Roger Haily of Lloyd’s List reports (Dec. 17, 2009) that Iman Khomeini port (IK), will soon be privatised. The statement was delivered by Iran’s Minister of Roads, Hamed Bahbahani at a conference in Tehran. IK, which is located near the Iran-Iraq border, currently handles an estimated 38% of Iran’s trade, including most of the country’s grain imports. Conceived under the Rafsanjani presidency, Iran’s privatisation program slowed considerably under Khatami. Ahmedinejad has increased nominal investment in ports and free zones, while transfering control of facilities from Rafsanjani-era ‘technocrats’ to IRGC stalwarts. The Ahmedinejad government claims to have sold/delivered $63 billion of state-owned equity to the private sector since 2005. –EDC
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According to an Op Ed in Friday’s Pan Arab Al-Hayat (”Gulf Doubts Continue on Iran Intentions, Request Participation in Dialogue”, 18 Dec.), GCC members last week called for the West (5+1 countries) to actively include the body in its decision-making on Iran.
According to statements issued during the event, the GCC as an organization has no interest in negotiating with Iran on nuclear issues directly (most of the GCC states have acknowledged Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy), but called on the West to incorporate Gulf Arab views, and on Iran to respect international laws and obligations. Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs was quoted at another event on the opening day of the Summit as saying “strengthening sanctions on Iran was ‘not a fair measure’”, given the dialogue itself had been severely handicapped by the lack of active participation by the Arab Gulf States. Even as Congress voted to implement penalties on foreign companies found to be selling Iran refined fuel, many in the US Administration are thought to be looking for a way to back down on implementing immediate sanctions, for fear that this will further harden Tehran’s already highly defensive position, and accelerate enrichment. U.S. Asst. Secretary for NEA, Jeffrey Feltman, responding to the GCC statements said from the region (paraphrased) that the US recognises there are some differences in views with respect to Iran policy, and that he would make sure the message was heard in Washington.
All of this underscores the continued chaos and cross-currents that characterize the international response to Iran’s nuclear activities, whether within the US government, the West, or locally. One might be tempted to give the GCC somewhat more credit as a policy organ if summit proceedings hadn’t been taken up with certain member states’ mutual recriminations, and failed attempts to decide the venue of the next summit. –EDC
Iran continues to deploy soft power in the Horn, sponsoring a recent Iranian trade fair (October), and offering some 1m in loans to finance the building of a new Parliament building and Commercial Centre (2004). In the wake of the departure of Royal/Dutch Shell and Total from the Djiboutian/Ethiopian market, local service stations now bear the insignia of OiLibya, a marketing arm of Libya’s National Oil Company. Neither country is a stranger to the Horn, but a strange juxtaposition, next to American and French forces, and loads of Gulf businesses. Further indication of how everything is connected…–EDC
Tabnak.ir carried a piece last week describing a particularly candid Q&A between Hashemi Rafsanjani and students at Azad Islamic University in Mashad. During the meeting, Rafsanjani was asked why he had remained ’silent’ on events of the last few months. “I did not remain silent”, Rafsanjani replied, ”my positions are well known.” Rafsanjani expressed dismay at the ‘extremism’ that has enveloped all sides of the political spectrum in the wake of elections. The Chairman of the Assembly of Experts and the Expediency Council, said further he had faith in the power of the Iranian people, as it was they who accomplished the Islamic Revolution–but that in deciding their course of action, all sides must act within the context of the law. –EDC
Water resources shared between Iran and Iraq are becoming a serious source of tension between the two countries. An article (Farsi) published yesterday on Iran’s Tabnak site gives an Iranian take on the increasingly sharp conflict over claims that runoff from Iranian oil refineries and petrochemical plants at Abadan is polluting the shared waterway, known to Persian speakers as the Arvand River and Arabs as the Shatt al-Arab.
Tabnak’s efforts to paint the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya story as biased (translated excerpts below) seem to belie a genuine Iranian sensitivity to Iraqi public opinion, particularly in the heavily Shia south. In October, Al-Jazeera reported on an Iranian shipment of fresh water to Basra citizens, no doubt also an attempt at damage control with Iraqis. While Iran hardly bats an eye taking on the west over its disputed nuclear program, Tehran seems much more sensitive to criticism closer to home.
-WW
Iraqis blame Arvand River Pollution on Iran
Medical and university officials in the Iraqi province of Basra have accused Iran of polluting the Arvand River. According to the Tabnak correspondent in Iraq, medical and university officials in Basra have accused Iran of polluting the waters of the Arvand River. These officials announced that “Very dangerous petrochemical poisons from the Abadan refinery running into the Arvand river, and entering Iraqi waters have seriously polluted the Shatt al-Arab / Arvand River to the point where its name should be changed to “The Poisoned River.”
Dr. Malik Hassan, a representative of the Basra Ocean Sciences University, stated: “The deadly poisons that have entered the Arvand River and Shatt al-Arab waterway in Iraq are very dangerous, and we have seen an increase in cancers, and diseases of the liver, spleen, digestive tract, and other serious diseases in the southern parts of Iraq, especially Siba, Sayhan, Faw, Zabir, and Basra.”
Despite the pollution and cancer cases of more than 50,000 people in Basra as a result of American use of depleted uranium weapons in the 1991 and 2003 wars, Dr. Hassan asked high-ranking Iraqi officials to put pressure on Iran, and stop rising pollution levels in the Arvand River.
Likewise, Dr. Faris ‘Omara, a doctor in this southern Iraqi province, speaking on an al-Arabiya talk show stated, “With its two petrochemical and oil facilities on the Abadan shores, Iran has poisoned the Arvand River, resulting in the increased the deaths of fish.”…
This [Al-Arabiya] report was broadcast without any mention of the massive pollution that flows from the Iraqi side of the Arvand River. Iraqis, with their own worn down petrochemical plants, have been severely polluting the two waterways that run into the Persian Gulf since the early 1990s….
Found this on the Kayhan website (the London-based opposition Kayhan, not the conservative Iranian paper of the same name). The caption reads “The Islamic Republic’s suggestion to Google” For Farsi speakers, the author, reformist blogger Farhad Heyrani, has some more cartoons on his site.
-WW
According to a recent piece in the UAE’s The National, Qatar has allowed an Iranian shipping oufit, Valfajre8 to resume service from Doha to ports in Iran, after a hiatus. Sources cited refer to Qatar’s desire to improve economic ties and facilitate exchange with Iran. According to websites belonging to other Iran-owned ferry companies, service between Gulf Arab ports and Iran (Kish and Bandar Abbas, for example) has been suspended indefinitely. In the wake of the presidential elections in Iran, Kuwait-based Al Jazeera airlines summarily suspended service on a busy Mashad-Bahrain route. –EDC
A spokesman for Sultan Qaboos intimated last month, perhaps inadvertently, that the Sultan might be a bit edgy about making his first state visit to Iran since the Revolution around now—But the Sultan did come, just in time for Ahmediejad’s swearing in, and with all of his energy, trade, gas and economy ministers in tow. Was the idea that the shadow of that event was so big that it could hide the Sultanate? Hard to believe, but maybe it was. Noone outside the two parties seem to want to touch this with a ten foot pole.
Over the last three days, the two countries signed agreements and MOUs related to “mutual security, and the fight against smuggling and crime, including the exchange of related information”, “environmental, technical and professional cooperation”, and “cultural exchange”. The list goes on. Apparently Muscat will even open a Farsi language institute shortly. Particularly notable are agreements governing the long-discussed joint development of Hengam gas field and setup of a joint 500 MW power station within Qeshm Free Zone (see recent posts for more on QFZ).
All of this is page 4 news in the Saudi-financed Asharq Al Awsat (the visit itself sort of made the firont page yesterday), and doesn’t seem to have hit the US papers but minimally. Of course, the Omanis need much of what Iran can offer in terms of assistance, and the Iranians need the diplomatic boost, but does this seem like the actions of a Gulf State itching for nuclear power and/or a nuclear shield to protect itself from its evil neighbor to the north? In fact this is the long-awaited denouement of an escalating series of very senior and mainly commercial exchanges dating back more than 2 years. –EDC
In an article posted in Farsi to the Qeshm Free Zone Authority (QFZA) website, a senior official at QFZA says he is seeing a spike in the number of Dubai-based investors expressing interest in Qeshm Free Zone: “With the growing crisis in the countries of Persian Gulf, and due to a collection of economic problems in Dubai, many investors are leaving the region and coming to QFZ, offering as it does ample land, various financial inducements, and favorable conditions for industrial investment. ” Not content to fire a shot across the bow of mammoth facilities to the South, the QFZA official also took the opportunity to remind his government that Qeshm industry is in need of active protection and support of the state, if it is to make the most of its largely virtual amenities. All of which concludes with my favorite quote of the week: “I expect that with growth, industry on Qeshm island will see future expansion in its heavy and light industrial projects.” As for Dubai, one expects all’s not yet lost.
-EDC
Asharq Al Awsat, in its July 12 print edition, quotes Iranian officials as saying they are preparing a ‘new package’ of positions on international security, politics and international relations. This reformulation, apparently, is to serve as the basis for ‘renewed discussions’ with the West, and follows warnings from the G8 Summit that Iran has “until September to engage in negotiations over its nuclear program or face even more painful sanctions.” At roughly the same time, Iranian foreign minister Manuchehr Mottaki announced the Islamic Republic is on the verge of signing a security pact with the Sultanate of Oman, an agreement Omani Foreign Minister Yousef bin Aloui said would lead to a “new stage in the bilateral relationship…and a firm basis for growing cooperation with Iran.” [Interestingly, a picture above the story shows bin Aloui and Iranian President Ahmedinejad under a large map, on which is prominently written "Persian Gulf"]
Thickening the diplomatic stew, the Syrian government paper “Tishreen” reported today that Syrian president Bashar Assad received a letter from Sultan Qaboos urging Syria to take advantage of ‘positive Arab environment’ to help find a common solution to security issues facing the Arab states.
Clearly, Oman continues its traditional role of “balancer” within the GCC and Arab world in general, hoping to keep all sides in the game, and talking. These are not new moves, for during the last two years Oman has been increasingly public in its high-level engagement with Iran on commercial matters–particularly during the last months of the Bush administration, when US-Iran tensions hit their last trough. Oman, which has strong historical/commercial/security ties with Iran, clearly feels it is in the position to say what many other States in the Gulf will not, or cannot: i.e., a hot conflict between the West and/or “centrist”, Sunni Arab states and Iran over nuclear issue has the potential to set the region–Iran included–back a good many years.
-EDC
