Iran is one of the major producers of military drones in the world, a commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force said.
Iran is one of the major producers of military drones in the world, a commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force said.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who arrived in Tehran on Tuesday at the head of a delegation, met his Iranian counterpart to discuss bilateral ties and the latest political developments regarding the Syrian crisis.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif congratulated the Syrian nation for their victory over terrorists and called for increasing collaboration between Damascus and other regional countries.
Pointing to a recent visit by Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri to the Arab country, he expressed the readiness of Iranian firms to engage in Syria’s restoration projects.
Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi traveled to Paris on Monday for the sixth round of Iran-France political consultations.
He was set to meet French Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Maurice Gourdault-Montagne for the talks on Tuesday, ISNA reported.
Besides political and regional issues, other areas of mutual interest as well as the newly-registered financial mechanism to facilitate trade with Iran were on the agenda.
The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday welcomed the positive steps taken by the European Union toward constructive engagement with Iran but dismissed criticism of its missile activities, regional policies and human rights record.
Iran’s response came a day after the bloc issued a statement, in which it expressed concern about the country’s ballistic missile tests and its alleged role in Middle East tensions while reiterating support for the development of EU-Iran relations and the 2015 nuclear deal.
European powers have promised to abide by the accord under which Iran agreed to limit its atomic work in exchange for sanctions relief, even after US President Donald Trump abandoned it last year and reimposed economic sanctions on the major OPEC producer.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on Tuesday made a rather positive review of the government's projected oil revenues in the proposed budget for the next fiscal that begins in March.
As per the March 2019-20 budget bill, a barrel of crude oil is expected to fetch $54 in the international market.
Iran's oil refining capacity has reached 1.95 million barrels per day, indicating a 100% increase over the past four decades.
According to Shana, crude processing capacity was 1.1 million bpd in 1974 but plunged to 751,000 bpd in the 1980s when Iraq invaded Iran. After the military hostilities ended in 1988 oil processing capacity was restored and has now registered a record 1.95 bpd.
Compared to the years between 1974 and 1976 when gasoline output was 14 million liters per day, the current production level at around 90 million liters per day shows a 6.5-fold rise, Shana added.
Referring to fuel import, the Oil Ministry's news portal said between1974 and 1976 there was no need for imports. But with the rapid increase in the number of cars, gasoline import became inevitable climbing to 4 million and 17 million liters a day in 1987 and 2008 respectively.
Four new solar farms in cities and towns in western Hamedan Province were inaugurated on Tuesday.
“The four farms, each with production capacity of 7 megawatts, supply 28 MW of electricity to the local grid per day,” IRNA quoted managing director of Hamadan Power Distribution Company as saying.
Two of the plants are in the city of Kabudarahang, and the other two in Famenin and Qahavand. Domestic private companies built the farms with a total foreign investment of $32 million, Mohammad Mahdi Shahidi said.
Each plant generates 14,000 megawatt hours of electricity per annum, helping reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses. If the same amount of energy was to be produced by thermal power, 9,600 tons of carbon dioxide would burn annually, he said.
Russia is complying fully with its pledge to cut oil production gradually, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday.
Iran recoverable crude oil and gas condensates reserves are estimated at 160 billion barrels. According to the Exploration Department of the National Iranian Oil Company, proven gas reserves are close to 33 trillion cubic meters, making it the world’s biggest natural gas reserve, Shana reported.
According to the United States Geological Survey Organization, Iran, after Iraq and Russia, ranks third in term of undiscovered reserves.
PDVSA began a partial rationing of gasoline at gas stations in certain areas of Venezuela, as many gas stations in Caracas ran out of fuel as customers nervously filled up their tanks in anticipation of shortages, sources said Tuesday.
West Azarbaijan exported commodities worth $1.1 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year to Jan. 20 to register a 144% growth compared with last year's corresponding period.
Around 350,000 tons of dates worth $300 million have been exported from Iran since the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 21, 2018.
“We expect the figure to rise to 400,000 tons by the [current fiscal] yearend [March 21, 2019]," Ebrahim Pourheydari, the deputy head of the National Association of Iranian Dates, was quoted as saying by IRNA on Tuesday.
"Russia, India, Canada, East Asia and some European countries are our main export destinations,” he added.
According to Eskandar Zand, an advisor to the agriculture minister, date production in Iran has increased by 18% in the last 10 years while the average global increase over the same period has been 10%.
North Khorasan Province’s first special economic zone was inaugurated in the city of Bojnord on Monday.
Qatar Airways started a direct flight between Doha and Isfahan on Monday, IRNA quoted Hassan Amjadi, director general of Isfahan Airports Company, as saying.
First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri inaugurated two steel plants in Hamedan Province on Tuesday.
The first project is Sabanour Pellet Plant, which came on stream with an investment of 3 trillion rials ($11.15 million) and created 120 jobs.
The plant, located in Hamedan's Asadabad County, has the capacity to produce 2,000 tons of pellets per day.
An iron ore concentrate factory, established in 2014, feeds the pellet plant.
Asadabad County possesses considerable iron ore reserves.
A total of 84,200 tons of red meat were produced in Iran during the third quarter of the current Iranian year (Sept. 23-Dec. 21, 2018) to register a 20% decline compared with the similar period of last year.
The Statistical Center of Iran's latest report shows beef accounted for more than 46,600 tons or 55.3% of the overall production.
A meeting was held at the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran on Sunday to discuss the details of the construction of a new terminal.
Iranshahr Terminal is projected to become "Iran’s biggest airport terminal" with an annual capacity of 100 million passengers upon completion.
Imam Khomeini Airport Company’s Office for Communications, Information and International Affairs told Financial Tribune, following a call issued for inviting international and domestic companies to present designs for the terminal, 34 foreign companies showed interest, four of which have been qualified to compete along with four domestic companies for the final design.
The winner will be announced in the new Iranian year (starting March 21, 2019).
According to the head of IKAC's board of directors, Ali Rostami, Iranshahr Terminal’s first development phase has been designed to handle 25 million passengers
Foreign travelers to the holy city of Mashhad in Iran's Khorasan Razavi Province will not be charged with tourist tax, local officials have announced.
Iran and Iraq signed an agreement Tuesday to establish a monetry channel for facilitating payments between the two countries. The agreement was signed by the governors of the Central Banks of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati and Ali Al-Allaq, his Iraqi counterpart, in Baghdad.
Hemmati announced that as per the agreements, Iraqi companies are allowed to open bank accounts in Iranian banks and conduct their transactions in dinar.
Additionally, the CBI will open...
In the wake of a single urgency bill approved this week by the Majlis to tax the income of the Central Bank of Iran, the bank issued a statement late Monday, indicating that the legislation comes with “ifs and buts”.
Despite vehement opposition from the CBI, lawmakers passed a measure on Sunday obliging the CBI to pay "50% of its profit and preliminary tax until February 4" to the treasury.
Share of the National Development Fund of Iran from the export of oil and natural gas derivatives are estimated in next year’s budget bill (March 2019-20) at $6.7 billion.
The figure takes into account the cut in the share of NDFI from oil export revenue which was reduced to 20%, down from 32% in the current fiscal budget (2018-19) and 14% lower than the amount forecast in the Sixth Five-Year Economic Development Plan for next fiscal.
However, the Majlis Reach Center, the parliamentary research arm, says realizing the reduced amount (20%) of the sovereign-wealth fund’s earning is farfetched. It says the budget planners’ prediction is an “overestimation” which is unlikely to come true.
As part of its plans to reform the limping banking sector, the government has launched a program to sell excess property of state banks.
According to the Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand, a one-year program is underway for 10 government-owned banks (including the biggest lenders) to relinquish the excess assets–mostly real estate – and increase their cash reserves. He did not name the banks.
Responding to a question by the Financial Tribune on the sidelines of an event in Tehran last week, Dejpasand said the banks have had good cooperation with the Ministry of Economy in this respect.
A joint communication taskforce is to be established between Iran and Iraq by March with the aim of boosting collaboration.
The decision was made during a meeting between Iran ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi and the head of Iraqi Communication Regulatory Authority Ali Naser Al-Khuwailidi and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Fallah. The Iraqi official visited Tehran on Feb 2-5.
Promoting bilateral ICT ties and looking into disruptions in communications reported by Iranian pilgrims visiting the neighboring country during religious occasions last October, were discussed during Al-Khuwailidi’s tour.
The 8th edition of Iran Video Game Festival is on track and 146 locally-developed games have been registered for the competitions that are held annually on the sidelines of the event.
According to the event website, irangamefestival.ir, the games can win prizes in various categories, including ‘the latest achievements, ‘best game of each genre’, ‘best update’, ‘most waited, and ‘most popular’. The event is organized by Iran Computer and Video Games Foundation.
Participants include 124 mobile games for Android handsets, three for iOS devices and 19 games run on personal computers. No console game has been registered.
Tech park ‘Digital Economic Development’ was launched in the shrine city of Mashhad on Monday by the ICT minister.
During the inauguration ceremony Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said, “The tech park can host 120 startups and knowledge-based companies,” ict.gov.ir reported.
A similar project is underway in Tehran. “Another tech park, which is also named Digital Economic Development, is being built in Tehran which can provide 150 startups and technology companies with working space and support,” Jahromi said.
“Venture capital funds would also to be established in the parks that will help fund startups.” A percentage of ICT Ministry income will also be invested in startups in the parks.
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