Iran holds first live debate for presidential election
35th Fajr Int’l Film Festival announces winners
group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. During the session, Pakistani Ambassador Asif Durrani was told that Tehran strongly demands Islamabad act “seriously and decisively” to arrest and punish the terrorists, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said Friday, IRNA reported.
“Unfortunately, Pakistan’s borders with Iran are the least safe ones, while we have tried to provide utmost safety on our borders with Pakistan.
The first debate among the six candidates of Iran’s presidential election was held live on national TV Friday. The candidates for the May 19 vote included Hassan Rouhani, Es’haq Jahangiri, Mostafa Hashemitaba, Mostafa Mirsalim, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ebrahim Raeisi who faced off during the three-hour debate discussing social issues.
The debate went mostly smoothly with hopefuls making comments about settlements on the outskirts and peripheries of cities, unemployment, social justice, housing and youth marriage.
But it got heated when Jahangiri took the podium to answer a question about his plans to reduce bureaucracy in executive bodies. Winners of the 35th Fajr International Film Festival (Fiff) were announced, with ‘The Home’ from Iran snatching Golden Simorgh for Best Film in the main competition section.
The festival’s awards ceremony took place late Thursday at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall.
According to fajriff.com, Iran’s Culture Minister Reza Salehiamiri, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Director of Iranian Cinema Organization Mohammad-mehdi Heidarian, plus a large number of A-list Iranian and foreign film directors, producers, critics, journalists, academics, and stars attended the ceremony.
We expect the Pakistani side to act on the previous promises…by not allowing such incidents to happen from Pakistan’s borders and soil,” Qassemi added. Durrani offered condolences and sympathy on the tragedy and said he would inform the respective government of the Islamic Republic’s concerns as soon as possible.
President Hassan Rouhani also called on Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to prosecute the terrorists who killed the Iranian border guards.
“Regrettably, a lack of appropriate measures and necessary prosecution on the part of the Pakistani government has caused great loss of lives and property for Iran,” Rouhani said in a statement.
“Pakistan’s security and growth have always topped Iran’s agenda of ties with the friendly and neighboring country… Iran’s soil has never been abused against any of its neighbors, including Pakistan,” he wrote to Sharif.
However, Iran “is very disheartened that it is repeatedly transgressed upon from the Pakistani soil by armed bandits and terrorist hirelings,” he added.
Rouhani further said certain countries are targeting the Muslim world’s unity through proxy wars. Such countries, he said, were trying to replace development, prosperity, and esteem in regional countries with underdevelopment, insecurity and poverty.
Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari, the chief of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces, meanwhile, warned Iran’s enemies that such brutal terrorist attacks “will not go unanswered.”
“Such desperate measures will never dent the religiously-devoted and revolutionary Iranian people’s spirit of gallantry and do not make way for ill-wishers’ inroad [into the country],” he added.
France also condemned the deadly attack on Iranian border guards in a statement, saying, “We offer our condolences to the victims’ families and to the Iranian people.”
Jaish ul-adl has in the past carried out several terrorist attacks against Iranian security forces. The terrorist group killed eight border guards in 2015 and 14 border guards two years earlier.
In a meeting with an Iranian deputy foreign minister in Helsinki, Secretary of State at Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs Peter Stenlund said the air transportation agreement will be prepared and signed in the
He said the current administration has managed to change the securitybased approach to social issues and added that most of the Iranian people are not satisfied with municipalities and banks. The current first vice president said the establishment of an e-government was the major step to cut down on red tape.
Raeisi said an electronic government would increase transparency and facilitate the administrative processes. Rouhani said some media outlets undermine the social capital in the country. In this segment, Qalibaf questioned the reason behind Jahangiri’s candidacy, implying that Jahangiri has only registered to support incumbent President Rouhani.
Jahangiri hit back by saying that he had served in many government near future, Tasnim News Agency reported.
He also hailed the growing economic ties between Iran and Finland since the Finnish president’s visit to Tehran last October, pointing to a recent deal between the two countries on customs cooperation.
Expressing the Finish economic activists’ enthusiasm for strong interaction with Iran, Stenlund said Helsinki supports the expansion of cooperation between Iran and the European Union.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for American and European Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi highlighted the significance that Tehran attaches to closer “parliamentary and peopleto-people” ties with Finland, which he said would in turn facilitate economic positions ranging from governor, lawmaker and minister to first vice president and has the right to run for presidency. He said Tehran Municipality under Qalibaf registered a terrible record in treating clients. Jahangiri further said a sad mistreatment was using “pincers attacks” to round up vendors from the streets.
Answering a questing on environmental challenges, Qalibaf said the dust storm problem is currently plaguing 20 Iranian provinces and added that inappropriate measures taken inside the country has led to this crisis.
Jahangiri said the current administration has succeeded in taking essential measures to relatively solve the environmental problems. He added that 70 percent of the dust storm problem stems from reasons beyond Iran’s borders. He said in Tehran the municipality relations.
Elsewhere in the meeting, the two diplomats discussed the latest developments in the Middle East, as in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan.
Takht Ravanchi is in Finland at the invitation of Stenlund for political negotiations. has failed during the 12 years of being Tehran’s mayor even to collect garbage properly but the mayor claimed to have the ability to run the whole country.
He also noted that those who attacked the Saudi missions in Tehran and Mashhad two years ago dealt a severe blow to the tourism sector as 700 thousand tourists from Persian Gulf Arab nations stopped traveling to Iran.
He said that certain attackers in the incidents were members of one of the candidate’s camp.
Qalibaf defended the performance of Tehran Municipality in the environment-protection sector, saying it has used garbage to generate power and produce compost. The mayor of Tehran added that over 20,000 hectares have been planted with trees around the capital.