GSI plans a two-fold rise in mining exploration operations by Mar. 2021

TEHRAN – Head of Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran (GSI) said mining explorations are going to increase by 100 percent in the current Iranian calendar year (ends in March 2021), IRNA reported.

Transit via Iran expected to decline 30%

TEHRAN- Transit of commodities through Iran is expected to fall 30 percent in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 19, 2021), Mehr News Agency reported, quoting an official with the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).

Establishing 8 new FTZs across Iran on agenda

TEHRAN - Secretary of Iranian Free Zones High Council Morteza Bank said on Saturday that eight new free trade zones (FTZ) are going to be established across the country, ILNA reported.

Over 72,000 industrial, mining units operating across Iran

TEHRAN – Latest Data released by the Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry shows that 72,250 industrial and mining units are operating across the country in which nearly 2.43 million people are working, ISNA reported.

No water outage, rationing on agenda despite high consumption

TEHRAN – Mohammad-Reza Bakhtiari, the managing director of Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company, has said no water outage or rationing is on the agenda despite the 25-percent increase in the capital city’s water consumption in the Q1 of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20), IRIB reported.

Ghalibaf: We won’t let IAEA complete espionage circle of hostile countries

TEHRAN — The Islamic Republic and its parliament will not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to pursue completing the circle of espionage of hostile countries, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has warned.

FAO shares international expertise with Iran in Early Warning Early Action systems

Tehran – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in close partnership with its national stakeholders in Iran and Mongolia organized a knowledge-sharing event for Iranian experts in Dzud Early Warning Early Action (EWEA) systems between the two nations.

By Mohammad Mazhari

American ambassador brings the political conflicts back to the surface in Lebanon

In recent days, Arab media outlets have been discussing the implications of a verdict issued by a Lebanese judge to ban media from talking to the U.S. ambassador to Beirut after she took direct aim at Hezbollah in a provocative move.

Imports of 2,500 products banned in a quarter

TEHRAN- Iranian Acting Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Hossein Modares Khiabani said that the imports of 2,500 commodities have been prohibited during the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20), Shata reported.

Washington is pushing its European vassals to assume a more aggressive posture against Iran: Italian

Federico Pieraccini, an Italian independent geopolitical analyst at the Strategic Culture Foundation, tells the Tehran Times that the resolution adopted by the IAEA and drafted by the UK, France, and Germany is "a new excuse" to put much pressure on Iran, while "Iran has actually been too cooperative with the IAEA."

By UCLA Professor James L. Gelvin

West Bank annexation: The triumph of domestic politics over international law and common sense

If Israel annexes the settlement blocs and/or the Jordan Valley, it will mark the triumph of domestic politics--both Israeli and American--over international law and even common sense.

Iran, Russia to hold Joint Economic Committee meeting in Sept.

TEHRAN- In a meeting between Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali and Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Tikhonov, the two sides agreed on holding the 16th Iran-Russia Joint Economic Committee online or face to face in September, IRNA reported.

By Salman Parviz

A tsunami of evictions is looming in U.S.

The distress among renters likely to surge this summer when federal unemployment benefits run dry

As businesses reopen across the U.S., so are eviction courts with millions walking the fine thin line between homelessness and having a shelter over their head. Today, it is estimated that anywhere from 20 million to 28 million American renters are perilously close to eviction.

Commodities worth $904m traded at IME in a week

TEHRAN- Over 639,000 tons of commodities valued at $904 million were traded at Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) in the past Iranian calendar week (ended on Friday), IME Public Relations Department reported.

Greco-Roman wrestler Hossein Nouri hospitalized in ICU with COVID-19

TEHRAN – Three-time Asian champion Hossein Nouri is being treated for coronavirus in the intensive care treatment (ICU) of Tehran’s Masih Daneshvari Hospital.

10-man Persepolis beat Shahin Bushehr

TEHRAN – Persepolis football team emerged victorious over Shahin Bushehr in Iran Professional League (IPL) on Saturday.

By Seyed Hossein Hosseiniseddiq

Tanour: A traditional bread baking system in Iran

Bread is known as the blessing of the table and is the predominant food of most Iranians. The aroma of fresh bread will multiply the human appetite. In Islam, the value of this divine blessing is so great that even its crumbs are respectable.

Roofing covers of ‘winged human’, palaces replaced at Pasargadae

TEHRAN – The four-year-old roofing covers of the magnificent “winged human” bas-relief and several other ruined palaces at the UNESCO-registered Pasargadae in southern Iran have recently been replaced.

Tehran to host major carpet exhibit in Sept. despite coronavirus concerns

TEHRAN – Tehran will host an international carpet exhibition in September as the event had been postponed for some three months over coronavirus concerns.

By Faranak Bakhtiari

Health network playing a key role in fighting coronavirus

TEHRAN - Jafar Sadeq Tabrizi, the director of health network department at the Ministry of Health, has said the health network has been playing a key role in fighting the coronavirus pandemic mostly through holding seminars, equipping medical centers, and implementing screening tests and family physician programs across the country.

Photo: IRNA / Raheleh Hesari

Passed down from generation to generation: Turkmen jewelry designs 

An Iranian craftswoman makes a final inspection on traditional handmade necklaces in her home, which is also house to a small family workshop for crafting personal ornamentations, in Turkmen Sahra, a region in the northeast of Iran near the Caspian Sea, June 30, 2020. 

Coronavirus causes $357m damage to Kish Island’s tourism

TEHRAN – Kish Island’s tourism industry has taken 15 trillion rials (over $357 million) hit from the coronavirus outbreak over the previous months.

Historical objects unearthed in Burnt City added to National Heritage list

TEHRAN – Twelve moveable properties, which had been previously unearthed in various excavations in the Burnt City, a UNESCO-registered site in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, have been inscribed on the National Heritage list, CHTN reported on Saturday.

Iran football plunged into crisis once again

TEHRAN - The coronavirus has once again plunged the Iranian football into crisis.

‘Effective advertising could get tourism out of coronavirus crisis’

TEHRAN – Iran’s deputy tourism minister Vali Teymouri said on Wednesday that producing effective advertising content on social media could get the tourism sector out of the coronavirus crisis. 

Iran files lawsuit against U.S. over sanctions effects

TEHRAN - Laya Joneidi, the presidential aide for legal affairs, announced on Saturday that Iran has filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice against the United States over effects of sanctions on fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

‘Iran-Venezuela trade poses no threat’

TEHRAN - Michael Hollingsworth, a professor at the University of South Alabama, has said that trade between Iran and Venezuela poses no threat to the world.

University professor says extension of arms embargo on Iran is unlikely

TEHRAN - Michael Hollingsworth, a professor at the University of South Alabama, has said that an extension of arms embargo on Iran by the United States is very unlikely.

Portuguese festival picks movies from Iran 

TEHRAN – The Iranian animated movies “Each Other” and “Malakout” will be competing in the 17th In the Palace Film Festival, which will take place in the Portuguese city of Varna from September 15 to 22.