The largest steel rod production plant in the entire Middle East was officially inaugurated on Monday in Natanz, Isfahan Province.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended the inauguration ceremony in the town in central Iran.
The plant is projected to produce 800,000 to 1,000,000 tons of steel rods annually.
The steel rod production plant has come on stream in the framework of the Natanz Steel Company's development plan.
The project was implemented at a cost of 3.2 trillion rials (approximately $320 million) over the course of 3 years.
The plant is expected to create 700 direct and 1,000 indirect job opportunities.