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** IRAN DAILY
-- Rouhani: 60m Iranians to get COVID-19 shots in four phases
President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday said the government has prepared a national plan to vaccinate 60 million Iranians in four phases after obtaining COVID-19 vaccines.
Speaking during a meeting of the National Task Force for Fighting the Coronavirus in Tehran, Rouhani said 1.3 million will get the jab in the first stage that include frontline medics, residents of nursing homes and people with disabilities.
“In the second phase, some 12 million people will be immunized with the priority going to the elderly and people with underlying health condition,” the president said in a televised speech.
-- Iran’s nine-month steel exports hit $ 2.1b: IRICA
Iranian steelmakers exported more than 5.6 million tons of steel ingots (billets, blooms, slabs and round bars) worth $ 2.1 billion during the nine months of the current Iranian year (March 20-December 20, 2020), according to data by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).
Based on the statistics, 2.7 million tons of billets and blooms were exported by Iranian steel mills, IRNA reported on Saturday.
Also, steel complexes of the country exported 1.5 million tons of slab during the said period.
-- Domestic investors inject over $ 2b into Iran special economic zones
Over $ 2 billion of domestic investments were made in Iran’s special economic zones during the Iranian year ending March 19, 2020, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.
The figures show an increase of 173 percent compared to the figure for the preceding year, IRNA reported.
The development of free trade zones and special economic zones through production, exports and investments is one of the goals of creating these zones in the country.
** KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
Rouhani: Foreign Tests of Vaccines on Iranians Banned
Foreign companies will not be allowed to test Covid-19 vaccines on the Iranian people, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, one day after Leader of the Islamic Revolution banned the import of UK- and U.S.-produced jabs and said they were "completely untrustworthy”.
"Foreign companies wanted to give us vaccines so they would be tested on the Iranian people. But the health ministry prevented it,” Rouhani said in televised remarks.
-- IRGC Holds Naval Parade in Persian Gulf
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Saturday held a naval parade in the Persian Gulf, amid heightened regional tensions because of provocative U.S. moves.
The naval rally was performed near Iran’s Farsi Island, where Iranian forces seized two U.S. navy boats and 10 crew members for less than one day in January 2016.
-- Iran to Expel Inspectors If Sanctions Not Lifted: MP
Iran will expel United Nations nuclear agency inspectors unless sanctions are lifted by a Feb. 21 deadline set by the parliament, a lawmaker said on Saturday.
Parliament passed a law in November that obliges the government to halt inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency and to step up uranium enrichment beyond the limit set under Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal if sanctions are not eased.
** TEHRAN TIMES
-- Iranian Army unveils 7 important new drone technologies in the drill
On January 5-6, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army staged its first-ever drone drill using its quadruple forces in the Semnan public area and border areas of the country. This was a unique drill unveiling a wide range of technologies that military experts did not expect Iranian Army would possess.
The first footage released by the Army showed a very long runaway covered in full-length with hundreds of different types of operational drones. Some of those drones were later identified to be from classes of Mohajer, Ababil, Kaman-12, Arash, Kian, Simorq, Sa’eqeh, Hazem, etc.
-- Increasing tax income in budget bill not logical in current condition
Iran’s national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year 1400 (starts on March 21), whose draft was submitted to the parliament on December 2, 2020, has predicted a tax income of 2.47 quadrillion rials (about $ 58.809 billion), rising from 1.95 quadrillion rials (about $ 46.42 billion) envisaged in the present year’s budget.
The bill is currently under investigation, while many experts believe that it is unrealistic under the current condition of the country.
One of the issues raising many objections is rising tax income.
-- Iran seeks UNESCO recognition for millennia-old petroglyphs
- Iran will put forward clusters of its millennia-old petroglyphs as a candidate for inclusion in UNESCO’S World Heritage list.
A dossier is to be developed for Teymareh petroglyphs, which are scattered in Khomein county of Markazi province, to be presented to UNESCO, Khomein’s tourism chief, Ali Mashhadi, announced on Thursday.
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