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Huge Recovery in Iran's Exports to EU

Economy Section
Aug 7, 2003

LONDON -- The value of Iran's exports to the European Union rose by over 50 percent in the first quarter of 2003 following last year's fall in the wake of a worldwide downturn.

Figures obtained exclusively by IRNA from Eurostat showed that Iranian exports to the world's biggest trading bloc grew to eur 1.7b ($1.9b) in the first three months of this year, compared with eur 1.1b in the same period in 2002.

The surge in the recovery halved the EU trade surplus with Iran to eur 400m in the first quarter even though EU exports to Iran continued their rise, reaching eur 2.1b, up from eur 1.9bn in the first three months of last year.

The increase in Iranian exports was dominated by the rise in EU oil imports to eur 1.5b. It was led by Italy, Iran's biggest market, whose imports grew by eur 130m to eur 500m.

The rise was also highlighted by almost a 200 percent increase to eur 300m in purchases by the Netherlands, home of the Rotterdam oil market.

The continuing growth in EU exports was led by Germany, Iran's largest supplier, whose sales increased by eur 100m to eur 600m. There was also a significant rise in Swedish exports from eur 67m to eur 118m.

Figures from Eurostat showed Iran retained its position as the EU's fourth largest trading partner in the Middle East and second biggest oil supplier in the region after Saudi Arabia.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1613.shtml

[DoctorZIn]

US's Iran Sanction Policy Faces Congressional Scrutiny

August 07, 2003
Oil & Gas Journal
PennWell Publishing

US lawmakers wanting the White House to turn up the political heat on Iran this year may seek to tighten existing sanction laws designed to discourage foreign investment in Tehran's oil and gas sector.

"Finding ways to restrict the increasing wave of foreign investment into Iran and Libya must be an integral part of the same effort to suppress terrorist financing," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chair of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia. Her remarks were made at a June 25 oversight hearing on implementation of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, first passed by Congress in August 1996 and reauthorized with some revisions in August 2001.

"While we are gratified by recent statements from the EU [European Union] countries on Iran's nuclear objectives, mere rhetoric while negotiating further investment deals with Iran, are not sufficient grounds, do not justify, lack of ILSA implementation," she said.

A congressional aide said that the chairwoman wants to tighten the law, which now gives President George W Bush the authority to waive or exempt countries or companies from various financial sanctions. Exactly how the law may be tightened is now being studied, said those familiar with the discussions.

ILSA today

ILSA has not succeeded in stopping petroleum sector investment, although some observers and analysts do credit the law with slowing development, especially when the law was first passed, said a US Department of State official who spoke at the hearing.

The current law gives the White House wide discretion on when and how sanctions should be imposed. And as yet, no country has been sanctioned. In May 1998, then-Sec. of State Madeline Albright announced that the White House decided to waive sanctions that could have been imposed on a French-Russian-Malaysian consortium developing the massive South Pars gas field (OGJ, May 25, 1998, p. 18).

While the secretary found that the investment did constitute "sanctionable activity" under the 1996 statute, policymakers came to the conclusion that imposing sanctions would not have stopped the deal from taking place, noted Anna Borg, DOS deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. Many of the US's staunchest allies in Europe and Asia also argue the statute violates international law and is unenforceable.

Under the terms of the reauthorizing legislation, DOS will be reporting to Congress between August and February 2004 on how effective ILSA has been. The law, which is designed to punish non-US oil companies that invest $20 million in either country, is a particular source of rancor for key US allies as well as multinational and state-owned oil companies. Both US and non-US companies hoped recent G-8 talks would be a platform on which the US government would look to repair diplomatic relations strained from the Iraq conflict by updating sanctions policies in Iran and Libya (OGJ Online, May 30, 2003).

It remains unclear what the White House plans to do in the months ahead. Some House leaders are convinced that economic sanctions are a key way to loosen the grip of Iran's conservative clerics who control key parts of the government. But tightening the law could be an uphill, although not an impossible, task given the vicarious nature of geopolitics.

In the Senate, there is far less support for economic sanctions than the House, and a tougher ILSA law might easily languish. Still, it's always dangerous to say something can never happen, oil lobbyists say. There is always a chance some politically expedient deal could be struck. Decoupling Libya from a new sanctions law is something being informally eyed, for example. Tripoli continues to seek a more favorable position with Washington, and there is hope by some companies with investments there that a resolution over the 1988 PanAm Lockerbie bombing might help jumpstart the political process, maybe this year.

The future

The White House has quietly told some key lawmakers it would rather Congress leave ILSA alone, US government sources said. Many of the countries that could be targeted under ILSA are needed to win crucial international consensus on the administration's evolving Iraq reconstruction policy. But both opponents and proponents of ILSA acknowledge that the issue is likely to remain a front-burner issue for the foreseeable future.

"Sooner than later the White House will have to decide if ILSA helps or hurts its own policy objectives in the Middle East region," an oil lobbyist following the issue said.

Some of the US's most important allies appear willing to wait, but for how long is still a key question.

Japan backs down

The Japanese government, taking heed of US concerns about nuclear proliferation, said it would consider delaying an agreement to help Iran develop Azadegan oil field, thought to contain estimated reserves of 24-40 billion bbl of oil.

"Suspicion about Iran's nuclear development is not an issue affecting only our country," Yasuo Fukuda, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, told reporters in Tokyo. "We can't sign the crude oil accord ignoring it."

DOS said June 30 it opposed the investment after it became known that Japan's state-controlled Inpex Corp., Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., and publicly traded trading company Tomen were in final negotiations with Iran to invest at least $2 billion to produce 300,000 b/d of oil from Azadegan field over a 20-year period.

"This would be a particularly unfortunate time to go forward with major new oil and gas deals" in Iran, DOS spokesman. Richard Boucher said in a statement on the department's web site, responding to a question whether the US asked Japan not to conclude the Azadegan field agreement.

The US is opposed to such investments in Iran "at any time," Boucher said, but especially now "given recent revelations about Iran's nuclear programs and efforts being made through the International Atomic Energy Agency to deal with the threat Iran poses."

http://ogj.pennnet.com/home.cfm

[DoctorZIn]

Release Ordered For Iran Protesters

Reuters
Thursday, August 7, 2003; Page A14

TEHRAN, Aug. 6 -- Tehran's public prosecutor today ordered the immediate release of nine students jailed during pro-democracy protests in June and July, the official IRNA news agency said.

Judiciary officials have said that 4,000 people were arrested in the student-led demonstrations against Iran's clerical leaders. More than half of those arrested were quickly released but legislators said this week that at least 30 students were being held in Tehran's Evin prison.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26217-2003Aug6.html

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[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for all of your hard work to keep us notified of what is happening Iran.

The left wing mediots around the world are spiking most news out of Iran. Cuba is jamming our satellite signals to Iran.

The entire Yellowcake Scam took the Iranian rebellion off the news and buried it.

[DoctorZIn]

Iran Advances In Efforts To Procure Taepo Dong-2

Report Section
Aug 7, 2003

LONDON [MENL] -- Iran has advanced in negotiations to procure a new long-range missile from North Korea.

Western intelligence sources said Teheran has been discussing the prospect of obtaining the Taepo Dong-2 from North Korea. The sources said the discussions began in early 2003 and reflect Iran's goal to quickly achieve capability to acquire missiles that can strike anywhere in Asia and Europe.

"The talks have been going on for several months and are serious," an intelligence source who focuses on Iran said. "Intelligence services have been monitoring these talks for a while now, but details remain unclear."

U.S. officials have confirmed reports of Iran-North Korean talks for the Taepo Dong-2. They said the talks were accelerated in January 2003 after the crisis in relations between Pyongyang and Washington that concerned North Korea's secret nuclear weapons program.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1625.shtml

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[DoctorZIn]

Regime frees some of the students according to its demagogic policy

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Aug 7, 2003

Several students, members of Islamic Student Associations and relatives of regime's officials, have been released by the Islamic regime according to its demagogic policy.

It's to note that hundreds of students and protesters, looking for the establishment of a Secular state, are still held captive while several of them have been executed and other will be executed in the coming days.

The Islamic regime and its leader intend, by such anticipated releases, to calm the NGO's and foreign governments; To try to put a stop on the disintegration of the Islamic Student Associations which were a day one of the main pillars of the regime's so-called reformists; To create distinctive line between the students and all other demonstrators; And most importantly to rehabilitate Judge Mortazavi accused of the murder of the Canadian-Iranian journalist.

Nerveless, the regime's demagogy which is well know to the absolute majority of the Iranians will not reach its goals as most Iranians are preparing themselves for a wide scale revolution.

The need of a radical revolution is gaining momentum and reaching spheres that till now were looking for gradual reforms. in this line and in an unprecedented manner, Dr. Mohammad Maleki, head of Tehran University wrote, today, an open letter to the Iranian students by declaring his understanding of their radical believes and hoping them victory in their endeavor for regime change in Iran.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1629.shtml

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[DoctorZIn]

Support for strike by Iranian journalists to protest against crackdown on press

Press Release
Aug 7, 2003

Reporters Without Borders today announced its full support and solidarity with the one-day strike that hundreds of Iranian journalists are to stage tomorrow to protest against a crackdown in which many of their colleagues have been arrested or summoned for questioning. The strikers will call for the release of the detained journalists and will condemn the unexplained murder of journalist Zahra Kazemi while in custody.

Secretary-general Robert Mnard said the announced strike was symptomatic of the discontent within the profession, pointing out that Reporters Without Borders had registered more than 50 cases of journalists being arrested or called in for questioning over a month. A total of 24 journalists were currently in prison and Reporters Without Borders called for their release, he said.

"Not a week goes by without their coming under more pressure," Mnard said. "Any of them can be arrested at any moment under any pretext. How can they work in such conditions? And how can they not be afraid when they know that several of the journalists currently detained are being held by the staff of Tehran public prosecutor Said Mortazavi and Revolutionary Guards in the same centre where Zahra Kazemi received the blows that caused her death?"

Reporters Without Borders voiced particular concern about the conditions in which some of these journalists are being held. The wife of Reza Alijani, detained since 14 June, told the ISNA news agency that she did not recognise her husband during her last prison visit because he had lost so much weight. The wife of Taghi Rahmani has received no word of him since his arrest on 14 June. Her requests to visit him have all been turned down, as have the requests made by the wives of several other detained journalists.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1630.shtml

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