Page 50 - IRANRptJun19

the US market, but they have also found it increasingly challenging to continue with their Iranian operations.
Firms like Chery , which invested in a multimillion-dollar factory in the Bam Special Economic Zone—a tax-free industrial zone in the south of Iran—have struggled to repatriate revenue from Iran due to closures that keep hitting Iranian bank accounts in China.
Amid the negative outlook for Iranian carmakers, there are now rumours that some of them are now actively discussing future cooperation with partners from India. However, no Indian carmaker has been named in Iranian reporting on this matter.
9.2.3 Transport corporate news
Private Iranian carrier Mahan Air, accused by US and allies of transporting military equipment to Middle East war zones, on April 8 launched a direct flight to Venezuela.
Iran, like Venezuela subject to US sanctions, is among countries that have voiced support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who is under pressure from the Trump administration to step down. Russia, China, and Turkey have also backed Maduro.
Facing heat from the US, France and Germany banned Mahan Air’s flights earlier this year, citing allegations that it transported military equipment and personnel to Syria and other regional war zones.
Iran’s IRIB news agency quoted Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh as saying that the Venezuela route was launched in the early hours, and that the plane was carrying foreign ministry officials to Caracas, along with a Mahan Air delegation that would discuss maintaining regular flights between Tehran and Caracas. The non-stop Tehran-Caracas flight was scheduled to take 16 hours.
Mahan Air was established in 1992 as Iran’s first private airline. It boasts the country’s largest fleet of aircraft.
Tehran Urban and Suburban Railway Co. has announced the partial opening of its newest line in the Iranian capital.
The Tehran Metro carries more than 3mn people a day in and around the city of 12mn people, with around 1bn trips made daily on the 221-kilometre (137-mile) network. The metro owners are looking to double the size of the network in the next decade to reach all parts of the metropolis and surrounding major population centres.
The first section of the delayed Line 6 has opened with three stations in the southeast of Tehran, connecting busy commercial areas including Shohada Square, Dolatabad and Besat.
Ultimately the line will connect the ancient city of Rey to the upper-class area of Sa’adatabad in the northwest of Tehran.
The plan is to launch another 15 stations on Line 6 by the end of the 2019/2020 Persian year next March, company officials said on April 7.
Despite progress in delivering the new metro lines and Chinese carriages , the city-owned company that operates the metro service has been criticised for premature station openings and a lax attitude to health and safety. The citywide network has also been hit by several delays caused by subcontractors not being paid for months. The Line 6 rollout has experienced such problems. Due to the fixed cost of ticket prices, the metro service likely struggles to make a profit due to the decline of the Iranian rial (IRR) against the US dollar by some 70% in the past year. According to the previous Persian year pricing
50 IRAN Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com