News
World Travel and Tourism Council announced that the majority of tourists visiting Iran are Iraqis, followed by Pakistanis and Kuwaitis.
Iraqi citizens account for 34 percent of Iran's annual tourist arrivals, Fars News Agency reported.
According to the agency, Iran's tourism revenue has increased by 40 percent, after a sharp decline in the number of tourists, and revenue due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Last year, Iran's tourism sector earned $2.5 billion, and employment increased by more than 5 percent.
On June 13, Iran and Iraq signed a tourism deal aimed at boosting tourism between the two countries. Iran and Iraq share close cultural and linguistic ties. Kurds found one both sides of the long Iran Iraq border frequently visit relatives and maintain close ties to their kins.
Dr. Azad Mazuri, deputy director of Duhok Children's Hospital, told Kurdsat News that diarrhea and vomiting are spreading yearly due to the change of seasons, especially in the summer season, but no cases of cholera are reported.
Sulaimani directory of health announced that no cases of Cholera are recorded, people who think that there are Cholera cases, they are not, they are patients with stomach flu.
According Rojava media, the military police kidnapped three Kurdish citizens from the village of Nasriya in the town of Jinders in the Afrin region, which is under the control of Turkish armed groups.
Meanwhile, Hall refugee camp security forces found bodies of two women, one from Raqqa and the other unidentified.
Turkish-backed militants continuously abduct Kurdish civilians since the invasion of the city by the Turkish forces in 2018. Just in May 2022, Turkish-backed groups arrested or kidnapped 55 civilians, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.
The UNICEF said on Wednesday, it was “shocked” at the killing of a 12-year-old boy in an attack in Sinjar area in Ninewa Governorate, expressing concerns that at least 519 children have been killed or maimed by explosive ordnance.
UNICEF issued a statement, condemning the killing of a 12-year-old child in Sinjar and calls on all parties to protect children from violence.
“UNICEF condemns all acts of violence against children and joins the family in mourning the killing of their child. Being a victim of, witnessing, or fearing violence should never be part of any child’s experience,” it said in a statement.
UNICEF said, children’s rights should be protected in an environment that is free from violence at all times.
“The continued usage of explosive weapons in populated areas continues to put children's lives at stake not only today but puts future generations at risk and needs to stop. In the last 5 years, at least 519 children have been killed or maimed by explosive ordnance.”
.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Aram Qadir, one of the injured policemen, told Kurdsat News that their medical documents have been sent to a private hospital in Greece and they will leave for Greece tomorrow at 6 am, where they will receive treatment.
He said they will be sent to Greece for treatment with the support of Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani.
In December last year, a police officer named Mohammed Latif was killed and two others named Aram Qadir and Akam Hidayat were injured during the arrest of a suspect in Tanjaro neighborhood of Sulaimani.
The United Nations is yet to register the names of the migrants, and Greek authorities confiscated all their belongings and mobile phones. They are suspected of being forcibly deported to Turkey.
Ranj Pishdari noted that 57 of the migrants are Kurds, and most of them are young.
Since the war on IS, many people have fled the Kurdistan region to Europe. Most estimates put the number at around seven hundred thousand migrants that have left the region, with hundreds of casualties.
Turkish air raids on the Shangal broader region have repeatedly targeted civilians.
After the incident, residents of Soneh gathered to protest the presence of PKK-backed Ezidkhan forces, calling their presence a source of their misery.
The director asked people to avoid drinking contaminated water.
President Talabani and Khazali exchanged views on the general situation in Iraq and the unification efforts to form a new government, stressing the need to resolve issues and intensify efforts to overcome obstacles and reach a national agreement based on genuine partnership within the framework of the constitution and public interest.
He also invited all political forces and parties to a national meeting to resolve issues at the negotiating table and reach an agreement to save Iraq from the political situation and form a government that will lead Iraq to political, social, and economic stability.
Bafel Jalal Talabani said that the PUK is committed to reaching an agreement and resolving the issues. Let us deepen the spirit of unity and harmony and move towards a brighter future together.
After Sadrists withdrew from the parliament, a PUK senior delegation went to Baghdad to help form the next Iraqi government.
This afternoon, Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw confirmed a drone crash in Erbil's Ankawa district. A picture of the crashed drone resurfaced on social media; many were afraid as drones have repeatedly targeted the city in the past.
Kurdistan region counter-terrorism group said, "Today at 1:17 AM [local time] a domestic surveillance drone hit an internet tower due to technical errors and crashed in Erbil's Ankawa district."
Last Friday, a drone hit two civilian vehicles on the Erbil-Pirmam Road. Iran claimed to have killed a commander believed to be at the top of Mossad's assassination unit, known as Kidon.
All political forces and parties should participate in the new Iraqi government and put their differences at the service of achieving higher goals if they want to build a peaceful, prosperous and developed country; this is the right and wise policy that the PUK is working to achieve, Talabani added.
The Coordination Framework, which includes the PUK, called on all influential forces in the political arena to participate in the talks and expressed its readiness to negotiate with all parties, believing that the next government must be a strong and capable government that provides services.
PUK's visit comes after Sadr's parliamentary bloc all resigned in a move, Sadr called "opens the way to form the next government."
Dlsoz Zangana, a women rights activist, told KurdSat News, “the incident was an assault on the dignity of all students not only a woman.”
Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan region, immediately took on the matter and said that the perpetrators must face justice. Later, he called the attacked women and said the police misconduct will not go unpunished.
The Iraqi Ministry of Health spokesperson said that over a thousand had been admitted to hospitals due to heavy dust.
Iraqi Health Ministry spokesman Saif Badr said, 1,000 people had asthma in all Iraqi provinces and were admitted to hospitals. Most of them have been sent home. Badr urged citizens to follow the guidelines of the Ministry of Health.
The spokesperson added that the increased number of admitted people does not affect hospital services.
Thick orange dust storms have regularly covered Iraqi skies since early 2022. It stalls everyday life, with flight suspensions and declaration of holidays.
"The order to return the goods to its owner has been issued and the implementation of this order is currently underway in Greece," the organization said in a statement.
Earlier, Reuters reported on June 10, quoting three informed sources, that a Greek court had overturned a previous court ruling that allowed the United States to seize Iranian oil.
The case began on April 16, when Greece seized the Russian tanker Lana (formerly Pegasus) carrying 700,000 barrels of Iranian oil and delivered it at the request of the United States in early June.
Greece says the seizure of the tanker was in line with EU sanctions. In response to the seizure of the Lana tanker, the Revolutionary Guards navy seized two Greek-flagged tankers carrying two million barrels of Iraqi oil in Persian Gulf waters on June 26.
The seizure was widely condemned by the European Union and the United States, with the Greek government calling it "piracy."
At the same time, the Revolutionary Guards claimed to have seized the tankers for "violations committed." The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that the tankers' case had been sent to the judiciary.
Still, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei explicitly stated on June 5 that this was a "compensation" for Greece's seizure of Iranian oil.
Ayatollah Khamenei said: "Iranian oil is stolen off the coast of Greece, then the desperate heroes of the Islamic Republic make up for it and seize the enemy oil ship, in the nationwide propaganda and media empire, Iran is accused of theft."
The Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization said in a statement today: "Despite the Americans' order to keep the ship and seize the goods in its favor and the US-Greece legal aid agreement, the cargo was finally returned to its owner, and the Greek government issued the relevant order. "We are now witnessing the lifting of the ship's seizure and the return of the cargo to its owner."
In an interview with AFP, a Greek official confirmed lifting the embargo on Iranian oil and said that the Athens government hopes that Iran will release the two seized tankers soon.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya on Tuesday, the IAEA chief said that the agency is now seeking to clarify some facts in Iran, noting that it had not received any answers to technical questions it had posed to Tehran.
He also continued that Iran had not responded to the three traces of uranium found in secret sites, stressing the need to provide precise details because verification and inspection are essential parts of the agency's work in Iranian nuclear facilities.
He also pointed out that the cameras that Iran removed were an important part of the oversight mechanism, stressing that by doing so, they undermined the agency's work and restricted transparency.
He also saw that escalation does not serve any party in the nuclear negotiations with Iran, explaining that nuclear violations keep Tehran away from the negotiation track.
As for the Karaj facility, he saw the cameras damaged, stressing that the agency does not know what happened there.
Karaj includes a number of sensitive sites, such as a workshop for spare parts for centrifuges (used to enrich uranium) in the Tissa Karaj complex, which was sabotaged last June.
The agency's announcement came today after Iran blocked two surveillance cameras belonging to the International Atomic Energy Agency at one of its nuclear sites.
It announced last week that it had suspended at least two cameras belonging to the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor its nuclear activities after Western countries presented a draft resolution condemning it before the UN agency's Board of Governors.
It is noteworthy that the Vienna talks, launched in April 2021 to revive the nuclear agreement, had been suspended since last March after a number of issues failed to resolve.
The situation has worsened further after the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency issued last week a US-European resolution officially criticizing Iran for its lack of cooperation, after a previous report last month in which the agency confirmed that it had not obtained "clarifications" regarding traces of enriched uranium found in three unauthorized sites.
Tehran responded to the agency's decision to close 27 cameras dedicated to monitoring its nuclear activities last Wednesday.
Tel Aviv has warned Bashar Al-Assad that his palace would be hit if his regime continued to allow Iran to smuggle arms through his territory, Saudi news portal Elaph reported Monday.
It comes after the Damascus Airport was forced shut after an Israeli bombing damaged a runway, which allegedly targeted the delivery of Iranian arms.
Israel's Channel 12 claimed on Monday that attacks on the Damascus Airport had effectively stopped 70 percent of Iranian arms smuggling.
The television channel reported that the air strikes were a clear message to Assad to stop Iranians from using his country as a transit route, as "he and his country's economy will be severely affected."
Iran is a key Assad ally, and Tehran is thought to operate several Syrian airports and military facilities. Tel Aviv has regularly targeted these sites claiming they are being used to funnel in arms for Tehran's regional proxies.
Israel cooperates with Russia on such strikes in Syria. Russia silents its missile defence systems often turned off during Israeli air raids, but recent tensions over Ukraine have reportedly led to ruptures in this arrangement.