Russia has become the largest foreign investor in Iran, according to an Iranian deputy finance minister who says the country has attracted a significant amount of foreign investment in the past 15 months despite US sanctions that ban countries and entities from engaging in business activity in Iran.
Ali Fekri, who leads the Organization for Investment & Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, said the Russians had brought some $2.7 billion worth of investment to two petroleum projects in Iran in the past 15 months.
The figure accounts for some 45% of the total foreign investment attracted by Iran over the period, said Fekri.
The official added, however, that Iran was not happy with the amount of investment committed by China for economic and energy projects in Iran in the 15 months to the end of 2022.
“China has invested nearly $185 million in Iran over that period which we are not happy with given the amount of negotiations and meetings we had,” he said.
Fekri said Iran had set a target of $10.2 billion in direct foreign investment for the 15 months to December last year of which some $5.95 billion had entered the country.
He said the figure was much higher than investments that had been attracted by Iran in years that followed the signing of a nuclear agreement between the country and world powers in 2015.
The rise in foreign investment in Iran comes as the country is still under an American regime of sanctions that has banned any investment in Iranian economic and energy projects since 2018.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/01/28/697147/Iran-foreign-investment-Russia-figures
China has suspended several 2025 export controls on strategic materials — including rare earths, superhard materials, and lithium batteries – for a year. Is this a concession to the US, or a move in a far more complex game?
"The first aim of China’s export controls was to consolidate its leverage in negotiations. The second was to establish a long-term framework for managing such controls," says Yana Leksyutina, deputy director at the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Сhina could activate this mechanism at any moment, and now everyone knows it’s a lever it holds, she explains to Sputnik.
Balancing the Mineral Market
"The moratorium on export bans to the US essentially resets the rare earth market to where it was previously," Jeff J. Brown, author of 'The China Trilogy' and founder of Seek Truth From Facts Foundation, tells Sputnik.
In the meantime, there will be a global rush by the US and its NATO allies to acquire as many rare earth ...
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The impact of the ongoing federal shutdown on the US economy is far worse than expected because it is lasting much longer than anticipated, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on Friday.
"The impact on the economy is far worse than we expected, because it's gone on for so long," Hassett told Fox Business. "I think we were thinking that we could have at least 3% [GDP] growth in the fourth quarter. I think now we're expecting something like half that because of the harm [caused] by the Democrats' policy.".......more here
https://sputnikglobe.com/20251107/federal-shutdown-hitting-us-economy-harder-than-expected--white-house-1123074810.html
Dozens of Palestinians, foreign activists, and journalists have been wounded as Israeli army-backed settlers carried out coordinated assaults across the occupied West Bank.
The attacks took place on Saturday, with the biggest number of the casualties, namely 17 people, being caused after settlers raided the outskirts of the Abu Falah village, northeast of the city of Ramallah, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. Those injured included foreign activists.
According to the agency, settlers also torched a home, while Israeli forces attacked the area, targeting the residents, who had gathered near the scene. The latter incident, though, did not lead to any casualties.
In another wave of violence, settlers launched attacks on Palestinian farmers, journalists, and foreign activists participating in the annual olive harvest across several towns, leaving many with fractures and bruises.
The attacks were most severe in Beita, south of Nablus, where settlers descended from nearby outposts and ambushed ...
