NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Sunday, August 27, 2023
IRAN DAILY
-- Huge demand for Iranian drones in Europe:
The Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman has highlighted the increasing demand for Iran-made advanced unmanned aerial vehicles, revealing a strong interest from numerous countries in procuring these drones.
“We have received numerous requests from various countries, notably from Western and European countries. However, these parties have expressed a preference to keep their identities confidential,” Reza Talaei-Nik told Tasnim news agency.
Offering insight into the defense industries’ achievements exhibition, he explained, “While our permanent export exhibition showcases a range of products, certain achievements are deliberately omitted from the display due to certain considerations.”
On Wednesday, military attachés from 37 countries visited Iran’s Defense Industries Exhibition, organized to mark Iranian Defense Industry Day – August 22.
Emphasizing the ministry’s cautious approach, the spokesman underscored, “We are open to exporting drones from our designated portfolio, provided that there are no political or security constraints with the recipient country”.
“And we must be confident that our drones won’t be used inappropriately. Considering the capacity for drone production and fulfilling domestic needs, we are prepared to export drones that are included in our export portfolio,” he added.
Addressing the topic of foreign weaponry procurement, Talaie-Nik emphasized:
“While prioritizing domestic capabilities remains paramount for meeting our Armed Forces’ needs, there are instances where external procurement is necessary to complement our domestic armaments. Especially in the field of aerial combat, historically, the Ministry of Defense has included this consideration in its foreign procurement plan. Some initiatives have reached their final stages, but the process of foreign arms procurement contracts tends to be lengthy.”
When asked about the arrival of specific aircraft, Talaie-Nik clarified, “As agreements progress to the final operational phase, the necessary information will be shared with the people of Iran. Given security concerns, no country is willing to disclose information about these processes before their completion. I can assure you that no process has been canceled or disrupted.”
-- Iran to launch Mideast largest zinc plant:
The largest zinc processing factory in the Middle East will be launched in central Iran.
Possessing over 700 million tons of mineral reserves of lead and zinc, and about 170 million tons of extractable reserves, the Mahdiabad Lead and Zinc and Barite Mine Complex is considered the second largest reserve in the world, said the director of the complex, Hamidreza Hemayat, according to IRNA.
The mine will produce 800,000 tons of zinc concentrate and 80,000 tons of lead-silver concentrate in three phases, he said, adding that the first phase of the complex is proceeding to its final stages.
Once the first phase of this giant project is completed, the largest lead and zinc processing factory in the Middle East will come into being, Hemayat underscored.
He put the country’s current production capacity of zinc ingot and proven ingot production at 490,000 and about 220,000 tons, respectively. Regarding the supply of main infrastructures of this project, he said that the implementation of a plan to supply water to Mahdiabad Plant was launched with the construction of a 100-km pipeline from Yazd Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is considered the largest wastewater conveyance project in the country.
Hemayat also pointed to the $1 billion worth of investment needed for the operation of all phases of this giant project and put the investment made for the completion of the first phase of this project at $300 million.
-- Iran’s steel production capacity up by 200K tons:
Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Abbas Ali-Abadi inaugurated the second phase of the Bisotoun Steel Company in the western province of Kermanshah on Saturday.
By launching the development project, the annual sponge iron production capacity of the plant increased by 200,000 tons, IRNA reported.
The mill’s second phase, that includes smelting and reduction units, created 472 job.
The first phase of the Bisotoun Steel Company was inaugurated on May 1, 2019, with a nameplate capacity of 250,000 tons per year.
According to the figures released by World Steel Association (WSA) on August 22, Iranian steelmakers churned out 18.1 million tons of crude steel during the first seven months of the current year, up 4.1 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
WSA figures indicated that the country produced two million tons of steel ingots in the seventh month of 2023.
-- Renewables development increased by three times:
The development of Iran renewable energy has increased by 225 megawatts (MW) which has been a threefold increase in current government since two years ago, said Ali Shabnavard, the director general of the supervision, qualification, and project control of Iran’s Renewable Energy and Electricity Organization.
About 79 percent of the installed renewable energy capacity of Iran has been launched before the current government took office in 2021, while 21 percent was added later and the quick growth has been achieved thanks to proper policies and facilitations of the current government, according to IRNA. The current capacity of Iran’s renewable power plants stands at 1,084 MW since thirty years ago, Shabnavard noted.
In the past years, only one method was used to develop renewable energy, while currently many other methods have been considered to accelerate the development of renewable energy, the official added.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
-- What Iran Has to Gain From BRICS Membership:
Iran’s membership in the BRICS group of emerging economies is a significant national, regional and international development, which is important both to Tehran and BRICS members, including China and Russia.
In recent years, there has been a lot of focus on Iran’s membership in global political and economic organizations, institutions and groups in order to spur economic growth and provide a ballast in the face of geopolitical and structural changes.
BRICS has gained a special place in Iran’s foreign policy due to its increasing importance in the international political economy and geopolitical developments.
The Islamic Republic has good political relations with all five main members of the BRICS group consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Tehran is motivated by the international prestige, the geopolitical and geoeconomic linkage with the emerging world powers, and the regional and international status which joining BRICS can potentially bring in.
New economic partners are about to come out of the woodwork after membership in BRICS and access to new financial resources, technological findings, knowledge-based production methods in agriculture, food security and trade could enable Iran to better deal with the hobbling impact of sanctions.
BRICS is developing internal institutions for integration and increasing effective economic power in order to support development programs of its members and strengthen their regional and international position.
The establishment of financial institutions independent from Western institutions can be considered the most important success of BRICS in promoting convergence and its most important advantage in the new global economic structure.
Two financial institutions within BRICS are the pillars of the group’s power, which also offer opportunities for Iran.
The New Development Bank of BRICS is the most important economic pillar of BRICS, created with the aim of forging convergence among the members in the world economy.
The bank was established in 2014 with the initial authorized capital of $100 billion to finance infrastructure projects in BRICS countries and other emerging markets. It is headquartered in Shanghai, China.
According to the agreement, the bank “shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments”.
Another key institution established with the aim of strengthening financial convergence among the members is the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA).
It is a framework for the provision of support through liquidity and precautionary instruments in response to actual or potential short-term balance of payments pressures.
Although U.S. financial sanctions make it difficult for Iran to access the resources of these two institutions, BRICS has adopted various methods under its de-dollarization scheme to provide loans and services to members, which can reduce the impact of the sanctions.
The New Development Bank uses methods such as providing loans in the national currency of BRICS powers, cryptocurrency and currency swaps.
Bear in mind that Iran’s integration into the BRICS economic framework is fraught with challenges as regards alignment with the economic policies, regulatory mechanisms and commercial laws and regulations of the main and new members.
Ensuring the coordination and synching of the domestic bureaucracy with BRICS institutions in areas such as customs, tariffs and investment regulations requires time and complex expert reviews.
Nevertheless, the geoeconomic benefits of the membership are so many that any misgivings are roundly misplaced.
As a full member, Iran would have closer economic relations with other member countries, which can gradually lead to increased business and investment opportunities.
This cooperation can include various sectors including energy, production, agriculture and technology and provide access to new markets and potential sources of foreign direct investment.
Joining BRICS would also give Iran the opportunity to diversify its economic partners beyond the current circle.
The BRICS countries have an overall population of more than 3 billion people, which potentially provides a vast consumer market for Iranian goods and services. This diversity would reduce Iran’s dependence on a limited set of business partners and increases its economic resilience.
-- Top General: All Objectives of Drill Achieved:
As the Iranian army rounded off a massive electronic warfare exercise on Friday, a top general hailed the participating units for achieving all objectives of the war game. Deputy Chief of the Army for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said more than 95 percent of the war game plans have been carried out successfully. He noted that the combat scenarios and the electronic warfare operations performed in the exercise indicated the army’s great progress in the electronic warfare technologies.
-- FM Calls on Taliban to Allow Iran’s Allotted Share of Water:
Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday reiterated Iran’s call on Afghan rulers to provide the country with its water rights in the Hirmand River and its sources in neighboring Afghanistan.
Amir-Abdollahian held a phone conversation with the Taliban-run government’s Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Mottaqi. A team of Iranian experts recently visited the Hirmand River for the first time. The Iranian minister said such visits are taking place in accordance with the 1973 water-sharing treaty and would contribute to more transparency in the dispute over the river.
-- Court Orders U.S. Pay $330 Million for Nojeh Coup:
An Iranian court has ruled that the United States must pay $330 million in damages to the families of the martyrs of the abortive Nojeh coup d’etat in Iran.
The verdict was issued following complaints filed by the survivors and victims of the Nojeh Coup in July 2022 against the U.S. government and seven other defendants.
The criminal proceedings culminated in a ruling that convicted the United States of “planning and executing” the failed coup.
Mizan news agency, affiliated with the Iranian Judiciary, said that after hearing the arguments of the survivors of the plot and their lawyer, the court ruled that the U.S. government must pay $30 million for the “material and moral” damage it caused the plaintiffs and $300 in “punitive damages.”
“Therefore, the U.S. government has to pay a total of $330 million in financial fines and compensation to the families of the martyrs of the Nojeh coup,” the verdict concluded.
The Nojeh coup plot was a plan to overthrow the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran and its leader the late Imam Khomeini after the collapse of the U.S.-backed Pahlavi regime.
The plan involved the Iranian army’s officers and servicemen from the infantry, air force and intelligence service, and was largely halted by the arrest of hundreds of officers on 9–10 July 1980 at Nojeh Air Base, near the western city of Hamadan.
Back in 2017, the Islamic Revolution’s Documents Center revealed that the U.S. had played a main role in designing and implementing the Nojeh coup plot in Iran in 1980.
The revelation came after the confessions made by Nasser Rokni, a pilot, who had collaborated with the coup plotters. Rokni admitted in his confessions to the U.S. role in the coup and its “financial assistance” to the coup plotters in Iran.
-- Rights Group: Egypt Delays Release of Detainees:
Egypt is refusing to release detainees despite issuing a decision to release them, according to reports in the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper.
The Egyptian Network for Human Rights said that security services are yet to release a number of prisoners.
“Despite a decision being released six days ago to free 40 prisoners of conscience, families are complaining that they have not yet been let go,” the network said in a statement.
A member of Egypt’s Presidential Pardon Committee, Tariq al-Khouli, published the names of 30 political prisoners on 19 August who are set to be released. They were held in pre-trial detention on charges relating to “issues of publishing and joining a banned group”.
The decision to release them gave hope to many families over the release of their loved ones. However, within hours of the decision to release the prisoners, authorities arrested a group of new people, according to Al-Quds Al-Arabi.
The most prominent of those arrested during the past few days is the publisher Hisham Qassem, head of the Board of Trustees of the Free Movement.
Many expressed their solidarity with Qassem, after he was transferred to the Tenth of Ramadan Prison in Cairo, in preparation for his trial on 2 September on charges of “insulting and slandering a former minister”.
Others arrested include journalist Mohamed Saad Khattab, the father of activist Ahmed Gamal Ziada, and Alaa el-Din Saad el-Adly, the father of political activist Fajr el-Adly.
-- Iran, Uzbekistan to Broaden Cooperation in Agricultural Sector:
Head of Iran’s Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) Seyed Mojtaba Khayyam Nekouei in his meeting with the head of the Iran-Uzbekistan Trade Center in Tashkent on Saturday emphasized that the two countries enjoy high potential to develop their cooperation in the agricultural sector.
The two officials vowed to expand their technical and scientific cooperation in the agricultural sector.
The deputy minister of agriculture also emphasized the investment of Iranians in the field of agriculture and the transfer of technical know-how and knowledge.
Khayyam Nekouei also visited the Uzbekistan Innovation Center and said that the success of the center requires getting more familiar with the technical and scientific capacities of the Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization.
The head of the Iran-Uzbekistan Trade Center, for his part, pointed to the great investment capacities in Uzbekistan and added that for more than two decades the Center has been active in Uzbekistan in the field of farming aquatic animals including raising warm-water fish.
The Uzbekistan Innovation Center is an active knowledge-based company working in the fields of medical equipment, mine, and renewable energy.
Sharing the technical know-how and technology of manufacturing agricultural machinery is the most important task of the center.
TEHRAN TIMES
-- Iran ready to resume negotiations on NDB membership: official:
Iranian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Mehdi Safari said on Friday that the country is completely ready to resume discussions on potential membership in BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB), IRNA reported. Speaking in a meeting with NDB Head Dilma Vana Rousseff on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa, Safari invited Rousseff to visit Iran so that the country can have a share as a new member state in the bank and utilize its potential to finance projects. Safari said that Iran’s membership in the bank would be a positive and helpful step for the country. The NDB chair welcomed Iran’s interest in joining the bank, according to Safari. Safari also noted that Iran has strong ties with the five member states of the BRICS group, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and could expand trade and economic cooperation with them within the framework of the bloc.
-- Geopolitical pressure won’t impact IranRussia ties: Moscow:
- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said that military cooperation between Iran and Russia will not succumb to geopolitical pressure. “There are no changes, and cooperation with Iran will continue,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency RIA, according to Reuters. “We are independent states and do not succumb to the dictates of the United States and its satellites.” He made the remarks following press reports that Washington has asked Iran to stop providing drones to Moscow. Earlier, the Financial Times alleged that the U.S. was pressuring Iran to stop selling drones to Russia. The allegation comes after the West formally leveled accusations against Iran in this regard. Iran has roundly rejected the accusations, denying any provision of drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war. Ryabkov also said that Russia is seeking to intensify efforts to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in light of the continued contacts between Tehran and Washington regarding the agreement, according to the Arabic service of Russian state news agency Sputnik. “Russia is aware of the ongoing contacts between the two sides, including through the mediation of some [Persian] Gulf states,” he said. He pointed out that any understandings related to the Iranian nuclear program are considered positive, and that it is of great importance to intensify efforts to restore the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
-- Foreign university students forecast to rise 2.5 times:
The number of foreign university students in Iran is projected to rise from currently around 100,000 to 250,000 by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (March 2025-March 2026). Currently, international students from 119 countries are studying in Iran, IRNA reported. Shortening the processes of providing services to international students, such as issuing visas and residence permits, offering employment, banking, and transportation services, and benefiting from cultural advisors who are currently based in 81 countries, as well as ambassadors in different countries, are among the capacities which can be used to attract more international students.
NOURNEWS