Times Of Middle East

Ashkan Dejagah 'permanently suspended' from German national soccer team

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Ashkan Dejagah, the Iranian-born German soccer player who sparked an international controversy for his refusal to play in Israel, has been permanently suspended from the team, Theo Zwanziger, the president of the German Football Association (DFB) announced on Thursday.</div>
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<span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">In his mTwenty-year old Iranian-born German soccer player Ashkan Dejagah, who<a href="http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2007/10/sports-is-life-iranian-born-german.html" style="color: #d6a0b6; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">refused to play</a> in an under-21 soccer match against the Israeli national team in Tel Aviv this coming weekend, has been '<a href="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1191257282010&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull" style="color: #d6a0b6; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">permanently suspended</a>' from the national soccer team according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">eeting with Israel Football Association chairman Avi Luzon, Zwanziger seemingly backtracked from a statement he made earlier in the week in which he supported the Dejagah's right to refuse to play, saying instead that the DBA "will not let this slide; he will be taken care of and suspended."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">The decision comes one day after a spokesperson for the German government condemned Delagah's position.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">"The interior minister is of the opinion that all members of German soccer teams must agree to play in any nation that Germany has a sports connection with," the spokesperson said. "It is forbidden that political circumstances would influence this."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #474b4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">            Dejagah is now considering following in his brother's footsteps and playing for Iran, rather than Germany on the                international level. Maybe he should move back to Iran while he is at it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #474b4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">            What this ought to show the Europeans is that if they take principled stands against Islamofacism, they will work.             Somehow, I'm afraid that lesson will mostly be lost.</span></div>
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Ashkan Dejagah 'permanently suspended' from German national soccer team

Ashkan Dejagah, the Iranian-born German soccer player who sparked an international controversy for his refusal to play in Israel, ha...

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Switzerland steal victory at the death

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Switzerland 2 Ecuador 1</div>
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Substitute Haris Seferovic snatched a dramatic winner with 23 seconds left of added time in the opening game of Group E in Brasilia.</div>
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The Real Sociedad striker got on the end of a late counter-attack to convert Ricardo Rodriguez’s low cross at the near post and make it 2-1.</div>
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Ironically the chance came from Ecuador’s final attack of the game when Michael Arroyo delayed his shot and was dispossessed by Valon Behrami who launched a swift break.</div>
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Poor defending had resulted in the first two goals with Enner Valencia, who scored against England in their World Cup warm-up in Miami earlier this month, heading Ecuador in front in the first half.</div>

Switzerland steal victory at the death

Switzerland 2 Ecuador 1 Substitute Haris Seferovic snatched a dramatic winner with 23 seconds left of added time in the opening gam...

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Iran v-ballers trounce Brazil 3-2

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<strong>Iranian national volleyball team has thrashed Brazil 3-2 in the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World League.</strong></div>
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Powerhouse Iran edged past Brazil (18-25, 27-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-9) at Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran on Friday to gain its second victory against the country at the tourney.</div>
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The hosts had to come from behind twice for a win at the Pool A encounter.</div>
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The Brazilians made a quick start in the first set and managed to gain an 8-5 lead at the first technical timeout and a 16-12 one at the second until the set ended 18-25.</div>
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In the second set, the Iranians fought back to level the match. At the end of the set, the two sides drew 24-24 but Iran finally managed to win the set 27-25 with Shahram Mahmudi gaining nine points for his team.</div>
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Brazil took an early lead and gained an easy win in the third set, which ended 20-25.</div>
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However, the hosts continued their dominance in the fourth set to win it 25-17 and force the game into the deciding fifth set.</div>
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Iran’s storming start in the last set brought about an 8-2 lead at the interval with the volleyball players persevering to finish the set 15-9 to seal the 3-2 victory.</div>
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In another match of the fourth week in Pool A, Italy lost 2-3 to host Poland.</div>
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Iran will face Italy in Tehran after its next match against Brazil on Sunday also in the capital.</div>
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Currently, Italy is on top of Pool A with 19 points and is followed by Iran and Brazil both with 6 points as well as Poland with 5.</div>

Iran v-ballers trounce Brazil 3-2

Iranian national volleyball team has thrashed Brazil 3-2 in the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World League. Powerhouse Iran edged past Brazil ...

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Iran's enchanting Roodkhan Castle

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<b>The medieval Roodkhan Castle is located southwest of the city of Fooman in Iran's Gilan Province in the heart of the forest.</b></div>
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To reach this castle people walk a three kilometer distance on foot, then climb around 2,000 steps.</div>
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Made from brick and stone, the castle covers 50,000 square meters and is 900 meters above sea level. It is built on two tips of a mount with a total of 65 towers surrounding it, while the walls run 1,500 meters in length. The castle was built over a thousand years ago and it is an important historical monument in Iran.</div>
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<b>Flower Festival in Tehran</b></div>
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The beauty of flowers and plants is not only in their shapes and colors. The sweet sensations they convey have divine beauty.</div>
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Tehran’s International Flower Show is Iran’s largest indoors ornamental display of plants from over 240 top nurseries. The flower show is an annual four-day event that attracts over 2 million visitors on average.</div>
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<b>City of Mehran</b></div>
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Mehran is a city in Ilam Province in the west of Iran. Because it is in the vicinity of Iraq, during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s it was invaded not once but twice by Iraqi forces under Saddam Hossein, but ultimately the city was retaken by Iran.</div>
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Today, Mehran is a city on the way to Karbala for Iranian pilgrims paying homage to the Prophet of Islam (PBUH)’s grandson, Imam Hossein (PBUH).</div>
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<b>Hara Forest</b></div>
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Qeshm Island located in the Persian Gulf is Iran’s biggest island. With a climate of 26° Celsius the island is particularly warm. One of the most amazing sites in Qeshm is the mangrove Hara Forest.</div>
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The forest stretches around 7,500 hectors, and is filled with many narrow tidal channels. With low tides the forest appears as a vast tree-covered island and with high tides the forest disappears into the water.</div>
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Iran's enchanting Roodkhan Castle

The medieval Roodkhan Castle is located southwest of the city of Fooman in Iran's Gilan Province in the heart of the forest. To re...

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World Cup 2014: Ashkan Dejagah makes Iran squad

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<span style="font-size: 1.462em; line-height: 1.11;">Fulham midfielder Ashkan Dejagah has been included in Iran boss Carlos Queiroz's 23-man World Cup squad.</span></div>
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Dejagah played 21 league games for the Cottagers this season, scoring five goals in a difficult campaign as they were relegated.</div>
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Charlton's Reza Ghoochannejhad also survived the cut from the 28-man squad.</div>
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Rubin Kazan's 19-year-old forward Sardar Azmoun was the only European-based player to be dropped from the provisional selection.</div>
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The other players to miss out are keeper Sousha Makani, defender Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh and forwards Mohammad Reza Khalatbari and Mehdi Sharifi.</div>
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Forward Ali Karimi, who won 127 caps, was not even included in their initial training squad.</div>
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Iran play Argentina, Bosnia and Nigeria in Group F.</div>
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<b>Goalkeepers: </b>Daniel Davari (Eintracht Braunschweig), Alireza Haghighi (Sporting Covilha, on loan from Rubin Kazan), Rahman Ahmadi (Sepahan).</div>
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<b>Defenders: </b>Hossein Mahini (Persepolis), Steven Beitashour (Vancouver Whitecaps), Pejman Montazeri (Umm Salal), Jalal Hosseini (Persepolis), Amir-Hossein Sadeghi (Esteghlal), Ahmad Alenemeh (Naft), Hashem Beikzadeh (Esteghlal), Mehrdad Pouladi (Persepolis).</div>
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<b>Midfielders: </b>Javad Nekounam (Kuwait SC), Andranik Teymourian (Esteghlal), Reza Haghighi (Persepolis), Ghasem Haddadifar (Zob Ahan), Bakhtiar Rahmani (Foolad), Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan).</div>
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<b>Forwards: </b>Ashkan Dejagah (Fulham), Masoud Shojaei (Las Palmas), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (NEC Nijmegen), Reza Ghoochannejhad (Charlton), Karim Ansarifard (Tractor Saz, on loan from Persepolis), Khosro Heydari (Esteghlal).<br />
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World Cup 2014: Ashkan Dejagah makes Iran squad

Fulham midfielder Ashkan Dejagah has been included in Iran boss Carlos Queiroz's 23-man World Cup squad. Dejagah played 21 l...

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No Iranian forces in Iraq: Rouhani

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<strong>Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed reports about the deployment of Iranian forces in Iraq, but expressed Tehran’s preparedness to provide any help upon Baghdad’s request to fight the Takfiri militants.</strong></div>
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“The issue of Iranian forces’ engagement [in Iraq] has not been raised so far,” Rouhani said in a Saturday press conference in Tehran marking the first anniversary of his election.</div>
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Except for providing consultations in certain cases, Rouhani stressed, Iran will not engage in any military operations in other countries. </div>
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“If Iraq wants any help from us, we will study it. There has been no request from us so far. We are prepared to provide any assistance but within the framework of international law and based on the Iraqi people’s demands,” he pointed out.</div>
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The Iranian president also dismissed reports about ongoing cooperation between Iran and the US over the crisis in Iraq, saying, “The Americans may also want to help, but I haven’t received any word on that so far.”</div>
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Rouhani also warned Takfiri groups against conducting any terrorist operations near the Iranian borders, saying, “If any terrorist group wants to get close to our borders and we feel the threat, we will definitely respond with every possible means.”</div>
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The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Takfiri terrorist group has captured two Iraqi provincial capitals this week, namely Tikrit in the Salahuddin Province, and Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in the northern province of Nineveh.</div>
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On Friday, top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a religious decree calling on people to take up arms and defend their country against the Takfiri militants.</div>
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The Iraqi army is currently battling the terrorists on the outskirts of the city of Muqdadiyah, situated northeast of Baquba, in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala.</div>
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The extremist terrorists have threatened to take their acts of violence to other Iraqi cities, including the capital, Baghdad.</div>

No Iranian forces in Iraq: Rouhani

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed reports about the deployment of Iranian forces in Iraq, but expressed Tehran’s preparednes...

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