Summer Archives - Iran News Daily

Youth Unemployment Declines and Service-Sector Jobs Grow in Summer

siavash — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 11:14:08 +0000

Youth Unemployment Declines and Service-Sector Jobs Grow in Summer

TEHRAN (Iran News) The new report shows that the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 24 dropped by one percentage point compared with last year—reaching 15.9% in rural areas and 20.1% in cities. This marks the lowest youth unemployment rate since 2020, largely attributed to higher labor force participation and the entry of more young people into service and industrial jobs.

The overall national unemployment rate stands at 7.5%, a slight 0.1% increase from the summer of 2024. In urban areas, the rate is 7.0%, while in rural regions it is 5.3%. Among the provinces, Ardabil recorded the highest unemployment rate at 10.6%, and West Azerbaijan the lowest at 5.2%.

Employment in the service sector rose from 59.5% in summer 2024 to 60.3% in summer 2025. This 1.6-point increase occurred mainly in urban areas, driven by growth in education, healthcare, and digital businesses.

The share of underemployment—workers who work fewer hours than standard or earn insufficient income—increased in urban areas from 6.2% to 6.8%, but declined in rural areas to 10.3%. This indicator reflects persistent job quality issues, especially in provinces with low overall unemployment.

The share of university graduates among all unemployed persons fell by 3.6 points to 40.3%, while graduates make up 27% of the total employed population. According to the Statistical Center, the drop in graduate unemployment is mainly due to their absorption into service and technology-related jobs, though their unemployment rate remains above the national average.

Employment among people aged 15 and above saw slight changes: in urban areas, the employment-to-population ratio decreased from 38% to 37.2%, while in rural areas it increased from 39.9% to 40.4%. These figures suggest a relatively stable labor market, with a gradual shift toward services and industry and a continued decline in agriculture’s share of employment.

In summary, the summer of 2025 was marked by a decline in youth and graduate unemployment and growth in the service sector, though underemployment and regional disparities remain challenges. Experts emphasize that active labor market policies and investment in knowledge-based industries will be key to maintaining this positive trend.

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Summer warmer than normal forecasted

mahla — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 20:37:13 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) –The national center for drought and crisis management has forecasted the summer this year will be warmer than normal in the country.

In the northern and eastern provinces of the country, the rainfall is insufficient, and even the relatively normal rainfall of the remaining days of the current water year cannot compensate for the lack of rainfall, ISNA quoted Ahad Vazifeh, the head of the center, as saying.

The month of Ordibehesht (April 21-May 21) is the most important period in the spring season to receive rainfall in the country and is very important, he stressed.

“For example, in the month of Farvardin (March 21-April 20), usually 35 millimeters of rain is recorded in the country, but in Ordibehesht, the rainfall amounts to about 20 mm. So, the rainfall in Ordibehesht is almost twice as much as in Farvardin.”

“Since the beginning of Farvardin, we have had an average of 25 mm of rain, while during this time period, we should have normally received 38 mm of rain in the long term,” he said.

Therefore, about 33 percent of rainfall has decreased compared to the long term, Vazifeh noted.

The average rainfall since the beginning of the current water year (September 23, 2022) was 158 mm, which is 41 mm, equivalent to 21 percent, less than the long-term rainfall of 199 mm, he concluded.

On April 9, the Meteorological Organization reported that precipitations in the country have increased by 12 percent in the current water year, compared to the same period the year before.

During the mentioned period, precipitations amounted to 148 millimeters, a decrease of 19 percent compared to the normal level, ISNA reported.

Data show that the country received some 62 percent of the normal precipitation over the last six months, while under normal conditions, the figure should be about 77 percent.

Only six provinces of Isfahan, Bushehr, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad, and Yazd had more precipitations than normal, and in 25 provinces was less than normal.

Over the previous water year which began on September 23, 2021, precipitations decreased by about 24 percent compared to the long-term average, which marked another year of low precipitations for Iran.

As the newly extracted statistics show, a total of 180.4 mm of rain has poured in the country over the past water year, which shows a decline of 23.9 mm compared to the long-term average of 237.1 mm.

The last water year marked the year of low rainfall for the country, causing the continuation of dry years.

The summer season showed an increase of 19.7 mm in rainfall, which was accompanied by a growth of 71.3 mm compared to the long-term period when the amount of precipitation was 11.5 mm.

No end to the drought is in sight over the cold season, Ahad Vazifeh, head of the national center for drought and crisis management, forecasted in January.

A temperature higher than the normal of the last 30 years is predicted, he said, ISNA reported.

In general, a rainy winter is not expected and the rainfall is likely to be less than normal, but the effects of drought in many parts of the country will be even stronger than last year, he warned.

The average rainfall in the semi-arid country of Iran is 250 mm, which is one-third of the world average. Iran’s 53-year average rainfall was 250 mm, which has decreased to 232 mm in the last 13 years.

Parallel to this decrease, the increasing trend of temperature caused an increase in evaporation and a decrease in precipitations, and a sharp drop in the level of underground water resources and its limitation.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society estimates that 4.8 million people are at medium to high risk of drought-related impacts, mostly in remote and rural areas of the provinces.

It reports that 29 of 31 provinces, and especially seven – South Khorasan, Kerman, Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Isfahan, and Khorasan Razavi – have been severely affected by the drought.

The lack of safe and sufficient water supply for drinking, hygiene, agriculture, animal husbandry, and power generation is having a devastating and increasingly unsustainable strain on households’ health, and income in addition to encouraging negative social trends and coping mechanisms.

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Two Million in California Go in Darkness

reporter 1222 — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 09:42:54 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – As many as two million Californians were plunged into darkness over the course of about four hours late on Friday in the first rolling outages to hit the state since the 2001 energy crisis.

The California Independent System Operator, which oversees the state grid, declared a Stage 3 emergency late on Friday, initiating the outages that impacted about 750,000 homes with demand soaring from people blasting fans and air-conditioners to keep cool.

Record high temperatures were seen around the Bay Area, according to the National Weather Service, with San Francisco reaching 35 deg C and San Jose 39.4 deg C.

The intense heat is hitting at an especially vulnerable time for the region, with the pandemic forcing people to remain at home.

It’s the first time the state has declared a Stage 3 emergency since electricity shortages pushed hundreds of thousands in the region into darkness, forced California’s largest electric utility into bankruptcy and sent power prices surging to record levels in 2000 and 2001.

About half of the customers were affected as of 8.15pm local time, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks power shutdowns.

California grid operators decided to call for the rotating outages around 6.30pm local time when they determined through a complex calculation that the state’s power reserves had fallen below a critical threshold, said Ms. Anne Gonzales, a spokesman for the California ISO.

“We had an energy shortfall,” Ms. Gonzales said in a phone interview. The state needed to reduce demand by about 1,000 megawatts, she said. That’s equivalent to the amount of power supply for about 750,000 homes, according to the California ISO, Bloomberg reported.

The bulk of the outages came from PG&E Corp. The state’s biggest utility said it expected as many as 250,000 customers to be shut off in rolling outages, with power to be fully restored by 11 pm. Customers in El Dorado and San Mateo counties were the first to be impacted, said Mr. Jeff Smith, a company spokesman.

“Unfortunately, because of the emergency nature of this, we weren’t able to notify customers in advance,” Mr. Smith said in a telephone interview. The outages occurred for 60 to 90 minutes on a rotating basis through the utility’s Northern and Central California service territory, he said.

Edison International’s Southern California Edison utility began shutting off customers shortly before 7 pm, with about 132,000 of them without power as of 7.45 pm, said spokesman David Song.

The company planned to rotate the blackouts through blocks of customers, trying to ensure no one stayed without electricity for more than an hour in the outages through 10 pm. “It’s happening pretty fast,” he said.

Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric utility said shut-offs were “widespread” across its territory in San Diego and southern Orange counties, affecting about 58,700 customers whose power was restored as of 8 pm, an hour, and 20 minutes after the outages started.

“The California ISO is working closely with California utilities and neighboring power systems to manage the strain on the grid and to restore the power grid to full capacity,” the agency said in a statement on Friday.

California is joining regions around the world that have been grappling with extreme weather brought on by climate change in recent months. What was forecast as one of the worst heat waves in more than a century gripped parts of Europe in August? The eastern US is just emerging from July temperatures that were expected to topple daily records in Manhattan and Boston dating to the 19th century.

The rolling outages in California also come less than a year after utilities in the region deliberately cut off power to millions of customers in an effort to prevent their power lines from igniting wildfires amid unusually strong winds – another consequence of increasingly extreme weather that has led to fires across the state in the past week.

California won’t see a respite from the high temperatures until later next week as the National Weather Service forecasts a long-duration heat wave starting this weekend. The weather agency posted excessive heat warnings for much of California for Friday through Wednesday.

Electricity prices have already hit two-year highs as weather forecasters called for extreme temperatures. Spot power prices surged past US$1,000 (S$1,370) a megawatt-hour across California on Friday evening.

Natural gas prices in Southern California more than doubled on the increased need for fuel for power production, according to a report from BloombergNEF.

Grid operators will continue to monitor the situation throughout the weekend and into next week, Ms. Gonzales said. Asked whether the California ISO will need to call for additional power shut-offs, she said: “We don’t expect one, but we are prepared for one.”

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Khaeez Fire Extinguished

reporter 1222 — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 07:43:35 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Summer heat caused a massive fire that broke through trees and green areas in Khaeez protected forest in southwest Iran since Thursday before it was extinguished on Tuesday.

The 33-hectare Khaeez forest, which lies across the provinces of Khuzestan and Kohgiloyeh and Boyerahmad, was granted protected status in 1998 because of its unique flora and fauna, which includes wild goats, leopards, and caracals (Persian lynxes).

Several videos on social media show that the fire burning in parts of the Khaeez protected area before it was contained by the local people and fire department in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province.

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COVID-19 Vanishes with Summer Heat?

reporter 1222 — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 04:09:15 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Summer days are coming, with temperatures forecast to reach 20°C in some regions. The warm weather will bring welcome respite to lockdown Britain — and put pressure on authorities trying to control crowds and gatherings.

However, scientists also believe warm weather could bring new insights into the virus by showing whether it reacts to the onset of spring. Flu epidemics tend to die out as winter ends; could sunshine, similarly, affect the behavior of the coronavirus and its spread? It is a key question, and epidemiologists will be watching for changes very closely, theguardian.com reported.

Initial studies of other coronaviruses — the common varieties that cause colds in the UK — do suggest a seasonal pattern, with peaks occurring during winter and disappearing in spring. Intriguingly, these peaks tend to coincide with flu outbreaks. By contrast, only small amounts of coronavirus appear to be transmitted in the summer, theguardian.com reported.

A key study of the common coronaviruses — HCoV-NL63, HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E — was published last week by scientists at University College London. By analyzing samples collected several years ago they found high rates of coronavirus infections in February, while in summer they were very low. Other studies have also shown coronaviruses are seasonal in behavior in temperate climates.

The study’s lead author, Rob Aldridge, sounded a note of caution, however. “We could see continued but lower levels of coronavirus transmission in summer but this may reverse in the winter if there is still a large susceptible population at that point,” he said.

“And given this is a novel virus, we don’t know if a seasonal pattern will hold over the summer given high levels of susceptibility in the population. For this reason, it is crucial that we all act now to follow current health advice.”

This point is backed stressed by other scientists, who warn that the COVID-19 virus is a completely new infectious agent and so there has been no chance for populations to build up any immunity. As a result, it is likely to continue to spread at current rates despite the onset of summer.

“I am sure seasonal variations in the virus’s behavior will play a role in its spread,” said virologist Michael Skinner at Imperial College London. “But compared with the effect we are having with social distancing, it will be a very minor influence. It may produce some marginal effects but these will not be a substitute for self-isolation.”

Ben Neuman of Reading University was more emphatic. “This virus started in near-freezing conditions in China and is rapidly growing both in Iceland and on the equator in Brazil and Ecuador. As winter turned to spring, the virus growth has accelerated worldwide. This is not War of the Worlds, and there is no deus ex machina to reach out of the clouds and put this right. We have to beat the virus ourselves.”

The arrival of spring does not only affect the behavior of a virus, however. It also produces changes in the human immune system, other researchers point out.

“Our immune system displays a daily rhythm, but what is less known is how this varies from season to season,” said immunologist Natalie Riddell at Surrey University.

To find out, Riddell and other researchers at Surrey and Columbia Universities have been studying immune changes in humans at different seasons and different times of the day. Biological samples were taken from volunteers at the winter and summer solstices and the spring and autumn equinoxes.

Initial findings suggest a subset of white blood cells that play a key role in the immune system appear to be elevated at certain times of day, indicating that the system responds differently at varying times. For example, B cells that produce antibodies were found to be elevated at night.

However, the impact of seasons on cell rhythms is still under investigation, added the study’s leader, Micaela Martinez of Columbia University. Results would be of considerable importance, she added. “Knowing the vulnerabilities of our body to diseases and viruses across the year could inform the timing of vaccination campaigns that will help us eradicate infections.”

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Iranian startups tap into vacation rental market

reporter 1222 — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 06:43:00 +0000

According to a recent report published by TechRasa, an Iranian startup and tech media on June 24, vacation rental has a 41,280 billion rials (about $980 million) market in Iran, which is the reason that Iranian startups are trying to tap into this market and bring it online.

A vacation rental is the renting out of a house, apartment, villa or any accommodation to a tourist as an alternative to hotels. In the past three years, a few players have entered this market.

According to the report on vacation rental market in Iran, only two percent of bookings are done online in Iran yet, which shows the potential of this market for online platforms. Note that the average commission rate for connecting the host to the guest is about 16.6%.

The report also reveals the percentage of different accommodation types. This percentage is based on per person per Night number in total. This means that tourists have used vacation rentals (with an overnight stay) more than any other type of accommodation. The biggest share of the market goes to vacation rental with 31 percent. The runner up is private accommodation with 23 percent. It follows by public accommodation including hotels with 13 percent, which is neck to neck with staying in tents with 12 percent. The remaining nine percent goes to other types of accommodation.

The business model for vacation rentals is an example of a shared economy in which, individuals give services to each other and unlike the traditional model (hotels), people participate and earn money themselves.

In this model, the online platform connects tourists to hosts. Benefiting from the vacant capacity of any rentable accommodation including people’s houses, apartments, and villas as well as helping the owners to earn money by renting their property for a short period of time.

The online rental vacations noticeably decreases the cost of accommodation services for tourists, which in turn can help to stimulate the country’s economy. In addition to that, empowering this market can help local businesses and stores such as restaurants, recreational and commercial centers to grow too.

Average basket value of 7.110 million rials

In 2018, local tourists rented the accommodations in groups of 3.8 people for about 2.4 days on average. The cost of a vacation rental for 2.4 days, with the average daily rate of 2.930 million rials (about 70 dollars), is about 7.110 million rials (about 170 dollars).

5.8 million vacation rental bookings per year

In 2018, vacation rentals had nearly 5.8 million bookings of 24,000 owners and 64,000 properties. The notable point is that it has been the direct and indirect source of income for 103,000 people.

Comparing vacation rental market with other sectors in Iran

Tourism in Iran has an estimated market size of 5 to 6 trillion rials (about 120 to 140 million dollars) annually which consists of different sectors. The vacation rental market with 41,280 billion rials (about $980 million) market in Iran, annual market size is a part of the tourism industry in Iran.

According to the report, the local hotel annual market is about 40 to 50 trillion rials (about $952 -$1,190 million) in Iran while the annual foreign hotel market is more than 15 billion rials (about $357,000).

The annual ecotourism market reaches about 20 trillion rials (about $476 million) which only a few of the vacation rental platforms have entered to.

The vacation rental market can also be compared to other startup sectors such as fintech and transportation.

The report shed lights on road transportation market in Iran. According to the report, the annual bus ticket market is something about 30 trillion rials (about $714 million).The annual motorbike delivery market is about 4,000 billion and the annual ride-hailing market in Tehran and seven other big cities is about 80 trillion rials (about $1,900 million).

The annual taxi change transaction market in Tehran and seven other big cities is nearly 60 trillion rials (about $1,420 million).

How vacation rental market size in Iran is calculated?

The main sources of this market research are the reports and surveys done by the Statistical Center of Iran from 2008 to 2018 which is generally done just for the season of spring. The main focus of these reports is on giving statistics on tourism in Iran.

However, the report considers the average length of stay, daily rate of vacation rentals, number of guests per stay, annual average number of properties’ rented days, number of properties owned by the host, number of owner’s dependents, commission rate, and percentage of bookings done online for more precise analysis.

The required data are compiled directly from five Iranian online vacation rental platforms.

Global vacation rental market size

According to reuters.com, with the slowdown in world economic growth, the vacation rental industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, vacation rental market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 10.81% from 61 million $ in 2014 to 83 million $ in 2017, Research analysts believe that in the next few years, Vacation Rental market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2022, The market size of the Vacation Rental will reach 165 million $.

The global vacation rentals market has witnessed a rapid growth in the past few years, owing to the growing tourism industry worldwide. As compared to hotels, vacation rentals offer more flexibility with lodging. It is a cost-effective and more comfortable accommodation option for people looking to stay for a longer period of time, probably a week or more.

This market is growing off the online booking trend. The preference for instant bookings has increased among the consumers, and online booking provides an increased degree of service differentiation, by presenting many options for accommodation at varied price ranges to the customers. Farmhouses, private homes, beach houses, villas, cabins, cottages, short-term rental apartments, are only a few of the several types of housing places that are up for booking.

The increase in the number of domestic and international travels has given rise to the popularity of these short-term rental properties. They are convenient to book, with minimal to zero wait time, thus increasing customer satisfaction. These vacation rental homes are present on web-based listing sites, where customers can leave reviews for other customers to take advantage of, and suggestions for the homeowners to improve their stay. However, despite these listings, the major restraint in this market is the presence of fraudulent vacation rentals.

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Producing 51GW of electricity during summer on agenda

reporter 1222 — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 11:30:31 +0000

According to Homayoun Haeri, in this regard the oil ministry plans to focus on consumption management and increasing the average efficiency of the country’s power plants to 38.5 percent.

“The production record high of 47,000 megawatts (47GW) which was achieved in last summer should not only be maintained this year but we need to increase the number to at least 51,000 megawatts (51GW),” Haeri said.

In October 2018, the head of Iran’s Thermal Power Plants Holding Company unveiled a plan for an increase in the efficiency of the country’s power plants up to 40 percent.

According to Mohsen Tarztalab, following a development initiative foreseen in the country’s Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021) the average efficiency of the country’s power plants would increase 2.1 percent from the current 37.9 percent.

According to the plan, new power plants in Iran should operate with an efficiency of at least 55 percent.

The Ministry of Energy has been trying to improve the efficiency of the country’s existing power plants as part of efforts to limit harmful emissions and cut fuel consumption.

The country’s current nominal power generation capacity stands at 79.325GW.

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‘Searing Summer’ to vie in Dhaka Filmfest.

reporter 1222 — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 15:05:03 +0000

TEHRAN– ‘Searing Summer’ directed by Ebrahim Irajzad will compete in the Asian section of the 26th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) in Bangladesh.

‘Searing Summer’ narrates the story of Nasrin, who is faced with a dilemma of either staying in an unhappy marriage, or divorcing her husband but losing custody of her daughter in the process. Instead of merely picking the less bad alternative, Nasrin makes her own way when she takes her daughter with her and moves, without her husband’s approval. But when he suddenly reappears in their lives, their situation changes dramatically.

Irajzad’s flick has previously taken part in the 28th edition of Stockholm Film Festival in Sweden.

The 26th edition of the Dhaka International Film Festival will be held on 12-20 January, 2018.

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Taleqan, A Summer Retreat near Iran Capital

reporter 1222 — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 08:51:10 +0000

TEHRAN – Taleqan is a county in the northwest of Alborz Province. It comprises 84 villages which have special natural and historical attractions and can draw tourists with different tastes.

According To Iran News, Due to its proximity to Tehran, Karaj and Qazvin, it is easily accessible.

Taleqan County consists of three sections: Upper, middle and lower Taleqan. Shahrood River is the vital vessel of the region. It extends for 105km, crisscrossing the region and eventually flowing into Sepidrood which in turn pours into the Caspian Sea. The area is separated from the famous Alamut County by Shahkooh Mountains — a section of the Alborz Mountain range — which reaches an elevation of 4,200m.

The area is famous for sunny summers and cold winters. It is located in the resort area of the Alborz mountain range about 120km northwest of Tehran.

Taleqan has a mountain climate. It has a seasonal population with numbers increasing in the summer.

Its population may vary between 5,000 and 12,000 according to the season.

Taleqan has hospitable and hard-working people who are mainly engaged in animal husbandry, horticulture and bee keeping. Native people speak Tati language.

Honey and dairy products are the best souvenirs from Taleqan.

There are ovens for cooking bread in most of the houses in Taleqan.

Taleqan is the birthplace of luminaries such as famous author Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Islamic thinker Ayatollah Seyyed Mahmoud Taleqani and calligrapher Gholamhossein Amirkhani.

Taleqan area is the habitat of wildlife species such as rabbit, hyena, swine, jackal, wolf, bear, as well as bird species such as eagle, wagtail, hawk and jackdaw.

It also has orchards for walnut, apple, cherry, apricot, olive and hawthorn as well as species such as wild barberry, cashew, and sycamores.

Herbal plants like rhubarb, wild leek, chicory, thyme and milfoil also grow in the area.

The most spectacular scenery in the region is Taleqan Dam. The lake behind the dam is very attractive and pleasant. This area has very beautiful villages. Lake has been advancing in the form of a small gulf on the coast creating stunning landscapes from water to land. The water in the lake is green and has several types of fish of which Anchovy is one. Because of the lake, the weather in the area has a morning mist.

Mountaineers have shown keen interest in Taleqan since olden times. Taleqan Mountains, located in the south-central Alborz range, accommodate one of the best stratigraphic sequences of the range. The area bounded by the Taleqan fault to the north and the Mosha fault to the south. These faults separate Paleozoic-Mesozoic rocks from southern and northern Tertiary rocks.

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