In a meeting in Tehran on Friday, Lozano announced her country’s full readiness to expand cooperation with Iran and called for developing bilateral relations in the field of health.

Einollahi also asked Lozano to use all efforts to develop bilateral cooperation in the field of health during her stay in Iran, pointing to the history of cooperation and friendship between Iran and Switzerland in the past.

Lozano also met and exchanged views with Mohammad Hossein Nicknam, the deputy health minister for international affairs.

Appreciating the presence of Swiss pharmaceutical, food, and medical equipment companies in Iran during the cruel U.S. sanctions, Nicknam called for the efforts of the two countries to ease the conditions and resolve possible problems for the continued presence of these companies in Iran.

Rise in pharmaceuticals, medical productions

The import of pharmaceuticals has declined in Iran by 91 percent, which shows the capability of the country’s pharmaceutical industry, Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said last October.

Based on innovative indicators of health technology development in 2021, Iran was ranked 60th among 132 countries.Today, all medicine used in the treatment of coronavirus are produced by domestic manufacturers, and if we wanted to import all the items, there would be a high exchange rate, he further stated, emphasizing that COVID-19 vaccine development indicates the pharmaceutical industry’s capability.

In 2018, 67 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used to produce drugs in Iran were made locally.

A total of 227 knowledge-based firms are supplying medical equipment for health centers across the country, according to the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology.

Knowledge-based companies can produce any medicine effective in countering coronavirus or approved by the scientific committee within a week to 10 days, Sourena Sattari, vice president for science and technology, said.

Also, Iran is capable of production of biopharmaceuticals, which has so far reached 28 items, making Iran the third leading country in Asia.

Based on innovative indicators of health technology development in 2021, Iran was ranked 60th among 132 countries, which shows an improvement of 60 steps compared to 2014, the deputy health minister for research and technology, has announced.

Despite the sanctions that have existed since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has the strongest health system in the region.

The post Switzerland seeks to develop health relations with Iran appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Sharif Nezam Mafi speaking to ILNA said that the trade volume between Iran and Switzerland has not changed significantly comparing to the past but he knows this point that Switzerland has now turned into Iran’s first trade partner in Europe especially in the field of trade and grain because the biggest grain companies are located in Switzerland and the trade with Iran has been high in the past year.

On imports of grain from Switzerland, he said that Swiss companies and even Switzerland’s grain chain companies like technology, additives and inspection have very colorful presence in Iran’s grain industry and for this reason Iran-Switzerland Chamber held the biggest event of grain in Iran last week where 850 people attended and 42 foreigners from 32 countries were among them. He reiterated that Iran’s relations with Switzerland in the field of grain us very colorful.

On the future of the level of trade between the two states, he said all depends on the outcome of the Vienna talks and even the JCPOA is revived for a short time, it will lead to boom in Iran’s economy and all frozen assets will be unblocked and it will be a great assistance to the industrial infrastructures and ultimately to the government for imports of the basic goods.

The post Switzerland, Iran’s First Trade Partner in Europe appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking to ILNA and touching upon Iran’s barter trade policy, Nezam-Mafi said this policy is good for a short time and it cannot resolve the problems of the industry sector and especially production in the long term. He went on to say that in the history of mankind, barter has been a mechanism for trade before money surfaces and there has been definitely a reason that bartering is not in use any longer and if Iran has a plan for the progress of industry, occupation and exports, this mechanism cannot solve its problems with this mechanism.

He then pointed to the barter of oil with tea with Sri Lanka and said it is disappointing that the country uses its national reserves for consumables like tea which is not a vital commodity for our life as the country could at least have barter of oil with medicines for cancer patients or other items which can boost the economy. He noted that tea and other commodities are consumed based on the daily habit and it is not a necessary commodity in the lives and one can say the country uses its national reserves just for a habit.

Nezam-Mafi went on to say that it is unlikely the advanced countries to be ready to use mechanisms like barter in their trade and therefore, to meet our production and exports demands, the advance countries in terms of economy will not be ready to use barter mechanism, and they prefer money or credit.

He said Iran can advance this policy of barter ultimately with the third world countries, for example, Sri Lanka which has recently gotten rid of a civil war and has weak economy and it is run based on agriculture.

He went on to say that after the U.S. pullout of the JCPOA, some of Swiss companies still continued their works in Iran but most of them are facing with capital accumulation and they are unable to return their profits or pay the money of their shareholders or they are even unable to pay for import of raw material and parts, and it will not surprising the number of Swiss companies declines next year if the JCPOA does not end to an agreement.

Nezam-Mafi added that several Swiss companies have investments in Iran which are mostly involved in the fields of pharmaceutical, food industry and construction materials but they have problems. He noted that banking problems have made those companies be unable to work easily and when they problems are accumulated, they reach the fragile point and currently some of those big companies in Iran are reaching this point.

The post Swiss Companies May Leave Iran If JCPOA Talks Fail appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking to ILNA, Nezam-Mafi said that although there are some problems for trade with Switzerland because of transportation and banking saga, there are not so that the medicine trade can be halted and in fact one should see how much forex is allocated to imports of medicine. He reiterated the major problem for import of medicine is the shortage of forex.

Touching upon the current condition of trade between Iran and Switzerland, he said the trade volume between the two countries is mostly in the field of grain and medicine which are done through the existing mechanisms especially the current banking avenues but due to the limits of forex, the trade has declined due to the sharp forex restrictions. He further said of course last month comparing to the preceding six months they have seen a considerable leap in trade but this leap is from one to two while the capacity for trade between Iran and Switzerland is around 100.Therefore, the leap that we are seeing is just a very small dot from a capacity which can have.

On the import of medicines from Switzerland, Nezam-Mafi said the medicine trade still goes on through the existing avenues of course not in a level to meet the national demands and the amount of import of medicines from Switzerland in the past six months has not changed so much, he added.

He said that rise in the amount of import of medicines depends on the power of purchase and the forex condition of Iran and if the Central Bank of Iran provides the importers with enough forex, then more medicines will be imported. He admitted that for trade with Switzerland there are some problems in banking and transportation but they are not so that they can affect the import of medicines.

Nezam-Mafi reiterated that Iran’s economic problems has not been tied with which government runs the country but there are macro problems that some of them have been tied with the political issues, adding that the issue of the FATF is one of them.

He expressed hope that the new government would see the economic problems with an economic approach and it may lead to a development. He reiterated that if the issue of the FATF is not resolved, the country will not be able to have banking relation with other countries.

Nezam-Mafi further said that the government change in Iran does not have so effect on trade between Iran and Switzerland and Swiss companies, and governments make their decisions based on the national or companies’ interests and for them it makes no difference who runs the government in Iran.

He went on to say that the world economy does not wait for us to decide what to do as it goes ahead and this is us who should harmonize with it in a way that we benefit from the world economy in our favor.

The post Iran-Switzerland Trade Exchanges Soared in Recent Month appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Sharif Nezam-Mafi, Head of the Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce, said that Iran-Switzerland trade has continued in the past decades despite the unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. against Iran, adding that in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year Switzerland was the fifth exporting country to Iran by exporting 672,000 tons of goods worth of $539m and it has happened while in recent years Iran’s trade with Switzerland had experienced a considerable decline.

He went on to say that both countries economically complete each other, adding that while Swiss goods and industries provide Iran with its needs, Iranian products are also met the demandsin the progress of industry in Switzerland.

Nezam-Mafi went on to say that some of companies trading with Iran are not Swiss but their trade offices are established in Geneva and they provide Iran with its required goods or they provide their required goods from Iran.

He noted that Iran has good quality products for presenting to Switzerland, reiterating that some Iranian-made medical devices, semi-industrial products and agro items are of the items which are welcomed by the companies in Switzerland.

He added that despite all financial and banking problems, both countries are facing a growth in their trade although the amount and volume of the exchanges is less than the predicted capacity.

Nezam-Mafi also said that Swiss companies did not leave Iran during the sanctions era and the reason behind the decline in the bilateral trade ismostly the hurdles in way of their trade than the lack of interests.

“The interest of companies based in this country to buy Iranian agricultural and medical products is one of the reasons for the increase in trade between the two countries,” he said.

The head of Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce added: “In the first months of this year, trade exchanges have been expanding, and the main imported goods are related to cereals and medical equipment.”

He reiterated that in case Iran can reach international agreements during the new government, then both countries can expect considerable growth in their trade. He reiterated that interaction with the world should reach a point where exchanges with those countries which are interested to increase.

Nezam-Mafi stated that with the revival of the JCPOA, Iran and Switzerland can boost their 10-billion-dollar trade capacity which will be possible through normalization of banking operation that is possible only through removal of sanctions.

Statistics show that in the first four months of the current year, Switzerland, with 672 thousand tons of goods worth of 539 million dollars, accounts for one fifth of Iran’s imports.

The post Iran, Switzerland Increases Agro-Medical Transactions appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Speaking to ILNA, Sharif Nezam-Mafi said that it is very unlikely that if political solutions do not come to help the economy, the country can experience economic growth, adding that Iran has endured well the maximum pressure and its economy has proved as it is unbreakable even under the toughest pressures.

On the IMF’s recent forecast about Iran’s 2.5 percent GDP for the current year, he said he believes the forecast is right and if Iran can reach political agreement regarding the JCPOA and its unblocked assets are used efficiently, its GDP can even grow more than the IMF’s forecast.

He said if after the agreement Iran’s frozen funds are unblocked in the third party countries and are used efficiently in the national economy especially in reinforcing the infrastructures and production, the economic condition will get much better because the private sector has adjusted itself with the maximum pressure for continuing its activities and export-centered activities. Therefore, the private sector has learned under the maximum pressure that if the pressures are reduced, it can act more effectively, he added.

Nezam-Mafi went on to say that in recent years all economic sectors of the country have focused on exports and finding new markets, and it has made Iranian products better and they can compete with their rivals. He noted that if banking issues, instead of hindering help the economy, can help, they can help the private sector a great deal in doing their economic activities.

He also reiterated that the government should stop meddling in the economy, noting that if the past mistakes are not repeated, the country can see economic growth and blossom in one or two years, and it all depends on the government decision.

When he was asked if the political agreement does not happen whether such a growth would be possible, he said it seems unlikely, noting that if the political solutions do not help the economy, such a growth will be unlikely.

Touching upon the FATF issue in the country, he said if God willing the FATF is approved, it can help the national economy a great deal but unfortunately the FATF in the country has turned into a political stuff and when an issue is politicized, its end is unknown. He said unfortunately a simple economic issue has turned into a political conflict and this will have nothing but loss for the national economy.

Pointing to the 25-year cooperation document of Iran and Chin, he said all should take it as a very good omen and one should look at the bright side of the agreement, reiterating he does not agree with those who see the document pessimistcally.

Nezam-Mafi said that Iranians should work with Chinese companies because China has progressed in all fields and it is currently the second economy in the world and it can be the first economic power in the world in 10 to 15 years.

The post Economic Growth Without Political Agreement “Unlikely” appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Chairman of Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce Sharif Nezam-Mafi says the major problem hindering Iran for buying COVID-19 vaccine is the transfer of money which should be solved, adding that God willing it will happen in the next 45 days.

Speaking to ILNA, Nezam-Mafi said that transfer of money is the major problem for the country for buying the vaccine which should be resolved soon and he hopes it would happen in the next 45 days, noting that until the time COVID-vaccine becomes accessible for the countries, Iran’s financial mechanism will open regarding this issue.

On the effects of sanctions and FATF on blocking Iran’s assets, he said the effects of sanctions are more than FATF on blocking Iran assets, adding that of course even all sanctions are lifted, the problem of being on the blacklist of the FATF will still remain but the FATF has always been an economic solution. He added that we can whether accept or reject the FATF but sanctions are one-sided, so the FATF is complementary to the sanctions and since it is a technical and economic issue, it can be resolved.

Nezam-Mafi further said that the goal behind sanctions is to frighten banks and companies not to work with Iran but the FATF has nothing to do with companies and it is only for foreign banks in order not to cooperate with Iran and it always gives time in order that the country can join its laws and regulations but sanctions have no laws and it actually shows some kind of lawlessness in the international community.

On the role of Switzerland financial mechanism (SHTA) on transfer of Iran’s frozen assets, he said with election of Joe Biden as the U.S. President, Iran’s frozen assets likely will be unfrozen little by little and will be handed over to Iran Central Bank in the SHTA in order that Iran can buy grains and necessary medicines especially COVID-19 vaccine through this channel.

He reiterated that FATF has nothing to do with release of Iran assets but since Iran is on its black list, foreign banks refrain from cooperating with Iran.

Nezam-Mafi noted that Biden Administration can unblock Iran assets in one day by an executive order, adding but it seems unlikely it happens and it will need talks. He admitted the third party countries have misused this condition by blocking Iran money and take advantage of it on the pretext of sanctions.

He said therefore Iran’s frozen money in countries like Iraq, South Korea, China or other countries is because of their fear of punishment or pretext but they should be committed to unblock Iran assets.

Nezam-Mafi went on to say that with the current condition that Trump Administration has created, Iran probably will face problem in importing COVID-19 vaccine but it seems it will not last too long.

He further said that one of the humanitarian gesture that Mr. Biden should signal as green light for talks is to resolve problem for imports of vaccine and it seems in will be resolved in 45 days.

He reiterated that food and medicines are not under sanctions but since all channels for foreign trade are closed, the trade of medicine and food actually faces sanctions.

The post COVID-19 Vaccine Can Be Biden’s Green Light for Talks appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Chairman of Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce says the new U.S. sanctions on 18 Iranian banks will not affect humanitarian trade between Iran and Switzerland

Speaking to IRNA, Sharif Nezam-Mafi pointed to dispatch of three medical consignments through Swiss Humanitarian Trade Agreement (SHTA) since July, adding that recent U.S. sanctions on 18 Iranian banks will not have any effect on this humanitarian trade.

He added that recent secondary sanctions imposed by the U.S. on 18 Iranian banks have nothing to do with SHTA activities, adding that agreements have been in a way that no sanctions can affect it or affect trade for imports of basic items like medicine and grains.

Nezam-Mafi added that new sanctions so far have not affected the SHTA theoretically, expressing hope that it would not affect practically this humanitarian channel, adding that since the imposition of new sanctions no disrupte has been seen in the trade yet.

He went on to say that as the U.S. election approaches, banking sanctions in this stage can be considered a propagation for some group who are facing probable defeat in the election in order that to create hurdles in way of normalization of Iran-U.S. ties in the next government.

Nezam-Mafi further said that Iran due to previous sanctions and its pullout of the FATF has been out of the global banking network, adding that recent sanctions may have more consequences for the private banks and create hurdles in way of their daily transactions but it makes no difference for traders.

He added that traders of grains and medical equipment can continue their activities with no concern through the SHTA, adding that this channel has been devised in a way that the country can provide its basic goods.

Nezam-Mafi concluded that since July that the first batch of medicine cargo arrived in Iran from Switzerland, two more medical equipment has been traded.

The post SHTA Continues Activities Despite New Banking Sanctions appeared first on Iran News Daily.

These days whenever to log on Instagram, one sees that President Donald Trump has fallen in love of Iran and momently he or his abominable State Secretary Mike Pompeo repeat the name of Iran more than 70 times a day, it means Iran has danced on their lips, minds and remarks.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

Why now has Iran become so important to him? Everybody says he needs a smile of Iran to win the U.S. presidential election. One can reassure that he has launched this puppet show of Bahrain and the UAE for the sake of his presidential election, and in order not to infuriate Iran more than this, he has never talked about Iran during the ceremony for signing normalization agreement ceremony in the White House. In fact the strategy of the White House in the ceremony was intentionally to avoid arousing Iran’s sentiment during this bachelorette party of Bahrain, the UAE and Zionist regime in the White House and even Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used just one sentence against Iran which had been repeated by him once in a while in the past.

This prudence could not have happened by accident because from A to Z of this show had essentially planned by Trump’s Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner against Iran’s policies in the region and especially in the Persian Gulf. Of course we should admit that the UAE officials unlike their Bahraini counterparts and Zionist elements have usually used more controlled rhetoric against Iran especially they do not want disclosure of their normalization with Zionists to be considered as an open and hostile step against Iranians and the Islamic Revolution. Maybe their joint water borders and geographical proximity and above all their trade exchanges with the Islamic Republic of Iran beside their concerns about emergence of insecurity in the Persian Gulf can be main reasons for taking such an approach.

So there is this possibility that advisors to the think-tanks which have drawn up this farce might have recommended the White House to stay away from political instigation. This indicates that the White House in the heat of the presidential election observes some important considerations.

It is necessary to remind that recently when  Chief of Staff of the President Mr. Mahmoud Vaezi was asked a question on talks with the U.S., he officially announced that both Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and even before them Japan’s prime minister had brought the “dear babe” messages of the U.S. , and even Lavrov openly and in an interview announced Russia’s readiness for organizing talks between Iran and the U.S. if both sides are interested. Of course he ironically and delicately said that Washington’s efforts for extension of embargos against Tehran would hinder any progress in organizing the negotiations.

That Mr. Trump for official meeting with Iranians has repeatedly turned to the cameras or in the virtual space has said he will sign deal with Iran after the November presidential election can be considered as the message of resistance to the enthusiast supporters of negotiations inside Iran. The White House with plea, either with mediation or without mediation, thinks of restoring security in the region and to dispatch its companies, which have left out of Iran’s market due to the Zionist pressures or wrong strategies, to the region. But it is totally a  phantom because first, Iran does not consider Trump “trustworthy”, and secondly, Trump without taking a long step of repentance has not created a climate for winning the heart of Iran. The white House’s mistake lies in this point that it has prolonged the lifting the sanctions against Iran until its presidential election time which could be a step towards good behavior for attracting the consent of Iran, and it cannot now take any action and step until after the presidential election.

In fact one should say that the U.S. is the most maleficent country in the world which wrongly stepped out of the JCPOA and even lost the support of its aligned countries. Of course I think Trump will still take the rein in the office for the second term, and these messages are just for this issue that he wants to stop amazingly confronting with the Islamic Revolution of Iran and to act for his own and country’s interests by reducing military expenses because of the U.S. troops’ presence in the region.

Trump like Barack Obama after the elections for his second term needs less the Zionist regime and undoubtedly he attaches great importance to his country’s interests. Of course this remark is embedded in this framework provided that there is no undertaken ground to be provided to keep Trump or either Joe Biden for diplomacy confrontation with Iran. Islamic Iran definitely analyzes and interprets its own interests for protecting the revolutionary values. So, it will shun any effort for negotiations of any kind either proposed by Trump or Biden unless it gains some lucrative concessions which can safeguard the fundamental values of the Islamic Revolution.

 By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

The post Trump’s Plea to Russia and Switzerland appeared first on Iran News Daily.

French weekly Charlie Hebdo is a satirical weekly known as a far-rightist which hits the news-stands on Wednesdays in France.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

The hidden nature of this magazine is Zinonist-oriented and it has a critical rhetoric and it also pursues the hypocritical anti-racism policy with announcing that it pursues anti-religion policy.

Kind of approach, attitude and articles of this magazine is against religions from Islam to Christianity and rarely against Judaism. This magazine has started its German language version since December 1, 2016 with circulation of 200,000 copies for distribution in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Charlie Hebdo first appeared in 1970 as a companion to the monthly Hara-Kiri magazine which was being published between 1960 and 1961 and it was banned several times. The French government first in 1970 banned Hara-Kiri and once banned it at the order of French Interior Minister for mocking the death of former French president Charles de Gaulle. In 1981 its publication ceased, but the magazine was resurrected in 1992 by some of its experienced staff under the new name of Charlie Hebdo (the name is an innuendo to Charles de Gaulle). The number of circulation of the magazine was low and public criticism about the magazine’s low quality content almost closed it down till a group mostly Jews, it is better to say with Zionist intention and support, joined the magazine’s staff and they published new Charlie Hebdo Weekly in 1992.

One of the known goals of the weekly is to spread hatred among ethnics in France first and Europe the next. This weekly has taken a dangerous and at the same time sacrilegious action to incite Muslims’ sentiments so that one is ashamed to go through its content.

Before Charlie Hebdo commits such a flagrant offense, it was first a Danish magazine which had started such a dirty move which faced world Muslims’ anger. Publication of derogatory anti-Islam cartoons first was hit the news-stands some 15 years ago by a Danish newspaper, and one year later, Charlie Hebdo continued publishing derogatory caricature. This offensive action was faced backlashes and faced Muslims’ angry protests. The French weekly by publishing the offensive caricature intended to show “All Muslims are terrorists”.

This weekly in an article on the occasion of re-printing its derogatory caricature rudely emphasized that it would never retreat and would not budge an inch.”

Republication of that offensive cartoon happened on Saturday, September 5, which was brought from the digital version of the weekly into the printed version and it was distributed in the news-stands and infuriated millions of Muslims and wounded their hearts and souls.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a statement condemned this painful action. All organizations and personalities also condemned it and called it one of the methods of Zionists for fight with the daily growth of Islamic thoughts in the biggest phenomenon, dubbed Islamic Revolution, and warned of its dire consequences. The world witnessed staging protest rallies against this dirty act. On Wednesday and at Imam Hussein Square (A) of Tehran, people gathered to stage a protest gathering in condemnation of this French weekly rudeness and they condemned Charlie Hebdo’s act in a statement with one prelude and five articles as some part of the statement reads as follows:

“1 – We strongly and whole-heartedly express our heartily hatred and anger toward this offensive insult to the word of Allah and sacred realm of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the western countries, and strongly condemn humiliating silence of French officials under pretext of freedom of expression especially French President’s unacceptable justifications for this horrible sacrilegious act.

2 – With full awareness and not being negligent about anti-human plots of the enemy No.1 of the humanity, we still consider the Great Satan and criminal U.S. and its illegitimate child, fake and child-killer Zionist regime as the mother of all corruptions of the century and we consider whatever action that is geared towards Islamophobia and adversarial moves targeting billions of freedom-seeking people’s sanctities to be an outcome of their hostile policies and sinister plots.

3- We call on all international communities and all freedom-seekers and Muslims in the world and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s statesmen especially its Foreign Ministry, by taking strong and decisive stand against the shameful insults regarding the most sacred of all sanctities, the Word of God and Prophet (PBUH), take strong and decisive action and not to be content only with minimum condemnation.

4- Unforgivable betrayal of the doomed UAE leaders and allies of the Great Satan against Islam and Muslims for normalizing humiliating ties with the fake regime and usurper of first Qibla of Muslims is strongly condemned and we warn of repetition of such a crime and unforgiveable betrayal by any other unwise leader of Arab countries.

5- By practical commitment to the progressive principle of Velayat-e Faqih, we consider the secret of grandeur and power of the country of Imam Zaman (A) and bliss of all in the full obedience to the valuable recommendations of great and respected leader of Islamic ummah, and we announce our readiness to fight to death to protect insight, awareness and performing our duties.”

It seems the French Government to shut down this magazine for one year because in the past the weekly has been closed down due to its insult to former French President De Gaulles and if this government does not close the publication for its desecration by resorting to false pretexts like freedom of expression, it is undoubtedly the accomplice of Charlie Hebdo’s crime and it should wait for its consequence and punishment.

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