The tournament will be held in Chongqing, China during March 5-13, Tasnim News Agency reported.

It is the Asian qualification round for the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Girls’ U-18 World Championship in Argentina.

A total of 12 teams have confirmed their participation in the nine-day event, which will be the first Asian Volleyball Confederation event of the year. They consist of reigning champion Japan, China, Thailand, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Australia, Iran and Samoa.

The squads have been divided into four pools, with host China joining Hong Kong and Iran in Pool A, Japan, New Zealand and Samoa in Pool B, Thailand, Kazakhstan as well as Australia in Pool C and South Korea, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan in pool D.

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The deal took weeks of shuttling between Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, and Tehran, complicated by a shortage of expert legal advice as Iran completes its biggest commercial deals with the West since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Airbus in a statement said almost half the jets would be for short to medium routes and that deliveries would start early next year.

The contract includes 46 of the narrow-body A320 family which includes the A321 model, 38 long-haul A330s and 16 of Europe’s newest long-range model, the A350.

The order follows a commitment inked in January when President Hassan Rouhani visited Paris in the wake of a deal between Iran and six world powers over its nuclear program.

Planemaking chief Fabrice Bregier called the deal “a significant first step” in modernizing Iranian aviation, adding it included training, airport operations and air traffic management.

However, both sides confirmed the Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane in the world, had been jettisoned from a provisional list first agreed in January.

Although up to 12 were earmarked in the initial agreement, Tehran’s international airport is not currently equipped for such planes.

US regulatory delays further reduced the order by six planes, lowering the total order to 100 from 118 jets.

Iran Air,1956

Iran’s civil aviation

Iran Air’s CEO Farhad Parvaresh said the deal was “an important step toward a stronger international presence in civil aviation”.

He added: “We hope this success signals to the world that the commercial goals of Iran and its counterparts are better achieved with international cooperation and collaboration.”

Parvaresh stressed that the deal has paved the way “for more practical steps to follow for Iran Air’s fleet renewal”.

Such a deal would be worth $18-20 billion at list prices, depending on variants flown, but Iran is expected to receive steep discounts from foreign manufacturers as its aviation renewal coincides with a drop in demand elsewhere.

It is expected to be followed by a formal deal to buy turboprop aircraft from ATR, half-owned by Airbus.

The first jet, an Airbus A321 already painted in Iran’s national carrier livery, may arrive in January.

“When Airbus and ATR aircraft start going into Iran, Boeing will point to that to argue that it should implement its own deal,” said an aviation source, who closely followed the talks.

In another deal earlier this month, Iran Air finalized a contract to buy 80 planes from Airbus’ US competitor Boeing.

Boeing said that contract – Iran’s first deal with a US aviation firm since 1979 – was worth $16.6 billion.

Despite rivalries, the Airbus and Boeing deals with Iran are unusually intertwined because each depends on continued US clearances for the sale of planes built with US parts.

“Everyone has an interest in moving quickly. The Iranian government wants to show results from the nuclear deal; Airbus wants to get deliveries moving and Boeing wants the leverage it can get from European deliveries to Iran,” another source said.

Airbus said the deal was subject to US Treasury export licenses granted in September and November 2016.

Republican critics of the nuclear pact want Trump to block the aircraft deals and have sought to hamper them by voting to tighten restrictions on use of the US financial system.

Airbus is expected to be paid in euros instead of the usual dollars and is likely to provide its own financing for the first few jets./Iran-daily

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European and American tourists, who are on sightseeing trip to some Iranian cities on luxury train named ‘Hezar-o Yek Shab’ (Thousand and One Nights), visited the central provinces of Isfahan (on Oct. 26) and Yazd (on Oct. 25).

They are due to go on to Shiraz in Fars Province.

Speaking on the sojourn, caretaker of Yazd Cultural Heritage Department, said 48 tourists who embarked on the trip from Budapest, Hungary, arrived in Iran on Oct. 21 after traversing Bulgaria and Turkey.

Mostafa Fatemi added that they visited the southern province of Kerman for two days before arriving in Yazd.

In Yazd, they went to the Yazd Jame’ Mosque, Zoroastrian fire temple, Dowlatabad Garden and strolled through the city’s historical textures, he said.

He continued that provinces of Isfahan, Fars and Yazd are considered golden triangle of Iranian tourism. “A majority of foreign tourists choose these provinces as a tourism destination during their trip to Iran.”

Yazd is one of the most well-known desert cities of Iran.

Many Iranians and foreign tourists like to visit Yazd to view the architecture typically found in desert regions.

The city is famous for its wind towers, termeh (traditional broçade), silk weaving and sweets (such as ‘baqlava’ and ‘qotab’).

A trip to Yazd will make you familiar with life in desert towns and how people have adapted to it. You learn about ‘qanat’ (underground water supply system) for which Iranians are well-known.

The water reservoirs, icehouses, wind-towers and pigeon towers make the visit to Yazd worthwhile, as tourists explore the uniqueness of this ancient city.

Yazd, located 270km southeast of Isfahan, has a population of approximately 560,000. It attracts a growing number of tourists.

The city is hot and dry in summer due to its location, which is between the two main deserts of Dasht-e Kavir and the Kavir-e Lut.

Traditionally, Yazd is famous for termeh, the brocades made with Iranian patterns and used in dresses, bags, footwear and interior decoration.

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