Japan said on Friday it will not join any US coalition to protect merchant vessels in Middle East waterways, but will instead send a separate force of ships and planes to guard ships supplying Japan from the key oil-producing region.
Japan said on Friday it will not join any US coalition to protect merchant vessels in Middle East waterways, but will instead send a separate force of ships and planes to guard ships supplying Japan from the key oil-producing region.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced that Saudi Arabia had positively responded to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative for defusing tensions in the Persian Gulf region by agreeing to give peace a chance.
Gazprom has started to fill the first branch of the offshore section of the Turkish Stream pipeline with natural gas. This is the final stage of testing the pipeline before putting it into operation later this year.
Wastewater treatment and use of recycled water in the agricultural and industrial sectors can help tackle the worsening water crisis in drought-stricken South Khorasan Province, head of the provincial water company said.
“The first phase of a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 21,500 cubic meters per day will become operational in Birjand in 2020,” Mehdi Hashemi Moqadam was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal Wednesday.
This is the largest water project in the province financed by ECO Trade and Development Bank and cost $19 million. The bank is a regional multilateral lender established under the auspices of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
The OPEC+ group of oil producers will need to make deeper output cuts when they meet in December. That is the inescapable conclusion from the latest round of monthly reports published by the three big oil-forecasting agencies.
Power grids of Iran and Iraq will be synchronized by the end of 2019 and Tehran will help reduce power loss in the neighboring country the following year, chairman of the Export Committee of Iran Electricity Industry Syndicate said.
Iraq's power loss during distribution is over 50%. “According to a bilateral contract, this volume will drop to 30% by the end of 2020,” Payam Baqeri was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
“There is also a plan to increase the efficiency of Iraqi power plants and raise power generation capacity by the end of 2021,” he added.
Iran's maximum electricity export to Iraq is 1,500 megawatts (subject to seasonal fluctuations), Baqeri said.
Gas export to Iraq is 4.4 million cubic meters per day, which allows the Arab neighbor to produce at least 1,000 MW of electricity.
Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC) had the largest share of steel production in Iran during the first six months of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22).
The company produced 4.34 million tons of finished steel during the period, 3% more compared with last year's corresponding period.
Its semi-finished output reached 4.72 million tons, unchanged year-on-year, the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization’s latest report shows.
Located in southwestern Isfahan, Mobarakeh Steel Company is the biggest steel producer in Iran and the Middle East and North Africa region.
Iran's heavyweight steelmakers produced a total of 6.97 million tons of finished steel products, including hot- and cold-rolled coils, rebar, beams, pipes, wide and galvanized sheets during the period under review to register a 7% YOY growth.
A survey of nine low-traffic airports in Iran during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22) shows Lamerd Aiport and Zanjan Airport have seen remarkable growth in landings and takeoffs as well as passenger and cargo transport.
According to Siavash Amir-Mokri, the head of Iran Airports Company, Lamerd Airport, located in the southern Fars Province, registered 194 landings and takeoffs, indicating an increase of 142.5% year-on-year. The airport transported 7,930 passengers and 54 tons of cargo during the six months to register a 149.84% and 201.83% YOY rise respectively.
Zanjan Airport registered 92 landings and takeoffs during the period, up by 187.5% YOY, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development's news service reported.
The Ministry of Economy has plans to issue Manfa’at Sukuk worth 100 trillion rials ($877 million) to help augment government spending, according to the head of Capital Market Central Asset Management Company.
The Sukuk bonds will be issued following a request by the Debt Management Office of the ministry, Gholamreza Abu Torabi said, Securities and Exchange News Agency reported.
The office compiles data on the government’s arrears and regulates government securities to clear arrears and finance budgetary shortfalls.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog for anti-money laundering policies, again extended the suspension of countermeasures against Iran.
At the end of its October plenary on Friday, the FATF gave Iran until February 2020 to comply with international norms after which it would urge all its members to apply counter-measures.
“If before February 2020, Iran does not enact the Palermo and Terrorist Financing Conventions in line with the FATF Standards, then the FATF will fully lift the suspension of counter-measures and call on its members and urge all jurisdictions to apply effective counter-measures,” the global watchdog said in a statement published on its website.
While acknowledging that Iran has recently adopted the AML-CFT bylaw, which the FATF has not yet reviewed, the FATF expresses its disappointment that the Action Plan remains outstanding.
The global watchdog expects Iran to proceed swiftly in the reform path to ensure that it addresses all of the remaining items by completing and implementing the necessary AML/CFT reforms.
Iran’s SAIPA and South African car manufacturer Mureza are to jointly produce vehicles in Zimbabwe.
Municipal bodies in Iranian metropolises, from Tehran to Isfahan, are becoming more socially responsible and upgrading urban infrastructure to meet the needs of the physically-impaired community.
This week, Tehran Mayor Pirouz Hanachi emphasized in a press conference that henceforth, no urban project should be launched unless its compatibility with the needs of the physically-challenged citizens is ensured.
"Ideally, all the paths, urban facilities and public transportation systems should be adjusted for the use of mothers carrying their toddlers in baby strollers, the elderly and those with physical impairments," he added.
Hanachi noted that urban managers in the capital have been ordered to make changes in public places, like parks, shopping malls, walkways, bus stations and urban transportation system, making them more convenient for those with special needs.
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