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Passenger trains collide in Iran, at least 36 killed, 98 injured

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train-collidedAt least 36 people were killed and 98 injured when two Iranian passenger trains collided near the city of Shahroud, about 400 km (250 miles) east of Tehran, state television reported. It said the death toll was likely to rise. Reuters reports.

Video footage showed four derailed carriages, two of them on fire. A spokesman for Iran’s Red Crescent, Mostafa Mortazavi, told the semi-official Fars news agency that firefighters were trying to control the blaze.

It was not clear how many passengers had been on the trains but Fars said 100 had been rescued.

A local official told state TV that the remote location of the crash had slowed rescue efforts. “So far only one helicopter has reached the scene because of access difficulties,” said local Red Crescent chief Hasan Shokrollahi.

Iran’s railway network has aged badly under international economic sanctions that were imposed over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

 

Source Panorama.am

Sharov: Armenia can win “competition” in transit from Iran to Russia

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armenia-russia-iranArmenia can win the “competition” in transit from Iran to Russia, Russian businessman Alexander Sharov told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He added that even though the Iran-Armenia cargo transportation by vehicles is growing, there is a real chance to increase it on the account of cargo from Russia.

Sharov noted that shipments via the Caspian Sea take longer, since they have to wait for the ships, and although it is quicker via Azerbaijan, the transit fees there are about $1,000.

“And if it is carried out via Armenia and Georgia, it seems it will be around $300,” he added.

As per the Russian businessman, this is why Armenia should become appealing for Russian importers.

“[But] this will not be possible without logistics,” he stressed.

Alexander Sharov concluded that if Armenia does not become “greedy” when it comes to the VAT, it could win in cargo transit with a very common route.

Armenia, Iran Sign Deal To Increase Gas Imports, Power Flows

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armenia-iran-gasArmenia is looking to increase imports of natural gas from neighboring Iran after the two countries signed an agreement earlier this week.

Armenia’s Ministry of Energy, Infrastructure, and Natural Resources reported on November 2 that representatives of Armenia’s Energaimpex company and the National Iranian Gas Export Company signed a document authorizing the purchase of more Iranian natural gas during a visit to Iran on October 31 and November 1.

Armenia currently imports up to 500 million cubic meters of Iranian gas annually through a pipeline built in 2008. By comparison, Russian gas supplies to the South Caucasus country total around 2 billion cubic meters.

Iranian gas has until now been purchased by a state-owned Armenian thermal-power plant. The plant pays for it with electricity delivered to Iran.

Recently, Yerevan reportedly offered to buy additional volumes of Iranian gas, some of which could be re-exported to Georgia, and the Iranian side is said to have accepted the proposal.

The Armenian Energy Ministry said that its delegation, led by Deputy Minister Hayk Harutiunian, discussed prospects of transiting Iranian gas to third countries via Armenia with Iran’s deputy oil minister and a senior National Gas Export Company representative.

The delegation also met with Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister Houshang Falahatian and an adviser to the minister, Homayoun Hayeri, and discussed increasing the volumes of electricity flows between the countries.

The parties discussed increasing power flows between Armenia, Iran, and Georgia within the current capacity of high-voltage lines, and also in the Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia regional cooperation format after the expected launch of new infrastructure, the ministry said.

The Armenian delegation members also visited the Iranian Mapna Company, which intends to invest in the construction of wind power stations in Armenia, as well as the Sanir Company, which is the general contractor for the construction of a third Iran-Armenia high-voltage line.

Artashes Tumanian, the Armenian ambassador to Iran, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service last month that Russia will not object to the increased energy cooperation with Iran because the deal “does not run counter to anybody’s interests.”

Is Turkey Financially bankrupt? Iran: We stopped the electricity flow to Turkey due to debt

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iran-cut-gas-on-turkeyIran’s energy minister, Hussein Felaheiyan, said that Iran’s electricity exports to Turkey were stopped due to debt.

Felaheyden, the recipient of the Turkish company to Iran for $ 200 million in debt for the payment of electricity, said the flow of electricity.

“The most important reason for stopping our exports is unpaid debts,” the Iranian official said, “negotiations have begun to take over debts and resume exports,” he said.

Felaheijen noted that they could resume electricity sales if they were assured that their debts would be paid.

(DHA)

Iran gas flow to Turkey halted after pipeline blast – official

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oil-pipeline-explodeGas flow from Iran to Turkey has been halted after a huge explosion rocked a pipeline in eastern Turkey, Russia today says, citing an Iranian official’s comments to Tasnim news agency as cited by Reuters.

“Iran’s gas flow to Turkey has temporarily stopped because of a blast by some opposition groups inside Turkey around 1830 GMT on Thursday night,” Majid Aghai, an official from the Iranian Interior Ministry, said.
Earlier reports in the Turkish media emerged, saying that a huge blast hit a pipeline in the town of Dogubayazit in Agrı Province in eastern Turkey, bordering Iran. Following the explosion, a fire broke out on the pipeline, TGRT Haber newspaper said, adding that the flames reached up to 50 meters.
No property has been damaged, Turkish media reports, adding that there have not been reports of any deaths or injuries so far.

 

The authorities have reportedly launched an investigation into the incident. According to the Turkish Cumhuriyet newspaper, possible causes of the blast include sabotage. Some Turkish media said, citing sources, that militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were behind the incident.

Armenia-Iran Gas Deal ‘Planned’

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gas-dealYEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Armenia plans to increase imports of natural gas from neighboring Iran and will sign a relevant agreement with the Islamic Republic soon, a senior Armenian official said on Friday.

Armenia currently imports up to 500 million cubic meters of Iranian gas annually through a pipeline built in 2008. By comparison, Russian gas supplies to the South Caucasus country total around 2 billion cubic meters.

The Iranian gas has until now been formally purchased by a state-owned Armenian thermal-power plant. The plant pays for it with electricity delivered to Iran.

According to Artashes Tumanian, the Armenian ambassador to Iran, Yerevan offered recently to buy additional volumes of Iranian gas, some of which could be re-exported to Georgia. The Iranian side accepted the proposal, he said.

“Appropriate documents are being prepared and projects drawn up right now and I think that unless something extraordinary happens, the deal will be signed,” Tumanian said. He declined to specify possible dates for its signing.

In what was clearly a related development, the Armenian government announced in August that it will set up an energy firm tasked with importing Iranian gas. It said nothing about import volumes. The announcement came shortly after then Energy Minister Levon Yolian’s visit to Tehran.

Tumanian insisted that Russia will not object to the planned Armenian-Iranian deal because it “does not run counter to anybody’s interests.” “Documents are close to being agreed upon, and I see no obstacles on either side,” he said.

Even before Yerevan moved to boost Iranian gas imports, the existing Armenian-Iranian swap arrangement was due to be expanded dramatically after the construction of a third power transmission line connecting the two neighboring states. Work on the $120 million line is slated for completion in 2019.

The Mosul operation and the latest situation in the region. Turkish Trained “Hashdi Vatani” Terrorist near Mosul

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hashdi-vataniThe liberation of Mosul is not going to happen in the short term. Even if the operation starts, the “Mosul Issue” will continue. And in conjunction, the military, political and diplomatic tensions will deepen.

KIRKUK – ANF – AMED DİCLE

As the discussions on the operation on Mosul continue, so do military activity and dispatching in the region. The Iraqi army has started significant military dispatching especially from the Kirkuk line towards the Hawija front.

There were intense aerial attacks and helicopter activity in the same region yesterday (October 13). Hawija is considered the most important gate for the liberation of Mosul.

The dispatching towards Hawija is an important development, but it doesn’t necessarily mean an operation on Mosul. Some sources say the operation will start in the last 10 days of October, but the military and political developments on the ground are not suitable for this operation yet. The conditions have yet to be met.

It looks like the political consensus and military preparation for the liberation of Mosul will take some time. The question of how Mosul will be taken from ISIS and who will control it after it’s been taken hasn’t been answered yet. The issue is not resolved at the tables, and therefore can’t be reflected on the battle field. The military force that can carry out such an operation has not been formed yet in any case.

REASONS PREVENTING THE OPERATION

There are three basic factors that constitute obstacles for the Mosul operation and thus allow the ISIS invasion to continue.

One: Conflict of interest among local, regional and international forces, and political and diplomatic disagreements they cause.

Two: The threat from Turkey and its local partners towards the region.

Three: More than one million civilians in the operation grounds. Protecting these civilians and relocating them to safe zones.

One can list many more issues as continuation on these three fundamental topics. The big picture emerges more clearly when the positions from each party is analyzed.

THE US AND THE INTERNATIONAL COALITION

The preparations for the possible operation on Mosul are carried out by the coalition led by the US. The US is in contact with all parties in the region but the Baghdad administration is stated as the political respondent. For the US, conducting an operation on ISIS is bigger than gathering the forces in the region around a table and “convincing” them. They want a joint operation with the Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and other forces. They want Mosul to be controlled by Baghdad. And as always, they are trying to pose themselves as the “saviour power” to consolidate their interests in the region. The coalition isn’t acting independently from Washington politics.

THE BAGHDAD ADMINISTRATION

Abadi’s government naturally works in harmony with the US and Iran. They accept Iran’s Heshti Shabi militia forces to take part in the operation to some extent. They also have an agreement with the Southern Kurdistan administration. Although they have not officially announced this yet, Baghdad also accepts some local regional forces trained by the PKK guerrillas to take part in the operation. The duty of these forces is to protect the lands they live on and to push back the ISIS threat.

TURKEY

Turkey is in a position to pose a great threat to the current situation in Mosul and its future. The soldiers they have stationed in Bashiqa and the groups called Hashdi Vatani they have trained are as dangerous as ISIS. Turkey wants Mosul to be turned over to Sunni Arab forces called Hashdi Vatani. These groups are ideologically no different than ISIS. In several areas, they are mixed with ISIS and they are in alliance.

Ankara’s only ally in Mosul are the Nuceyfis, family of the former Governor of Mosul. They organized the Hashdi Vatani over the Nuceyfi family and their contacts. Former Mosul Governor Asil Nuceyfi is the man who turned the city over to ISIS in one night. Asil Nuceyfi had met with Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara one week before he handed Mosul over to ISIS. He stayed in Hewler, Ankara and Istanbul after the invasion of Mosul.

The men Turkey calls “Mosulis we trained” are the Hashdi Vatani, and they are loyal to the former governor Asil Nuceyfi who was removed from duty by the Baghdad administration. They have no official standing in Iraq. Turkey wants to control Mosul over these groups.

At the base of Turkey’s Mosul politics, there are of course the Kurds. The Turkish administration wants to update the Ankara Treaty made with the UK in 1926. There is only one condition at the heart of this treaty: There should be no Kurds in Mosul, the city should remain in the control of Sunni Arabs.

But in the current situation, no force in the region, nor the Baghdad administration, Iran, US or the Coalition, want Turkey to take part in the Mosul operation. Turkey not taking part in the operation means them losing their influence over the region too. The only groups that want Turkey there are the KDP and the Nuceyfis. Turkey taking part in the operation under such circumstances will not bring stability to the region, on the contrary, it will make things worse. Not taking part will be a bigger obsession. In either case, Turkey loses.

IRAN

Iran is involved in the Mosul case over Baghdad, they have to. Iran will never accept the Sunni forces backed by Turkey to control Mosul. Iran must have influence over Mosul, even if they don’t control it. If they lose in Mosul, they will have lost in Iraq in general. Iran’s influence will only be limited to Baghdad, Basra and partially in Southern Kurdistan. This will hurt Iran’s position in the region. In the current situation, there is no serious and vocal opposition to Iran being in Mosul.

SOUTHERN KURDISTAN

Southern Kurdistan administration is fragmented on the Mosul operation. PUK forces are more in line with the Baghdad administration, while KDP conducts Turkey-guided politics. This position of the KDP hurts the Kurds in general. There have been some meetings among Kurds for the KDP to leave this position, but these have not yielded results yet. If KDP continues to be in Turkey’s shadow over Mosul, they will lose big. And this will be harmful for Kurds. Another effort by the KDP is to prevent PKK forces taking part in the Mosul operation.

THE PKK AND DEMOCRATIC MOSUL

PKK guerrillas are positioned in Kirkuk and to the south. With them are a large group of guerrilla forces to fight ISIS in the Maxmur region. The guerrilla forces that moved to the region to liberate Shengal from ISIS remain in their positions. The guerrilla forces state that they will take part in the Mosul operation if there is an agreement.

If there is an operation in the Hawija region, the guerrilla forces will play an effective role there. This is because of the fact that it isn’t realistic to carry out a military operation against ISIS in the region without the guerrilla. The same is true for the Tal Afar front in the Shengal direction. Due to their positions, it is imperative that the PKK forces or the local forces trained by the guerrilla take part in this operation.

The Baghdad administration is rumored to want PKK to take part in the operation. But the opposition from Turkey and Iran in this matter puts Baghdad in a difficult position. Then again, it is said that the Shengal forces who came together around Öcalan’s ideology and formed their defense units and some other groups will be taking part in the operation, and that they are preparing for it. PKK offers the other Kurdish forces that Kurds take part in the Mosul operation under a “Joint Command”, but the KDP’s negative approach causes Kurds to miss this opportunity. Despite all, PKK is trying to minimise all tension with the KDP to avoid falling into Ankara’s trap.

PKK sources have a perspective for the future of Mosul. According to this, the administration should be left to the locals after Mosul has been liberated. They propose a “Democratic Mosul” model that will include all groups, like Sunnis, Shias, Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, and others to remove the current conflicts and clashes.

In summary: The liberation of Mosul is not going to happen in the short term. Even if the operation starts, the “Mosul Issue” will continue. And in conjunction, the military, political and diplomatic tensions will deepen.

Armenian envoy calls for closer Tehran-Yerevan ties

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armo-iran-flagsArmenian Ambassador to Tehran Artashes Tumanyan called bilateral relations between Tehran and Yerevan as “historical,” calling for efforts to strengthen the ties in all spheres, economy in particular, Tasnim News Agency reports. 

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Tehran on Sunday, Tumanyan said the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has great economic infrastructures, is a close friend of Armenia.

However, he said, bilateral trade between the two nations is at a low level as the volume of trade between the two countries does not exceed $300 million per year.

“We have good relations with Iran’s chambers of commerce,” the Armenian diplomat noted, but said the two sides need to know each other better.

Iran and  Armenia, have enjoyed amicable relations in a whole host of fields. Armenia announced in early June that it has approved signing an agreement with Iran to abolish the visa regime between the two countries.

The agreement, signed during a visit to Tehran by Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, allows Iranians and Armenians to travel to the other country without needing a visa.

HARUT SASSOUNIAN: A Unique Eye-Opening Visit to Iran

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iran-todayBY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Along with 16 other Armenian journalists from Armenia, Artsakh, the Czech Republic, France, Lebanon, Syria, and the United States, I was invited to attend the 85th anniversary celebration of Alik daily Armenian newspaper, published in Tehran since 1931.

As this was my first visit to Iran, I quickly discovered that the country was a lot different than what I had heard and read about in the United States. It is an important country with an ancient civilization that is often misunderstood by outsiders.

Tehran is a large city with millions of inhabitants trying to cope with the maddening traffic. Making matters worse, tens of thousands of motorcyclists zip around cars in every direction, while pedestrians dart through several lanes of heavy traffic, foolishly risking their lives. Basically, the scariest part of visiting Iran is neither the regime nor the militants, but the simple act of crossing the street!

I also found out that both Iranians and Iranian-Armenians are extremely hospitable, gracious and polite. They go out of their way to help total strangers. Armenians, as a Christian minority, enjoy their full freedoms of education and worship. They have their own schools and churches all over the country. There are Prelacies of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Tehran, Isfahan, and Tavriz.

One of the stunning Armenian community centers is the Ararat Armenian Cultural Association’s center which encompasses several acres of sports facilities, including a soccer stadium, basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools, and a chapel in the one of the most prestigious parts of Tehran. Our visit to Iran coincided with the opening ceremonies of the 48th annual Pan-Armenian games with Armenian scouts and athletes participating from various parts of Iran, Armenia, Artsakh, and Javakh, Georgia. The next day, Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Iran dutifully complained to the Iranian government about the inclusion of athletes from Artsakh in the Pan-Armenian games.

Iranian-Armenians serve as a vital bridge between their twin homelands: The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Armenia. Despite Azerbaijan’s complaints and its persistent efforts to undermine relations between Armenia and Iran, the Iranian government steadfastly maintains a balanced relationship with the two neighboring states. Armenia’s Ambassador to Iran, His Excellency Ardashes Toumanian, a highly competent and seasoned diplomat, is another important link between the Republic of Armenia, the government of Iran, and the local Armenian community.

The management of Alik newspaper had organized a hectic schedule for the incoming journalists which included visits to Armenian schools, an Armenian medical clinic, the Gulestan Palace, the Royal Jewelry Museum, and the Charmahal Society Center where a Talk-Show was held for the community. The journalists also met with the Armenian National Committee of Tehran, the Armenian Embassy, the Armenian Cultural and Athletic Association, two major Iranian media outlets, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, the Minister of Culture, and the Institute for Political and International Studies. The visitors were received everywhere with much warmth and respect!

The visiting journalists had also the pleasure of meeting with the two Armenian members of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament) who play a key role as the intermediary between the government and the Armenian community.

Last Saturday night, the journalists attended the official celebration of the 85th anniversary of Alik where they took the podium to congratulate the unique accomplishments of the newspaper that has educated and informed several generations with great sacrifices by dedicated editors, journalists, staff, benefactors and community organizations.

The highlight of the visit was the tour of the historic cities of Isfahan and Tavriz, including a special ‘pilgrimage’ to the ancient monasteries of Sourp Tadeh and Sourp Stepanos monasteries.

The most emotional part of the trip was driving along the Arax River on the border between Iran and Nakhichevan, formerly a part of Armenia, currently an autonomous region of Azerbaijan. Many of the journalists had tears in their eyes as they observed across the border an empty field that used to be an ancient cemetery with thousands of Armenian Khachkars (cross-stones) which were cruelly destroyed by the authorities of Azerbaijan, thus committing a cultural genocide and a crime against humanity!

In recent decades, even though many Iranian-Armenians have immigrated to other countries, mostly Glendale, California, the bulk of the community remains deeply committed to doubling its efforts in order to continue its role as a critical bridge between Iran and Armenia!