The highest number of cars manufactured during April 21-June 21 was Pride Nasim and Saba with 46,292 units.

Production at domestic automobile plants increased by 11 percent to 262,530 vehicles during April 21-June 21 compared to figures for the same period last year.
IRNA quoted a report by Ministry of Industries and Mines as saying that car production rose by eight percent to exceed 217,500 units in the period.
Meanwhile, more than 38,000 pickups and 567 minibuses were manufactured in the three-month period, showing a 29-percent and a 122-percent growth respectively.
Bus output increased by five percent to reach 3,900 units during April 21-June 21.
The report stated that the highest number of cars manufactured in the period was Pride Nasim and Saba with 46,292 units followed by gas-fuelled Peugeot RD with 21,342 units and Peugeot 206 with 19,954.

Iran and Iraq have signed an agreement to build a 315-megawatt power plant in eastern Baghdad. Under the deal, SANIR Company, a subsidy of Iran’s Energy Ministry, will construct the power plant in the densely-populated and poor district of Sadr City in the suburb of the Iraqi capital, IRNA reported.
The agreement was signed by the managing director of the Iranian company, Reza Ebadzadeh and the Iraqi Deputy Electricity Minister Salam Al-Qazaz on Sunday.
Ebadzadeh told IRNA on Monday that the two sides agreed to make the power plant operational in two years.
He stated that this is the first energy project undertaken by an Iranian company in Baghdad.
The Iranian side agreed to implement the project in two separate units to meet some of the electricity demands of the country. The project will cost $150 million.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Minister of Electricity Karim Vahid, in a press conference, expressed satisfaction over electricity cooperation with Iran.
He said that apart from the project in Sadr City, four other power plants will be constructed by Iranian experts in other Iraqi provinces.
Sadr City is home to some 2.5 million people out of Baghdad’s seven million population. Power supply is a major problem in the Iraqi capital. On the scorching summer days, the city’s residents face power outage of up to 10 hours per day.
Meanwhile, an understanding has been reached between Iran and Iraq to connect optical fiber networks of the two countries.
A member of the Board of Directors of Iran’s Infrastructure Telecommunications Company told ISNA that the document has been signed by the Iranian side and forwarded to Iraq for signature by officials of that country.
Jalal Mahfouzi predicted that operations to link the optical fiber networks will begin immediately after Iraq signs the agreement.
The capacity of fiber will initially be 16 STM1 link, the official said, adding that this can be increased in the future.

Iran Air Tour Company had reached agreements with a Chinese firm to buy 22 McDonnell Douglas aircraft worth $361 million.

Chairman of Iran Air Tour Company’s Board of Directors on Monday lashed out at the neoconservative Bush administration for blocking the purchase of commercial aircraft from China.
“The US government, in continuation of its hostile policies against Iran and in violation of international regulations, has obstructed the finalization of an agreement by the company to purchase 22 aircraft (from China),“ Pour-Mohammadi told Fars on Monday.
He recalled that sometime back, the company had reached agreements with a Chinese firm to buy 22 McDonnell Douglas aircraft worth $361 million.
After being informed of the deal, White House banned related support and services companies from providing services to Iran.
According to him, although Iran has achieved success in repair and maintenance of various aircraft, it is still unable to repair this type of planes.
The 170-seat passenger planes were built during 1997-2000, he added.
Pour-Mohammadi noted that the company will resume talks on the deal once the current political climate improves.
In a related development, head of the Civil Aviation Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CAOIRI) lambasted recent move by the United States to block purchase of passenger aircraft by Iran, calling it a blatant violation of international regulations.
Hossein Khanlari stressed that CAOIRI will object to this US move in the upcoming meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
He cited the Convention on International Civil Aviation (so-called Chicago Convention) based on which countries are banned from endangering the lives of air passengers.
The official stated that Washington has done nothing to lift flight ban against Iran contrary to its claims last year.
Last year, White House announced its intention to lift flight ban against Iran. Several months later, Iran’s minister of roads and transportation termed the US announcement a propaganda ploy. Mohammad Rahmati stated that despite all its hue and cry, the Bush administration has not acted on this.
Recalling that the 36th session of the ICAO will be held in Montreal, Canada on Sept. 18-28, Khanlari promised that CAOIRI will seriously follow up flight bans against Iran in the gathering.
“The country will lodge a complaint against the US in ICAO since the international body is responsible for ensuring flight safety worldwide,“ the official concluded.

Head of Fuel Optimization Organization announced Sunday that 1,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations will become operational by March 2008.
Abbas Kazemi told PIN that the process of equipping cars with gas-fueled system had been expedited and predicted that the number of cars with gas-operated engines will rise to 3.25 million.
He said there were only 120 gas-fueled cars nationwide in the previous year while the Fuel Optimization Organization and automakers were each obliged to equip 500,000 cars with dual-fuel system.
According to him, auto manufacturing companies are duty-bound to produce gas-operated cars as of July 23.
Kazemi said 22 CNG stations were currently in operation in the country.
He added only 40 thousand CNG capsules were made by domestic manufacturers annually while the country required about one million and was forced to import them from China and South Korea as well as Central Asian, Latin American and European states.
Iran, the Middle East’s largest carmaker, would stop producing cars that run solely on gasoline this month and would instead ensure all new vehicles run on gas too, an official said Saturday.
The announcement follows Iran’s move last month to start rationing gasoline to curb expensive imports the world’s fourth biggest oil exporter must make because it lacks refining capacity to meet domestic demand.
Some cars in Iran, which has the world’s second largest reserves of oil and gas, already run on both gasoline and CNG, but most only use gasoline.
“In two weeks’ time, production of gasoline-only vehicles will be stopped by the Ministry of Industries and Mines,“ the economic daily Jahan-e Eqtesad reported.

Some 4,907 tons of steel alloys were exported in the first quarter of the Iranian year to March 2008.
Announcing this, Hokmollah Babaei, managing director of Iran Steel Alloy Company told IRNA that this indicates a 44-percent growth compared to the figure for the corresponding period last year.
The products, worth $41 billion, were exported to Germany, France, Italy and Armenia, he added.
Some 20,000 tons of steel alloy products, worth $16 million, were exported to Germany, France, Australia, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and Armenia last year, Babaei concluded.

First unit of Jahrom natural gas fired power plant has become operational, managing director of Iran Power Development Company (IPDC) announced on Monday.
Mohammad Behzad noted that the power plant is almost completely constructed by domestic specialists to meet part of electricity demand of southern Iran.
The official explained that the power plant will have six units of 159-megawatt each, according to a fax sent to Iran Daily by IPDC.
He stated that the first unit which was planned to come on stream by March has been launched earlier than schedule. Behzad noted that 97 percent of the equipment used in construction the unit is made in Iran.
Meanwhile, director of Jahrom power plant project predicted that the remaining units will become operational by the yearend if the plan faces no equipment shortage.
Mohammad Reza Qalambor noted that earth removal operations involving over 100,000 cubic meters of soil have so far been conducted to develop the land for the power plant.

Based on estimated wheat purchase for the year to March 2008, some 22.4 trillion rials have been set aside for the purpose.

Agricultural Jihad Ministry can set a new record by purchasing 12.3 million tons of surplus wheat from farmers during the year to March 2008, the executive head of the ministry for special plans announced.
Kamal Zabihi told Fars that wheat production stood at 14.5 million tons, which is 207 kilograms for every Iranian, in the year to March 2007. He predicted that the output in the current year would be more than that in the previous year.
The official added that wheat purchase exceeded 5.5 million tons until July 6.
According to him, the nation will celebrate ’Wheat Feast’ on November 17 to mark the third consecutive year of self-sufficiency in this staple product.
Based on estimated wheat purchase for the year to March 2008, some 22.4 trillion rials have been set aside for the purpose, he concluded.
For the first time, Iran has begun wheat exports by sending the first consignment to neighboring Iraq after achieving self-sufficiency in the commodity. Some 100 tons of wheat produced in Kermanshah province were exported to Iraq in July.
Kermanshah province which has common borders with Iraq is one of Iran’s wheat production centers. It produced over one million tons of the grain last year.
Advances in grain output over the years have made it possible for the country to export the cash crop.

Ailments such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatism as well as mental and arthritic disorders can be treated by bee sting

About 10 tons of top quality honey were produced from 700 hives in a beekeeping complex in Khorrammabad, Lorestan province annually, a local exemplary beekeeper told Iran Daily’s Sadeq Dehqan.
Asadollah Alikhani set up the complex in 1987 and increased its output to 10 tons, producing 15 kilograms of honey from each hive. This is while the average production stands at eight kilograms per hive in the province, he pointed out.
In addition to honey, he also produces other products such as bee sting which can cure 500 kinds of diseases in a natural way.
Ailments such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatism as well as mental and arthritic disorders can be treated by bee sting, he explained.
Stressing that a portion of the bee sting produced in beekeeping farms is exported abroad, he said many pharmaceutical companies across the world are opposed to this since they fear that it could substitute chemical drugs.
Alikhani recalled that import of hybrid queens from Australia and USA during 1983-1984 and cross-breeding them with Iranian species led to the gradual disappearance of pure-bred Iranian honey-bees in most parts of the country. Presently, pure-bred Iranian species can be spotted in a few hives in remote mountain areas, he regretted.
Regarding the characteristics of pure-bred Iranian honey-bee, he said that its stings are preferred more for producing medicine, he concluded.

State Marine Industries Organization will today deliver six tow boats with 1,200 horsepower engines.
The ceremony, to be held in Bandar Anzali on Tuesday, will be attended by minister of defense and armed forces logistics, minister of roads and transportation and a number of senior marine industries officials.
In a fax sent to Iran Daily by Ports and Shipping Organization’s Public Relations Office, deputy road and transportation minister for international affairs said that operations to build six tow boats namely Fereydounkenar, Alamkouh, Miankaleh, Masouleh, Valasht and Caspian have been completed.
The construction of vessels was ordered by the organization from the company which is a subsidiary of the Defense Ministry, Ali Taheri noted.
He stressed that Iran has become self-sufficiency in the construction of tow boats of the type which will operate in the Caspian Sea.
The boats will assist berthing, towing of ships and be used to extinguish probable fire.