Day: March 17, 2023

With people losing their lives, having their organs amputated, or suffering severe burns, the traditional 'festival of fire' across Iran on the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar year ending March 20 again turned into gloom and despair for many revelers.

At least 26 people died and over 4,300 were wounded in weeks-long Chaharshanbe Suri festivities that culminated on Wednesday, mostly due to handmade explosives.

Jafar Miadfar, head of Iran's National Medical Emergency Organization, in his remarks on Wednesday, said 26 people died this year and 4,368 were injured, marking an increase of 22% in casualties related to the festival from last year.

Most of the deaths and injuries were reported in the capital Tehran, local health officials said.

The annual festival dates back 2,500 years and has its roots in pre-Islamic Persia when Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in the region.

Translating into Red Wednesday or Wednesday Celebration in Persian, Chahashanbe Suri falls on the last Wednesday before Nevruz, the Iranian new year that starts on March 21.

But preparations related to the festivity begin weeks ahead, including the production of firecrackers and handmade explosives. On the night of the festival, people take to the streets, burst firecrackers and other explosives and jump and dance around bonfires lit in the streets and public places.

'This festival is an integral part of Iranian culture and immensely popular despite no religious significance,' Mehdi Mohammadi, a Tehran-based cultural historian, told Anadolu.

However, he added that the ancient festival has in recent years 'lost its sheen' due to tragic incidents resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries.

Almost 80% of total casualties happened on Tuesday night, Miadfar noted, with most cases reported from the cities of Tehran, Tabriz, Hamedan, Qazvin and Kerman.

Sabotage networks and explosives

As per official statistics, 79% of victims were men and 21% were women while 44% of victims were aged between 6 and 18, many of them admitted to hospitals.

Of the total number of injured people, at least 229 people had their limbs amputated, 1,357 people sustained eye injuries and 867 suffered severe burns.

At least seven ambulances were also damaged on Tuesday night, including three in Tehran, three in Kerman and one in Qom as medical workers had been put on high alert.

Some reports said an explosive-laden bag severely injured three siblings in the central city of Qom on Tuesday night, one of them suffering 90% burns.

Police officials said this year, compared to previous years, they discovered and confiscated a larger quantity of dangerous explosives and interrogated hundreds of people in different cities.

On the eve of the festival this year, Iran's Intelligence Ministry in a statement announced the discovery of 'sabotage networks and explosives' including hand grenades and homemade mortars.

At least eight people were arrested on Tuesday night for the production and use of dangerous explosives during festivities, according to Tehran police chief Abbasali Mohammadian.

Jalal Maleki, spokesman for Tehran's fire department, told Anadolu that most of the fire festival casualties are related to the 'improper storage or usage' of explosive material by young people.

"These materials are highly combustible and sometimes a small spark or even high environment temperature is enough for a deadly explosion to happen,' he said.

A police official, speaking to Anadolu, said 'homemade explosives' are mostly used in the festival.

'From harmless firecrackers, the year-end festivity has over the years turned into a macabre display of violence and vandalism with some inimical elements hijacking the celebrations,' he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu on Friday nominated for state awards the pilots of a Su-27 fighter jet for 'preventing' a US drone from 'violating' international airspace restrictions put in place by Moscow.

In a statement, the ministry said that the pilots "prevented violation by the American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle of the boundaries of the area, established for the purpose of conducting a special military operation."

'The drone flew with its transponders off, violating the boundaries of the area of the temporary airspace usage regime established for the special military operation (and) communicated to all users of international airspace and published in accordance with international standards,' it said.

The ministry said that it had scrambled its fighter jets after detecting the drone but denied causing its crash, saying the unmanned aerial vehicle had lost control as a result of sharp maneuvering and hit the water's surface.

However, the Pentagon said that the Russian jet collided with the drone, bringing the unmanned aerial vehicle down in international waters.

The US European Command also claimed that the incident occurred after a Russian jet and another SU-27 "conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept" of the US MQ-9 Reaper, including dumping fuel on the drone and flying in front of it "in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner."

Source: Anadolu Agency

A magnitude 5 earthquake struck northwestern Iran on Thursday afternoon, officials said.

According to Hamid Mahboubi, CEO of the Red Crescent Society in the West Azerbaijan province, the tremor was reported at 3:17 p.m. local time (1147GMT) at the depth of 16 kilometers (10 miles) with the epicenter near the city of Khoy.

The earthquake was felt in many adjoining cities, including the provincial capital Urmia and neighboring East Azerbaijan province.

Mahboubi told state TV that the provincial Red Crescent Society has been put on alert and three teams have been dispatched to assess damage in the affected areas.

There are no reports of any casualties or damage to properties so far, as per preliminary reports.

Zabihollah Kazemi, the governor of Khoy, told the state-run IRNA news agency that 15 evaluation teams have been sent to quake-hit areas.

In late January, the city of Khoy was rattled by a magnitude 5.9 quake, leaving at least three people dead and more than 800 others injured, besides causing extensive damage to properties.

The quake, which occurred at a shallow depth of 7 kilometers (4 miles) near Khoy, caused partial damage to houses in at least 70 villages, according to local officials.

The mountainous province that borders Trkiye, Azerbaijan and Iraq was jolted by another 5.4 magnitude quake earlier that month, which shook the city of Khoy and caused extensive damage.

Iran is located in a seismically active zone and has been rocked by many medium to high-intensity earthquakes in the past.

The most devastating earthquake came in 2013 when at least 34,000 people died in the city of Bam in southeastern Kerman province. The quake measured 6.7 on the Richter scale.

In recent months, a string of earthquakes has hit multiple provinces in southern and northern Iran.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia highly appreciates Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's efforts for peace.

"We highly appreciate Mr. Erdogan's efforts, his peacekeeping activities, his attempts to provide mediation services, and his attitude to the development of bilateral Russian-Turkish relations," Peskov said a press briefing in Moscow, commenting on an idea to nominate the Turkish leader for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Turning to the upcoming three-day visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Peskov said March 21 will be the day of talks, while on March 20, Putin and Xi will take part in informal events.

About controversial reports on the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Peskov said Russia agreed for a 60-day term.

Peskov also criticized the eviction of monks from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in Ukraine's capital, regretting that "these illegal actions of the Kyiv regime do not receive proper condemnation from the international community."

"We condemn them in the strongest terms. The Kyiv regime once again demonstrates its character by these illegal actions, encroachments on the church. ... This once again proves and shows that everything we do is absolutely right," he said.

On Warsaw's decision to supply the MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Peskov said it is "another example of how a number of member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance, including Poland, increase the level of their direct involvement in the conflict."

"Of course, during a special military operation, all this equipment will be subject to destruction," he said.

The plans of Slovakia and Poland to transfer the MiG-29 to Ukraine look like the disposal of the unnecessary, Peskov added.

"It seems that these countries are thus engaged in the disposal of old unnecessary equipment," he added.

Russian presidential aid briefs on details of Russian-Chinese presidential meeting

In a separate statement, presidential aid Yury Ushakov said Moscow attaches "great importance" to the upcoming informal closed-door meeting on March 20, because key issues will be discussed there.

The same day, Putin will address a parliamentary meeting on Russia-Africa in Saint Petersburg, he said.

On March 21, apart from Putin, Xi will also meet with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Ushakov added.

Ushakov added that the "peculiarity of this state visit" is that there will be no additional "protocol stuff."

Ahead of the visit, Putin and Xi will publish articles in state newspapers -- Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Renmin Ribao.

"We have no doubt that the upcoming negotiations will give a new powerful impetus to the development of the entire range of bilateral cooperation," he said.

The official said both Moscow and Beijing are satisfied about the state of bilateral relations, which have "reached the highest level in history and continue to actively gain momentum."

"In this relationship, there is no leader, no disciple, there are no restrictions, there are no forbidden measures. We are talking about the strategic interaction of two partners who trust each other and in many ways share the same goals, the same tasks," he said.

After the talks, the Russian and Chinese presidents will sign two documents -- joint statement on deepening comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, and a joint statement on the plan for the development of key areas of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation until 2030.

Ushakov said Putin and Xi will exchange of opinions regarding the situation in Ukraine, military and technical cooperation, energy projects.

Turning to other topics, Ushakov said he twice offered the Danish charge d'affaires a joint investigation into the explosions of Nord Streams gas pipelines, but the answer was "unclear."

"It was said that, given the location of the facility, the Danish authorities are currently assessing safety and environmental aspects and will inform the Russian side on these issues in due course. Here is the answer (received), which the Danish foreign minister 'deciphered' yesterday -- Denmark will not allow Russia (to participate in the investigation)," he said.

He called such a position "completely unconstructive", noting that this kind of investigation will lack objectivity.

Ushakov said a cylindrical object 30-40 cm high was found on Feb. 21 attached to the one of the gas pipelines in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark.

"What is very important, attached to the junction of the pipes, which is important in terms of possible detonation, that could be an element of an explosive device," he said.

Asked when the new US ambassador is going to present credentials to the Russian president, Ushakov said the relevant ceremony is scheduled for April.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Anadolu is here with a rundown of the latest developments around the world.

The Pentagon on Thursday released a video of the incident involving a US military surveillance drone and a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea two days ago.

Some of those who were on board a helicopter that crashed in northern Iraq on Wednesday are members of the PKK terror group, Iraqi's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) said on Thursday.

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto on Thursday visited Trkiye's Kahramanmaras province, the epicenter of the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes.

The Turkic world was among the first to help after the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes in southern Trkiye, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

Turkic states on Thursday voiced the need to develop a response mechanism against natural disasters during an extraordinary summit of the heads of state of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

Top diplomats from Ukraine and the US on Thursday discussed Kyiv's peace formula and ways to accelerate the delivery of artillery ammunition to the war-torn country during a phone conversation.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Moscow requested an explanation from Washington regarding its involvement in the explosions in the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Russia committed a wide range of violations in Ukraine, and many of them amount to war crimes, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said Thursday.

"Russian authorities have committed a wide range of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in various regions of Ukraine, many of which amount to war crimes," the independent international commission said in its latest report.

A ceasefire in Ukraine would only serve to "ratify" Russia's territorial gains against its eastern European neighbor, the White House said Thursday.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously extended on Thursday the mandate for its assistance mission in Afghanistan for a year.

China said Thursday that Washington had not provided any evidence that the popular video-sharing app TikTok is a threat to US national security.

In an apparent warming up of bilateral ties, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday flew to Japan for a two-day official trip, the first by the country's head of state since 2011.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday decided to use Article 49.3 of the constitution to adopt the controversial pension reform without a vote in parliament.

Tempers are fraying fast and patience is running thin in Paris as thousands of tons of putrid rubbish pile up on the streets of the French capital.

Approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium stored in a site in Libya has gone missing, UN nuclear inspectors said.

The European Central Bank increased its policy rate by 50 basis points to 3.5% on Thursday.

US space agency NASA and its partner Axiom Space showcased on Wednesday new spacesuits designed for the Artemis III Moon Surface Mission, currently planned for 2025.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The administration of Ladakh, the Himalayan cold desert region that was part of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir region before being carved out as a separate centrally-administered Union Territory, plans to notify more than 71,000 acres of land (about 287 sq km) for Indian army's artillery practice and field firing.

A notification issued by Umang Narula, an advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, said the proposed land, situated in the Drass area of Kargil, will be used for artillery practice and field firing for five years. Any objections in this regard can be communicated to the Kargil deputy commissioner's office within two months, the notification said.

A regional government in India is supposed to issue such a notice before notifying an area as a field firing range for the army.

In 2017, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir notified an area of more than 60,000 acres in the Durbuk area of Leh for a period of five years.

Kargil and Leh are the two districts of the Ladakh region, which was the largest of the three geographical divisions of Jammu and Kashmir before India withdrew its political autonomy and downgraded it into two federally-ruled territories.

While Kargil was the theater of an armed confrontation between India and Pakistan in 1999, a skirmish between Indian and Chinese soldiers in May 2020 resulted in the deaths of more than two dozen personnel on both sides along the vast border called Line of Actual Control between the two countries.

Both China and India moved thousands of additional soldiers to the areas of confrontation, even as they are engaged in efforts to resolve the boundary issues.

Jammu and Kashmir region is one of the most militarized zones in the world. Some estimates put the number of armed personnel on each side of the three borders at more than half a million. Between 100,000 to 130,000 soldiers and paramilitary soldiers are deployed for anti-insurgency operations mainly across Kashmir Valley and some parts of the Jammu region.

Source: Anadolu Agency