TEHRAN, Nov. 6--Iran’s Audit Court announced Monday that some legal complications are involved in the government’s order to merge provincial branches of Management and Planning Organization (MPO) with offices of governors general.
According to Fars, the court said the order cannot be implemented without taking account of several factors, including the Fourth Plan (2005-2010) objectives, Article 44 of the Constitution, the routine legal procedures which require such decisions to be studied and ratified by the parliament, etc.
It further said that the move would add to the Interior Ministry’s legal responsibilities, as the ministry administers governors general offices, stressing that the new authorities have to be notified to the ministry by the parliament.
“The ministry will have to undergo structural reforms following the government’s decision,“ it said in a report, adding that while the government has stressed that the move will contribute to fair distribution of state facilities among various provinces and cut administrative red-tape, what is evident is that the supervisory role of the MPO has to be preserved.
It also warned against the politicization of MPO activities once it joins the Interior Ministry, which it said is, by nature, a political body.

TEHRAN, Nov. 6--A senior Labor Ministry official here Monday disclosed that the government has drawn up a new job-creation scheme called ’Industrial Clusters’ in an effort to check growing unemployment.
Speaking to Fars, Javad Farshbaf-Maherian, deputy labor minister for human resources, planning and employment policymaking added that under the scheme, the Small Industries and Industrial Townships and the State Technical and Vocational Training Organization have signed a letter of agreement, under which a number of techno-vocational centers will be established in 72 industrial townships nationwide.
“Ministry of Labor also recommended that Small Industries and Industrial Townships set up IT centers and undertake to provide required resources for materializing the objectives,“ he said.
The official further underlined the need for establishing companies which would offer consultant services in industrial townships, adding that the scheme has also envisaged the allocation of funds for establishing consultant companies.
“With the establishment of the three centers (techno-vocational, IT and consultant centers), industrial townships would become specialized, thus bolstering their capabilities and turning them into labor markets,“ he analyzed.
Farshbaf-Maherian further unveiled a plan to develop local specialized mother companies, noting that the scheme targets the establishment of local development companies which would be financed through contributions of local residents and some organizations, including Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO), Small Industries and Industrial Townships and other organizations dealing with job creation.
“We are seeking to guarantee the sustainability of jobs by implementing the schemes,“ he said, adding that the ministry is also seeking to regulate the activities of small businesses to make them more efficient.
He hoped that the directives for implementing the schemes would be notified to provincial labor departments as soon as possible, so that they are implemented by March 2007.

TEHRAN, Nov. 6--Iran’s auto giant, Iran Khodro is reportedly seeking to break the monopoly of Peugeot on the Iranian automobile industry, the Persian daily Donya-ye Eqtesad reported here Sunday.
While Manouchehr Manteqi, the company’s managing director declined to name the would-be replacement for the French company, there are speculations that China’s Chery Automobile Co. could be one of the options that Iran Khodro has in mind as a replacement, the report said.
Chery made its debut in Iran by selling MWM110, a sedan which found an instant market in the country due to its appropriate price and low fuel consumption compared to domestic brands, it said, adding that the China-based company has not only gained strong foothold in the Asian auto markets, but also has set its sights on the western markets, particularly those of the United States.
With a total capital of $100 million, Chery was founded in Wuho, Anhui province, eastern China in 1997 and managed to increase its capital to $1 billion in less than a decade, it said, adding that the company currently manufactures 400,000 units of cars per annum and has so far introduced six models of cars in three different classes to the markets.
Chery and its Iranian counterpart, Iran Khodro have reportedly reached an agreement to produce an inexpensive sedan, it said, adding that the assembly line of COWIN, another product of the company, is to become operational in the near future.
AFP yesterday disclosed that the two sides have come to initial agreements on the production of the car. ISNA also reported the successful tests of some Chery sedans in Iran Khodro Industrial Group, it said.
It further quoted ISNA as describing the Chinese-made sedan as the potential successor of Paykan and the rival of Pride of Saipa.

Farmers have to sell their products at 1,000 rials per kilo, whereas the same product is offered at 5,000 rials per kilo in the markets.

TEHRAN, Nov. 6--Monopoly of foreign products and not the sanctions is posing more of a threat to the national economy, observed the Head of the Headquarters for Combating Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange here Monday, urging traders to combat the monopoly of foreign products on the Iranian markets.
Mohammad Reza Naqdi argued that the monopoly of these products would put the production sector in danger, adding that the government, traders, producers and industrialist should be aware of the problem and take action to safeguard the national economy.
He put the unemployment figure at three million, analyzing that the competition for jobs has become even stiffer than university entrance exam.
“It is a shame that we have to import fruit while in Iranian orchards the fruits rot and the trees are cut down due to unfair prices,“ he said. Farmers have to sell their products at 1,000 rials per kilo, whereas the same product is offered at 5,000 rials per kilo in the markets, he lamented.
He noted that Russia imports $200 million worth of citrus fruits annually from African states, and asked why Iran has failed to supply the fruits. He called on the traders to boost the potentials of domestic workforce.
Naqdi put the value of imports at $39 billion for the year to March 2006, adding that some $6 billion worth of smuggled goods entered the country in the same period.

Iran earns 40-50 billion dollars per annum from oil exports.

TEHRAN, Nov. 6--US-sponsored computer simulations of what would happen to global oil market in case of possible sanctions against Iran have suggested that the price would hit an all-time high of $170 per barrel.
According to ISNA, Mohammad Reza Moqaddam, deputy oil minister for joint planning, further said that the simulations were intended to determine whether it would be possible to remove 2.4 million barrels per day of oil from the world oil supply without the market facing a crisis.
“The result (of simulations) was that a political crisis will follow the sanctions,“ he said, adding that such a political crisis could drive oil prices as high as $170 a barrel.
The official said Iran is a wealthy country, stressing, however, the country has not reached the technological maturity to tap its gigantic resources.
He further noted that Iran earns 40-50 billion dollars per annum by exporting oil whereas countries like Japan, which do not have significant natural resources, rely on business activities to make money.
Moqaddam said all countries seek higher economic growth, adding that higher growth leads to better social and economic welfare.
The official said if Iran wants to achieve an eight-percent economic growth rate, it should spend $500 billion in the next 20 years.
He said Iran produces 50-60 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum, whereas demand has reached 70-80 billion cubic meters indicating a shortage of supply.
“To solve this problem, we are left with only two options: either import gas, or cut down export of the product, which will subsequently slash our export revenues,“ he said.
Moqaddam’s remarks come three days after a senior oil industry official said that the expected rise in gas consumption this winter has prompted extensive gas import talks with Turkmenistan.
Mohammad Reza Kasaeizadeh, managing director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), said Iran is planning to import more gas from Turkmenistan, stressing that under a recent agreement between the two countries’ authorities, gas imports from the former Soviet republic will increase from the current eight billion cubic meters to 14 billion cubic meters a year from early 2008.
Iran has the world’s largest gas reserves after Russia.

TEHRAN, Nov. 6--Some 202 water and sewerage projects are currently underway nationwide, said an Energy Ministry official, adding that 14 water treatment units will become operational by March.
According to the Persian daily Ettela’at, Ali Asghar Qane’, deputy head of the department for implementing water and sewerage projects, further said that 16 major water supply projects will become operational nationwide by next March as part of the campaign against water shortage.
The official added that a total of 10 trillion rials has been invested in water and sewerage projects in the country since March, stressing that decrepitude water and sewerage facilities is a major challenge to the industry.
He said that in some cities, particularly the historical city of Isfahan, water and sewerage systems have been modernized in cooperation with private sector and international firms.
In July, Rassoul Zargar, deputy energy minister for water affairs, said that some 15 dams will become operational by next March.
He said some 150,000 water supply networks will also go on stream in the period.
He further said that some 86 dams will be constructed until the final year of the Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2005-2010).
Iran Power and Water Resources Development Company announced earlier that 36 dam and power plant projects are currently being implemented nationwide.
In addition to generating power, Iran needs dams to meet growing water shortages. Desert provinces in central Iran are facing severe water crisis.

TEHRAN, Nov. 6--Iranian and Russian railway officials on Sunday reached an agreement on developing rail transport facilities as part of the North-South Corridor, reported IRNA.
Managing Director of Iranian Railway company Mohammad Saeednejad and director of Russian Federation Railways company Vladimir Yakunin signed a letter of understanding for linking Iran-Russia railway networks.
The two sides agreed to hold training courses in the form of seminars on maintenance of railway networks and shipment of risk cargo and ceding construction of 50 km electric train line between Tabriz and Azarshahr to the Russian Railways company.
Iran offered to set up 900-km electric railway line linking Tehran to Mashhad and sought proposal from the Russian Railways company for the technical project to Iran. Iranian and Russian officials also agreed to finalize contract on Qazvin-Rasht-Anzali-Astara railway within one month during which negotiations would be held on technical and financial terms.

TEHRAN, Nov. 6--Oil wells, which need maintenance, account for 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) of the total projected output cut of 176,000 bpd, said a top oil industry official here on Monday, reaffirming Tehran’s determination to reduce oil production as part of efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to prevent a further decline in prices.
Oil prices slipped Monday after threats of disruptions to production in Nigeria and the United States failed to materialize. Also, traders are reportedly doubtful about OPEC’s ability to follow through on its pledge to cut production.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery dropped 35 cents to $58.79 in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gholamhossein Nozari, managing director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), told ISNA that a cut in oil production is no complicated task.
“We will set priorities for oilfields which will be subject to the oil cut program,“ he said, adding, however, that a practical step has not yet been taken in this respect.
Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the NIOC director for international affairs, had earlier vowed that Iran would begin cutting output from November 1, stressing that exports will decline by 120,000 bpd.
While oil prices have retreated significantly from a summertime high of above $78 a barrel, they have been trading in a range of around $57- 61 over the past month.
Last week, US crude oil inventories rose by two million barrels to 334.3 million barrels. Demand is currently low as the cold winter season in the Northern Hemisphere has yet to set in.
Last month, Iran’s Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said Tehran defends OPEC’s decision to cut output, stressing that Iran had already volunteered for the initiative.