TEHRAN (Iran News) Speaking at the session hosted by the Gilan Chamber of Commerce, Saman Nazari Mo’afi, head of the Rasht Chamber, emphasized the province’s unique geographical and logistical advantages, noting that Gilan serves as a critical gateway for Iran’s trade with Russia and the wider Eurasian region.

“Gilan’s land, sea, and air routes already handle much of our bilateral trade and transit. With further development of rail infrastructure, these exchanges will expand significantly,” Nazari said.

He acknowledged logistical, financial, and regulatory challenges but expressed confidence that the new cooperation framework will help resolve them. “The Gilan Chamber is fully prepared to facilitate implementation of the agreement and to welcome Russian investors and traders,” he added.

Gilan has been designated by Tehran as the lead province for fostering economic ties with Russia and members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). To strengthen these connections, Rasht will host a Caspian Littoral Governors’ Summit in November, with participation from senior national officials, governors of three northern and four southern Iranian provinces, and business leaders from Caspian Sea countries.

On the sidelines of the summit, two major events will take place in the Anzali Free Zone: a B2B forum and an international trade and production expo, featuring 200 booths for domestic and foreign firms. Nazari invited Russian companies in sectors such as foodstuffs, agricultural products, environmental technologies, detergents, auto parts, animal feed, construction materials, grains, cooking oils, and wood-based industries to participate.

The Rasht Chamber plans to launch a smart digital platform to connect Iranian and Russian businesses and establish a bilateral commercial database. Special cultural events, including “A Day of Russia in Iran” and “A Day of Iran in Russia,” are also planned to foster people-to-people ties.

Addressing concerns from the Russian delegation over high fees for Russian truck drivers at Iranian border terminals, Nazari pledged to work with provincial authorities to reduce costs and streamline cross-border transit. “Both countries are under unjust sanctions and must avoid creating additional barriers for each other,” he said.

Andrey Vadov, Russia’s Consul General in Rasht, underlined the strategic importance of Gilan in the North–South Transport Corridor, noting that more than 400 Russian truck drivers apply daily for transit permits to Iran.

Vadov called the upcoming Caspian summit and expo a “golden opportunity” to strengthen commercial partnerships and investment flows between the two countries. He highlighted ongoing Russian exports to Iran, including wheat, barley, corn, and 900,000 tons of sunflower oil in the first half of 2025, as well as pulses, meat, and potentially confectionery products under the new cooperation framework.

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“The 25-percent increase in tea production in the country indicates that the market has the capacity to boost production and shows an increase in the general popularity of Iranian tea,” Jahansaz said.

The official noted that so far 114,445 tons of tea leaves worth 6.5 trillion rials (about $154.7 million) have been purchased from the country’s tea farmers, 51 percent of which has been high quality first grade product.

According to Jahansaz, the government has so far settled 75 percent of its dues to the tea farmers.

This year, 25,750 tons of dry tea has been produced, which is  25 percent more than the figure for the same period last year, he stressed, adding that this growth is due to the increase in the general popularity of local tea that has motivated tea farmers to boost their output.

He put the country’s annual tea consumption at about 100,000 tons, of which 30,000 tons are supplied through domestic production and the rest through imports.

The demand in the domestic market indicates that there is a good potential to increase tea production in the country, he said.

The official further noted that Iran has also exported 3,800 tons of tea during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 22).

Tea harvest season starts in farmlands across the northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran in early May.

More than 55,000 families grow tea over 28,000 hectares of farmland in the two provinces, accounting for 90 percent of the country’s total tea production.

In late December 2019, Jahansaz named Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Afghanistan as the top destinations for Iranian tea exports.

Iran also exports tea to India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Canada, Australia, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Georgia.

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Arsalan Zare also announced that 300 idle units are planned to return to the production cycle in this year.

The official further said that 200 new production units were set up in the province during the previous year.

As announced last week by Deputy Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mehdi Sadeqi Niaraki, 1,500 idle industrial units have been revived in the country during the past year.

According to Niaraki, over 6,500 new industrial units were also established across the country during the mentioned year which created jobs for over 121,000 people.

Touching upon the Industry Ministry’s plans for the realization of the motto of the current year which is named the year of “Production: support and the elimination of obstacles” by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the official said: “In the year that has been dedicated to the production sector by the Leader of the revolution, the orientation of all government organizations and executive bodies should be towards supporting the country’s industrial and mining units.”

Niaraki pointed to a 40-percent increase in the issuance of establishment licenses for industrial units in the previous year, saying: “The number of establishment licenses increased to more than 36,000 last year, which shows that people are encouraged to invest in the productive sectors.”

He also mentioned an 85-percent rise in the allocation of land for establishing industrial units across the country and noted that over 4,500 hectares of land were handed over to applicants in the previous calendar year.

According to the official, there are over 46,000 small and medium-sized industrial units in Iran’s industrial parks and zones, of them about 9,200 units are inactive.

Iran’s industrial parks play a significant role in making the country independent through boosting production, which is a major strategy of Iran to combat the U.S. sanctions.

In fact, strengthening domestic production to achieve self-reliance is the most important program that Iran is following up in its industry sector in a bid to nullify the effects of the U.S. sanctions on its economy.

In this due, the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 21) has been named the year of “Production: support and the elimination of obstacles”, and all governmental bodies, as well as the private sector, are moving in line with the materialization of this motto.

Regarding its significant role in the realization of the mentioned goal, the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry has already defined its main programs for supporting domestic production in the current year.

In this regard, the development of industrial parks and supporting the units located in these areas is one of the major programs underway by the ministry.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – At least seven people have been killed and 85 others injured in the heavy snowfall and avalanches in Iran’s northern Gilan province.

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Shekar Dasht is at a distance of 20kms from Talesh. In the past, it was the hunting grounds for kings; but it is less traveled by these days due to its mountainous terrain and difficult paths.

The track leading to Shekar Dasht in the countryside is a dirt path, making it difficult for passenger cars to drive through. Locals usually use 4-wheel drives. This charming track and the beech and maple trees are submerged in fog on most spring and summer days.

Its many farmlands include the Lorhoni, Lepon, Chouroun, Pir-Kari, and Asb-Sara. The beech and maple forests, pleasing vegetation, green flowering plains, bubbling springs, unique dwellings, and rural life line the path to this quaint region.

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Planting season begins in mid-spring when the weather gets warm in the region. Rice seeds are first planted close together in one flooded paddy and grows into seedlings that will be transplanted into paddy fields.

The province with 238,000 hectares of paddy fields ranks first in rice production nationwide.

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