French President Emmanuel Macron said consultations between Iranian and French experts on salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal have achieved positive results.
French President Emmanuel Macron said consultations between Iranian and French experts on salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal have achieved positive results.
The "undeniable" benefits of a dialogue between Iran and the United States should be considered by the country's authorities in a wider context, says a political analyst, who argues that Tehran should help Washington find a face-saving way out to end the confrontation.
"All the pros and cons of a possible meeting between the Iranian and US presidents should be studied, and a decision should be made based on what best serves the country's interests," Reza Nasri also told ISNA.
Speaking to reporters at a G7 Summit in the French resort of Biarritz on August 26, US President Donald Trump said he would meet his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, under the right circumstances to end a confrontation that began after Washington pulled out of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and reimposed sanctions on the OPEC producer, Reuters reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron, host of the G7 Summit, told the same news conference that Rouhani told him he would be open to meeting Trump.
More than 1,000 power projects were launched during the Government Week (August 24-30) across Iran, the Energy Ministry news portal Paven reported.
Zanjan Province has the largest number of development plans in the power sector as 284 electricity projects were inaugurated.
A 7-megawatt solar plant in Abhar, which is the largest photovoltaic station in the northwest, was among the major projects in the province.
A total of 172 power projects in southern Fars Province were launched at 3.8 million.
Despite peak production in South Pars Gas Field off the Persian Gulf, pressure reduction has emerged gradually and could get worse, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company said Sunday.
"Installation of offshore compressor stations in the field is the only long-term option to control gas pressure reduction," Mohammad Meshkinfam said, ILNA reported.
Contrary to popular belief, the field will not be able to produce 630 million cubic meters of gas per day (the current output) forever and this clean resource should be used as prudently as possible, he stressed.
Referring to past short-term policy to postpone pressure reduction, he said his company has started to acidize offshore wells and this will delay the process maximum by two years.
Gazprom admitted that its gas exports to Europe would fall in 2019, meaning that its 200.8 billion cubic meters of gas it shipped in 2018 to Europe and Turkey is now a thing of the past.
Gilan Province's second combined heat and power (CHP) plant became operational in Bandar Anzali Free Trade Zone on Saturday, head of the provincial power company said.
"Costing $11 million, the small-scale power plant with 25 megawatt capacity was completed in less than two years with the help of the private sector [Caspian Power Plant Generator Company]," Azim Bolbolabadi was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry's news portal.
The venture with distributed generation systems was partly financed by the National Development Fund of Iran.
"Not only can the plant supply the Aanzali FTZ with stable power, but with 55% efficiency rate it also will be able to support the Rasht electricity power grid during peak demand," he added.
The Chinese economy has come under pressure from the US-China trade war which has made tacking climate change more difficult for Beijing, a senior official said on Friday, noting that China will not be able to meet its emissions reduction goals years ahead of schedule.
Iran's box office earnings in the five months ending Aug. 22 stood at 1.66 trillion rials ($14.5 million) to register an increase of 347.99 billion rials ($3 million) or 26% compared with last year’s similar period.
A total of 29 films were released during the period while 14.58 million people went to the movies, data published in www.panel.cinemashahr.ir, the official Iranian cinema’s box office website, provided detailed information on box office earnings to the public. The outlet became operational on Feb. 25, 2019.
The number of moviegoers witnessed a year-on-year decrease of 4.1% during the period.
The average cinema ticket prices stood at 114,510 rials ($1), up by 27,570 rials ($0.24) or 31.71% year-on-year.
The Statistical Center of Iran has released a report reviewing changes in Producer Price Index during the first quarter of the current Iranian year (March 21 to June 21).
According to the report, the overall PPI (using 2011 as the base year) stood at 471.4 in spring, indicating a 14.4% increase compared with the previous quarter’s index and a 69.5% growth over the same quarter of last year.
Producer inflation in the four-quarter period ending June 21 (annual inflation) grew by 58.6% compared with the same period of last year. The index calculated for the four-quarter period ending March 20, 2019, marking the end of the Q4 of last year, increased by 47.5%.
The Securities and Exchange Organization has given the go-ahead to the High Council of Free Zones to issue 3,000 billion rials ($26.2 million) worth of sukuk (Islamic debt securities) to finance development projects in Kish Free Trade Zone, which could rise to 10,000 billion rials ($87.3 million), Secretary of High Council of Free Zones Morteza Bank said.
“Funds raised through the issue of sukuk must be used to invest in infrastructure projects on Kish Island, including the development of Kish International Airport, port and logistics as well as ICT infrastructures,” Bank was quoted as saying by IRIB News.
Sukuk are defined by Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions as “securities of equal denomination representing individual ownership interests in a portfolio of eligible existing or future assets.”
Tehran Stock Exchange rallied on Sunday for the fifth straight session with TSE's main index TEDPIX gaining 1,975.49 points, or 0.7%, to end trading session at 286,114.7.
About 3.94 billion shares valued at 14.97 trillion rials ($130.8 million) changed hands at TSE for the day.
Trading at TSE and over-the-counter Iran Fara Bourse starts on Saturday and ends Wednesday.
Pars Switch Company (manufacturer of medium and high voltage circuit breakers and disconnectors) was the biggest winner as its shares went up 25.04% to 16,353 rials per share.
Iran Fara Bourse’s main index IFX was up 304 points or 9% during the month to August 22 to stand at 3,579 points.
Iran’s external debt declined to $8.67 billion by the end of third calendar month to June 21, data from the Central Bank of Iran shows.
The data, published on the CBI website, indicates a 7% decline in foreign debt compared to $9.33 billion reported at the end of last the fiscal year (March 19, 2019).
Medium and long-term debt stood at $6.96 billion, accounting for 60% of total foreign financial commitments in the period. The debts were to the tune of $7.18 billion by the end of last fiscal year.
The tax collection system is obsolete and needs rewriting to find its proper place in the running of the economy, Iran’s top tax official said at the weekend.
Omid Ali Parsa, head of the Iran National Tax Administration said, “Tax revenues hardly have seven to eight percent share in the gross domestic product. In other countries this contribution is 25% and maybe higher.”
In a meeting with stakeholders in the financial market, Parsa criticized the old and dysfunctional tax regime and said it must be reformed sooner rather than later, IRNA reported.
Echoing the stance of independent economic and financial experts, the INTA chief said, “One reason for the meager tax revenues is the tax holiday and tax evasion.”
The Export Guarantee Fund of Iran covered non-oil exports worth $1 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year (started in mid-March), head of EGFI said.
The figure shows 60% growth in the export credit agency insurance cover compared to the similar period last year, according to EGFI website.
EGFI expects to increase coverage to $2.5 billion by the end of this fiscal year [March 2020), Afrouz Bahrami told a seminar on promoting exports during sanctions.
According to media reports, EGFI is able to cover export risk to the tune of $2.3 billion or 5% of the Iran’s $40 billion non-oil export market.
She ascribed the significant growth in the performance of EGFI to increase in the number of applications for covering risk emanated from US sanctions, diversification of guarantee services, customizing services to make them compatible with expert requirements and rising promotional activity of the fund.
A local video game contest titled Iran Games Cup 2019 wrapped up in Tehran on August 30 by giving awards to winners.
The closing ceremony coincided with the finalists' tournament in PES 2019, FIFA 2019 and Quiz of Kings.
Organized by Iran Computer and Video Games Foundation, the weeklong competition was held at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, the event's website Irangamecup.com reported.
A large number of enthusiasts competed in eight video games, namely FIFA 2019, PES 2019, CS GO, DOTA2, Clash Royale, Quiz of Kings, Maghzineh and Mafioso.
The competitions were broadcast live on IGC's website for game lovers who could not attend the event in person.
Iran’s High Council of Cyberspace ratified a document on the establishment of an online user authentication system late Saturday.
During a council meeting attended by President Hassan Rouhani, a document was ratified for the development of a system that would be akin to a centralized know your customer (KYC) system.
According to President.ir, the system will make online transactions more secure and help businesses and users conduct communications after both sides are authenticated.
Measures for protecting users’ privacy and business data were also discussed.
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