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TEHRAN, Iran Iran successfully test-fired a sophisticated Russian-made air defense system, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.

The report said the test of the S-300 system came during a recent military exercise named Damvand, the name of Iran's highest mountain.

It said the test targeted various flying objects including missiles. With a range of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) the S-300 is capable of simultaneously tracking and striking multiple targets.

An Iranian military truck carries parts of the S300 missile system during the annual military parade marking the anniversary of the start of Iran's 1980-1988 war with Iraq, on September 21, 2016, in the capital Tehran. Photo Credit: Chavosh Homavandi/AFP via Getty Images State TV aired footage of the missiles launching from the back of trucks. It said the test was carried out in Iran's central desert.

Russia delivered the S-300 system to Iran in 2016, nearly 10 years after the initial contract had been signed. Iran signed the $800 million contract to buy the S-300 missile system in 2007, but Russia suspended their delivery three years later because of strong objections from the United States and Israel.

In 2016 a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers went into practice under which Iran limited its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions.

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Iran tests sophisticated Russian-made air defense system - DefenseNews.com

France is working on plans to issue direct loans to companies that want to invest in Iran, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said in a press conference in Tehran.

We are trying to help these companies, Sapin told reporters at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs in Tehran at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Tayebnia. They wil be able to apply for loans, but its not active yet. We are working on this.

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French companies were among the first to return to Iran after sanctions were eased last year under Tehrans nuclear deal with six world powers, but officials have said financing issues have hobbled some big infrastructure projects. Frances largest banks have been reluctant to do business with the oil-rich country because of remaining U.S. sanctions, and Iran lacks access to major international lenders.

Sapin said he was confident that banking relations between France and Iran would be normalized in due time and said he was seeking clarification from the U.S. government on the extent to which its sanctions will impact French banks working with Iran.

Irans largest state-run and partly state-run banks, Bank Melli and Bank Tejarat, have started brokerage services in France and were working with some French banks, Tayebnia said, declining to name them.

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France Plans Loans for Companies Wanting to Invest in Iran - Bloomberg

Iran's economic growth for three quarters of the current fiscal year (March 20-Dec. 20, 2016) stood at 7.2%, according to First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri. As reported by Mehr News Agency, Jahangiri put the growth rate for the period without taking oil production into account at 5%. The details of Iran's GDP growth as per each economic sector have yet to be released by relevant government bodies, namely the Central Bank of Iran and the Statistical Center of Iran. Irans economy emerged from recession in 2014 with a 3% growth. The rebound followed two years of recession when the economy contracted 5.8% and 1.9% back to back, according to the Central Bank of Iran. Last year's (ended March 2016) growth was put at 0.9% by the Statistical Center of Iran. Prior to Jahangiri's Saturday remarks, the latest statistics on Iran's economic growth pertained to the first half of the fiscal year (Q1 and Q2). The growth over the six months to September 20 stood at 7.4%. The figures for spring and summer were 5.4% and 9.2% respectively. The GDP growth, excluding oil sector, amounted to 0.9%. The figure for Q1 stood at -0.9%, while Q2 growth without oil amounted to 2.6%. The oil sector registered the highest increase in GDP in the period with a growth of 61.3%. A 55.4% and 67.2% growth was reached in the first and second quarters respectively. Other sectors posting growth in H1 include the agriculture and services, registering a 4.8% growth each. Both experienced a 4.2% growth in spring and 5% in summer. The two sectors of 'industry' and 'electricity, gas and water' recorded a 4.6% growth each2.9% for Q1 and 6.2% for Q2. The construction sector showed the biggest contraction during the sixmonth period, experiencing a -13% growth, with -25.6% for spring and -2.6% for summer. The mining sector registered a -7.3% growth with the first and second quarters registering -9.4% and -5.4% respectively. The recent economic growth in Iran owes greatly to the removal of sanctions against the country, especially against its oil sector, as part of the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers in 2015, which opened up Iran's economy to the world. In exchange for the sanctions removal, Iran agreed to scale back the scope of its nuclear program. According to government data, Iran is now pumping more than 3.9 million bpd of crude oil and condensates, and the output is expected to reach the 4-mbpd mark in April, the level it used to ship before the tightening of sanctions. Oil exports stand at around 2.8 million bpd. Production peaked at 4.2 million bpd for a short spell before the international sanctions were tightened against Tehran in 2011 and 2012. Iran is now the third-largest OPEC producer behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq, which pump around 10 million bpd and 4.5 million bpd respectively. The International Monetary Fund has projected in its latest report that Irans economic growth will stabilize at 4.5% over the mid-term, as the countrys recovery broadens. Real GDP growth is expected to reach 6.6% in 2016/17 and to ease to 3.3% in 2017/18, as oil production remains close to the OPEC target, according to the report.

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Iran's GDP Growth at 7.2% - Financial Tribune

WASHINGTON

Fresh from an unprecedented performance in Israel, exiled Iranian rock musician Shahin Najafi says he will not allow his Iranian detractors' death threats to scare him away from collaborating with Israeli artists in the name of peace.

Najafi, 36, sang alongside Israeli rock star Aviv Geffen at a concert in Tel Aviv on Thursday the first performance by an Iranian artist at an Israeli rock concert.

Iran and Israel have endured decades of hostility, with Iranian leaders threatening to destroy the Jewish state and Israeli leaders refusing to rule out using force against an Iranian nuclear program they see as designed to make nuclear weapons.

Threatened with imprisonment

Najafi, born in the northern Iranian province of Gilan, fled Iran in 2004 under threat of imprisonment by Iranian authorities for creating songs deemed offensive to Islam. After Najafi settled in Germany, an Iranian cleric labeled him an apostate and an Iranian Islamist website offered a $100,000 bounty to anyone who would kill him.

Undeterred by Iranian threats, Najafi met with Geffen in Milan late last year and accepted an invitation to perform in Tel Aviv and reach out to Israelis through his art.

Exiled Iranian rock musician Shahin Najafi, right, sang alongside Israeli rock star Aviv Geffen, left, at a concert in Tel Aviv -- the first performance by an Iranian artist at an Israeli rock concert -- on March 2, 2017.

Show of bravery

In an interview with VOA Persian on Friday by telephone from Tel Aviv, Najafi said he might face more death threats for appearing in Israel, but added, "I'm willing to die for peace."

Najafi also praised Geffen for enabling his visit and said he would love to partner with the Israeli again to promote the cause of world peace.

At Thursday's concert, Najafi read a message he addressed to U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "all politicians," expressing opposition to "walls" anywhere in the world and urging national leaders to "stop dividing people before it's too late."

Trump has pledged to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico to stop the entry of undocumented migrants, some of whom he says bring drugs and crime. Netanyahu has fortified Israel's boundaries with walls and fences to block infiltrations of African migrants through Egypt and to keep out Palestinian and other anti-Israel militants. Netanyahu and Trump also have pledged to boost cooperation in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons something Tehran denies seeking.

Exiled Iranian rock musician Shahin Najafi, right, sang alongside Israeli rock star Aviv Geffen, left, at a concert in Tel Aviv -- the first performance by an Iranian artist at an Israeli rock concert -- on March 2, 2017.

Neither the Israeli nor the Iranian government has commented on Najafi's Tel Aviv show.

'Wrong information'

In his interview, Najafi accused Tehran of feeding Iranians like himself "wrong information" about Israelis. "For those of us born after Iran's [1979 Islamic] Revolution, we were brainwashed with propaganda," he said. "Here in Israel, I got such a good vibe from the crowd that, for a moment, I thought I was back in Iran."

Najafi also criticized the boycotting of Israel by Western pop stars angry with its treatment of the Palestinians. "Unlike [former Pink Floyd band member] Roger Waters, I'm not going to stay in the U.S. and boycott the people I come to Israel and sing for the people to make a statement in the heart of the place where I see a problem."

Many of the Iranian singer-songwriter's Iranian fans welcomed his gesture with supportive messages on his Facebook page. But there was some social media criticism, too, including from an Iranian woman who posted a message on an Iranian communist website and shared it on Facebook. Asal Akhavan accused Najafi and Geffen of lying about supporting peace between Israel and the Palestinians and said the joint concert's real intention was to oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

WATCH: Israeli Rocker Geffen Discusses Meeting, Collaborating With Iran's Najafi

'Break this iron wall'

In a separate interview with VOA Persian via Skype on Friday, Geffen, 43, expressed admiration for Najafi as "brave" for coming to Israel to perform and speak out against Trump and Netanyahu.

Geffen is a longtime left-wing critic of the Israeli prime minister and more recently of Trump. "I'm trying to break this iron wall between Iran and Israel, because Netanyahu just can't do it," he said. "I want to make it clear that we [Iranians and Israelis] can talk and want to live side by side."

The Israeli singer-songwriter said the smiling faces and sustained applause by the 7,000 concertgoers showed that he and Najafi had succeeded in changing attitudes.

More performances

Geffen said he planned to invite Najafi to participate in some of his overseas shows and would like to get other artists to join them on tour in New York or London. "For me [this week's concert] is only the start," he said. "I'm willing to go with Shahin all over the world to spread the message that we can achieve a real peace between the nations."

Behrooz Samadbeygi of VOA's Persian service contributed to this report.

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Iranian Rock Artist Defies Threats, Performs in Israeli Peace Concert - Voice of America

The government has earmarked $100 million to combat dust storms in the next fiscal year that begins on March 21. The money, which will be supplied from the National Development Fund of Iran, will be used to implement key projects such as reforestation, mulching and revival of wetlands and rivers that have become major hotspots for sand and dust storms, also known as SDS. The news comes on the heels of recent reports that the embattled Khuzestan Province in southwest Iran is besieged by intense dust storms that have disrupted life in the oil-rich province. Dust storm hotspots cover around 300,000 hectares of Khuzestan, while Deputy Agriculture Minister Abdolmehdi Bakhshandeh said some 700,000 hectares have the potential to become hotspots, ISNA reported. He said 345,000 hectares have been prioritized for reforestation projects. About 43,000 hectares are believed to be in a supercritical condition, he said. Bakhshandeh noted that a comprehensive plan outlining measures to be implemented across 700,000 hectares of potential hotspots will be presented to the government in three months. In the past month, storms knocked out power grids in many cities and forced the closure of schools and public offices, and filled emergency rooms with young and old suffering from breathing difficulties. While the budget of $100 million is about a quarter of what experts say is needed to effectively tackle dust storms sourced in Iran, what worries environmentalists is that the administration of President Hassan Rouhani might not be able to come up with the money. Environmental projects rarely receive all the budget they are promised. Even publicized restoration programs such as that of Urmia Lake in the northwest do not get the funding they need. Nevertheless, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, a vice president and head of the Management and Planning Organization, promised last week that the government will supply the budget to the last dime. Although about 75% of dust storm emissions worldwide come from natural (as opposed to manmade) sources, the vast majority of hotspots that contribute to SDS in Iran and the Middle East at large are caused by human activities. Turkeys rampant dam construction since the 1970s has significantly cut water flow to Iraq and Syria, leading to the desiccation of key rivers and marshlands. To make matters worse, the internal conflict in Syria and Iraqs battle with the terrorist group Daesh (aka the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group) have knocked out environmental issues in these countries from the list of priorities. In Khuzestan, local land degradation driven by unsustainable development has led to large swathes of the province becoming major contributors to dust storms. Outdated oil extraction methods and failure to uphold the water rights of wetlands have led to the drying up of major rivers and marshlands in the province. Mohammad Darvish, an official at the Department of Environment, believes blaming Khuzestans predicament on sources of SDS in neighboring countries is an excuse. The province has been grappling with dust storms regularly for the past 15 years, but theyve only become frequent and intense in the past three years, thanks to local sources created by us, he said.

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$100m for Combating Dust Storms in Iran - Financial Tribune