MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday, the Kremlin said, their second conversation in nine days.
In a brief readout of the call, it said the two presidents discussed the situation in Syria — where both have backed President Bashar Assad in a long-running civil war — and cooperation in transport and energy. The statement made no reference to the war in Ukraine.
Iran has taken on greater importance as a partner for Russia since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last February triggered waves of Western sanctions against Moscow. Tehran has acknowledged supplying Russia with military drones, though it says they were sent before the war started.
The United States said last week that Iran could be contributing to war crimes in Ukraine by providing drones to Russia.
Russia’s Putin holds second phone call in just over a week with Iranian president
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Russia’s Putin holds second phone call in just over a week with Iranian president
- Iran has taken on greater importance as a partner for Russia since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last February triggered waves of Western sanctions against Moscow
Algeria inaugurates strategic railway to giant Sahara mine
- The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030
- The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium
ALGEIRS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday inaugurated a nearly 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) desert railway to transport iron ore from a giant mine, a project he called one of the biggest in the country’s history.
The line will bring iron ore from the Gara Djebilet deposit in the south to the city of Bechar located 950 kilometers north, to be taken to a steel production plant near Oran further north.
The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium.
During the inauguration, Tebboune described it as “one of the largest strategic projects in the history of independent Algeria.”
This project aims to increase Algeria’s iron ore extraction capacity, as the country aspires to become one of Africa’s leading steel producers.
The iron ore deposit is also seen as a key driver of Algeria’s economic diversification as it seeks to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons, according to experts.
President Tebboune attended an inauguration ceremony in Bechar, welcoming the first passenger train from Tindouf in southern Algeria and sending toward the north a first charge of iron ore, according to footage broadcast on national television.
The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030, according to estimates by the state-owned Feraal Group, which manages the site.
It is then expected to reach 50 million tons per year in the long term, it said.
The start of operations at the mine will allow Algeria to drastically reduce its iron ore imports and save $1.2 billion per year, according to Algerian media.
