Total capital of Iranian banks up 40%
TEHRAN - A new report shows the assets of Iranian banks increased by a
whopping 40% in 2014.
A report published in the Persian-speaking newspaper Iran on Saturday said
that the total capital of Iranian banks reached the unprecedented figure of rials
13.3 quadrillion ($480 billion) over the past year. The figure was higher than
the previous year by rials 3.8 quadrillion ($138 billion).
Iran has quoted a report by the Business Monitor International (BMI) as saying that the total capital of Iran’s banks in 2013 stood at rials 9.4 quadrillion
($343 billion) showing a growth of 17 percent year on year.
The rise in the capital of Iranian banks, the report said, comes despite the fact
that Iran’s banking system is under strict US-led sanctions.
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Iran jumps 10 places in FIFA ranking
TEHRAN - Iran’s national football team has moved up in the latest ranking
released by FIFA.
FIFA’s February ranking which was announced Thursday saw Iran’s tally
of point standing at 700, putting the team in the 41st place ahead of the African
football powerhouse Nigeria, which has gained 664 points.
Iran, which reached the last eight of the recent Asian Cup games in Australia
in January, is again top in the continent ahead of South Korea and Japan. Asian
cup winner, Australia, leapt 37 places to claim the fourth spot in the ranking of
the top Asian teams. Germany still tops the ranking with 1,729 points, followed
by Argentina and Colombia with 1,534 and 1,456 points respectively. Brazil, the
most decorated team in the world of football remained sixth on the ranking.
ISSN : 1353 8838 No. 4784, MONDAY, Feb 16, 2015
Foreign minister:
Conditions conducive to Iran nuclear deal
TEHRAN - Iran’s Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif says the current conditions are conducive a comprehensive deal between Tehran
and the P5+1 world powers
on Iran’s nuclear program.
“Given the prevailing political will, we are sure that
the ground is prepared for
Expediency council bans
armed forces from electoral
campaigns
TEHRAN – Expediency
Council in a meeting on Saturday banned armed forces
from any engagement in
electoral campaigns.
Members of the Expediency Council are reviewing
the outlines of the election law
and making amendments to the
law. In Saturday session, the
Expediency Council approved
a few more articles to the election law, IRNA reported.
Based on the newly-passed
articles, armed forces, including all those working for the
Army, the Islamic Republic
Guards Corps (IRGC), the
Police, intelligence ministry and the Organization of
Basij (volunteer forces) are
deterred from engaging in
political and partisan activities and backing a specific
candidate during the election
campaigns.
Iran ranks 7th in
high-tech products
TEHRAN – Secretary General of Iran Nanotechnology
InitiativeCouncil(INIC)Saeed
Sarkar said Islamic Republic
of Iran ranks 7th in the world
and 1st among the Islamic
countries in scientific production and nanotechnology with
producing over 4 percent of all
articles in the world and 42 percent of scientific production in
the Islamic World.
Sarkar said INIC has a program to develop nanotechnology, working under the
six following topics: nano
development and compiling a 10-year plan, promotion and discourse making,
infrastructures, manpower
development, production of
science and technology, and
marketing and industrial development, IRNA reported.
Training
more
than
320,000 high school students
and holding 5 student Olympiads on nanotechnology and
setting up 49 student laboratories are among programs
to promote nanotechnology,
said Sarkar.
He added 17 universities
in the country are offering
postgraduate courses in nanotechnology and over 25,000
experts in the field have been
trained. In 2014, an average
of 14 ISI articles were compiled in Iran while the figure
in 2000 was 10.
Sarkar also said 148 companies are active in the nano
market which have sold
rls790 billion in the current Iranian year (ending on
March 20) and the estimate
for the next Iranian year is
rls1,630 billion.
An anti-cancer medicine at
a cost of around $12 has been
successfully manufactured
while each milliliter of the
drug was imported at a cost
of $700, said Sarkar.
The official called for increase in investments, saying
developed countries have invested heavily on nanotechnology and countries such as
US, Japan, and Russia have
invested over $5 billion in this
field while our investment does
not reach $60 million.
achieving a comprehensive
solution [to Iran's nuclear
program issue] in the near
future,” Zarif said at a joint
press conference with his
Chinese counterpart Wang Yi
in Tehran, on Sunday, Press
TV reported.
He said Iran is hopeful that
China, as a member of the
P5+1 group, would be instrumental in the conclusion of a
permanent deal over Iran's
nuclear issue.
The Chinese foreign minister, for his part, said a historic
opportunity has emerged in
the talks between Iran and the
P5+1, noting that some problems need to be resolved.
He also said the talks have
progressed significantly and
expressed hope for good results.
Wang said Beijing is prepared to cooperate with Tehran in countering terrorism,
drug trafficking and organized crimes.
Iran and the P5+1 countries – Britain, France, China, the United States and
Germany – are seeking to
seal a high-profile political
deal by the end of March
and to confirm the full technical details of the accord by
July 1.
The scale of Iran’s uranium
enrichment and the timetable
for the removal of anti-Iran
sanctions are seen as the major stumbling blocks in the
talks.
Following an interim deal
last year, Iran suspended
some of its enrichment program in return for some sanctions relief.
TEHRAN - Iran has
disbanded a terrorist cell
in southeast of the country,
confiscating some 350 kg of
explosives.
Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi told reporters at a press conference
on Saturday that the terrorist
group was dismantled during
a “complicated” joint operation by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC),
the police force, and the Intelligence Ministry earlier this
month, Press TV reported.
He said the members of
the terrorist group have confessed to killing a number of
teachers in the southeastern
Sistan-and-Baluchestan
Province.
The minister added that
the terrorists have also committed crimes against police
and military forces in the
region, adding that they had
been also behind a number
of roadside bombings in the
past.
Alavi said a large number of weapons, live bullets,
hand-made bombs and explosive vests were confiscated from the terrorists.
The terrorist group has
targeted both Sunni and Shia
people in its terrorist attacks,
Alavi noted, adding that it
has been supported by foreigners.
“Those carrying out terrorist attacks are sponsored
by foreigners on the other
side of the border and we expect neighboring countries to
cooperate [with us] in countering these criminals,” he
added.
Alavi stated that it would
be to the benefit of the neighboring countries to fight terrorists groups seeking haven
in their countries, otherwise
insecurity in the entire region
will be harmed.
The minister said the
Islamic Republic will not
allow any elements to endanger the security of its
neighbors and expects them
to do the same.
Sistan-and-Baluchestan
Province has been the scene
of a number of terrorist attacks in recent years.
Iran to boost drug exports
TEHRAN - Iran plans to
raise its exports of life-saving
drugs to USD 1500 million
in a decade's time, the health
minister said.
“According to our longterm plans, we should be
able to increase our exports
to 1500 million dollars in the
next ten years,” Iran's Health
Minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi told PressTV
on Saturday in a ceremony
in the Iranian capital, Tehran,
where a number of homemade drugs were unveiled.
“The truth is that pharmaceutical companies have
taken great steps and now we
should not limit ourselves to
the domestic market,” the
minister added.
Some 20 domesticallymade drugs, considered vital
for patients suffering from
such diseases as MS, cancer,
and diabetes, were unveiled
during the Saturday ceremony.
Iran has managed to produce some of the drugs whose
imports have been restricted
due to sanctions, Press TV
reports, adding treatment
costs will also be slashed by
one-tenth.
The version of a drug for
lung cancer treatment “that
we produce, costs one fourth
the original brand. The same
goes for other drugs that we
produce in Iran. Some cancer
drugs cost one tenth of the
original price,” Muhammad
Abdeh Zadeh, general manager of the Osvah Pharmaceutical Company, said.
While under US-led sanctions, Iran today even exports drugs to its neighboring
countries as well as India and
china, Press TV reports.
Iran, Vatican urge
promotion of cooperation
TEHRAN - Iranian Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi and President of Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family Vincenzo Paglia
called for the enhancement of mutual cooperation on family affairs. Speaking in a joint press conference on Friday,
Vincenzo Paglia urged expansion of bilateral ties and called
for more meetings in the future.
He said that the Pontifical Council and the Iranian delegation discussed the problems of family in modern world and
concluded that Muslims and Christians should cooperate
on this issue, FNA reported. For her part, Molaverdi, who
is heading a delegation to Italy, said that medical, legal,
and sociological problems of family were discussed during the meeting, describing these problems as global. She
also underlined the necessity of consultations and common
solutions in this regard. Common problems of family, crisis in marriage and family disintegration, violence against
women, and child abuse were among other issues discussed
with the Pontifical Council, she added.
Press TV.
NIOPDC projects its sales
of fuel oil will hit 4 million
tons by the end of the Iranian
year in March 20, having sold
more than 3 million tons in
the first 10 months.
Sales of oil products offer a
lifeline in the face of a double
whammy of US-led sanctions and oil price swings.
Iran’s oil exports have
nosedived by about 1.5 million barrels per day since late
2013, shaving about $100
billion off the government
revenues.
With the government
welcomed a recent truce deal reached between the warring sides of the armed conflict
in east Ukraine.
The ministry’s spokeswoman, Marzieh
Afkham, on Saturday expressed hope that
the implementation of the peace deal could
provide a “step forward in the settlement of
the current dispute in east Ukraine,” Press
TV reported.
According to a statement on the website
of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Afkham said the
deal could hopefully “bring a full end to the
hostilities and stop the killing of innocent
people.”
ized on Thursday when leaders of Russia,
Ukraine, Germany and France agreed in
the Belarusian capital of Minsk to stop the
fighting in east Ukraine and to start the
withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the
frontlines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the marathon talks, “I believe we agreed
on a big deal. We agreed to a ceasefire starting at 00:00 on February 15.”
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is to supervise
the implementation of the ceasefire deal on
the ground.
First Vice President:
Regional security impossible
without Iran's partnership
Iran busts terror cell in southeast
Iran’s oil products revenues soar
TEHRAN - Iran earned
more than $2.3 billion from
sales of oil products in the
10 months to January as the
country is applying innovative methods to sidestep USled sanctions.
Sales of fuel oil rose 30% to
$1.35 billion from the same
period a year ago, head of the
commercial department of
National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company
(NIOPDC)
Mohammad
Reza Mazloumi said.
Gas oil sales also generated Iran $963 million during
the period, he said, quoted by
Iran hails Minsk deal on
Ukraine clashes
TEHRAN - Iran’s Foreign Ministry has
The much-anticipated deal was final-
hard pressed on how to balance the books, Ahmadreza
Dastgheib, a deputy planning official in the Iranian
parliament, says Iran has
shuffled its budget to ward
off the impact from oil price
volatility.
"With regard to uncertainty
about realization of oil revenues and special economic
circumstances of the country, we have considered two
ceilings for budget revenues
in next year's public budget,
which relieve our worries
about not realization of anticipated revenues," he said.
TEHRAN – First Vice-President Es'haq Jahangiri said Saturday that peace and security
cannot be restored in the region without Iran's
participation.
Speaking during a specialized meeting
on exports, Jahangiri expressed hope that
in the course of nuclear talks with the western governments would not create obstacles
on the way to reach a deal with Iran, IRNA
reported.
NIAC worried over ban on
Iran students
TEHRAN - The National
Iranian American Council
(NIAC) has expressed deep
concern over restrictions imposed on Iranian students at
the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The university has decided to no longer admit Iranian nationals as students in
certain engineering and science programs, claiming the
move aims to avoid violating
US sanctions against Iran.
The university announced
it would no longer accept Iranian nationals into graduate
programs in chemical, computer, and mechanical engineering as well as the natural
sciences, Press TV reported.
The university also requires all Iranian students
certify their compliance
with anti-Iran sanctions, explaining that the decision has
been made based on a 2012 no changes in federal policy
federal law, which declares
regarding Iranian students.
Iranian citizens ineligible for
He said the department
US visas if they seek higher will contact UMass to diseducation in preparation
cuss the decision and will
for careers in Iran’s energy answer any questions from
sector or any field related to
other academic institutions
nuclear power.
about the law.
However, the NIAC,
“All visa applications are
which is a US-based organi- reviewed individually in aczation, said it is up to the State
cordance with the requireDepartment and Homeland
ments of the US Immigration
Security to enforce US sanc- and Nationality Act and other
tions polices, not the univer- relevant laws that establish
sity.
detailed standards for deterIn 2012, US Congress en- mining eligibility for visas
acted a broad sanctions bill and admission to the United
that excludes Iranian citizens States,” the official said in an
from education in the United
e-mail.
States if they plan to focus
He added that Washingon energy related research
ton does not prohibit qualiin Iran.
fied Iranian nationals from
A US State Department educating in science and enofficial said the department gineering and noted that each
was aware of the UMass de- application is reviewed on a
cision, adding there had been “case-by-case” basis.
14 consortia eye Iran-Iraq pipeline
TEHRAN - A top Iranian
energy official says a total of
14 domestic consortia have
voiced readiness to finance
the construction of a pipeline
that will transport natural
gas from Iran to its western
neighbor, Iraq.
The groups of companies
have already received the
necessary documents related
to investment in the project,
and should offer their qualifications by the set deadline,
Hamid Reza Araqi, an Iranian deputy oil minister and
managing director of the
National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), said, quoted
by Press TV.
He added that the com-
Iran slams Pakistan deadly attack
TEHRAN - Iran has condemned Friday’s
explosions that rocked a Shia mosque packed
with worshipers in the northwestern Pakistani
city of Peshawar.
The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns terrorist attacks against defenseless people of any
ethnicity or religion in Pakistan and considers
them to be in contravention of the teachings of
Islam as well as humanitarian values, Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham,
said on Saturday, Press TV reported.The Iranian official also extended Iran’s condolences to
the bereaved families of the victims. At least
21 people were killed after several gunmen
threw grenades and opened fire on worshipers
around the time of Friday prayers in Peshawar,
'All the countries are well aware today that
Iran is the center of stability in the region…
only through contribution and key role of Iran,
the region will get rid of terrorist groups, such
as Daesh, and restore tranquility to the region,'
Jahangiri said. He expressed optimism about
striking a deal with the western governments
on the nuclear dispute.
However, he noted that the government has
plans for the worst possible scenarios.
following which a series of explosions were
heard at the Imamia Mosque. The explosions
in the restive city also injured more than 60.
The militant group, Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan, (TTP) claimed responsibility for the
attack. The Friday attack occurred two weeks
after an explosion in a Shia mosque and religious center in southern Pakistan killed 61
people.
The January 30 attack took place when
people were performing Friday Prayers in
Shikarpur district of Sindh Province. Dozens
were also wounded in the attack.
The Jundallah militant group, linked to
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed
responsibility for the January attack.
pany qualifications will be
later reviewed by NIGC, and
companies capable of financing up to USD 1.5 billion will
be declared eligible.
Araqi further noted that a
total of USD 500 million is
needed in order to start the
project, adding that any interested party holding such a
capital will be able to initiate
the work and fulfill their obligations within the next two
years.
The Iranian energy official pointed out that the
investment will be gradually recouped once Iran
starts pumping natural gas
to Iraq, and upgrades the
delivery.
Based on agreements
signed between Tehran and
Baghdad, seven million cubic meters (mcm) per day
of Iran’s natural gas will be
delivered to Iraq in the first
phase, but the pipeline will
finally carry 25 mcm of gas
per day to Iraq.
According to NIGC managing director, the infrastructure needed for pumping
Iran’s natural gas to Iraq will
be ready by late April.
The 270-kilometer pipeline stretches from the village of Charmaleh, located
in Iran’s western province of
Kermanshah, into the town
of Naft Shahr on the border
with Iraq.
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