Iran

TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Western and U.S. sanctions have become "a blunt sword" after excessive use, Abolfazl Amoui, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament, said Saturday.

A number of countries are thinking about de-dollarizing their trade by using local currencies, Amoui told official IRNA news agency.

The Russian and Iranian banks have already adopted new financial mechanisms for trade transactions excluding the dollar, he noted.

16 July 2022; MEMO: Iran denied on Friday the US claims of sending hundreds of drones to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine, Anadolu Agency reported.

According to Anadolu Agency, this came in a phone call between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.

14 July 2022; MEMO: Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, said on Thursday that the Islamic Republic will have a "harsh and regrettable response" to any "mistake" committed by Washington or its allies, Reuters reports.

US President, Joe Biden, and Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, signed a joint pledge on Thursday to deny Iran nuclear arms, a show of unity by allies long divided over diplomacy with Tehran.

TEHRAN, Jul 13 (NNN-IRNA) – Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, yesteday slammed Western countries, for having played a major role in global environmental destruction over the past centuries.

“The hegemonic approach of Western governments during the past centuries and their unlimited encroachment on natural resources … has been one of the main factors of environmental problems,” Raisi said, at a regional meeting on environmental issues held in the capital, Tehran.

13 July 2022; MEMO: Iran yesterday accused US President Joe Biden of adopting a policy that contradicts his declared desire to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement.

This came following an opinion piece written by Biden for the Washington Post and published on Saturday ahead of his visit to the Middle East this week.

TEHRAN, Jul 12 (NNN-FNA) – An Iranian Jewish lawmaker, said yesterday that, the United States constantly pursues a project of spreading Iranophobia, as a way to sell its weapons and make more profits.

Ever since the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the United States has been carrying out this project, particularly at the regional level, said Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi.

The lawmaker said, the U.S. is trying to poison the atmosphere surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme, in a bid to spread Iranophobia in a new form and safeguard its economic interests.

TEHRAN, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the technological cooperation between Iran and Russia dates back to the days before the Ukrainian crisis.

Nasser Kanaani, the ministry's spokesman, made the remarks when asked about U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's claim on Monday that Iran is preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of drones, including weapons-capable ones.

TEHRAN, Jul 11 (NNN-IRNA) – The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), announced yesterday that, it started the extraction of 20 percent enriched uranium from the Fordow enrichment facility in central Iran, state TV reported.

On Saturday, “20 percent enriched uranium was extracted from the new chain of centrifuges, which were installed and fed with gas, in Fordow two weeks ago,” Behrouz Kamalvandi told IRIB TV in an interview.

TEHRAN, July 11 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian lawmaker said on Monday that the Western sanctions on Iran and Russia have brought the two sides closer to each other in trade and economy, official news agency IRNA reported.

Iran and Russia are providing one another with the products they fail to have access to because of sanctions, said Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

10 July 2022; MEMO: Iran on Saturday decried a plan by the US and Israel to form a security alliance with Arab states to counter Tehran as "provocative," saying it would fuel regional tensions, Anadolu reports.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani, reacting to reports about the proposed plan, said Iran looks at it as "a threat to national and regional security."