Category: Iran

Iran resumed talks on its nuclear programme with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Saturday, the official IRNA news agency said, in discussions expected to broach sensitive military-related issues. The U.N. atomic agency hopes to persuade Iran to finally start addressing long-held suspicions that it may have researched how to build atomic bombs. Tehran has rejected the accusations of weaponization-related work as baseless and said it will cooperate with the IAEA to clear up any "ambiguities". Iran was represented in the discussions by Reza Najafi, its envoy to the IAEA, while the team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog was led by deputy IAEA director general Tero Varjoranta, IRNA said. Saturday’s meeting comes 10 days before Tehran and world powers, building on a landmark interim deal that took effect last month, start talks on a long-term accord on Iran’s nuclear aspirations that would avert the threat […]

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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Thursday his country was working to resist the temptation to break off from Western negotiations. Iranian leaders have expressed frustration with what they said was bellicose rhetoric coming from U.S. officials in the wake of an interim nuclear agreement. Zarif said Thursday "perhaps the easiest" way to settle the row was to "close the doors to negotiation." "However, we firmly resist the temptation and [will] defend the Iranian national interests," he was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr News Agency as saying. Iran’s Fars News Agency said 190 of the 290 members of the Iranian Parliament endorsed a statement critical of testimony this week by U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman. Sherman told the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations the Iranian nuclear program was a "serious" threat to U.S. national security. A November interim agreement, she said, […]

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Ali Majedi, Iran’s deputy oil minister, said French energy company Total is among those expressing an interest in his country’s oil sector. Iranian leaders hosted a trade delegation of roughly 140 representatives from French companies this week in Tehran. Majedi told the semiofficial Fars News Agency major French oil companies were among those who said they’re willing to invest in Iran. "The companies that have negotiated with us are considered the main group and include … Total [and oil services contractor] Technip," he said in an interview published Wednesday. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month his economy was opening up as a result of last year’s interim nuclear deal with Western powers. "Iran’s geopolitical situation, and also its access to the open seas, make it a geopolitically suitable model in the region," Majedi said. […]

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The U.S. and Iran are staking out increasingly entrenched and opposing positions over Tehran’s nuclear program, threatening the prospects of a vital foreign-policy initiative of President Barack Obama . The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday announced new enforcement actions against companies with links to Iran for allegedly evading American sanctions against the country and aiding its nuclear and missile programs. The enforcement comes as both Democrat and Republican lawmakers exert pressure on the Obama administration to toughen its posture against Iran ahead of Feb. 18 talks aimed at ending any nuclear-arms threat from Tehran. Some congressional members and U.S. allies are concerned that an initial easing of sanctions against Iran has begun to open the floodgates of investment to the country before it has made any major concessions. But Thursday’s move strained Washington’s diplomatic engagement with Tehran, which said that the move violated terms of the negotiating process both […]

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The Obama administration penalized nearly three dozen companies and individuals in eight countries on Thursday, accusing them of evading Iranian sanctions. It was the administration’s most extensive enforcement action to target Iran since a temporary international agreement on that country’s disputed nuclear program was completed in November and put into effect last month . Announced by the Treasury Department office that oversees sanctions enforcement, the punishments were at least partly devised to send a message that the United States is not relaxing economic pressures on Iran, apparently to blunt an atmosphere of optimism that has resulted from the temporary nuclear agreement. This week, Secretary of State John Kerry criticized France after it sent a large trade delegation to Iran. “Today’s action should leave no doubt that those who seek to evade our sanctions, support Iran’s nuclear program or assist in Iran’s promotion of international terrorism will continue to be […]

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Iran may reduce fuel oil exports by 50 percent next month as maintenance work at the Persian Gulf state’s Abadan refinery cuts output, according to an official at National Iranian Oil Co. The country may ship about 200,000 metric tons of fuel oil in March, compared with as much as 400,000 this month and 350,000 tons in January, said the official, who asked not to be identified because of internal company rules. The state-run company, known as NIOC, plans to shut half of its 390,000 barrel-a-day Abadan refinery for 20 to 30 days next month, said the official. The maintenance plan isn’t final and may change, according to the official. The Middle East nation reduced fuel oil exports to an average of 200,000 tons a month in the quarter ended Dec. 31 from about 600,000 tons earlier in the year as demand from domestic power plants climbed during winter, […]

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An Iranian official said for the first time that Iran may modify a heavy-water reactor near Arak, signaling a willingness to compromise on one of the most contentious issues in efforts to curtail its nuclear program. “We can do some design change — in other words, make some change in the design in order to produce less plutonium in this reactor and in this way allay the worries and mitigate the concerns,” Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told Iran’s official English-language Press TV in an interview today. The uncompleted Arak heavy water reactor was a stumbling block that almost derailed nuclear talks between Iran and other nations last November, when France ’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius insisted that Iran agree to halt work there before world powers would sign onto a six-month deal to ease some of the sanctions that have hobbled Iran’s […]

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In a rare move, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday that he regrets any troubles with the distribution of a food ration to the poor, following reports that three people have died waiting for the goods in subzero weather. Local media have reported that the three died in recent days while standing in line in freezing temperatures. Authorities were quoted as saying that they had pre-existing heart problems. Most provinces in Iran have experienced unusually low temperatures in recent days. Rouhani told state TV that he "as the president expresses regret if people have faced trouble in receiving the commodity basket." It’s unusual for an official in Iran to take responsibility for problems in a governmental plan. The ration for the poor includes eggs, cooking oil, chicken, rice and cheese. The program was instituted under Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, originally just for government workers. Rouhani’s […]

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In a rare move, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday that he regrets any troubles with the distribution of a food ration to the poor, following reports that three people have died waiting for the goods in subzero weather. Local media have reported that the three died in recent days while standing in line in freezing temperatures. Authorities were quoted as saying that they had pre-existing heart problems. Most provinces in Iran have experienced unusually low temperatures in recent days. Rouhani told state TV that he "as the president expresses regret if people have faced trouble in receiving the commodity basket." It’s unusual for an official in Iran to take responsibility for problems in a governmental plan. The ration for the poor includes eggs, cooking oil, chicken, rice and cheese. The program was instituted under Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, originally just for government workers. Rouhani’s […]

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Turkish Trade Minister Nihat Zeybecki said the mechanisms aren’t yet in place to help process payments from India for Iranian crude oil. The European Union in January lifted restrictions on insurance and transport of Iranian crude oil. The decision was made in response to Iran’s decision to suspend some nuclear research activity according to the terms of an interim deal reached last year with Western powers. Zeybecki told Indian newspaper the Hindu his country was acting in line with existing embargoes and couldn’t help India with its payments for Iranian crude oil. "When we talk about embargoes, we can see that there is a bit of relaxation or opening in the embargoes," he said in an interview published Monday. "But, currently the normal procedures are ongoing." India was routing about half of its payments for Iranian crude oil through Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank, but […]

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Turkish Trade Minister Nihat Zeybecki said the mechanisms aren’t yet in place to help process payments from India for Iranian crude oil. The European Union in January lifted restrictions on insurance and transport of Iranian crude oil. The decision was made in response to Iran’s decision to suspend some nuclear research activity according to the terms of an interim deal reached last year with Western powers. Zeybecki told Indian newspaper the Hindu his country was acting in line with existing embargoes and couldn’t help India with its payments for Iranian crude oil. "When we talk about embargoes, we can see that there is a bit of relaxation or opening in the embargoes," he said in an interview published Monday. "But, currently the normal procedures are ongoing." India was routing about half of its payments for Iranian crude oil through Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank, but […]

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The Iranian government has started handing out food packages for millions of its citizens both to help those with low income and to try to lower inflation on food, local news media reported on Monday. Across the capital, Tehran, and in the rest of the country, long lines of people waited in government-owned department stores, where the food is being distributed. President Hassan Rouhani has said the handouts are intended to “ease the pressure” on Iranians and demonstrate some of the immediate benefits from the recent interim nuclear agreement with world powers. All government employees and citizens making less than 5 million rials, or $170, a month are eligible to receive the food package, which contains more than 20 pounds of rice from India, two frozen chickens from Turkey, three dozen eggs, more than two quarts of vegetable oil and two packs of processed cheese. Over 15 […]

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and some of his senior ministers on Sunday strongly criticized groups who are threatening a boycott of Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians. Their remarks were a sharp retort to Secretary of State John Kerry, who warned a day earlier that the risk of boycotts would intensify should the current Middle East peace effort fail. In a swift response to the Israeli criticism, the State Department said that Mr. Kerry had always opposed calls for boycotts and expected “all parties to accurately portray his record and statements.” The heated exchange comes as the Obama administration prepares to complete and present a “framework” accord in the coming weeks, which would be a first step toward a comprehensive agreement and serve as a basis for a continuation of negotiations. “Attempts to impose a boycott on the state of Israel are immoral and […]

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Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, said some of the $4.2 billion in oil revenue freed by nuclear agreements is on its way to Iranian accounts. Araqchi said Saturday the funds would be deposited in an Iranian bank account in Switzerland. "As far as I know, all necessary measures have been taken and transfers are under way," he told the Islamic Republic News Agency. The Iranian Students News Agency reported the first transfer totals $550 million. Iran, under the terms of a six-month nuclear agreement reached with Western powers in November, secured access to funds frozen by international sanctions. In return, Iran agreed to suspend some of its nuclear research activity. The Iranian currency, the rial, collapsed in 2012 under sanctions pressure. Under new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the government said it’s expecting major new investments in its energy sector. Iranian oil officials said […]

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U.S. officials are fanning out across the globe, privately warning international executives not to commit too much as they re-engage with Iran during a temporary easing of sanctions. The outreach echoes some of the statements U.S. officials have made in recent weeks cautioning about the limited and temporary nature of the sanctions relaxation. In recent days, senior U.S. officials have also started touring global commercial capitals—including London, Paris and Dubai—and meeting executives from blue-chip companies to hammer home the message. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in an interview on Friday that he has personally taken on the issue in meetings with hundreds of American and international business executives in recent weeks. This effort included meetings he held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week. "It’s really important that businesses understand that we are continuing to monitor transactions and enforce sanctions," Mr. Lew said. "It’s really been […]

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An Iranian director of international investment said as much as $200 billion in foreign investments may be headed to the nation’s oil sector. Mohammad Mazraati, an investment director at the National Development Fund of Iran, told an investment conference in Tehran the attitude of investors has changed in recent months. He told delegates Wednesday the Iranian oil industry has the potential to attract billions of dollars in new foreign investments because of concessions with the West, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The European Union last week lifted restrictions on insurance and transport of Iranian crude oil. The decision was made in response to Iran’s decision to suspend some nuclear research activity according to the terms of an interim deal reached last year with Western powers. Some of Iran’s oil ambitions are still curtailed by sanctions. The U.S. government said it would hold […]

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A landmark interim deal last November between the Western powers and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program could see about 200,000-300,000 b/d of additional oil released into the markets by mid-year, but any further increments are likely to take years, according to US-based consultancy FACTS Global Energy’s chairman Fereidun Fesharaki. The November deal between Iran and the so-called P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany — took effect on January 20 and holds for six months. The agreement, which has eased some of the crippling economic sanctions against Iran for a period of six months, could see Iranian crude supplies going up by around 200,000-300,000 b/d by July, Fesharaki told the 32nd JCCP International Symposium in Tokyo Wednesday. But a full return of the estimated 1.2 million b/d of Iranian crude locked out of the markets as a result of several […]

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A landmark interim deal last November between the Western powers and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program could see about 200,000-300,000 b/d of additional oil released into the markets by mid-year, but any further increments are likely to take years, according to US-based consultancy FACTS Global Energy’s chairman Fereidun Fesharaki. The November deal between Iran and the so-called P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany — took effect on January 20 and holds for six months. The agreement, which has eased some of the crippling economic sanctions against Iran for a period of six months, could see Iranian crude supplies going up by around 200,000-300,000 b/d by July, Fesharaki told the 32nd JCCP International Symposium in Tokyo Wednesday. But a full return of the estimated 1.2 million b/d of Iranian crude locked out of the markets as a result of several […]

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;OPEC could easily accommodate increased oil production from Iran when sanctions limiting its output are lifted, the cartel’s head said Monday, brushing off concerns it could split up because of oversupply. "This, we will overcome," Abdalla Salem el-Badri, secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, told reporters on the side of an oil conference at Chatham House in London, U.K. Iran said last month it wanted to produce 4 million barrels of oil a day when sanctions are lifted, up from about 2.6 million barrels a day. Libya, whose output has more than halved to 650,000 barrels a day due to strikes, is also expected to return to normal when the crisis is resolved. "When Iran will come [back], when Libya will come [back], I don’t think there will be difficulty for OPEC," Mr. el-Badri said. Iraq, another OPEC member, has also been ramping up production […]

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Sanctions relief in the wake of an interim nuclear deal clears the way for Iran to start exporting crude oil to more consumers, an Iranian executive said. Ali Akbar Safaei, director of the National Iranian Tanker Co., told Shana, Iran’s official oil news website, his company and the National Iranian Oil Co. were free from some U.S. sanctions. Some Western governments agreed to suspend sanctions on Iran for the duration of a six-month interim deal that calls on Iran to curb some of its nuclear activity. Safaei said the sanctions relief means Iran has leeway to export crude oil to China, India, Turkey, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. "This [sanctions] relief is a green light for NITC but we expect the immediate return of NITC to international oil transportation markets besides these six countries," he was quoted as saying Sunday. There was no formal […]

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Iran and global powers will begin negotiations on a comprehensive agreement to end the decadelong dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program in mid-February in New York, Western and Iranian officials said on Monday. The meetings, whose dates aren’t yet fixed, will mark a shift from Geneva, where three rounds of talks were held beginning in October. That diplomacy resulted in November’s interim agreement that froze the most advanced parts of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for some easing of Western sanctions on Tehran. However, officials said the hardest part of the talks lie ahead as the two sides seek to negotiate a final deal that would completely lift sanctions on Iran in return for Tehran scaling back much of its activities and settling remaining doubts about its pledge that it isn’t seeking to develop nuclear weapons. November’s agreement came into force on Jan. 20. The two sides have set a […]

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National Iranian Tanker Co. got permission to ship oil to some Asian countries as sanctions were eased, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing the company’s Managing Director Ali Akbar Safaei. Tankers belonging to the company may export crude to China, India, Turkey , Japan, South Korea and Taiwan after sanctions against insuring the country’s vessels were suspended Jan. 20, IRNA said, citing Safaei. Iran agreed with world powers including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany to curtail its nuclear program in return for an easing of some sanctions on oil, auto parts, gold and precious metals in a Nov. 24 agreement signed in Geneva. Iran is preparing for a second round of nuclear talks scheduled for next month as it seeks a further easing of sanctions that caused crude exports last year to drop to their lowest since 1990, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. […]

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Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that “an era of American diplomatic engagement” is following a decade defined by force. One day after Iran’s president took the stage here seeking to assure the world that his country did not aspire to develop nuclear weapons, Secretary of State John Kerry pushed back on Friday, challenging him to demonstrate that the Iranian nuclear program was peaceful. “He told you that Iran has no intention of building a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Kerry said in a speech to the World Economic Forum. “Starting now, Iran has the opportunity to prove these words beyond all doubt to the world.” Mr. Kerry laid down several requirements for the comprehensive nuclear agreement that Iran and six world powers are now preparing to negotiate, saying that Tehran must accept extensive verification, abandon plans to build a heavy-water reactor […]

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When President Hassan Rouhani of Iran commandeered the spotlight this week in Davos, Switzerland, with a message of peaceful intentions and a desire for dialogue, it was an eerie echo of 10 years ago, when Iran’s last would-be change agent, Mohammad Khatami, delivered the very same message at the World Economic Forum . Comparing their appearances demonstrates how much Iran has changed in the last decade, but also how fragile the current diplomatic opening is, and how little time Mr. Rouhani may have to negotiate a nuclear deal, while holding Iran’s hard-liners at bay. Iran, Mr. Rouhani said Thursday, was determined to pursue “constructive engagement” with the world and had no intention of acquiring a nuclear weapon. In 2004, Mr. Khatami said, “Anywhere that we sense and feel that the other side respects us and does not force anything upon us, we are prepared to talk.” He, […]

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Iran is exaggerating its crude oil export figures and won’t be allowed to sell more than 1 million barrels a day over the next six months, U.S. officials involved in managing sanctions against the country said. Iran says it shipped 1.51 million barrels a day in November, according to figures the nation submitted to the Riyadh-based Joint Organisations Data Initiative . The data, along with historical export figures, were published Jan. 20, the same day the U.S. and its allies temporarily eased some of the sanctions against the Persian Gulf state as part of a deal to curb its nuclear program. The Obama administration said after the Nov. 24 accord was struck that Iran’s exports have been forced down to 1 million barrels a day, a reduction of more than half from 2.5 million a day before U.S. and European Union sanctions were imposed, and won’t be allowed to […]

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The Obama administration intensified efforts on Thursday to counter what officials called a misimpression that the six-month nuclear agreement with Iran had opened the door to new economic opportunities with the country, emphasizing that nearly all sanctions remained in force and warning businesses not to engage in any deals still pending after the accord’s July 20 expiration. As if to punctuate the administration’s assertion that little had changed, the Treasury Department announced what it described as a landmark $152 million settlement with Clearstream Banking, a Luxembourg-based banking subsidiary of Germany’s Deutsche Börse securities exchange, for having allowed Iran to bypass sanctions through the use of the company’s access to the American banking system. “Today’s action should serve as a clear alert to firms operating in the securities industry that they need to be vigilant with respect to dealings with sanctioned parties,” Adam J. Szubin, director of the Treasury’s Office […]

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The Iranian government said Wednesday a conference planned for the introduction of a new framework governing oil contracts has been delayed to July. The Oil Ministry had planned an April conference in London to introduce the new framework, though the ministry’s official news website, Shana, reports the conference is rescheduled for July. Mehdi Hosseini, the head of a committee tasked with overhauling the oil contract framework, said Iran wanted a "win-win" formula for the new contracts. He provided no specific reason for the delay other than to say U.S. and European sanctions on Iran were discouraging foreign investors from playing a major role in Iran’s oil industry. Shana reported Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh wants to woo "giant oil companies" to Iran’s energy sector. "We have arranged many plans for boosting investment," he was quoted as saying. The European Union announced Monday it lifted […]

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Describing himself as an advocate of “prudent moderation” as he pursued a diplomatic offensive to remold his country’s image on Thursday, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said he sought “constructive engagement” with its neighbors and pledged that his country had no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons. He was speaking in this Alpine village at the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum while, elsewhere in Switzerland, international negotiators sought to persuade Syrian government representatives and their exiled adversaries to sit down face-to-face at peace talks seeking an end to Syria’s nearly three-year civil war. Iran is a key player in the region’s diplomacy and the principal regional ally of President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Rouhani referred to recent cooperation with the United States and other powers on his country’s nuclear program as a “major development” and urged American leaders to accept his country’s Islamic revolution as the […]

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Though Iran gets some relief from sanctions under terms of a nuclear deal, a U.S. government official said its oil sector isn’t open for business. Sanctions pressure on Iran eased Monday in response to implementation of a nuclear deal that calls on Iran to curb some of its uranium enrichment activity. The deal is part of an interim agreement reached last year between Iran and its Western negotiating partners. A U.S. official told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity Iran gets about $4.2 billion from sanctions relief during the six-month interim period. That relief, however, is a "drop in the bucket" compared with oil revenue still off limits because of sanctions. "Iran is not truly open for business," the official said in an interview published Monday. There were few official responses from Iran regarding oil in the wake of the sanctions relief. A […]

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h;Iran would have to remove 15,000 centrifuge machines and take other drastic measures to forge a comprehensive nuclear agreement with the West, according to a report by a U.S. think tank that drew from conversations with senior U.S. officials. The steps required to preclude Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons illustrate the challenge the U.S. and other world powers will face in moving over the next six months from an interim deal to a final one. In addition to removing the thousands of centrifuges that enrich uranium, Iran would have to shut down an underground uranium-enrichment site, convert a heavy water reactor and agree to a 20-year inspections regime, according to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) in Washington. The findings were provided exclusively to The Wall Street Journal. The conclusions come as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog confirmed Monday that Tehran had begun scaling back major […]

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Importers of Iranian crude kept purchases little changed in December, the month after world powers agreed to relax some sanctions against the Persian Gulf state as part of an accord to curb its nuclear program, the International Energy Agency said. Buyer countries received 1.15 million barrels a day last month, compared with an upwardly revised 1.1 million barrels in November, the IEA, a Paris-based adviser to 28 nations, said in an e-mailed report today. Most shipments that arrived at Asian ports in December would have left Iran in the prior month. The deal to curb some sanctions was reached in principle on Nov. 23 and took effect yesterday. While the Geneva accord means nations no longer have to cut imports of Iranian oil to avoid U.S. sanctions, they’re barred from increasing purchases. The White House says Iran’s shipments slumped 60 percent to 1 million barrels a day since America […]

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World powers and Iran are due to start implementing a landmark deal on Monday curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, amid hopes that it will pave the way for a broad settlement of a decade-old standoff and ease fears of a new Middle East war. If, as expected, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog confirms in the morning that Iran is meeting its end of the agreement, the European Union and the United States will later in the day suspend some economic sanctions in return. The mutual concessions are scheduled to last six months, during which time six powers – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – aim to negotiate a final accord defining the permissible scope of Iran’s nuclear activity. Western governments want such an agreement to lay to rest their concerns that Iran could produce an atomic weapon. Tehran is seeking an end to […]

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Iran on Monday cut the connection to centrifuges enriching uranium at one of its nuclear facilities, beginning the implementation of its deal with six world powers. Here’s a look at the terms of the deal, as recently announced by the White House: — What Iran has committed to do: -Halt production of near 20 percent enriched uranium and disable the centrifuge process used to produce it. -Start neutralizing its near 20 percent enriched uranium stockpile. -Refrain from enriching uranium in nearly half of the installed centrifuges at its Natanz site and three-quarters of installed centrifuges at its Fordow site. -Limit centrifuge production to what’s needed to replace damaged machines. -Refrain from building additional enrichment facilities or advancing research and development of enrichment. -Refrain from commissioning, fueling or adding reactor components to its Arak reactor, and halt the production and additional testing of fuel for the reactor. -Refrain from building […]

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Iranian energy officials sketched out their vision of an economic détente with the West—promising a revamp of the energy sector and financial benefits for companies willing to re-engage with the Islamic Republic. On the eve of a temporary easing of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, an Iranian deputy oil minister said Tehran was likely to spend billions of dollars in soon-to-be-unfrozen oil proceeds on buying a wide range of goods from U.S. and European companies. A separate oil official, involved in drafting contracts for exploiting Iran’s energy reserves, said Tehran was soliciting feedback from Western oil firms about how to restructure those contracts in a way that would draw more global interest. Six Western powers have agreed to temporarily ease some sanctions, allowing Iran to buy Western goods such as cars, airplane parts and precious metals and to sell products including petrochemicals, among other measures. The deal will […]

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UN inspectors visited Iran’s Arak heavy water production plant last month An interim deal on Iran’s nuclear programme is due to enter into force in a few hours’ time. The process will begin with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, confirming that Tehran has curbed its high-level uranium enrichment. This should pave the way for partial suspension of EU and US sanctions. It is expected that by the end of the day Iran should be able to resume petrochemical exports and trade in gold, worth billions of dollars. The interim deal was agreed in November during talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – US, Russia, China, France and Britain – plus Germany. The West accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, but Tehran denies the claim, […]

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UN inspectors visited Iran’s Arak heavy water production plant last month An interim deal on Iran’s nuclear programme is due to enter into force in a few hours’ time. The process will begin with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, confirming that Tehran has curbed its high-level uranium enrichment. This should pave the way for partial suspension of EU and US sanctions. It is expected that by the end of the day Iran should be able to resume petrochemical exports and trade in gold, worth billions of dollars. The interim deal was agreed in November during talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – US, Russia, China, France and Britain – plus Germany. The West accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, but Tehran denies the claim, […]

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A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Tehran on Saturday, another step towards implementing a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers which was finalized last week, according to the semi-official Fars News agency. The team, led by nuclear engineer Massimo Aparo, will begin reporting to the IAEA on Monday, marking the official start of the deal, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. Under the terms of the agreement with the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, Iran will stop work on some portions of its nuclear program in exchange for relief from some international sanctions which have damaged the country’s economy. The IAEA team will visit the Natanz and Fordow nuclear facilities to ensure that Iran will stop enriching uranium to 20 percent and that its stockpile of enriched uranium is diluted, according to […]

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The Russian government said Thursday it was brushing off Washington’s concerns about a potential oil-for-goods swap deal with Iran. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported the Kremlin is considering a deal to swap goods and potential financial payments in exchange for Iranian crude oil. It said Russian government officials told Russian-language business daily Kommersant there were no real concerns about triggering sanctions with the deal. “Russia does not violate any sanctions and is not obliged to coordinate such projects with anyone,” the source said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry , saying Russia had every right to make an oil-for-goods deal with Iran. An interim deal reached between Iran and Western powers calls on Iran to curb its nuclear activity in exchange for relief from some economic sanctions. Washington said new sanctions on […]

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Russia says Iran will "inevitably" take part in any resolution of the civil war in Syria, and that Moscow is not working on a separate track with Damascus and Tehran to resolve the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Tehran should be part of attempts to end the war that has so far killed over 100,000 people. He spoke after meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Lavrov is scheduled to meet with Syrian foreign minister in Moscow on Friday. Syria’s main Western-backed opposition group continues to demand the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad as a precondition for ending the conflict. Russia has insisted on the participation of Iran in upcoming talks in Switzerland, and the two countries have been strong backers of the Assad regime. © 2014 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

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The White House said on Monday it was concerned about a recent report that Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month, a deal a spokeswoman said could trigger U.S. sanctions. Such a deal would significantly boost Iran’s oil exports, which have been slashed by more than half to about 1 million barrels a day by U.S. and European economic sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to accept curbs to its nuclear program. Russian and Iranian sources close to the barter negotiations said the deal could see Russia buy as much as 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods. "We are concerned about these reports and Secretary (of State John) Kerry directly expressed this concern with (Russian) Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov today," Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White […]

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Iranian hard-liners on Monday cautiously welcomed the completion of an interim nuclear agreement that will provide Tehran with some relief from Western economic sanctions in return for a suspension of certain nuclear activities for six months. “This is the first step toward a cease-fire,” Rasoul Sanaeirad, a political assistant to the Revolutionary Guards, told the semiofficial Fars news agency on Monday. “It seems the Americans are determined to overcome the atmosphere of conflict.” The agreement was reached on Sunday after seven weeks of negotiations over the details on how to put in place the compromises in principle outlined in November by Iran and the so-called P5-plus-1, the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany. The agreement will now officially be carried out next Monday. According to the Obama administration, Iran will get around $7 billion in sanctions relief that will be doled out over the […]

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Executives from some of France’s biggest companies, including energy giants GDF Suez SA are slated to fly to Tehran next month—signaling a fresh wave of corporate interest in Iran as the West eases sanctions. […]

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President Barack Obama is more likely to win his battle with the U.S. Congress to keep new sanctions on Iran at bay now that world powers and Tehran have made a new advance in talks to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Despite strong support for a bill in the Senate to slap new sanctions on the Islamic Republic, analysts, lawmakers and congressional aides said on Monday that the agreement to begin implementing a nuclear deal on January 20 makes it harder for sanctions supporters to attract more backers. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, was one of several of the 59 co-sponsors who said there is no clamor for a vote any time soon. "I want to talk to some of my colleagues. I’m encouraged and heartened by the apparent progress and certainly the last thing I want to do is impede that progress. But […]

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