** IRAN DAILY
- Rouhani: Time for US ‘maximum pressure’ policy is over
President Hassan Rouhani said the time for the United States’ policy of exerting “maximum pressure” on other countries, including Iran, is over and this policy has failed to produce any results.
Rouhani made the remarks on Thursday while addressing the inauguration ceremony of a series of national projects in the fields of education and health through a videoconference.
- Iran arrests ringleader of militant group behind Ahvaz terrorist attack
Iran arrested the ringleader of a separatist militant group behind an attack on a military parade in 2018 that killed dozens of people, the Intelligence Ministry said.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Intelligence Ministry said Farajollah Cha’ab also known as Habib Asyud, the ringleader of the so-called Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz terrorist group (SMLA), was arrested on the back of a set of “specialized and combined measures” by Iranian intelligence forces.
- Iran’s seven-month sponge iron production up
Production of direct-reduced iron (DRI), also known as sponge iron, increased by 10 percent during the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 20-October 21), the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) announced on Friday.
According to the IMIDRO report, Iranian steelmakers produced over 18.1 million tons of sponge iron, while the figure for the corresponding period last year was 16.4 million tons.
** KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
- WHO Hails Iran’s Innovative Efforts in Coronavirus Antidotes
The recent news that the World Health Organization (WHO)’s list of 48 promising candidate vaccines as antidotes to the Coronavirus pandemic, includes eight of the vaccines that medical scientists in the Islamic Republic are in the process of manufacturing, need not come as a surprise to anyone, especially those keenly following Iran’s spectacular progress in the pharmaceutical and related fields.
Where there is a will there is a way, as shown by Iranian medics and scientists over the past two decades in almost all the medical fields.
- Government Mulls 2-Week Lockdown in Tehran?
Iran, battling a third wave of the coronavirus, is considering imposing a two-week total lockdown in the capital, media reported, as its death toll from the disease rose by 461 to 40,582 on Friday.
Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said that Iran had identified 11,737 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 738,322. Iranian media said discussions were underway among government and health officials to impose a two-week total lockdown in Tehran, which could be announced as early as Saturday.
- Iran Beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in Friendly
The Iranian national football team beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in a friendly match 2-0 on Thursday.
In the match played without spectators at the Asim Ferhatović-Hase Stadium, Kaveh Rezaei opened scoring for Iran in the 46th minute and Mehdi Ghaedi scored his first international goal in the injury time in his second appearance.
Dragan Skocic’s team played the Bosnian team as part of preparation for the 2022 World Cup.Iran sits third in Group C behind Iraq and Bahrain.
** TEHRAN TIMES
- Saudi king has no right to accuse Iran: aide
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the special aide to the speaker of the Iranian Parliament on international affairs, responded on Thursday to the remarks by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who has recently called for a decisive stance against Iran.
“The Saudi King, invading Yemen & aiding the DAESH's American terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon & Yemen, has no right to accuse Iran,” the special aide said in a tweet on Thursday.
- Bolivia restores diplomatic relations with Iran
Bolivia’s new president, Luis Arce, has made good on his pledge to restore relations with Iran and Venezuela a few days after he assumed office.
During a formal ceremony in La Paz on Wednesday, President Arce received the credentials of the new ambassadors of Iran and Venezuela to Bolivia, reestablishing diplomatic relations damaged by the previous de-facto government led by interim president Jeanine Anez, according to a statement issued by Bolivia’s government.
- Stored natural gas reaches new record high
The volume of natural gas stored in Iran’s storage facilities since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20) has 2.87 billion cubic meters (bcm), the managing director of Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC) said.
“This year, 1.856 million cubic meters of gas has been injected into Shourijeh storage, while 1.014 billion cubic meters has also been injected into Sarajeh storage, which is a new record,” Shana quoted Ramin Hatami as saying.
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