** IRAN DAILY
-- Iran’s annual pistachio exports top 56,000 tons
Iran exported 56,298 tons of pistachios, worth $405.04 million, to 57 countries during the past Iranian year 1401 (ended on March 20). The annual exports indicate a 55.7 percent fall in value and a 58.4 percent drop in weight, year on year, IRNA reported.
Russia, with 7,329 tons of imports, was the top export destination for Iranian pistachios during the past year. India, with 7,139 tons, came next, followed by Iraq, the UAE, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Germany, Turkey, and Tajikistan, respectively.
-- Iran witnesses burial of 7k healthy organs each year
The deputy head of the Iranian Organ Donation Association revealed that each year, 3,000 individuals suffering from brain death expire in the nation. Regrettably, merely one-third of these potential donors contribute their organs, resulting in the interment of 2,000 individuals and the loss of 7,000 viable organs annually.
Omid Qobadi elucidated that while the annual incidence of brain death in Iran fluctuates between 5,000 and 8,000 cases, only approximately 3,000 of these individuals qualify for organ donation.
-- Zibad, a village as old as Shahnameh
Archeologists believe that the city of Gonabad and Zibad village, in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, were among the oldest settlements in Persia.
Gonabad, known as the cradle of Qanat civilization, was home to the Davazdah Rokh (twelve faced) fight, one of the most popular stories of the Shahnameh, an epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 CE.
** KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
-- IRICA: Trade With ECO States Rises to $19.7bn
Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) data show that trade between Iran and the Economic Cooperation Organization’s member states reached 29.47 million tons worth $19.73 billion in fiscal 2022-23.
The latest data released show that trade between Iran and the Economic Cooperation Organization’s member states reached 29.47 million tons worth $19.73 billion in the fiscal 2022-23, registering a 4.51% fall in terms of weight, but a 17.55% rise in value compared with the previous year’s corresponding period.
-- Iran Exports 500 Tons of Quality Honey to China
Iran exported 500 tons of high-quality honey to China last Iranian calendar year of 1401 (ended March 20, 2023), an official sad.
Touraj Saremi, who implements the Iran Beekeeping Development Project, made the comment on the sidelines of the First National Conference on Honey Bee and Related Industries and stated that Iran ranks third in the world in producing honey.
-- NPC to Launch 12 New Petrochemical Complexes
CEO of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Morteza Shahmirzaei has said that twelve new petrochemical complexes will be added to the current petrochemical units of the country in the current Iranian calendar year of 1402 (started March 21, 2023).
Speaking at a press conference held at the 27th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition, known as Iran Oil Show 2023, , Shahmirzaei said, “Today, nine agreements and nine memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed with local companies while we were dependent on foreign firms in early years after the victory of the (1979) Islamic Revolution.”
** TEHRAN TIMES
-- Baghdad provided guarantees on Iraqi Kurdistan: intel minister
Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib said on Sunday that Iraq’s central government has provided guarantees on the security of Iran’s borders with Iraqi Kurdistan.
Speaking at a judicial gathering in Mashhad, Khatib said Iran has recently detained a terrorist group that tried to cross the western borders of Iran. “With the cooperation of the new Iraqi government and the guarantees given, we hope to see security on the western borders and the non-repetition of [insecurity], and we remind and emphasize the responsibility of the Iraqi [Kurdistan] region.”
-- Art festival celebrating Khorramshahr liberation anniversary
A massive art festival was launched on Sunday in Tehran and Khorramshahr to celebrate the 41st liberation anniversary of the latter from Iraqi occupiers. The southwestern Iranian city was captured in its entirety by Iraqi invaders on October 26, 1980 after a 34-day-long public act of resistance against the Iraqis during the early months of the Iran-Iraq war.
The city was liberated on May 24, 1982, after it was totally reduced to rubble by the Iraqis.
-- Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque: restoration work ends on quarter of creamy dome
Restoration work has been completed on one quarter of Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque’s floral dome — during which serious errors in its creamy tiles were repaired. “For the restoration work, the dome surface was divided into 16 portions, of which four portions have recently been restored,” Isfahan’s deputy tourism chief said on Sunday.
Restoration of other portions will start as soon as the needed funds are secured, Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi-Movahed said. A new round of restoration has been running since 2020, as the previous work of poor quality caused a lot of criticism from experts and authorities.
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