The Israeli-influenced sacking of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may draw President...
The Israeli-influenced sacking of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may draw President...
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has warned the United States against the “painful mistake” of...
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Participants in the Friday meeting of an oversight panel of the 2015 nuclear deal agreed on the...
President Hassan Rouhani sent a congratulatory message on Saturday to Chinese President...
A lawmaker said extremist groups fighting in Syria should be included in the Syrian peace talks to streamline the process.
Jalil Rahimi told ICANA recently that “a lack of participation by those supporting Salafi and Jihadi groups in Syria has stopped the Syrian peace talks reaching full fruition.”
“If we are to solve the Syrian crisis, we need to lay the ground for all the opposition to be involved in the Syrian peace process and take part in the talks,” he said in an apparent reference to the opposition groups backed by Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia.
Oman's chief diplomat said on Saturday that there are bright prospects for economic cooperation between Tehran and Muscat in various fields, calling Iran a "reliable" partner.
The strategic location of the two countries helps pave the way for access to new export markets, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah said in a meeting with Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani in Tehran, referring to the fact that the sultanate is located on the opposite side of the Strait of Hormuz from Iran in the Persian Gulf.
The minister noted it is "unjustifiable" that Tehran-Muscat trade and business ties are not as strong as their political relationship, IRNA reported.
There is great potential for joint implementation of projects in different areas, such as science, technology, industrial development and finance, bin Alawi added.
A deputy foreign minister called on the European signatories to the nuclear deal to continue demanding full commitment from US President Donald Trump and cautioned them against a policy to appease the Iran hawk.
"European countries had better be seeking the US' continued adherence to its JCPOA obligations, as they have done so far, and persuade that country to effectively implement all aspects of the JCPOA with good intention and in a constructive atmosphere because there is no other way to preserve the action plan but full commitment from the US and other parties," Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi said, IRNA reported.
He was using the formal title of the 2015 nuclear accord, namely the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Araqchi was talking to reporters on Friday before leaving Vienna, the venue for another meeting of the Joint Commission, a panel assigned to monitor the deal's implementation.
Oil prices jumped on Friday, with Brent crude futures hitting their highest in more than two weeks.
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The Iranian Offshore Oil Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, is determined to raise crude production by about 50,000 barrels per day in the next fiscal (starting March 21), the company's chief executive officer said.
"Several reservoirs, including Salman, Doroud and Norouz, are under development, the implementation of which will [next year] add up to 10% to the company's current production of 450,000 bpd," Hamid Bovard was also quoted as saying by NIOC's news portal on Saturday.
In line with policies to help expand domestic companies' scope of exploration and production operations, the National Iranian Oil Company will finalize an agreement with Pasargad Energy Development Company to develop two oilfields, namely Jofeir and Sepehr in Khuzestan Province, within the framework of Iran Petroleum Contracts, the country's new model of contracts for oil and gas projects.
According to NIOC's news portal, the signing ceremony is expected to be held in Tehran on Sunday in the presence of the two companies' chiefs, including NIOC’s CEO Ali Kardor and PEDC's CEO Mehdi Mir-Moezzi.
The 20-year contract will be the first IPC-based deal signed between NIOC and a domestic firm and marks Iran's third deal within the newly-developed framework.
A total of 818,000 jobs were created in Iran during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Dec. 21, 2017), indicating a 3.6% rise compared with last year’s similar period, the head of Statistical Center of Iran said.
“The number of unemployed people grew by 16,000 during the nine-month period to reach 3.2 million out of 25.8 million economically active population in the country,” Omid Ali Parsa was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
“The government is planning to create 1.33 million jobs in the upcoming fiscal year (starting March 21), of which 846,000 will be offered to university graduates,” Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the head of Iran’s Management and Planning Organization, said.
SCI’s latest report on Iran’s unemployment shows the jobless rate stood at 11.9% in the third quarter of the current fiscal year (Sept. 23-Dec. 21, 2017), registering a 0.4% drop compared with the same period of last year and a 0.2% increase compared with the previous quarter (summer).
According to the report, 3.14 million Iranians were unemployed this autumn–10.1% of men (or 2.14 million) and 19.1% of women (or 999,145) of ages 10 and above were jobless during the third quarter.
Capital and intermediate goods accounted for 76% of Iran’s imports in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year (March 21, 2017-Feb. 19), an official with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran said.
“Close to $28.5 billion worth of intermediate goods and $7.5 billion worth of capital goods were imported into the country during the period,” IRNA also quoted Mohammad Reza Izadian as saying.
About 33.93 million tons of goods worth $47.65 billion were imported into Iran during the 11 months, indicating a 23.61% rise compared with last year’s corresponding period.
Tehran is among the least expensive cities in the world to live in, according to the latest findings of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2018 by The Economist Intelligence Unit.
The survey, which compares the price of over 150 items in 133 cities, found the cost of living in Tehran is nearly half that of the benchmark city of New York.
The capital city fell by two places in this year’s ranking to 121st most expensive city in the world, narrowly avoiding the bottom 10.
Singapore remains the most expensive city in the world for the fifth year running, 16% more expensive than New York.
The recent avian flu outbreak infecting Iranian poultry farms has been contained and Iran Veterinary Organization has not received any new report of infection in the past two or three weeks. Hamid Varnasseri, the CEO of Livestock Affairs Support Company, affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, made the announcement. The outbreak had led to the cull of 27 million chickens and inflicted losses amounting to half a billion dollars. Subsequently, both chicken and egg supplies declined and prices went up, IRIB News Agency reported on Friday. Varnasseri said it takes three to four months for new chickens to lay eggs and for the market to recover, noting that the shortage of supply was compensated by imports.
A total of $851 million worth of commodities were exported from Iran’s free trade zones during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year (March 21, 2017-Jan. 20), indicating a 23% rise compared with last year’s corresponding period. Meanwhile, $460 million worth of commodities were reexported from the Iranian FTZs, posting a 14% rise year-on-year, IRNA reported. Iran is home to seven free trade zones, namely Kish, Qeshm, Chabahar, Anzali, Arvand, Maku and Aras, and 64 special economic zones.
Iran’s public transportation fleet is ready to offer services during the Iranian New Year holidays (starting March 21 for a period of 13 days) with one million seats, said an official with the Islamic Republic of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, affiliated to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. “The road transport fleet includes 14,500 buses, 20,000 minibuses and 27,000 intercity passenger cars. Up to 2,100 patrols will maintain road safety during the upcoming holidays,” Hamid-Reza Shahraki was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Customs offices across the country will be operating 24/7 during the Iranian New Year holidays known as Norouz (from March 21 to April 2), Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture’s news portal reported, citing the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration. Since last week, IRICA has increased working hours and added shifts on weekends due to the increased workload in the runup to the new Iranian year.
More than 3 million tons of commodities have been loaded and unloaded in Iran’s northern Amirabad Port since the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 21, 2017, registering a 43% increase compared with the corresponding period of last year.
The announcement was made by Director General of Amirabad Ports and Maritime Organization and Special Economic Zone Siavash Rezvani on Friday.
Out of the total throughput, according to the official, 84% pertained to imports, 13% to exports and 3% to transit, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
He added that 802 vessels have docked at the port so far this year, which shows a 33% rise year-on-year.
Trade between Iran and Luxembourg stood at close to €6.06 million in 2017, registering a 69% upsurge compared with 2016. Iran’s trade with Luxembourg experienced the seventh highest year-on-year increase from among the 28 member states of the European Union after Croatia (1,180.3%), Ireland (140.56%), Italy (96.63%), Sweden (86.15%), France (79.64%) and Cyprus (76.13%). Iran exported around €86,820 worth of commodities to Luxembourg last year, indicating a 31% rise compared with the previous year, based on the latest Eurostat figures shared with Financial Tribune. Iran’s imports from the European country amounted to more than €5.9 million, showing a 69.7% hike year-on-year. Eurostat is a directorate general of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide statistical information to EU institutions and promote the harmonization of statistical methods across its member states and candidates for accession.
Telegram has announced that Iranian citizens will not be allowed to take part in Telegram Open Network initial coin offerings and will be prohibited from buying Gram cryptocurrency by the official Telegram group investor, Russian news agency RBC reported. As per the ban, people on the sanctions list of the US, the UK, European Union or United Nations are also barred from participating in the program. In fact, the ban applies to all people living in sanctioned territories. The document points out that such territories are now the following: the Crimean Peninsula, Cuba, Iran, the Democratic People’s’ Republic of Korea and Syria. In early January, TechCrunch reported Telegram’s plans to launch its own blockchain: the Telegram Open Network platform and Gram, its homegrown cryptocurrency. Telegram has some 40 million Iranians among its subscribers. Iran is also planning to launch its own national virtual currency.
The latest update of regulations concerning foreign currency deposits in banks has been released by the Central Bank of Iran, according to which banks are required to return the original amount of the deposit plus its interest in hard currency to the customer upon demand.
The bank emphasizes that if the customer had made his or her deposit in a foreign currency, the bank is obliged to pay the deposit and/or its interest in the same currency.
The announcement would remove fears by some customers that if they deposited in a hard currency in a bank or financial institutions, at the time of withdrawal, the bank would offer them the equivalent in rial.
As the Iranian currency is prone to fluctuations, investors are wary of parking their foreign currency in banks, fearing they would lose their money. Another reason hard currency deposits in banks was the country's multiple exchange rate system whereby banks choose to convert hard currencies at lower rates.
A host of high-level officials of the Central Bank of Iran on Saturday met with a delegation from Oman led by its foreign minister to discuss ways of improving banking relations and linking the bank card switches of the two countries.
"Iran is ready to connect the bank card switches of the two countries and prepare the grounds for offering services to the tourists of both countries," Valiollah Seif, governor of the central regulatory entity, was quoted as saying by CBI's official website.
Sultan bin Salem Al Habsi, deputy chairman of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Oman, said during the meeting that paying attention to payment and settlements system in expanding banking relations is of utmost importance.
"A technical and expert team is currently evaluating the mechanisms of connecting the bank card switches of the two countries and we hope that its implementation will create a new atmosphere in this field," he said.
"The Central Bank of Oman welcomes bilateral cooperation with Iran and supports Oman's commercial banks in this regard."
The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade issued 937 permits for mineral exploration during the 10 months to Jan. 20, registering a 53% rise compared with last year’s corresponding period. Iran is home to around 10,000 mines, only 6,000 of which are operational. The country’s mineral reserves stand at 60 billion tons, close to 40 billion tons of which are proven. The country has been ranked 14th globally in terms of mineral reserves and 10th in terms of variety in mineral reserves, IRNA reported.
Some 24 million passengers have been transported via rail in Iran since the beginning of the current fiscal year on March 21, 2017, registering a 6.5% increase compared with the similar period of last year, Ali Kazemimanesh, an official with the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, said on Friday. The Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2017-22) has stipulated that the share of railroad in passenger transport should reach 20% or 103 million passengers per year, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
Iranian steelmakers exported 7.41 million tons of their products in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Feb. 19), registering a 52.2% year-on-year growth, the Iranian Steel Producers Association announced.
Semi-finished steel made up 6.04 million tons of the total exports, up 87% YOY.
Billet and bloom had the lion’s share of semis exports, standing at an aggregate of 3.35 million tons to mark a 77% growth YOY. Slab followed with 2.69 million tons, up 102% YOY.
Exports of finished steel products during the period shrank by 17% YOY to 1.37 million tons.
The second batch of the new Islamic debt security Manfa’ah sukuk valued at 20 trillion rials ($416.6 million) was offered on over-the-counter exchange Iran Fara Bourse on Saturday.
The 42-month bonds bear an 18% interest and are priced at 1 million rials ($22.2) each. The government bonds are meant to finance buyback of bonds that have matured in the current fiscal year (March 21, 2017-18).
The buyback of Manfa’ah sukuk’s second batch will be backed by 21% and 59% of government revenues sourced from state-exclusive profits in National Iranian Gas Company and Central Bank of Iran, ILNA reported.
Minimum bond purchase is at 100 and the cap is unlimited for non-institutional buyers. The purchase window will close on Sunday.
Iran’s largest steel exporter Khouzestan Steel Company has successfully bought majority shares in a major mineral holding, moving toward self-sufficiency in the steel production chain.
It has acquired a 67% stake in National Industrial and Mineral Development Company, a subsidiary of Bank Melli’s investment arm Tosee Melli Group Investment Company, worth a total of 12.4 trillion rials ($258.5 million). The shares were put up for auction by TMGIC.
NIMIDCO has two iron ore concentrate and pellet-making plants in the mineral-rich zone Sangan located in Khorasan Razavi Province.
Tehran Stock Exchange’s main index gained 51.44 points or 0.05% to end Saturday trade at 95,577.3.
About 1.35 billion shares valued at $60.39 million changed hands at TSE for the day.
Trading at TSE and Iran Fara Bourse starts on Saturday and ends on Wednesday.
Bank Saderat Iran was the biggest riser, going up 4.9% to 535 rials per share.
Saipa Diesel Company incurred the biggest loss among all TSE-listed companies, as it went down 4.86% to 960 rials per share.
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A report released by the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization shows the number of deaths caused by car accidents witnessed a 0.4% year-on-year rise in the 10 months ending Jan. 20.
During the period, 13,874 people lost their lives, 10,889 (78.4%) of whom were men and the remaining 2,985 (21.6%) were women.
The report categorizes deaths by province, according to which the western Ilam Province has suffered the least number of road fatalities (123) and the southern Fars Province suffered the most casualties (1,271).
The figures are a warning sign as Norouz (Iranian New Year) approaches. During the 13-day holidays, many go on trips by car and death statistics soar.
To renovate police cars in Iran ahead of Norouz (Iranian New Year), when the police have a busy time monitoring the roads, Toyota's Land Cruisers 2018 have been added to Iran's law-enforcement fleet.
Land Cruiser, the Japanese manufacturer's longest running series, has joined the country's police car fleet, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Experts have questioned the choice of police cars in Iran for years. Many models, including Mazda 3, Kia Cerato, Suzuki's Grand Vitara, the locally designed Samand and Peugeot 206, have served the police at one point or another.
Ultimately, the authorities seem to have come to terms with inducting better foreign cars in the law enforcement fleet.
A localized adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s ‘A Marriage Proposal’ will be staged at Shahrzad Theater House from March 27-April 20. The adaptation is written and directed by Azim Mousavi and is accompanied by traditional songs and music of northern cities of Iran. In Chekhov’s work, a fast-paced play of dialogue-based action and situational humor, Ivan Vassiliyitch Lomov, a long-time neighbor of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov, has come to propose marriage to Chubukov’s 25-year-old daughter, Natalia. After he has asked and received joyful permission to marry Natalia, he tries to make the proposal. Lomov is a hypochondriac and while trying to make clear his reasons for being there, he gets into an argument with Natalia about the Oxen Meadows, a disputed piece of land between their respective properties, which results in him having palpitations and numbness in his leg. After her father notices they are arguing, he joins in and then sends Ivan out of the house. The cast includes Saeed Amir-Soleymani, Mahmoud Rasekhfar, Ali Fat’hali, Hamidreza Moradi, Katayoun Bakhtiari, Negar Moqaddasi, Arefeh Eskandari and Mohammad Mortezaei. The theater house is at the intersection of Razi and Neauphle-le-Chateau streets.
Doorbin.net, an Iranian photo news agency, is organizing its 10th edition of photography exhibition ‘Top Photos of the Year’ and has called for submissions.
A non-competitive exhibit, the 10th round is slated for May 11-18 at Qasr Garden Museum in Tehran. After the event in the capital, the featured photographs will be displayed at a number of provincial exhibitions.
Deadline for submission of photos is April 9. They are to be sent to doorbinimages@gmail.com. The secretariat of the event will pick a total of 300 photos, one from each participant. The photos will be published on the website of the organizing agency, Top.doorbin.net.
Each participant can send a couple of photographs taken between March 21, 2017, and March 21, 2018. Any genre with any sort of camera is accepted.
Pop singer Ehsan Khajeh-Amiri will perform Sunday midnight on Kish Island in the southern province of Hormozgan.
Ehsan's program is scheduled at Avaye Khalij Fars Cultural Complex on the Persian Gulf island.
The concert starts at 11:59 p.m. It is part of Khajeh-Amiri's provincial tour wherein he will sing his old and new songs, Gratomic.com reported.
Ehsan, 34, is the son of famous traditional singer Hossein Khajeh-Amiri, better known by his nickname Iraj.
Pop singer Mohsen Ebrahimzadeh will hold a concert at the Convention Center of Milad Tower. His concert is slated for March 23, starting at 10 p.m. The tower is accessible by each of the four expressways, namely Hemmat, Chamran, Hakim and Sheikh-Fazlollah. Ebrahimzadeh, 30, began singing as both pop and classical singer in 2009 by releasing a number of single tracks. However, he took up singing and composing music as a career about three years ago. ‘Still’ is one of his popular songs. Tickets are available at Iranconcert.com.
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