Iran Says Domestic Production Rising Despite US Sanctions

Iranian Industry Minister Reza Rahmani said that despite US efforts to cripple Tehran’s economy, year-on-year comparison shows that the country’s domestic production has increased in the first quarter of the local calendar year (March 21-June 21).

“US sanctions were imposed to hamper production in Iran, however, we are proud to announce that after 14 months of sanctions the area has grown one percent in the first three months of the present Iranian year (started on March 21) in comparison with the corresponding period in last year," Rahmani said on Sunday in Iran’s Northeastern province of North Khorasan.

"We did not let production decrease and that is a victory despite the difficulties we had under sanctions," he added.

The minister underlined that the government seeks to increase exports under the current conditions and called for providing the ground for investors.

Heading a delegation, the Iranian President paid a one-day visit to North Khorasan in line with the government’s provincial tours and inaugurated a number of projects in the Northeastern province.

Echoing a similar sense of economic progress, earlier on Sunday, Director General of Port and Maritime Organization of Hormuzgan province Allah Morad Afifipour announced that Iran’s first quarter non-oil exports from the Southern port of Shahid Rajaei have increased by 10 percent compared with corresponding period in the last year.

An increasing trend has been reported from other Iranian customs gates for the same 3-month period.

Also, on Sunday, Head of Markazi Customs Administration Esmaeil Hosseini said that more than 225 million worth of non-oil commodities have been exported from the central Iranian province of Markazi in the first three months of the current local calendar year, which shows a year-on-year increase by 4%.

More than 381,479 tons of non-oil commodities have been exported from Markazi province in the 3-month period, Hosseini said.

He added that the figures show a 4% growth in terms of value and a 12% decline in terms of tonnage compared with the similar period in last year.

On Saturday, the Customs Department in Iran’s Southeastern port city of Chabahar announced that the office has witnessed a 38% rise in its collections in the first 3 months of the current local calendar year, compared with the corresponding period in 2018.