The secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council of Free Trade-Industrial and Special Economic Zones made the statement in an interview with the Iranian Labor New Agency (ILNA).
Saeid Mohammad added that the smuggled Iranian fuel is bound for the Emirati port of Fujairah, where the ships and ferries sailing from the Persian Gulf states are bunkered and rendered necessary services.
Mohammad, who is also an adviser to President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, underlined that the country needs to revive its role in bunkering the vessels sailing in regional waters, taking optimal advantage of its competitive fueling system.
“We are carrying out the necessary measures to encourage ships to dock at Qeshm [an island in southern Iran] for refueling,” continued the official, adding it will not only help the country sell its fuel, but also render services to the vessels’ crew, consequently leading to the economic development of the southern region and above that the country.
Official: Smuggled Iran fuel fetches UAE over $20bn annually
White House says prefers diplomacy with Iran
Spokeswoman Jen Psaki acknowledged there has been “some progress” in the nuclear talks, but said “if we don’t reach an understanding soon on a mutual return to compliance we will have to consider a different path forward”.
“And the bottom line is the President is not going to allow Iran to possess a nuclear weapon. And as Secretary [Antony] Blinken noted, they have made progress, and this is no thanks to the decision by the former president to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement despite promises that they would agree on a stronger agreement that Iran would not move forward. They have done exactly those things. Exactly those things they predicted would not happen have happened,” Psaki stated.
“That is why we’re in the point we are in, but that means — several weeks ago, the President asked his team to prepare a range of options. They have done that, and obviously our preference is always diplomacy,” she added.
The warning comes after the State Department put a timeline of “weeks, not months” for negotiations to conclude productively.
Iran has rejected US officials’ remarks about a deadline for reaching an agreement and stressed the country is only after a good agreement.
Tehran insists that the talks must lead to the removal of all American sanctions that were imposed against Tehran following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the landmark agreement in May 2018. Tehran has also demanded credible guarantees that Washington will not abandon the deal again.
An informed source has said many differences in the talks on lifting sanctions have been eliminated and the participating delegations are talking about ways to implement the agreement.
Speaking to IRNA on the condition of anonymity, the source stated that delegations are consulting on difficult topics and on how to turn them into words in the document.
He added that many parentheses on lifting sanctions and the nuclear issues have been removed and the delegations are now working on the third appendix and on how to the implement the possible agreement.
Heavy rain, snow cause damage in several areas across Iran
Heavy snow cut off over two dozen villages in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan.
Road maintenance personnel are working to open blocked roads, say officials, adding drivers can currently travel via other major roads with tire chains only.
Cold temperatures and snow also forced the closure of schools in most cities and towns in western Ardebil Province on Saturday, January 15, 2022.
Classes and exams, however, were held online.
Moreover, all major roads in the province are open to traffic, though sporadic snow showers are reported in some areas.
Meanwhile, flooding and rockfalls blocked a freeway in Korramabad the capital city of Lorestan Province.
Road repair and maintenance personnel are trying to open the road, though it will remain closed until further notice.
And the Crisis Committee in the provincial town of Poledokhtar in Lorestan Province is also on high alert.
Also in Lorestan, freezing weather conditions dumped some 40 centimeters of snow in the town of Aligoodarz and up to 70 centimeters of snow on mountainous roads nearby.
Heavy snowfall has also blocked roads to some 230 villages in the vicinity of Aligoodarz.
Meanwhile torrential rain has triggered flooding in areas in western Iranian Ilam Province, inflicting damage on the local infrastructure.
Iran envoy seeks ending suspension of UN voting right
Majid Takht Ravanchi commented on the suspension of Iran’s right to vote in the United Nations because of bans blocking its payment of the United Nations dues and hoped Iran’s efforts to end this will bear fruit soon.
Talking to IRNA on Friday, he said that Iran as a very active member of the international body has always paid its dues on time but unfortunately, due the unfair anti-Iran sanctions, it has failed to do so for the second consequent year now.
He added that the US anti-Iran sanctions which has affected routines in many areas including medicine and medical equipment has also impeded procedures in the United Nations.
Last year, following discussions with the UN officials, he stated, Iran finally managed to tackle the issue using its sources outside the country.
Iran does have the resources to pay its dues on time but the oppressive and unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran is preventing Tehran from paying them, he continued.
Takht Ravanchi noted the Iran is already discussing the issue with the UN officials and hoped it will be solved in shortest time possible.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh, too, in reaction to suspension of Iran’s voting right in United Nations has stated that unfortunately for the 2nd consecutive year due to the unjust and illegal US sanctions Tehran faced difficulties in payment of membership fees to the UN.
Iran, as one of the founding and active members of the United Nations naturally considers itself committed to full payment of its membership fees to the United Nations and other international organizations and agencies, Khatibzadeh said.
He added that despite the created numerous shortages, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has provided the required sources for payment of its membership costs to the UN and is engaged in necessary negotiations for resolving the matter.
“Meanwhile, providing a safe channel for fast payment of the membership cost is under consideration,” he continued.
The FM spokesman at the end proposed that the UN secretary general and Secretariat, too, will keep in mind the special conditions with which Iran and some other countries are entangled due to the illegally imposed US sanction and assist in resolving the problem.
Source: Parties bridge many differences in Vienna talks
“At the moment, we are at a stage of the negotiation where we are discussing tough issues and how we can translate the issues agreed upon in principle into words and into the documents,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Friday evening.
He noted that many of the gaps regarding sanctions and nuclear issues have been filled, and that the parties are currently increasingly working on how to implement and sequence their commitments.
Regarding sequencing, he explained that this is a matter of steps that Iran and the United States must take to fully implement the 2015 agreement and that these actions need to be verified.
“This is one of the most tedious, long and difficult parts of the negotiations, but it is absolutely essential to achieving our goal,” the source explained.
He stressed that this is a complex negotiation, in the sense that everything depends on everything. The informed source however, noted that the atmosphere of the negotiations has improved.
The eighth round of talks between Iran and the P4+1 group namely Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany began in the Austrian capital on December 27.
On Friday evening, based on an agreement reached among the heads of delegations, the senior negotiators of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the three European countries temporarily returned to their capitals for consultations.
The diplomats are trying to find a way to revive the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The JCPOA has unraveled since former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal and imposed sanctions against Iran
Heavy downpour triggers flooding in western Iran, causing damage
“Following rain today and overnight, a river passing through the middle of the [provincial] town of Mormori burst its banks, inflicting heavy damage on people’s homes,” said a local official.
“The water getting into homes and business buildings was as deep as a meter, which caused damage to household appliances and livestock that locals keep,” the official added.
The province got around 1 meter of rain in a matter of hours, causing rivers to overflow and bridges to submerge.
Flooding has relatively subsided now, and relief teams are on the ground reaching out to the stricken people.
Film stars back Emma Watson on Palestinian solidarity post
“We join Emma Watson in support of the simple statement that ‘solidarity is a verb’, including meaningful solidarity with Palestinians struggling for their human rights under international law,” the film stars said in a statement.
The film stars also said, “We stand against ongoing Israeli attempts to forcibly displace Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah , Silwan and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
In their statement, the film professionals explicitly condemned antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry.
Last week, an Instagram post on Watson’s account shared a picture from a pro-Palestinian rally with the sentence, “Solidarity is a verb”. Zionist officials quickly condemned the post that was liked by more than one million social media users.
The British actress is perhaps best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films.
Other signatories to the pro-Palestinian missive include award-winning screenwriter James Schamus, Oscar-nominated directors Asif Kapadia, Mira Nair and writer/producer Oren Moverman.
‘Iran, Syria discussed activating strategic economic cooperation deal’
In an interview with the Alahednews Portal, Mohammad Samer al-Khalil said he had held talks with Rostam Qassemi in Damascus on solutions to remove the obstacles hindering bilateral cooperation.
He described Tehran-Damascus economic cooperation as “vital” for Syria, which is emerging from a decade-long campaign of terror and destruction.
Khalil said bilateral trade had been slowed down as a result of issues with transportation and financial transactions, which were discussed in detail in the meeting.
During the meeting, he added, the two sides discussed how to activate the major articles of the 2019 strategic economic cooperation deal.
“This is an important agreement with many different articles and it will promote economic and trade relations. Both sides have a serious determination and, God willing, this resolve will bear fruit via the committees that are supposed to follow up on the measures in the next stage,” he added.
Khalil explained that Iran and Syria had reached complete agreements on trade and economic cooperation, “but their provisions have yet to be activated, including customs tariffs, facilitating the entry of goods into the two countries and commodities that are exempt from the free trade agreement, as well as investment projects that Iranian companies can carry out in Syria.”
Qassemi traveled to Damascus earlier this week at the head of an economic delegation. He said Thursday that Iran and Syria agreed to set up a joint bank and special economic zones.
EU’s Borrell: Deal with Iran possible “in coming weeks”
After an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers, Borrell said a renewed deal with Iran over its nuclear programme remained “possible” as talks in Vienna advance in a “better atmosphere”.
“We’re arriving at the end of a long process… there’s a better atmosphere since Christmas — Before Christmas I was very pessimistic. Today I believe reaching an accord is possible,” he added.
He stated a final deal could be concluded “in the coming weeks”.
“I still maintain the hope that it would be possible to remake this agreement and have it function as it did before the American withdrawal,” he noted.
But Borrell spoke alongside French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who reiterated his view that the talks are progressing “much too slowly to be able to reach a result”.
“We now have to conclude and come to a decision: Either the Iranians want to complete this, in which case we have the impression that there will be flexibility in the Americans’ stance,” Le Drian said.
“Or they don’t want to complete this, and in that case we will be faced with a major proliferation crisis,” he added.
“There will be nothing more to negotiate if nothing happens,” he warned.
The eighth round of talks kicked off in Vienna in late December. The negotiations seek to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in its original form and bring the US back into the agreement.
Iran insists that the talks must lead to the removal of all American sanctions that were imposed against Tehran following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the landmark agreement in May 2018. Tehran has also demanded credible guarantees that Washington will not abandon the deal again.
Tehran announced Friday that Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani and his European counterparts would temporarily return to their respective capitals, under an agreement reached among heads of the delegations, to handle affairs related to their political posts and for certain consultations.
Iran’s annual non-oil exports expected to touch $46bn
Given the growing trend of exports, the country’s revenues from the shipping of non-oil products could reach $46 billion, said the IRICA deputy chief for technical affairs.
The country’s average value of monthly non-oil exports in the first half of the Iranian calendar year (starting March 21, 2021) equaled to $3.5 billion, Foroud Asgari added.
The revenues have witnessed a considerable increase since late August, rising to $5 billion and bringing the total earning to $36 billion up to now, said the official, noting the rise in non-oil exports was behind it.
Elaborating on the reasons behind the increase in non-oil exports, he said the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) official in charge of currency returns was moved to the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade and thanks to the ministry’s import and export policies, the volume soared and motivated the exporters.
