Day: August 30, 2022

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian departed for Moscow on Tuesday evening, where he will hold talks with top Russian officials, including his counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Amir-Abdollahian and Lavrov are expected to meet on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters before boarding the flight at Tehran airport, the top Iranian diplomat said the main agenda of the visit was to end the simmering war in Ukraine.

He said some European countries have approached Tehran to play an active role in resolving the crisis, without naming them.

Iran, a key regional ally of Russia, has repeatedly called for an end to hostilities between Russia and Ukraine while stopping short of condemning Moscow’s military invasion of the former Soviet republic, which is now in its seventh month.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Pentagon spokesman said the first shipment of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles had arrived in Russia.

Politico cited the spokesman saying that Russia had received two types of drones from Iran, the Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series.

Iran has not commented on the US claim. However, in July, Iran’s foreign minister in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart rejected the reports of Iran sending drones to Russia as baseless.

Amir-Abdollahian said his talks in Moscow will also take up developments in neighboring Afghanistan and bilateral issues between Tehran and Moscow.

In a separate statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the meeting between Amir-Abdollahian and Lavrov will focus on “reaching the finish line” of the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The talks to salvage the deal have entered the final stretch, with Tehran and Washington presently exchanging comments on the European Union’s new draft proposal.

Russia, one of the signatories of the original deal signed in 2015 between Iran and world powers, has played a key role in the Vienna talks aimed at reviving the accord.

The ministry statement further said that Ukraine, Syria, Iran-Russia military cooperation, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will also feature in discussions between the two top diplomats.

Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to Moscow comes more than two months after Lavrov’s trip to Tehran during which the two sides emphasized the need for “comprehensive expansion of cooperation and interaction”.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has announced his total withdrawal from politics in Iraq, a move that triggered a wave of violence in the Arab country.

Al-Sadr loyalists stormed the Republican Palace where the government is seated in Baghdad amid clashes that left at least 13 people dead.

However, this was not the first time for al-Sadr to announce that he was stepping down from politics since 2013.

August 2013

Al-Sadr threatened to quit politics in March 2013 citing “poor” performance of the Iraqi Parliament.

Five months later, the Shia cleric said Aug. 4 that he was stepping down from politics. But he retracted his announcement one month later citing calls from his supporters to return to political life.

February 2014

Al-Sadr said he quit political work in Iraq and dissolved his institutions “to end the suffering of the Iraqi people” and “save the reputation of al-Sadr family.”

However, he took part in this year’s parliamentary elections in which his bloc won 34 seats in parliament.

April 2016

The firebrand cleric suspended the activities of his Al-Ahrar parliamentary bloc, which had 34 seats in the 329-member parliament, stumbling efforts by opposition lawmakers to reach a quorum to vote on the ouster of the three presidencies in Iraq.

He called on his loyalists to stage protests to bring what he called corrupt politicians to accountability and to form a technocrat government.

July 2016

In July of the same year, al-Sadr ordered the formation of a committee to vacate his offices across Iraq except the southern city of Najaf.

But in October, he ended his boycott of the parliament sessions.

October 2018

On October 4, 2018, al-Sadr reiterated his intention to withdraw from politics and ordered his parliamentary bloc not to nominate any candidate for the Iraqi government.

December 2019

The influential cleric ordered the closure of his institutions for one year to protest the candidacy of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister, who was backed by groups close to Iran.

Al-Sadr also closed his Facebook account at that time writing “goodbye” on a black background on the social media website.

July 2021

On July 15, 2021, al-Sadr announced withdrawal from political life in Iraq, saying he won’t participate in the next parliamentary elections, also citing corruption. But after three months, he returned back and took part in the polls.

June 2022

On July 15, al-Sadr announced that he had withdrawn from politics to protest what he termed as corruption. He also said he won’t participate in Iraqi elections.

His announcement was made as his parliamentary bloc, which had 73 seats in the 329-member parliament, resigned from the assembly.

August 2022

On Aug. 29, al-Sadr said he was stepping down from politics. He also announced the closure of his institutions except his father’s shrine, the historical monument institution and the al-Sadr family’s museum.

He, however, called on the country’s political parties to step aside and hold early elections to help solve Iraq’s months-long political crisis.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar

Source: Anadolu Agency

A meeting of the commission to determine the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, former Soviet republics, was held in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The meeting followed an agreement reached last year by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The delegations were chaired by deputy prime ministers of the three countries.

“The Russian delegation expressed its readiness to continue to provide consultation and technical assistance in the negotiations between the delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the delimitation of state borders between the two countries, increasing the level of stability and security in the border region,” the ministry added.

It was reported that the date of the new meeting will also be decided through diplomatic channels.

After a Russia-brokered deal ended the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, the three countries agreed to develop economic ties and infrastructure for the benefit of the entire region.

During the war, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages in the Nagorno-Karabakh region that had been occupied by Armenia for nearly three decades.

Source: Anadolu Agency