Author: Steven Sahiounie

On Wednesday morning, an explosion at a fireworks warehouse owned by the Piro-ross company rocked the city of Sergiyev Posad, some 60 kilometers northeast of Moscow Nine people are reported missing after the explosion in Sergiev Posad, the emergency services told TASS. “As of now, we have no information about nine people,” the spokesperson said. On Wednesday morning, an explosion at a fireworks warehouse owned by the Piro-ross company rocked the city of Sergiyev Posad, some 60 kilometers northeast of Moscow. The warehouse is next door to the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant, but not part of it. The shockwave shattered the…

A Palestinian youth was Thursday killed by Israeli gunfire during a military raid in the area of Zawata, west of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Security sources told WAFA that Israeli forces raided the aforementioned area, sparking confrontations with Palestinians, during which a youth identified as Ameer Khalifa, 27, was hit with a bullet to the head. Khalifa, a resident of ‘Ein Beit El Ma Camp, west of the Nablus, was transferred to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead later. Source: WAFA

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian traveled to South Africa on Wednesday to attend a meeting of the joint commission of economic cooperation. The top Iranian diplomat left Tehran for Pretoria on Wednesday afternoon. Speaking to reporters on board the plane, Amirabdollahian said that during the visit, he will co-chair the joint commission of economic cooperation between Iran and South Africa, which will be held after a three-year hiatus following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. One of the plans on the agenda of the trip is the “full revival of relations” between the two countries, he added. The foreign minister noted that…

Alexey Likhachev, the director general of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, and Zhang Kejian, the head of the China Atomic Energy Authority, have held talks to discuss the prospects for cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in the peaceful nuclear energy sector, Rosatom said on Wednesday. The 27th meeting of the China–Russia nuclear subcommittee, co-chaired by Likhachev and Zhang, took place in St. Petersburg earlier in the day. “The sides discussed the progress of implementation of current projects and the long-term agenda of cooperation in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy. A protocol was signed after the meeting,” the…

In its latest report, the Iranian Steel Producers Association (ISPA) expounded on the latest situation of steel exports in the first four months of the current Persian year, saying it showed a significant 37 percent hike compared to the same period last year. According to statistics, the export of iron beam has increased from 32,000 tons in 2022 to 66,000 tons in the current year, showing a 106.3 percent growth. In addition, the export of rebar has increased from 674,000 tons in 2022 to 800,000 tons in the current year, ISPA added. While five countries out of top 10 steel producers in the world faced considerable…

Fada Hossein Maleki, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, said on Tuesday that Iran will exhaust all measures to secure the release of the funds blocked in South Korea. “We have repeatedly said that Iran will not sit idle if this $7 billion is not paid back and we have many options that would be to South Korea’s detriment and we will definitely use them,” Press TV reported. The remarks came hours after the Iranian parliament started procedures related to a bill submitted by the government which seeks the approval of the…

In a meeting with the speaker of Vietnam’s parliament, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, in Tehran on Wednesday, Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Aliabadi expressed hope that efforts of the officials of the two countries would lead to the development of bilateral trade and economic ties. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on a host of issues related to bolstering trade ties. The meeting was also attended by Head of the Iran Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) Babak Ahmadi, Head of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran Mehdi Zeyghami and Deputy Minister of Industry for Equipment and Machinery Seyed Mohammad…

Seyed Rouhollah Latifiadded that 432,000 tons of goods, valued at $152.4 million, were exported to 38 African countries from March 21 to July 22, 2023. Turning to the products imported into Iran from Africa, Latifi noted that 17,000 tons of non-oil goods, valued at $23.5 million, were imported into the country from 18 African states. In this period, African countries, including Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, and Sudan were Iran’s top export markets respectively, he stated. Latifi further pointed out that Iran exported ferrous and steel products, urea, food and agricultural products, liquefied gas and butane to the African states…

Iran was producing 2.2 million barrels of oil per day when the current administration took office in 2021, and it will reach 3.5 million bpd by the end of the Iranian month of Shahrivar (Sep. 22), Mohsen Khojastehmehr stated on Wednesday. Iran’s oil output from onshore and offshore fields will increase 150,000 barrels within the next two weeks, he said. He went on to say that 100,000 barrels of oil will also be added to the current volume by Sep. 22, 2023, bringing the country’s oil output to 3.5 million barrels per day at the end of the summer. Source: Tasnim

At the same time, the current account surplus of Russia decreased more than 6.5-fold in January-July 2023 to $25.2 bln MOSCOW, August 9. /TASS/. The Russian foreign trade surplus fell by over 3.1-fold in January-July 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 and amounted to $64.4 bln, follows from a preliminary estimate of the Bank of Russia. At the same time, the current account surplus of Russia decreased more than 6.5-fold in January-July 2023 to $25.2 bln. “A 68.4% decrease in the positive balance of trade played a decisive role in the indicator’s dynamics. According to the initial assessment…