Armed democracy: NATO greatest achievement for EuropeAt the 30th NATO summit, following the U.S. and Russia’s withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, NATO leaders, reiterating future threats, divided the world into East and West military poles.
NATO, while stating a security strategy, continued to regard Russia as a threat to the security of Atlantic and euro area, just like it was during the Cold War. The organization also claimed that cyber operations, terrorist acts and those effective state and non-state actors that are not aligned, should be confronted as factors that have challenged the world order.
NATO’s strategy has shifted from the level of security concerns over Russia and global challenges to the level of preparedness for possible military confrontation. NATO seeks to provide the ground and facilities for further deterrence, faster defense and increased capacities of the rapid reaction forces to counter possible attacks, especially in the field..

Switzerland asks Iran to join “Blue Peace” movementTEHRAN – Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Markus Leitner called on Iranian Energy Ministry to join the Blue Peace movement, the portal of the Energy Ministry (Paven) reported.
Leitner who met with Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister for Water and Wastewater Affairs Ghasem Taghizadeh Khamesi on Monday said Blue Peace is a movement started by Switzerland for water cooperation beyond borders, sectors, and generations in order to foster peace, stability, and sustainable development in the region.
In the meeting, Taghizadeh mentioned the Swiss government’s suggestion for the establishment of a regional cooperation center for startups active in the fields of water and wastewater, saying that “With 3000 years of history behind Iran’s water sector, our country has great potentials and capacities in terms of expertise and equipment.”
Referring to the Iranian use of Qanat (subterranean aqueduct) in ancient times, Taghizadeh added: “Using aqueducts in the ..

IRICA taking more steps to facilitate imports, combat sanctionsTEHRAN- Since the U.S. re-imposition of sanctions against Iran’s economy, Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) has been taking various measures to facilitate customs process both for exports and imports of the commodities to reduce the effect of sanctions.
IRICA Head Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi says that this round of sanctions is tougher than the previous round; so more strategic actions are needed to nullify them.
As the sanctions may make the country face shortage of basic goods, the government and IRICA have taken various measures to avoid such condition.
One major action is facilitating condition for the importers of the basic commodities, for example providing them necessary foreign currency through NIMA (Iran’s Forex Management Integrated System).
Also in August, Iran’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Farhad Dejpasand, in a directive addressing the IRICA head, obliged the customs administration to t..

Capacity of Iran’s rail freight transport to rise 5m tonsTEHRAN – Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI) says the country’s rail freight transportation capacity is going to increase by five million tons in near future, IRIB reported.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 4th edition of Iran’s Logistics, Transportation, and Related Industries Exhibition (IRAN TRANS EXPO 2019) on Monday, Saeed Rasouli said: “By connecting Jalalabad mine and Zarand Steel Complex, in Kerman Province, to the national rail network more than five million tons of new capacity will be added to the country’s rail freight transportation.”
According to the official, in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), 432 new freight wagons, locomotives, and passenger wagons were added to the nation's rail fleet, all of which were manufactured by domestic factories.
The figure shows a 97-percent increase compared to the same period last year, and by the end of the ..

Iranians welcome dual-fuel cars as gas prices riseTEHRAN – Head of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) says since the implementation of the gasoline rationing scheme and the increase in the prices, people are leaning more toward dual-fuel cars.
“The demand for converting single-fuel cars into dual-fuel ones has also grown due to the rationing and rising gas prices,” Amir Vakilzadeh said in an interview with the state TV on Sunday night.
According to the official, since the implementation of the rationing program in mid-November, over 70,000 people have registered their cars for dual-fuel conversion.
“Fortunately, in the past two years we have been preparing the infrastructure needed to implement such a program and, using our previous experiences, we have designed a system for this purpose,” Vakilzadeh said.
In the conversion program, we determine which vehicles are allowed to register so that they could obtain a certificate and get the traffic police approval ..

As the Islamophobia index increases: On being Muslim in America“I think the real question is not whether America is afraid of Islam (and its adherents) but whether Muslims should be afraid of the US and Americans especially in this post-9 /11 world.” —Attorney Diana Mae Cabili
Being Muslim in America carries the risk of being reviled, insulted, discriminated against, humiliated publicly or, worse yet, physically attacked. Despite having been a part of the American landscape since 1501, Muslims have faced discrimination, suspicion and hatred bordering on public hysteria, especially since the 9/11 attacks. With the ascendancy of Donald Trump and his virulent anti-Muslim diatribes, the prospect of a McCarthy-era-like internment of Muslims in the United States does not appear to be off the table given current policy trends.
Make no mistake about it; Islamophobia in the U.S. not only is on the rise but also is condoned public policy. The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU)..

Iranian bank to fund NIORDC’s project for manufacturing dual-fuel carsTEHRAN – Iran’s Mellat Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) to fund manufacturing dual-fuel vehicles for the country’s public transportation fleet, IRNA reported.
The MOU was signed by the Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) Amir Vakilzadeh and Managing Director of Mellat Bank Mohammad Bigdeli on Sunday in Tehran.
The signing ceremony was attended by senior officials including the Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the Head of Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI) Nayereh Pirouzbakht and NIORDC Head Alireza Sadeqabadi.
Based on the MOU the bank will allocate 65 trillion rials (about $1.54 billion) to add 1.46 million dual-fuel vehicles to the country’s public transportation fleet.
Last week, NIORDC and Iran’s state-owned Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) signed..

Why terrorist act by Saudi Air Force officer faced media boycott!On December 5, a Saudi Air Force lieutenant, named Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, opened fire at a U.S. naval base in Pensacola, Florida
The gunman, who began training in the U.S. in August 2017, killed three people and wounded eight. Alshamrani was shot by a deputy sheriff.
Shortly after the shooting, Saudi Arabia's King Salman contacted Trump to express regret for what had happened and sympathize with families of the victims. The Saudi king insisted that the assailant did not represent the Saudi people.
Regarding the reaction by Saudi and U.S. officials, as well as the way media outlets are dealing with the issue, some points need to be mentioned about the incident:
a. Restricted and controlled media coverage
The Saudi and U.S. media outlets have covered the incident in a restricted and controlled manner. Interestingly, Qatari media such as Al Jazeera were not also very active in this regard. These approaches can ..

Worth of trades at IME hits $785m in a weekTEHRAN- During weekdays ended on December 12, approximately 633,059 tons of commodities worth over $785 million were traded at Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME).
According to the report from IME International Affairs and Public Relations Department, last week, on the domestic and export metal and mineral trading floor of IME, 241,817 tons of various products worth close to $393 million were traded.
On this trading floor, 222,030 tons of steel, 6,355 tons of copper, 8,300 tons of aluminum, 120 tons of molybdenum concentrates, 12 tons of precious metal concentrates, and 5,000 tons of iron ore as well as 15 kg of gold bullion were traded by customers.
The report declares that on domestic and export oil and petrochemical trading floors of IME, 386,590 tons of different commodities with the total value of $394 million were traded.
On this trading floor, 99,603 tons of bitumen, 120,500 tons of VB feed stock, 90,430 tons of polymer products, 26,000 t..

Int. transportation exhibition to kick off in Tehran tomorrowTEHRAN- The fourth edition of Iran’s International Exhibition of Transportation, Logistics and Related Industries will kick off at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Grand Prayer Campus (Mosalla) on Sunday, IRIB reported.
As reported, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami and his deputy will attend the inauguration ceremony of the exhibit.
Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) along with the country’s airliners will showcase their latest achievements in the aviation industry during the three-day event, Reza Jafarzadeh, the spokesman of CAO, said on Saturday.
He said the motto of this year’s exhibition is “Smart, Stable and Efficient Transportation” emphasizing the significance of applying information technology in transportation and logistics sector in a way to elevate efficiency and promote economic booming in different sectors of transportation including aviation, railway, maritime and road transpor..