Iran’s military has launched production line for three domestically manufactured radar systems.
The production line was inaugurated in the presence of Iran’s Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami in the southern city of Shiraz on Sunday.
Hatami said that the advanced radars are capable of detecting “stealth aircraft, warplanes and cruise missiles.”
“Detection of anti-radiation missiles (ARMs) is another capability of these radar systems,” he said, adding that Iran aims to equip its military with state-of-the-art electronic systems.
Last month, the Islamic Republic unveiled two domestically made sophisticated radar systems dubbed Arash-2 and Kayhan.
Hatami stated that the Islamic Republic has attained self-sufficiency in manufacturing military equipment, including missiles and radar systems.
In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems.
Iran has repeatedly said that its military might poses no threat to other countries, reiterating that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.
Canadian and Australian companies have voiced readiness to invest in Iran’s gas projects.
Asghar Soheilipour, an official of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), said the Australian company is handling the executive affairs of projects while the Canadian firm is an investment company, Shana reported.
“So far, we have only held one session with the representatives of these companies to discuss expansion of cooperation. The next session is to be held in a month,” he said.
“A South Korean company has also announced preparedness to expand cooperation with Iran’s gas sector.
Soheilipour noted that the company is currently implementing huge projects in Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE.
“We have held preliminary talks with the Korean company. Both sides are following up the issue,” he said.
Earlier, the official said 13 European and Asian companies and four domestic firms have voiced readiness to invest $15 billion in Iran’s gas projects.
“So far, we have held 21 sessions with foreign and domestic companies to explore ways of bolstering cooperation in gas sector and boosting investments,” he said.
Among the companies that are ready for cooperation with Iran’s gas sector are four European firms from Britain and France, and nine Asian firms from Japan, South Korea and China.
The companies are mainly involved in the production of pipes, development of refineries and establishment of pressure booster stations.
A deputy health minister said that increasing the research budget and research-based manpower helps boost the country’s research products.
Dr. Reza Malekzadeh added that Iran rank 17th in the Scopus Database and 30th in the International Statistical Institute (ISI), ISNA reported.
“Iran’s contribution to science production worldwide stood at 1.53 percent in 2013, which is a logical figure given the country’s population,” he said.
“The other problem is reduction of international cooperation, a portion of which is due to political and economic problems.”
Malekzadeh noted that Iran ranks 30th in pediatrics in Scopus.
“The country faces a shortage of researcher and budget to increase the quality of scientific researches,” he said.
Malekzadeh put the share of research in gross domestic product below 1 percent.
“The research budget was expected to reach 2.5 percent, but currently stands at 0.4 percent,” he said.
A total of 250 domestic and foreign companies are participating in the Third Mines and Mining Industries Exhibition (Minex 2014) in Tehran.
Participants include 90 foreign companies from Germany, Italy, China, Russia, Australia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Belarus and Taiwan.
Speaking on the sidelines of his visit to the exhibition on Friday, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said the mining sector’s share in gross domestic product can grow by 2 percent to reach 3 percent, IRNA reported.
He said his ministry’s main priority is to expand mining exploration activities.
The exhibition which opened on October 17 will continue until October 20.
The minister called for carrying out more exploration operations in the sector to be followed by extraction and processing of minerals.
Noting that the mining sector plays a pivotal role in the country’s production plans, Nematzadeh said foreign investments are highly welcome in the sector.
“We plan to hold tenders to hand over exploration activities to the private sector.” He said.
The minister stressed that the participation of foreign and domestic investors in mining projects will help boost the sector’s output.
“Currently, we should reduce the export of raw materials and increase the production and export of value-added products,” he said.
Since the beginning of 2014, Iran has launched a plan to explore 200,000 square kilometers of the country’s area for mineral resources, which has progressed by 30 percent.
Iran ranked among top 10 countries with rich mineral resources in the year ended March 20, 2014, the country extracted 420 million tons of minerals from 5,400 mines.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, with the aim of consolidating national authority and reinforcing security in Lebanon, is ready to supply the needs of the Lebanese army, and share its experience with this country’s army for fighting terrorist and Takfiri groups,” Dehqan said in a meeting with visiting Lebanese Defense Minister Samir Moqbel on Saturday.
Iran attaches significance to its ties with Lebanon as an independent, stable and geopolitically-important country, Dehqan said, adding that Tehran backs the Arab country’s security, independence and territorial integrity.
Moqbel, for his part, welcomed the expansion of ties with Iran in all fields, including defense sector, and said Iran’s aid to Lebanon as a friendly country is highly important due to special conditions in Beirut.
Last month, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said in Beirut that Tehran would provide the necessary military equipment to the Lebanese army for the fight against terror.
Lebanon has been rocked by the spillover of the conflict in Syria, where the ISIL Takfiri terrorists are operating.
Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011 with ISIL Takfiri terrorists currently controlling parts of it, mostly in east and north.
“…The West has tried to create a fake entity named the Salafi group which has no task but to kill people and commit [acts of] aggression,” Secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights Mohammad Javad Larijani told state television.
He added that the West is horrified by the spread of Islam and the Islamic Revolution of Iran, saying, “The West has moved to form terrorist groups… such as Taliban, al-Qaeda and ISIL, to stem the spread [of Islam].”
Turkey has been a staunch supporter of the ISIL Takfiri militants who have been wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria, where they have seized large swathes of land. They have also committed heinous crimes including mass executions and beheadings of thousands of people in the areas under their control.
Turkey’s stance on the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani has also drawn harsh criticism. The city of and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with the ISIL militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages. The Kurdish military sources say Kurdish fighters are gaining more ground against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in and around Kobani, adding they managed to force out the militants from most of the city’s areas.
Turkey continues to block any delivery of military, medical or humanitarian assistance into Kobani where the ISIL terrorists are feared to be aiming at massive bloodletting.
Analysts say Ankara plans to let the terrorists seize Kobani before sending tanks and troops to fight them in a bid to capture and possibly annex the Syrian territory.
Meanwhile, Press TV has learned that Washington has moved its base from Jordan to Turkey to train radical extremists who are fighting the Syrian government.
“The IRGC Ground Forces have submitted sufficient evidence to Foreign Ministry and Ministry of the Interior regarding the infiltration of bandits from inside Pakistan [to Iran],” IRGC Ground Forces’ second-in-command, Brigadier General Abdollah Araqi, said on Saturday.
Noting that the Islamic Republic will respond “legally and politically” to cross-border attacks, the general said, “We are trying to establish lasting security in [border] areas by fortifying borders, exercising further intelligence control and boosting our military capability.”
Araqi added that due to measures taken by the IRGC, police and the Intelligence Ministry, terrorist operations, which used to be carried out in more internal parts of the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan up to five years ago, are now carried out only in border areas.
He also criticized Iran’s eastern neighbors for failing to rein in terrorists who cross back borders into these countries after carrying out their attacks on Iran’s soil.
Three Iranian police officers were killed when they, along with other patrol police forces, came under a night attack by armed bandits while on a mission in the city of Saravan in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan on October 8.
Another police officer was killed after an explosives-laden car taken to the police station by terrorists went off hours after the first incident.
Iranian security forces have apprehended a number of perpetrators behind the recent killings.
Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization in September 2014 issued a leaflet on Darband Caves, which have been home to humans as far back in history as more than 200,000 years ago. What comes below is the translation of the information the leaflet provides on this ancient natural site:
Some 230,000 years ago, concurrent with a warm interglacial period, Darband Rashi Caves were a safe haven for humans who used them as makeshift shelters. What is left behind by the ancient hunters offers the oldest evidence [the age of which can be determined by modern-day dating methodologies in archeology] about the early inhabitants of Iran.
Darband Rashi Caves are to the south of Rashi village, nestled, at an altitude of 750 meters, between Rahmatabad and Blukat villages of Rudbar, in the northern Iranian Province of Gilan. Mount Dorfak, which is also known as Dolfak [nest of eagle], with the elevation of 2,720 meters is located in this region too.
On the southern flank of the slope leading to the mountain, there are deep, narrow valleys which channel the water coming from the mountain springs to the Siah-Rud River from the eastern tributaries of the river. Darband Rashi Caves are located on the northern side of one of these valleys and their walls are all but vertical.
The archeological site has two major caves. The larger one is as long as 60 meters and the other one is 30 meters in length. Both caves face south. Also, both caves have sedimentary floors, which are in some parts composed of Travertine [a limestone deposited by mineral springs]. The floor composition indicates that water and humidity have penetrated the cave.
The shorter cave was first explored and studied by archeologists with Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization in 2005. Further examination of the cave produced a collection of animal and human remains, and a number of earthenware items which date back to the first millennium B.C.
Excavations of the nearby cave uncovered a number of terracotta objects which were as old as the items unearthed in the first cave. After preliminary examinations, applications to have the caves registered as a national site were prepared and in August 2005 they were registered as a national heritage site. On further examination, some animal fossil remains such as those of cave bears as well as stone artifacts including a cleaver and a carved chip were discovered.
In April 2012, a team of archeologists headed by Dr. Fereydoun Biglari from the National Museum of Iran with the help of Dr. Vali Jahani, the head of Gilan’s Archeological Research Center, along with an interdisciplinary team of experts carried out more detailed research to dig out more information about the Median culture of cave inhabitants during the Paleolithic Era, their exploitation of ecology and resources in the vicinity of the cave, the regional vegetation and climatic conditions and the way such caves and their ancient sediments tool shape throughout history.
Such examination and speculation resulted in a rich collection of animal fossils and stone artifacts crafted by the cave inhabitants which helped archeologists get a better insight into one of the most unknown and ancient prehistoric periods of Iran.
Preliminary studies of the fossils indicated that the now-extinct cave bears, as well as deer, bulls, and wild goats used to live there. In addition, a number of tools belonging to the Paleolithic Era, including an ax and some other objects were among the archeological finds.
Further studies can shed light on the way such tools were crafted out of parent material by cavemen. Besides, examination of geological composition in the region can help experts find out what stones were used in crafting such tools and consequently develop an understanding about the geological changes of Darband Valley throughout history. A sample containing a few animal teeth was collected from a layer to have the age of them determined through uranium dating. The results can play an important role in specifying the exact date when humans started dwelling in these caves.
Preliminary dating has indicated a hunter-gatherer society used these caves in the mid Pleistocene era (about 200,000 years ago). Darband Caves offer the most ancient evidence, dated by modern, definite methods, about human habitation in Iran.
On the whole, the properties of stone tools and animal remains as well as their age suggest that Darband Caves served as a makeshift shelter to hunter-gatherers toward the end of the Paleolithic Era.
Darband Caves were probably a place where one of the subspecies of cave bear hibernated; their remains in the caves presented the first evidence about the existence of such animals during the Quaternary Period.
Initial studies into the archaeological finds discovered in the caves suggest that this site can clear up a lot of confusion about the cultures of the Paleolithic Era and the environment of the early communities who lived to the west of the Alborz Mountains, and Iran at large.
Darband Caves, the only known caves with archeological finds belonging to the Paleolithic Era in Iran, offer us a unique opportunity to add new chapters to the history book of human habitation in Iran. More in-depth archeological and interdisciplinary studies into Darband Caves, their preservation and introduction as the earliest recorded human habitation in Iran are some of the most important goals that Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization hopes to fulfill in the not-too-distant future.
Iranian dailies on Saturday gave extensive coverage to the comments of the Supreme Leader in a meeting with Ramadan Abdullah, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The other top story of the day was the end of an 8th round of nuclear talks between Iran and P5+1 and the comments of both sides afterward. On the international front, the dailies featured the latest news about the developments of Kobani, including the retreat of ISIL militants to the outskirts of the Syrian town on the border with Turkey.
Abrar: “Iran stands first in the world as far as the number of rhinoplasties is concerned,” said the Head of Iran’s Association of Surgeons Dr. Iraj Fazel.
Abrar-e Eghtesadi: “The reduction of interest rate has been officially put on the agenda of Iran’s Money and Credit Council.”
Abrar-e Eghtesadi: “Iran’s foreign currency reserves have seen a three-billion-dollar rise despite sanctions.”
Afarinesh: “Islam does not allow us to pry into the personal lives of people; such privacy should not be undermined,” said Intelligence Minister Seyyed Mahmoud Alavi.
Afarinesh: “There has been some progress. However, there is a lot to be done yet,” said an American official after talks with Iranian and European envoys.
Afkar: “[Nuclear] talks will come to a good end,” said Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi.
Aftab-e Yazd: “My son and I do not see eye to eye on some matters,” said Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati [who is the secretary of the Guardian Council, when asked about the management of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance by Ali Jannati].
Aftab-e Yazd: “The 8th round of nuclear talks came to an end with both sides determined to finalize a deal within 40 days.”
Arman-e Emrooz: “The two sides involved in nuclear talks [Iran and P5+1] view an extension of the negotiations as inappropriate [for the time being],” said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Arman-e Emrooz: “Khatami is the best candidate to represent the establishment in Europe,” said Deputy Leader of the Islamic Coalition Party Asadollah Badamchian in a surprise comment by a dyed-in-the-wool principlist.
Asia: “CEOs of 200 world corporations sized up trade diplomacy with Iran” is the headline of a report the daily filed on its front page about the first Europe-Iran Forum in London.
Asr-e Rasaneh: “Effective management of the economy has made sanctions ineffective,” said the economy minister.
Asrar: “Saudi Arabia is to blame for all regional problems; the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Saudi Shiite cleric, will cost the Saudi [Royal] family dearly,” said Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami.
Emtiaz: “Ebola is highly unlikely to find its way to Iran,” said the director of the Center for Management of Contagious Disease.
Emtiaz: “All evidence presented by the Environment Protection Organization to parliament suggests that the gas produced in petrochemical plants was carcinogenic.”
Emtiaz: “The tune of Kitaro’s music has echoed in Tehran.”
Ettela’at: “There are 250,000 vacant seats at universities, yet there are still some who seek to establish new universities,” said acting Minister of Science, Research and Technology Dr. Mohammad Ali Najafi in a thinly-veiled reference to efforts by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his close allies to found a new university.
Ettela’at: “Victory of Gaza is the fulfillment of the divine pledge, heralding greater triumphs down the road,” the Supreme Leader said in his meeting with Ramadan Abdullah, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Hadaf va Eghtesad: “A budgetary red flag has been raised for the government after oil prices have gone into free fall.”
Hemayat: “Ahmed Shaheed [UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur] is a staunch advocate of terrorism,” said Secretary of the Iranian Judiciary’s Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani.
Hemayat: “If it wasn’t for the kindness of the establishment, the leaders of the sedition [a reference to Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi who challenged the results of the 2009 presidential elections] would have been sentenced to death,” said Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati.
Iran Daily: “Leader calls on Palestinian resistance groups to boost defense capabilities.”
Jomhouri Islami: “President Rouhani has ordered his oil minister to warn OPEC members that sell crude at a lower-than-agreed price.”
Jomhouri Islami: “ISIL fighters were pushed back into the suburbs of Kobani; ‘The liberation of Kobani is immediate,’ Kurds predicted.”
Kaenat: “Another clash between bandits and Iranian border guards; terrorists escaped to Pakistan again, two border guards were martyred and as many villains were killed.”
Kayhan: “To clinch a final deal, the West needs to surmount the psychological barrier of sanctions,” said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Khorasan: “Iran has become self-sufficient in manufacturing centrifuges used in the production of vaccines,” said Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Mardomsalari: “Reformists are utterly determined to secure a majority of seats in the 10th parliament,” emphasized the secretary general of Democracy Party in a news conference in Isfahan.
Rah-e Mardom: “Canadian firms have voiced readiness for presence in Iran’s oil industry.”
Roozan: “Iran-Turkey borders have been closed; hundreds of trucks have been left stranded.” The problem emerged after both countries raised border tariffs. As a result, 1,700 Iranian and 2,500 Turkish trucks have been stuck at the border.
On October 14, Alef, a news website, pitched a book entitled Government and Economic Development by Dr. Mohammad Taghi Delforooz which has been recently published by Agah Press. What appears next is the translation of a review by Dr. Ali Sarzaim of the book and the reasons as to why it is a good read:
The Iranian intellectual community has held the viewpoint that there have always been some elites seeking the country’s development, but the political system has erected barriers in their way.
The Sociology of Elite-killing*, a once blockbusting book by Ali Rezagholi, was written from this perspective. The concept of slow development in Iran is far more complicated and cannot be dissected merely on the basis of a single factor. Different periods of Iranian history have dealt with different phenomena. Therefore, each stage has its own distinctive analysis and one general explanation cannot apply to all stages.
For instance, during some periods of Iranian history, many reformist intellectuals tried to gird up their loins and be part of the ruling system to exploit its power, rather than distancing themselves from the governing system and just adopting a critical approach toward it.
That move was designed to have the state of affairs in the country reformed.
Contrary to popular belief that the government has always been an impediment to development, it can be suggested that at some stages during pre-and post-revolution eras, there were some governments which paid special attention to development and struggled to turn the government into a driving force behind development, prompting other sectors contributing to economic growth to follow in the footsteps of the government in its march toward development.
At times, such measures turned out to be effective and brought about high growth for a short period of time and consequently helped establish the foundations of modern governments and institutions in the country to the extent that today Iran is classified as a country with moderate per capita income. That we expect more is quite natural, though.
Iran is among a handful of countries which accepted Constitutionalism ahead of other developing nations and accordingly founded modern institutions. In practice, nonetheless, such moves have not proved adequate and sustainable enough to help Iran catch up with developed countries. The question that arises here is that which one of the different governments which have risen to power in contemporary Iranian history can be regarded as a development-oriented government. The second question that follows is that why such governments acted hastily and the trend that they set did not last long; why did they fail in practice?
The recent experience of some developing nations suggests that their governments have played an important role in leading the economy and society at large toward development, whereas according to the common Western model, it is the market and the developments within it that move a society in the direction of development.
During a long process that lasted a few hundred years, Western countries have secured development and welfare. In getting where they are, they have been dependent on measures taken by private institutions and on the market economy.
However, many developing countries have contended that they cannot wait for such a long time to foster development. The private sector in such countries is fragile and cannot stimulate development within a short and reasonable period of time. That’s why governments in such countries took action and played a pioneering role in moving toward development. In other words, the leaders who sought development used power and state facilities to jump-start the economy.
The interesting point about such governments is that the political system in most of those countries is non-democratic, but the nature of a system as such has helped those in authority ensure coordination between different sectors, rather than prompt them to feel freer to exert more pressure on people and plunder more public funds.
However, many developed countries which were in better conditions in terms of democracy, couldn’t make development-related decisions and failed to ensure the required coordination. The non-democratic nature of such systems has resulted in the relative independence of the government from the public and civil society. Instead of acting as a hindrance to development, it has offered an opportunity for those who make economic policies to be immune from the pressure exerted by influential figures.
The oppressive nature of these governments has stopped social and public resistance to change from surfacing; therefore, it has facilitated economic reforms. Altogether, these characteristics have been seen in so many development-oriented governments which make the study into this phenomenon interesting and can offer us an insight into the lack of development in Iran.
Government and Economic Development is designed to get readers familiar with the development-oriented governments and their pioneering role in pushing society toward development. In one chapter, the author has discussed four special examples, including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.
Dr. Delforooz, the writer, has tried to extract qualities of development-oriented governments through this comparative study. Among other things, the role of the elite, the independence of the government from influential figures and its extent, the relation between the government with the working class, feudalists, serfs and capitalists, the extent of bureaucracy, the interaction of the government with civil society and the international community are the points taken into consideration. These characteristics have set a standard that helps identify development-oriented Iranian governments.
Drawing an analogy between the development-oriented governments and Iranian governments can pave the way for answering questions as to why Iranian development-oriented governments unlike their successful Asian peers, failed to land Iran in the territory of development.
Also, this book offers readers a theoretical framework by which they can take another look at the link between democracy and economic growth. Instead of considering that there is always a direct and ideal relation between the two factors, they should try to realize the complexity of the relation and analyze different factual evidence.
This book is recommended to those who are interested in development in general, and Iran’s development in particular.
*The Sociology of Elite-killing is a book by Ali Rezagholi about the performance of the political elites and how Iranian society treated them. In the domain of political studies in 1998, it turned out to be a bestseller in Iran. The book offers a sociological analysis about the historical roots of dictatorship and backwardness in Iran.
The book was first published by Ney Press in 1998. It has since been reprinted several times. Throughout the book, the author is in quest of finding an answer to the question as to whether reforms in the structure of society are introduced by the elite or that they are brought about by social developments.
To that end, the writer tries to dissect the political, social and cultural conditions of different times when some political elites were in power. Based on historical evidence, he concludes that the political, economic and social structure of Iranian society won’t let the elite revamp the state of affairs, because the community can’t stand reforms and consequently kills the elite.
