Qeshm Island
Iran’s Huge Caspian Gas Find Is A Geopolitical Gamechanger
https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/International/Irans-Huge-Caspian-Gas-Find-Is-A-Geopolitical-Gamechanger.html If the initial estimates of the gas reserves held in the Chalous deposit are correct then Iranian gas will be able to supply at least 20 percent of Europe’s gas needs.
Iran Rules Out Any Negotiations With U.S. Unless Sanctions Lifted
4-4-21 “We will not talk directly or indirectly with the United States in Vienna,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on April 4, denying reports that indirect negotiations would take place between the two countries.
“Iran’s policy in this regard is clear and simple: the United States must return to the Vienna nuclear agreement, fulfil the deal in accordance with the treaty, and lift sanctions against Iran,” said Araqchi, who heads the Iranian delegation.
Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and Iran will take part in the EU-brokered talks in Vienna on April 6. The six countries have remained in the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which bound Iran to nuclear restrictions in return for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.
4-7-21 China’s representative at Vienna meeting says US should remove illicit sanctions against Iran, and Iran ‘should resume full compliance on this basis’.
Will US take the order? Will it be an “impass” or it has no other choice?
Chinese interest
Iran and China to sign a 25-yr cooperation pact on Saturday, which will include “political, strategic and economic” components. The pact will be signed during a visit to the Iranian capital by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. This pact sets up a model for other countries to follow. People resource and natural resource from a country to trade for manufactured products, infrastructure assistance from China using RMB.
U.S. Seizes Iranian Fuel Cargo for First Time
“Pirates Of The Caribbean” – The United States has seized four Iranian tankers on the high seas, U.S. officials said on Thursday (14). The tankers were allegedly carrying Iranian oil in violation of U.S. sanctions. The four tankers are currently en route to a major oil port in Houston, Texas.
The U.S. seizure of the Iranian tankers was reportedly motivated by the arrival of five Iranian tankers earlier this year carrying 1.5 million barrels of gasoline to Venezuela, which is also under restrictive U.S. economic sanctions.
On Aug. 10, Pakistan seized an Iranian tanker at the port of Karachi at the request of the U.S. government, but since the name of the tanker was never reported, it is unclear whether it is one of the four now en route to Houston.
The Trump administration began imposing strangling economic sanctions on Iran in August 2018, with the goal of reducing the country’s oil exports to zero, while also attempting to cripple other Iranian industries.
China Inks Military Deal With Iran Under Secretive 25-Year Plan
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/China-Inks-Military-Deal-With-Iran-Under-Secretive-25-Year-Plan.html?fbclid=IwAR0mHzlcDcEdzpugzKZp7x0N4sO0J6efEoCC7xIDZeS8LqLv8lVoW-0LCrM One of the secret elements of the deal signed last year is that China will invest US$280 billion in developing Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemicals sectors. This amount will be front-loaded into the first five-year period of the new 25-year deal, and the understanding is that further amounts will be available in each subsequent five year period, provided that both parties agree. There will be another US$120 billion of investment, which again can be front-loaded into the first five-year period, for upgrading Iran’s transport and manufacturing infrastructure, and again subject to increase in each subsequent period should both parties agree. In exchange for this, to begin with, Chinese companies will be given the first option to bid on any new – or stalled or uncompleted – oil, gas, and petrochemicals projects in Iran. China will also be able to buy any and all oil, gas, and petchems products at a minimum guaranteed discount of 12 per cent to the six-month rolling mean average price of comparable benchmark products, plus another 6 to 8 per cent of that metric for risk-adjusted compensation. Additionally, China will be granted the right to delay payment for up to two years and, significantly, it will be able to pay in soft currencies that it has accrued from doing business in Africa and the Former Soviet Union states. “Given the exchange rates involved in converting these soft currencies into hard currencies that Iran can obtain from its friendly Western banks, China is looking at another 8 to 12 per cent discount, which means a total discount of around 32 per cent for China on all oil gas, and petchems purchases,” one of the Iran sources underlined.
Four Iranian fuel tankers have successfully reached Venezuela
Four Iranian fuel tankers have successfully reached Venezuela, with a fifth soon to follow. A large Venezuelan military escorts of warships and fighter went alongside the tankers for the final 200 miles to the coast. At least two of the tankers, the first couple to arrive, are now docked and discharging their fuel, while the fifth vessel, the Clavel, is still crossing the Atlantic Ocean, headed toward the Caribbean. Iran had previously warned that any US attempt at intercepting its fuel tankers “would have serious repercussions for the Trump administration ahead of the November elections” — suggesting the return of a tit-for-tat tanker war scenario such as played out in the gulf last summer.
EU’s INSTEX mechanism facilitates first transaction with pandemic-hit Iran
https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/eus-instex-mechanism-facilitates-first-transaction-with-pandemic-hit-iran/?fbclid=IwAR0Isq677PB3wo_ePLeQWrUxSCuWRjogy7liaEkNsKnTZMqidwh0qIfrQ-o The EU-Iran trading mechanism INSTEX, designed to allow Europeans to bypass US sanctions and continue trade with Tehran, has successfully concluded its first transaction. However, the humanitarian deal actually doesn’t appear to contravene EU sanctions.
France, Germany and the UK confirmed on Tuesday (31 March) that INSTEX has successfully concluded its first transaction to facilitate the export of medical goods from Europe to the pandemic-hit country.
Iran’s economy has been battered since May 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – signed by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, UK, US, Germany – and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.