An Airbus A330 aircraft arrived in Tehran on Saturday, the second of 200 Western-built passenger jets ordered by the national carrier Iran Air following the lifting of sanctions.

The long-haul aircraft, with Iran Air Chairman Farhad Parvaresh and other officials onboard, took off from the French city of Toulouse on Saturday and landed at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport five hours and 30 minutes later, IRNA reported.

The A330, which has 32 business class and 206 economy class seats, is suitable for long-distance flights and is expected to be used initially on European routes and on flights to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.

The jetliner joins a smaller A321, which flew to Tehran on January 11.

“We are working very closely with Airbus, and we are both very keen to stay on schedule and committed to the contract that we made together,” Parvaresh told Reuters on Friday.

Iran had not directly purchased a Western-built plane in nearly 40 years, the one exception being the sale of an Airbus to replace one shot down by the USS Vincennes in 1988.

Iran ordered 100 aircraft from European plane maker Airbus in an 18-billion-dollar deal signed last year, which includes 46 aircraft from the A320 family, 38 from the A330 family, and 16 of the A350 XWB.

In the same year, Iran inked another agreement worth 16.6 billion dollars to buy 80 new planes from US aviation company, Boeing, comprising 50 737 jets and 30 777s.

Iran Air is also expected to finalize an accord to purchase 20 turboprops with European manufacturer ATR, which is jointly owned by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo Finmeccanica.

The agreements came after the restrictions imposed on Iran’s aviation industry were lifted following a nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The JCPOA was negotiated between Iran and the P5+1 countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany. It was finalized on July 14, 2015 and started being implemented on January 16, 2016.

Photo: Iran Air’s new Airbus landed in Tehran

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FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Kish Island 3-Star 2017 wrapped up in Kish Island on Saturday evening, with Russia 1, Poland and Russia 2 standing at first, second and third places, respectively.

Russia’s Nikita Liamin/Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Poland’s Kantor/Losiak came up with straight-set wins over their rivals to progress to the final of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Kish Island 3-Star on Saturday.
Liamin/Krasilnikov outplayed Germany’s Lorenz Schumann/Julius Thole 2-0 (21-19, 21-15), while Kantor/Losiak overpowered Stoyanovskiy/Yarzutkin 2-0 (21-13, 21-17) in the semifinals.
Liamin/Krasilnikov’s slow start allowed Schumann/Thole to gain the early lead in the first set, but the Russian’s better performance down the stretch secured them the set-win at 21-19. The Russian pair kept their pace and capitalised on the German’s missed attacks to seal set and match victory at 21-15.

Kantor/Losiak took control early on in the match, while Stoyanovski/Yarzutkin struggled on their attacks. Kantor mounted several excellent blocks, which provided the Polish side to gain cushion and win both sets at 21-13 and 21-17.

Schumann/Thole can still earn their first-ever World Tour medal against last year’s Kish Island silver medallists Stoyanovskiy/Yarzutkin in the bronze medal match at 15:00 local time, while Liamin/Krasilnikov will play their first final together against last year’s bronze winners Kantor/Losiak at 16:00.

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A railroad linking the northern Iranian city of Astara to Azerbaijan Republic’s Astara will be operational in coming months, announced Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi.

The incumbent Iranian administration has sought to facilitate the activities of merchants from the two countries, Vaezi told the Iran-Azerbaijan Business Forum in the northwestern Iranian city of Orumieh on Thursday evening, reported Tasnim News Agency.

He noted that once the train service becomes operational in the early months of the Iranian year which starts on March 21, the two sides will witness greater use of rail transport system to boost bilateral trade.

The railroad, he pointed out, will not only have a positive impact on Tehran-Baku relations but also on ties among Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

At a meeting in Baku in July 2016, officials from Iran, Russia, and Azerbaijan exchanged views on the cost of building the crucial rail link to connect Iran’s northern city of Rasht with Azerbaijan’s Astara.

The three sides also studied the possibility of Russia financing the project.

The budget for completion of Rasht-Astara railroad project is estimated at $1.1 billion, a part of which will be supplied from the $500-million loan from Azerbaijani banks.

The project is part of the North-South Corridor.

The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a multipurpose route permitting the transit of goods between Iran, Russia, Europe, India and Central Asia via shipping lines, railroad and land routes.

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“The Islamic Republic of Iran was one of the first countries to recognise Moldova’s independence, establishing friendly ties with the country,” said President Rouhani on Sunday in a meeting with the President of Moldova, Igor Dodon.

At the meeting that was held in Tehran, Dr Rouhani also said: “All opportunities and potentials must be tapped for deepening ties between Iran and Moldova”.

“Iran and Moldova can have good cooperation in different fields, such as tourism, agriculture, transportation and transit,” said Rouhani adding that the South-North corridor, which will start from India and stretch to Russia, China, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, will create a very good transit route.

Referring to relations between the two countries in the field of energy, President Rouhani said: “The Islamic Republic of Iran can meet a great part of Moldova’s energy needs with its great power in producing oil, gas and gas condensates”.

On banking relations, he said: “Developing banking relations between the two countries will accelerate trade and economic relations between Iran and Moldova”.

‏Stressing that the post-JCPOA era has created a good opportunity to cement Iran’s ties with other countries around the world, he said: “We should make the best use of this opportunity to familiarise potentials of Iran and Moldova to investors of the two countries”.

‏At the same meeting, the President of Moldova, Igor Dodon also congratulated the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, saying: “We should make the best use of the ample opportunities for developing ties between Iran and Moldova to promote economic, trade, and investment relations between the two countries”.

Inviting President ‏Rouhani to make an official visit to Moldova, President Dodon called for deepening Tehran-Chișinău ties in various fields such as transportation, transit, energy, economy and banks.

He also congratulated Dr Rouhani for hosting the international chess championship and said: “This tournament was held in an excellent level with powerful teams from various parts of the world attending”.

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Hundreds of Iranian wrestling enthusiasts and correspondents have extended their friendly welcome to American wrestlers, who arrived in the country to take part in the 2017 Freestyle World Cup in Kermanshah.

The US freestyle wrestling team landed at Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah, located 525 kilometers west of the capital, Tehran, on Monday afternoon and was given a warm reception upon arrival.

The fourteen American athletes, who will be with the team for the two-day-long tournament, include Anthony Ramos and Nahshon Garrett in the 57-kilogram weight category, in addition to Jayson Ness and Logan Stieber in the 61-kilogram section.

Frank Aniello Molinaro will be in action in the 65-kilogram weight division, while James Green and Jordan Micheal Oliver will compete in the 70-kilogram category.

Jordan Ernest Burroughs and Alex Dieringer will take on their opponents in the 74-kilogram weight class, while Richard Perry and David Taylor will wrestle with world-class rivals in the 84-kilogram bouts.

Kyle Frederick Snyder will vie for top honors in the 97-kilogram, and Zach Rey and Nick Gwiazdowski will participate in the 125-kilogram weight division contests.

The American men’s freestyle wrestling team is led by William Michael Zadick as the head coach.

Zadick told reporters at Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport that the world’s eight best freestyle wrestling teams are coming together in Kermasnshah to bring honor to their countries and claim the world title.

Internationally recognized wrestlers will take to the mat during the Freestyle World Cup; therefore it is rather difficult to clinch a victory in the competition. American wrestlers are fully prepared for the contests and will try to take the championship, he added.

On Monday 5, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi announced in a statement that the visa ban against American athletes was dropped following “the halt in the implementation of discriminatory restrictive measures against the entry of Iranian citizens into the US as well as requests by the Iran Wrestling Federation and the president of the United World Wrestling.”

“Following the court ruling suspending #MuslimBan & the requests from Iranian Wrestling Federation & FILA, US Wrestlers’ visa will be granted,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted as well.

Earlier, Federal Judge James L. Robart had ordered a temporary and nationwide halt to US President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban on citizens from seven predominately Muslim nations, including Iran.

The 2017 Freestyle World Cup is scheduled to be held at Imam Khomeini Sport Venue in Kermanshah, western Iran, on February 16 and 17.

The Iranian team has been drawn in Pool B along with India, Mongolia and Turkey.

Pool A consists of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and the United States.

The participating teams will wrestle all three rounds of group action on February 16 to determine pool placements.

The teams will cross over to face their counterpart from the opposite pool in a classification contest the next day.

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France‘s foreign minister travels to Iran on Monday, seeking to reaffirm Europe’s commitment to the nuclear deal that US President Donald Trump has threatened to annul.

The deal struck in 2015 with three European countries, Russia, China and the United States gave Iran relief from a range of sanctions, allowing it to strike major business deals with Europe for the first time in years, Reuters reported.

After taking one of the hardest lines in the negotiations, France has been quick to restore trade ties. Plane maker Airbus, oil major Total and automobile manufacturers Peugeot and Renault have all signed deals.

Some 50 French firms will take part in a Franco-Iranian economic forum on Tuesday at which more will be signed.

“Jean-Marc Ayrault is going to underline the importance that all sides which backed the deal strictly respect their commitments,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal told a daily briefing.

Trump has called the deal, which imposes limits on Iran’s nuclear activities, “the worst deal ever negotiated” threatening to annul it or seek a better agreement.

However, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently said Washington cannot unilaterally decide to abrogate the agreement as it is an “international agreement,” and not a bilateral one between Iran and the US.

Earlier this month and on the anniversary of the deal’s implementation, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said if Trump went ahead with acting on the threat, Iran would burn the agreement.

The EU says it is in full agreement with China and Russia over the need to keep the nuclear deal alive.

Despite the sanction relief, including on banking restrictions, Iran continues to struggle to access Western finance, partly due to banks’ fears about penalties related to remaining US sanctions.

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A senior Oil Ministry official said Iran is boosting oil production by 90,000 barrel per day in line with last year’s OPEC agreement.

“We are increasing our oil output which will reach the designated production level,” Gholamreza Manouchehri, National Iranian Oil Company’s (NIOC) deputy head for engineering and development affairs told IRNA.

On November 30, 2016, the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) finalized an agreement to cut its overall production by 1.2 million barrels a day and set its new production ceiling at 32.5 million barrels a day as of January 2017.

The agreement, however, allowed Iran to raise production by 90,000 bpd to nearly four million barrels a day from January this year.

Manouchehri pointed to reports that Iran’s production ceiling has increased beyond the level set by OPEC saying the rise does not run counter to the terms of the agreement.

“Iran’s average oil production must only be below the level set by OPEC in a period of six months,” he added.

The November deal — the first in eight years — also granted Libya and Nigeria, which had seen their production drop due of armed conflict, an exemption from the cut.

Oil has rallied since November amid speculations that the supply cuts would boost prices. Some market analysts say that crude prices could reach $60-$70 a barrel in the coming months if the cuts are fully enforced.

Iran oil market upbeat

Since the lifting of sanctions began in January last year, the Islamic Republic has largely increased oil exports.

Speaking on the first anniversary of the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal in a gathering in Tehran on January 16, First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said that the exports of Iran’s oil and gas condensates are at their highest levels since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Tehran and the P5+1 — the US, Britain, France, China, Russia plus Germany — signed the nuclear accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on July 14, 2015.

Under the landmark deal, which went into force on January 16, 2016, the Islamic Republic undertook to place restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions against the country.

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The rate of foreign investment has been increased by 42 percent during the past 12 months thanks to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an Iranian official said on Tuesday.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) known commonly as the Iran deal or Iran nuclear deal, is an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran reached in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany), and the European Union.

Managing Director of Central Securities Depository of Iran Mohammad-Reza Mohseni said over 264 foreign investment requests have been registered in the country during the period (stared on January 16, 2016) when Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union’s foreign policu chief Federica Mogherini announced in a joint statement the day of implementation of the landmark nuclear deal which was made by Iran and the world six major powers (the US, Britain, Russia, France and China plus Germany) in July 2015.

According to Mohseni the value of the foreign investments in Iran has also increased five folds during the post-JCPOA era.

The official noted that the implementation of the nuclear deal has paved the way for the presence of more foreign companies in Iran’s investment market.

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Iran’s deputy petroleum minister says Tehran’s total crude oil and condensate sales reached around $30 billion in the first 9 months of the current calendar Persian year which started on March 20.

“Iran’s crude and condensate exports surpassed 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in December 2016,” Amir Hossein Zamaninia said on Saturday.

Iran exported nearly 2.6 million bpd during the first 9 months of the current year, he added.

“In fact, Iran’s crude and condensate exports have been doubled following the implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” Zamaninia noted.

Iran’s crude and condensate exports surpassed 2.8 million bpd in December 2016 and exported nearly 2.6 million bpd during the first 9 months of the current Persian year.

In July 2015, Iran and the five permanent members of UN Security Council plus Germany clinched a deal following marathon talks.

Under the international agreement which was implemented in January 2016, Tehran agreed to put curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of unilateral sanctions.

In 2012, Iran’s energy sector was hit by the US-led sanctions, reducing the country’s crude exports from 2.5 million bpd to nearly 1 million barrels per day.

As a result of the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, Iran’s exports of crude oil and condensate dropped to their lowest level since 1986.

The sanctions also negatively affected investment in Iran’s oil sector, cutting crude production sharply.

OPEC output cut deal

The recent boost in Iran’s oil sales comes against a backdrop of efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major crude exporters to contain global supply glut to prop up prices.

Back in December, OPEC clinched a historic deal with Russia and other non-members to slash global production by nearly 1.8 million barrels a day for six months starting January.

OPEC exempted key member Iran from cutting output, allowing the country to increase its crude production by 90,000 bpd to reach pre-sanction output levels of 4 million bpd.

Iran’s Deputy Petroleum Minister for International Affairs and Trading Amir Hossein Zamaninia pointed to the recent deal and said Iran’s oil revenues will further increase in a foreseeable future.

Iran is now pumping 3.7 million barrels of crude oil per day in the post-sanctions era.

Tehran seeks to regain its market share of pre-sanctions levels of 4 million bpd.

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Iran ‘s NIOC deputy head, while disavowing claims on disqualification of Russian oil giants, said the Iranian company will soon publish a second list of authorized applicants for investment.

Deputy Head of NIOC for Development and Engineering Affairs Gholamreza Manouchehri said “a list recently published by National Iranian Oil Company was relevant to applicants from Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Japan, China and South Korea which had been qualified in Pre-Qualified Iran’s Oil and Gas Upstream Projects Tender Round.”

“Names of Lukoil and Gazprom from Russia were on the list,” highlighted the official asserting that a second list of qualified foreign companies will be soon released.

Manouchehri, while estimating that Russian firms, whose name were among qualified candidates, will be present in the second, underlined that NIOC has inked Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Russia’s Zarubezhneft and Tatneft both of whom were absent in the first published list.

“NIOC must have approved of all firms with which a cooperation agreement has been inked,” noted the official.

He further maintained that claims on disqualification of Russian firms reiterated that Iran welcomed cooperation with credible Russian parties who held new technologies.

National Iranian Oil Company has so far sealed MoUs with seven Russian oil giants for development projects or boosting recovery factor in various oil and gas fields.

Accordingly, research and development MoUs have been signed with Russian firms like Lukoil, Tatneft, Zarubezhneft and Gazprom for expansion of seven Iranian oilfields including Mansouri, Ab Teimour, Aban, West Paydar, Dehloran, Cheshmeh Khoshk and Chenguleh.

Accordingly, Russian firms enjoy the highest rate of cooperation in upstream sector of Iran’s oil and gas industry as compared with Asian or European companies.

Nevertheless, names of Russneft, Tatneft and Zarubezhneft were missing on the recently-published list by NIOC giving rise to hypotheses that the three Russian oil giants had been disqualified.

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