Russian authorities set to allow new non-credit financial institutions specialising in Islamic banking.

Russian authorities set to allow new non-credit financial institutions specialising in Islamic banking.

    Monday, July 18, 2022   No comments

Russia is drafting a new law to regulate Islamic banking in the country, a growing sector that could help state-run banks hit by Western sanctions to attract investors from Muslim-majority countries as well as cater to domestic customers.

Islamic banking, assuming the absence of any interest income, may be legalized in Russia soon. Non-credit financial institutions of a new type - partnership financing organizations (OPF) will be able to deal with it. The Central Bank will become their regulator, it will also keep a register of such companies and exercise supervision over them. OPFs will be able to raise funds from citizens and legal entities and invest them in projects that comply with Islamic law on a partnership basis, which is generally reminiscent of trust management. The Central Bank is ready for innovation, but prefers to first test the new regime in a limited number of regions. 

The mass-circulated Russian daily Kommersant reported that the non-credit banking institutions would operate as financing partnership organisations (FPO) and offer Sharia-compliant financial products to their customers.

Tony Blair: The world is on the verge of geopolitical changes; the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end

Tony Blair: The world is on the verge of geopolitical changes; the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end

    Sunday, July 17, 2022   No comments

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, pointed out that the world is on the verge of geopolitical changes, pointing out that the era of Western hegemony is nearing its end, and is moving towards multipolarity.

"The biggest geopolitical changes of this century will be provoked by China, not Russia," Blair said, in a lecture at a symposium organized by the British-American "Ditchley" Foundation.

He added that "the world will become, at least, bipolar, or perhaps multipolar, and we are approaching the end of Western hegemony in politics and economics."

He continued, "For the first time in modern history, the East can be on an equal footing with the West."

He added that China "is the second superpower in the world, and its economic potential and degree of participation in the global economy is higher than that of Russia."

He believed that "China has caught up with the United States in many technological fields, and is threatening to overtake the United States."

He pointed out that "the Chinese leadership is behaving more and more aggressively, and does not hide that it treats the West with contempt and is getting close to Russia, and it wants to solve the Taiwan problem at last."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that China will try to take Taiwan by force any time soon, however, we can no longer base our policy on the certainty that it won't," Blair said. China in the near future.

He described the differences in the positions of the Group of Twenty countries on the Ukrainian issue as a warning to the West, calling for building relations with China on the basis of the principle of strength and participation.

He called on the West to "increase military spending and remain strong enough to resist China in any future scenario, while maintaining relations with Beijing, acting in a pragmatic rather than aggressive manner, and demonstrating a willingness to mutual respect."

The former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, had confirmed, earlier, that the global geopolitical situation "will witness changes after the end of the war in Ukraine. It is natural that the interests of Russia and China will not be identical on all issues."

French President Emmanuel Macron also emphasized that the world is no longer bipolar, but rather multipolar.

What is the "sharia economy in Indonesia"?

What is the "sharia economy in Indonesia"?

    Friday, July 15, 2022   No comments

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises is encouraging the potential for developing the sharia economy in Indonesia by accelerating the digitization of MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises).

"Technologically, we continue to conduct trainings for grassroots (community) on microeconomics, collaborating not only with technology operators but also with direct digital platforms by providing technical guidance," deputy for micro business at the ministry, Eddy Satriya, said at an online sharia economic development event on Thursday.

The government is targeting to help as many as 30 million MSMEs enter digital platforms or marketplaces by 2024, he noted.

Read more; source: https://en.antaranews.com/news/238277/ministry-makes-digital-push-for-islamic-economy-development

Iran's President, Raisi: Iran's positions on the nuclear deal are right, and we will not retreat from them

Iran's President, Raisi: Iran's positions on the nuclear deal are right, and we will not retreat from them

    Thursday, July 14, 2022   No comments

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stressed that "the Islamic Republic of Iran will not retreat from its logical and correct positions" in the negotiations to revive the nuclear deal.

Raisi said, in his speech on Wednesday, "We recommend the Americans to adopt a realistic view, and to draw lessons from the past, instead of repeating the failed experiment of the policy of maximum pressure on the Iranian people."

The Iranian president added, during a cabinet meeting, that "those who violated the nuclear agreement should be vigilant and not think of repeating previous wrong experiences," noting that "the Islamic Republic of Iran did not present any demands outside the framework of the nuclear agreement, and practiced a rational approach in the negotiations."

Raisi reiterated that Iran's positions are "right and logical, and we will not retreat from them, and no party has the right to address us with the language of force," adding: "We recommend Washington to take a realistic view instead of repeating the failed experiment of the policy of maximum pressure," which it knew mainly during the rule of former President Donald Trump.

Raisi continued, "The Americans say that Iran must return to the nuclear agreement, while they are the ones who withdrew from it and violated their obligations, not us," referring to the "unjust US embargo imposed on the Iranian people."

"The United States has repeatedly declared that the pressure it is imposing on the Iranian people is unprecedented, but the Iranian Foreign Ministry has officially confirmed that these pressures have failed shamefully," he said.

Raisi noted, "The Americans must have realized over the past 43 years that they cannot speak to the Iranian people with the language of force, but they continue this approach, which will certainly not bring them any results."

Referring to the visit of the US President and other officials to the region, Raisi stressed that "if these visits aim to strengthen the position of the Zionist entity and normalize its relations with some countries, then Washington must know that its efforts in the region will not achieve security for the Zionist entity."

Addressing the US administration, Raisi said: "If you want to know the impact of your movements in the region, then look at the attitude of its peoples toward the Zionist entity, for the hatred against the Zionists and their crimes has increased in the hearts of the peoples of the region."

Raisi stressed that Iran "is closely monitoring developments in the region, and we will not lose sight of any movement in it," saying, "We have repeatedly told the Americans that we will respond firmly to the slightest move that affects Iran's territorial integrity."

Tehran denies selling drones to Moscow

In related news, on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian affirmed that his country "rejects America's allegations regarding Iran's sale of hundreds of drones to Russia."

In an interview with the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica", Amir Abdollahian added: "We have various types of cooperation with Russia, including defense cooperation, but we do not provide support to both conflicting parties, because we affirm the necessity of stopping the war, and we are working on that."

The Iranian foreign minister stressed that "Tehran is making efforts to stop the Ukrainian war," noting that "the problem lies elsewhere, as some Western countries, especially America, manufacture weapons and are trying to sell them."

Yesterday, Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, said that "the record of cooperation between Iran and the Russian Federation, in the field of modern technologies, dates back to the period before the Ukrainian war," noting that "no remarkable development occurred in this regard, during Recently".

"These allegations by US officials came at a time when America and Europe turned the occupying and aggressor countries, including in West Asia, into stockpiles of deadly weapons," the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Russia: The Iranian rallies deal with Russia is misleading the American media

In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the matter, stressing that "the Iranian rallies deal to Russia is a US media misinformation that accompanies President Joe Biden's tour in the Middle East."

"This kind of disinformation by Washington has become commonplace," a State Department source said. "It's yet another baffling and ridiculous statement by a high-ranking American representative, but we're leaving it to Jake Sullivan (National Security Adviser)."

According to the source, "this statement was apparently timed to coincide with Biden's Middle East tour scheduled for July 13-16."

He noted that this disinformation "is aimed at further heating up anti-Iranian sentiment in Arab countries, through the deliberate dissemination of misinformation about cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the sensitive military-technical field."

The source added, "Although the official representative of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani, actually refuted this misinformation, it must be noted that the media event itself was chosen in vain, and that Jake Sullivan's logic is not convincing, and completely devoid of logic."

Moreover, the transfer of a large number of highly efficient Iranian-made drones to the Ukrainian theater of operations far from the Middle East, would significantly reduce the risks of their use directly in the region, and could not raise the concerns of the Arab countries.

And the US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, had said, earlier, that his country had information that “Iran is preparing to supply Russia with hundreds of drones,” and “train Russian soldiers to use them in the Ukrainian war,” claiming that “Iran will begin this in current month".

Iran to obtain full membership in The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Iran to obtain full membership in The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

    Wednesday, July 13, 2022   No comments

After signing its first memorandum of obligations in Uzbekistan at this year's Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in Samarkand in September, Iran's accession to the full membership of the Euroasia-spanning organization will be finalized by April 2023, the Iranian Embassy in China disclosed to the Global Times on Tuesday. 

Earlier, Russia media outlet Sputnik reported on Monday that Iran is slated to join the SCO as a full-pledged member state this year and a memorandum of Iran's obligations as a SCO member will also be signed in Samarkand, citing a foreign ministry statement of the organization's rotating chair Uzbekistan.

As a country that has been long sanctioned and isolated by the US-led West, Iran, by joining the SCO that accounts for 40 percent of the world's population and 28 percent of global GDP, could expect a breakthrough in its geopolitical and economic status quo, observers said. 

Iran has also approached the SCO with a proposal to create a new single currency for carrying out trade among SCO members, in a push to counter the increasing weaponization of the US dollar-dominated global financial system, CGTN reported in June.

Tehran has also officially submitted its application to become a member of the BRICS group as of late June, three members of which are also part of the SCO - China, Russia and India, following a similar move by Argentina

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.

The SCO's main goals are as follows: strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

The organisation has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent. The SCO Secretary-General and the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS are appointed by the Council of Heads of State for a term of three years. Vladimir Norov (Uzbekistan) and Jumakhon Giyosov (Tajikistan) have held these positions, respectively, since 1 January 2019.

Currently:

• the SCO comprises eight member states, namely the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan;

• the SCO counts four observer states, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Mongolia;

• the SCO has six dialogue partners, namely the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Days before Putin's visit to Tehran, Iran inaugurates the North-South International Corridor

Days before Putin's visit to Tehran, Iran inaugurates the North-South International Corridor

    Tuesday, July 12, 2022   No comments

Days after India called on Iran to activate the road, rail, and sea transportation systems linking Mumbai to Saint-Petersburg and less than one week before Russia's president lands in Tehran, Iran runs train south inaugurating the transport systems that will link India to northern Europe.

The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. 

Last week, India urged Iran to activate the 7,200 km International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), The Tribune newspaper reported.

With this development, India's trade with Russia is set to take a turn toward becoming much cheaper and faster as the two nations are planning to establish a corridor that passes through Iran and facilitates transport between them.

The INSTC is a transportation network that includes sea, road, and rail routes and links Russia and India, with Moscow and New Delhi seeking to activate the route due to them upping their bilateral trade by up to $13 billion in the last quarter of 2021. The trade even increased in terms of oil and other commodities.

Several central Asian countries will benefit from trade via the INSTC, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

Dry runs have shown transit time decreasing by up to 25 days from 40-45 days on this route, which would cut transportation costs by 30%. The INSTC is also not under any sanctions since it is an alternative to the Suez Canal, and it is not dominated by Western countries.

Iran declared on Thursday its readiness to employ its capacities to contribute to the establishment of sustainable peace in the South Caucasus region, which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. 

The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, called for establishing agreements that will lay down the groundwork for an increase in the volume of economic exchanges between the two neighboring countries considering their significant potential.

"Interestingly, all 18-odd countries touched by the INSTC route have never been active backers of unilateral sanctions announced periodically by the West," The Tribune reported. Trade links within the region have been disrupted due to the unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia and Iran.

Meanwhile, The Economic Times reported that Russia had started transporting container trains to India through the eastern branch of the INSTC.

The INSTC, if activated, could become an alternative to traditional routes such as the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Bosporus strait.

India also called on Iran to include its Chabahar Port to be brought under the INSTC, which would provide sea access to Afghanistan and emerge as a commercial transit hub for the region.

India has highly close ties with Iran, mainly due to New Delhi's dependence on Iranian crude oil despite the US sanctions on Tehran. The Islamic Republic also enjoys pivotal geographic importance, as it provides an alternate route to Afghanistan and Central Asia without India having to resort to Pakistan, a nation whose ties with New Delhi are frayed.

Putin visits Iran to participate in a summit with Erdogan and President

Putin visits Iran to participate in a summit with Erdogan and President

    Tuesday, July 12, 2022   No comments

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed today, Tuesday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Tehran on July 19.

Peskov said that President Putin will hold talks with his Iranian counterpart, Ibrahim Raisi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, within the framework of the meeting of leaders of the guarantor states of the Astana Process on the Syrian settlement.

He continued, "The president's trip to Tehran is already being prepared. There will be a meeting of the heads of the guarantor states of the Astana process to promote the Syrian settlement. In addition to the tripartite meeting, of course there will also be bilateral meetings and separate talks with the Turkish president," adding: "Yesterday we announced high-level contacts. The level between Putin and Erdogan, and the meeting will take place there."

The Iranian Mehr news agency had earlier quoted the head of the Iranian Parliament's Economy Committee, Mohammad Pour Ibrahimi, that President Putin would visit Iran next week.

"Potential consultations between Putin and my president are likely to focus on developing economic cooperation between Iran and Russia," Ebrahimi said.

The announcement of the visit coincides with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan saying that his country has information that Tehran is preparing to provide Moscow with hundreds of drones, and train Russian soldiers to use them.

In a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, on June 29, on the sidelines of the sixth summit meeting of the countries bordering the Caspian Sea, Putin confirmed that both countries are in constant communication on security issues, and that they have many things to talk about.

Raisi said, at the time, that Russian-Iranian trade relations are developing, and nothing will stop this development, commenting: "The agreements we reached are under implementation, and this indicates that the will of our two countries aims to develop trade and economic relations."

SAS unit repeatedly killed Afghan detainees, BBC finds

SAS unit repeatedly killed Afghan detainees, BBC finds

    Tuesday, July 12, 2022   No comments

Today, Tuesday, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) conducted an investigation that published details of it saying that agents of the Special Air Service in Afghanistan (SAS) repeatedly killed detainees and "unarmed" men in suspicious circumstances.

The military reports obtained indicate that one unit may have unlawfully killed 54 people in one round that lasted six months.

The BBC also reported that General Sir Mark Carleton Smith, the former head of the UK's special forces, was aware of the alleged "unlawful" killings, but did not hand the evidence to the Royal Military Police - even after the Royal Military Police launched an investigation. in the killings carried out by members of the Special Forces.

 The BBC also found evidence that the former head of the Special Forces failed to pass evidence to a murder investigation. While the reports received said that more than 12 "kill or capture" raids were carried out in Helmand, Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011.

Personnel who served in Special Forces units stated that they witnessed the SAS killing unarmed people during the night raids.

The reports revealed a "pattern of strikingly similar reports of Afghan men being shot dead because they pulled AK-47s or grenades from behind curtains or other furniture after their arrest."

The report also said that AK-47s were deliberately placed at the scenes of accidents in order to justify the killing of unarmed people. He added, "Many people who served in the Special Forces were competing with each other over which of them had the most killings."

It is noteworthy that such incidents occurred in earlier times, according to the report, and the data indicate that they raise suspicion among officials that what happened in Afghanistan has turned into what he called “a suspicious and suspicious killing pattern”, especially since previous incidents that are very similar have been documented. It was revealed by the British Authority in its report.

The information in the reports shows that officers at the highest levels of the Special Forces were aware of the implementation of "potential unlawful killings", but were unable to report this to the military police, despite the fact that the law requires them to report such crimes.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Defense did not comment on what was published by the BBC, while a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said that the British forces "served with courage and professionalism" in Afghanistan to the highest standards.

27 years later, an apology for the Srebrenica Genocide

27 years later, an apology for the Srebrenica Genocide

    Tuesday, July 12, 2022   No comments

The Netherlands on Monday offered its "deepest apologies" for the role played by Dutch peacekeepers in the Srebrenica genocide.

Roughly 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were brutally murdered by attacking Bosnian Serb forces 27 years ago.

For the first time since the 1995 massacre, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren apologized to survivors for the Dutch peacekeepers' failure to prevent the killings.

"The international community failed to offer adequate protection to the people of Srebrenica. The Dutch government shares responsibility for the situation in which that failure occurred. And for this, we offer our deepest apologies," Ollongren said during a ceremony in Potocari.

Sourse of the News Story: https://www.dw.com/en/srebrenica-massacre-netherlands-apologizes-after-27-years/a-62434446

President Tebboune receives President Abbas and Haniyeh in a meeting on the sidelines of Algeria's Independence Day Celebrations

President Tebboune receives President Abbas and Haniyeh in a meeting on the sidelines of Algeria's Independence Day Celebrations

    Tuesday, July 05, 2022   No comments

On Tuesday evening, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune held a meeting that brought together Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with a delegation from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), led by the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh.

According to the official Algerian television, the meeting was held at the Conference Palace, west of the capital, Algiers, on the sidelines of the participation of the Palestinian delegation in the celebrations of the sixtieth anniversary of the country's independence from France on July 5, 1962.

In addition to Abbas and Haniyeh, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Omar, Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Faraj, Palestine Chief Justice Muhammad al-Habbash and Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri participated in the meeting.

The television broadcast scenes in which Abbas, Haniyeh and the rest of the leaders appear in one session, with President Tebboune in the middle.

Algerian television did not report the content of the meeting, which it described as “historic.”

Abbas visited Algeria in December 2021, and the two sides announced at the time an agreement for Algeria to host a conference for Palestinian reconciliation that precedes the Arab summit.