Category: Iran

Iran’s Supreme Leader described as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile development, striking a defiant tone ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to mass produce missiles and said the nuclear negotiations were not the place to discuss Tehran’s defense program or to solve the problem of sanctions damaging the Iranian economy. "They expect us to limit our missile program while they constantly threaten Iran with military action," Khamenei was quoted as telling the IRNA news agency while on a visit to an aeronautics fair held by the Revolutionary Guards. "So this is a stupid, idiotic expectation … The revolutionary guards should definitely carry out their program and not be satisfied with the present level. They should mass produce. This is a main duty of all military officials." Iran and the […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Three months into intense international negotiations over Iran’s disputed nuclear development program, Tehran’s team has surprised almost everybody with its apparent eagerness for a deal. Iranian negotiators have met all of their commitments under November’s interim agreement, have proposed compromises on some key disagreements, and have taken part in three top-level meetings without the squabbles that were common over the last decade of fruitless haggling. Yet President Hassan Rouhani’s government is moving away from the United States and its allies on an issue that may be the most important of all. Put simply, the six world powers want Iran to curtail enrichment of uranium. They want Tehran to cut its 19,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges to a few thousand. Tehran, however, is insisting on vastly expanding capacity by adding thousands more centrifuges for what it says is strictly civilian energy purposes. […]

Click here to view full article at peakoil.com

Iran will export crude oil at the maximum level possible, regardless of restrictions imposed in an interim deal that offered the country some relief from sanctions over its nuclear program, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said. Iran shipped about 1.37 million barrels a day of crude on average during the first three months of the year, according to data from the International Energy Agency . Under an interim accord aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear program in return for easing some sanctions, Iran should limit exports to an average of 1 million barrels a day in the six months through July, the U.S. said in November. “We don’t accept any figure or number that is told to us in terms of a measure for our own exports,” Zanganeh told reporters at an energy exhibition in Tehran today. “Iran will set Iran’s export level, and we will export at the maximum […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Iran , hampered by sanctions over its nuclear program, plans within four years to boost crude-output capacity by 1 million barrels a day at fields it shares with neighboring states, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said. “This will be the biggest achievement in the history of the oil industry in Iran,” he said today at the opening of an energy conference in Tehran. The fourth-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is also pressing ahead with work at South Pars, part of a gas deposit straddling the border with Qatar, Zanganeh said. Iran expects to complete several of the project’s 17 phases in about three years, he said. The government is trying to attract foreign investment in crude, natural gas and chemicals production even as it seeks the removal of U.S. and European sanctions. The U.S. and allied states say Iran is working to develop atomic-weapons technology, a […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Inspectors from the United Nations atomic agency arrived in Iran to visit sites related to the country’s nuclear program before talks between the Islamic republic and world powers resume next week. International Atomic Energy Agency Inspectors, who landed in Tehran today for the two-day trip, are expected to visit the Saghand uranium mine and the Ardakan concentration plant, state-run Press TV news channel reported, citing Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. Iran has agreed to provide relevant nuclear information and managed access to these sites in line with seven “practical steps” agreed to in February with the IAEA to shed more light on its nuclear activities. The measures need to be implemented by May 15. Iranian officials and the IAEA will also discuss today the nation’s Arak heavy-water reactor, state-run Mehr news agency reports. The reactor has been a source of concern for the U.S. and its […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

If reports about an energy deal between Iran and Russia are true, it would be a concern to the U.S. government, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian met Sunday in Tehran with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak to discuss upgrading Iran’s power plants and electrical transmission lines. Both sides already work together in the nuclear sector, with Russia supplying fuel for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility. Russia is under pressure from a U.S. government frustrated with the Kremlin’s reaction to Ukraine’s move toward the European Union, while Iran is facing its own pressure from sanctions imposed for its controversial nuclear program. Psaki told reporters during her regular press conference Tuesday she had no confirmation the bilateral energy deal was in place. "If it were true, it would be of concern," she said . Novak said earlier this week the electricity […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

The United States government escalated enforcement of its Iran sanctions on Tuesday, adding eight Chinese companies, a Dubai company and two Dubai-based executives to blacklists for evading American restrictions on Iranian weapons, oil and banking transactions. In coordinated announcements of the actions by the Treasury, State and Justice Departments, the government also offered a $5 million bounty for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Li Fangwei, a Chinese businessman also known as Karl Lee, a previous sanctions target, who is accused of abetting Iranian weapons procurement. The announcements said that he owned the eight Chinese companies and that he had been charged in a previously sealed indictment with several federal offenses, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, bank fraud and wire fraud. The announcements signaled the first significant enforcement of American sanctions directed at Iran in about three months, and seemed aimed at dispelling what Obama administration […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

The Obama administration’s strategy of punishing Russia with economic sanctions over the Ukraine crisis encountered a new complication on Monday with word that the Russians are negotiating an $8 billion to $10 billion energy deal with Iran, another country ostracized by American-led sanctions, which partly depend on Moscow’s cooperation to be effective. The Russia-Iran energy deal, reported by the Iranian state news media, is the second significant economic collaboration under negotiation between the two countries that could undercut the efficacy of the sanctions on Iran. Those sanctions are widely credited with successfully pressuring the Iranians in the current talks over their disputed nuclear program. Officials at the United States Treasury Department, which enforces economic sanctions against Iran, did not immediately respond to queries about whether the Russia-Iran energy deal would technically violate those sanctions, which prohibit dealings with a range of Iranian government entities and industries and penalize foreigners […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

The Iranian government said Wednesday it would revise how it governs oil and natural gas contracts, though sanctions must be lifted for full utilization.Mehdi Hosseini, the director of a committee tasked with contract revisions, said Iran will be switching from a buy-back system to one based on joint ventures in the oil and natural gas sector. Iran under the terms of the previous buy-back contracts paid contractors a set price for oil and natural gas produced. Under the planned new system, state-run energy companies will establish joint ventures with their international counterparts, who will be paid with a share of the output. Hosseini said the new contract system was designed to bring more foreign investments into the Iranian energy sector. "In order for international companies to be able to invest in Iran projects, the sanctions must be lifted so that they would be able […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

TEHRAN, Iran—Iran will redesign its Arak heavy water reactor to greatly limit the amount of plutonium it can make, the country’s vice president said on Saturday, marking a major concession from the Islamic Republic in negotiations with world powers over its contested nuclear program. The comments by Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi comes as the talks face an informal July 20 deadline to hammer out a final deal to limit Iran’s ability to build nuclear arms in exchange for ending the crippling economic sanctions it faces. Iranian state television quoted Mr. Salehi, who heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as saying Iran has proposed to redesign Arak to produce one-fifth of the plutonium initially planned for it. He said that will eliminate concerns the West has that Iran could use the plutonium produced at Arak to build a nuclear weapon. Mr. Salehi also said Iran has completed diluting […]

Click here to view full article at online.wsj.com

President Barack Obama signed a law on Friday that effectively bars an Iranian diplomat from serving as an envoy at the United Nations because of suspicions he was involved in the 1979-81 Tehran hostage crisis. Obama signed a law passed by the U.S. Congress that blocks any individual from entering the United States who has been found to have been engaged in espionage or terrorist activity against the United States or if that person may pose a threat to U.S. national security. The United States had already said it would not grant a visa to Iran’s proposed U.N. ambassador, citing the envoy’s links to the 1979-1981 hostage crisis. Obama had come under strong pressure not to allow Hamid Abutalebi into the country to take up his position in New York. The U.S. government objects to Abutalebi because of his suspected participation in a Muslim student group […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Iran’s president underscored his moderate policies and outreach to the West in a speech Friday during a military parade on the country’s National Army Day. Referring to the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the world powers over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran has shown it has no hostile intentions toward anyone in the world, including the United States, which has long been considered an enemy. "During the talks, we announced to the world and we say so again … we are not after war, we are after logic, we are after talks," Rouhani said. He touted Iran’s diplomatic outreach and said the backing of the military and the nation was crucial. "Support by the armed forces and support by our brave people have empowered the officials in charge of the talks on the diplomatic front." The Iranian president made no mention […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Iran anticipates maintaining crude exports at about 1 million barrels a day until at least July when a deal with global powers over its nuclear program will be renewed or expire, the nation’s deputy oil minister said. Iran is producing about 2.7 million barrels of crude a day, Ali Majedi said today in Dubai. Output may rise to as much as 3.7 million barrels daily within six months of sanctions being lifted, he said, adding the move would also open the nation’s energy industry to investment. The nation plans to outline a new oil development contract at a conference in London by November, offering overseas partners incentives. “We will introduce the new contract, plus some of the oil and gas fields for development,” Majedi said at the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference. Iran, the fourth-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is discussing limits to […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

A senior cleric delivering a nationally televised sermon urged a crowd that included former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the head of Iran’s nuclear energy organization to observe sexual piety, aid the poor and support Iran’s development of nuclear power. "This technology is progressing our nation," Ayatollah Imami Kashani said at weekly Friday prayers at the University of Tehran. "Our enemies are against such progress." The sermon, like other speeches and television appearances by senior leaders recently, offered few signs the government is conditioning Iranians for any major limitations on nuclear work. But in talks Iran is pursuing with world powers, U.S. and European officials are aiming to significantly scale back Iran’s nuclear capabilities to guard against development of nuclear weapons—something Tehran denies that it seeks. To reach a deal that would ease international sanctions, the clerical leaders will have to make significant concessions. But by defining the program as […]

Click here to view full article at online.wsj.com

Halfway through a six-month nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers that was meant to allow time to reach a comprehensive agreement, the Iranians have seen little in the way of a boost from the sanctions relief they had been expecting, trade lawyers and diplomatic analysts say. Whether Iran’s disappointment means that it will be more or less motivated to negotiate a permanent deal on its disputed nuclear program by the July 20 deadline remains unclear. “Iran has become kryptonite for banks and shippers and insurance companies,” said Farhad R. Alavi, a sanctions law specialist at Akrivis, a Washington-based international law firm that has fielded numerous inquiries about doing business with Iran since the temporary accord took effect. Though the accord may have served as a “teaser” to Iran, he said in a telephone interview, foreign business interest has remained extremely limited. “Is a bank in Germany going […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

Iran will increase its crude oil output to 5.7 million barrels per day (mbpd) by the end of Iranian calendar year 1397 (March 2019), MP Ali Marvi says, quoting Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. According to Zanganeh, Iran’s natural gas output will also increase to one billion cubic meters per day, IRNA quoted Marvi as saying on Saturday. The country’s crude oil and natural gas outputs are currently around 3.8 million barrels per day and 300 million cubic meters per day, respectively. On April 6, Zanganeh said Iran forecasts an increase in its crude oil and natural gas production in the current Iranian calendar year 1393, which began on March 21. “Iran’s crude oil output is forecast to increase by about 200,000 barrels per day to 4 million barrels per day, and its daily natural gas output is forecast to increase by about 100 million cubic meters per day […]

Click here to view full article at peakoil.com

The House on Thursday unanimously passed legislation approved by the Senate aimed at denying a visa to Iran ’s choice for United Nations ambassador. The vote sent what sponsors called a blunt rejoinder to the Iranian government for having selected a nominee who played a role, however minor, in the 1979 American hostage crisis in Tehran. The legislation, which goes to President Obama for signature, reflected the raw political nerves rubbed by the nominee, Hamid Aboutalebi, a veteran diplomat who has said he once worked as an interpreter for the revolutionary student group that seized the United States Embassy and held 52 Americans for 444 days. The Obama administration had already signaled its opposition to Mr. Aboutalebi, informing the Iranian government that the choice was “not viable,” while stopping short of denying him a visa or taking a position on the legislation. But the strong bipartisan approval of the […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

Iran’s crude shipments in February were the highest since the imposition of Western sanctions that have crippled its oil-dependent economy, according to the International Energy Agency . Imports of Iranian oil were 1.65 million barrels a day in February, the highest level since June 2012, the IEA said. March shipments were estimated to have fallen to 1.05 million barrels a day from February’s figure, “but that figure will likely be revised upwards closer to February levels upon receipt of more complete data,” the IEA said. “Imports of Iranian oil are running well above 2013 levels for the third consecutive month,” the Paris-based adviser to 28 nations, said in its monthly oil market report . “Imports from Iran could remain high for April.” An interim accord easing restrictions on insurance for Iran’s oil shipments and freeing up cash held outside the country went into effect in January, in return for […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Iran and the group of six major powers negotiating a permanent agreement to resolve the Iranian nuclear dispute concluded a two-day round of talks in Vienna on Wednesday, asserting that “a lot of intensive work” remained to complete a draft accord by their self-imposed deadline in three months. The lead negotiators, the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Catherine Ashton, the top foreign policy official of the European Union, made the assertion in a joint statement that said the next round of talks would be held May 13. The statement suggested that both sides were still struggling with extensive disagreements and described the further negotiations as an attempt to “bridge the gaps in all the key areas.” The talks took place against rising tensions surrounding Iran’s estranged relations with the West, punctuated by new flare-ups with both the United States and the European Union on nonnuclear issues. The […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

Iran and six major powers wrapped up a third round of nuclear talks Wednesday with the parties saying a solution to the decade-old standoff remains possible by July but that the toughest work has barely begun. This week’s talks marked the halfway point in the five-month period Iran and the six powers fixed to seal a comprehensive nuclear agreement. A deal would aim to address all international concerns on Iran’s nuclear work in exchange for lifting the sanctions regime on Tehran. Iranian and Western officials said the next talks, which start May 13, would mark a transition from discussing key issues to the real drafting work—a crucial moment that may quickly reveal whether both sides are ready to make the tough political compromises a deal will require. The mood in Vienna was generally positive, with tentative signs of gaps narrowing on a few key issues. But the two sides […]

Click here to view full article at online.wsj.com

Forget the last 11 years: the false starts, the glimpses of hope, the long periods of near-breakdown and despair. On May 13, Iran and six major powers will begin a grueling period of just over two months in which they hope to bury once and for all international concerns over the nature of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for agreeing a phased lifting of sanctions. The two sides have set a target date of July 20 to finalize a deal. Talks could extend an additional six months if both sides agree but everyone seems keen to build on current momentum and seal an accord. But those who experienced the long days of tense negotiations in Geneva last October and November that eventually produced a landmark interim agreement probably ain’t seen nothing yet. After the latest round of talks closed Wednesday , European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and […]

Click here to view full article at blogs.wsj.com

TEHRAN, April 8 (UPI) — Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh said the country is bent on increasing the level of oil production despite Western economic sanctions. Zanganeh told the Oil Ministry’s official news site, Shana, the Iranian government wasn’t waiting for the United States and its allies to relax sanctions on the energy sector. "[We] will readily tap all the resources to sell more oil despite sanctions," he said in an interview published Monday. "We are hoping to see sanctions shrink, however, we assume the harshest circumstances and draw up our roadmap assuming that sanctions will not be altered." The minister said Iran was ready to produce more than 4.2 million barrels of oil per day during the current calendar year, which began last month. Iran secured sanctions relief under the terms of an interim nuclear deal brokered in November. Another round of nuclear talks gets under way in […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Ravanchi on Tuesday signaled progress in Tehran’s nuclear talks with six world powers as the latest round of negotiations started in the Austrian capital. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal before the talks, Mr. Ravanchi said Iran would address "legitimate concerns" about Iran’s heavy-water plutonium reactor in Arak, which the West says could produce enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon. "We have not reached a conclusion on Arak, but at least we know very well where they are and where we are and how the positions of the two sides can merge," he said. Iran pledged in November’s interim nuclear accord to stop major work on the reactor, whose spent fuel would contain plutonium. The United Nations atomic agency, which oversees the accord, has said Tehran is complying. But Western countries remain concerned about Arak, which Iran says is intended to produce […]

Click here to view full article at online.wsj.com

The Obama administration said on Tuesday that the nomination of a new Iranian ambassador to the UN who was involved in the 1979 hostage crisis was “not viable”, intensifying a dispute that could have an impact on nuclear negotiations. Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said that the nomination of Hamid Aboutalebi to be Iran ’s ambassador to the UN was “extremely troubling”. He was speaking hours after the senate voted unanimously in favour of a bill that would prevent Mr Aboutalebi from taking up his post by denying him a visa. The measure is expected to pass the House of Representatives. The dispute over the Iranian nominee comes as a fresh round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme opened in Vienna on Tuesday. Iran defended the nomination of Mr Aboutalebi on Tuesday. “Iran has selected a veteran diplomat with a clear and successful [diplomatic] record as […]

Click here to view full article at www.ft.com

With nuclear talks set to resume in Vienna on Tuesday, the Obama administration says it is convinced it can conclude an agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program by the July 20 target date despite significant political hurdles. U.S. officials said a string of meetings among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany—the so-called P5+1—and Iran have steadily moved ahead since a temporary agreement was reached in November. Drafting of the terms of the deal is set to begin in May, U.S. and Iranian officials said ahead of the latest round of talks in Vienna. The P5+1 has set July 20 as the target to reach a permanent accord, although that can be extended by six months if necessary. "I’m absolutely convinced that we can [meet the deadline], though the real issue is…about the choices that Iran has to make, and some of them are […]

Click here to view full article at online.wsj.com

The director of the National Iranian Oil Co. said talks with Russia for a deal to swap oil for goods have taken on a serious tone. NIOC Director Roknoddin Javadi said Russian tankers could start taking on Iranian oil from southern ports under the terms of a deal that would see more Russian goods imported in exchange. "We are engaged in negotiations with the Russian side (on reverse crude swap)," he said in an interview published Sunday by the semiofficial Fars News Agency. "The negotiations are continued seriously but the time for the start of the swap operation has not been finalized yet." Iran and Russia are close partners in Iran’s controversial nuclear sector. Iran has touted its potential for oil exports since brokering an interim deal in November to roll back parts of its nuclear program. Iran in return secured modest relief from […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Reports of multibillion-dollar oil talks between Iran and Russia are emerging as the latest obstacle to a comprehensive pact eliminating the threat of an Iranian nuclear arsenal. The Obama administration is weighing potentially deal-breaking sanctions if a contract is completed. The Russian business daily Kommersant has reported Russia plans to buy 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil a day, shattering an export limit under the interim nuclear agreement world powers and Iran reached last year. Moscow and Tehran are far from finalizing the contract, the newspaper said, but the U.S. has expressed alarm. A senior U.S. official said the administration had no information to suggest the oil-for-goods contract had been reached. The arrangement would break the interim agreement reached in November in Geneva and "potentially trigger U.S. sanctions," said the official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name and briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Diplomats gathering in Vienna will seek a compromise over an Iranian reactor that could produce weapons ingredients when they resume talks on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program today. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will join diplomats from China , France , Germany , Russia, the U.K. and U.S. The sides have set a target of July 20 for a permanent accord after breaking a decade-long deadlock in Geneva last year. After the last round of talks in March, Russia called on Iran to “demonstrate goodwill” by finding a way to modify the Arak heavy-water reactor and allay concerns that it can produce plutonium, a key ingredient in nuclear weapons. Robert Einhorn, a former U.S. negotiator, said in a report for the Brookings Institution that Iran should convert the project into a light-water reactor that wouldn’t produce plutonium. Princeton University researchers […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

  Iran has been unable to withdraw much of the unfrozen oil revenue it was to receive under a November interim nuclear deal, a possible complication for efforts to end the decadelong standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The problems were outlined in interviews with nearly a dozen Western and Iranian officials and diplomats, bankers and lawyers with knowledge of the issue. An estimated $100 billion in payments for Iranian oil imports has been locked up in accounts in the importing countries in compliance with U.S. banking sanctions that have been among the most effective in pressuring Iran economically. Only $4.2 billion was to be freed up gradually under the interim deal. One reason Iran is having difficulty tapping the unfrozen revenue is that banks remain fearful they could violate tight U.S. financial sanctions, especially while the outcome of talks on a final nuclear deal remains uncertain. If financial institutions […]

Click here to view full article at peakoil.com

VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers began an expert-level meeting about Tehran’s nuclear program on Thursday, part of efforts to reach an agreement by late July on how to resolve a decade-old dispute that has stirred fears of a Middle East war. The meeting in Vienna of nuclear and other experts from Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Russia, China and Britain was to prepare for a new round of higher-level negotiations next week, also in the Austrian capital. A spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton – whose office is coordinating contacts with Iran on behalf of the big powers – confirmed that the meeting had started but gave no details. Officials earlier said they were expected to last until Saturday. The April 8-9 meeting of chief negotiators – including Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif – will be the third […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Iran and Russia have made progress toward an oil-for-goods deal that sources said could be worth up to $20 billion and enable Tehran to boost vital energy exports in defiance of Western sanctions, people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters. In January, Reuters reported that Moscow and Tehran were discussing a barter deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. The United States has said such a deal would raise "serious concerns" and be inconsistent with the nuclear talks between world powers and Iran. A Russian source said Moscow had "prepared all documents from its side", adding that completion of a deal was awaiting agreement on what oil price to lock in. The source said the two sides were looking at a barter arrangement that would see Iranian oil exchanged for industrial […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Armed men on a skiff fired shots at an oil tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz , the world’s most important trade route for crude shipments. Unidentified attackers fired twice with an assault rifle at the Aframax tanker Album at about 2:15 p.m. local time yesterday, said Abdul Shahid Khashan, acting security officer at the vessel’s owner Arab Marine Petroleum Transport Co. The attackers, who appeared to be fishermen, probably weren’t seeking to hijack the Album, which evaded the attack, he said. A second tanker, the Stena Supreme, was approached by two skiffs in a separate incident yesterday, Lt. Commander David Benham, a spokesman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Allied Maritime Command, said today. U.S. and European military authorities are investigating, he said. The Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf , is a transit channel for about 17 million barrels of crude daily, […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Iran announced Friday it launched operations at its first-ever floating gas condensate export terminal in the waters of the Persian Gulf. Iran in January exported 878,631 tons of gas condensate. Pirouz Mousavi, managing director of the Iranian Oil Terminals Co., said the facility could help Iran get more oil and gas from a southern economic trade zone. "The terminal, which facilitates the export of 600,000 barrels of gas condensate per day, can help Iran boost its capability to export both crude oil and condensate," he said . Customs officials in Iran say gas condensate accounts for more than 60 percent of the commodities exported from the southern economic zone. Iran has touted its oil and gas export potential since reaching an interim nuclear agreement with Western negotiators in November. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday energy products from Iran were re-entering the global market as expected. "As far as […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Looming fuel price rises in Iran will be the first major test of President Hassan Rouhani’s ability to retain public support in the face of attacks from his hardline rivals. Since he was elected in August, Rouhani has pleased many Iranians by reaching an interim agreement with the United States and the European Union on his country’s nuclear program, and pursuing a deal that would end economic sanctions against Iran. He has promised more social freedoms and repaired some of the economic damage of the sanctions; the rial currency has stabilized and sky-high inflation has started to come down. But this could be threatened if Rouhani’s government mishandles planned cuts in the massive state subsidies which keep domestic prices of gasoline and other fuels far below global levels. The cuts are a key part of Rouhani’s efforts to reform the economy after years of erratic management […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Five facilities to process natural gas from the South Pars complex in the Persian Gulf should be on stream by November, an Iranian official said Wednesday. Mohammad-Reza Akbari, an executive with general energy contractor Petropars, said platforms tied to the field should be loaded in May and additional processing facilities should enter into service by November, Shana, the Oil Ministry’s official news agency, reported . South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar, is the largest natural gas complex in the world and accounts for 35 percent of Iran’s total natural gas production. Iran aims to develop South Pars through 24 separate phases. The government has expressed frustration with the pace at which its international counterparts were developing the gas complex. Earlier this month, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Mansour Moazami said China National Petroleum Corp. was at risk of losing its $4.7 billion contract for South Pars development because it […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

The South Korean government said Tuesday its February imports of Iranian oil more than doubled year-on-year to 8.1 million barrels. Iran secured relief from some international sanctions in exchange for agreeing in November to curb some of its nuclear research activity. The U.S. government said oil restrictions remain in place, though Iranian customers can secure relief from sanctions if they show a decline in crude oil purchases. South Korea secured a six-month extension to the sanctions waiver in November. Data published Tuesday by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. show imports of Iranian crude oil doubled last month when compared with February 2013. Year-on-year, South Korean imports of Iranian crude declined in January by 66 percent and by 34 percent in December. Iran has touted its investment potential since brokering an interim nuclear deal with Western powers in November. Representatives from French energy company Total […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

The United Nations atomic agency said Thursday that Iran is complying with the interim nuclear deal it signed with six major powers last November. In its monthly report on Iran’s implementation of the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran continues refraining from enriching uranium to 20% purity and is reducing its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium, which is a level considered only a few technical steps from producing weapons-grade uranium. The IAEA said Iran has also met its pledge not to carry out major work on its planned heavy water reactor in Arak, which could in the future produce plutonium. It has also, as promised, provided further information on its plans for the reactor. The agency said Iran also has kept within the agreed research and development limits for uranium-enrichment work under the interim accord. In November, Iran and six major powers that saw Tehran pledge to […]

Click here to view full article at online.wsj.com

The second round of talks between Iran and six world powers over Iran’s nuclear program ended Wednesday with all parties expressing satisfaction with the discussions, which were the most detailed so far on each of the main issues dividing them. Both Catherine Ashton, the European Union ’s foreign affairs chief and the chief negotiator for the six powers, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, described the talks as “useful and substantive.” Although neither offered details, a senior American official described the sessions as “intense” and said there were discussions of Iran’s uranium enrichment program, the construction of a heavy water reactor at Arak that could be used to make plutonium into a fissile material, civilian cooperation on nuclear power and sanctions. The talks, which started on Jan. 20 and are expected to last until July 20, are aimed at reaching a permanent agreement intended to […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

A director for Iran’s eastern gas fields said Tuesday production for the Iranian year should be in line with expectations of 2 billion cubic feet per day. Mohammad-Reza Mehdi-Pour, managing director of Iran’s East Oil and Gas Production Co., said gas fields along the eastern border produced as expected, the Oil Ministry’s official news agency Shana reported. He added gas production from the Khangiran and Gonbadli fields has outpaced regional refinery capacity by more than 10 percent. Iran is the third-largest natural gas producer in the world. Much of its production comes from the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf. Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported Tuesday five of the 12 wells from phase 12 operations should begin in mid-April. Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Mansour Moazami said, however, China National Petroleum Corp. was at risk of losing its $4.7 billion contract for […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

An Iranian bank plans to target foreigners with the first fund dedicated to investing in the country’s oil and gas industries, in anticipation of a further easing of sanctions against the Islamic republic. Kardan Investments is preparing to set up a Global Energy Fund to invest in projects to develop Iranian oil and natural gas fields and joint ventures between local and international oil companies, Chief Executive Officer Majid Zamani said in an interview in Tehran. Kardan will seek to sell shares in projects and ventures to institutional investors in Europe, he said. “ Iran ’s oil and gas industry needs a lot of investment, and not all of this can come from inside Iran,” Zamani, a former consultant to the Washington-based World Bank, said March 12. “A lot of it has to come from outside.” Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European Union have deterred many foreign companies […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg The Geneva deal, which took effect in January, offered Iran as much as $7 billion in sanctions relief, including easing curbs on trade in petrochemicals and auto parts. Close Close Open Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg The Geneva deal, which took effect in January, offered Iran as much as $7 billion in sanctions relief, including easing curbs on trade in petrochemicals and auto parts. The specter of Crimea hangs over ’s nuclear talks resuming today, as world powers locked in a confrontation over Russia ’s move to annex the region find themselves on the same side during negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Even as they clash over Ukraine, diplomats from Russia and the U.S. and European Union are seeking to build on November’s interim accord in Geneva, which froze some of Iran’s most sensitive nuclear work in return for limited sanctions relief. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com