Corruption prevails among the people irrespective of their level of education; wittingly or otherwise.

Economic and financial corruption, in all its forms and manifestations, exists in both developing and advanced countries. Efforts of governments and organizations to counter this ugly phenomenon are essentially viewed as a sign of efficacy and health of a government.
According to IRNA, following the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, steps were taken to fight the scourge. However, apparently these measures have not yet produced the desired results. About eight years ago, the leader issued an eight-article decree urging officialdom and the people to launch an all-out drive to confront and eventually uproot corruption.
This was indeed a good omen and marked a new era in the anti-corruption drive. The leader’s decree stressed that the root causes of corruption should first be identified. It urged national determination to draw up a systematic plan of action. The decree further underlined that all state organizations and the people assume responsibility in the anti-corruption campaign. It noted that bias should be avoided in identifying and uprooting corruption.
Most officials maintain that the directives of the leader have not yet been fully implemented. It cannot and should not be doubted that continuation of this trend will result in nothing but wastage of resources and further corruption in all spheres. Economic corruption is a very complex and non-transparent phenomenon which mostly remains hidden to the society. Hence, methods to counter the ominous phenomenon must above all comply with its characteristics.
It seems that corruption grows within the government. On one side there is a corrupt governmental official and on the other the people who break the law and offer bribes. Here governmental official refers to a wide spectrum of the public sector, ranging from senior political leaders to governmental employees in remote rural areas. Furthermore, implications of economic corruption can be sought among all members of the society as well as non-governmental people and companies in the private sector. In various theoretical considerations to uproot corruption, more attention has been given to corrupters, i.e. the people who offer bribes in return for privileges. This is while in some other theories the corrupted are attributed more attention.
Economic corruption in Iran dates back to several decades before the victory of the Islamic Revolution. Corruption prevails among the people irrespective of their level of education; wittingly or otherwise. It must also be understood that the frontiers of economic corruption are not clear.
It is obvious that any preventive measure should conform to the very characteristics of the phenomenon, as otherwise it is doomed to failure.
All in all, given the present circumstances a preventive plan must be devised which matches the outlines of the five-year developmental plans and the leader’s decree.
It is crucial that the outlines of Article 44 must be implemented faster and more accurately. Furthermore, the role of the people in countering corruption must be clearly defined. It is also necessary that the macro plan is executed continuously and efficiently without hesitation.

A Turkish delegation will arrive in Tehran soon to discuss involvement in phases 22-24 of South Pars development project, announced a deputy oil minister.
Hossein Noqrehkar Shirazi said the delegation is due in Tehran before May 20. “During a visit of an Iranian expert group to Turkey earlier this year, Turkish officials sought details about the offshore and onshore aspects of phases 22-24 of South Pars gas field development project and we hope to clear things up in the Tehran meeting,“ he told Moj news agency.
The official added that gas exports and investment in this sector will top the agenda.
Export of 20 percent of gas extracted from Phases 22-24 of the South Pars field, which is equivalent to 35 billion cubic meters per annum, construction of a gas pipeline from South Pars to the Turkish border and permits to transport Iran’s gas to Europe via Turkey and Turkmenistan’s gas to Turkey via Iran are among the main provisions of agreements signed earlier between Iran and Turkey.
Based on the agreement signed by energy ministers of the two countries, Turkey will invest in developing Phases 22, 23 and 24 of South Pars field.

Through planning and efforts of specialists, State Veterinary Organization has reached about 95 percent self-sufficiency in veterinary drug production, disclosed the head of the organization.
Currently about 120 Iranian pharmaceutical factories produce 200 kinds of drugs, Mojtaba Norouzi explained to IRNA.
Effective steps have been taken in cooperation with the private sector in synthesizing Vitamin E and producing other vitamins in synthetic forms, he said.
Close to 70 percent of the vaccines for livestock, poultry and aquatics are produced in the country, he said, adding the organization plans to achieve 100 percent production target within five years.
Drought reduces the livestock’s immunity system and leads to increase in diseases, Norouzi continued.
Given Iran’s special geographical condition, livestock diseases are common and this makes the responsibilities of the veterinary sector even heavier. To counter the diseases, the organization has embarked on extensive nationwide vaccination campaign for rural and tribal livestock with financial assistance from the government, the specialist concluded.

10 tankers hold at least 20 million barrels of oil, equal to about 5 days of IranÕs output.

Iran, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, more than doubled the amount stored in tankers in the Persian Gulf, people familiar with the situation said.
The 10 tankers hold at least 20 million barrels of oil, equal to about five days of the country’s output, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Rates for tankers have more than tripled since April 8, based on data from the Baltic Exchange and ship-fuel prices.
While oil rose to a record $119.93 a barrel on April 28, Iran has a glut of its sulfur-rich crude as refineries that can process the fuel shut down for maintenance. The discount on Iranian heavy crude compared with Oman and Dubai petroleum has more than doubled since the start of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“There’s not much demand for heavier crudes such as those from Iran,“ said Anthony Nunan, assistant general manager for risk management at Mitsubishi Corp. in Tokyo. “It’s the peak of the refinery maintenance season in Asia, and Iran also sells oil to Europe and the Mediterranean, where some refineries are having turnarounds,“ or seasonal shutdowns for repairs, he said.
Iran’s use of ships for storage cut the supply of available supertankers, owned by companies including Hamilton, Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd. and Euronav NV, based in Antwerp, Belgium. The number of double-hull very large crude carriers (or VLCCs), available to rent within the next 30 days dropped to 28 from 56 a month ago, according to Paris-based broker Barry Rogliano Salles.
The benchmark tanker rental rate for voyages to Asia from the Middle East is $148,000 a day, compared with $44,300 on April 8, according to prices from the London-based Baltic Exchange and a formula from Oslo-based RS Platou Shipbrokers A/S.
Iran previously stored its Soroush and Norouz heavy crudes in state-owned tankers because the sulfur content made the fuel too difficult for refiners to process.
Previous buyers of the oil include SK Corp., South Korea’s biggest refiner, and Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s biggest company by market value.
Limited domestic processing capacity in Iran requires the country to import about 40 percent of its gasoline because national refineries can’t make enough. Lighter crude with less sulfur is costlier as it yields more profitable products such as gasoline.
Iran typically keeps two or three supertankers on standby to deliver crude, Per Mansson, a tanker broker at Nor Ocean Stockholm AB, said by phone.
“There’s a lack of on-land storage and this enables quick supply“ to buyers in Europe and Asia, he said.
Soroush and Norouz crudes contain about 3.5 percent sulfur. Syria’s Souedieh, at 3.9 percent, is the only grade in the Middle East with more, according to data from New York-based Energy Intelligence Group.
The discount for Iranian heavy crude relative to lighter Omani and Dubai oil is at $3.25 a barrel, compared with $1.49 in December, data on Bloomberg show.
State-owned National Iranian Tanker Co. is also hiring vessels in the single-voyage, or spot, market for contracted shipments for the national oil company. Normally, the shipping line uses its own vessels.

The Eighth International Flora and Ornamental Plants Exhibition will be held in Mahallat, Markazi province, from August 21-25.
Announcing this, Mahallat governor told IRNA that the exhibition aims to introduce the products of the province to domestic and foreign companies, increase exports and establish a proper venue for exchange of information.
“Some 168,000 people participated in last year’s exhibition,“ Khodarahm Kiani said, expressing hope that the number of participants would increase in the upcoming event.
He noted that some 900 hectares have been devoted to cultivation of ornamental plants and growing flowers in Mahallat which exports flowers to all over the worlds, mostly Europe. Experts believe that Iran can turn into one of the leading exporters of flowers in the world provided that necessary infrastructure is available.

Bakhtar Petrochemical Complex has announced that it has invested some $5.9 billion in 12 affiliated plants so far.
The complex’s managing director, Abbas She’ri-Moghaddam said that all 12 complexes as well as the West Ethylene Pipeline (WEP) will become operational within the next three years.
The West Ethylene Pipeline begins in Asalouyeh, Bushehr province and is linked to the petrochemical plants and provinces in western Iran. The aim of the pipeline is to expedite the development of deprived region, he said, according to PIN.
The official recalled that in November 2002, the government decided to establish the West Ethylene Pipeline to transfer ethylene gas from Asalouyeh to the southern and western provinces to compensate for the underdevelopment and to stimulate production in the region.
“Due to the huge amount of water needed by ethylene or ethane producing complexes, the plants have been set up in the southern part of the country near the Persian Gulf,“ he concluded.

Caretaker of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance has said that some banks are responsible for the sharp rise in the price of houses.
Hossein Samsami told reporters that the failure to manage liquidity and market stimulation, created by a number of banks in the housing sector, are the main factors for the hike in prices, reported Fars news agency.
“A strong tax regime can help us support production and combat harmful activities,“ he noted, adding that such a move would stabilize the economy and help boost welfare.
Samsami said that implementation of Article 44 of the Constitution should be seriously pursued.
He called for further discussion on the issue of economic mafia, adding that undoubtedly a number of profit seeking groups are involved in importing certain commodities. “However, I do not have sufficient information on this,“ he noted.
He declared that new bank lending rates will be announced next week. Samsami said earlier that the ministry will adopt new strategies to improve economic indices.

Former Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Larijani said Friday that economic competition is a prerequirement for the establishment of social justice.
“There is no justice in a country where there is no competition for production,“ Larijani said in a pre-sermon address at the Friday prayers in Tehran, reported IRNA.
“There should be competition for generating wealth, not implementation of socialist views. Justice means all should be treated equally before the law and the economic system should be based on ’production and growth’,“ he stated.
From the Islamic viewpoint, a healthy society depends on a healthy economy, Larijani pointed out, adding that Majlis should become a symbol of unity.
Experts say competition gives incentives for self improvement. If two companies are competing for business, they will lower prices and improve quality to increase sales.