Iran says its trade surplus exceeded $3.4 billion over a period of four months starting March 21, 2016 in what is seen as the country’s best post-sanctions trade performance.

Figures released by the Customs Administration of Iran show that the country’s non-oil exports over the period stood at $16.3 billion – a figure that was higher than the corresponding period last year by 21.11 percent.

It is believed that a new wave of exports of petrochemical products spurred by the removal of sanctions against Iran in January has been instrumental in the improvement of Iran’s trade activities.

Iran’s exports of petrochemical products over the period had increased by 41.5 percent in the overall basket of non-oil products, IRNA reported.

The total value of petrochemicals exported stood at $6.7 billion and the total value of other non-oil products stood at above $6.6 billion, it added.

In January, a series of economic sanctions that had been imposed against Iran were removed after a deal that the country had last year reached with the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – came into effect.

The sanctions restricted banking transactions with the country among other issues.

Iran has been persistently urging European countries to take the required measures to encourage their banks to facilitate transactions with Tehran now that the sanctions have been removed.

However, the country’s plea appears to have fallen on deaf ears so far.

Analysts have already emphasized that the banks remain wary of the impacts of the remaining American sanctions against Iran, specifically those that address banking transactions with the country.

Fariborz Karimaei, the deputy head of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation of Iran, was quoted by the media in mid-August as saying that Iran’s petrochemical exports to Europe are facing problems as a result of sanctions-related banking issues that have not been fully settled.

Karimaei emphasized that the European banks are still failing to cooperate with the Iranian exporters of petrochemical products even eight months after the removal of the sanctions.

 

The New York Times, By ELAINE GLUSAC FEB. 8, 2016- Tourism in Iran is already popular with Europeans. Iranian officials told The Associated Press last fall that about five million foreign travelers visited Iran in 2014, and that the country aims to attract 20 million tourists, spending $30 billion, by 2025.

Among growth signs, Air France recently announced that it plans to start three flights weekly between Paris and Tehran beginning in April. Already Iran is a one-stop destination from New York via Istanbul, Dubai or Doha on Turkish Airlines, Emirates or Qatar Airways.

Iran hosts some of the world’s oldest cultural monuments, including 19 Unesco World Heritage Sites, and its varied terrain ranges from desert locales to ski resorts.

“It’s just extraordinarily beautiful, and the sites are as magnificent as any you can find in the world,” said William O. Beeman, a professor and chairman of the anthropology department at the University of Minnesota and an expert in Iran. “Isfahan is comparable to Machu Picchu or Angkor Wat. These are major centers of civilization that have been lovingly restored.”

President Rouhani officially welcomed the Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi in Sa’dabad Cultural Complex in Tehran on Tuesday 12 April 2016. Mr. Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister of Italy and his entourage met with Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Revolution, Tuesday afternoon. Chairman of Expediency Council of Iran Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Tuesday met with visiting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Tehran.

President Rouhani described the signing of 36 cooperation documents between Iran and Italy in the recent months as the illustrator of the firm resolve of the two countries for developing ties and cooperation and said: “Italian Prime Minister’s trip to Tehran is a significant start for developing Tehran-Rome ties in different economic, scientific, technological and tourism fields, as well as consultation and coordination in important regional and international issues”.

 

 

Tehran, Rome to restore trade to pre-sanctions level

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would like to see its trade ties with Italy restored to the level that existed before the Islamic Republic came under nuclear-related sanctions.

President Rouhani made the remarks at a joint press conference with visiting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Tehran on Tuesday, Press TV reported.

“Italy was Iran’s biggest trade partner in the European Union prior to the sanctions, and today we want the country to perform its previous role,” the president said.

The EU lifted its sanctions against Iran under a nuclear agreement reached between Tehran and the P5+1. The deal was reached last July and went into force in January this year.

Renzi arrived early Tuesday at the head of a 250-strong political and economic delegation, making him the first Italian official in such capacity to travel to the Islamic Republic since 2001.

Italian foreign minister, minister of infrastructures and transports, minister of economic development, and minister of agriculture, food and forestry policies as well as businessmen and personalities from Italy’s public and private sectors are accompanying Renzi in the visit.

Seven documents for cooperation were signed by the two sides earlier in the day.

President Rouhani visited Italy in January for two days, during which the two countries signed deals worth up to 17 billion euros (18.42 billion dollars).

In his Tuesday remarks, Rouhani said his visit to Italy and Renzi’s travel to Iran “both carry a clear message of the two governments’ resolve to expand relations in the areas of economy, science, and culture.”

The Italian premier has described his visit to Iran as a political “investment,” saying friendship with Tehran could contribute to the fight against Daesh, which has staged deadly attacks across Europe.

Italy was one of Iran’s leading economic and trade partners before sanctions when annual exchanges amounted to 7 billion euros compared with $1.6 billion euros now.

European governments have scrambled to renew business ties with Iran since the EU, the US, China, and Russia reached the nuclear agreement with Tehran in July last year.

President Hassan Rouhani and Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on Monday held talks in the capital city of Tehran to confer on the issues of mutual interests.

The President said that the United States, by withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and violating UN Resolution 2231 with the aim of overthrowing the Islamic Republic, has imposed cruel and unjust sanctions against the Iranian people for the past two and a half years, adding, “History has shown that the Iranian people will not give in to the bullying and coercion of a power”.

Speaking on Monday in a meeting with the Swiss Foreign Minister, Hassan Rouhani said that the relations between countries should be based on international regulations and UN Security Council resolutions, adding, “The United States has been seeking to eliminate the Islamic Republic and interfere in Iran’s internal affairsfor many years, and Mr Trump has made a miscalculation by thinking that he could overthrow the Islamic Republic within three months by putting pressure on Iran and waging an economic war”.

Emphasising that we have been -and will be- committed to international rules and multilateral agreements, Rouhani said, “Any day that the United States decides to admit to its mistakes, make up for its illegal actions and return to Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA, the path is clear for them”.

The President emphasised, “Today, it is clear to the Americans that they have made a mistake and will not achieve their goal through pressure and sanctions”.

The President described US sanctions and economic war against the Islamic Republic, the assassination of a high-ranking Iranian military official in another country, as well as the violation of Iranian airspace as clear examples of economic terrorism, terrorist operations and air terrorism by the country, adding, “We expect all friendly and free countries in the world not to remain silent in the face of terrorism and the illegal actions committed by the United States over the years”.

Dr Rouhani stated that we expected the European countries to take decisive and explicit action against the US economic terrorism, which has even prevented the entry of drugs into Iran during the outbreak of coronavirus, calling for a more active part on Switzerland’s financial channel and its more effective and useful role.

In another part of his speech, the President mentioned Switzerland as an important country in Europe, and referring to the good and friendly relations between the two countries over the past years, emphasised the development of Tehran-Bern relations in various fields of science, health, agriculture, environment, etc.

Dr Rouhani also referred to the outbreak of the global coronavirus in many countries around the world, and expressed hope that the two countries would share their experiences in the fight against COVID-19 and develop their cooperation in this regard.

Referring to the 100th anniversary of the establishment of political and diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis described the relations between Iran and Switzerland very good and sincere, and stressed the development and deepening of these relations in all fields.

“All countries around the world need to know that there is a strong legal system in the world so that they can live in security; therefore, it is important that everyone, especially powerful countries, fully comply with international rules and regulations,” said the Swiss foreign minister.

We are aware of the problems caused by the US sanctions on the Iranian people, said Foreign Minister Cassis, adding, “The Swiss financial channel has been designed and launched to solve these problems and we will try increase the useful role of this channel”.

The Swiss Foreign Minister said that we are still with Iran to solve the problems and we will try to play our part, adding, “During this visit, I had very good meetings with the officials of the Islamic Republic, which can be the basis for developing and strengthening relations between the two countries in different fields”.

The photo report depicts Social Distancing in practice in all over Iran to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus aka COVID-19.

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Coronavirus deaths down 70% in Iran

Iran‘s Health Ministry says the country is witnessing a “declining trend” in the number of fatalities and cases of new coronavirus infections as a result of bilateral cooperation between the people and the government.

Iraj Harirchi, the deputy minister of health, announced in Tehran Saturday that more than 50 percent of coronavirus cases, and about 70 percent of coronavirus-related deaths have decreased across the country.

“There is a declining trend in corona disease in most provinces and this has been the result of effective actions by the people and the government,” Harirchi said.

“I would like to emphasize that at a time when smart and gradual social distancing takes place, any violation can have serious and irreparable consequences,” he added.

The deputy health minister also predicted that there would be “two to three outbreaks” over a year in most of the world’s countries before the discovery of corona vaccines and drugs, underlining that people should stick to the stay-at-home slogan and avoid unnecessary commuting.

In a meeting of senior officials in charge of the National Headquarters for Managing and Fighting the Coronavirus in Tehran on Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani expressed optimism that the chain of transmission would break “to some extent” in the country as long as people continue to follow the guidelines drawn up by the government.

“We are on the path to control the disease but if the level of warnings and awareness of the people decreases, the disease may peak,” Rouhani said. “In this situation, we have to reinstate the restrictions. Of course, we hope that people will continue to take warnings seriously and not leave home except for their livelihood.”

“The path to fighting and controlling this disease definitely cannot be traversed without the support of the people.”

Iran’s Health Ministry announced a day earlier that the country was no longer “in the red” as the daily death toll from the coronavirus had begun to slow.

Kianoush Jahanpour, the health ministry’s spokesman, said on Friday that 93 people had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll since the pandemic first emerged to 5,574.

More than 66,000 people were reported to have recovered from the infectious disease.

Jahanpour said out of 88,194 confirmed cases, 66,596 patients had been released from hospital and recovered from the illness.

“None of our provinces are in the red, but warnings remain, and the situation will not be considered normal at all,” the Health Ministry’s spokesman tweeted on Friday.
Jahanpour called on Iranians to continue to respect social distancing measures, avoid large crowds and frequently wash their hands.

Iran has been doing its utmost to contain the respiratory disease caused by COVID-19 despite the hardships caused by US sanctions.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has not only defied international calls on Washington in recent weeks to halt the draconian sanctions, but has even slapped more such restrictive measures on the Islamic Republic.

Washington re-imposed its sanctions on Iran in May 2018 after unilaterally leaving a historic nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic and other countries that has been endorsed by the UN Security Council.

Washington claims that it has exempted foodstuffs and medicine from the bans, something that Tehran entirely disputes.

According to statistics released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), major Iranian steelmakers exported 675,000 tons of steel in the first month of 2020.

They also exported 5.88 million tons of finished and semi-finished steel in the first 10 months of the current Iranian year, to January 20, a 25-percent increase year-on-year, reported Press TV.

The figures did not include exports by Iran’s small private sector mills which like other Iranian producers send the bulk of their products to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Iranian steel mills are monitoring the global market for any gap from falling Chinese exports in the wake of a coronavirus epidemic.

China is the world’s largest steel exporter, but overseas orders for Chinese steel are reportedly declining. According to S&P Global Platts, Turkey, Iran and Russia are in a race to fill the gap in the market.

Iran’s industrial metals, specifically steel, are the latest target in the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign, but officials say the sector is unfazed and keeps growing.

In December, 2019, the US government launched the latest salvo in the campaign as it warned against exports of steel-making materials to Iran.

The US Department of State cautioned that those involved in transfers or exports to Iran of graphite electrodes and needle coke, which are essential materials for Iran’s steel industry, were at risk of sanctions regardless of their nationality or location.

However, Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Rahmani put the damper on Washington’s haughty grandstanding, saying Iranian producers had obtained the technology to make graphite electrodes.

Iran is a leading producer of steel in the world, with officials saying exports continue despite the US sanctions.

The country plans to raise steel output to 55 million tons a year by 2025, of which 20 to 25 million tons would be earmarked for exports.

Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Jafar Serqini has said Iran currently has 35 million tons of steel production capacity. Iran’s steel exports will exceed 11 million tons this Iranian year.

The Iranian government has issued over 1,000 licenses for cryptocurrency mining in the country where there is potential for a crypto industry worth $8.5 billion, a report says.

Still, Iran’s stringent regulations on digital mining have forced many operators to move to more crypto friendly countries, Amir-Hossein Saeedi Naeeni, a member of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Guild Organization’s blockchain commission, said.

Digital mining, due to its rapid global expansion, generated quite a lot of interest among Iran’s IT operators who bought and deployed bitcoin extraction gear in the past two years.

But the enthusiasm was sapped by the government’s introduction of regulatory measures, Saeedi claimed.

“The laws announced by government institutions for crypto mining are very strict in comparison to other industries in the country, causing many miners to stop operating or migrate to the regional countries for investment,” he said.

Saeedi said license tariffs and electricity costs are such that make crypto mining less profitable in Iran, adding they have to be revised and made more transparent along with the regulatory measures.

He touched on the “special” situation of the country which is under the most restrictive American sanctions ever.

“The digital mining industry, beside bringing currency into the country, can facilitate trade where traders can use cryptocurrencies to import goods and bypass payment problems resulting from the banking sanctions,” he added.

Last August, the Iranian government enacted legislation that officially recognized cryptocurrency mining as an industry. The law requires miners to pay an export premium on electricity and prohibits them from mining during peak electricity-usage hours.

Other than that, cryptocurrency trading remains illegal in Iran, meaning the newly-minted coins need to be exported and yields repatriated, making them subject to taxation.

The decision to regulate digital mining came in response to illegal miners who took advantage of the country’s cheap and subsidized energy to set up farms across Iran.
Last summer, officials blamed a surge in activities related to mining of digital currencies like bitcoin for up to seven percent increase in the country’s monthly electricity consumption.

Ministry of energy officials said at the time that the country’s power grid had become unstable as a result of increased mining of cryptocurrencies.

Nevertheless, media reports said last year that Iranian government officials were considering developing a domestic digital currency to counter US sanctions.

Alireza Daliri of the Directorate for Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Presidential Office said a number of domestic knowledge-based companies were working over the project in cooperation with the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).

The head of the company contracted by the CBI to design and develop a national digital currency said then a blockchain and cryptocurrency research lab had been set up in Iran.

Blockchain is a digital ledger or database where transactions in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are recorded.

According to Iranian media reports, a state-backed national cryptocurrency backed by the local fiat unit, the rial, has already been developed but it has yet to be approved for use by the central bank.

Iran’s currency was targeted by the first round of US sanctions imposed in May 2018 after President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Under US pressures, the global banking network SWIFT has dropped Iran from its platform, making international financial settlements with the country almost impossible.

Blockchain and other digital ledgers holding cryptocurrency records process transactions without being controlled by any person or entity.

The US government has reportedly warned digital marketplaces that buy and sell bitcoin and companies that sell computers used to process bitcoin transactions to avoid providing services to Iranians.

Iran has launched a pilot project for extraction of rare earth after obtaining the technology for deep-level mining, the head of Iran’s largest holding in metals sector known as IMIDRO says.

The achievement will create significant added value for Iran, Khodadad Gharibpour said at the inauguration of the landmark project on Tuesday.

Every year, Iran imports 180 tonnes of rare earth elements which are used in a wide range of consumer products such as catalysts in cars and oil refineries, televisions, superconductors and fiber optics.

Gharibpour was thankful to Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade’s support for technology and research, saying Iran was able to obtain the know-how for extraction of these elements which require deep-level mining and are costly to process.

“The price of each kilo of these elements is between $5 and $60, the production of which can bring in a lot of hard currency,” he said.

Deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Pejman Rahimian said the launch of the pilot plan for extraction of rare earth elements was a “big event”.

The Islamic Republic, he said, has accommodated “the best facilities, exploration equipment and investment” which will be provided to those active in the field.

“Rare earth elements are of particular importance and they are also important in the nuclear industry,” he said.

Iran, Rahimian said, had found a rare earth deposit in Saghand which is already known for its uranium mine in the central province of Yazd.

“If the processing plant is set up in this mine, good resources will be provided to the country,” he said.

Strategic use

Rare earth elements are a group of mostly strategic metals which appear in low concentrations in the ground. They have lately emerged as one of the fronts in an escalating trade war between China and the United States.

“During the recent US trade war with China, one of the places where China threatened America with is the embargo on the export of rare earth elements,” Rahimian said.

The metals are used in a broad range of consumer products, from iPhones, advanced ceramics, computers, DVD players, wind turbines, televisions, lighting and glass polishing to electric car motors.

Some rare earth minerals are essential in military equipment such as jet engines, missile guidance systems, missile defense systems, satellites, as well as in lasers.

Companies such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems all make sophisticated missiles that use rare earths metals in their guidance systems, and sensors.

Iran has already been trying its hand in the production of titanium, joining an elite club of countries which produce the strategic metal used in a range of high-tech manufacturing from military aircraft to artificial limbs.
Iran to become strategic metal producer

Mining in depths of 3,000 meters

Iran is tapping its mines and metals deposits like never before as it feels the pressure of the American sanctions that have hampered its access to normal oil revenues.

That comes as the United States has specifically targeted Iran’s trade and production of metals with a series of bans since May 2018.

Gharibpour said Iran currently has in place deep-level mining on its agenda. IMIDRO subsidiary Iran Minerals Production and Supply Company (IMPASCO) is now exploring minerals in depths of up to 3,000 meters in central Iran, he said.

“The methodology for deep-level exploration is being developed in the country,” said the official who also cited treatment of large mineral tailings as another key focus of Iran’s mining operations.

The country possesses 7% of the world’s total mineral reserves worth about $700 billion but officials say this figure could rise to $1.4 trillion with new discoveries.

After the lifting of sanctions in 2016, officials unveiled plans for $29 billion of mining investment for a number of projects ranging from steel to aluminum, copper, gold, rare earth elements and coal.

Several multi-billion mining projects with the participation of Italian, French and Chinese companies were in the pipeline. Italy’s Danieli had signed a joint venture and agreed orders worth about 5.7 billion euros during President Hassan Rouhani’s tour of Europe in January 2016.

However, unilateral US sanctions upended many of them as European companies turned their back on their governments which had pledged to safeguard trade connections with Iran.

Officials say while the sanctions have slowed the ambitious plans, they have not taken the wind out of Iran’s sails in mining.

The country’s precious metals sector has emerged as the key frontline in the battle, with the Trump administration firing the latest shot early this month.

Washington imposed new sanctions on the sector, targeting the construction, manufacturing, textiles, mining, aluminum, copper, iron and steel industries, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

A senior official dismissed them out of hand, however, saying Iran was on course to export 10 million tonnes of steel in the year to March 21, 2020.

The country is a leading producer of steel in the world with 35 million tonnes of production capacity. It plans to raise this figure to 55 million tonnes a year by 2025, of which 20 to 25 million tonnes would be earmarked for export.

China is planning to invest $280 billion in Iran’s oil and gas industry, according to Petroleum Economist magazine.

The energy affairs magazine quoted a senior source who was linked to the Iranian Oil Ministry, as stating that this enormous investment represents a key point in a new agreement, worth $400, inked between the two countries. This was confirmed during Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s visit to China in late August, to present a roadmap for the strategic comprehensive partnership agreement, which concluded in 2016.

China’s investment in Iranian oil and gas industry has been put at the focal attention amid trade war between China and US and tight competition of these two countries concurrent with the US sanctions imposed on Iran.

Accordingly, this investment will be made as a solution for bypassing and circumventing US sanctions by Chinese companies.