One year ago, on 8 May 2018, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would cease compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement struck in July 2015 by the United States and Iran, along with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union. President Trump has argued […]
Iran’s decision to scale down its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by President Donald Trump signifies a serious foreign policy failure for the EU and its member states. They have acted too meekly and ineffectively in the face of unilateral U.S. sanctions, and this unnecessary softness may well come back to haunt them as […]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday called on European signatories to abide by the Iran nuclear deal, following a meeting in Moscow. Zarif’s visit came as Tehran said it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under the deal until other signatories find a way to bypass renewed US sanctions. […]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian foreign ministry said Tuesday. The two diplomats, longtime allies on a number of issues including the Syrian conflict, will discuss “key issues of the international and regional agenda” as well as bilateral cooperation, the ministry said in a statement. “Cooperation with […]
The standoff between the Trump administration and Iran is escalating, and Europe is caught in the middle. The U.S. is exerting pressure through renewed economic sanctions, and hardliners in Tehran are issuing fiery threats of retaliation. Brussels and national governments in the U.K., France and Germany, meanwhile, have been criticized by both sides for promising […]
Most of the Democrats running for president are vowing to put the United States back in the Iran nuclear deal that President Trump withdrew from nearly a year ago. “Our intelligence community told us again and again: The #IranDeal was working to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. If Iran continues to abide by the terms […]
Europe pledged to keep afloat its efforts to aid Iran after the U.S. tightened the screw by targeting all exports of Iranian oil for sanctions. The French government and the European Union both said they will abide by the terms of the Iran nuclear accord with world powers even after the latest U.S. move. France […]
ARIS, April 23 (Reuters) – The ‘Instex’ mechanism set up by France, Britain and Germany for Iran to skirt U.S. sanctions is making positive progress, said the French foreign ministry on Tuesday, as it responded to the latest moves by the U.S. government to put pressure on Iran. “The work that has been put in […]
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan began his first official visit to Iran on Sunday for talks set to focus on strengthening ties and countering terrorism, state media reported. Khan began his two-day visit with a stop in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, Iran’s second largest and home to the shrine of Imam Reza who is revered by Shiite muslims, state […]
The Netherlands Ambassador to Iran Jacques Werner said the European Union is a still a partner for Iran nuclear deal and is following up the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) to continue financial transactions. Speaking to IRNA, Werner said despite new sanctions against Iran and the US withdrawal from Iran Deal also known […]
After crossing all-time highs on Sunday, the stock market conquered new peaks Monday breaking through another resistance level. The fresh rally lifted the benchmark index TEDPIX 5,721.76 points or 2.92% to end trading at 201,805.9. According to Donyaye Bourse analytical website, a flow of new liquidity was the main driving force behind the market boom. […]
The pipeline through which Iran’s gas is exported has not been damaged by the recent floods, director of gas distribution at the National Iranian Gas Company said. “The pipeline, which passes from Lorestan and Khuzestan provinces, is not harmed and gas export continues without problems,” IRNA quoted Saeid Momeni as saying. Iraq is the main […]
GENEVA (Reuters) – Iran and Iraq have reached an understanding about developing two oilfields on their mutual border, Iran’s oil minister was quoted saying on Sunday, a day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for increased trade between the two countries. The focus of the understanding is the development of the Naft Shahr and Khorramshahr […]
The deadline for the US administration to decide whether to extend sanctions waivers granted to buyers of Iranian oil is now less than a month away, and President Donald Trump faces a tricky decision. He undoubtedly wants to increase pressure on the Persian Gulf nation, but in doing so he risks stoking oil prices and with […]
Nearly a year after the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, it is loudly proclaiming the harsh impact of reinstated US secondary sanctions on the Iranian economy. As a result of reduced revenues, US officials assert that Iran is under increasing pressure to scale back its support for proxy groups that have widened Iran’s […]
The OPEC+ group could easily extend its agreement on oil-production cuts, according to Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. “My understanding is, there is no difficulty extending the cooperation. It should be easy” to prolong the deal beyond the first half of the year, Zanganeh told reporters in Moscow following a meeting with his Russian […]
Snapp, also known as the Uber of Iran, said its ride-hailing app is generating two million fares a day as young people in Tehran embrace technology in a market that’s off-limits for western investors. “Snapp Tehran is now larger than any Uber city globally,” co-founder Eyad Alkassar said in a statement. “Reaching this milestone in […]
Expectations were high when Iranian president Hassan Rouhani visited neighboring Iraq last month. During the trip, his first as president, Rouhani signed multiple trade deals with Iraq, where the return of peace and stability has renewed the government’s focus on economic development. The deals covered a variety of sectors including railway construction, electricity infrastructure, and […]
Iraq’s parliament speaker voiced hope Friday that the United States will keep waiving sanctions on energy purchases from Iran, saying his country will need to import electricity from its neighbor for three years. President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to cut off all exports from Iran but has twice granted three-month exemptions to Iraq, mindful of chronic blackouts that have reignited unrest in […]
A state visit by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Iran has resulted in an agreement between the two countries to cooperate on the potential transiting of Iranian gas through Armenia to Georgia. If implemented, the agreement promises to be controversial, not least because it would involve Armenia challenging Russian control of its gas distribution sector, and potentially pitching both Armenia and Georgia into conflict […]
Sanctioned by the U.S., Iran has found a sweet way to use the cash it is accumulated from trading oil: Purchase sugar from India. Iran is struggling to spend the rupees it’s made from oil sales to India that are sitting in the south Asian nation’s banks. Meanwhile, sugar stockpiles are stacking up in India […]
Dubai — Iran is ready to increase natural gas exports to Armenia, and is willing to start talks about shipping the fuel to Georgia, Mehr news agency reported, citing President Hassan Rouhani. “We are prepared to negotiate for the export of gas through Armenia to Georgia, as well as the connection of the Persian Gulf to […]
In the past several months, a meaningful debate has finally started to emerge over America’s role in the world. Politicians and analysts — left, right and center — are conceding that longstanding mistakes have brought the United States to an uncertain moment. Provoked by President Trump, they are concluding that the bipartisan consensus forged in […]
Last November, Nicholas Mulder sparked a debate about the place of sanctions in the toolbox for progressive foreign policy, writing in The Nation that progressives must “move beyond the dominant consensus on how to deal with foreign policy problems as framed by the establishment, in which there are only two flavors: the mild option of sanctions and […]
President Hassan Rouhani said the investment arm of Iran’s main social security provider must be privatized as part of a wider effort to scale back inefficient public-sector involvement in the economy. “The promise I have made to the parliament and people is that next year will be the year of privatization of large companies, including […]
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan began exports to India through an Iranian port on Sunday, official said, as the landlocked, war-torn nation turns to overseas markets to improve its economy. Officials said 23 trucks carrying 57 tonnes of dried fruits, textiles, carpets and mineral products were dispatched from western Afghan city of Zaranj to Iran’s Chabahar […]
Iraq is close to finalizing a deal that will allow it to import Iranian energy despite American sanctions by avoiding the U.S. dollar, an Iraqi official said. “A big delegation came from the Iranian central bank and the idea was proposed to trade with Iran in euros,” Abdulkarim Hashim Mustafa, special adviser to Iraq’s prime […]
BEIJING (Reuters) – China wants to deepen “strategic trust” with Iran, the Chinese government’s top diplomat told Iran’s foreign minister on Tuesday, days before Saudi Arabia’s crown prince visits Beijing, underscoring China’s difficult Middle East balancing act. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman visited Beijing in 2017, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives in China […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Iran’s exports of crude oil were higher than expected in January and are at least holding steady this month, according to tanker data and industry sources, as some customers have increased purchases due to waivers from U.S. sanctions. Shipments are averaging 1.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in February, Refinitiv Eikon data […]
MUNICH — European leaders have long been alarmed that President Trump’s words and Twitter messages could undo a trans-Atlantic alliance that had grown stronger over seven decades. They had clung to the hope that those ties would bear up under the strain. But in the last few days of a prestigious annual security conference in […]
MUNICH, Germany — The U.S. is trying desperately to isolate Iran, but on Sunday Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif seized the stage of the world’s premier security conference. He held the audience of power-brokers rapt for nearly 40 minutes as he thrashed the Trump administration, fired a pointed demand at Europe to do more […]
Germany on Friday rejected an appeal by US Vice President Mike Pence for Europeans to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal and isolate Tehran. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas defended the 2015 agreement under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. “Together with the Brits, French and the entire EU we have found […]
MOSCOW, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Iran, Russia and Kazakhstan are making progress on organizing finance for a long-planned wheat deal that could double or triple supplies to Iran, the secretary general of Iran’s Federation of Food Industry Associations said. Talks started a year ago, but stalled due to a lack of financing. The deal involves […]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Ankara is “ready” to establish its own trade mechanism with Iran, allowing companies from the two neighbouring countries to continue doing “legitimate” business amid punishing US sanctions. Erdogan made the statement on Thursday during a bilateral meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the three-party talks on Syria in the Russian […]
Today we have taken a significant step forward in delivering our commitment under the Iran nuclear deal to preserve sanctions relief for the people of Iran.’ These were the words of Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary of the UK, as he introduced the so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which is the latest attempt by the E3 (France, […]
An international court Wednesday ruled Iran can proceed with a bid to unfreeze assets in the United States, rejecting Washington’s claims the case must be halted because of Tehran’s alleged support for international terrorism. Washington had argued that Iran’s “unclean hands”—a reference to Tehran’s suspected backing of terror groups—should disqualify its lawsuit to recover USD 2 billion in assets frozen […]
To the surprise of many analysts (us included), Iran has continued to abide by the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, despite the Trump administration’s decision last year to withdraw from it and reimpose U.S. sanctions. Tehran seems to be betting that if it can weather the economic pressure, […]
Even if an American military pullout from Afghanistan is on the cards, the U.S. will want to leave behind a stable country. And any peace settlement in Afghanistan will stand a better chance of staying on the rails if it is supported by regional powers. In other words, ties between Afghanistan and its neighbours, including […]
Following weeks of speculation, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany (the E3) have formally registered a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to help facilitate trade with Iran – trade that the return of US sanctions has significantly hampered. This comes after months of technical coordination between member states led by the European External Action Service. While […]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday his country would be ready to establish “friendly relations” with the United States if it apologized for past wrongs. “Our slogan is friendly relations with the whole world,” he said. That would even include “America, if it repents… and apologizes for its previous interferences in Iran, and is prepared to accept the […]
GENEVA, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Iran’s gas production at South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, has hit 610 million cubic metres per day, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told state TV on Wednesday. The offshore field, which Iran calls South Pars and Qatar calls North Field, is shared between Iran and Qatar. Iran’s daily gas […]
Geopolitical power projection could be, at first sight, the logic underlying Iran’s policy of expanding ties with and playing a role in Iraq. But in recent years, and with the growing necessity arising from the reimposition of US sanctions, Tehran has chosen to also focus on geo-economic interests in Iraq. It has tried, therefore, to augment its share […]
On January 31, 2019, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom announced their most substantive move yet to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, to which they are signatories, from collapse. With the European Union’s blessing, the three states established a special channel that shields trade with Iran from U.S. sanctions. The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, […]
Three European powers are set to make good on a plan to help companies trade with Iran, defying President Donald Trump with a bid to bypass U.S. sanctions. The entity, which could be presented as early as Monday, is key to the European Union’s effort to save a 2015 nuclear accord with Iran after Trump withdrew […]
The European Commission said it’s seeking to launch “very soon” a special purpose vehicle to help European companies bypass U.S. sanctions on Iran, with three European diplomats saying the official unveiling could come as early as Monday. Progress has been slow in developing the SPV, a key element of the European Union’s effort to keep […]
Iran-Italy relations, which date back to the time of the Roman and Persian empires, are marked by important affinities. Historical and cultural traditions as well as commercial and economic connections have deeply shaped mutual perceptions. Unlike the other major EU countries, Italy is not seen as a former colonial power still trying to “dominate” relations […]
Iran has adequate currency supplies to cover trade, and the rial has stabilized after “a heavy attack” from the U.S.-led economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic, the head of the country’s central bank said. Iranians need to adjust their spending habits and “take seriously” sustained efforts by the U.S. to destabilize the economy, while […]
It’s Warsaw and Washington against the big EU powers, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration pushes to kill the Iran nuclear deal — and to exploit European divisions on foreign policy in the process. Of all the damage Trump has done to transatlantic relations, no issue has divided the U.S. from its European allies as […]
State-run Chinese energy giant Sinopec has offered Iran a $3-billion deal on further development of an Iranian oilfield the two countries are already working on, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The offer made by the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) is part of an existing contract to operate the Yadavaran oilfield in southwest Iran on the Iraqi […]
Three years ago, Iran and global powers implemented the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), curtailing the country’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief. The deal continues to hang together—but only just. There are growing indications of signatory states’ fatigue and frustration in attempting to prevent the collapse of the JCPOA, following the […]
WASHINGTON — The Donald Trump administration conducted a preliminary internal assessment of its Iran “maximum pressure” policy this month and determined that it is not working, according to a new report. Such an assessment could drive administration efforts to try to provoke Iran to leave the nuclear deal, possibly by urging a potential inspections crisis at the […]
French auto giant Groupe PSA, which makes the Citroen and Peugeot brands, reported record vehicle sales Tuesday as the acquisition of General Motors’ Opel unit helped offset a sharp downturn in key markets China and Iran. PSA sold 3.88 million vehicles, up 6.8 percent from 2017 when it acquired the Opel business which includes British-based Vauxhall. PSA said that […]
Tehran, Iran – Monir Farmanfarmaian, the grand dame of Tehran’s vibrant art scene, has set a new record for a local female artist after an untitled mirror mosaic of hers fetched almost $1m at an art auction in the Iranian capital. The 96-year-old Iranian artist, who once hobnobbed with the likes of Andy Warhol, Willem de […]
Japan’s energy policy towards Iran has been an area of struggle for independence from the United States for four decades. Even when Japan tried to pursue its own energy policy towards Iran, the US has generally had the final say. From Japan’s point of view, however, the US stance towards Japan-Iran energy relations has toughened […]
A major Iranian oil buyer that shut out supplies last year even before U.S. sanctions on the Persian Gulf state took effect is finally set to receive cargoes once again. National Iranian Tanker Co.’s Silvia I is expected to reach South Korea — Tehran’s third-biggest customer before it stopped purchases in August — on Jan. 15, according […]
President Donald Trump’s Iran policy has been reckless as regards Iran—it all but invites Tehran to return to an unconstrained nuclear program, and it reduces U.S. credibility to bargain on other contentious issues. But it has been far more reckless on the far more consequential matter of America’s relationships with allies and partners and especially […]
Europe has yet to launch its special purpose vehicle (SPV) to support trade with Iran and while Iranian stakeholders grow increasingly impatient, some have begun to question the likely impact of the new mechanism. The chief complaint is that the initial SPV, if limited to humanitarian trade, will not have a meaningful economic impact for […]
LAS VEGAS, Jan 9 (Reuters) – South Korean oil buyers are expected to restart Iranian oil imports in late January or early February, the head of South Korea’s SK Innovation, which owns South Korea’s biggest oil refiner SK Energy, said on Wednesday. In November, South Korea won a six-month waiver from sanctions imposed by the […]
Against the backdrop of an ailing yet dominant banking system that is struggling to upgrade its operations, Iranian fintech firms are slowly but steadily fashioning a position for themselves. Local developments in the past year have made it clear that fintech firms will be a major part if not the architects of the future landscape of financial services in Iran. On […]
Iran will boost trade with India as the European Union struggles to find a way to circumvent a fresh US embargo on Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Tuesday. Brussels is working on a payment mechanism to keep financial transactions flowing with Iran, after the US ditched the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran earlier this year and reintroduced […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Turkey has resumed imports of Iranian crude oil after a one-month hiatus in November when U.S. sanctions on Iran were reimposed, trading and shipping sources said. The United States granted Turkey and other countries import waivers in early November. Turkey said it was permitted to take 3 million tonnes a year, equivalent […]
NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (Reuters) – State-run Bharat Petroleum Corp will import 1 million barrels of Iranian oil in February after a gap of three months, with the nation’s overall purchases from Tehran remaining at 9 million barrels, three industry sources said. The United States in early November granted India a six-month waiver from sanctions […]
London — Iran’s steel exports have remained about steady in the first nine months of the current Iranian year despite the US’ reimposition in August of sanctions on metals trading, according to Mohsen Parvan, CEO of Tehran-based AASIM Consulting Group. For the full year, Iran’s steel exports may equal last year’s record of over 9 million […]
An Iranian arbitration body gave its approval on Saturday to an anti-money laundering bill seen as crucial to maintaining international trade and banking ties, the official IRNA news agency reported. “The bill on amending the law to counter money laundering was approved with certain changes and will be sent to the parliament speaker to be communicated to the government,” […]
LONDON (Reuters) – All countries that were granted waivers from the United States to continue buying a certain amount of Iranian oil imports are complying with U.S. sanctions, a senior Iranian energy official said, noting that Tehran was hopeful to find new buyers. The United States withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran last year […]
Between 2016 and 2018, Iran’s energy sector was the main beneficiary of the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions. Increased oil production and exports, the return of international oil companies (IOCs), massive investments in renewable energies, introduction of new technologies into upstream and downstream sectors, etc., were among key developments in the industry. The reimposition of US […]
Iran will invest about 15 billion rupees to expand a refinery run by Chennai Petroleum Corp. in south India, the company’s managing director said, amid U.S. sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation that have severely hit its oil exports. The state-run company is boosting capacity at its Nagapattinam facility by nine-fold to process 9 million tons per year and […]
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s finance ministry has exempted rupee payments made to the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) for crude oil imports from a steep withholding tax, according to a government order reviewed by Reuters. The exemption, put in place December 28 but backdated to November 5, will allow Indian refiners to settle about […]
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran said on Wednesday private exporters have had “no problems” selling Iranian oil, and 3 million barrels of crude could be sold soon to non-government traders, state media reported, despite U.S. sanctions targeting Tehran’s oil sales. Iran began selling crude oil to private companies for export in late October, just ahead of […]
Last month, the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Iran’s energy sector as part of its ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran. But it nevertheless sought to prevent an unhelpful spike in oil prices ahead of the midterm elections. As a result the United States issued eight waivers to importers of Iranian oil: China, India, Japan, South Korea, […]
The United States has granted Iraq a 90-day extension to an exemption from reimposed sanctions on Iran to keep on importing energy, a government source said on Thursday. President Donald Trump reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions on Iran’s energy and finance sectors on November 5 following his May decision to abandon a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and […]
This year, the Valdai Discussion Club took part in the 2018 Doha Forum for the first time by holding a session titled “Russia’s evolving global role” on December 16 as part of the event’s business program. Director of PIR Center’s “Russia and nuclear non-proliferation” program Andrei Baklitsky was at the forum and shared his comments […]
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran called on the European Union on Monday to press U.S. authorities to allow delivery of Airbus passenger aircraft purchased by Tehran, Iran’s student news agency ISNA reported.To upgrade its aging fleet, Iran Air ordered 200 passenger aircraft – 100 from Airbus, 80 from Boeing and 20 from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR […]
Iran is not the only loser if the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) collapses. A collapse may be near given the U.S. exit from the deal, and U.S. sanctions not only affect American banks and companies but also prevent Europeans from trading with Iran. The U.S. policy is to […]
Iran is going to offer its crude to Asian buyers, to be delivered in January, at US$1 per barrel less than this month, Reuters reports, citing a pricing document. The official selling price of Iranian Light crude was set at US$0.30 above the Platts Dubai/Oman average for January. This makes Iranian Light US$0.30 a barrel […]
Earlier this month, an interim agreement on free trade between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was approved at the regional body’s summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. After relevant legal procedures in Iran are fully carried out, the deal is expected to take effect as of early 2019. Seen as Iran’s biggest ever deal on free […]
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday he would send a delegation to the United States to seek an exemption from sanctions against Iran that would allow Baghdad to keep importing gas from Tehran. “The American side is cooperating with Iraq to find solutions that would remove pressure on Iraq […]
BERLIN, Dec 11 (Reuters) – German exports to Iran soared in October, a month before the United States re-instated sanctions on the Islamic Republic to choke its oil and shipping industries, data seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday. The surge signals willingness among Germany’s small to medium-sized firms, or Mittelstand, to continue doing business with […]
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s foreign policy chief said on Monday a system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and circumvent U.S. sanctions could be in place by year’s end. The European Union wants the so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to help preserve the economic benefits for Iran deriving from the curbs it placed […]
NEW DELHI, Dec 7 (Reuters) – State-run Indian oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp will buy Iranian crude in January after a gap of six months, with the nation’s overall purchases from Tehran at 9 million barrels in the month, four industry sources said. The United States in early November granted India a six-month waiver from […]
Iranian officials have announced that a special channel to conduct trade with European countries has been established and will be implemented soon in order to facilitate trade while bypassing US sanctions and keeping the Iran nuclear deal alive. Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and one of the top nuclear negotiators of the […]
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s parliament approved a tweaked draft law against funding terrorism on Wednesday which officials hope will bring Tehran closer to global standards and help remove it from investment blacklists as it faces renewed U.S. sanctions. The official news agency IRNA said lawmakers had included amendments requested by a powerful clerical body, which […]
US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal is reinforcing a trend that was already underway as doubts mounted about the Donald Trump administration’s commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA): Iran is looking east for its economic survival. Under waivers announced by the Trump administration in November, eight countries are permitted to continue […]
It has been nearly seven months since the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. As sanctions begin to bite, Iranian companies are laying off employees, and Iranian households are facing renewed hardships. Iran has exercised remarkable patience while it waits for Europe to devise its special purpose vehicle (SPV), a new entity intended to help […]
Iran said Saturday it had finalized a deal with South Korea to trade oil for goods, skirting renewed US sanctions. “A mechanism has been devised for returning oil export revenues from South Korea, by which Iran’s oil export revenue will be bartered with imported goods,” Hossein Tanhayi, head of the Iran-South Korea chamber of commerce, told state news agency […]
The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 26 that Paris and Berlin are about to create a payments channel to maintain trade with Tehran in defiance of US sanctions. The news has been largely received in Iran as a signal that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will yet be salvaged. The channel, known as a Special Purpose Vehicle, has been under discussion for months […]
The laborers edge their way across a field of bright purple flowers gathering up the world’s most expensive spice, a bounty that makes this dusty corner of Iran a crucial part of global cuisine. The delicate purple leaves of the Crocus sativus plant hold just three or four of the even more delicate red stamen, better known as saffron, […]
Iran’s deputy interior minister for security affairs, Hossein Zolfaqari, met with Vasilii Piskarev, the chairman of the Russian Duma’s Committee on Security and Corruption Control, on Nov. 5. At the meeting, both sides stressed the need to finalize a bilateral security agreement and described cybersecurity, the fight against terrorism and countering drug proliferation and illegal immigration as key aspects of such an accord. […]
Qatar Airways announced Monday it is expanding operations in Iran, despite US sanctions on the Islamic republic and a Gulf diplomatic rift over accusations Doha was too close to Tehran. The carrier will begin twice-weekly flights to Isfahan in February 2019 and increase existing services to Shiraz and Tehran in January 2019, it said in a statement. “These latest […]
Do sanctions reduce the military spending in Iran? This is the question we sought to answer by modeling the effects of sanctions on military spending in Iran to investigate the impact of unilateral sanctions (where only the United States sanctions Iran) and multilateral sanctions (where the United States acts in conjunction with other countries to […]
DUBAI (Reuters) – China’s state-owned CNPC has replaced France’s Total in Iran’s multibillion-dollar South Pars gas project, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said, according to the semi-official news agency ICANA on Sunday. “China’s CNPC has officially replaced Total in phase 11 of South Pars but it has not started work practically. Talks need to be […]
Asia’s largest buyer of Iranian oil is said to have resumed purchases from the Persian Gulf state following a one-month hiatus, a move that will help allay fears that U.S. sanctions on the OPEC producer will constrain global supplies. China will start loading the crude again in November after it halted purchases in October, according […]
The reimposition of US secondary sanctions has compelled Tehran to look for ways to reduce their negative impact. According to Iranian officials, one of the strategies is to increase trade and interaction with its neighbors. This is not new to Iran, as the country has pursued a policy of improving relations with immediate neighbors including investments in increased energy interdependency. Yet the past […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Iran on Wednesday praised European efforts to maintain business with Tehran despite U.S. sanctions, citing “constructive meetings” with British and French officials in Tehran this week on setting up a way to conduct non-dollar trade. Iranian Foreign Ministry officials voiced more hope for the move a day after Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad […]
Iraq’s new President Barham Saleh made his first official visit to neighbouring Iran on Saturday, calling for “a new order in the region.” Saleh met his counterpart Hassan Rouhani to discuss trade, transport links and efforts to tackle dust pollution that plagues areas on both sides of the border. “It is now time for a new order in the […]
When U.S. President Donald Trump announced in May his plans to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-impose economic sanctions, one of the many reasons he gave was to compel better Iranian behavior across the Middle East. Iran, senior administration officials often said, was “behind every problem” in the region, and cutting off its oil […]
BAGHDAD, Nov 12 (Reuters) – While Saudi Arabia courted Iraqi leaders behind closed doors at the weekend, its arch-foe Iran made a more public showing by turning out at the Baghdad International Fair, a shop window for business in Iraq. An entire hangar was set aside for some of the 60 Iranian firms participating. Vendors […]
Iran has been abiding by the terms of its nuclear deal with global powers, the latest report from the UN atomic watchdog indicated Monday, days after fresh US sanctions hit the country. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s latest report showed that as of early November, Iran had been complying with the restrictions to its nuclear program laid down in […]
SINGAPORE/SEOUL, Nov 9 (Reuters) – A South Korean delegation including oil buyers is expected to head to Iran next week to discuss resuming Iranian oil imports after a three-month halt, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. South Korea is one of eight countries that received waivers from the United States to continue importing […]