President Hassan Rouhani warned of the adverse consequences of the United States’ military presence in the region, saying all regional countries are obligated to expel American troops.
President Hassan Rouhani warned of the adverse consequences of the United States’ military presence in the region, saying all regional countries are obligated to expel American troops.
Iran’s Health Ministry said 30 of the country’s 31 provinces are either in red zone or in an alarming state, with the number of red counties climbing by 54% in the past week alone.
Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations said the United States’ return to the 2015 nuclear deal would only be accepted with preconditions.
Natural gas stored in the two underground storage facilities in Sarajeh and Shourijeh increased in the first half of the current year (March 20-Sep 21) compared to the same period last year, managing director of the Iranian Gas Transmission Company said.
“During the period last year, 748 million cubic meters of gas was injected into the Sarajeh storage facility in Qom Province. This has increased by 8% this year to surpass 810 mcm,” Mehdi Jamshidi Dana was quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry news agency Shana.
“Gas inventory of the Shourijeh reservoir in Sarakhs County, Khorasan Razavi Province, was 938 mcm last year. Rising 48% this year, it has exceeded 1.38 billion cubic meters,” he said.
Power consumption of industries has increased by 12% since the beginning of the current fiscal in March compared to a year ago, but the rise has not transformed into decent productivity growth, head of the Mining and Mining Industries Commission of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mining and Agriculture said.
“More than 50% of manufacturing units in industrial towns are either closed or work at half capacity. As such, rise in power consumption has little, or nothing, to do with their productivity growth. What it does show is that most of the machinery is old and have outlived their usefulness,” Bahram Shakouri was quoted as saying by Barq News.
Industries have used 42 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over the last six months. However, the annual gross domestic product has been declining in the period, he noted.
A wheat silo with a storage capacity of 100,000 tons will be inaugurated in Semnan Province’s Garmsar County by the end of the current Iranian year on March 20, 2021.
This will be the largest silo in the eastern part of the country, according to the CEO of Government Trading Corporation.
“The Islamic Development Bank and the Iranian government have invested €18.96 million, in addition to 190 billion rials [over $658,000] in the project respectively,” Yazdan Seif was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
The official noted that the silo, which has made 90% physical progress, has been built on a 10-hectare plot and will be a great help in the storage and distribution of this strategic staple food in the country.
A contract was signed in June for the construction of another silo with the capacity to store 30,000 tons of grains in the northern Amirabad Port.
With current wages, workers run out of money only 10 days into the month, says Ali Aslani, a member of Supreme Labor Council.
“Prices of goods and services have increased significantly over the past six months, particularly since June. The living wage of a three-member household has now hit 90 million rials [$312] per month in large cities, which obviously can’t be matched against workers’ wages,” he added.
A living wage refers to an income level that allows an individual or family to afford adequate shelter, food and other basic necessities. The purpose of a living wage is to help employees have a satisfactory standard of living and to prevent them from falling into poverty. Economists suggest that a living wage should be substantial enough to ensure that not more than 30% are spent on housing.
On average, residents of Tehran live fewer than three years in one neighborhood, which is indicative of lack of neighborhood belonging and attachment among residents of the capital city, says Deputy Mayor Abdolreza Golpayegani.
President Hassan Rouhani has called on Health Minister Saeed Namaki to press for urgent action to end the shortage of insulin pens and blood test strips, which is causing serious hardship to people with diabetes.
In an open letter to the president, 120 specialists from Iranian medical schools expressed concerns over the dwindling supply of insulin pen and diabetes test strips. The letter reads:
“There are over five million persons with diabetes mellitus in Iran, of whom 600,000 require the daily administration of insulin and blood glucose test strips to monitor and control their diabetes. Lack of any of these two would make patients face the risks of drops in blood sugar level and unconsciousness or death in the short run, and limb amputation, heart attack, stroke and kidney disease in the long run.
“Diabetes also increases the risk of severe illness and death from Covid-19, which makes it even more important to direct special attention to people with diabetes while coping with the coronavirus crisis.
A total of 13,765 tons of cosmetic products and toiletries worth $10.6 million were exported from Iran to 21 countries during the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Aug. 21), according to the spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
“Our main exported products were shampoo; facial, skin and nail cosmetic products; sunscreen creams; fixator, hairstyling products, toothpaste and soap,” Rouhollah Latifi was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
The official noted that Afghanistan, Iraq and Azerbaijan were the top three export destinations.
“The UK, Germany, Canada, Austria, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, Russia, Bahrain, Turkey, Armenia and Kazakhstan were other export destinations,” he added.
The government plans to continue subsidizing essential goods in the next fiscal year (March 2021-22).
According to Vice President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, who doubles as the chairman of Iran’s Plan and Budget Organization, the government will channel earnings from oil exports to import essential goods at the subsidized rate of 42,000 rials per US dollar.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting of the so-called Budget Headquarters 1400 (the Iranian year starting March 2021), Mehr News Agency reported.
The Plan and Budget Organization held the first meeting of the headquarters on Aug. 22. Discussions centered on the makeup of the headquarters, the Joint Commission—a parliamentary body responsible for reviewing the budget bill as well as the five-year economic development plans—and eight specialized taskforces.
Tehran’s bourse was again counting its losses on Sunday as a bruising sell-off swept through a majority of small and large cap shares.
The main index of Tehran Stock Exchange, TEDPIX, lost 43,373 points and fell 2.68% for the day to retreat below 1.6 million points and close trade at 1,572,158.
Giant listed companies in the banking, refinery, auto, petrochemical, mineral and steel sector were hit harder, pulling down the TSE 30 Index by a solid 4%. The index tracks the performance of 30 listed companies with highest market capitalization.
The equal-weighted index closed trade 1.15% lower. The index offers a better picture on the performance of penny stocks.
Forex rates in Tehran were rather stable on Sunday compared to the past several weeks as traders exercised extra caution due to the Central Bank of Iran’s presence in the market.
According to Eghtesad News website, one dollar was sold at 289,600 rials – up 2,600 rials or 0.89%. Euro also gained 1,160 rials, or 0.34%, for the day to be priced at 335,170 rials.
Bank-affiliated moneychangers too increased the dollar and euro prices by 500 rials to 287,000 rials and 333,000 rials, respectively.
The government’s move to sell shares in four major refineries via an exchange-traded fund was received coldly by investors as barely 20% of the assets were bought in the subscription phase.
Initial data show that about 4 million people took part in the subscription and bought units of the ETF worth a total of 130 trillion rials ($480 million). The government had plans to divest its shares worth a total of 600 trillion rials ($2.2 billion) in four refineries.
The ETF, dubbed “First Refinery”, holds government shares in Tehran Oil Refining Company, Esfahan Oil Refining Company, Tabriz Oil Refining Company and Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company. The government owns 20% of shares in each refinery.
The Ministry of Economy on Sunday offered to settle payment to holders of Islamic bonds by delivering crude oil.
Two Iranian startups specialized in sports will unveil their latest products during the 19th International Exhibition of Sports, Sporting Goods and Equipment (also called SPORTEX 2020) now underway at Tehran's International Fairground since Saturday.
With the support of the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology, the startups have developed smartphone applications that provide free sports training at different levels, Mehr News Agency reported.
Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Masoud Soltanifar is to unveil the startups.
The first startup to be unveiled is called Mobile Gym, which is a group gym workout application providing a wide gamut of exercises. The other is Unit Gym, an application that provides a comprehensive workout routine suitable for personal in-home use.
Both apps obviate the need to attend an actual gym. They are especially ideal for sports lovers who do not want to risk their health during the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
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