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The establishment of a joint bank account between Iran and Indonesia will foster financial cooperation and facilitate bilateral transactions, said the Central Bank of Irans governor. Valiollah Seif made the statement during a meeting with Indonesias Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution on Monday, CBIs website reported. Based on this system, both countries can open a bank account in each others central banks to facilitate the payment process, he said. Seif, who also heads the Money and Credit Council, said both countries can even use their local currencies for making payments, though the currency of choice must first be agreed upon by both sides. He noted that these accounts will be used only to settle bilateral trade deficit or surplus every three months. Relations between the two countries central banks will improve our banking ties and give our banks the opportunity to open branches in Iran and Indonesia, he added. Seif noted that since tourism potentials of Iran and Indonesia are high, the two countries banking card systems could be integrated for Indonesian citizens to be able to use their cards in Iran and vice versa. The Indonesian minister showed interest in Seifs proposals, noting that his trip to Iran is a follow up on his presidents visit in December. I hope that this meeting will ease our relations, especially in monetary and financial sectors. However, I believe that restoring trust between our businessmen is crucial to improve trade, he said. Nasution noted that improvement of bilateral banking relations will definitely impact investments and business. The Indonesian Oil and Natural Gas Company (Pertamina) has close relations with the National Iranian Oil Company in purchasing natural gas and oil so following our negotiations, I hope to witness expansion of business relations between Iran and Indonesia in the near future, he said. Heading a high-ranking economic delegation, Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited Tehran on December 2016. Several memoranda of understanding for cooperation in a wide range of fields, including banking, stock exchange, oil, paper and food, were signed between Iran and Indonesias chambers of commerce.

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Iran, Indonesia to Open Joint Bank Account - Financial Tribune

Iranians delighted Monday in the Oscar victory by director Asghar Farhadi, who won his second foreign language film award but boycotted the ceremony in protest of President Trumps immigration policies.

Farhadi, who won for his drama The Salesman, had an Iranian American engineer Anousheh Ansari, the first Iranian-born person to travel to space deliver a statement on his behalf condemning Trumps inhumane executive order banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, from entering the U.S.

Dividing the world into the us and our enemies categories creates fear a deceitful justification for aggression and war, Farhadi wrote. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression.

Irans theocratic government and military establishment are accused of human rights abuses, supporting foreign extremist groups and curbing free speech. But Tehran seized an opportunity with the Oscar win to stake out some moral high ground over the United States.

Irans foreign minister, Javad Zarif, tweeted, Proud of cast & crew of The Salesman for Oscar & stance against #MuslimBan.

Iranian state media gave scant coverage to the Oscar news, but many Iranians learned of Farhadis victory which followed his 2012 triumph in the same category for the film A Separation through social media.

Farhadi had announced in January that he wouldnt attend the ceremony. On Friday he joined the directors of the four other Oscar-nominated foreign language films from Denmark, Germany, Australia and Sweden in issuing a statement expressing our unanimous and emphatic disapproval of the climate of fanaticism and nationalism we see today in the U.S. and in so many other countries.

Hours before the ceremony on Sunday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, held a free public screening of The Salesman that drew thousands. Khan has called Trumps travel ban shameful. The travel orderhas been stymied in court.

Trump has singled out Iran for criticism since taking office, ordering fresh sanctions following an Iranian missile test and threatening to reconsider a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, that has eased economic restrictions against the Islamic republic.

For many Iranians, who have reacted with a mixture of fear and contempt to Trumps harsh rhetoric, Farhadis victory was a moment to celebrate.

The Oscar for The Salesman shows the world of art is beyond man-made frontiers, with an emphasis on humanity, said Rahim Zohabi, a 65-year-old businessman in Tehran.

Art cannot be limited by bans and walls. Hopefully [the Oscar] will promote peace and understanding between nations, if not politicians.

The film centers on an Iranian couple actors starring in a local production of Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman whose life is upended when the woman is assaulted by an intruder.

Some hardliners criticized the film for presenting a negative image of Iran. Others speculated that Iranian authorities submitted the film for Oscar consideration in an attempt to show a humane side to the theocracy and that Farhadi was rewarded by a liberal Hollywood for his opposition to Trump.

The award was politicized, said Farshid Farivar, a 54-year-old publisher of art magazines. The Salesman didnt deserve the Oscar.

Ahmad Kassaeian, an optician and writer, said Iranians worldwide would cheer the success of one of their own.

I think Mr. Farhadi cannot make any tangible impact in reducing the tension between Iran and America, said Kassaeian, 54. But culturally, if we gain greater recognition and respect among Americans, thats important.

Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran and Times staff writer Bengali from Thiruvananthapuram, India.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia

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Iran celebrates an Oscar win and a chance to needle President Trump - Los Angeles Times

This article first appeared on the American Enterprise Institute site.

Back in September, I testified before the House Financial Services Committee on the allegation that the Obama administration had paid Iran a ransomat the time it was believed to be $400 million, but it was later revealed that the figure was more than three times that amountin cash for the release of American hostages held by Iran.

At the hearing, it is now clear that State Department officials lied outright to the committee.

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Washington Post reporter and former Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian and former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on January 28, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Michael Rubin writes that the deputy intelligence director of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps bragged on February 23 that Iran forced the United States to pay $1.4 billion in ransom to win Rezaian's release. Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Lest there be any question about how the Iranian government perceived the payment received from the United States, Hossein Nejat, deputy intelligence director of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps,bragged on February 23that Iran forced the United States to pay $1.4 billion in ransom to win the release of imprisoned Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian.

Related: Iran payment was not ransom, White House says

What does this mean for the United States? Unfortunately, the damage is already done. The cash the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps received (for they were the entity that took possession of the ransom) will fuel greater terror as well as Irans campaigns in Syria, Yemenand perhaps Bahrain as well.

In 2010, the United States busted the Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington because the U.S. intelligence community was monitoring bank accounts known to be operated by the Quds force. Cash makes it far easier for Iran to move money without risk of detection.

Ironically, President Donald Trump kept on the official whom Barack Obama and Secretary of State Kerry placed in charge of the hostage negotiation. At the very least, it is time to publish the hostage agreement. Obama promised he would preside over the most transparent administration in history.

Five weeks after Obama left office, Trump has the power to hold his predecessor to that promise and expose the true mendacity of Obamas ransom deal.

Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. A former Pentagon official, his major research areas are the Middle East, Turkey, Iran and diplomacy.

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What Will Trump Do About Obama's Iran Ransom Deal? - Newsweek

Irans Ministry of Agriculture has lifted a ban on the import of Pakistani kinnow. Pakistans Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan also announced that fast progress will be made in trade between Pakistan and Iran, Associated Press of Pakistan reported. He said the relaxation in export of kinnows has been granted by Iran before the expected visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Islamabad. The 13th ECO Summit will be held in Islamabad on Wednesday. There was great demand for Pakistan kinnow in Iran and it was a good step to lift the restriction three weeks before the Iranian national festival of Norouz, he said. He urged Pakistani exporters to take advantage of this opportunity. The border closure had an adverse impact on the export of kinnow to Afghanistan, but the traders would hopefully make up for the loss by selling kinnows to Iran, he said. The Pakistani minister added that the central banks of Iran and Pakistan would soon sign an agreement to establish banking relations, which will increase bilateral trade threefold. Khan said a joint economic conference of the two countries may be held in Tehran at the end of March.

Excerpt from:
Iran Lifts Ban on Pakistani Kinnow Import - Financial Tribune

New York Times

Asghar Farhadi, Iran's Master of the Ordinary, Wins a 2nd Oscar New York Times The Salesman, which features two of Iran's most prominent actors, Taraneh Alidoosti and Shahab Hosseini, tells a simple but gripping tale about a couple, both amateur actors, who move into an apartment previously occupied by a single mother, leaving ... Iranian director Asghar Farhadi wins Oscar, says in statement US 'disrespected' his country, othersFox News Iran & France Praise Asghar Farhadi's Foreign Language Oscar Win (& Boycott)Deadline Iran's 'The Salesman' wins Oscar for best foreign language filmReuters RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty -Chicago Tribune all 300 news articles »

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Asghar Farhadi, Iran's Master of the Ordinary, Wins a 2nd Oscar - New York Times