Iran FM, Armenia PM confer on issues of mutual interest
Araqchi and Pashinyan met in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Pashinyan expressed his satisfaction with the progress in cooperation between Armenia and Iran.
He also described the relations between the two countries as being based on the mutual and natural interests of the two nations, which have been established over many years. He said ties were now moving toward increased consolidation.
Emphasizing his country’s determination to maintain peace and stability in the South Caucasus region, the Armenian prime minister also hailed Iran’s positive role in helping strengthen security and lasting peace in the Caucasus.
Foreign Minister Araqchi said for his part that the growing Iran-Armenia relationship had mutual benefits for both countries and guaranteed peace and stability in the region.
He emphasized that Iran and Armenia should, by taking advantage of their civilizational, cultural, and historical ties, as well as people-to-people relations, strive to promote relations and cooperation in all fields, especially in the economy, trade, tourism, transit, transportation, and energy fields.
Araghchi also said that security and stability in the South Caucasus was of strategic value to Iran.
He also emphasized the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in respecting the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, avoiding the use of force, and using diplomacy to resolve disputes.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Araqchi also held a meeting with his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan.
Araghchi also held a meeting with Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan in Yerevan.
Source: Marzieh Rahmani
Iran”s IRGC unveils ‘underground missile megacity’
The facility was unveiled on Tuesday with Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri and the Aerospace Division’s Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh in attendance.
Footage published across various Iranian news outlets showed the top brass touring the sprawling center that houses thousands of surgical strike ballistic missiles such as Kheybar Shekan, Martyr Haj Qassem, Qadr-H, Sejjil, and Emad.
Among the projectiles, Iran’s Kheybar Shekan-1 missile is credited with being capable of defeating the United States much-vaunted THAAD missile system, while Kheybar Shekan-2 has been developed so it can evade the system. The American missile system’s projectiles are said to enjoy destructive capability against targets lying as far as 200 kilometers (124 miles) away.
Martyr Haj Qassem among the missiles has been codenamed after the Islamic Republic’s top anti-terror commander, General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in early 2020 in an American aerial attack against Baghdad amid his instrumental role in defeating foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists across the region.
The Qadr-H missile that can fly as far as 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) as well as the Emad and Sejjil missiles have also been rated as effective medium-range ballistic projectiles in the country’s firepower.
“Iran’s iron fist is far stronger [today] than before,” Bagheri said, addressing the facility’s personnel during the tour.
‘10 times stronger than True Promise II’
“All the [defensive] dimensions that are required for generating a [military] capability that is ten times [stronger than] the one deployed during Operation True Promise II, has been created,” the commander added.
Last year, the Islamic Republic demonstrated its military might with Operation True Promise I and II, retaliatory strikes launched in response to Israeli aggression.
The operations, carried out using hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones, showcased Iran”s ability to strike Israeli military and intelligence targets with surgical accuracy.
Iranian officials have underscored that the country only deployed a fraction of its firepower during the dual reprisal.
Bagheri further noted that the pace at which the Islamic Republic was developing its defensive might was far faster than the pace of the enemies’ recuperation.
“The enemy will definitely fall behind in this balance of power,” the official asserted, hailing that the Iranian Armed Forces were staying on their course of further development, enhancement, and empowerment.
Source: Marzieh Rahmani
Antifascist Intl. Iran Chapter condemns US immigration policy
The following is the statement issued by International Antifascist Iran Chapter:
Today, global arrogance has torn away all veils of deception and hypocrisy. What was once employed to exploit and colonize the world”s most vulnerable countries, under the colorful veneer of democracy, human rights, and humanity, is now being openly imposed on the peoples of various nations. In this context, we see a clear example of this hypocrisy in the fascist behavior of the US government toward Venezuelan immigrants.
In a world where Hollywood, the US media, and the Western imperialist propaganda machine have shaped the perceptions of nations for years, values such as respect for the rights of peoples, humane treatment, and the elimination of racial discrimination have provided a deceptive cover for the plundering of human and natural resources.
Back then, at least the ugly face of the oppressor was hidden beneath a decorative facade. Yet today, Trump, this bullying, arrogant, and broker president of the United States, has discarded all those representations of the Great Satan.
Now the true face of colonialism, arrogance, and imperialism has been revealed. The world has witnessed this violence in the atrocious massacre and the pressure to displace millions from their ancestral homes in Gaza.
It has also observed the abandonment of the Ukrainian people in a quagmire created for Zelensky”s fascist government, along with the offer of 19th-century colonial contracts to plunder that nation”s resources. Today, we witness the same shameless treatment of the Venezuelan people.
The human rights proclaimed by the United States are absurd. With the complicity of a few traitors willing to sacrifice the well-being of their people for selfish interests, as seen in Iran and Venezuela, they trample on the national security and sovereignty of independent countries, imposing historically severe sanctions.
When the victims of these cruel sanctions are forced to emigrate against their will, under pretexts of drug trafficking and terrorism, they are sent to the prisons of subordinate countries to be incarcerated and tortured, like slaves deprived of all human rights.
The brazen statements from the Trump administration labeling 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States as smugglers to pressure the Bolivarian government are, without a doubt, an act of fascism and inhumanity.
The US government, which has trained death squads and torture agents in Latin America for years and funded the Contras to smuggle drugs and carry out terrorist acts aimed at overthrowing the Nicaraguan revolution, is in no position to lecture Venezuela—a country that has fought against Washington-backed terrorism since the beginning of its revolution and, despite all pressures, has reduced its organized crime rate by 90 percent in recent years.
The US government has absolutely no authority to do so. Today, the United States government stands as the enemy of the entire world. From its former ally, Canada, which covets its land and resources, to Europeans who have been complicit in its crimes but are now left in the quagmire of the war in Ukraine; from Panama and Mexico, which also covet their lands and seas, to Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba, which have been targets of constant threats and aggressions from the United States, these and other countries of the Global South now face the onslaught of neo-fascism. This fascism, which has revealed its violent face through the alliance between Washington and Tel Aviv, must be recognized and confronted.
The International Antifascist Iran Chapter, hailing from a land at the heart of the anti-imperialist/anti-Zionist resistance in West Asia, declares its profound solidarity with the Bolivarian government and the Venezuelan people. We express our strong protest against the inhumane treatment of Venezuelan immigrants by the US government and call on all free people of the world to join us in this protest.Furthermore, we strongly condemn the blatant complicity of the Salvadoran government with the United States, which reveals the hypocrisy of Latin American fascists. Those who sell their honor for a few dollars and take pride in being jailers of imperialism will undoubtedly be expelled from the ranks of the nations fighting for freedom in Latin America. The Bolivarian Revolution is alive, and the spirit of the Liberator rises against colonialism across Latin America. March 25
Source: Marzieh Rahmani