IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture (TCCIMA) is to hold an online meeting to review the trade opportunities and capacities of Iran and Oman.

The international affairs department of ICCIMA announced that the webinar on the Iran-Oman Trade Opportunities will be held on Monday, January 11.

The webinar will be held in presence of chairman of Iran-Oman Joint Chamber and representatives of some provincial chambers and business activists.

The meeting is to review the ways for easing the arrival of Iranian markets into Oman market.

Despite the U.S. re-imposition of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Oman is getting closer to Iran both politically and economically. There is also the same approach adopted by Iran, as Iranian companies now prefer to conduct trade with Oman rather than the United Arab Emirates (UAE), given that the UAE is highly complying with the sanctions.

Iran is somehow replacing some of its previous strategic trade partners such as UAE with Oman, considering the Sultanate as an economic-trade hub.

Over the past year, there have been many meetings and negotiations between trade and economic officials from the state-run and private sectors of the two sides with the aim of strengthening and expanding bilateral trade ties.

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According To Iran News, The value of Iran’s exports to its Arab trade partners in the region reached $8.565 billion in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-November 20), Farzad Piltan, the director-general of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)’s Office of Arabian and African Countries, said.

According to Piltan, the value of Iran’s total non-oil trade during the first five months of the current stood at $21.5 billion.

The mentioned trade partners include Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria, and Bahrain.

Among Iran’s top trade partners, Iraq was ranked the second export destination with about $5.3 billion worth of goods exported to the country, followed by UAE, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Other Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen (from the Persian Gulf region) and Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon (from West Asia) were not included in the list of the top 20 Iranian export destinations during the period under review, the official said.

Iran’s trade data also show that during the first eight months of the current year, about $13.377 billion worth of commodities were exported to 15 neighboring countries, of which about $8.57 billion were exported to the Arab neighbors.

Among the country’s neighbors, Iraq and the UAE were ranked first and second, followed by Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar which were ranked 9th, 10th, and 11th (after Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Russia), and Bahrain which was ranked 14th (after Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan).

Iran’s top three non-oil export destinations during this period were China, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Saudi Arabia was still the last in the list of the neighboring trade partners with zero any trade exchange.

The total value of Iran’s non-oil trade during the first eight months of the current year reached $44.6 billion, according to Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Mehdi Mirashrafi.

In the mentioned eight months, Iran imported $23.1 billion worth of goods, while the exports stood at $21.5 billion.

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According To Iran News, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has betrayed the Islamic world, Arab states, the regional countries, and Palestine, with letting the Zionist regime into the region.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a video conference with the Ministry of Education officials due to COVID19 conditions Tuesday morning.

He said that the act of the treason by Abu Dhabi will not last long, but the disgrace will stay with them.

“The UAE betrayed the world of Islam, the Arab nations, the region’s countries, and Palestine. Of course, this betrayal won’t last long.”

They let the Zionists into the region and consigned the issue of Palestine, which is the issue of usurping a country by normalizing their relations, the Leader said: “The UAE rulers opened the door to the region to the Zionists, and they have ignored and normalized the question of Palestine, which is a question about the usurpation of a country. This stigma will remain on them.”

He went on to say that despite the fact that the Palestinians are under severe pressure from different directions, the UAE is cooperating with the Israelis and the Americans, including that Jewish person who is present in the Trump family, against the interests of the Islamic world and deal with absolute cruelty with the Islamic world.

“The nation of Palestine is under various, severe pressures. Then, the UAE cooperates with the Israelis and the filthy U.S. agents – such as the Zionist in Trump’s family – against the interests of the world of Islam and commits the greatest atrocity against it,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

He hoped that the Emiratis will wake up soon and repent from what they have done.

Referring to the 2030 educational document, he said that the document is for spreading the Western lifestyle, which has already been done in some regional countries.

The Leader added that the social philosophy of the west has failed, which is clearly seen in the corruption of the Hollywood and the Pentagon.

Ayatollah Khamanei said that the enemy wants to do through 2030 document what they cannot do through military action; they want to raise humans like themselves to try for their goals so they can plunder wealth of the other nations.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Majis Speaker has urged the legislatures of Islamic countries to do all in their power to block a “shameful” normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), saying Muslim parliamentarians must join forces to foil a “political assassination” of the Palestinian people.

In a message sent to his counterparts in Muslim states on Tuesday, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf said the UAE-Israel agreement undermines efforts being made by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC) towards upholding the inalienable rights of the oppressed Palestinian nation.

Qalibaf said the U.S.-brokered deal, which was released on Thursday, “encourages the usurpers of the Palestinian territory to occupy [even more land], deny the Palestinian people their rights, and destabilize regional peace and security; therefore, the compromise deal lacks any legal validity” in the eyes of the Palestinians and the entire Islamic Ummah.

He also praised the Palestinians for sticking to their culture and history, making sacrifices for their cause, and rejecting any compromise with the usurpers of the land of Palestine and Jeusalem al-Quds over the past seven decades of Israeli occupation.

The Iranian Parliament strongly condemns any measures that violate the Palestinians’ rights, including the UAE-Israel deal, he said.

The agreement, he added, is a “strategic mistake” on the part of Abu Dhabi as well as a “provocative move” that encourages the continuation of the crimes committed by the Zionist regime and threatens peace and security in the region.

“Accordingly, it is necessary for the parliaments of Muslim countries, as the representatives of Muslim nations, to firmly condemn the measure, based on Islamic teachings,” Qalibaf said.

The legislatures are also expected to “employ all parliamentary measures and initiatives to oppose and block this shameful agreement and uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinians,” he emphasized.

Qalibaf further called on the Muslim parliaments to push their respective governments to condemn the normalization deal and use all their international and regional capacities to foil “this political assassination of the noble Palestinian people.”

The post Iran Urges Muslim Parliaments to Act against UAE-Israel Deal appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – The chairman of Iran-UAE Joint Chamber of Commerce Farshid Farzanegan says “Iran’s exports to the United Arab Emirates increased by 16% in the first four months of the year.

Speaking to ILNA news agency, the Iranian official added that despite economic problems and the spread of the coronavirus, the UAE was the only country to which Iran’s exports increased.

“Iran’s exports to the UAE were $ 4.5 billion and our imports from this country were $ 8.9 billion, in other words, the volume of trade between the two countries is $ 13.4 billion.”

Referring to the recent agreement between Israel and UAE, he confirmed “Economic relations must be separate from political issues; due to sanctions, we do not have many options for trade exchanges, and Turkey and the UAE are two countries where Iranian traders have maintained their activities.”

Statistics indicated that export of products from Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Arab Emirates from March 21 to June 22, 2020 increased about 40% in terms of volume as compared to the same period of last year and hit from about 2.4 million tons to 3.4 million tons.

Farzanegan noted that exports of Iran’s agro products to the UAE is very important and many powerful traders are active in this field whose trade relations with the UAE dates back to over 40 years and they have kept their businesses alive despite ups and downs in political relations of both states.

He then pointed to the major imported or exported goods between both countries, saying that till last year, petrochemical materials, mineral materials, industrial products, industrial machineries and agro products have been the major export items of Iran to the UAE and graphite electrodes have been the major UAE’s exports to Iran as import of this commodity from other countries except the UAE is impossible for Iran.

Farzanegan also pointed to the performance of the forex shops in the UAE, reiterating that there is currently no problem regarding the forex shops in the UAE and the money transactions in this country is done much faster than other countries in the Persian Gulf and even in Oman.

He noted that the UAE is not the vital vein for arrival of money into the country but the country is definitely a gateway for it, reiterating that all re-exports and re-imports are done through the UAE because the UAE has been turned into a hub in the region in terms of imports and exports.

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IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

TEHRAN – Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran has strongly condemned the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, describing it as a stab in the back of Muslim world.

In a statement released on Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly denounced the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE and the Zionist regime, describing it as a strategic stupid move made by Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv which would undoubtedly strengthen the axis of resistance in the region.

The statement underlined that the oppressed people of Palestine and all free nations in the world will never forgive the normalization of ties with the usurping and criminal regime of Israel and aiding and abetting the regime’s crimes.

“Undoubtedly, the blood shed unjustly during seven decades of resistance for the liberation of the holy Palestinian territory and the first qibla of Muslims will haunt those betraying the cause of Palestine sooner or later,” it added.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers Abu Dhabi’s shameful move to normalize relations with the fake, illegitimate and anti-humane Zionist regime as a dangerous measure, warns against any interference by the Zionist regime in the Persian Gulf region’s equations, and declares that the Emirati government and the other governments siding with it must accept responsibility for all the consequences of this move,” the statement noted.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has also expressed confidence that history will show how the strategic mistake made by the Zionist regime and the move by the UAE to unfairly stab the Palestinian people and the whole Muslims in the back would backfire, strengthen the axis of resistance, and maximize unity and solidarity against the Zionist regime and the regional reactionaries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has finally advised the rulers, who are inside glass palaces and claw at the faces of Palestinians and other oppressed people of the region like Yemenis, to wake up and not go the wrong way in realizing their friends and foes.

The United Arab Emirates and Israel have reached a deal that will lead to a full normalization of diplomatic relations.

The agreement came after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the de-facto ruler of the UAE.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement supporting the Palestinian administration, saying that the “history and the conscience” of the region’s people will not forget and never forgive the “hypocritical behavior” of the United Arab Emirates in agreeing to a deal with Israel.

“While betraying the Palestinian cause to serve its narrow interests, the UAE is trying to present this as a kind of act of self-sacrifice for Palestine,” the foreign ministry said.

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In recent days, the region has been witnessing some tumultuous news that U.S. President Donald Trump has stirred regarding the normalization of the ties between the UAE and Zionist regime and it has paved the ground for flood of opinions pros and cons on the normalization of ties between the both states.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

The Zionist regime by this agreement which will lead to contracts in different trade, economic, political, cultural and, in a future not too far, in the military and intelligence fields in a region that the UAE will not only expand the process of insecurity for itself but also for its allies backing this idea.

According to Palestinian news agency Shahab, Zionist media outlets have reported that some Arab countries in the Persian littoral states have openly revealed their secret intelligence, commercial and political ties with Israel. These media outlets have announced that they can refer to the recent interview of Israeli Minister of Intelligence Eli Cohen and an article by the UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef Al-Otaiba published in the Saudi Arabian online newspaper “Elaph” as the proofs for their claims.

Regarding this issue and Al-Otaiba’s interview with Elaph, Israeli Channel 13’s reporter on Arab states affairs Hezi Simantov said that the interview actually showed that some Arab countries especially the Arab Persian Gulf littoral states continue their efforts to normalize ties with Israel.

The UAE’s officials through tweeting have asked for getting some concessions for Palestine as the base for developing their ties with Zionist regime because they believe as a result of this diplomatic breakthrough and at the request of President Trump with the support of the United Arab Emirates, Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world.

The joint statement between the UAE and Israel which has made official their ties says, “Delegations from Israel and the United Arab Emirates will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit. The United Arab Emirates and Israel will immediately expand and accelerate cooperation regarding the treatment of and the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus. Working together, these efforts will help save Muslim, Jewish, and Christian lives throughout the region.”

Advisor to the UAE government Anwar Gargash also enumerates reasons for overt compromise of his country with the Zionist occupier regime that none of the Palestinian groups do see these reason acceptable. On the other hand, some Zionist analysts believe that making public the relations between Israel and Arab states which had no relation with Tel Aviv shows that the trend for normalization with Tel Aviv is progressing with extreme pace. According to these experts, this issue indicates that most of Arab leaders will not feel any obstacle for presence in the Israeli media any longer. Of course regarding this point I should mention that there are still some countries in the Persian Gulf littoral states which believe that these relations will make the condition more complicated for managing the tension in the region.

According to these experts, Al-Otaib’s article which was published in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth has reflected only the extent of development of relations between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi and other countries have not shown any desire towards this alliance.

Israel’s Channel 13 has emphatically reiterated that the UAE ambassador has submitted his article to the White House before it being published in the daily and his article is of great significance due to different reasons like there is no overt relation between Israel and the UAE for now.

The other Zionist newspaper Haaretz also wrote, “Kuwait is the only Arab Persian Gulf country which is still opposing the normalization of ties.” The daily has termed the opposition to normalization of ties in the Persian Gulf as a very dangerous conspiracy act and has announced, “Opposition to normalization in the Persian Gulf states is gradually causing concerns among the governments in this region.”

What is fully clear is that the Islamic Republic of Iran considers allies with the Zionist regime as its enemies and will have the opposite reaction or action regarding this issue. With normalizing ties with Israel, Abu Dhabi government has registered in its name one step beyond the insecurity in the region and is putting its economic and tourist relations in danger of threats resulted from tensions in the Persian Gulf.

This move bears no spring of boom, not only for the UAE but also for other countries in the Persian Gulf,  and Mr. Trump has showed that in the critical and tough condition will not meddle in the Persian Gulf states’ affairs in the critical times and conditions.

 By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

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According To Iran News, Chairman of Iran-UAE Joint Chamber of Commerce Farshid Farzanegan said on Wed. that trade volume exchanged between Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the first month of the current Iranian calendar year [from March 21 to April 19, 2020] has decreased at least 35 percent due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

He went on to say that spread of coronavirus, COVID-19, has played an important role in reducing direct consumption and disorder in supply chain of the United Arab Emirates especially Dubai.

He pointed to the way of transportation of cargo and added, “currently, UAE imports and exports products using wooden, metal ships as well as landing-craft vessels.”

Presently, UAE’s launches are transporting foodstuff and fish cargoes, etc. but Iranian launches will be licensed for transporting foodstuff to the United Arab Emirates soon, he emphasized.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Farzanegan pointed to the travel restriction of Iranian traders and merchants to this Arab country and added, “it is hoped that effective measures will be taken after the holy month of Ramadan in this regard. Travel of Iranian traders and holders of residency permit in the United Arab Emirates will be normalized with the cooperation and consultation of officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Iranian private sector expects country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take effective steps in line with settling problems facing ahead, he stressed.

It is predicted that trade exchange volume between Iran and UAE will increase in the long term, he said, adding, “with the adoption of new policies in cooperation with the responsible bodies [including Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI), Iran-UAE Joint Chamber of Commerce] as well as taking advantage of potentials of region, bilateral trade volume will certainly be increased.”

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According To Iran News, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, discussed various topics, including the outbreak of the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

In a telephone conversation on Sunday afternoon, Abdullah voiced the United Arab Emirates’ solidarity with the Iranian people and government in their fight against the coronavirus.

Zarif, for his part, expressed his gratitude for the Emirati side’s assistance to Iran and said the coronavirus epidemic is a global problem, whose resolution needs all countries’ determination and cooperation.

First detected in Wuhan city in central China in December, the virus has spread to more than 120 countries, infecting more than 140,000 globally.

Iranian Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoosh Jahanpoor announced on Sunday that 113 people have died of COVID-19 in the country over the past 24 hours, the country’s highest daily death toll since the outbreak of the infectious disease.

The number of people tested positive for the coronavirus in Iran has also hit 13,938 after detection of 1,209 new cases over the past 24 hours, he added.

Jahanpoor said while the coronavirus death toll in Iran has reached 724, a total of 4,590 patients have been discharged from the hospital after recovering from the disease.

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According To Iran News, Tahnoun bin Zayed, the national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates and the crown prince’s younger brother, has been in Tehran on a secret mission aiming to defuse the Persian Gulf crisis, a senior security source in the UAE told the Middle East Eye (MEE).

Tahnoun’s secret mission is the highest-level meeting between Iran and the UAE since the crisis broke out in the Middle East, according to the report published on Sunday.

The MEE contacted the UAE Embassy media office in London but did not receive a reply by the time their story was published.

It comes amid multiple signs of the UAE following its own, softer line with Tehran, after four tankers were attacked off the Emirati port of Fujairah earlier this year.

Although the chief of US naval operations, Michael Gilday, said American intelligence had concluded that Iran’s IRGC was “directly responsible” for the attacks, the UAE itself has never pointed the finger of blame at Iran.

Instead, it sent navy officers to meet their counterparts in Iran, a visit that was announced. This weekend’s mission has been kept secret.

When the UK, Germany and France attempted to counter US efforts to step up the military confrontation in the Persian Gulf, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash praised their diplomatic efforts.

Gargash said, “At every turn, the UAE has avoided conflict with Iran. We will continue to take all measures to de-escalate tensions and reduce the potential for hostilities. When necessary, we are prepared to act in self-defense, but always proportionately, judiciously and with restraint. We seek a pragmatic, diplomatic path to lowering tensions and creating an opening for meaningful talks.”

The secret mission comes amid a flurry of backchannel attempts to get talks going between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Saudis have called on Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to pass messages to Tehran.

As MEE revealed on October 1, Abbas al-Hasnawi, an official in the Iraqi prime minister’s office, confirmed that Abdul Mahdi was mediating between the leaderships in Riyadh and Tehran and had communicated each side’s conditions for talks to the other.

The UAE has recently shown more than one sign of pursuing its own path with Iran. It recently announced it was pulling its troops out of Yemen, and has publicly backed southern separatists in the port city of Aden splitting the country in two.

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