Russia‘s aviation giant Sukhoi signed a preliminary agreement with Iran to sell Superjet 100 planes.

According to Interfax news agency, the agreement, which was signed with an unnamed Iranian company, enables both sides to study the projected sales.

The news agency quoted an unnamed Russia aviation official as confirming the development. The official added, however, that the agreement was still not binding.

Russia’s aviation giant Sukhoi signed a preliminary agreement with Iran to sell Superjet 100 planes.

Head of Iran’s Aseman Airlines Hossein Alaei had earlier said his company was negotiating with Sukhoi as well as several other leading global plane makers to renovate its fleet.

He added that Sukhoi had conducted trial flights of Superjet 100 last week in Tehran, which, he said, was carried out at the invitation of Aseman Airlines.

Last Sunday, an Iranian aviation official said that the country’s airlines were planning to open plane purchase talks with Sukhoi.

Maqsoud Asadi-Samani from Iran‘s Aviation Companies Association was quoted as saying that Iranian airlines were specifically considering the company’s Superjet 100 (SSJ100) aircraft.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a modern fly-by-wire twin-engine regional jet with up to 108 passenger seats. With development initiated in 2000, the airliner was designed and spearheaded by Sukhoi — a division of the Russian civil aerospace company (UAC) — in cooperation with several foreign partners, according to Mehr News Agency.

Designed to compete internationally with its An-148, Embraer E-Jet and Bombardier CSeries counterparts, the Superjet 100 claims substantially lower operating costs

Share your view!

Iran signed preliminary agreements with Russia’s Gazprom on Tuesday to develop two major oilfields in the latest of a flurry of deals with foreign firms, local media reported.

The deals open the way for Gazprom to carry out studies at the Cheshmekosh and Changouleh fields near the border with Iraq, according to the Shana news agency, which is linked to the Oil Ministry, AFP reported.

That adds to five other oilfields that have already been earmarked for Russian firms Lukoil, Tatneft and Zarubezhneft.

The latest deal was signed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who is visiting Tehran with a 590-strong business delegation.

Russia and Iran are keen to deepen their economic relationship.

Iran has announced a slew of energy deals with foreign firms in recent weeks, despite uncertainty around the incoming US administration of Donald Trump, who has vowed to take a more confrontational stance toward Tehran.

Last week, Anglo-Dutch giant Shell signed an initial accord to explore two of Iran’s largest oilfields at South Azadegan and Yadavaran, as well as the Kish gas field.

That followed an initial deal with France’s Total last month to develop part of the South Pars gas field – a project worth an estimated $4.8 billion.

But doubts persist over how these deals will be financed so long as Iran remains frozen out of the international finance system by continuing US sanctions.

The government has announced that Iran’s energy infrastructure urgently needs an infusion of foreign cash, technology and know-how.

Russia Keen to Participate in Iran’s Oil, Gas Projects
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday that Moscow is keen to participate in Iran’s oil and gas projects.

He made the remarks in the Iran-Russia trade forum in Tehran.

Iran and Russia will continue cooperation in execution of development projects in the oil and gas sector, the official added.

He said that Iran and Russia will promote cooperation in construction of gas, electric and nuclear power plants.

Iran and Russia are keen to enhance all-out ties, Novak added.

He referred to removal of Islamic Republic’s sanctions and said the ground is now ready for Russia’s investment in Iran’s oil and gas projects.

The two countries enjoy good capacity for promotion of cooperation, Novak added.

He said that the volume of cooperation between the two states is increasing.

Iran and Russia enjoy longstanding cooperation in energy fields and they can work together in fields of construction of nuclear, electric and gas power plants, the minister added.

He said that central banks of Iran and Russia have taken good steps forward resolution of banking problems.

Russia will cooperate with Iran to develop its Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and electrify its railroads, Novak added.

He said Moscow is ready to sell superjet planes to Iran.

National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) and Russian Gazprom Neft on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation.

Managing Director of the NIGC Hamid-Reza Araqi and Deputy Managing Director of Gazprom Alexander Medvedov signed the deal in the presence of Iran’s Minister of Communications Mahmoud Vaezi and Russian energy minister.

The two sides decided to form five working group with regards to the extent of the working fields. The working groups corresponded and held talks on trade of gas, R&D, production and implementation of the joint projects and gas application.

In the meeting, the projects of investment in Iran were outlined and it was announced that Iran is ready to absorb more than 62 billion dollars investment in the NIGC projects in the coming years.

With lapse of almost one year since the first working session, the two sides signed the MoU based on outcome of their expert sessions.

Share your view!

Tehran will host a 590-member economic delegation from Russia which is to fly to Iran on Sunday.

The visit will be a major step towards implementing the decisions taken by the presidents of the two countries to expand bilateral ties, IRNA reported.

The delegation is headed by Russia‘s Minister of Energy Alexander Novak.

The 13th Iran-Russia Joint Economic Commission is also to meet in the Iranian capital during the Russian delegation’s visit.

Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and the visiting Russian minister are to co-chair the Tehran meeting which is considered as an unprecedented measure towards fostering bilateral relations.

The Russian delegation is scheduled to ink several agreements and hold talks with Iranian officials.

Coincident with the Joint Economic Commission meeting in Tehran, Iran-Russia Energy Commission will hold its first session to review ways to widen bilateral cooperation in that area.

Iran’s ambassador to Moscow said Tehran-Moscow cooperation is witnessing a bright future.

According to reports, Iran and Russia have planned to increase economic relations to an annual $4 billion by the end of 2017.

According to the latest figures, economic exchanges between the two countries grew by 80 percent in first half of 2016 compared to the figure for the same period last year.

Share your view!

Representative of Russian Railways said the transportation company is seeking to set up a representative office in Iran.

Head of the International Cooperation Department at JSC Russian Railways Sergei Stolyarov made the remarks during a speech delivered at the eighth meeting of the Working Group on Iran-Russia cooperation and pointed to the international project pursued by the state-owned railway monopoly Russian Railways (RZD Holding) asserting “a total of 117 subsidiaries are members of the holding which encompasses 25 per cent of total investments made in Russia.”

Stolyarov went on to add that Russian railroads are 85 thousand kilometers long 40 thousand kilometers of which are electric; “RZD covers 45% of goods turnover as well as 26% of passenger services and holds representative offices in 40 countries.”

Russian Railways attaches great importance to ports and the company seeks trade development and presence in global markets by sales and supply of parts and equipment of the infrastructure section as well as implementation of projects and provision of consultation services.

Referring to the significance of Garmsar-Incheh Borun railway, the Russian official asserted “the rail path marks Russia’s key project in Iran as in June last year, our plan to activate Russia’s North-South corridor resulted in successful transport of cargo from India to Russia via Iranian railways.”

On Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway, Stolyarov said “operation of the railroad is undoubtedly one approach to activation of north-south corridor and holds great significance to Russia.”

Share your view!

Deputy energy minister said a credit line worth five billion dollars has been allocated to Iran by Russians.

Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister Rahim Meidani touched upon details of cooperation between Iran and Russia over discovery of deep water resources in Iran saying “following the signing of a relevant agreement between the two countries, the Russian credit line has been opened recently.”

“A portion of the credit line, which has also been approved by the Iranian Parliament, will be used to launch discovery activities in deep waters of Iran with the participation of Russian companies.”

The official further noted that the discovery project is expected to be worth 250 million dollars asserting “studies have been launched to spot new resources in deep regions of Iran while geophysical studies will be done after identifying the country’s water potentials through surface geological mapping.”

Meidani underlined that the entire process for characterization studies and deep-water exploration is being carried out by local experts stressing “cooperation between Iran and Russia in the field of water exploration reservoirs returns is limited to geophysical activities.”

Deputy energy minister underscored that geophysical studies and drilling of wells in water exploration blocks will be performed with the 250-million-dollar credit line and participation of Russian companies; “studies need to be done with great caution and care since drilling of exploration wells in deep areas required a great amount of money on a yearly basis.”

“Given the Russian’s have provided the Iranian government with the $5-billion credit line, government will be in charge of repaying the resources,” he continued.

Share your view!

Iran’s Tasdid Offshore Development Company (TODC) signed the deal on Sunday which envisages the construction of the drilling rigs over a two-year period in the port city of Khorramshahr, the company’s Managing Director Ehsanollah Mousavi said, reported Press TV.

The project will be financed jointly by Russia and Iran, and put the Islamic Republic among the countries capable of building drilling rigs.

“According to the timetable, domestic share in the construction of the first drilling rig will be 58 percent. This will gradually rise during the implementation of the project as technology transfer into the country takes place,” Mousavi said.

Krasnye Barrikady officials said earlier that Iran will soon make a 15-percent down payment on the $200 million price of the first rig.

The agreement, signed by Mousavi and Krasnye Barrikady CEO Alexander Ilyichev, added a fresh momentum to Iran’s oil and gas development projects, including its massive South Pars scheme.

Iran is developing the South Pars field which the country shares with Qatar in several phases, with US-led sanctions forcing the country to rely on its own capabilities to implement the megaproject.

“When South Pars started, nobody imagined Iran could enter the field of building oil equipment including platforms, installation of offshore pipelines and constructing jackets. But today, Iran has attained these capabilities.

“With the signing of this deal today, Iran’s dream of building jack-ups has also been realized,” Mousavi said.

Share your view!

An oil official has announced that Vitol S.A. of Switzerland is likely to purchase Russian crude to be swapped through Iran’s largest oil terminal in the Caspian Sea.

Despite the seven-year hiatus in oil swaps among Caspian Sea littoral states through Iran’s route, the process has not been resumed yet though negotiations are still underway with countries like Russia, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan Republic.

Meanwhile on Thursday, a Swiss delegation comprising representatives of Vitol S.A. visited facilities and infrastructures of Neka Oil Terminal as Iran’s largest crude terminal in the Caspian Sea.

The visit aimed to resume oil swaps especially in view of the fact that the Swiss firm held cooperation with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) before the halt in crude swaps.

BP (British Petroleum) is yet another company looking forward to resumption of oil swaps between Caspian Sea stated and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Hamidreza Shahdoust, a local Iranian Oil Terminals Company (IOTC) official in the city of northern city of Neka, confirmed the visit of Vitol delegation to Neka Oil Terminal adding “experts at the oil trader giant Vitol made a visit to the Iranian terminal aiming to resume oil swaps.”

The official estimated that oil swaps will be resumed from Neka terminal within the next 7 to 14 days as all facilities at the Iranian terminal are prepared for the mission.

“Neka Oil Terminal enjoys a total storage capacity of 120 thousand barrels per day in its 12 tanks,” underlined Shahdoust maintaining “moreover, the project to increase oil swap capacity to 2.5 million barrels per day has kicked off.”

Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, while pointing to Iran’s readiness for oil swap with Russia, had earlier noted “the Russian side has also voiced willingness for swapping a portion of its oil production through Iran’s route and relevant negotiations are underway.”

“The capacity exists for a maximum swap of 150 thousand oil barrels per day,” underlined Zanganeh stressing “the process would boost Iran’s market share since the replacement is delivered to customers in the Persian Gulf.”

Share your view!

The Secretary of Iran’s Nanotechnology Development Headquarters Saeed Sarkar on Sunday announced the production of 1,200 items of nano products in 18 fields of industry.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the 13th edition of Iran Nano Exhibition on Sunday and stated that the products showcased at the exhibition is to familiarize different sectors of the country with the domestic capabilities and potentials.

It is predicted that trade and economic delegations from 10 countries will take part in this edition of the exhibition with the aim of getting familiar with the salient technological achievements in the field of nano, Sarkar added.

He pointed to the countries interested in participating in this exhibition and added that these business delegations from the countries including Brunei, India, Mexico, Russia and Indonesia which have shown vehement interest to take part in the exhibition.

It is hoped that the trade and business delegations will reach an agreement with the Iranian companies in order to spur country’s exports, he emphasized.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Secretary pointed to Iran’s rank in the production of science and technology in the region and the world and added that Iran is ranked first among the regional and Islamic countries in the field of nano-science production.

Iran also is ranked 4th in the world after China, India and the United States, he continued.

Currently, over 1,200 nano-based products have been produced in 18 fields of industry which have had a significant impact on updating and empowering industries, he added.

The 13th edition of Iran Nano Exhibition opened in the presence of some Iranian officials including Iranian agriculture minister Javad Sadatinejad in Tehran International Fairground in the north of the capital on Saturday.

Share your view!

Iran’s trade with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states in the spring saw 29 percent increase, said a senior official in Iran’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance.

Majid Karimi, director-general of financial and commercial markets study office at the ministry, told IRNA on Saturday that Iran’s non-oil trade with 11 member states of the SCO reach 9.85 billion dollars in spring.

He said that Iran’s non-oil exports to those countries amounted to 5.5 billion dollars with 20 percent increase compared to the same period last year and its imports accounted to 4.35 billion dollars up by 41 percent.

China, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, and Uzbekistan topped Iran’s list of exports destinations among the SCO members this spring, according to Karimi.

He highlighted the presence of China and Russia in the SCO as the two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and India as an emerging economy adds to the significance of Iran’s accession to the regional organization.

Karimi said that the SCO can remove the dollar and euro from transactions between member states and plan for a single currency in the future, noting that Iran has offered using insurances and financial channels.

The SCO can also adopt proper approaches on sustainable collaborations on energy, as two world’s biggest energy producers (Russia and Iran) and two world’s biggest energy consumers (China and India) are members of the organization.

Share your view!

Iranian satellite “Khayyam” launched by Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan Baikonur Cosmodrome in cooperation with Russia. The Khayyam satellite whose ownership is for Iranian Space Agency is proper for making smart different parts of the country.

The home-made Iranian satellite is also aimed at improving agricultural productivity, monitoring water resources and management of natural disasters, among other things.

The Iran develops domestic capabilities and will continue such a cooperation in order to meet its needs and accelerate the process of development in space technology.

Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology Issa Zarepour, who has traveled to Kazakhstan for launch of Khayyam, said through a video message that Iranian Space Agency will continue scientific and technological cooperation with countries which are pioneers in the space industry.

Khayyam satellite was successfully placed in the 500 km orbit of the earth

“Alireza Naimi”, Director General of Space Operation and Space Operations of the Iran Space Organization, announced in an interview: During the process carried out by the satellite carrier, after one hour it was separated from the satellite carrier and placed in a circular orbit 500 km from the earth’s surface. Half an hour later, we received the first telemetry data.

He added: “Receiving the first signals was very happy and satisfying for us, and it can be said that the Khayyam satellite is in a very good condition.”

Naimi said: The satellite is not yet in a condition where we can say that it has entered the practical stage. To achieve this goal, we need about four months to be able to provide the images received from this satellite to the people. (read here)

Khayyam’s sensing satellite has high imaging accuracy and transmits images with a resolution of one meter to the ground.

This satellite is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Guidance and control will be received from ground stations in Iran, and the information and images sent will also be received at these stations.

Omar Khayyam: Persian poet and astronomer

Omar Khayyam, Arabic in full Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nīsābūrī al-Khayyāmī, (born May 18, 1048, Neyshābūr [also spelled Nīshāpūr], Khorāsān [now Iran]—died December 4, 1131, Neyshābūr), Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet, renowned in his own country and time for his scientific achievements but chiefly known to English-speaking readers through the translation of a collection of his robāʿīyāt (“quatrains”) in The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1859), by the English writer Edward FitzGerald.

His name Khayyam (“Tentmaker”) may have been derived from his father’s trade. He received a good education in the sciences and philosophy in his native Neyshābūr before traveling to Samarkand (now in Uzbekistan), where he completed the algebra treatise, Risālah fiʾl-barāhīn ʿalā masāʾil al-jabr waʾl-muqābalah (“Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra”), on which his mathematical reputation principally rests. In this treatise he gave a systematic discussion of the solution of cubic equations by means of intersecting conic sections. Perhaps it was in the context of this work that he discovered how to extend Abu al-Wafā’s results on the extraction of cube and fourth roots to the extraction of nth roots of numbers for arbitrary whole numbers n.

He made such a name for himself that the Seljuq sultan Malik-Shāh invited him to Eṣfahān to undertake the astronomical observations necessary for the reform of the calendar. (See The Western calendar and calendar reforms.) To accomplish this an observatory was built there, and a new calendar was produced, known as the Jalālī calendar. Based on making 8 of every 33 years leap years, it was more accurate than the present Gregorian calendar, and it was adopted in 1075 by Malik-Shāh. In Eṣfahān he also produced fundamental critiques of Euclid’s theory of parallels as well as his theory of proportion. In connection with the former his ideas eventually made their way to Europe, where they influenced the English mathematician John Wallis (1616–1703); in connection with the latter he argued for the important idea of enlarging the notion of number to include ratios of magnitudes (and hence such irrational numbers as Square root of√2 and π).

His years in Eṣfahān were very productive ones, but after the death of his patron in 1092 the sultan’s widow turned against him, and soon thereafter Omar went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He then returned to Neyshābūr where he taught and served the court as an astrologer. Philosophy, jurisprudence, history, mathematics, medicine, and astronomy are among the subjects mastered by this brilliant man.

Omar’s fame in the West rests upon the collection of robāʿīyāt, or “quatrains,” attributed to him. (A quatrain is a piece of verse complete in four lines, usually rhyming aaaa or aaba; it is close in style and spirit to the epigram.) Omar’s poems had attracted comparatively little attention until they inspired FitzGerald to write his celebrated The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, containing such now-famous phrases as “A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou,” “Take the Cash, and let the Credit go,” and “The Flower that once has blown forever dies.” These quatrains have been translated into almost every major language and are largely responsible for colouring European ideas about Persian poetry. Some scholars have doubted that Omar wrote poetry. His contemporaries took no notice of his verse, and not until two centuries after his death did a few quatrains appear under his name. Even then, the verses were mostly used as quotations against particular views ostensibly held by Omar, leading some scholars to suspect that they may have been invented and attributed to Omar because of his scholarly reputation.

Each of Omar’s quatrains forms a complete poem in itself. It was FitzGerald who conceived the idea of combining a series of these robāʿīyāt into a continuous elegy that had an intellectual unity and consistency. FitzGerald’s ingenious and felicitous paraphrasing gave his translations a memorable verve and succinctness. They are, however, extremely free translations, and more recently several more faithful renderings of the quatrains have been published.

The verses translated by FitzGerald and others reveal a man of deep thought, troubled by the questions of the nature of reality and the eternal, the impermanence and uncertainty of life, and man’s relationship to God. The writer doubts the existence of divine providence and the afterlife, derides religious certainty, and feels keenly man’s frailty and ignorance. Finding no acceptable answers to his perplexities, he chooses to put his faith instead in a joyful appreciation of the fleeting and sensuous beauties of the material world. The idyllic nature of the modest pleasures he celebrates, however, cannot dispel his honest and straightforward brooding over fundamental metaphysical questions. This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Share your view!