Where does sanction come from? The first records of sanction come from the 1500s. It is derived from the Latin sancire, meaning “to decree” or “to prescribe by law.” Sancire also means “to make holy” and is the root of words like sanctify and sanctuary.

But this word has turned into a devastating virus whose origin seems to be the Western states because this is the Westerners who use sanctions against others and they spread this contagious disease even among other states.

In recent decades the Islamic Republic of Iran has suffered the most from this disease whose origin has been the U.S., and other Western countries have also resorted to this virus in confronting with the Islamic Revolution.

After years of ineffective U.S. sanctions against Tehran, now it is the turn of Europe to resort to this virus and every day and with any pretext it imposes a new round of sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities.

On Monday as it was expected, the EU approved a new round of sanctions against Iran to show its harmony with its lord, the U.S., and follow this disgusting habit of Washington.

In a hostile move, Council of the European Union has imposed sanctions on a number of Iranian individuals and entities over alleged human rights violations.

In a press release issued on Monday, the EU Council said it has decided to impose restrictive measures on additional 32 Iranian individuals and two entities in a fifth round of sanctions over what the bloc claimed to be Tehran’s crackdown on the recent riots.

Foreign-backed riots broke out in Iran in mid-September after the death of the 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. She fainted at a police station in Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later at the hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.

Iran’s intelligence community has said several countries, including the United States and the UK, have used their spy and propaganda apparatuses to provoke violent riots in the country.

Rioters went on a rampage, brutally attacking security officers and causing massive damage to public property. Dozens of people and security personnel were killed in the riots.

According to the EU press release, Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Mehdi Esmaeili, Minister of Education Yousef Nouri, the deputy commander and spokesperson of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), a number of MPs, members of the police and judiciary in various parts of the country, as well as prison wardens are among the individuals listed.

The 27-nation bloc also imposed sanctions on the co-founders of EU-listed Ravin Academy, an Iran-based cyber security company.

European Union’s fresh sanctions against a number of Iranian entities and individuals were illegal and “another failed miscalculation” by the bloc, an Iranian ambassador reacted to it.

“The so-called EU sanctions list has no basis in int’l law. It’s just another failed miscalculation,” Iran’s Ambassador to Vienna Abbas Baqerpour said in post on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

The envoy said that the EU’s move to impose sanctions on the head of Iran-Austria (and Iran-Germany) friendship group, despite his outstanding efforts, indicates a “serious deviation from the principle of dialogue.”

Of course the Islamic Republic of Iran does not expect EU or the U.S. to abide by law because everybody knows that it was the U.S. who left the JCPOA without getting any due punishment, and in a bizarre move it was the Islamic Republic of Iran who was blamed by the West for an offence which has been committed by the U.S.

The Islamic Republic of Iran since its first days of emergence has been struggling with different types of sanctions imposed by the U.S. and sometimes by other Western countries, and the new round of the sanctions by EU is nothing new and Iranians can handle it but the recent sanctions  showed that the world is suffering from the sanction pandemic and there is no country immune to this disease which is a big threat to integrity and independence of countries.

So European states are recommended not to follow the footstep of their lord, the U.S., in hostility against Tehran by resorting to such sanctions because Iran is strong enough to overcome such cruel and unfair actions of the West and this will be proved soon.

EU is also better to show its independence on political decisions rather than following blindly the path of the U.S. and Israel who are sworn enemies of Tehran as the Islamic Republic of Iran can be a reliable partner in all fields for Europe if its interests are respected because Iran is an independent country and will not tolerate any bully and interference in its domestic affairs.

The post Sanction, a Contagious Disease appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In addition to its crimes, atrocities and attempts to divide countries, Washington stands accused of seditious acts through a widespread social media campaign and its embassies around the globe have been censured for their role in destabilizing different regions of the world.

The U.S. itself was founded on violence against the indigenous people of America and since then it has survived on instigating violence with its hegemonic dreams and hopes of global hegemony following the collapse of the British empire.

Over the past two decades Washington has had its eyes on West Asia with the disastrous invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as its support for Takfiri terrorist groups in countries such as Syria and Libya and in particular the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It has since expanded its warmongering approach towards Eastern Europe with the aim of containing rising superpowers such as Russia. It has also pinned its hopes on China’s domestic issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and elsewhere with the hope of containing the rising economic and military power of Beijing.

In essence, what is very clear is that wherever there is a U.S. presence, there is also insecurity and no stability in that part of the world.

U.S. President Joe Biden claims the U.S. will “free” Iran. Speaking at a campaign speech in California on Thursday, he said “don’t worry, we’re gonna free Iran,”. The reality is, as noted by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran was freed from U.S. captivity by toppling the puppet Pahlavi regime.

“I am telling Biden that Iran was freed 43 years ago,” Raisi said in reference to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

It is also important to note that the Iranian people were free in 1953 before the American CIA and British MI6 orchestrated a coup that toppled the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq and replaced it with a puppet regime to loot the country’s large oil and gas resources. This is something both Washington and its Western allies publicly acknowledge. The reality is that the U.S. has been trying to repeat the exact same scenario in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It has no interest in freedom or the livelihoods of Iranian people. Experts say human rights are observed in Iran more than the United States where minority groups, including Black Americans, face systematic discrimination.

The U.S. claims it wants to free the Iranian nation while at the same time it has imposed the harshest ever sanctions on Iranian people that have caused the majority of the country’s population to suffer. American sanctions prevented and continue to prevent patients suffering from serious diseases, such as cancer or rare skin diseases, to gain access to vital medicines by banning money transfer from Iran. This is under the name of “U.S. freedom”. American widespread support for riots in Iran over the past few weeks have also led to the brutal death of police forces. This is the freedom and human rights that America seeks to spread and preaches about.

The closer the United States approaches Iranian borders or any other border in West Asia and beyond (under the guise of freedom and human rights), the more insecurity grows in that country. And the U.S. has dozens of military bases surrounding Iranian borders but an independent Iran has proven it has the capability to prevent the Pentagon from toppling the Islamic Republic because of Tehran’s military might.

On the other hand, governments and kingdoms that have linked their own national security interests (knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly) to the U.S. have been toppled because of their lack of sovereignty.

In cases where they have not been toppled, the U.S. is stirring sedition and divide nations. This policy of spreading instability helps American arms manufacturers make lucrative profits from weapons deliveries, as has been witnessed in many countries, such as Cuba and other Latin American countries and more recently to Syria, Libya, Ukraine, etc.

The U.S. State Department has demanded that North Korea refrain from taking any defensive measures to protect its territory, and instead engage in dialogue. This is while the United States has hundreds of warplanes buzzing around North Korean borders in joint war games that have been extended and which Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for an imminent invasion. North Korea has test-fired ballistic missiles in response to these war games and Pyongyang, unsurprisingly, has been denounced by Washington for stirring up trouble.

In other words, the U.S. is allowed to hold the largest ever war games next to North Korea with the deployment of B-1B strategic bombers but the North is not allowed to test its own missiles to protect its territorial integrity.

The U.S. Navy missile-guided destroyers and other warships including U.S. warplane carriers and strike groups regularly sail in the South China Sea and expect China to remain silent, which by the way Beijing has exercised praiseworthy patience with its diplomatic approach to the U.S. provocations. A reflection of how one country is not after seeking military confrontation and how another has a warmongering approach under the pretext of spreading freedom that nobody even requested in the first place.

Critics argue that the delusional idea that Washington can provide security guarantees for another country can’t be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is, as history has shown and proven, the U.S. only looks after its own interests, makes lucrative profit from its military adventurism and once these America’s interests are gone, so are the alleged security guarantees that Washington once promised to provide for certain governments and rulers and kings.

According to different researches the U.S. has been involved in hundreds of wars, conflicts and coups throughout its short history.

When Washington speaks about women’s rights, at the same time, one only has to look at how many women the U.S. army has killed or starved to death because of the wars it has launched or directly supported.

How many women have been murdered in Yemen as a result of America’s direct support for the war on the country? At the end of the day, it was U.S. bombs that fell on the heads of civilians, which killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, many of them women and children. How many American bombs destroyed hospitals in Yemen under the name of spreading freedom?

How many women and children has the United States murdered in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan (to name a few) when its missiles landed on civilian buildings and other public institutions?

How many terrorist groups has the United States supported, backed, armed and provided logistical as well as intelligence support in Syria under the pretext of spreading its so-called freedom for the Syrian people.

The truth is under Washington’s so-called “war on terror”, following the September 11 attacks, global Takfiri terrorism has grown rapidly, creating further international instability.

The post American liberation style: Terror, Sanction, Sedition appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Finding new customers and markets, using different methods in oil contracts, and making use of highly-qualified experts in the field are among the reasons behind the surge in Iran’s crude oil and gas condensate production, Owji said.

“The current oil production capacity has reached the pre-sanctions era, meaning the daily figure of over 3.8 million barrels,” he said.

He also sounded hopeful on achieving higher figures for exports of crude oil, gas condensate, and other petroleum products in the new Iranian year, which began on March 20.

Earlier this week, Owji said Iran’s condensate exports had risen nearly four-fold over the past eight months.

The exports of condensate reached nearly 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) at the end of the calendar year to March 20, he said.

Meanwhile Owji said the country needs a $200b investment in the upstream and downstream and petrochemical industries, the bulk of which has been raised under 50 contracts.

He said the contracts pertain to the development of oil fields, gas flares and gas fields as well as the improvement of the operation of refineries in terms of quality and quantity.

The Iranian oil minister said in the event of the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, foreign companies will rush to participate in this plan.

Owji referred to the designation of the Persian year of 1401 as the year of knowledge-based companies, saying more than 200 knowledge-based firms have announced readiness to cooperate with the Oil Ministry.

He said with the construction of a petro-refinery in Hormozgan Province, in southern Iran, the Oil Ministry will be able to produce 300 thousand barrels and this capacity, alongside the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, will be highly conducive to the provision of oil and gas products.

He noted that most of the fields of activity proposed to knowledge-based companies are related to optimizing fuel consumption, increasing production in oil and gas fields and shallow wells and increasing productivity.

Owji said, “We are capable of producing 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 3.85 million barrels of oil by relying on the capabilities of our own experts.”

In remarks last month, the minister said the country had managed to increase its oil sales and receive all the revenues despite intensified pressure from Washington to halt the sales by trying to seize Iranian oil tankers.

“We took oil to the places the Americans cannot even think of,” he added.

The post Iran Oil Production Has Reached Pre-Sanction Levels appeared first on Iran News Daily.

TEHRAN (IFP) – Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has rejected any negotiation over the Islamic Republic’s “legitimate” ballistic missile program.

According To Iran News, Majid Takht Ravanchi said at a virtual UN meeting that Iran’s defense policy is crystal clear.

“On numerous occasions, we have made our position on the country’s defense capabilities completely clear,” he noted.

“Under the international law, every country is essentially entitled to develop a conventional missile program, and Iran is not exception,” said the official.

“Hence, Iran will not negotiate on its legitimate ballistic missile program,” he underlined.

He said Iran pays due regard to its national security.

“As Iran is located in a sensitive region such as the Middle East, we will not allow our security and conventional defense might to be compromised, restricted or undermined,” he said.

“Iran won’t be intimidated into abandoning its legitimate defense tolls by the bullying policies of certain powers,” said Takht Ravanchi.

He said the only source of instability and insecurity in the region is the presence of a large number of American troops in almost all countries neighboring Iran and the ones in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman region.

Another source of instability and insecurity, he said, is the flow into the region of the most sophisticated weapons made by the US and other Western countries.

“The Persian Gulf has been suffering from foreign interference and unfair rivalries for years. Due to the unrestrained inflow of dangerous Western weapons, this region has turned into a powder keg. In order to sell more arms, these countries fuel differences in the region and have adopted the ‘divide and rule’ policy,” he said.

He expressed hope countries in the region will soon welcome Iran’s peace initiative known as the Hormuz Peace Endeavour (HOPE).

He further noted the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the JCPOA, was the outcome of marathon talks and there is no point putting it on the negotiating table again.

Takht Ravanchi said that under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the JCPOA was concluded as a comprehensive, long-term and appropriate solution to the Iran nuclear issue in order to establish a new relationship with Iran and facilitate and boost trade and economic cooperation and transactions with Tehran.

“The conclusion of the JCPOA was the result of marathon talks, including difficult tit-for-tat arrangements, and any offer of revising, renegotiating or extending the deal runs counter to UNSC Resolution 2231, and will definitely be not acceptable for Iran,” the top official added.

“After withdrawing from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018, the U.S. re-imposed all of its nuclear sanctions, and ever since, has adopted a hostile approach toward the JCPOA and Iran, covertly and overtly bothering Iran’s trade partners constantly and extensively,” he added.

“With these measures, the U.S. has committed blatant violations of the JCPOA and has systematically and constantly breached its legal obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the UN Charter and the international law,” he explained.

Moreover, by impudently threatening to punish other governments if they refuse to violate Resolution 2231, the US has both reneged on its commitments under that resolution and practically prevented other state parties from living up to their obligations,” he said.

Takht Ravanchi also touched upon Washington’s breach of a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“The United States has also refused to abide by a quia timet injunction issued by the unanimous vote of judges of the International Court of Justice on October 3, 2018 which obliges the US to remove impediments to the sales of humanitarian supplies to Iran,” he said.

“Still, instead of adopting remedial measures authorized under the JCPOA, Iran exercised maximum restraint and strategic patience for one year at the request of the three European countries,” he said.

However, he explained, Iran’s restraint was met with the United States’ so-called “maximum-pressure” policy and ever-increasing illegal sanctions as well as the three European countries’ absolute failure to deliver on their commitments.

“Under such circumstances, we had no choice but to take remedial steps in full compliance with paragraphs 26 and 36 of the JCPOA which stipulate that Iran has every right to stop the implementation of its commitments, in whole or in part, if new sanctions are slapped on the country or if previous sanctions are re-imposed,” he said.

“So, Iran’s measures are in full compliance with our rights and obligations under the JCPOA, and more importantly, they are reversible,” said the top official.

Takht Ravanchi underscored that the United States has slapped more than 1,500 sanctions on Iran targeting all of the country’s economic sectors and destroying almost all benefits of the JCPOA for Iran.

“Such sanctions, which are expected to increase even until the last minutes the current US administration is in office, amounts to a full-scale war where weapons have been replaced by an economic tool.

“Based on U.S. officials’ comments, the sanctions are aimed at starving Iranian people using food and medicines as a weapon, a practice which is even forbidden during wartime,” said Takht Ravanchi.

He said Washington’s claim that sanctions do not include humanitarian supplies is a “sheer lie.”

The post Iran Ballistic Missile Program Not Open to Negotiation appeared first on Iran News Daily.

According to President Hassan Rouhani government’s promise to the nation, it was supposed after signing the JCPOA, all cruel sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran would have been completely lifted but with arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. political scene suddenly everything changed and not only were sanctions increased more and more but also all the promises that the maladroit  diplomacy team of the government had given to the government did not materialize and Iranian nation endured the tribulation of the indecisive JCPOA for four years.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

Today all in the world have seen that the U.S. not only in the JCPOA but also in many international treaties has been presented as unethical and commitmentless. However, the president-elect who has won in the election is himself witnessing misconduct of his predecessor Trump who does not intend to hand over the power to the one who has won the people’s votes. But regarding Iran, the winner of 2020 U.S. presidential election, Joe Biden, claims the U.S. leadership of the world.

This very claimant of the world leadership at first should first show the world his leadership of morality in the U.S. in order to have shown at least a little bit difference with his predecessor. For him the smallest step to show him a different one is that he should lift without wasting time all sanctions which have targeted only Iranian people and have made them suffer from endless cruelty, and should suspend playing with words and avoid being the captive of the Zionist policies.

Today most of culture-oriented people in the U.S. politics and economy believe that the U.S. cannot push ahead its policy and goals in other countries by creating poverty and hopelessness; such policy is opposite of the U.S. verbiage of being the leader of morality in the world. Biden only by putting an end to these sanctions can both advance the U.S. interests and revive the lost reputation of the country. The U.S. interests can be better achieved through dialogue. For some time after Trump announced the pullout of the U.S. from the JCPOA, Iran according to the IAEA verification did not pursue enrichment process above the level which had been agreed in the JCPOA. But now the condition is totally different from that time. Iranians according to the paragraphs of 35, 36 and 37 of the JCPOA are allowed to pull out of the NPT Treaty and allowed not to let IAEA inspectors to have access to its nuclear facilities and verification.

All the world believe that the U.S. by returning to the negotiation table will benefit, and to materialize it, it is necessary that Biden cancels all Trump’s executive orders regarding Iran outright and without any negligence. Only such an action can revive the U.S. lost reputation in a short time that Biden needs it for an agreement, and it can provide the ground for broader talks over the other issues.

That Iran accepts Biden to resist for an all-out agreement may make the case more complicated and in this issue, the U.S. may probably gain nothing but “nothing”. Iranians believe sanctions have benefited them and they have succeeded in putting behind major part of the sanctions, and have relied on domestic power and capabilities, and have overcome the unpleasant effects of sanctions.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution recently during his clear remarks whose words were misused and distorted by the West-oriented media has said, “We must be strong in all areas, including economics, science, technology, and defense. Because the enemies will not give up their greed, aggression, and invasions until we become strong. So I strongly advise that you do not trust the enemy. Do not trust any of their promises regarding solving the problems of the people and the future of the country. You saw what the U.S. did to you under Trump and what they did under Obama. The hostilities are not particular to Trump’s America for this to end when he leaves office. Obama’s America was also malicious to you and the Iranian nation.”

The Leader went on to say, “The three European countries too have displayed a total lack of commitment and extreme malice, duplicity, and hypocrisy. Officials should not harm this unity and synergy of the people (referring to the national unity regarding to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks) and should not divide the nations, and the three branches of power should strengthen national unity through convergence and cooperation and resolve their differences through dialogues. Don’t you say that we should negotiate with the world? Well, is not it possible to resolve differences with the domestic element, either? This is a fact that lifting of sanctions is in the hands of the enemy, but nullifying them is in our hands. Thus, we need to focus more on nullifying them than on having them lifted. Of course, we do not mean that we should not seek to have the sanctions lifted, because if the sanctions can be lifted, we should not hesitate for even an hour. However, this has been delayed for four years now. Since 2016 when all sanctions were supposed to be lifted at once, not only have they not been lifted, they have even increased.”

The Supreme Leader, who was addressing a group of the organizers of the first memorial ceremony of Martyr Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and his comrades who were martyred by the blood-sucker Trump, emphasized, “If the sanctions can be lifted in a correct, wise, Iranian-Islamic, and dignified manner, this should be done. But our main focus should be on neutralizing the sanctions, and the initiative for this is in your hands.”

This method of leadership in tackling Western immorality and misconduct especially by the Americans has kept Islamic Iran on its feet, and for this reason this belief exists that even if Biden moves in the same direction of the past misconducts of Barack Obama or Trump, Iranians would be stronger than before both to overcome the effects of sanctions on their economy and to have independence of their nuclear power.

  By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

The post Iranians Have Surmounted Sanctions appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The wisdom emerged from civility for negotiations with one party of the contract which has disregarded its responsibility and has not fulfilled its obligation in due time rules that in order to substantiate the right of the committed party, first we are better to go to the court and seek our rightfulness from the court, and in case this process is not possible, we should wisely leave the contract through reducing the amount of our commitments based on not giving any pretext to the opposite current.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

The recent reciprocal action law, which has been recently approved by Majlis and the government inevitably had to accept it, has put in front of us this very content based on rational principle and gradual reduction of reducing obligations and return to the day one with an experience bitter than the snake venom.

That the other parties have misused the 11th and 12th governments’ convergence and deceived Iran with “JCPOA”, of course, it was a great historical experience which will remain forever between Iran and the West. Westerns and above all Germany are after excessive demands. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas recently in an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel has said that Germany is after an alternative for the JCPOA and a broader nuclear deal with Iran because according to his claim, the current agreement is no longer enough. According to Russian news agency Sputnik which has quoted Maas’s interview, the German foreign minister has claimed, “A form of ‘nuclear agreement plus’ is needed, which also lies in our interest. We have clear expectations for Iran: no nuclear weapons, but also no ballistic rocket program that threatens the whole region. Iran must also play another role in the region.” He went on to claim that a broader accord is needed as Iran cannot be trusted.

Berlin’s demand, as one of the European signatories of the JCPOA for restricting the components of power of the Islamic Republic of Iran in line with the U.S., comes while Iranian officials have repeatedly reiterated that the JCPOA is not negotiable any longer. The most interesting part of the interview is where the Western countries, which have not either fulfilled any of their obligations, do not blame the violator, and with  irreplaceable rudeness assert that Iran cannot be trusted while they themselves have been the main violators of the JCPOA and Iran has never fallen short in observing its obligations that most Iranians are opposed to them and only Iran government with collusion with the former Majlis Speaker gave in to it, and the country became committed to fulfill them above its obligations and now it is accused of being distrustful.

U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden, who is on the eve of entering the White House, during his presidential campaign had said that if Iran returned to its full commitment to the JCPOA, he and Washington would return to it, too. On the whole, although he and his advisors several times had stipulated that in case Biden won the election he would return to the JCPOA, they have implicitly and vaguely have talked about the necessity of another accord and this issue has been considered as strengthening the current accord.

The U.S. Administration in May 2018 pulled out of the JCPOA accord, and besides reimposing the suspended sanctions under this accord, it imposed new sanctions against Iran. European troika (Germany, UK and France) despite their verbal opposition to the U.S. pullout of the JCPOA did not fulfill their promises to compensate the effects of this exit. The Islamic Republic of Iran in reaction to the passiveness and inactivity of European countries began to reduce its obligations regarding the JCPOA in five steps. The reciprocal action law approved by Majlis has assigned the government to pave the necessary grounds for return of the country to the primary position that the 10th government had laid its grounds.

Mohammad Javad Zarif is the foreign minister of that government that imposed the JCPOA on the country who in his twitter post says, “Iran has proved its bona fides in 15 IAEA reports. Biden Administration should prove its bona fide by complying fully with the UN Resolution 2231 and ceasing the Trump Administration’s economic war against Iranians.”

Even Zarif in an interview has said, “The U.S. has pulled out of the JCPOA but it has not left the United Nations. The U.S. as a permanent member of the United Nations has responsibilities and obligations and we have a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution that the U.S. as one of the permanent members of the UNSC should observe it. The U.S. has violated the resolution because the Trump Administration was a rebel. Now if Biden Administration wants to be a rebel administration can tie implementation of its obligations to negotiations.”

Iranian foreign minister in another part of his tweet stipulated that Iran will not re-negotiate with the U.S. on the JCPOA. (It means all Westerners should fulfil their due obligations and compensate for their delay in fulfilling their obligations).

That Majlis legislators in the framework of reducing nuclear obligations and Iranian president’s letter to European states and in response to the hostile actions of the U.S. in collaboration with European states against the Islamic Republic of Iran has approved the law, is considered as a small portion of compensating the past damages resulted by the JCPOA deceits.

Westerners should know that the future does not belong to their aligned government. Neither is this Majlis the previous Majlis nor will the next government be beguiled by them once again.

  By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

The post Ending All Sanctions , Condition for Considering JCPOA appeared first on Iran News Daily.

“Trump was not aware of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s capabilities at all, and he acted based on his illusions.”

The president referred to Washington’s failure in bringing the Iranian nation to their knees and said, “The failure of the White House to confront Iran after two and a half years of full-scale economic war and the failure of Trump’s international policies are reasons for his failure in the recent election.”

He further said, “I advise all those who seek to defeat Iran through measures such as sanctions to leave such wrong and failed approach forever.”

He pointed to Iran’s defensive and economic power as two important and decisive facts, saying, “Although the economic war inflicted considerable damages, including on people’s livelihoods, today the advocates of sanctions and warlords who predicted the collapse of the Iranian economy in short term are leaving the White House.”

The President further referred to the proposed budget bill for the next fiscal (starts on March 21, 2021) and said, “The budget bill for next year has been designed based on the economic capacity of the country and the realities of the international arena; it has also been presented with a detailed analysis of domestic capabilities and assets.”

The post Sanction advocates must leave illusion of beating Iran appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati says the economic growth rate in Iran has become positive, both with and without oil revenues.

In a post on his Instagram page on Sunday, the top banker said Iran has achieved a positive economic growth.

The great Iranian nation’s fortitude under the pressure of economic war and outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the efforts of the Iranian economic activists finally yielded results, Hemmati said.

“As I had already announced according to the course of indices of industrial and agricultural production as well as the growth in the credit of working capital of banks, the country’s economic growth has become positive,” the CBI governor announced.

A recent report from the CBI’s economic calculation department shows that the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate during the first six months of the current Iranian year (March 20 – September 21) has been positive with and without petrodollars, he stated.

Iran’s economic growth excluding the oil income in the first half of the current Iranian year has increased by +1.4 percent compared to the corresponding period last year, while the economic growth with oil has risen by +1.3 percent compared with the 6-month period a year earlier, he noted.

The CBI chief finally noted that the economic growth with the inclusion of oil has stood at -2.9 percent and +5.1 percent in the last spring and summer, respectively, while the growth rate without oil income has reached -0.6 percent in the first quarter and +3.2 percent in the second quarter of this year.

Meanwhile Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) is organizing an online 3-day Iran-Europe business forum in collaboration with the European Union (EU) which is to open today (December 14).

During this three-day event more than 60 Iranian and European officials will deliver speeches and companies from the two sides will hold online B2B meetings.

This investment conference will be run by the UN’s International Trade Center – an agency jointly managed by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization – and the TPO.

The main purpose of this event is to create a suitable environment for companies on both sides to engage in trade-economic interactions.

The Europe-Iran Business Forum, which is funded by the European Union, will be the first of its kind in two years, according to a statement by the organizers.

The post Iran Economic Growth Rate Becomes Positive Despite Sanctions appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Some of Iranian and Pakistani business activists yesterday in a webinar exchanged views for boosting trade and both sides emphasized bartering goods as a means of overcoming the sanctions.

In the webinar which was held in collaboration between Iran’s Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Pakistan’s Lahore Chamber of Commerce, economic activists of both countries explored ways for boosting trade relation and removing hurdles in way of their trade.

In the meeting, both sides pointed to the problems resulted by the U.S. sanctions and emphasized using bartering goods, removing non-tariff hurdles and boosting the border trade and preferential trade.

Both sides also expressed their dissatisfaction over the trade volume of both countries despite having huge potentials and called for boosting the bilateral trade to $5b.

Addressing the webinar, Head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce Masoud Khansari pointed to the commonalities and historic relations of both countries, adding that both countries enjoy good economic relations while they have bigger potentials for strengthening their bond.

He further said Pakistan has turned into Iran’s major and trustable trade partner, adding that despite huge potentials of both countries, their trade volume is not satisfactory while there is capability to increase the trade exchange of both countries to the set target of $3b, and holding such events and meetings will help this to materialize.

Khansari then pointed to the visit of a delegation from Tehran Chamber of Commerce to Pakistan and city of Lahore in February 2020, saying that it was a fruitful visit and expressed hope by containing the COVID-19, these visits would continue in the near future. He said Lahore as the second economic pole of Pakistan and a vast industrial city can play an important role in expansion of bilateral relations.

He also asked for taking some initiatives to overcome problems resulted by high tariffs as well as lack of banking channels for trade. He also called for improving the infrastructures for reaching the maximum trade capacities of both sides. Khansari also said joint ventures, developing industrial parks near borders and transfer of technology can be the key to the success in developing trade relations.

He said by launching a mechanism for bartering goods, both sides can overcome the consequences of lack of financial and banking channels, adding that in fact, bartering can include all exporting goods like iron, dried and fresh fruits, crude oil, petrochemical products, transformers, raw skin and carper from Iran n exchange with goods like rice, mango, banana, meat, medicines, textiles, leather products and mechanical machines from Pakistan.

Khansari also said both countries should create other mechanisms like using national currencies and launching joint bank which will ease bilateral trade.

He also added that preferential tariff agreement between Iran and Pakistan can turn into a free trade agreement and this move can boost the trade volume between both states as well as controlling smuggling the goods from their borders, and announced Tehran Chamber of Commerce’s readiness for supporting economic activists of both countries for developing and easing trade and resolving problems.

Meanwhile in the meeting, Head of Lahore Chamber of Commerce Tariq Misbah pointed to the decline in the world trade volume, and called development of joint investment between Iran and Pakistan a good opportunity.

He said Iran and Pakistan despite having abundant cultural and religious commonalities have not been able to take advantage of their potentials for boosting trade relations in the past years, as the trade of goods between Iran and Pakistan has been estimated around $400m and there is a long way to reach the $5b target.

Misbah also noted that banking problem has led to the decline in trade between both states, stipulating that Iran and Pakistan should look for a financial mechanism for increasing their trade. He added presence of Iranian and Pakistan financial institutes and bartering trade can materialize the increase in bilateral trade, adding that exchange of trade delegations is another way for boosting economic cooperation.

Meanwhile trade and investment counsellor of Pakistan Embassy in Tehran Masood Ahmed for his part pointed to the bilateral trade which has faced ups and downs in recent years and called for boosting sustainable trade between both countries.

He emphasized removing the non-tariff hurdles, and talked about systematic problems in Tehran-Islamabad relations, noting that due to the sanctions and lack of banking channels, the border trade and preferential trade should continue.

The post Iranian, Pakistani Traders Call for Bartering to Overcome Sanctions appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Vice President and Head of Plan and Budget Organization (PBO) Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Iran is fully ready to export 4.6m bpd of crude oil in case the sanctions are lifted by the U.S. but in the budget bill, it is predicted the country to sell between 1 to 2.3m bpd next year.

Speaking in a press conference yesterday, Nobakht revealed more details on the government’s budget bill which was submitted to Majlis on Tuesday. He said that according to the predicted revenues for the current year, the government was to earn 384,000b tomans in the first eight months of the current year but the earning in the mentioned period is 50,000b tomans shy of the set target.

He went on to say that the government payment and salary this year has been 53 percent more than last year, adding that whatever revenue the government has economized has been spent for the public livelihood.

Nobakht further said that development credits have increased by 65 percent, adding that this rise of the credit shows itself in forming investment in housing which has grown by 5.4 percent. He said the government has received only 19,000b tomans of petty cash from the central bank while it had authority to get 39,000b tomans.

He refuted allegations that the government has transferred its budget deficit to the Central Bank, adding that they are baseless remarks, as the government has only used 19,000b tomans of petty cash while it was allowed to get 39,000b tomans.

Nobakht reiterated that the GDP in all groups was positive in the summer and the country experienced positive growth 0.2 percent with oil sale. He noted although due to the coronavirus pandemic some jobs were lost, the growth in the agro sector was positive 2.7 percent and in mining sector positive 4 percent, admitting that the figure was minus 3 percent in the service sector without oil.

Nobakht said that the government predicts to earn 199,000b tomans through oil sales revenues and it will be possible if the country can sell 1 to 2.3m barrels per day, adding that if the oil exports miss the mentioned target, the government has to sell bonds or shares of the companies and factories.

He reiterated that the oil sale in the budget bill is flexible from 1 to 2.3 million barrels, reiterating that the government is optimistic to regain its OPEC quota in the market and in case it does not happen, it can sell bonds and shares.

Nobakht added that for the basic goods, the government eyes the price of dollar for 4200 tomans but all depends on the forex prices in the market.

He rejected the allegations that the government intentionally lets the dollar price go up in the market to compensate its budget deficit, reiterating that the government could do it with the dollar with price of 22,500 tomans and not with the price of 11,500 tomans which is to be the base price for the dollar in the budget bill next year.

Nobakht reiterated that currently and due to the devaluation of the dollar in the market, the capital market is witnessing growth.

The post Gov’t Predicts Oil Sales of Up to 2.3m bpd Next year appeared first on Iran News Daily.