Following this phase, the Metro Company was managed by Asghar Ebrahimi Asl for eleven years. During this time, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the system and the Metro Company was given government concessions for the exploitation of iron ore mines in Bandar Abbas (Hormuzgan Province), exploitation and sale of Moghan Diotomite mine in the Iranian region of Azarbaijan, export of refinery residues from Isfahan oil refinery as well as tar from Isfahan steel mill [http://www.msedv.com/rai/metro_history.html]. The year after Asghar Ebrahimi Asl left the management of the Metro Company and Mohsen Hashemi succeeded him, the first line of the Tehran Metro was launched between Tehran and Karaj.