LATEST: Prominent Iranian Musician — I Was Barred From Travel Abroad After Using Female Singers

WEDNESDAY FEATURE

Revolutionary Guards Denounce “Fantasy of Iran-US Partnership”

Iran says that its next round of nuclear talks with the 5+1 Powers will be on January 18 in Geneva.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator, said the talks will be at the level of political deputies and will include bilateral sessions with the US and with Russia.

Iran and the 5+1 (US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) failed to reach a comprehensive agreement in late November and instead extended interim arrangements to July 1. In mid-December, there were three days of discussions at deputy level.

The two sides are still disputing the number and level of Iran’s centrifuges for enrichment of uranium. Tehran is insisting on a significant expansion of its capacity, through more centrifuges and/or advanced models, but the US and its allies are demanding a decrease.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, addressing Parliament on Tuesday, implied that other issues had been resolved, “Today no one speaks of closing Fordo [enrichment plant] or Arak (heavy-water reactor).”

However, Zarif took a firm line on the fundamental of enrichment of uranium:

Today, no one speaks of enrichment outside Iran. Today no one has a word about enrichment in principle since today enrichment and moving towards industrialized enrichment has been accepted as an inalienable reality and no one doubts it anymore.

Zarif, who was summoned to Parliament to answer seven questions, was backed by MPs by a vote of 125-86 with eight “no preferences” and 10 abstentions.

Prominent Iranian Musician: I Was Barred From Travel Abroad After Using Female Singers

Prominent Iranian musician and composer Majid Derakhshani says that he has been barred from traveling abroad because he used female singers..

Derakhshani said security officials confiscated his passport at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport last weekend as he tried to fly to Dubai.

The officials did not give any explanation, but Derakhshani said he believes his use of female solo singers in videos of his ensemble Mah Banoo is the reason.

The clips have been watched on YouTube and are broadcast by Persian-language satellite channels outside Iran.

Derakshani and his singers have been interrogated several times by police in recent months.

Since the Islamic Revolution, women have been barred from singing solo in public.

The head of the Music Department at the Culture Ministry said the female singers had nothing to do with Derakhshani’s travel ban. However, Pirouz Arjomand repeated that women soloists cannot be shown in videos: “We’ve notified musicians and we expect them to respect the laws and regulations.”

Commander: We Have 40-Kilometer “Red Zone” Inside Iraq Against the Islamic State

The commander of the Iranian Army’s ground forces declared Tuesday that Iran has a 40-km (25-mile) buffer zone inside Iraq against the advance of the Islamic State.

General Ahmadreza Pourdastan said Tehran had warned the jihadists about any movement toward the Iranian border since the Islamic State’s offensive last June: “When Takfiri Daesh terrorists [the Islamic State] penetrated western Iraq and were close to the Iranian borders, the ground forces were fully ready to annihilate them.”

He told reporters, “We marked a red line 40 kilometers into the Iraqi soil and warned that they will face Iran’s harsh response if they cross the line. The group received our message and fled the zone quickly.”

Tehran has sent high-ranking advisors, including the head of the elite Qods Forces, and troops from southwestern Iran into eastern Iraq. Missions have included assistance to Iraqi forces check the advance of the Islamic State towards key cities like Samarra, about 110 km (70 miles) north of Baghdad.

See Iran Daily, August 24: Did Tehran Send 100s of Troops & Tanks Into Iraq on Friday?