Iran news headlines on Saturday include Iran denial of military presence in Syria; approval of 312 rejected hopefuls for Tehran council race; Rafsanjani calling for safeguarding Islamic Republic and country rejection of involvement in US cyber attacks.
 
No Iranian armed forces, military advisors in Syria: Iran UN envoy
The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations has dismissed claims about Iran’s military presence in Syria and the shipment of arms by the Islamic Republic to the Arab country. “Despite the unfounded allegations, no Iranian military forces or advisors are present in Syria, but, unfortunately, certain regional countries are interfering in Syria’s internal affairs and fanning the flame of the conflict in the country by sending arms to extremist and terrorist groups,” Mohammad Khazaei said.

 
312 rejected hopefuls approved for Tehran council race
Iran’s High Supervisory Board of Elections has approved the qualifications of 312 city and rural council hopefuls in Tehran who were initially rejected. The board said Saturday that more than 4,500 hopefuls have signed up for the council election in Tehran Province, while only 283 of them were not approved to run in the race.

 
Rafsanjani calls for safeguarding Islamic Republic
Iran’s Secretary of the Expediency Council has issued a statement, calling on the Iranian nation to remain steadfast in safeguarding the Islamic Republic despite all difficulties. In his statement, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani thanked all those who backed his candidacy, arguing that this also gave moderate Reformist and Principlist groups a chance to come together and unite.

 
Iran not involved in cyber offensives: Iranian official
Iran has rejected Western media claims that the Islamic Republic has been involved in cyber attacks against other countries, calling for the reinforcement of international law to counter cyber-warfare. In a letter to the New York Times published on May 22, Alireza Miryousefi, the head of the press office for the Iranian Mission to the UN, wrote, “Although Iran has been the recipient of protracted waves of state-sponsored cyberattacks attempting to target Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities, power grids, oil terminals and other industrial sectors, it has never taken countermeasures against the perpetrators of cyberattacks.”

 

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