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File photo shows famers harvesting tea in farm in the northern Iranian province of Gilan.

Iran has seen the amount of landdedicated to tea farmingexpanded by nearly a half in the past eight years, according to an official from the countrys agriculture ministry who says tea production will increase in Iran in the upcoming years with more government support and investment.

President of the Tea Organization of Iran Habib Jahansaz said on Saturday that tea cultivation area in the country had expanded to 22,000 hectares from around 15,000 hectares reported in 2013.

Jahansaz said that the expansion in tea faming had been made possible through providing cheap loans to farmers in the northern province of Gilan where a bulk of Irans tea production comes from.

He said special funds were earmarked to revive more tea farms in Gilan during a recent trip by President Ebrahim Raeisi to the province.

During his visit, Raeisi hailed the special flavor of the tea produced in Gilan and said that his government is intent on providing more investment to support tea farming and processing facilities in the region.

If someone drinks Gilan tea hell never use another tea variety, said Raeisi in a speech to local officials and entrepreneurs.

Iran produced 31,000 metric tons of tea over the calendar year to March 2021, up 4% against the previous year.

The government spent over $27 million to buy 137,000 tons of tea leaves from farmers in Gilan and elsewhere over the same period.

However, the domestic output is responsible for less than a third of tea demand in Iran as the country continues to rely on shipments from India, Sri Lanka and elsewhere to fill the gap.

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Iran says tea cultivation area expanded by a half in 8 years - Press TV

LAHORE : Iran-Pakistan Tourism Promotion and Investment Opportunities Session was organised by Khana Farhang Iran-Lahore here on Saturday.

The session was held under the supervision of Director General, Khana Farhang Iran-Lahore, Jafar Ronas. Mohammad Reza Nazeri, Consulate General Iran-Lahore, heads and members of motorcyclist clubs of Lahore and members of business community were present.

Addressing the session, Jafar Ronas said: Iran has become one of the most attractive countries for tourism and investors. Trade relations between Pakistan and Iran can be closer than any other country. Iran is still the cheapest country in the world where all basic necessities of life are affordable as compare to other countries and fuel prices are really low, he added.

He said, There are vast bilateral trade and investment opportunities for the two countries and traders of both sides should take advantage of it. I invite the Pakistani businessmen to trade with Iran and we will provide them all facilities.

Iranian Consul General Mohammad Reza Nazeri, Mukarram Tareen, Omar Ch, Brig (retd) Fazal, Mansoor Khan, Saad Mahmood Khan and Bilal Ahmad addressed the session.

At the beginning of this session a warm welcome was given to the bikers who recently returned from Iran after completing their 32-day Pakistan-Iran Friendship Bikers Rally. Sixty-five motorcyclists under the leadership of Mukkaram Tareen, chairperson of Cross-Route

Motorcycle Travellers Club, were welcomed by DG Khana Farhang Iran-Lahore.

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Pak traders invited to invest in Iran - The News International

Canada will not rest until Iran is held accountable for the downing of a passenger jet by Iranian forces two years ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserted on Saturday even as family members of those who died in the crash insist more urgent action is necessary.

I promise you we will always continue fighting for the accountability, transparency and justice you deserve, Trudeau said at a memorial for victims of the tragedy, which saw Irans military fire two missiles against a Ukrainian International Airlines flight on Jan. 8, 2020.

Speaking by video, Trudeau attributed the disaster to recklessness and complete disregard for human life of Iranian officials we cannot allow that to stand.

More than 100 of the 176 people killed in the plane crash had ties to Canada, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

At the partly virtual commemoration in Torontos north end, a group representing family members expressed anger and exasperation at Irans intransigence and the glacial pace of accountability.

Our patience is exhausted. Today is the day when diplomacy ends and justice begins, said Hamed Esmaeilion, who heads the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.

The group is demanding that the case go before the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) a United Nations agency based in Montreal and that the RCMP launch a criminal investigation.

It is also calling for arrest warrants and forma government sanctions against senior Iranian political and military leaders, and for the designation of Irans Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

The regime snubbed another deadline earlier this week set by Canada and its allies to negotiate a settlement for the families.

We keep writing polite letters, one after another, Esmaeilion said of Ottawa.

We will not relent with an empty, shallow apology and political gamesmanship We shall never forget, nor shall we ever forgive.

Titled the open wound in the sky, the Saturday ceremony included speeches by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Toronto Mayor John Tory and three federal cabinet ministers.

The afternoon memorial saw mothers recite victims names, at times tearfully, and included video montages showcasing loved ones, children among them, directly addressing the deceased.

The two-and-a-half- hour event was to be followed by an outdoor vigil.

The federal Conservatives called on the Liberal government to impose sanctions on Iranian officials following a lack of co-operation from the regime.

Those responsible for this attack must be held to account and the Liberal government has a responsibility to assist the victims families in seeking justice, MPs Michael Chong, James Bezan and Melissa Lantsman said in a statement.

Irans refusal to negotiate compensation for the victims makes it clear the Liberal government must use every tool available domestically and internationally.

The Conservatives are also demanding the government launch discussions with the ICAO to limit Irans ability to operate commercial aircraft in international airspace until they agree to abide by international norms in the investigation.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

Flight 752 crash in Iran

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ISTANBUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Turkey ordered gas-fuelled power plants to slash gas use by 40% after Iran cut gas flows to Turkey for up to 10 days due to a technical failure, sector officials said on Thursday, and an industry group warned that production would be hit.

Turkish natural gas distributors were asked to reduce supply to 60% for large consumers except for gas used for heating, the Turkish sector officials said, adding that schools and hospitals will be exempt.

Iran notified Turkey of a 10-day cut to natural gas flows but talks are ongoing to start flows earlier, the officials added.

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Turkey is almost fully dependent on imported gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. Iran alone provided 16% of Turkey's natural gas needs in the first 10 months of 2021, according to the latest official data.

Energy prices have risen sharply in Turkey, driven by global increases and a 44% decline in the lira's value against the dollar last year.

Electricity prices were raised as much as 125% for high-demand commercial users this month and by around 50% for lower-demand households. read more

Natural gas prices jumped 25% for residential use and 50% for industrial use in January, national distributor BOTAS said. The price rise was 15% for power generators.

Istanbul Chamber of Industry Chairman Erdal Bahcivan said industrialists had to shoulder the biggest burden of rising costs in recent months and it was unacceptable that industry should now have to pay a price in terms of supply.

"This decision will hit our exporters' sectors and will cause very serious production and planning stress for our factories," he said in a statement.

"This problem facing our industrialists from the supply front will undoubtedly have a negative impact on productivity, output quality, delivery and many other areas," he added.

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Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen and Daren Butler; Editing by Dominic Evans and Jonathan Spicer

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Turkey orders cuts to gas use as flow halted from Iran - Reuters

DUBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - A verdict in Iran's trial of French tourist Benjamin Briere, jailed for over a year on charges of "spying and acting against the Islamic Republic", could be issued within days, one of his lawyers told Reuters on Thursday.

Briere has been held since May 2020, when he was arrested after flying a helicam - a remote-controlled mini helicopter used to obtain aerial or motion images - in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border. read more

"Probably there will be no other hearing. The verdict most possibly will be issued early next week," said one of Briere's lawyers, Saeid Dehghan.

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A judiciary spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

If convicted, Briere might receive "three months to one year jail sentence for acting against Islamic Republic and between six months to three years for spying charges", the lawyer said.

"The trial was held behind closed doors at branch 4 of the Revolutionary Court in Mashhad city," Dehghan said.

"Because of lack of enough evidences and our strong defence, we hope the judge will consider issuing the minimum sentence."

Briere's trial comes as the United States and other parties to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, including France, try to restore the pact, which was abandoned in 2018 by then-U.S. President Donald Trump.

In recent years, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.

Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests, while Western powers have long demanded that Tehran free their citizens, who they say are political prisoners.

Tehran says such arrests are based on its criminal code and denies holding people for political reasons.

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Writing by Parisa HafeziEditing by Bernadette Baum

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Verdict in Iran's trial of jailed French tourist likely within days - lawyer - Reuters