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42 1 1 12Tehran, Athens ink MOU on securities exchange

Iran can be sustainable source of energy for Europe: Larijani

Farhad Zarif left out of Iran volleyball team for Rio 2016

Culture minister urges revising law banning Iranians from satellite devices

W W W . T E H R A N T I M E S . C O M I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

rom satellite device

Y Tehran, Washington sources confirm completion of heavy water deal 2

12 Pages Price 10,000 Rials 38th year No.12597 Wednesday JULY 13, 2016 Tir 23, 1395 Shawwal 8, 1437

Turkey has shifted from tolerance of Daesh

to confrontation: Richard Murphy

TEHRAN — Richard W. Murphy, the former U.S. ambas-sador to Syria and Saudi Arabia, is of the opinion that Turkey has changed policy from “tolerance” of Daesh - also called ISIL/ISIS/IS - to that of “confrontation” with the extremely shadowy group.

“Turkey has clearly shifted from tolerance of the Islamic State’s activities in Iraq and Syria to one of confrontation with the Islamic State and blocking the transit of volunteers across Turkey to join IS forces,” Murphy tells the Tehran Times in an exclusive interview. Murphy, who retired in 1989 after serving 34 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, also says, “I believe that some recent acts of violence against Turkish targets result from the Islamic State’s wanting to pay Turkey back for siding with the United States and other nations in confronting the Islamic State.”

Following is the text of the interview: What made the ruling AKP party in Turkey to

drop some of its preconditions to reconcile with Isra-el? Will it affect the security or economy Of Turkey?

A: I think that Turkey decided to reconcile with Israel for three reasons: it has found itself increasingly isolated in the region with the failure of its policy of “no problems with neighbors”; second, it received an apology and com-

pensation from Israel for the deaths of its citizens in the attack on the aid flotilla destined for Gaza six years ago togeth-er with an Israeli commitment to deliver future Turkish aid to Gaza (after Israeli inspection) and, finally, it was strongly

encouraged by the United States and others to reconcile with Israel. Rec-

onciliation will be some help to the Turkish economy.

Iranian Artists Forum to review Kiarostami’s movies

TEHRAN — A lineup of world-renowned Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami’s movies

will be reviewed during a four-day program that will open at the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran this evening.

The program entitled “Life and Nothing More”, one of Kiarostami’s movies, will be held in collabora-tion with the Iranian House of Cin-ema and the Art and Experience Cinema.

Kiarostami, who won a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for his “Taste of Cherry”, passed away in Paris last week at the age of 76.

His credits include “Where Is the Friend’s Home?”, “Certified Copy”, “Like Someone in Love” and “The Wind Will Carry Us”.

Govt. body approves

new model of oil and gas

contracts TEHRAN — Iran’s new model of oil

and gas contracts, known as Iran Pe-troleum Contract (IPC), was approved on Tuesday by the resistance economy committee, a top government eco-nomic advisory body headed by First-Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri.

The committee also comprises ministers of oil, defense, economy, and agriculture, as well as vice presidents for parliamentary and scientific affairs, and the president’s economic advisor, the Shana news agency reported.

However, the final draft for the con-tracts must still be approved by the cabinet of ministers.

In November 2015, Iran intro-duced IPC, which will replace buy-back contracts. It is expected to of-fer more flexible terms on oil price fluctuations and investment risks to make the sector more financially attractive.

But some critics say the new model gives too many advantages to foreign companies.

On July 2, Supreme Leader Ayatol-lah Ali Khamenei said that no new oil and gas contracts will be awarded to international companies without nec-essary reforms.

4

TEHRAN — Iran has rejected a draft of the

UN 2231 resolution prepared by the UN secretary general, drawing a strong re-sponse from Foreign Minister Zarif, de-scribed by his deputy Abbas Araqchi as

“stormy”.According to Abbas Araqchi, the top

nuclear negotiator, Tehran had received an unpublished edition of the report a week ago.

“He (Ban) has prepared a draft (of

the 2231 resolution), but it has not been published yet. We have received the draft to which we have strong objec-tion,” said Araqchi, who is also head of a committee monitoring implementation of the JCPOA. 2

Zarif talks tough with Ban on 2231 resolution report

Iran arrests at least five across country over terror plotsThe Iranian intelligence minister says at least five people who had planned terror attacks have been arrested across the country.

Mahmoud Alavi said on Tuesday that those arrested had been affiliated with terrorist groups and intended to carry out their plots during the Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Destiny) (June 24, 26, 28) and International Quds Day (July 1), but “they were identified and arrested one after another in different cities.”

“These groups are mostly linked to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group,” he added.

Based on information obtained from the terrorists, a number of agents and their associates were identified and will be arrested, Alavi said, noting that the terrorists will not be allowed to deal “the least harm” to the county’s security and people.

Several houses used for making bombs and combining explosives were identified and people regarding the case were detained, he empha-sized.

Iranian forces have recently en-gaged in clashes with terror groups, thwarting their terrorist activities on the frontier and within the country, arresting several of them and con-fiscating large amounts of explo-sives and bomb-making materials.

Last month, Alavi said as many as 10 terrorists were apprehended from June 14 to 20 in the capital, Tehran, and three border and central prov-inces.

The militants were planning remote control explosions, suicide bombings, and car bombings against bustling are-as, he said, adding that the terrorists had identified 50 targets for their attacks.

(Source: Press TV)

With the one year anniversary of the Iran nuclear deal fast approaching, a bi-partisan group of politicians, diplomats, military leaders and academics is calling for even closer relations between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic.

In a letter to President Barack Oba-ma shared with POLITICO, more than 75 high-profile signatories praise the nuclear accord and urge the president to bring the U.S. and Iran even closer together. Spearheaded by The Iran Pro-ject, a group dedicated to improving U.S.-Iran relations, the letter ’s signato-ries include retired Sens. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Carl Lev-in (D-Mich.), J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.) and Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.), as well as former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.).

The list of signers also includes for-mer Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Merrill

McPeak and Nobel Prize winners Leon Cooper and Burton Richter.

“The U.S. should develop policies that increase the chances of cooperation with Iran, minimize confrontation, and influence Iran’s actions in the region,” the letter reads. “We acknowledge that opportunities will be limited for testing Iran’s willingness to work directly with the U.S. due to the political uncertainties in both countries in the coming year, but engagement should be the U.S. govern-ment’s long-term goal.”

The letter is part of a flurry of activ-ity and discussion expected this week to mark Thursday’s anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of the nuclear agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. 2

U.S. politicians, diplomats pen letter urging stronger ties with Iran

Nobel Prize winner Burton Richter was among those to urge President Obama to strengthen ties with Iran.

“Given the stakes, the U.S. will need

more, not less, engagement with

Iran.”

By Javad HeiranniaEXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

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A poster for the program “Life and Nothing More” at the Iranian Artists Forum

TEHRAN — Iran has increased its visa

on arrival extension from 1 month to 3 months, Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicraft Organization Director Ma-soud Soltanifar announced.

For the time being, citizens of 190 countries can obtain visa on arrival at the country’s airports with one-month validation, he added.

“The decision will pave the way for development of tourism industry in Iran,” he said.

He named Imam Khomeini Interna-tional Airport as well as airports in Shi-

raz, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Bandar Abbas, Larestan, Kish, and Qeshm as places which issue visa on arrival up to now.

“Airports of Urmia, Ahvaz, Yazd and

Tehran’s Mehrabad will issue visa on ar-rival in the near future,” he noted.

In August 2015, Iran extended visa on arrival from 15 days to 30 days.

In October 2015, Soltanifar said the easing of visa rules was opening the door for the return of foreign tourists to Iran.

Even before sanctions are lifted, the number of foreigners visiting Iran has grown 12 percent in each of the past two years.

In 2014, Iran hosted over five million tourists, bringing in some $7.5 billion in revenue.

Iran extends visa on arrival to 3 months

Whatever some say about the global oil glut easing, there’s still ample demand for floating storage, and Iran is in on the deal. A source from the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) said on Mon-day the firm has leased five vessels to international oil companies. Ali Akbar Akhund Kazemi added that “continuous negotiations are held between NITC and various companies though domestic needs remain as top priority.”

Iranian vessels will sail to Europe and Asia, even though there are still some issues around the leasing of tankers that are being addressed at the mo-ment. These include insurance of the

vessels and the cargo from international insurers, certification from classification organizations, the approval of global oil companies, and NITC staff training to be able to respond to the higher demand for Iranian tankers.

Kazemi, who is the head of NITC’s rent-al office, was also quoted by Mehr news agency as saying the market at the mo-ment was particularly favorable because of the growing demand for crude from Indian and Chinese refiners. He added that international oil companies are “will-ing to resume cooperation with NITC.”

Iran has been eager to get back on the international oil stage after eco-

nomic sanctions imposed on the coun-try because of its nuclear program were lifted early this year. Production has been ramped up significantly, reach-ing 3.6 million barrels last month. Ex-ports are also on a steady rise, doubling between January and June.

Iran is also working to attract inter-national oil majors to its oilfields, its leading move in this direction being the devising of a new petroleum con-tract (IPC), to replace the old buyback scheme. The last update in this respect is that the first IPCs should be signed within three to four months.

(Source: oilprice.com)

Tehran finds new revenue source, leases out oil tankers

See page 9

Govt. to adopt tough policies on high salaries: Nobakht

TEHRAN — In his weekly press conference on Tuesday, government spokesman Mo-

hammad Baqer Nobakht stressed that President Rouhani’s administration has acted responsibly to the payroll scandals of some top managers.

Following the unreasonably high salaries paid to some managers, 13 officials at state organizations either resigned or were sacked.

The head of the Central Insurance Company of Iran, Mo-hammad Ibrahim Amin, was among those who resigned after the payslip revelations.

Such problems arise when there are “flaws” in the law, said Nobakht, a trained economist who is also the chief of the Management and Planning Organization.

For example, he said, some organizations have their own salary council deciding on payments with no supervision of government whatsoever.

“The government will seize this opportunity to monitor and control” the payment to employees from the public

budget, he promised. To prevent inflated salaries in the fu-

ture, Nobakht said the government has taken a series of measures to deal with the issue at hand such as making some re-

forms in this year’s budget expending.Also, all available documents related to salaries paid to top

directors have been handed over to the ‘salary moni-

toring council’ for fur-ther assessment, he said.

9

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Mitsubishi Regional Jet may take off in Iran

See page 4

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1 Outlined within the letter is a three-point plan that

the signatories write that will create an “institutional structure” for ongoing communication between the U.S. and Iran. Its suggestions include “emergency commu-nications capability” between the two governments to avoid misunderstandings and escalation of conflicts, as well as a “regular and direct bilateral channel” between the U.S. Treasury Department and the Central Bank of Iran to more easily address questions surrounding the relief of sanctions.

The letter stops short of calling on the president to

reestablish diplomatic ties between the two nations, but does urge Obama to establish a “direct diplomatic chan-nel at the deputy level” that will offer the next president a means by which to exert influence over Iran without the secretary of state and Iranian foreign minister having to communicate personally.

Ultimately, the letter ’s authors argue, it is in America’s

interest to work more closely with Iran on issues where the two nations’ interests intersect. Despite the dec-ades-long history of hostility between the U.S. and Iran, the letter praises Obama and reminds him that “perse-vering patiently in pursuit of careful diplomacy can lead to progress.”

“You have shown that well-conceived and tough-minded diplomacy can protect U.S. national se-curity interests,” they wrote, addressing Obama directly. “Given the stakes, the U.S. will need more, not less, en-gagement with Iran.”

(Source: Politico)

TEHRAN — Both Tehran and Wash-ington have confirmed the completion

of the heavy-water deal, under which Iran had sold 32 tons of heavy water for a price of $8.6 million.

“We sold 32 tons of heavy water to the U.S. and we were paid for that,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Ara-qchi said late on Monday.

Under the JCPOA deal signed between Iran and six global powers, Tehran has agreed to export all its excess heavy water to the international market.

Arak reactor needs as much as 90 tons of heavy wa-ter for annual consumption.

According to Araqchi, Iran can store up to 130 tons of heavy water inside the country, some 30 tons more than its need for rainy days.

The shipment is the first technological material ex-ported from Iran to the U.S., considered by Tehran to be an achievement.

“One of the most important achieve-ments of the JCPOA was that we are now recognized as a seller of heavy water by America, which did not accept heavy water production by Iran,” Araghchi was quoted as saying.

The news was also confirmed by an American source.

Speaking to the Washington Free Bacon, a spokesperson with the U.S. Energy Department confirmed the purchase, say-ing, “I can confirm reports that the DOE Isotope Program has completed the acquisition of 32 metric tons of heavy water from Iran.”

“The heavy water deal

was really concluded in April and it just took a few months to make all the necessary arrange-ments you would expect from such a deal,” said another U.S. unnamed official, the Washington Free Bacon reported.

In addition to the U.S., Iran has also been in talks with Moscow to sell

40 tons of heavy water, Araqchi said.

Details of the negotiations have not been disclosed yet.

If no international customer purchases Iran’s heavy water, then the excess will be stored in storage facilities in Oman, the top diplomat noted, citing previous agreements in this re-gard.

1 Under the UN resolution, Iran is “called upon” to re-

frain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years.

The remarks come after Reuters had quoted Ban as saying in a copy of the report that Iran’s ballistic missile launches “are not consistent with the constructive spirit” of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Allegedly, the document was seen by Reuters. “Mr. Zarif had a very stormy telephone conversation

(on June 29) with Mr. Ban Ki-moon” after studying the draft, Araqchi noted.

The UN Security Council is due to discuss Ban’s report on July 18 amid Iran’s hopes for a dilution.

It remains still unclear whether Ban’s concerns will influ-ence the council’s interpretation of Iran’s missile program.

“While it is for the Security Council to interpret its own resolutions, I am concerned that those ballistic missile

launches are not consistent with the constructive spirit demonstrated by the signing of the (Iran nuclear deal),” Ban had said in the report.

Araqchi, the deputy foreign minister for legal and in-ternational affairs, went on to say that “Ban Ki-Moon has no right to scuttle the JCPOA by his report. Pressures by the U.S. and Europe have influenced him and the missile debate has nothing to do with the nuclear one.”

He added, “We are strongly against any sort of move which aims to mount a challenge to our missile program.”

Days after Ban’s conservative stance on Iran’s missile program, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the parliament that missile launches by Iran earlier this year were inconsistent with the 2231 resolution.

Also, on July 9, the 28 members of NATO said in a communique that they remain “seriously concerned by the development of Iran’s ballistic missile programme and continuing missile tests that are inconsistent with UNSCR 2231.”

Responding to the concerns, Bahram Qasemi, the For-eign Ministry spokesman, said on July 11 that “Iran’s missile capabilities, as reiterated numerous times, not only has nothing to do with the JCPOA and nuclear negotiations, but it is neither in breach of the 2231 resolution.”

Since the successful test-firing of two ballistic mis-siles by the IRGC in March, Iran has seen itself in an-other confrontation with the United States and its Western allies.

TEHRAN — Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said

on Tuesday that Iran can be a sustainable source of energy for Europe if attention is paid to necessary conditions and issues.

Larijani made the remarks during a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in Tehran.

Larijani also called on Europe to study and solve banking obstructions in eco-nomic relations with Iran.

Despite the fact that the nuclear deal between Iran and great powers went into effect in January many banks around the world are still hesitant to resume transac-tions with Iran.

Turning pointLarijani told Borissov that his trip to

Tehran can be a turning point in ties be-tween Tehran and Sofia.

The top MP said that banking and economic relations between Iran and Bulgaria can be a role model for ties be-tween Iran and other European countries.

For his part, Borissov said Bulgaria can play an effective role in expanding relations between Iran and the European countries.

Borissov said that Iran should send a

banking delegation to Bulgaria in order to identify and remove the obstacles on the path of expanding ties.

‘Situation in Middle East is critical’During his talks with Borissov, Larijani

also described the situation in the Middle East as “critical”.

“Terrorism is not a simple and tactical issue and cannot be settled through a number of air bombardments,” he noted.

He said that international cooperation is required to counter terrorism as a glob-al problem.

No religion supports the terrorist

groups’ actions, however some countries back these groups, Larijani lamented.

Iran calls for Iraqi unity in terror fight

During a separate meeting on Mon-day with Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the Iranian Majlis speaker said all the Iraqi groups must get united in fight against terrorism.

Larijani also expressed satisfaction over the recent Iraqi victories against ter-rorists and called for more unity among all the ethnic, political and religious groups in this struggle.

Hakim also elaborated on the current situation in Iraq and praised Iran’s support for the Iraqi government and people.

All the groups in Iraq have reached the conclusion that there is no way but cooperation in order to establish stability in Iraq, Hakim noted.

Hakim who started a tour of Iran on Sunday has met with President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani, and Ali Akbar Velayati, senior advisor to the Su-preme Leader.

JULY 13, 2016JULY 13, 20162 I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

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MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

TEHRAN — Principlists may conditionally support Hassan Rouhani in the next year’s presidential cam-paigns, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a key principlist figure, has said.

“Rouhani is one of the options that principlists are considering,” Bahonar told the Iran newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

Bahonar underlined that the condition is that Rouhani devise a way out of economic stagnation, or at least open windows of hope that the econom-ic recession is going to end.

Principlists may conditionally back Rouhani for next term: Bahonar

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Uprooting extremism possible only by following Ayatollah Khamenei: Iraqi Sunni cleric

TEHRAN — The head of Iraq’s Sunni Scholars So-ciety has said eradication of extremism in the re-gion is possible only by following the guidelines set by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution.

Speaking to Tasnim on Tuesday, Khalid al-Mala pointed to Daesh, saying there is no option other than fighting this shadowy group.

IR

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Rouhani: Some states spread terror in region with democratic slogans

TEHRAN — There were some countries who set the fire of terrorism ablaze in the region with dem-ocratic slogans, President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday in a meeting with the visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, IRIB reported.

The Bulgarian prime minister, for his part, ap-preciated his chance to travel to Iran, saying, “It was the first time that all media unanimously stressed that the trip to Iran was going to be a historic one, which shows the level of public expectations in Bul-garia from this trip and its outcomes.”

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Faisal’s attendance in MKO meeting reveals Saudi hostility toward Iran: Lebanese analyst

TEHRAN — A senior Lebanese political analyst has said the participation of Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal in a gathering of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in Paris proved that the king-dom is adamant in its hostility toward Iran.

“The presence of Turki Faisal in the meeting prac-tically conveyed a message to Tehran that Riyadh will continue pursuing its hostile policies against Iran,” Talal Atrissi, a Lebanese university professor and Middle East expert, told Nasim on Tuesday.

Such moves are happening before the eyes of the world, he said.

The analyst ridiculed remarks by the former Saudi spy chief about the collapse of the Iranian govern-ment by the MKO, saying such words will have no practical effect because the terrorist group is deeply unpopular among the Iranians and it has done noth-ing other than terrorist acts over the past 30 years.

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Saddam fate awaits Faisal and his ilk: Iran FM

TEHRAN — Iran says former Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, and his ilk face a fate similar to that of the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.

Speaking to IRIB upon his arrival in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Min-ister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized the former Saudi intelligence chief for taking part in a rally held by the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terror-ist group in the French capital of Paris.

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Iranian student-made satellites ready for launch

TEHRAN — A number of satellites built by stu-dents in Iran are ready to be launched, the Iran Space Organization chief has said.

Two of these satellites will be launched by March, Mohsen Bahrami said, ISNA reported on Tuesday.

One of the satellites is designed for telecommunica-tion purposes while the other is a test satellite, he stated.

The official said the student-made satellites will act as precursors to a national satellite to be built later.

Tehran, Washington sources confirm completion of heavy water deal

Zarif talks tough with Ban on 2231 resolution report

“Given the stakes, the U.S. will need more, not less, engagement with Iran.”

“Mr. Zarif had a very stormy telephone conversation (on June 29) with Mr. Ban Ki-

moon” after studying the draft, Araqchi noted.

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Iran can be sustainable source of energy for Europe: Larijani

TEHRAN — Ali Akbar Velayati,

the senior foreign policy advisor to the Leader, has said that the U.S. has not fulfilled its commit-ments based on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as it had been ex-pected.

In an interview with the IRIB late on Monday, Velayati

said Iran has met all its com-mitments under the JCPOA which has been confirmed by

the International Atomic Energy Agency, but the

U.S. has not met its obligations in remov-ing sanctions and

easing Iran’s eco-nomic interaction with Western countries.

Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Se-curity Council plus Germany) finalized the text of the JCPOA in Vienna on July 14 2015. It went into effect on Jan-uary 16, 2016.

Velyati, a former foreign minister, con-demned the silence of the 5+1 nations over the U.S. failure in meeting its com-mitments.

The 5+1 nations are duty bound to counter the U.S. if it continues to violate

its commitments, he asserted.He pointed to remarks of the Supreme

Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Iran will not accept removal of nuclear related sanctions if the U.S. continues to fabricate allegations of human rights violations by Iran.

“The U.S. Senate and Congress have approved bills against us since the imple-mentation of the JCPOA and Obama [the U.S. president] has signed some of them,” he lamented.

U.S. politicians, diplomats pen letter urging stronger ties with Iran

U.S. has not fulfilled JCPOA commitments: Velayati

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Official: 20 dead in head-on train crash in southern Italy Two Italian commuter trains collided head-on Tuesday in the southern region of Puglia, killing at least 20 people and injur-ing scores more, officials said. At least two passengers were pulled alive from the crumpled wreckage as the rescue oper-ation took place in the scorching heat.

Giuseppe Corrado, vice president of the province of Andria, told Sky TG24 the death toll stood at 20 and that rescue op-erations were continuing. Another official stressed the final toll would not be known until the wreckage had been pulled apart.

The two trains, each with four cars, collided head-on at midday in an olive grove on flat terrain between the towns of Andria and Corato on a line with just a single track. The accident occurred around 11:30 a.m. some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the Puglia regional capital, Bari.

“It’s a disaster as if an airplane fell,” local Mayor Massimo Mazzilli said on his Facebook page, where he posted photos of the crash.

Italian Premier Matteo Renzi pledged a thorough inves-tigation and returned to Rome from Milan to monitor the situation.

Riccardo Zingaro, the chief of the local police in An-dria, told Sky it was “a great tragedy.” Some rescue workers seemed overwhelmed by the scene and the heat.

A still photo of the crash showed cars crumpled together like an accordion and forced off the tracks at sharp angles. News reports said rescue workers pulled a small child alive from the rubble. Video images showed ambulances re-sponding to the scene with other rescue workers.

“The impact was significant, and we are now verifying the consequences,” said Giovanni De Siervo of Italy’s civil protec-tion service.

A field hospital was set up in the nearby fields to treat the nu-merous injured, who were also being transported to hospitals.

“Some of the cars are completely crumpled and the res-cuers are extracting people from the metal, many of them injured,” Zingaro told ANSA at the scene.

Italy’s premier, Renzi, said the train crash “is a moment of tears” and pledged not to stop investigating until a cause was determined.

The trains were operated by a private rail company, Fer-rotramviaria that connects the city of Bari with towns to the north and the airport. Ferrotramviaria’s website said its fleet comprises 21 electric trains, most with four cars each. The line serves mostly students and commuters.

In a phone interview with state TV, Ferrotramviaria Director General Massimo Nitti said the dynamics of what went wrong are still to be determined, but it is clear “one of the trains wasn’t supposed to be there” at the same time as the other.

(Source: AP)

Human rights groups calls for release of top Bahraini activistDozens of Bahraini and international rights groups have called on the House of Khalifah regime to release prominent human rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab, who faces up to 13 years in prison over tweets critical of the ruling dynasty.

“We remind the Bahraini government of its obligation to preserve the right to free expression,” 26 campaign groups, including Human Rights First and Physicians for Human Rights, said in a statement.

They added, “We reiterate repeated calls by United Na-tions officials, and others in the international community, to immediately release Rajab.”

The statement came as Rajab, who is the head of the Bah-rain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), will appear in court later on Tuesday over tweets in March 2015 criticizing Ma-nama’s involvement in the deadly Saudi aggression against Yemen and torture at the notorious Jaw Prison.

Rajab has been repeatedly detained for organizing an-ti-regime demonstrations and publishing Twitter posts deemed insulting to the Bahraini authorities.

The 52-year-old activist was pardoned for health reasons last year, but he was re-arrested last month.

Separately, Bahraini regime forces stormed a number of houses across the kingdom early on Tuesday, arresting a number of young people.

The raids took place in the villages of Nuwaidrat, Ma’ameer, Malkiya and Dumistan.

Bahraini demonstrators attend a protest against the revo-cation of the citizenship of top Bahraini Shia cleric Sheikh Issa Qassim near the clergyman’s residence in the village of Diraz, Bahrain, early on July 12, 2016.

Elsewhere in the northwestern village of Diraz, situated about 12 kilometers (seven miles) west of the capital, dozens of pro-testers converged outside the residence of Bahraini Shia cleric Sheikh Issa Qassim early on Tuesday to voice their support for the distinguished religious scholar, and condemn the Al Khalifah regime’s decision to strip him of his citizenship. The participants later said their morning prayers at the protest site.

Bahraini authorities stripped Sheikh Qassim of his citi-zenship on June 20. Less than a week earlier, they had sus-pended al-Wefaq and dissolved opposition al-Risala Islamic Association and Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by Sheikh Qassim.

Since February 14, 2011, thousands of anti-regime pro-testers have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis, calling on the Al Khalifah family to re-linquish power.

In March that year, troops from Saudi Arabia and the Unit-ed Arab Emirates — themselves repressive Arab regimes — were deployed to the country to assist the Bahraini govern-ment in its crackdown on peaceful protests.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others in-jured or arrested in the Bahraini crackdown on the anti-regime activists.

(Source: Press TV)

JULY 13, 2016JULY 13, 2016 INTERNATIONALh t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / i n t e r n a t i o n a l 3I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

Iraqi forces push terrorists out of villages near MosulA car bombing has killed 12 people and wounded doz-ens more at an outdoor market in a district north of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, according to police sources.

Police said a parked car packed with explosives blew up on Tuesday morning at a vegetable and fruit market in Rashidiyah town.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded at least 37 people.

Speaking to Associated Press on the condition of an-onymity, a medical official confirmed the casualty figures.

Baghdad is on high alert for attacks after a blast in the central Karada district on July 3 killed more than 300 people.

This was the deadliest bombing in Iraq since the Unit-ed States-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant terrorist group (ISIL/Daesh), which holds territory in Iraq, claimed responsibility for that attack.

The bombing in Rashidiyah came as the Iraqi parlia-ment was due on Tuesday to discuss security measures in the capital in the wake of the attack in Karada.

On Monday, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Cart-er said Washington will send 560 more troops to Iraq to help battle ISIL.

On Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ac-cepted the resignation of interior minister Mohammed al-Ghabban and sacked the city’s head of security op-erations and other senior officials, following the deadly attack in Karada.

--------- Iraqi forces push terrorists out of villages

near MosulMeantime, Iraqi troops have liberated two villages in

southern Mosul from the grip of ISIL terrorists as part of the push by government forces for recapturing the strategic northern city.

Nofel Hamadi al-Sultan, the governor of Nineveh Province, where Mosul is located, said security forces managed to wrest control of the villages in the region of Qayyarah on Tuesday, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.

Iraqi soldiers also retook a residential complex in the same area, the report added.

The neighboring district of al-Shirqat, situated in Sa-lahuddin Province (Saladin Governorate), was also encir-cled by the Iraqi forces during Tuesday’s operation.

The road, which links Qayyarah to Shirqat, was one of the major ISIL supply lines.

On Saturday, Iraqi forces retook the Qayyarah air base from ISIL.

In another development on Tuesday, Iraqi armed forces discovered a jail underground in Qayyarah and released hundreds of innocent prisoners who were held by ISIL terrorists.

The Iraqi army also found a six-kilometer tunnel in northern Ramadi with a large quantity of clothes and gold inside the passage. Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, was liberated last December almost one year after it fell to the hands of the extremists.

Ismail al-Mahlavi, the commander of the Iraqi army’s operations in Nineveh, said the tunnel was located in a village in northern Ramadi, Iraq’s al-Sumaria satellite TV

network reported.Also on Tuesday, Iraqi security forces uncovered ISIL

torture cells and iron cages in the recently recaptured city of Fallujah, al-Qadir TV reported.

Meanwhile, Iraqi sources said they found cells used for punishing women who refused to marry terrorists. They further discovered torture equipment such as iron spikes, chains and car batteries.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since ISIL terrorists began their reign of terror in the country in June 2014.

Iraqi army troops, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units (al-Hashd al-Sha’abi), are seeking to win back militant-held regions in joint op-erations.

Having suffered heavy losses on the battlefield against Iraqi soldiers, ISIL has recently stepped up its terror at-tacks across the country.

(Source: agencies)

The House of Saud regime’s military aircraft have con-ducted a round of simultaneous attacks against several areas across Yemen in violation of a United Nations-bro-kered ceasefire.

The apparent uptick in Saudi airstrikes came a day after former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was re-ported to have arrived in Ma’rib Province to oversee an offensive to retake the capital Sana’a from the Ansarullah (Houthi) movement.

In the Tuesday morning bombing, explosions ripped through Nihm district northeast of Sana’a as Saudi warplanes launched three airstrikes against residential neighborhoods, Arabic-language Yemen Press reported.

Saudi warplanes also struck al-Maton district in the

northern province of al-Jawf. A similar aerial attack was conducted on Kitaf wa al-Boqe’e district in the north-western Sa’ada Province.

Separately, Saudi warplanes carried out two airstrikes against Abs district in the northwestern province of Hajjah.

There were no immediate reports of possible casual-ties and the extent of damage the assaults inflicted.

Saudi Arabia launched its military aggression against Yemen in March 2015, in a bid to bring Hadi, who re-signed and then fled the capital two years ago, back to power.

More than 9,400 people have been killed and at least 16,000 others injured since the onset of the aggression.

The Saudi strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the

country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

On Monday, Hadi warned that his delegates would pull out of peace negotiations underway in Kuwait if the United Nations kept insisting on a roadmap for the for-mation of a unity government.

Hadi said he would not accept the roadmap pro-posed by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

Talks between Hadi’s representatives and delegates representing the Ansarullah and allies have been going on in Kuwait City since April 21, but no concrete progress has been made for a permanent solution to the conflict.

(Source: Press TV)

The House of Saud regime has arrested a senior cleric from the country’s mi-nority Shia community as the kingdom continues to impose more restrictions on religious activities of people in its oil-rich east.

Reports on Tuesday suggested that Saudi authorities had arrested Sheikh Mohammad Hassan al-Habib, a promi-nent cleric in the Safavi region in Qatif.

Locals said Habib, along with three of his companions, were arrested on Satur-

day and were reportedly transferred to a security facility in the capital, Riyadh, for questioning.

Habib’s family said they have yet to receive any information about the fate of the cleric and the whereabouts he is being held in.

Habib is known in Qatif, a hub of anti-regime protests in Saudi Arabia in 2012, for his vocal criticism of the government and its policies toward the Shias. The cleric intensified its anti-gov-

ernment rhetoric earlier this year when Riyadh executed Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr along with a number of activists in the region. The execution sparked outrage in the Middle East and across the world, with many condemning the move as a sign of Saudi Arabia’s lack of tolerance for dissent.

Nimr, a highly-revered cleric based in Qatif, had been convicted of terrorism charges and plotting to overthrow the regime, although he never contributed

to any armed form of struggle against Riyadh.

Citizens of Qatif and other regions in the oil-rich eastern Saudi Arabia have for long lamented about discrimination against them. International rights cam-paigners have also called on Riyadh to stop prosecution against members of the Shia community, saying they should enjoy more freedom in expressing their religious beliefs.

(Source: Press TV)

An arbitration tribunal in The Hague has rejected China’s claims to economic rights across large swaths of the South China Sea, in a ruling that will be claimed as a victory by the Philippines.

“There was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line’,” the Permanent Court of Arbitration

said on Tuesday, referring to a demarca-tion line on a 1947 map of the sea.

The South China Sea is a resource-rich strategic waterway through which more than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped each year.

In the 497-page ruling, the court also found that Chinese law enforcement pa-trols had risked colliding with Philippine fishing vessels in parts of the sea and

caused irreparable damage to coral reefs with construction work.

China, which boycotted the case brought by the Philippines, rejected the ruling, saying its islands had exclusive economic zones and the Chinese people have more than 2,000 years of history of activities there.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said his

country “will not accept” the decision adding that China “under any circum-stances, will not be affected by the award”, Xinhua state news agency reported.

Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, said: “It’s fair to assume that the Chinese government knew which way this was going to go.”

(Source: agencies)

Iraq: Deaths in car bomb attack on market near Baghdad

Saudi warplanes conduct simultaneous strikes across Yemen

Saudi regime detains prominent Shia cleric

Court rules against Beijing in South China Sea row

The House of Saud regime and other Sunni Arab states should do more to en-sure their ruling families are not secretly funding the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh), a British parliamen-tary committee has recommended.

In a report on the state of ISIL financ-es, the foreign affairs select committee claims the terrorist organization based in Iraq and Syria is increasingly desper-ate for more money, and is resorting to “gangsterism and protection rackets” dis-guised as taxation.

It also suggests Isis funding has de-clined because of the collapse in the oil price, airstrikes on its key financial experts and a squeeze on its ability to operate in-side the formal and informal Iraqi bank-ing system.

But in its most controversial passage, the committee points out that the interior ministry of Saudi Arabia only passed laws as late as March 2015 to make it illegal for Saudi residents to provide support to ISIL.

By contrast, the committee points out that Britain designated ISIL as a distinct terrorist organization in June 2014.

The committee quoted the Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood admitting it was hard to know how the royal fami-lies operated in some of the Persian Gulf states.

Discussing the likelihood of donations by members of Sunni royal families, he told the committee: “It is very opaque. When somebody who is close to the top of a royal family is a very rich individual donor … that is very likely to happen.”

A Foreign Office senior civil servant, Dan Chugg, told the committee inquiry: “It is difficult with some of these coun-tries to know exactly what is government funding and what is not when you are dealing with royal families, wealthy princ-es and those kind of things. Our strategy was not to try to ascertain whose prob-lem and whose fault it was, but to stop the funding going to Daesh [ISIL]. That was what was important. And that is what our efforts have been focused on.”

The committee recommended the Foreign Office “work with local partners in the region to ensure they have the ca-pacity and resolve to rigorously enforce

local laws to prevent the funding of ISIL, so that the group cannot benefit from donations in future”.

Persian Gulf families have denied they have been funding ISIL and insist they have been working with groups deter-mined to bring its rule to an end.

John Baron MP, chair of the committee inquiry team, said that while ISIL’s financ-es had been damaged, more needed to be done by Britain to help the Iraqi gov-ernment stop the group from operating within the country’s financial systems.

(Source: The Guardian)

MPs: Saudi Arabia must do more to prevent secret funding of ISIL

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E C O N O M Y h t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / e c o n o m yJULY 13, JULY 13, 20162016

Energy minister in London to discuss bilateral ties

UK economy was struggling before Brexit vote: survey

Azerbaijani president ratifies railway co-op with Iran

Over 50% in poll do not think Abenomics will lift Japan’s economy

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on July 11 to ratify the “Framework Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the coordination of railways of Azerbaijan and Iran”, which was signed in Tehran 23 February 2016.

Under another presidential

order, the “Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on cooperation in continuing the construction and operation of Khudafarin and Giz Galasi hydro-junctions and hydro power plants on the Araz River, the use of energy and water resources” was ratified.

(Source: Admiral News)

A majority of people continue to support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet after Sunday’s Upper House election but are skeptical of the effec-tiveness of his economic policies and not supportive of the constitutional revision he seeks, according to a Kyodo News survey.

In a telephone survey conducted Monday and Tuesday, 56.4 percent of the respondents said they do not be-lieve Abe’s economic policy mix can lift the economy, while 32.0 percent said they believe the measures will.

The support rate for Abe’s Cabinet stood at 53.0 percent, down from 55.3 percent in the previous poll conducted

in late May, while the disapproval rating was 34.7 percent, up from 33.0 points.

On the Constitution, 48.9 percent of the respondents, down from 54.9 percent, said they are against making any amend-ments under the Abe administration, while 35.8 percent, up from 35.0 percent, ex-pressed they approve of the move.

On the fact that parties considered to be in favor of making constitutional amendments now hold two-thirds of the Upper House seats, 24.2 percent of the respondents took the change positively. That compares with 28.4 percent who said it was bad. Forty-six percent said they are undecided.

(Source: The Japan Times)

TEHRAN — Iran’s Energy Minister Ha-

mid Chitchian, accompanied by a del-egation, arrived in London on Monday to confer on development of bilateral water and energy cooperation and attraction of investments with the Eu-ropean country, Mehr News Agency reported.

During his three-day visit to London, Chitchian would confer on the condi-

tions for making investment in Iran and ways to expand common cooperation in the fields of electricity, water and wastewater with a number of British top officials, business owners and corporate executives including Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd, Chair-man of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce Lord Lamont, managers of Siemens, and some of British electricity, renewable and new energies activists.

The U.K. economy was stuttering even before the Brexit vote, according to a wide-reaching survey from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) published on Tuesday.

The country’s main business-lobby-ing group said the service sector – the main driver of the U.K. economy – was weakening before the referendum last month, with both domestic and over-seas sales falling. Its survey was based on more than 8,200 responses from private sector firms during the second quarter of 2016.

“Even before the EU referendum, both business confidence and economic growth were softening in many parts of

the U.K. Our latest survey results, cap-tured just before the vote, suggest that many businesses have been operating in something of a holding pattern for some time,” Adam Marshall, acting director general of the BCC, said in the report.

The services sector accounts for more than three-quarters of Britain’s economic output, according to the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics.

The BCC said manufacturing activity in the U.K. was also at historically low levels.

Marshall said there remained a vacu-um of knowledge as to how the vote to leave the European Union (EU) would af-fect British business performance.

(Source: CNBC)

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F A meeting between Bangladesh central bank officials and the New York Federal Reserve sched-uled for this week to speed up efforts to recover $81 million stolen from Bangladesh Bank's ac-count at the Fed has been postponed, officials in Dhaka said.

A four-member Bangladesh Bank team headed by deputy governor Mohammad Razee Hassan was to meet Fed officials in New York on July 15.

"We are in talks with the Fed and hoping that the meeting will take place anytime at the end of this month or next month," said a senior Bangla-desh Bank official.

Concerns raised by the first reported fatality in a semi-automated car were expected to speed adop-tion of more sensitive technology to help vehicles see and drive themselves safely, increasing demand on the emerging autonomous vehicle technology industry, investors and analysts said.

Goldman Sachs forecasts the market for ad-vanced driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles will grow from about $3 billion last year to $96 billion in 2025 and $290 billion in 2035. More than half of that revenue in 20 years, Goldman es-timates, will come from radar, cameras and lidar, a sensor that uses laser – all tools considered essen-tial to building vehicles that can pilot themselves.

Shares in Japan's Nintendo Co. Ltd. soared again on Monday, bringing market-value gains to $7.5 bil-lion (£5.8 billion) in just two days as investors cheered the runaway success of Pokemon GO - its first long-awaited venture in mobile gaming.

In the United States, by July 8 - two days after its release - it was installed on more than 5 percent of Android devices in the country, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb.

As the game took the U.S. by storm, Nintendo's shares surged by a quarter in value on Monday to their highest level since November. They have gained 36 percent since Thursday's close with the initial mo-mentum coming from the game shooting to the top of free app rankings in Apple Inc.'s U.S. iTunes store.

Iran claws back oil market share LONDON (PR Newswire) — Iranian output in June climbed to 3.63 million b/d, its highest since June 2011, and very close to pre-sanctions levels, according to an S&P Global Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials.

Iran's oil output rise has been swift since sanctions were lifted on January 16, increasing 740,000 b/d compared with December 2015.

The Persian Gulf producer has been reclaiming its market share and broadening its customer base.

Polish refiner Grupa Lotos bought a one-off test purchase of 2 million barrels of Iranian light crude recently, and Europe has returned as a key destination for Iranian crude.

Iran has also been gradually increasing its exports to key Asian buyers like India, China, Japan and South Korea.

Japan's oil imports from Iran are

currently more than 300,000 b/d --similar to pre-sanctions levels.

Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crude oil output surged 300,000 barrels per day (b/d) in June, close to an eight-year high of 32.73 million b/d, as production in Nigeria and Libya tentatively recovered along with steady increases for Saudi Arabia and Iran, according to Platts OPEC survey data.

"OPEC's 300,000-barrel-per-day output rise in June, boosted by fragile recoveries in Libya and Nigeria, and the unrelenting rise in Iran and the increase in Saudi Arabia, sends a strong message over its unwavering market share strategy," says Eklavya Gupte, senior editor for S&P Global Platts. "If the situation persists, the case for a return to some kind of production cap may gain traction."

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NY Fed, Bangladesh Bank meeting on heist postponed: sources

Tesla crash raises stakes for self-driving vehicle startups

Pokemon game adds $7.5b to Nintendo market value in two days

ECONOMYd e s k

ECONOMYd e s k

Govt. body approves new model of oil and gas contracts 1

“These contracts will not be signed unless the necessary re-forms are implemented in the framework of national interests,” the Leader remarked.

The term “resistance economy,” as outlined by the Supreme Leader, calls on the government to secure the utilization of the country’s resources, struggle to promote a knowledge-based economy, take efforts to increase energy consumption effi-ciency, and finally, boost domestic production.

Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs Amir-Hossein Zamaninia said on Sunday that Iran expects the signing of its first IPC within the next 3-4 months.

Russia's Rosneft shares will be offered directly to strategic investorsPrivatization of shares of Russian state-owned oil company Ros-neft won’t imply their sale on the stock exchange, said First Dep-uty Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.

"We initially thought that Rosneft could be offered [to inves-tors] through the stock exchange, and then we abandoned these plans. We think that you can sell it more successfully by negotiat-ing directly with potential investors," he said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 television channel.

"I hope we will manage to sell Bashneft a bit earlier than Ros-neft," Shuvalov added.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) may enter board of directors of Rosneft if it takes part in company’s privatiza-tion. As for privatization of Sovcomflot company a deal via stock exchange is possible, he said.

(Source: TASS)

TEHRAN — Head of Iranian Central Securities

Depository and Settlement Funds Com-pany (known as SAMAT) Mohammad Reza Mohseni and the CEO of Hellenic Exchang-es-Athens Stock Exchange Socrates Lazaridis signed an agreement on securities exchange cooperation on Tuesday.

According to IRNA, the agreement which was endorsed on the sidelines of the Iran

Finance (FINEX 2016), pivots around col-laborating on establishing exchange-traded funds (ETF), offering securities, and linking Iranian and Greek capital markets to each other.

Iran’s national economy is bank-based and the government, especially after the implementation of its nuclear deal with the sextet in January, is seeking for a shift into a more market-based one via switching the

trend of financing away from banks towards the securities market in a bid to help the administration clear debts to contractors. The penned contract with the Greek secu-rities market and the ongoing FINEX 2016 are among the administrations measures to reach the set target.

Iran Finance (FINEX 2016), the interna-tional conference on stock exchange, bank-ing and insurance, kicked off at the Tehran

International Permanent Fairgrounds on Sunday and will wrap up on Wednesday. A number of Iranian senior officials including First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Finance Minister Ali Tayyebnia, Governor of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Valiollah Seif, and lead-ers of stock exchange, banks and insurance companies attended the event which hosted foreigners from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, China, Taiwan, Croatia, and Greece.

Tehran, Athens ink MOU on securities exchangeMitsubishi Regional Jet may take off in IranJapan's Mitsubishi Aircraft is in talks with Iran to supply the Mid-east country with its regional passenger jet currently under de-velopment.

The unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries began market surveys into Iran last September, four months before the U.S. lifted sanc-tions. The Japanese company has been touching base with flag carrier Iran Air and Iran Aseman Airlines, as well as the country's aviation authorities. Mitsubishi Aircraft and the Iranian carriers are discussing purchase orders during the Farnborough Air Show, which kicked off on Monday in the London suburb.

Iran Air is weighing purchasing 80 70-seat Mitsubishi Re-gional Jets and using them for domestic routes. Executives from both sides also discussed a possible deal last month during the International Air Transport Association conference in Dublin.

Mitsubishi Aircraft is partnering with the Japanese govern-ment in this endeavor, aiming to make use of state-backed fi-nancing. Because Mitsubishi Aircraft is developing the 90-seat model first, the company plans to deliver the 70-seater in 2019 at the earliest.

Rivals Embraer of Brazil and Canada's Bombardier are also marketing their aircraft in Iran. Europe's Airbus has reached agreement with Iran for the purchase of 118 planes. U.S.-based Boeing announced a deal with Iran Air in late June.

Because of economic sanctions, Iran had been unable to re-place aging aircraft. Tehran is planning to expand its airports and transform the city into a Mideast hub. However, several Ameri-can legislators maintain a hard line against selling commercial aircraft to Iran. Both Airbus and Mitsubishi Aircraft procure many parts from the U.S.

Mitsubishi Aircraft has already secured orders for 407 jets, mainly in Japan and the U.S.. Demand has picked up after the MRJ made its maiden flight last November. Despite the stagna-tion in new sales due to the global economic slowdown, Mit-subishi Aircraft is stepping up its sales operation toward the goal of selling 1,000 planes. (Source: Nikkei)

Oil prices rise on Iraq loading worries; bearish investors cap gainsOil futures rose on Tuesday as an interruption in Iraqi crude loadings at Basra threatened to tighten supplies, but prices held close to two-month lows hit in the previous session as investors continued to slash their bullish bets.

Brent crude oil futures were trading at $46.39 per barrel at 0320 GMT, up 14 cents from their last close but still near the Friday's low of $45.90. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 11 cents at $44.87 a barrel.

Traders said the rise in prices was largely a result of a sus-pension of tanker loading of Basra Light crude at two export terminals in Iraq's south after a pipeline leak.

Although loadings reportedly resumed overnight, Iraq plans to cut crude oil exports from its southern ports to 2.79 million barrels per day (bpd) in August from 2.99 million bpd planned for July, a preliminary loading program showed.

Oil price gains have, however, been limited with financial players betting on price falls, or shorting the crude market, moving away from long positions that benefit from price rises.

Hedge funds and other money managers cut their bullish bets on crude by 22 million barrels over the seven days end-ing on July 5. These players have cut their net long positions in crude futures and options by almost a quarter, from 633 million barrels to 485 million, over the last four weeks.

(Source: Reuters)

Iran shows interest in the project for construction of an interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria.

This is what Bulgarian Minister of Energy Temenu-zhka Petkova announced speaking with journalists, FO-CUS News Agency reporter said.

“Energy was one of the major issues on which we can cooperate with our partners from Iran,” the Bulgar-ian minister remarked.

She added that there was serious interest in the pos-sibility for Bulgaria to take part in the LNG terminal in Alexandroupoli.

“In this sense, speaking of the construction of the LNG terminal in Alexandroupoli, there are many clear preconditions for the possibility to deliver natural gas from Iran in about 3-4 years,” the minister explained.

Ms. Petkova added that her Iranian counterpart Bi-jan Namdar Zanganeh introduced her to the projects that were underway at the moment.

A Bulgarian official government delegation, headed by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, is on an official visit to Iran.

The delegation is comprised of Deputy Prime Min-ister for EU Funds and Economic Policies Tomislav Donchev, Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov, Min-ister of Transport, Information Technology and Com-munications Ivaylo Moskovski, Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov, Minister of Agriculture and Food Desislava Taneva, Deputy Minister of Economy Lyuben Petrov.

(Source: focus-fen.net)

Iran interested in Greece-Bulgaria interconnector project

Bulgarian Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova (R) met Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Tehran on Monday

Never before have I been to a country whereby the preconcep-tions of it are so far away from re-

ality. There is no war in Iran, the country is generally safe, and the living standards are comparable to those of Europe. The architecture is gorgeous, the landscapes diverse and the people - the people of Iran are the best. They are incredibly kind and friendly, and always eager to meet foreigners with an open door and a cup of chai. It really is an amazing country.

Nevertheless, hitchhiking in Iran can be quite a challenge, no matter if you are male or female. The vast majority of the country has never heard of the words “hitchhiking” or “autostop” let alone know what they mean. As soon as you cross the border to the east from either Armenia or Turkey you will get tons of people stopping for you without any problem, but with the sole intention to bring this lost tourist to the nearest bus terminal (next to inviting you for a chai or a meal at their house).

You have to wave with your arm to make cars stop instead of “thump up” in Iran.

Why would you hitchhike as a woman?

The Iranian people are extremely hos-pitable, and always ready to help a wom-an (or man) in need. Explaining that you don’t need help, are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself and actually en-joy standing next to the highway to wait for a car, is something many people do not seem to get. Trying to hitchhike (or wildcamp) together with another female traveler taught me that people either can’t or choose not to understand what you want to do, as it is way too danger-ous in their opinion.

Instead they will take you to the bus station, get you into a taxi, write you help signs for the police or escort you into a bus. As I hitchhiked some days with a guy as well, the difference was quite clear. With a man by my side, people actually

dropped us next to the highway and let us do wildcamping (eventually). For sure, they were still confused and invited us to their houses instead, but the fact that the sentence “that’s too dangerous for you” was reduced from ten to one time a day shows how big the gender gap is.

So what should I do, as an independ-ent woman who has made it all the way hitchhiking from the Netherlands to Iran, when facing such sexism?

It would have been easy to just give up and take buses instead, but I am not a hitchhiker because I like to go for the easy way.

Although the people in this country are extremely worried about the adven-turous mind and spirit of female travelers, Iran is actually quite safe.

Actually, the Iranian men I encoun-tered while hitchhiking were mostly very polite, kept their distance and were in general very respectful. Of course there are always the usual precautions you should take when traveling alone or sole-ly with women, but during the 31 days I spent in this country I never felt unsafe.

Hitchhiking experiences in IranThe best thing is that when you get an

invitation to someone’s home in Iran, you

don’t have to worry about being alone with a strange man, as basically everyone in this country lives together with their family.

One of our first few days in Iran, my hitchhiking partner Lena and I were picked up by a young guy, who invited us for lunch at his family’s house. It was one of the many invitations we got and accepted.

During our stay in Iran, I really ap-preciated the grandmas of the country the most. The food is very delicious, and even though I am a vegetarian, people tried their best to make an Iranian dish without meat.

Another time, me and my female trav-el mate were walking across the highway in the middle of nowhere (we were just successfully dropped off by a car), when the police showed up. They asked us what we were doing and if we needed help. We tried to explain to them that we were perfectly fine, do not need any help and that they can leave us alone. We almost thought we succeeded, until we got into a truck and the police car was suddenly in front of us – blocking the truck from driv-ing further. They demanded we get out of the car, and to see our passports.

I think they were so shocked we would go into a strange car and that we definitely needed their help to get out of this situation, not knowing that they were actually doing the opposite. We knew people were extremely wor-ried for us if we told them what we were doing, but actually being stopped by the police and asked to stay right here while they would come up with a solu-tion to get us to Tehran – was a whole different level of concern. In the end they got us in a car and brought us to the next city, where another policeman was waiting to get us on a bus. There was no way to object.

Luckily, this was the most extreme situation I encountered, and hitchhiking actually worked after I got to learn the tricks and ways to explain people what I was doing.

(Source: The Huffington Post)

Return of Russian tourists to Turkey could not come at better timeLast Saturday, a glimmer of hope landed in the Turkish beach resort of Antalya. The first convoy of Russian tourists in eight months stepped off an airliner to an extra helping of Turkish hospitality.

The smiling Russians were treated to flowers, and up-beat music as they toted their suitcases toward rows of eager taxis.

It’s been a tough year for Turkey. Terrorism, the refugee crisis and diplomatic tension continue to threaten stability and prosperity. And foreign tourists have stayed away in droves.

During what is typically high season, Turkish Mediter-ranean resorts have scores of empty rooms overlooking the famed turquoise waters. Western tourists are largely absent from Istanbul landmarks such as the Hagia Sophia, Galata Tower and Grand Bazaar. Many hotels, shops, and restaurants have been forced to slash prices.

The near-total collapse of Russian tourism in Turkey began last November, when Moscow slapped economic sanctions and a travel ban on Turkey, after the downing of a Russian warplane along the border with Syria.

Apology got the ball rolling for tourismLast month, Russian President Vladimir Putin got the apol-

ogy he had long been demanding from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Putin authorized the gradual easing of the sanctions and lifted the devastating travel ban that caused Russian tourism in Turkey to collapse by more than 90% by some estimates.

Overall, Turkey endured a staggering 23% drop in tourists from all countries in the first five months of 2016. It is a devastating reversal of for tune for Tur-key after more than a decade of 200% annual tourism growth.

The Russian tourists’ return over the weekend is the first sign of thawing relations between the two nations. Russians are snatching up discounted vacation packages, seemingly happy to once again be able to book affordable holidays in Turkey, as opposed to pricier destinations such as Bulgaria or Spain. Lucrative charter flights are expected to resume soon.

Russia is Turkey’s No. two tourism market, second only to Germany. But the number of visitors from those countries, along with the United States, the UK and other parts of Eu-rope has plummeted by nearly a quarter during the first half of this year.

(Source: CNN)

HISTORY & HERITAGEh t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m JULY 13, 2016JULY 13, 2016 5I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

N E W SBy Kim BerghoutHitchhiker, writer & video maker

How is hitchhiking as a woman in Iran?

By Maureen Dowd

JULY 13, JULY 13, 201620166 I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

INTERNATIONAL h t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m

The Clinton contaminationIt says a lot about our relationship with

Hillary Clinton that she seems well on her way to becoming Madam President be-

cause she’s not getting indicted.If she were still at the State Department,

she could be getting fired for being, as the FBI director told Congress, “extremely careless” with top-secret information. Instead, she’s on a glide path to a big promotion.

And that’s the corkscrew way things go with the Clintons, who are staying true to their reputation as the Tom and Daisy Buchanan of American politics. Their vast carelessness drags down everyone around them, but they perse-vere, and even thrive.

In a mere 11 days, arrogant, selfish actions by the Clintons contaminated three of the pur-est brands in Washington — Barack Obama, James Comey and Loretta Lynch — and jeop-ardized the futures of Hillary’s most loyal aides.

It’s quaint, looking back at her appointment as secretary of state, how Obama tried to get Hillary without the shadiness. (Which is what we all want, of course.)

The president and his aides attempted to keep a rein on Clinton’s State Department — refusing to let her bring in her hit man, Sidney Blumenthal.

But in the end, Hillary’s goo got on Obama anyhow. On Tuesday, after Comey managed to make both Democrats and Republicans angry

by indicting Clinton politically but not legally, Barry and Hillary flew to Charlotte, N.C., for their first joint campaign appearance.

Obama in awkward positionObama was left in the awkward position of

vouching for Hillary’s “steady judgment” to run an angry, violent, jittery nation on the very day that his FBI director lambasted her errant judgment on circumventing the State Department email sys-tem, making it clear that she had been lying to the American public for the last 16 months. 9

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INTERNATIONALh t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / i n t e r n a t i o n a l JULY 13, JULY 13, 20162016 7I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

ANGELA MERKEL THERESA MAY HILLARY CLINTON

Women leaders should not be, and are not, defined

solely by gender – and it is never the most interesting thing about them. Nor do

they like being pigeonholed that way.

It now seems extremely likely that by the middle of January 2017, three of the world’s six largest economic powers will be led by women.Unless Donald Trump makes significant gains, the latest

Reuters Ipsos poll still puts Hillary Clinton ahead of her Re-publican rival by 11 points in the race for the White House. German Chancellor Angela Merkel already has a strong case for being described as Europe’s most powerful woman, with an open argument as to whether she has more or less global influence than Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

And as the Brexit fallout settled, it swiftly became clear that Britain’s next prime minister would also be female. (It’s worth noting that this PM would have run the fifth-largest global economy had not the collapse in sterling after the UK vote to leave the European Union pushed France into that place.)

Leader of the Conservative partyBy Thursday last week, the fight to replace Prime Minis-

ter David Cameron as leader of the Conservative party had narrowed to two women. Last Monday, energy minister and former banker Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the race, es-sentially handing Downing Street to Home Secretary Theresa May.

With no other challengers, May will now replace Cameron when he steps down later this week. Britain is not currently scheduled to have another election until 2020, although an incumbent prime minister can in theory call one at any time.

On the Labour Party side, the favorite to succeed embat-tled opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is Angela Eagle. De-spite widespread dissatisfaction within the party, she has been the only one willing to put her head above the parapet as a challenger – although with Corbyn clinging on it still promises to be a tough fight.

These women have emerged from the most brutally sav-age spell in British politics in living memory. None of them owe their positions to tokenism. An entire generation of Brit-ish male politicians has watched their reputations crash and burn since the June 23 referendum, and the women were the ones left standing.

Former interior minister May could yet prove as divisive a prime minister as Margaret Thatcher. At the Home Office, May took a controversially tough line on migration and has now sparked outrage even from diehard “leave” campaigners for a refusal to guarantee that EU citizens currently in Britain will be able to stay.

Even her critics, though, concede May is a tough, dogged, no nonsense campaigner and negotiator. It’s not hard to im-

agine her at the diplomatic top table. A female head of state

America is hardly alone in never having had a female head of state, however – neither has France, China or Russia. (In the latter case, at least not since the reign of the tsars.) Putin, France’s François Hollande and China’s Xi Jinping may now find themselves balanced, however, by May, Merkel and (probably) Clinton.

In many respects, their achievements are striking given how underrepresented women are in national politics in all three countries. In Germany, only 37 percent of parliamentari-ans are female. In the UK, it is 29 percent; in the U.S. Congress it is as low as 19 percent. Only two countries, Rwanda and Bolivia, are above gender parity in national level political rep-resentation, with the United States ranking 96th worldwide.

When it comes to having female heads of government or state, a string of smaller and developing countries have arguably led the way. Sri Lanka became the first country to have a woman prime minister with the election of Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960. Golda Meir became Israel’s prime min-

ister in 1969. Argentina’s Isabel Peron became the world’s first woman president in 1974. There have been female heads of state or government in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Liberia, Turkey, Burundi, Central African Republic, Mongolia, and Haiti amongst others. Some were the daughters or wives of previ-ous national leaders. But many were not.

In multiple cases, female leaders – such as Pakistan’s Bena-zir Bhutto or Britain’s Thatcher – have become iconic figures.

Women leaders should not be, and are not, defined solely by gender – and it is never the most interesting thing about them. Nor do they like being pigeonholed that way. Back in 1995, Clinton famously told a United Nations conference in Beijing that human rights were women’s rights and women’s rights were human rights.

But as with whether a country features any women or mi-norities on its currency, these examples do make a difference. Inevitably, it colors both the realistic aspirations of other wom-en at all levels in the country as well as the way men think about politics, power and agency.

There are stark limits to this. Just as the election of Barack Obama did nothing to stop African-Americans from being more likely to be arrested, jailed or shot by police, South Asia’s high-profile female leaders did not stop the widespread har-assment and assault of women in their countries.

Ironically, the number of female national leaders world-wide has actually been shrinking. According to the website “Women in Leadership”, there are currently 24 female world leaders. That’s the lowest in several years—and includes fig-urehead monarchs such as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Denmark’s Queen Margrethe. (Source: Reuters)

May, Merkel, Clinton – the year of female leaders?

Tony Blair and George Bush created ISIL Thirteen years ago, Britain’s then prime minister Tony Blair re-lied on false evidence to justify taking the United Kingdom to war.

For reasons perhaps better known to him than to anyone else, he chose to align himself with the neoconservative-led administration of the U.S. president of the time, George W. Bush.

Today, we have been absolutely vindicated by the Chilcot report. Not only is Iraq today in a total mess but the whole Middle East is drowning in a sea of blood. Over the years since 2003, the terrorist threat has grown exponentially. Al-Qa-eda splintered giving rise to a much more lethal faction, the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) ter-

rorist group, that is today causing mayhem and committing murder around the world. The sense of hopelessness and profound bitterness have enabled al-Qaeda and then ISIL to recruit young men not only from within the region but from around the world.

Now we know for sure that, according to The Guardian, “the invasion of Iraq increased the terrorist threat to the UK and helped spawn the terror group ISIL”. The paper confirms that these findings “are supported by intelligence documents re-leased as part of the Chilcot report.”

Two years after going to war, exactly 11 years ago on 7 July 2005, London suffered a major terrorist attack that was claimed by al-Qaeda as an act of revenge against the UK involvement in the war. Today, with hindsight, al-Qaeda may seem rather mild compared with its successor that was born out of the ash-es of Iraq’s burning, ISIL.

Tony Blair and George Bush, as well as the people who aid-ed them, should not be allowed to get away with what they have done to our world. These people are the real creators of the circumstances that gave rise to ISIL. The victims of the invasion of Iraq, including the families of those who perished fighting on all sides, are entitled to justice, and that cannot be served by a mere apology or by some crocodile tears.

(Source: middleeastmonitor)

By Peter Apps

Iran’s Leading International Daily

tehrantimes.com

ily

Advertising Dept:ads@tehrantimes.com

TEHRAN TIMES

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

8I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

M E D & S C I h t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o mJULY 13, JULY 13, 20162016

A massive fault could trigger a cata-clysmic earthquake beneath Bangla-desh, parts of east India and Myan-mar, new research suggests.

The hidden fault, which has been buried under miles of river sediment, could release an earthquake of mag-nitude 8.2 to 9.0 in one of the most densely populated regions of the world, the study found. And because research-ers discovered the system relatively re-cently, they have no estimates for when such a megaquake could occur.

"We don't know if it's tomorrow or if it's not going to be for another 500 years," said study co-author Michael Steckler, a geophysicist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Co-lumbia University in New York City.

Massive river depositsIn the low-lying, waterlogged coun-

try of Bangladesh, the mighty Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers meet and form the world's largest delta, eventually draining into the Bay of Bengal. The flow of these two massive rivers depos-its a gigaton of sediment every year, the researchers said. This constant over-

lay of sediment obscured the geology below the Ganges Delta. But in recent

years, scientists have learned that tec-tonic plates are colliding beneath the

eons worth of sediment.To get a better picture of how the

plates buried deep below the sur-face were moving, Steckler and his colleagues worked with researchers at Dhaka University in Bangladesh to install ultrasensitive GPS devices throughout Bangladesh between 2003 and 2014. They combined this data with plate-motion data collected from India and Myanmar, creating a map of the entire fault region.

The GPS network revealed that one plate is diving under the other deep be-neath the surface in an area encompass-ing Bangladesh and parts of Myanmar and eastern India. (The two plates are likely the Indian Plate and a part of the Eurasian Plate that some call the Burma Platelet, Steckler said.)

At the upper layers of the fault, the two plates are stuck together, building up strain that could produce a megathrust earth-quake if it ruptures, the researchers said. Based on the strain data, the team esti-mates that the fault could unleash a maxi-mum of a magnitude 8.2 to 9.0 earthquake.

(Source: Live Science)

Hidden fault could trigger cataclysmic megaquake in Asia

"We don't know if it's tomorrow or if it's not going to be for another 500 years," says study co-author Michael Steckler, a geophysicist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at

Columbia University in New York City.

Scientists from University of Birmingham discov-ered that changes in the bone marrow needed for myeloma have already taken hold in patients with MGUS. Their discovery raises the possibility that early medical intervention could prevent the cancer from developing.

The researchers showed that early on in MGUS development, cells that make up the bone marrow connective tissue become more supportive of can-cer growth.

The PADI2 gene becomes particularly overactive in these connective tissue cells, which leads to the overproduction of interleukin-6 (IL-6). Connective tissue cells release IL-6 into the bone marrow, where it binds with receptors on the surface of cancerous plasma cells, instructing them to multiply rapidly

and resist apoptosis signals. Myeloma patients

The researchers believe that drugs designed to

target PADI2 in MGUS and myeloma patients could reduce the supportive signalling that myeloma cells depend on, and may increase the effectiveness of current treatments.

Explaining more about the significance of the re-search, Dr. Daniel Tennant said: “It is now clear that the bone marrow of patients with MGUS, traditionally thought of as a benign condition, is significantly dif-ferent to that of healthy individuals. The bone mar-row environment in these patients appears capable of supporting cancer growth, even though the majority of patients will not progress to myeloma. While this research is in the early stages, it offers the exciting pos-sibility that early intervention could potentially delay or even prevent cancer development.”

(Source: Drug Target Review)

Early intervention could prevent myeloma from taking root

Embassy of India in Tehran invites applications (Male/Female) for the post of General Assistant. Attractive remuneration will be offered. Qualifications:

Applications only in ENGLISH should be sent to Embassy of India’s email address at hoc.tehran@mea.gov.in by 16th of July, 2016 with subject mentioned as “APPLICATION FOR POST OF GENERAL ASSISTANT”. The application must contain: (i) the applicant’s CV; and (ii) a short paragraph as to why he/she is suitable for the job. (iii) Contact Mobile Number.

Embassy of IndiaTehran

Graduate from a recognized University.Preference for a candidate who has experience of working as an Executive Assistant in a Government/Private Organization or past experience of having worked in Foreign Missions.Age group : 20-35 years.Good oral and written translation skills from Farsi to English and vice versa. Should have good IT skills.Good inter-personal skills.Good knowledge of Iranian Government System, leaders and prominent personalities, order of prec-edence, etc.

1.2.

3.4.

5.6.7.

Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Co. Pays Rls.350 DPS (Dividend per Share) A Glance at Successful Future Prospect of Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Co. with Efficient Management

Message of Board of Directors A)Introduction Iron ore is one of the most abundant metal elements in the Earth. According to the studies, its oxide ac-counts for approx. 5% of Earth’s crust. Brazil, Australia, China, India, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan are home to world’s largest iron ore mines. According to Geolog-ical Survey of U.S., available reserves of iron ore and also proven reserves have been estimated at approx. 800 and 350 billion tons respectively. As main raw material of steel production, iron ore accounts for the maximum share of final cost price of steel. According to statistics, 39, 31, and 43 percent of steel production cost should be spent for providing iron ore in China, European countries and Iran respectively. In other words, share of iron ore cost out of total consumable raw materials used in steel mfg. complexes (including Mobarakeh, Khuzestan and Hormozgan steel produc-tion factories) for producing slab stands at approx. 80-87 percent. For this purpose, using domestic iron ore is considered as salient economic advantages for steel production complexes in the country.

B)Global status and Developments of Iron Ore In the course of recession trend and reduction of glob-

al prices of steel, rates of iron ore faced a declining trend in international markets in a way that iron ore was traded at less than $50 in the past two years. With the studies made in this regard, iron ore will sustain a considerable declining price in coming year. Increased production vol-ume of large mineral companies including “Riotinto” and “BHPBilton” has been cited as the main reason of iron ore price decline in global level. Since iron ore prices is a func-tion of sales rate of steel ingot in Khuzestan steel company

(KSC), sales prices of iron ore concentrate and conglomer-ate of Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company experi-enced a considerable 29 and 37 percent price decline in 1394 (ended March 19, 2016) as compared to the same period in 1392 (ended March 19, 2014) respectively.

C)Production of Iron Ore in World in 2015According to statistics released by the Geological Sur-

vey of U.S., Islamic Republic of Iran stood at 11th rank in world with the production of 33 million tons of iron ore in 2015. Given the above issue, Australia stands at 1st rank in terms of production of iron ore in world. However, Aus-tralia accounts for the largest iron ore reserves in world with producing 824 million tons at large, followed by Bra-zil and China with producing 428 and 264 million tons of iron ore respectively. Of total 2.21 million tons of iron ore produced in world in 2015, 80 percent of which was pro-duced in five countries including Australia, Brazil, China, India and Russia.

Generalities about Chadormalu Mining & Indus-trial Company

1-As of Establishment Date Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company (Pvt.J.S)

was registered on May 24, 1992, under Reg. No. 2257 at Yazd Companies’ Registration Department. Then, by vir-tue of bylaw ratified at Extraordinary General Assembly on Nov. 6, 1998, Central Office of the company was relocated to Tehran and was registered at Tehran Nontrade Institu-tions and Compnaies Registration Department General on Nov. 20, 1998 for “unlimited period”.

The legal entity of the company was changed from public to private in August 1997, so that the company was turned into Public Joint Stock Company on July 28, 2003. It should be noted that stocks of the company were ad-mitted at Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) on Oct. 3, 2003.

2-Founders and Shareholders of Company Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company was estab-

lished with the investment of Bank Sepah and National Iranian Steel Company (NISC) with 49 and 51 percent of shares respectively. Supplying required financial resources and accelerating in implementation of mineral projects, equipping mines and also construction of mineral pro-cessing factory have been cited as the main aim behind establishment of the company.

3-Subject of Scope of Activity Generalities of activities of the company have been

mentioned in the articles of association, the summary of which includes as follows: extraction, exploration and opera-tion of iron ore mines, production of concentrate and con-glomerate (pellet), and production of graded and granulated

iron ore as well as production of steel products Capital and Combination of Shareholders

The initial capital of the company stood at 10 million rials (including 1,000 shares each worth 10,000 rials). It should be noted that the company has thus far increased its capital in several stages as follows amounting to 17,100 billion rials (including 17.1 billion shares each with nominal

value worth 1,000 rials) at fiscal year closing on March 19, 2015).

Future Plans for Producing Iron Ore in Iran According to the studies conducted in comprehen-

sive steel project of the country, steel produc-tion volume in 2025 Outlook Plan has been estimated at 55 million tons/year.

To provide consum-able iron ore and attain predefined objective, it is neces-sary that new development projects of the company for producing iron ore should increase as much as 88 million tons according to the projections. Of total 88 million tons, 77 and 11 million tons will be used as iron ore concen-trate (after turning into conglomerate) and graded iron ore respectively.

To attain the aforementioned production volume, it should be planned to extract approx. 154 million tons of raw iron ore from mine deposits.

The Ordinary Annual General Assembly of Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company (P.J.S) was held at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday July 5, 2016 in the presence of over 97 percent of its share-holders. As headed by Mr. Ali Akbari, the meeting was supervised by Mr. Azadi and Behzadipour. It should be noted that Eng. Mohammad Nourian (managing director) was appointed as secre-tary of the meeting. After reading report of the Board of Directors by the managing director and also report of legal inspector, the followings were approved by shareholders. Hereunder are the decisions adopted by the Annual General Assembly: 1) Financial statements of the company for the fiscal year closing on March 19, 2016 were approved. 2) Rls.350 was approved as dividend per share (DPS). 3) Raymand va Hamkaran Audit Institute was appointed as legal inspector of the company and Desh va Hamkaran Institute was selected as alternate inspector for the current fiscal year 1395 (started March 20, 2016). 4) Donya-e-Eqtesad and Ettela’at Persian dailies were appointed as widely circulated papers for publishing the future advertisements of the company.

Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company (P.J.S) Profit and Loss AccountFor the Fiscal Year Closing on March 19, 2016

Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company (P.J.S) Balance SheetFor the Fiscal Year Closing on March 19, 2016

( g

BSI extends “CLICK” Plan by Dec. 5

BMI issues credit cards instantly at FINEX 2016

Exposition booth of Bank Melli Iran (BMI)

at 9th Intl. Exhibition of Exchange, Bank & Insurance (FINEX 2016) embarked on instant issuance of credit cards, worth up to 100 million rials.

Credit cards are one of the salient services of the bank, based on which, card owner can embark on purchasing up to 100 million rials worth of services or goods monthly.

More purchasing power, cost man-

agement, freedom of payment and con-tinuous validity are of salient advantages of these credit cards, the report added.

Owners of BMI cards can receive the aforementioned credit card up to the certain amount of credits offered by Bank Melli Iran in order to purchase commod-ities from designated shopping centers.

It should be noted that these cards, worth up to 100 million rials, can be re-charged with the same amount again once pertinent installments are settled by owners.

In order to create more opportunity for

dear fellow countrymen, Bank Sader-at Iran (BSI) embarked on renewing its “CLICK” Plan by Dec. 5 for taking ad-vantage of its concessions in scheduled date.

In line with honoring key role of its customers, gaining customers’ sat-isfaction and promoting electronic banking services, the Bank extended date of the Plan by Dec. 5, so that the

drawing lot for the mentioned Plan will be held on Dec. 17 concurrent with the auspicious birth anniversaries of Hazrat Muhammad (S) and Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS).

To learn more about the score, inter-ested individuals may log on the follow-ing website at: club.bsi.ir.

Moreover registering in BSI’s Cus-tomer Club, dear customers can view their score in each activity by referring to the aforesaid internet site.

ECONOMYd e s k

ECONOMYd e s k

ECONOMYd e s k

ECONOMYd e s k

WORLD IN FOCUSh t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / i n t e r n a t i o n a l 9I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

J U M P

Protests and related events continued nationwide on Monday after the police shootings of black men in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Min-nesota, and the deadly sniper attack on police officers in Dallas.

Here is the latest on protests: COLORADO

Police protests were calm and lightly attended in Denver on Monday, when a group of about 50 waved signs decrying police killings while a smaller group en-tered a fourth day of quietly mourning blacks killed by police in the last year.

The demonstrations outside the state Capitol attracted a mixed-race crowd and supporters bringing water, fruit and sandwiches to support the efforts. A handful of police stood watch from about a block away.

The Denver observations were a marked contrast from charged police protests in some cities. None of the pro-testers attempted to block the streets during a busy lunchtime hour. Instead the protesters kept to a park to wave signs and mourn.

Protesters say they were inspired to protest by cases around the country of police killing young black men.

GEORGIAProtesters gathered outside the gov-

ernor’s mansion in Atlanta, CBS affiliate WGCL reported. But Gov. Nathan Deal is out of the country.

A woman was detained by Atlanta police in the fifth day of protests, WGCL reported.

As the woman was being detained, there was a brief scuffle in the area where protesters met police officers.

Soon after midnight, WGCL reported the crowd outside the mansion was dis-persing, after Mayor Kasim Reed agreed to a two hour meeting with activists this coming Monday morning.

Reed said earlier on Monday that about 15,000 people attended various protests this weekend in the city. Reed said 14 people were arrested Saturday and Sunday by the Atlanta Police De-partment, and two were arrested by the Georgia State Patrol.

About 75 people remained at Pied-

mont Park until about 2 a.m. Monday, WGCL reported. Some in the crowd talked about the need to get more or-ganized.

Atlanta police officers are working 12 hour shifts, WGCL reported.

ILLINOISProtesters marched peacefully

through Chicago Loop in another day of demonstrations over police methods sparked by the fatal shooting to two black men by white officers in Minnesota and Louisiana.

Monday’s demonstration was organ-ized over social media by teenage girls who said they were determined to keep it peaceful.

Demonstrators staged two different marches Monday afternoon.

One group - organized by the teen girls -- staged a sit-in at Millennium Park that turned into a march. They headed to the other side of the Loop, where ad-ditional hundreds gathered at Federal Plaza.

Organizers said many protesters put tape over their mouths to symbolize the way police brutality silences African Americans.

The combined group of marchers, estimated to be 1,000 strong, proceed-ed to march into the evening, at times stopping traffic by blocking intersections.

Chicago police officers, including cops on bicycles, monitored the protesters and followed their march.

The demonstrations in Chicago in recent days have been relatively peace-ful, though police scuffled with some protesters Saturday, resulting in 16 ar-rests.

KENTUCKYDozens of people attended a vigil in

Louisville to protest the recent police kill-ings of black men.

The Courier-Journal reports the “Breaking White Silence” event began at noon Monday outside Metro Louis-ville Police Department headquarters. It was organized by Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice. A statement from the group says the gathering is part of a na-tional effort to get more white people to voice concerns about racial justice.

Tensions between black citizens and police have risen since last week’s killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Phi-lando Castile in Minnesota by white of-

ficers, and a retaliatory attack on police by a black sniper in Dallas that killed five officers and wounded others.

The group said it will read the names of people killed by police and the names of the officers killed in Dallas.

LOUISIANA A Louisiana civil rights group is criti-

cizing law enforcement officers over their treatment of protesters.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said Monday that Baton Rouge police “used violent, militarized tactics on groups of people who have gath-ered peacefully in protest of Alton Ster-ling’s killing.” At times, police have used riot gear and military-style vehicles in demonstrations.

Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was killed Tuesday by two white police officers. His death, captured on vid-eo by bystanders, has sparked days of protests.

Authorities have arrested about 200 demonstrators since Friday. Monday night’s protests were largely peaceful.

TENNESSEEMemphis officials are asking protest-

ers who occupied a key bridge over the Mississippi River Sunday night to attend a meeting where they can voice their con-cerns.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Interim Police Chief Michael Rallings said Monday morning that the meeting would be held at 4 p.m. at Greater Imani Church in Memphis as a way to start a dialogue on how to unite the city.

Traffic on Interstate 40 was blocked in both directions for hours after hun-dreds of angry Black Lives Matter pro-testers marched onto the bridge to show their anger about police killings of black people. Police in squad cars tried to stop them, but several hundred had already made their way up the ramp, and the crowd swelled to more than 1,000.

Rallings locked arms in solidarity with people marching off the bridge. Several hundred remained until riot police with shields slowly pushed them off.

(Source: CBS News)

Protests against police violence continue across U.S.

Today, one month before the world’s greatest sporting event is scheduled to begin, Brazil can say

with confidence: we are ready to host the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to take place in South America.

The Olympic Village, housing more than 17,000 participating athletes in one of Rio de Janeiro’s most beautiful settings, has just been inaugurated. All sports fa-cilities, especially those serving the Olym-pic Park in the Barra da Tijuca neighbor-hood, are also up and ready.

The country has put together a solid security program of 85,000 federal, state, and municipal government personnel to ensure that sporting events take place in an atmosphere of absolute peace and tranquility. This contingent of secu-rity personnel will work in an integrated fashion, overseeing the protection of athletes, coaching staffs, heads of state,

government officials, local residents, and journalists.

This will not be Brazil’s first opportunity to show the world its capacity for organ-ization, and to welcome visitors warmly to a secure environment. Over the past few years, our country has developed an expertise in hosting mega-events on an international scale. We hosted the World Cup, the Pan-American Games, the World Military Games, World Youth Day, and the Confederations Cup — all unan-imous successes, which we conducted in a spirit of excellence, dedication and with the characteristic Brazilian joie de vivre. And now, another success is on its way.

The Games will show the world one of the major global economies at work in a mature democracy: a country with great business potential that at the same time has set the standard for policies to fight inequality. Rio de Janeiro is expect-ed to receive hundreds of thousands of visitors from Brazil and abroad dur-ing the Games, while the five “Soccer Cities”—São Paulo, Salvador, Manaus, Brasília and Belo Horizonte — will also find themselves inundated with local and

foreign fans. Hosting events on this scale represents both a momentous accom-plishment for the Brazilian people and a source of immense national pride.

It should be emphasized that 60 per-cent, 7.07 billion reais, of the total in-vestment in the Olympic facilities were financed by the private sector. These resources and efforts will remain as leg-acies to the entire country. For instance, the Games will disseminate throughout Brazil the hallmark values of competitive sports: cooperation, solidarity, discipline, and resiliency. As a more concrete ben-efit, Brazilians throughout the country’s five geographic regions will also inherit a national sports training network of world-class facilities for both sports beginners and high-performance athletes. Finally, in Rio de Janeiro, the Games have greatly influenced the implementation of public policy, causing the city to fast track, ex-pand and even initiate many municipal infrastructure and mobility projects. The direct, favorable impact of these policies on the quality of life of the city’s residents is evident.

Over the past few weeks, rumor of

the possibility of an outbreak of topi-cal-disease during the Games has circu-lated. We can assure you — as has the World Health Organization — that the risk of Zika infection during the Games is practically non-existent. Historically, an extremely low incidence of disease trans-mitted by the Aedes Aegypti has been recorded during the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere. Indeed, there has been a dramatic decline in cases of Zika infection in Rio de Janeiro and through-out Brazil in the past few weeks. I recall a similar prediction of epidemic during the 2014 World Cup tournament in Bra-zil, when we hosted 1.4 million foreign visitors. No epidemic occurred. Then as now, tourists can be assured of favora-ble health conditions during the Olympic Games.

Brazil is ready to receive all of the vis-itors who will be enjoying the pleasure of watching the world’s elite international sports athletes compete, and, surely, we will have a great deal to show the five bil-lion viewers from around the world who will be watching the Games as well.

Brazil awaits you with open arms.

The Olympic Games in Brazil, a country that welcomes the world with open arms

Turkey has shifted from tolerance of Daesh to confrontation: Richard Murphy

1 Why did Turkey reconcile with Russia too? Will it affect Turkish security and AKP’s policy in Syria?

A: Turkey doesn’t need hostile relations with Russia which reacted vigorously to Turkey’s downing of a Russian aircraft by imposing severe economic sanctions against Turkey. Time will tell if this reconciliation with Russia will alter Turkish hostil-ity towards the Assad regime in Syria.

Why did Turkey’s zero problem foreign policy prac-tically changed into mere tensions with its neighbors?

A: Turkey’s policy of zero problems with its neighbors was unrealistic. Turkish interests are not identical with those of its several neighbors, including those with Iran. Tensions in its regional relations were predictable but Turkey’s leaders saw no benefit in letting those tensions develop into ones of open hostility.

What will be the effect of these changes on Turkey itself? Are the terrorist attacks inside Turkey linked to Ankara’s foreign policy?

A: Turkey has clearly shifted from tolerance of the Islamic State’s activities in Iraq and Syria to one of confrontation with the Islamic State and blocking the transit of volunteers across Turkey to join IS forces. I believe that some recent acts of violence against Turkish targets result from the Islamic State’s wanting to pay Turkey back for siding with the United States and other nations in confronting the Islamic State. Others re-sult from continued tensions between the Kurdish PKK and the Turkish authorities.

JULY 13, 2016

By Michel TemerInterim President of the Federative Republic of Brazil

A RT I C L E

Conakry Guinea to Supply Iran’s Aluminum Bauxite

Tehran, July12, IMIDRO_ Mines and Geology Minister of Conakry Guinea and chairman of

the board of IMIDRO defined roadmap and path of the bauxite supply for Iran’s Aluminum projects in long term period.

According to the report of the public relations of IMIDRO, Mines and Geology Minister of Conakry Guinea met chair-man of the board of IMIDRO in Tehran. Also, Conakry Guin-ea’s Ambassador in Iran, manager of Societe des Bauxites de Dabola-Tougue (SBDT) and managers of some aluminum and mining companies attended the meetings. During the meet-ing Mehdi Karbasian and Abdoulaye Magassouba stressed for providing bankable feasibility study in the next months.

During the meeting Mines and Geology Minister of Co-nakry Guinea noted the mining potentials of his country and capabilities of Iranian companies in mining sector and said that Iranian partners could meet the needs of technology and professional deficits of mining sector in Conakry Guinea .Therefore, Conakry Guinea’s rich mineral reserves will pro-vide conditions for cooperation with Iran.

According to Abdoulaye Magassouba, Conakry Guin-ea has 14.9 billion tonnes geological reserves and 4 billion tonnes proven reserves of bauxite .Also, the mine which is dedicated to SBDT has 70 million tonnes reserves.

He added that Conakry Guinea is willing to benefit from Iranian companies’ proficiency in mining, processing, educa-tion etc,.sectors.

Report of this project with the aim of production and ex-port of 4MTPY bauxite to Iran is in the final phase. The BFS report is being provided by European (British-German) con-sultants and is forecasted to be finalized on October 2016, Karbasian said. Karbasian noted the 400 thousand tonnes capacity of aluminum production in Iran and expressed that two-thirds of our required raw material for aluminum pro-duction in the country is being supplied from import so we should access to reliable resources and cooperation with Co-nakry Guinea will make this opportunity for us.

Iran aims to reach 1.5 million tonnes production capacity of aluminum ingots in 20-year outlook so supply of required bauxite is very important, he added.

The cost price of products at National Iranian Copper Industries Company

(NICICO) declined below $4,000. Chief Executive of NICICO Eng. Ahmad Morad-Al-

izadeh announced the above statement and ex-pounded on the policies taken by world’s mineral pro-duction companies in economic downturn situation.

He pointed to the implementation of Joint Compre-hensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which opened a bright horizon ahead of economic activities of the country in international level.

The official in charge put the total domestic and foreign sales volume of the company in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year in 1395 (started March 20, 2016) at over 20,500 billion rials which indicates positive effects of sanctions removal on Iranian industry.

Turning to the finalization of JCPOA in the last Iranian calendar year 1394 (ended March 19, 2016), he said: “Implementation of JCPOA brought about suitable op-portunities for country’s industrial and production sector in international level as well.”

Of the other salient achievements of his company, he pointed to the conclusion of two contracts inked with Japanese and European companies in order to carry out exploration projects in line with discovering latent min-eral deposits in East Azarbaijan and Kerman provinces, he opined.

In the end, Chief Executive of NICICO Eng. Ah-mad Morad-Alizadeh said that his company will make its utmost efforts in current year for materi-alizing most of its objectives both in national and international arenas.

Cost price of NICICO’s products slump below $4,000

Govt. to adopt tough policies on high salaries: Nobakht

1 “Through the council we close all the loopholes to prevent such incidents in the future.”

Nobakht promised that the government will eradicate as-tronomical pay stubs by resolving the imbalanced payments.

JCPOA brought some success On the benefits of the JCPOA, Nobakht said it has been

“partially successful” due to obstructions created by hardlin-ers in the U.S. and the Israeli lobby.

Through the deal with the six world powers sanctions im-posed on the Iranian oil sector were lifted, he noted, allowing the country to increase its oil exports and part of the frozen assets were returned to the country.

Since Iran is no longer isolated in the world many inves-tors are eyeing on Iran’s economy and market, he explained.

Iran-France relations remain intact Nobakht also said although the French government pro-

vided a bastion for Mojaheedin-e-Khalq (MKO) for a rally in Paris, Iran took no formal stance on the issue, and the coun-try’s relationship with France remains strong.

Calling the terrorist group a “corpse” which is receiving rescue breathing, Nobakht said, “The act is a vain attempt.”

The members and supporters of the MKO rallied outside Paris on Saturday, opposing Iran’s support for the Syrian gov-ernment.

Former Saudi spy chief Turki al-Faisal also addressed the MKO and expressed support for the group, a move which Nobakht said demonstrated Saudi Arabia’s “reactionary ap-proach”.

Iran condemns any government that provides assistance to the terrorist group, he said, adding it makes Iranians’ blood “boil”.

The terrorist group has decades of violence in its record. For example, it sided with Saddam Hussein during Iraq’s war against Iran in the 1980s.

A retirement home for senior citizens

Every action has a reaction. We have one planet; one chance.

S O C I E T Yd e s k

S O C I E T Yd e s k

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

S O C I E T Y h t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / s o c i e t yJULY 13, 2016JULY 13, 201610

IN FOCUS Tehran Times/ Bahman Vakhshour

EASTHAM, Mass. (AP) — “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

That’s what Lars White told his 6-year-old son, Blake, after the boy hooked a great white shark while fishing Saturday off Cape Cod.

The Houston resident told the Cape Cod Times that the 10- to 12-foot-long shark swam into the hook and spent an hour and a half trying to free itself. When the shark fi-nally surfaced, White’s wife took some photos and then the family cut the fishing line to free it.

State shark scientist Gregory Sko-mal confirmed Blake had caught a great white.

Great white sharks have been spot-ted in increasing numbers in recent years around Cape Cod.

Blake says he wants to go fishing again and “catch something a little bit smaller.”

Boy reels in great white shark while fishing off

Cape Cod

Loacated in northern Tehran Province, Meigoun County has a cool and fresh weather even during sizzling summers.

Birth rate in Iranian cities much higher than villages Based on the numbers and figures announced by National Organization for Civil Regis-tration, since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 20), birth rate in cities has been 3.5 times of birth rate in villages.So far in the aforesaid amount of time 278,848 births occurred in the cities while 78,651 babies were given birth in the villages, Mehr news agency reported.Another report indicated that the baby boys born in the same period outnumbers the baby girls by 2.3 percent more births as out of 357,492 births nationwide 183,036 are boys and 174,458 are girls.Moreover, over the same amount of time 85,300 died of which 45,209 were men and the rest were women. 54,593 of the deaths reported in the cities and 30,709 passed away in the rural areas.

نرخ تولد در شهرهاى ايران بيشتر از روستاهاآمارهاى سازمان ثبت احوال نشان مى دهد كه از ابتداى سال 95 تاكنون تولد در شهرها 3.5 برابر روستاها است.

به گزارش خبرگزارى مهر تاكنون 278هزار و 848 تولد در شهرها و 78هزار و 651والدت نيز در روستاها صورت گرفته است.

بر اساس گزارشى ديگر در اين مدت تولد نوزاد پسر حدود 2,3 درصد بيشتر از تولد نوزادان دختر بوده است به طورى كه تا كنون 357 هزار و492 نفر در كشور متولد شده اند كه از اين تعداد 183 هزار و 36 نفر پسر

و 174هزار و 458نفر دختر بوده اند.همچنين تعداد فوت شدگان از ابتداى سال جارى تا اين لحظه 85هزار و 300نفر بوده كه 45هزار و 209 نفر مرد و 40هزار و 91نفر نيز زن بوده اند. از ميان فوت شدگان54 هزار و 593نفر در مناطق شهرى و 30

هزار و 709نفردر نقاط روستايى دار فانى را وداع گفته اند.

LEARN NEWS TRANSLATION

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.

Ray Bradbury

Use up Meaning: finish a product (so that there’s none left) For example: The kids have used up all the toothpaste.

A hedge between keeps friendship green

Explanation: it is important to respect the privacy of others

P H R A S A L V E R B

Q U I Z O F T H E D AY

E N G L I S H P R O V E R B

181) It is similar ____ mine.a) fromb) toc) than(Quiz No. 180 answer: b)

Listening to a Traffic Report Every afternoon before I leave work, I listen to the traffic report to see if I should take my usual route home or make a detour. So today, like every day, I turned on my radio. “It’s a tough commute today if you’re traveling on I-35 north. There’s a major slowdown due to an overturned big rig that’s blocking the number two lane.” Oh no. That meant that I had to take the 40W instead. “If you’re traveling on the 40W, you’ll find a lot of conges-tion. It’s down to one lane because of a pileup. Emergen-cy vehicles are responding.” Wow, that meant I might have to take surface streets all the way home. “And if you’re thinking of taking Broadway Boulevard west from downtown, think again. There is a stalled vehicle blocking the right lane and construction all the way to Main Street.” Well, I was in a no-win situation. Do I want to spend two hours in gridlock or two more hours at work?

(Source: eslpod.com) Words & phrases

detour: a different road for traffic when the usual road can-not be usedcommute: to regularly travel a long distance to get to workslowdown: a reduction in speed, move more slowlyoverturned: if you overturn something, or if it overturns, it turns upside down or falls over on its siderig: a large truckblock: to prevent anything moving through a space by be-ing or placing something across it or in itlane: one of the two or three parallel areas on a road which are divided by painted lines to keep traffic apartcongestion: traffic jamdown to: to be left with only a small amount of somethingpileup: a traffic accident involving many vehiclesrespond: to do something as a reaction to something that has been said or donesurface street: a street that is not a freeway and has at-grade intersections with other surface streetsstalled: if an engine or vehicle stalls, or if you stall it, it stops because there is not enough power or speed to keep it goinggridlock: a situation in which streets in a city are so full of cars that they cannot move

L E A R N E N G L I S H

Charities collect $11m to free inmates TEHRAN — Some 380 billion rials (nearly $11

million) has been collected so far to free inmates committed involuntary crimes over 196 charity fundraising ceremonies held nationwide in the holy month of Ramadan (June 7 to July 6, 2016).

Although about 288 ceremonies were held over the same period the amount of money is only pertaining to 196 of them.

The money will be used to set free 1,130 prisoners especially old, breadwin-ner, or female inmates who owe a total of 980 billion rials (nearly $28 million), Mehr news agency reported.

Provinces of Isfahan, Khuzestan, Fars, East Azarbaijan, Sistan-Baluchestan, with contributions worth of 76 billion rials ($2.2 million), 74 billion rials ($2.1 mil-lion), 33 billion rials ($943,000), 22 billion rials ($628,000), 21 billion rials ($600,000) respectively hold the record for the high-est amount of benefaction made over the aforesaid period.

Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces by holding 26 joint charity ceremonies, and Sis-

tan-Baluchestan, Kerman and Ardebil prov-inces each with 18 ceremonies are the cities

with the largest number of the charity events.Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali

Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani, Par-liament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani also made 3-billion-rial ($85,700), 2.5-billion-rial ($71,400), 500-milion-rial ($14,200), and 500-million-rial ($14,200) contributions respectively.

Additionally, since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan a specific dial code, *780*7777#, which can be simply dialed on cellphones has been the easiest way of contributing to the good deed.

Some 30,027 benefactors made their contributions using this dial code during the month of Ramadan and Yazd province have made the largest amount of donation nationwide using this method.

Although there is a 2-million-rial (near-ly $57) limit to how much one can donate using this dial code some 3.7 billion rials (nearly $105,000) was collected over the same period.

Furthermore, last year during the same month 1080 prisoners were set free using the contributions made over 263 charity fundraising ceremonies.

TEHRAN — The elderly constitute 8 percent of the whole population of al-

most 80 million in Iran and the number is growing, the sec-retary of the National Council of the Elderly has said.

Out of 31 provinces of the country, 19 are affected by aging population and are on the verge of aging crisis, Farid Barati-Sadeh told Mehr news agency in an interview pub-lished on Tuesday.

“The signs of aging have been detected two decades ago in the country but despite the warnings no one took notice,” he pointed.

This ignorance must be soon compensated by the re-sponsible organizations and it is vital for the NGOs to pre-pare themselves to defuse this crisis, he noted.

Aging population is a global challenge which usually

occurs in developed countries, he said, adding, so we have to learn from other countries experience in dealing with such a problem.

Moreover, he regretted, there are 700,000 patients suf-fering from Alzheimer’s disease (a disease mostly affiliated to the aging population) and sadly surveys indicates that their children are not interested in taking care of them at all.

On the same subject he pointed that one in nine peo-ple develop Alzheimer’s in Iran while there is not a single organization in the country which can provide them with consultative, supporting or training services.

The Alzheimer’s Society claims to give coverage to 5,000 patients but this is only confined to Tehran and there aren’t any organizations for these patients in other provinc-es of Iran, he explained.

The elderly constitute 8% of Iran’s population: official

People are making donations and are given flowers in a charity fund raising ceremony in Shiraz, Fars province, on June 19, 2016 (Photo by Amin Berenjkar/Mehr)

From making babies to being struck by lightning, a new map has revealed the sur-prising things that countries are best at.

The map is based on statistics gathered from across the internet - ranging from sources as diverse as the World Bank to the Guinness World Records.

Created by online comic and website DogHouse Diaries, the map shows what each country leads the rest of the world in and the words picked - which are written across the country’s geographical territory - are in many cases surprising.

While Peru might make evoke images of Inca monuments and panpipes, according to the map, the country leads the world in

sandboarding, a sport that involves surfing mounds of sand.

Other surprising world leaders include Spain and its cocaine use as well as Algeria who leads the way in middle Paeleolithic flake tool techniques.

However, some statistics confirmed ste-reotypes such as New Zealand being the best at sheep farming and rugby.

The map, created by three friends based in Washington DC, also shows the Netherlands has the tallest people on av-erage, Canada leads the way in the pro-duction of maple syrup and the U.S. eats the most hotdogs.

People in Chile are best at staying

married, while those in Chad are the most efficient at not wasting electricity, accord-ing to the map.

It also shows that Costa Rica leads the way in happiness, while people living in Ire-land have the best quality of life.

More sinister findings reveal that Turk-menistan is a world leader in corruption and the UK leads the world in fascist movements.

The makers of the map came to their conclusion about the UK by looking at the number of distinct fascist groups that have existed over the years, with 34 groups having existed in the UK according to their source, although the vast majority have dissolved.

In terms of natural disasters, Mexico also

has the most people who have been struck by lightning, while Canada has endured the most asteroid impacts and Cameroon has the deadliest lakes in the world.

(Source: Daily Mail)

What’s your country famous for?

F O O T B A L L

S P O R T Sh t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / s p o r t s JULY 13, 2016JULY 13, 2016 11I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y

Man United boss Jose Mourinho dreaming of Old Trafford debutNew Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho says he has always felt a “historical connection” with Old Trafford and believes the stadium will allow him a better connection with fans than Stam-ford Bridge, the San Siro and the Bernabeu.

Mourinho, 53, had been linked with the United job for some time before taking charge this summer and has said in an inter-view with adidas Front Row that his affection for the club and its home ground dates back to when he was a youngster.

Mourinho said: “History, nobody can delete, I always say that. And history is amaz-ing. It is not one generation of success, but consecutive gen-erations of success.

“Even as a kid, I was im-agining that I could be a top-club manager and I always had this historical connection of Old Trafford being the The-atre of Dreams.”

He recalled his first visit to Old Trafford as a manag-er, when his Porto side memorably eliminated United from the Champions League in 2003-04, saying: “It was exactly a dream for me because it was on the way to winning the Champions League with Porto.

“We scored a goal in the last minute at Old Trafford and made history for myself and my country. So, for me, there was always that connection that anything is possible, it’s the Theatre of Dreams.

“I did it with Porto, I won there with Chelsea, I won there with Real Madrid, so why can’t I do it with Man United, play-ing at home with the fans in the stadium behind us? I am waiting for that.

“It’s a pity that it’s not tomorrow because I’m waiting for that moment.”

Mourinho said that there was not the same emotion at any of his previous home grounds, which have included the Estadio do Dragao, San Siro and Bernabeu, as it is only at Old Trafford that he will walk past so many supporters on his way to and from the dugout.

“It’s a stadium where you have a 50-metre walk, which is dif-ferent to my previous clubs,” he said.

“In all my previous clubs, the tunnel was connected with the bench. There wasn’t that space to feel good or bad feelings, because when things go well you normally feel the good feelings and when things go wrong you feel the bad feelings.

“I think the 50-metre walk will give me a few seconds where I will have the chance to feel it.”

Mourinho’s first game at Old Trafford since taking charge at United is set to be Wayne Rooney’s testimonial against Everton on Aug. 3.

(Source: ESPN)

Chelsea make move to sign Leicester midfielder N'Golo Kante - reportsChelsea are stepping up their efforts to sign Leicester City mid-fielder N'Golo Kante now that Euro 2016 is over, according to multiple reports in the British media.

Antonio Conte begins working as manager at the club's Cob-ham training ground this week and has prioritised the signing of a high-energy midfielder as he looks to bolster Chelsea's squad after the worst season of the Roman Abramovich era.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the nature of the £20 million release clause in Kante's con-tract still allows Leicester to sell to the highest bidder.

Shanghai SIPG have sub-mitted an offer of £35m but the player is not keen on a move to China, according to the Daily Mail.

Paris Saint-Germain's in-terest in Kante has reported-ly cooled since they replaced Laurent Blanc with Unai Em-ery, and Chelsea will be en-couraged that the 25-year-old has his heart set on a move to Stamford Bridge after reject-ing the offer of a new contract from Leicester City, according to the Telegraph.

Kante joined Leicester for just £5.6m from Caen last sum-mer and played a key role in the team that shocked the football world by charging to the 2015-16 Premier League title, while breaking into Didier Deschamps' France squad in time to play at Euro 2016 on home turf.

Chelsea have endured a frustrating summer in the transfer market but completed their first signing earlier this month, ac-quiring Belgium international striker Michy Batshuayi from Mar-seille for £33m.

The Telegraph also reports that Diego Costa has arrived for preseason training in much better condition than last summer, and he later admitted he was overweight when he reported for last year's preseason. Chelsea's first-team stars not involved in the knockout phase of Euro 2016 or the Copa America Centenario returned to Cobham for fitness tests on Monday.

Conte will take his first training session at Cobham on Wednesday before being unveiled to the media at Stamford Bridge on Thursday. Chelsea fly to Austria on Friday for a week-long training camp that includes friendly matches against Rapid Vienna and RZ Pellets.

(Source: ESPN)

S P O R T Sd e s k

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S P O R T S

Farhad Zarif out of Iran Farhad Zarif out of Iran volleyball team for Rio 2016volleyball team for Rio 2016

Veteran libero Farhad Zarif has been left out of Iran’s volleyball team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Iranian national volleyball team’s coach Raul Lozano announced 13-man squad for the games.

Iran national volleyball team booked a historic place in Rio Olympics after 52 year in the 2016 Olympic men’s volleyball qualifi-er in Tokyo, Japan in June.

Raul Lozano’s team has been drawn along with Poland, Russia, Argentina, Cuba, and Egypt in Pool B.

Pool A consists of host Brazil, Italy, the United States, Canada, France, and Mexico.

Iran Roster Setters

Saeid MaroufMehdi Mahdavi

OppositesAmir GhafourShahram Mahmoudi

Middle blockersMohammad MousaviAdel Gholami

World number two Andy Murray has set his sights on overtaking Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings af-ter capturing his second Wimbledon crown on Sunday.

Murray, who reunited with coach Ivan Lendl last month, has reached the finals of his last five tournaments, winning in Rome and at Queen’s Club before beating Milos Raonic in straight sets to end a 36-month hunt for a third grand slam title.

Murray’s triumph and Djokovic’s third-round loss means 4845 ATP ranking points now separate them.

“I would love to get to number one, for sure, and the way to do that is to show up every week and be focussed on that event,” Murray told British media.

“It’s definitely a goal. It’s something I spoke to my team about, something I chatted to Ivan about.

“This has been a great tournament for me but, if I want to win a few slams over the next few years, I am going to have to get better. I know that he (Djokovic) will

come back strong from this because of the player he is.”

Djokovic arrived in London as the holder of all four grand slams and the Serb had not been beaten on the big stage since losing to Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in the 2015 French Open final.

“Novak is still clearly number one in the world right now. He is not just going to go away because he has had one bad tournament. You can’t forget what he has done in the last 18 months or so -- it has been incredible,” Murray added.

(Source: Reuters)

Finish-Russian striker Aleksandr Kokko has

been linked with a move to Iran’s Persepolis according to reports in the local media.

Persepolis is currently looking for a top striker after last season’s top scorer Mehdi Taremi left the club to join Turkish side Rizespor.

Kokko scored 17 goals in 2015-15 Veikkausliiga (Finland Premier League) to finish top scorer. The 29 year old striker who is currently under contract with RoPS

has scored 51 goals in 97 appearances.Taremi, who finished top scorer in the

Iranian league, was one of key members of Branko Ivankovic’s team who nearly missed the title and finished second on the goal difference in the IPL 2015-16 season.

Persepolis has already signed Antony Golec, Sasan Ansari, Ehsan Alvanzadeh, Alireza Beyranvand, Mohammad Aram Tab, Vahid Amiri and Jalal Hosseini in the transfer market.

Joachim Low will remain as Germany coach for their bid to retain the World Cup in Russia in 2018, the German foot-ball federation (DFB) has announced.

Low led his country to glory in Bra-zil two years ago, but his position had been the subject of speculation following Germany’s Euro 2016 semifinal exit at the hands of host nation France last week.

Low had left his future open in the immediate aftermath of the France de-feat but, on the 10th anniversary of his appointment, the 56-year-old confirmed he would stay on for the upcoming World Cup qualification campaign.

“Of course we were all disappointed after losing in the semifinals,” he said. “The weeks leading up to and during the Euros took up a lot of energy. Getting away from it all for a few days is important.

“What is clear to me is that, despite our disappointment, the team didn’t dis-appoint. We had the youngest team at the tournament and I still see huge po-tential.

“I am confident that they will still pro-

vide us with plenty of joy, and so I’m just as excited as ever to carry on working with these players and continue devel-oping them with the 2018 World Cup in Russia in mind.”

DFB president Reinhard Grindel said the federation had always wanted Low to continue.

“It was a question of respect in regard to giving the head coach a few days to himself after such an intensive tourna-ment so he could analyse what happened in peace,” Grindel said.

(Source: Soccernet)

Alberto Contador looks set to miss the road race at next month’s Rio Olympics after saying on Tuesday that he needed four weeks to recover from injuries sus-tained on the Tour de France.

The Spaniard, who withdrew from the Tour during Sunday’s ninth stage, told a news conference in Madrid that his goal now was to get ready for the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) which starts on Aug 20.

The men’s Olympic road race will be

held on Aug. 6, almost four weeks after he sustained his injuries in two crashes in the first two stages of the Tour.

“The prospect of the Games is practically discarded,” 33-year-old Contador said.

“The goal is to recover for the Vu-elta. It is a blow to the morale because the Games were the second big goal of the year and I had to discard them.”

(Source: Reuters)

Joachim Low to remain Germany coach after Euro 2016 failure - DFB

Contador set to miss Olympic road race

Murray targets top ranking after Wimbledon triumph

Finish top scorer linked with a move to Iran’s Persepolis

Iran’s National Paralympic Committee announced the 25 athletes that will rep-

resent Iran in track and field at the 2016 Rio. The names of the athletes who will compete for Team

Iran in track and field from Sept. 7-18 were announced Tuesday.

The athletes earned their spots to Rio in the selection trials on May 7-8 in Tehran’s Aftab Enghelab Stadium.

Roster:1. Hamid Eslami (1500m)2. Saman Pakbaz (shot put)3. Javid Ehsan Shakib (shot put)4. Ali Olfatnia (long jump)5. Peyman Nasiri (1500m)6. Siamak Saleh Farajzadeh (shot put)7. Mohsen Kaedi (shot put & javelin throw)

8. Sajjad Mohammadian (shot put)9. Alireza Mokhtari (shot put)

10. Jalil Bagheri (shot put)11. Ali Mohammadyari (discus throw)12. Sajjad Nikparast ( javelin throw)13. Mohammad Khalvandi ( javelin throw)14. Asadollah Azimi (shot put)15. Alireza Ghaleh Naseri (discus throw)16. Ahmad Ojaghloo (100m)17. Yunes Seifipour (shot put)18. Abdollah Heydari ( javelin throw)19. Mehran Nekouei Majd (shot put)20. Hamed Amiri (shot put)21. Javad Hardani ( javelin throw)22. Mohammad Fathi Ganji ( javelin throw)23. Mohsen Hosseinipanah (shot put)24. Hashemieh Mottaghian ( javelin throw)25. Batul Jahangiri (shot put)

Iran Rio 2016 Paralympic athletic team named

Iranian football club Machine Sazi has completed the sign-ing of Georgian midfielder Hadi Kaha.

The 23-year-old player has joined Tabriz based club on a one-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

The Iranian club has already signed Albanian defender Ditmar Bicaj, Edson, a defender from Brazil, and Iraqi de-

fender Taher Krouma.Machine Sazi, led by Rasoul Khatibi, won promotion to

Iran Professional League in May.The 16th edition of the Iran Professional League will kick

off on July 25.(Source: Tasnim)

Iran’s Machine Sazi signs Georgian Hadi Kaha

Mostafa Sharifat Wing spikers

Milad EbadipourFarhad GhaemiMohammad Javad Maanav-inejadHamzeh ZarriniMojtaba Mirzajanpour

LiberosMehdi Marandi

b

No. 18, Bimeh Lane, Nejatollahi St., Tehran, IranP.o. Box: 14155-4843

Zip Code: 1599814713

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Yh t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / c u l t u r e

This bosom friend, on whom you so rely, Seems to clear wisdom's eyes an enemy; Choose not your friends from this rude multitude, Their converse is a plague 'tis best to fly.

Khayyam

Poem of the day

SINCE 1979Prayer Times

TEHRAN — Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati has

urged that the law banning Iranians from using satellite devices should be modified.

Speaking on Tuesday to the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), which belongs to Iran’s Majlis, he said, “Modification of the law is really essential, because the law totally bans everybody from using satellite dishes and receivers, while most of people use them.”

“Satellite channels can be helpful in advertising cultural productions, providing the law authorizes everybody to use satellite dishes and receivers,” Jannati said.

The law also prohibits Iranian manufacturers, film studios and labels from advertising their productions on foreign satellite channels.

Earlier last month, some film producers got into trouble by broadcasting their films’ trailers on GEM TV, a Persian-language entertainment satellite channel with headquarters located in Dubai.

The Tehran Public Court ruled that Iranian movie theaters must stop screening the films, including “We Won’t Be Habituated” by Ebrahim Ebrahimian.

However, the producers claimed that the channel broadcasted the movie trailers without permission from them.

Film distributors in Iran have always said that reluctance by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting

(IRIB) to air their trailers force them to advertise on foreign satellite channels.

Jannati asked IRIB to cooperate with producers and film distributors in advertising their movies.

Tehran exhibit to raise funds for child laborers

Tehran photo exhibit to spotlight Iranian Constitutional Revolution

TEHRAN — Axkhaneh Shahr,

Iran’s photo museum in Tehran, is showcasing scenes of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, which led to the establishment of a national legislative body in the early 20th century.

The exhibit titled “Constitutional Period” features 50 photos selected from the archive of the museum, which can be found at the intersection of Bahar St. and Bahar Shiraz St. near Haft-e Tir Square.

The historical photographs offer a closer look at the nation’s

struggles to attain a constitutional democracy, parliamentary government, and social and economic reforms.

TEHRAN — Eyvan Gallery in Tehran

plans to hold an exhibition to raise funds for child laborers.

Paintings by several child laborers along with sets of installation art by Mohammad Pureskandarian will go on display at the weeklong exhibition, which will open on July 15.

All the money, which will be raised by the exhibit, will be donated to organizations supporting child laborers, the gallery announced on Tuesday.

Earlier in April, Eyvan Gallery in collaboration with the Mahak Charity Society showcased paintings by 72

children to raise funds for children suffering from cancer.

The gallery is located at 1 Hamid Dead End, off Lesani Alley, Jebheh St., off Mahdieh St., in the Elahieh neighborhood.

TEHRAN — Organizers of the

16th Hafez Awards are scheduled to dedicate a new award to an innovative filmmaker in honor of Abbas Kiarostami, the renowned Iranian filmmaker who died last week.

“Works including long and short films by Iranian filmmakers will be reviewed, and the filmmaker who has pursued innovation in his productions will receive the Kiarostami award,” secretary of the Hafez Awards Ali Mo’allem said in a press conference held at the Donya-ye Tasvir Office on

Tuesday.“If we review works by Kiarostami,

we will find out there has always been innovation in his productions. Kiarostami was one of the most experimental filmmakers in Iran in both his short and long films. He began with short films and made films with children and world famous actors. He never put aside experimenting and even made documentaries,” he added.

He also gave a brief explanation on the number of films, TV series, documentaries, and productions

distributed on Iran’s home video network, which will be judged for the final awards due to take place at Tehran’s Milad Tower on July 18.

The celebration is organized annually by the Persian cinematic monthly Donya-ye Tasvir (Picture World), which was held under the title of Donya-ye Tasvir Cinematic and TV Films Celebration for several years.

Jamshid Hashempur, the Iranian actor who is mostly famous for his roles in action movies, will be honored for his lifetime achievements at the 16th Hafez Awards.

Noon:13:10 Evening: 20:42 Dawn: 4:16 (tomorrow) Sunrise: 5:59 (tomorrow)

PICTURE OF THE DAY Honaronline/Gatha Ziatabari

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N E W S

Painting The Arasbaran Cultural Center is playing

host to an exhibition of paintings by Atefeh Hosseini, Shahla Saffarzadegan, Ziba Vishteh and Lolita Baratpur.

The exhibit runs until July 21 at the Gallery No. 3 of the center,

which can be found on Jolfa St., off Shariati Ave.

Illustration Persian Idea Gallery will host an group exhibition

of illustrations from July 15 to 20. Mojgan Qaedi-Heydari is the

curator of the exhibit that will showcase works by over 20 artists, including Mina Abolhassanzadeh, Hurieh Sotudeh, Sepideh

Mohtashami, Hamideh Habibi.The gallery can be found at No. 28, Azar Alley,

Kolahduz St., and Shariati Ave.

Multimedia An exhibition of paintings and ceramics by

Sahar Esmaeil Tehrani is currently underway at Negar Gallery.

The exhibit titled “Tree” will be running until July 19 at the gallery located at 33 Delaram Alley, East Roshanai St., in the Qeitarieh

neighborhood.

Farhad Pilan-Javaherian is displaying a collection of his paintings and some other works in form of video art on the theme of solar system in an exhibition at Today Art Gallery.

The exhibit runs through July 19 at the gallery located at 36

Shahid Salehi (Misaq 4th) Alley, Shariati Ave.

WHAT’S IN ART GALLERIES

“Ubu Roi” coming to Tehran theater

Reza Servati to stage “Woyzeck” in Europe

TEHRAN – An Iranian troupe is scheduled to perform “Ubu Roi”

at Tehran’s Baran Theater Hall on July 18.The play is a loose adaptation of French symbolist

writer Alfred Jarry’s “Ubu Roi” by Ehsan Zivar-Aalam.“Ubu Roi” which means Ubu the King, is about

Ubu who leads a revolution and kills the king of Poland and most of the royal family. The play is a parody of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Khashayar Qaracheh, Iman Esfahani, Hesam Afsari and Farzaneh Salahshur are the main members of the cast for the play, which will be on stage until August 21.

TEHRAN – Iranian director Reza Servati plans to stage German

writer Georg Buchner’s “Woyzeck” in Italy and France during spring 2017.

“I plan to stage “Woyzeck” at Piccolo Teatro in Milan, Italy in May 2017 and later in Nancy, France,” Servati told the Persian service of MNA on Tuesday.

He said that the play is also scheduled to go on stage in Tehran this year in winter.

Servati’s troupe performed the play at Tehran’s Hafez Hall during winter 2013.

A R Td e s k

Morteza Esmaeil-Kashi acts in a scene from “The Tenant”, a stage adaptation of French writer Roland Topor’s novel, at Tehran’s Hafez Hall on July 12, 2016. Setareh Aminian is the director of the play, which will be on stage until August 8.

N E W S I N B R I E F

Stories by British female writers

appear in Persian TEHRAN – Cheshmeh Publications has

recently published a selection of stories written by British female writers in a book.

“Stories by British Female Writers” has been selected and translated into Persian by Nahid Tabatabai and contains eight stories.

“The Manchester Marriage” by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, “The Pleasure Pilgrim” by Ella D’Arcy, “A Knot of Ribbon” by Laurence Alma-Tadema and ” A Story of a Wedding Tour” by Margaret Oliphant are among the stories published in the book.

The stories narrated in the book go back to the romantic period of stories and they mostly bear love themes.

“During the years writing was considered a decent job for a woman, publishing stories in books and magazines was source of income for lonely women or widows,” translator writes in the preface of the book.

The book had previously been published by Khojasteh Publications.

A R Td e s k

C U L T U R Ed e s k

Culture minister urges revising law banning Iranians from satellite devices

A R Td e s k

Culture Minister Ali Jannati delivers a speech in an undated photo. (Tasnim/Mohammad-Ali Marizad)

A R Td e s k

A R Td e s k

Hafez Awards adds new prize in honor of Abbas Kiarostami

C U L T U R Ed e s k

Matt Damon returns as former CIA assassin in latest “Bourne” filmNEW YORK (Reuters) — Actor Matt Damon returns as a troubled former CIA assassin in the latest edition of the hit “Bourne” movie series this month, reprising a role he says was physically tough to get ready for over a decade and a half since he first took it on.

“Jason Bourne” - the fifth installment of the franchise - hits movie theaters on July 27, starring Damon as a conflicted, restless hero who resurfaces at the Greek-Macedonian border a decade after going off the grid.

At the movie’s European premiere in London, Damon said it was a “lot of fun” to be back in Bourne’s shoes as he returned to work with familiar faces. But physically - preparing for a movie that features intense fight scenes and a major car chase - was challenging, the actor said.

“It was hard to get ready for it, much harder than when I was 29 - I’m 45 now, so it’s whole different animal,” Damon, who sat out the fourth movie in the series, told Reuters on the red carpet. “But you know, that’s a good problem to have.”