Iran warns of consequences if Arabs back oil sanctions: "Why can't you take the (Iranian) crude? Tell me, is your plant owned by the nationalists or the communists?"

The Iraqis didn't fear the Zionist-controlled far right president G.W. Bush and his gangs. Like oilman Bush, Romney will see which option is the most profitable disregarding American interest.Dajjal is an Arabic word which means a swindler or a pretender.There are more people out there, like Andres Breivik, who are hording arms awaiting the day to strike at their enemies. Unlike Islamic or leftist terrorists, people like Breivk receive support from right-wing elements infesting the security and intelligence services.Posted 29 January 2012 - 06:30 AMIran is trying in vain to prove to the world that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But like Iraq before, the WMD program was only a pretext to invade and destroy the country because it constituted a threat to Israel. Saddam said we had no WMD but G.W, Bush replied “do you believe me or do you believe Saddam”. In a 1998 meeting in Tel Aviv, headed by Netanyahu, the Israeli Likudists and their US far-right neo-cons allies had decided on attacking Iraq. These same forces have met in Washington D.C. In November 2011 with Netanyahu and similarly have already decided on attacking Iran, destroying its infrastructure and toppling its government The media campaign, the economic sanctions and the military deployments aim not at stopping Iran nuclear program but on preventing Iran from becoming a regional power. The Iranians have only one choice and that is to preempt any such moves buy launching a blitz-type Krieg on targets within their missile range. Like in Iraq, destroying the Samud II rockets didn't save Saddam and it would have been much wiser for Saddam if he had fired all what he got at Kuwait where the US and its allies were preparing to attacking Iraq. The war is coming, and “the Iranians should have them for breakfast before being had for dinner”.Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times ========================15 Jan 2012 23:35Source:Reuters(Adds U.S.-Israeli military exercises postponed)* Warning stokes tension over Iran's defiant nuclear course* China, facing Iran supply crunch, seeks more access to Saudi oil* Saudi Arabia pledges to fill any foreign gap in oil supplies* Britain says confident EU will agree Iran oil embargo soonBy Ramin MostafaviTEHRAN, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Iran warned Gulf Arab neighbours on Sunday they would suffer consequences if they raised oil output to replace Iranian crude facing an international ban.In signs of Tehran's deepening isolation over its refusal to halt nuclear activity that could yield atomic bombs, China's premier was in Saudi Arabia probing for greater access to its huge oil and gas reserves and Britain voiced confidence a once hesitant European Union would soon ban oil imports from Iran.Major importers of Iranian oil were long loath to embargo the lifeblood of Iran's economy because of fears this would send oil prices rocketing at a time - amidst debt and deficit crises and high unemployment - when they could least afford it.But strong momentum for oil sanctions has been created by a U.N. watchdog report saying Iran appeared to have worked on designing an atom bomb.A new U.S. law signed by President Barack Obama on New Year's Eve would freeze out of the U.S. financial system any institution dealing with Iran's central bank - which processes its oil revenues.If fully applied, the law would make it impossible for most countries to buy Iranian oil. Washington is offering waivers to countries to let them keep buying Iranian oil for now, but demanding they gradually cut their imports back.Leaders from some of the Asian countries that buy the most Iranian oil have begun touring the Middle East to secure alternative supply lines from Arab states. European buyers suggest they will also lean more heavily on Arab oil producers should an EU ban come into effect.Feeling increasingly encircled, Iran's hardline Islamic clerical elite has lashed back by threatening to block the main Middle East oil shipping route. Since the New Year, Tehran also began to enrich uranium in an underground bunker and sentenced an Iranian-American citizen to death on espionage charges.Tensions in the Gulf have caused occasional spikes in oil prices in recent weeks. The sanctions are also having a real impact on Iran's domestic economy, causing prices of imported staples to soar and the rial currency to tumble.Iran holds a parliamentary election in March, its first since a presidential vote in 2009 led to eight months of street protests. Those demonstrations were put down by force, but since then the "Arab Spring" has shown the vulnerability of states in the region to public anger fueled by economic hardship.IRAN WARNS GULF ARABSIranian OPEC Governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi said Tehran would regard as an unfriendly act any move by neighbouring Gulf Arab oil exporters to make up for Iranian crude."If (they) give the green light to replacing Iran's oil these countries would be the main culprits for whatever happens in the region - including the Strait of Hormuz," Khatibi told the Sharq daily newspaper, referring to the narrow sea channel through which a third of the world's oil tanker traffic passes."Our Arab neighbour countries should not cooperate with these (U.S. and European) adventurers... These measures will not be perceived as friendly," he said.Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Saturday the world's No. 1 oil exporter - the only one in OPEC with significant unused capacity - was ready and able to meet any increase in demand. He made no direct reference to sanctions on Iran.Iran's navy commander Habibollah Sayyari said Tehran could exert control over the Strait of Hormuz. The United States, whose warships patrol the region, says it will not tolerate any attempt to disrupt shipping through the strait.Military experts say Iran could not challenge the huge U.S.-led fleet that guards the strait for long, but its threats raise the risk of miscalculation that could flare into a clash.The United States and Israel postponed military exercises scheduled to take place in coming weeks to later in the year. Officials in both countries denied the postponement was connected with the increasing tension over Iran.Oil prices were down at the end of last week as anticipation of downgrades by Standard & Poor's of several indebted euro zone economies countered the buoyant effect of anxiety about Iranian threats to shipping. But the standoff over Iran pointed to continued support for higher prices, brokers and analysts said.Iran's foreign ministry said on Sunday it had received a letter from Washington about the Strait of Hormuz and there was no decision yet on whether to reply. A ministry spokesman did not divulge the contents of the letter.Tehran had said on Saturday it had written to Washington with evidence the CIA was involved in the assassination of a nuclear scientist, blown up by a bomb attached to his car last week, the latest of several such killings.Western countries suspect Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons capability. Iran says it is only interested in nuclear technology for peaceful purposes such as generating electricity.CHINA SEEKS OIL OPTIONS IN GULFChinese Premier Wen Jiabao was pressing Saudi Arabia to open its oil and gas wealth to more Chinese investment, Chinese media said on Sunday. China has been Iran's biggest oil buyer.Although Beijing opposes further international sanctions on Iran, it has already cut its purchases of Iranian oil by more than half for the first two months of this year."China and Saudi Arabia are both in important stages of development and there are broad prospects for enhancing cooperation," Wen told Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Nayef on Saturday, according to Xinhua news agency.Michal Meidan, an analyst with London's Eurasia Group, said: "Beijing is concerned with the potential response to bellicose Iranian statements and the spike in oil prices that would ensue from greater turmoil in Syria and Iran."Wen was also scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, two other big OPEC exporters across the Gulf from Iran.British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday he was "confident" the 27-member European Union would impose resounding sanctions on Iran's oil industry and possibly other sectors at an EU foreign ministers meeting on Jan. 23.After protracted reluctance to act arising from the dependence of some debt-ridden EU economies on Iranian oil, member states have agreed in principle to ban it and have been working on details of how this will be implemented.Last year EU countries collectively bought about a fifth of Iranian exports, roughly on par with China.Any EU-wide prohibition of Iranian oil would probably take effect gradually. "Grace periods" on existing contracts of one to 12 months have been proposed to allow importers to find other suppliers before implementing an embargo.Hague said: "Our sanctions are part of trying to get Iran to change course and to enter negotiations and we should not be deterred from implementing those. We will continue to intensify our own sanctions and those of the European Union."IRANIAN DEFIANCESome analysts say Iran's leadership, which has thrived on defiance of the West since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is more likely to dig in rather than back off in response to sanctions aimed at stopping a nuclear programme many Iranians regard as a matter of national sovereignty and modernisation.A year after the collapse of the last big power talks with Iran, its deepening nuclear defiance has raised concern of war if harsher sanctions do not change its course.Israel, reputed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, sees Iran's nuclear============Saudi oil refinery deal shows close tiesEnglish.news.cn 2012-01-16 11:18:59 Premier Wen Jiabao talks with family members of Abdul-Rahman Ali Al-Jeraisy, president of the Saudi Arabia-China Friendship Association, during a visit to his home in Riyadh on Sunday. (Xinhua-Liu Weibing)By Hu YinanStrategic partnership confirmed as Wen tours key energy regionBEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhuanet) --In what Riyadh calls "the largest expansion by any oil company in the world", Sinopec's deal on Saturday with Saudi oil giant Aramco will allow a major oil refinery to become operational in the Red Sea port of Yanbu by 2014.The $8.5 billion joint venture, which covers an area of about 5.2 million square meters, is already under construction. It will process 400,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day. Aramco will hold a 62.5 percent stake in the plant while Sinopec will own the remaining 37.5 percent.The deal "represents a strategic partnership in the refining industry between one of the main energy producers in Saudi Arabia and one of the world's most important consumers", said Aramco president and CEO Khalid Al-Falih.Sinopec, the largest producer and supplier of oil products in Asia, is already Aramco's top crude oil customer, according to Al-Falih. Sinopec Group chairman Fu Chengyu said the project propels the two companies' strategic cooperation and contributes to enhancing the partnership between China and Saudi Arabia.Al-Falih called the endeavor the latest chapter in a long history of cooperation, collaboration and trade between China and the Arabian Peninsula.The setting up of the refinery would promote economic development, said Shen Yamei, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies.The deal was signed during Premier Wen Jiabao's six-day trip to the Middle East. He will fly to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Monday.Saudi Arabia, the only G20 member that is also a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, was the first leg of his visit.Beijing and Riyadh, strategic partners since 2006, agreed to boost bilateral relations during Wen's visit.The move reflected the two countries' "firm willingness to join hands in coping with challenges and safeguard common interests amid profound adjustments to global situations", Wen told Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz upon arrival in Riyadh late on Saturday.Wen, the first Chinese Premier to visit Saudi Arabia since 1991, said that both countries should expand trade in crude oil and natural gas and deepen their energy partnership.Riyadh is Beijing's largest supplier and the world's top exporter of crude oil.Imported oil accounted for 56.5 percent of China's total oil consumption in 2011, according to an earlier statement by Liu Tienan, director of the National Energy Administration.Beijing encourages Chinese companies to participate in Saudi Arabia's infrastructure construction such as rail, ports, electricity and telecoms, Wen said on Saturday.Nayef, who was appointed Crown Prince in October and is also Riyadh's deputy prime minister and minister of interior, said Saudi Arabia is willing to further cooperation across a wide range of areas, including trade, energy, infrastructure, culture, and security.Wen had a number of meetings on Sunday, including with the Saudi Arabian King and Prime Minister Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, and Abdullatif al-Zayani, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council.Wen called for an end to violence against civilians in West Asia and North Africa during the meeting with Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.Wen said China and the OIC shared common interests in safeguarding peace and stability in West Asia and North Africa, adding the OIC and the Arab League could play an important role in this regard."This trip promotes the current strategic partnership between China and Saudi Arabia to a higher level," said Hua Liming, a former ambassador to Iran.With political turbulence in West Asia and North Africa, Saudi Arabia carries a great deal of influence, Hua said. China hopes to take this chance to boost good relations.Earlier on Sunday, Wen visited Abdul-Rahman Ali Al-Jeraisy, president of the Saudi Arabia-China Friendship Association.Abdullah Saeed Al-Mobty, chairman of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Wen that trade cooperation should deepen between Beijing and Riyadh. Wen said that the two countries should be "long-term, stable" energy partners and that China will support infrastructure development in Saudi Arabia.Wen will address the Fifth World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday. After meeting local leaders, he is scheduled to leave for Doha for the final leg of his Middle East visit on Wednesday.Cui Haipei and Zhou Yan contributed to the story.========================Iranian oil, arms, sanctions ... and China's "Crazy Yang"16 Jan 2012 00:26Source: Reuters Reuters(This is a repeat of an item issued on Friday)By Chen AizhuBEIJING, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A Chinese firm hit by U.S. sanctions as Washington turns the screw on Iran's nuclear program was founded in the mid-1990s by a hard-drinking trader from a military background who regales(To provide with great enjoyment) dinner companions with how he spent much of his youth in a mental hospital.Yang Qinglong, who calls himself "Crazy Yang", set up Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp in around 1995 after "high-level military friends" let it be known they wanted someone to formally import crude oil from Iran. At the time, Iran was supplying oil to China to pay for arms supplied by Beijing during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.Zhuhai Zhenrong, now headed by Zhang Dongquan, an altogether steadier upstream oil man from China's Yumen oilfield, was the biggest supplier of refined petroleum products back to Iran, according to the U.S. State Department, which has also slapped sanctions on two other energy trading companies.The Chinese oil trader - which for years imported Iranian crude to sell to state-run refiners such as China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and PetroChina - brokered the delivery of more than $500 million in gasoline to Iran between July 2010 and January 2011, contravening U.S. sanctions law, the State Department said.Analysts say the U.S. sanctions are largely symbolic given that Zhenrong is unlikely to have much U.S. business exposure.AN ACCIDENTAL TRADERYang, now in his 60s and an adviser to Zhenrong, got into the oil business by chance.His home province of Yunnan, landlocked in China's southwest and near the Myanmar border, was so short of fuel in the early 1990s that local authorities offered officials cash if they could lay their hands on gasoline or diesel for the province.Using his network of contacts, Yang was soon shipping oil from Daqing oilfield, the nation's biggest crude producer, to the little-known Jiujiang refinery, then owned by state-run China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, parent Sinopec , in eastern China, and trucking the processed products back to Yunnan."That's how he made his first pot of gold," said a former Zhenrong trader, who asked not be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.Former colleagues attribute Yang's success over the years to his eloquence, consummate networking skills and ambition.When the military came calling for a conduit to Tehran, Yang, clad in his trademark army-green jacket and with a matching canvas bag slung over his shoulder, beat off rivals to become China's exclusive importer of Iranian oil.Yang first visited Tehran in July 1995, and was introduced by China's military to Iran's oil ministry, National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), the defence ministry and leading Iranian banks.Zhenrong - which in mandarin means "boosting military" - was initially attached to the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND), which came under the State Council, China's cabinet, and central military committee. One of its tasks was to supervise arms manufacturing and trade.In the early days, Yang made his first hires from Sinochem, then China's near monopoly state-run oil trading house, bringing in a crude oil trader and a finance staffer to work at a modest two-storey office in northern Beijing. The rest of the dozen-strong team were mostly fresh out of university and from military families.Yang's bedroom was separated from his office in the building by just a toilet.In 1998, Zhenrong became a commercial state-run enterprise."GLORY YEAR"Zhenrong traders fondly recall the company's "glory year" in 2001, when it imported 11 million tonnes of Iranian crude, or 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) - 16 percent of all China's crude imports that year - coinciding with Sinopec increasing its high-sulphur, or sour crude, processing capacity.Iran, between 1999 and 2001, shipped more crude oil than Saudi Arabia to China - partly driven by Yang's own efforts - but by 2002 the Saudis claimed the top slot, supplying China with 228,000 bpd versus Tehran's 213,000 bpd, according to Chinese customs data."Yang's extraordinary personal style, sometimes not logical, sometimes even unreasonable, made his counterparts both awe and respect him," said another former trader who saw Yang in action.During one meeting with refinery officials, Yang banged his fist on the table and yelled into the face of a plant official: "Why can't you take the (Iranian) crude? Tell me, is your plant owned by the nationalists or the communists?"An official at National Iranian Oil Corp said Yang was a trouble-shooter. "He may get drunk and tell lots of jokes, but he's politically powerful. He solves problems," he said, recalling also how Yang would greet his Iranian peers by lifting them up and carrying them in his arms.In quieter moments, colleagues say Yang is something of a bookworm and movie-buff. They say he has read and re-read biographies on Napoleon and Hitler and the 18th century Chinese classic 'A Dream of Red Mansions'. He took staff to the cinema to watch 'Gladiator' and 'Saving Private Ryan'.CHANGING TACKFrom around 2006, Zhenrong has faced competition from Unipec, the trading arm of Sinopec, though it has kept its Iranian oil liftings at around 240,000 bpd - about 5 percent of China's current total imports. Unipec last year signed up some 265,000 bpd from Iran, including condensate.The rise of Unipec, which last year bought and traded a total of over 3 million bpd of crude oil, sparked talk that Zhenrong could be folded into a larger state-owned firm, simply as a crude oil desk."There was a great deal of uncertainty over Zhenrong's future. At one point, there were rumours that six bigger companies were eager to swallow up Zhenrong," said a company source, who asked not be named due to company policy. "If the company doesn't grow up fast enough, that could become true."Under Zhang, however, Zhenrong is now looking to broaden its business beyond petroleum trading, and is scouting for upstream opportunities in Canada and Malaysia. It has a string of strategic alliances with Chinese state banks to secure credit.But, with no assets or expertise either upstream or downstream, it could be a tough challenge for a company that, at its core, has 10 people trading Iranian crude and bringing in around 80 million yuan ($12.66 million) a year.Zhuhai Zhenrong's refined fuel business, including gasoline sales to Iran, was largely handled by Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co. Ltd, a wholly-owned unit set up in 2002. By last year, Zhuhai Zhenrong's stake had dropped to around 40 percent, with ownership passing to a group of unknown state-backed companies.Headquartered in Guangzhou, in southern China, Guangdong Zhenrong is led by Xiong Shaohui, an ex-official of China's Ministry of Commerce whose job was to manage the country's tightly state-controlled oil import quotas.Xiong, 45, hails from the same southwestern resort city of Dali as Yang, and was his protege, sharing a love for Chinese liquor, poetry and martial arts.The Guangdong firm was a regular buyer of Iranian fuel oil until 2008, working with Singapore Tianbao Trading, Zhenrong's chartering arm based in the Asian oil hub.In mid-2011, Xiong's team joined Chinese state energy giants selling gasoline cargoes to Iran, stepping into a void left by Western fuel suppliers that halted shipments because they were wary of U.S. sanctions.Asked about the potential impact from U.S. sanctions, current and former Zhenrong officials appear nonchalant."Sanctioning Zhenrong? How? The company does not have any U.S. assets. On foreign currency payments? They can easily find a solution on that," said the second former Zhenrong trader. (Editing by Ian Geoghegan)===================After threats, Iran plays down US naval moves21 Jan 2012 12:15Source: Reuters Reuters* Revolutionary Guards say US navy in Gulf nothing new* Apparent retreat from previous threats to Washington* Tensions high over new sanctions and nuclear activities (Adds details)By Robin Pomeroy and Hashem KalantariTEHRAN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday it considered the likely return of U.S. warships to the Gulf part of routine activity, backing away from previous warnings to Washington not to re-enter the area.The statement may be seen as an effort to reduce tensions after Washington said it would respond if Iran made good on a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz - the vital shipping lane for oil exports from the Gulf."U.S. warships and military forces have been in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East region for many years and their decision in relation to the dispatch of a new warship is not a new issue and it should be interpreted as part of their permanent presence," Revolutionary Guard Deputy Commander Hossein Salami told the official IRNA news agency.The apparently conciliatory comments may be a response to the European Union and Washington's rejection of Iran's declaration it was close to resuming negotiations with world powers and with the Pentagon saying it did not expect any challenge to its warships.Crude prices have spiked several times this year on fears diplomatic tensions could escalate to military clashes as well as uncertainty about the effect of sanctions on the oil market.Along with the EU, which is set to agree an embargo on Iranian oil next week, Washington hopes the sanctions will force Iran to suspend the nuclear activities it believes are aimed at making an atom bomb, a charge Tehran denies.There has been no U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf since the USS John C. Stennis left at the end of December at a time when the Revolutionary Guard was conducting naval manoeuvres.On Jan. 3, after U.S. President Barack Obama signed new sanctions aimed at stopping Iran's oil exports, Tehran told the Stennis not to return - an order interpreted by some observers in Iran and Washington as a blanket threat to any U.S. carriers."I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," Iran's army chief, Major General Ataollah Salehi, said at the time. "We are not in the habit of warning more than once."NEW MANOEUVRESWashington says it will return to the Gulf and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said any move to block Hormuz - through which around a third of the world's sea-borne traded oil passes - would be seen as a "red line", requiring a response.Citing operational security, the Pentagon will not say when the next carrier will return to the Gulf but officials say it is only a matter of time and they do not expect any problems.In the coming days or weeks, the Revolutionary Guard will begin new naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf. Salami told IRNA these would go ahead as planned in the Iranian month of Bahman which runs from Jan. 21 to Feb. 19.Iran has said it is ready to return to talks with world powers that stalled one year ago, but the West, concerned about Tehran's move of the most sensitive atomic work to a bomb-proof bunker, says it must first see a willingness from Tehran to address the nuclear issue.French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday "time is running out" for a diplomatic solution and urged Russia and China to drop their opposition to sanctions on Iranian oil.Iran is OPEC's second biggest exporter and blocking its crude exports - through the EU embargo or U.S. moves to punish banks that trade with Iran - could have a devastating impact on its economy but there are no signs so far such pressure would force it to stop what it calls its peaceful nuclear rights. (Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Sophie Hares)========================Jan 22, 2:16 AM ESTIran's Gulf smugglers feel blowback from tensionsBy BRIAN MURPHY Associated PressAP PhotoKamran JebreiliWorld VideoBuy AP Photo ReprintsKHASAB, Oman (AP) -- By dawn, the unmarked speedboats from Iran pull into port. By dusk, they are racing back across the Strait of Hormuz loaded with smuggled consumer goods ranging from Chinese-made shoes to cut flowers from Holland.Even as sanctions squeeze Iran ever tighter, there's one clandestine route that remains open for business: A short sea corridor across the Persian Gulf connecting a rocky nub of Oman and the Iranian coast about 35 miles (60 kilometers) away.Yet even this established smugglers' path is now feeling the bite from the pressures on Iran over its nuclear program.Business is sharply down, the middlemen and boat crews say, as the slumping Iranian currency leaves fewer customers for the smuggled wares. At the same time, the risks of interception are higher as Iranian authorities step up patrols near the strategic oil tanker lanes at the mouth of the Gulf.The strait, which is the only access in and out of the Gulf, has been the scene of Cold War-style brinksmanship between Iran and the West after Tehran last month threatened to block the passageway for about one-sixth of the world's oil in retaliation for new U.S. sanctions."We used to make two or three trips across every day. Now, it's maybe one," said an Iranian middleman, who gave only his first name Agheel to protect his identity from authorities in his homeland.He watched crews load up a pickup truck with bolts of fabric from Pakistan and table-size boxes of cut flowers from the Netherlands, before the trucks headed off through the treeless mountains to Khasab port.The operation smuggles in merchandise to avoid Iranian tariffs and to bring in American and European products that have disappeared from Iranian markets because of international sanctions. Experts note that the consumer items post no real challenge to efforts to block material with military or nuclear uses."Still, it shows you can't close off all channels into Iran no matter how hard you try," said Paul Rogers, who follows security affairs at Bradford University in Britain. "People will find a way."On this side of the Gulf, the smugglers operate under a tacit tolerance from authorities, even though Oman and the United Arab Emirates are close U.S. allies and have pledged to enforce sanctions. The port lies in a sparsely populated peninsula enclave belonging to Oman but encircled on land by the UAE, a legacy of how the area was carved up in the final days of British rule here in the last century that resulted in Oman holding joint control with Iran over the strait.The goods are legally imported into the UAE and truck drivers take them across the border, paying the customary 50 dirham ($13.50) entry fee, according to the smugglers interviewed by The Associated Press. In Khasab, the merchandise is taken to warehouses and then piled on the docks less than 100 yards (100 meters) from the port police headquarters.Omani authorities did not respond to requests for comment on the traffic.The Khasab speedboats are far from the only back channel into Iran. Drug traffickers easily cross the hinterland borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, and black market networks stretch across the frontiers with Iraq and Turkey. Authorities in Iraq's Kurdish region have been under pressure for years to crack down on fuel trucks heading into Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.But Khasab stands out for its openness and for lying on the highly sensitive Strait.A shipment arranged by the Iranian smuggler Agheel this week was done with practiced efficiency.A pickup truck backed into a wood-floored warehouse with hundreds of cases of cigarettes bundled three together and wrapped tightly in gray plastic weave - in total 3,000 cigarettes under south Asian brands such as Ruby Menthol. The truck was soon sagging under the weight of boxes piled five high.Agheel did some quick calculations: Each three-case load cost him about $1,200 and he could sell them to merchants in Iran for the equivalent of about $1,350 under current exchange rates. The truck pulling out of the warehouse represented a potential return of about $4,500."If we don't get caught," he added.The smugglers have their ways of avoiding Iranian authorities.Spotters off the coast - on the island of Qeshm and near the port of Bandar Abbas - call in coast guard movements to Khasab. The speedboat drivers keep close attention to the water conditions on the Strait and try to approach the Iranian coast just after sunset. The trip can take as little as 90 minutes in calm seas and up to four hours in rough water in the stripped down stripped-down 16-foot (five-meter) fiberglass boats.Agheel's truck passed through the Khasab customs station at midday and then down a strip of hardscrabble road.At the port - almost in the shadow of a Costa cruise ship making a day stop - dozens of boats were being packed and secured for the trip. There were no names or markings on the speedboats. But the items loaded on carried familiar logos: LG 42-inch flatscreen TVs, Discovery Channel DVDs, Panasonic microwaves, Yamaha motorcycle parts. Also in the stacks were textiles, satellite dishes and Chinese-made clothes and shoes.One boat driver, who gave his name only as Aziz, had a breakfast of eggs, beans and Mountain Dew as he waited for the day's shipment to be loaded for the return run to Qeshm, a long arrow-shaped island near the Iranian coast and a main waystation for the smugglers.Months ago, he could make as many trips as possible because the merchants in Iran were demanding goods.But now the struggling Iranian rial - dragged down partly by U.S.-led sanctions that could target Iran's Central Bank - has put many things out of reach for Iranians, he said."No one wants to buy because the (rial) rate is not stable," he said.He also said the Iranian coastal patrols have been boosted amid the escalating tensions over the Strait.On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the American military is "fully prepared" to deal with any Iranian effort to close the waterway. Next month, Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard plans naval exercises in the area.If spotted by patrols, Aziz said the two-man boat crews try to heave the goods overboard. They then must pay back the smuggling network, which can amount to thousands of dollars.But it's worth the risk, he said."The situation is getting worse now," he said. "All the prices are up and Qeshm has nothing else" except smuggling.================================At least 9 die in Iran passenger boat sinking -IRNA22 Jan 2012 08:06Source: Reuters ReutersTEHRAN, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Nine bodies have been recovered from a passenger vessel that sank off the Iranian coast with 22 people aboard, but five survivors have been rescued, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.Rescue officials said they feared most of those on board had been trapped inside the boat when it capsized and sank in bad weather while sailing from the island of Hormuz to Bandar Abbas on Saturday evening.IRNA reported that the boat had run out of fuel and was tossed about in heavy winds before capsizing. The strong wind also hampered the rescue effort, it said. (Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Editing by Tim Pearce)---------------------Iran oil chief: sanctions to hit EU buyback firms28 Jan 2012 19:29Source: Reuters Reuters* Iran lawmakers may ban crude exports to EU within days* NIOC chief says this could hurt companies owed Iranian oil* Italy's ENI has said Iran owes it $1.4-1.5 bln in oil (Adds background)By Hossein JasebTEHRAN, Jan 28 (Reuters) - European companies owed oil by Iran could lose out if Tehran imposes a ban on crude exports to the European Union next week, the head of Iran's state oil company said on Saturday.Iran's parliament is due to debate a bill on Sunday that would cut off oil supplies to the EU in a matter of days, in revenge for a decision last Monday by the 27 EU member states to stop importing crude from Iran as of July 1."Generally, the parties to incur damage from the EU's recent decision will be European companies with pending contracts with Iran," Ahmad Qalebani, head of the National Iranian Oil Co. told the ISNA news agency."The European companies will have to abide by the provisions of the buyback contracts," he said. "If they act otherwise, they will be the parties to incur the relevant losses and will subject the repatriation of their capital to problems."By turning the sanctions back on the EU, Iranian lawmakers hope to deny Europe the six-month window it had planned to give those countries most dependent on Iranian oil - including some of the most economically fragile - time to adapt.The EU banned imports of oil from Iran on Monday and imposed a number of other economic sanctions, joining the United States in a new round of measures aimed at deflecting Tehran's nuclear development programme.Under buyback contracts, a common feature of the Iranian oil industry, investments in oil field projects are paid back in oil, often over many years.Italy's Eni says it is owed $1.4-1.5 billion in oil for contracts in Iran dating from 2000 and 2001 and has been assured by EU policymakers its buyback contracts will not be part of the European embargo but the prospect of Iran acting first may put that into doubt.The EU accounted for 25 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011. (Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by David Stamp)===============Oil industry sees China winning, West losing from Iran sanctionsFri, Jan 27 06:33 AM ESTBy Dmitry ZhdannikovDAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - As the European Union prepares to ban Iranian oil and the United States turns the screw on payments, oil executives and policymakers say China and Russia stand to gain the most and Western oil firms and consumers may emerge the biggest losers.Iran will continue to sell much the same volume of oil - 2.6 million barrels per day or around 3 percent of world supply - but almost all of it will flow to China, they reason. And being pretty much Iran's only remaining customer, Beijing will be able to negotiate a much reduced price.The EU will ban Iranian oil from July. The United States plans sanctions on Iran's central bank and possibly its shipping firm. European headquartered oil firms such as France's Total and Royal Dutch Shell have already abandoned Iranian oil purchases or are in the process of doing so.Japan and South Korea have signaled they may reduce purchases of Iranian oil to comply with U.S. sanctions designed to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.That leaves a growing number of buyers competing for alternative supplies. Inevitably attention has turned to Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest exporter and the only country that can quickly increase oil output and help the West avoid a price spike that would deal a severe economic blow.The IMF said this week that crude oil prices could rise 20 to 30 percent if Iran were to retaliate by halting its oil exports altogether. Oil industry executives meeting in Davos said energy markets can afford to lose half of Iran's 2.6 million barrels per day. That would be roughly equivalent to supplies lost during Libya's civil war in 2011. They are confident Saudi Arabia will fill the gap."What we say is that oil is fungible. Iranian oil will still find its way into the market, to Asian markets, China and possibly at a lower price," a top Saudi source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter."But if let's say 50 percent of Iranian oil is lost, we have spare capacity, we have the capacity to replace it as Libya has shown," he added.The chief of Saudi state oil monopoly Saudi Aramco, Khalid al-Falih, moved from one bilateral meeting to the next during the World Economic Forum this week. Over the past month or so the kingdom has received requests for additional oil from the European Union, Japan and South Korea. The European Union and Turkey buy almost a third of Iranian oil exports with the rest going to China, Japan, South Korea, India and South Africa."As a regular conversation we talked about increased supplies. Saudi Aramco is always positive," Jun Arai, the head of Japan's Showa Shell, told Reuters.Russia too stands to gain from Western sanctions on Iran. The world's biggest oil producer is well positioned to raise its market share in Europe, despite misgivings among some Europeans about relying too heavily on Russia for oil and gas. Payment disputes between Russia and neighboring Ukraine have in the past threatened transit gas supplies to Europe."I'm sure Moscow is watching the situation with big interest," said José Sergio Gabrielli, chief executive of Brazil's Petrobras. Arkady Dvorkovich, the Kremlin's top economic aide, concurred that Russia stood to benefit from sanctions that were guaranteed to keep oil prices at least at current levels around $100 a barrel by his reckoning.Showa Shell buys 100,000 barrels per day from Iran under a deal that expires in March and like other firms would be exposed to U.S. sanctions if not given a waiver under the latest ban on dealing with Iran's central bank. "We are waiting for guidance from the government," said Arai.For Total the guidance has been clearer. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been one of the main advocates of tough sanctions. "We have already stopped (buying from Iran)," said Total's chief Christopher de Margerie. The firm was previously lifting 80,000-100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Iran.Peter Voser, chief executive at Royal Dutch Shell, said his company might take some time before suspending purchases, which market sources estimate at 100,000 barrels per day."We are a European company and therefore we are affected by the sanctions and we will obviously oblige and implement the sanctions. I need to study all the details in order to see how it goes forward," he said.Apart from Total and Shell, Europe's biggest buyers of Iranian oil are Italian, Spanish and Greek companies.CHEAP OILChina has so far refrained from buying more Iranian crude but the perception in the industry and among diplomats is that the world's No.2 oil consumer will find it hard to resist buying unsold Iranian oil at a knockdown price."I think (the Iranian) oil will go somewhere else ... Iran may give a discount to make it easier and quicker but nothing will change," said De Margerie.Robert Hormats, U.S. under secretary for economy, energy and agriculture, could not say with certainty that sanctions would reduce Iran's oil exports but he predicted more pain for the Iranian economy."You cannot predict what they (Iran) will do and how much they will discount their oil. But it will certainly cause more and more discomfort to the Iranian economy," he said, adding that China too had an interest in a 'constructive outcome'."No one has an interest in Iran continuing its non-peaceful nuclear program," he said. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes - electricity generation and medical equipment.To maximize the impact of the sanctions, the U.S. will apply waivers very "selectively" and "responsibly," Hormats said. In addition, the U.S. administration is talking to Congress about extending sanctions to Iran's shipping fleet although the discussion is at an early stage, he added.(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Janet McBride)===============Tehran will respond to threats: KhameneiBy: AFP | February 04, 2012 |TEHRAN - Iran has its ‘own threats’ to respond to any military attack or sanctions against its oil exports, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday. “In response to threats of oil embargo and war, we have our own threats which will be implemented at the right time, if necessary,” he said in a televised speech as he led traditional Friday prayers in Tehran. His comments came amid heightened speculation that Israel - with or without US help - was contemplating air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. The West has also ramped up sanctions aimed at severely curbing Iran’s vital oil exports.Khamenei, who spoke as part of events marking the anniversary of his country’s 1979 Islamic revolution, focused on warnings by arch-foe the United States that it was mulling ‘all options’ - including war - to undercut Iran’s nuclear programme. “They have threatened that all ‘options are on the table’... Threats of war are detrimental to the United States, and carrying out a war would be 10 times more detrimental for that country,” he said.Khamenei also rounded on Israel. “The Zionist regime is a cancerous tumour that must be cut out, and God willing it will be,” he said.The leader said Iranian intervention had already delivered two military victories against Israel: in 2006, when the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon linked to Iran survived a 33-day Israeli onslaught; and in 2009 when Hamas in the Palestinian territories faced Israeli action.“From now on we will support any group that will fight the Zionist regime,” he said, reiterating an oft-made line.Referring to US threats that it will use all options against Iran over its nuclear program, the Leader said that such threats indicate US failure to adopt a logical stance towards Iran. The US has no logic but coercion and no option but bloodshed to advance its agenda, he added. ======================بد حجابم بدحجابم بی حجابمن زن ایرانی ام جوشیده از شعر و شراب خم نخواهد شد سرم هرگز به قانون حجابپایه اسلامتان را ای امام جمعه هامی کنم با تار مویی من خراب اندر خراب گور بابای شما بر جد و آبای شمااز جهنم تا بهشت و وحشت و رنج و عذاب ننگ و نفرت بادتان ای کرکسان ، شادی کشانزن به چشمان شما شد برده ای در رختخواب روی لب الله و اکبر سنگسارم کرده ایدتا گلو در خاکها ای قاتلان آفتابروسری را در خیابان قعر آتش افکنمگیسوان را میدهم شادی کنان من پیچ و تابمیروم در ساحل دریا کمی عریان شومپیکر زیبای خود را تا زنم رقصان بر آب لب بگیرم از لب معشوق خود در کوچه هاشیخکان را افکنم با بوسه ها در اضطرابتو چه دانی آیت الله پشمکی از شور و حالکشک خود را زیر ماتحتت سر منبر بسابمن زنم زن مذهبم تنها جهان آزادی استمی گشایم بال و پر در آسمانها چون عقابآن سبو بشکست و آن پیمانه ها بر خاک ریختمرد سالاری شده است در گور ای عالیجناب من زن ایرانی ام جوشیده از شعر و شرابخم نخواهد شد سرم هرگز به قانون حجا=============Iran says oil ban will not halt nuclear workSat, Feb 04 07:27 AM ESTBy Parisa Hafezi and Ramin Mostafavi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's oil minister said the Islamic state would not retreat from its nuclear program even if its crude oil exports grind to a halt, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.But he also called on the European Union, which accounted for a quarter of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011, to review its decision last week to bank Iranian oil imports from July 1."We will not abandon our just nuclear course, even if we cannot sell one drop of oil," Rostam Qasemi told reporters, according to IRNA.Qasemi said Iran would cut oil exports to some nations in Europe - he did not specify which - in retaliation for the 27-state EU's decision to stop importing Iranian crude."Our oil exports will certainly be cut to some European countries ... We will decide about other European countries later," Qasemi told a news conference, IRNA reported.He urged Europe to reconsider its ban, and said the oil market is in balance now but would be thrown into turmoil without Iranian crude supplies."Unfortunately the EU has succumbed to America's pressure. I hope they would review their decision on sanctioning Iran's oil exports," Qasemi said."The international crude market will experience turmoil in the absence of Iranian oil with unforeseen consequences on oil prices," he said.Qasemi also played down the importance of Europe as a market for its exports."We have no problem to find other crude buyers to replace the European countries," he was quoted as saying.But Qasemi played down the possibility of Iran blocking the crucial waterway."Iran is not after tension, and closure of the Strait is a politically motivated issue," he said.Isolated Iran is also facing problems over the price it charges neighbor Turkey for its natural gas exports. Turkey said on January 31 that it was taking Tehran to international arbitration over the matter.Qasemi rejected Ankara's complaint that the price was too high. "Iran surely cannot decrease its natural gas price (for Turkey) without legal authorization," he said.Iran exports 10 billion cubic meters of gas each year to Turkey, making it Ankara's second-biggest supplier after Russia.

Tension with the West rose last month when Washington and the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions yet on Iran in a bid to force it to provide more information on its nuclear programme. The measures are aimed at shutting off the second-biggest OPEC oil exporters' sales of crude.However, analysts say the global oil market would not be greatly affected if Iran were to turn off the oil tap to Europe.The EU's ban on Iranian oil came after U.S. President Barack Obama signed new sanctions into law on New Year's Eve that would block any institution dealing with Iran's central bank from the U.S. financial system.If fully implemented, these measures will make it impossible for countries to buy Iranian oil.ALTERNATIVE CRUDE BUYERSBrent crude prices rose to near three-month peaks on Friday, partly thanks to oil investors covering short positions ahead of the weekend due to the standoff between the West and Tehran over its nuclear programme.The United States wants buyers in Asia, Iran's biggest oil market, to cut imports to put further pressure on Tehran, which is scrambling to find new buyers and persuade existing customers to keep doing business with it.But Iran remains a key supplier for many countries, and some of its major customers are seeking waivers from Washington from the sanctions while they look for alternative sources of oil.Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional rival, has promised to make up any shortfall in supply.Iranian officials have said sanctions have had no impact on it, while the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened on Friday to retaliate against the West for sanctions.The United States and its allies say Iran is trying to develop weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear programme. But energy-rich Iran denies this, saying it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity.Washington and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the standoff. Iran has warned of firm retaliation if attacked, including targeting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf and closing off the vital oil shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.(Additional reporting by Hashem Kalantari and Mitra Amiri, Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Hugh Lawson)=========================Saturday, 04 February 2012 23:53Iranian natural gas export to Iraq to be started next year, ministerFeb 4 - Iranian minister of petroleum, Rostam Qasemi says gas delivery to Iraq will start as of next Iranian calendar year starting on March 21.Speaking on the latest situation of Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline, the minister said a trilateral commission had been set up with satisfactory progress in technical issues.Stating that Iran, Iraq and Syrian oil ministers will discuss the pipeline progress in a trilateral meeting, the official noted that construction of Iran-Iraq gas pipeline had progressed by 40 percent adding Iran’s gas will reach Baghdad next year.Iran and Iraq have signed in last September an agreement over daily 25 m CM Iran’s gas export to the country. Iraq will use the Iranian gas for three of its power stations in southern Baghdad./-================By Zafar BhuttaPublished: February 2, 2012Petroleum minister invites US companies to invest in Pakistan and sell LNG. PHOTO: FILEISLAMABAD: Islamabad on Wednesday reiterated its position that it will not backtrack on the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project despite Washington’s sanctions against Tehran but at the same time offered to import gas from US-based companies.“Sanctions imposed by the United Nations do not affect the IP gas pipeline project and therefore Pakistan will continue to pursue it,” Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Dr Asim Hussain told US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter, who called on him.==============A bit confused: Y everytime Im on Corniche in Basra, Iraq's #oil capital, theres a long line of cars because the bridge still not built================إيران تعلن قرب الإنتاج في حقل نفطي مشترك مع العراق يحوي 12 مليار برميل Iran says production soon to start at Yadfaran oil field shared with Iraq, also sensitive due to Chinese involvement http, is.gd/3TaLut06-02-2012 | (صوت العراق) - أضف تعليق - السومرية نيوز بغدادأعلنت شركة النفط الإيرانية الوطنية، الاثنين، عن قرب بدء الإنتاج في حقل يادفاران النفطي المشترك مع العراق، وأكدت أنها لا تسعى إلى سبق العراق في هذه الخطوة، باعتبار وزارة النفط العراقية لم تستطع حتى الان بدء الحفر في حقولها على الحدود الشرقية.ونقلت وكالة أنباء الطلبة الإيرانية ISNA عن مدير الشركة أحمد قالباني قوله إن "طهران تستعد للمباشرة بالإنتاج في حقل يادفاران النفطي الواقع في منطقة الأهواز جنوب غرب إيران في مدة أقصاها 20 آذار 2012".وأكد قالباني أن "بلاده لا تسعى بأي شكل من الأشكال إلى سبق العراق في عملية الإنتاج في الحقل النفطي المشترك"، باعتبار أن العراق لم يتمكن حتى الان من بدء الحفر في حقوله المشتركة مع إيران.وبحسب الوكالة فإن حقل يادفاران النفطي يحوي نحو 12 مليار برميل من النفط الخام، و12.5 تريليون مكعب من الغاز الطبيعي المصاحب للنفط، فضلاً عن نحو من 1.9 مليار برميل من المكثفات النفطية.وكانت إيران وقعت العام 2007 عقداً مع شركة سينوبك الصينية لتطوير حقل يادفاران النفطي.Iraq-Turkey oil exports resume after blastTimes of OmanIraq: Iraq has resumed oil exports via an undamaged pipeline to Turkey after they were cut by an explosion in the country's northern neighbour, officials said on Monday. About a quarter of Iraqi oil exports are routed by pipeline to Turkey.Oil pumping resumes through Iraqi-Turkish pipelineAswat Al IraqOil in a Week – Iranian Pressures to Postpone Planned Increase of Iraqi Oil ...Dar Al-HayatRead more: http:www.sotaliraq.com-business.php?id=5597#ixzz1lblHWicW================Iran to announce nuclear progress: AhmadinejadSat, Feb 11 06:53 AM ESTBy Parisa Hafezi and Mitra AmiriTEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that the Islamic Republic, targeted by tougher Western sanctions, would soon announce advances in its nuclear program.He was speaking on the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organized rallies to mark the occasion."In the coming days the world will witness Iran's announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements," Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television.Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America." Ismail Haniya, who heads the Islamist Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, also attended the ceremony.Ahmadinejad gave no details of how Iran's nuclear work, which Tehran says has only peaceful purposes, has progressed.The United States and Israel, a country which Iran does not recognize, have not ruled out military action if sanctions fail.Iran has warned of a "painful" answer, saying it would hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf as well as block the vital Gulf oil shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz."If attacked by the Zionist regime (Israel), we will turn it to dust," said a Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Shirdel, semi-official Fars news agency reported Saturday."Thousands of our missiles will target Israel and the 40 bases of America in the region," he added.The nuclear dispute has fuelled tension as the West tightens sanctions. The European Union has agreed to ban Iranian oil imports by July and to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank.Its measures reinforce those imposed by the United States as the West tries to force Tehran to return to talks before it produces enough nuclear material for an atomic bomb.Neither side has shown much appetite for compromise. Iran says it will fight EU sanctions with counter-measures and its parliament plans legislation to ban oil exports to the EU.Iranian officials brush off the impact of sanctions, while also proclaiming that Iranians will endure any hardship in support of their country's right to nuclear technology."I am saying openly that if you (the West) continue to use the language of force and threat, our nation will never succumb to your pressure," Ahmadinejad said.IMPACT OF SANCTIONSIndustry analysts say sanctions are hitting Iran's vital oil sector and say falls in crude output and exports will speed up.Global oil flows are realigning even though the EU ban on imports from Iran only takes effect in July, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly Oil Market Report Friday.Asia's two giants, China and India, want to head off new sanctions on Iran. China, Iran's biggest trade partner, is one of six major powers involved in nuclear talks with Tehran.Ahmadinejad, echoing Iran's official stance, said fresh nuclear talks would be welcome. The last round collapsed a year ago over Iran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment work."They say we want to negotiate. That is fine with us, we have been always ready to hold talks in the framework of justice and mutual respect," Ahmadinejad said. "The Iranian nation will not withdraw even one iota from its path."Western nations say talking is pointless unless uranium enrichment is on the table, something Iran refuses to discuss.Iran's economy is around 60 percent reliant on oil. The country is heavily dependent on food imports, buying 45 percent of its rice and most of its animal feed abroad.Sanctions-linked trade snags risk fuelling already high inflation, which Iranian critics blame on Ahmadinejad's economic policies. The official inflation rate exceeds 20 percent.But Ahmadinejad said the economy was "flourishing," reeling off figures to back his contention. Critics have in the past accused the government of falsifying economic statistics."We have saved over $30 billion for rainy days," he said. "Iran's non-oil exports will reach over $43 billion by March ... Iran's imports in the past 10 months dropped five percent."Following reforms under which the government phased out hefty subsidies on staples like food and fuel since 2010, Ahmadinejad said billions were saved by not importing petrol."We were importers of fuel but ... now we are among main exporters of fuel and oil products," he said.Fresh U.S. and EU financial sanctions are snarling Iranian payments for staple food and other imports, causing hardship for its 74 million people weeks before a parliamentary election.The election will be Iran's first since a disputed presidential vote in 2009, which the opposition says was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election. That sparked eight months of street protests which the government forcibly suppressed.(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Alistair Lyon)=====Iranians mark 1979 Islamic RevolutionSat, 11 Feb 2012 07:46:00 GMTMillions of Iranians have staged massive rallies both at home and abroad to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The demonstrations have kicked off in more than 1000 Iranian cities and towns as well as 5,000 villages across the country. In the capital city, Tehran, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators have since early Saturday been heading towards the iconic Azadi (Freedom) square, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to deliver a speech. Officials say more than 300 foreign and around 1500 Iranian correspondents will cover the celebrations, ceremonies and demonstrations. This year's rallies are expected to be one of the greatest ever, as the event has coincided with the growing popular movements across the globe, including the ongoing Islamic Awakening in the Arab world, which according to many political observers are inspired by Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, the Iranians are set to renew their allegiance to the values of the Islamic revolution, in the face of the West’s escalating war rhetoric and sanction policies against Tehran over its peaceful nuclear program. Celebrations to mark the anniversary of the victory of Iran's Islamic Revolution have also been held in other countries. The Iranian nation toppled the US-backed Pahlavi regime 33 years ago, ending the 2,500 years of monarchic rule in the country. The anniversary of founder of Iran’s Islamic revolution Imam Khomeini's return to the country on February 1, 1979, marks the beginning of the Ten Days of Dawn celebrations, which culminate on February 11 -- the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution. =================

Iran trumpets atom advances, deepening standoff with West
Wed, Feb 15 08:04 AM EST
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By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran trumpeted advances in nuclear technology on Wednesday, citing new uranium enrichment centrifuges and domestically made reactor fuel, in a move abetting a drift towards confrontation with the West over its disputed atomic ambitions.

The announcement underlined Iranian determination to pursue a nuclear program its Islamic clerical rulers see as a pillar of power, protection and prestige despite Western sanctions that are inflicting increasing damage on Iran's oil-based economy.

Iran has been resorting to barter to import basic staples as sanctions, imposed over its pursuit of nuclear activity seen in the West as geared to developing atomic bombs, have spread to block its oil exports and central bank financing of trade.

Tehran has for some years been developing and testing new generations of centrifuges to replace an outdated, breakdown-prone model. In January it said it had successfully manufactured and tested its own fuel rods for use in nuclear power plants.

The aim of its announcements on Wednesday was to show that international sanctions are failing to stop it making progress in nuclear know-how despite trade embargoes and to strengthen its hand in any renewed negotiations with six world powers.

"The fourth generation of domestically made centrifuges have a higher speed and production capacity ... It will be unveiled on Wednesday," state television said, without giving a source.

It was the latest display of Iran thumbing its nose at a series of U.N. resolutions demanding that it suspend uranium enrichment and open up to U.N. nuclear inspectors.

Last year, Iran installed two newer models for large scale testing at a research site near the central town of Natanz. But it remains unclear whether Tehran, subject to increasingly strict trade sanctions, has the means and components to make the more sophisticated machines in industrial quantity.

If Iran eventually succeeded in introducing modern centrifuges for production, it could significantly shorten the time needed to stockpile enriched uranium, which can generate electricity or, if refined much more, nuclear explosions.

Tehran has worked for several years to perfect faster, more reliable centrifuge machines than the 1970s-vintage P-1 model it now uses to refine uranium.

Western analysts were skeptical of the proclaimed advances.

"We have seen this before. We have seen these announcements and these grand unveilings and it turns out that there was less there than meets the eye. I suspect this is the same case," said Shannon Kile at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

NO CHANGE OF COURSE

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy and sanctions are ultimately judged futile in reining in Tehran's nuclear activity.

Iran has threatened retaliation for any attack or effective ban on its oil exports, suggesting it could seal off the main Gulf export shipping channel, the Strait of Hormuz, used by a third of the world's crude oil tankers.

Iranian officials have refused to negotiate curbs on the program, saying it aims solely to produce electricity for booming domestic demand in OPEC's No. 2 oil-exporting state.

A senior Iranian official said Iran would load domestically made nuclear fuel rods into its Tehran Research Reactor on Wednesday for the first time to keep it running.

"The first home-made nuclear fuel rods will be loaded in the Tehran Nuclear Research Reactor in the presence of the president," Ali Baqeri, deputy head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told ISNA.

The Tehran reactor produces radio-isotopes for use in medical treatments and agriculture.

Iran says it was forced to manufacture its own fuel for the Tehran reactor after failing to agree terms for a deal to obtain it from the West to replenish imported Argentinian stocks that will run out in the near future.

In 2010, Iran alarmed the West by starting to enrich uranium to a fissile purity of 20 percent for the stated purpose of conversion into special fuel for the Tehran reactor.

In boosting enrichment up from the 3.5 percent level suitable for powering civilian nuclear plants, Iran moved significantly closer to the 90 percent threshold suitable for the fissile core of a nuclear warhead.

"Another achievement to be unveiled today is the inauguration of a project of producing 20 percent enriched uranium at the Natanz facility, as well as producing 20 percent fuel plates," state television said.

Analysts remained doubtful that Iran would be able to operate the research reactor with its own special fuel.

"As usual, the announcement surely is exaggerated.

Producing the fuel plates ... is not so hard. But the plates have to be tested for a considerable period before they can be used safely in the reactor," said Mark Fitzpatrick of London's International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"If Iran is really running the reactor with untested fuel plates, then my advice to the residents surrounding the building would be to move somewhere else. It will he unsafe."

Spent fuel can be reprocessed into plutonium, the alternative key ingredient in atomic bombs. But Western worries about Iran's nuclear program have focused on its enrichment program, which has accumulated enough material for up to several bombs, in the view of nuclear proliferation experts.

Analysts say the fuel rod development itself will not put Iran any closer to producing nuclear weapons, but could be a way of telling Tehran's adversaries that time is running out if they want to find a negotiated solution to the dispute.

The most recent talks between world powers and Iran failed in January 2011 because of Tehran's unwillingness to discuss transparent limits on enrichment, as demanded by several U.N. Security Council resolutions passed since 2006.

But Iran said recently it is ready to hold fresh talks with no preconditions. "We will also a reply to the EU's foreign policy chief (about nuclear talks) today," Baqeri said.

(Additional reporting by Mitra Amiri, Ramin Mostafavi in Tehran and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

================

How to make Iran give up its nuclear program (PART 2)
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Published: 18 February, 2012, 11:58
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's listening to an expert during a tour of Tehran's research reactor centre on February 15, 2012 (AFP Photo Iranian Presidency)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's listening to an expert during a tour of Tehran's research reactor centre on February 15, 2012 (AFP Photo Iranian Presidency)
TRENDS: Iran tension

TAGS: Nuclear, RT Exclusive, SciTech, Iran, Nadezhda Kevorkova

UN sanctions, assassinations, terror attacks and military threats – none of these stopped Iran working on its nuclear program. What is the mood in Iran’s scientific community? Are ordinary people scared, or is the pressure bringing consolidation?
­One of 333

Saeed Mohammad Husseini is one of those 333 volunteers. The name Saeed means that he comes from the lineage of the Prophet Mohammed. He is currently in his second year of a Master’s course at Shahid Behesti University, the second-largest university in Iran. Saeed specializes in the legal aspects of environmental science, a field indirectly related to nuclear research.

Saeed was born in Nishabur, 120 kilometers from Khorasan, in a family of farmers. He has four brothers and a sister. All his siblings but one have a degree. One of his brothers chose a trade: he currently owns a small shop.

Saeed learned about the death of Ahmadi Roshan from a text message sent to him by a fellow member of the university’s Basinj cell (an organization of volunteers of all ages and professions uniting about 10 million people across Iran).

- I was taking an exam and I got a text message saying one of our scientists had been killed. Roshan did not teach at our university, but Majid Shahriari who was killed in 2010, was our nuclear physics professor. Four of our professors were killed in total.

All the students Roshan knew attended his funeral. He was buried in central Tehran, near the Imam zadeh-Sale Mosque.

- Everyone cried. We were all hurt. He was only 32, he had a four-year-old son. His son has not even been told that his father is dead. He is too young.
Iranians carry the coffin of nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan during his funeral after the Friday prayers outside Tehran university on January 13, 2012 (AFP Photo / Atta Kenare)
Iranians carry the coffin of nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan during his funeral after the Friday prayers outside Tehran university on January 13, 2012 (AFP Photo / Atta Kenare)

Another scientist, a colleague of the late Abbasi, was wounded. He survived and is now in charge of the nuclear program.

- He was in the car with his family. His wife saved him. She saw the bomb being planted, dragged her husband out of the car and shielded him from the blast.

Husseini believes that to be an example of Iranian selflessness.

- Americans should be told about acts like that so they understand how people in Iran feel about their duty and about each other.

After the funeral, the students held a discussion and decided that volunteers could write a letter, requesting that the best be selected for transferal to the nuclear physics department.

- Many of us had this idea while we were at the funeral. My thoughts were with him, I thought that I was sorry that I couldn’t have taken his place in that explosion. What I can do now is try and help our scientists as much as I can, and this is not about showing off. All those who signed the letter are willing to fill the gaps left by those who died.

Mohammad Husseini recalls that when Saddam Hussein started a war against Iran, many young men volunteered to go to the front, and he believes that it’s now time for the young generation to volunteer again.

- It’s possible that the ministry of education won’t approve my transfer to the nuclear physics department as I am a law student, but we all joined the wait list and we are ready to be of use. If necessary we can serve to protect our scientists, and it’s important for all people in Iran to know this.

The scientist’s bodyguards died protecting him, and so the country is in need of both scientists and soldiers, believes Husseini. There’s a special volunteer wait list to bodyguard Iran’s scientists and to study to become an engineer or technology expert.
Professor Rohani Rankouhi and his Students in front of Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran (AFP Photo Iranian Presidency)
Professor Rohani Rankouhi and his Students in front of Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran (AFP PhotoIranian Presidency)

Shahid Behesti University alone lists 173 volunteers, and there are more throughout the country. 333 candidates have been selected so far from those who were enrolled in courses related to nuclear physics.

In general, only the best of the best school graduates make it to the nuclear physics faculty in Iran, which has the highest competition, with about 1.5 million applicants each year.

- Thousands of talented students apply to study there, that’s why we are making such great progress in sciences. Do you know what progress we have made in medicine, in nanotechnologies? The tougher the sanctions, the greater our progress.

Mohammad Husseini’s companion asked me not to photograph him.

- Let’s protect our volunteers, they are our very best citizens. We are not scared of dying, but we do not want them to be killed, he explained.
­Who kills scientists

Dr. Ali, an engineer, believes that the IAEA inspectors are all intelligence agents working on a mission against Iran.

- The IAEA resolution lists the names of all the scientists involved, and this is against the confidentiality clause. All personal data must be strictly confidential, and thus the IAEA has broken the rules of its own charter. Our scientists have been open with them, shown them around, and gave their names. And now the west sends assassins to kill off our scientists.

The story of the assassin Jamali Fashi, executed for having murdered Professor Alimohammadi of the University of Tehran in January 2012, is quite typical.

- This Jamali Fashi was a 25-year-old man who used to be a professional boxer without any significant educational background, just a secondary school graduate. He was on a competition tour in Turkey, when he was invited to the Israeli embassy and recruited to collaborate with Mossad with a promise of being paid 100 thousand US dollars for his mission. He wasn’t even aware of his target. He was given 30-day training on a site replicating the scientist’s residence, to ensure perfect knowledge of his routine. After that he was trained for 60 more days in Tehran to park the explosives-loaded motorbike correctly. Then he had to wait for the order, which he did.They even paid him only half the amount they had promised.
Majid Jamali Fashi, the main suspect in the assassination of the nuclear scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, speaks during his trial at Tehran′s Revolutionary Court on August 23, 2011 (AFP Photo Str)
Majid Jamali Fashi, the main suspect in the assassination of the nuclear scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, speaks during his trial at Tehran's Revolutionary Court on August 23, 2011 (AFP Photo Str)

Dr. Ali says that Fashi sincerely repented of what he had done. The widow of the murdered scientist paid him a visit, and he begged for her forgiveness, he cried and said he had no idea who his target was supposed to be. He thought it was some politician.

- Even an assassin would not go against Iran’s nuclear program. He was executed on charges of treason. Homicide also is subject to capital punishment in our country.

Dr. Ali believes western countries are under the delusion that Iran can be broken by such methods and actions.

- They did the same when the revolution broke out – planted and detonated explosives. The countries of the west gave Saddam weapons to wage war against Iran for 8 years. As a result, we now have 80 graves at the Shahid cemetery, of the martyrs who got killed in the bombings together with Mohammad Beheshti, the hero of our revolution we named a university after. What result did they get? Our people have made progress. We have launched a satellite into space. Our adversaries have no logic.

On my way out of Tehran, in the airport, I had a conversation with two young Iranians who looked quite liberal, judging by their attire and hair. Both turned out to be living in France and visiting relatives in Iran. Many things in Iran they disagreed with, such as traditional dress code for women, the ban on bars and disco clubs, the regime on the whole, and excessive clergy representation in the parliament. My last question was about the nuclear program.

- We support it, and our parents do, too. You won’t find any Iranian who is against it, whatever the pressure. Don’t waste your time looking.

­Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT
==========

How to make Iran give up its nuclear program (PART 1)
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Published: 17 February, 2012, 15:23
Edited: 17 February, 2012, 22:42
A worshipper holds an anti-U.S. President Barack Obama poster and portraits of killed Iranian nuclear scientists during the funeral for nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was killed in a bomb blast in Tehran on January 11, after Friday prayers January 13, 2012. (REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl)

A worshipper holds an anti-U.S. President Barack Obama poster and portraits of killed Iranian nuclear scientists during the funeral for nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was killed in a bomb blast in Tehran on January 11, after Friday prayers January 13, 2012. (REUTERSMorteza Nikoubazl)
TRENDS: Iran tension

TAGS: Nuclear, SciTech, Iran, Nadezhda Kevorkova

UN sanctions, assassinations, terror attacks and military threats – none of these stopped Iran working on its nuclear program. What is the mood in Iran’s scientific community? Are ordinary people scared, or is the pressure bringing consolidation?

‘Are you afraid of death?’ I ask two Iranian intellectuals. We had been discussing the situation in Iran for two hours. They can’t understand why I ask. They are both 30, they make documentaries, travelling across the country and getting to know fellow Iranians.

‘Of course,’ says Mohseni. ‘Why do you ask? Death is the most important test of your life. You have to be prepared for it.’

'Yes, I am, like all people are,’ Mohammed says after thinking for a minute. ‘A believer fears death because he is concerned about dying the right way. About standing trial.’

The paradox you see in Iran is that most people do not fear death itself so much as the “trial.” This is something that evades the hordes of journalists and analysts who talk about scaring the Iranian authorities into giving up their nuclear program.

When I say this and ask Mohseni and Mohammed if it is possible to scare Iranians with assassinations and terror attacks, they smile.

‘The more they pressure us, the stronger we become. Just like any Islamic society and especially Iran. These people do not understand Iranians’ Mohseni says.
The phenomenon of praying scientists

His name is Amir and he is almost 50. His field of work is related to the nuclear program. He looks and behaves like a secular man, possessing that western sort of success along with a great sense of humor. If I had not spoken with him about it, I would never have guessed that he is religious. By no means does he show anything off, although one could guess, when he disappears.

Students Seeking Death

Three students of the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran – Amir, Kahashayar and Mehdad – do not produce the impression of devotees exhausted by prayer either. They were present at the funeral of Professor Ahmadi Rushan, killed in January on his way to work. It was decided to make a student film about how the world reacted to the scientist’s death. Not for money and not for a place in the sun.

- He died the death of a martyr. We are proud of this scientist. We are proud of our science and of our nuclear program. You won’t find an Iranian willing for the nuclear program to be halted. And you won’t find an Iranian who believes that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. What we would like to know is how come our scientists are being killed and nobody even offers their condolences to Iran.
Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran. Students from various universities in Tehran hold pictures of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was killed in a bomb blast on January 11, as they wait for the arrival of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegates at Tehran′s Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) January 29, 2012 (Reuters / Morteza Nikoubazl)
Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran. Students from various universities in Tehran hold pictures of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was killed in a bomb blast on January 11, as they wait for the arrival of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegates at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) January 29, 2012 (Reuters Morteza Nikoubazl)
Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran. Students from various universities in Tehran hold pictures of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was killed in a bomb blast on January 11, and Iran′s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) as they wait for the arrival of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegates at Tehran′s Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) January 29, 2012 (Reuters Morteza Nikoubazl)
Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran. Students from various universities in Tehran hold pictures of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was killed in a bomb blast on January 11, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) as they wait for the arrival of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegates at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) January 29, 2012 (Reuters Morteza Nikoubazl)

­Amir has got many friends from migrant families. They write letters to each other, visit Iran and keep in touch.
- The thing is that the Iranian nuclear program has been carried out since the 1970s, but no one seemed to be interested in it until recently. And now there is so much fuss around it. That’s strange. Young migrants are also for the Iranian nuclear program, just like us. It looks strange for the Americans that we take pride in our achievements and in our martyrs, but it’s clear for the Iranians. Our scientists trust in God. The more of them get killed, the more young people are eager to replace them, Amir says.
Iranian security forces inspect the site where a magnetic bomb attached to a car by a motorcyclist exploded outside a university in Tehran on January 11, 2012 (AFP Photo IIPA Sajad Safari)
Iranian security forces inspect the site where a magnetic bomb attached to a car by a motorcyclist exploded outside a university in Tehran on January 11, 2012 (AFP Photo IIPA Sajad Safari)

­I asked him to explain the desire to become a suicide bomber to me.

- That’s Islam’s basic principle. There is life after death. And it is more important than that before death. It depends on what you deserve. But in this life we must work. If there is war in my country, I will sacrifice my life for the sake of my mother and for the sake of my country.

Amir explains that Iran is not an aggressor, it poses no threat to anyone and is not making any weapons.

- Israel has nuclear weapons. As for us, we do not need them. We never attacked anyone, while the whole world is discussing how to attack us. When Ahmadi Rushan was killed, 333 students in Iran submitted their requests asking to be transferred to the nuclear physics department, which means that 333 Iranians rose because one person had been killed. We are not scared by their threats.

­This story continues in PART 2.

­Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT

===============
Iran stops oil sales to British, French companies
Sun, Feb 19 08:40 AM EST
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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said on Sunday, in a retaliatory measure against fresh EU sanctions on the Islamic state's lifeblood, oil.

"Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the ministry of petroleum website.

The European Union in January decided to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its disputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran denies this.

Iran's oil minister said on February 4 that the Islamic state would cut its oil exports to "some" European countries.

The European Commission said last week that the bloc would not be short of oil if Iran stopped crude exports, as they have enough in stock to meet their needs for around 120 days.

Industry sources told Reuters on February 16 that Iran's top oil buyers in Europe were making substantial cuts in supply months in advance of European Union sanctions, reducing flows to the continent in March by more than a third - or over 300,000 barrels daily.

France's Total has already stopped buying Iran's crude, which is subject to fresh EU embargoes. Market sources said Royal Dutch Shell has scaled back sharply.

Among European nations, debt-ridden Greece is most exposed to Iranian oil disruption.

Motor Oil Hellas of Greece was thought to have cut out Iranian crude altogether and compatriot Hellenic Petroleum along with Spain's Cepsa and Repsol were curbing imports from Iran.

Iran was supplying more than 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the EU plus Turkey in 2011, industry sources said.

By the start of this year imports had sunk to about 650,000 bpd as some customers cut back in anticipation of an EU ban.

Saudi Arabia says it is prepared to supply extra oil either by topping up existing term contracts or by making rare spot market sales. Iran has criticized Riyadh for the offer.

Iran said the cut will have no impact on its crude sales, warning that any sanctions on its oil will raise international crude prices.

Brent crude oil prices were up $1 a barrel to $118.35 shortly after Iran's state media announced last week that Tehran had cut oil exports to six European states. The report was denied shortly afterwards by Iranian officials.

"We have our own customers ... The replacements for these companies have been considered by Iran," Nikzad said.

EU's new sanctions includes a range of extra restrictions on Iran that went well beyond U.N. sanctions agreed last month and included a ban on dealing with Iranian banks and insurance companies and steps to prevent investment in Tehran's lucrative oil and gas sector, including refining.

The mounting sanctions are aimed at putting financial pressure on the world's fifth largest crude oil exporter, which has little refining capacity and has to import about 40 percent of its gasoline needs for its domestic consumption.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by David Cowell)

=============

Iranian ships reach Syria, Assad allies show support
Mon, Feb 20 12:34 PM EST
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By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Angus MacSwan

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia, China and Iran showed support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday, days before an international meeting likely to pile more pressure on him to step down in the face of an increasingly bloody uprising.

Assad met a senior Russian politician in Damascus, who reiterated Moscow's support for his self-styled reform programme and spoke out against any foreign intervention in the conflict, Russian and Syrian news agencies reported.

China accused Western countries of stirring up civil war in Syria, and two Iranian warships docked at a Syrian naval base, underscoring rising international tensions over the near year-long crisis.

Government forces pressed on with their crackdown on the anti-Assad uprising, with opposition activists reporting five people killed in renewed shelling of an opposition-held district of Homs and troops and militia blockading Hama. Both cities have been in the forefront of the revolt.

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For graphic of Homs http:link.reuters.com/tuc56s

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The crisis is entering an important week, with Western and Arab powers due to meet at a conference in Tunisia on Friday to pressure Assad to give up power, while Assad forges ahead with plans for a referendum on Sunday for a new constitution.

The referendum, which would lead to multi-party elections within 90 days, is part of what Assad describes as a reform programme to address demands for more democracy. Syria's official SANA news agency said about 14,600,000 people are eligible to take part in the referendum.

The West and Syrian opposition figures have dismissed the plan as joke, saying it is impossible to have a valid election amid the continuing repression.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Alexei Pushkov, head of the international affairs committee of Russia's lower house of parliament, met Assad in Damascus on Monday and affirmed Russia's support for the plan. Moscow is Syria's main arms supplier and an ally dating back to the Cold War.

Pushkov also stressed the need "to continue working for a political solution to the crisis based on dialogue between all concerned parties, without foreign intervention," SANA said.

Assad, who shows no inclination to relinquish power, told Pushkov Syria was being targeted by armed terrorist groups supported by foreign elements aiming to destabilize Syria.

China, which sent an envoy to Damascus this weekend, also backs Assad's idea of a political solution and has appealed to the government and opposition alike to halt the violence.

China's Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, took the West to task in a commentary on Monday, saying: "If Western countries continue to fully support Syria's opposition, then in the end a large-scale civil war will erupt and there will be no way to thus avoid the possibility of foreign armed intervention."

The West has so far ruled out any Libya-style military action but the Arab League, led by Saudi Arabia, has indicated some of its member states were prepared to arm the opposition.

HALT TO FIGHTING SOUGHT

A more immediate concern for the West is the plight of civilians caught up in the offensive against the opposition and a nascent rebel army. Activists in embattled cities such as Homs say food supplies are running out and doctors lack medicine to treat the wounded.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in Geneva it was negotiating with Syrian authorities and opposition fighters for a ceasefire to bring life-saving aid to civilians. Diplomatic sources said the ICRC was seeking a two-hour ceasefire in hotspots including Homs.

Opposition activists said five people had been killed in government shelling of Homs's Baba Amro district on Monday, adding to a reported death toll of several hundred since the operation began on February 3.

Activists in the western city of Hama said troops, police and militias had set up dozens of roadblocks, isolating neighborhoods from each other.

"Hama is cut off from the outside world. There are no landlines, no mobile phone network and no internet. House to house arrests take place daily and sometimes repeatedly in the same neighborhoods," an opposition statement said.

Rebel fighters have been attacking militiamen, known as shabbiha, while avoiding open confrontations with armored forces that had amassed around Hama, a city north of Homs on the Damascus-Aleppo highway.

The government restricts foreign media access in Syria, making it hard to independently verify the activists' reports.

In a bold protest in Damascus, opposition youths unfurled a pre-Assad era national flag over a road bridge at the edge of the capital, YouTube footage showed. That followed a weekend which saw one of the biggest demonstrations yet in the capital as the uprising neared its first anniversary.

Security forces have killed at least 5,000 people, according to human rights groups, in a campaign to crush the revolt while the Assad government says more than 2,000 soldiers and security agents have been killed.

Assad has ruled Syria for 11 years after succeeding his father Hafez on his death. The Assad family belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, in a majority Sunni country, and there are fears the uprising could break down into a full sectarian conflict.

Two Iranian warships docked at the Syrian port of Tartous on Saturday, Iranian state TV reported. The ships were said to be providing training for Syrian naval forces.

With Shi'te-led Iran already at odds with the United States, Europe and Israel over its nuclear programme, the deployment was likely to add to Western concerns that the Syria crisis could boil over into a regional conflict if it not resolved soon.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, asked about the Iranian move at briefing in Jerusalem, said Assad was receiving generous support from Iran and the Hizbollah militant group and that Russia and China had given him "a licence to kill".

(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem; Editing by Peter Graff)

==========

Iran says would act against enemies if endangered
Tue, Feb 21 07:21 AM EST

By Parisa Hafezi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran would take pre-emptive action against its enemies if it felt its national interests were endangered, the deputy head of the Islamic Republic's armed forces was quoted by a semi-official news agency as saying on Tuesday.

"Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran's national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions," Mohammad Hejazi told Fars news agency.

Iran is facing increasing international pressure and isolation over its disputed nuclear activity. Expanded Western sanctions aim to block its economically vital oil exports and Tehran has said it could retaliate by shutting the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane vital to global energy supplies.

Still, a top U.S. intelligence official said last week that while U.S. spy services believed Iran would respond if attacked, they thought it was unlikely to start a conflict.

Israel and the United States do not rule out military action against Iran if sanctions and diplomacy fail to rein in its nuclear energy campaign.

Senior U.N. inspectors have begun their second round of talks in Tehran in three weeks, seeking Iranian explanations with respect to intelligence about "possible military dimensions" to the Iranian nuclear program.

Iran denies Western accusations that it is covertly seeking the means to build nuclear weapons and in recent weeks has again vowed no nuclear retreat, but also voiced willingness to resume negotiations with world powers without preconditions.

Iran says it is enriching uranium solely as fuel for a future network of nuclear power stations, not for bombs.

The European Union enraged Tehran last month when it decided to slap a boycott on its oil to take full effect on July 1.

On Sunday, Iran's oil ministry announced a retaliatory halt in oil sales to French and British companies, though that step will be largely symbolic as those firms had already greatly reduced purchases of Iranian crude.

On Monday, the European Commission said Belgium, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands had already stopped buying Iranian oil, while Greece, Spain and Italy were cutting back purchases.

Tighter sanctions including the pending embargo on Iranian oil imports into the EU have helped push oil prices up to $119 a barrel from $107 at the start of the year.

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

==========

Airline shares tumble on oil price rally

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A Delta Airlines plane is seen at O'Hare International airport in Chicago, Illinois November 15, 2006. REUTERS/Frank Polich

Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:37pm EST

(Reuters) - Airline shares fell broadly on Tuesday, with US Airways Group's stock leading the decline, as the price of oil rallied, which directly influences the cost of jet fuel.

US Airways shares plummeted 10.4 percent to $7.97 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of United Continental Holdings were down 7.78 percent at $21.55, and Delta Air Lines' shares fell 6 percent to $10.18, both on the NYSE.

U.S. crude oil futures rose $1.52 to $104.76 after trading beyond $105 for the first time since May 2011. The gains followed news on Monday that Iran halted exports to British and French companies ahead of a European Union embargo.

Jet fuel is one of the highest costs for airlines. US Airways, which does hedge its fuel consumption to offset shocks, is more vulnerable than rivals to price spikes, said Basili Alukos, an airline analyst at Morningstar.

The airline industry has been struggling to maintain stability after a years-long downturn that was exacerbated by volatile fuel prices.

(Reporting By Kyle Peterson; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

=======================

URGENT / Merchants in Najaf cease dealing in Iranian currency
1/24/2012 4:52 PM

NAJAF / Aswat al-Iraq: The majority of merchants and businessmen in the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala have decided to cease dealing with the Iranian currency of Tuman, due to what they described as loss of half its value, compared to the Iraqi dinar, according to exchange dealers in both cities on Tuesday.
"The value of the Iranian Tuman has dropped to very low levels, as its value compared with the Iraqi dinar has reached to 500 dinars, whilst its previous value had exceeded 1,000 dinars," Abu-Ibrahim al-Yassiry, the owner of an exchange company told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that "the decrease had made merchants and owners of trade shops cease dealing with the Tuman and insisting to deal with the Iraqi dinar and the US dollar," Yassiry said.
"The markets in Najaf and Karbala have witnessed a huge offer for the Tuman, thing that dropped its value to reach 300 dinars," he added.

The owner of a garments shop told Aswat al-Iraq, Murtada al-Khazaaly, told Aswat al-Iraq: "the drop in the value of the Iranian Tuman had forced Iranian visitors to buy presents and goods from Iraqi markets," adding that "the Iranian visitor was greatly shocked when he noticed that the value of the Tuman had dropped highly in Iraq".

As for the Chairman of Najaf's Chamber of Commerce, Zuhair Sharba, he told Aswat al-Iraq that "the drop in the value of the Iranian Tuman shall help to increase the purchasing potential of the Iraqi merchant," adding that "in the event of the transfer of dealing from the Tuman to the Iraqi dinar, shall cause the decrease of the number of Iranian visitors, who exceed 6,000 visitors daily and who stay for 10 days, during which they visit the Shiite holy shrines in Najaf, Karbala, Baghdad and Samarra.
The city of Najaf is 160 km to the south of Baghdad.
SKH (TI)

Downfall of Toman's value in Iraq no relations to drop in visitors
1/30/2012 1:47 PM

NAJAF / Aswat al-Iraq: The Iranian Consul in southwest Iraq's Shiite holy city of Najaf, has denied that the decrease of the number of Iranian visitors to the Iraqi religious cities had been behind the downfall of the value of the Iranian Toman, compared with the US dollar, saying that the downfall of the Iranian currency was due to the cold winter season and the dropping temperatures.

"The downfall of the Iranian Toman's value won't affect the number of visitors to the Iraqi religious cities, but it was due to the cold winter season," Mohammed Muhieddin al-Najafi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the coming few days would witness the increase of the visitors.

Najafi said that "the Central Bank of Iran had announced the value of the US dollar to be equal to 1,226 Iranian Tomans per dollar, which is equal to the value of the US dollar for the Iraqi dinar."

Noteworthy is that the Iranian Toman had recorded a downfall in the Iraqi markets for very low levels, thing that made merchants and trade shop owners in the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala not to deal with the Toman.

======

EXCLUSIVE-Saudi oil boost could calm markets-US Senator Schumer

26 Feb 2012 11:59

Source: reuters Reuters

By Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The United States should do more to encourage Saudi Arabia to boost its oil production to make up for lost Iranian oil, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said on Sunday, urging renewed diplomacy as a way to ease the run-up in oil prices.

Tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear program have pushed oil prices to nine-month highs, and U.S. gasoline prices have surged, becoming a top political issue in the run-up to the 2012 presidential elections.

A public promise from Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, to pump oil at its full capacity would calm oil markets as well as gasoline prices, Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In the letter, which was obtained by Reuters, Schumer asked Clinton to urge the Saudi government to increase production to full capacity of 12.5 million barrels per day - an increase of 2.5 million barrels.

That would compensate for a reduction in Iran's total exports of 2.2 million barrels per day. Oil sales from Iran, the third-largest oil exporter, face tough new sanctions as a result of the standoff over its nuclear development.

Gasoline prices in the United States are the highest on record for February. The American Automobile Association (AAA) said the national average price hit $3.65 per gallon on Friday, and analysts say average prices could rise well over $4 per gallon during the peak driving season in coming months.

"These skyrocketing fuel prices are directly linked to the global energy market, particularly Iran's recent efforts to manipulate oil prices and the worry of impacts on supply from an escalation of regional hostilities," Schumer said in the letter.

The United Nation's nuclear watchdog last week warned Iran has stepped up its efforts to enrich uranium. Iran has insisted it is developing nuclear power, not weapons.

The European Union will ban Iranian oil as of July 1, and other buyers will face new U.S. sanctions unless they cut back on purchases.

"These market shifts are now hitting Americans at the pump, reverberating throughout the rest of our economy, and threatening our recovery," Schumer said.

Saudi Arabia has privately reassured customers it will pump more oil, and sharply increased exports in the past week, although it was not clear whether the jump would be sustained. (Editing by Paul Simao)

==========

Western sanctions tighten squeeze on Iran oil exports
Thu, Mar 01 15:21 PM EST
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By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Western trade sanctions against Iran are strangling its oil exports even before they go into effect, a U.S. advisory body has found, amid warnings that any shortages will only push up crude prices and strain a weak global economy.

With crude prices trading around 10-month highs and limited spare production capacity worldwide, the United States may offer Iran's biggest customers waivers from the oil sanctions, which take effect June 28.

Iran is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and the second-biggest producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia.

It's biggest customers, including China, Japan and India have become tangled up in U.S.-led sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, but which have also revived fears of a global recession.

High crude prices present a major challenge for politicians seeking re-election, including for U.S. President Barack Obama, who may face a backlash from voters paying a U.S. gasoline price that is climbing towards record levels of $4 a gallon.

Obama, however, can grant waivers if doing so would be deemed in the nation's interest.

"With oil inventories and spare OPEC production capacity running low, consumers don't have much buffer against additional disruptions in supply," said Trevor Houser, a partner at Rhodium Group and a former State Department adviser.

"That means the needle the administration has to thread to pressure Iran without raising oil prices has gotten even smaller."

The Energy Information Administration (EIA), an independent arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, said on Wednesday that Western insurers were declining to cover the trade risk on some Iranian oil shipments.

On June 28, Washington will slap sanctions on foreign banks facilitating Iran's oil trade, making doing business with Tehran all the more difficult.

On Wednesday, news emerged that the U.S. government recently forced Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank to stop channeling Iranian oil money, cutting off another of Iran's links to the international banking system.

The world's biggest electronic bank clearing system, SWIFT, is also preparing to block Iran's central bank from using its network to transfer funds.

In a sign of Iran's difficulties, traders said Tehran was trying to sell about 200,000 tonnes of crude oil from a supertanker floating off Singapore.

They also said a vessel heading towards China was carrying more oil than the usual term-contract supplies.

Asian nations buy almost half of Iran's oil exports, but the U.S. sanctions have forced them to either reduce the amount they buy or look for alternative suppliers.

Iran is India's second-biggest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, and New Delhi revealed on Wednesday it had sought up to 80,000 barrels per day extra oil from Iraq in 2012/13, days after placing a similar request with top exporter Saudi Arabia.

The EIA report, which looked at global oil output and prices over the last two months since Obama signed the sanctions into law, said oil supplies have become increasingly tight, largely due to the looming embargo and string of production outages in Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and the North Sea.

The report said global spare crude production capacity was "quite modest" by historical standards, and estimated a global supply gap of 1.6 million barrels per day if Iranian oil was completely taken out of the picture.

Iran has threatened to retaliate against the sanctions by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway which carries nearly 20 percent of the global oil trade.

FEARS OF ISRAEL STRIKE

Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes but the West's mistrust runs deep. Western diplomats say the U.N. nuclear watchdog was concerned over "activities" that might be taking place at Iran's Parchin military facility.

It was unclear what kind of activities the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suspected. Diplomats said the agency was monitoring the site via satellite images.

With Israel hinting it could launch a pre-emptive strike on an Iranian nuclear facility, a pro-Iranian militant group, Hezbollah, warned such an attack would set the Middle East ablaze and possibly drag the United States into the conflict.

"America knows that if there is a war on Iran, this means that the whole region will be set alight, with no limit to the fires," Hezbollah deputy Sheikh Naim Qassem told Reuters.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out a military strike on Iran to halt its nuclear program.

Rising petrol prices are a hot issue ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in November. Republicans are trying to tap voter anger to criticize Obama and his Democratic party's energy policy.

Fortunately for oil consumers, Saudi Arabia, home to the world's biggest spare oil cushion, has also boosted production in the last two months.

The kingdom produced an average of 9.7 million bpd over the last two months, the EIA said, about 100,000 bpd less than figures in a Reuters survey on Wednesday. The EIA figure is up about 600,000 bpd from the same period last year.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Rachelle Younglai, Ayesha Rascoe; Writing by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

=========================

Oil prices record high after Saudi blast

LAST UPDATE

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:26:46 GMT

Oil prices have soared to their highest level in the past ten months following reports of an explosion of pipelines in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province.

Brent North Sea crude is trading at nearly $ 127 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate is trading above $ 109 a barrel.

Meanwhile, light, sweet crude for April delivery soared to as high as $110.55 a barrel after it settled for Thursday at $108.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.77 from Wednesday's closing level. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange also rose to $128.40 a barrel.

On Thursday evening, an explosion in Saudi Arabian city of Awamiyah in the east of the kingdom destroyed the pipelines feeding one of the most important oil hubs in the world.

The major pipeline starts in Abqaiq and ends at Ras Tanrua oil terminal carrying nearly six million barrels of oil every day.

Last week, oil prices rose to a nine-month high due to Iran's cutting of crude exports to certain European Union states in response to the EU oil sanctions imposed against Iran.

=========

Oil prices record high after Saudi blast

LAST UPDATE

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:26:46 GMT

Oil prices have soared to their highest level in the past ten months following reports of an explosion of pipelines in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province.

Brent North Sea crude is trading at nearly $ 127 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate is trading above $ 109 a barrel.

Meanwhile, light, sweet crude for April delivery soared to as high as $110.55 a barrel after it settled for Thursday at $108.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.77 from Wednesday's closing level. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange also rose to $128.40 a barrel.

On Thursday evening, an explosion in Saudi Arabian city of Awamiyah in the east of the kingdom destroyed the pipelines feeding one of the most important oil hubs in the world.

The major pipeline starts in Abqaiq and ends at Ras Tanrua oil terminal carrying nearly six million barrels of oil every day.

Last week, oil prices rose to a nine-month high due to Iran's cutting of crude exports to certain European Union states in response to the EU oil sanctions imposed against Iran.

==========
Ahmadinejad: Iran doesn't fear bombs and warships
Sun, Mar 11 11:52 AM EDT
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By Marcus George

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched a fresh tirade against the West, saying the Islamic Republic does not fear military action, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

"The Iranian nation doesn't fear your bombs and warships and planes. Such weapons are worth nothing," the Fars News Agency quoted him as saying on a visit to the town of Karaj, to the west of Tehran.

"You say to Iran all options are on the table. Leave them there until they rot. The time of arrogance and colonialism has passed, and the era of your unreasonableness passes too."

On Tuesday, the P5+1 group of countries comprising the United States, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany accepted an offer from Tehran for fresh talks on its nuclear program.

The West has imposed tough sanctions to try to force Iran to open up its nuclear activities to international scrutiny amid suspicions it is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has denied any military development work but has not given international inspectors access to suspicious sites.

With little diplomatic progress despite numerous rounds of talks, Washington has refused to rule out military action and senior Israeli politicians have spoken of the possibility of air strikes.

President Barack Obama played down talk of war last week, however, saying there was a diplomatic "window of opportunity" and it was in everyone's interest for a peaceful solution to be found.

His words were met with rare praise from Iran's most powerful authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinejad is set to appear before parliament, the Majlis, on Thursday, Fars News reported on Sunday, after being summoned last month to face questions about his handling of the economy.

He has been severely criticized for implementing reforms towards the end of 2010 that withdrew generous subsidies for food and energy.

The reforms, combined with tightening sanctions, have fuelled rampant inflation - officially around 21 percent but believed to be nearer 50 percent - and a collapse in the value of the Iranian currency, the Rial.

(Reporting By Marcus George; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

=============

U.S. asks Saudis to lift oil output from July
Tue, Mar 13 10:48 AM EDT
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KUWAIT (Reuters) - The United States is pressing Saudi Arabia to boost oil output to fill a likely supply gap arising from sanctions on Iran, Gulf oil officials said, adding that an increase in production is unlikely to be needed before July.

Saudi Arabia is the only producer with spare capacity and oil importers will rely on Riyadh to fill the gap should Iranian output drop.

Saudi Arabia has made clear it will only raise output if it sees additional demand for crude and does not want its oil policy implicated in efforts to disrupt Iran's atomic program which the West says aims to develop a nuclear weapon.

"There were talks held between Saudi and the U.S. and the U.S. asked if Saudi could be accommodating once the sanctions take effect in July. And the Saudi response was that it was ready to meet demand in the market if required, but would not like to take part in the politics," one Gulf official said.

The official was speaking at a gathering of energy ministers from producer and consumer nations at the International Energy Forum (IEF) in Kuwait.

Attending the conference, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi gave reassurances on Tuesday to importing nations on Riyadh's willingness to supply more oil if the need arises.

A European Union embargo on Iranian crude takes effect on July 1. U.S. and European financial sanctions have made it more difficult for other importing nations to process payments for Iranian crude.

Oil prices have risen sharply this year to $125 a barrel for Brent crude. Oil traders are keen to know the likely timing of any Saudi supply increase to counter the expected decline from Iran.

"There will not be any surprises in Saudi production over the coming few months, we are yet to see what demand in April will be. But generally production will stay up or down 200,000 barrels per day from the current 9.8 (million bpd)," the Gulf official said. "The situation is still not clear, by July there will be a clearer picture," another Gulf source said.

Already running close to record highs of about 10 million bpd, Saudi says it has the capacity to reach 11.4-11.8 million very quickly and could bring on another 700,000 bpd in 90 days to reach full capacity of 12.5 million bpd.

(Reporting by Amena Bakr; Editing by Richard Mably)

========

Exclusive: Saudi oil sales, tanker bookings to U.S. surge
Fri, Mar 16 11:44 AM EDT

By Matthew Robinson and Jonathan Saul

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is preparing to extend this year's unexpected surge in oil sales to the United States, according to tanker industry sources and government data, adding to speculation about the response of the world's top oil exporter to sanctions against Iran and a rally in prices.

Contrary to expectations that the modest recent rise in the kingdom's output was bound for fast-growing Asian markets, preliminary data shows that shipments to the United States have quietly risen 25 percent to the highest level since mid-2008, when the OPEC kingpin was driving up production to knock oil prices off record highs near $150 a barrel.

The surge appears set to continue. Vela, Saudi Arabia's state oil tanker company, has booked at least 9 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude each from the Middle East Gulf to the U.S. Gulf since the start of March, the biggest such wave of fixtures in years, analysts say.

Evidence of the abrupt boost in sales, which has gone largely unnoticed in the market, will likely provoke speculation about whether it is more political or commercial in nature.

The White House has been scrambling for options to bring down gasoline prices -- at a seasonal record high -- during an election year, after concerns over an Iranian supply disruption launched benchmark Brent crude to lofty peaks over $120 a barrel not seen since the record price run of 2008.

Washington has urged ally Saudi Arabia to cover potential shortages when new U.S. and European Union sanctions are expected to reduce Iranian oil exports from July. The Obama administration has considered releasing strategic oil inventories, potentially as part of a bilateral deal with Britain.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Leff in New York; Editing by Dale Hudson)
=========
Iraq offers oil to Sri Lanka
By Bandula Sirimanna

War-torn Iraq is offering to supply substantial quantities of fuel to Sri Lanka as the noose tightens on continued flows from Iran, Sri Lanka’s main fuel supplier, with supply stopping on March 29.

Petroleum Ministry officials said yesterday Sri Lanka would stop crude oil imports from Iran from March 29, ahead of the US June 28th deadline. Any country importing goods from Iran after would be subject to US penalties.

They said fuel purchases from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman were options Sri Lanka was looking at. Sri Lanka has depended almost entirely on Iran for its crude oil supplies importing 93 %of its requirement from Iran with the country's only refinery at Sapugaskanda able to process only Iranian crude. However one official explained that Sri Lanka had started purchasing Saudi Arabian Light Oil instead of Iranian Light Oil.
======

Iran will attack to defend itself - Khamenei

20 Mar 2012 15:19

Source: reuters Reuters

(Adds Khamenei quotes, background)

March 20 (Reuters) - In the face of aggression from the United States or Israel, Iran will attack to defend itself, Iran's most powerful figure, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday.

"We do not have nuclear weapons and we will not build them but in the face of aggression from the enemies, whether from America or the Zionist regime, to defend ourselves we will attack on the same level as the enemies attack us," Khamenei said live on television.

"Americans are making a grave mistake if they think by making threats they will destroy the Iranian nation," he said in his annual speech to mark Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.

Israel and the United States have threatened military action against Iran unless it abandons nuclear activities which the West suspects are intended to develop nuclear weapons.

Further talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries are expected to take place next month in an attempt to reach a compromise deal.

The most recent talks between world powers and Iran failed in January 2011 because of Iran's refusal to suspend its sensitive uranium enrichment work, as demanded by several U.N. resolutions and major powers.

It says it has the right to develop a peaceful nuclear programme under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In his speech, Khamenei highlighted the country's nuclear achievements over the last 12 months - increasing uranium enrichment to 20 percent and loading domestically-made fuel rods into the Tehran Research Reactor.

"In a situation where the enemies were putting bets on the fall of the Iranian nation, and talking about the crippling sanctions, Iran has accomplished all these achievements," he added.

The U.S. and its allies have imposed tough new sanctions on Iran since this year which western diplomats say show signs of having a strong effect on the Iranian economy.

Earlier, Khamenei unveiled a national production plan and urged the nation to buy domestically-made goods, saying it would help to defeat sanctions. (Reporting By Marcus George; editing by Andrew Roche)

======

'Threats on Iran to cost airlines $5bn'

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:47:05 GMT

International Air Transport Association (IATA) says the global aviations industry could run up losses of over USD 5 billion this year due to Western tensions over Iran's nuclear energy program.

IATA's chief executive Tony Tyler said the industry's diminished profit forecast for 2012 could turn to losses of more than USD 5 billion if oil prices spike to USD 150 a barrel due to Western tensions with Iran, CBS News reported on Tuesday.

"I must emphasize that the industry is fragile," he said, pointing to global growth forecasts of 2 percent for this year. "Historically, if GDP falls below 2 percent, the industry returns a collective loss. So it would not take much of a shock to turn our very modest profit projection to a net loss."

"Indeed that shock could be oil," Tyler added. "Such a shock would link to a fall in GDP growth to 1.7 percent and we could see losses in excess of $5 billion."

IATA has itself contributed to sanctions against Iran after succumbing to Western pressure on October 10, announcing that it would close its payment services to Iranian citizens using the state-owned airline -- IranAir.

Global oil prices have continually climbed this year following Iran’s move to stop oil sales to British and French firms, carried out in response to European Union's oil sanctions against the country. Tehran has announced it may also halt oil exports to more European countries.

EU foreign ministers approved sanctions against Iran’s oil and financial sectors on January 23, including a ban on Iranian oil imports, a freeze on the assets of the country’s central bank within EU states, and a ban on selling grains, diamonds, gold, and other precious metals to Tehran.

The move came after the US imposed new sanctions against Iran on New Year’s Eve, aiming to prevent other countries from importing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with its central bank.

The US, Israel and some of their allies have accused Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

The US and the EU have used this pretext to impose sanctions against Iran, while Tel Aviv has issued threats of a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Washington has repeatedly threatened Iran with “all options” on the table.

Iran has repeatedly refuted the Western allegations regarding its nuclear energy program, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.


======

Obama assails Iran's "electronic curtain" in video message
Tue, Mar 20 14:35 PM EDT
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By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama accused Iran on Tuesday of imposing an "electronic curtain" on its citizens and promised new U.S. steps aimed at helping to ease the Iranian people's access to the Internet and social media.

Speaking directly to ordinary Iranians in a video message marking Nowruz, the Persian new year celebration, Obama acknowledged "continued tensions between our two countries," which stem mostly from Iran's defiance over its nuclear program.

But he insisted that Americans want a dialogue with Iranians. "There is no reason for the United States and Iran to be divided from one another," he said.

Obama's overture to the Iranian people was the latest step in Washington's push to ratchet up pressure on Tehran. He has urged Israel to hold off on any attack on Iran's nuclear sites to allow more time for sanctions and diplomacy to work.

Renewing accusations of Iran's suppression of its people, Obama said Iranians were "denied the basic freedom to access the information that they want." He cited blocking of television and radio signals, monitoring of computers and cell phones and censoring of the Internet.

"Because of the actions of the Iranian regime, an electronic curtain has fallen around Iran," Obama said in the video address, which was transmitted in Farsi as well as English.

"Today, my administration is issuing new guidelines to make it easier for American businesses to provide software and services into Iran that will make it easier for the Iranian people to use the Internet," he said.

The steps appeared relatively modest, and it was unclear how much of it could move forward without Iran's cooperation.

The U.S. Treasury said its Office of Foreign Assets Control had spelled out a range of Internet services and software that may be exported to Iran, including online personal messenger services and supporting software, as well as browsers, document readers, personal data storage and mobile applications.

In his video message, Obama alluded to the "Arab spring" uprisings that have swept the Middle East over the past year, sometimes fueled by communication on social networking sites.

"We have learned once more that suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away," he said.

Mass protests erupted in Iran against the disputed 2009 reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But the demonstrations were crushed by Iranian security forces who jailed scores of activists.

Obama urged Iran to respect its people's rights "just as it has a responsibility to meet its obligations with regard to its nuclear program." He said Iran would be "welcomed once more among the community of nations" if it met those commitments.

The United States and other Western powers are demanding that Iran halt uranium enrichment, which they fear could be used to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it want nuclear technology strictly for electricity generation and medical purposes.

(Additional reporting by Alister Bull; Editing by Eric Walsh)

====

U.S. exempts Japan, 10 EU nations from Iran sanctions
Tue, Mar 20 15:49 PM EDT
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By Arshad Mohammed and Andrew Quinn

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan and 10 European Union nations will be spared severe U.S. financial sanctions because they have significantly reduced purchases of Iranian crude oil, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

The decision is a victory for the 11 countries, whose banks have been given a six-month reprieve (To postpone or cancel the punishment of.)from the threat of being cut off from the U.S. financial system under new sanctions designed to pressure Iran over its nuclear program.

The EU nations, which had already decided to stop buying Iranian oil, include Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

The list did not, however, include China and India, Iran's top two crude oil importers, nor U.S. allies South Korea and Turkey, which are among the top 10 consumers of Iranian oil.

A senior U.S. official declined to say what these nations must do to meet the "significantly reduce" threshold under U.S. law to be exempted from sanctions.

However, the official hinted that Japan's 15-22 percent cut in the second half of 2011 according to published sources might be a signpost for others, noting that it had achieved this while recovering from an earthquake and nuclear power disaster.

"Even after that tragedy, depending on the data source, they reduced on seasonally adjusted terms between 15 and 22 percent," he said. "That gives some indication of what a particular country was able to do in a situation of hardship."

"We look forward to countries that are importers of Iranian crude oil to come back to us looking at the Japan example, the European Union example, and to indicate ... what they believe that they are able to do," he added

JAPANESE CUTS MAY BE KEY

The United States has gradually tightened sanctions because of Iran's failure to answer questions about its nuclear program, which Washington and its allies suspect is a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it is solely to generate power.

Mark Dubowitz, an advocate for tougher sanctions on Iran and the head of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said Japan's example was likely to be significant.

"The key number will be what Japan agreed to," he said. "This will be the number that other countries will have to meet or otherwise make the case to the administration why their energy circumstances demand a lower reduction."

Ray Takeyh, an Iran expert at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said the exemptions for Japan and the European Union were predictable because they had done the most to cut their imports of Iranian crude. "Japan has taken action in looking for alternative suppliers, while India and China have not demonstrated that they are in compliance with the sanctions," Takeyh said.

Under the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, U.S. President Barack Obama has the ability to impose financial sanctions on foreign banks that carry out financial transactions with Iran's central bank "for the purchase of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran" if several conditions are met.

However, the law gives Obama an explicit exemption under which he can choose not to apply sanctions if he determines that the country with primary jurisdiction over the bank has "significantly reduced" its volume of crude oil purchases.

The exemptions apply for 180 days and can be renewed every six months thereafter.

"The actions taken by these countries were not easy. They had to rethink their energy needs at a critical time for the world economy and quickly begin to find alternatives to Iranian oil," Clinton said in her statement.

"We commend these countries for their actions and urge other nations that import oil from Iran to follow their example."

Under U.S. law, the sanctions cannot be imposed before June 28, giving countries time to adjust. And even if they do not cut their Iranian oil imports, the law gives Obama broad "waiver" authority under which he may waive sanctions if he determines it "is in the national security interest of the United States."

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Tim Gardner and Emily Stephenson; Editing by David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao)
======

'Hormuz closure to up oil prices to $240'

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:44:17 GMT

A leading US-based energy consulting firm says oil price may hit $240 a barrel and economic growth may fall by over 25 percent if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz in reaction to the Western sanctions.

Analysts at IHS Global Insight also told reporters that Iran can easily close the strategic strait and disrupt global oil supplies for up to three months by laying mines that the US and its allies would have to find and remove, USA Today reported.

“If Iran actually moves to close the Strait of Hormuz, crude oil prices may soar to $240 a barrel for some time,” said Sara Johnson, senior research director for Global Economics at IHS.

She added that oil prices may stay as high as $160 in the second quarter of the year before reverting to somewhere around $120.

Such an oil shock, Johnson stated, can bring back gas lines in much of the world, and shave next year’s global economic growth to 2.6 percent from a current forecast of 3.6 percent.

“If it [oil price] did hit $240 [a barrel], you're looking at about a doubling of where gas prices are now; and the US [gas price] is at $4 [a gallon]," said Jim Burkhard, managing director of the global oil group at IHS CERA, the firm's energy-research arm.

The expert stated that the impact would be so large as the global oil supplies are so tight.

“The world has only between 1.8 million and 2.5 million barrels per day of unused production capacity, down from 6.2 million in 2009. Tight inventories magnify the impact of any interruption in crude from nations around the Strait [of Hormuz],” Burkhard added.

The US and the European Union (EU) have imposed tough sanctions against Iran, since the beginning of 2012, to block the country’s oil exports and penalize other states for importing the Iranian crude.

They claim that Iran's nuclear energy program includes a military component, ignoring the fact that International Atomic Energy Agency has never been able to prove a military diversion in Iran's nuclear energy program despite meticulous inspections.

Tehran has threatened that if Iran's oil exports are cut, the country may take retaliatory steps, including the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz through which a daily total of 15-17 million barrels of oil pass.

======

‘Iran tensions shrapnel to reach Canada’

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:17:07 GMT

A report has warned that Canada’s economy, among that of many other states, will be “hit hard” by the spike in oil prices if the West tensions against Iran lead to a closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

If an oil crisis over the potential closure of the Strait were to break out today, the Montreal Gazette reported, “It would cut the Canadian growth by about one-third, bringing the likelihood of higher unemployment and stagnating wages.”

In a recent conference, IHS Global Insight, a leading US-based energy consulting firm, announced that oil price may hit as high as USD 240 a barrel and the economic growth may fall as low as 25 percent if the strategic passageway is closed.

Describing the gravity of the scenario, IHS Global Insight’s chief economist Nariman Behravesh said the risk of an oil crisis is now the biggest danger facing the world’s economic growth.

Canada, Behravesh asserted, will see a painful 0.7 percent drop in the economic growth by the year following such a crisis.

The estimated blow to Canada’s growth, however, is only slightly lower than the 0.9 percent seen by the US, Japan and China, the report added.

“The worst damage, though, would hit the region that can least afford it - Europe - where there is a new recession under way and where growth could fall by 1.4 percent.”

The US and the European Union (EU) have imposed tough sanctions against Iran, since the beginning of 2012, to block the country’s oil exports and penalize other states for importing the Iranian crude.

They claim that Iran's nuclear energy program includes a military component, ignoring the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency has never been able to prove a military diversion in Iran's nuclear energy program despite meticulous inspections.

Tehran has threatened that if Iran's oil exports are cut, the country may take retaliatory steps, including the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz through which a daily total of 15-17 million barrels of oil pass.

================

Exclusive: Shell scrambles to pay huge bill for Iran oil
Sun, Mar 25 14:48 PM EDT
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By Richard Mably and Peg Mackey

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell is struggling to pay off $1 billion that it owes Iran for crude oil because European Union and U.S. financial sanctions now make it almost impossible to process payments, industry sources said.

Four sources said the oil major owes a large sum to the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) for deliveries of crude, with one putting the figure at close to $1 billion. A debt of that size would equate to roughly four large tanker loads of Iranian crude or about 8 million barrels.

"Shell is working hard to figure out a way to pay NIOC," said an industry source, who requested anonymity. "It's very sensitive and very difficult. They want to stay on good terms with Iran, while abiding by sanctions."

A Shell spokesman declined to comment.

The European Union toughened financial sanctions and placed a ban on Iranian oil imports on January 23, but gave companies until July 1 to wind down their existing business.

With daily contract volumes of 100,000 barrels, Shell ranked as Iran's second biggest corporate client - along with France's Total - behind Turkey's Tupras.

Shell CEO Peter Voser said on March 7 the company would take its final deliveries of Iranian crude "within a matter of weeks".

Rigorous U.S. and European financial measures, aimed at punishing Iran for its nuclear program have already come into force, making it increasingly difficult to pay for and ship crude from Iran, say oil executives.

"There are big frustrations with the payment route - the U.S. pressure is really working," said a senior oil source. "It's now nearly impossible to use the banking system."

Such financial restrictions were in part behind Total's decision to stop purchasing Iranian crude at the end of last year, industry sources say. Total also bought about 100,000 barrels per day from Tehran.

Industry sources say some of Iran's big customers may have been using the Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank to channel payments to Iran. It is not known whether Shell was processing payments via Noor Islamic Bank.

Diplomats say the bank bowed to pressure from Washington and cut ties with Iranian banks in the United Arab Emirates at the end of last year.

Given the outstanding amount owed in the face of sanctions, senior oil executives say the only way forward is for Shell to ask the British government to help settle the account with Iran.

An approach was made by Shell, sources say, but the company was rebuffed.

A small portion of the Shell debt could be written off through an outstanding payment NIOC owes the company for development of the offshore Soroush/Nowrooz oilfields, say industry sources.

Shell and European rivals such as Total and Italy's Eni have built longstanding relationships with Iran, OPEC's second largest exporter, through their work at the country's oilfields and years of crude oil purchases.

But while they are loath to burn bridges with Tehran, they also cannot afford to put business in the United States and elsewhere in the West at risk.

(Reporting by Peg Mackey; Editing by Giles Elgood)
================

Clinton, Saudi's Abdullah discuss world oil balance

30 Mar 2012 22:56

Source: reuters Reuters

* Clinton meets king, foreign minister

* Talk about keeping oil supply strong - U.S. official

* Meeting later on regional security

RIYADH, March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed Saudi Arabia's role in maintaining a stable world oil supply in talks on Friday with Saudi King Abdullah, a U.S. official said.

The United States and Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, have been strategic allies since the 1940s, but discord over how to respond to Arab popular uprisings strained relations last year.

Although the two states have mended the rift, differences persist on regional policy and how to tackle high oil prices.

The United States and other consumer countries fear Saudi Arabia may cut oil output if they release emergency reserves, neutralising their effort to cool world energy markets.

Clinton met with the king, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and other officials from the Gulf kingdom in Riyadh on Friday, a day before foreign ministers from across the Gulf meet with U.S. officials to discuss regional security.

"They talked about keeping the global oil supply strong in this period and the essential role that Saudi Arabia plays in that," a senior State Department official told reporters.

Diplomats and industry sources said this week that Western countries may want Clinton to seek reassurance that the Saudis will not undercut their bid to cut their fuel costs.

Oil prices have risen sharply since the start of the year, at one point breaking $128 a barrel, largely because of expanded sanctions imposed on major oil exporter Iran aimed at slowing its disputed nuclear program.

"Our shared interest in maintaining stability in oil markets was discussed" during talks between Clinton and the Saudi leader during a lengthy one-on-one meeting, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said that Clinton's talks with Saudi officials on Friday also included discussions of plans to enhance missile defense abilities in the Gulf, reform and the role of women in Saudi Arabia, upcoming multilateral talks about Iran's nuclear program, and Syria.

Saturday's meeting between Clinton and foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are expected to focus at least in part on the ongoing violence in Syria, where at least 9,000 people are believed to have been killed in the year-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Clinton is expected to urge the Syria's fractured opposition to overcome divisions at a meeting of Syrian dissidents and Western foreign ministers in Istanbul on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia, with Qatar, has led Arab efforts to press Assad to end his crackdown on the uprising and step aside.

While the Obama administration is seeking ways to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on Assad, it has so far shunned calls from some U.S. politicians to help poorly equipped rebels battling Assad forces more directly or back the kind of international military action that helped topple former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last year.

Violence continued in Syria on Friday as United Nations-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan told Assad that his forces must be first to cease fire and withdraw.

"It's incumbent on the stronger power here to lead, and clearly it is the Assad regime that is responsible for the preponderance of the violence" in Syria, the official said. (Reporting by Missy Ryan; Editing by Michael Roddy)

===
Gasoline price continues to rise in US
Obama OKs sanctions on Iran oil

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 05:43:18 GMT

US President Barack Obama has given the green light for fresh sanctions against foreign banks and other financial institutions by or through which Iran’s oil is purchased.

Obama made the decision on Friday night, hours before a legal deadline, arguing that there is enough oil on world markets to ensure the move will not trigger an oil shock hitting US consumers.

"There is a sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran to permit a significant reduction in the volume of petroleum and petroleum products purchased from Iran by or through foreign financial institutions," the President said.
Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:31:21 GMT

Fuel prices have climbed sharply in the United States following the country’s unilateral move to impose sanctions on key global oil-supplier Iran, Press TV reports.

The hike in gasoline prices leave Americans in a familiar pinch as they pour more and more money into their gas tanks.

The average price nationwide has shot up by 30 cents per gallon over the last month alone. Analysts believe gas prices could further climb before the summer travel season begins.

The gasoline price at a British Petroleum station on Tenth Avenue of New York City was about $4.20 a gallon on Thursday -- well above the national average of about $3.90.

The fuel price is also well below some other locations in New York City -- where a gallon of gas can cost more than $4.50.

It sure seems that way to nearly seventy percent of Americans that, according to a recent poll, don't like the way President Barack Obama is dealing with the high cost of gasoline.

The US and EU have imposed tough sanctions against Iran’s financial and oil sectors since the beginning of 2012, claiming that the country’s nuclear energy program may include a military diversion.

Tehran, however, has repeatedly rejected the unsubstantiated claims, noting that regular and frequent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have never proved any such diversion in Iran's nuclear energy program.

========================

Saudi oil shipper Vela books more tankers to U.S
Thu, Apr 05 13:29 PM EDT

By Jonathan Saul

LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's state oil tanker company Vela has booked at least four vessels carrying up to 8 million barrels of crude for the U.S. Gulf in the past two days, tanker fixture data showed on Thursday.

A further three tankers are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. Gulf around the end of April, ship tracking data showed.

Saudi Arabia ramped up shipments to the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer -- which has seen its economy threatened by rising fuel prices -- by 25 percent in the first quarter of this year to the highest level since mid-2008.

Market analysts and traders say much of the increase was aimed at building up inventories at Saudi Arabia's joint-venture Motiva refinery in Texas before the completion of a huge capacity expansion. Others insist part of the hike could be aimed at easing rising fuel costs in the United States, which have become a focal point during the presidential election.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said last month high oil prices are unjustified and that the kingdom would like to see them lower, but offered no sign it would boost output further.

Saudi Arabian output edged up in March to 9.9 million barrels per day (bpd), according to a Reuters survey.

A tanker broker said four very large crude carriers (VLCCs) had been fixed by Vela in the past two days headed to the U.S. Gulf.

Earlier this month Vela booked at least nine VLCCs from the Middle East Gulf to the U.S. Gulf, the biggest such wave of fixtures in years.

Shipments from the OPEC kingpin to the United States jumped by nearly 300,000 bpd in the first quarter of this year to 1.45 million bpd, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows.

Buoyant demand for VLCCs has helped push average earnings on the benchmark Middle Gulf to Japan route -- the major market barometer -- to their highest level in over a year to more than $40,000 a day, Baltic Exchange data showed.

(Additional reporting by Matthew Robinson in New York; editing Richard Mably and Dale Hudson)

==============================

Saudi oil shipper Vela books more tankers to U.S
Thu, Apr 05 13:29 PM EDT

By Jonathan Saul

LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's state oil tanker company Vela has booked at least four vessels carrying up to 8 million barrels of crude for the U.S. Gulf in the past two days, tanker fixture data showed on Thursday.

A further three tankers are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. Gulf around the end of April, ship tracking data showed.

Saudi Arabia ramped up shipments to the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer -- which has seen its economy threatened by rising fuel prices -- by 25 percent in the first quarter of this year to the highest level since mid-2008.

Market analysts and traders say much of the increase was aimed at building up inventories at Saudi Arabia's joint-venture Motiva refinery in Texas before the completion of a huge capacity expansion. Others insist part of the hike could be aimed at easing rising fuel costs in the United States, which have become a focal point during the presidential election.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said last month high oil prices are unjustified and that the kingdom would like to see them lower, but offered no sign it would boost output further.

Saudi Arabian output edged up in March to 9.9 million barrels per day (bpd), according to a Reuters survey.

A tanker broker said four very large crude carriers (VLCCs) had been fixed by Vela in the past two days headed to the U.S. Gulf.

Earlier this month Vela booked at least nine VLCCs from the Middle East Gulf to the U.S. Gulf, the biggest such wave of fixtures in years.

Shipments from the OPEC kingpin to the United States jumped by nearly 300,000 bpd in the first quarter of this year to 1.45 million bpd, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows.

Buoyant demand for VLCCs has helped push average earnings on the benchmark Middle Gulf to Japan route -- the major market barometer -- to their highest level in over a year to more than $40,000 a day, Baltic Exchange data showed.

(Additional reporting by Matthew Robinson in New York; editing Richard Mably and Dale Hudson)

================

US officials debate virulence of Iran-backed Hezbollah's threat

05 Apr 2012 17:22

Source: reuters Reuters

* Group suspected of surveillance, but will it attack?

* House panel cites "hundreds" of terrorists in U.S.

* Israeli, U.S. strike on Iran could prompt retaliation

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - The warning last month from Representative Peter King, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, was blunt: An investigation by his staff had determined that "hundreds" of people he described as "Iranian and Hezbollah terrorists" were in the United States.

But interviews with U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, as well as private experts, about the Iranian-sponsored group paint a more nuanced picture. There is a threat, though whether it is imminent or extensive is far from clear, they say.

An alarming part of the officials' assessments focuses on the apparent surveillance missions that Iranian diplomats and possible Hezbollah operatives have been seen conducting at sensitive targets such as New York subways and bridges, and at nuclear power plants and tunnels elsewhere in the United States in the past 10 years.

At the same time, U.S. officials caution that Hezbollah, a Shiite militia based in Lebanon, has largely avoided attacking U.S. targets since it carried out mass-casualty bombings in the 1980s against the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut. One reason may be that it does not want to endanger its lucrative North American fund-raising operations.

The renewed focus on Hezbollah - which U.S. counter-terrorism officials regard as the most potent and disciplined of Islamic militant groups, even more so than al Qaeda - comes amid a growing confrontation over Iran's nuclear program.

An Israeli or U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear sites could prompt Hezbollah to change strategy, moving from surveillance and fund-raising in North America to launching retaliatory attacks on either country, several U.S. officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters.

BROADER RISKS DOWNPLAYED

Israel's leaders, while acknowledging the likelihood of retaliation by Iran or its agents, have sometimes downplayed the risk of a broader conflict.

Iranian-inspired surveillance missions in the United States have been scattered over a period of years. But, when combined with a handful of recent attacks or plots around the world, they have contributed to an assessment within the U.S. government that considerable violence directed against U.S. targets - at overseas installations or businesses, or at American soil - could follow any strike on Iran's nuclear program.

U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, along with private experts, say there is little doubt Hezbollah has an extensive network of supporters, fund-raisers and potential operatives in the United States.

A law enforcement official said that the New York Police Department, whose monitoring of Muslim communities has prompted political controversy, believes that between 200 and 300 Hezbollah sympathizers live in New York City. Between 10 and 20 of those are relatives of Hezbollah leaders or fighters who were killed in action, said the official.

The NYPD's knowledge of Hezbollah's infrastructure is sufficiently detailed that it has identified four Lebanese towns - Bint, Jbeil, Yanoun and Yatar - to which suspected sympathizers of the group have ties. At least a handful of people in New York connected with Hezbollah have also undergone military training in Lebanon, the official said.

A preliminary report issued by investigators for King, a New York Republican, said that pinpointing the number of Hezbollah operatives inside the United States was difficult because of the group's operational security. The committee report nonetheless cited the estimates of "some officials" that the group "likely" has "several thousand sympathetic donors" in the United States as well as "hundreds" of operatives.

But other officials familiar with up-to-date U.S. intelligence on Hezbollah said there was a big difference between a Hezbollah "supporter" and someone who would be willing to engage in violent activity. The officials said such distinctions have been blurred in public discussions about the domestic threat the group allegedly poses.

CRIMINAL CASES

Over the years, U.S. federal authorities have brought numerous criminal cases against alleged Hezbollah operatives, most of them related to fund-raising or other support activity rather than plotting against U.S. targets.

The access to potential funding sources is one reason why Hezbollah has avoided targeting the United States or its interests, said Evan Kohlmann, an investigator who monitors militant websites for the government and private businesses.

"For the last 15 years, Hezbollah has regarded North America as a piggy bank," Kohlmann said.

Reliable figures for Hezbollah's fund-raising, which is done covertly, are not available.

Because the United States is such a critical source for funds and equipment such as night-vision devices that might be useful to its paramilitary operations, Kohlmann said, Hezbollah might be reluctant to embark on attacks inside the United States - even if prodded to do so by patrons in Iran. Attacks against U.S. targets overseas might be more likely, he said.

Kohlmann said that Hezbollah regards the U.S. as such an important supply point that the group supposedly has planted its own "procurement manager" somewhere in North America.

One factor heightening U.S. officials' concern about Hezbollah-related attacks is the accumulation of accounts of alleged attempts by Iranian operatives to "case" potential U.S. targets.

According to a New York law enforcement source, there have been several notable incidents of this nature involving individuals who turned out to be accredited to Iran's U.N. mission.

In a 2003 incident, New York police patrolmen observed a group of men videotaping the tracks out of the front window of a subway train traveling between Queens and Manhattan at 2 a.m. The Iranians were arrested, but later released after they produced diplomatic credentials. The law enforcement source said they were asked to leave the country.

In a 2006 incident, the captain of a sightseeing boat became suspicious after a group of Iranians taking his cruise along the East River broke into two smaller groups and started snapping pictures of the undersides of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. The six men all turned out to be covered by diplomatic immunity, the law enforcement source said.

In September 2008, three more Iranians with diplomatic status were observed taking pictures of rail tracks going into Grand Central Station that are not routinely accessible to members of the public.

And in a 2010 incident, security personnel at a heliport near Wall Street observed a group of men who claimed to be affiliated with an Iranian broadcasting network taking pictures of the framework supporting the heliport deck which was cantilevered over the river.

A federal official said that similar surveillance incidents had been reported in other cities such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Targets under observation included nuclear power plants, tunnels and casinos.

Some of the officials said that anxieties about possible Hezbollah- or Iranian-related attacks were increased in the wake of an alleged plot by Iranian agents to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington and other alleged Iranian plots uncovered recently in Thailand, India, Azerbaijan and Georgia. (Editing by Philip Barbara)

=====================


Iran eyes spiritual leadership of Iraq's Shiites
Associated PressBy HAMZA HENDAWI and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA | Associated Press – 9 hrs ago

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In this Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007 photo, former Iran's judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi attends a conference in Tehran, Iran. Iraqi insiders say Iran's desire to have its own man at the top of Iraq's clerical hierarchy is resting on the shoulders of Grand Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi al-Shahroudi. The 63-year-old cleric, they explain, has the pedigree, connections and qualifications to become the next "al-marja al-akbar," or the "greatest object of emulation," a much revered position held by Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani since the early 1990s.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007 photo, …

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran is promoting a conservative cleric close to its supreme leader as a possible successor for the aging spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiites, a move that would give Tehran a powerful platform to influence its neighbor, according to figures close to Iraq's religious leadership.

The 81-year-old spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is one of the most influential figures in Iraq, revered by its Shiite majority as well as by Shiites around the world. In the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and fall of Saddam Hussein, he was strong enough to shape the new Iraq, forcing American leaders and Iraqi politicians to revise parts of their transition plans he objected to.

The man Iran is maneuvering in hopes of eventually replacing him is Grand Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, a prominent insider in the clerical hierarchy that rules Iran. He was the head of Iran's judiciary for 10 years until 2009, playing a major role in suppressing the country's reform movement, and sits on one of Iran's main ruling councils.

Shahroudi has started to build a presence in Najaf, the Iraqi holy city of dozens of seminaries that is the center of Shiism's religious leadership, to which many of the world's 200 million Shiites turn for spiritual and political guidance. Posters bearing his portrait have sprung up in the Baghdad district of Sadr City, a bastion of Shiite activism and home to some 2.5 million Shiites.

Iran's growing influence in Iraq — through the economy and ties with Shiite politicians in Baghdad — is already a source of alarm to the United States and its Gulf Arab allies who see Shiite-majority Iran as a rival.

It would boost Tehran's voice in Iraq even more if Shahroudi ever succeeds al-Sistani as "al-marjaa al-akbar," or "the greatest object of emulation."

The 63-year-old Shahroudi would likely take an even more assertive political role than al-Sistani has. Al-Sistani adheres to a "quietist" school of Shiism that rejects formal rule by clerics, in contrast to Iran's school in which clerics hold ultimate power.

Also, al-Sistani has lived in seclusion for years — he is thought not to have left his Najaf house since 2004 — and some feel he has grown out of sync with Iraq's new generation of young and empowered Shiites. Disillusioned over unemployment and erratic services, many young Shiites are looking for a more dynamic religious leadership to counter what they see as the rising power of Sunni fundamentalists in the Arab world.

"Iraq's Shiites are deeply politicized and they have had enough of traditional marjaiyah (religious authorities) like al-Sistani's," said one insider in Najaf, who is in daily contact with the city's top clerics. "Iran is taking advantage of this by working energetically to replace him with one of its own."

The insider is one of six who are well connected to the Shiites' secretive religious establishment in Najaf and in Baghdad. They said Shahroudi appears to be angling for the post. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Al-Sistani, who was treated in London for heart problems in 2004, remains healthy and alert, according to visitors who saw him recently. But his advanced age has fueled speculation about his succession in Najaf.

But the succession does not necessarily have to wait until al-Sistani's death. It could effectively take place if al-Sistani is deemed too old to guide his followers.

The position of al-marjaa al-akbar is considered the highest in Shia Islam's spiritual hierarchy, more elevated than the several dozen clerics with "marjaa" — or "object of emulation" — status in the Shiite world. Pious Shiites generally choose a marjaa to follow. Al-Sistani has been al-marjaa al-akbar since the 1990s.

Filling the post is done by an informal process of consensus among senior and middle-ranking clerics, aimed at choosing the learned and respected figure. "Campaigning" for it means showing religious clout among Shiites in general and in Najaf specifically.

Ibrahim al-Baghdadi, Shahroudi's top aide in Najaf, would not say if Shahroudi has ambitions for the position. Morteza Monajjem, a spokesman for Shahroudi's office in the holy city of Qom, Iran's religious capital, said the cleric "has no plan to stand next to other marjaas" and "has not officially defined himself as a marjaa."

Still, Shahroudi is laying the necessary groundwork.

He opened a representative office in Najaf in October and plans to visit the city soon, according to al-Baghdadi.

He has begun paying monthly stipends to poor seminary students, organizing "study circles" and collecting the "khoms" from followers — a tithe of a fifth of one's income. He has sent cleric-deputies to Shiite provinces in Iraq, al-Baghdadi said. He has also increased his issuing of fatwas, or religious edicts, in response to questions sent to his website.

Any ayatollah with aspirations of becoming a marjaa must write a religious textbook known as a "Tawdih al-Masail," or "Clarification of Issues," laying out rules for daily religious practice. Shahroudi published his just over a year ago.

Shahroudi is already known to be the spiritual leader of powerful Iraqi factions, including followers of the Badr Organization as well as most members of the Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah Brigades militia active in southern Iraq, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a hardline faction.

Among his students in Qom were Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, and Humam Hamoudi, a prominent Iraqi politician.

Shahroudi is also believed to have replaced a grand ayatollah who died in 2010 as the spiritual mentor of the Dawa Party, Iraq's oldest and most powerful Shiite political group. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Dawa leader, visited Shahroudi during a recent visit to Iran.

Shahroudi was born in Najaf to Iranian parents in a family of clerics that claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad. He studied under Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, a prominent scholar credited with modernizing Shiite doctrine before he was executed by Saddam in 1980. Shahroudi fled a 1979 crackdown against Shiites and took refuge in Iran.

There, he became the first leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a major opposition group of Iraqi Shiite exiles. The group became a major political player in post-Saddam Iraq and its successor party is in al-Maliki's ruling coalition.

Shahroudi also rose in Iran's clerical leadership. He is so close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that he has been cited by many observers as his possible successor.

Still, the Najaf insiders caution there are challenges in his path to succeed al-Sistani.

Muqtada al-Sadr, the young anti-American cleric whose followers have 40 of parliament's 325 seats, has been in Iran studying to become a marjaa. But he is believed to need several more years before he can reach the rank of ayatollah, a status below marjaa, according to one of his aides in Iraq.

One of Shahroudi's former students in Qom — now an Iraqi politician — said Shahroudi is strongly positioned.

"He is relatively young, he is familiar with modern day issues and has impeccable family pedigree," he said. "The Shiite street wants a dynamic marjaa who can compensate it for the failure of the government."

======================

Iran rejects West's 'demands' before elusive talks

(AFP) – 7 hours ago

TEHRAN — Iran on Sunday rejected demands the West is reportedly to submit at talks due to take place in days, saying it will neither close its Fordo nuclear bunker nor give up higher-level uranium enrichment.

Those two demands, outlined by European and US diplomats to The New York Times newspaper, were "irrational," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, told ISNA news agency in a lengthy interview.

Fordo, an underground bunker near the holy city of Qom, "is built underground because of sanctions and the threats of attacks," he pointed out.

"If they do not threaten us and guarantee that no aggression will occur, then there would be no need for countries to build facilities underground. They should change their behaviour and language," he said.

Iran's enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity would likewise continue, despite unease from members of the P5+1 group -- the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany -- that it produced uranium stock just a few steps short of military-grade 90-percent purity, Abbasi Davani said.

"We do not see any rationale for such a request from the P5+1," he said.

But, he added, "We will not produce 20 percent enrichment fuel more than what we need, because it is not in our benefit to produce and keep it."

Iran says it needs 20-percent enriched uranium to produce medical isotopes in its Tehran research reactor, and lower, 3.5-percent enriched uranium for electricity generation in its Bushehr reactor.

It insists that its entire nuclear programme is for exclusively peaceful ends.

The United States and its European allies, however, fear the higher enrichment is part of a drive to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

The New York Times quoted unnamed US and EU diplomats as saying the West would call for Fordo to be closed immediately and dismantled, and for uranium enrichment to 20 percent to be halted and for existing stockpiles to be shipped out of Iran.

The demands would be the opening move in what US President Barack Obama has called Iran's "last chance" to resolve the showdown over the nuclear issue diplomatically, the report said.

"We have no idea how the Iranians will react," the paper quoted one senior administration official as saying. "We probably won't know after the first meeting."

Israel has threatened to launch an attack if Iran is deemed to be about to enter a "zone of immunity" that would put its atomic activities beyond the reach of Israeli missiles.

The United States has said military action is a last option, and has put its energies into tightening the sanctions noose on Iran while trying to engage it diplomatically.

Talks between the P5+1 and Iran are seen as a chance to defuse tensions and find ways to overcome mutual suspicions.

But while both sides agree the planned two days of negotiations should begin on Friday, there is still no agreement on the venue.

Iran had initially proposed Istanbul -- the host of the last round of talks, which failed in January 2011 -- but then dropped it after Turkey lent backing to the opposition in its chief ally Syria, and suggested Baghdad or Beijing instead.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a statement on his official website: Iran is ready for negotiations and welcomes any suggestion for cooperation."

He said "Iran has practical suggestions for the upcoming meeting," but did not elaborate.

Ahmadinejad stressed again that his country was not seeking atomic weapons and he noted that Iran's nuclear activities were under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

He also underlined that the United States was promoting the interests of Israel, the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear weapons state.

"The parties who are against the Iranian people have very close relations with some nations who have atomic bombs, but they are constantly pressuring us on some pretext of Iran supposedly building an atomic bomb in the far future," he said.

Iran, Ahmadinejad said in a separate speech carried by his website, "will continue with force on the path it has embarked on."

=========================

Exclusive: Iran ships "off radar" as Tehran conceals oil sales
Fri, Apr 13 10:23 AM EDT
image

By Christopher Johnson and Peg Mackey

LONDON (Reuters) - Iran is concealing the destination of its oil sales by disabling tracking systems aboard its tanker fleet, making it difficult to assess how much crude Tehran is exporting as it seeks to counter Western sanctions aimed at cutting its oil revenues.

Most of Iran's 39-strong fleet of tankers is now "off-radar" after Tehran ordered captains in the National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC) to switch off the black box transponders that are used in the shipping industry to monitor vessel movements, oil industry, trading and shipping sources said.

"Iran, helped by its customers, is trying to obfuscate(To make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive) as much as possible," said a senior executive at a national oil company that has done business with Iran.

And Iran may have countered a reported reduction in its oil sales in March by offering big discounts in the form of free freight, finance and insurance and generous credit terms, the sources said.

Europe's July 1 oil embargo, and U.S. and European financial sanctions against Iran's nuclear program have seen Tehran's oil sales drop to most Western destinations and drawn promises from some Asian buyers that they will cut purchases.

But cheap, covert sales may have curbed or even reversed the reduction in shipments, the sources say.

Discretion is paramount.

Ship captains steering NITC supertankers have switched off recognition systems and customers are keeping business strictly under wraps.

"People are being very secretive right now. They are not talking about this on email, Yahoo or mobile," said the head of a crude oil desk at a top oil trading houses.

A Reuters' survey of the Iranian fleet via the ship tracking system AIS (Automatic Identification System) Live shows only seven of its 25 very large crude carriers are still operating on-board transponders, allowing computers to track vessels.

Only two of NITC's nine smaller Suezmax size tankers now have their tracking systems in operation, shipping sources say.

"NITC oil tankers are going to operate in stealth mode," said a shipping official, who declined to be identified.

Under normal circumstances, tankers would generally not turn off their tracking systems, which were introduced to improve safety at sea and allow marine authorities to locate vessels.

Ships are obliged by international law to have a satellite tracking device on board when travelling at sea. However, a ships' master has the discretion to turn off the device on safety grounds with the permission on the vessel's flag state.

Some tankers turned off their trackers to avoid detection last year during the Libyan civil war in order to trade with the Gaddafi government.

As sanctions make it harder to pay for and ship oil from Iran, it is increasingly difficult to gauge how much is moving out of the country's main terminal at Kharg Island.

Iran's Oil Minister, Rostam Qasemi, has said Tehran's crude exports are steady at last year's rate of 2.2 million barrels per day. But that has been hard to square with tanker tracker data and market intelligence.

Expert opinion is that Iran's visible crude oil sales fell to about 1.9 million bpd in March.

These calculations are backed by some of the best oil industry forecasters in the business including the International Energy Agency and Geneva-based Petrologistics, the respected tanker tracking consultant which monitors global oil shipments.

New estimates for April put Iranian exports down by as much as 500,000 bpd from last year.

The trouble is there is no hard evidence that Iran's oil production has actually fallen or that it is going into storage.

Millions of barrels of Iranian oil that were in storage in Iranian tankers a few weeks ago now seem to have disappeared, ship tracking data shows.

So where is it going? Has it been re-routed, has production been shut in or is the oil being stored somewhere else? Is it all being stored at sea?

"It's the million-dollar question - the billion-dollar question even," a senior executive in Asia at a large oil trading house said.

The hunt is getting more complicated as OPEC's second biggest producer comes up with a range of tactics to avoid scrutiny.

"Some big Asian companies may be taking oil on Iranian ships provided they switch off the transponders," said another European shipping industry source.

A trader in Singapore said Iran has managed to sell all the crude stored on half a dozen vessels floating off Singapore earlier in the year. The buyers were mainly Chinese and South Korean.

Given the lack of visibility of NITC's fleet, it will become increasingly difficult to measure floating storage. Industry sources say parts of the fleet were storing up to 12 million barrels of crude in March. That has now disappeared.

An NITC official, contacted by Reuters, declined to comment. NITC have declined to give press interviews for several weeks.

BIGGER FLEET

Tehran is about to have greater flexibility in disguising the locations for oil sales. NITC will take delivery of the first of 12 new supertankers to be delivered from China in May.

Iran does not have the capacity by itself to ship all of its exports, either chartering more ships or leaving it to importers to hire their own vessels.

It has long been assumed Iran would sell most of the oil shunned by Europe to China, its long-term strategic and commercial ally. But until now there has been scant proof.

India, however, has been buying oil on Iranian ships on extended credit for several months, industry sources say.

"China and India are our lifters of last resort," said an Iranian oil official, who declined to be identified. "And the sanctions are making the situation very good for them."

The senior oil trading executive agreed: "We think China is taking most of the Iranian overhang and is keeping very quiet."

China's imports in April should climb back to contract volumes of around 560,000 bpd after a cut to half that in the first quarter when Chinese refiner Sinopec reduced purchases to negotiate better prices with the National Iranian Oil Company.

If Iran is using its own ships to deliver oil to customers, paying for the freight charges, that would be worth nearly $5 million per voyage. Traders say Iran is sometimes also covering insurance, increasingly difficult to finance on international markets. Insurance runs to millions of dollars per delivery.

Buyers are also demanding, and often getting, much better credit terms from the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) than normal - as long as six months to pay for each cargo of 2 million barrels. That could be worth up to $10 million per shipment.

Put it all together and it amounts to as much as 10 percent of the value of each supertanker.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul; Editing by Richard Mably and Giles Elgood)

======================

Ahmadinejad says powerful Iran, Iraq will leave no place for enemies

Tehran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday said that if Iran and Iraq stay “powerful and esteemed” there will be no place for enemies of the world’s nations, including the United States and the Zionist regime, media reported on Sunday.

In a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Tehran, Ahmadinejad said that Tehran-Baghdad ties are exemplary.

“Tehran, Baghdad share ‘unbreakable’ relationship,” he said.

Iranian PM said that there is no obstacle in the path of consolidating relations between the two countries at regional and international levels.

During the meeting, Maliki called for the expansion of relations based on the principles of peace, stability, and common interests and said that Tehran-Baghdad political relationship is close but the two countries should make every effort to enhance ties in other spheres as well.

There is a need for a great stride in relations, he said, adding the two countries’ officials are determined to cement ties in all areas.

Maliki also met with Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani and held talks on various issues including the latest developments in the region and the world.

http://www.thenewstribe.com/2012/04/22/ahmadinejad-says-powerful-iran-iraq-will-leave-no-place-for-enemies/#.T5RwQ7d5mc0

=

Iranian general: It is very easy to destroy US aircraft carriers
27 April 2012, 16:49 (GMT+05:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 27 / Trend A.Taghiyeva, T.Jafarov /

It is very easy to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers, since advanced technology has been used when constructing these aircraft carriers and if little firecracker explodes on board, the system will be destroyed giving rise to problems, the commander of Aerospace Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Amir Ali Hajizade, said, the Fars agency reported on Friday.

"Iran has taken photos of these aircraft carriers using the simplest drone. It's very easy to destroy these aircraft carriers," Hajizade said.

He said when 6,000 soldiers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, each time they experience fear and a man who is afraid of something, cannot be a threat to Iran.

The group of American ships that are on military duty along the coast of Iran currently have around 430 Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1,600 km.

The information service of the U.S. Navy reported that currently in the Persian Gulf there is a carrier strike group led by the Enterprise aircraft carrier. According to reports, battle outposts' of ships and a nuclear submarine attached to a convoy may have at least 130 cruise missiles.

Another carrier strike group, led by the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, located in the neighbourhood in the northern Arabian Sea has the same number of Tomahawks.

In addition, in the same region, the Georgian strike nuclear submarine runs in the same region with 154 cruise missiles and a nuclear submarine, part of the amphibious assault ship group which has on board 12 Tomahawks.

According to experts, these missiles are sufficient to disable in the case of a military strike on all the major Iranian air defence facilities and military airfields.

===========

Map: US bases encircle Iran
Dozens of US and allied forces' military installations dot the region, from Oman, UAE and Kuwait to Turkey and Israel.
Ben Piven Last Modified: 01 May 2012 21:25


Doha, Qatar - US military bases continue to form a strategic envelope around Iran, although the American withdrawal from Iraq at the end of 2011 may have changed the regional balance somewhat towards Iran's favour. While US forces are scaling back in many parts of the globe due to budget cuts - and have begun a gradual depature from Afghanistan to be completed by 2014 - their international presence remains vast.

From an active-duty force of 1.4 million soldiers, the US has deployed some 350,000 troops to at least 130 foreign countries around the world. Some are at Cold War-era installations, but many are in or near combat zones in the Middle East. At more than 750 bases internationally, private contractors and third-country nationals also form a large percentage of the staff, in addition to military reservists and civilian employees of the Pentagon.

US military installations in the Middle East serve to keep an eye on Iran, but their regional footprint was significantly expanded well before Iran became the most publicly cited foreign "threat".

There were three reasons why the US sought a presence across the Middle East, says Mehran Kamrava, Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Qatar:

"Securing oil resources, guaranteeing the security of the state of Israel and combating threats to American interests" were the initial priorities of US military activity in the region prior to the first Gulf War, Kamrava says.

"Subsequently, direct military presence wasn't in the form of impositions, but the [security umbrella] was a conscious policy decision on the part of the Persian Gulf states."


Kamrava says US forces "have the ability to project force when needed, by intimidating and signalling to potential threats that the US can flex its muscles if necessary ... This is a combination of 'showing the flag' and practical, logistical issues such as the movement of troops, supplies and services".

"So, these bases are not necessarily because of Iran, but certainly Iran has given the US a compelling reason to further the number of bases," Kamrava told Al Jazeera. "But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Iran is encircled militarily."


Click on installations for more information about facilities and troops, or view American Military Bases near Iran in a larger map


Since tensions with Iran further escalated in early January, a map of assumed locations of bases in the vicinity of the Islamic Republic has been circulating across various social media platforms. But our map, above, reflects the latest information, either officially acknowledged by the US military, sourced in the media or described on military information sites such as Global Security.
In-depth coverage of a growing regional debate

Prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, most of the American military abroad was stationed in Europe and East Asia. But the number of Middle East deployments climbed dramatically during subsequent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The wide range and function of the new facilities became expedient to the simultaneous fighting of two massive wars on either side of Iran.

A decade ago in 2002, Rear Admiral Craig R Quigley, senior spokesman at US Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa, Florida, said: "There is great value, for instance, in continuing to build airfields in a variety of locations on the perimeter of Afghanistan that, over time, can do a variety of functions, like combat operations, medical evacuation and delivering humanitarian assistance."

And while the US largely shifted its military focus to the region, it also moved most troops out of Saudi Arabia and into other Arab states of the Gulf, where US-friendly governments ironed out new security and basing arrangements.

Massive troop presence

According to new CENTCOM figures given to Al Jazeera on April 30, there are about 125,000 US troops in close proximity to Iran: 90,000 soldiers in/around Afghanistan on Operation Enduring Freedom; some 20,000 soldiers deployed ashore elsewhere in the Near East region; and a variable 15-20,000 afloat on naval vessels.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said the US would have 40,000 troops in the Gulf following the withdrawal from Iraq. But the exact number, location and mission of these forces beyond Afghanistan is virtually impossible to determine.

"We are obliged to respect the stated desires of various host countries, who have asked that we not acknowledge details of any US presence on their sovereign soil," Oscar Seara, public affairs officer at CENTCOM, told Al Jazeera in an email.

"Partner-nation sensitivities limit what we are able to say about our military relationships," Seara said, when asked to confirm or deny information about the bases in the map above.
President Obama announces the nominations of Leon Panetta and David Petraeus in 2011 [AFP]

The troop tally released on December 31, 2011, by the Defense Manpower Data Center reported 57,479 "undistributed" troops around the world - on unknown assignment in unspecified locations. The organisation's data department declined to clarify whether a significant number of these troops are stationed in the Middle East.

In the Gulf, CENTCOM spokesman Seara only confirmed that the "Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain. For anything else, you’ll have to contact the Bahraini Ministry of Defence ... We can confirm Camps Arifjan, Buehring and Patriot. For anything else, you’ll have to contact the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defence."

Despite such official efforts to remain inconspicuous in the post-9/11 era, US forces from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines are boldly positioned in Oman and the UAE to the south of Iran, Turkey and Israel to the west, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan to the north, and Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east.

In addition, the US has close military partnerships with Georgia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus, where US troops are involved in training missions, and where local facilities are used in moving supplies across the Caspian Sea towards Afghanistan.

When Pakistan closed NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan became even more crucial for shipping non-lethal goods through the Northern Distrbution Network into the conflict zone to the south. Fears of a new "Great Game" emerged, as the US began more directly competing with Russia and China for regional influence.

While 2012 has clearly seen a US military buildup in the Gulf, especially an increase in the size of the standby combat force in Kuwait, the extent of troop movements is obscured by official secrecy surrounding the "globe-spanning American archipelago of bases".

The Pentagon has said it is now prioritising smaller, more nimble deployments to work in partnership with local troops, rather than emphasising the sheer number of "boots on the ground". And officials say an enhanced presence in the Gulf is meant to serve as a "quick-reaction and contingency force", not simply a prelude to war.

Floating bases

In addition to the sites in the map above, the US Navy has announced the summer 2012 launch of a floating mothership base likely to be deployed in the Gulf. The converted USS Ponce warship is slated to be used by the Navy on anti-piracy missions and for "containment" of Iran. While aircraft carriers must move regularly around the Gulf, the new ship will be able to remain in the same place for weeks.

"There are two aircraft carrier strike groups operating in the US Fifth Fleet AOR [Area Of Responsibility]," Lt Rebecca Rebarich, US Fifth Fleet spokeswoman, told Al Jazeera in an email.

"Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) is operating in the Arabian Sea, conducting missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom," Rebarich said. "Aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Gulf."

"There are approximately 16,000 personnel at sea aboard more than 40 US Navy, Coast Guard and fleet auxiliary ships in the US Fifth Fleet AOR."
USS Enterprise, nicknamed "Big E", has been deployed in almost every conflict and crisis around the world but will be decommissioned in December 2012 [EPA]

France also has a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, which was reported to be heading to the Gulf in February.

For its part, France in 2009 established Peace Camp, a naval air station in Abu Dhabi. While the base is officially not just directed towards Iran, the dominant power on the other side of the Gulf then responded with a statement rejecting "increased foreign military presence" in the region.

Although US installations in Turkey, Israel, Djibouti and Diego Garcia are not in the CENTCOM area of responsibility, they could also be used in the event of any conflict with Iran.

Besides the bases shown on the map above, there are additional US micro-bases, as well as sites belonging to other countries that are used by US troops but not acknowledged as bases, and covert installations that are suspected but not confirmed.

As explained by Chalmers Johnson, the US author who coined the term "empire of bases", the defence department's 2011 report omits espionage bases, as well as facilities located in warzones and other sensitive places.

US commandos are also deployed throughout the region as part of the Special Operations Command (SOCOM), which conducts clandestine activities with a combined force of Army Green Berets and Rangers, Navy SEALs, Air Force Commandos and Marine Corps Special Operations teams.

Follow Ben Piven on Twitter: @BenPiven

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Pentagon encircles Iran: Victory would take 3 weeks



Published: 02 May, 2012, 15:49
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) transits through the Arabian Sea (AFP Photo / US NAVY / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Karolina A. Martinez)

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) transits through the Arabian Sea (AFP Photo / US NAVY / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Karolina A. Martinez)

TAGS: Military, Middle East, Politics, Iran, War

As the US beefs up its military presence in the Persian Gulf region, Pentagon strategists estimate that they would need less than a month to defeat Iranian forces should a military conflict take place.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) believes it can destroy or significantly degrade Iran's conventional armed forces in about three weeks using air and sea strikes, a defense source told The Washington Post.

“We plan for any eventuality we can and provide options to the president,” Army Lt. Col. T.G. Taylor, a spokesman at CENTCOM told the newspaper. “We take our guidance from the secretary of defense and from our civilian bosses in [Washington] DC. So any kind of guidance they give us, that’s what we go off of [sic].”

The American military has been building up its presence in the region amid rising tension in the area.

The US Navy currently has two aircraft carriers deployed near Iran and is upgrading mine-detection and removal capabilities.

The US Air Force recently dispatched a number of F-22 Raptor strike fighters to a base in the United Arab Emirates. The move caused backlash from Tehran, which said Wednesday it threatened regional stability.

Deploying a “floating base” in the Persian Gulf – a converted transport ship that would serve as a semi-stationary base of operations for the US military – is also on the table. USS Ponce is expected to host mine-sweeping helicopters, speed boats and probably commando teams.

The Pentagon has also intensified training of elite troops of its allies in the region. The members of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Gulf Cooperation Council commando team, who serve as instructors, may be ordered to go into the field as well, should such a need arise.

The measures are taken as contingency for possible attack by Iran on US troops or blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil transit route, the US says.

CENTCOM says there are about 125,000 US troops in close proximity to Iran. The majority of them – 90,000 – are deployed in or around Afghanistan. Some 20,000 soldiers are ashore elsewhere in the Near East region; and a variable 15,000 to 20,000 serve on naval vessels.
Oil battlefront

The military threat is just part of the mounting pressure on Tehran. Washington says it would use force only as a measure of last resort and is instead focusing on economic pressure.

On Tuesday, US President Barack Obama signed an order giving the Treasury Department more power to impose financial sanctions against those trading with Iran.

"Treasury now has the capability to publicly identify foreign individuals and entities that have engaged in these evasive and deceptive activities, and generally bar access to the US financial and commercial systems," the department said in a statement.

The US and the EU have issued a ban on buying Iran-produced crude in a bid to cripple the country’s export-dependent economy. Part of this effort involves sanctions against companies and institutions engaged in the oil trade with Iran financially. They are banks transferring payment for the crude or firms insuring tankers transporting Iranian oil.

The Iranian oil industry is not suffering from sanctions alone. The country’s Oil Ministry reported last week that it had finally managed to contain a cyber attack on the industry’s facilities.

“The software attack has been fully contained and controlled with the help of experts three days after it was hit,” Iran’s deputy oil minister for engineering affairs, Hamdollah Mohammadnejad, told the state-run Mehr news agency.

In 2010 a malicious computer worm called Stuxnet damaged computer software at Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities. Some computer security experts said the malware was the work of a highly-professional hacker team, which was probably provided with know-how by US or Israeli governments.

Western countries and Israel suspect Iran of trying to build a nuclear bomb and are pressuring it to stop enrichment of uranium. Tehran insists it is pursuing a civilian nuclear power program only, which it is entitled to do as a sovereign state.

The row has escalated last year after the publication of a controversial report by UN’s nuclear watchdog, which Iran’s opponents used to justify issuing more sanctions.

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‘Obama, compulsive liar on Afghan war'
Wed May 2, 2012 1:1PM GMT
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Interview with Mohammed Daud Miraki, author and Afghanistan expert
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Barack Obama promised in his campaign before becoming president that he would close the Guantanamo Bay prison, [that] he would end the war in Iraq, in Afghanistan, instead he became the most pro-war president and he has been a compulsive liar."
The United States and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to extend the US presence in the war-torn country to another decade beyond 2014.


Shortly after arriving in Afghanistan under cover late on Tuesday night, US President Barack Obama signed a deal with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to provide aid, advisers, and support for a period of 10 years after the expected departure of foreign combat troops in 2014, CBS News reported.

Press TV has conducted an interview with author and Afghanistan expert, Mohammed Daud Miraki to further discuss the issue.

The following is a rough transcript of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Miraki most Afghans do not exactly know what this deal means for their country and interestingly it was signed in the midnight that is the interesting part of it.

I mean how do you expect the people of Afghanistan to react as they wake up to this news in the morning?

Miraki: Well, it’s ironic, it’s amusing and it is a classic symbol of how a thief operates.

To me I think what [US president] Barack Obama did, he came as a thief in the middle of the night and imposed through his puppet in Kabul an indignity on the Afghan people.

Listening to his speech when he talked that the United States is fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and so forth and so on, it seems to me that in 2001 they said they were over 350 to 500 al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. By now, all of them are dead; who are they fighting?

Similar to what Barack Obama promised throughout his campaign before becoming president that he would close the Guantanamo Bay prison, he would end the war in Iraq, in Afghanistan, instead he became the most pro-war president and he has been a compulsive liar.

The individuals in Kabul, the Hamid Karzai [Afghan president] and his cabinet, these [people] are national traitors.

They have sold Afghanistan, they have sold the dignity of Afghanistan and what they have done is, they have simply left their really dark and ugly mark in Afghan history.

And for them to say that they will stay in Afghanistan and the insurgency will end, I will tell him good luck, nothing will end. The insurgency will accelerate and it will put an end to the United States occupation in Afghanistan.

Press TV: Mr. Miraki, you are the one who told Press TV earlier that Americans used depleted uranium in Afghanistan. Do you think that they would get away with it? Or do you think justice will be served?

Miraki: The United States’ government has been really in the business of genocidal war through the 20th century and of course the beginning of 21st century, what they have done in Iraq, In Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan, they unfortunately will continue this tragedy.

The only thing is, one thing is without any doubt, with absolute certainty I could say that it is easy to enter Afghanistan but in Afghanistan, whatever global power that had entered had crumbled and had disintegrated and had failed, had failed in the past and the United States will fail as well.

Only then will the United States’ government be held accountable. That so far unfortunately in the world is one global power, one global menace and there is no government in the world that has courage to raise their voice.

But the only thing is that god will help those who are being oppressed, who has been really the subject of this nightmare, but the point I am trying to make is the following:

They may sign all the agreements they want, they may sign whatever they have in store for their puppet in Kabul and they may induce them into signing the Northern alliance thugs as well as the so-called president of Afghanistan may do whatever he wants in order to please his masters, but the Afghan people will fight against them and will bring them to their knees and they will put an end to this national treachery as well.

Press TV: The question is Mr. Miraki, when will that time come when the Afghan people will experience an awakening?

Miraki: The Afghan people have already experienced awakening, if you look at the NGO security organization, the organization that usually forecasts the security in Afghanistan; in 2001 the Unites States controlled entire Afghanistan from one border to another throughout the country.

In 2012, the United States barely controls 30 percent of the country, the insurgents operated and carried out operations as well in the past week and a half you have witnessed in Kabul for 18 hours insurgents had brought the entire NATO and their puppet regime to their knees and they could not operate not only in Kabul but in five provinces, there has been similar to the Vietnam Tet offensive and had been carried out and similar operations have been carried out all over Afghanistan.

So the people of Afghanistan have woken up and the people of Afghanistan are awake and the people of Afghanistan are continuing the struggle and this will continue until they succeed and defeat this menace in Afghanistan.


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'US benefits enormously from staying in Afghanistan'
Wed May 2, 2012 4:3PM GMT
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Interview with Conn Hallinan, with the Foreign Policy in Focus
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Obviously from strategic point of view this is of enormous benefit to United States. They are right on the Iranian border, they are on the Chinese border, on the Pakistan border, they are on the border of Central Asia. This is a region of not only strategic importance in terms of the countries in the region but also gas and energy supplies."

The United States and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to extend the US presence in the war-torn country to another decade beyond 2014.


Shortly after arriving in Afghanistan under cover late on Tuesday night, US President Barack Obama signed a deal with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to provide aid, advisers, and support for a period of 10 years after the expected departure of foreign combat troops in 2014, CBS News reported.

After signing the deal, Obama went to the US-run Bagram Air Base in eastern Afghanistan, met with US troops, and gave a televised speech before ending his surprise visit.

Press TV has conducted an interviewed Conn Hallinan with the Foreign Policy in Focus to share his opinion on this issue.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Hallinan, what does this deal mean? I mean why is that the US is keeping its troops in Afghanistan beyond the deadline and yet every time we see that a deadline has approached again a new agreement, a new pact is signed to let US troops stay more in Afghanistan?

Hallinan: Well the idea behind keeping American troops in Afghanistan that sort of been, I guess you would say a dream, a kind of the United States for some time, the idea of having a military force on a semi prominent basis or maybe on a prominent basis in Central Asia and in a strategically placed country like Afghanistan, obviously from strategic point of view this is of enormous benefit to United States. They are right on the Iranian border, they are on the Chinese border, on the Pakistan border, they are on the border of Central Asia.

This is a region of not only strategic importance in terms of the countries in the region but also gas and energy supplies.

The idea of 15,000 troops and that is what we are talking of, 15,000 Special Forces troops placed in Afghanistan like this, obviously is what the Americans have in mind when they first went into Afghanistan back in 2001.

Press TV: Of course in these tough economic times, I mean big budget is needed for the US troops and the army to stay in Afghanistan. How much does this idea resonate with the Americans?

Hallinan: Not very well. At this point the last set of polls that I saw indicated that 69 percent of the American people wanted all American troops out of Afghanistan and that even included a majority of Republicans.

At this point we are talking about in the range of about 5 billion dollars a year given to the Afghan army and then to support this 15,000 troops each year would be a couple billion more so at the time of serious economic crisis and enormous austerity and cutbacks in United States, a deal that United States is going to spend six, seven, eight, nine maybe more ten billion dollars or so each year in Afghanistan I do not think that is going to sit very well.

Press TV: The longer US forces stay in Afghanistan we see instances of PTSD among the US soldiers both in Afghanistan and those who are returning back to the US.

I mean what would we expect from the Afghan people because we saw instances of the Qur’an burning in Afghanistan. I mean what would we expect with the Afghans from this point in time from now on?

Hallinan: Well it seems to me that one of the things that you, when you have an occupation like this it goes on for a long time, you are automatically going to develop friction between the occupying forces and the locals. I mean that has never not been the case and I can think back through history a various examples that would illustrate that.

So you are going to see a kind of rising tension there. The other thing is that when you mention about the fact that a lot of the soldiers are suffering from delayed stress response etc. a lot of these soldiers have been deployed to Afghanistan three, four, five sometimes six times and during that time they have been subjected to roadside arms and ambushes and all this kind of stuff.

This is a very deeply wounded military operation that is going on in Afghanistan at this time.

So I mean on one hand you have troops that always come among the verge of cracking and we have seen that happen not just with the Qur’an burning but the murder of civilians.

But also because those troops are coming home and what they are finding is that a lot of these damage which is done is long-standing, is very expensive to treat and is going to add up to enormous medical bills, at one point Joseph Stiglitz and Nobel Prize winner suggest that the bill, final bill for Afghanistan and a rack would come out to about four trillion dollars at the time everything is counted up. == Iran launches first gas-to-wire project An Iranian offshore gas field (file photo) An Iranian offshore gas field (file photo) Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:53AM GMT 2 Share | Email | Print Iran has started the implementation of its first gas-to-wire (GTW) project, which will allow the country to export electricity to the Persian Gulf littoral states in the near future. According to the Mehr news agency, with the completion of the development plan of Iran’s Forouz A and B offshore gas fields, the country will be able to export electricity instead of gas to several Persian Gulf littoral states, including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. Meanwhile, manager of Forouz A and B development plan Abdolhamid Esfandiarpour said that the gas produced from Forouz B, which is located in the Persian Gulf among three Iranian islands of Kish, Sirri and Qeshm, will be transferred to Qeshm Island, where processing facilities and export dock will be established. Esfandiarpour put the targeted natural gas production from the field at one billion cubic feet per day in the first phase. Forouz A and B gas fields hold about 29 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, of which some 18.5 trillion cubic feet were estimated to be extractable over a specific period. On February 21, MAPNA Co. and the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company (NIOOC), an affiliate of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), signed a 3.8-billion-dollar contract to generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity from Iran's offshore Forouz B gas field in the Persian Gulf. Iran is currently exchanging electricity with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, the Republic of Nakhichevan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. == Published: June 29, 2012 EconomyQ&A: New sanctions targeting Iranian oil Photo: AP Photo: AP More Photos (1 of 1) NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. and Europe want to deprive Iran of the oil income it needs to run its government and, most importantly, fund what they believe is an effort to build a nuclear weapon. Their efforts are entering a new phase this week. The U.S. as of Thursday will penalize banks that do oil deals with Iran, while European nations will embargo imports of Iranian oil starting Sunday. These measures were announced in December and January, but lawmakers gave countries and the oil markets until this week to adjust. Iran initially responded by threatening to block key oil routes. Oil soared over $100 per barrel as traders imagined an oil market straining to meet growing demand from China while only getting a trickle of oil from the world's third largest exporter. Those fears have evaporated. Iran hasn't capitulated on its nuclear ambitions but it has taken part in negotiations. World economic growth has slowed, reducing demand for oil to make fuels for transportation. Saudi Arabia and other nations boosted crude production in anticipation of lost Iranian supplies, contributing to a 25 percent plunge in oil prices since May 1. And oil buyers have had months to secure oil from other sources. "Customers have gotten themselves in a good position to handle it," said ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson Wednesday. Still, there is the possibility of at least temporary supply disruptions when the European embargo takes effect July 1. "What happens day of is hard to predict," Tillerson said. But Michael Lynch, President of Strategic Energy and Economic Research, thinks it will be a "non-event." Countries that plan to honor the embargo "have already done so," he says. Indeed, U.S. officials say Iran's oil exports and revenue are already down sharply. Iran generated $100 billion in revenue from oil last year, up from $20 billion a decade ago, according to IHS CERA, an energy consulting firm. Iran has warned that the embargo could boost the price of oil. But the market is so flush with oil at the moment that even the loss of more Iranian crude may not lead to short supplies and higher prices. In fact, if Iran figures out a way to get around the sanctions and get more of its oil to market — a real possibility — oil prices could fall further. Here are key questions and answers about the West's new sanctions and what they could mean for energy markets: Q: What are the sanctions and when do they go into effect? A: The U.S., which does not purchase Iranian oil, announced sanctions in December that would prohibit the world's banks from completing oil transactions with Iranian banks. That would make it more difficult for Iran to sell its crude on the open market. The oil in a single tanker can be worth $100 million. The U.S. sanctions took effect Thursday. Europe announced in January it would prohibit imports of Iranian crude by July 1. It had been satisfying about 3 percent of its demand with oil from Iran. Europe also is prohibiting firms from insuring shipments of Iranian oil. Q: What has been Iran's role in the world oil market? A: In recent years, Iran has exported 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, about 3 percent of world supplies. About 500,000 barrels have gone to Europe and most of the rest to China, India, Japan and South Korea. Iranian fields produce a type of oil known as heavy, sour crude. This is a common type of crude that contains more sulfur than so-called light, sweet crude. Heavy crudes are harder and more expensive to refine into valuable fuels such as gasoline and therefore generally command a lower price. Q: What have been the effects of the sanctions so far? A: U.S. officials say Iran's oil exports have declined to less than 1.8 million barrels per day, a drop of 700,000 barrels per day. At today's oil prices, the reduction is costing Iran $63 million per day. Even importers who want to buy Iranian oil have found it difficult because they haven't been able to buy insurance for oil shipments. Iran has kept up its oil production even as sales have dropped, leading to soaring levels of oil in storage. Q: Can countries buy Iranian oil and still avoid the sanctions? A: Yes. The State Department has announced that China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan have received waivers from the U.S. in exchange for "significantly reducing" oil imports. They will be able to continue to import some Iranian oil. Ten European countries have also received waivers, but they will not be allowed to import Iranian oil beginning July 1 anyway. Also, countries could trade with Iran outside of the traditional banking system. Iran could accept hard assets such as gold for its oil, though that would be inefficient and risky. Q: Will the sanctions work? A: They have already significantly reduced Iran's oil sales. At the same time, the drop in global oil prices has reduced Iran's income from the oil it is still selling. This combination of lower sales and lower prices is stretching Iran's finances. Iran has re-engaged in nuclear talks with the West, but they have not been successful. In fact, Iran has insisted that the U.S. and Europe ease the sanctions before it will make any concessions with its nuclear program. Jonathan Fahey can be reached at http://twitter.com/JonathanFahey . ========== Domestically produced LPG to cost Rs6.6 per kg more OGDC and PARCO have increa­sed their base stock prices by up to Rs6,600 per ton. By Zafar BhuttaPublished: November 3, 2012 Increase in producer’s prices expected to push up retail rates per kg to Rs130 in Sindh, Rs140 in Punjab and KP, Rs145 in AJK and Rs150 in Gilgit-Baltistan and Northern Areas. PHOTO: CREATIVE COMMONS ISLAMABAD: Domestic consumers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) may likely face a price hike of Rs6.6 per kilogramme (kg), after state-owned LPG producers, the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pak Arab Refinery (Parco), increased their base stock prices. The new prices of LPG will be effective from November 3. OGDC and Parco have increased their respective LPG base stock prices by as much as Rs6,600 per ton. After the decision, the prices of domestic and commercial cylinders are expected to increase by Rs78 and Rs300 to Rs1,650 and Rs6,350 respectively, said Belal Jabbar, spokesman for the LPG Association of Pakistan, in a statement. The price increase, which comes in response to the new higher Saudi Aramco Contract Price (CP) for November, is nonetheless lower than market anticipations. “For the third consecutive month in a row, LPG producers have been forced to maintain prices well below the Saudi Aramco CP as the international price benchmark has flirted with new highs” said Belal. “The Supreme Court’s decision to reduce CNG prices has also had an adverse impact on demand for LPG as an automotive fuel, which has depressed its sale” he said. OGDC has increased its price by Rs3,000 per ton to total Rs101,018 per ton, whereas Parco jacked up its price by Rs6,600 per ton to total Rs108,790 per ton. Together, the two state owned LPG producers account for nearly 45% of the country’s domestic LPG production. Belal said that the increase in producer’s prices was expected to push up retail rates per kg to Rs130 in Sindh, Rs140 in Punjab and KP, Rs145 in AJK and Rs150 in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Northern Areas. Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2012. =========== Tehran to build gas pipeline to Iraq, Syria January 9, 2013 - 21:59 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A 56-inch pipeline is to be laid from Assaluyeh [near the South Pars gas field in southern Iran] to the Iran-Iraq border to feed three Iraqi power plants running on gas,” ministry spokesman Alireza Nikzad Rahbar was quoted by Press TV as saying. A tripartite meeting will soon be held in Baghdad between Iran, Syria and Iraq to develop a plan for extending the pipeline from Iraq to Syria, he added. Iraq has requested 30 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from Iran in the first phase, which is scheduled to come on-stream by next summer, Nikzad Rahbar said. Syria has requested 25-30 million cubic meters per day, but the route for the pipeline from Baghdad to the Syrian border has yet to be surveyed, he added. Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in July that his country, which has the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, should start exporting gas to Iraq by March 2013, RIA Novosti reported =====================