South Korea, Iran to trade in local currencies

iran-S.Korea

South Korea says it has reached a deal with Iran to use local currencies in mutual trade between the two countries instead of the US dollar. 

According to Yonhap News Agency, the two countries “will restart the won-based settlement of bilateral trade transactions” using the accounts of the Central Bank of Iran at two South Korean banks: Woori Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea.

“It’s expected to provide South Korean firms with more opportunities for the trade of non-sanctions items such as medical products, processed food and home appliances, although the exports of some products including steel and automobile parts will be affected by the sanctions,” Yonhap quoted an anonymous informed as saying.

The move came after the US announced on Monday that it had restored all Iran sanctions that had been lifted in 2015 after a nuclear deal was signed between the country and the five permanent members of the Security Council – the US, Britain, France, Russia and China – as well as Germany.

Nevertheless, experts have already emphasized that contrary to the goals which the US would try to achieve by renewing its sanctions against Iran, the bans would only have a limited effect on the country’s economy, while failing to affect its regional involvement.

“Iran has been sanctioned for more than 40 years. It is not something new,” Seyyed Hossein Moussavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator and Middle East policy specialist at Princeton University, told the Middle East Eye news portal on Friday.

Later, Washington said it had granted 180-day waivers to eight economics, including China, India, South Korea, Italy, Greece, Taiwan and Turkey, from the oil import ban reimposed on Iran by President Donald Trump.

Following the announcement of waivers, SK Innovation, South Korea’s biggest oil refiner by sales, said it was planning loadings of condensate from Iran for early January.

SK Innovation said the waiver is for six months though it can be extended and that the company was looking to diversify supply sources.

According to S&P Global Platts Analytics, South Korea would be able to take around 4 million barrels a month (130,000 bpd) of Iranian crude and condensate.

South Korea is the largest buyer of Iranian South Pars condensate, an ultra light oil which is mainly used as a raw material to make petrochemicals like plastics.

South Korean refiners and petrochemical producers suspended shipments of Iranian crude and condensate in July for the first time in six years, ahead of the early November deadline set by the US to end trade with Iran.

Source: PRESS TV

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France Takes The Lead In Protecting Iran Oil Trade From U.S. Sanctions

france_flag

France Takes The Lead In Protecting Iran Oil Trade From U.S. Sanctions

France aims to lead the European Union (EU) efforts in defying U.S. sanctions on Iran, by supporting the creation of a payment mechanism to keep trade with Iran and making the euro more powerful, France’s Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“Europe refuses to allow the US to be the trade policeman of the world,” Le Maire told FT, adding that the EU needs to affirm its independence in the rift between the EU and the United States over the sanctions on Iran.

The EU has been trying to create a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that would allow the bloc to continue buying Iranian oil and keep trade in other products with Iran after the U.S. sanctions on Tehran return.

The idea behind the SPV is to have it act as a clearing house into which buyers of Iranian oil would pay, allowing the EU to trade oil with Iran without having to directly pay the Islamic Republic.

As the U.S. sanctions on Iran snapped back on Monday, the SPV hasn’t been operational and reports have had it that the undertaking is very complicated and politically sensitive. The bloc is also said to be struggling with the set-up, because no EU member is willing to host it for fear of angering the United States, the Financial Times reported recently, citing EU diplomats.

On Monday, the Belgium-based international financial messaging system SWIFT said that it would comply with the U.S. sanctions on Iran and would cut off sanctioned Iranian banks from its network. This was a blow to the EU’s attempts to defy the U.S. sanctions.

The decision by SWIFT highlights the need for an SPV, France’s Le Maire told FT, but he refused to name countries that could host such a special vehicle. Yet, there have been expressions of interest, he told FT.

Meanwhile, the United States has been dismissive of the idea of an SPV, and Brian Hook, U.S. Special Representative for Iran and Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State, said in a press briefing with European reporters on Monday:

“We have not seen much, if any, demand for the Special Purpose Vehicle. I think if you take a look at the over 100 corporations that have decided to choose the United States market over the Iranian market, they’re not looking to avail themselves of any type of vehicle.”

Source: OILPRICE.com

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US to Grant Iraq Waiver Over Iran Sanctions for Energy, Foodstuff

Us, Iraq and Iran

he United States has told Iraq that it will be allowed to keep importing crucial gas, energy supplies and food items from Iran after Washington reimposes sanctions on Tehran’s oil sector, three Iraqi officials said on Friday.

The waiver is conditional on Iraq not paying Iran for the imports in US dollars, said the officials, who included a member of Iraq’s ministerial committee that oversees energy activities, Reuters reported.

According to President of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Yahya Al-e Es’haq, the US dollar has been completely eliminated from trade deals conducted between Iran and Iraq due to US sanctions, as the neighboring countries have shifted toward the euro and their national currencies.

Dollar transactions between Iran and Iraq have been removed and a majority of deals are now being conducted with the euro, rial and Iraqi dinar,” the official was recently quoted as saying.

The new wave of US sanctions take effect on Nov. 4.

The ministerial committee official said Iraq’s Finance Ministry had set up an account with a state-run bank where Baghdad would deposit in Iraqi dinars the amounts owed to Iran for the imports.

Central bank officials said in August that Iraq’s economy is so closely linked to Iran’s that Baghdad would ask Washington for permission to ignore some US sanctions.

Iraq imports crucial supplies from its neighbor, including gas for power stations. In fact, the country is Iran’s biggest export destination for non-oil products.

Latest report by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration reviewing the seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21-October 22) shows Iraq overtook China as the main non-oil export market of Iran.

Iran’s exports to Iraq surged by 55% in value and more than 65% in weight to reach $5.73 billion to constitute 21% of the total value of Iran’s exports during the period.

Iran’s non-oil exports to Iraq mainly include construction materials and automobiles, including spare parts, liquefied gas, hydrocarbons, mineral products, fresh or frozen tomatoes and evaporative coolers to Iraq. The proximity of the two countries and abundance of joint border crossings also mean the neighbors can easily engage in cross-border trade. The port of Khorramshahr also plays a major role in bilateral trade.

Secretary-General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Hamid Hosseini said as Iraq is beginning to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by terrorists, a number of its cities, especially Mosul and Kirkuk, can become a suitable market for Iranian construction materials and foodstuff.

“Iraq has six million displaced citizens, four million of whom have returned after Daesh was defeated. Iranian products can be the best option to provide for these people, but our share in the markets of Mosul and Kirkuk is relatively low at present and we need to increase it,” he told IRNA recently.

Referring to a trade delegation from Mosul that recently visited Tehran for the first time in 15 year, Hosseini said the visit is a testament to Iraqis’ increased preference for Iranian goods.

Source: FINANCIAL TRIBUNE

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France, Germany, UK, EU condemn new US Iran sanctions

اروپا و ایران

France, Germany, UK, EU condemn new US Iran sanctions

Paris (AFP) – France, Germany, Britain and the European Union issued a joint condemnation Friday of the US move to place fresh sanctions on the Iranian economy, vowing to protect European companies doing “legitimate” business with Tehran.

“We deeply regret the reimposition of sanctions by the United States stemming from their withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the statement said in reference to the hard-fought 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Struck between world powers and Tehran after years of fraught negotiations, the deal was aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief.

But US President Donald Trump announced in May that he was walking away from the deal and would reimpose sanctions, leaving the EU scrambling to protect companies that have forged trade links with Iran.

Friday’s statement from EU nations defended the deal as “essential for the security of Europe, the region and the whole world”.

“Our objective is to protect European economic actors involved in legitimate commercial trade with Iran,” it added.

Europe will also seek to “maintain financial channels operational with Iran and to ensure the continuation of Iranian oil and gas exports”, it said.

US officials said Friday that Washington was adding 700 individuals and entities to its Iran blacklist and pressuring the global SWIFT banking network to cut off Tehran when expanded sanctions are put in place next week.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions were aimed at getting Tehran to halt its nuclear activities and what the US says is broad support for “terrorism” in the region.

The EU says 12 consecutive reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency show that Iran has stuck to the terms of the deal.

Source: YAHOO

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Russia, India, Iran and create alternative trade route to Suez Canal

Trade

Officials from India, Iran, and Russia are going to meet next month to negotiate a large joint project aimed at launching a new cargo transport corridor that could become a cheaper and shorter alternative to the Suez Canal.

The new shipment passage, North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), is set to connect the Indian Ocean with the Persian Gulf through Iran to Russia and Europe, according to Iranian state-owned news outlet Press TV. The 7,200-kilometers long corridor will combine sea and rail routes.

“The INSTC is the shortest multimodal transportation route linking the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf via Iran to Russia and North Europe,”India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement, adding that trilateral talks between the parties are scheduled on November 23.

The route will make it possible to deliver cargoes from India to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. Then, the goods will be transported by land to Bandar Anzali, Iran’s port on the Caspian Sea. After that, goods will be shipped to the Russian southern port of Astrakhan, from where they will move to Europe by rail.

The new transport artery will potentially reduce the time and costs of shipping by up to 40 percent. Transport time between Mumbai and Moscow will reportedly be reduced to 20 days. Annual capacity of the transport artery is expected to reach 30 million tons.

“All issues may be resolved in order to operationalize the (INSTC) route as early as possible,” according to Indian Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, as quoted by the media.

Currently, Indian logistics companies have to route shipments through China, Europe or Iran to get an access to Central Asian markets. The former two ways are reportedly long, time-consuming and inevitably expensive with the Iranian route seen as the most viable.

India is also seeking to fight a trade route to the markets of landlocked Afghanistan, avoiding neighboring Pakistan amid ongoing territorial tensions over the Kashmir. So far, India has committed $500 million for developing Iranian port of Chabahar that is strategically crucial for achieving the goal. For Afghanistan, the corridor through the Iranian sea outlet means billions of dollars in trade and cutting the country’s foreign dependence for transportation aid.

The ambitious INSTC project comes on the back of a broader initiative ‘One Belt One Road’ pushed by China. The multi-trillion-dollar project may potentially include the India-Iran-Russia route into the chain of global shipments in an enormous boon to future business and trade.

Source: RT

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US Sanctions Not Permanent, Rouhani Tells Iran’s Trade Partners

Ruhani

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani shrugged off the upcoming US sanction against the Islamic Republic and said that the country’s trade partners should be aware that Washington’s pressures on Tehran are temporary but trade ties with Iran are permanent.

The Iranian people should know that the administration has no fear about the US government’s threats and sanctions, Rouhani said, addressing a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday.

“We also tell Iran’s trade partners that this (US) pressure is temporary and that our relationship with you is permanent,” he said, adding that the Americans cannot decide for the region and its nations.

“Certainly, the US will not emerge victorious in this new plot against Iran, as they are retreating step by step. First, they said they would cut (Iran’s) oil (exports) to zero; then they said they would not be able to do so in November,” the president went on to say.

The European Union has vowed to counter US President Donald Trump’s renewed sanctions on Iran, including by means of a new law to shield European companies from punitive measures.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, the nuclear deal that was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.

Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

He said the US policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.

The second batch of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic is slated to take effect on November 4.

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Iraq Expects Exemption From U.S. Sanctions Against Iran

Iraq Expects Exemption From U.S. Sanctions Against Iran

Iraq should be exempted from U.S. sanctions against Iran because of the heavy reliance of the former on the latter for gas and electricity supplies, a senior Iraqi official told a Kuwaiti newspaper, as quoted by news agency Mehr.

“Iraq is connected to Iran given the longest common borders, high trade volume between the two countries, as well as the electric power for the gas stations,” Ali Abdul Karim al-Mousawi, Director General of the Iraqi Gas Company, a state entity, said.

Earlier this month, S&P Global Platts reported that Iraq was lobbying for a sanctions exemption with Washington since Iranian electricity and gas used in electricity generation accounted for as much as a third of Iraq’s electricity distribution. This amounts to some 5,000 MW of power produced at plants fed Iranian natural gas as well as 1,000 MW in electricity imports.

The electricity issue is a vital one for Iraq: the summer protests in southern Iraq were in part caused by the unreliability of power supplies and frequent outages.

The United States, according to sources close to the talks with Iraq, has insisted on it making a more visible effort to reduce its reliance on Iranian gas and power, offering alternatives involving U.S. companies. These include, S&P Global Platts, reports, a multibillion-dollar GE project for the upgrade and expansion of a power plant as well as another one of the same size—involving oil, gas, and infrastructure—currently negotiated by Exxon. A third project, to involve Orion Gas Processors, would focus on flared gas capturing at an oil field.

How things will turn out remains to be seen. Iraq has yet to get a new government after the May elections, as the two biggest winners of the elections are an Iranian-backed formation and a populist party headed by radical Islamist Moqtada al-Sadr. Five months after the elections, the divided parliament has approved 14 out of 22 ministerial nominations made by PM designate Adel Abdul Mahdi.

Source: OIL PRICE

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EU’s new mechanism for Iran (SPV) to be in place soon

ZARIF

TEHRAN, Oct. 29 (MNA) – Stressing that a new European Union mechanism to facilitate payments for Iranian exports will be in place in coming days, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said “US cannot achieve its political goals for sure.”

“With the new mechanism and given the fact that Americans are now isolated in the international community, no country would support US moves except for some regional regimes, Zarif told the media, upon arrival at Istanbul Atatürk Airport on Monday, to take part at the 6th trilateral meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Republic of Azerbaijan and Islamic Republic of Iran.

The mechanism, a so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), is designed to circumvent the sanctions, under which Washington can cut off any bank that facilitates oil transactions with Iran.

The new European Union mechanism will be legally in place in the near future, however, will not be operational so soon, due to US pressures in place, he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zarif pointed to his meetings with Turkish and Azeri counterparts, saying “the trilateral meetings aims at expanding economic, transit and intellectual cooperation between the three countries and tomorrow I will participate in a tripartite summit together with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Azerbaijan.”

We will take advantage of this opportunity to negotiate with the authorities of Turkey on bilateral and region issues, he added.

In response to a question about the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance and murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Zarif said “what matters now is that the Turkish government has been able to pursue the issue with tact, neutrality, and precision, and to address the various dimensions of this massacre; we hope Turkey may reach a definitive conclusion over this heinous crime. Unfortunately, in our region, the wrong methods and choices are so widespread that some, like the Zionist regime and the current regime of Saudi Arabia, admit that every crime can be done without worrying about its consequences.”

Foreign minister stressed that “the Zionist regime has been committing crimes against the Palestinian people for 70 years and has been immune from consequences due to the widespread US support. The Saudis backed Saddam Hussein first and then Taliban and ISIL, and now they are killing people in a massive war against Yemen and, unfortunately, no serious international move has been taken.”

In response to another question about the United States’ new sanctions on Iran on 4th of November, Zarif said the experience has proven that the sanctions are more psychological than practical; the psychological effects of US sanctions against Iran has been felt since the day Trump stepped out of JCPOA. It is unlikely to have new stories on November 4, when the second phase of sanctions is going to be operational.

Foreign Minister Zarif is in Istanbul on a working visit to take part at the 6th trilateral meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Republic of Azerbaijan and Islamic Republic of Iran.

Turkey’s Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, and Azerbaijan’s Elmar Mammadyarov will meet Zarif today to confer on the current regional developments and global issues.

Source: MEHR News Agency

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South. Korea and Iran’s sanctions

Korea's Minister

South Korea Presses US for ‘Maximum Flexibility’ on Iranian Sanctions Exemption

A new wave of US measures targeting the oil exports and financial flows of the Islamic Republic is expected to take effect on November 5. Earlier this year, the US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal and slapped Teheran with new sanctions, provoking criticism among Washington’s European and Asian allies.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha asked his US counterpart, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to grant his country a waiver for new US sanctions targeting Iran’s partners in a recent phone call.

“Minister Kang requested the US side exert maximum flexibility so that South Korea can secure an exemption to minimize the damage to our companies,” the statement of the South Korean Foreign Ministry reads.

According to the ministry, Pompeo said that he noted Seoul’s position and promised further discussions.

South Korea is one of Asia’s biggest importers of Iranian crude oil, which is expected to be targeted with a new round of US sanctions, scheduled to come into force on November 5. Seoul fears a negative impact on South Korean companies, which have projects and deals with Iran as the expected curbs on the financial flows would hamper payments sent to the Islamic republic.

READ MORE: Iranian Envoy Reveals Launch Time of New EU Trade Scheme to Bypass US Sanctions

Another US ally, Japan, has been in talks with Washington to minimize the effect of the re-introduced sanctions against Iran. Tokyo enjoyed exemptions from the previous wave of sanctions, which were lifted as part of the multi-lateral Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in exchange for Tehran’s agreement to shut down its nuclear weapons program.

Mirroring the sentiments of Israel and hawks within the United States, President Donald Trump announced the  unilateral exit of the US from the treaty in May 2018, decrying it as “the worst deal ever.”  The remaining signatories of the deal, the other four UN Security Council members plus Germany and the EU leadership, pledged to keep the agreement alive, announcing the creation of a payment mechanism to let companies bypass US sanctions as they do business with Iran.

Source: SPUTNIK

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Finance ministry getting anti-sanctions packages prepared

Farhad Dejpasand

TEHRAN- The newly appointed Iranian Finance Minister Farhad Dejpasand announced on Sunday that his ministry is having the packages to shield U.S. sanctions prepared.

Dejpasand who received votes of confidence from lawmakers in a Saturday session of the Majlis with 200 yeas, 50 nays, and 15 abstentions, made the remarks in a radio interview.

Putting financing as his top priority the finance minister named improving business environment via facilitating customs affairs, implementation of privatization policies planned in Article 44 of the constitution, and combatting corruption via forming an electronic market and an intelligent economy as other major plans on agenda.

Dejpasand mentioned the Supreme Economic Coordination Council, formed due to the order of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and led by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as the state-run body in charge of leading economy in Iran under the present conditions.

Source: TEHRAN TIMES

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