THE HAGUE: Experts from the world’s global chemical arms watchdog are continuing their mission to probe an alleged gas attack in Douma despite Western air strikes in Syria, the body said Saturday.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has been “working in close collaboration” with UN security experts “to assess the situation and ensure the safety of the team,” it said.
It vowed in its statement that the fact-finding mission due to go to Douma later Saturday “will continue its deployment to the Syrian Arab Republic to establish facts around the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma.”
The United States, Britain and France carried out a wave of strikes against the Syrian regime on Saturday a week after the suspected deadly gas attack on the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma, in which 40 people were said to have been killed.
In the biggest foreign military action so far against Syria’s regime, Western officials said a barrage of cruise and air-to-land missiles hit targets near Damascus and in Homs province including a scientific research center, storage facilities and a command post.
Syrian state media reported that internal security forces had entered Douma on Saturday and that the town would be secured within hours.
Both Syria and its ally Russia have said they would guarantee the safety and security of the OPCW mission — the first outside Damascus since 2014.
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OPCW continuing mission into alleged Douma gas attack
OPCW continuing mission into alleged Douma gas attack
Iran’s currency drops to record low against dollar, tracking websites say
DUBAI: Iran’s currency dropped to a record low of 1,500,000 rials to the US dollar on Tuesday, according to Iranian currency tracking websites, weeks after protests sparked by the rial’s dwindling value rocked the country.
The rial has lost about 5 percent of its value over the course of this month, according to data from the currency tracking website Bonbast.com.
Iran’s newly appointed Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said on Tuesday that “the foreign exchange market is following its natural course.”
What began as protests on December 28 over economic hardship in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar quickly morphed into the worst legitimacy crisis for Iran’s clerical establishment as it spread across the country with protesters demanding a political change.
Security forces crushed the unrest, which abated earlier this month, with the bloodiest crackdown since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Subsidy reform
Amid the protests, the government had introduced a subsidy reform, replacing preferential currency exchange rates for importers with direct transfers to Iranians to boost their purchasing power for essential goods.
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref defended the policy on Monday, saying corruption had made preferential rates ineffective in tackling inflation for basic goods, and that the new system aimed at stabilising the foreign exchange rate.
Monthly inflation for households has continued to rise, with year-on-year inflation reaching 60 percent for the period December 21 to January 19, according to figures released by the Statistical Center of Iran on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Iran’s online economy has been battered by an Internet blackout imposed since January 8 and still largely in place.
A government spokesperson said on Tuesday that while the government prefers free Internet access, security considerations required maintaining restrictions.
The rial has lost about 5 percent of its value over the course of this month, according to data from the currency tracking website Bonbast.com.
Iran’s newly appointed Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said on Tuesday that “the foreign exchange market is following its natural course.”
What began as protests on December 28 over economic hardship in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar quickly morphed into the worst legitimacy crisis for Iran’s clerical establishment as it spread across the country with protesters demanding a political change.
Security forces crushed the unrest, which abated earlier this month, with the bloodiest crackdown since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Subsidy reform
Amid the protests, the government had introduced a subsidy reform, replacing preferential currency exchange rates for importers with direct transfers to Iranians to boost their purchasing power for essential goods.
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammadreza Aref defended the policy on Monday, saying corruption had made preferential rates ineffective in tackling inflation for basic goods, and that the new system aimed at stabilising the foreign exchange rate.
Monthly inflation for households has continued to rise, with year-on-year inflation reaching 60 percent for the period December 21 to January 19, according to figures released by the Statistical Center of Iran on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Iran’s online economy has been battered by an Internet blackout imposed since January 8 and still largely in place.
A government spokesperson said on Tuesday that while the government prefers free Internet access, security considerations required maintaining restrictions.
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