A joint venture to manufacture cars in the Persian Gulf sultanate of Oman by Iran will begin in a year, an Iranian official has said.

Iran Khodro, the Middle East’s biggest automotive group, will start producing 10,000 cars in the first phase before raising the number to 20,000 units within two years, its deputy head for export and international affairs Saeed Tafazoli said.

An ongoing feasibility study will conclude next month, paving the way for the establishment of a joint venture company, the Times of Oman on Monday quoted him as saying in an interview in Muscat.

“We will need 12 months for building an assembly unit and creating other facilities for starting production,” Tafazoli said.

Iran Khodro signed a memorandum of understanding with Oman Investment Fund in January to build cars in the sultanate in a venture worth $200 million.

The venture, Orchid International Auto, envisages setting up a plant at the southern Omani port of Duqm, which would be owned 60 percent by the fund, 20 percent by Iran Khodro and 20 percent by an Omani investor.

It would initially start as an assembly facility and move gradually towards manufacturing automobiles, officials have said. The plant is expected to start production by 2017.

Oman has traditionally had close relations with Iran, but the Arab country has moved to strengthen those ties since the lifting of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi visited Tehran in February to fast-track plans for an undersea pipeline which is due to carry Iranian gas to the Persian Gulf country.

Under a $60 billion deal concluded during President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Muscat in 2013, Iran will ship 20 million cubic meters per day of gas to Oman for a period of 25 years.

Iran Khodro’s Chief Executive Hashem Yekke-Zare has said the Oman project would target a market which stretches deep into Africa.

The plan is for semi-knocked-down (SKD) production of cars, with 5,000 units intended for Oman and 15,000 others for neighboring markets in Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and elsewhere, Yekke-Zare said in May last year.

Automotive industry is the second most active in Iran after oil and gas. Iranian manufacturers produced 1.6 million vehicles in 2011, about half of them by Iran Khodro.

Along with Saipa, Iran Khodro dominates the country’s massive market of about 80 million people. The automaker had also set up production lines in Venezuela, Belarus, Senegal, Azerbaijan, Syria and Iraq before sanctions were imposed on Iran.   / press tv /

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Iran Daily, Saghar Salehpour, added all the world’s modern infertility treatment methods are currently employed in the country.

“Given the high level of treatment services provided in Iran, at present, a large number of patients from the Persian Gulf littoral states travel to Iran to undergo infertility treatments. The highest percentage of international patients referring to Iranian health and treatment centers come from Azerbaijan and Iraq.”

She added Iran provides all of its infertility treatment services with state tariffs and at affordable prices.

Salehpour, who is also a member of the Middle East Fertility Society (MEFS), said infertility is a prevalent disorder in the world, adding, on average, 15 percent of the couples who plan to have baby suffer from infertility problems.

Iran is the region’s top country in treating infertility, said a member of the National Association of Iranian Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

“The figure stands at up to 13 percent in Iran. One out of every six couples suffer from the disorder.”

She said infertility rate in men and women stands at 40 percent and 60 percent respectively.

“This is while, in 10-15 percent of the cases, neither the husband nor the wife individually, has any problems. However, they need medical consultation and assistance to be able to conceive baby.”

Salehpour noted that almost all infertile couples would eventually manage to have baby using one of the treatment methods.

She listed causes of infertility in women as increased age of pregnancy, ovary-related disorders, prevalent ovarian cysts and problems occurring during human pre-implantation embryo development.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) and other modern technologies, employed in treating infertility, are prove effective in 45 percent of the cases, Salehpour said.

“A part of infertility problems is caused by disorders emerging in ovary or during ovulation. These disorders include polycystic ovary syndrome, thyroid malfunction and occurrence of premature ovarian failure prior to the age of 40. Some of the disorders occur due to undergoing chemotherapy or surgery on ovary.”

She said disorders emerging in brain or central nervous system can also lead to secondary ovarian insufficiency or emergence of infertility problems, adding these disorders include benign or malignant tumors, intense mental stress, abrupt weight loss, doing heavy physical exercises and going on strict diets.

Commenting on the causes of infertility in men, Salehpour said in men, the disorder is caused mostly due to the decrease in the number of sperms, growth in the number of deformed sperms or lower sperm motility.

She listed other problems affecting men’s fertility as sexually transmitted diseases, aging (which is accompanied a decrease in the number of sperms or lowering of their quality), aggressive physical, emotional or mental actions, drug abuse, consuming alcoholic drinks, smoking and being exposed to lead as well as chemical pesticides. / iran daily /

Iran says its oil exports have already reached around 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in what could highlight a major progress in the country’s post-sanctions oil industry performance.

Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said the figure marked a rise of 900,000 bpd in the country’s oil production that had been materialized within only two months after the lifting of the sanctions.

In mid-January, a series of economic sanctions that had been imposed on Iran for multiple years were removed after a deal between the country and the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany – was implemented.

The sanctions barred foreign investments in the Iranian oil industry and also limited a low ceiling of 1 million bpd on the country’s oil exports.

“Until this past [Persian calendar month of] Bahman (21 January-February 2015), Iran was able to sell 1.3 million bpd,” Jahangiri told reporters. “But within two months after the removal of the sanctions, we have been able to export 2.2 million bpd of crude oil.”

Last Saturday, figures provided by Bloomberg showed that Iran’s oil production had climbed to 3.37 million bpd in January, the highest level since February 2014.

Before the sanctions were lifted, Iran said it had made the necessary preparations to boost its oil production capacity to pre-sanctions levels.

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh had repeatedly emphasized that the Islamic Republic was determined to regain its share of the oil market that it had lost as a result of the sanctions.

Zangeneh had also said on the same front that plans had been devised to increase the country’s oil production by 500,000 bpd immediately after the removal of the sanctions and by a further 500,000 bpd later on.

Last week, he emphasized in his message to the nation on the occasion of the new Iranian calendar year (began 21 March) that Iran has already been able to regain its lost oil market share.

/ presstv/