Iran Denies Link to Spy Cell Arrests in Saudi Arabia

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast today denied that Iran had any link to a spy cell whose members were arrested by Saudi authorities. The Saudi interior ministry spokesman implied Iranian link and said among 18 people arrested was an Iranian citizen.

“This is without any foundation. It is a scenario that is being repeated for domestic consumption,” Mehmanparast said. (IRNA, 24 March)

The Saudis said the suspects were “gathering information on vital installations which they provided to the country they had been working for.” (AFP, 24 March)

File photo: Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast (IRNA)

Iran Denounces Arab League on Three Islands

Iranian foreign ministry on Sunday evening denounced the Arab League for its latest resolution demanding that Iran withdraw its troops and officials from the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the three islands are “inseparable parts of Iran” and the AL’s resolution “lacks legal and political credibility.”

The UAE claims sovereignty over the three islands. During Arab League foreign ministerial meeting in Cairo, the members objected to the presence of Iranians on the three islands and called for an end to their occupation by Iran.

Map credit: The three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs. (US Library of Congress)

Khamenei’s Fatwa on Nuclear Weapons Ban Binding for Iran – Foreign Ministry

Iran and P5+1 Reach Agreement on Dates for Next Meeting  

Iranian foreign ministry said today that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s fatwa (religious decree) on the prohibition of building nuclear weapons is binding for Iran. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast made the announcement on the eve of the visit by an IAEA delegation to Tehran to work out a broad nuclear framework agreement with the country.   

 
“There is nothing more important in defining the framework for our nuclear activities than the Leader's fatwa,” Mehmanparast told reporters in Tehran. “When the Leader expresses his religious viewpoint in the form of a fatwa, it will be mandatory for us to act according to it.” (IRNA/Press TV, 15 January)

It was unclear if and how the fatwa could be withdrawn or overturned, but for now it constitutes Iran’s stated policy against building nuclear weapons.

Ayatollah Khamenei said last February that the Islamic Republic considers the pursuit and possession of nuclear weapons “a grave sin” from every logical, religious and theoretical standpoint. “This fatwa is our operational instruction,” said Mehmanparast

Mehmanparast also said that Iran and the six major powers have reached an agreement on the date of their next meeting to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. The agreement had been reached during a phone conversation between EU's Deputy Secretary General Helga Schmid and Iran’s Undersecretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Baqeri on Monday, Mehamanparast announced.

File photo: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressing NAM Summit in Tehran in 2012. (ISNA) 

IAEA Delegation to Visit Tehran on Wednesday

An IAEA delegation headed by the agency’s deputy director Herman Nackaerts will visit Tehran on Wednesday, the Iranian foreign ministry announced today. (IRIB, 14 January)

Last week, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said he was not optimistic that talks with Iran would result on getting access to Parchin military complex near Tehran. The IAEA wants its visiting inspectors to enter the site to determine if Iran was conducting research on building components of a nuclear weapon at Parchin. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, announcing the visit by IAEA delegation on state Television, did not say if IAEA inspectors were to be allowed to visit Parchin.

Syrian Prime Minister to Visit Tehran

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi will visit Tehran in the near future. Mehmanparast made the announcement on Iran’s state Television. (IRIB, 14 January)

Fars News Agency later reported that Prime Minister al-Halqi will arrive in Tehran on Tuesday. 

Iran also called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Syria.

“We believe that clashes must end because an increase in conflicts and violence endangers people’s lives and inflicts further losses on the Syrians or the nationals of other countries in Syria,” Mehmanparast said.

“All countries are duty-bound to prepare the grounds so that the Syrian people could express their views in fair elections,” Mehmanparast added.

File photo: Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi (AP)