Iran has the capacity to be a center for Halal tourism destination for Muslim tourists, the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization (CHTHO), Masoud Soltanifar, said.

He called handicraft “one of the tourist attractions of religious tourism destination in Iran”.

“World Muslims are searching for safe tourism and in our future plan we consider Muslims as one of our main targets to boost the industry in Iran,” he added.

Soltanifar made the remarks in the city of Mashhad on the sidelines of a ceremony celebrating Mashhad as the World Craft City of Gemstone on Thursday.

World Crafts Council – Asia Pacific Region (WCC-APR) designated Mashhad as World Craft City of Gemstone this year.

“Mashhad is world-renowned city with the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) and this new title will introduce the place from other aspects,” Soltanifar added.

Lalejin, another Iranian city, was named as World Craft City in 2016 in the field of ceramic and pottery.

The World Crafts Council-Asia Pacific Region President Ghada Hijjawi-Qaddumi also attended the celebration in Mashhad.

Last year, WCC declared Isfahan and Tabriz as the world cities of handicraft and carpet weaving.

/ Tehran times /

Austrian Airlines, a subsidiary of Lufthansa plans to launch 3X-weekly Vienna-Isfahan services from September 4 as part of a new bilateral air transport agreement between Austria and Iran, US-based magazine Air Transport World reported on its website.

The Austrian flag carrier said in a statement the underlying reason for its second Iran destination is a new bilateral air transport agreement between the two nations, which could be renegotiated for the first time in 30 years. Because of the ongoing coordination process, Austrian recently had to delay the planned commencement Isfahan service from April 2016 to September 2016.

Vienna-Isfahan services will become 4X-weekly starting from summer 2017.

In March Austrian expanded its Iran operations with the launch of a second daily Vienna-Teheran Imam Khomeini International Airport service.

The Star Alliance member operates single-aisle Airbus A320 family aircraft to both destinations in Iran compared to other European carriers, which mainly use widebodies on Tehran routes.

Austrian Airlines will operate up to 17 weekly flights to Iran as of September 2016.

Lufthansa itself has resumed flying non-stop from Munich to Tehran. Starting on July 4, the connection under flight number LH 602 began three times a week.

“Due to increasing business relations, we are expecting a significantly higher demand in future. Iran has also gained greater significance with culture tourists,” said Thomas Winkelmann, chief executive of Lufthansa Munich hub.

Following the lifting of western sanctions, many international airlines have resumed or increased flights to Iran.

Sanctions imposed over the Iranian nuclear program were lifted in January as part of a landmark nuclear deal Iran signed with the six world powers last year by agreeing to limit the scope of its nuclear activities.

The connection between Munich and Tehran was last offered from spring 2004 to summer 2006.

Air France also resumed flights to Iran in April after eight years with French Transport Minister Alain Vidalies and an accompanying delegation on board.

Emirates Airlines launched a new Mashhad-Dubai flight on September 1. An Airbus 330 flies the new route to and from the shrine city’s Shahid Hasheminejad International Airport with a passenger capacity of 237 people on all weekdays, except Saturdays and Thursdays.

According to Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi, presently averages of 1,050 foreign flights cross Iran’s airspace every day. The figure was 500 before the incumbent government took office in August 2013.

“Amid volatilities in the region, Iran remains secure and stable, which is the reason behind the rise in foreign flights,” Akhoundi was also quoted as saying by the state news agency.

/ Financial tribune /

Iran, holder of the world’s largest natural gas reserves, says it will start exports to Iraq next month, more than a year later than it originally planned.

“Shipments will start at 7 million cubic meters a day to supply a power plant in Baghdad,” Hamidreza Araqi, director of the National Iranian Gas Company, said in an interview with ISNA, Bloomberg reported.

A second route to Basra will be opened in 2017, with shipments eventually reaching 70 million cubic meters a day.

Iran is boosting crude oil and natural gas exports after international sanctions were eased in January. While its crude output has rebounded faster than expected, the natural gas exports to Iraq have taken more time. The National Iranian Gas Export Company said in 2014 it would start exports to Iraq the following year.

“They are most of the way there,” Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects in London, said by phone on Monday. “Iraq desperately needs gas for its power stations.”

Iran has natural gas reserves of 34 billion cubic meters, almost 40% more than Qatar, the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, according to BP Plc.

By converting gas into LNG, producers can ship by tanker to markets not linked by pipelines. Iran’s natural gas network is already linked to Turkey. Output at South Pars in Iran will be 540 million cubic meters a day by the end of this year, from 430 million cubic meters a day currently. For Iraq, gas imports can fuel its power plants, helping to alleviate blackouts and freeing up more of its oil for export.

/  Financial tribune /

Rio de Janeiro – Ghasem Rezaei from Iran claimed a bronze medal in the men’s Greco-Roman 98kg division at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The London gold medalist defeated Carl Fredrik Stefan Schoen of Sweden. Schoen was a loser in the second semifinal match, while Rezaei made his way up through the repechage rounds to win his bronze.

Cenk Ildem of Turkey earned another bronze medal in the division, taking down Alin Alexuc Ciurariu of Romania. / Tehran times /

The Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler beat Peter Bacsi from Hungary 3-1 in the bronze medal match.  South Korean Kim Hyeonwoo also defeated Bozo Starcevic from Croatia 3-1 to win a bronze.

Russian wrestler Roman Vlasov won gold at the Rio Olympics, defeating Mark Madsen from Denmark 5-1 in the final match.

Iranian weightlifters Kianoush Rostami and Sohrab Moradi have already won two gold medals in the prestigious event.

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games are being held in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro from August 5 until August 21. / Tehran times /

Turkish and Kurdish courses will be in Iran’s higher education curriculum from this year on, according to Hossein Tavakoli, a senior advisor at the National Organization for Educational Testing, IRNA reported on Sunday.

This year universities in Kurdistan province will enroll 40 Kurdish students. The law to launch the major was passed at the Ministry of Science in 2001, only to acquire permission this year. / Tehran times /

With the lifting of sanctions, trade between Moscow and Tehran has grown 70.9% in year-on-year terms, according to Russia’s ambassador to Iran, Levan Dzhagaryan.

Since sanctions against Iran were lifted, there has been a surge in interest from Russian firms in doing business in the country, the ambassador said.

“Russian companies are resuming existing ties with Iran, while new firms are ready to get access to the market. Of course, the further expansion of trade is one of the main priorities of the bilateral cooperation with Iran,” Dzhagaryan was quoted by RT as saying on Friday.

He noted that in the first five months of 2016 the trade turnover between Russia and Iran increased by 70.9% compared to the same period of 2015 and amounted to $856 million.

“In particular, Russian exports to Iran jumped by 91.5% and amounted to $697 million. Russian imports from Iran increased by 16 percent to $158 million. The boost in trade was achieved by supplies of machinery, ground vehicles and weapons,” the ambassador said.

Dzhagaryan is also expecting a record number of Iranian tourists to visit Russia this year.

“Last year, the Russian diplomatic mission in Iran issued about 35,000 visas, mostly travel, to Iranian citizens. In addition, for the first time Iran entered the top 20 countries by number of tourists visiting Russia. It’s safe to say that last year’s record number of Iranian tourists visiting Russia will be broken,” he said.

At the same time, relatively few Russians are visiting Iran, something the ambassador hopes will change. “I can personally recommend to visit the cities of Isfahan, Shiraz and Yazd that have preserved monuments of ancient Persian civilization in good condition,” he said. / Financial tribune /

Iran expects foreign oil companies to sign deals valued at $25 billion over the next one to two years under the terms of a new contract model approved last week, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Co. said.

The state energy producer plans to tender contracts over a period of six months to a year to develop several oil and gas fields, the oil ministry’s news service Shana reported Tuesday, citing Ali Kardor. NIOC has identified 34 foreign companies as suitable bidders, he said. NIOC is also seeking investments under existing models, he said.

Iran approved the new contract model on Aug. 3 in a push to bring foreign investment and technology to rebuild its energy industry, the largest sector of the economy. The government hopes foreign companies will invest as much as $50 billion a year in Iran’s oil industry. Major European oil companies such as Italy’s Eni SpA and France’s Total SA have expressed an interest in developing Iran’s oil and gas fields.

NIOC has identified 12 to 13 fields as a priority for the first round of investment, Kardor said, without naming the fields. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh last week said Iran’s priorities would be jointly owned oil and gas fields, and producing assets where recovery rates could be improved.

International oil companies must form a joint venture with an Iranian partner under the new contract model. The government has approved eight Iranian exploration and production firms as eligible partners, and Kardor said this number was likely to increase.

Iran has already succeeded in meeting its pledge to regain market share it lost due to the sanctions over its nuclear program. Iran boosted crude output to 3.85 million barrels a day, Fars news agency reported Wednesday, citing comments made by Zanganeh at parliament. That would be the highest since December 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

/ Tehran times /

Iran win their first medal of the Rio 2016 Olympics Games as weightlifter Kianoush Rostami grabs gold in the men’s 85-kilogram category with a world record after lifting a total of 396 kilograms.

Rostami eclipsed his own world mark set in May by one kilogram, and beat Tian Tao of China, who snatched the silver medal with a total lift of 395 kilograms.

Kianoush Rostami adopts a position of prayer after outmuscling his rivals to win the gold medal in the men’s 85-kilogram category.

The 25-year-old Iranian athlete lifted 179 and 217 kilograms in snatch and in clean and jerk respectively.

Romanian Gabriel Sincraian grabbed the bronze medal with a lift of 390 kilograms.

Back in February, Rostami said, “It’s nearly a month that I have been training intensely for Olympic Games. I know my body much better than anyone else, and have been training both personally and as a member of Iran’s national team for years… I have gained a lot of experience over the past years.”

Rostami finished second in the 85-kilogram class both in the London 2012 Olympic Games and in the 2015 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships in Houston, the United States.

Rostami’s medal is Iran’s sixth weightlifting gold in Olympics. / Press tv /

Minister of IT has said an agreement has been hit with Russia where it will cooperate with Iran in developing Iran’s National Remote-Sensing Satellite.

Mahmoud Vaezi was in a tour of Moscow to discuss tech cooperation with Russia. Upon returning Tehran, he told reporters that among his visit’s achievement was an initial agreement with Russian to work with Iranian industries to build the remote-sensing satellite, under the title of National Remote-Sensing Satellite; “as the project is very critical, we predict building of the satellite to last two years,” said Mr. Vaezi to the press.

On Russian search engine Yandex, Vaezi added that Iran welcomed foreign investments; “Russians has requested that their search engine be active in Iran and the engine will face no limits; “the engine will start operation in Iran after preliminary work and some technicalities; we believe that all search engines should compete for the public markets and people should freely choose from among them,” he concluded. / Mehr news /