IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has expressed Tehran’s support for the participation of Taliban in Afghanistan’s political structure.

Zarif made the remarks in a Sunday meeting with Head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah, who is visiting Tehran at the head of a delegation for talks with Iranian officials.

The Iranian top diplomat also reaffirmed Iran’s support for the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the process of peace under the leadership and management of Afghans, and the agreements among the participants in the intra-Afghan negotiations. Iran Vows Support for Taliban Presence in Afghan Political Structure 2

Appreciating Abdullah’s participation in the political process and accepting the responsibility of the High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan, he voiced Iran’s support for the participation of the Taliban in the political structure of Afghanistan.

Abdullah Abdullah, for his part, explained the latest developments in Afghanistan, as well as the latest status related to the inter-Afghan talks.

Abdullah, the former chief executive officer of the Afghan unity government, is on a three-day trip to Iran for talks on the Afghan peace process, the intra-Afghan dialogue in Qatar, and the need for regional consensus and support for the Afghanistan peace efforts.

Afghan political experts believe that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s role is crucial in the Afghan peace process and that Iran can play a decisive role in ensuring lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

He was going to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Judiciary’s spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esmaeili Mahmoud Mousavi Majd who was linked with CIA and Mossad and has provided them with intelligence from security bodies, especially armed forces like IRGC was sentenced to death.

Esmaeili stated that Mousavi Majd had disclosed information on the location of Iranian military sites and commanders.

He added that the convict had connections with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Israeli espionage service Mossad.

In exchange for receiving dollars, the spy gathered intelligence for the CIA and Mossad on the Iranian security sphere and Armed Forces, including on the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Forces.

On the release of Michael White, an American citizen from prison, he said, “This was a humanitarian action within the framework of laws and regulations and Iran also tried to free innocent Iranians by releasing Michael White.”

Esmaeli added, “The Judiciary’s contribution to the release of American prisoners helped the release of some of our innocent compatriots who were imprisoned in the United States.”

The spokesman referred to the leniencies given to the release of American prisoner and said: “This person (Michael White) also had a private plaintiff (relator), and after the consent of the complainant, leniencies were considered for this prisoner.”

He added,” White had AIDS and it was possible that a problem would happen to him, but fortunately it did not. He with a serious illness was imprisoned in such a way that not only did his illness not worsen, but he also went through a process of recovery and was released.”

Esmaeili added: “The issue of prisoners and detainees is the responsibility of the judiciary, and without the permission of the judiciary, there will be no talk of releasing prisoners, and it is better those who are not responsible for this do not promise the release of foreign prisoners. The judiciary itself decides which prisoner can be released, but we use the views of the Supreme National Security Council.”

On the Ukrainian passenger plane crash, the spokesman said, 6 people have been arrested in this regard.

He also urged government officials to avoid giving any promise on the release of other prisoners without coordination with the Judiciary.

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According To Iran News, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said on Sunday that there have been no direct talks between Iran and the US to exchange prisoners.

Referring to the recent Iran-US prisoner swap, Mousavi said, “The swap was implemented due to humanitarian reasons. The US has held a number of our citizens hostage claiming they have violated US sanctions.”

Noting that US sanctions are illegal and baseless, Mousavi maintained, “During this time with the help of the Swiss government, we have tried our best to utilize all our resources.”

“The Swiss government was responsible for the negotiations and there were no direct talks between Iran and the US,” he added.

“If the Swiss government continues to cooperate, we are ready to repatriate the rest of the Iranians who are in US custody,” he said, adding, “We do not care much about the internal affairs of the US. What is important for Iran is the actions of various US governments, which, unfortunately, have not been able to establish trust between the two countries.”

“US left the negotiating table and violated its obligations under UN Resolution 2231, and we do not think that there will be any change if trump wins the upcoming election or not,” Mousavi said.

Other Iranian authorities have also dismissed claims by the United States administration that a recent prisoner swap between Washington and Tehran was the outcome of successful negotiations between the two sides.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said on Friday that US President Donald Trump is trying to use the release of American national Michael White from Iranian custody as a political gimmick as he seeks to divert public attention from his numerous failures.

Officials in the US administration have claimed that it was Trump who got the release of White from Iran.

Shamkhani, however, dismissed those claims, saying the US president wants to cover up his failures in dealing with various crises, including the new coronavirus pandemic and the spread of anti-racism protests across the US.

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According To Iran News, The Trump administration is determined to withdraw from a 28-year-old treaty intended to reduce the risk of an accidental war between the west and Russia by allowing reconnaissance flights over each other’s territory.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, which has put off a full national security council (NSC) meeting on the Open Skies Treaty (OST), the secretary of defence, Mark Esper, and secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, have agreed to proceed with a US exit, according to two sources familiar with administration planning, Guardian reported.

A statement of intent is expected soon, with a formal notification of withdrawal issued a few months later, possibly at the end of the fiscal year in September. The US would cease to be a party to the treaty six months after that, so if a new president were elected in November, the decision could be reversed before taking effect.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, reconnaissance flights under the treaty have been suspended until 26 April.

The US has complained about what it says are Russian infringements of the treaty, which was signed in 1992 and has been in force since 2002: limitations on flights over the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad to less than 500km and the creation of an exclusion corridor along the border of the Russian-occupied regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russia imposed the limitation over Kaliningrad after a prolonged zigzagging Polish overflight in 2014 closed down aviation for a day. Russia allowed an extended flight over Kaliningrad in February.

One of the reasons Esper has cited for US withdrawal is to save money by not replacing the two Boeing OC-135B planes the US uses for its Open Skies reconnaissance flights.

Congress appropriated $41.5m last year for the cost of replacement but the Pentagon spending request published in February contained no budget for the new planes. Esper told Congress he was awaiting a decision from the president.

Three Republican hawks in the Senate, Richard Burr, Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, sent a letter to the administration in March calling for withdrawal, for cost and security reasons.

Supporters of the Open Skies Treaty say the US and its allies benefit from it more than Russia, with three times more overflights of Russian territory than Russia flights over US and allied territory.

Furthermore, US withdrawal would not stop Russian reconnaissance flights over US bases in Europe.

The Open Skies Treaty is the latest arms control agreement to be targeted by the Trump administration, which has walked out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said: “At a time when the need for international cooperation, couldn’t be any more obvious, with respect to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, it is foreign policy malpractice for the Donald J Trump administration to withdraw from a treaty that has been in effect for nearly 30 years against the wishes of the United States closest allies in Europe.”

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