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** IRAN DAILY
--Iran’s Leader congratulates world Christians, Muslims on Jesus Christ’s birth anniversary
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has congratulated all Christians and Muslims across the world on the occasion of Jesus Christ’s birth anniversary.
“I congratulate all Christians and Muslims of the world, particularly our Christian compatriots, on the birth anniversary of Prophet #Jesus Christ, the Messiah (pbuh), the Leader said in a tweet on Friday.
-- Iran’s 11-month crude steel production over 26.3m tons: WSA
Iranian steelmakers cast over 26.3 million tons of crude steel during the first 11 months of 2020, marking a 12.7 percent rise compared to the figure for the same period last year, which was nearly 23.4 million tons.
According to figures released by the World Steel Association (WSA), Iran produced more than 2.5 million tons of crude steel in November, showing a 14.1 percent increase compared to the figure for the same month in 2019, which was 2.2 million tons.
China topped the list of crude steel producers in November, with an output of 87.6 million tons, while Iran ranked 11th.
Standing second to 10th on this list (for November) were, respectively, India (9.2 million tons), Japan (7.2 million tons), the US (6.1 million tons), Russia (5.8 million tons), South Korea (5.7 million tons), Vietnam (four million tons), Germany (3.3 million tons), Turkey (3.2 million tons) and Brazil (2.9 million tons), the report said.
-- Over $ 1b worth of Iran petrochemical plants come on line
The Iranian government launched three large petrochemical plants with over $ 1 billion in new investment as the country pushes ahead with plans to diversify the oil and gas sectors by manufacturing more valuable products.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani used a videoconference call on Thursday to inaugurate the three plants in the provinces of Ilam, Hamedan and West Azarbaijan, all in western Iran.
** FINANCIAL TRIBUNE
--Iran’s Economy Builds Resilience Under Sanctions
Swaths of the Iranian economy are retooling in response to more than two years of U.S. sanctions, finding pockets of resilience in the country’s large domestic economy, U.S. daily the Wall Street Journal reports from Tehran.
Iranian companies are increasingly producing the sorts of goods that Iran had long imported from abroad, while smaller, growing companies have picked up hiring, the paper said. According to Iranian government statistics, Iran’s non-oil industry’s gross revenues have grown 83% in the past couple of years, overtaking the sanctions-battered energy sector’s.
--Iraqis Ought Not to Trust the US Anymore After Trump’s Latest Crime
Reports from Iraq and from elsewhere around the world speak of "shock” and "surprise” at the pardoning of convicted murderers serving their sentences by a super criminal still at large, but for Iranians and the Islamic Republic of Iran it was not a matter of surprise, since terrorism is ingrained in the satanic nature of the US administration.
Although the ghastly massacre at Baghdad’s Nisour Square was not during his presidency nor did the murderers of the murderous Blackwater agency start their jail terms (ranging from 30 years to life) after his election in late November 2016, Donald Trump, in his dying moments in the White House, took another devilish step to pardon the unpardonable killers. On 16 September 2007, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten had opened fire indiscriminately with machine guns and grenade launchers on a crowd of unarmed people at a roundabout in the Iraqi capital, killing 14 men, women and a child on the spot, and leaving 17 others injured.
--Syrian Air Defenses Repel Zionist Missile Aggression
Syrian air defenses thwarted a fresh missile attack by the Zionist regime that targeted the western Masyaf area in Hama governorate after midnight Thursday, Syrian state TV reported.
The TV aired footage of the air defenses intercepting the Zionist regime’s missiles in the sky over Masyaf.
The Syrian army said in a statement that the missile attack was launched from the Libyan capital city of Tripoli towards Masyaf, adding the country’s anti-missile apparatus managed to intercept and destroy the projectiles midair.
** TEHRAN TIMES
--Rouhani inaugurates petchem projects worth €916m
President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated five petrochemical projects with a total investment of €916 million in three provinces through a video conference on Thursday, IRNA reported.
The mentioned projects went operational in Ilam, Hamedan, and West Azarbaijan in the 38th series of inauguration ceremonies in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20). With the said projects going operational, over 900,000 tons have been added to the country’s annual petrochemical production capacity.
-- U.S. sanctions’ silver lining for Iranian home appliance industry
Although the U.S. sanctions have created major problems for the Iranian economy in many areas, for one particular industry they have been certainly “a blessing in disguise”, and that is the home appliance sector. The home appliance industry has flourished with the U.S. sanctions pushing foreign competitors out of the domestic market.
Following the re-imposition of the U.S. sanctions, most of the major international home appliance manufacturers – mainly Asian brands – that were enjoying Iran’s 80-million market suddenly gave in to the U.S. pressures and left Iran.
--Iran had its own independent writing system 4,400 years ago: study
– A recent study, conducted by a French archaeologist and his Iranian fellow, shows that the Iranian plateau had its own independent writing system at least 4,400 years ago.
Late in November, Francois Desset publicized that he had deciphered a 4400-year-old cuneiform bas-relief during a project, which may be a cultural “revolution” in the history of writing in the world scene.
“This decoding is considered as a profound change in the reading of prehistorical Iranian texts. Therefore, this discovery has been in the center of attention of most experts.
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