IRGC Quds Force Colonel Assassinated In Tehran

The two, who met in Washington on Saturday, reviewed the strategic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States and ways to strengthen them, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.

Blinken reiterated the US commitment to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s defenses, efforts to counter Iranian threats, and the importance of maintaining strong international support for Ukraine. They also discussed managing pressures in global energy markets stemming from Russia’s invasion.

They discussed the latest developments in Yemen and expressed strong support for the UN-negotiated truce, with Prince Khalid reaffirming Riyadh’s aspirations for the Yemenis “to reach a comprehensive political solution that would move Yemen to peace and development.”

On Thursday, the new United States military commander in the Middle East said that Iran remains the most destabilizing force in the region, calling for coordinated efforts to confront the threats by Iran.

General Erik Kurilla of CENTCOM said that Iran’s uranium enrichment, ballistic missile development, and regional proxies, particularly the Houthis in Yemen, had repeatedly been central to his conversations with America’s strategic partners during his recent tour of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

According to IRNA on Sunday, the National Security Council as well as the provincial and city security councils are also excluded from the plan that is expected to obligate members of parliament and state officials to make their votes and decisions available to the public. The details of the negotiations in various parliamentary committees will also be available to the public.

The parliament also makes the publication of final rulings of the general and revolutionary courts conditional upon "observance of security standards".

Moreover, the Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts are not included in the plan in the first place. 

However, according to the bill, all private institutions in charge of public services, including Iran Central Bar Association, Medical Council of the Islamic Republic, and Justice Experts' Association, as well as non-governmental organizations and charities will be included in the transparency plan and will be fined for non-compliance.

The measure also makes it mandatory for the entities as well as municipalities of cities with over one million population to register and regularly update data about their financial statements, budgetary performance, project investments, and number of employees.

According to the annual ranking of countries released by Transparency International earlier this year, Iran ranks 150 out of 180 countries in the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Vida Mehrannia said in an interview with Germany’s ZDF channel Saturday evening that her husband is not executed yet, expressing hope “that the EU can really act decisively in order to bring Ahmadreza home”.

She said that the EU must “not allow an innocent man to be killed in such an inhuman way".

Djalali was arrested while visiting Iran on an invitation by a university in 2016 and consequently sentenced to death on unsubstantiated charges of espionage for Israel. Espionage is a charge Iran often uses against foreigners and dual nationals that they want to hold as a bargaining chip.

Amnesty International on Thursday accused the Islamic Republic of taking Djalali "hostage" and using him as “a pawn in a cruel political game."

The United Nations human rights office also urged Iran last week to halt the execution and rescind Djalali’s death sentence.

Amnesty provided a detailed research and analysis to prove that Iranian authorities are threatening to execute Djalali to compel Belgium and Sweden to hand over two imprisoned former officials, and “to deter them and others from future prosecutions of Iranian officials”.

There has been speculation that the announcement of Djalali’s execution was intended to influence the trial in Sweden of Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian official, over his alleged role in a wave of prison executions in Iran in 1988.

According to a report by Iran’s official news agency IRNA on Saturday, Owji and his Omani counterpart Mohammed Al Rumhi agreed in a meeting to start laying the gas pipeline that will enable Iran to pump natural gas to the Arab Sultanate.

Describing the project as one of the biggest regional energy projects, the report said the initial agreement was signed in 2004 between their oil ministers but has been stalled since then.

According to the contract, Iran committed to start supplying 30 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of natural gas to Oman by 2008 and then increase the volume to 70 mcm per day by 2012.

The two countries also reached another agreement in 2013 according to which Iran was expected to pump 28 mcm a day of gas to Oman for 15 years through a pipeline laid on the bed of the Persian Gulf. The project, which had been estimated to earn Iran more than $1 billion annually, never became operational.

The report said that Owji and Rumhi also reached agreements on the joint development project for the shared Hengam oil and gas field, located within their maritime boundaries in the Strait of Hormuz.

President Ebrahim Raeisi is scheduled to travel to Oman on Monday for an official visit, while Muscat has traditionally played a mediating role between Tehran and Washington.

The ministry’s public relations manager Mohsen Motamedkia denied the news that the ministry takes collateral from athletes for foreign travel in a tweet on Friday, saying he enquired about the issue and the ministry’s authorities denied the claims.

He made the remarks in reaction to a post by sport journalist Hiva Yousefi, who had publicized the issue on twitter.

Replying to the journalist, a member of Iran’s national rowing team, Ahmad Ahmadi, said the property must be at least 5 billion rials (about $20,000) and owned by the athlete or a family member, adding that if the athlete does not return to the country, it will be transferred to the relevant sport federation's treasury.

Ahmadi said a notarized pledge to transfer the property is signed before the trip, adding that the federation also gets two guarantee-of-return undated checks of about $500 and $1,000 from the athletes.

Earlier in the month, Yekta Jamali, the first Iranian female weightlifter who won medals in international tournaments, sought asylum in Germany after she left Iran’s team at the World Junior Weightlifting Championship in Greece.

About 30 Iranian athletes in recent years have defected from national teams and sought asylum in other countries, due to alleged threats and corruption in sports federations as well as Iran’s policy of not allowing athletes to compete against Israeli peers. For women mandatory hijab is also an issue.