The production of biopharmaceuticals, thanks to the efforts of knowledge-based companies, has reached 28 items, making Iran the third leading country in Asia, IRIB reported on Wednesday.

A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biologic medical product, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semi synthesized from biological sources.

Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, they include vaccines, whole blood, blood components, allergenic, somatic cells, gene therapies, tissues, recombinant therapeutic protein, and living medicines used in cell therapy.

In the world today, biomedicine has attracted the attention of many governments and investors due to its strategic position and great added value. In Iran, the value-added of biomedical production after the field of information technology services has the highest value-added. Accordingly, those in charge of this field are trying to provide the ground for growth and development.

Iran is one of the countries that has made great efforts in the field of medicine to free itself from the struggle to supply medicine and bypass sanctions and be able to respond to its local needs by relying on knowledge-based companies. One of these areas is the production of biopharmaceuticals, which has grown to 28 items.

12th in biotechnology

Iran is also ranked 12th in the world and first in West Asia in terms of biotechnology, as 9.5 percent of the income of knowledge-based companies and more than 60 percent of their exports are related to biotechnology.

Foreign exchange savings of $1 billion per year by producing 22 biopharmaceuticals, gaining the first rank in biotechnology products and vaccines in West Asia, and the presence among the top five biotechnology producers in Asia are among the country’s achievements, Mostafa Ghanei, secretary of the biotechnology development office of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, said in October 2020.

So far, 27 biotechnology medicines, 12 vaccine projects, 90 pharmaceutical raw materials, and 55 projects in agriculture and food security have been implemented in order to gain a 3 percent market share and biotechnology assistance to the development of the economy, he explained.

Some 8 major companies are responsible for managing the country’s 117 priority products in the fields of biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical raw materials, vaccines, probiotics, equipment, and chemical drugs, he emphasized. /T.T/

 

A recreational site for high-wire cycling has recently been inaugurated in the ancient city of Hir, northwest Iran.

The site of suspended cycle lanes, which lets riders glide over a deep valley, is situated near a suspension bridge in Ardabil province.

It was officially inaugurated on April 1 during an opening ceremony attended by Nader Fallahi, the provincial tourism chief, and a host of local travel insiders.

Site for high-wire cycling inaugurated in northwest Iran

Ardabil is home to a variety of “scary” glass bridges. Moreover, it embraces the UNESCO-registered Sheikh Safi al-Din Khanegah and Shrine Ensemble.

Sprawling on a high, windswept plateau, Ardabil is well-known for having lush natural beauties, hospitable people, and its silk and carpet trade tradition.

Ardabil is very cold in winter and mild in summer, attracting thousands every year. The capital city of Ardabil is usually recorded as one of the coldest cities in the country in winter. / T.T/

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said that the country will unveil nine new nuclear achievements on April 9 concurrent with the anniversary of National Day of Nuclear Technology.

Three of these achievements will be in the field of radiopharmaceuticals which are used in the diagnostic and therapeutic sector, said Mohammad Eslami in a news conference on Wednesday.

Two of these achievements are in the fields of plasma which is effective for the treatment of cancer, he said, adding that four other achievements are in the field of industry related to lasers and three other achievements are in the field of control and imaging systems.

MNA/

Exploring Iran was always my dream and it came true in 2018. I want to share whole my 14 days Iran trip with you guys. My intention for this article is first to write my travel memories down somewhere as a memory, second maybe it becomes useful for those who want to travel to Iran, especially for girl travelers as me and my travel buddy both are girls.

Table of contents

International Flight from Singapore to Iran
Iran VOA Visa Application
Domestic Flight from Tehran to Shiraz
Iran Hotels Reservation
Iran Transportation Between Cities
Iran Daily Expenses for Travellers
International Flight from Singapore to Iran

Maybe the international flight was the most costly part of my trip, as it cost me 990 SGD for two way flight per person. I booked a Turkish Airline. The flight took around 10 hours with 1.5 hours stopover in Istanbul. Probably if you want to book an international flight ticket to Iran, Turkish airline, Qatar airline and Emirate will be your top 3 choices, due to frequent flights to Iran.

Iran VOA Visa Application

Iran VOA (Visa On Arrival) visa was the most satisfying part of our Iran trip. First of all, it was quite easy and smooth procedure. Despite lots of negative comments we have heard about the Iran visa procedure, our visa confirmation at Imam Khomeini airport took less than 15 min to issue. Bear in mind that we applied Iran visa authorization code in advance and that is probably helped us for having a hassle-free procedure at the airport immigration office.

My recommendation for an Iran VOA visa: Apply in advance through an Iran travel agency or Iran e visa portal

Domestic Flight from Tehran to Shiraz

As a travel planner, I am into planning my trip personally instead of booking a tour package all-inclusive. therefore I planned whole my 14 days from the first minute to the last. Firstly we took an Iran domestic flight from Tehran to Shiraz. So we can start our Iran exploration from bottom to top, meaning start from Shiraz and end in Tehran.

We book our domestic flight tickets through an online agency with our credit card smoothly and easy. Our tickets were sent to our Email instantly and even more interesting is that the agency customer service contact us through Email before our flight to check if everything is going well with us or not, this amount of support was exceptional.

Iran Hotels Reservation

In total, I booked 13 nights as below. Generally, book Iran hotels in advance as so many of them are in high demand. They will get fully booked a few weeks in advance, so if you are targeting a specific hotel to stay in, I recommend booking one month in advance and do not leave it to the last second.

1- Three nights: Niayesh hotel in Shiraz. Amazing staff and worth the money.

2- Two nights: Friendly hostel in Yazd. Above average, good breakfast and average WiFi.

3- Three nights: Khajoo hotel in Isfahan. Perfect location and average facilities.

4- Two nights: Noghli house Kashan. Live music performance in the courtyard was a great experience.

5- Three nights: Persian Plaza in Tehran. The rooftop view was the best. Clean room and good facilities.

Iran Transportation Between Cities

This is the most luxurious part of my trip. Unlike my other trips, I decided to pamper ourselves more in Iran and book a guide-driver (meaning a tour guide who has a car), not only because the distance between cities in Iran are too much, also I shared the mutual expenses with my friend, so it was reasonable at the end. Booking an Iran tour package would be another great alternative as whatever you need is already included.

Having a guide-driver in Iran has lots of advantages. Firstly, you do not need to take care of bus or train tickets and match your itinerary with their departure schedule, secondly, there are some attractions like Abyaneh village, Iran desert and Perspolise that are located in a remote area and a tour guide driver can be a great option.

Alternatively, to spend less money, you can book a daily tour in Iran or an excursion for Perspolise (Shiraz) and Lut desert (Kerman) that cost you less than a driver-guide who accompanies you for the whole trip.

Iran Daily Expenses for Traveller

Based on my experience, Iran is generally a cheap destination. The travel expenses vary from 30 to 50 Euro per day per person on average (Excluding international flights). My breakdown expenses are as below.

1- Hotels 13 nights: 350 Euro per person

2- Domestic flight from Tehran to Shiraz: 31 Euro per person

3- Transportation 14 days (guide driver): 200 Euro per person

4- Food, entrance fee and others 14 days: 100 Euro

Total my expenses (one person) for 14 days (exclude international flight) = 681 Euro /MNA/

Spokesman for Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said that Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is ready to unveil about 100 new nuclear achievements soon.

Speaking in an interview with Mehr news agency on Tuesday, Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini said that about 100 new nuclear achievements will be unveiled in the fields of energy, research and development (R&D) on April 9 concurrent with the National Day of Nuclear Technology.

Turning to today’s session of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, held with the participation of the Spokesman for AEOI Behrouz Kamalvandi and one of technical members of Iran’s negotiating team, the lawmaker said that they presented a comprehensive report with regards to the performance of the Organization within the framework of Vienna talks.

A part of negotiations is related to political issues, he said, adding that political issues of the talks will be discussed during a meeting with the nuclear negotiators and possibly in presence of chief nuclear negotiating team.

Considering the approach of National Day of Nuclear Technology, AEOI Spokesman Kamalvandi submitted a comprehensive report on the new activities and achievements of the Organization especially in a recent year in the field of using modern technology, he added.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is ready to unveil about 100 new achievements in the fields of energy, research and development, fuel and radiation applications especially in the field of medicine and health in a way that the least country in the world could achieve these technologies, Abbaszadeh Meshkini ended. /MNA/

The spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said that more than $255 million worth of high-quality dates were exported from the country overseas in the first 11 months of the previous year.

Seyyed Rouhollah Latifi said that the country exported 292,504 tons of dates, valued at $255,198,242, overseas from March 21, 2021, to Feb. 22, 2022, showing a hike as compared to the same period of last year.

Turning to the current year’s motto named “Production: Knowledge-based and Job-Creating”, he expressed hope that knowledge-based companies in the country would focus on scientific export and production of this product.

There are diversified dates that are produced in the country, he said, adding that dates produced in the country are of the highest quality which are welcomed by many people across the world.  /MNA/

The Welfare Organization will create up to 10,000 jobs to empower women heads of households, Mohammad Nasiri, the deputy head of the organization for cultural and social affairs, said on Tuesday.

A total budget of 3 trillion rials (nearly $11.5 million) has been earmarked for empowering these women with the approach of home employment, he explained.

According to the Statistical Center of Iran, out of twenty-two (22) million families in Iran, over three (3) million are WHH and most of them are in less-developed areas. The Government prioritized such families for targeting socio-economic support.

Earlier this month, Zahra Ershadi, Iran’s ambassador and deputy representative to the United Nations, has said that Iran has made significant progress in empowering women, despite U.S. illegal and inhumane sanctions.

Meanwhile, Ensieh Khazali, the vice president for women and family affairs, said in the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, that about 12,000 female heads of households underwent empowerment training and entered the traditional and virtual market.

Also, more than 1.1 million women heads of households are covered by the Relief Committee and more than 300,000 are covered by the Welfare Organization, benefiting from special support such as facilities, insurance, and livelihood services. /T.T/

Iranian movie “The Fourth Wall” scored one more honor by winning the best experimental short film award at the Monstra-Lisbon Animation Festival in Portugal, the organizers announced last week.

Directed by Mahbubeh Kalai, the film is about a stuttering boy who transforms an Iranian kitchen into a fantastic cosmos. The father’s body becomes a refrigerator, the mother’s belly a washing machine whose spin cycle gives birth to a screaming baby. Even birds on tiles and detergents have a surprising life of their own.

This exuberant animation, dotted with real-life elements – fried eggs, broken plates, pieces of cheese – develops a subtle wit, ironizing ingrained family patterns.

The movie produced at the Documentary, Experimental and Animation Film Center has previously received the Mephisto 97.6 Award for the best animated film at DOK Leipzig, Germany’s major international festival for documentary and animated films.

The 31st edition of Animafest Zagreb, a Croatian international festival for animated films, also honored the film with the Zlatko Grgic Award.

In the Monstra short films competition, the Grand Prix went to “Bestia” by Hugo Covarrubias from Chile.

In its statement, the jury said, “This film displays an extraordinary visual style, an unforgettable character design and a soundtrack in complete symbiosis with the atmosphere. It addresses a powerful political topic in a subtle, visceral and disturbing manner.”

The Grand Prix in the Monstrinha Competition was given to “The Secret of Mr. Nostoc” by French directors Patrice Seiler and Maxime Marion.

“The inventiveness with which he reuses materials makes Mr. Nostoc a deeply altruistic and humanizing character, at the service of a world of fantasy and magic,” the jury commented.

In this category, “Stars in the Rain”, another Iranian movie by Sara Namju, was awarded an honorable mention.

It follows passengers on a train who see a boy boarding on a rainy day. His presence is like a brief miracle.

Polish director Mariusz Wilczynski’s movie “Kill It and Leave This Town” won the Grand Prix in the feature films competition.

This prize “is given to this film for the deep dive into subconsciousness and memories realized in artistic animation and drawings,” the jury said. /T.T/

Iran’s Deputy Minister of Economy said that the country’s non-oil foreign trade during the past Iranian year has reached $100 billion, indicating an increase of 38% compared to last year.

Alireza Moghaddasi, Deputy Minister of Economy and Director General of Iran’s Customs Administration (IRICA), also stated that 62 million tons of goods were exchanged between Iran and other countries from across the world during the Year 1400 (from March 21, 2021, to March 20, 2022).

122 million tons of Iranian goods worth $48 billion were exported to all parts of the world in 1400, which shows an increase of 41% compared to the last year, Moghaddasi said.

More than 40 million tons of goods worth $52 billion were imported into Iran which mainly included commodities, raw materials and production machinery, he added.

The amount of imported goods in 1400 compared to its past year has increased by 21% in weight and 36% in value, according to Moghaddasi.

The Iranian deputy economy minister announced that the United Arab Emirates, China, Turkey, Germany and the Russian Federation were the five major exporters to Iran in 1400.

China, Iraq, Turkey, UAE and Afghanistan were the five main destinations for Iranian exports, according to him.

Moghaddasi also noted that the amount of foreign goods passing through Iranian borders in 1400, after 7 years, reached 12.5 million tons, showing a growth of 68%. /MNA/