Monday, August 9, 2010

World Ignores US and EU Sanctions Against Iran

In the LA Times, Paul Richter reports on the rush by Russia, China and Turkey to trade with Iran after the US and EU decided to punish themselves with sanctions extended beyond those imposed by the UN.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-sanctions-20100809,0,6722759.story

Meanwhile, the Iranian Oil Ministry reports that Iraq has consented to the transit of Iran's natural gas across Iraqi territory to Syria and the Mediterranean regions.
The agreement was made after a recent meeting between ranking Iranian and Iraqi officials over the transfer of Iran's natural gas to Iraq's power plants, ISNA reported Iran's Deputy Oil Minister and Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Javad Owji as saying on Sunday.
The Iranian official also said that the plan for natural gas delivery would take at least three years, requiring the construction of a major pipeline capable of transporting around 60 million cubic meters of gas per day.
The Deputy Managing Director of NIGC, Mostafa Kashkouli, has recently said that Iran is negotiating to pump its gas to Iraq via two pipelines that cross the border at Dehloran and Khorramshar.
Iran possesses the world's second largest gas reserves after Russia, which compose almost 16 percent of the world's total. The country is eager to expand its consumer base for energy resources.

The natural gas transfer will counter US imperialistic moves to control the resources of Central Asia.