Iran diplomatic team in Vienna for Syria talks - Photos

Iranian foreign ministry delegation arrives VIE from THR on 29OCT15 at 14:15 hrs, to engage in Syrian conflict resolution talks with relevant world and regional powers.

Aircraft is IRIG (Meraj Air) Airbus A321-231, reg. EP-AGB (cn 1202).

Note: Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appears to be wearing a pneumatic medical boot for foot or ankle injury.

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif exiting VIP terminal on 29OCT15 at Vienna International Airport (VIE / LOWW).

United States Secretary of State John Kerry seated with Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, engaged in informal talks preceding formal Syrian conflict resolution talks scheduled to commence 30OCT15.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Iran Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shakes hands with Iran Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seated with Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs received by Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, seated with Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Photos: Islamic Republic News Agency

Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on 16SEP15 at Dhaka, Bangladesh.

According to bdnews24.com:

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif... arrived in Dhaka to brief Bangladesh’s leadership on the nuclear deal that the world powers struck with his country.

Zarif’s special flight from Beijing touched down at Shahjalal International Airport at around 12:30am on Wednesday.

His wife and high officials from the Iranian foreign ministry are accompanying him.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque received him at the airport, a senior official told bdnews24.com.

Before his arrival, the foreign office in Dhaka said during his day-long visit, Zarif would call on President Md Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and meet Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali.

Iran is grateful to Bangladesh for its support during the economic embargo and Ambassador Abbas Vaezi said in Dhaka on Sep 1 Iran survived with the help of its “brotherly countries like Bangladesh”.

He said Tehran was ready to reciprocate the favour in many ways and pointed out energy and power sector cooperation were the potential areas of cooperation.

Vaezi suggested Bangladesh discuss with India to get gas from a pipeline, once it was rolled out from Tehran via Pakistan.

He said Tehran could buy jute, clothes and agricultural products from Bangladesh, and export oil, natural gas and petrochemicals to it.

COMMENTARY: Following the signing of JCPOA in Vienna, Zarif has undertaken diplomatic trips to Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Russia, China and now Bangladesh.

While in Tehran, Zarif has received high ranking officials from France, Italy, United Kingdom, Austria, Syria, Iraq and Brazil.

Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on 16SEP15 at Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on 16SEP15 at Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Photos: Islamic Republic News Agency

FM Zarif returns to Tehran from Lausanne nuclear talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif upon his return to Tehran from successful nuclear negotiations with P5+1 conducted at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Among assigned security for Zarif's passing motorcade can be seen a supportive, waving NAJA colonel, and a NAJA brigadier general 2nd class.

NAJA is the Persian acronym for the Law Enforcement Force of Islamic Republic of Iran.

Well-wishers of Foreign Minister Zarif include a flag-bearer of the Islamic Republic, alongside regardful NAJA  second sergeant major.

Photos: Mohammad Delkesh at Tasnim News Agency

Pakistani Prime Minister to Visit Iran

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will pay an official visit to Iran in May to hold talks with Iranian authorities, Pakistan’s foreign minister, Sartaj Aziz, announced today. The exact date of the visit has not been set yet. (Press TV, 2 April)

 

Aziz, who is also the country’s national security advisor, said today that the premier’s visit will aim to improve Tehran-Islamabad relations. He added, “the balance of the relationship among Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is crucial.”
 

Sharif’s visit will come at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries. In February, the militant Baluch group Jaish ul-Adl kidnapped five Iranian border guards and has since announced the execution of one of them. The Iranians believe the group is holding its hostages inside the Pakistani territory, with Pakistan not doing enough to find them. There are also suspicions by the Iranians that the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, might know more about the location of the hostages than publicly reported. Pakistani officials have said, however, that the NAJA border guards are not kept in Pakistani territory.

Earlier this week, IRGC took over the responsibility for the security of Baluchistan and its borders with Pakistan, and it is expected that the IRGC will now conduct long-term anti-terrorist operations in greater Baluchistan against militant Baluch groups who hold sanctuaries on the Pakistani side of the border. 

 

The IRGC has been similarly operating in Kurdistan for many years, in an ongoing fight against the Kurdish militant group PJAK. Baluchistan will become the second front for the IRGC inside Iran. Externally, its Quds Force is actively involved in the Syrian civil war.

It is also expected that the IRGC Special Forces, the Saberin, and other elements of IRGC ground forces stationed in Baluchistan, start a search and rescue operation to find and free the remaining hostages, which would entail a military incursion inside Pakistan.

Aside from the recent kidnapping, Iran is generally concerned with the rapid rise of Sunni extremism in the region, especially in its neighboring Pakistan and Iraq. And it regards Saudi Arabia as the main force behind it. Interestingly, the Pakistani foreign minister referred to a need to "balance the relationship between Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan." Sharif’s visit comes at a delicate moment in the relations of the two countries.       

Photo credit: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (Press TV)

Iran Foreign Ministry Condemns Killings of Iranian Workers in Baghdad

The Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement late on Friday condemned an attack by masked gunmen on a group of construction workers near Baghdad. 16 Iranian nationals were killed in the attack, and four critically injured. Three Iraqis were also killed. (Press TV, 14 December)

The workers were shot dead near the village of Balad Ruz, 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad. The gas pipeline under construction will connect Iraq's gas network to supplies from Iran. 

File photo: Iranian Foreign Ministry, Tehran. (IRNA)

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Denies Kayhan’s Report

Zarif at Hospital for Nervousness and Muscle Spasm After Reading the Report

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs today denied that Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had told the national security and foreign policy committee of the Majlis that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had characterized Rouhani-Obama phone call and Zarif-Kerry meeting in New York as “missteps.” (ISNA, 8 October)

The hard-right daily Kayhan had run the story with huge banner headline on its front page earlier today. The headline read, “Zarif: Rouhani’s Telephone Conversation with Obama and My Long Meeting with Kerry Were Missteps.” The newspaper, whose influential editor – Hossein Shaiatmadari, is the official representative of Ayatollah Khamenei at Kayhan, is still carrying the story on its website, hours after the denial by the foreign ministry.

Aside from denying Kayhan’s report, the foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham did not give any details on Zarif’s report to the Majils on the Iranian delegation’s visit to New York. There were speculations in Tehran tonight that Shariatmadari will stick with the story in tomorrow’s edition of the paper.

Meanwhile, Zarif told semi-official news agency Mehr that he became so upset at Kayhan’s huge headline that he fell sick and had to go to the hospital with severe muscle spasm. He also added an entry in his Facebook page at 9:30 pm local time about his condition.

“I just returned from the hospital and could sit down to write you this post. This morning, after seeing the huge headline in one of the newspapers, I felt severe pain in my back and my feet, so bad I could not walk or even sit. I did conduct only two foreign meetings and cancelled the rest of my schedule… 4-5 hours later the pain persisted and I left the ministry and went to the hospital… They said the problem was of nervousness and muscle spasm and will be treated with exercise... In any case, it was a day of bitterness. I learned to say what I want to say only in public.” (Facebook/Mehr News Agency, 8 October)

File photo: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (Mehr News Agency)

Rouhani Meets Chinese President Xi Jiping

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani just twitted from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on his meeting with China’s Xi Jinping. “There is so much capacity for development of bilateral relations between Iran and China,” twitted Rouhani. He also sent the photo above from the meeting. (@HassanRouhani)

The two presidents and their delegations met in Bishkek today on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.

Iran informed U.S. of Sarin transfer to 'extremist' rebels in Syria - FM Zarif

 

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister [ISNA] 

BBC Persian reports that Iranian intelligence became aware of "homemade" Sarin making its way to "extremist" rebels in Syria, and that 9 months ago Iran's foreign ministry took the extraordinary step of conveying the intel to the U.S. through the United States Interest Section at the Swiss embassy in Tehran. The claim is made by Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif in an interview with Asman Magazine. Zarif further states the U.S. offered no response to the shared intelligence.

Nation Wants Foreign Policy Change - Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said today that the Iranian people elected him to change the country's foreign policy and shift away from the bombastic style adopted under his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rouhani said his government would adjust its tactics to reach out to world powers, while retaing its principles.

“We don't have the right to use foreign policy to chant slogans or clap. Foreign policy is not where one can speak or take a position without paying attention,” Rouhani said. “People in the June 14 elections declared that they want a new foreign policy,” the president added. (IRNA/AP, 17 August)

Rouhani made the comments during the swearing-in ceremony of his new foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. 

“Reconsidering foreign policy doesn't mean a change in principles because principles remain unchanged,” Rouhani said. “But change in the methods, performance and tactics, which are the demands of the people, must be carried out.”

Photo credit: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani (L) shakes hands with new Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Tehran, August 17, 2013. (IRNA/Press TV)

Iran Opposes U.S.-Sponsored Israel-Palestine Peace Talks

Iran on Sunday voiced opposition to a US-mediated resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

“Tehran along with Palestinian groups expresses its opposition to the proposed plan and it's certain that the occupying Zionist regime will utterly not agree to withdraw from the occupied lands,” said foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi.

“Past experience shows that the occupying Zionist regime is basically not ready to pay the price for peace since war mongering and occupation lie at its very core,” Araqchi added. (IRNA/AFP, 21 July)

US Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Friday that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had agreed to meet to prepare a resumption of direct peace talks.

File photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) shakes hands with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas during talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, on September 14, 2010. (AFP)

Iran Dismisses Allegations on Sending Forces to Syria

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi on Wednesday denied published reports that Iranian military forces are operating in Syria. Araqchi said that the report by the Washington Post was meant to “justify and cover up” the decision made by European Union to lift ban on dispatch of arms to the Syrian rebels. (Fars News Agency, 29 May)

File photo: Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi (FNA)

Israeli Jets Attack Damascus

Targeting Fateh-110 Missiles 

Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital Sunday, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Lebanon's Hezbollah, CBS reported today. The attack, the second in three days, signaled a sharp escalation of Israel's involvement in Syria's bloody civil war.

The target of both attacks, on Friday and Sunday, were Fateh-110 missiles, which have precision guidance systems with better aim than anything Hezbollah is known to have in its arsenal. (AP/CBS, 5 May)

Reports from Damascus indicate the latest attack occurred around 3 a.m. “Damascus shook,” said an eyewitness. (CBS, 5 May)

In Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast condemned Israeli airstrikes against Syria and urged countries in the region to remain united against Israel.

The Fateh-110, or Conqueror, is a short-range solid-fuel ballistic missile developed by Iran and first put into service in 2002. An upgraded version was unveiled in 2012 with improved accuracy and increased range to 185 miles.

File photo: Fateh-110/III SRBM on display in September 2010 (Vahid Reza Alaei/Jam-e Jam)