Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said those behind the recent unrest in Iran did not aim to overcome the country’s weaknesses, but to undermine its strengths.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said those behind the recent unrest in Iran did not aim to overcome the country’s weaknesses, but to undermine its strengths.
Stressing the need for multilateralism and concerted action to address regional challenges, the Iranian parliament speaker said the world requires a new order under the influence of Asia.
Continuous drought in recent years has caused serious challenges regarding water supply to Mashhad, the capital city of Khorasan Razavi Province, because of which about 25% of the city’s water needs are expected to be provided by treated wastewater in the next 20 years, managing director of Mashhad Water and Wastewater Company said.
“About 82% of the metropolis are connected to the wastewater collection network plan. Mashhad is one of the pioneers in using treated wastewater, as the city used it in the agricultural sector about 15 years ago,” Hossein Esmaeilian was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal.
According to the official, projects with a total investment of $150 million are underway by the private sector, including the construction of wastewater treatment plants and expansion of the sewer network.
Executive operations of the second phase of the project to transfer Persian Gulf water to Yazd Province in central Iran will start soon.
Yazd has faced a great deal of tensions regarding water supply due to the severe decline in rainfall in the past few years. The average precipitation in Yazd has fallen below 50 mm per year. The mega project is expected to address a significant part of Yazd’s water issues and provide water for drinking, industrial and agricultural purposes, the Energy Ministry’s news portal reported.
Building three desalination units in Bandar Abbas, each with a capacity of 200,000 cubic meters per day, laying 720 kilometers of transmission lines and setting up several pumping stations are part of the water transfer project that will take four years to complete. Upon launch, about 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water will be transferred to Yazd Province annually.
Oil prices climbed on Monday as the borders reopened in China, the world's top crude importer, boosting the outlook for fuel demand growth and offsetting global recession concerns.
The most important reason behind the downtrend in compressed natural gas demand lies in the government’s wrong policies due to which the number of CNG-hybrid vehicles is dwindling, a member of Iran's CNG Association said.
“A large number of CNG-hybrid cars have been sent to the junkyard over the past decade, but they have not been replaced with new automobiles,” Mohsen Johari was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
The more gasoline-based vehicles are produced, the more CNG demand will decrease, he added.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration has reduced value-added tax on the import of seven types of oilseeds and vegetable oils from 9% to 1%.
The new measure applies to soybean, colza, safflower, palm oil, unrefined soybean oil, sunflower oil and colza oil, Fars News Agency reported.
Earlier in 2022, Ali Qasemi, an advisor to the agriculture minister, announced that edible oil imports are entitled to zero percent tariffs.
Over the years, the high and rising cost of commercial real estate has emerged as a major impediment to setting up a business in urban areas and sprawling metropolises not only in Iran but also in most other countries. Needless to say, for brands to set up shop under the circumstances is a herculean task.
“Communications”, one of 12 groups of goods and services surveyed by the Statistical Center of Iran, registered an average annualized inflation rate of 7.9% in the ninth month of the current Iranian year (Nov. 22-Dec. 21).
It’s month-on-month and year-on-year inflation rates reached 0.9% and 10.1% respectively.
The 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services surveyed by SCI include "food and beverages" with a coefficient of 26.64%, "tobacco" with 0.59%, "clothing and shoes" with 4.78%, “housing and utilities" with 35.5% (highest), "furniture, home appliances and their maintenance" with 3.93%, "health and treatment" with 7.14%, "transportation" with 9.41%, "communications" with 2.87%, "leisure and culture" with 1.65%, "education" with 1.86%, "hotels and restaurants" with 1.44% and "miscellaneous items and services" with 4.18%.
Iran’s economy is in need of making critical and prompt decisions.
Gasoline and diesel consumption has increased to such unprecedented levels that some government officials say we’ll soon have to import them. Mousa Ghaninejad, veteran economist, began his article for the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad with this note. A translation of the text follows:
Government-mandated, extremely low fuel price is the main reason behind its excessive consumption and outbound, organized smuggling to neighboring countries. However, those in charge don’t dare to acknowledge this reality, given the events of November 2019 [protests fueled by the rise in gasoline prices]. It is three years now that inflation in Iran has doubled compared with the four-decade average, reaching 40%; there is no prospect of improvement, either.
Data released by the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives on Purchasing Managers’ Index for the construction sector shows it remains in contraction mode.
Construction PMI settled at 40.95 in the ninth month of the current Iranian year (Nov. 22-Dec. 21), up from 45.78 in the preceding month (Oct. 23-Nov. 21), which indicates a 10.55% decrease.
PMI is an indicator of the health of economic sectors and provides information about business conditions to decision-makers, analysts and purchasing managers.
Raw material inventory, employment conditions, new orders, supplier deliveries and export/production conditions are among the criteria surveyed, yielding a final score of between 1 and 100.
Following political talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, it seems that the ground has been prepared for resumption of trade between the two neighboring countries, Rouhollah Latifi, a customs expert, wrote for the Persian daily Ta’adol
Latifi, who is also the former spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, noted that a total of 30,791 tons of goods worth $14.71 million were exported from Iran to Saudi Arabia from the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2022) to Nov. 21, which is considered a significant jump after the suspension of political relations between the two sides in recent years.
“Iran’s exports to Saudi Arabia stood at less than $42,000 in the last Iranian year [March 2021-22]. The figure reached $377,309 in the first eight months of the current Iranian year [March 21-Nov. 21, 2022], but in the last 40 days, with exports of 30,015 tons of steel ingots worth $14.2 million and 60 tons of seedless grapes worth $126,000, Iran’s total exports reached $14.71 million,” he added.
Pars Air has started new flights between the Iranian city of Shiraz and the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.
Imported cars will be offered at Iran Mercantile exchange (IME) later this month if the prerequisites are met, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade said.
“So far there are orders for 40,000 foreign cars. Permits for sale and number plate registration have been received and there are no impediments for import or customs clearance of foreign cars,” Omid Qalibaf was quoted by SENA as saying.
The Industry Ministry seeks to offer some 900,000 domestically-made cars via the IME in the next 6 months, Qalibaf said.
“Nearly 170,000 Iran-made vehicles will on offer via this market in the coming days by the two main carmakers Iran Khodro Co. (IKCO) and SAIPA.”
Tehran Stock Exchange's main index, TEDPIX, added 11,677.17 points or 0.71% on Monday to end at 1,646,905.82. The TSE equal-weighted index was higher by 0.80%.
About 19.56 billion shares worth 105.7 trillion rials ($364.4 million) changed hands for the day. Trading at TSE and over-the-counter Iran Fara Bourse starts on Saturday and ends Wednesday.
Saipa Investment Group led the winner’s list as its shares jumped 6.73% to 6,340 rials per share.
Hurdles to forex allocation for the import of essential goods have been removed and as of Sunday an extra $1.5 billion was budgeted for such imports, news outlets in Tehran said Monday.
The latest disbursement was thanks to close coordination between the Plan and Budget Organization, Central Bank of Iran and the Agriculture Ministry along with the needed guarantees, ebinews.com reported.
Given that some shipments are on their way to the country, it is expected that the latest funding should have a positive impact on the supply of goods in the chaotic market saddled with near permanent rising prices, shortages and price gouging.
It is mandatory to provide after-sales services for imported economy vehicles compared with other classes, according to a faulty member of the Automotive Engineering Faculty of Iran University of Science and Technology.
Masoud Masih-Tehrani, who is also a member of the automotive quality working group of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, added that the 15% profit set for importers includes the cost of after-sales services such as warranty and development of services network, Khabar Khodro reported.
“If the price of imported cars increases based on some tariffs, these cars will be subject to luxury car tax. If the commercial profit determined for car imports is unable to cover the cost of warranty services, spare parts supply, repairs and periodic services, the car will soon become dilapidated,” he said.
“If the required services are not performed on time, these cars will face numerous problems.”
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