NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Thursday, August 17, 2023:
IRAN DAILY:
-- Ukraine the new victim:
Unmasking dual roles: US "security aid" to Kyiv sheds ;light on American companies' involvement in global conflicts.
-- China's oil imports from Iran set to hit decade-high in August
Chinese imports of Iranian oil are running at the highest level in at least a decade, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.
-- Appointment of Saudi envoy to Palestine kills two birds with one stone
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- FM: Deal on Release of Iran’s Funds ‘Test for U.S.’
Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said here Wednesday the recent deal with the United States regarding the unblocking of Iran’s illegally frozen funds serves as a test for Washington. Amir-Abdollahian said in a post on the X social media that the deal for releasing $6 billion worth of Iran’s funds illegally blocked in South Korea under the pretext of U.S. sanctions was part of the “dignified diplomacy” instructed by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei. “Release & transfer of our funds from South Korea are parts of our dignified diplomacy as instructed by the Leader,” Amir-Abdollahian said. “This deal is another test for U.S. On the right track of diplomacy, we keep up efforts to remove sanctions & for the return of all sides to int’l commitments to Iran,” he added.
-- Experts Warn of ‘Real Disintegration’ of Israel
A number of Israeli experts have warned of a “real disintegration of Israeli society” and a state of chaos prevailing in the occupied territories due to the performance of the regime headed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A senior Middle East and Arab World commentator at Israel Hayom newspaper, Oded Granot, warned: “When the religious partner in the regime publicly declares that he will not bear the burden, not even in national service, and at the same time also supports unilateral and far-reaching legislative processes that disintegrate Israeli society – cohesion crumbles, the principle of peaceful coexistence dissolves.”
He stressed that Israel is marching towards chaos.
-- North Korea: U.S. Soldier Wants Refuge From Mistreatment, Racism
North Korea has concluded that U.S. soldier Travis King wants refuge there or elsewhere because of “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” in the U.S. and the military, state media said on Wednesday.
It was the North’s first public acknowledgement of the army private’s crossing from South Korea on July 18.
The North’s official state news agency KCNA posted on its website that during an investigation, “Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhumane maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army.”
“He also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he felt disillusioned with the unequal American society.”
KCNA also said King was “kept under control by soldiers” in North Korea, and that the investigation they mentioned is still active.
U.S. officials believe King crossed the border intentionally – while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area between the two Koreas - and have declined so far to call him a prisoner of war.
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- New Momentum in Iran-Saudi Relations
- A top Iranian general told a military forum in Russia on Tuesday that those who ignited and keep exacerbating the Ukraine war should reconsider their approach and know that jeopardizing the security of others can lead to unpredictable reactions. “Those who triggered the Ukraine war and those who are exacerbating it should reconsider their approaches,” General Aziz Nasirzadeh, the deputy chief of the joint staff of Iran’s armed forces, said at Army-2023. General Nasirzadeh, who led an Iranian military delegation to Moscow to participate in the Army 2023, stated that independent countries that respect territorial integrity should exchange views on how to deal with the crises and insecurities caused by the U.S. and its allies. He said the Ukraine war would have long-term consequences for the region and the larger world, which was caused by the West’s extravagance and insistence to maintain its hegemony
-- Farewell to victims of terror attack on Shah Cheragh
Thousands of people on Wednesday said goodbye to the victims of the terrorist attack at the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz, capital of the southcentral province of Fars. People carried the bodies of Gholm Abbas Abbasi, a servant of the sacred site, and Mohammad Jahnagiri, a security guard, from Shohada Square to the courtyard of the Shah Cheragh shrine as part of a funeral rite.
-- Islam regards women as dignified humans
– Islam, as the women’s rights reviving religion, addressed the issue of women’s rights thirteen centuries ago and has taken great steps in the direction of her human rights. Before Islam and during the period of the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah) [It is an Islamic concept referring to the period of time and state of affairs in Arabia before the advent of Islam in 610 CE], the woman was treated as a wretched element of the society and thrown in the darkness of ignorance. She was hopeless and cannot hope for her evoltion. Women were caught in the most disgraceful misfortunes and suffered the most difficult calamities.
-- U.S. imperialism remains very sticky and terribly tragic…
The inimitable Chris Hedges, who for years was the New York Times bureau chief covering the Middle East, and who lost his job at the newspaper 20 years ago because he opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, has lately written another masterful piece covering all the bases with regard to Apartheid Israel. One need not re-describe what Hedges has on Palestine, but the only conclusion one can come to is that the current Israeli government intends to annex eventually all the West Bank, give no relief to the two million plus Palestinians in Gaza, and eventually drive out the remaining Palestinians in the West Bank, some three million, one way or another. For anyone who has been involved with trying to understand the Palestinian plight in recent decades, what Hedges relates is one of the saddest stories among many unfolding now. Iranians know this, too. The other hugely horrific story is in Ukraine, and a potential new story now involves Niger which in a coup installed new leaders fed up with French colonialism there and in West Africa. Note that some 70 percent or more Nigerians don’t even have electricity for light bulbs, but France depends to a significant degree for its own power needs on uranium extracted on the cheap by and from Niger’s poor. Also, of late, we have the imprisonment of Pakistan’s popular Imran Khan, this is largely a result of U.S. demands to effectively bury the popular Khan from leading Pakistan.
NOURNEWS