Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

Chinese companies have invested around $40 billion in different upstream and downstream projects in Iran's oil and gas sector, an Iranian oil official says.

"Chinese companies have invested about $29 billion in Iran's upstream oil and gas sector and another $10 billion in the country's downstream energy sector, including gas, petrochemical and refinery construction projects," Iran's Deputy Oil Minister in International Affairs Hossein noghrehkar Shirazi said in an interview with Mehr news agency.

Iran has extended a 40-million-euro line of credit to Zimbabwe to finance energy, banking and industrial projects in the African country, a diplomatic source says.

The funds would be used to rehabilitate the country's main power station to increase electricity supplies and reduce rationing, the Panafrican news agency quoted Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Iran as saying on Thursday.

The US economic recovery has lost momentum as growth slowed dramatically to a 2.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the US Commerce Department announced.

The gross domestic product growth for the April-to-June quarter reflects a larger trade deficit and more unemployment compared to the first quarter, when the figure was revised to 3.7 percent, according to a US Commerce Department report issued on Friday.

Eurozone has suffered a sharp 1.7 percent rise in inflation in July amid a hike in the prices of food and energy.

The figure represents the highest 12-month inflation rate since November 2008, when it stood at 2.1 percent -- just above the European Central Bank's core economic target.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the US financial system is slowly "recovering" but remains exposed to crisis and might need more stimulus spending.

"Further decisive action is needed to achieve stable medium-term growth and limit risks of adverse international spillovers," the IMF's directors said in a report released Friday, AFP said.

Toyota Motor Corp. says it is preparing for a global recall of about 430,000 vehicles in the US and Japan amid concerns over steering mechanisms.

The carmaker says most of the cars involved are Avalon sedans made between 2000 and 2004, AP reported.

Iran Air plans to trade shares on the public market in order to energize and rejeuvenate its fleet, the head of the Iranian flag carrier has said.

The state-owned airliner, founded in 1962, is to purchase as many as 100 new aircraft to renovate its fleet of foreign-built jetliners, Iran Air's Chairman Farhad Parvaresh said Thursday, Bloomberg reported.

Washington is worried that Iran continues to attract investment from China despite a new round of UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran, a US official says.

Chinese companies were "aggressive" in investing in Iran's oil and gas fields, Joseph Christoff, head of the Government Accountability Office's international affairs and trade department, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday.

The US government has lowered its estimates of the country's economic growth as it continues to struggle to recover from its worst recession since World War II.

According to the US Commerce Department, there was a 2.7-percent increase in the first quarter which was less than the 3% assessment made by the government last month.

Iran is considering an Iraqi request to import Iranian natural gas, as the two countries set a joint commission to raise cooperation in the gas sector.

"Subsequent to two-day talks between gas officials from both Iran and Iraq, a general agreement was reached on exporting Iran's natural gas to Iraq,” Mehr News Agency quoted Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Javad Oji as saying.