France has a prominent presence in Iran's auto market, and models such as the Peugeot 405 and 206 have been manufactured under license by Iran Khodro.

Lawmakers have called for cutting economic ties with France due to its ’unfriendly’ policies towards Iran.
Members of the Majlis Presiding Board as well as the parliament’s national security and industry commissions insist on reducing economic ties with France, particularly in the auto sector, the chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said following a joint meeting of the commissions on Monday.
“Given the hardline, irrational and unfriendly policies of the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy towards Iran, in particular, on the nuclear program and at the UN Security Council, there are no reasons for continuing the current trend,“ Alaeddin Boroujerdi observed.
Iran has several alternatives and can turn to Asian and other European countries to replace French automakers that have a strong presence in the country, he was quoted by ISNA as saying.
“Although a complete shift in an industry line is not easy, and is also time consuming, it is not impossible,“ he added. “It has been decided to scrutinize the issue and to hold the next session with high executive officials,“ he concluded.
France has toughened its stance towards Iran since Sarkozy took over the helm of affairs in May 2007 and called for the Security Council to impose a third set of sanctions to punish Iran for its civilian nuclear program.
In September, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that France’s new tougher position could hit economic relations.
French cars have a prominent presence in Iran’s auto market, and models such as the Peugeot 405 and 206 have been manufactured under license by Iran Khodro, Iran’s largest car manufacturer.
Iran also produces the Logan, known locally as ’Tondar’, in a joint venture worth hundreds of millions of dollars with Renault.
In March 2007, about 85,000 orders were placed for Tondar with applicants paying the equivalent of $5,400 in advance whereas only 10,000 cars were delivered in 2007.

Iran’s first oil drilling operation in the Caspian Sea will begin on either January 30 to February 1, first deputy head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said.
“Although the maritime and seabed boundaries of Caspian Sea have not yet been demarcated, Iran will conduct explorations in its territorial waters,“ the Persian daily ’Iran’ quoted Mohammad Javad Asemipour as saying Tuesday.
Latest studies indicate that the southern reaches of the world’s largest inland body of water bordering Iran have less hydrocarbon-resource than other sections. So jack-ups cannot drill deep wells there and until now, Iran has been unable to explore fields deeper than 90 meters.
This made Iran start construction of a semi-floating rig named Iran-Alborz drilling rig.
“The first drilling will be conducted at the depth of 100 meters to try balance of Iran-Alborz semi-submersible drilling rig,“ Asemipour explained. “Following tests, the rig will be transferred to exploration site to drill oil wells.“
The Iran-Alborz semisub, which can operate at water depths up to 1,030 meters and drill down to 6,000 meters under the seabed, will officially start work in mid-February. The rig and its related facilities cost the country $250 million.
Iran has no experience in employing semisub rigs. “Iran will tap the expertise of Chinese companies to management of the rig and Chinese engineers are currently stationed on the rig to start the first phase of the works,“ deputy NIOC chief for development affairs said.
On January 18, 2006, Iran’s North Drilling Company (NDC) and the Hong Kong-registered China Oilfield Services Ltd. signed an oil-exploration agreement for management, repair, and maintenance of the Alborz rig being constructed by Iranian Offshore Industries Company.
The three-year contract at an estimated cost of $33 million will enable Iran, with China’s help, to move its exploration activities to the deep waters of the southern Caspian. The rig will facilitate exploration in deep waters in southern part of the Caspian Sea.
According to initial estimates, the southern region of the Caspian Sea holds at least 32 billion barrels of oil.
Meanwhile, talks are underway with Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) to help the Islamic Republic undertake the first exploration of its deep offshore Caspian Sea waters. The talks are near finalization, Asemipour said. “Brazilians will become the main contractor of exploration and drilling operations and development in Caspian oil and gas fields. The investment in Caspian waters may reach 400 million to 500 million dollars.“
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the legal status of the Caspian Sea has been in limbo. The five Persian Gulf littoral states including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan have not yet reach agreement in this regard. Turkmenistan, one of largest exporters of gas in the region, has begun production from Caspian. The US companies have explored one of the biggest oil fields in Caspian waters.
The Caspian Sea region is expected to produce and export more oil in the future. This would benefit not only Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, which depend almost exclusively on oil revenues, but also Russia and Iran, which have major oil deposits in their sectors of the seabed.
“We are determined to have an active presence in Caspian Sea,“ Asemipour stressed, adding that deep offshore drilling will begin early March in the sea.

Indonesia and Iran have established cooperation in developing capital markets in the two countries.
A memorandum of understanding on the cooperation was signed in Jakarta on Monday by Indonesian Capital Market and Non-Bank Financial Institution Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) and the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) of Iran.
The MoU was signed by Bapepam-LK Chairman A Fuad Rachmany and SEO Chairman Ali Salehabadi at the Bapepam-LK office.
Rachmany said after the signing ceremony that Iran’s capital market had developed in almost the same say as Indonesia’s so that the industries had the potential being developed through cooperation in the future.
“Iran has a many large state-owned companies which will enter the capital market. Its stock market is relatively progressive with market capitalization worth US$50 billion,“ Rachmany was quoted by Asia Pulse as saying.
He said that Iranian market capitalization was still lower than Indonesia’s which in 2007 reached Rp2,539.04 trillion.
“Iran wants to cooperate with us because it thinks that our capital market is well developed in Asia,“ he added.
In the meantime, Ali Salehabadi said Indonesia was a predominantly Muslim country with a relatively progressive stock exchange market.
“We are brothers and need to cooperate in various fields including in the exchange of information, knowledge and experience,“ he said.
The value of exchanges in the Indonesian bourse is four times that of Iran, amounting to some $200 billion a year.
Out of a population of 240 million, only 600,000 are said to have invested in Indonesian stock exchanges, with the rest going to foreign investors.

Managing director of Iran’s Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) said that Farsi Bloc in the Persian Gulf is the best choice for Bahrain to import gas from Iran.
According to ISNA, Mahmoud Zirakchian-Zadeh added that his company will take control of the gas field once exploration is completed and it can begin exporting to Bahrain.
On gas export to Bahrain, the official said that a joint commission meeting was held in Manama a month ago with the participation of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Based on agreements reached between the Iranian delegation and Bahraini Oil Ministry officials, joint investments on gas industries, particularly downstream industries, will increase. On the other hand, the two sides underlined the need to develop Iranian gas and oilfields in the Persian Gulf.
He stressed that there is a huge gas reserve in Hendorabi Island, the quantity of which will be determined following exploration operations. Hendorabi Island is located between Lavan and Kish islands in the Persian Gulf.
Zirakchian-Zadeh announced that his company has signed a contract with Heriot-Watt University of Scotland under which the two sides will conduct studies on extracting gas from gas crystals, called gas ’gas hydrate’, in Oman Sea.

Import tariff for oranges, tangerines and apples stands at 10 percent.

Fruit import tariffs will be reduced by five percent as of February 4, deputy commerce minister announced on Tuesday.
Mohammad-Sadeq Mofatteh explained that the move is aimed at supplying fruit at a fair price during Norouz, the Iranian new year, holidays (to start March 20).
Fruit import tariff would remain at four percent by May 21, he was quoted by IRIB as saying.
“About 200,000 tons of fruits were exported during March-December 2007. And almost 60,000 tons of oranges were imported during the period. This indicates that fruit trade conforms to domestic demand.“
According to Iran Customs Administration, import tariff for oranges, tangerines and apples stands at 10 percent.
About 737,000 tons of fruits and nuts were exported during March-November 2007, the majority of which consisted pistachio, date, raisin and apple.
The exports sector has witnessed an increase of 30,000 tons worth $100 million compared to the figure for the same period of the year before.
Unprecedented cold weather in recent weeks has damaged citrus crops in the provinces of Mazandaran and Gilan, managing director of Fruit and Vegetable Union earlier said in an interview with Iran Daily.
Hossein Mohajerani noted that this will affect supplies in the new Iranian year which starts on March 20 and also will lead to a price hike for citrus nationwide.
“Citrus fruits are usually picked by the end of January,’ he said, adding that the cold weather has damaged most of the citrus crops.
Mohajerani added that if the cold weather continues, oranges will become bitter and inedible. “Some 70 percent of the Thompson orange crops have been picked,“ he said, stating that over 80 percent of other varieties of oranges have not yet been picked.

Dredging and restoration operations began this week in Sumbar River which forms part of the border between Iran and Turkmenistan, announced Managing Director of North Khorasan Regional Water Company Mohammad Alaei.
According to a report by the company’s Public Relations Office, he noted that the operations will be conducted along a 25-kilometer stretch of the river in cooperation with Turkmenistan based on a plan drawn up by Iranian experts, Fars news agency said.
The two sides will exchange views on executive and research projects to adjust the flow of Sumbar River to its original location.
Alaei recalled that floods in recent years diverted the river toward Iran inflicting losses and changing the two countries border. The operation will last until early next Iranian year (starting March 21).
Following intensive efforts of the Energy Ministry and adjusting Iran and Turkmenistan border based on protocols signed by Iran and the former Soviet Union under the supervision of experts and border guards, the two countries agreed on dredging and restoration of the river, he said.
The Sumbar is a fast flowing river in southern Turkmenistan and northeastern Iran. It is a tributary of the Atrek River.
He said that the budget bill for the year to March 2009 envisaged allocation of 10 billion rials for dredging and restoring Sumbar River.