Iran's supreme leader accuses U.S. of supporting bombings

Posted on by

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the United States of supporting the recent bombings in the southeastern city of Zahedan to stir up religious dissension within the Islamic republic, state media said Wednesday.

“One of the main objectives the enemy pursued through the terrorist attack in Iran’s southeastern city of Zahedan was to create division and religious dissension,” Khamenei said, according to Press TV.

At least 27 people were killed in a pair of suicide bombings July 15 outside the Zahedan Grand Mosque in Sistan-Baluchestan province. Other Iranian leaders, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have already blamed the United States for the attacks.

Rehber Khamenei said Iran would not allow “arrogant powers” to obtain their objectives and urged Iranians to confront the enemies of their country, Press TV said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the United States of supporting the recent bombings in the southeastern city of Zahedan to stir up religious dissension within the Islamic republic, state media said Wednesday.

“One of the main objectives the enemy pursued through the terrorist attack in Iran’s southeastern city of Zahedan was to create division and religious dissension,” Khamenei said, according to Press TV.

At least 27 people were killed in a pair of suicide bombings July 15 outside the Zahedan Grand Mosque in Sistan-Baluchestan province. Other Iranian leaders, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have already blamed the United States for the attacks.

Rehber Khamenei said Iran would not allow “arrogant powers” to obtain their objectives and urged Iranians to confront the enemies of their country, Press TV said.

4 Iranian MPs to visit Gaza next week

Posted on by

Four Iranian MPs plan to take a trip to the blockaded Gaza Strip next week by travelling through Egypt, an Iranian lawmaker says.

MP Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee told IRNA on Wednesday that the lawmakers will arrive in Gaza on July 27.

Bighash, who will head the four-member delegation, said the other Iranian MPs who will accompany him to Gaza are Avaz Heydarpour, Parviz Sarouri, and Shobayb Jouyjari.

“We will arrive in Gaza by travelling through Egypt and its Rafah border crossing,” he stated.

Bighash added that the Iranian parliamentary delegation will also hold talks with officials of the Egyptian parliament and administration.

“We intend to express our support for the people of Gaza,” the Iranian MP said.

At least 50 killed in Barkhan flooding

Posted on by

QUETTA: Fifty people were killed when torrential rains unleashed flash floods in different parts of eastern Balochistan, DawnNews reported.

More than 10,000 people are reported to have been affected. Fifty people had gone missing in Barkhan which was lashed by torrential rain for more than five hours on Wednesday night. Barkhan is about 350 kilometres east of Quetta.

The Chief of Frontier Corps, Balochistan, Maj-Gen Saleem Nawaz, said the sudden downpour wreaked havoc in Barkhan and other areas of eastern Balochistan.

“We have launched a relief and rescue operation to move affected people to safe locations,” he said.

Continuing rainfall multiplied problems of the people in Barkhan, depriving them of timely assistance. Three army helicopters loaded with relief goods could not fly to the affected areas because of bad weather.

The army dispatched relief trucks to affected areas in Barkhan, Sibi and Kohlu.

Govt was not under pressure on Kayani extension: PM

Posted on by

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said the government was not under any kind of pressure with regard to its decision to extend the tenure of General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

Earlier, on Thursday, Gilani said the extension had been given in the interest of continuity at a time when the war on terror was successfully progressing against elements who wanted to impose a system of their choice on the country.

Iranian oil minister in visit to Turkey

Posted on by

Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi has left for Turkey for energy talks, including Iran’s natural gas transit to Europe via Turkey.

According to Iranian Oil Ministry’s website SHANA, Mirkazemi and his Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz will discuss cooperation in oil, gas and petrochemicals sector.

The ministers will also discuss Turkey’s investment in the Iranian giant South Pars gas field.

In October 2009, during Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Tehran, the two countries signed memorandums of understanding on oil and gas cooperation and transferring Iran’s gas to European markets through Turkey.

Iran currently exports 25 million cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey per day and the figure could be increased to 30 million cubic meters a day.

Tehran-Ankara ties have strengthened following pro-diplomacy efforts aimed finding a peaceful solution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

On May 17, Iran, Turkey and Brazil, signed a joint nuclear fuel swap declaration under which Tehran agrees to exchange 1,200 kg of it low-enriched uranium on Turkish soil for fuel for a medical research reactor.

Mirkazemi’s visit comes amid US-sponsored UN Security Council and unilateral sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

The sanctions, a number of which target Iran’s oil and gas industry, are an integral part of efforts aimed at pressuring Iran into abandoning its civilian nuclear program, amid Israeli-led charges that Tehran is harboring a military agenda.

On Wednesday, Iran’s OPEC governor told Reuters that the new sanctions would prove ineffective, noting that Iran would counter the sanctions by reducing the government subsidies on fuel as well as using a flexible trade currency.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it has the right to peaceful nuclear technology for civilian electricity generation and medical research.

Three Houthi Shia killed in Yemen clashes

Posted on by

Media reports say a score of people have been killed in north Yemen as fresh clashes break out between Houthi fighters and army-backed tribes in the troubled region.
“Violent clashes took place overnight between Houthis and Bin Aziz tribes… leaving 20 dead from both sides,” AFP quoted a Yemeni official as saying in Thursday.
Yemeni army forces deployed in the area intervened to break up the fighting, he added.
Contacted by Press TV, a Houthi spokesman, however, denied the death toll, saying only three Shia fighters were killed in the fighting.
He acknowledged that members of tribes loyal to the central government had been killed in clashes with the Houthis, but dismissed claims that the Shia fighters had ambushed them.
The spokesman blamed the recent clashes in the area on the Yemeni army, saying the Houthis first came under attack by government forces.
Last year, the northern Yemeni province of Sa’ada and and nearby areas were the scene of bloody clashes between Houthi fighters and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces.
The Houthis agreed to a truce after Saudi troops withdrew in early 2010.

Iraqi Shia Advisor of Agriculture Minister's Secretary Martyred

Posted on by

Last night in a terrorist attack Iraq’s Advisor of Agriculture Minister’s Secretary hit in Baghdad and martyred today after a few hours in coma.

According to Ahlul Bayt News Agency – ABNA.ir – “Mr. Seyed Mohammad Khalil Alverdi” Iraq’s Advisor of Agriculture Minister’s Secretary martyred in a terrorist attack in Baghdad.

After the attack on the Shia Iraqi statesman, he was transferred to the hospital and was in coma till today. Unfortunately treatment was not effective and he was martyred due to his severe injuries.

However, the terrorists has martyred his cousin due to his religious belief on Ahlul Bayt (a.s).

15,000 security elements deployed in Karbala for mid-Shaaban pilgrimage

Posted on by

KARBALA, Iraq: More than 15,000 security elements have been deployed in Karbala in preparations for the Al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya (mid-Shaaban pilgrimage), according to a media police source.

“Security authorities started to implement the security plan of the mid-Shaaban pilgrimage, which will last until next Wednesday,” Major Alaa Abbas al-Ghanemi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya is a Shiite pilgrimage to revive the memory of the birth of the Messiah-like Imam al-Mahdi, the 12th holiest figure for Shiite Muslims.

Karbala, with an estimated population of 572,300 people in 2003, is the capital of the province and is considered to be one of Shiite Muslims’ holiest cities.

The city, 110 km south of Baghdad, is one of Iraq’s wealthiest, profiting both from religious visitors and agricultural produce, especially dates.

It is made up of two districts, “Old Karbala,” the religious center, and “New Karbala,” the residential district containing Islamic schools and government buildings.

At the center of the old city is Masjid al-Hussein, the tomb of Hussein Ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad by his daughter Fatima al-Zahraa and Ali Ibn Abi Taleb.

Imam Hussien’s tomb is a place of pilgrimage for many Shiite Muslims, especially on the anniversary of the battle, the Day of Ashuraa. Many elderly pilgrims travel there to await death, as they believe the tomb to be one of the gates to paradise.

On April 14, 2007, a car bomb exploded about 600 ft (200 m) from the shrine, killing 47 and wounding over 150.

Muslims must fight U.S./British terrorism: Leader

Posted on by

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called on the Muslim world to stand up to the brutal terrorism promoted by the United States and Britain.
“In our region, the creation and growth of mindless and savage terrorism is born out of the wicked policies of the United States and Britain, and their state and non-state mercenaries,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a statement issued on Wednesday to mark the seventh day of mourning for the victims of the deadly terrorist attack in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan.

All Muslims have an obligation to fight this wicked progeny, which is the incarnation of corruption on earth and enmity toward God, he added.

The Leader stated that the Zahedan terrorist incident was carried out to fan the flames of sectarian strife and called on the three branches of government to fight the enemies of national unity.

The ignorant fanatics put their wholehearted trust in the corrupt powers, which have displayed their hostility toward Islam and Muslims countless times, Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Islamic Republic has always been sympathetic to the causes of the oppressed people of Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir, and other Islamic regions, and this is why this wicked plot was implemented by the intelligence agencies of the United States, Britain, and the Zionist regime, he noted.

They sought to entangle Iran in sectarian strife, but they were unaware that the country’s Sunnis have always stood shoulder to shoulder with their Shia brothers and courageously defended the Islamic Republic against the arrogant powers, he added.

The Leader asked the Iranian nation to maintain their unity and vigilance and to help officials bring the perpetrators of the terrorist attack to justice.

Ayatollah Khamenei also prayed for the souls of the victims of the terrorist incident and offered his condolences to their families.

Two suicide bomb attacks left 27 people dead and about 300 people injured in Zahedan on July 15.

U.S. will not benefit from spread of terrorism: Iranian commander

Posted on by

U.S. officials should not think that they can promote their interests through spread of terrorism, Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said on Wednesday.
Terrorism will impinge on the U.S. and other NATO members and there are now some indications proving this fact, Jazayeri stated.

He said that U.S. and British presence in Afghanistan has yielded no result and now the Afghans are of the view that these countries have to pull their troops out of their land.

The U.S. is about to fail in Afghanistan and this is being facilitated since Gen. David Petraeus took command of military forces in Afghanistan.

Petraeus was in June appointed to lead all foreign forces in Afghanistan after his predecessor, General Stanley McChrystal, was dismissed for insulting remarks he and aides made about the U.S. administration in a magazine interview.

Jazayeri said it seems that even the NATO forces do not collaborate with Petraeus and therefore disagreements have been emerging in Afghanistan.

The best way to deal with the current situation would be that foreign military forces leave the country and hand the responsibilities over to the Afghan forces.

Car Bomb Explosion Kills 30 in Iraq Near a Shia Masjid

Posted on by

At least 30 people have been martyred and 46 others have been wounded in a car bomb explosion in the central Iraqi city of Baquba.
The explosion occurred near a mosque in the predominantly Shia neighborhood of Abu Sayeeda on Wednesday.
The strong blast also caused a building to collapse. Some reports, however, say that the explosion occurred near a crowded market.
Police officials say women and children are among the victims of the explosion, adding that the casualties are expected to rise.
Police have cordoned off the area, arguing that more bombs could be planted in the area.
Wednesday’s blast is the latest in a series of deadly attacks in Baquba in recent days. Seven people were killed and 21 others were wounded on Monday after a car bomb exploded in front of a coffee shop in the Iraqi city.
Seven people were also wounded in a bomb blast in Jadidat al-Shat district west of Baquba.
Analysts have warned that violence in the country may see a surge if the negotiations on forming a new coalition government continue to drag on.
The Iraqi government has been in limbo for more than four months since general elections were held. No single block has won an overall parliamentary majority. The two lists which won the most seats are still undecided on who the next Iraqi prime minister should be.

Govt announces extension of Chief of Army Staff Gen Kayani's tenure

Posted on by

JNN 22.07.10 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday gave powerful army chief General Ashfaq Kayani a three-year extension in the top job.

“I have decided to extend tenure of army chief General Ashfaq Kayani for three years in consultations with President Asif Ali Zardari,” Gilani said in a brief televised address to the nation.

He said the decision has been taken after relaxing the rules and keeping in view the active role played by Kayani in the war against terror.

The premier said that the decision to give the extension to the army chief had been taken to ensure continuity of command, adding that the extension period will start from November 29.

He hoped that the war on terror will lead to a successful conclusion under General Kayani’s leadership, he added.

Kayani assumed command of the Pakistan army in November 2007 after his predecessor Pervez Musharraf relinquished command amid international pressure to end his eight years of military rule.

Gilani said that the successful military operation in northwestern regions Swat and Malakand and the tribal region of South Waziristan was possible under the dynamic leadership of General Kayani.

He added that Kayani personally supervised and planned all offensives

Demonstration in Karachi against Shia genocide in Parachanar

Posted on by

JNN 22.07.10 Inhabitants  of Parachanar, Kurram Agency, living in Karachi on Wednesday staged a demonstration against the four year long blockade of Road connecting  Kurram Agency to the rest of Pakistan by the Taliban terrorists.

The demonstration was held under the aegis of Anjuman Parachanar Karachi and All Pakistan Muttahida Bangash Organization at Karachi  Press Club against the genocide of Shia Muslims in Kurram Agency Parachanar.

Maulana Rajab Ali Bangash,  Zamin Abbas Bangash and others in their address demanded  the Government to immediately deploy the Kurram Militia in Kurram Agency to maintain the peace in the agency.

The leaders asked the ANP leadership to perform their role to maintain the peace in Khyber-PukhtoonKhwa because ANP led the Government of Khyber-PukhtoonKhwa province.

They said that Taliban terrorists had slaughtered the citizens of Parachanar including the women and children, and raised a question that Killing the Muslim  Men , Women and Children or other Population of other cast creed or color In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan  Is pure terrorism , and should be taken an immediate action against the terrorist and there activities. Which have even been identified by the government as Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan , Sipah e Sahaba Pakistan, Lashkar e Jhangvi , Jundullah, Jaish Mohd and other sister concerns.

They appealed the Government and Armed forces of Pakistan to support the brave people of Kurram Agency Parachanar, who are fighting against the enemies of the Paksitan & Islam

They regretted that Government has failed to protect the common people from the Taliban terrorists saying that negligence of administration and Law Enforcement Agencies shows that they are not interested to protect the people of Kurram from Taliban terrorists, or they have surrendered to the Killers of Armed services Personnel and Especially Shia Community.

More people killed in N Yemen clashes

Posted on by

JNN 22.07.10 Media reports say a score of people have been killed in north Yemen as fresh clashes break out between Houthi fighters and army-backed tribes in the troubled region.

“Violent clashes took place overnight between Houthis and Bin Aziz tribes… leaving 20 dead from both sides,” AFP quoted a Yemeni official as saying in Thursday.

Yemeni army forces deployed in the area intervened to break up the fighting, he added.

Contacted by Press TV, a Houthi spokesman, however, denied the death toll, saying only three Shia fighters were killed in the fighting.

He acknowledged that members of tribes loyal to the central government had been killed in clashes with the Houthis, but dismissed claims that the Shia fighters had ambushed them.

The spokesman blamed the recent clashes in the area on the Yemeni army, saying the Houthis first came under attack by government forces.

Last year, the northern Yemeni province of Sa’ada and and nearby areas were the scene of bloody clashes between Houthi fighters and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces.

The Houthis agreed to a truce after Saudi troops withdrew in early 2010.

US Jobless claims exceed expectations

Posted on by

JNN 22.07.10 The number of new jobless claims filed last week in the United States rose by 37,000, surprising forecasters who had predicted a much lower rise.

According to the Labor Department, initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending on July 17 rose by 37,000 to 464,000. This is while economists initially expected 448,000 new claims.

Reports from the US say that 34 states and territories reported an increase in jobless claims. New York was leading the rise of new jobless claims with more than 18,000 people making fresh filings due to job cuts in the transportation and public administration industries.

Almost 8.5 million Americans lost their jobs in 2008 and 2009, Bloomberg quoted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.

He also noted “unusual” uncertainty in the US economy and said the central bank would be ready to act if more stimuli were needed.

Bernanke who was speaking to the Congress on Wednesday warned that it will probably take a significant amount of time to restore the millions of jobs lost since the start of the recession.

After hitting a 26-year high of 10.1 percent in October 2009, the unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent in June and millions remain without job, The Washington Post reported.

The Labor Department report comes a day after US Senate voted in favor of extending unemployment benefits to 2.5 million Americans who have been out of work for more than six months.

The bill was passed by a margin of 59-39 with most Republicans opposing the extension.

The opponents of the bill argued that it would add unnecessarily to the federal budget deficit while the supporters proposed using unspent stimulus money from last year’s economic recovery plan to pay for the extension

The bill still needs to be taken up by House lawmakers before it is signed by President Barack Obama to become law.