Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi called for the immediate removal of US sanctions against the Syrian nation.
Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi called for the immediate removal of US sanctions against the Syrian nation.
China and Russia have urged the newly-inaugurated administration of United States President Joe Biden to rejoin them in the 2015 nuclear deal with no preconditions.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif welcomed his Qatari counterpart’s call for the Persian Gulf Arab countries to hold talks with Iran, saying Tehran has long proposed neighborly cooperation for establishing a strong Middle East.
Iran on Friday logged 6,300 fresh cases of the coronavirus and 75 overnight fatalities, as its Health Ministry warned against false hopes about containment of the pandemic.
So long as profit margin for retailers in the CNG sector remains low, the privately-owned industry is unlikely to grow, head of the Iran CNG Association said.
“The cost of managing and developing a CNG station has increased ten-fold in five years. The profit margin remains as low as 3,000 rials (1.4 cent) for one cubic meter and has not increased since 2018,” Ardeshir Dadras was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Although the government is encouraging car owners to retrofit their vehicles to CNG hybrid, low margins for filling stations are pushing the CNG retail sector over the edge, Dadras said.
The $3.4 billion Persian Gulf Bidboland gas refinery was inaugurated Thursday in Khuzestan Province to trap associated gas from crude oil production instead of flaring, the managing director said.
"Nearly 60% of flared gas in the three provinces of Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad and Bushehr, will be collected by Bidboland and converted into value-added goods instead of being wasted," Mahmoud Amin-Nejad was quoted as saying by ILNA.
Based in the southwest part of Iran, the plant has a daily capacity to process 56 million cubic meters of associated gas from East and West Karoun oil fields that include several large oilfields straddling the Iran-Iraq border namely Azadegan, Yaran, Yadavaran and Darkhoein.
Iran’s Seed and Plant Certification and Registration Institute has succeeded in attaining the International Seed Testing Association’s accreditation to issue international seed certificates, says the head of the institute.
A total of 440,156 permits were issued for starting businesses over the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20, 2020), registering a 50% rise compared with the similar period of last year, latest data released by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade show.
The ministry attributes the increase to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in the shutting down of some businesses. This made businesspeople change their field of activity to ones that were allowed to operate under new health protocols over the period under review, IRNA reported.
The data also show electronic signature permits issued over the nine months under review registered a 49.9% increase due to the rise in online business activities, again owing to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
More than $1.26 billion worth of goods have been exported from Arvand Free Trade Zone in the southern Khuzestan Province since the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 20, 2020.
“Last year’s [March 2019-20] total exports were at $1.22 billion, which means shipments have already seen a significant rise,” Ali Mousavi, the deputy head of FTZ, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The exports included seafood, minerals, different kinds of foodstuff, fruit and vegetable, steel products and construction materials.
The combined coal concentrate output of Iran’s two major producers reached 535,039 during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year (March 20-Dec. 20, 2020).
The output stood at 506,993 tons in the corresponding period of last year and 63,501 tons in the ninth month of the year (Nov. 21-Dec. 20) to register a 26% decline compared with last year’s similar month, the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization reported on its website.
Tabas Parvadeh Coal Company accounted for 53,542 tons of the total output and Central Alborz Coal Company for the remaining 9,959 tons.
Zero percent tax on goods and services export will only be extended on condition that traders fully repatriate their export proceeds between March 2019-21 as per the regulations set by the Central Bank of Iran.
One hundred publishers account for 75% of all books published in Iran, while the remaining 25% are published by 1,000 publishing houses, says a member of Tehran Publishers Union.
A total of 847,300 tons of sheet glass were produced in Iran during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Dec. 20, 2020) to register a 2.2% decline compared with the similar period of last year, figures recently released by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade show.
Average per capita dairy consumption in Iran has reached 82 kg at its peak, which is still below the global average, Esmaeil Khatami-Moqaddam, an inspector of Iran Dairy Industries Society, says.
The average goods and services Consumer Price Index in the 12-month period ending Jan. 19, which marks the end of the 10th Iranian month, increased by 32.2% compared with the corresponding period of last year, latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show.
SCI had put the average annual inflation rate for the preceding Iranian month that ended on Dec. 20 at 30.5%.
The consumer inflation for the month under review (Dec. 21, 2020-Jan. 19) registered an increase of 46.2% compared with the similar month of the previous Iranian year. The year-on-year inflation of the month ending Dec. 20 was 44.8%.
The overall CPI (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) stood at 285.7, indicating a 1.8% rise compared with the month before. Month-on-month consumer inflation was 2% for the preceding month.
Insurance companies reported 18% decline in medical insurance premium in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (March-November).
Owners of the so-called Justice Shares sold 8 billion shares worth 136 trillion rials ($600 million) since the ban on the trade was lifted last May.
The Majlis Joint Commission has decided to raise the ceiling for marriage loans to newlyweds in the next fiscal year that begins in March.
Commodities weighing 2.89 million tons worth 338 trillion rials ($1.5 billion) were traded at the Iran Mercantile Exchange in the last Iranian month (Dec.21-Jan.19).
The deals grew 5% in volume and 7% in value compared to the month before, the IME news agency imereport.ir said.
IME is a commodities exchange in Tehran founded in 2006 to host deals in farm, industrial and petrochemical products in the spot and futures markets.
After a recent pattern of decline, forex and gold prices in Tehran are rising again. The dollar, which plunged to as low as 210,000 rials last Monday, climbed to 232,000 rials on Thursday gaining 4,000 rials or 1.8% compared to the earlier session.
Other major currencies also made gains. The euro was up 2.85% to be worth 284,700 rials. The UK pound sterling was tagged at 321,950 rials, 3% higher than Wednesday and the UAE dirham gained 2.3% to be quoted at 65,300 rials, Eghtesad News said.
The greenback was rather choppy in the past three months falling from an all-time high of 320,000 rials in mid-October as investors rushed to the sell side in anticipation of change of guard in United States.
Four innovation centers have been launched in the shrine city of Qom to boost the tech ecosystem.
During a Tuesday trip to the city, Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari inaugurated the centers, visited local innovative units and surveyed their products, IRNA reported.
The first center coming on stream was a branch of Tehran University’s tech park, with a 1,000-square meter industrial building as a workshop and a shared workspace for startups and knowledge-based firms.
Abbas Zare’i, the head of Tehran University’s tech park, said after 20 years of operation, the park is ready to extend its reach to other provinces and expand its activities.
“The park and its new branch are mandated to disseminate theoretical education to promote practical innovation and tap the students' tech potentials,” he said.
Sattari also launched an innovation complex as an extension to Qom Tech Park, a private tech center called “Mobtada” and an innovation building called “Eshraq” at the Islamic Propagation Office of Qom Theological School.
After the inauguration, Sattari signed an agreement with the office for establishing a creativity and innovation center for Islamic projects. At the center, gifted tech enthusiasts will devise new solutions for the modern presentation of theology and education.
EU leaders on Thursday "strongly discouraged" Europeans from non-essential travel and warned tougher restrictions on trips could come within days if efforts to curb the coronavirus fell short.
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