** IRAN DAILY
- 46 villages still inaccessible due to Sistan and Baluchestan floods
Deputy Governor of Sistan and Baluchestan Province Mansour Bijar said most of the problems caused by recent floods in the province have been solved but “we are still facing problems in reaching 46 villages” cut off by rising waters. Bijar said that power and water have been restored in most parts of the flood-hit areas and most of the roads, which had been closed due to the floods, have been reopened. However, he said that 31 villages still have no access to water, adding that authorities have promised to solve the problem very soon.
- Children starving to death in northern Gaza: WHO
An aid mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza found horrifying scenes of children dying of starvation, amid dire shortages of food, fuel and medicines, the World Health Organization. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday the agency’s visits over the weekend to the Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals “were the first since early October 2023 despite our efforts to gain more regular access to the north of Gaza”, AFP reported. The findings were “grim”, he said on X, adding that “the situation at Al-Awda was particularly appalling, as one of the buildings is destroyed”. The Kamal Adwan hospital, the only pediatrics hospital in northern Gaza, was overwhelmed with patients, he said.
- Iran, Uzbekistan discuss banking, transit issues
Iran and Uzbekistan have stressed resolving banking and transit issues between the two countries, as well as increasing economic exchanges to $2 billion. During a meeting with the Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan in Tehran, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber emphasized that solving financial and banking issues plays a fundamental role in the sustainable economic relations and activation of the private sector of both countries. The vice president proposed that financial transactions could be conducted using the national currencies of both countries, emphasizing the importance of avoiding the use of a third country’s currency.
** TEHRAN TIMES
- Smokescreen for battlefield failure
More than 150 days have passed since Israel launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip which has claimed the lives of nearly 31,000 people and left tens of thousands of others injured. According to the United Nations, Gaza is one step away from famine as Israel continues to block the entry of essentials such as food and medicines. Israeli forces have also perpetrated massacres by targeting hungry people who wait for food aid. Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on October 7, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until “total victory” over Hamas.
- Ayatollah Khamenei plants olive tree in solidarity with Palestinians
On the occasion of Iran’s National Tree Planting Day, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei planted three tree saplings including an olive one to mark the unyielding resistance of the Palestinian nation against the Zionist regime. The Leader plants trees outside his office premises every year on March 5. During the event, the Leader spoke of the importance that Islam places on caring for nature. He pointed to the planting of an olive sapling and said, "To show our solidarity and empathy with the oppressed, but truly resilient people of Palestine, one of the trees planted today was an olive tree. This symbolic gesture was actually a way to extend our greetings to them and to say that we always have the Palestinian people in mind, even when we plant a tree.”
- Iran, Pakistan leaders hold phone call with pledges of deepening cooperation
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has conveyed Iran's eagerness to significantly enhance comprehensive relations with Pakistan in a phone conversation with the country’s recently elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The call occurred on Monday, just two days after Sharif's successful election as Pakistan’s leader. During the conversation, Raisi extended congratulations to Sharif and expressed optimism about further collaboration across various areas of shared interest.
** KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
- Vietnam, Iran Diplomats Hold Political Consultations
Iranian and Vietnamese diplomats held the 8th meeting of political consultations between the two countries in Tehran. The meeting was co-chaired by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Hang. The two diplomats discussed a range of issues on cooperation between Tehran and Hanoi in the political, economic, cultural, tourism, and scientific fields, as well as regional and international developments. “Taking into account the significant potentials of the two countries’ markets, we are ready to remove the existing hurdles and problems in order to step up and develop the bilateral ties, especially in the economic and commercial fields,” Hang said.
- Iranian Nation Did a Jihad
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Tuesday extended his gratitude to the Iranian nation for casting their ballots in the recent elections for the parliament and the Assembly of Experts, saying they did a “great and epic” job despite enemy plots. “I thank the Iranian nation for turning up at polls on March 1. The Iranian nation did a jihad and fulfilled their social and civil duties,” Ayatollah Khamenei said as he planted saplings to mark Iran’s national Arbor Day and Natural Resources Week.
- Ceasefire Talks Falter as Zionist Genocide Goes on
Hamas negotiators stayed in Cairo for a third day of ceasefire talks on Tuesday after two days yielded no breakthrough, as a deadline approached to halt the fighting in time for Ramadan and stave off famine in the Gaza Strip. The Cairo talks have been billed as a final hurdle to reach a 40-day ceasefire in the war between Hamas and the occupying regime of Israel in time for the Ramadan Muslim fasting month, due to begin at the start of next week.
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