NOURNEWS- The following headlines appeared in English-language newspapers in the Iranian capital on Sunday, September 10, 2023
IRAN DAILY:
-- UN, Iran rally forces against sandstorms:
Countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia must work together to combat sand and dust storms made increasingly severe by climate change, the United Nations and Iran said Saturday.
“Cooperation is key. I urge you to use your time in Tehran to build partnerships, increase cooperation, and commit to practical action,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a video broadcast to representatives of around 50 states and 15 organizations, according to AFP.
Opening the International Conference on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi called on countries in the region to create “a fund” to pursue common solutions.
Raeisi expressed dissatisfaction that developed countries favor industrial development and the development of their military tools, which is “cruelty to humanity and the environment”.
He further said that the implementation of UN resolutions on environmental issues must be guaranteed in some way, IRNA wrote.
Environmental preservation must not be influenced by political issues, he noted because, otherwise, it would not bear any fruit.
Not stopping at agreements
Also speaking at the first International Conference on Combating Sand and Dust Storms in Tehran on Saturday, the head of Iran’s Department of the Environment said the incumbent Iranian government will not stop at signing agreements on combating sand and dust storms, and will take action in this regard.
Ali Salajegheh noted that July 12 was named last year as the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms upon Iran’s proposal, IRNA reported.
“Considering that we saw 55 countries directly exposed [to sand and dust storms (SDS)], we invited all of them [to participate in this meeting], and today, their representatives are present,” said Salajegheh during his opening remarks at the conference. He pointed out that 15 international institutions were also present at the summit.
“Based on the latest data, it has been determined that Turkmenistan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran are more exposed to [SDS] than other countries,” he said, expressing hope that the final statement of the meeting would lead the way forward.
He also criticized the United Nations for allowing the “cruel sanctions” imposed unilaterally by the United States against Iran to damage cooperation with Iran on SDS and called on the UN to fulfill its responsibilities in protecting the environment and combating SDS.
More cooperation needed
According to meteorologists, sand and dust storms are expected to increase in countries most vulnerable to climate change.
“About two billion tons of dust enters the atmosphere each year, affecting more than 350 million people,” Food and Agriculture Organization Assistant Director-General AbdulHakim Elwaer told the meeting.
The people most affected are “farmers and those whose income depends directly on natural resources,” he said.
Iran, co-organizer of the two-day gathering, is one country where such storms are increasingly numerous, particularly in the southeast desert region of Sistan and Baluchestan, where rare wetlands are drying up at an alarming rate. This has caused diplomatic tensions with neighboring Afghanistan, which Tehran accuses of considerably reducing the volume of water in the Helmand (Hirmand) River, which flows through both countries.
To its west, Iran is also cooperating with neighboring Iraq to combat the effects of sand and dust storms.
“Fortunately, we have reached some very good operational stages with Iraq,” Ali Salajegheh said at the conference.
He added that “ground and field operations” were due to start in six provinces in both countries.
-- Raeisi to Pashinyan: Any geographic change in region, a red line:
Assuring Armenia of Iran’s opposition to any alteration to regional boundaries, President Ebrahim Raeisi said Iran is prepared to play “an effective role” as a “powerful neighbor” to prevent regional clashes or geopolitical changes.
After being briefed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about the latest developments in the Caucasus, Raeisi reaffirmed Iran’s support for the territorial integrity of all regional states, according to Tasnim news agency.
In particular, reference was made to the deepening humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the blocking of the Lachin Corridor, the accumulation of Azerbaijani troops around Nagorno-Karabakh, the tendencies of increasing tension on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout.
The Iranian president stated, “We believe that regional issues need to be resolved through dialogue among regional countries. We are seriously opposed to foreign countries gaining a foothold in the Caucasus region.”
The president also expressed Iran’s readiness to contribute to the settlement of disputes via diplomatic negotiations.
He further hailed the growing economic cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan, saying Iran is prepared to broaden economic and trade ties with Armenia and expedite the implementation of bilateral agreements.
For his part, Pashinyan praised Iran for its effective and constructive role in establishing, maintaining, and strengthening regional peace, stability, and security.
He expressed his willingness to hold urgent discussions with the president of Azerbaijan, aimed at reducing tensions, the readout said.
Pashinyan also expressed appreciation for Iran’s stances on the Caucasus and briefed the Iranian president on the economic cooperation between the two neighbors and efforts to speed up the implementation of bilateral deals concluded during his visit to Tehran in November 2022.
-- Military to improve long-range missiles:
Iran is pursuing the enhancement of its 2,000-km-range missiles, according to a senior official from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
“Today, we are pursuing to improve the quality and capabilities of our missiles within the range of 2,000 kilometers, like the recently-unveiled “Fattah” hypersonic missile,” IRGC’s Deputy Commander for Operations Abbas Nilforoushan said in an interview with Tasnim news agency.
The IRGC’s Aerospace Force in June unveiled the Fattah hypersonic missile, which boasts an impressive range of 1,400 kilometers, attains speeds of Mach 13-15, and possesses the ability to penetrate and neutralize anti-missile defenses.
“The Fattah missile is notable for its high speed, reaching Mach 13-15, and its maneuverable warhead, which allows it to adjust its trajectory towards the target, Nilforoushan said.
Iran has long defined a 2,000-kilometer range as a benchmark for its missiles. The official emphasized that Iran has the technological capability to increase missile range, but such advancements are determined based on operational doctrines and threats. As of now, the directive is set at a 2,000-kilometer range.
The commander explained that the country categorizes its missile systems into three speed classes: subsonic (below the speed of sound), supersonic (with speeds ranging from 1.2 to 5 Mach), and hypersonic (exceeding 5 Mach).
It is clear that the Fattah missile and potential future models are designed to counter the Israeli anti-missile systems, which Iran possesses detailed knowledge of their capabilities, Nilforoushan said.
“Certainly, the Fattah missile and the forthcoming models under development are poised to impose substantial financial burdens on the Israeli regime,” he added.
The official emphasized that the existing missile defense systems of the Israeli regime are ill-equipped to counter this new threat, despite their claims of having hypersonic defense capabilities.
Iranian military experts and engineers have in recent years made remarkable breakthroughs in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the Armed Forces self-sufficient. Iranian officials have made clear that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense.
Iran’s deadline to Iraq
Elsewhere in his interview with Tasnim, Nilforoushan talked about Iran’s potential response if Iraq fails to fulfill its commitments to address the presence of separatist groups in the Kurdistan Region, saying his country expects cooperation from its brotherly country.
“We expect brotherhood from our brothers in the Kurdistan Region. Sheltering terrorists in the region, who have become a source of operations against our country, is neither in line with the logic of brotherhood, nor the principles of good neighborliness,” the commander said.
“After several rounds of negotiations, Iran finally signed an agreement with both the central Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Region, which has a set timeframe ending on September 19. Iran remains committed to every aspect of the agreement, adhering strictly to its terms without deviation. The expectation is that the other party would similarly abide by the terms of the agreement, just as the Islamic Republic of Iran has upheld its commitments. Failure to do so would result in a return to the previous state of affairs, and Iran is compelled to safeguard the interests of its nation,” he concluded.
-- Environmental Consequences For Regional Countries:
Based on the findings of a study, the implementation of the ambitious GAP project (constructing dams on southern rivers) by Turkey has resulted in significant unfavorable environmental consequences in some regional countries such as Iraq and Syria.
Three countries, namely Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, which share the drainage basins and catchment areas of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, have been compelled to construct dams and control water flows within their territories due to their increasing dependence on the water from these rivers. Among these, Turkey, positioned upstream compared to its southern neighbors, requires a significant amount of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for the development of agriculture and industry in its southeastern Anatolian region through the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP). This has led to a considerable reduction in the water outflow to Syria and Iraq by constructing numerous dams on these two rivers within Turkey’s borders.
The reduction of water in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers since the implementation of this plan has caused substantial harm to the environmental security of Iraq and Syria. These damages have resulted in unfavorable political, economic, and social consequences for both countries. Furthermore, this issue has given rise to doubts about Turkey’s political objectives in recent decades, leading to tensions and conflicts among the three nations. The consequences, whether intended or unintended, have also affected Iran’s environmental issues, including the influx of dust particles.
Based on this context, “Yashar Zaki” and “Seyed Soroush Asadollahi” have conducted research using a descriptive-analytical approach and library resources. They seek to answer the question: “What impact did the hydropolitics of the GAP project have on the environmental security of Iraq and Syria, and what are Turkey’s objectives in implementing this plan?”
The phased implementation of the GAP project in recent decades has resulted in various environmental consequences, including water pollution, the extinction of rare flora and fauna species, increased desertification, soil salinity, the drying of wetlands and ponds, and the production of dust particles in Iraq and Syria. It appears that Turkey, relying on this project, aims to establish hydro hegemony in the region.
Water Instead of Oil in the Modern Era
One of the primary concerns of any political entity about large-scale land management is environmental management, especially of non-renewable environmental resources. Nowadays, water resources have transformed into one of the most fundamental sources of conflicts in the 21st century, capable of being the source of many global transformations. In this context, the obstacles to water supply and the intensity of demand have become crisis-prone issues.
This vital resource, referred to as a tool of competition between nations, can potentially lead to tensions and conflicts, particularly among countries facing water scarcity. The importance of this matter is such that some theorists and experts in the field of political geography refer to the current era as the era of hydropolitics (policies based on water).
They believe that water resources are among the foundational factors of geopolitical crises, as competition between countries for shared water resources and access to freshwater sources can lead to efforts by nations to achieve national security and reduce regional conflicts. Adequate water resources for a country imply development in agriculture, sufficient food, economic growth, and public welfare.
Water security is particularly relevant in arid and semi-arid regions, and it’s closely related to national security. Water is one of the most significant indicators of security in Western Asian countries. Nowadays, it is being positioned as an essential resource, gradually replacing oil, and it is both a factor of tension and division as well as cooperation and collaboration in the Western Asian region.
For this reason, one of the most important issues concerning international relations and defining the borders of a country relates to rivers that flow between one or two countries as the primary sources of freshwater. There are more than 200 international rivers in the world. The range of interactions between nations regarding the exploitation of these shared water resources encompasses a wide spectrum from harmony and complete cooperation to discord and conflict.
Objectives of the GAP Project
The utilization of the phases of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) in the past decades has had significant impacts on Turkey’s economic, political, social, and environmental domains, as well as on downstream countries. In this study, using the theoretical framework of the regional security complex “Barry Buzan,” the authors have examined Turkey’s objectives. In this study, using the theoretical framework of the regional security complex “Barry Buzan,” the authors have examined Turkey’s objectives in implementing the Southeastern Anatolia Project on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, along with its political, economic, and social implications.
The results of this research indicate that Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, as major actors in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, which are situated within the same geographical region, have formed a hydro-political security complex. Changes in the hydro-political pattern of the upstream country have led to alterations and consequences in downstream countries. The evaluation of environmental effects reveals that the GAP project’s implementation is not confined to the internal governance of individual countries; it holds transboundary repercussions.
Therefore, linking water security to water resources outside a country is, in essence, tying a part of national security to the region. The absence of collaborative management structures and governance of surface and groundwater resources can transform the utilization of these resources into a source of crisis between nations.
In the execution of this project, national water needs are met, but it appears that the project’s political goals are more pronounced, or at the very least, it can be inferred that this project has the potential to be used as a coercive tool against downstream countries (Iraq and Syria). It can be employed to leverage water against their oil resources, establishing a winning card.
It seems Turkey aims to solidify its power over neighboring countries as a “hydro-power” by gaining control over water arteries. Given that the Western Asian region lies within the belt of aridity, experiencing recurrent droughts and reduced rainfall in recent years, the final utilization of the GAP project’s dams has led to Iraq and Syria, as downstream countries of the Tigris and Euphrates river basin, being devoid of the environmental consequences’ protection.
KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL:
-- Quake Kills Over 1,000 People in Morocco:
Rescuers dug through rubble for survivors in collapsed houses in remote mountain villages of Morocco on Saturday, in the wake of the country’s deadliest earthquake for more than six decades, which killed more than 1,000 people.
The quake which struck in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains late on Friday night damaged historic buildings in Marrakech - the nearest city to the epicenter - while the most of the fatalities were reported in mountainous areas to the south.
The Interior Ministry said 1,037 people had been killed and another 672 injured by the quake, gauged by the U.S. Geological Survey at a magnitude of 6.8 with an epicenter some 72 km (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech.
In the village of Amizmiz near the epicenter rescue workers picked through rubble with their bare hands. Fallen masonry filled narrow streets. Outside a hospital, around 10 bodies lay covered in blankets as grieving relatives stood nearby.
“When I felt the earth shaking beneath my feet and the house leaning, I rushed to get my kids out. But my neighbors couldn’t,” said Mohamed Azaw. “Unfortunately no one was found alive in that family. The father and son were found dead and they are still looking for the mother and the daughter.”
Rescuers stood atop the pancaked floors of one building in Amizmiz, bits of carpet and furniture protruding from the rubble. A long queue formed outside the only open shop as people sought supplies. Underlining the challenges facing rescuers, fallen boulders blocked a road from Amizmiz to a nearby village.
The quake, which hit at around 11 p.m. (2200 GMT), affected a sweep of the High Atlas mountain range. Tremors were felt as far away as Huelva and Jaen in Andalusia in southern Spain.
Street camera footage in Marrakech showed the moment the earth began to shake, as men suddenly looked around and jumped up, and others ran for shelter into an alleyway and then fled as dust and debris tumbled around them.
In Marrakech, where 13 people were confirmed dead, residents spent the night in the open, afraid to go home.
In the heart of its old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, a mosque minaret had fallen in Jemaa al-Fna Square.
Injured people filtered into Marrakech from the surrounding areas seeking treatment.
State television footage from the Moulay Ibrahim area some 40 km (25 miles) south of Marrakech showed dozens of houses collapsed
at the foothills of a mountain, and residents digging graves as groups of women stood in the street.
Montasir Itri, a resident of the village of Asni near the epicenter, said most houses there were damaged.
“Our neighbors are under the rubble and people are working hard to rescue them using available means in the village,” he said.
In Marrakech, where rubble had tumbled into the streets, residents described desperate scenes as people fled for safety.
“I still can’t sleep in the house because of the shock and also because the old town is made up of old houses,” said Jaouhari Mohamed, an old city resident.
Moroccan state television broadcast images of troops being deployed.
The quake was recorded at a depth of 18.5 km, typically more destructive than deeper quakes of the same magnitude. It was Morocco’s deadliest earthquake since 1960 when a quake was estimated to have killed at least 12,000 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Turkey, where powerful earthquakes in February killed more than 50,000 people, said it was ready to provide support.
Algeria, which broke off ties with Morocco in 2021 over the political status of Western Sahara, said it would open airspace for humanitarian and medical flights.
“The shallow earthquakes are normally more destructive,” said Muhammad Kashani, Associate Professor of Structural and Earthquake Engineering at the University of Southampton.
He compared scenes of the aftermath to images from Turkey in February: “The area is full of old and historical buildings, which are mainly masonry. The collapsed reinforced concrete structures that I saw ... were either old or substandard.”
Governments around the world expressed solidarity and offered assistance.
Marrakech is due to host the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in early October.
In Marrakech, some houses in the tightly packed old city had collapsed and people used their hands to remove debris while they waited for heavy equipment, said resident Id Waaziz Hassan.
People in the capital city of Rabat, about 350 km north of Ighil, and in the coastal town of Imsouane, about 180 km to its west, also fled their homes, fearing a stronger quake.
In Casablanca, some 250 km north of Ighil, people who spent the night in the streets were too scared to return to their homes.
“The house rocked aggressively, everyone was scared,” said resident Mohamed Taqafi.
-- General: IRGC to Build New Hypersonic Missiles:
IRGC deputy commander for operations Brigadier General Abbas Nilforooshan on Saturday unveiled plans for the production of new homegrown hypersonic missiles that will inflict “heavy costs” on the Zionist regime.
The general said the Zionists claimed after the unveiling of the Fattah hypersonic missile that they had a missile system to counter it, but the claim was a “sheer bluff and psychological operation”.
-- Iran Ready to Send Relief Teams to Morocco:
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said Saturday it is ready to dispatch medical and relief teams to assist with the humanitarian operation in Morocco, struck by a powerful earthquake.
The IRCS President Pirhussein Kolivand made the remark in a Saturday message to Kaddour Kharbouch, vice-president of the Moroccan Red Crescent Society. Earlier in the day, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani offered condolences to the Moroccan government and people over the loss of lives.
-- China Puts Troops on ‘High Alert’ Over U.S., Canada Warships:
The navies of the United States and Canada sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, prompting China to put its troops on “constant high alert.”
The U.S. Navy said in a statement that the guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Canada’s HMCS Ottawa sailed through the waters that separate mainland China and Chinese Taipei.
The navy said the warships conducted a “routine” transit “through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”
China’s military condemned the transit, saying its troops “remain on constant high alert, and will resolutely protect national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability.”
China has sovereignty over the self-ruled island, and under the “One China” policy almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty.
China’s military spokesperson Shi Yi said that the two ships had “openly hyped up” their passage through the strategic waters.
Chinese forces tracked both ships throughout their entire transit and “dealt with the situation,” Shi added.
A similar joint transit occurred in June when a Chinese navy ship cut sharply across the path of an American destroyer, forcing the U.S. vessel to slow to avoid a collision.
The U.S. ship also was conducting a transit with a Canadian vessel at the time.
The U.S. Navy released a video of the joint sailing, describing it as an “unsafe interaction” in the Taiwan Strait.
China has been increasing its military operations around the island over the past few years, due to the United States and Western allies’ provocations by naval vessels through both the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
-- Iran Attends First SCO Meeting as Full Member:
An Iranian delegation has formally taken part in a meeting of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) after the Islamic Republic fully joined the Eurasian political, economic, security and defense organization in July.
Representatives from nine member states, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and two observers participated in the 40th edition of the meeting on Friday.
They discussed and exchanged viewpoints on issues concerning terrorism, separatism as well as extremism, and condemned in the strongest terms the recent deadly terrorist attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine in Iran’s southern city of Shiraz.
The continuation of the fight against Daesh terrorist group and the need to focus on the situation in Afghanistan were also among the important topics raised during the event.
Moreover, the efforts to fight terrorism were praised and participants paid tribute to top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Soleimani, who was assassinated alongside his companions in a drone strike authorized by former U.S. president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
The 40th meeting of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was chaired by Kazakhstan.
The next chairmanship was conferred to China for the year 2024.
Iran gained full-fledged membership of the SCO on July 4, during the 23rd virtual summit of the bloc that was hosted by India, becoming the ninth member of the influential security and trade alliance.
The SCO was founded by China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan in 2001, and currently forms the world’s biggest regional market with eight official and four observer members.
The organization accounts for 40 percent of the world’s population and 28 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
Iran and the organization started a formal process for Tehran’s accession to the bloc in March 2022. In September of the same year, Iran signed a memorandum of commitment to join the SCO. A month later, the Iranian parliament approved the country’s accession to the organization.
TEHRAN TIMES:
-- Israeli troops forced Palestinian women to undress:
An investigation has found that Israeli troops forced five Palestinian women to completely undress in front of their children while attacking them using army dogs. The chilling revelation that occurred during a night raid on a family home on July 10 was made after a probe by the rights group, B’Tselem, and reports by Israeli media. The rights group said that scores of Israeli troops and army dogs broke into the home of a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil, also known as Hebron. Israeli soldiers separated the men from the women and children who were being held in the living room of the property. They then proceeded to take the women to a separate room where children, who woke up terrified, were sleeping. The five women included a mother, her young daughter, and three other females aged in their 20s, who are said to be the mother’s daughters in law. Two other masked soldiers prevented the mother from approaching her children and threatened her with the attack dogs they were holding if she did not comply. The mother was forced to undress completely and turn around in front of the troops. Then, the soldiers took the three other women as well as the girl and forced them to remove all of their clothes as well for body searches. The soldiers again threatened to unleash their dogs on the girls if they did not comply with the orders. Rights groups, who have strongly condemned the incident, have also said that similar incidents against Palestinian women have been increasing over the past months. The deputy spokesperson for the Secretary General of the United Nations has told reporters that the incident “needs to be looked at” and “investigated thoroughly.” “We would stand against any form of collective punishment,” Farhan Haq said. Israel has handed down the harshest of punishments against Palestinians, including its so called administrative detention policy against thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
-- Iran embassy in Paris attacked:
Houshang Moradi Kermani, a celebrated Iranian children’s book writer, recently marked his 80th birthday on September 7. Over the years, he has garnered extensive recognition for his outstanding contribution to Iranian literature, particularly children’s literature. Kermani is regarded as a national treasure and a stalwart of children’s literature in his homeland. He has been instrumental in shaping the reading habits of countless Iranian youths, and his legacy will continue to inspire and educate future generations on Iranian culture and beyond.
-- Iranian drones: Now in the Western Hemisphere:
On August 17, the Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank, published a report titled “Iran’s Weapons Now Reach the Western Hemisphere,” discussing the military presence of Iran in Latin America. Iran’s military development, especially with the mass production of drones in recent years, has placed it among the most advanced countries. The Ukraine war added weight to the importance of Iranian drones. Parallel to the importance of Iranian drones, Western media outlets have also increased their rhetoric about Iran’s defense program. A similar approach was followed in recent years regarding Iranian missiles. In this regard, the Heritage Foundation discussed the export of Iranian military equipment, especially drones. Referring to the recent Iran-Bolivia agreement and sale of the Iranian missiles to Venezuela, the report concluded that Iran is exploiting its military capacity in the Western Hemisphere. According to Joseph Humire, the writer of the article in the think tank “Iran’s goal is to bring war to America. Bolivia is the most successful project of Iran’s foreign policy in Latin America.”
-- No to environmental degradation:
Tehran is playing host to an international conference on combating sand and dust storms with representatives of more than 50 countries in attendance. The two-day event is held based on resolution number A77571 of the United Nations General Assembly in 2022, with the support of the United Nations. Climate change has caused serious challenges to life on the earth with sand and dust storms inflicting harm to the world’s biological and environmental resources. According to surveys, 150 countries are affected by SDSs, and most of these countries are located in Africa and Asia. Addressing the conference, President Ebrahim Raisi said environmental degradation is a global concern and is not related to a specific climate and country. “God has placed a law in nature that while humans use water, soil, air, and space, they must respect the laws governing nature,” he pointed out. All governments and international organizations should consider themselves obliged to these laws, Raisi stressed.
-- Transit of goods via Iran rises 5.4% in 5 months on year:
Transit of commodities through Iran increased by 5.4 percent during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development announced. As reported, 6.2 million tons of products were transited via the country’s roads and railways during the five-month period. As previously announced by the Iranian deputy transport minister, 10.8 million tons of commodities were transited through the country in the past Iranian calendar year 1401 (ended on March 20). Shahriyar Afandizadeh also announced that Iran registered a new record high with the transit of 8.3 million tons of non-oil goods in 1401, adding that 2.5 million.
NOURNEWS