WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 16 Pages Price 10,000 Rials 38th year No.12841 Monday MMAYAY 2299 , 22017017 Khordad 8, 1396 Ramadan 3, 1438 Tehran to host 16th Intl. Wetlands restoration Iran win Asian Javad Bakhtiari hopes Iran’s Gas Union Research law declared Bodybuilding diplomats mimic Korean Conference in 2020 4 12 Championships 15 envoy’s artistic lead 16 China ready to fill U.S. vacuum Qatar leans toward Iran, in global trade By Fatemeh Mohammadipour The Trump administration TEHRAN — Professor Simon Reich withdrew from the Trans-Pacific of Rutgers University is of the opinion Agreement and it has adopted a further irking UAE, S.Arabia that China is ready to move in to fill the protectionist trade policy. How can U.S. gap in global trade as China is the it affect Asia? greatest beneficiary the current global A: There is little doubt that the free trade system. decision of the Trump administration In an interview with the Tehran to withdraw from the Trans-Pacif- See page 2 Times, Reich says, “China’s leader- ic Agreement marks a watershed in ship has already signaled its will- American policy. A central component ingness to fill any void in terms of of what former President Obama de- free-trade leadership vacated by the scribed as the ‘Washington Playbook’ United States.” has included a commitment to global What follows is the text of the in- free trade for the last six decades – terview: including in Asia. 13 Non-oil GDP growth at 4.6% in autumn: CBI ECONOMY TEHRAN — The lat- quidity grew by 16.5 percent, the re- deskest report released port added. by the Central Bank of Iran shows According to the latest report pub- the country’s non-oil gross domestic lished by the International Monetary Fund product grew by 4.6 percent during (IMF) in mid-May, Regional Economic the autumn last year. Outlook, Iran is expected to see non-oil According to the report, GDP growth, growth accelerate from ¾ percent in 2016 including the oil sector, hit 15.7 percent. to almost 3½ percent in 2017. Government revenue amounted to Also, the World Bank, in its January 295.6 trillion rials (about $7.946 billion) report titled Global Economic Pros- in the said time span. pects, forecasted a 5.2 percent GDP Moreover, the country’s foreign growth for Iran in 2017. debts stood at $7.84 billion, its current The report put the country’s GDP account balance was $11.915 billion, growth at 4.6 percent in 2016, while it and trade balance was $16.036 billion. predicted 4.8 percent and 4.5 percent In the last month of autumn (No- growth for the country in 2018 and vember 21- December 20, 2016) li- 2019, respectively. Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (L), and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani emphasize stronger ties in phone call on May 27, 2017. Iran to hold Saudi Arabia not ready to engage with Iran: former diplomat Syria forces make tender for new advances POLITICS TEHRAN — Former Ira- said, adding that Iran is supporting the Assad Iran is supporting a “power-sharing” system Azadegan project desknian nuclear negotiator government which is the legal government in in Syria “so that Sunnis, Alawites, Kurds and against ISIL Seyed Hossein Mousavian has said that un- Syria in order to fight the terrorists. Christians” could take part in a UN-supervised “within days” like some regional countries such as Kuwait, The former diplomat further said Iran is pres- general election to determine their fate. Syria’s military and allied fighters have Oman and Qatar, Saudi Arabia is not ready ent in Syria upon request by the central govern- Elsewhere in his remarks, Mousavian made new advances against the ISIL Iran will hold a much-awaited tender over to engage with Iran. In an interview with Al ment in order to help the Syrian nation take their pointed to the chaos in Libya, saying NATO, (Daesh) Takfiri terrorist group and oth- the development of a lucrative oil project Jazeera, Mousavian said the Saudis prefer to land back from the foreign-backed terrorists. Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and the GCC attacked er militants in the country’s strategic in its southwestern province of Khuzestan. ally themselves with Israel rather than Iran, “The reason too many Syrian people the country and overthrew the dictator, how- southern desert. Ali Kardor, the managing director adding that Riyadh has expanded coopera- have been killed is not because of Assad, it’s ever they did not think who was going to rule Various sources, including opposition of the National Iranian Oil Company tion with Tel Aviv in order to challenge Iran. because the other countries recruited tens Libya and this caused the country to become media channels, confirmed that the gov- (NIOC), told the domestic media that a He also said that Saudi Arabia and its allies of thousands of terrorists from all over the a failed state. ernment and allied troops had secured tender over the development of Azade- are pouring terrorists – by the tens of thou- world,” he noted. He said certain Arab and Western coun- a large territory in the Syrian Desert. gan oilfield would be held before Friday. sands – into Syria in order to overthrow the Referring to some Arab countries in the re- tries are blaming Iran for the situation in Syr- They said the region covered some key Kardor added that invitation letters legal government in Damascus. gion, Mousavian said they are pouring terror- ia, if it is so then why they are not able to areas that used to be under the control would be sent out to 29 international 60 percent of Syria is in the hands of ter- ists into Syria to bring a regime collapse in Syria silence the guns in Libya where neither Iran of Daesh and other militant groups that companies to submit their proposals. rorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda, he and to put terrorists in power in Damascus. nor Russia are intervening in. enjoy support from the West. He emphasized that only compa- The Syrian Central Military media said nies had been invited that were pres- 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) in the desert ent in Iran’s list of eligible companies. G7 talks: Trump isolated over Paris climate change deal area were secured in the multi-pronged The official added that the compa- operation, which began more than two nies included Shell, Total, CNPC, Lukoil, Leaders of the G7 group of rich nations bers of his inner circle that the U.S. will with- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said weeks ago. The gains restore the gov- Pertamina, OMV, etc. have failed to agree a statement on climate draw from the Paris agreement. the discussion on climate change had been ernment’s control over mineral and oil “Tender documents would be sent change. This is Trump’s first G7 summit - during his “very unsatisfactory”, adding “we have a situ- resources, including the key phosphate to any of those companies that voices Six world leaders reaffirmed their com- first foreign trip. ation of six against one”. mines in Khneifes, a major source of rev- interest in Azadegan,” said Kardor. mitment to the Paris accord, the world’s G7 leaders from the U.S., Britain, Cana- Trump tweeted: “I will make my final deci- enue for Daesh. Other sources said Syr- Iran discovered Azadegan oil field in first comprehensive deal aimed at reducing da, France, Germany, Italy and Japan have sion on the Paris Accord next week!” ian forces also recaptured al-Ilianiya, an 1999 in what was the country’s biggest greenhouse emissions. agreed a statement on fighting terrorism. His economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said area controlled by U.S.-backed militants oil find in decades. The country accord- However, the U.S has refused to recommit The final communique issued at the G7 Trump “came here to learn. He came here to near the border with Jordan. The Brit- ingly teamed up with Inpex to push the to the agreement, saying it will make a deci- summit in Italy said the U.S. “is in the process of get smart. His views are evolving... exactly as ain-based Syrian Observatory for Hu- project toward development. However, sion next week. reviewing its policies on climate change and on they should be.” man Rights, which advocates Syria’s op- the Japanese company later quit the Trump, who once dismissed global warm- the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a posi- UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, position, said Syrian forces had secured project in what appeared to be the result ing as a “hoax”, has previously threatened to tion to join the consensus on these topics”. who is also in Sicily for the meeting, told the a total of 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) of U.S. sanctions against Iran. pull out of the accord. However, the other G7 leaders pledged to BBC earlier that the accord would survive re- in the desert since the offensive began The NIOC later divided the project The Axios news site, quoting three sourc- “reaffirm their strong commitment to swiftly gardless of Trump’s position. earlier this month. (Source: BBC) into South Azadegan and North Aza- es, later reported that Trump had told mem- implement the Paris Agreement”. Syrian government forces secure a degan and both were awarded to Chi- road for a military convoy in the desert na’s CNPC.