Category: Iran

AP Photo TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is saying the fate of a historic nuclear deal with world powers is still unclear as lawmakers in both the Islamic Republic and the U.S. review it. Referring to the U.S., Khamenei said: "In their understanding of the deal, of which its fate is not clear since it is not clear if will be approved here or there, their intention was to find a way to penetrate into the country." The remarks by Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters in Iran, suggests he supports politicians’ role in approving the deal. Khamenei has not publicly approved or disapproved the deal, though he repeatedly offered words of support for Iran’s nuclear negotiators. Khamenei was quoted Monday by his official website.

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An Iranian national flag flutters during the opening ceremony of the 16th International Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Exhibition (IOGPE) in Tehran April 15, 2011. Iran expects to increase petrochemical exports by up to a quarter by the end of 2016 after sanctions are lifted, a senior official was quoted as saying on Saturday. Sanctions against Iran, due to be lifted in coming months after a July deal between Tehran and six world powers to curb its nuclear program, do not specifically target the petrochemical sector, but exports have slumped since banking and shipping restrictions were introduced in early 2012. "We expect our exports of petrochemical products to increase by 20 to 25 percent in a short time, between a year and a year and a half," Mehdi Sharifi Niknafs, managing director of the Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. "When banking, insurance […]

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Western companies eye Iran’s business potential One of the biggest mysteries in the oil market surrounds just how much oil Iran is hoarding at sea. That’s a key question because Iran’s nuclear deal with the West could lift crippling sanctions, and pave the way for tons of Iranian oil to hit the market . A surge in Iranian exports would only deepen the oil supply glut that has sent prices to fresh six-year lows this week to below $43. Iran claims it’s not stockpiling oil in tankers in the Persian Gulf, but no one believes it. Up until recently, energy experts thought Iran’s vessels held 30 million to 40 million barrels of oil. But maritime surveillance firm Windward has harnessed sophisticated technology to determine Iran is actually hoarding 50 million barrels of oil. That’s up nearly 150% from April 2014 when Windward started tracking this closely-watched metric. Based in […]

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) — An increase in Iranian crude oil production of around 600,000 barrels per day is likely in the latter half of next year, a U.S. federal report found. Government officials and representatives from some of the world’s largest oil companies have discussed potential opportunities with Iran, which is expecting sanctions relief as a result of a breakthrough nuclear agreement reached with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany. Iran in December produced just under 2.8 million barrels per day, down about 20 percent from 2011 levels. The country reported oil production for July at 3.13 million bpd, an increase of six tenths of a percent from the previous month. Accounting from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Iran is a member, finds Iranian oil production of 2.86 million bpd in July was a 1.1 percent increase from the previous […]

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graph of monthly Iran crude oil production, as explained in the article text On July 14, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany) and Iran announced an agreement that could result in relief from United States and European Union nuclear-related sanctions (which include some oil-related sanctions). If the agreement is implemented and sanctions relief occurs, it will put additional Iranian oil supplies on a global market that has already seen oil inventories rise significantly over the past year. These additional Iranian supplies, along with relatively higher global oil production and comparatively slower global oil consumption growth, will contribute to large inventory builds next year, resulting in lower oil prices than previously expected. The North Sea Brent crude oil price, which averaged $57 per barrel in July, is expected to rise to an average of $59/barrel (b) in 2016, according to EIA’s August […]

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Neutral Switzerland will officially lift on Thursday sanctions against Iran that had been suspended since January 2014, the government announced on Wednesday, citing a deal last month between Tehran and six big powers to curb Iran’s nuclear program. "The Federal Council (government) wishes today’s steps to be seen as a sign of its support for the implementation of the nuclear agreement and its interest in deepening bilateral relations with Iran," a statement said. The deal that Iran struck with China, Russia, the United States, Germany, France and Britain aims to rein in Iran’s nuclear program in return for relief from U.N., EU and U.S. sanctions that were crippling the Islamic republic’s economy. The Swiss sanctions had banned trade in precious metals with Iranian state bodies and set requirements to report trade in Iranian petrochemical products and the transport of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products. Switzerland will also introduce […]

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Crude Reserves Iran has selected 45 oil and gas projects to show international companies at a conference in London in December when new oil contract models will be discussed ahead of exploration auctions to double the country’s crude output. The projects, including oil and gas exploration, will be discussed along with details of a new oil contract model at the Dec. 14-16 conference, Mehdi Hosseini, chairman of Iran’s oil contracts restructuring committee, said in an interview in Tehran. Iran hopes to boost crude production to 5.7 million barrels a day, he said. The Persian Gulf nation’s output was 2.85 million barrels a day in July, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Oil producers such as BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have expressed interest in developing Iran’s reserves, the world’s fourth-biggest, when sanctions are removed following last month’s nuclear agreement with world powers. “We will define projects in […]

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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries finds Iranian crude oil production increased from June levels. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI VIENNA, Aug. 11 (UPI) — Iran reported crude oil production for July was the highest level it’s been in at least two years, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said. OPEC reports in its latest monthly market report Iran was among the 12 members contributing to overall gains in production in July, which saw crude oil prices shed at least $10 per barrel. "Financial concerns in Greece and China, as well as the outcome of the P5+1 talks on Iran’s nuclear program, have all contributed to the current bearish market conditions," the production group said. Iran under the terms of a November 2013 agreement is allowed some oil exports in exchange for commitments to curb some of its nuclear research activity. In mid-January, Mohsen Rezaei , secretary of the […]

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President Barack Obama appears to be nearing a veto-proof margin in Congress that would preserve the Iran nuclear deal, even with a key Democratic senator last week announcing his opposition. According to a "whip count" by the Washington Post, 29 senators have indicated that they support the Iran deal, leaving Obama five shy of the 34 needed to uphold a presumptive veto against a resolution of disapproval, assuming all senators are present for the vote. Thirteen are still undecided, the newspaper reported, with many analysts and Congress watchers surveyed by Platts citing similar figures. The experts agree that the resolution likely will pass but not have enough support to defeat a veto. "We don’t think opponents have supermajorities to override a veto, but it’s looking more like they’ll get to 60 votes [in the Senate] to send a disapproval motion to the White House," a Republican lobbyist, who asked […]

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Though it’s expecting renewed international interest. Iran’s oil minister says there’s been no outreach yet from U.S. energy companies. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEHRAN, Aug. 10 (UPI) — After outlining the terms of new oil contracts in a future post-sanctions era, the Iranian Oil Ministry said it hasn’t seen any interest from U.S. companies. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said "all international" energy companies can present bids for projects in Iran’s oil industry, though some are remaining on the sidelines . "We have received no requests from any American company so far," he said. Claudio Descalzi, the chief executive officer of Italian energy company Eni, was among the hundreds of representatives who joined Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on an official visit to Tehran last week. Eni had a $550 million deal to help Iran develop its Darkhovin oil field, expected to produce 160,000 barrels per day, before […]

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A tussle to sway public perceptions of Iran’s nuclear deal is taking shape in the Islamic Republic, pitting liberal and conservative media against each other and mirroring the fierce debate unfolding in the U.S. In the days following the signing of the deal last month in Vienna—in which Iranian negotiators agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions—Iran’s conservative media shied away from directly criticizing the accord. Instead, conservative media focused on how the pact didn’t end the enmity between Iran and the U.S. But criticism has since become bolder. An ultraconservative weekly, 9 Dey, published scathing criticism of President Hassan Rouhani’s nuclear diplomacy, arguing it had overstepped the limits that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had placed on concessions. Hamid Rasai, the publication’s managing editor and a member of parliament, denounced the Iranian media for “drooling over expressing devotion to the criminal U.S. […]

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WASHINGTON — President Obama had a tough message for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee , or Aipac, the powerful pro- Israel group that is furiously campaigning against the Iran nuclear accord , when he met with two of its leaders at the White House this week. The president accused Aipac of spending millions of dollars in advertising against the deal and spreading false claims about it, people in the meeting recalled. So Mr. Obama told the Aipac leaders that he intended to hit back hard. The next day in a speech at American University , Mr. Obama denounced the deal’s opponents as “lobbyists” doling out millions of dollars to trumpet the same hawkish rhetoric that had led the United States into war with Iraq. The president never mentioned Aipac by name, but his target was unmistakable. The remarks reflected an unusually sharp rupture between a sitting American president […]

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Photo Senator Chuck Schumer in Washington last month. On Thursday, he said he would vote against President Obama’s deal to limit Tehran’s nuclear program. Credit Zach Gibson/The New York Times WASHINGTON — The decision by Senator Chuck Schumer to oppose President Obama ’s deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program rattled the Democratic firewall around the accord, but supporters said Democratic defections in New York and South Florida would not be enough to bring down the agreement. Republican leaders in the House and Senate have promised a vote in mid-September on a resolution to disapprove the nuclear accord between Iran and the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China, which in itself would be a blow to Mr. Obama’s prestige. But to scuttle the Iran nuclear deal, opponents have two high hurdles. They will need 60 votes in the Senate for a resolution of disapproval to overcome a filibuster […]

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Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gestures at a news conference on Amtrak funding on Capitol Hill in Washington May 21, 2015. U.S. President Barack Obama’s hopes of preserving the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers were dealt a setback on Thursday when Chuck Schumer, one of the top Democrats in the U.S. Senate, said he would the oppose the agreement. Schumer’s opposition, announced in a lengthy statement, could pave the way for more of Obama’s fellow Democrats to come out against the nuclear pact, announced on July 14, between the United States, five other world powers and Iran. The New York senator is among the most influential Jewish lawmakers in the United States. He was the first Senate Democrat to announce his opposition to the agreement. Another influential Jewish lawmaker, U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, also said on Thursday […]

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Iranian Minister for Oil Bijan Zangeneh says he’s expecting a renewed relations with Iranian energy investors. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEHRAN, Aug. 6 (UPI) — With hundreds of business executives in Tehran, the Iranian government said it expects to broker some form of energy deal with Italian companies. Senior executives, including Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi, were among the hundreds of representatives who joined Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on an official visit to Tehran. Eni had a $550 million deal to help Iran develop its Darkhovin oil field, expected to produce 160,000 barrels per day, before suspending operations in 2010 under sanctions pressure. With sanctions pressure easing in response to last month’s multilateral nuclear deal, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said Italian companies were among those in Europe expected to reinvest in Iran. "By removal of the sanctions, Iran will be able to export its oil as […]

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WASHINGTON — President Obama took on critics of the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers in an aggressive speech on Wednesday, saying they were the same people who created the “drumbeat of war” and played on public fears to push the United States into the Iraq war more than a decade ago. “Let’s not mince words: The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some sort of war — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon,” Mr. Obama told about 200 people in a speech at American University. “How can we in good conscience justify war before we’ve tested a diplomatic agreement that achieves our objectives?” Mr. Obama, opening a new, more overtly political phase of his public campaign for the accord, portrayed the coming vote in Congress to approve or reject the deal as the most consequential foreign policy decision for […]

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DOHA, Qatar—Gulf Arab states cautiously backed the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran , giving the White House a potentially important diplomatic win as it seeks to build support for its signature foreign-policy initiative. The positive response from the Gulf Cooperation Council—which is composed of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain—followed months of intense lobbying by the White House that included offers of increased arms sales, intelligence-sharing and military training. Secretary of State John Kerry held a daylong summit on Monday with the council’s foreign ministers to explain the terms of the nuclear agreement and the need for increased cooperation between Washington and the GCC to guard against Iran expanding its influence in the region. “This was the best option amongst other options in order to try to come up with a solution for the nuclear weapons of Iran though dialogue, and this came […]

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TEHRAN—Iran’s landmark nuclear deal will revive a domestic economy that has struggled under a decade of sanctions and help ease political tensions in a volatile region, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a nationally televised speech Sunday. “We must create jobs and seek economic improvement” on the back of the deal, Mr. Rouhani said in the speech, delivered on the eve of the two-year anniversary of his inauguration in 2013. “Economic growth must reach 8%.” “Our principles remain the same on regional issues, but this deal will certainly create a new climate for quicker political settlement of these issues,” he added. The speech appeared to show Mr. Rouhani laying out his administration’s political accomplishment in the deal, reached July 14 in Vienna between Iran and six world powers including the U.S. Mending ties with the West and removing sanctions have been central priorities for Mr. Rouhani, a moderate within […]

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BP will look for upstream opportunities in Iran once sanctions on the oil producing country are lifted, but is unclear what Tehran’s intentions are for its new oil contracts, BP’s chief executive Bob Dudley said Tuesday. Dudley added he was wary of rushing into Iranian projects until the situation with the sanctions regime was clear. "If the sanctions are relaxed in a way that allows us to go work there, obviously we would explore opportunities in Iran. We are not actively in that phase," Dudley told reporters. "The agreements as laid out are quite complicated and actually no one really knows all the details yet. As a company that works all over the globe it would be natural for us" to work in Iran, he said. Article continues below… The Platts Global Energy Awards is a competitive awards program honoring excellence and accomplishments in the global energy industry. The […]

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A staff removes the Iranian flag from the stage after a group picture with foreign ministers and representatives of Unites States, Iran, China, Russia, Britain, Germany, France and the European Union during the Iran nuclear talks at the Vienna International Center in Vienna,… Western and Middle East insurance specialists see Iran as an appealing $8 billion (£5 billion) market in the wake of its nuclear deal with world powers, though uncertainty over when sanctions on Tehran will be lifted means they are treating the country with caution. Eight out of 11 insurance and reinsurance specialists who responded to questions emailed by Reuters this week said Iran was an attractive or very attractive market, especially in the marine and energy sectors. Responses were on an anonymous basis due to the sensitivity of the issue. While several said they expected to have entered the Iranian market by the end of 2016, […]

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Iran offered to sell state assets to foreigners, said it would cut the government’s role in the economy and pledged a tight monetary policy as it sought to attract billions of dollars of investment from abroad after over a decade of isolation. At a business conference in Vienna this week, the first such event since last week’s deal between Tehran and world powers on its nuclear program, top Iranian officials outlined an economic policy package designed to win foreign investment. The package was strikingly pro-market – many of the policies would not have been out of place in a center-right European government. If implemented, they could move Iran’s economy well beyond the tight restrictions and heavy state involvement that followed its 1979 Islamic Revolution. "The government, the parliament are trying to remove all the obstacles for free investment and for reducing interference of government in private investment,” said Minister […]

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Photo Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, scolded Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday. Credit Zach Gibson/The New York Times WASHINGTON — Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, stared at Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday with thinly veiled disgust. “You have turned Iran from being a pariah to now, Congress being a pariah,” said Mr. Corker, who helped broker a delicate deal with Democrats and the White House allowing lawmakers to review the proposed lifting of sanctions against Iran. While Mr. Corker, who promised a considered assessment of the agreement, may have seemed close to an endgame during a hearing on Capitol Hill, the vast majority of Republicans appear to have made up their minds before a single classified briefing, hearing or visit with administration officials. Their view seems born of genuine distaste for the […]

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Photo Secretary of State John Kerry, left, with Hossein Fareydoun, center, the brother of Iran’s president, and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Vienna in July. Credit U.S. State Department TEHRAN — Pushing back against domestic critics of Iran ’s nuclear deal, President Hassan Rouhani suggested on Thursday that the alternative was an economic “Stone Age” and that the accord was the precise reason he was elected two years ago. The remarks by Mr. Rouhani at a medical conference, broadcast on national television, were among the bluntest he has made in defending the agreement reached with six big powers , including the United States, on July 14 in Vienna. Under the agreement, economic sanctions on Iran , including restraints on its oil and financial trade, will be lifted in exchange for significant limits on the country’s nuclear activities, with verifiable guarantees that they remain peaceful. Conservative elements of Iran’s […]

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JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter gave a surprisingly upbeat assessment on Wednesday of American relations with Saudi Arabia , asserting that the kingdom welcomed the international nuclear deal reached with its regional rival, Iran . Mr. Carter, who visited Jidda and held his first meeting with King Salman, also said the Saudi monarch would visit the United States this fall and was committed to fighting the Islamic State, the Sunni militant extremist group. The defense secretary’s description of ties with the Saudis, which he made to reporters after the meeting while en route to Amman, Jordan, was unexpectedly upbeat, considering Saudi Arabia ’s strong reservations about the nuclear negotiations between the big world powers and Iran that yielded an agreement last week. Israel , another crucial American ally in the Middle East, has strongly protested the Iran accord and bluntly conveyed that message to Mr. […]

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VIENNA—Iran will spend most of the billions of dollars released under a nuclear deal in investments, a top financial official said Thursday. The planned release of the funds has become a focal point for U.S. critics of the atomic pact clinched last week. Some in the U.S. Congress—which has to vote on the agreement in the next two months—suspect the money could be used to bolster Iran’s allies hostile to American partners in the region. Speaking to reporters at a Vienna trade conference, Akbar Komijani, the deputy head of Iran’s Central Bank, said the country’s cash broad is “primarily intended for investment, not for imported goods.” He cited projects in petrochemicals, natural gas, industry, mining, roads and construction that will “create jobs.” Some projects could go to Europeans if they are competitive, he said. The Vienna conference promoting trade between the European Union and Iran is the first of […]

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Iran on Thursday outlined plans to rebuild its main industries and trade relationships following a nuclear agreement with world powers, saying it was targeting oil and gas projects worth $185 billion by 2020. Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said the Islamic Republic would focus on its oil and gas, metals and car industries with an eye to exporting to Europe after sanctions have been lifted, rather than simply importing Western technology. "We are looking for a two-way trade as well as cooperation in development, design and engineering," Nematzadeh told a conference in Vienna. "We are no longer interested in a unidirectional importation of goods and machinery from Europe," he said. The United Nations Security Council on Monday endorsed a deal to end years of economic sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. Sanctions are unlikely to be removed until next […]

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Iran’s resumption of oil and gas exports, once sanctions are lifted under the recently negotiated nuclear limits agreement, probably won’t flood global markets initially, the chief executive officer of Crescent Petroleum forecasts. Majid Jafar said Iran Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh has said he wants to increase the country’s crude oil production to more than 4 million b/d in the near future, and plans to unveil National Iranian Oil Co.’s new petroleum contract in late August. “I think Iran can achieve this, but it won’t be easy—and it won’t have as big an impact as it might have had in the 1990s when there weren’t so many other options,” Jafar said during a July 22 address at the Atlantic Council. NIOC reportedly is trying to reform its contract terms to attract new outside investment, but faces considerable challenges similar to other countries in the region that have state-owned oil companies, […]

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An image of Iranian leaders is projected on a giant screen in front of demonstrators during a rally apposing the nuclear deal with Iran in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 22, 2015. Top Republicans vowed Wednesday to do their utmost to scrap President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran as the biggest pro-Israel lobby prepared for an all-out campaign to pressure wary lawmakers into rejecting the agreement. A bigger push against last week’s historic accord in Vienna was being met with a counteroffensive by senior Obama administration officials, who have already spent hours on in-person and telephone briefings with members of Congress. Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew briefed the entire House of Representatives and Senate in separate closed-door sessions on Wednesday and will defend the deal at a public Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing […]

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PITTSBURGH — President Obama said Tuesday that opponents of the nuclear deal with Iran were behaving like those who pushed for war with Iraq more than a decade ago, and said the United States should choose diplomacy instead of another rush to armed conflict. In remarks to members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Mr. Obama said the criticism of the Iran agreement offered “echoes of some of the same mind-set and policies that failed us in the past,” and was being put forward by “the same folks who were so quick to go to war in Iraq.” The president did not mention President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney by name in his remarks, but the implication was clear. As he seeks to persuade members of Congress not to reject the Iran deal, Mr. Obama urged what he called “a smarter, more responsible way to protect […]

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Photo Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif defended the nuclear deal in the Iranian Parliament on Tuesday. A delay will allow Iran to see how the American Congress reacts to the deal. Credit Abedin Taherkenareh/European Pressphoto Agency TEHRAN — The Iranian Parliament will wait at least 80 days before voting on a nuclear agreement reached last week with world powers, as legislators decided on Tuesday to form a committee to study the accord, state radio reported. The legislators have effectively opted to withhold their judgment until they know whether the American Congress approves of the deal, analysts said, as a way to avoid losing face by appearing to look weak if the agreement is rejected by their counterparts in the United States. The parliamentary delay in voting also was seen as a way to position the Americans to get the blame if Congress repudiates the agreement, which Iran and six […]

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European and U.S. oil-and-gas companies drawn to Iran as sanctions ebb can expect to encounter not only opportunities, but also capable Iranian companies offering tough competition or joint ventures. While no Iranian companies have attained the prowess of integrated oil-and-gas firms such as Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM -0.12 % or big service outfits like Schlumberger Ltd. SLB 0.93 % , a new breed has emerged during Iran’s years of economic isolation. They can take on engineering tasks—such as laying pipelines, building offshore platforms and drilling wells—that previously were handled by foreign companies. If the nuclear agreement comes into effect and economic sanctions are lifted against Iran by the end of this year or early in 2016, those Iranian companies will be well positioned to compete for tens of billions of dollars in service contracts or to forge strategic relationships with Western companies, say industry officials. “One of the good […]

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WASHINGTON—The Obama administration and European Union agreed as part of the accord last week to lift sanctions over eight years on a network of Iranian scientists, military officers and companies long suspected by the U.S. and United Nations as central players in a covert nuclear weapons program. The U.S. also agreed to remove a German engineer from its financial blacklist by late 2023 after he was targeted by sanctions for his alleged role in a global black market in nuclear weapons technology run by the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan. The decision to roll back sanctions on these individuals and organizations is detailed in more than 100 pages of documents released last week as part of the landmark nuclear accord reached between Iran and six world powers. The intricate agreement is accompanied by five detailed annexes and technical attachments that spell out many of the long-term […]

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Western companies eager to take advantage of the new nuclear agreement with Iran face a host of challenges. One of the biggest: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. A branch of Iran’s military, the force is charged with defending the country’s Islamic system. During years of sanctions and economic isolation , it has also established itself as one of the country’s most powerful economic forces. Through an opaque-but-vast network of companies it controls, the Guards have interests in construction, manufacturing, banking and shipping, among other industries, said people familiar with the organization. Khatam al-Anbia, an engineering and construction firm at the heart of the Guards’ business empire, estimates the long-term value of its contracts is about $50 billion, equivalent to around 12% of Iran’s gross domestic product. If Iran implements the terms of the deal reached with six world partners in mid-July, many sanctions could be lifted by early next year. […]

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Negotiators of Iran and six world powers face each other at a table in the historic basement of Palais Coburg hotel in Vienna April 24, 2015. Iran will not accept any extension of sanctions relating to its nuclear program beyond 10 years, the Islamic Republic’s senior nuclear negotiator said on Wednesday. Abbas Araqchi told a televised news conference that any attempt to re-impose sanctions after they expire in 10 years would breach the agreement Iran reached with six world powers one week ago. Araqchi was referring to a resolution the United Nations Security Council passed on Monday, endorsing the deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for relief from sanctions. The world powers suspected Iran was trying to create a nuclear bomb; Tehran said the program was peaceful. The resolution allows all U.N. sanctions to be re-imposed if Iran violates the agreement in the next 10 years. If […]

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Iran could restore oil production halted by sanctions faster than anyone anticipates if the history of previous shutdowns is any guide. The consensus among analysts and traders is that Tehran needs at least a year after sanctions are lifted to raise output to the level prevailing before restrictions were imposed in 2012. Similar pessimistic assessments for supply disruptions at OPEC members Libya and Venezuela were confounded by quicker-than-expected recoveries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Here’s Venezuelan oil production before and after a strike at state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA that started in late 2002: Venezuela strike Even after equipment was damaged during the shutdown and the company fired thousands of workers, the Latin American nation was able to lift output by 2 million barrels a day in just four months. The recovery was “sharper than expected,” the Paris-based IEA said in April 2003. Case study two […]

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