Page 56 - IRANRptJul22

Director general of Iran’s Chabahar Free Zone reported as arrested for “major offences”
The director general of Iran's Chabahar Free Zone, an economic development project in the southeast of the country centred on the sole Iranian oceanic port, has been arrested for "major offences", state news agency IRNA reported on January 23.
Abdorahim Kordi was placed in custody by the prosecutor in Sistan-Baluchistan province, according to a cited statement from the intelligence branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Details on the allegations made against Kordi were not provided.
Kordi was made director general of the free trade zone in 2016.
Chabahar port, located on the Gulf of Oman about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Pakistan, enables ships to avoid the busy Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for shipping moving in and out of the Persian Gulf.
By 2015, about 2,000 companies had a presence in the zone, AFP said. Half were said to be from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Gulf, while 30% were from China and other Asian countries. The remaining 20% were from the West. When the US reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran in 2018, Chabahar port was the only Iranian port that was granted an exemption from the sanctions given its importance to developing the economy of landlocked Afghanistan. Iran is jointly developing the port with India, which lies directly across the Indian Ocean from Chabahar.
9.1.5 Tourism sector news
Tehran’s mayor outlines ambitions for several 5-to-7-star hotels
Iran set to resume issuing tourist visas in late October
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani has proposed that several 5-to-7-star hotels should be built on parklands around the capital city in an attempt to secure an upgrade on ageing hotel infrastructure, local English magazine Living in Tehran reported on February 13.
Prior to the reintroduction of heavy sanctions on Iran by the US around four years ago, several big international hotel brands including Ibis and Novotel established a presence in Iran. Like other foreign investors, they pulled out of the country, fearing secondary sanctions threatened by the former Trump administration.
"We are planning to build hotels that are 5-to-7-star in several Tehran parkland locations," Zakani said, following a meeting of the city municipality. Financial backing for the project could be awarded by state authorities following the altering of a legislative clause that presently forbade the city government from entering into developments with a large footprint, he added.
After foreign brands departed Iran under US pressure, many newly constructed hotels across the country were left to operate under local brands, without any foreign oversight. This was the case with two airport hotels originally due to come under the Ibis Group. In recent months, they have been slated for staff unprofessionalism on Trip Advisor.
Iranians and expatriates from 2016-2018 invested in renovating hundreds of historic buildings to create guesthouses in cities including Tehran, Kashan and Shiraz. Such investments have been hit by poor trade in recent years, partly due to the effect Washington’s renewed hostility to Iran had on international tourism in the country and partly due to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Many of the guesthouses were mothballed.
Iran resumes issuing tourist visas, Iran’s Minister for Tourism and Cultural Heritage Ezatollah Zarghami announced, according to Mehr News. Tourism to Iran has all but come to a halt given the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that started early last year, with tourism visas issued to
56 IRAN Country Report July 2022 www.intellinews.com