As many as six memoranda of understanding have been signed between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan in Baku in a bid to boost technological cooperation between the knowledge-based companies of the two sides.

The MoUs are related to nanotechnology-enhanced flooring with high resistance, electronics and food flavoring.

The head of Iran National Innovation Fund, Ali Vahdat, described the signing of the six MoUs between the Iranian knowledge-based companies and their Azeri counterparts as an important event, saying “this is just the beginning. I hope the same trend will continue.”

He put the value of the contracts at over $4 million.

Vahdat also noted that a Center for Innovative Cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan has been inaugurated in a bid to boost collaboration between the two countries’ tech companies. The center will host a permanent exhibition of Iranian knowledge-based products for a year, he added.

The Azeri side voiced the country’s readiness to expand cooperation with Iranian start-ups, the number of which currently stands at 4,700. / MNA/

Iranian farmers are expected to produce a total of 430 tons of saffron in the current fiscal year (March 2019-2020), a senior official affiliated with the Agriculture Ministry said on Saturday.

Hossein Zeinali, the medicinal plants’ project manager of Iran’s Agriculture Ministry, said some 113,000-115,000 hectares of land have been used for saffron cultivation since March 2019, and the farmers are expected to produce 430 tons of saffron this year.

Saffron is cultivated in 22 Iranian provinces; Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan and South Khorasan provinces, in eastern Iran, account for almost 90% of the country’s total saffron output, he added.

According to the official, the saffron industry has created some 200,000 jobs across the pre-harvest, harvest, post-harvest, processing, sorting and packaging chain.

Iran produced 404 tons of saffron during the year to March 20, of which 280 tons were exported.

The priceless plant was sent to more than 40 countries. Spain, Vietnam, Qatar and the UAE were Iran’s biggest saffron importers during the period, he added. / Mehr news /

Iranian documentary ‘Beloved’, directed by Yaser Talebi, has won six awards at international film festivals. Directed by Yaser Talebi, the Iranian documentary ‘Beloved’ has been awarded at six international film festivals as follow:

The Special Jury Award at the 22nd Religion Today Film Festival in Trento, Italy

The Best Cinematography Award at the Symi International Film Festival in Greece

The Best Film Award at the Nuovi Mondi Film Festival in Italy

The Special Jury Award at the Slemani International Film Festival in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan

Best Documentary and Best Filming Award at Sole Luna Doc Film Festival in Italy

‘Beloved’ has been one of the most successful Iranian documentaries in the past year, taking part in several notable film festivals such as Hot Docs, IDFA, and Berlin.

The film follows the life of an 80-year-old mother named Firouzeh who is fond of her isolated lifestyle in nature with her cows. The film shows her kind and loving character and demonstrates her bravery and strength tackling the hardship of life in the Alborz Mountains without the modern comforts of technology. She believes happiness lies in the simplicity of life.

The documentary recently received a Special Mention at the 67th Trento International Film Festival in Italy and a Special Mention at the 25th edition of Shanghai Television Festival in China, as well as the NETPAC Award at the 2019 Ulju Mountain Film Festival in South Korea.

It has also received the best feature documentary award and a diploma at the 15th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival in the Republic of Tatarstan. / MNA/

The capacity of generating electricity from renewable resources has reached 841 megawatts (MW) in Iran, nearly double the figure for the last year’s same period, IRNA reported, quoting an energy official.

Speaking in the opening ceremony of Iran’s 4th Renewable Energy Conference on Monday, Homayoun Haeri the deputy minister of energy for electricity affairs, said “The country’s renewable electricity generation capacity will rise to 1000 MW by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 19, 2020).”

He noted that Iran has good sources of renewable energy in addition to its huge fossil energy resources, adding that currently, 60,000 MW of wind energy potential has been identified across the country.

Haeri further stressed the growing role of renewable power plants in the country’s energy basket, saying “the country’s renewable power plants provided over 500 MW of electricity to the country’s power network during the peak consumption period in summer.”

Renewables, including hydropower, account for just six percent of energy generation, versus natural gas’ 90 percent share.

Overall, in the next five years, Iran is aiming for a 5,000 MW increase in renewable capacity to meet growing domestic demand and expand its presence in the regional electricity market.

According to Iran’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (known as SATBA) the number of small scale solar power plants across the country which are used by households or small industries is being increased noticeably as Iranian households and small industries have embraced the new technology with open arms and investors also seem eager for more contribution in this area.

Back in February, Head of SATBA Seyed Mohammad Sadeqzadeh announced that Iran also plans to add electricity generated from renewable sources to the export backset. / T.T/

Adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture Hossein Zein’ali put the export value of saffron in the first five months of the current Iranian year (March 21 – August 21) at $78 million.

The Islamic Republic of Iran exported about 74 tons of saffron, valued at over $78 million, to target countries in the first five months of the current year.

He made the remarks on Wed. in an interview with IRNA and pointed to some claims about saffron price slump in the country due to the increased production of 100-ton saffron in current year as compared to a year earlier and added, “presently, more than 20 percent of exports value of horticultural sector of the country is caused by the export of saffron.”

Despite sanctions imposed on Iran, about 280 tons of saffron, valued at $351 million, was exported to other countries while the exports volume of saffron in 2011 hit about 122 tons at large.

Iran’s high-quality saffron was exported to over 40 countries in the world mainly to Spain, Vietnam, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he added.

There is no restriction for the export of saffron plants in a way that this product can be exported by merchants with different qualities, Zein’ali stated.

He pointed to the creation of value chain as one of the basic and fundamental moves taken in the field of saffron export and said, “Ministry of Agriculture tries to expand cultivation of this plant in different provinces of the country in such a way that the saffron produced in each province will be used or exported in the same province.”/MNA /

Iran has made an important offshore gas discovery in its southern region, according to a report on Wednesday.

The offshore field has been discovered 3,900 meters deep in the ground, and it is said to be capable of production for 16 years of gas consumption in capital Tehran.

Seyed Saleh Hendi, the exploration manager at the National Iranian Oil Company, confirmed the discovery of the gas field, saying “the field was discovered after one year of constant exploration in southern parts of Iran.”

Further details about the gas field will be soon disclosed by the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, according to the report. /MNA /

Iran has made significant advances in the field of high tech, especially nanotechnology so that it has been ranked the first in the Middle East and is among the top countries in the world in nanotechnology field in the last decade, the official said.

Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari said that Iran has a remarkable position among the top countries in the world in the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and aerospace.

Referring to Iran’s authority in the field of pharmaceutical technologies, he noted that Iran currently produces 98 percent of the country’s needed medicines domestically.

VP Sattari mentioned that the number of Iranian knowledge-based companies currently exceeds 4,500 companies in the country, adding that Iran has the largest knowledge-based ecosystem in the region.

In this regard, the Deputy of Research and Technology of Payame Noor University Mohammad Ali Karimi said that Iran has good position in the field of nanotechnology, adding that it has made remarkable progress in the field of high technologies such as nanotechnology over the past decades and it has been ranked the first in the Middle East.

Fortunately, Iran is currently among the top 10 countries in the field of nanotechnology articles and scientific achievements, he added.

The Head of the Strategic Technologies Development Headquarter of Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology Esmaeel Ghaderi Far also said that Iran has made progress in the field of Nano based drug and even exported Nano drug products to other countries. /MNA/

An official from Iran’s Ministry of Energy said the country would launch new power plants with a capacity of more than 3,800 megawatts (MW) until next summer.
“Based on the devised plans, 3,864 MW worth of new power plants will connect to the national electricity grid before the peak of the next summer,” Mohsen Tarztalab was quoted as saying by Press TV.

The announcement means that Iran could add some 34 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity to its current production of above 300 TWh, as authorities seek to both increase exports to neighboring countries and increase stability of the domestic network over hot summer months.

He said the share of gas burnt in thermal power plants across Iran had topped 90 percent until March 2019, an increase of nearly 10 percent compared to the similar period three years ago.

The official said plans were in place to turn many of the current gas-fired power plants to combined cycle systems (one gas turbine followed by a steam turbine in sequence) to reach a target of 40-percent efficiency in production.

A report by the Ministry of Energy in August showed that electricity output in thermal power plants, which accounts for 80 percent of Iran’s total power generation, had surged by 8,991 megawatts, or 78 TWh in energy terms, over the past six years.

Iran’s total capacity of thermal power is around 550 TWh although government data shows generation hit a record high of 287 TWh last year. / Iran Daily /

Iranian athletes won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the Karate 1 – Premier League Moscow on Sunday.Sara Bahmanyar defeated German karate competitor Shara Hubrich 1-0 in the final of the Female Kumite -50kg.

Rozita Alipour edged Haya Jumaa from Canada 1-0 in the Female Kumite -61kg final.

And Zabihollah Poorshab defeated Ryutaro Araga of Japan in the Male Kumite -84kg final to win Iran’s third gold in the competition.

Sajad Ganjzadeh also lost to Georgia’s Gogita Arkania 7-3 in the final of Male Kumite +84 and claimed a silver medal.

Earlier on the day, Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh from Iran had claimed a bronze medal at the Male Kumite -75kg by beating his Spanish opponent Rodrigo Ibanez 3-1.

Karate 1 – Premier League Moscow brought 642 competitors together from 85 countries in Moscow, Russia. / Tehran times /