Turkish Foreign Minister Talks Of Lasting Cooperation With Iran

Yemeni forces under a Saudi-led coalition said on Friday they had withdrawn from around the main Red Sea port of Hodeidah held by their foes the Houthis to help deter the Iran-aligned group's advances in other parts of Yemen.

A UN monitoring mission on Monday called on Yemen's warring parties to hold new talks over Hodeidah as the Saudi-led coalition strafed areas south of the port city, where Houthi fighters advanced in the wake of withdrawing coalition forces.

The air strikes, which began on Sunday, were the first since late 2018 when the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis agreed a U.N.-sponsored pact for a truce in Hodeidah and a troop redeployment by both sides that never materialized.

The coalition said on Monday it carried out 11 operations "outside the areas covered under the Stockholm pact" to support west coast forces, Saudi state media reported.

The Sunday earthquakes within a minute of each other was described as strong at around 6.4 magnitude and was felt across the Persian Gulf in Dubai, but surprisingly did not have a high human toll.

One person was reported killed and more than hundred injured.

Damage to residential buildings was reported to be around $20 million, but in Iranian currency it is a relatively large sum of money. Initial reports say 2,100 building units were damaged.

Vice President Mohammad Mokhber visited the region on Monday to assess damage and supervise plans for a government response and reconstruction. Most people spent the night outdoors, but the region has a warm climate compared with northern parts of the country.

Landslides in surrounding mountains closed off roads that rescue teams are working to reopen.

According to Mansur Arami, a member of parliament representing the region, most villages suffer from poverty due to a severe drought. He requested more government aid for the population.

Hassan Kazemi-Qomi was appointed by President Ebrahim Raisi (Raeesi) as special envoy in the aftermath of the Taliban victory in Afghanistan in August.

The Iranian embassy in Kabul had announced that Kazemi-Qomi would visit to negotiate with the Taliban over “regional issues, migrants, humanitarian assistance and the formation of an all-inclusive government.”

Iran initially welcomed the Taliban victory as a sign of US weakness and defeat but later it adopted a more cautious approach as attacks increased against Shiites in Afghanistan. Tehran has demanded that the Taliban ensure security for all citizens.

The Iranian envoy after arriving in Kabul said he would hold discussions about how to advance “constructive relations” between Afghanistan, Iran and regional countries. Other Iranian officials have been in contact with the Taliban since August.

Kazemi-Qomi, who is said to have been an officer in the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, served as the first Iranian ambassador to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Lawmaker Hassan Norouzi told the parliamentary news service Monday he had not made remarks attributed to him Sunday by Didban-e Iran website over the 2019 protests when hunreds were killed by security forces.

Norouzi said a “fake reporter” had called him and asked about the ‘Iran Atrocities Tribunal’ held in London last week. But Didban-e Iran defended its report, insisting it had taped the conversation and might sue the deputy.

Norouzi allegedly told the website: "I was one of those who shot people. [Yes,] we killed people… They had set fire to banks and we killed them. Who is going to put us on trial for it?" He then allegedly said was "joking" and hung up.

The comments, as reported, drew swift condemnation. The conservative newspaper Jomhouri Eslami wrote that “such a joke” was “deplorable by anyone, but even more by you who are a cleric wearing the cloak of the Prophet of Mercy [Muhammad].” The newspaper argued that Islamic values required those setting fire to banks to face justice and a proportionate punishment rather than being killed before a crime was proved.

Human rights lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh, in a commentary published by Didban-e Iran Monday, noted that Norouzi was a member of the parliament's Legal and Judiciary Committee, making his statements "even more deplorable.”

"What kind of a joke can this be when according to official figures nearly 300 people died in this incident, many more were wounded or detained, and so many lives were ruined?" Mojtahedzadeh asked. He criticized parliament and judiciary for not carrying out "a minimum level of investigation" after two years. "Which legal system in the world doesn't charge even one person for the murder of at least 300 citizens in the streets in broad daylight?” he asked.

Iran has not officially announced figures for deaths or arrests, nor put anyone on trial for killing protesters, but has prosecuted and passed heavy sentences including the death penalty on protesters on charges including “assembly and collusion against the regime.” Officials have put the number at over 200. Independent reports have put the number of protesters killed between 300-1,500.

Mojtahedzadeh claimed Iran had laws forbidding security forces shooting suspects above the waist in any situations and that shooting anyone, even if they were setting fire to banks, needed strong justification: "The real tragedy is that not only justice, based on Sharia and the law, has not been served in the case of these events but also some truths are being distorted and even mocked."

A video posted on social media by ‘mothers of victims’ challenged Norouzi to “stop hiding in your lair with 30 bodyguards” and to “come out and face us.”

The ‘Iran Atrocities Tribunal’ claimed in a Tweet Saturday that Iran’s deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri-Kani had threatened to “stop part” of Iran’s discussions with world powers if London did not stop the tribunal meeting. The tweet claimed the tribunal, which purports to be quasi-judicial investigation into the November 2019 protests, learnt this from “European sources.”

Didban-e Iran's report Saturday also claimed its “informed sources” had said the foreign ministry had protested to the British government for allowing the tribunal be held in the UK.

Defense Minister Diego Molano was quoted as saying that two months ago Colombia arrested and then expelled “two Hezbollah-sponsored criminals who had intentions to commit a criminal act in Colombia.”

The former Israeli agent was secretly taken out of the country when Israeli intelligence realized he was targeted by Hezbollah in a possible assassination attempt. Hezbollah presumably operates freely in neighboring Venezuela, which has close ties to Iran.

Molano was also quoted as saying there is a "risk with Hezbollah in Venezuela and what its relations with drug trafficking or terrorist groups on the Venezuelan side could generate for national security.”

Some reports in Colombian media say the plot was meant to avenge the killing of Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s top military and intelligence operative in the Middle East to was killed by a US drone attack in Baghdad in January 2020.

Colombian President Ivan Duque who visited Israel last week told local media that Colombia has a close relationship with Israel and is serious about preventing terrorism on its soil.