Iran's ambassador to Iraq, along with other Iranian consuls in the country, met the newly-elected president of the neighboring republic in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss relations between the two states under the new leadership.
Iran's ambassador to Iraq, along with other Iranian consuls in the country, met the newly-elected president of the neighboring republic in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss relations between the two states under the new leadership.
Regional countries should pool their resources and establish new mechanisms for security cooperation to help stem the spread of terrorism and prevent the loss of civilian lives, a senior lawmaker said.
"Under the current circumstances, Middle East countries should hold talks and develop a structure for security cooperation," Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini, a member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told ICANA in remarks published on Monday.
He said security arrangements are common across the world and issues facing the Middle East, particularly in the field of security, necessitate closer and more comprehensive collaboration in this region.
Police will ensure the security of pilgrims planning to travel to Iraq for the Arbaeen mourning ceremony later this month by deploying 30,000 forces to the western border crossings, the police commander said.
Global diplomacy will suffer a fatal setback should the world agree to the United States' departure from the nuclear deal struck between Iran and major powers in 2015, the president of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy said.
Iran's capital city Tehran has reached a point of saturation in terms of construction of new houses due to a highly faulty pattern pursued in the past few years, the deputy for planning, urban development and city council affairs at Tehran Municipality said.
"If the Tehran Municipality is to remain committed to its comprehensive plan for accepting new population and if it is to adhere to approvals of the High Council of Urban Development, no new construction permits should be issued for the next five years, save for permits for renovations in distressed urban areas," Hojatollah Mirzaei added.
Despite other alternative routes, Turkey is still keen on importing more natural gas from Iran as it is economically viable, a senior energy security analyst said.
"Turkish officials have stressed that they are interested in renewing the gas contract with Iran, and subject to prices, are willing to increase import volumes," Omid Shokri Kalehsar was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Tehran wastewater network will be completed by 2023, managing director of Tehran Water and Wastewater Company said at the weekend.
“So far 65% of the sewage network is complete,” Mohammad Reza Bakhtiari said, noting that construction of wastewater treatment plants is also underway, ISNA reported.
When the new infrastructure is up and running, it will help add 250 million cubic meters of (recycled) water to Tehran's water reserves per annum, and decrease the water stress in the capital city, he said.
Following efforts to produce quality gasoline in compliance with Euro standards, the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company has started a new refining unit—naphtha hydrotreater—in Bandar Abbas Refinery in southern Hormozgan Province
Alireza Sadeqabadi, chief executive officer of NIORDC, said the unit has helped the company process more quality fuel by removing sulphur and nitrogen compounds.
Two Indian oil companies have placed orders to import Iranian crude next month, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Monday, defying a call from President Donald Trump's administration for countries to completely cut-off Iran.
US sanctions targeting Iran's crude oil exports come into force from November 4, with Washington ratcheting up the pressure on governments and companies around the world to slash their Iranian oil imports to zero.
However, Pradhan said India would continue to purchase Iranian crude in November, CNBC reported.
Iran Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on Monday dismissed claims by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the kingdom is prepared to make up for any oil market shortfall caused by US sanctions on Iran.
Bioenergy from liquid biofuels and biogas will lead growth in renewable energy consumption to 2023, due to its rising use in the heating and transport sectors, according to the International Energy Agency.
1. Deputy President for Economic Affairs Mohammad Nahavandian: Foreign currency exchange rates are bound to drop lower. (ILNA)
The administration of President Hassan Rouhani has earned $350 million from money paid by conscripts to pay off their mandatory military service, a deputy of Iranian Public Conscription Organization said.
Brigadier General Ebrahim Karimi added that some 600,000 draftees have registered in the past four years to pay for clearing the penalty carried by the duration of their absence from compulsory military service.
Iran's capital city Tehran has reached a point of saturation in terms of construction of new houses due to a highly faulty pattern pursued in the past few years, the deputy for planning, urban development and city council affairs at Tehran Municipality said.
"If the Tehran Municipality is to remain committed to its comprehensive plan for accepting new population and if it is to adhere to approvals of the High Council of Urban Development, no new construction permits should be issued for the next five years, save for permits for renovations in distressed urban areas," Hojatollah Mirzaei added.
Iran ranks 78th out of 195 countries in its education and health care funding as measurements of its commitment to economic growth, findings of the first-ever worldwide scientific study show their levels of human capital investments.
The sudden heavy losses in the Tehran Stock Exchange in recent days has bewildered analysts and market players alike who had initially dismissed the phenomenon as a natural correction that would run its course.
The market however, posted its fourth straight decline–and one of its biggest in recent history– on Sunday, with the benchmark TEDPIX index ending the day 4.16% lower, taking the market below the 180,000 level it had boasted days ago.
Head of the Securities and Exchange Organization, Shapour Mohammad offered his take on the reasons behind the market's rout, saying that crowd behavior, manifested in the irrational thinking of some investors carries the blame.
The Central Bank of Iran governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said more than $3 billion has been earmarked for the import of pharmaceuticals since the beginning of the current fiscal in March, IBENA reported on Monday.
“Pharmaceuticals and medical equipment are our top priority and we want to make sure the CBI is backing the imports [of such goods],” he added.
The CBI has given the Health Ministry hundred of millions of dollars to ease purchases of pharmaceuticals, raw materials and medical equipment, he said. “The CBI has no limitations in providing currency pharmaceutical imports.”
A major part of the Comprehensive Banking Law targeting the struggling banking system and problems of the central bank has been approved, the head of the Monetary and Banking Committee of Majlis Economic Affairs Commission Mohammad Hossein Hosseinzadeh Bahraini told state TV.
He said the reforms would bring radical changes in the Central Bank of Iran,
The head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Gholamhossein Shafei outlined 12 solutions to the ongoing currency and economic problems.
Private sector officials made the proposals in a letter sent to First Vice-President Eshagh Jahangiri, the official website of the chamber reported on Monday.
In his letter to Jahangiri, Shafei expressed the chamber’s readiness,
Iran's currency market has lost some of its fluctuating fervor in the past few days, leading to hopes that airlines will also bring down their skyrocketing prices, as some have already done so.
"If foreign currency prices [continue to] come down, plane ticket prices will also certainly come down proportionately," Morteza Dehqan, deputy for aviation operations at Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, told the official news outlet of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
He noted that plane tickets used to be based on open market rates of between 38,000 rials and 40,000 rials for each US dollar last year, but now rates have gone much higher than 100,000 rials.
As Iran's housing sector is hard at work fighting off a returning recession triggered by the currency crisis, the state-run agent bank of the sector is pumping out facilities faster than ever to compensate for a dwindling purchasing and spending power.
Bank Maskan registered considerable increases in its loan output during the first six months of the current Iranian year that ended on Sept. 22, with home purchase loans accounting for the highest year-on-year rise, a report published on HIBNA, the bank's official news outlet shows.
With the foreign exchange market undergoing seismic shifts over the past several days, new car sales are in disarray and the auto market in a state of hiatus.
Following the rial’s unexpected rally, prices of locally made vehicles declined between 6-10%. However, market sources tell Tasnim news agency that considering the erratic fluctuations in forex rates, car dealers have opted for the so-called wait and see approach and the market has folded into a state of stagnation.
Ali Mohammadi an auto dealer in Tehran says, “With the rial strengthening over the week against hard currencies, car prices have declined.” However, because exchange rates are not stable, people are reluctant to buy cars and most prefer to wait and see what will happen next, he said.
Mohammadi pointed to the new offers from major local automotive companies, saying that Iran Khodro and SAIPA presales have had no effect on the car prices in the market.
During the past few months, IKCO and SAIPA announced presale schemes offering tens of thousands of cars. However, industry observers are of the opinion that since in the best case scenario the vehicles are to be delivered next year, the presales did not satiate the demand for new cars.
“The automakers’ recent moves have had no effect on the market simply because no car has been delivered to customers…While there are persistent calls on manufacturers to increase supply, they refuse to do so.”
Another auto dealer Mohammad Rashidi said, “Even prior to the rial rally the auto market was in a state of stagnation. Sudden changes in the forex market have intensified the hiatus.”
He further pointed out that people are waiting for carmakers to announce new prices. There have been rumors that Iran Khodro and SAIPA are planning to increase prices but so far have not made any official announcement.
Head of the Iran Auto Dealers Association Saeed Motemani says, “With the prices on the downward trajectory, no one is buying cars. Visit an auto dealership and you will get a better idea about how car business is on hold. Until the market returns to normalcy business will not improve.”
> Online Fraud
Motemani cautioned car buyers against online fraud. “The chaotic state of the market in recent months has opened the way for fraudulent practices.”
To make his point clear, the dealer said, “Visiting auto sales websites you will come across dozens of ads about ‘immediate delivery’. The problem is that these ‘dealers’ have no car to deliver…Informed sources have routinely warned people not to buy cars from such websites.”
Motemani, like many other honest car sellers, is of the opinion that the online services are not monitored and regulated as expected and have become a fertile ground for fraud.
In recent weeks online news outlets have been accused of market manipulation by some legal authorities. In an earlier interview, Motemani said, with the auto market plunging deeper into chaos every day, auto sales websites “stirred the pot further with their exorbitant prices.”
He said, “In a coordinated move, auto sales websites put outrageous prices on vehicles and other websites reported the same as news and views. People believed the news and bought cars at such (much higher) rates. The websites increased the price of Iran Khodro’s Peugeot 405 and SAIPA’s Pride to 700 and 500 million rials (approx $5,000 and $3,600). Activities of such websites must be regulated.”
> Graphs Explained
Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union website, in addition to currencies, lists car prices. According to TGJU.org, Iran Khodro’s Peugeot 405 was sold for 510 million rials ($3,695) on Monday, 20 million rials ($144) cheaper compared to last week’s prices.
Peugeot 206 was priced at 585 million rials ($4,239) down from 620 million rials ($4,492) less than a week ago. The small city hatchback Pride cost 320 million rials ($2,318) -- a 6% decline over the past four days.
However, the recent decline in prices pales if front of the exorbitant prices the market observed over the past six months. Following are graphs based on data available on TGJU.org which reflects chaos in the key sector.
Having realized that closing schools on unhealthy days and restricting daily trips to the near permanently clogged streets in central Tehran to taxis and a few other exemptions cannot reduce the suffocating air pollution, decision-makers are poised to introduce a new scrappage scheme.
The Department of Environment and the Majlis Industries and Mines Commission have drawn up a plan which requires local carmakers to phase out one clunker for every four new vehicles they sell.
After a long production lull, private carmaker Diar Khodro has reopened its factories making Senova X25 in collaboration with Chinese automotive company BAIC.
Based in Golpayegan in central Isfahan Province, Diar's working license expired in 2016. However, the firm announced its comeback during the Tehran Auto Show 2017 last November by showcasing several new models.
Working parents who mostly rely on private transport services for getting their children to and from school are now able to monitor the vehicles via a newly launched online system.
Referring to the Tehran Taxi Organization’s website, taxi.tehran.ir, by entering the school transport vehicle’s number plate, parents can find data about the driver, his work permit and the transport company contracting the driver.
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