increased from $81.7 billion in 2012 to an annual revenue of $94.6 billion in 2016.
Reportedly, Boeing will soon announce an additional 1,800 job cuts in Washington. It appears that Boeing is increasing its revenue while reducing what it spends on labor in the U.S. Of note, in the last year, Boeing has inked a deal to create a new plant in China to support the manufacturing of 737 aircraft.
Some of Boeings subcontractors may benefit from the deal in the next decade, but the windfall from a sale of planes to Iran Air will not accrue to U.S. workers.
The more important question Boeing must answer is how much profit it will seek while ignoring Iran Airs malign activities that enable Assads atrocities. By providing Hezbollah and the Assad regime with continued access to advanced weaponry and fresh troops to sustain the war against the Syrian people, Iran Air is instrumental in facilitating war crimes and atrocities against the Syrian civilian population.
Iran Airs ferrying of weapons to Hezbollah is helping to cement the terrorist groups role as a state within a state inside Lebanon.Moreover, it would be helping exacerbate the already dire refugee crisis triggered by the civil war.
Iran Air has also contributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military buildup along Israels border with Syria. Were a new conflict to begin between Israel and Hezbollah, the IRGC could open a new front on the formerly quiet Israel-Syria disengagement line and lead to a direct Israel-Iran military showdown.
Iran Air was originally sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department because it provided material support to the IRGC and Irans Ministry of Defense, which in turn was blacklisted for its proliferation activities.When it was designated in 2011, Treasury pointed out that, Commercial Iran Air flights have been used to transport missile or rocket components to Syria.
Even though the Obama administration lifted the designation as part of the Iran nuclear deal, there is no evidence that this activity has ceased. Treasury should revoke Iran Airs license before the first plane is permitted to be transferred.
Boeings claim that the Iran aircraft deal creates or sustains approximately 18,000 jobs in the United States is murky at best. But its shareholders, the Trump administration and the American people should also be asking how many more brutal deaths of Syrian, Lebanese and other civilians a sale to Iran Air would create or sustain.
A deal may increase Boeings annual profits but little would fall into the hands of its employees. Even if it did, what would be the cost to Boeings reputation and to our values as a country?
Toby Dershowitz is senior vice president for government relations and strategy at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a think tank focused on national security and foreign policy. Tyler Stapleton is deputy director of congressional relations at FDD.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.
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Boeing's Iran deal: Jobs claim is murky at best - The Hill (blog)