Iran tourism will rebound despite suffering a severe blow: minister

TEHRAN – Iran’s tourism minister on Sunday said that the country’s tourism industry has suffered a major setback but it will certainly return to “normal”.

Iran will stand beside Qatar, Rouhani says

TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Iran has stood and will stand beside Qatar in the future.

Iran downplays fresh U.S. sanctions

TEHRAN - The Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Saturday condemned the new U.S. sanctions on Iran, saying sanctions on senior Iranian officials as well as metal industries will bring nothing for Washington.

British ambassador to Iran briefly arrested for inciting protestors

TEHRAN - British Ambassador Rob Macaire was arrested briefly by Iran during demonstrations in Tehran on Saturday afternoon.

Qatar's emir set to visit Tehran for talks with Iranian officials

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will visit Iran on Sunday to hold talks with officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, al Jazeera reported.

By staff and agency

Borrell says EU has not discussed process leading to UN sanctions on Iran

Josep Borrell, the European Union foreign policy chief, has said that European Union foreign ministers did not consider on Friday triggering a dispute resolution process under the nuclear 2015 deal that could lead to renewed United Nations sanctions on Tehran.

Ukraine: Iran pleaded guilty to plane incident before completion of intl. commission work

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Iran pleaded guilty to shooting down Ukrainian plane even before completion of international commission’s work.

Maymand: A very old village of troglodytes

TEHRAN - The term “cave dwellers” conjures up prehistoric images in your mind when caves served as one of the earliest dwellings for human beings. Here we want to take a look at Maymand, an exemplar manmade-cave dwelling in southeast Iran, where people made a living about five or six millennia ago.

“Resistance Alleys” opens at Sacred Defense Museum

Senior military commanders visit an exhibition showcasing Iran’s achievements in various fields over the past 40 years at the Sacred Defense Museum in Tehran on January 9, 2020. The exhibit titled “Resistance Alleys” will run until January 16. (Tehran Times/Mohammad Kodabakhsh)

Russian travelers, airlines not canceling Iran trips, flights

TEHRAN – Neither Russian travelers are calling off their Iran trips nor airlines the flights passing through Iranian airspace following a deadly Ukrainian plane crash in Tehran on Wednesday.

Some 2,000 eco-lodges operating across Iran

TEHRAN – Iran has been constructing hundreds of eco-lodge guesthouses over the past couple of years to meet demands of rising eco-travelers and sightseers and now about 2,000 eco-lodges are in operation across the country.

Iran's Rouhani, EU's Michel confer on recent developments in region

TEHRAN- In a phone conversation on Thursday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and European Council President Charles Michel conferred on the recent developments in West Asia, including the U.S. assassination of Iranian Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and new sanctions on the Islamic Republic by Washington.

By Martin Love

It must be always emphasized: Allah’s mercy and compassion

NORTH CAROLINA - Amid the madness, one thing is indisputable. Trump and Netanyahu are joined at the hip in part because both face the prospect, however remote, of eventually winding up in jail. Trump has been impeached but getting him out of the White House before November is a stretch, Natanyahu has been indicted on multiple corruption charges. Both think they avoid jail as long as they are in office. They planned and executed the demise of Soleimani through their respective appointees alongside the Mossad and the CIA.

Iran urges all parties involved to contribute to Ukrainian plane crash probe

Iran has urged all parties involved, including American multinational aviation corporation Boeing, to contribute to a probe into a Ukrainian plane crash near the capital Tehran that killed all 176 people aboard.

Iranians practiced farming, animal breeding 9,000 years ago, experts find

TEHRAN – A group of Iranian archaeologists and researchers have found that farming and animal breeding were practiced some 9,000 years ago around the historical Tepe Ahranjan in Salmas, northwestern Iran.

Iran launches campaign against Instagram censorship of posts on Soleimani’s assassination   

TEHRAN – The Iran Digital Media Organization of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has announced that it has launched a campaign against Instagram over suspending dozens of Iranian accounts and deleting numerous Iranian users’ posts condemning the assassination of Quds Force chief Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. government.

In letter to UN chief Iran says has right to self-defense against any threat or use of force

TEHRAN - Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, has said that Iran has the right to defense itself against any threat or use of force.

‘Western media attempt to downplay Iran’s retaliatory attacks’

TEHRAN – A media expert has said that a number of certain Western media outlets are making efforts to downplay the significance of Iran’s missile attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq.

Ayatollah Khamenei: Americans must leave the region

TEHRAN - Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the United States’ “corruptive presence” in the region must come to an end.

Over 80 U.S. forces dead in Iran’s missile strikes on targets in Iraq

TEHRAN – More than 80 U.S. forces have reportedly been killed in Iranian missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq on Wednesday morning, the national TV quoted a source close to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as saying.

U.S. to face more harsh response in case of any further mischief: Maj. Gen. Bagheri

TEHRAN- Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri warned that the US will face a harsher response if it conducts any further mischief after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fired tens of ballistic missiles at American bases in Iraq.

147 Iranians, 32 foreigners killed as Ukrainian plane crashes near Tehran

TEHRAN – All 170 passengers and 9 crew members of a Ukrainian plane were killed as it crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport.

IRGC warns US’ regional allies of becoming source of anti-Iran aggression

TEHRAN – In a statement on Wednesday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps issued a warning to regional countries that bear US bases.

Today missile attacks just 'preliminary measures': Kosari

TEHRAN- A senior IRGC commander, Brigadier General Esmaeil Kosari told Mehr News agency attacks carried out against US forces today are just our “preliminary measures”, advising US officials to stop their 'gambler president'.

IRGC targets US airbases in Iraq

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has targeted the US airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar province in western Iraq after launching a wave of attacks to retaliate the US assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander, Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Iran declares January 3 International Day of Resistance

TEHRAN – Iran has declared January 3, the day Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani was assassinated in a United States airstrike in Baghdad, as the International Day of Resistance.

Intl. museums, archeologist condemn Trump’s threat to hit Iranian cultural sites

TEHRAN – The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the American Alliance of Museums, and a renowned Polish archeologist have condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent statements on threating to target Iranian cultural sites.

UNESCO raps Trump, reminding U.S. committed not to harm cultural heritage

TEHRAN - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Monday rebuked U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent threats to target Iranian cultural sites, saying the United States has signed treaties committing it not to harm cultural heritage.

Over 50 died, 200 injured in overcrowded funeral of Gen. Soleimani

TEHRAN - More than 50 people have died and 213 others injured in a stampede as huge crowds turned out for the funeral procession of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in his hometown of Kerman on Tuesday.