TEHRAN, Nov. 7--An Iraqi commercial aircraft landed here Sunday--the first time in 25 years that an Iraqi aircraft has touched down at Mehrabad International airport, according to IRIB news.
Flights were halted since the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980.
“Following talks with Iraqi officials, the first flight was opened by the Iraqi National Airline today at 14:45 p.m. local time,“ the director of public relations department of the State Aviation Organization, Reza Jafarzadeh, told reporters.
The Boeing 737 from Baghdad carried 65 passengers including Iraqi officials and reporters, he said.
Regular flights between Baghdad and Tehran were to start on November 16, when Iraqi airplanes would begin flights on Wednesdays and Fridays, he said.
Iran will also operate flights from Tehran to Baghdad by its national airlines as soon as security assurances are provided.

TEHRAN, Nov. 7--A senior Commerce Ministry official said here on Monday that the participation of Commerce Minister Massoud Mir-Kazemi in the upcoming ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Hong Kong will depend on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s decision.
Deputy Commerce Minister Abdolhossein Vahhaji told Fars news agency that since Iran has been given observer status at the world trade body, speculations that membership talks will be cancelled due to the recent political controversies are meaningless.
He said that Iran needs to create a working group, begin talks and advance them step by step.
“Speculations about cancellation of Iran’s WTO membership are out of question,“ he said, adding that an Iranian team will most likely travel to Hong Kong to participate in the meeting.
He said a five-member committee at the Presidential Office will decide the composition of the Iranian WTO team.
Iran now has observer status and can attend all WTO meetings. Observers say accession talks with Iran could take more than a decade, citing China’s experience as an example. China joined the WTO in 2001, more than 15 years after it first applied for membership in the organization’s predecessor--the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Iran first applied to join the WTO in 1996, but the United States blocked its application 22 times. The US said in March it would drop its veto on a start to Iran’s accession negotiations.

More than 350 domestic and foreign companies involved in the mining sector are participating in the First International Mines Exhibition which was inaugurated Monday at Tehran’s International Fairground.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by Minister of Industries and Mines Alireza Tahmasbi who later told reporters of the government’s resolve to extend further support to the private sector to allow it take up a more active role in mining projects which include a range of activities from machinery manufacturing to processing and exploration.
“A set of guidelines to the effect is being compiled by the Ministry of Industries and Mines,“ he said.
The minister noted the main objective of this exhibition was to encourage the participation of private foreign firms in mining projects.
Some 205 domestic and 114 foreign companies from 18 countries including South Africa, Germany, Spain, the UK, Russia and Poland have put on display their latest achievements in an area of 17,000 square meters, mainly including mining machinery, minerals, gauging devices, processing systems, measurement and safety equipment as well as accident prevention methods and devices.
Some 3,400 mines were operational nationwide in 2004. The government earns some 57 percent of the value-added from mineral production and exports.
More than 142 million tons of minerals were mined last year, when the country earned some $900 million from mineral exports.
Private companies are responsible for 90 percent of the explorations in the mining sector. This is while the state sector exploits the mines and earns the value-added.
Experts believe priority must be given to mineral processing industries, as the export of raw minerals would generate little value-added. They say if Iran exports metals instead of ore, for instance, the value-added will rise 70-fold.

Iran holds the world's largest gas reserves second only to Russia.

TEHRAN, Nov. 7--Iran has resumed gas export to Nakhichevan on a trial basis, said a senior gas industry official here on Monday, adding that the project will become fully operational within the next two weeks.
Roknoddin Javadi, managing director of National Iranian Gas Exports Company, told ISNA that gas exports to Nakhichevan are being conducted under a swap agreement with Azerbaijan Republic.
He said that gas is imported from Azerbaijan and then exported to Nakhichevan through Iranian territory.
Abdolhossein Samari, the National Iranian Gas Company’s project manager, told reporters earlier that Iran imported 5.8 billion cubic meters of gas last year, when exports reached 315 billion cubic meters.
He put the Iran-Azerbaijan oil swap fee at 15 percent.
Iran’s natural gas production will increase by 40 million cubic meters to reach 420 million cubic meters a day this winter.
Iran has announced its readiness to import up to 40 million cubic meters of gas per day from Turkmenistan to meet a possible shortage of supply in winter. However, the Turkmen side has not yet announced its readiness to export this amount of gas to Iran.
Iran holds the world’s largest gas reserves second only to Russia.
Twenty two phases of the giant project to develop the world’s largest offshore gas field, South Pars, which holds almost eight percent of the global gas reserves, will become operational by 2012.
The multi-phased project is a top priority on the national development agenda.
The field straddles Iranian (South Pars) and Qatari (North Field) sectors of the Persian Gulf, and Iran’s share is being developed in 28 phases.

When indices fall, the government should try to restore public confidence in the stock market and not create anxieties by criticizing the investors.

TEHRAN, Nov. 7--Irresponsible statements by some senior officials, who have repeatedly accused major stock market players of rent-seeking and opportunism, will only worsen the already growing outflow of investments from the capital market, said a prominent lawmaker here on Monday.
Rassoul Seddiqi-Bonab, a member of the Parliament’s Plan, Budget and Audit Commission, told ISNA that such remarks which aggravate stock market crisis are not in the best interests of the country.
“In the early days of the new government, the stock market experienced certain developments that have now aggravated due to recent remarks by some officials,“ he said, adding that when indices fall, the government should try to restore public confidence in the stock market and not create anxieties by criticizing the investors.
He said the people will naturally go on a panic selling when they realize that the government itself is dissatisfied with stock market performance.
“The president has reiterated that we must try to turn threats into opportunities, whereas threats are surprisingly replacing opportunities on the stock market at present,“ he said, adding that one has to distinguish between a capitalist and an investor.
Another lawmaker expressed his opposition to remarks that bourse has turned into a haven for gambling.
“There are some people who have been trying to encourage outflow of capital by spreading rumors such as that stock market is a gambling house,“ said Iraj Nadimi, rapporteur of Majlis Economic Commission.
The Parliament has stipulated jail sentences and stiff cash fines for those misusing insider information at the stock market.
It seems that efforts to deal with those with insider information will ultimately lead to major investors taking their money out of the stock market and investing them in safer places with lesser risk of prosecution. That is mainly because major shareholders are usually those with insider information.

Jaask Port's passenger and cargo terminals will become operational next month.

TEHRAN, Nov. 7--A group of 350 German tourists arrived at Bahonar Port, south of Iran, on Monday to visit the historical port city of Bandar Abbas and Hormoz Island, said Bahonar Port director.
Mohammad Bouqani told ILNA that 150 members of the group, who arrived on the cruise liner ’Europe’, planned to travel to Isfahan later in the day.
“The German tourists will leave Iran for United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday,“ he said.
The official announced that Jaask Port’s passenger and cargo terminals will become operational next month. Jaask Port is run by Bahonar Port authorities.
He said the Jaask Port’s passenger terminal has been constructed in a total area of 1,300 square meters, adding that 4.5 billion rials has so far been spent on the project.
The official said Jaask Port will render services mostly to cruise liners operating to and from UAE ports.
“An Iran-flagged ship has also applied for Jaask Port services,“ he said, adding that the Iranian cruise liner will conduct passenger services to the UAE.

TEHRAN, Nov. 7--Deposits in the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund have declined from last month’s $14 billion to $5.7 billion following the withdrawal of some eight billion dollars to cover various expenses of the government, said a lawmaker here on Monday.
Peyman Forouzesh, a member of Majlis Economic Commission, told ISNA that the fund was set up primarily to help develop impoverished areas, stressing, however, that larger and more developed provinces managed to get a bigger share of its financial facilities.
He said Tehran province with $928 million and the northwestern border province of Kurdestan with $35.8 million have, respectively, received the highest and the lowest amounts of financial facilities from the fund in the past five years.
He further said that although private companies are authorized to utilize 50 percent of financial facilities from the fund, they have failed to do so due to excessive withdrawals by the government.
The lawmaker noted that the Parliament is not willing to authorize the government to withdraw additional amounts from the fund, adding, however, that it has to do so because of the huge budget deficits that the government usually faces.
“A (major oil producing) country like Norway holds $190 billion in foreign exchange reserves, but it does not use this huge money (for current expenses),“ he said, adding that Iran should also tighten its belt.
A Ministry of Industries and Mines official said earlier that the share of private sector projects in Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund’s financial allocations remained zero in the first half of the year to March 2006.
Siamak Samimi-Dehkordi, deputy head of the ministry’s Planning, Development and Technologies Department, further said that under Article One of the Fourth Five-Year Plan (2005-2010), some eight billion dollars from the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund resources must be allocated for private sector projects this year.
Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund deposits will reach $20 billion by late March.
The fund’s deposits are changing all the time due to rising oil prices. Experts have called on the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to exercise more care in deciding withdrawals from the Foreign Exchange Reserve Fund to avoid the inflationary impacts of the move.