Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran is going to sign the final version of a contract with China for modernization of a heavy water reactor under the 2015 nuclear deal.
 

 Political Desk   

President Hassan Rouhani said the government will stand beside the people of the flood-stricken provinces where dozens of people lost their lives in last week’s incident.
President Rouhani made the remarks on Wednesday while visiting a village in East Azarbaijan Province which was hit by floods, president.ir reported.
“The disaster, which happened in Chinar village, West Azarbaijan, Ardabil and Kurdistan, has profoundly saddened all Iranians”, he told the people of the flood-stricken village.
He expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in the natural disaster and made assurances that efforts will continue in search of those who went missing.
“Those who have lost their lives in the disaster are not just your loved ones, but our brothers and sisters,” Rouhani said.
The president also said the government will do its utmost to rebuild the houses that were destroyed by the floods and has made necessary decisions to help all those affected by the incident.
President Rouhani further described the process of relief aid operations as satisfactory.
Appreciating efforts by the Red Crescent Society, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and all armed forces, he said: “We must not forget each other in hard times and the government will stand by you with all its might.”
“I ordered the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, as well as the Housing Foundation to start rebuilding the houses, which are hit by the floods” he added.
Torrential downpours caused flooding and landslides in four provinces in Iran’s northwest last week, killing a total of 48 people.
The provinces of East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Kurdestan, Zanjan and Ardabil were hit by extreme weather.
Heavy rains started on Friday. The surging waters caused rivers to burst their banks and swept away cars and flooded houses.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to guarantee the security of Iranian pilgrims during the Hajj pilgrimage, members of the Parliament’s presiding board said.
Akbar Ranjbarzadeh made the comments on Wednesday while speaking to reporters after Parliament’s closed session, attended by Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Reza Salehi Amiri and Hojatoleslam Ali Qazi Asgar, representative of Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei at the pilgrimage, IRNA reported.
Salehi Amiri and Qazi Asgar were in Parliament to brief lawmakers on the recent developments over the Hajj pilgrimage and the issue of sending Iranian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj, in a letter, has expressed the country’s readiness to accept Iranian pilgrims, in case the Islamic Republic of Iran is also willing to send its pilgrims to Saudi Arabia in the Hajj season, Ranjbarzadeh said.
Ranjbarzadeh also said that since Iran has no embassy in Saudi Arabia to protect its citizens there, Riyadh has agreed to guarantee their full safety from the very moment they enter Saudi Arabia till the time they leave the country.
Relations between Tehran and Riyadh soured in 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran in protest at death of hundreds of Iranian pilgrims in a stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in 2015, and also the execution of Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
 

Portugal’s Secretary of State of Internationalization Jorge Costa Oliveira expressed readiness to remove obstacles in banking relations in order to expand cooperation with Iran, especially in trade sector.
Jorge Costa Oliveira, who has traveled to Tehran at the head of an economic delegation, in a meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi discussed the issue.
Both officials also studied ways to boost economic relations between Iran and Portugal.
Describing Iran as an influential country with a long history, Costa Oliveira said Portugal welcomes development of bilateral and regional cooperation with Iran.
The Iranian official referred to the high economic potential of the two countries and said Iran welcomes cooperation with Portugal in various fields, especially in regular political consultations in sectors such as energy, tourism, agriculture, information technology and academic affairs.
Takht-Ravanchi also touched upon the recent US attack on Syrian airbase, describing the move against the principles of international law.
He also stressed that the international community should not be indifferent to US unilateral acts.

 

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Ayatollah Khamenei described a successful election as a “resource” for the nation.
The Leader further warned officials against giving in to enemies’ pressure and threats.
“Scolding is the modus operandi of aggressive big powers… The worse situation for a country comes about when its authorities are scared off by the enemies’ browbeating, threatening and scolding because it will open up the door for enemies’ aggression,” the Leader said. “The nation [however] is standing upright.”
Ayatollah Khamenei further said the nation’s resistance has been the key to thwarting different enemy plots against the country over the past decades.
“Neither the US nor bigger [entities] than that can do a damn thing in the face of an establishment, which is bonded with its people, likes its people and is liked by them,” the Leader added.
Over a dozen high-profile figures have registered for the country’s 12th presidential elections. The registration process is over and the candidates’ credentials are now being vetted.
The people will go to the polls on May 19. Concomitantly, the electorate will vote to choose members of village and city councils.

Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said on Wednesday that Takfiri-Wahhabi terrorists commit crimes with US-made weapons across the world, particularly in Syria and Iraq.
The Iranian minister’s remarks was in response to a recent claim made by US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who had earlier said Yemen’s Houthi movement is firing “Iranian supplied missiles” into Saudi Arabia, IRNA reported.
“I advise the US defense secretary to study the history of US military confrontations and inhumane crimes in Vietnam, Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan and recently in Syria and Yemen to find a way out of the self-trapped quagmire, then they will find the root causes of US allegations against others,” he said.
Dehqan added that the US officials should be aware that the era of bullying, blame games and interventions is over.
The Iranian defense minister said that it would be better if US officials resolved their domestic issues and avoided creating crises and triggering flames of wars in Korea and the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters on his way to Riyadh on Tuesday, the US defense secretary said, “It has gone on for a long time, we see Iranian supplied missiles being fired by the Houthis into Saudi Arabia and this is something… that has simply got to be brought to an end.”
While US officials keep making allegations against Iran, they opt to close their eyes to the plight of Yemen’s defenseless people who have been under massive attacks by a coalition led by the Saudi Arabia for more than two years.

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He did not say how long the review would take but said in the letter to Ryan that the administration looked forward to working with Congress on the issue.
During his presidential campaign, Trump called the agreement “the worst deal ever negotiated,” raising questions over whether he would rip up the agreement once he took office.
Nuclear experts have warned that any US violation of the nuclear deal would prompt Iran also to pull back from its commitments.
The historic deal between Iran and six major powers restricts Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international oil and financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The pact was signed in July 2015 by Iran and the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.