Iran says it will offer a tax break of 13 years to hoteliers in what appears to be part of a policy devised to promote the country’s tourism industry.

“All economic activities related to… tourism will enjoy 100 percent tax holidays between five to 13 years depending on the region,” AFP quoted Iran’s Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khazaei as saying at an international tourism summit in Tehran.

Visitor numbers have already boomed in recent years, rising from 2.2 million annually in 2009 to 5.2 million in 2015, AFP added.

Iran has an ambitious target to increase annual visitor count by five folds to 20 million by 2025 in order to generate $30 billion a year. On the same front, the media reported last December that the country is constructing 125 new four- and five-star hotels.

This has already encouraged international hoteliers to devise plans to invest in Iran’s hotel industry. Hotel groups in the Persian Gulf Arab states are specifically believed to have already taken measures to boost their portfolios in Iran.

Hotel groups from Germany, Greece, South Korea and Singapore have also engaged in talks with officials in Tehran over hotel construction plans.

Europe’s largest hotel group Accor has also constructed two four-star hotels at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside the Iranian capital.

The UAE-based Rotana plans to open its five-star 600-room hotel in Tehran this year and another in the pilgrimage city of Mashhad.

Also, officials in Ankara announced in May that the country’s investors will be allowed to build at least 10 hotels in Iran. The hotels would be built in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashhad.

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Iran has signed a memorandum of cooperation with two Japanese firms to reduce fuel oil production at Bandar Abbas oil refinery.

Reducing the share of fuel oil from the current 30 percent to less than 10 percent marks one of the key policies pursued in Iran’s crude refining industry in the post-JCPOA era.

Accordingly, numerous negotiations have been conducted with companies from South Korea, Japan and China over the past nine months some of which have led to the signing of a number of MoUs between the two sides.

Consequently, Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company has inked a joint memorandum of cooperation with a consortium comprising Japanese and Iranian firms.

Managing Director of Bandar Abbas refinery Hasehm Namvar touched upon the latest status of plans to reduce fuel oil production at his company saying “presently, the final stages of feasibility studies and provision of technical and economic justification reports are in progress.”

The official pointed to plans to increase production quality as fuel oil output reduces asserting “upon implementation, the volume of fuel oil production will drop to less than 10 percent with sulfur content of below one percent.”

Namvar said the research phase of the project is being carried out in partnership with foreign companies maintaining “talks were held with Japanese, Korean and Chinese companies while the MoU was finally sealed with a consortium comprising Iranian and Japanese firms.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Kazemi recently announced that so far seven agreements and contracts have been signed for projects to reduce fuel oil production in existing refineries; “for the case of Bandar Abbas refinery, initial agreement has been reached with two Japanese companies,” he had noted./ MNA

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Asian rock climbing Youth championships held on 26-30 September 2016 in Tehran, Iran.
All ACC countries can participate in this event.
It is predicted that 200 youths will attend in this event which is categorized in Youth A, Youth B, and Youth C.
This competition will be held in Lead, Speed, Boulder, and Overall categories.

Asian rock climbing competitions kicked off on Wednesday in Tehran with participants from Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia and Singapore.

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Deputy oil minister said Total S.A. Company has put forward a proposal to cooperate in development of Phase 11 of South Pars gas field.

Ali Kardor made the remarks underlining that two more foreign firms have also voiced readiness to launch partnership in the gas project.

Managing director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) emphasized that Iran’s new oil and gas projects will be put out to international tenders asserting “despite receiving proposals from Total of France and two other companies, no contract has become finalized or inked for developing Phase 11 of South Pars joint gas field.”

Apparently, Eni of Italy and South Korea’s Hyundai are the two firms who, in addition to total S.A., have expressed willingness to cooperate over the only South Pars phase which has remained undeveloped.

On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of France Laurent Fabius, in his earlier visit to Tehran, appreciated the activities of Total in Iran’s oil industry saying “the French company has been active in Iranian oil projects for the past 20 years while new windows are expected to be opened for Total’s presence in developmental projects of Iranian oil fields.” Iran’s Oil Minister had also made similar remarks on the sidelines of his meeting with the French FM.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) Ali Akbar Shabanpour had stated earlier that talks were underway to hand over the drilling project of Phase 11 to two Iranian companies; “Phase 11 is as large as two ordinary phases and the drilling sections will be undertaken by Iranian firms,” he had underlined.

The development project of Phase 11 aims to transfer the produced gas to Phases 6, 8 and 12 in order to exploit their vacant refining capacity as well as to enhance access to required materials in the phase./MNA

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National Iranian basketball team had the better of South Korea in a final match to win trophy at 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge in Tehran.

The final showdown of the tournament was held on Sunday evening at the 12,000-seat hall of Tehran’s Azadi Sports Complex where Iranian basketballers pulled out a sweeping 77-47 victory over South Korean rivals to win the Asian title.

Persians skillfully maintained the lead all through the game coming out victorious in four straight sets (13-09, 17-11, 23-14 and 21-13).

The Sunday contest between Iran and South Korea marked the second encounter of the two teams as Iran had once more overwhelmed the East Asian outfit in the second round of the sportive event.

Additionally, the Iranian squad had downed Qatar, Iraq, Thailand, Japan, India and Jordan to make a swift advancement to the final round as the only undefeated team.

Hamed Hadadi, Oshin Sahakian, Sajjad Mashayekhi, Mohammad Jamshidi and Behnam Yakhchali opened the entertaining final contest and their excellent performance prevented South Koreans from bagging points as late as Iran had taken an 11-0 lead.

In a different match, Jordanian basketballers quelled Iraqi rivals 94-72 and stood on the third podium. Meanwhile, China, Japan, India and Taiwan finished in fifth to eighth places respectively.

The first five teams, including champion Iran, were awarded berths to take part in 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification events in their own respective zones.

The 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge is the ongoing 6th FIBA Asia Challenge, an international basketball tournament of FIBA Asia which was hosted by Iran from 9–18 September 2016.

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Iran’s August crude oil exports jumped 15 percent from July to more than two million barrels per day (mbd), according to a source with knowledge of its tanker loading schedule, closing in on Tehran’s pre-sanctions shipment levels of five years ago.

The No. 3 OPEC producer has more than doubled its crude exports, excluding the ultra light oil condensate, since December. Economic sanctions against Iran were lifted in January, and it has been working since then to regain market share lost to other Middle East producers over the previous four years, Reuters reported on Friday.

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia are expected to meet during the International Energy Forum in Algeria over September 26-28 to discuss a possible output freeze to stabilize oil prices that are still down.

“The only way for producers to maximize their revenues in a low oil price environment to meet budget requirements is to raise production,” said Victor Shum, an oil analyst at consultancy IHS. “So there is unlikely to be any supply deal … in late September,” he said.

“We can expect Iran to continue to raise production.”

August crude exports from Iran excluding condensate roughly doubled from a year ago to 2.11 mbd, the source said, based on data compiled from tanker loading schedules.

The crude exports have climbed from 1.9 mbd in June and 1.83 mbd in July, the schedules showed.

Iran’s August exports are the highest since January 2012, boosted by record purchases from the world’s third-largest oil importer India and a 48-percent jump that brought European sales to 630,000 bpd, tanker loadings for last month also showed.

Other sources tracking Iran’s shipping data or are familiar with its tanker loadings have slightly different figures for Iran’s crude exports in August, but still show a near doubling since January.

Details on condensate loadings for August remain unclear. However, if shipments of the ultra light oil were steady with this year’s average of nearly 310,000 bpd, the total crude and condensate exports last month would be this year’s highest at 2.41 mbd, still short of average pre-sanctions exports of 2.5 mbd to 2.6 mbd in 2011, according to figures from the US Energy Information Administration.

Iran’s crude exports excluding condensate to Asia in August were 1.48 mbd, up from 1.40 mbd in July and roughly steady to this year’s previous peak in April.

Loadings headed for India reached a likely record of nearly 600,000 bpd last month, according to data stretching back at least 15 years, up 150,000 bpd from July, and topping 564,000 bpd loaded for China.

Japanese loadings were nearly 230,000 bpd, compared with about 92,000 bpd for South Korea.

Iranian oil was also loaded for Turkey, Greece, and Spain, and exports to Italy more than doubled from the previous month to 87,000 bpd, according to the schedules.

To further boost exports, Iran expects to complete the building of a terminal by yearend for a new grade.

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Female Iranian archer Zahra Nemati came first at Women’s Individual Recurve to bring home Iran’s seventh gold medal at 2016 Paralympics.

Iran’s Nemati had to overcome a strong Chinese rival Chunyan Wu in the final round of Women’s Individual Recurve – Open before standing on top of the podium.

London Paralympic champion Zahra Nemati subdued the Chinese archer 6-4 in the final showdown and added one more gold to Iran’s earlier tally of six golds in Rio Paralympic Games.

Milena Olszewska of Poland also won the bronze medal match over South Korea’s Hwa Sook Lee and landed third in the event.

Earlier, the female Iranian archer together with her compatriot Ebrahim Ranjabar had earlier won silver medal of Mixed Team Recurve Open after conceding a 3-5 defeat against Lixue Zhao and Chunyan Wu of China.

The Mina delegation of Iranian Paralympians at the Rio Paralympics is comprised of 111 sportspeople who vie at 12 fields of the 23 athletics.

Zahra Nemati is an Iranian Paralympic and Olympic archer. She originally competed in taekwondo before she was paralyzed in a car accident. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics she won two medals, an individual gold and team bronze.

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Iran’s Siamand Rahman wrote his name into the history books after doing what no man had ever done before – he cleared the bar at 310kg in the men’s over 107kg, setting a new world record and claiming his second consecutive Paralympic gold. Rahman won gold at London 2012 with a 280kg lift.

According to Tasnim news agency, the world’s strongest Paralympian, who had lifted 296kg at a World Cup in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, last February, was widely expected to break the 300kg barrier after years systematically improving his marks.

Rahman won gold at London 2012 with a 280kg lift. Two years later, he registered 285kg at the World Championships in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and 290kg at the Asian Para Games in Incheon, Korea.

In Rio, the 28-year-old proved again that nothing can stop him in front of a noisy crowd that had gathered to witness the historic moment and never stopped chanting “Iran, Iran”.

“I feel very happy and proud for having broken the 300kg barrier and for being the strongest Paralympian in the world,” said Rahman afterwards. “I want to be an inspiration for all people with impairment who stay at home and don’t lead an active life, and especially for the youth.”

Egypt’s Amr Mosaad claimed silver thanks to his 235kg lift in the last round, whilst Jordania’s Jamil Elshebli (234kg) sealed bronze.

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Iran’s women’s volleyball squad defeated Taiwan’s team 3-0 at the Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship which was held in the Philippines on Wednesday.

The 17th edition of the tournament continued on the third day in the Philippines where Iran’s Sarmayeh Bank overwhelmed T. Grand of Chinese Taipei 3-0 in a Pool B encounter.

This marked the second victory for the Iranian squad after their first triumph in the tournament against North Korea on Saturday. Having conceded defeat in two previous games, the Iranian volleyballers now need to wait for the results of the game between China and Thailand to learn about their final rating in Pool E, as well as their opponents for the next match.

The 2016 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship started in Binan on September 3 and will finish on September 11.

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Failed to deliver a goal, the national football team of Iran and the Chinese national football team left the pitch with a scoreless draw at Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium on Tuesday 06 September 2016.

IRAN vs China, World cup 2018 qualification, Photo: Farshad Abbasi

The second day of the games for the third round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament was opened on Tuesday at Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Chinese city of Shenyang where footballers for natoonal team lined up against the players of the Chinese national team. Adham Mohammad Tumah Makhadmeh from Jordan officiated the event.

Despite numerous attacks, the Cheetahs did not manage to score a goal in the course of the event while the national team of South Korea had defeated the Dragons 3–2 on the opening day of the third round five days earlier.

Carlos Queiroz’s players produced some vibrant attacking football but the hosts did not concede to any goal to make the No. 1 of Asia leave China with just one point.

Two substitutions were made by Queiroz in the second half but still Iran didn’t manage to score.

Despite being held to a 0-0 draw by China, Iran still enjoys the top positoon of the Group A table with one victory (over Qatar), one draw, no defeat, and goal difference of 2 ahead of South Korea which is one goal difference short of Iran.

Video: IRAN vs China, World cup 2018 qualification

The AFC report

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