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Iran Inaugurates 13 Major Water, Electricity Projects

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The projects were inaugurated in the provinces of North Khorasan and Kurdistan through videoconference on Sunday, January 31, 2021.

During the ceremony, President Rouhani inaugurated the Unit 3 of the steam section of Shirvan Combined Cycle Power Plant in North Khorasan Province and 14-MW Small Scale Power Plant, three 63-kV Zarivar-Marivan line projects, 3 electricity projects in Kamyaran Power Post, Ramasht Dam and its irrigation and drainage network, the irrigation project of Garan-Marivan irrigation and drainage network, the project of water treatment and water supply to Saqqez and the project of Kamyaran wastewater treatment plant in Kurdistan province.

‘Fresh Impetus to Domestic Production’

The Iranian president said the inauguration of so many projects in the country is aimed at boosting domestic production.

President Rouhani said Iran and Iranian people had a tough year due to the sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, but the country managed to put many projects into service to give fresh impetus to domestic production as emphasized by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

“This year was really the year of boosting production as we inaugurated major projects every week,” he noted.

The projects were inaugurated ahead of the anniversary of the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Rouhani said the 1979 Revolution was not only aimed at securing national independence and reviving Islamic values, but also geared to promoting the nation’s welfare and prosperity.

“Some believed the Islamic Revolution was only a political move and was aimed at securing the country’s independence and fighting hegemony and oppression. Some also believed the revolution aimed to establish Islam and was only a spiritual move. But figures show the revolution … paid attention to material sectors as well,” he said.

Rouhani said the government takes pride in the fact that it is supplying utilities to low-income families free of charge.

He then said the number of dams in the country has risen ten-fold.

“At the beginning of [the early days after] the revolution, there were 19 dams in the country, and the figure has increased to 193 now,” said the president.

He added the capacity of the National Grid has also risen by 2,500 megawatts of electricity annually.

Over 1.2 Million Iranians Recover from COVID-19: Health Ministry

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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In a press briefing on Sunday, Sima-Sadat Lari said the virus has killed 70 patients since Saturday noon, increasing the overall death toll to 57,959.

She said 1,417,999 patients have contracted the novel coronavirus so far, including 6,268 new cases identified in the past 24 hours.

Lari said 3,932 patients are also in critical conditions caused by more severe infection.
The spokeswoman noted that 9,285,288 COVID-19 tests have been taken across the country so far.

She said currently 18 cities are in the “orange” zone, 124 are in the “yellow” zone, and 306 are in the “blue” zone in terms of coronavirus outbreak.

The “orange” cities are all in northern provinces, and include Amol, Babol, Babolsar, Behshahr, Tonekabon, Juybar, Chalus, Ramsar, Sari, Fereydunkenar, Qaemshahr, Mahmoud Abad, Neka and Nowshahr in Mazandaran province and Some’eh Sara, Rudsar, and Lahijan in Gilan province.

Iran Backs Formation of ‘All-Inclusive’ Gov’t in Afghanistan, Zarif Tells Taliban

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Zarif made the remarks in a Sunday meeting with a delegation of the Taliban, led by deputy head of the group’s political bureau Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Tehran.

“Political decisions could not be made in a vacuum, and the formation of an all-inclusive government must take place in a participatory process and by taking into account the fundamental structures, institutions and laws, such as the Constitution,” the top Iranian diplomat said.

Foreign Minister Zarif also expressed Iran’s readiness to facilitate dialogue among the Taliban, the Afghan government and other Afghan groups, noting, “The noble people of Afghanistan have been wronged. The war and occupation of Afghanistan have dealt heavy blows to the Afghan people.”

The senior Iranian diplomat further expressed hope that the Taliban would focus efforts on an immediate end to the pains and problems of Afghan people, so that the establishment of peace in Afghanistan would strip the outsiders of a pretext for occupation.

At the beginning of the meeting, head of the Taliban delegation gave a report of the Afghan peace process and the intra-Afghan negotiations.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar also noted that the relations between Afghanistan and Iran are based upon friendship and good neighbourliness, expressing hope for the expansion of relations between the two countries with the establishment of peace and calm in Afghanistan.

He also denounced the destructive role of ISIS in Afghanistan, expressed satisfaction with the process of intra-Afghan talks, and described the formation of an all-inclusive government with the participation of all ethnic and political groups as a necessary condition for the full establishment of peace in Afghanistan.

Iran’s Largest Chlorine Factory Comes on Line

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The Pars Kimia Chlorine Petrochemical Company is the country’s largest chlorination facility, with a capacity of producing 210,000 tonnes of chlorine, hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.

The project comes with a price tag of nearly Rls. 9.4 trillion and €15 million, creating 75 direct jobs.

The project has been put into service as part of the phase one of the Khuzestan Chlorine Park. When phase one is fully operational, it will create some 300 jobs.

Once the park’s construction is completed (it includes a total of four phases), it will export some $600 million worth of products annually.

In total, $660 million has been invested in the park, which will create an overall 3,200 jobs.

Iran’s Oil, Natural Gas Industries Growing Considerably: Minsiter

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said Iran’s natural gas reservoirs have also increased.

“The [natural] gas industry has developed following the Revolution. [Natural] gas reserves amounted to 9 trillion cubic metres, but have now risen to 33 trillion cubic metres,” he said.

“Currently, more than 80 percent of the oil industry’s stationary equipment is produced inside the country, and good progress has been made in this regard. The [production] capacity is not comparable to that of 15 years ago,” the oil minister noted.

“Iran is now among the top producers of petrochemical products in the region,” he said.
The minister noted that 95 percent of the country’s population are now provided with natural gas.

He also touched upon Iran’s oil exports.

“As long as oil sanctions are not lifted, I’m not going to make any comments,” he said.
The minister said Iran has received all its payments for oil exports.

Iran Torchbearer of War on Drugs: Envoy  

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Kazem Gharibabadi underscored Iran confiscated a large amount of narcotics last year.

“Iran seized more than 1,147 different types of illicit drugs on the country’s borders and inside the country in 2020 on the back of efforts and sacrifices by soldiers and agents of the country’s police and security organizations, showing a 41% -rise year on year,” he said in a letter to the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

“Iranian drug enforcement agents had 2,851 firefights with drug traffickers in 2020, which saw 2,196 drug transit and distribution networks busted,” he noted.

“In these shootouts, 10 Iranian forces were killed as well,” the top diplomat underscored.

“We are critical of the inaction of relevant international organizations and countries in discharging their common responsibility of supporting programs to fight narcotics. We would like this approach to be corrected,” he said.

Iran-Iraq Railway to Connect China to Mediterranean: VP

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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connects Shalamcheh in Khuzestan province in south-western Iran to Iraq’s Basra is very important to both neighbouring countries.

“If it is constructed quickly, it will turn into one of the world’s biggest railways,” Jahangiri noted on Saturday on the sidelines of a ceremony to inaugurate a number of construction projects at Abadan International Airport in Khuzestan province, south-west of Iran.

He said the railway can facilitate the transfer of goods from China to the Mediterranean with train, and will turn into one of the world’s transit hubs.
The vice-president, however, noted that part of the railway that connects Iraq to Syria needs to be reconstructed.

Iran had earlier linked its railway network to western Afghanistan through a joint project which was inaugurated in December 2020.

The 225-km railroad project, that connects Iran’s Khaf to Afghanistan’s Herat, includes four phases that are currently under construction. About 78 km of the project, which includes two phases, is on Iran’s soil and the rest in Afghanistan.

The construction of the project started in the fiscal year of 2007-2008. Completion of the project will affect transit facilities in Afghanistan and solve many investors’ and merchants’ problems in the country.

Afghanistan has still to complete the remaining 85 km section of the Khaf-Herat railway line which was inaugurated as far as Rahzanak in its territory.
Officials say work is in progress on the line, which ends at Herat International Airport, the fourth major airport in Afghanistan.

About 2.5 million Afghan migrants reportedly live either legally or without documents in Iran.

The 225 km long railway to Iran has long been touted as the sole viable option to build Afghanistan’s economy, connecting Herat to Mashhad in Iran and on to Turkey.

Iran Slams Macron’s Comments on New Nuclear Deal

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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In a statement released on Saturday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh responded to the recent comments by the French president, calling on Emmanuel Macron to exercise self-restraint and refrain from hasty and ill-advised stances.

“The JCPOA is a multilateral international agreement that has been endorsed and stabilized by the (UN) Security Council Resolution 2231. It is by no means re-negotiable, and its parties are also definite and unchangeable,” he added.

Pointing to the US’ withdrawal from the nuclear deal and Europe’s failure to maintain it, the Iranian spokesman said, “If there is any willingness to revive and save the JCPOA, the solution is easy. The US should return to the JCPOA and lift the whole JCPOA and non-JCPOA sanctions that have been imposed (on Iran) during the tenure of the previous president of that country (the US).”

“If the French officials are worried about the huge arms sales to the Persian Gulf Arab states, they had better revise their policies,” Khatibzadeh added.

“The French arms, along with other Western weapons, have not only massacred and killed thousands of Yemenis, but are also the main reason behind instability in the Persian Gulf region,” he stated.

“Without a halt to the flood of arms exports from France, the UK, the US and others, one cannot expect stability and calm in this delicate region,” the Iranian spokesperson added.

His comments came after French President Macron on Friday called for talks on a new deal with Iran which he said needs to involve countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia.

“Dialogue with Iran will be rigorous, and they will need to include our allies in the region for a nuclear deal, and this includes Saudi Arabia,” Macron said in Paris, noting that it was necessary to refrain from making the same mistakes made in 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran Says Its Homegrown Vaccine Effective on UK Variant of COVID-19

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Hassan Jalili, the head of the research group that developed the Iranian vaccine, told reporters on Saturday the vaccine has been successfully tested on the British variant, which is 70% more contagious than the common variant.

“We tested the UK strain with the blood plasma of the three first volunteers vaccinated twice with CovIran Barekat,” he noted.

“Their plasma was expected to be immune enough to counter the new strain. Our tests indicated that the Iranian vaccine has successfully managed to neutralize the mutated virus completely,” he added.

Minoo Mohraz, a member of the National Coronavirus Headquarters and the official in charge of supervising the clinical tests of CovIran Barekat, said the news made everyone happy.

“The UK variant had turned into a serious concern for all of us, and we were wondering whether the Iranian vaccine could only neutralize the common variant or will be able to eradicate the mutated version as well. Today this good news was announced, and made us all happy,” she added.

Coviran Barekat, the first domestically-developed COVID-19 vaccine in Iran, was named after the pharmaceutical group that developed it.

Iran launched human trials of the vaccine late last month after successfully completing the initial steps, including tests on animals, and obtaining necessary approvals.

In parallel with efforts at developing home-made vaccines, Iranian authorities have said the
county has plans to purchase foreign brands that pass safety and efficiency tests.

Iran, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Discuss Closer Cooperation

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

In the Saturday meeting, which came on the last leg of Zarif’s whistle-stop tour of the region, the top Iranian diplomat expressed content with his regional trips.

Zarif said he was happy to see the territories occupied during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been liberated.

“Although some people lost their lives in this conflict, the liberation of the occupied territories has made the Islamic Republic of Iran happy,” said the foreign minister.

“Moreover, it is necessary to seize the opportunity that has been created for regional cooperation and prevent the outbreak of any such conflicts in the future,” he noted.

Zarif elaborated on his regional tour and the negotiations he had as well as the viewpoints of officials of the countries he visited.

He said all those countries generally welcomed regional cooperation which, he stressed, is particularly important when it comes to transportation in the region and transit routes.
Zarif underlined Nakhchivan plays a key role in that regard.

He touched upon Talibov chairing the Iran-Nakhchivan Parliamentary Friendship Group, and called for closer parliamentary cooperation between the two sides.

Talibov, in turn, presented a report on the status of Nakhchivan’s cooperation with Iran in the areas of trade, electricity and culture, adding Nakhchivan stands ready for cooperation in the domains of railway, transportation, roads, customs and offering facilities to received transit goods in a bid to further cement regional cooperation.

Environmental issues of the Aras River, taking care of Iranian expatriates’ affairs, and a seat for the Persian Language at Nakhchivan’s state university were among other issues discussed by the two top officials.

In the meeting, the Iranian foreign minister also expressed his gratitude to Talibov for translating Zarif’s book titled “Multilateral Diplomacy” into the Azeri language and teaching it at Nakhchivan’s state university.

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