Turkey is trying to convince the United States to change its mind about Iran sanctions, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
Turkey is trying to convince the United States to change its mind about Iran sanctions, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday.
President Hassan Rouhani’s decision to pay his first official visit to Iraq could indicate the resolution of key disputes between the two neighboring countries, a senior journalist and political analyst said.
In a recent article, Ali Mousavi Khalkhali, editor-in-chief of the Iranian Diplomacy website, highlighted the major bones of contention that include an old border row and said Rouhani’s trip, which will reportedly take place on March 11, could mark progress in resolving those issues.
The Algiers agreement defining the Iran-Iraq border has been a source of tension since it was signed by Iraq’s then-vice president, Saddam Hussein, and the shah of Iran in the Algerian capital in 1975.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif has once again reiterated the crucial role of implementing standards set by the global anti-money laundering watchdog in resolving economic challenges facing the country, a lawmaker said.
“Mr. Zarif … underlined the importance of joining FATF and expressed hope that the Expediency Council would approve [the related bills] to help resolve economic problems,” Mehrdad Lahouti quoted the chief diplomat as saying during a meeting with members of a parliamentary faction on Sunday.
The legislation has long been demanded by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, which wants Iran to strengthen its legal framework to guard against money laundering and financing terrorism.
The sole hydroelectric power plant in Isfahan Province will restart operation next week, said the deputy of conservation and utilization at the Isfahan Regional Water Company.
The power plant was shut down five months ago due to chronic water shortages that left Zayandehrud Dam with very little water.
“The plant’s turbines require at least 170 million cubic meters of water stored in the dam for operation. Currently, 152 mcm of water is stored. With the projected inflow of adder water, the plant is expected to restart next week,” Hassan Sasani was quoted as saying by the news agency.
National Iranian Gas Company has started supplying compressed natural gas through pipelines to about 1,000 households in the city of Zabol in southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan Province, governor general of the province said.
"Three thousand more families will join the CNG grid by the end of 2019 when the second phase of the project becomes operational," Ahmad Ali Mouhebati was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian says the Majlis has allowed his ministry to borrow €300 million from the National Development Fund of Iran for improve precautionary measures against dust storms that harm power stations and water and wastewater treatment plants in the dry southern provinces.
"Sandstorms will not take us by surprise anymore, not only due to high rainfall in southern regions but also because of the ongoing mega power and water projects that will come on stream by March," the Persian-language daily Hamshahri quoted Ardakanian as saying.
According to the minister, projects costing an estimated €450 million will be launched soon in the southern regions.
Construction of a new ethylene oxide plant will begin soon in Andimeshk, Khuzestan Province, director of public relations of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company said Saturday.
Kazakhstan plans to cut its oil exports by around 2% this year to 71 million tons, its energy ministry told Reuters, mainly at the expense of China, amid a production decline.
A joint commercial forum, scheduled in Tehran on March 13, will host businesses from Iran and India.
Iran traded 36.38 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $18.77 billion with Persian Gulf littoral states, namely Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year (March 21, 2018-Jan. 20) to register a 4.43% growth in tonnage and 1.13% decline in value compared with last year’s corresponding period.
Latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show Iran’s exports totaled 33 million tons worth $13.24 billion during the period, indicating a 12.42% and 22.74% increase in tonnage and value respectively year-on-year.
Imports stood at 3.38 million tons worth $5.52 billion, down 38.33% and 32.56% in tonnage and value respectively YOY.
The goods and services Consumer Price Index in Iran registered a year-on-year increase of 42.3% in the Iranian month of Bahman (Jan. 21-Feb. 19) compared with the similar month of last year.
According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the YOY inflation was the highest in Kurdestan Province with 52.5% for the month. The lowest was in Qom Province with 35.3%, the latest SCI report shows.
CPI calculated for the country (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) stood at 158.1 in Bahman, indicating a 2.2% rise compared with the previous month.
The governor of Central Bank of Iran says the CBI has so far allocated $38 billion in foreign currency for imports. Out of this amount, $9.3 billion was allocated via Nima (the integrated forex deal system) and $24 billion was injected directly into the banking system.
Abdolnaser Hammati said close to €11.5 billion was traded on Nima – forex generated from non-oil export earnings.
In addition, €7.4 billion was sold [to importers] via Nima, €8 billion was offered and equivalent of €600 million was used for imports in exchange for exports for the same amount. Close to 65% of the total €40 billion in non-oil export revenues have not been repatriated to the country.
As part of plans to diversify and expand financing methods for agricultural products on the Iran Mercantile Exchange, the bourse on Sunday launched the options contracts for saffron.
Options trading will only be for 'Negin Saffron' which is considered the highest-quality of Iranian saffron and comes after IME launched saffron futures contracts and certificates of deposits for saffron earlier during the calendar year (ends March 20).
At a press conference on the occasion of launching the contracts for the first time, Hamed Soltaninejad, IME's managing director said since the launch of the mercantile exchange in 2007, efforts have been made to enhance trade in agricultural products.
The Eighth International Amirkabir Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Competitions (AUTCup 2019) opened Saturday at the Tehran International Fairgrounds.
Several Iranian mobile games have been shortlisted for the 15th International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA Global) and are competing for IMGA’s Public Choice Award.
The five works developed by Iranian game studios nominated for the prize along with 148 products from other countries are “The Dark Wings 2”, “Harmony”, “Magnis”, “Flipping Filip”, and “O”.
Via an online poll users will decide which game wins IMGA’s Public Choice Award, igmaawards.com reported.
Apple Inc. banning Iranian iOS apps has hit headlines once again. Multiple factors are behind the recent ban which has rendered Apple smartphones almost useless in the country and can lead to a sharp fall in local demand for iPhones.
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