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** IRAN DAILY
-- Iran’s defense minister hails aviation industries efforts to thwart cruel sanctions
Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami described the country’s Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) as a perfect model for countering oppressive sanctions.
“Any time the enemies sought to impose more restrictive conditions, our industries moved towards greater self-sufficiency and prosperity”, General Hatami said on Saturday during a visit to the Ministry of Defense's Aviation Industry Organization to monitor the construction stages of the second Yasin advanced training jet.
-- Tehran attracted $ 6b in foreign investments in six years: Official
The Iranian capital of Tehran has attracted some $ 6 billion in foreign investments in less than six years (since March 2015), said a provincial official.
Speaking to IRNA, Fereydoon Ataei added the amount has been invested in 192 different manufacturing, industrial and science-based projects.
Tehran Province’s officials had plans to attract some $ 953 million in investments in the current Iranian calendar year (which will end on March 20, 2021), Ataei said, noting that, however, a small amount of the money has been collected during March 20-December 20, 2020.
-- Gas condensate production up in South Pars: Refinery director
Gas condensate production has increased in phases 6, 7 and 8 of the South Pars (SP) Gas Field in southern Iran. The remark was made by Behzad Salari, the director of South Pars Gas Company’s (SPGC) fourth refinery, on Saturday.
He added nearly 18.1 million barrels of gas condensate have been produced at the refinery in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-October 21, 2020), indicating a 14 percent growth compared to the figure for the same period last year, which was 15.9 million barrels.
**KAYHAN INTERNATIONAL
-- Iran Not Interested in Direct Contact With U.S.
A senior Iranian diplomat says the Islamic Republic has had no contact with the administration of new U.S. President Joe Biden, stressing that any possible talks could only be held within the "right format” of a 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement signed between Tehran and major world powers.
"Currently, we are not interested in making any direct contact and we think that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the right format, and [any possible] talks should be conducted in that framework,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said told Italy’s la Repubblica published on Saturday.
-- Iran to Begin COVID Vaccinations in Coming Weeks
President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that COVID-19 vaccinations will begin in the coming weeks in Iran.
"Foreign vaccines are a necessity until local vaccines are available,” Rouhani said in televised remarks, without giving details of what foreign vaccines would be used.
Earlier this month Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei banned the government from importing vaccines from the United States and Britain.
-- Iran’s Taftian Ranks 1st in French Indoor Athletics Championships
Iranian sprinter Hassan Taftian managed to win first place in the French Indoor Athletics Championships.
Hitting the record of 6.68 seconds, Hasan Taftian, the Iranian sprinter won the championship in the French Indoor Athletics Championships and stood at the first place.
After Taftian, Ryan Zahzeh and Marvin René, both from the host country, came in second and third with a time of 6.70 seconds.
** TEHRAN TIMES
-- Zarif calls on U.S. to choose comity over failed Trump policies
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that the United States has to make a fundamental choice under President Joe Biden.
“The new U.S. administration has a fundamental choice to make: It can embrace the failed policies of its predecessor, and continue down the path of contempt for int'l cooperation & int'l law. Or, it can reject failed assumptions & seek peace and comity,” he said in a tweet.
-- Intl. Silk Road calligraphy exhibition opens in Tehran
An exhibition of calligraphy works selected from the First Raqs-e Qalam International Exhibition of the Silk Road Calligraphy opened at the Iranian Academy of Arts in Tehran on Friday with a limited number of visitors.
Calligraphy works by 203 artists from 30 countries have been showcased at the First Raqs-e Qalam International Exhibition and Conference of the Silk Road Calligraphy in a virtual exhibition, which officially opened on January 20 in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad. The Iranian National Commission for UNESCO is the main organizer of the exhibition.
-- East Azarbaijan caravanserais made shortlist for collective UNESCO tag
Four caravanserais, scattered across the northwestern East Azarbaijan province have recently received cultural heritage experts’ preliminary approval to join the shortlist of historical Iranian caravanserais being prepared for a possible inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
The architecture style and the location of the caravanserais in this province are different from the others in the country, so they were needed to be on the list, the deputy provincial chief has said.
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