*** IRAN DAILY
-- Iran’s eight-month steel ingot production tops 20m tons: WSA
Iranian steelmakers churned out 20.4 million tons of crude steel during the first eight months of 2021, marking a 9.7 percent rise compared to the corresponding figure for 2020, which was 18.6 million tons.
According to figures released by the World Steel Association (WSA), Iranian smelters cast 2.5 million tons of crude steel in August, showing an 8.7 percent increase compared to the figure for the same month of 2020, which was 2.3 million tons.
The association is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world.
-- CBI ready to support Iran-Sri Lanka trade ties: Governor
The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said on Saturday that the bank is ready to provide necessary financial mechanisms for financing trade transactions between Iran and Sri Lanka.
Making the remarks in a meeting with Sri Lankan Minister of Power, Energy and Business Development Udaya Gammanpila in Tehran, Akbar Komeijani said: “The expansion of trade and banking relations between Iran and Sri Lanka is possible if based on the financing of exports and imports between the two countries and the provision of direct and indirect payment mechanisms.
-- Treats and tradition in Tehran’s oldest, tiniest teahouse
With his trimmed beard, red scarf and bronze-colored waistcoat, Kazem Mabhutian serves a steady stream of customers in the smallest and oldest teahouse in Tehran, but at 63 years old, he is counting on God to find him a successor.
Tucked in an alleyway of the Grand Bazaar, wedged between a clothes shop and the door of a mosque, his 1.5-square-meter chaikhaneh (teahouse) is invisible from the main street, according to AFP.
And yet it is the most famous among tea connoisseurs in the Iranian capital.
In between pouring glasses of steaming brew for his customers, Mabhutian tells the century-old story of the fabled Haj Ali Darvish Teahouse with pride.
*** KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
-- FM: Iran Not to Accept U.S.-Desired Longer Deal
Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said on Saturday that when the Iranian government says it will return soon to talks on resuming compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, it means when Tehran has completed its review of the nuclear file.
On Friday, Amir-Abdollahian told reporters in New York that Iran would return to talks “very soon”.
In remarks broadcast on national TV channel IRINN on Saturday, Amir-Abdollahian said, “People keep asking how soon is soon. Does it mean days, weeks or months?”
“The difference between Iranian and Western ‘soon’ is a lot. To us, ‘soon’ means really in the first opportune time - when our reviews (of the nuclear file) have been completed. What is important is our determination to return to the talks, but those that are serious and guarantee the Iranian nation’s rights and interests,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
-- Iranian Women Beat Jordan to Qualify for Asian Cup
Iran’s national women’s football team defeated the team of Jordan in Group G match of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualification on Saturday to book a ticket at AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time in history.
The Iranian national women’s football team defeated the Jordanian national women’s football team on penalty shootouts to be able to take part in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time.
The match was held in Group G of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualification, which was held in Tajikistan.
-- Iran, Venezuela Sign Oil Export Deal to Counter U.S. Sanctions
Iran and Venezuela have inked an oil contract to counter the sanctions the United States has illegally imposed on both nations’ oil exports.
Venezuela has agreed to a key contract to swap its heavy oil for Iranian condensate that it can use to improve the quality of its tar-like crude, with the first cargoes due this week, five people close to the deal told Reuters.
As the South American country seeks to boost its declining oil exports in the face of U.S. sanctions, sources say the agreement between state-owned companies Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) deepens cooperation between Caracas and Tehran in the face of the tough U.S. sanctions.
*** TEHRAN TIMES
-- Stories from Sadi’s Gulistan published for Russian children
Stories from Persian poet Sheikh Muslih od-Din Sadi Shirazi’s masterpiece Gulistan (The Rose Garden) have been published for children in Russian in Moscow. The collection entitled “Halva and Rainbow” has been released by Sadra Books in collaboration with the Ibn Sina Foundation and Khayyam Cultural Center, the publisher has announced.
Stories selected and streamlined by Iranian children’s writer Farhad Hassanzadeh have been translated into Russian by Svetlana Tarasova. The collection, which contains 18 stories, has been edited by Professor Natalya Prigarina of the Department of Oriental Written Sources at the Journal of the Institute of Oriental Studies.
-- Iranian oil industry shining bright despite sanctions shadow
Iranian oil industry has once again proved the west to be miscalculating in its efforts for crippling the country’s move toward development as the local developer of the Azar joint oil field project has won the International Project Management Association (IPMA)’s Global Project Excellence Management Award in the mega projects section.
Sarvak Azar Engineering and Development Company (SAED), owned by the Petroleum Retirement Fund, which is in charge of the Azar joint field as one of the most complex oil fields in the country, won the gold medal in IPMA Global Award for Project Excellence Management in a ceremony held in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday.
Winning a gold medal in this global competition has been realized in a situation when the U.S. sanctions have cut the Iranian oil industry’s ties with the global market and pushed domestic firms to grow technologically at an unbelievable pace to meet the industry’s needs.
-- Time to ‘fully develop’ tourism economy in Ilam province, Iranian president says
Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi has urged his administration to make extra efforts to fully develop the tourism-related economy in Ilam province. “We must fully develop the tourism economy of Ilam province to eliminate unemployment and create respected employment for the youth of the province,” Raisi said on Friday.
He made the remarks in a meeting with a host of local people inducing elites, academia, scholars, and the families of martyrs, CHTN reported. Moreover, Ilam has considerable potential in terms of religious tourism that can seriously help eliminate unemployment in the province, he said.
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