US Senator Bernie Sanders issued a live video saying that war with Iran would be "many times worse than the Iraq War", in response to reports that the US is building up military presence in the Middle East to counter alleged Iranian threats.
US Senator Bernie Sanders issued a live video saying that war with Iran would be "many times worse than the Iraq War", in response to reports that the US is building up military presence in the Middle East to counter alleged Iranian threats.
Renewed US sanctions on Iran have left Turkey walking a tight rope between protecting its national interests and observing the principles of good neighborliness, but Tehran cannot expect all-out support from Ankara as it is grappling with its own economic woes, says a political analyst.
"Turkey, as Iran's neighbor, has cooperated more with the country in the era of sanctions. In this way, it advances both its own interests and a policy of good neighborliness," Rahman Qahremanpour also told ISNA in a recent interview.
However, he noted that Turkey's hands are tied down and it cannot support Iran economically because it is tackling a host of its own domestic issues.
Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said no war is expected between Iran and the United States, stressing that the Islamic Republic would not negotiate with Washington either.
"We do not seek war in the first place and they know a war is not in their interests," he said, addressing a group of state officials in Tehran on Tuesday, the Leader’s website reported.
The US last year walked away from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal on the grounds that it did not include non-nuclear issues such as Iran’s defense and regional policies.
It has been ratcheting up economic and military pressure against Tehran to force it to renegotiate a new deal.
Iran has officially stopped fulfilling two of its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with major powers on the order of the country's top national security body.
OPEC said on Tuesday that world demand for its oil would be higher than expected this year as supply growth from rivals including US shale producers slows, pointing to a tighter market if the exporter group refrains from raising output.
European companies can purchase crude from Iran as some of them do not have commercial interest in the United States and do not need to be concerned about US sanctions, the head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said.
"The US re-imposed sanctions on Iran's oil sector in November and some European companies decided to stop buying Iranian oil due to political reasons," Kamal Kharrazi was quoted as saying by the French daily Le Monde Tuesday.
Italy and Greece stopped their purchases despite the fact that the US had granted them some waivers. This indicates that those countries made a political decision, Kharrazi argued.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency says it is content to be helping Iran equip its thermal power stations with high-quality fog (spray) cooling systems.
Yukiharu Kobayashi, the chief JICA representative in Iran, made the statement Tuesday in a ceremony to inaugurate the cooling system in Shahid Rajaee thermal power plant in Qazvin Province, Paven, the Energy Ministry's news portal reported.
"The initiative is aimed at helping Iran’s electricity industry improve the efficiency of gas-powered turbines," Kobayashi added. The plan also will help combat global warming in the long-term.
India told Iran on Tuesday it will decide on its oil imports after elections end this month, in line with its economic interests, a government source said.
As the warm weather approaches, households have switched on their cooling appliances resulting in considerable hike in electricity consumption. Thus, gas supply to thermal power plants has increased by 62% compared to last month, the National Iranian Gas Company spokesman said.
“Average daily gas consumption in thermal power plants was 120 million cubic meters in the first month of the Iranian calendar (March 21-April 20). It reached 195 mcm on May 13 -- 75 mcm more than the last month average,” IRNA quoted Majid Bujarzadeh as saying.
Iran traded 1.25 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $1.11 billion with the Americas in the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2019) to register a 17.49% and 31.41% decline in tonnage and value respectively compared to the year before.
Latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show Iran’s exports totaled 79,484 tons worth $105.75 million during the year, indicating a 63.86% and 60.9% decline in terms of tonnage and value respectively year-on-year.
Imports stood at 1.17 million tons worth $1.01 billion, down 9.62% and 25.54% in tonnage and value respectively YOY.
The Americas are landmasses of North America and South America, at times collectively considered a single continent. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's western hemisphere and comprise the New World. There are 35 sovereign states in the Americas.
Rationing of essential goods is a less corruption-inducing approach in the current economic situation facing Iran, says Mostafa Hashemitaba, a veteran politician who served as industries minister for three years during the 1980-88 Iraq-imposed war.
With the reimposition of sanctions against Iran, depreciation of the country’s national currency and the resulting cash squeeze, the supply of essential goods has become the government’s top priority. The allocation of subsidized foreign currency for the import of essential goods and raw materials, which controversial policy was implemented by the government past year, has led to large-scale fraud and malpractices by some importers as well as complications with money transfer and delays in the delivery of products.
Iran traded 197,406 tons of non-oil commodities worth $113 million with Ukraine in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2019) to register a 25.42% and 41.64% decline in tonnage and value respectively compared with the year before, latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show.
After two straight rallies, the main gauge of Tehran Stock Exchange lost some of its earlier gains on Wednesday amid selloff in the stocks of the basic metals, petrochemical and mineral groups.
The TSE's main index TEDPIX lost 728.52 points or 0.34% on Wednesday to end trading week at 211,017.9.
About 3.8 billion shares valued at 12.91 trillion rials ($86.70 million) changed hands at TSE for the day.
Euro and the Chinese yuan topped the Central Bank of Iran's list of subsidized currencies allocated for imports in the past 13 months, with USD at the bottom of the list.
Department of Economic Review of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mine and Agriculture (TCCIMA) has published a report about allocation of subsidized foreign currency saying that the CBI sold importers 13 types of subsidized currencies valued at $29.72 billion from March 2018 to May 2019.
As per the data, 12.9 billion euro was allocated to importers, accounting for more than 44% of the total. This was followed by the Chinese currency worth ¥43.2 billion. A large part of this currency went to car companies.
The Money and Credit Council - a top financial decision-making body affiliated to the Central Bank of Iran - approved a decision Wednesday to raise the ceiling of loans allocated for renovating rural residential units and interest-free loans for job creation.
Iran's major carmaker Iran Khodro (IKCO) and Iran Taxi Union have signed a deal to renovate the capital's aging public transportation fleet, in the latest push to combat air pollution in the city.
Early this week, IKCO agreed to renovate 10,000 cabs in Tehran's taxi fleet in the current Iranian year (started March 21).
Morteza Zameni, the head of taxi union, said that although this is a positive move for the capital, a more tactful and effective solution need to be found for the old taxis.
Tehran’s Traffic Police have fined over 170 smog-inducing commercial vehicles since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21) for violating the rules defined by the Air Pollution Control Scheme, the managing director of Transportation and Traffic Organization of Tehran Municipality says.
Mohsen Pour-Seyyed-Aqaei added that traffic police officials have been implementing roadside monitoring and testing of vehicles, TM's Public Relations Office reported.
"During the period, over 750 commercial vehicles were checked by technicians, 65 of which [8%] had not undergone mandatory technical inspection tests at all," he said.
An aid package worth $844 million is needed for saving Iran’s two chronically struggling carmakers.
Deputy Industries Minister Farshad Moqimi told ICANA that over 150,000 cars are in the warehouses of local automotive firms, as they do not have the parts for completing the vehicles.
In February and under the Industries Ministry pressure, the Central Bank of Iran agreed to lend $844 million to help rescue the two dysfunctional car manufacturers, Iran Khodro (IKCO) and SAIPA, in hard currencies.
Since then, the car companies and the CBI have been at loggerheads over the loan’s repayment mechanism.
As per a mandate issued by Tehran’s mayor, part of the money collected from traffic fines is to be spent on the expansion of the capital’s public transportation system.
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