Europe Defies Trump’s Iran Sanctions

Eu & Trump

Europe will find a way to continue to import Iranian oil, against the express wishes of Trump and his cabinet.

US President Donald Trump’s sanctions against Iran are looking increasingly like words rather than deeds as the largest economies in Europe collaborate on the creation of a ‘special purpose’ financial tool to circumvent Washington’s foreign policies in the Middle East.

In open defiance of the Trump administration, much of Europe is laying the groundwork to build a special purpose financial organization that will bypass US sanctions on Iran and assist Tehran in continuing to sell oil in the EU.

With the full support of the European Union, the move by the UK, France and Germany is hoped to be a wake-up call to Trump and his cabal, following the White House’s unilateral withdrawal in May from the Iran JCPOA nuclear accord — a hard-won treaty negotiated successfully by Russia, China and Europe.

Although the Trump White House pulled out of the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the other signatories have pledged that they will protect the treaty, which bans Iran from building or stockpiling nuclear weapons in exchange for open financial markets and the unfreezing of Tehran’s assets held in the West.

US economic sanctions against Tehran went into effect last month and additional sanctions — particularly those against the nation’s highly-profitable fossil fuel industry — have been planned for November.

The EU has taken some steps to circumvent the Trump sanctions against Tehran, but with the creation of a special financial workaround to sidestep the architecture surrounding the use of US currency, European officials seek to bypass Washington’s monetary dominance of world markets.

A spokesperson for the German finance ministry confirmed on Friday the European plan to legislate a special purpose financial vehicle, according to German news outlet Spiegel.

“The German government is working together with the EEAS and European Commission, as well as France and the United Kingdom, on maintaining financial payment channels with Iran,” the spokesperson noted, adding, “The negotiations on this are intensive and ongoing. There are different models under consideration,” cited by Politico.

The EU desperately needs “a financially independent sovereign channel” to retain the JCPOA Iran nuclear deal, said an unnamed French official associated with the ongoing negotiations for the proposed financial system, cited by Spiegel.

The announcement of the plan comes just two days after the last formal address by outgoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, in which he argued to strengthen the euro as an international currency, particularly with regard to global energy-related transactions.

Europe’s intent to support Iran will almost certainly further erode the down-and-out transatlantic relationship between Trump and the Continent.

The US withdrawal from the 2016 Paris climate agreement, an endless parade of seemingly arbitrary trade tariffs against legacy trading partners, a blindsiding critique of NATO and the White House decision to move the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem have deeply angered and dismayed many of America’s most cherished long-term allies.

A European ‘special purpose’ financial vehicle would, according to an EU official cited by Politico, function primarily as an accounting tool, and provide necessary legal and monetary loopholes between Iran and EU nations.

A European nation or state-run oil company seeking to purchase Iranian oil would transfer cash to the new organization which would then complete the transaction. The reverse would also be true, allowing Tehran to purchase all manner of products from Europe, including medical and industrial technology.

The EU special purpose financial vehicle will keep the cash inside the economic bloc and away from US-controlled global money-transfer network, including SWIFT, while also avoiding the use of any bank afraid of being locked out of doing business with US financial markets.
The creation of a financial tool to avoid Trump sanctions on Iran must now see the establishment of a physical office space, as well as the structuring of its ownership and startup capital sources, according to Politico.

Source: SPUTNIK NEWS

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IAEA reaffirms Iran’s compliance to nuclear deal

Amano-IAEA

TEHRAN – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday renewed its assurances that the Islamic Republic of Iran stays compliant to the 2015 nuclear deal – aka Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – that is backed the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

“My report on Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015) covers relevant activities of the Agency in that country in the last few months,” IAEA Director General Yukia Amano told the body’s Board of Governors.

“Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It is essential that Iran continues to fully implement those commitments,” he stated.

Amano added, “The Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement. Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran continue.”

The deal, agreed to by Iran on one side and the 5+1 (the U.S., UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) on the other, was put into practice in early 2016 to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for termination economic sanctions on Tehran.

In May this year, however, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the deal to the contempt of the international community, especially the remaining five powers in the deal.

He later reimposed American sanctions on Iran which included gold, auto industry and metals. He plans to introduce banking and oil sanctions in November.

Despite preserving a right to quit the maimed deal, Tehran has preferred to stand by the world community and keep the deal, however, demanding help from the remaining parties, the European partners in particular, to make up for the economic damage of the U.S. pullout.

Source: TEHRAN TIMES

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Russia, Turkey, Iran speeding up efforts to drop US dollar from trade

Russia Turkey Iran

Russia, Turkey & Iran speeding up efforts to drop US dollar from trade

In response to US sanctions, Russia, Turkey and Iran are negotiating the reduction of the US dollar’s share in mutual trade, Tehran Times daily quotes the country’s central bank governor as saying.

Eliminating the greenback in mutual trade was most recently discussed by the three countries last weekend in Tehran during the trilateral summit of the Syrian ceasefire, said Iranian Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati as quoted by the media.

“We have decided to proceed with further work in light of the agreements reached at a meeting with the Russian Central Bank governor in Moscow,” Hemmati was quoted as saying. According to Hemmati, the topics discussed also included oil and gas prices, expansion of banking ties and strengthening of economic relations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and their delegations visited Tehran last week for a trilateral summit on Syria and also to discuss expansion of ties.

Earlier, Erdogan described the Turkish lira’s recent plunge to a record low as a “currency plot” and announced his readiness to get rid of the dollar in the country’s trade with its partners.

Erdogan said the dollar was an obstacle for the Turkish economy. He urged the Turks “to gradually end the monopoly of the dollar once and for all by using local and national currency among us.”

Russia, which has been under the US sanctions since 2014, has been a long proponent of switching to local currencies in trade with its key partners like Turkey and China.

Source: RT QUESTION MORE

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India Proposes to Double Transactions With Iran

iran india

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday proposed to double trade with Iran in the next five years from the current level of $13.8 billion, an Indian official said.

The official also said Prabhu’s scheduled visit to Tehran on October 2 has been postponed for some reasons. He was to attend the ministerial meeting of the International North-South Transport Corridor, Press Trust of India reported.

Ways to boost trade and investment between the two countries were discussed during a meeting between Prabhu and the visiting Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi in New Delhi.

The meeting assumes significance as the US has imposed sanctions on Iran. The US has also told India and other countries to cut oil imports from Iran to zero by November 5 or face sanctions.

After the meeting of the two ministers, Prabhu tweeted: “Our discussions were centered on expanding bilateral ties between India and Iran beyond the energy and security sectors.”

Federation of Indian Export Organizations President Ganesh Gupta had recently said the government needs to look into problems facing exporters shipping consignments to Iran in view of US sanctions.

Iran is India’s third-largest oil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Iran supplied 18.4 million tons of crude oil between April 2017 and January 2018.

Trade between India and Iran increased to $13.8 billion in 2017-18 from $12.9 billion in the previous fiscal. However, India exports goods worth only $2.65 billion to Iran, while its imports stood at $11.11 billion.

Earlier on Thursday, Akhoundi said Iran would hand over the strategic Chabahar Port to an Indian company within a month for operation, as per an interim pact.

“Now, we are ready just to hand over the port (Chabahar) to the Indian company just to operate this in an interim agreement that already we had with Indian part for one and a half year,” he said.

Chabahar Port is easily accessible from India’s western coast and increasingly seen as a counter to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port located 80 km from Chabahar.

The first phase of Chabahar Port was inaugurated in December 2017 by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, opening a new strategic route connecting Iran, India and Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.

Chabahar Port is being considered as a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with Central Asian countries, besides ramping up trade among the three countries in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to New Delhi.

Under the agreement signed between India and Iran earlier, India is to equip and operate two berths in Chabahar Port’s Phase-I with capital investment of $85.21 million and annual revenue expenditure of $22.95 million on a 10-year lease.

Source: FINANCIAL TRIBUNE

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Iran officials discuss with Azerbaijani entrepreneurs

IRAN AZERBAIJAN

Iran officials discuss boost of trade ties with Azerbaijani entrepreneurs

Iranian officials and Azerbaijani entrepreneurs held talks in Tehran to explore ways for enhanced trade ties between the two nations.

Members of Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Chamber of Commerce held a specialized meeting in the Iranian capital on Friday and discussed ways to remove obstacles in a way for Tehran and Baku to promote economic ties, IRIB news agency reported on September 8.

Offering new and efficient methods to boost bilateral ties between Iran and Azerbaijan was among the major topics discussed by Mohammad Reza Karbasi, international affairs deputy of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, and Azerbaijani businessmen.

During the meeting, both sides described Azerbaijan as Iran’s gateway to the nations of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

They discussed exports of agricultural products from Iran to Azerbaijan due to low costs in the Islamic Republic.

Iran and Azerbaijan have ramped up efforts in recent years to forge a closer partnership in various areas.

Source: TREND

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Iranian Oil Exports To China Hit 874,000 Bpd In August

IRAN CHINA OIL

Iranian Oil Exports To China Hit 874,000 Bpd In August

China imported Iranian crude at an average daily rate of 874,000 barrels last month, S&P Global Platts data shows, and, according to the agency, these will start declining now, with the August number representing the peak.

Loading data for delivery this month suggests that China imports of Iranian crude will average 581,000 bpd in September.

Despite this expected decline, China has said it will continue to do business as usual with Iran, including in oil, despite a promise that Beijing officials made to a U.S. delegation last month that Chinese refiners will not increase their intake of Iranian crude further. In light of the escalating trade war between China and the United States, it’s anyone’s guess how willing the Chinese will be to keep this particular promise.

As for how Chinese refiners would continue buying crude from Iran without attracting sanctions from the Department of Treasury, one way would be by using tankers owned and insured by the National Iranian Oil Company. Another, less public way would be to accept illegal shipments that Iran has suggested it could resort to under sanctions.

Sinopec, China’s and the world’s largest refiner, is one company that will continue buying Iranian crude despite sanctions because “The company’s business will be hurt if it has to suspend imports from Iran,” S&P Global Platts quoted a Sinopec executive as saying last week. What’s more, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Sinopec said “Since we have performance obligations under our Iran-related contracts in 2018, we are contractually required to continue our [purchases].”

Sinopec is the biggest Chinese buyer of Iranian crude, utilizing two-thirds of the total. PetroChina is another big buyer, taking in about one-tenth of total Chinese imports from Iran, and it recently boosted its capacity for refining Iranian blends. The third-largest buyer of Iranian crude in China is a trader, Zhuhai Zhenrong, which then sells it on to local refineries.

Source: OIL PRICE.com

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Iran, Turkey agree to defy US sanctions by boosting business ties

IRAN TURKEY

The presidents of Iran and Turkey on Friday called for further promotion of business ties between the two neighboring states in a bid to counter the effect of unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington on Tehran and Ankara.

“Iran and Turkey must further boost their economic relations to counter US sanctions,” President Hassan Rouhani said in a Friday meeting with Turkish President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in Tehran to attend a trilateral summit on Syria with his Iranian and Russian counterparts.

Rouhani called for enhancement of banking and energy relations between the two sides, stressing that plans need to be made for resolving problems that hamper further economic cooperation.

He also underlined the necessity of using national currencies in bilateral business transactions, and called for a revision to Iran-Turkey preferential trade agreement.

Erdogan, for his part, condemned the US government’s “unacceptable and unstable” stances toward other countries, and echoed Rouhani’s call for boosting bilateral trade to defy the US sanctions.

“Iran and Turkey, under the current circumstances, must plan to develop their trade and economic relations,” he said, calling for further expansion of business ties between the two states.

“We must put more effort into developing, strengthening, and reinforcing our relations in all fields,” Erdogan noted, stressing the need for increased banking cooperation and use of national currencies in bilateral trade.

The Turkish president said earlier this week he has plans to ditch the US dollar in trade with Iran and instead use local currencies.

Back in April, Iran and Turkey opened their first letter of credit for business transactions in their national currencies as part of their efforts to ditch the greenback and the euro in bilateral trade.

Both Iran and Turkey are under unilateral US sanctions, which have complicated transactions in dollars because they have to be processed through the American financial system.

US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the Iran nuclear deal in May, and re-imposed the first batch of anti-Iran sanctions later in August.

He has vowed to impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Last month, Trump also announced his decision to double steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey, saying relations between Washington and Ankara are “not good.”

Source: PRESS TV

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Pakistan takes side with Iran over nuclear deal

Iran Pakistan

Pakistan takes side with Iran over nuclear deal

Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif met FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday, where the Pakistan’s FM reiterated that the country stood with Iran in face of US sanctions amid US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from nuclear deal.

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‘India to buy Iranian oil despite sanction threat’

Iran India

Govt allows state refiners to use Iran tankers, insurance for oil imports, say sources

NEW DELHI, SEPT 3

India is allowing state refiners to import Iranian oil with Tehran arranging tankers and insurance after firms including the country’s top shipper Shipping Corp of India (SCI) halted voyages to Iran due to US sanctions, sources said.

New Delhi’s attempt to keep Iranian oil flowing mirrors a step by China, where buyers are shifting nearly all their Iranian oil imports to vessels owned by National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC).

The moves by the two top buyers of Iranian crude indicate that the Islamic Republic may not be fully cut off from global oil markets from November, when US sanctions against Tehran’s petroleum sector are due to start.

President Donald Trump ordered the re-imposition of economic curbs after withdrawing the United States from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. No one trading with Iran will do business with America, he said.

“We have the same situation (as most Western shippers) because there is no cover, so we cannot go (to Iran),” an SCI official told Reuters.

New Delhi turned to the NITC fleet after most insurers and reinsurers had begun winding down services for Iran, wanting to avoid falling foul of the sanctions given their large exposure to the United States.

SCI had a contract until August to import Iranian oil for Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), two sources familiar with the matter said. Eurotankers, which had a deal with MRPL to import two Iranian oil cargoes every month, has also said it cannot undertake Iranian voyages from September, the sources said. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to talk to the media about commercial deals.

Permission granted?

“The shipping ministry has given refiners permission to buy Iranian oil on a CIF (cost, insurance and freight) basis,” a government source said. Under a CIF arrangement, Iran would provide shipping and insurance, enabling Indian refiners to continue purchases of the country’s oil despite the non-availability of cover from Western insurers due to the restrictions imposed by Washington.

The move would benefit Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and MRPL, which plan to lift Iranian cargoes during the rest of the fiscal year ending on March 31.

India wants to continue buying oil from OPEC member Iran as Tehran is offering almost free shipping and an extended credit period.

State refiners, which drove India’s July imports of Iranian oil to a record 768,000 barrels per day, had planned to nearly double oil imports from Iran in 2018-19. Unlike their private peers, India’s state-run refiners need government permission to import oil on a delivered, or CIF, basis. Federal policy requires them to favour Indian insurers and shippers by buying only on a free on board (FOB) basis. The permission for CIF purchases applies only to existing annual contracts with Iran, the government source said.

India, Iran’s top oil client after China, will finalise its strategy on crude purchases from Tehran after a meeting with top US officials this week, a senior government official told Reuters last week.

SCI, Eurotankers, the shipping ministry, MRPL, IOC and BPCL did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment.

Source: BusinessLine
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Tehran wants Europe to act on nuclear deal

Mohammad-Javad-Zarif

UK minister visits Iran: Tehran wants Europe to act on nuclear deal

A British junior minister held talks in Iran on Saturday as Tehran said European states should take action if they wanted to save Iran’s nuclear deal following Washington’s withdrawal from the accord, Iranian state media reported.

“It is time for the Europeans to act in addition to voicing their political commitment,” the state news agency IRNA quoted
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as telling reporters.

“These measures may be costly, but if countries want to reap benefits and if they believe the nuclear accord is an international achievement, they should be ready to keep these achievements,” he was quoted as saying.

Pakistan stands by Iran on nuclear deal issue

Britain and other European signatories are trying to keep the nuclear deal alive, despite US President Donald Trump’s reimposition of sanctions on Tehran. UK’s Junior Foreign Minister Alistair Burt, on the first visit by a British minister since Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, earlier met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s state television reported.

Zarif said the talks with Burt had involved “access to banking resources and the sale of oil.” Iran has been seeking commitment from European signatories of the nuclear deal that it will be able to access the Western banking system and continue to sell oil despite US sanctions.

In a statement before his visit, Burt said: “As long as Iran meets its commitments under the deal, we remain committed to it
as we believe it is the best way to ensure a safe, secure future for the region.” Zarif later spoke by telephone with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, state media reported, saying they discussed bilateral ties, the nuclear deal and regional developments. A day earlier, Iran dismissed a call by Le Drian for negotiations on Tehran’s future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in wars in Syria and Yemen.

Britain’s Burt was also expected to discuss the cases of dual nationals detained in Iran. Britain is seeking the release of Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation who was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she headed back to Britain with her daughter, now aged four, after a family visit.

Iran rejects French call for wider talks

She was convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran’s clerical establishment, a charge denied by her family and the Foundation, a charity organisation that is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.

Accompanying Burt in Tehran, London’s special envoy to Syria Martin Longden later met senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official Hosein Jaberi Ansari, IRNA reported.

IRNA said Longden had expressed concern about the future of Idlib and the possibility of the use of chemical weapons there. The Syrian province of Idlib and surrounding areas are the last major enclave held by rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a close Iranian ally.

A source has told Reuters Assad is preparing a phased offensive to regain the province.

Source: THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE

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