Gas Shortage Affecting Iran’s Export Of Petrochemicals: Official

Apr 22, 2023, 21:24 GMT+1

A natural gas extraction platform in Iran's South Pars seabed field in the Persian Gulf

An Iranian official says the export of some petrochemical products has considerably fallen due to natural gas shortage since the beginning of new Iranian year.

Secretary General of the Petrochemical Industry Employers Association, Ahmad Mahdavi Abhari, told ILNA news agency that the export of urea and methanol has decreased by 2.5 million tons since March 21, due to lack of natural gas needed at plants.

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Iran Exports To China Decrease Noticeably In First Quarter Of 2023

Apr 22, 2023, 11:19 GMT+1

Official Chinese customs data show imports from Iran were $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2023, which is a decline of more than 41% compared to the first quarter of 2022.

However, according to the Chinese Customs Office, China exported more than four billion dollars of goods to Iran in the mentioned period which is 52% more compared to the same period last year.

The reasons for the significant drop in Iran's exports to China are not clear, but during the past months, Iranian economic experts and businessmen had said that the Russian products are winning the Chinese market.

Earlier, Amin Ebrahimi, CEO of Iran’s Khuzestan Steel Company, stated in an interview that by supplying steel below world prices, Russia has captured the markets that Iran had created for itself during four decades of sanctions.

The figures do not include Iran's illicit oil exports to China, which are registered as cargoes from other countries by the Chinese customs. Iran ships an estimated 800,000 barrels of oil through indirect methods to China, because of US sanctions.

Meanwhile, evidence shows that Russia is taking Iran's oil market share in China as well. Hellenic Shipping News cited data from shipbroker Xclusiv in March saying that Russian crude oil imports into China have reduced the country’s intake of Iranian crude.

The report added that as a result of Chinese appetite for discounted Russian crude, Russian imports have increased sharply, but at the expense of Iranian oil shipments.

In an earlier report, Reuters cited cargo-tracking data as suggesting Chinese imports of Russian crude could hit a record in March.

Firebrand Ayatollah Tells Iranians Buying Dollars And Gold Is A Sin

Apr 21, 2023, 19:39 GMT+1

Amid high inflation and the declining value of Iran’s currency, an influential ayatollah says buying gold and foreign currencies as investment is a sin.

Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, father-in-law of President Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the religious city of Mashhad, is known for his fundamentalist views, who is famous for banning cultural activities in the city.

Alamolhoda said in his Friday sermon April 21 that if people convert their capital to foreign currencies and gold it is sin “equal to hoarding and profiteering,” which is considered an offence according to Sharia.

Iran’s currency, the rial, has halved in value since mid-2022, with inflation above 50 percent and the middle class fast becoming impoverished. The US dollar has risen from 260,000 rials to around 520,000 since August.

People have been trying to invest in foreign currencies, gold and those with more resources in real estate to preserve their savings.

Alamolhoda also referred to women refusing to wear headscarves, which has angered religious hardliners. He said the Islamic Republic faces two big challenges: Economic crisis and a cultural crisis. He insisted however that these two problems are not related to one another.

Ordinary people who have been protesting against the regime, see the economic crisis as the result of government’s foreign policy and mismanagement and the enforcement of hijab as its undue interference in their private lives.

The regime that has refused to compromise over its nuclear program with the West, is determined to use repression to pacify the population.

US Lawmakers Back Series Of Resolutions To Support Iranians

Apr 21, 2023, 18:50 GMT+1

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Iran International Newsroom

US lawmakers have moved to hold the Islamic Republic accountable over its crackdown on dissent and possible role in chemical attacks on girls’ schools across Iran.

A group of nearly 20 Republican and Democratic members of the US House has formed the Iranian Women Congressional Caucus, condemning the Iranian government over the recent poisoning of schoolgirls.

Amplifying the growing criticism in Washington against the Islamic Republic and its disregard for human rights, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) -- who cochair the caucus – said Thursday that they are working on a resolution that condemns the Iranian government over the recent poisoning of schoolgirls.

The resolution, already backed by over a dozen lawmakers from both parties, calls on the State Department and the UN to investigate the attacks.

“So many Iranian women are showing their bravery and resiliency in the face of challenges in their fight for equality and human rights. We will be on the side of freedom and oppose the oppression of women, in the United States, Iran, and around the globe,” said founding co-chair Mace.

The caucus is the latest move by US lawmakers to denounce the treatment of women in Iran, especially since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody of hijab police in September 2022, which led to the boldest revolt against the clerical regime since its establishment in 1979.

More than 500 people have been killed in the nationwide rallies, nearly 20,000 have been detained, and several were executed on trumped up charges.

Moreover, a series of suspected chemical attacks at girls’ schools began in November and sending hundreds of schoolgirls to hospital, fueling claims about the violation of women’s and girls’ rights and prompting demonstrations in protest to the regime’s inaction and possible involvement.

In January, the House overwhelmingly approved a resolution expressing solidarity with the protesters. The 420-1 vote voiced support for the people in Iran who have been risking imprisonment and even death to protest against the country’s theocracy, which has engaged in a brutal crackdown of its citizenry.

Advocates and human rights groups have called on the US and other Western democracies to cut ties with the Islamic Republic and impose harsher sanctions on the top officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has finally scheduled the Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act -- or the MAHSA Act -- for a markup on April 26.

Late in January, House Armed Services Committee Member Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced the bipartisan MAHSA Act to sanction Iran’s ruler and his inner circle, saying “Regular Iranians like Mahsa Amini are being murdered and persecuted by the Iranian regime, but the Biden administration is still trying to cozy up to Iran’s senior officials so he can cut an even more disastrous nuclear deal.”

The markup session will be held by efforts of members of the Iranian-American community as well as more than 80 Democrat and Republican co-sponsors of the Act and Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the committee.

The National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI) announced in January that “NUFDI as a grassroots Iranian-American organization, is proud to support the re-introduction of the MAHSA Act in the 118th Congress,” urging “all members of Congress, regardless of their political affiliation, to support the MAHSA Act.”

Another advocacy group United Against a Nuclear Iran said, "The MAHSA Act provides a critical pillar in holding Iran's regime accountable for its crimes against the Iranian people and the international community. The supreme leader has evaded US counterterrorism and human rights abuse sanctions for years.”

However, some lobbyists and a few lawmakers try to dilute the act, describing it as “Islamophobic” or “not leading to any increased sanctions.”

NIAC, advocating non-confrontational policies toward the Islamic Republic, said in a statement that “the bill would make it more difficult for a President to lift sanctions on these officials as part of any diplomatic agreement... This bill does not include a sunset and would target the offices themselves, rather than individuals. As a result, it would remain in effect indefinitely and be applied to any future Supreme Leader or President of Iran until its repeal."

Iran Lawmakers Plan To Impeach Foreign Minister Over Sanctions – MP

Apr 21, 2023, 16:51 GMT+1

Iran’s parliament plans to impeach the Foreign Minister over his responsibility for sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic, an MP has warned.

Habibollah Dahmardeh, representative of the city of Zabol in Sistan-Baluchestan province, is calling for action against the minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Iran is in the throes of a deep economic crisis as sanctions against the regime for its nuclear program continue.

The lawmaker said: “As a representative of the people, I used my regulatory and legislative tools to realize the people's rights.

“The plan to impeach the minister of foreign affairs has three times as many as the required number of signatures to proceed.”

Dahmardeh said that the sanctions on Iran are related to the foreign minister, and questioning the appointments of the ministry's managers and ambassadors.

The demand to Amir-Abdollhain's impeachment is also related to Taliban's actions to restrict the flow of shared waters from Afghanistan to the arid Sistan-Baluchistan province.

He said: “If these people are efficient, positive things should happen in such cases."

Earlier in the month, Mostafa Reza Hosseini Ghotbabadi, another lawmaker, said President Ebrahim Raisi should resign over his government’s failure to deal with calamitously high inflation.

He said: “Unfortunately, there is no will on the part of Raisi’s government to curb inflation, and basically they are not able to handle the situation. Secondly, the head of government and his first deputy do not have the necessary expertise to make the right decisions regarding inflation and economic issues.”

Persian Rug Exports Drop To Almost Zero, Official Says

Apr 21, 2023, 08:34 GMT+1

A business official says that Iran has lost its oriental carpet exports to rivals, despite having the reputation of the world capital of hand-made rugs.

While in the 1980s Iran was exporting $1.7 billion of rugs, now the volume of exports is so low that “I am ashamed even to mention the figure,” Razi Haji-Aghamiri told ILNA a member of carpet producers’ chamber of commerce news agency in Tehran.

According to Haji-Aghamiri, Iran’s annual exports have dropped to $50 million, while India, Pakistan and more recently Turkey and Afghanistan have taken Iran’s global market share.

The trouble began around 2005, when former populist president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected and Iran’s relations with the West took a turn for worse, he said.

In late 2000s, the United States and its European allies began demanding restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program that involved enrichment of uranium. As talks to resolve the issue failed, the West with the tacit agreement of China and Russia imposed international economic sanctions on Iran, restricting its trade and ability to conduct normal banking relations with the world.

Iran’s rug industry is now limited to its own local market, while people’s living standards have dropped in the past five years due to renewed US sanctions.

Business circles have become optimistic that after the recent agreement to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, exports can increase to the wealthy oil exporter and other regional countries. However, Haji-Aghamiri told ILNA that Saudi Arabia does need Iranian rugs, because it has a small market for the product.