Economy

VOA – Iran’s president said Monday the country is exporting twice as much oil as when he took office in August, despite heavy sanctions on oil exports imposed by the U.S. Ebrahim Raisi made the claim in a live interview on state-run TV without elaborating, including on the amount of oil being exported. “Oil sales have doubled,” he said. “We …

RFL/RE – A dramatic rise in the price of flour in Iran is leading to concerns that the authorities’ recent decision to end subsidies for imported wheat could come at the cost of social unrest.Since the Iranian government ended subsidies for imported wheat on May 1, the cost of flour has soared by around 500 percent and is expected to …

Iranwire – Supermarkets in the Iranian capital are receiving less than half the supply of cooking oil they stocked before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the president of Tehran Supermarkets Union has said. Iran is 90 percent dependent on imported oil for cooking and even before the war began in late February, oil prices had been steadily increasing ever since the reimposition of …

VOA – A member of Iran’s syndicate of car parts manufacturers says Iranian producers have an opportunity to export their wares to a Russian carmaker, state media reported. The late Monday report quoted Hossein Bahrainian as saying “a prominent Russian car maker” requested parts from Iran. He did not name the manufacturer. He said it requested brake parts, airbags, air-conditioner …

Al-Arabia – Iran oil minister Javad Owji is making a rare trip to Venezuela that includes visiting oil facilities and signing energy deals between the two US-sanctioned nations, said people with knowledge of the situation. Owji and more than a dozen delegates arrived in Caracas on Saturday, according to the people, who asked not to be identified. Owji and his …

Iranwire – Wei Fenghe, the Chinese defense minister, arrived in Tehran today for meetings with senior offiicers in the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic. The visit comes three months after the two governments announced that a widely-decried 25-year cooperation agreement had reached its “implementation phase” – despite having not been ratified by the Iranian parliament as it should have been. The …

Al-Monitor – Global oil prices have fallen significantly in recent days.  The price of Brent crude oil — considered the global benchmark for oil prices — fell to $100.85 a barrel at around 5 a.m. ET. This constituted a fall of more than 4% on the day at the time. Brent crude prices were down more than 9.9% in the past five …

Iranwire – In a ceremony on April 1 to honor the departing Friday Imam of Kashan and to welcome his successor, Mohammad Mehdi Golpayegani, Chief of Staff of the Office of the Supreme Leader, claimed: “The Exalted Leader mostly keeps company with the poor, the needy, the families of the martyrs and veterans… Before coronavirus, the Exalted Leader visited the [war] …

RFL/RE – With demand surging for new automobiles in Iran, the government took steps last year to reverse a long-standing ban on the import of foreign cars. But while the move was seen as a road to meeting customer needs, the initiative has mysteriously stalled.The situation leaves consumers with little choice but to keep waiting in line for the opportunity …

RFL/RE – Prices of pharmaceutical drugs have skyrocketed in Iran amid plans by the cash-strapped government to cut a major subsidy. Since the government of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi first announced its plans in September, the cost of some essential drugs has more than quadrupled. Prices are likely to surge further when the government officially cuts the subsidy, a prospect …