Iraq makes sanctions against Iran ineffective
The US and EU have announced new sanctions in the hope of persuading Iran to abandon its alleged nuclear weapons programme, though how effective these will be is questionable. China, India, Russia, Turkey, Japan, and South Korea have already refused to go along with the new measures. Iran also has the means to evade the sanctions – through its proximity to Iraq.
Iran has often been singled out as the main beneficiary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, as well as the biggest threat to Iraq’s stability in the post-Saddam era. Iran’s uninterrupted support for Shia militia groups in southern Iraq, particularly the Mahdi army, is seen as one indication of its involvement in Iraqi politics and its ability to cause problems for adversaries.
And yet Iran’s key interest in Iraq is less about realpolitik than about trade. Iran is one of Iraq’s most important regional economic partners, with an annual trade volume between the two sides standing at $8bn to $10bn (£5bn to £6.4bn). However, it is Iraq’s 910-mile border with Iran, and therefore its geographical suitability as a smuggling hub for sanctioned goods, which is of paramount importance to Iran at present.
Nuclear row: Iran President Ahmadinejad offers talks
Iran is ready to revive talks with the West but tougher sanctions will not force it to give into demands over its nuclear programme, its president says.
On Monday, the EU banned new oil contracts with Iran, saying it was not confident Tehran’s nuclear plans were “exclusively peaceful”.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was evident that “those who resort to coercion are opposed to talks”.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for energy purposes.
Negotiations between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany ended in a stalemate in January 2011.
Iran, Russia Ink Security Agreement
Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar and Head of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service Victor Ivanov signed two agreements to bolster the two countries’ security and anti-drug cooperation.
“Iran and Russia endorsed two cooperation documents on security issues and campaign against drugs,” Mohammad Najjar, who is also secretary-general of Iran’s anti-narcotics headquarters, told reporters after meeting Ivanov in Moscow on Wednesday.
Ivanov, for his part, reiterated that endorsement of the security agreement between Tehran and Moscow will further pave the way for the development of the two countries’ mutual cooperation, specially in the Caspian Sea.
Azerbaijan arrests plot suspects, cites Iran link
* Security ministry says suspects had indirect links with Iranian intelligence
* Azeri media report Israeli ambassador, rabbi targeted
* Israeli military says Hezbollah, others targeting Israel in attack bids abroad
By Lada Yevgrashina
BAKU, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Authorities in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic bordering Iran, have arrested two men suspected of plotting to attack prominent foreigners including Israel’s ambassador and a local rabbi, officials and media reported on Wednesday.
The National Security Ministry said the men were connected to an Iranian citizen who had links with Iran’s intelligence.
IMF warns over risk of Iran oil price shock
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned of a 20-30% oil price spike if Iranian exports are disrupted.
The IMF warned that if the West imposed financial sanctions on Iran, it would be tantamount to an oil blockade, and the shock to the market could be as bad as from Libya’s revolution last year.
Iran produces 5% of global oil output.
Moreover, if Iran goes ahead with a threat to blockade oil exports via the Straits of Hormuz in the Gulf, the IMF said the shock could be even greater.
Statoil can still receive Iran debt payments
* EU sanctions allow for repayments of previous debt
* Statoil say has received payments as LPG (Adds quotes, background)
Iran can continue to repay its debt to Statoil despite the sanctions imposed by the European Union, the Norwegian oil firm said on Tuesday.
The company, which is owed money for the development of the South Pars project and for exploration activity conducted in the country, has received payments of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the past, it said.
Statoil, one of two oil firms together with Italy’s Eni that is known to have outstanding debts with Tehran, had previously acknowledged to Reuters that it was owed money.
Iran Summons Denmark’s Envoy over EU’s Oil Ban
Iran summoned Denmark’s ambassador to Tehran, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, to voice protest against the 27-nation bloc’s irrational oil sanction against Tehran.
During the meeting in Tehran on Tuesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Asqar Khaji voiced Tehran’s protest against the illogical decision taken at the EU ministerial meeting on Monday to impose oil sanctions against Tehran, and said, “There are forces in the EU that seek to create tension in the relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran by following the US policies and adopting a hostile approach.”
He underlined that the Iranian nation will not withdraw from its legal and legitimate rights under such pressures and cruel measures, and said that the EU should be blamed for the consequences of the measure.
Iran slams EU oil embargo and warns could hit U.S.
Iran accused Europeans on Monday of waging “psychological warfare” after the EU banned imports of Iranian oil, joining the United States in new sanctions aimed at preventing Tehran from getting nuclear weapons.
The Islamic Republic, which denies trying to build an atom bomb, scoffed at efforts to choke its oil exports, as Asia lines up to buy what Europe scorns. Some Iranians also renewed threats to stop Arab oil from leaving the Gulf and warned they might strike U.S. targets worldwide if Washington used force to break any Iranian blockade of a strategically vital shipping route.
Yet in three decades of confrontation between Tehran and the West, bellicose rhetoric and the undependable armory of sanctions have become so familiar that the benchmark Brent crude oil price edged less than 0.5 percent higher, and some of that was due to unrelated currency factors.
Sanctions take toll on ordinary Iranians
Many in the West would like to see Iran punished for its nuclear ambitions. Tehran’s residents would like those people to take a glimpse into their lives.
The European Union announced Monday it is banning the import of Iranian crude oil and blocking trade in gold, diamonds, and precious metals, among other steps, adding to sanctions already imposed by the United States and the United Nations. The measures take a big toll on Iran’s lifeblood oil revenues.
The lives of ordinary Iranians have been deeply touched in recent weeks by the Western sanctions. Several spoke to CNN about how they are coping with staggering inflation and a plunging national currency, although none felt comfortable being fully identified, fearful of the Islamic Republic’s long reach into private lives.
Farhad, 47, was once comfortable, but things began sliding downhill when sanctions came and the foreign oil firm that employed him packed up and left.
The Iran oil embargo carries an uncertain cargo to Tehran
It took time for the EU to agree to ban Iranian oil imports. But the decision is one of the toughest steps yet taken internationally to apply pressure over Tehran’s nuclear programme and it is likely to have a damaging impact on an already deeply troubled economy.
The embargo matters because of the scale of the relationship, with 20% of Iran‘s daily oil production, 2.6m barrels, going to the EU, Iran’s second-largest oil customer after China.
Barack Obama, leading the campaign, claimed last week that Iran’s economy was in a “shambles” because of existing punitive measures, including financial restrictions. Iranian officials have admitted that they are having a serious effect. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has attacked them as “the heaviest economic onslaught on a nation in history”. EU action to freeze assets of Iran’s central bank is expected to affect the government’s financial position and hamper procurement for nuclear activities.
Iran, Russia Underline Law Enforcement, Security Cooperation
Iran’s Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar and his Russian counterpart Rashid Nurgaliyev stressed the necessity for the expansion of the two countries’ cooperation in security and law enforcement fields.
Mohammad Najjar is in Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart.
During the meeting in Moscow today, the two officials also consulted on anti-narcotics efforts.
The two officials said that they have agreed to endorse an agreement document on security and police cooperation during an upcoming visit to Iran by Nurgaliyev.
In June 2011, Mohammad Najjar stressed Tehran and Moscow’s significant role in fighting illicit drugs in the region, and stated that the two sides planned to expand mutual cooperation in campaigning narcotics.
EU Iran sanctions: Ministers adopt Iran oil imports ban
European Union foreign ministers have formally adopted an oil embargo against Iran over its nuclear programme.
The sanctions involve an immediate ban on all new oil contracts with Iran and a freeze on the assets of Iran’s central bank within the EU.
The EU currently buys about 20% of Iran’s oil exports.
There was no official reaction from Iran, but one Iranian lawmaker played down the decision, describing it as a “mere propaganda gesture”.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog has confirmed it is sending a team to Iran between 29 and 31 January “to resolve all outstanding substantive issues”.
US aircraft carriers to deliver ‘direct message to Iran’
In an apparent show of strength, Washington is deploying a second carrier strike group in the Gulf. US officials also confirmed their commitment to maintaining a global fleet of 11 aircraft carriers despite budget pressure to cut the fleet’s size.
“That’s the reason we maintain a presence in the Middle East,” AP cited US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, as saying in a speech to about 1,700 sailors aboard the USS Enterprise. “We want them to know that we are fully prepared to deal with any contingency and it’s better for them to try to deal with us through diplomacy.”
Panetta added that the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise is on course for the Persian Gulf – and will steam through the Strait of Hormuz in a direct message to Iran, AP reports.
After threats, Iran plays down U.S. naval moves
Iran‘s Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday it considered the likely return of U.S. warships to the Gulf part of routine activity, backing away from previous warnings to Washington not to re-enter the area.
The statement may be seen as an effort to reduce tensions after Washington said it would respond if Iran made good on a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz – the vital shipping lane for oil exports from the Gulf.
“U.S. warships and military forces have been in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East region for many years and their decision in relation to the dispatch of a new warship is not a new issue and it should be interpreted as part of their permanent presence,” Revolutionary Guard Deputy Commander Hossein Salami told the official IRNA news agency.
Major powers open to serious talks with Iran
Major powers signaled on Friday their willingness to reopen talks about curbing Iran’s suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons but said Tehran must show it is serious about any negotiations.
The focus on diplomacy follows weeks of rising tensions between the West, which is seeking to cut Iran’s oil sales, and Tehran, which has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz through which almost one-fifth of oil traded worldwide flows.
Alarmed Arab neighbors made a plea to avoid escalating the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, while an ally of Iran’s supreme leader called for Israel to be “punished” for allegedly killing an Iranian nuclear scientist.
