Category: Iran

Iran will pay foreign oil companies larger fees than it did under previous buy-back contracts to attract $100 billion of investments needed to rebuild its energy industry. The Persian Gulf state, once OPEC’s second-largest crude producer, will also offer 20-year contracts on oil and natural gas projects, Roknoddin Javadi, managing director of state-run National Iranian Oil Co., said in an interview in Tehran. “What’s been announced so far looks like an attractive contract — no doubt it’s a vast improvement on the buy-back contracts,’’ said Robin Mills, a Dubai-based consultant who worked formerly for Royal Dutch Shell Plc on projects in Iran from 1998 to 2003. Iran, holder of the fourth-largest reserves of oil, is preparing to boost its output once world powers remove economic sanctions that choked off investment in its oil and gas industry. Oil exports fell to an average 1.4 million barrels a day last year […]

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VIENNA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) — An Iranian official said Monday he expects sanctions to be lifted by the end of the year on the condition Iran fully implements its nuclear-related commitments made in a landmark nuclear deal adopted on Sunday. Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi Monday acknowledged after meeting here with his counterparts from P5+1, namely the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany, that the large task of dismantling centrifuges, a key point of the deal, had not yet begun. He told reporters the green-light to begin the process would first be required from the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, something he expected would happen soon. Senior officials from Iran and P5+1 on Monday discussed issues such as redesign and modernization of the Arak heavy water reactor, possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear past, as well as preparations for lifting nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions against Iran, […]

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TEHRAN—European oil companies are in fierce competition for the best oil and gas fields in Iran when Western sanctions are lifted, while U.S. energy firms watch from the sidelines. The contest has been evident this week at the first major oil-and-gas conference in Iran since world powers agreed in July to lift sanctions in exchange for curbs on the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear program. The European Union and the U.S. on Sunday formally adopted the nuclear agreement. Iran is looking for Western help to ramp up its oil-and-gas industry after sanctions shaved more than one million barrels off its average daily production. At the conference in Iran, European executives pitched their company’s prowess. Total SA TOT -2.14 % of France cited its long history of working with Iran before it left the country in 2010 because of sanctions. Italy’s Eni E -2.25 % SpA played an animated video showing […]

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) at a negotiation session with Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (R) over Iran’s nuclear program in Lausanne March 20, 2015. Also at the negotiating table is European Union Political Director Helga Schmid (rear C). The United States approved conditional sanctions waivers for Iran on Sunday, though it cautioned they would not take effect until Tehran has curbed its nuclear program as required under a historic nuclear deal reached in Vienna on July 14. "Today marks an important milestone toward preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful going forward," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a White House statement. In a memo, he directed the secretaries of state, treasury, commerce and energy "to take all necessary steps to give effect to the U.S. commitments with respect to sanctions described in (the Iran deal)." Several senior […]

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TEHRAN, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) — Iran ‘s Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif and European Union (EU) foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini issued a joint statement on Sunday, announcing the start of the implementation of the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the six world powers in July, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry website. Now, Iran will start implementing its obligations pertaining to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the UN nuclear watchdog will prepare the means to monitor Iran’s measures, the statement read. The report did not specify where the statement was released. According to the nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers reached on July 14 in the Austrian capital of Vienna, Iran would improve the transparency of its nuclear plan, downsize its capacity for uranium enrichment and do changes in the structure of its heavy water reactor in exchange for international and Western sanctions relief. […]

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The United States was set to issue conditional sanctions waivers for Iran on Sunday, though it cautioned they will not take effect until Tehran has curbed its nuclear program as required under a historic nuclear deal reached in Vienna on July 14. Several senior U.S. officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said that despite Washington’s move on Sunday, actual implementation of the deal was likely several months away. That means the sanctions relief Tehran is looking forward to is unlikely to come this year. They said the timing of nuclear-related sanctions relief will depend on the speed at which Iran takes the steps needed to enable the U.N. nuclear watchdog to confirm Tehran’s compliance. “We cannot imagine it taking less than two months,” one of the U.S. officials said. Sunday was so-called “adoption day” for the deal, which came 90 days after Iran, the United States, […]

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Iran has honored a Thursday deadline for supplying information to the International Atomic Energy Agency for assessing its past nuclear work, including activities that might have been military-related, the agency reported. Meeting the deadline was another in a series of steps that Iran promised to take as part of the nuclear agreement reached in July with six world powers, including the United States. The agreement will relax sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on the Iranian nuclear program to ensure it is peaceful. In a statement , the atomic agency, the nuclear-monitoring arm of the United Nations , said that as of Thursday, its requests for materials clarifying “past and present outstanding issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program were completed.” Under the timeline for all preparatory steps required to put the nuclear agreement into effect, the atomic agency’s director general, Yukiya Amano, now has until Dec. 15 to provide […]

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Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York September 26, 2015. Iran’s parliament passed a bill on Tuesday supporting the government in implementing a nuclear deal with world powers, but insisted that international inspectors would have only limited access to Iran’s military sites, state news agency IRNA said. "The bill to implement the JCPOA … was passed in a public session on Tuesday with 161 votes in favor," IRNA said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached in July. (Reporting by Sam Wilkin; Editing by Paul Tait )

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Iranian parliament approved the general outlines of the nuclear bill on Sunday. DUBAI—Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday approved the implementation of July’s historic nuclear deal with six world powers, removing one of the final obstacles within Iran’s system to the accord. A majority of Iran’s parliament members approved the bill, which directs the government to put the deal in place, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. The vote saw 161 in favor of the deal to 59 against, according to IRNA. Thirteen members abstained. The parliament had approved the basic outlines of the bill in a vote on Sunday. All legislation approved by Iran’s parliament must get a final sign-off from the Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member clerical body, before it becomes law. But the final say on all matters of state, including the nuclear deal, rests with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mr. Khamenei, a hard-line conservative, […]

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Iran will need to import about 20 percent more gasoline to meet pent-up demand in the first year after economic sanctions are lifted, creating a market for some $1 billion in fuel sales from abroad, according to traders and analysts. The nation with the world’s fifth-largest crude reserves may need to buy about 50,000 barrels a day of gasoline if sanctions are removed in early 2016 as expected, say analysts at consultants Facts Global Energy, IHS Inc. and Energy Aspects Ltd. With its refineries running at full capacity and unable to raise output for at least another year, Iran now imports 41,000 barrels a day, or about 9 percent of the gasoline it uses. Iran was the Persian Gulf region’s biggest gasoline buyer before world powers imposed sanctions over its nuclear program, and it may need to import even more — as much as 70,000 barrels a day, according […]

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A money changer displays U.S. and Iranian banknotes at the Grand Bazaar in central Tehran October 7, 2015. The Obama administration has privately reminded foreign governments and U.S. bankers that sanctions against Iran remain in effect, cautioning against a rush by Western companies to invest in Iran’s oil industry and other businesses until the country fully complies with the July nuclear agreement. The U.S. State Department recently cabled a message, known as a demarche, to embassies around the world to reiterate that sanctions on Iran are still in place, diplomatic and government sources told Reuters on Friday. The demarche stressed that sanctions on Iran would not be lifted until the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies that Tehran has complied with the terms of the deal. "The United States wants to tell governments not to get ahead of themselves when dealing with Iran," said a London-based diplomatic source. It is […]

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Iran’s economy under President Rouhani expected to contract under pressure from low crude oil prices, IMF finds. Photo by Ali Mohammadi/UPI WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) — The Iranian economy is weaker because of low crude oil prices, but sanctions relief could help with recovery beyond 2016, the International Monetary Fund said. The Iranian economy is expected to decline in terms of real gross domestic production from 3 percent to between 0.5 percent to -0.5 percent next year, depending in part on when sanctions are lifted, the IMF said. A July nuclear agreement with world powers offers Iran widespread sanctions relief in exchange for commitments to allay concerns about a weapons program. A September report from analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft said sanctions on the conservative Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , which has considerable influence over the economy, could dampen some of the post-sanctions recovery prospects . Martin Cerisola, assistant regional […]

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Iran has faced sanctions for decades, but those implemented in 2012 have taken a severe toll on the Iranian economy. Even if sanctions are lifted, it’s likely the global oil market will remain flooded late into next year, keeping prices low and employees out of work. In November 2013, Iran signed an interim agreement with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States that provided some sanctions relief. The agreement, known as the Joint Plan of Action, allowed Iran access to $4.2 billion in previously frozen assets in exchange for limiting nuclear production and permitting international inspectors more access to sites. The JPA capped Iran’s crude oil exports at 1.1 million barrels per day, less than half its 2011 export level. The terms of the JPA will remain in effect until it’s verified that Iran has followed through on limiting its nuclear program, which will likely […]

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Malta-flagged Iranian crude oil supertanker ”Delvar” is seen anchored off Singapore March 1, 2012. Iran’s crude sales are on track to hit the lowest in seven months in October, according to a source with knowledge of its preliminary shipping plans, showing how Tehran is struggling to boost oil exports even after reaching a landmark nuclear deal. The weaker sales come despite offers of price discounts to stimulate purchases by Asian buyers as Iran tries to regain market share lost to rivals such as Saudi Arabia over the last 3-1/2 years of Western sanctions. September and October loadings – for arrivals mostly in October and November – indicate purchases by Iran’s main buyers in Asia are set to fall a third consecutive month, hit by refinery turnarounds and projections for mild winter weather. China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, is taking the lowest volumes in about a year. The […]

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Iran’s government approved a new model contract for oil and natural-gas projects as it prepares to increase output with the help of foreign investors once international sanctions are lifted. The country’s council of ministers endorsed the model contract in a meeting chaired by President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, the state-run Mehr news agency reported Wednesday. Iran is preparing to bounce back from sanctions that strangled its economy and choked off investment in its oil and gas industry. Successful implementation of a July deal to curb its nuclear program would allow the country to ramp up oil exports, which fell to an average 1.4 million barrels a day last year from 2.6 million in 2011, U.S. Energy Information Administration data show. The Persian Gulf nation will seek to boost production at oil and gas fields that straddle its borders with neighboring countries, according to the Mehr report. Iran aims to […]

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Iran’s Persian carpet industry is fraying at its edges. Once the biggest exporter of carpets in the world, the country’s trade has been hit hard by Western sanctions. Exports have shrunk by 33 percent since 2009, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, hitting $330 million in the year to March 2015. After the oil sector, the carpet industry has been the most affected. Cheaper replicas from Asia now make up the majority of imports to the West . ‘The price was increasing, not day by day but every week, every month’ Exports are “more or less zero” according to Mojtabah Keshevarz, owner of Royal Persian Carpets in the capital, Tehran. “It was a good business,” he explains. “The price was increasing, not day by day but every week, every month.” The trader says one of his most expensive carpets, a pomegranate-and-walnut-dyed rug woven in Isfahan, is 100 years […]

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UNITED NATIONS—Foreign ministers from Iran and the six powers that negotiated July’s nuclear agreement met Monday evening to discuss the implementation of the deal, with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini saying they hope to complete that work in early 2016. With the agreement now backed by a United Nations resolution and with efforts to defeat the accord in the U.S. Congress having failed, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and counterparts from the other nationsdiscussed Monday next steps for putting the deal into effect—and possible hurdles ahead. Iran will only win major sanctions relief once it has carried out a whole series of measures to scale back its nuclear program and infrastructure. Iran’s parliament still has to vote to approve the deal. Monday’s hourlong foreign ministers meeting was the first since the nuclear agreement was sealed July 14 in Vienna. Speaking to reporters afterward, Ms. Mogherini said the […]

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Indian oil refiners will pay Iran $700 million on Sept. 30 for crude oil imports, their first payment this year as international sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation are set to be eased, said people familiar with the matter. An equal amount is expected to be paid next month, the people said, asking not to be identified before an announcement. In November, the refiners paid Iran $400 million of dues, which accumulated since early 2013. Indian refiners including state-owned Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., Indian Oil Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and non-state company Essar Oil Ltd. owe Iran about $6.4 billion, blocked because of international sanctions. Iran is looking to boost crude supplies after it reached an agreement with six world powers on July 14 in Vienna to curb its nuclear ambitions in exchange for the easing of sanctions. The Indian refiners will pay state-owned UCO Bank in […]

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Investment conference aimed at highlighting post-sanctions opportunities in Iran’s oil sector postponed without explanation File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEHRAN, Sept. 24 (UPI) — A London conference aimed at detailing new investment opportunities in the Iranian oil sector has been postponed, the group organizing the event said. "The Iran oil and gas post-sanction summit has been postponed until Feb. 22-24, 2016," the event organizers said in a statement. Event organizer CWC Group said in response to email questions the event was postponed following recommendations from the National Iranian Oil Co. The Iranian oil minister had said new contracts for potential players would be formally outlined during an investment conference scheduled originally for December. Under the new terms, the NIOC would set up joint ventures with foreign companies, which would be paid with a share of the output. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said "all international" energy companies can present […]

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An employee displays a dress at a luxury fashion store inside the Isfahan City Center shopping mall in Isfahan, Iran. Executives from some of Europe’s biggest companies are aiming to consolidate their links with Iran as the Islamic Republic prepares to rejoin the global economy. Some 500 representative from companies including Alstom SA, RWE AG, the Tehran Stock Exchange and the National Iranian Oil Co. will meet in Geneva on Thursday and Friday to discuss everything from trade finance to business diplomacy at the second Europe-Iran Forum. The event is the first major investment conference to take place since Iran reached a deal with international powers in July to ease economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. While Switzerland became the first country to lift trading restrictions on Iran last month, companies are still bound by U.S. and European Union bans for now. Europe is “in […]

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Military influence over economic affairs in Iran means complex issues will remain in a post-sanctions climate, report finds. File photo by Mohammad Kheirkhah/UPI BATH, England, Sept. 21 (UPI) — Western investors looking to capitalize on easing sanctions pressure on Iran’s energy sector should exercise a degree of caution, analysis finds. Iran’s economy emerged from recession in December. Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia said the momentum should continue into 2015 as sanctions pressures ease in response to a July nuclear agreement reached with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany. Sanctions imposed on Iran’s energy sector curb the country’s ability to generate revenue from oil and gas sales. The Central Bank of Iran, however, said a nine-month growth rate of 3.6 percent represents an increase of $54 billion for the nation’s economy. With more of its oil expected back in the global market, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani […]

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AP Photo/Andrew Harnik Latest News Russian opposition draws thousands to anti-Putin protest Kerry: Russian fighter jets in Syria raise serious questions Russian governor arrested in high-profile corruption case Putin moves to establish Russian military base in Belarus Russians with Western ties increasingly branded ‘traitors’ var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; Putin gives Roy Jones Jr. Russian citizenship var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a done deal, yet opponents of the Iran nuclear agreement won’t go quietly. The 60-day congressional review period has expired, and last week the State Department outlined its plan to put in place an accord that aims to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear-armed. Congress is poised to start cranking out legislation to reinstate sanctions or shore up what […]

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Iran’s official IRNA news service says the country has given samples to the U.N. nuclear agency from its Parchin military site, where it once allegedly worked on triggers for nuclear Continue Reading

The head of the United Nations atomic agency and a senior official from the organization have visited Iran’s controversial Parchin military site, ending a period of almost a decade during which officials were banned from the site. In a statement Sunday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that its director-general, Yukiya Amano, and its head of safeguards, Tero Varjoranta, were at Parchin as part of the probe into Iran’s past nuclear work. Mr. Amano also met during his weekend trip to Tehran with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, the head of Iran’s atomic agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Iranian lawmakers. “Discussions with high-level Iranian officials focused on the continued implementation of the road map to resolve all past and present outstanding issues,” the IAEA said in a statement, referring to Iran’s past and present nuclear work. The IAEA has long been denied access to Parchin, a […]

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Iran will unveil new oil development contracts in the coming weeks aiming to attract foreign investors and oil buyers once sanctions on its energy sector are lifted, the Oil Ministry’s website Shana reported on Friday. Under a deal reached with six major powers in July, the OPEC producer agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for an end to economic sanctions imposed on the country over its disputed nuclear work. The sanctions imposed on Iran in 2012 have choked Tehran’s oil production. Output is down a million barrels per day (bpd) since the start of 2012 at 2.7 million bpd, depriving it of billions of dollars in oil revenue. Now they are widely expected to be lifted in 2016, Iran needs Western oil companies to help to revive its giant, aging oilfields and develop new oil and gas projects and the new oil contracts are part of its […]

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Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this September 10, 2015 photograph. U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked legislation meant to kill the Iran nuclear deal for a third time, securing perhaps the greatest foreign policy win of President Barack Obama’s six years in office and clearing the way to implement the accord. By a 56-42 vote, the Republican-majority Senate fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the 100-member chamber. Despite an intense and expensive lobbying effort against it, all but four of Obama’s fellow Democrats backed the nuclear pact between the United States, five other world powers and Tehran announced in July. With no more Senate votes this week, the result ensured Congress will not pass a resolution of disapproval that would have crippled the deal by eliminating Obama’s ability to waive many sanctions. […]

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AP Photo/Evan Vucci Latest News Moscow urges US to engage Syria, offers military talks US deplores Russia’s decision to shut American Center Comedians build ‘gay bar’ on Russia-owned land in Finland Russia fines French supermarket, Burger King Former Kremlin insider expects 2-year economic downturn var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; Putin gives Roy Jones Jr. Russian citizenship var mytd = document.getElementById(‘mytd’); var mydiv = document.getElementById(‘spnrefmoneymarkets’); if (mytd != null) {mytd.innerHTML = spnrefmoneymarkets.innerHTML; mydiv.innerHTML = ”}; WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration began carrying out the Iran nuclear deal Thursday as time expired on Republican efforts to derail it, appointing a senior diplomat to ensure that Tehran moves further away from bomb-making capability and outlining a months-long process before Western nations will start easing economic sanctions. Senators failed to reach the 60-vote threshold for a measure to keep […]

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WASHINGTON—Secretary of State John Kerry tapped a former ambassador to Poland and career diplomat to lead U.S. efforts to implement the Iranian nuclear accord sealed between six world powers and Iran in July. Mr. Kerry’s pick, Stephen Mull, recently left his post in Poland and is a career foreign-service officer. He will be charged with working to ensure Iran and other partners comply with the steps laid out in the nuclear accord. At one point in his 33-year diplomatic career, he helped to design a U.N. Security Council resolution that enacted nuclear sanctions on Iran. In a statement announcing Mr. Mull’s appointment, Mr. Kerry said the Obama administration would work closely with allies “to deepen our security cooperation and to counter Iran’s destabilizing behavior, including its support for terrorism.” Mr. Kerry added: “These concerns and others related to Iran will continue to have the attention of the highest levels […]

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The United Nations atomic agency has sent a team of experts to Iran to discuss Tehran’s past nuclear work, according to a person familiar with the situation, while the chief of the agency could visit Iran in coming days. Sept. 15 marks the start of a critical one-month period for the International Atomic Energy Agency probe aimed at shedding light on Iran’s past nuclear work. Under an agreement struck in July , Iran and the agency have until Oct. 15 to finish that work. IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano is supposed to report his findings to the agency’s board by Dec. 15. Many Western officials say Iran has worked on developing nuclear weapons know-how. Tehran denies this, claiming evidence given to the IAEA was forged. Iran has stonewalled agency efforts to probe its past activities for years. Iranian cooperation with the IAEA probe is a prerequisite for the lifting of […]

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Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this September 10, 2015 photograph. U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday, for the second time in a week, blocked legislation meant to kill an Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration and other world powers with Tehran. With the voting continuing, there were 41 Democrats voting to block the measure to disapprove the Iran deal from advancing in the Senate, enough to deny Republicans the 60 votes they need in the 100-member Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell staged the second vote in an attempt to lure at least a couple Democrats into voting for the resolution of disapproval. McConnell also moved to arrange a third procedural Iran vote, possibly this week, on an amendment preventing Obama from lifting economic sanctions against Iran until that country’s government formally recognizes Israel’s right […]

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The historic nuclear deal reached between Iran and major world powers has yet to be implemented, but one clear winner has emerged: Iran’s highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Continue Reading

European Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete on Aug. 20. BRUSSELS—Iran could become a major supplier of natural gas to the European Union by the end of the next decade, according to new estimates from the bloc’s executive following the nuclear deal reached with Tehran this summer. The European Commission now believes that the bloc could import between 25 billion and 35 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Iran by 2030, according to a European official and a representative of a European energy company. That would put future gas supplies from Iran on a similar level to current imports from North Africa and help reduce the bloc’s dependence on shipments from Russia. Russia currently ships around 130 BCM a year to the EU. Western governments and energy companies have been positioning themselves to once again tap Iran’s rich oil and gas reserves since the prospects […]

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Iran has projected average oil prices at $42 to $50 per barrel in a draft budget bill for the year to March 2017, a government spokesman was quoted as saying on Monday, expecting crude to stay in the current trading range. "In consultation with the Ministry of Petroleum, three price options of 42, 45, and 50 dollars were discussed which are expected to earn 68 trillion tomans (about $22.5 billion)," oil news agency Shana quoted Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht as saying. Benchmark Brent crude has traded between $42 and $55 in the last month, and was just below $48 on Monday morning. OPEC member Iran, which relies on crude sales to balance its budget, has called on other producers to rein in exports to support prices while it expects to boost output in 2016 when nuclear-related sanctions are expected to be lifted. As part of a nuclear deal reached in July […]

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Photo An anti-American mural along a street in Tehran. The United States and Iran each face domestic pressures against closer relations, a nuclear deal notwithstanding. Credit Abedin Taherkenareh/European Pressphoto Agency BAGHDAD — American troops advising Iraqi security forces in restive Anbar Province are sharing a base with odd bedfellows: an Iranian-backed militia that once killed United States soldiers. Both are fighting the militants of the Islamic State. Here in the capital, though, Tehran and Washington still line up on opposite sides. The United States is urging the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government to do more to enlist members of the Sunni minority against the Islamic State. Shiite-led Iran and its proxies are thwarting that effort. The dichotomy illustrates the complexities of the relationship between the United States and Iran in places like Iraq , where the interests of the two rivals clash and converge. Now, after a deal to limit Iran’s […]

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U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang… United Nations inspectors will be present with Iranian technicians as they take samples from a key military site, two Western diplomats said, undercutting an objection by U.S. Republicans to the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The diplomats were familiar with details of a confidential arrangement between Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog for inspections at the Parchin site, where some countries suspect nuclear weapons-related tests may have taken place. Iran has denied that allegation, but agreed to accept comprehensive International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of its suspect sites as part of the historic July deal in exchange for an easing of international sanctions. An August report by the Associated […]

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Photo President Obama at the White House on Thursday, discussing the Iran nuclear accord. Democrats cleared the way for the deal to go into effect after a key procedural vote in the Senate. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times WASHINGTON — With Senate Democrats blocking passage of a resolution disapproving of the Iran nuclear deal, the attention will shift from the halls of Congress to the nations and international agencies that must put the accord into effect. Here’s what happens next. Q. What is the first thing that will happen? A. The agreement is to be formally adopted on Oct. 19 — 90 days after it was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council . That is the day Iran and the six world powers that concluded the accord — the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China — are to start taking steps to comply, although most […]

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WASHINGTON—The House on Friday voted against approving the Iran nuclear agreement, as congressional Republicans sought to emphasize their united opposition to the deal, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama ’s foreign policy agenda. The 269-162 vote was aimed less at blocking the Iran deal, which already has enough support to be implemented, and more at laying the groundwork for challenges to the deal in coming years. Republicans had earlier hoped to undercut the deal by voting for a disapproval resolution, but those hopes vanished when Senate Democrats lined up enough support to block a disapproval-resolution vote on Thursday. Democrats in both chambers had also gathered enough support to sustain a veto had a disapproval resolution made it to the president’s desk. “This deal is far worse than anything I could have imagined,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio.) “Our fight to stop this bad deal frankly is just […]

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An Iranian oil tanker in Bandar Abbas, Iran, on July 4, 2012. Photographer: Thomas Erdbrink/The New York Times via Redux Before the most recent round of sanctions went into effect three years ago, Iran was able to sell oil to 21 countries. By mid-2012, that was down to six: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey. Rather than immediately pull back on production, and risk damaging oil wells by slowing them down, Iran decided to store its excess crude. As it scrambled to build onshore tanks, the government loaded millions of barrels onto its suddenly out-of-work fleet of crude-carrying vessels. The Iranians eventually reduced their oil output by about a third, to a low of 2.5 million barrels a day in mid-2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As exports fell to 1 million to 1.5 million barrels a day, Iran kept filling its tankers with oil it […]

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WASHINGTON — President Obama, in advance of his victory in Congress on Thursday on the Iran nuclear deal, focused on centrifuge numbers, uranium stockpiles and the breakout time to build a bomb. But now, as the agreement is carried out, he will face a new battle over how stringently to impose economic sanctions on Iran. To reward Iran for imposing constraints on its nuclear program , the United States agreed to lift many of the crippling sanctions that have blocked the country’s integration into the world economy. But to win over wary Democrats, Mr. Obama promised that he would maintain — and perhaps even increase — sanctions to punish Iran for terrorism, human rights abuses and other “ destabilizing activities in the region .” Many lawmakers have indicated they would like to go further, and they are considering legislative proposals that include renewing the current sanctions against foreign companies […]

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Photo The leading proponents of the Iran deal: President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats delivered a major victory to President Obama when they blocked a Republican resolution to reject a six-nation nuclear accord with Iran on Thursday, ensuring the landmark deal will take effect without a veto showdown between Congress and the White House. A procedural vote fell two short of the 60 needed to break a Democratic filibuster . It culminated hours of debate in the Senate and capped weeks of discord since the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China announced the agreement with Iran in July. The debate divided Democrats between their loyalties to the president and to their constituents, animated the antiwar movement on the left and exposed the diminishing power of the Israeli lobbying force that spent tens of millions of […]

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