France and accomplices to Yemen carnage cannot preach ethics: Iran diplomat
An Iranian diplomat hit back at France for its meddlesome stance, saying a country deeply involved in Yemen’s carnage cannot preach morality.
Yemen has turned into the worst humanitarian disaster in the world as a result of the sales of deadly weapons by France and its partners to the Saudi-led coalition, Mohammad Sadati-nejad, who is in charge of human rights issues at the Iranian mission to the UN in Geneva, said on Thursday, Press TV reported.
The remarks came a day after France’s Foreign Ministry said a French national, who was under consular protection, was detained in Iran in May 2020, and that authorities are “attentively following the situation of our fellow national”.
Also, in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-yves Le Drian accused Iran of human rights violations and demanded the release of Fariba Adelkhah, a French-iranian national.
Adelkhah, a 60-year-old anthropologist and researcher at Sciences Po’s Center for International Studies (CERI) in Paris, was arrested in Iran in June 2019 on espionage charges.
The Iranian diplomat rejected France’s claims of human rights violations, saying Paris was not in a position to comment on the issue.
“Canada and the US, besides France, Germany and Britain, are accomplices to the war crimes being committed against the innocent people of Yemen and Palestine in the hands of their clients,” Sadatinejad
said.
He said given their horrific human rights records which include systematic racism against minorities, the US, Canada, France and Germany are not entitled to preach ethics.
The Iranian diplomat also said the United States, as the frontrunner in the spread of terrorism and unilateral and bullying policies against a large part of the world’s population, must be held accountable for the crimes caused by its economic terrorism against civilians.
France is the third largest exporter of arms to Riyadh, with Paris accounting for four percent of the kingdom’s arms imports between 2015 and 2019, behind the US (73 percent) and UK (13 percent), according to the most recent figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Over the same period, France was the second largest exporter of arms to the UAE, according to the Middle East Eye.
Security forces in Myanmar’s largest city on Friday fired warning shots and beat truncheons against their shields while moving to disperse more than 1,000 anti-coup protesters.
The demonstrators had gathered in front of a popular shopping mall in Yangon, holding placards and chanting slogans denouncing the Feb. 1 coup even as the security presence increased and a water-cannon truck was brought to the area, AFP reported.
When around 50 riot police moved against the protesters, warning shots could be heard, and at least one demonstrator was held by officers. Security forces chased the protesters off the main road and continued to pursue them in the nearby lanes, as some ducked into houses to hide.
The confrontation underscored the rising tensions between a growing popular revolt and Myanmar’s generals who toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a takeover that shocked the international community and reversed years of slow progress toward democracy.
On Thursday, supporters of Myanmar’s junta attacked people protesting the military government, using slingshots, iron rods and knives to injure several of them. Photos and videos posted on social media showed
groups attacking people in downtown Yangon as police stood by without intervening.
The violence erupted as hundreds marched in support of the coup. They carried banners in English with the slogans “We Stand With Our Defense Services” and “We Stand With State Administration Council,” which is the official name of the junta.
Late Thursday, police turned out in force in Yangon’s
Tarmwe neighborhood where they tried to clear the streets of residents protesting the military’s appointment of a new administrator for one ward. Several arrests were made as people scattered in front of riot police who used flash bang grenades to disperse the crowd.
In Mandalay, the country’s secondlargest city, anti-coup protesters also took to the streets Friday. Demonstrators carried signs reading “Free Our Leader Aung San Suu Kyi,” “Pray for Myanmar,” and “Reject Military Coup.”
By midday, security forces had blocked the main road in downtown Mandalay to prevent the protesters from gathering.
Suu Kyi has not been seen since the coup. Around 50 of her supporters held a prayer Friday opposite her home in Yangon. The rambling mansion on University Avenue is where she spent many years under house arrest during previous military governments, and the residence has long had iconic status among her supporters.
Several Western countries have imposed or threatened sanctions against Myanmar’s military. On Thursday, Britain announced further measures against members of the ruling junta for “overseeing human rights violations since the coup”.
Iranian steelmakers cast 2.7 million tons of crude steel in the first month of 2021, marking 10.2 percent increase compared to the corresponding figure for 2020, which was 2.4 million tons, according to figures released by the World Steel Association (WSA).
China topped the list of crude steel producers in the first month of the current year, with an output of 90.2 million tons, while Iran stood at tenth place.
India, Japan, the United States, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, Germany and Brazil, with 10 million tons, 7.9 million tons, 6.9 million tons, 6.7 million tons, six million tons, 3.4 million, 3.3 million tons and three million tons, respectively, were listed in second to ninth places, the report said.
Global steel production in January amounted to 162.9 million tons, showing a 4.8 percent rise compared to the corresponding figure of 2020, which was 155.4 million tons.
Iranian steelmakers churned out over 29 million tons of crude steel in 2020, according to statistics released by the WSA in January.
The statistics show a 13.3 percent rise for Iran compared to the corresponding figure of 2019, which stood at 25.6 million tons.
According to the Islamic Republic’s Vision Plan, the country’s total steel production capacity is to hit 55 million tons a year by 2025, with the exports figure expected to reach 10-15 million tons.
The World Steel Association (WSA) is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world. WSA members represent approximately 85 percent of the world’s steel producers, including over 150 steel producers with nine of the 10 largest steel companies, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes.