Iran is a unique country in the field of huge reserves not just of oil and gas but many minerals and ores. Thus, it is one of the third rich countries in this regard and that's is why it is called the paradise of mines.
7% of the entire world minerals amounting to 40 billion tons are in Iran. In view of this, Iran stands among the top 10 countries in the world. Yet, experts are of the opinion that only 20% of Iran's mines have been discovered so far. From among 68 minerals in Iran, mention can be made of copper, zinc, gold, coal, and iron ore. After the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the trend of discovery and extraction of minerals have accelerated. 5873 out of 8840 mines discovered in the country are active. The substances taken from these mines are exported after meeting the domestic needs. Last year, the value of exported minerals was more than $2 billion. Iran, with over 2 billion tons of copper reserves, holds 4% of this mineral in the world. The largest copper mine in Iran is situated in Kerman province in the south of the country. Moreover, the Golgohar iron ore mine in in Kerman province is the largest iron mine in West Asia with 220 million tons of definite reserves. Anguran mine in Zanjan province, west of the country, holding 9 million tons of lead reserves, is the largest one in West Asia. Zarshuran mine in northwest of Iran, with 150 thousand tons of gold reserves, has increased the country's ingot production to 5.5 tons annually.
The old and famous Neishabur turquoise mine in northeastern Iran is the largest turquoise mine in the world. The product of this mine is so high in quality that acts as a yardstick for other types of turquoise.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a vast country; so, it needs a broad transportation system. Before the Islamic Revolution, the roads of the country reached 46 thousand kilometers connecting mainly large cities together. But, after the victory of the Islamic revolution, road construction was totally developed. Now the length of roads between cities amounts to more than 210 thousand kilometers which have improved both in terms of quality and safety. Approximately, 18 thousand kilometers of these roads are expressways and highways. The point to note is that the number of cars and vehicles has dramatically increased in comparison with the pre-revolution period. In other words, there are more than 16 million cars moving on the roads across the country while the figure was 1.2 million cars before the revolution. The number of buses in the country is 16 thousand which transfer travelers to and from their destinations. There are 360 thousand trucks and other transportation cars which transfer 550 million tons of loads to the cities and villages. Iran shares land borders with 7 countries. This requires to have safe and suitable roads and active and equipped border terminals for transportation. Currently, many trucks transport goods to the neighboring countries and bring their goods to the country.
Railway is one of the safest routes for transportation of loads and travelers. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, railways have more than doubled and reached 11 thousand kilometers. In view of this, locomotives, wagons and rails have been renewed and secured. Many of these locomotives and wagons are manufactured by Iranian engineers and workers. Last year, transported nearly 25 million travelers and 47 million tons of loads. Furthermore, the Islamic Republic of Iran has 5800 kilometers of sea borders in the north and south of the country granting it a high privilege for the export and import of commodities via maritime routes. This shows the status of ports. In Shah's regime, the port cities had a capacity of just 10 million tons which were mainly used for importing of commodities from western countries. Today, however, there are many port cities on the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf and he Sea of Oman which work with a capacity of nearly 220 million tons of transportation annually which is 22 times more than the figure in Pahlavi period. In 2017, 24 million people traveled by different vessels from Iranian ports. Presently, Iran has a huge fleet of ships and frigates and 125 thousand captains who have valid licenses for transferring travelers and goods. As for aerial transportation, Iran has 57 airports, none of which are international. 266 airplanes transport 34 million passengers annually; while, this number was just 25 airplanes. Unfortunately, the Islamic Republic has been under tough sanctions by western governments which refuse to sell planes to Iran. Thus, Iranian specialists embarked on the job and made small military aircrafts and they have planned to make the first indigenous airplane within five years with God's help.
Iran enjoys a great number of ancient monuments due to its very old history. Hence, it is among top 10 countries in this field. Plus, the beautiful and diverse nature of the country has turned the country into a very attractive destination for tourists and nature travelers. To this one should add the existence of religious and sacred places which make Iran as a haven of religious and faithful people from all over the world. therefore, more than 5 million foreign tourists and pilgrims travel to Iran every year to visit Iran's arresting places and monuments. This shows a 10 times increase compared with the pre-revolution period. Efforts have been made to provide the necessary infrastructures for improvement of this industry so that the number of hotels has more than quadrupled and got to 1200.
One of the benefits of foreign tourists and travelers coming to Iran is that they get closely familiar with the progresses, beauties, security and hospitable people in Iran and foil the ploys of the western media and politicians who try to demonize Iran and portray it as a backward, insecure and cultureless nation. Besides, the high number of health tourists indicates that the Islamic Republic is a successful and advanced country in various medical fields.
All these progresses have been made in spite of the fact that the enemies, especially the US, have done their best to strike the Islamic Republic and put the people in bottleneck. In view of this, Ayatollah Khamenei raised the issue of "Resistance Economy" to thwart the enemies' plans. The Leader said on the features of Resistance Economy, "A resistant economy should be resistant in its internal structure; should be able to stand and not to become turbulent with various changes here in there in the world."
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