An official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said on Sunday that The country’s exports to the UAE increased 39 percent in terms of weight in a three-month timespan to June 20.

According to the Director-General of the Arab-African States Department at TPO Farzad Piltan, the UAE market has had a 15.2-percent share in Iran’s exports in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year, reaching $967 million from March 21 to June 22, 2020.

“This figure in the same period in 1398 stood at $895 million dollars, which shows a growth of 8 percent,” he said noting that the announced figures are registered under the coronavirus pandemic.

“However, in terms of weight, Iran’s exports to the UAE in the first quarter of the current fiscal has increased by 39 percent to 3,377,000 tons,” he added.

As Piltan said, Iran-UAE trade hovers around $12 billion annually, 40 percent of which belongs to Iran’s exports to the country.

Iranian Parliament Research Center (IPRC) said that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, and Iraq accounted for about 54 percent share of Iran’s total value of non-oil goods in 2018.

There is a relatively strong focus on Iran’s export target markets in such a way that the aforementioned three countries accounted for about 54 percent of the country’s total exports share value of non-oil goods, Head of Iranian Parliament Research Center Mohammad Ghasemi added. MNA/

Four books on the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, which is known as Sacred Defense in Iran, have been published in English.

“Viva Kumayl”, “Hand in Hand with Rain”, “City of Blood: The Commander’s Account” and “You Know the Commander?” have translated and published in collaboration between Sureh-Mehr Publications and the Iran Language Institute.

“Viva Kumayl” written by Mohsen Motlaq, a war veteran who recounts his memories of the days he spent with Iranian soldiers and volunteers on the frontlines.

The book was originally published in 1991, three years after the end of the war. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei wrote a recommendation for the book at that time.

“The writing is scented with a rich aroma of sincerity,” the Leader wrote and added, “Due to its fine style of narration and satirical attitude, these memories are more readable than other written memories of the war; it should be translated.”

Co-written by Hedayatollah Behbudi and Morteza Sarhangi, “Hand in Hand with Rain” is a compendium of accounts of their visits to the warzones and Khorramshahr and Abadan, two Iranian cities hit by the war, a few months after the end of the war. The writers were praised by the Leader for the efforts they made in writing the book.

“City of Blood: The Commander’s Account” covers the remarks Ground Force Chief Brigadier General Ali Sayyad Shirazi made in a long interview with Saeid Fakhrzadeh about Iran’s military movements a few days before the liberation of Khorramshahr on May 24, 1982. The Persian version of the book has been edited by Ahmad Dehqan, one of Iran’s foremost war writers.

Sayyad Shirazi was assassinated by the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in 1999 while serving as the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, the second-highest military office in Iran.

In “You Know the Commander?”, a number of commanders narrates memories about their comrade Hossein Kharrazi, one of Iran’s high-ranking commanders who was martyred during Operation Karbala 5 on the frontline at Shalamcheh on February 27, 1987.

The book has been written by Marjan Fuladvand and is appropriate for teenage readers./T.T/

Iran will supply its first localized production of antiviral “Remdesivir” medicine at the market next week in the fight against the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Dr. Saeed Namaki revealed the remarks on Wed. and reiterated, “the first domestically-produced antiviral “Remdesivir” in the country will hit the market as of the next week.”

There is no reliable and effective drug in the world for the treatment of patients suffering from coronavirus but the two drugs named “Remdesivir” and “Favipiravir”, as prescribed by some doctors, were distributed in the country especially when effectiveness of the two drugs were emphasized in the US and Europe.

He pointed to the spread of the novel coronavirus in metropolis Tehran in particular and added, “one-week restrictions have been notified to the various organizations and departments in order to contain the disease.”

The Iranian Health Ministry announced 2,388 new cases of infection with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Wednesday, putting the total number of cases in the country at 264,561.

Speaking at a daily press conference on Wednesday, Health Ministry Spokeswoman Sima Lari put the death toll from the coronavirus in Iran at 13,410, saying the disease has taken the lives of 199 patients over the past 24 hours.

She also noted that at least 227,561 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection so far and have been discharged from hospitals across the country.

MA/

Iranian researchers in a knowledge-based company designed and produced isolated antivirus hospital clothing, applicable in the fight against the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in particular.

This waterproof product has been produced for medical staff to protect them against viruses according to the health protocols as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Iranian researchers designed and produced this antivirus isolated hospital clothing within the framework of “Corona Innovation Challenge”.

“Corona Innovation Challenge” was of the salient measures taken by Basij Mostazafin (volunteer forces) Organization and more than 40 supporters in line with confronting the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

In this challenge, it was tried to identify effective solutions in line with reducing damages caused by COVID-19 or adopt strategies in battling coronavirus using collective intelligence and collecting ideas as well as innovative products and services.

Hamid Sagharichian one of innovators of this knowledge-based company, who participated in the Coronavirus Challenge” in an interview with FNA said, “we have succeeded in designing and producing ‘coverall’ clothing which is an isolated type of clothing that can be used by media staff of hospitals to protect themselves against viruses.”

He went on to say that this clothing has been produced according to the health protocols of the World Health Organization and is waterproof and also has a special stitching.

MA/

An official with the Health Ministry said that Iranian knowledge-based companies have been able to produce raw material needed in manufacturing ‘Remdesivir’ medicine.

The Director-General of Research and Technology Development Office of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Hossein Vatanpour, made the remarks on Tue. in an interview with Mehr news agency and added, “Iranian knowledge-based companies have been successful in producing raw material and the final product of Remdesivir.”

The Ministry of Health and Medical Education is waiting for the results of the clinical trial to kick start the mass production of the medicine, he said.

“Favipiravir” and “Remdesivir” are among the drugs raised for the treatment of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, he said, adding, “we have announced that the Ministry of Health will support knowledge-based companies for producing these two drugs.”

When feasibility studies and research works start for production of medicine, it takes six months for producing the drug, he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Vatanpour added, “presently, some knowledge-based companies have gained salient achievements and progress in producing the raw material of the medicine, so that we are waiting the results of trials conducted in Iran and world.”

MA/

The Director General of Tourism Planning and Development Affairs said that United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is ready to boost tourism cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Speaking in an interview with IRNA, Alireza Rahimi pointed to the details of this plan and reiterated, “in order to compile National Tourism Development Plan, UNESCO is ready to continue its cooperation and interaction with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

According to the talks made between Deputy Minister of Iran Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and head of UNESCO Regional Office in Tehran through video conference, it was decided to continue joint cooperation for fulfilling project entitled “Compiling National Tourism Development Plan” in the current year, which had been halted due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.”

In this project, UNESCO will cooperate with international consultants and funders as well as United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to coordinate technical assistance.

For his part, UNESCO Regional Office in Iran Sutkowski termed bilateral cooperation and interaction for implementation of this plan ‘important’ and expressed hope that bilateral cooperation will be continued like previous years in the field of deploying technical advisers of the project in Iran.

Under this comprehensive plan, it was agreed to compile strategies of development of tourism industry within the framework of development of product and marketing, manpower, tourism businesses, infrastructures, installations, services, investment, rules and regulations in the field of tourism, etc.

MA/

A book titled “The Motherland’s Borderless Commander” that gives a deep insight into the life of Martyr Qassem Soleimani has recently been published.

Zehtab Sohbatzadeh is the author of the book published by Bolur, a publishing house in the northern Iranian city of Rasht.

The book is composed of 13 chapters, one of which studies Soleimani’s accounts of Operation Karbala-5 during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

The Siege of Basra, code-named Operation Karbala-5, was an offensive operation Iran carried out to capture the Iraqi port city of Basra in early 1987. Iran failed to reach the objective in the battle that is known for its extensive casualties and ferocious conditions.

The role of Lieutenant-General Qassem Soleimani, as the commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in the defeat of the ISIS terrorists in the region is also discussed in the book.

Another highlight of the book is a chapter that scrutinizes the legal aspect of the assassination of Commander Soleimani during a U.S. air raid in Baghdad on January 3.

Based on the information collected for this chapter, the writer argues that the U.S. operation to assassinate Soleimani is in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and many other world conventions on peace.  /T.T/

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Iran ranked fifth among all participating countries for publication of articles in the field of indigenous pharmacology, traditional medicine and medicinal plants in 2011-2018, according to the analytical report of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.

The report, entitled ‘The ethnopharmacological literature: An analysis of the scientific landscape’, was conducted by an international team of researchers from China, Britain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, and Austria, the information was obtained from the Web of Science (ISI).

With 2,439 articles and 6.3 percent of articles published in this period, Iran ranked fifth worldwide in terms of traditional medicine publications.

According to the report, four of the top 10 most cited articles in the world in the field of clinical trials of traditional medicine and medicinal plants are related to Iranian researchers.

Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Islamic Azad University are among the top five educational and research institutes in the world in terms of the number of articles published in traditional medicine and medicinal plants and herbal products in this period.

The contribution of the Faculty of Iranian Medicine of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in gaining fifth place for knowledge production in traditional medicine and medicinal plants has played a significant role.

The Journal of Ethnopharmacology is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering the traditional medicinal use of plants and other substances. It is the official journal of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology. The journal is included in the Index Medicus (MEDLINE).

Mohammad Reza Shams-Ardakani, director of the department of Iranian traditional medicine at Ministry of Health, has said that the establishment of traditional health centers, enhanced cooperation to promote a healthy lifestyle based on traditional medicine, and flourishing of health tourism for Iranian traditional medicine are on the agenda.

In July 2019, Javad Mirarab an official with the Ministry of Agriculture said that medicinal plants are cultivated on some 188,000 hectares of lands in Iran.

He also said that exports of the aforesaid medicinal plants brought $450 million for Iran last year, and saffron with a value of $325 million constituted the largest share of exports.

Meanwhile, head of the natural products department at Food and Drug Administration Mahnaz Khanavi said that natural and herbal medicines constitute 4 percent of the total amount of medicines used in the country.

T.T/

Car manufacturing in Iran rose 31 percent during the third month of the current Iranian calendar year (May 21-June 20), from the same month in the past year, IRNA reported.

Iranian carmakers have manufactured 90,306 vehicles during the third month of this year.

As previously reported, the carmakers manufactured 203,146 vehicles during the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20).

Of the mentioned figure, 96,490 vehicles were manufactured by Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), 79,520 by SAIPA Group, and 27,136 by Pars Khodro.

Three major Iranian carmakers, namely Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), SAIPA Group, and Pars Khodro, manufactured 863,263 vehicles during the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19).

During the previous year, IKCO manufactured 393,812 vehicles, of which 35,953 were produced in the last month Esfand (February 20-March 19).

Production by SAIPA stood at 363,379, of which 23,696 vehicles were manufactured during the last month.

Pars Khodro manufactured 106,072 cars during the past year. Production in Esfand reached 9,300 vehicles.

Iran has been following a program for supporting domestic manufacturing of auto parts since due to the U.S. sanctions the country’s automakers have been facing some problems in supplying their needed parts and equipment.

MA/

About 450 knowledge-based companies are active in the country for manufacturing protective equipment and treatment products to fight the coronavirus, Mehdi Kashmiri, director for technology and planning at the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, said.

“Production of more than one million face masks per day, production of more than 1.5 liters of disinfectants per day, diagnostic kits, non-contact thermometers, protective clothing, ventilator are among the produces manufactured by these companies,” he stated.
He added that 150 companies are active in the field of hospital equipment production.

Besides, manufacturers have multiplied their production capacity and researchers have achieved the technology to produce three kinds of COVID-19 diagnostic kits that hit the market for the past two weeks.

Two types of diagnostic kits are now mass-produced by knowledge-based companies, first one is the RT-PCR tests, 8 million of which are being produced per month; while the other is serology-based tests that a total of 400,000 are being manufactured monthly and is expected to reach up to 2 million.

At present, 40 advanced ventilators are manufactured daily in the medical equipment sector.

Iranian-made innovative products in the field of diagnosis, screening, and fighting coronavirus were also unveiled to combat the disease, namely, ozone generator, nano face shields, disinfection gate, and molecular COVID-19 diagnostic kits.

Over the past 24 hours, 2,691 new cases of COVID-19 were identified in the country, of which 1,625 were hospitalized, the total number of patients in the country reached 248,379, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Wednesday.

The number of daily COVID-19 mortalities in the country reported 153 on Wednesday and the total number of deaths reached 12,084.

Officials warn of an alarming situation in the days ahead.

Currently, 3,309 patients with coronavirus are in critical condition.

So far, 209,463 patients have recovered or been discharged from hospitals./T.T/