In an order on August 29, President Ebrahim Raisi appointed Eslami as vice president and chief of AEOI, replacing Ali Akbar Salehi who served the post since August 2013.

Eslami has master’s degree in civil engineering from Ohio University. He also holds MBA in global aviation management from the University of Sharif and Royal Rhodes University.

However, some, including nuclear experts, say somebody should the run the AEOI who has specialty in nuclear science.

Abbasi, a nuclear physicist, opposes such a view, saying all should help Eslami in managing the organization.

“I expect Mr. Eslami to implement the system’s strategy well, whatever it may be, and to get help from relevant experts and specialists. I am optimistic about him and I hope that this optimism will yield good results,” Abbasi said in an interview with ISNA published on Saturday.

Eslami was transport and urban development minister in the Rouhani administration. He was also governor of Mazandaran province before being nominated as transport minister. Eslami also served in different managerial positions, including in the Defense Ministry.

Abbasi, now an MP sitting on the Parliament Energy Committee, said: “Many did not expect Mr. Eslami to be selected to run the Atomic Energy Organization. His name was not heard among the names mentioned in cyberspace or in speculations.”

“It was raised in some circles that he will remain in the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development and is one of the ministers who will remain in this administration from the previous administration. Rostam Ghasemi was decided to become the minister of oil and eventually Mr. Oji was nominated to run the Ministry of Oil.”

Abbasi noted that the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development was proper choice for Ghasemi because it was compatible with his executive and technical background.

As a person who is familiar with international regulations and research and educational work, Eslami was fit for the job, the MP noted.

Abbasi said, “It is a common misconception in society that the nuclear industry is a mere specialty, while more than 90% of the processes of the nuclear industry are similar to oil, petrochemical, gas and so on.”

Abbasi said: “One of the important parts of the nuclear industry is building reactor and the main part is the heart of the reactor. There, mechanics, heat and temperature transfer, pressure and steam generation are mattered, and these issues exist in every industry. Like other power plants that have turbines, only here it has its own turbine.”

So, if someone has done industrial work, Abbasi underscored, Eslami knows a lot of the process.

Eslami is a person who has executive background, managed factories, conducted scientific research in large industries, and has trained and guided great human resources, the MP stated.

The former nuclear chief went on to say, “Moreover, Eslami has been a governor who deals with people’s lives closely. I believe we should not put stress solely on radioactivity and nuclear engineering in the management of the nuclear industry.”

Abbasi suggested Eslami can appoint a deputy who has knowledge in nuclear industry and also name an expert in legal and international affairs.

He said Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who was not a nuclear expert, ran the Atomic Energy Organization for 12 years.

Since Aghazadeh had learned oil disciplines and knew OPEC and international negotiations, he entered the nuclear industry and used his experience, even employed Oil Ministry personnel and oil standards and promoted the nuclear industry, Abbasi stated.

The MP added: “This was while before Mr. Aghazadeh’s tenure, political views governed in the Atomic Energy Organization, but during Mr. Aghazadeh’s term, the engineering view prevailed and at the same time, good research work was done in the subsidiaries.”

About the criteria for the appointment of Eslami, the former head of the AEOI underscored that the necessary evaluations had been done in his choice, stressing that different people with different experiences had entered the organization so far.

“But the problem in the nuclear energy is that, unfortunately, we have not been able to train managers consistently as we had done for experts; that is, we have not seen a consistent process in this regard. While for each organizational position, 10 people should be trained and predicted,” the MP reiterated.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Abbasi said, “Personally, during my short term in the organization, I made a lot of efforts for this issue to train managers in different aspects and are prepared for higher positions. If this trend had continued, we would have surely had a number of managers in various specialties today. In my opinion, no effort has been made in the last eight years, and the circle of managers and the rotation of managements has been limited.”

Regarding the characteristics of the new head of AEOI, Abbasi said, “Mr. Eslami has been the head of the Defense Industry Training and Research Institute. Usually, the military personnel have to move within the borders of knowledge, and the Ministry of Defense, which is missioned to defend the country by building equipment, must have a high level of academic knowledge.”

“The person who runs the institute runs both the Ministry of Defense’s scientific research centers and liaises with other universities. During his tenure in charge of this institute, Mr. Eslami has been in contact with all universities in the country in the field of technology and engineering, and is also familiar with most of the country’s defense complex. In addition, as I said above, his experiences in the field of roads and urban planning, governorate, etc. are important.”

In response to a question that Eslami’s experiences in defense field may put pressure on him, The MP answered: “No. This is by no means a weakness. The field of defense means the high scientific and technical level of the country. The best forces we train in universities are active in the field of defense. In this field, television and computers are also built.”

“It is not the case that we link this part to the defense parts. The scientific and technical development of the countries of the world has started in some military sectors. A reactor is an energy system that contains many sciences and has nothing to do with defense,” Abbasi highlighted.

The member of the Energy Commission of the Parliament stated: “We should put the best professor of nuclear engineering at the head of the Atomic Energy Organization and if he has no managerial experience in this field and in technical and industrial fields, he will have no effectiveness.”

About the priorities that Eslami should address during his tenure, the former the AEOI director noted: “Mr. Eslami should think of several matters at once; the first is that the nuclear issue is an ongoing challenge, and in this context, we must continue negotiations to resolve the country’s problems. We must provide technical and legal support to the (nuclear) negotiating team. This is what was done during my term and has been done until now and should continue from now on.”

“Second is energy production. We have a reactor in operation, where technical support, supply of parts and tools should be a priority, and in general, maintaining it is very important. The first unit of the Bushehr power plant has been active for 10 years and is one of the country’s priorities, so debts must be paid and fuel supply must be a priority.

We also have two other reactors under construction that are behind schedule for construction and commissioning; they had to go into orbit in current (Iranian) year, which has not been possible so far, so Eslami have to do something to complete these two reactors in 4 years.”

Referring to the administration’s responsibility, he said, “In this regard, the administration should help reactors become operational in a timely manner, and also plan according to the order of the Ministry of Energy in supplying nuclear power so that more contracts for the construction of the reactor are concluded, as the Ministry of Energy says. In addition, small reactors and accelerators should be considered.”

He noted, “The use of radiation is not only effective in medicine but also in industry, agriculture and geology…, and this can develop the country’s physics and basic sciences. This is a vast field whose turnover and capital is even greater than the field of nuclear power, and we have a good capacity in the country.”

The MP underscored that these measures were possible despite the sanctions and political and nuclear restrictions and stated, “Eight years ago, we were doing this with internal power. We proceeded three small reactors relying on the improvement of facilities in Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashhad, and we were in the early stages of work.”

Abbasi added: “We talk a lot regarding smelting, but how to make a surge in this field. I believe that the technical support of the engineering that we have in centrifuges and lasers should be managed and we should use it in support of theoretical issues in smelting issues.”

“We must prevent going beyond the knowledge in our command and development of centrifuges. We should not constantly pursue higher SWUs. Of course, it is not bad to produce SWU 1000, but if we can have a stable SWU, for example SWU 10, it is good, and now we have to move towards the industrialization of that machine and take the technology to other fields, including smelting, to compete with countries and participate in global projects in the field of smelting. The construction of particle accelerators is also very important in this area,” the MP highlighted.

He stressed that the preparations for all the above have been done in the country, noting “We just do not have the necessary coherence for their development, and we hope that Mr. Eslami will make this coherence during his term of office.”

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As reported by the ministry’s news portal, the unveiling ceremony was also attended by the representatives of government bodies, deputies of Transport and Urban Development Ministry, city managers, provincial offices of the ministry, consulting engineers in the field of transportation and urban management, as well as experts and scholars in this field.

In urban planning, transit-oriented development is one of the newest models of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business, and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between dense, compact urban form and public transport use. In doing so, TOD aims to increase public transport ridership by reducing the use of private cars and by promoting sustainable urban growth.

The mentioned system and its portal were designed and prepared in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) by the ministry; this system is able to provide an accurate and transparent analysis of the status of the 42 major indicators defined in the field of TOD in urban development plans.

Speaking at the ceremony, Eslami underlined the importance of coordination between urban planning and transportation and traffic plans and noted that Sateh system is a tool for convergence of urban planning and transportation and traffic projects.

Eslami, while stating the need to change the urban development approaches from designing roads and paths based on vehicle mobility to designing them based on human mobility and human-centered views of urban development and transportation planning, called for the necessary preparations by all responsible entities to facilitate the implementation of new transportation and urban development methods.

A TOD typically includes a central transit stop (such as a train station, or light rail, or bus stop) surrounded by a high-density mixed-use area, with lower-density areas spreading out from this center. A TOD is also typically designed to be more walkable than other built-up areas, by using smaller block sizes and reducing the land area dedicated to automobiles.

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In the mentioned ceremony which was attended by President Hassan Rouhani and the Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami, 51,230 units worth 220 trillion rials (about $5.2 billion) were handed over to the owners in 31 different provinces.

As reported, 28,518 of the mentioned units were the national housing plan’s units and the rest were Mehr Housing units.

According to Deputy Transport and Urban Development Minister Mahmoud Mahmoudzadeh, so far in the two stages of the national housing program hand overs, over 40,000 units have been handed over to the applicants around the country.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Eslami stated that in order to facilitate the access of the target community to affordable housing units, 55 percent of the price of the mentioned units will be lent to the applicants in the form of bank facilities, adding: “We have completed Mehr housing program and it will not be transferred to the next government.”

According to the minister, in the process of the registration for the National Housing Plan, over 2.5 million people applied, among which 530,000 were eligible to receive housing units, however, some did not complete the registration.

The National Housing Action Plan aims to construct 400,000 small and medium-size apartments (70-100 square meters in size) across the country and particularly in Tehran, where housing prices have risen most sharply.

Nearly half of the total number of the said houses will be constructed in Tehran’s suburban “new towns” such as Parand and Pardis, respectively located in the west and east of the city.

Back in March, Eslami had announced that 510,000 residential units will be provided for the applicants under the framework of the National Housing Action Plan during the coming months.

Earlier that month Mahmoudzadeh had said that the construction costs for the National Housing Action Plan are set based on the current year’s construction material price list and haven’t changed.

The official made the remarks in response to some rumors about the rise in the prices of such housing units as a result of the increase in construction costs.

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Mahmoud Mahmoudzadeh said that Iran can build and rebuild hundreds of thousands of homes in Syria without any competition if it could only transfer money.

Mahmoudzadeh on Tuesday said, “The issue of transferring money for the activities of Iranian companies for Syria’s reconstruction will soon be solved.” He added that Iran can build at least 200,000 residential units, where it has no competition.

His remarks indicate that the reconstruction will be paid by Iran, which is in deep economic crisis due to U.S. sanctions but hopes that an agreement in nuclear talks with the United States in Vienna will be soon concluded and a major part of those sanctions lifted, providing Tehran with much-needed foreign currency.

Iran agreed to build 200,000 housing units in Syria (link is external) in February 2019, but it was unable to proceed, most probably because of U.S. sanctions that drained its foreign currency coffers. It is possible that the old plan is being revived with the anticipation of sanctions being lifted and funds frozen by other countries to be unblocked.

Mahmoudzadeh noted two issues of transfer of money and construction materials are hurdles in way of involvement of Iranian constructors in Syria. He added that governments of the two countries can pave appropriate grounds for the private sector for export of technical and engineering services, adding that Syria is a country which needs broad renovation and development because of its long-time involvement in the civil war.

He said Iranians can both involve in construction of house and improving developmental infrastructures so it can be a good market for Iranians who are active in the construction industry.

On competition of Saudi Arabia and Qatar with Iran for reconstruction of Syria, he said there is no rivalry because Syrian officials have given priorities to Iranian companies and therefore there will be no problem. He added that the main issue is to take measures by the central banks of the two countries for exchange of money.

Mahmoudzadeh added that Sanction does not merely suffer Iran because Syria also suffers from it.

Last week Iran’s Roads and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami visited Syria and pledged to help Damascus in the reconstruction of the country.

In November 2019, Syria and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to also rebuild the country’s electricity grid. IRNA reported at the time that the agreement covered the construction of power plants, transmission lines and the possibility of connecting their power grids via Iraq.

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The meeting focused on facilitating barter trade between the two countries, supply of goods and products required by the two countries within the framework of the free trade agreement between the two sides, and using the capacities of the two countries’ private sectors to develop trade cooperation.

As reported by the portal of the Transport Ministry, Eslami, who is the head of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee, arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for a four-day visit during which he was scheduled to hold talks with senior Syrian officials including Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous.

Upon arrival, Eslami was welcomed by the Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammad Samer al-Khalil.

“Iran and Syria have put the development of bilateral cooperation on their agenda, especially in the field of construction and development projects,” Eslami said in Damascus.

Iran and Syria have been taking major steps for the expansion of their mutual trade ties. The two sides have exchanged numerous trade delegations in the past two years and Iranian private companies are investing in various fields of the Syrian economy like providing construction materials especially cement and working on several reconstruction projects.

Syria has repeatedly stressed that Iranian companies are the country’s top priority for implementing reconstruction projects.

Back in May, the chairman of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce said that trade is rising between the two countries.

Keyvan Kashefi said that currently, Syria is moving towards reconstruction, and items in the fields of construction, bridge and dam building, electricity supply, and technical and engineering services are at the top of Iran’s list of exports to this country.

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“Iran and Syria have put the development of bilateral cooperation on their agenda, especially in the field of construction and development projects,” Eslami said upon arrival in Damascus.

Considering the fact that security and stability has been established in Syria, the two countries have put the development of bilateral cooperation on their agenda and are seriously pursuing this goal, he said.

He underlined the significant role of the two countries’ private sectors in the development of mutual economic cooperation, saying: “Given the developments in the fields of finance and transportation, now we must benefit from the capacities of the private sector in other fields like industry and civil development to be able to advance joint projects in these areas.”

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Eslami has traveled to Syria for a four-day visit, during which he is scheduled to hold talks with senior Syrian officials including Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous.

Upon arrival, Eslami was welcomed by the Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammad Samer al-Khalil.

Iran and Syria have been taking major steps for the expansion of their mutual trade ties. The two sides have exchanged numerous trade delegations in the past two years and Iranian private companies are investing in various fields of the Syrian economy like providing construction materials especially cement and working on several reconstruction projects.

Syria has repeatedly stressed that Iranian companies are the country’s top priority for implementing reconstruction projects.

Back in May, the chairman of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce said that trade is rising between the two countries.

Keyvan Kashefi said that currently, Syria is moving towards reconstruction, and items in the fields of construction, bridge and dam building, electricity supply, and technical and engineering services are at the top of Iran’s list of exports to this country.

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The MOU was signed by the Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Shahin Mostafayev in Baku on Wednesday.

Based on the mentioned MOU, the two sides will jointly fund the 4.7-million-euro project which is expected to be completed within 12 months.

Speaking to the press following the signing ceremony, Eslami said: “Increasing the volume of trade, transportation, and transit between the two countries requires expanding the capacity of transportation terminals.”

Mustafayev for his part underlined the significance of the mentioned bridge for the trade between the two countries and said: “The construction of this bridge will facilitate the transportation of Iran products to Azerbaijan and also to Russia and other countries and expand transit transportation in the region.”

The official noted that Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia attach great importance to the development of the North-South international transport corridor and are taking significant measures to develop this corridor.

He expressed confidence that the implementation of such projects would help reduce the truck traffic at border terminals and will accelerate the exchange of goods between the two countries.

Heading a delegation, Eslami had arrived in Baku on Tuesday for meeting with the officials of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

Eslami held talks with the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Nakhchivan Vasif Talibov on Tuesday to explore avenues for expansion of economic and transport ties.

The Iranian minister, along with Shahin Mustafayev, also visited Jolfa terminal on border with Azerbaijan and several other industrial areas in the mentioned country.

During the visit Eslami stated that Iran and Azerbaijan have numerous opportunities and great potential for playing an effective role in the Black Sea and Persian Gulf corridors, saying: “Both Iran and Azerbaijan are eager for realizing these capacities.”

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As reported by the Transport Ministry’s news portal, in this meeting, which was attended by Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and transport officials from both sides, the attendees expressed satisfaction with the upward trend of cooperation between the two neighboring countries.

Addressing the event, Talibov said the Islamic Republic of Iran and Azerbaijan have always had close friendship and cooperation, and now conditions are ripe for further expansion of this cooperation.

“Nakhchivan has made all the necessary investments in the railway and road sectors, and therefore a window has been opened for the countries in the region to use this opportunity for increasing their communication and trade exchanges,” the official noted.

Eslami for his part noted that cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan is in the interest of all countries in the region, adding: “The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to cooperate with Nakhchivan and the Republic of Azerbaijan in various fields.”

During the meeting, the officials also discussed cooperation in the fields of energy, rail transport and the completion of the Nakhchivan-Mashhad railway, and connecting Nakhchivan with other regions of Azerbaijan through the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The two sides decided to establish specialized working groups to follow up on the above-mentioned issues.

The Iranian minister, along with Shahin Mustafayev, also visited Jolfa terminal on border with Azerbaijan and several other industrial areas in the mentioned country.

During this visit, while emphasizing the need to promote Jolfa terminal, Eslami stressed the two countries’ efforts and interest for expansion of trade and logistics cooperation especially in north-south corridor.

According to Eslami, considering the developments in the region and the trilateral agreement among Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, the activation of the Tabriz-Nakhchivan railway through Azerbaijan and Russia is on the Iranian Transport Ministry’s agenda, which will expand the trade capacities of Iran and Azerbaijan as well as the countries in the region.

The official further stated that Iran and Azerbaijan have numerous opportunities and great potential for playing an effective role in the Black Sea and Persian Gulf corridors, saying: “Both Iran and Azerbaijan are eager for realizing these capacities.”

He expressed hope that Shahin Mostafayev’s recent visit to Tehran and Eslami’s visit to Baku could be a turning point in identifying potential areas for cooperation, the challenges in the way of trade and joint investment opportunities of the two countries.

Heading a delegation, Iranian Transport Minister Mohammad Eslami arrived in Azerbaijan on Tuesday for meeting with local officials and discussing expansion of ties especially in transportation.

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Speaking on the sidelines of an event on the occasion of the National Productivity Day on Saturday, Eslami said: “The renovation of the mentioned fleet will be accelerated if the necessary funds for the program are provided on schedule.”

The official noted that over 1,800 freight and passenger wagons and locomotives were produced or renovated in the country over the past two years, adding: “Although the figure was less than the previous periods, all the new locomotives and wagons produced in the past two years have been domestically-made, whereas, in the past, renovations were done with imported products.”

The National Productivity Day ceremony, held in Tehran, was attended by senior officials including the head of the National Productivity Organization of Iran and the Head of the Islamic of Iran Railways (known as RAI).

The development of the railway sector is one of the macro policies of the Iranian government as it has been emphasized by the general policies of the country’s national development plans.

Advantages such as consuming less fuel and creating less pollution as well as high safety attaches priority to the railway when compared to some other transportation systems, and makes its development economically viable.

When it comes to railway development, the renovation of existing infrastructures comes also under the spotlight, as according to RAI, currently the average age of the country’s passenger and freight wagons stands at 24 years and there are also rail tracks that have been built over 50 years ago.

In this regard, RAI has been implementing new programs for replacing old wagons and locomotives with new ones to reduce the age of the country’s fleet.

Based on the mentioned programs, some 451 wagons and locomotives valued at 9.33 trillion rials (about $222.1 million) were added to the country’s railway fleet in seven stages during the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20).

Back in December 2020, RAI Head Saeed Rasouli announced that the Iranian railway industry has become completely self-reliant in manufacturing freight wagons.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said his ministry has plans to add some 1,500 kilometers of the railroad to the Iran rail network by the end of the current administration’s term (August 2021).

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