In her press briefing on Wednesday, Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 2,691 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 248,379.
The spokeswoman said 209,463 patients have so far recovered from COVID-19, but 3,309 are still in severe conditions of the disease.
She further stressed that so far 1,872,391 COVID-19 tests have been taken across the country.
According to Lari, Khuzestan, West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Khorasan Razavi, Kurdistan, Ilam, Bushehr, Hormozgan, and Kermanshah provinces are considered as “red zones”.
Tehran, Isfahan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Alborz, Kerman, Yazd, Sistan and Baluchestan, Hamadan, and Ardabil provinces are also in dangerous conditions, she added, urging people to seriously avoid any unnecessary trip, especially to Khorasan Razavi and Mazandaran provinces.
Alexander Machkevitch is building a new type of plant in Kazakhstan following the global trends of environmentally-responsible business. This project is certainly a new trend in the industry. The development of an aluminum and carbon dioxide waste management company was announced at the 25th International Mining Congress.
Machkevitch analyzes possible plans for the implementation of the first of its kind plant for the processing of CO2 and aluminum waste, the so-called dump sludge. This technology was used only at another one enterprise of the Eurasian Group in Botswana. He also noted that he sees potential in expanding chrome enterprises.
He is aiming at an innovative approach in business when relevant technologies are used to solve problems. This allows you to offset the costs and encourage your own enterprises to run the waste-free production, reaching the greatest degree of efficiency. This means a reduction in wasted expenses, an increase in production, and an overall integrated technological solution.
Carbon Dioxide Processing
The Eurasian Group is the leader in the region in the field of technology: the product is produced from carbon dioxide, hydrogen and electricity as fuel, environmentally friendly chemicals and products. And since this technology is innovative, Machkevitch is working with partners to further develop a project that transforms carbon dioxide, increasing the efficiency of resource use. The Eurasian Group designs this plant on the basis of its own technological platform: production is environmentally friendly and does not harm when using the land.
The consensus point of the global climate community is that coordinated global action to reduce carbon emissions will be required to prevent the worst effects of climate change. And the Eurasian Group is engaged in large-scale processing of the most common greenhouse gas, CO2, as a raw material for liquid synthetic fuels and chemicals.
Machkevitch gained many years of experience in solving the problems of introducing innovative solutions, so the use of carbon dioxide for processing once again speaks of its technological advantages.
Aluminum Processing
Aluminum recycling is the process by which aluminum scrap is recycled for recycling. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with the processing of metals in waste after consumption are estimated by Alexander Machkevitch from the point of view of economical production waste management. And recycling scrap metal represents significant savings.
First, installation is used to sort the extracted metal: aluminum billets are then transferred by a conveyor system to a specialized shredder, said Alexander Machkevitch. During this melting process, some chemicals are added to the molten aluminum so that it has the correct composition.
This is followed by the transfer of molten aluminum to another furnace — it is also known as a holding furnace. Here, aluminum awaits transformation into ingots by molding. Thus, the enterprise of Machkevitch implements waste-free business strategies in this production sector.
The art of carving designs on copper, gold, silver, and brass, commonly known as Qalam-Zani in Iran, dates back to more than one thousand years BCE.
The art is practiced in Isfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz, each of which has its own style. Engraving is the creation of lines and motifs by hammering on metal objects.
Due to its softness and ductility, copper is more common in the art of engraving than other metals. On the other hand, archaeologists and art historians believe that copper was the first metal to be considered in the art of metalworking and engraving.
The art of engraving on metal is therefore of greater interest to artists, as it is more durable than other objects. In addition, the motifs and symbols in different historical and cultural periods vary according to different ideological and cultural changes and under the influence of social conditions.
The art of engraving was practised in the Median, Achaemenid, Seljuk, Parthian, Sassanid, periods until the Islamic period, and has developed in both designs and techniques.
Engraving remained at its peak until the Qajar period, but in the contemporary period this art has been revived by artists like Mahmoud Dehnavi and the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Ministry.
Below are Mehr News Agency’s pictures of Taghi Khorasani’s engraving workshop, which has been operating in Iran’s North Khorasan province more than 20 years.
File photo of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (right) shaking hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping
In a statement on Wednesday and in response to a barrage of false claims raised in the cyberspace about the roadmap to 25-year cooperation between Iran and China, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said, “According to a 2016 agreement between the presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People’s Republic of China, stipulated in the Article VI of the communiqué during the honourable Chinese president’s visit to Tehran, the two countries have explicitly expressed their political determination to promote and deepen the relations strategically and decided to devise a comprehensive 25-year roadmap between the two countries to become the basis for the coherent and all-out expansion of the political and economic relations between Iran and China in the years to come.”
“The preliminary draft of the document has been prepared with the participation of specialized institutions from the two countries and is currently undergoing the negotiation stage. Naturally, after finalization of the negotiations, the document will be submitted to the representatives of people in the Parliament for legal procedures,” the spokesperson noted.
Mousavi also pointed to the “hostile and nervous” reaction from the US Department of State’s spokesperson, adding, “Undoubtedly, the strategic relations between Iran and China that entail mutual key interests for the people of the two countries have enemies who will make every effort for the failure of these negotiations and lack of success of the document.”
He further dismissed as ridiculous the claims about a lease on the Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, a monopoly on the sale of oil at low prices, or the deployment of armed forces, saying such claims do not even merit a denial.
“Fulfillment of Iran’s national interests has been the only guiding principle for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in devising the strategic document, and the negotiations have been held with utmost carefulness and meticulousness, as the people of Iran will soon observe its results, God willing,” Mousavi noted.
The spokesperson finally expressed hope that the cooperation document would be finalized in the near future, stressing, “Naturally, no other text would be valid before the finalization of negotiations. Therefore, the media are urged to refrain from republishing the texts that are prepared and disseminated with various purposes and objectives.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Mousavi had described Tehran-Beijing relations as significant in a post on his Twitter account.
“The Iran-China Comprehensive Cooperation Plan is a clear-cut road map which fundamentally puts relations between these two important countries on track for the future world, a place where China, as the number-one economic power in the world, and Iran, as a major power in the West Asia region, can enjoy complementary relations independently of traditional and domineering Western powers in a bid to secure their mutual interests and, at the same time, stand up to pressure by bullies.”
“There is no handing over of the Iranian islands, no presence of military forces and no other illusions!” he said.
“The old tactic of spreading lies and false information to receive details and accurate data, which is seriously pursued by enemies that want to harm both nations’ interests, will get nowhere,” Mousavi added.
In remarks on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said everything about the 25-year cooperation agreement with China is clear and the two countries have nothing to hide about it.
He also noted that Tehran will make the contents of the agreement public.
In a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday, director of the Iranian Presidency’s Centre for Strategic Studies, Hesamoddin Ashena, said it appears that the ‘maximum pressure’ has been designed and implemented with the genuine and strategic purpose of disabling Iran strategically in the domestic, foreign, social and economic spheres, eliminate Iran from the global connection routes, and deprive the country of its geographical and geopolitical advantages.
He said the US’ hostile measures against Iran in recent decades are rooted in a combination of factors, including the arrogant nature of the United States, an end to American influence after victory of the Islamic Revolution, the war discourse, and the conflicts between the regional interests of Tehran and Washington.
Ashena also touched on the impact that Iran’s regional rivals and the US’ regional allies have had on Washington’s foreign policy against the Islamic Republic, adding, “Although the sanctions imposed on Iran under the Trump and the Obama administrations are apparently similar, they have essential differences.”
The sanctions imposed by Obama were rather instrumental and aimed at persuading Iran to hold talks on the nuclear industry, while the policy of maximum pressure is designed to punish Iran for the negotiations leading to the JCPOA and to ruin any chance of new and useful negotiations, he added.
He further warned that a successful US policy of maximum pressure could sap Iran’s national power, result in corruption, and trigger unrest.
Ashena also explained that Iran’s appropriate response to the policy of maximum pressure is not holding new negotiations with the US or even with Europe, China and Russia without considering the pressures from the regional rivals on the US.
“It seems that Iran’s main problem lies rather in the region, and Iran, while paying attention to the international arena, must begin from the region to reach the other parties, not vice versa,” Ashena concluded.
In remarks on Tuesday, Ardakanian said his ministry has devised serious plans to carry out seawater desalination projects in 17 provinces.
He noted that feasibility studies have begun to implement desalination facilities at a distance of 100 kilometres from the sea.
Pointing to the growing progress in the seawater desalination facility technology in the world, the minister said advanced technology would reduce the cost of saltwater desalination.
He further noted that one of the economically feasible ways for Iran to run desalination facilities is to use the waste heat from thermal power stations.
Supplying the energy for desalination plants with the waste heat energy from the gas-fired and combined cycle gas turbine plants would increase the efficiency of power stations and help supply fresh water for the bulk of coastal provinces, he explained.
The energy minister finally unveiled plans to open the second phase of a major seawater desalination project in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas in the coming weeks.
In comments made on Tuesday, Alireza Zali said the virus is targeting people of all ages.
“At the moment, we are experiencing a new situation as not only has the number of infections increased, but also different age groups have contracted the disease,” said Zali, who heads operations to manage the coronavirus outbreak in the capital, Tehran.
He said 8.5% of those who referred to hospitals to receive outpatient treatment were hospitalized.
“Over the past 24 hours, the number of people hospitalized as new patients in the capital’s medical centres has reached 534, which is one of the highest figures ever in recent days,” he noted.
“Over this period, 84 patients were also hospitalized at ICUs at medical centres,” he noted.
The official said some 420 people have been discharged from hospitals.
“This figure in Tehran indicates a rise in the number of infections, and the situation in Tehran remains alarming and unstable,” he said.
The official noted that hospitals are on full alert to admit patients, but will naturally be overstretched if the number of patients rises.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Zali said authorities are studying how many citizens use mask in public places nowadays, urging people to observe social distancing rules as well.
His comments were made on the same day when Iran’s Health Ministry reported 200 fatalities caused by the novel coronavirus in 24 hours, an all-time high figure since the beginning of the outbreak in Iran.
1- Iranian Nurse: My Colleagues Don’t Feel Well Emotionally
2- 239 Scientists to WHO: Coronavirus Can Be Transmitted through Air
Arman-e Melli Newspaper:
1- Iran Leader to Hamas Chief: Tehran Will Spare No Effort to Support Innocent People of Palestine
Ebtekar Newspaper
1- Social Campaign Invites People to Wear Mask
* How People React to Obligation of Wearing Face Mask
2- Europe Turning Eastward: Has China Replaced US in Europe’s Strategic Ties?
3- Parliament’s Challenge with Government [Editorial]
Ettela’at Newspaper:
1- Zarif: We Have to Defend Ourselves Even against Iranian Friends
Iran Newspaper:
1- Vaezi: Iran Welcomes Expansion of Cooperation with Venezuela
2- Coronavirus Deaths in Tehran Break Records
3- Date of Reopening Schools May Change If Pandemic Worsens
Hamshahri Newspaper:
1- Coronavirus’ Second Attack on Iran’s Economy
2- Comedy of Horror in COVID-19 Queues: What’s Going on in COVID-19 Testing Labs?
Javan Newspaper:
1- Coronavirus Defeats Hospital Beds!
Kayhan Newspaper:
1- US’ Independence Day Celebrations Kill 34
2- Egypt, UAE, Saudi: Three Traitors Who Endorsed Israel’s Annexation Plan
3- Russia’s Envoy to IAEA: Moscow Opposed to Triggering Dispute Mechanism for JCPOA Dispute Resolution
Khorasan Newspaper:
1- Judiciary Chief, Central Bank Governor Warn Those Who Disrupt Forex Market
Mardom Salari Newspaper:
1- Parliament’s Treatment of Zarif Widely Covered by World Media
2- Araqchi: Iran’s Nuclear Case May Be Taken to UN Security Council
Shargh Newspaper:
1- Judiciary Chief: We’ll Reprimand Officials Who Fail to Fulfil Their Duties
Health Ministry spokeswoman says the record-high number of deaths raise the overall death toll to 11,931.
In her press briefing, Sima-Sadat Lari also confirmed 2,637 new cases of COVID-19 infection, increasing the total number of infections to 245,688.
According to the spokeswoman, 207,000 patients have so far recovered from COVID-19, but 3,270 are still in severe conditions of the disease.
She said so far 1,846,793 COVID-19 tests have been taken across the country.
Lari added that Khuzestan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Ilam, West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, and Khorasan Razavi are considered as “red zones”.
Tehran, Isfahan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Alborz, Kerman, Yazd, Sistan and Baluchestan, Hamadan, and Ardabil are also in danger zone.
In an interview with Khabar Online, Somayeh Aqa-Mohammadi has urged the public to take a series of actions to ward off the psychological impact of the pandemic.
How does Corona make us anxious and depressed?
In order to tackle the psychological stress caused by the coronavirus crisis, she says, every person needs to take measures at the individual level, so that they will not suffer from mood disorders such as anxiety, stress, depression and obsession.
Aqa-Mohammadi believes many suffer from a sense of “uncertainty” over what happens after the coronavirus is over, or over the possibility of the diseases lingering on in society.
Anxiety, stress and depression are among the most prevalent mood disorders during the coronavirus infection, and special action should be taken for each one in order to reduce their intensity.
“In the clinical psychology domain, we are facing stressful ‘new assignments’ which means we should do a series of things which didn’t use to exist.
“The first issue for people is the ‘new assignment’ and it is not even clear to us what should actually be done.
“The second issue is ‘uncertainty;’ all of us have uncertainty about our future after the coronavirus outbreak is over.
“The thirds issue which bothers us is related to the domain of social psychology. We have been told that interpersonal relations should be highly restricted. Relations have been limited even within families and with regards to social relationship between friends.
How much have your clinical observations or the number of people coming to you increased? In other words, can we say what percentage of mood and psychological disorders in society is attributable to coronavirus?
We cannot exactly say how many percent, by my clinical observations show individuals with anxiety disorders have seen their problems increase.
People who suffered from obsession an anxiety, or who were aloof and shy, have seen their condition worsened. In fact, a range of our patients became iller.
Some people were suffering from mood disorders such as different types of depression. Their mood has declined because they can’t stand uncertainty. The third point is relations within family and between spouses.
Why has “staying at home,” which is not limited to Iran, cause so much tension and differences?
During home quarantine, certain things emerged within family relationships which shouldn’t have. A husband and wife who each had certain features managed these issues while the other was not present. Now, new behavioral details which were not evident before trigger rows and quarrels.
The other issue is families’ interference which is more frequent during quarantine period at home because family members spend more time together and, on the other hand, the number of friendly and social gatherings has decreased. Another factor is social impatience which has contributed to the problem. Because family members have not much to do, they pick on each other.
We have many families one of whose members has contracted coronavirus and must be completely isolated. Under such circumstances, what is the best action to take to maintain psychological health?
The point is that individuals should control their emotions during the coronavirus outbreak.
The best solution to tackle such conditions is to create a positive and happy atmosphere for the person or family member who has contracted coronavirus. They should accept that coronavirus exists. If someone cannot accept this fact, he or she should separate from each other, so that negative effect will not affect others as well as the infected person himself or herself. In fact, a person who has contracted coronavirus can talk to others through means of communication, but a person who has a negative impact on others should be treated, so that his or her negative viewpoint will not put others into trouble, either.
