WWW.TEHRANTIMES.COM I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y 12 Pages Price 40,000 Rials 1.00 EURO 4.00 AED 39th year No.13600 Sunday FEBRUARY 9, 2020 Bahman 20, 1398 Jumada Al thani 14, 1441 Europe must ensure Mahathir says Trump’s Saeid Mollaei held Critics’ remarks draw ire Iran benefits from Middle East plan hostage by IJF: of protest film “Exodus” nuclear deal 2 unacceptable 10 Salehi Amiri 11 director Hatamikia 12 Steel products output rises 97% in 10 months on year TEHRAN — Iran’s major steel compa- Also as reported, with 6.84 million tons Iran must become nies produced over 11.27 million tons of of output, Mobarakeh Steel Company, the steel products during the 10-month period largest steel producer in Iran, accounted from March 21, 2019 to January 20, 2020, for the biggest share of the country’s steel registering a 97-percent growth from the production in the mentioned 10-month figure for the same period in the previous period, followed by Iran National Steel powerful to prevent war year, IRNA reported on Saturday. Industrial Group. See page 2 The country’s steel products output Iran’s major steel producers produced hit 1.146 million tons in the tenth Iranian over 17.08 million tons of steel ingots in the calendar month of Dey (December 22, said 10 months, five-percent more than the 2019-January 20, 2020). figure for the same period last year. 4 Families lost members in terror fight to sue U.S. leaders TEHRAN — A number of Iranian families ed to America’s role in establishing and who have lost loved ones in the fight against training terrorists and providing them terrorists in Iraq and Syria have lodged com- with weapons,” Sakhaei told a press con- plaints against the current and former U.S. ference, the Mehr news agency reported. officials for creating the ISIL terrorist group, “We have litigated against all the U.S. a lawyer representing the General Soleimani presidents who have had a role in terrorism, case announced on Saturday. and against arms manufacturers. We will Maryam Sakhaei said a 400-page first follow the case in a domestic court litigation has been handed over to the before bringing it before an international Judiciary in this regard. “We have point- one,” she explained. 2 Syrian army clears mines, explosives in strategic northwestern city of Saraqib Syrian government forces have complet- defused mines and improvised explosive ed clearing mines and explosives in the devices in the city, situated 15 kilometers strategic crossroads city of Saraqib in the (9.3 miles) east of Idlib city, and efforts country’s embattled northwestern prov- are underway to return it to normal life. ince of Idlib, as they continue to tighten The so-called Syrian Observatory for the noose around foreign-backed Takfiri Human Rights said in a report, corrob- terrorists in their last major stronghold. orated by witnesses, on Thursday that Syria’s official news agency SANA re- Syrian troops had marched through ported on Saturday that army troops and Saraqib following intense battles with khamenei.ir allied fighters from popular defense groups militants. 10 ARTICLE Living standards in Iran 60 percent higher than pre-Revolution era, says economist Ramin Hossein Abadian ARTICLE By Mohammad Homaeefar Mehr News Agency more important for clearing things up than in Dr. Salehi-Isfahani, as we approach the Samaneh Aboutalebi TEHRAN — Living standards in Iran are now journalist Iran, where many people make comparisons based 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, a very Tehran Times journalist about 60 percent higher than in the 1970s, says on hearsay,” says Salehi-Isfahani, who is also a important question still remains hotly disputed, a professor of economics at Virginia Tech. Nonresident Senior Fellow at Global Economy which is whether Iranians are poorer or wealthier Najaf bloody riot “As I have shown in my blog and in other and Development at the Brookings Institution. today compared to the pre-Revolution era. What writings, if properly measured, living standards The professor says before the revolution the tools – statistics, formulas, etc. – should we use Hatamikia’s instigated by in Iran are now about 60 percent higher than in government mainly focused on urban areas. so as to find a correct answer to this question? the 1970s,” Djavad Salehi-Isfahani said in an in- “Before the Revolution, public policy was urban A: The most important comparison is in living “Exodus”, a infiltrators terview with the Tehran Times as Iran is marking biased. Rural areas grew but public investment standards. There is no place that I know where the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. was mainly diverted toward urban areas. As a data is more important for clearing things up than political statement ate last week, the city of Najaf wit- Salehi-Isfahani has every now and then crit- result, the main source of poverty and income in Iran, where many people make comparisons nessed the emergence of a bloody icized the way Iran’s economic development is inequality, which was the rural-urban gap, re- based on hearsay. I often hear very educated rominent director Ebrahim Hat- riot. The Americans used their ut- underestimated by ordinary people, the media, mained unchanged.” Iranians in the U.S. speak of how good things amikia’s latest movie “Exodus” is L and even economists. However, he says, after the Revolution “pov- most efforts to exploit the incident to were before the Revolution. One person put is not only a film but also a political He says by using the wrong metrics it has erty reduction became a focus of state policy” P undermine the Iraqi government and in these words: “Before the Revolution people statement about President Hassan nation. been claimed in a BBC Persian article that living and the ruling system shifted its focus on rural had their home, a car, and one trip abroad every Rouhani’s government. The incident began when uniden- standards are now 30 percent lower. development. year. Who can do that today?” These erroneous The film tells the story of Rahmat tified elements opened fire on people “There is no place that I know where data is The transcript of the interview is presented below. statements are easy to refute. 3 Bakhshi, a war veteran and his fellow in Najaf’s streets at night. Due to this hard-working cotton farmers that lose brutal act, more than 115 people were all their crops after their farms are killed and wounded. This incident has Prof: Iran does not consider Saudi Arabia as enemy inadvertently inundated with salt prompted many reactions in Iraq. Iraq’s By Salman Parviz and Israel are enemies. Saudi Arabia is region with Israel. water from a local dam. religious authority also reacted to the Dr. Foad Izadi is an associate professor of a neighbor and Iran has been trying to They have been successful to certain extent. They file a complaint with the rel- move. In this regard, Ahmad al-Safi, American Studies for a doctorate program at improve relations with Saudis, especially For example when Iran helped the Syrian gov- evant officials, but they ignore the is- representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali the University of Tehran, Faculty of World since President Rouhani came to power. ernment to fight ISIS there was a huge prop- sue. Consequently, Rahmat decides to al-Sistani, read out a statement. Studies. Having studied in the U.S., he has a Rouhani has also tried to reduce tensions aganda campaign to try to portray Iran as an take their complaint to the president “In the past days, we have witnessed PhD in Mass Communication from Louisiana with the U.S. government. occupation force. in the capital. All the other farmers painful and unfortunate incidents, State University. After his studies in U.S. he The problem is that the Saudis are not in- Saudis play with the price of oil to put pressure accompany him on a long tractor trip which have shed the blood of inno- returned to Iran in 2009 and started a teach- terested, especially after (Saudi Crown Prince) on Iran by over-exporting and the end result towards the capital. cent people. It is necessary for the ing profession. During an exclusive interview MBS came to power and started a confrontational would be for Iran to suffer. “Exodus” is a road movie re- security forces to identify the abusers with the Tehran Times in Qom he talked about policy. The Saudi policy against Yemen and Qatar What about Iranian crude exports? minding the audience of the classic and the infiltrators in order to protect regional geopolitical situation and Iran’s ties has also failed with the MBS leadership. In order A: Iran is presently exporting crude to some western movies. Long shots of the the interests of citizens. The current with neighboring countries. to mend ties, Iran’s foreign minister has several Chinese companies unofficially. Officially the cotton and corn farms and close-ups responsibility of the security forces is The following is the excerpt of the interview: times proposed to visit Saudi Arabia. export is zero. of the main character with his very to secure protesters,” read the state- How do you see Iran’s ties with countries of Iran has no intention for a confrontation with The UN has described the war in Yemen believable, well-done makeup are ment that represented the positions the Persian Gulf? Do you see thawing of relations Saudi Arabia. The U.S. tried to follow a divide and as the biggest humanitarian crisis since WWII.