Social and Political

PayvandNews – Iran and China have finalized an agreement which allows Chinese traders to use the Iranian territory for exports to Europe as envisaged in an ambitious plan by Beijing named the New Silk Road initiative. Related Iran-China Silk Road forum being held in Tehran (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency) Iran says it has finalized a cooperation agreement with …

Bloomberg – Three foreign banks are opening up representative offices in Iran as the country seeks to boost investment after reaching an international sanctions deal last year, a central bank official said. Oman’s Bank Muscat SAOG, Woori Bank of South Korea and India’s UCO Bank Ltd. are all in the process of establishing a presence in Tehran, Central Bank Vice …

globalvoices.org -When President Hassan Rouhani was elected to office in 2013, he was lauded for his mandate of “hope and prudence” and promises to bring more freedoms to the media and telecommunications realm. Written by Mahsa Alimardani Read Iran’s current Press Law, ratified in 1986, on the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center website. Article 3, 6 and 7 are the sections that will be …

Reuters – After a year of disappointment, European businesses are hoping a victory for Hillary Clinton in the U.S. election next week may help break the logjam that has prevented large-scale Western investments in Iran since the opening of its economy. By Noah Barkin | BERLIN While no one in Europe is predicting a flurry of new deals should Clinton …

Al-Arabia – A senior Iranian commander bragged, Monday, on the expansion of the Islamic Republic boundaries from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, vowing that the “defenders of the holy shrines” forces would crash Tehran opponents anywhere in the world. Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of IRGC, told a crowd of the Basij Forces in Orumiyeh city, western …

Al-monitor – An Iranian hard-line former member of parliament has revealed that Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was barred from running in the 2009 presidential election, whose aftermath was mired by unrest. AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi In an interview with Tarikh Online on Oct. 30, Hamid Rasaee spoke about Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s effective barring of ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from …

Al-monitor – OPEC members have in recent months repeatedly met to discuss production cuts. The cartel’s members are suffering from the dramatic decline in oil prices over the past two years, which has seen crude dropping to between $40 and $50 per barrel from more than $100 in 2014. This has caused tremendous pressure on both government budgets and economies …

PayvandNews – The 3rd Kish International Exhibition of Exchange, Banking, Insurance and Privatization and the 8th International Exhibition for Presenting Iran’s Investment Opportunities, are about to be held simultaneously in November under the title of Kish Invex 2016, IRNA reported on Saturday. According to Arya Hamidian, the event organizer, some 30 foreign companies as well as 150 Iranian companies will …

BBC – Iran’s justice minister is looking for an “effective punishment” for criminals instead of execution, according to local media. Mostafa Pourmohammadi said he thought the number of capital crimes should be revised, the Tasnim News Agency said. “In fact we want to find the most effective kind of punishment so that we are able to consider replacing execution,” Mr …

Al-Arabia – Mullah Zabihullah, the official spokesman of the “Afghan Taliban” and the second man in the movement revealed the presence of relations and new networks with Iran. “The movement is trying to benefit from all legitimate means to reach a regional agreement as part of the war against the American invasion; therefore, the Imara holds ongoing networks with a …