Iran has unveiled a new ballistic missile during military parades held across the nation to mark the first day of the annual Sacred Defense Week.

The missile, named Khorramshahr, was put on display during the military parade in Tehran on Friday, with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and senior military officials in attendance.

The ballistic missile, which has a range of 2000 kilometers, is capable of carrying multiple warheads, said Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Division.

“As it was observed, the missile has become smaller in size and more tactical and it will be operational in the near future,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the parades.

Addressing the event, Rouhani said no country can stop the Islamic Republic from strengthening its missile capabilities and defense programs.

“We will promote our defensive and military power as much as we deem necessary,” Rouhani said. “We seek no one’s permission to defend our land.”

He added that Iran’s defense power has never been used for aggressive acts, while certain world powers export deadly weapons to the Middle East.

The Iranian president said Tehran is playing a key role in restoring peace and stability to the region.

“The great nation of Iran has always pursued peace and security in the region and the world, and has always defended the oppressed people of the world. We will defend the downtrodden people of Yemen, Syria, and Palestine whether you like it or not,” he added.

The parades across the country feature military units from various divisions of the Armed Forces, including the Army, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as well as the Police Force. The week-long events are held in commemoration of Iranian forces’ eight-year defense of the Islamic Republic in the face of Iraq’s 1980-88 imposed war against the country.

Rouhani further slammed Washington and Tel Aviv’s recent anti-Tehran statements before the UN General Assembly.

He said the US and Israel have isolated themselves by expressing opposition to the nuclear agreement, which is hailed by the entire world community as a win for international diplomacy.

Rouhani once again reiterated Iran’s full commitment to the landmark 2015 nuclear accord with six world powers, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He said the entire global community commended the deal, “except only two people,” referring to US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who used their UN speeches to attack the JCPOA.

“I am very glad that this year at the United Nations and among all the countries of the world, there were only two voices, which were opposed to that of the people of the world. The US and the occupying regime of al-Quds were the only two voices, which were different from the voice of the entire world.” Rouhani asserted. /  Press tv /

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has censured US President Donald Trump’s latest hostile comments against the Iranian nation at the UN as “ugly”, “foolish” and “sheer lies.”

Ayatollah Khamenei made the comments in a meeting with members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts in Tehran on Thursday.

The statements by the US president did not bring any pride to the American nation, said Ayatollah Khamenei. “The American elite should be ashamed of having such a president.”

“That foolish, extremely ugly and hideous speech by the US president, with its gangster and cowboy language fraught with sheer lies, stems from their fury, frustration and light-headedness,” the Leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that Washington’s anger is also rooted in its failure to advance its agenda in the West Asia region, where Iran has played an influential, dignified and successful role.

“The presence and influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran caused the plots and intentions of the US and the Zionist regime [of Israel] to fail in the region, and that is the reason for their anger,” the Leader added.

The Americans have over the past many years pursued a so-called “New Middle East” and “Greater Middle East” plan for West Asia, with its focus on Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“But they faced defeat in all the three countries,” emphasized the Leader.

During his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump accused Iran of engaging in “destabilizing activities” in the region. He claimed that Iran’s “support for terror is in stark contrast to the recent commitments of many of its neighbors to fight terrorism and halt its financing.”

Trump also denounced Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with the world powers as “an embarrassment” that Washington may abandon.

However, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, during his own UN speech, fired back at the US president for his “ignorant and spiteful” comments against his nation.

The Iranian president delivers his speech at the annual session of the UN General Assembly.

Rouhani said the “ignorant, ugly, spiteful literature of the US president, which was full of false information and groundless allegations, against the Iranian nation” were beneath the dignity of the United Nations. / Press tv /

On Friday night Iran released footage of the successful test-launch of its new ballistic missile, called Khorramshahr, with a range of 2,000 kilometers.

The footage was released a few hours after Khorramshahr was unveiled during a military parade in the capital city of Tehran.

Khorramshahr is the name of a city in southern Iran which was occupied by the invading Saddam Hussein Army in the autumn of 1980.

Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force, said the missile can carry multiple warheads.

“The peculiarities of this missile is that instead of carrying one warhead it can hit several targets with several warheads,” Hajizadeh told reporters on the sidelines of the parade marking the start of Iraq’s invasion of Iran on September 22, 1980.

“The missile is able to carry warheads up to 1,800 kilometers,” Hajizadeh added.

He also said the missile is “more tactical” and smaller in comparison to other ballistic missiles developed by the Defense Ministry. / Tehran times /

T he Group of 77 at the United Nations, including 134 countries, has voiced support for the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers following a tirade by US President Donald Trump against Iran and the deal at the world body.

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump branded the agreement as “an embarrassment” for the US. He said the deal was “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.” Trump, however, had no proof to back up his wild allegations.

In a statement issued at the end of its ministerial meeting in New York on Friday, G-77 “reaffirmed the importance of supporting and strengthening multilateralism, and in this regard recognized that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [the nuclear deal] between the Islamic Republic of Iran and P5+1 is a concrete case of a successful multilateral action for resolving outstanding global issues,” Press TV reported.

Iran and the P5+1, namely the US, France, Britain, Russia and China, plus Germany, reached JCPOA in July 2015 and started implementing it in January 2016. G-77 “stressed that such a model sets a real example for further accelerating the achievement of sustainable development, including by strengthening international cooperation, through enhanced means of implementation.” / Financial Tribune /

Iran sealed the third place in the 9th Asian Junior Wushu Championships in South Korea with a medals tally of 22 including seven golds.

Having collected four golds and two silvers, Iran clinched the runner-up spot in Sanda competitions as wushu giant China finished first with a seven-medal asset including five golds.

India collected two gold, two silver and three bronze medals to secure the third place.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Hassan Khademi outpointed his Indian counterpart to grab the gold medal of the boys’ -80kg in Sanda contests at Park Chung Hee Gymnasium in the South Korean city of Gumi.

The other gold medal of the day went to Ali Mohammadi (-65kg) who prevailed over the Vietnamese contestant in the final showdown.

Mohammadi’s compatriot, Alireza Rigi also beat a Chinese athlete in the boys’ -60kg final to secure Iran’s third gold in Sanda category.

Ahmad Vahedi also triumphed over his Malaysian opponent in the boys’ -75kg and struck another gold for Iran.

Meanwhile, the Iranian girls’ duelin Taolu team picked up the gold medal with a total score of 9.46 points.

Earlier in the day, Zahra Kiani had tallied 9.51 points in the final competition of Chiangshu form in the girls’ 15-18 age category to snatch the gold medal.

Also in the girls competitions, Fatemeh Vaisi (-52kg) and Shaqayeq Pashaei (-60kg) collected two silver medals for Iran.

Additionally, Mina Panahi collected 9.44 points to claim the silver medal in the Nandao form of Taolu competitions in the girls’ 12-15 age division.

Iranian duo of Amir Hossein Soltani and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini also took part in the boys’ duelin Taolu team contests and bagged the silver, having earned 9.50 points. Malaysia team took the gold medal with a total score of 9.54 points.

China garnered 22 gold medals and two silvers to top the overall medals table of both Taolu and Sanda competitions while Hong Kong finished second with eight golds and nine silvers. / Iran daily /

Head of Iran’s Silk Research Center said the country ranked eighth in the world in the field of silk farming.

Reza Sourati Zanjani, while noting that sericulture had begun in China four thousand years ago, said “indeed, on the basis of historical information, China remains the main habitat of white cocoon while Iran has been the natural territory for the yellow cocoon.”

He later commented on the status of sericulture industry in Iran saying “the sector enjoys and age-old history in Iran and, presently, silk warming is prevalent in more than 50 countries while 95 percent of silk raw materials belong to Asian countries; China alone accounts for over 80 percent of global silk production, followed by India.”

Head of the Silk Research Center underlined that “until the year 2001, almost 200,000 boxes of silkworm eggs were produced and distributed in the country, though a downward trend was experienced in silkworm egg consumption as well as in cocoon production.”

He however noted that, over the past three years, an increasing trend has been observed in the industry as the output volume has climbed from 26 thousand boxes to 32 thousand boxes.” / Meher news /

Iran’s ICT Minister Azari Jahromi announced the country’s readiness to join two international space projects which include “optical space observation” and “Data Sharing Service Platform”.

Announcing Iran’s readiness to cooperate with Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) on space projects, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said “since the foundation of this international organization, Iran has been an active member of the organization and we plan to continue on the same path.”

“APSCO’s efforts to share information and train different groups in various countries is very valuable and has an influential role in scientific and educational undertakings of member countries,” he added, pointing to APSCO’s activities in sharing space information and data.

Jahromi stated that sharing information and exchanging services help reduce costs and increase the country’s awareness about its surroundings.

ICT Minister emphasized that Iran is ready to increase their space security and monitoring satellites and space bodies by joining the Asia-Pacific ground-based Satellite Observation System (APOSOS) project.

He also referred to Data Sharing Service Platform (DSSP) as the other project in which Iran will cooperate and said “this project is an advanced program which can help save financial resources and improve the quality of life during natural disasters like earthquake and flood which is particularly important for APSCO members as these countries are more prone such natural phenomena compared to the rest of the world.” / Meher news /

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that America would pay a high price if U.S. President Donald Trump makes good on his threats to scrap the Iran nuclear deal.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in New York, Rouhani said: “Exiting such an agreement would carry a high cost for the United States of America, and I do not believe Americans would be willing to pay such a high cost for something that will be useless for them.”

Rouhani said such an action by the Trump administration “will yield no results for the United States but at the same time it will generally decrease and cut away and chip away at international trust placed in the Unites States of America.”

The U.S. extended sanctions relief for Iran last week as part of the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Trump has described as “the worst deal ever,” but this is mainly procedural.

The real test comes in October when Trump will decide whether to certify that Iran is complying with the agreement. If he does not, Congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions waived under the deal. /  Tehran times /

The Sharif University of Technology has launched a science and technology park. So far four innovative companies have registered with the accelerator known as University of Sharif Tech Park.

It is set to provide firms with training and financing services, the official website of the university reported. Located near the university, the tech park expects to host at least 35 knowledge-based firms by the end of the current fiscal that ends in March 2018.

Parsa Polymer, Sharif Adrian Metal, Sharif Solar Technology Development, and Research and Technology Development Fund are the four firms which have registered with the Sharif TechPark.

Innovators including student teams, startups, and service providers can join for general and special consultation and training services plus financial support.

The fifth edition of Urmia Grape Festival held in Chi Chest coastal village in northwestern Iran. Chi Chest coastal village in West Azarbaijan Province, northwestern Iran, is currently playing host to the Fifth Urmia Grape Festival which was inaugurated on September 7 and  was open to visitors until September 15.

Earlier, commenting on the festival, Jalil Jabbari, the director general of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of East Azarbaijan, said the event is aimed at expanding the province’s tourism industry.

He added holding such festivals helps attract tourists and create investment opportunities for those interested in development of tourism industry in the province.

Jabbari said the holding of the festival is an outcome of collective efforts by all domestic apparatuses and a fruit of their favourable interactions with each other.

“Like the previous editions of the fest, a handicraft exhibition consisting 30 pavilions will present the province’s tourist attractions to visitors in this year’s event.”

In addition, he said, this year’s festival will feature a number of pavilions providing visitors with anthropological information about the province’s old and deep-rooted traditions and customs with a focus on grape as well as the culture of people in Urmia.

Commenting on the properties of grape and its health benefits, Jabbari noted that throughout the history, people of the province have found out about the nutritional values of the fruit and have included it in their food basket. / IFP /