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WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - Iran has continued supplying weapons and drugs that fuel the Yemen war despite its agreement to restore diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia, U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said on Thursday.

The Chinese-brokered accord reached in March, talks between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, and a ceasefire that largely has held despite expiring in October have boosted prospects for an end to the conflict.

But, Lenderking told reporters in an online briefing on his latest visit to the region, Iran is still supplying arms and drugs that help fuel the war that erupted in 2014 and has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

"The Iranians have continued to smuggle weaponry and narcotics toward this conflict and we are very concerned that this would continue despite the benefits that would come from a Saudi-Iran deal. So I think that is a space we have to watch," Lenderking said.

"Despite the fact that we welcomed an agreement between the Saudis and the Iranians, I remain concerned about Iran's role," he said, contending that Tehran has trained Houthi fighters and equipped them "to fight and attack Saudi Arabia."

Iran denies arming the Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital Sanaa after ousting the government and control large swaths of the country.

The war widely has been seen as a proxy fight between Saudi Arabia, which led a military coalition that intervened in 2015, and Iran.

U.S. officials have accused Iran of violating U.N. resolutions by supplying the Houthis with drones and missiles for cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia, although there have been no such strikes in more than a year.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions dependent on international aid.

The Saudi-Iran deal alone will not end the conflict, which only can be settled through negotiations between the Yemeni sides, Lenderking said.

The United States will not reopen its embassy in Sanaa until it is confident the war is over and a "very firm and irreversible" peace process is underway, he said.

Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Doina Chiacu;

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Iran still smuggling weapons, narcotics to Yemen, U.S. envoy says - Reuters

Amnesty International has urged Iran to drop the imminent execution of six ethnic Arab men and three other prisoners whose gave tortured-tainted confessions.

The international rights body said the prisoners arrested in the oil-rich Khuzestan province had been denied their right to a fair trial and their detention is arbitrary.

The execution of Adnan Ghobeishavi, 25, Moein Khanfari, 28, Mohammad Reza Moghaddam, 29, Salem Mousavi, 39, Habib Deris, 42, and Ali Majdam, 43 could take place at any time after a Supreme Court ruling on March 6 upheld the sentences against them.

In a separate tweet Amnesty International also voiced concern over the fate of three other detainees in Esfahan.

Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi are at imminent risk of execution at central Esfahan prison (also known as Dastgerd prison) after Irans Supreme Court upheld their unjust convictions and death sentences in early May 2023.

After nationwide anti-government protests last year, which is still not fully contained, the Iranian regime has embarked on a wave of executions that has seen dozens hanged this year. Activists are concerned that the executions aim to intimidate the population from further protests.

Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi

The regime used overwhelming force and military weapons to kill more than 500 civilians during the protests. Hundreds of others received permanent bodily injuries, including loss of eyes because of shotgun pellets fired at the faces of protesters. More than 20,000 were arrested.

The London-basedhuman rights watchdog said on May 12 that the six should have access to their families, lawyers and adequate medical care pending their release.

Their group trial was grossly unfair. The men were denied lawyers of their own choosing and were never allowed access to their court-appointed lawyer, even at trial. The authorities have barred them and their lawyer from accessing their casefile and verdict, Amnesty said.

According to the report, the men's "torture-tainted" confessions were used by the Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz to sentence them to death on February 14 on the charge of "waging war against God" following the armed operations conducted by a separatist group in which members of the security forces were killed.

Amnesty said that the men, who have denied the charges, were neither allowed lawyers of their own choosing nor access to their court-appointed lawyers during trial, and that the authorities prevented them from seeing their case files and verdicts.

IRGC agents subjected one of the detainees to "sleep deprivation, waterboarding, electric shocks, beatings, and hanging upside down while submerging his head in water," according to the group.

Amnesty expressed concern that three other Iranian men are at imminent risk of execution in Isfahan after the Supreme Court affirmed their "unjust" convictions earlier this month.

Since late April, at least 60 people have been executed across the country for charges that under international law should not result in the death penalty, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

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Amnesty Urges Iran To Halt Planned Execution Of Nine Detainees -

TEHRAN- More than 200 Foreign companies from 13 countries are going to participate in the 27th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition (Iran Oil Show 2023), which is slated to be held at the Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds during May 17-20.

According to the Director General of the Iranian Oil Ministrys Office of Public Relations Ali Forouzandeh, the foreign companies participating in the exhibition are from Russia, China, Belarus, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, India, UAE, Oman, and Turkey.

Forouzandeh said the number of foreign participants in this years event has doubled in comparison to the previous year, while the number of Iranian companies that are going to take part in the event has also increased by 35 percent.

100 events have been scheduled to be held during the exhibition, including the signing of memorandums of understanding and contracts between different departments of the Oil Ministry and private companies, 33 side events, 10 specialized knowledge-based meetings, five presentations by the Vice Presidency of Research and Technology, three business forums with Russian companies, three meetings focusing on optimization, as well as the unveiling of a large number of oil industry equipment built by domestic companies.

EF/MA

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Over 200 foreign companies from 13 countries to participate in Iran ... - Tehran Times

Banned from using popular Western apps, Iranians have been left with little choice but to take up state-backed alternatives, as the authorities tighten internet restrictions for security reasons following months of protests. Iranians are accustomed to using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade restrictions and access prohibited websites or apps, including the US-owned Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The authorities went as far as imposing total internet blackouts during the protests that erupted after the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, following her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's dress code for women.

"The topics that I follow and the friends who I communicate with are not on Iranian platforms," said Mansour Roghani, a resident in the capital Tehran.

- Integration - At the height of the deadly Amini protests in October, the Iranian government cited security concerns as it moved to restrict internet access and added Instagram and WhatsApp to its long list of blocked applications.

Meta, the American giant that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has said it has no intention of setting up offices in the Islamic republic, which remains under crippling US sanctions.

In addition, analysts say, Iranian users have online safety concerns when using the approved local apps.

"As an Iranian citizen, what would you do if registering for university is only based on one of these apps? Or what would you do if you need access to government services?", he said.

The locally developed apps lack a "clear privacy policy", according to software developer Keikhosrow Heydari-Nejat.

"I have installed some of the domestic messaging apps on a separate phone, not the one that I am using every day," the 23-year-old said, adding he had done so to access online government services.

"If they (government) shut the internet down, I will keep them installed but I will visit my friends in person," he said.

- Interconnection - In a further effort to push people onto the domestic platforms, the telecommunications ministry connected the four major messaging apps, enabling users to communicate across the platforms.

"Because the government is going for the maximum number of users, they are trying to connect these apps," the analyst Rashidi said, adding all of the domestic platforms "will enjoy financial and technical support".

Iran has placed restrictions on apps such as Facebook and Twitter since 2009, following protests over disputed presidential elections.

In November 2019, Iran imposed nationwide internet restrictions during protests sparked by surprise fuel price hikes.

A homegrown internet network, the National Information Network (NIN), which is around 60 percent completed, will allow domestic platforms to operate independently of global networks.

One platform already benefitting from the highly filtered domestic network is Snapp!, an app similar to US ride-hailing service Uber that has 52 million users -- more than half the country's population.

But Rashidi said the NIN will give Tehran greater control to "shut down the internet with less cost" once completed.

Originally posted here:
As net tightens, Iranians pushed to take up homegrown apps - The Economic Times

In an interview with Tasnim, member of the Iranian Parliaments National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Fadahossein Maleki highlighted the significance of revival of diplomatic ties between Iran and Egypt.

Pointing to the important role of Egypt and its historical and civilizational position in the region and the world, the lawmaker confirmed that negotiations between Iran and Egypt are underway in Iraq.

The relations between Tehran and Cairowill be restored in the near future and the embassies of the two countries in Tehran and Cairo will reopen, Maleki stated.

The MP also noted that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will hold a meeting after the reopening of embassies.

In January, the Iranian Foreign Ministrys spokesperson said the foreign minister of Iran and the president of Egypt had held positive talks on the sidelines of a regional summit about Iraq, held in Jordan in December 2022.

The spirit of the talks was positive, as the two sides were willing to hold negotiations, he added.

Pointing to the constant interaction between Iran and Egypt through their interests sections in Tehran and Cairo, the spokesman said the two countries have basically no problem for dialogue, meetings, and exchange of views.

Basically, the Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes any positive movement and development leading to the formation of a new atmosphere in the bilateral relations between Iran and Egypt, and would respond positively to any positive initiative in this regard, he added.

Originally posted here:
Iran, Egypt to Restore Ties, Reopen Embassies Soon: MP - Tasnim News Agency