** Iran Daily
-- Navy seizes fleeing oil tanker which hit Iranian vessel
Iran’s Navy has seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Sea of Oman after the ship hit an Iranian vessel and tried to flee in violation of maritime regulations. According to the public relations department of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, the foreign vessel collided with an Iranian fishing craft in the Persian Gulf late on Wednesday.
A number of crew members of the Iranian ship sustained injuries as a result of the impact, and two are still missing.
-- Iran’s foreign debt down 25.7%
Central Bank of Iran (CBI) figures show that foreign debt owed by the country dropped by more than a fourth in the 11 months to late February. CBI figures cited in a Thursday report by the IRIB News showed that Iran’s foreign debt had reached $6.4 billion on February 19, down 25.7% compared to late March 2022.
Giving a breakdown of the debt figure in euros, the report said that Iran had some 1.6 billion euros worth of short-term debts and another 4.3 billion euros in long-term dues in late February this year.
-- CBI reports 11.3% rise in manufacturing activity
Manufacturing activity in Iran rose by 11.3% in the quarter to December 21 last year compared to the same period in 2021, according to figures by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI). CBI figures published in a report by Tasnim News Agency showed that large-scale manufacturing index (LSMI) in Iran had reached 130.5 in the third quarter of the last calendar year. The figure was also an increase of 22.6% compared to December quarter of 2019, said the report.
** Kayhan International
-- Iranian Female Athlete Wins Gold at Asian Para Canoe Championships
Female Iranian sailor Shahla Behrouzirad has won the gold medal at the 2023 Asian Para Canoe Championships in Uzbekistan. Behrouzirad, the 38-year-old athlete from Iran’s western province of Kermanshah, won the gold by beating her rivals from Kazakhstan, India and Uzbekistan, according to a Thursday statement by MUhammad Seddiq Heshmatian who leads the provincial branch of Iran’s Rowing & Sailing Federation.
-- TPOI: Exports to Iraq Exceed $10bn
Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization’s (TPOI) Farzad Piltan has reported that Iran’s exports to Iraq exceeded $10 billion in the last Iranian year (March 2022-23), which marks a record high.
Piltan said that the country’s exports to Iraq exceeded $10 billion in the last Iranian year which marks a record high, registering a 15% rise compared with the year before.
-- Paris Festival Awards Iranian Animation
The 2023 edition of the Bridge of Peace Film Festival, an online event organized in Paris, has awarded Iranian animation ‘This Side, Other Side’. The acclaimed Iranian animation was picked as one of the three best animations at the French online event.
‘Shooom’s Odyssey’ by the French director Julien Bisaro and ‘Life on the Move’ by Osbert Parker from the UK were the other animations awarded at the Bridge of Peace Film Festival.
** Tehran Times
-- 2023 CAFA not a beneficial tournament for Iran
Iran national football team are set to participate in the first edition of Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Championships but the tournament is not helpful for Team Melli. Iran are drawn along with Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan in Group B, while Group A consists of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Oman.
Iran are to take part in the tournament as part of preparation for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup but it cannot be a serious tune-up event for Team Melli.
-- Raisi inaugurates major development projects in Khuzestan province
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi traveled to the southwestern Khuzestan province on Thursday, and inaugurated a number of development projects and visited some underway plans in the province during his two-day trip. As reported, 11 ministers and five vice presidents accompanied Raisi during the second provincial trip of the president and cabinet to Khuzestan.
The president inaugurated the project to double track 70 kilometers of the important Ahvaz-Andimeshk railway, Andimeshk Combined Cycle Power Plant, water supply projects to several villages, and Howeyzeh Refinery in his trip to Khuzestan.
-- Iran tourism minister inaugurates ‘Ardabil 2023’ as ECO cultural capital
Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Minister Ezzatollah Zarghami, on Thursday, inaugurated the “Ardabil 2023” event in the northwestern Iranian city, CHTN reported on Friday. The opening ceremony was attended by the ministers and representatives from the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) as well as Iranian cultural and tourism officials, the report added.
Choosing Ardabil as a [rotating] cultural capital of the organization is an accurate, correct, and expert choice as it represents Iran well and offers a wide range of tourism opportunities, the minister said during the ceremony.
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