Chief Executive of Isfahan Oil Refining Company (EORC) Morteza Ebrahimi on Mon. said that plans are underway to increase Euro-5 diesel production volume to 20 million liters.

With the commissioning of Diesel Treatment Unit and installing new equipment before the termination of the current year [to end March 20, 2021], 22 million liters of diesel will be produced in the refinery according to Euro-5 standard, he said.

Of total 22 million liters of diesel currently produced in the refinery, 2 million liters is produced according to the Euro standard.

Presently, 12 million liters of gasoline is daily produced in the refinery, observing Euro-5 standard rules and regulations, Ebrahimi stressed.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ebrahimi pointed to the commitments of his company in tandem with the social responsibilities and added, “Esfahan Oil Refining Company has assisted Municipality of Isfahan and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences financially in the fight against coronavirus.”

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Iran’s Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour made the announcement on Monday that 70,933 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the disease in the country.

Noting that after 36 days, the number of people getting infected daily now stands at less than 1,000.

He added that in the past 24 hours, 991 new cases of coronavirus were reported, increasing the total number of infections in Iran to 91,472.

Some 96 coronavirus patients lost their lives in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 5,806, he added.

There were 3,011 people in intensive care, Jahanpour said, adding, of those infected, 70,933 have recovered.

So far, 432,329 tests have been taken across the country to detect infected cases, said the Health Ministry spokesman.

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Tehran Mayor Pirouz Hanachi in an online video conference with Muscat and Istanbul counterparts reiterated that the only way for countering coronavirus pandemic is the international consensus.

“No vaccine has indeed been developed for #Corona yet, but l’m sure that there’s only one way to deal with global crises: international interaction,” Hanachi wrote on his Twitter account.

“I talked to Hamdoon Al Harthi and @imamoglu_int today, distinguished mayors of Muscat and Istanbul. We’ll be always together,” he added.

The head of Iran’s Health Ministry’s Public Relations Office said earlier on Tuesday that a total of 84,802 have been infected with COVID-19 in Iran, from whom 5,297 have lost their lives to the virus.

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Director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Exploration Department, Saleh Hendi, says the company has it on the agenda to drill eight new exploratory wells in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021).

As ILNA reported, six of the mentioned wells are going to be drilled in the onshore exploration sites while the other two will be offshore.

“The drilling operations for yet another five exploratory wells which were started in the previous calendar year (ended on March 19) will also continue in the current year,” Hendi said.

Explaining about the two offshore wells, the official noted that one of these wells is located in Siri region, which is being drilled independently by the Exploration Department, and the other in the Yalda field for which the drilling operations started this week in collaboration with Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC).

According to the official, the Exploration Department has identified and prioritized all of the country’s sedimentary basins, and each of these basins is carefully studied and modeled with new methods.

Last year, a total of 18,000 meters of exploratory wells were dug through 60 rigs, meaning that an average of five drilling rigs were active each month, he noted.

Earlier in March, Mohammadreza Hor, the deputy director for technical affairs at NIOC’s Exploration Directorate, announced that the mentioned directorate had seven active drilling rigs in the said month and according to the development plans the number of the rigs was planned to increase to eight in the coming months.

He had also announced the completion of drilling operations of three wells in Forouzan, Mansouri and Deng fields after conducting preliminary tests in February, saying: “Currently, operation trials are underway for Arman exploration well in the region.”

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During the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic, Iran reported its first confirmed cases of Covid-19 infections on 19 February 2020 in Qom.
The virus may have been brought to the country by a businessman from Qom who had traveled to China.
In response to the coronavirus the Iran’s government cancelled public events and Friday prayers; closed schools, universities, shopping centers, bazaars, and holy shrines; and banned festival celebrations.

Iran coronavirus fatalities drop to double figures for first time in month

Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki says the number of fatalities from the novel coronavirus pandemic has dropped to double figures for the first time in one month.

Speaking to the Iranian people on Instagram live on Tuesday 14 April 2020, Namaki hailed the country’s “proper” fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that 98 deaths from the disease were registered in the past 24 hours.

“We are implementing smart distancing and have announced protocols for it. We want to say that we are currently at a more appropriate situation,” he said.

Namaki, however, warned that the country will face new challenges if health protocols and smart distancing are not observed properly.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the new deaths brought the total number of fatalities to 4,683 since the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran in late February.

Jahanpour added 1,574 new infections had been recorded over the past 24 hours, taking the overall number of confirmed cases to 74,877.

He noted that 48,129 of hospitalized patients had recovered and been discharged, and that 3,691 people are in critical conditions.

Iran’s successful response to the virus comes despite the illegal US sanctions, which are hampering the country’s efforts to rein in the virus.

Iran has been employing strict precautionary measures since the virus surfaced in the country. It has heavily ramped up the required health services, including by increasing the number of hospital beds, and shot up the production of disinfectants and relevant sanitary items.

The Health Ministry reported Monday that new cases of coronavirus infections and deaths from the viral outbreak had been declining across most of the country’s 31 provinces.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Iran has handled the novel coronavirus outbreak better than Europe and the United States, assuring that the country’s stocks of basic commodities are replenished better than ever, unlike the scenario unfolding in the US and many other Western states.

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Despite a series of unjust US sanctions, Iran managed to push up its copper exports to one billion dollars in the past calendar year (ending March 19, 2020), doubled in comparison with the same period in preceding year.

Iran’s largest metals and mining holding, said on Sunday that the value of exports for main copper products reached more than $1 billion over the past year, a senior official at IMIDRO was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Mohammad Aqajanlou said that total sales of the National Iranian Copper Industry Company (NICICO) topped 220 trillion rials, nearly $1.5 billion, a milestone in the 48-year-history of the company.

Aqajanlou added that total turnover for the Iranian copper industry exceeded $4.5 billion over the past year and the NICICO posted a return on investment of 143 percent.

He said another historic achievement for the copper smelters in Iran was to reach a total output of 1.18 million metric tons of concentrate last year while production for copper cathode reached an all-time high of 250,130 tons.

He said that copper cathode accounted for more than two thirds of total domestic consumption for purified copper which was over 160,000 tons over the past year.

That means that copper concentrate, a relatively raw from of the metal, accounted for a bulk of Iran’s exports, an issue which has faced criticism with many believing the NICICO should create more capacity for using copper concentrate inside Iran rather than shipping it in large quantities to countries like China.

Aqajanlou rejected the criticism and said the current supply and demand situation in the Iranian copper industry makes exports of concentrates more preferable.

Some experts also believe that rising exports for raw copper at a time of increased American bans on Iran’s trade of lucrative metals could also help the government access new hard currency resources.

In early January 2020, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Iran on Friday, including penalties on the Islamic Republic’s metals and some senior government officials. Following Tehran’s retaliation for the assassination of Iranian Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the new measures at a press conference at the White House .

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi lambasted Washington for the new sanctions, saying, “Unfortunately, the Americans have adopted unilateral, illegal and fruitless behaviors and are stressing to repeat them.”

“Such efforts will be to no avail,” Mousavi said, adding, “The American regime will finally be forced to accept its failure.”

He said the new sanctions are a clear violation of UN Resolution 2231 and have targeted the industries that are directly related to the normal life of millions of Iranians.

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A major Iranian businessman said exports of goods and services to Iraq were down year-on-year in February at $11 billion.

Yahya Al Es’haq, who leads the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, added exports to Iraq had been affected by the spread of the new coronavirus in Iran, noting, however, that trade between the two countries will grow despite current problems, Press TV reported.

He said total exports to Iraq, which include energy and services, had reached a record high of $13 billion in March 2019.

He said Iran aims to meet a target of $20 billion in exports to Iraq in a matter of few years, adding that Iranian businesses are expected to sell between $13 billion to $14 billion worth of products and services to Iraq in the current Iranian calendar year ending in March 2021.

The businessman admitted that political instability in Iraq was another reason for a slight decline in imports of Iranian products and services over the past year.

“We see these restrictions as temporary because all issues will be resolved,” said Al Es’haq, adding that the Iraqi market is of vital importance to Iran’s foreign trade.

Iran has sought to offset the impacts of the American sanctions on its sale of oil through a series of measures to boost foreign trade, especially with neighboring countries.

Iraq is second to China on Iran’s list of top destinations for exports. The Arab country’s main import items from Iran include food, natural gas, electricity and construction materials.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says friendly countries should exert pressure on the United States to lift its “cruel and one-sided” sanctions against Tehran at the current juncture that the Islamic Republic is diligently fighting the deadly new coronavirus pandemic.

In a phone call with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on Monday, the Iranian president emphasized that it is more difficult for Iran in comparison with other countries to battle the coronavirus when it is under the US sanctions.

“The US administration has not only violated international regulations by imposing illegal sanctions on Iran, but is also breaching health regulations ratified by the World Health Organization in 2005 through its measures under the current circumstances,” Rouhani said.

The Iranian president once again expressed the country’s readiness to return to full compliance with its commitments under the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it clinched with major world powers in 2015 only if all sanctions against the country are removed.

“The removal of sanctions and fulfillment of its commitments by Europe are a necessity, which has become more significant at the current specific situation,” the Iranian president pointed out.

The United States reinstated its sanctions against Iran in May 2018 after leaving a United Nations-endorsed nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic and five other major powers — the UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany.

Since then, Washington has corded other countries to follow suit and mount pressure on Iran or face punishment.
Former world officials: US sanctions compromising Iran healthcare system amid pandemic

The United States has refused to lift sanctions on Iran and even tightened them several times in recent weeks, making it almost impossible for the Islamic Republic to access life-saving medications and medical equipment necessary in the fight against the deadly new coronavirus pandemic.

Iran says the unilateral US sanctions have seriously hampered its fight against the pandemic.

Presenting the latest update on Monday, Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour reported 2,274 new infections and 136 more deaths from the virus over the past 24 hours.

In total, 60,500 Iranians have tested positive for COVID-19 while 3,739 have died, he pointed out, adding that 24,236 patients have fully recovered so far.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president welcomed an initiative by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to declare a global ceasefire amid the coronavirus pandemic, expressing hope that it would also include the economic war on Iran.

The UN chief on Friday renewed his call for a global ceasefire, urging all parties in conflict to lay down arms and allow war-torn nations to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

“The worst is yet to come,” Guterres said, referring to countries beset with fighting like Syria, Libya, and Yemen, adding, “The COVID-19 storm is now coming to all these theaters of conflict.”

Rouhani also described as “positive but insufficient” the initial steps taken to implement INSTEX, a trade mechanism set up by Britain, France and Germany in 2019 to protect companies doing business with Iran from Washington’s sanctions. He emphasized that the mechanism should not be limited only to medical equipment and food, but must be also implemented in a way that would enable Iran to “use it to meet all our country’s requirements.”

The three European signatories to the JCPOA unveiled the long-awaited direct non-dollar payment mechanism meant to safeguard their trade ties with Tehran following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal and in the face of the “toughest ever” sanctions imposed by the United States against the Islamic Republic./ Press TV

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The value of trade between Iran and the members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) reached $1.489 billion in the five-month period after the implementation of the preferential trade agreement on October 27, 2019, IRNA reported.

According to the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Ruhollah Latifi, 67 percent of the mentioned figure has been the share of Iran’s imports and 33 percent was gained from exports.

The official put the weight of the exports to the EAEU countries at 1.15 million tons with a value of $489.9 million, while the imports from the zone were 2.95 million tons at the value of $999.3 million.

He further noted that the preferential exports of Iran to the EAEU zone have been 123,960 tons with a value of nearly $136 million, while the preferential imports stood at 2.38 million tons with a value of nearly $750 million.

Iran’s biggest export destination among the EAEU countries has been Russia which accounted for about 50 percent of the total trade with the region.

Armenia and Kazakhstan occupied the second and third places with 24.6 percent and 16 percent shares, he said.

The biggest EAEU exporter to Iran has also been Russia, accounting for 71.4 percent of EAEU export to Iran followed by Kazakhstan and Belarus, according to the official.

Iran’s exports to the EAEU members were mainly fresh apples, fresh and dried pistachios, liquefied natural gas, fresh kiwis, cucumbers and fermented cucumbers; and the main preferential-tariff goods exported to the zone has been kiwis, fresh pistachio, dried grapes, lettuce, cauliflower, and broccoli.

The main imported items from the EAEU zone have been barley, livestock corns, sunflower seed oil, meat, and newsprint.

After several years of negotiations, Iran and Eurasian Economic Union finally reached a free trade agreement in 2018 based on which about 862 commodity items are subject to preferential tariffs.

The interim agreement enabling the formation of a free trade area between Iran and the EAEU was signed on May 17, 2018, and officially came into force on October 27, 2019.

Iran is a very important market in the region and the development of ties with this country is of high significance for the EAEU members (Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan).

The free trade agreement between Iran and this union has laid the ground for the expansion of trade ties between the two sides.

EF/MA

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Iranian production units have produced over 15 million face masks since the beginning of the coronavirus ‎outbreak in the country, said the deputy industry, mine and trade minister. ‎

Hossein Modarres Khiabani added the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade has placed on its agenda as two ‎top priorities making greater use of domestic capacities and facilitating imports of items needed by the ‎country’s health and treatment network, in the light of the emphasis put by Leader of the Islamic ‎Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on boosting domestic production and the policies adopted by the Iranian ‎government to this end, IRNA reported. ‎

He said by activating domestic production units, the ministry has helped produce 15.26 million face masks ‎over the past few weeks. ‎

The deputy minister added the figure pertains to the production of N95 and three-layer face masks, of ‎which 14.88 million have been distributed in the country and the rest will soon be handed over to the ‎distribution companies affiliated to the Food and Drug Administration of Iran. ‎

According to statistics and based on the directive issued by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, production ‎of hygiene products in Iran witnessed a significant increase concurrent with the start of the outbreak in the ‎country, he said, noting that in this period, Iran’s production of antiseptics has grown eight-fold. ‎

Modarres Khiabani added in the same duration, over six million liters of ethanol have been produced in ‎Iran. ‎

‎“In view of the amount of alcohol stored in the country, close to 13.4 million liters of the product have ‎been supplied to the domestic health and treatment network in this period.”‎

He said during March 3-27, Iran imported 16.15 million N95 and three-layer face masks, 540,000 protective ‎gowns and 1,280 liters of ethanol despite US sanctionson the country. ‎

Modarres Khiabani noted that major companies affiliated to the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade ‎allocated $32.38 million to the purchase of nine million three-layer face masks and 2.3 million N95 masks ‎and donated the items to the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting Coronavirus. ‎

In addition, the ministry has made available €6.6 million through barter for importing hygiene products, he ‎said. ‎

The coronavirus, which causes a respiratory disease, emerged in the central Chinese city of ‎Wuhan in ‎Hubei Province late last year and is currently affecting a large number of countries ‎and territories across ‎the globe. It has infected and killed people in a large number of the ‎countries. ‎

On Friday, Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour ‎said the coronavirus ‎infections in the ‎country have reached 53,183, and death toll stands at 3,294. ‎

He noted that 2,715 new cases have been identified in the past 24 years, putting the number of ‎deaths in ‎the same time span at 134. ‎

Jahanpour regretted that of the total number of the infected, 4,035 patients are in critical ‎condition. ‎

He said 17,935 patients have recovered. ‎

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