Author: Steven Sahiounie

Head of Iran’s Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) Seyed Mojtaba Khayyam Nekouei in his meeting with the head of the Iran-Uzbekistan Trade Center in Tashkent on Saturday emphasized that the two countries enjoy high potential to develop their cooperation in the agricultural sector. The deputy minister of agriculture also emphasized the investment of Iranians in the field of agriculture and the transfer of technical know-how and knowledge. Khayyam Nekouei also visited the Uzbekistan Innovation Center and said that the success of the center requires getting more familiar with the technical and scientific capacities of the Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization.…

“We enjoy very good relations with the five member states of BRICS, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and can expand trade and economic cooperation within its framework,” Mehdi Safari said on Friday. The Iranian official said President of the New Development Bank (NDB) Dilma Rousseff would travel to Tehran in the near future to discuss Iran’s potential share, as a new BRICS member, in the bank and utilize its capacities to finance projects. “This will be a positive and beneficial step,” the Iranian diplomat said, Press TV reported. The NDB is a multilateral development bank of BRICS…

Speaking on the occasion of Government Week, he pointed to the expansion of diplomatic relations in the 13th administration and added that the NPC has conducted several expert-level talks with neighboring and regional countries which led to the development of foreign cooperation in the fields of selling catalysts and chemicals, offering technical-engineering services, supplying relevant parts and equipment, etc. Shahmirzaei pointed to the significant role of the development of the value chain of the petrochemical industry in the economy of the country and added that creating added value, yielding foreign currency, generating employment, eradicating depravity and completing the value chain of different industries of the…

Iran had exported over €78.6 million worth of pistachio to the European Union’s countries from January to June 2022. According to this report, Iran’s shelled pistachio exports to Europe from January to June 2023 reached €15.7 million, registering a 50 percent decline compared to last year’s corresponding period. The report added that Iran had exported more than €31.6 million worth of pistachio with shell to EU countries from January to June 2022. Eurostat further pointed out that Iran exported over €32.3 million worth of pistachio with nut to EU states in the first half of the current year, showing a 31…

Javad Owji pointed to the achievements of the Oil Ministry in the current administration and added that the oil output has reached 3.3 million barrels of per day (bpd). According to the scheduled program, the oil production will reach 3.4 million bpd by the end of the Iranian month of Shahrivar (Sept. 22), the oil minister added. Elsewhere in his remarks, Owji pointed to the investment made in the oil sector and said 33 semi-finished oil projects, worth about $12 billion, were put into operation in 2022. The minister said that Phase II of Abadan Oil Refinery, with a production capacity of…

With possessing more than 700 million tons of geological reserves of lead and zinc and about 170 million tons of extractable reserves, the Mehdiabad Lead and Zinc and Barite Mine Complex is considered the second largest reserve in the world, Director of the Complex Hamid Reza Hemayat stated. The mine will start producing 800,000 tons of zinc concentrate and 80,000 tons of lead-silver concentrate in three phases, he said, adding that the first phase of the complex is proceeding to its final stages. Once the first phase of this giant project is completed, the largest lead and zinc processing factory…

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Mehdi Safari highlights Tehran’s favorable relations with existing BRICS members and the potential expansion of economic collaboration. Iran’s membership in the BRICS bloc, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, offers a chance to fortify trade connections and financial engagements among these countries, as indicated by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs, Mehdi Safari. Safari highlighted Iran’s favorable relations with existing BRICS members and the potential expansion of economic collaboration. “We enjoy very good relations with the five member states of BRICS, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and can expand trade…

A mysterious stash of over 100 gold ingots was found on a Swiss train in 2019 The Red Cross is about to receive a donation of 120 gold bars discovered on a Swiss train four years ago, local media reported on Friday, citing a statement from Swiss prosecutors. In October 2019, an attendant on a Swiss Federal Railways train travelling from the northeastern town of St. Gallen to Lucerne found a mysterious package that was found to contain 120 gold bars. The bars, which were labelled with a logo and serial numbers, weighed a total of 3.7 kilograms and are…

The central bank has raised interest rates from minus 0.5% to 3.75% over the past year to slow price growth Interest rates in the EU will be kept high “as long as necessary” in order to combat persistently high inflation, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said on Friday in a speech at an annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. According to Lagarde, “while progress is being made, the fight against inflation is not yet won.” “In the current environment, this means – for the ECB – setting interest rates at sufficiently restrictive levels for as…

Beijing is reportedly turning from a net importer into an international seller of the fuel Chinese importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have been securing new contracts with world suppliers in a bid to boost Beijing’s presence on the global LNG market, Reuters reported this week. The news agency said Chinese gas traders have been setting up new trading desks or expanding existing ones in Singapore and London, putting them in direct competition with LNG heavyweights such as Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, and Equinor. Traders and analysts told the outlet that Chinese importers have also ramped up the scale of long-term…