Category: Iran

ENLARGE Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was among 47 Republicans who signed an open letter to Iran about nuclear talks with the Obama administration. Photo: Associated Press WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama on Monday sharply criticized an open letter by 47 Senate Republicans warning Iran’s leaders that any agreement between the White House and Tehran on nuclear weapons could be quickly nullified or changed once Mr. Obama leaves office. The lawmakers were effectively aligning themselves with Iranian hardliners who oppose an international nuclear deal, Mr. Obama said. The letter, which was signed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and a number of top committee chairmen, came as a major new complication in a debate over international nuclear talks that face a March 31 deadline. Senators said that, unless approved by Congress, any agreement between world powers and Iran would be seen by GOP lawmakers as an executive agreement between […]

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. senators warned Iran’s leaders on Monday that any nuclear deal with President Barack Obama could last only as long as he remains in office, an unusual partisan intervention in foreign policy that could undermine delicate international talks with Tehran. The open letter was signed by 47 senators, all but seven of the Republicans in the Senate, and none of Obama’s fellow Democrats, who called it a "stunt." Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif dismissed it as a "propaganda ploy" from pressure groups he called afraid of diplomatic agreement. In the letter, the senators said Congress plays a role in ratifying international agreements. Noting Obama will leave office in January 2017, they said any deal not approved by Congress would be merely "an executive agreement" that could be revoked by Congress. The White House said the letter was a partisan effort to undermine Obama’s foreign policy […]

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President Barack Obama said the U.S. and other world powers have offered Tehran “an extraordinarily reasonable” nuclear deal after efforts during the past week to move the negotiations forward and shore up support among Arab and European allies. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an agreement would allow Iran to soon have “many, many nuclear bombs.” Mr. Obama said in a televised interview that there is an “urgency” to reaching a framework agreement this month, after nearly two years of negotiations where the deadline has been extended twice. The talks have faced a torrent of criticism from Mr. Netanyahu as well as Republicans in Congress who, joined by some Democrats, want a say in approving the deal and fear it will not go far enough to curtail Iran’s ability to seek a nuclear weapon. “We have made progress in narrowing the gaps, but those gaps still exist” with […]

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AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Politics Video Buy AP Photo Reprints Latest News WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday decided to postpone action on a bill giving Congress a chance to review and vote on any deal the U.S. signs with Iran over its nuclear program. The move comes at a time delicate negotiations are at a critical juncture between the U.S. and its partners and Tehran. Democrats, many of whom backed the legislation, had loudly criticized McConnell for scheduling a Tuesday test vote on the bill. They accused him of playing politics in bypassing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee process and said it was better to move slowly to ensure bipartisan support for the measure. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a co-sponsor of the bill, announced that he was so outraged at McConnell’s decision to fast-track the bill that he would vote against moving ahead on […]

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ENLARGE U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud at Diriya Farm, on March 5 in Diriya, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Getty Images RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said after meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday that Gulf Arab countries support international talks over Iran’s nuclear program, but remain concerned about Tehran’s regional influence. Mr. Kerry met in Saudi Arabia with top officials of six Arab nations, addressing concerns about the effect of the nuclear talks on the balance of power in the region. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said at a news conference with Mr. Kerry afterward that the U.S. had provided assurances that it would continue to focus on Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region. “He has been very clear in the assurances he gave,” Prince Saud said. He added that Iran’s influence in the […]

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ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran said oil prices would not rise above $60 a barrel until 2016 and that it would increase crude exports if Western sanctions over its nuclear program were lifted, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Friday. "We’re not expecting oil prices to go over $60 until 2016. What will happen after that is not clear," Mehr quoted National Iranian Oil Co’s head of international affairs, Mohsen Ghamsari, as saying. "When sanctions are lifted, it is our natural and legal right to increase our oil sales in an effort to raise market share." U.S. and EU sanctions that came into force in 2012 prohibit the import, purchase and transport of Iranian petroleum products. World powers are in talks with Iran to try to persuade Tehran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for relief from the sanctions that have crippled the major oil exporter’s economy. "Sanctions […]

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As head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani used to dwell in the shadows. But now his face is all over social media as Iran works to expand its influence in the Mideast. Photo: ISNA/Associated Press BAGHDAD—Not long ago, Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s elite troops known as the Quds Force, was one of the spy world’s most covert operators. Now, his smiling face is everywhere: arm-in-arm with Iraqi officials on TV, rubbing shoulders with the militiamen fighting Islamic State across social media, and in public meetings with Iraqi families liberated by Iran’s allies. Mr. Soleimani surfaced this week in Samarra, Iraq, to bolster the morale of Iraqi troops and militiamen embarking on a fight to free the nearby city of Tikrit, now controlled by Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Mr. Soleimani’s high profile underscores Iran’s transformation in the way it does business in the […]

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ENLARGE U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry takes a break from a bilateral meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Montreux, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Photo: Associated Press MONTREUX, Switzerland—An understanding is emerging between Iran and six major powers that a final nuclear deal between the two sides must be structured around a key demand of the U.S. and its European partners: that Tehran stay at least a year away from amassing enough fuel for a nuclear weapon, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The understanding about Iran’s so-called breakout time, if it can be nailed down as part of a broader package, could open the way to a final nuclear agreement in coming weeks, although diplomats warned again on Wednesday that difficult obstacles remained in the way of a deal. The breakout period has been one of the critical questions in the talks. Last year, negotiations […]

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WASHINGTON — President Obama ’s task of selling a potential nuclear agreement with Iran to a skeptical Congress became far harder on Tuesday after an impassioned speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to lawmakers already nervous about the deal. “The president has a very heavy burden of persuasion here,” said former Representative Lee H. Hamilton, a Democrat and the onetime chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who now directs Indiana University’s Center on Congress. “That task is made much more difficult when a powerful case is stated against the emerging deal, as the prime minister has done.” Although Mr. Hamilton said he doubted many minds were changed by Mr. Netanyahu’s words, he said that “what a speech like this does is reinforces and intensifies the opposition at a critical point.” To be sure, others argued that Mr. Netanyahu’s address would have an effect opposite to the […]

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Photographer: Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images Sanctions by the U.S. and its allies, designed to pressure Iran into abandoning its nuclear program, have left Iran largely isolated, but some House Republicans argue that more pain needs to be inflicted to get results. They invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday to make that case. What have sanctions done to Iran so far? A  January report by Kenneth Katzman, a specialist in Middle East affairs at the Congressional Research Service, offers a dramatic snapshot of the squeeze: In every year from 1995 to 2012, Iran enjoyed at least a measure of economic growth. Then 2013 happened. Conditions improved slightly in 2014, with gross domestic product growing 1 percent to 1.5 percent. That followed an interim agreement, reached in November 2013, that eased some of the sanctions in exchange for a temporary pause to aspects of Iran’s nuclear […]

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Hassan Rouhani, president of Iran, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York last year. File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano says there are still lingering questions about Iran’s nuclear program. File Photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEHRAN, March 2 (UPI) — Tehran says it’s time to lift sanctions against the oil-rich country imposed in response to nuclear concerns, though a new U.N. report raises questions. Iran and members of the international community are working to resolve long-standing issues over the country’s controversial nuclear program. A sanctions package from November 2013 allows Iran to export some crude oil in exchange for concessions on nuclear research. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said sanctions on his country should be "lifted all at once" because of its commitment to nuclear talks . "Iran has always honored its […]

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told his country in 2013 that economic sanctions will never force Iran into unwelcome concessions over nuclear development. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader, via Associated Press What the West Wants President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have said they will not sign an agreement that would allow Iran to produce enough fuel for a nuclear weapon in less than a year. The United States wants rigorous inspections and limits on Iranian nuclear facilities, including the removal of enriched uranium fuel. Iran’s ability to produce nuclear fuel would be strictly limited over 10 to 15 years. “We want to recognize the main goal here is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. And on that, Israel and the United States agree.” John Kerry United States Secretary of State What Iran Wants Iran says it needs to be able to produce […]

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WASHINGTON — They have spent long hours alone together. They exchange private emails. Their walk along the Rhone River in Geneva in January so unnerved hard-line lawmakers in Tehran that they signed a petition fretting about the duo’s unseemly “intimacy.” On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Switzerland to meet again with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister who earned a Ph.D in international law and policy from the University of Denver, to try to negotiate the very accord that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel arrived in Washington that same day to denounce. As the deadline approaches for what could be one of the most important and divisive international agreements in decades, Mr. Kerry has become a driving force behind the complicated, seven-nation talks to limit Iran ’s nuclear program . But with so much at stake, Mr. Kerry’s relentless negotiating style and determination to […]

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The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Monday that Iran had still not handed over key information to his staff, and that his body’s investigation into Tehran’s atomic program could not continue indefinitely. "Iran has yet to provide explanations that enable the agency to clarify two outstanding practical measures," chief Yukiya Amano told the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors in Vienna, echoing a report seen by Reuters last month. The two measures relating to alleged explosives tests and other measures that  might have been used for bomb research  should have been addressed by Iran last August. "The Agency is not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities," Amano said. The West has related concerns that Iran wants to develop nuclear warheads. Tehran has vehemently denied those allegations, saying […]

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WASHINGTON — They have spent long hours alone together. They exchange private emails. Their walk along the Rhone River in Geneva in January so unnerved hard-line lawmakers in Tehran that they signed a petition fretting about the duo’s unseemly “intimacy.” On Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Switzerland to meet again with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister who earned a Ph.D in international law and policy from the University of Denver, to try to negotiate the very accord that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel arrived in Washington that same day to denounce. As the deadline approaches for what could be one of the most important and divisive international agreements in decades, Mr. Kerry has become a driving force behind the complicated, seven-nation talks to limit Iran ’s nuclear program . But with so much at stake, Mr. Kerry’s relentless negotiating style and determination to […]

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ENLARGE European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, seen at a meeting of EU defense ministers in Riga, Latvia, on Feb. 18, on Thursday said a nuclear deal with Iran is close. Photo: Reuters BRUSSELS—Nuclear talks between Iran and six major powers are getting close to agreement after more than a decade of diplomacy, the European Union’s foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Senior U.S. officials on Monday said there was progress during weekend discussions as Iran and the six powers—the U.S., France, Germany, the U.K., Russia and China—seek to agree on the framework of a final agreement by the end of March. The deadline for the full, detailed agreement is June 30. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said this week that the six powers should know soon whether a deal was attainable. However, officials have warned that significant […]

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Sign up for our daily Energy Newsletter Secretary of State John Kerry testifies during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on progress made with Iranian nuclear negotiations. Photo by UPI/Kevin Dietsch TEHRAN, Feb. 26 (UPI) — Most sectors of the Iranian economy are performing well, with the oil sector in particular performing as expected, the country’s deputy oil minister said. Iranian budgetary planners said they’re taking the steps necessary to reduce the leverage of oil revenue in the nation’s economy. Deputy Oil Minister Mansour Moazzami told the Oil Ministry’s official news website, Shana, "positive" developments were emerging in most sectors of the Iranian economy. "Our ministry successfully fulfilled its tasks related to increasing production capacity of oil and gas and could provide feedstock and fuel needs of large industries of the country without interruption," he said in an interview published Wednesday. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this week claimed an […]

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WASHINGTON—Secretary of State John Kerry defended international nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying the U.S. expects to know soon if Tehran is willing to agree to an “acceptable and verifiable plan” to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. As a key deadline for a framework agreement nears and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address Congress about his reservations next week, Mr. Kerry said the U.S. understands allies’ concerns and would explain an eventual agreement to them, should negotiators reach one. But he stressed there is no deal in hand and that no terms are final. “Anybody running around right now, jumping in to say, ‘Well, we don’t like the deal,’ or this or that, doesn’t know what the deal is. There is no deal yet,” Mr. Kerry said. The U.S. goal in the talks is to ensure “Iran will not get a nuclear weapon,” […]

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ENLARGE International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano, right, welcomes Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters BRUSSELS—The United Nations’ Atomic agency said Tuesday a meeting with a senior Iranian official had led to a “better understanding” between the two sides but there was little sign of a breakthrough in efforts by the agency to gain greater insight into past nuclear work Tehran has carried out. The International Atomic Energy Agency has been in talks with Iran for years about Iran’s past work, which western officials believe was aimed at getting nuclear know-how. The IAEA’s Director-General Yukiya Amano met earlier this month in Munich with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss the issues. They agreed that there should be more frequent senior official discussions between Iran and the agency. In a follow-up to that meeting, Mr. Amano met […]

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GENEVA—A nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers would keep Tehran 12 months away from amassing enough nuclear material for a bomb for a minimum of 10 years, a senior U.S. official said Monday. After a weekend of nuclear talks in Geneva between senior Iranian and U.S. diplomats, the official said progress had been made, including on some of the toughest issues. However the person said “there are very tough issues still. As I said, we still have a long way to go.” Iran and the six powers have until late March to agree the framework of a deal. A full, comprehensive accord must be signed by June 30. At the center of the talks is an effort to push back Iran’s nuclear activities so that they are at least a year away from amassing enough nuclear fuel for a bomb. In return, tight international sanctions on Iran […]

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GENEVA — Iranian and American officials ended a round of high-level nuclear talks here on Monday considering a proposal that would strictly limit, for at least 10 years, Iran ’s ability to produce nuclear material, but gradually ease restrictions on Tehran in the final years of any deal. The proposed phasing out of restrictions is part of a broader effort to mollify critics in Tehran, where some hard-liners in the government and the military oppose any deal that would force Iran to forsake nuclear production for a generation, and Washington, where some members of Congress have objected to an agreement that would not impose lengthy restrictions on Iran’s program. The question of how long any agreement would endure is a critical one: President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have said they will not sign an agreement that would give Iran the ability to produce enough fuel for […]

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MOSCOW—Russia has offered to sell a powerful air-defense system to Iran, a top executive said, five years after the Kremlin canceled the sale of an earlier version under U.S. and Israeli pressure. Sergei Chemezov, chief executive of the Russian defense conglomerate Rostec, said Tehran was considering its offer to sell Antey-2500 anti-ballistic missile systems. A 2007 contract to supply the less-advanced S-300 system was canceled in 2010 . “They are thinking (about it). The decision hasn’t been taken yet,” Mr. Chemezov told reporters at a weapons exhibition in Abu Dhabi on Monday, the state-controlled news agency TASS reported. The comments come amid the most-serious standoff between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War, which has seen the U.S., the European Union and others apply sanctions against Moscow for its incursions into Ukraine . Mr. Chemezov is among those on the U.S. sanctions list . Rostec […]

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 •  Iran will quit nuclear talks if the other party aimed to impose their wills on Tehran in the ongoing negotiations.  • The talks should meet the interests of both Iran and the world powers, Iran’s senior negotiator said.  • Representatives from P5+1 group, Iran met in Geneva Sunday for fresh talks over Tehran’s nuclear program. TEHRAN, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) — Iran will quit nuclear talks if the other party aimed to impose their wills on Tehran in the ongoing negotiations, the country’s senior negotiator told state IRIB TV on Monday. "If the other party wants to impose their wills at the cost of diplomatic means, we will not hesitate to leave the negotiating table," Abbas Araqchi said. The talks should meet the interests of both Iran and the world powers, Araqchi said. Political pressures and the media hype have not forced Iran to change its position and give up its demands, […]

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GENEVA — Iranian and American officials ended a round of high-level nuclear talks here on Monday considering a proposal that would strictly limit for at least 10 years Iran ’s ability to produce nuclear material, but gradually ease restrictions on Tehran in the final years of a deal. A senior American official traveling with Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz said the United States would insist that Iran’s nuclear program be constrained for “at least a double-digit number of years” from being able to produce enough material for a bomb should it decide to “break out” of the accord. The United States has insisted that Iran’s breakout capacity be constrained for as long as possible from producing enough nuclear material to create a bomb in a year. Iranian officials have said they want an agreement that would allow their country to ramp up the […]

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Iranian budget planners look to trim oil revenues as President Hassan Rouhani makes progress on reducing inflation. Photo: UPI/Maryam Rahmanian Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the inflation rate has dropped from 40 percent under his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to around 16 percent. "Economically speaking, as domestic and foreign opinion-makers have written to me, it has been like a miracle," he said. For fiscal year 2013-14, the World Bank estimates the Iranian economy contracted at an annual rate of 1.7 percent. The Iranian economy emerged from recession in December, however, which was something the government said came as a result of heavy government investments in national development projects. Though its economy is dependent on oil export revenue, the government in early January said non-oil exports from the beginning of the Iranian year, which starts in March, increased to $35 billion, or about 20 percent year-on-year. Budget planners are working to […]

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ENLARGE U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Geneva on Jan. 14. Photo: Associated Press GENEVA—As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Iran’s foreign minister for fresh nuclear talks, Israel’s leader stepped up criticism of the diplomacy, saying it was “astonishing” that negotiations were continuing over what he warned would be a dangerous deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s comments are the latest salvo in growing tensions between his government and the Obama administration over the Iranian nuclear talks. They come ahead of Israeli elections next month and the prime minister’s visit to Washington to address Congress at the request of Republican leaders. U.S. and Iranian officials have been meeting in this lakeside Swiss city since Friday as they try to agree at least on the outline of a final nuclear agreement by late March. Mr. Kerry and […]

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Libya’s largest oil field and a key oil port were brought back online Sunday, though attacks by Islamic extremists have continued elsewhere in the war-torn nation. The resumption of oil flows from the Sarir oil field, which pumps about two-thirds of the country’s remaining output, was a rare piece of good news following renewed fighting in Libya’s civil war and a string of attacks by Islamic State militants. A pipeline carrying 185,000 barrels a day from Sarir to the Hariga terminal in eastern Libya was blown up about a week ago by unknown militants. “The pipeline was repaired. Production restarted today” at 9 a.m. Libyan time, a spokesman for the state-owned National Oil Co. told The Wall Street Journal. No group has claimed responsibility for the sabotage but Libyan oil officials have blamed Islamic State, which has made headway in the North African country after capturing swaths of Iraq […]

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GENEVA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) — Delegations from the United States and Iran started on Friday another round of bilateral talks over Tehran’s long-disputed nuclear program. A diplomatic official with the U.S. Mission in Geneva told Xinhua that the talks began this morning. The source said that issues regarding the Iranian nuclear program including centrifuges and sanctions would be on the table during these closed-door meetings. The bilateral talks were at the moment led by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, according to Iran’s official news agency IRNA. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will join the talks on Sunday and Monday, Araqchi said earlier. Kerry’s trip was confirmed by the U.S. Department of State in a statement, which noted that the top U.S. diplomat will travel on Feb. 22 to Geneva to meet with his […]

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GENEVA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) — Representatives from world major countries and Iran will hold talks here on Sunday seeking for an agreement over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, said the mediator European Union (EU) on Friday. In a statement received by Xinhua Friday afternoon, the EU said that the political directors from the P5+1 group, namely the United States , Britain, France , Russia , China, and Germany , and Iran will meet in this Swiss city on Feb. 22 "to continue their diplomatic efforts towards reaching a long-term, comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue". Sunday’s meeting is preceded by the bilateral engagements between the United States and Iran that started Friday morning. The bilateral talks were at the moment led by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, according to Iran’s official news agency IRNA. It was announced that Iranian Foreign […]

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WASHINGTON — With only five weeks remaining for a basic agreement to be reached with Iran on the fate of its nuclear program , the world’s nuclear inspectors reported on Thursday that Iran was still refusing to answer their longstanding questions about suspected work on nuclear weapons and designs. The report, by the International Atomic Energy Agency , was issued just as an American negotiating team heads to Geneva for four days of talks that will, by Sunday, include Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Most of those negotiations focus on the future, particularly on the question of how much nuclear fuel Iran would be permitted to produce and stockpile. But a lurking issue has been whether, as part of any final accord, Iran will be compelled to answer all questions that the I.A.E.A. has put to it about evidence of past work […]

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TEHRAN, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) — Delegations from Iran and the United States will sit for another round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Friday, Iranian state media reported Thursday. The talks will begin as a bilateral meeting between Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Iran’s official news agency IRNA quoted Araqchi as saying. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will join the talks on Sunday and Monday, Araqchi said. Following the bilateral talks, further discussions may be held with the participation of other members of the P5+1 group, he added. Iran and the P5+1 group, which comprises the United States, Britain, France , Russia , China and Germany , should reach a political framework deal before March 2015 and a comprehensive deal before July, according to statements made after the previous round of nuclear talks […]

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TEHRAN — Iran ’s supreme leader said on Wednesday that he did not believe that all sanctions against his country would be lifted, a move he had previously said was an essential condition for nuclear talks to succeed. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , who has the final say in Iran on any nuclear agreement between his country and world powers, and who has commented regularly on the negotiations, has stressed that he is not optimistic about whether a compromise can be reached. But in a speech on Wednesday, referring to the United States, he said he did not believe that sanctions would be lifted “even if the talks continue on the basis of what they dictate.” In January, Ayatollah Khamenei called Iran’s opponents in the talks “greedy” and emphasized that sanctions must “really be lifted” for any agreement to be accepted by the Islamic republic. If not, […]

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Tehran (Platts)–18Feb2015/601 am EST/1101 GMT Iran would be willing to impose a hydrocarbon embargo if there were a final deal in the nuclear talks with the West and international sanctions were not lifted, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday. "If we do not resist, the enemy will put conditions on our nuclear program and impose sanctions," Khamenei was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. "If it’s going to be sanctions, the Iranian nation will impose sanctions on them in future. Iran owns the biggest oil and gas reserves in the world." "Europe and the world need the gas. Iran can impose sanctions on them, if it becomes necessary," Khamenei said. "The enemy is using sanctions as much as possible. Their goal is to stop the [Iranian] people’s progress. I believe that even if the nuclear issue turns out the way they are dictating, the sanctions […]

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(Bloomberg) — The Iranian oil ministry won’t be able to pay staff or invest in boosting production if parliament proceeds with a plan to slash funding, according to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. “The oil industry’s situation is deplorable,” Zanganeh said in comments reported by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. A draft bill reviewed by parliament Monday would cut the ministry’s budget to $3 billion in the Iranian year that begins March 21. That’s down from $13 billion a year earlier. “This ministry will face problems in meeting the salaries of its staff let alone investing in joint oil and gas fields,” Zanganeh said. “How are we to manage the oil industry with such an amount?” Iran, whose crude exports are banned in Europe because of a dispute over the country’s nuclear program, revised its budget last month to assume a base price for oil of $40 a […]

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei allegedly reaching out to Western powers in a sign of thaw. File Photo by Leader.ir/UPI The minister addressed lawmakers Monday to discuss budgetary strains resulting in part from a weak crude oil market. Already, the Iranian oil sector saw investments fall from $21 billion in 2012 to $17 billion in 2013. "With this trend, investment from our own resources will be nil next year," he said. The budget for the current Iranian year, which ends mid-March, relies on oil for 39.3 percent of government revenues. Drafts for next year call for a 6 percent decline in oil dependency. The oil minister said lawmakers are preparing for oil priced at around $40 per barrel. When oil was around $100 per barrel, the oil ministry’s share of the budget was $13 billion, but the slump could mean a 75 percent decline. "The petroleum industry needs financial […]

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has denied a report that its supreme leader wrote a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, the Islamic Republic’s official news agency reported, as the country negotiates with world powers over its contested nuclear program. The IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham as saying the report Saturday by the Wall Street Journal was "an unprofessional media game." "The U.S. president has a record of sending letters and in some cases Iran responded to his letters," Afkham said Sunday. Neither she nor the IRNA report elaborated on her comments, though Afkham said Iran had no immediate plans to write Obama again. The Wall Street Journal report said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote Obama in recent weeks in response to a letter by the U.S. president asking Iran to work with an American-led coalition fighting the extremist Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. […]

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Despite the slump in oil prices, the Iranian government aims to invest more than $16 billion in development projects, a planning director said.  Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, director of Iran’s planning organization, Continue Reading

ENLARGE Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday that the opportunity to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear program must be seized. Photo: Reuters MUNICH—Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Sunday that now is the time, and perhaps the last chance, for six world powers to seal a final nuclear deal with his government. But Western officials said progress in talks remains slow, and Tehran is resisting their key demand for a significant reduction in Iran’s enrichment activities. Mr. Zarif met twice with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry this weekend on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. He also held talks on Saturday with other foreign ministers from the six-power group with which Tehran negotiates over its nuclear program. Mr. Zarif said that while it wouldn’t be the end of the world if a nuclear deal proved elusive, a final […]

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MUNICH — As consultations continued here on a possible new cease-fire arrangement with Russia and Ukraine , Iran ’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Sunday that Tehran does not favor another extension of the talks on limiting its nuclear program and expects economic sanctions to be quickly lifted if an accord is reached. “Sanctions are a liability; you need to get rid of them if you want a solution,” Mr. Zarif told a security conference. “This is the opportunity to do it, and we need to seize this opportunity,” he said of the long effort to forge an agreement. “It may not be repeated.” The nuclear talks have already been extended twice and face a late March deadline for hammering out the main outlines of an accord. The deadline for completing a detailed agreement is the end of June. With a Republican-led Congress in Washington, an extension […]

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DUBAI/MUNICH (Reuters) – Iran’s paramount leader suggested on Sunday he could back a fair nuclear accord with world powers in which neither side got everything it wanted, boosting Iranian negotiators under fire from hardliners at home opposed to rapprochement with the West. "I would go along with any agreement that could be made. Of course, I am not for a bad deal. No agreement is better than an agreement which runs contrary to our nation’s interests," clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement issued by his office carried by ISNA news agency. But in a message that appeared to back up the conciliatory approach of President Hassan Rouhani, who revived diplomacy with Western powers soon after his landslide election in 2013, Khamenei said: "As the president (has) said, negotiations mean reaching a common point. Therefore, the other party … should not expect its illogical expectations to […]

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ANKARA/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Iran’s foreign minister has warned the United States that failure to agree a nuclear deal would likely herald the political demise of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani, Iranian officials said, raising the stakes as the decade-old stand-off nears its end-game. Mohammad Javad Zarif pressed the concern with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at several meetings in recent weeks, according to three senior Iranian officials, who said Iran had also raised the issue with other Western powers. Zarif’s warning has not been previously reported. Western officials acknowledged that the move may be just a negotiating tactic to persuade them to give more ground, but said they shared the view that Rouhani’s political clout would be heavily damaged by the failure of talks. The warning that a breakdown in talks would empower Iran’s conservative hardliners comes as the 12-year-old stand-off reaches a crucial phase, with a March […]

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TEHRAN—In the chamber of Iran’s parliament recently, consternation mounted quickly over what hard-liners saw as a grave development: The foreign minister had taken a private stroll through a Geneva garden with his American counterpart, John Kerry, during a break in nuclear negotiations. Critics of the urbane Javad Zarif, a fluent English speaker, demanded last week that he appear before the legislature to recount what he had discussed with the U.S. secretary of state in mid-January. “Our nation can never tolerate this!” thundered lawmaker Ali Taheri from the main rostrum to what appeared to be a largely unfazed crowd of legislators going about other business. In a hall outside the chamber, another turbaned hard-liner Hamid Rasaee who belongs to what is known as the “steadfast” or “resistance” front, unleashed a tirade about the tête-à-tête before television cameras from the national broadcasting channel. “It’s a big mistake to have any relationship […]

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FILE – In this Jan. 14, 2015 file picture US Secretary of State John Kerry, left, listens to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as they walk in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, during a bilateral meeting ahead of nuclear discussions. (Martial Trezzini/AP) AS THE Obama administration pushes to complete a nuclear accord with Iran, numerous members of Congress, former secretaries of state and officials of allied governments are expressing concern about the contours of the emerging deal. Though we have long supported negotiations with Iran as well as the interim agreement the United States and its allies struck with Tehran, we share several of those concerns and believe they deserve more debate now — before negotiators present the world with a fait accompli. The problems raised by authorities ranging from Henry Kissinger, the country’s most senior former secretary of state, to Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, Virginia’s junior Democratic senator, […]

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Portraying himself to be as tough as his domestic critics, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran criticized nuclear-armed powers on Wednesday, singling out the United States and Israel for what he described as false and hypocritical warnings about Iranian atomic ambitions. In a speech, Mr. Rouhani repeated his government’s claim that it neither covets nuclear weapons nor aspires to have them. That is a central issue in the prolonged international negotiations over Iranian nuclear activities, which Iran asserts are for purely peaceful purposes. “They tell us, ‘We don’t want Iran to make atomic bombs’ — you who have made atomic bombs,” Mr. Rouhani said sarcastically. He also asserted that the nuclear weapons amassed by the United States and, he said, possessed by Israel, have done little to ease their worries about vulnerability to attack. “Have you managed to bring about security for yourselves with atomic bombs?,” Mr. Rouhani asked rhetorically […]

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