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hailed from Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Iran. Iranians made up 5.4% of the visitors in the first quarter of 2018.
Qatar and Oman, two Persian Gulf states that remain on friendly terms with Tehran, have announced that they will grant visas-on-arrival to Iranian citizens as of May 21, travel website Aviation Iran has reported. When voted into office back in 2014, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced he would make efforts to end the lowly status of the Iranian passport; however to date only a handful of countries have relaxed visa requirements for Iranian travellers. The lack of progress is unsurprising given the hostile approach adopted towards Iran by the Trump administration.
The announcement of the relaxed Qatari and Omani visa rules for Iranians was announced by Air Arabia in a press circular sent to Iranian news agencies. The airline connects Tehran to Oman via Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, which has set strict controls on Iranian travellers.
9.1.8 Metallurgy & mining sector news
Iran is on track to launch a new aluminium smelter early next year that would boost the country’s output by 70%, Mehdi Karbasian, deputy minister of industry, mining and trade, reportedly told the CRU Aluminium conference in London on April 24. Such a gain in aluminium production would make the Islamic Republic self-sufficient in the metal by taking advantage of rich natural gas reserves, Reuters reported. The South Aluminium Corp (Salco) smelter, a $1.2bn facility designed to produce 300,000 tonnes/yr in its first phase, is being built the Lamerd special economic zone in southern Iran near the Persian Gulf, where a deep water port is also being constructed. While Iran currently produces slightly over 400,000 tonnes/yr of aluminium at two plants, consumption is around 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes/yr, Amir Mirchi, managing director of Canadian consultancy Auryce, which is advising Salco, told the news agency.
9.1.9 Renewable energy sector news
The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, predicts energy consumption in Iran will increase by 30% by 2040, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported on April 28. Iran has diversified its mix of energy generation suppliers in recent years. They now include nuclear, solar, gas and hydroelectric dam operators. Solar energy accounts for an increasingly large part of the country’s power production, with Iran highly suitable for solar ventures as it enjoys more than 320 sunny days per year on average. Moving onto the benefits of developing Iran’s oldest nuclear power plant partially built before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Salehi observed that the facility produces 1,000 megawatts of power annually. He added that the nuclear share of the power generation mix currently stands at 1.3% of capacity and 2.3% of power generation. Salehi also noted that it would take 45mn barrels of crude oil to generate this amount of power.
36 IRAN Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com