Iran Economic News Headlines - February 22

1. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov: The upcoming launch of INSTEX, the European mechanism of foreign trade settlements aimed at facilitating trade with Iran bypassing American restrictions, is going to open up more opportunities for Russia as well. (TASS)
2. South African Ambassador to Iran Vika Mazwi Khumalo: Iran should know that EU states are not the only countries Iran can have trade exchanges with, as there are many countries in Asia, Africa and South America which are willing to have cooperation with Iran. (IRNA)
3. Abdulkarim Hashim Mustafa, special adviser to Iraq’s prime minister: Iraq won’t abide by US restrictions on Iran. (Bloomberg)
4. Iran’s Ambassador to Turkmenistan Mohammad Ahmadi: Trade between Iran and Turkmenistan has hit $400 million this [fiscal] year [March 2018-19]. (IRNA) 
5. Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani: Auto prices will decline in the coming months. (Mehr News Agency)
6. Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami: Revitalizing the housing sector will be the top priority of the ministry next [fiscal] year [March 2019-20]. (IRNA)
7. Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization: The CAO has given the green light to domestic airlines to purchase planes. (Mehr News Agency)
8. Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi: Tehran will help Baghdad have no power outage within three to four 4 years. (Fars News Agency)
9. President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Gholamhossein Shafei: The moral collapse of the Iranian society is of graver concern than economic problems. (IRNA)
10. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani: On behalf of the Iranian nation and representatives of people, I express the Iranian Parliament’s readiness for using the parliamentary potential of Iran and China for materializing mutual cooperation in the One Belt, One Road project. (Tasnim News Agency)
11. Pakistan Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad: Quetta-Taftan-Zahedan rail track will be upgraded speedily. (IRNA)
12. Secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines Maqsoud Asadi-Samani: Airline fares won’t rise for domestic destinations during Norouz [Iranian New Year holidays]. (TCCIMA News Service)
13. Chairman of Majlis Development Commission Mohammad Reza Rezaei: The country needs a total of four million residential buildings. (IRNA)
14. Chief Executive Officer of Japan International Cooperation Agency in Iran Hiroyuki Tanaka: Iran and Japan, as two responsible members of the international community, can play a crucial role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and help the Afghans. (IRNA)
15. Syrian Ambassador to Iran Adnan Mahmoud: Iran is the leading partner of Syria during its reconstruction process. (ILNA)
16. Head of Gold and Jewelry Producers and Exporters’ Union Hojjat Shafaee: Iran is among the top ten consumers of gold in the world. (ILNA)