Russia wants to maintain its share in European energy supply and for this reason it is trying hard to prevent the entry of rivals in the market. However, in the past two years or so, the situation has changed.
When a dispute over Russia’s supply of natural gas to Ukraine surfaced in 2006 over Kiev’s refusal to pay higher prices demanded by Moscow, Europe shivered. Later when the gas giant Gazprom cut off the flow, Ukraine responded by funneling off its required amount from the transit pipeline to western Europe. Throughout central Europe, energy providers registered a drop in pressure and consumers worried the supply was in danger of being disrupted.
A gas war--or at least a war of words and threats--erupted as politicians in Germany and elsewhere began to question dependency on Russia for a steady supply of gas. Some pointed to alternative sources of energy, while others recommended a return to nuclear energy.
The dispute is compelling European governments to face up to the dangers of tying energy policy to foreign policy. As a result, Europe is no longer sure about energy flow from Russia.
As world’s second biggest holder of gas reserves and one of the powerful members of OPEC, Iran can be a safer option for supplying Europe with energy.
Last year, Iran proposed that gas exporting countries set up an organization identical to OPEC to regulate gas prices and major energy flows in the interest of global stability.
For the time being, the Russian government has not responded to the latest Iranian proposal, which is understandable. Any clear-cut answer from the Kremlin is bound to directly influence global geopolitical alignment of forces, something it does not seem to be ready for.
However, early this week, Iranian and Russian officials met to discuss the expansion of ties in the energy sector. Russia’s Gazprom officials will visit Iran next month to finalize a gas deal.
The two sides will also hold talks on a number of issues, including the development of three phases of South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf. In a February meeting in Tehran, the Russian energy giant and the National Iranian Gas Company reached an agreement to set up a joint company to implement energy projects.
At the meeting, Gazprom had voiced interest in developing upstream and downstream sectors of Iran’s energy industry and implement liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.
Experts contend that Russia wants to purchase Iran’s gas and reexport it to Europe via a pipeline through Bulgaria. Thus it can avoid likely disputes with countries such as Ukraine and Belarus over transit fees.
Given that Russia and Iran hold the world’s biggest reserves of gas, it is only rational for analysts to be sensitive about the latest developments and talks between Tehran and Moscow. Also, Europe and the United States will hardly be pleased about this.
All things considered, Iran is, nevertheless, willing to export gas to Europe. To start with, the country has inked energy agreements with Austria and Switzerland and also aims to include Russian companies in these lucrative deals.
On the other hand, Moscow is interested in once again taking part in joint development projects in Iranian oil and gas sectors. This way it can make optimum use of its investment capacities and stay in the energy race beside Iran for a long time. In short, Iran and Russia are set to become the main players of world gas market in the near future.

All Iranian workers now have insurance cover.
Stating the above to MNA, director of revenues at the Social Security Organization of Iran (SSOI), Qodratollah Qodsi, said that based on the latest figures, all workers in large and small factories and production units are now covered by insurance. “Even those working in small workshops with less than five workers are also covered.“
He rejected claims that the SSOI is not prosecuting workshops which fail to provide insurance for their workers. The organization routinely inspects all small workshops and those who have not insured their staff yet should do so at the earliest, he stressed.
He asked workers who claim they are not insured to step forward and report their situation to the organization to resolve their situation. “Unfortunately, some laborers who do not have insurance refuse to report their situation to the organization for fear of being fired from their workplace.
“However, they can complain without mentioning their names so that something can be done about it,“ he concluded.

East Azarbaijan province exported $200 million worth of carpets in the Iranian year to March 19, the provincial Commerce Department announced on Monday.
Director of the Commerce Department Sadeq Najafi said that handwoven Persian carpets were exported to the United States, Japan, the Persian Gulf states, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and a number of European countries, IRNA reported.
Holding Specialized Persian Carpet Exhibition in Denmark and studying the problems of carpet weavers were some of the measures taken by the department to upgrade the quality of handwoven Persian carpets, Najafi said.
There are almost 300,000 people in East Azarbaijan, northwest Iran, involved in weaving high quality Persian carpets and rugs.

On non-oil trade, Iran is awash in oil revenues and can afford to pay a premium for the aggravation of evading illegal US-led sanctions to import consumer goods and machinery.

As the United States tries desperately to stand between the Iranian ocean of cash and the shores of the international trading system, Iran’s direct and indirect commerce does not seem to have declined at all.
Despite relentless jawboning by the United States and professed unity among the self-appointed bully-boy members of the UN Security Council, implementation of the illegal US-led financial blockade has reportedly been spotty, especially among smaller, second-tier banks outside of Europe.
While it is true that there are indications that major European banks are currently honoring the US call to illegally sever ties with Iran, cutting LC and eschewing dollar transactions. It is also true that they are letting euro-denominated transactions bubble along.
Certainly, the Islamic Republic’s ability to export oil--and get paid for it in euros--has not suffered.
Beyond the failure to disrupt Iran’s oil exports, the United States has yet to put an end to Iran’s most strategic import: gasoline.
The US had great hopes of triggering domestic dissatisfaction by disrupting Iran’s huge gasoline imports. So at US behest, the French government pressured banks BNP Paribas and Calyon to cut off letters of credit for Iran’s gasoline import. An apparent major victory was claimed when Vitol, a Swiss trader and supplier of most of Iran’s gasoline, announced last December that it was not renewing its contract.
And guess what? Iran switched its gasoline purchases to Singapore on a euro basis, paying in cash and, according to Reuters, even through letters of credit.
Some Asian traders said some Singapore banks are willing to handle Iranian LCs, but not in dollars. So it looks as if Vitol’s withdrawal from Iran’s gasoline business was just another piece of sanctions theater and the inconvenience to Iran’s gasoline imports has been limited.
On non-oil trade, Iran is awash in oil revenues and can afford to pay a premium for evading illegal US-led sanctions to import consumer goods and machinery.
The picture of unenthusiastic compliance and vigorous evasion is similar in strategic investments. European energy companies have largely desisted from Iran investments, preferring not to expose their extensive US business interests to possible sanctions.
While BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and GDF are holding back, China and others are pushing forward. China National Offshore Oil Corporation reportedly concluded a deal for a $16 billion investment in Iran’s North Pars natural gas field in December--in the midst of talks on the third round of UN sanctions!
Such developments create an atmosphere of anxiety, impatience and unslaked greed--elements not conducive to an effective sanctions regime--among Western oil companies. The BBC provided a taste of oil industry opinion on Iran:
“Iran’s huge energy reserves are significant for the oil industry. David Kirsch (previously of the US State Department) says many oil firms would take the risk of upsetting the US if others were doing the same.“
Reviewing America’s anti-Iran activities over the past 28 years or so, a disturbing pattern emerges: US is not sanctioning Iran so much as it is sanctioning its unwilling allies, especially those in Europe, for continuing to do business with the Islamic Republic, which, by the way, is completely under the international law. Indeed, this is not a trend conducive to an effective sanctions regime. The US campaign of sanctions has not only yielded resentment and grudging enforcement by many of its allies but it has also elicited open rancor and even defiance.
With this mix of support, resistance, and non-compliance, the question is, if-Ñin yet another desperate move--the Capitol Hill tenants designate Iran’s entire banking sector as the so-called ’facilitator of terrorism and proliferation’, will the European banks and governments go along with this draconian and illegal step?
In the words of experts, “The answer may have a lot to do with whether Europe truly believes that Iran can provide vindication of the sanctions regime that has eluded the US so far on Cuba, Libya, and North Korea--and justify the costs to America’s allies?“ The answer may not be one that the Bush administration is prepared to hear.

Iran has warned Royal Dutch Shell and Total against inaction, calling on them to enter a contract if they seek to develop South Pars gas field.
“The deadline set for Shell and Total (to enter a contract on developing) phases 11 and 13 of South Pars (gas field) will not be extended; they are likely to be replaced by Asian corporations,“ said Ali Vakili, managing director of Iran’s Pars Oil and Gas Company, reported Press TV.
“We have begun negotiations with several European and Asian firms. If Shell and Total do not act before the deadline, Asian firms will replace them,“ Vakili told reporters Monday.
In March, Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari gave an ultimatum to European oil majors, allowing them to sign the development contract only by June 19.
South Pars is one the world’s biggest gas fields, which is shared by Iran and Qatar. According to Iran’s Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, the field contains nearly 48 percent of the country’s confirmed reserves. Iran possesses the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia.

Low import tariff led to a decline in the area under cotton cultivation in recent years, said Minister of Agricultural Jihad Mohammad Reza Eskandari.
He told ISNA that based on a bill ratified by the Sixth Majlis, exports and imports of agricultural produce cannot be hindered, adding that only quarantine and tariffs can impede or facilitate the process.
Criticizing those who say cotton production is irregular and unorganized, he noted that when the incumbent government took office in 2005, 35,000 tons of cotton were stored in warehouses of rural cooperative companies.
Eskandari said that cotton import duties rose by 15 percent in 2006, adding that the move led to an increase in the area under cotton cultivation in the past two years enabling farmers to sell their products at prices higher than the guaranteed rate announced earlier.

Iran has announced that it will continue to sell non-rationed gasoline at the free market price of 45 cents per liter for the time being.
Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari told ISNA that the decision was made since people were satisfied over a scheme implemented during the two-week Norouz (Iranian new year) holidays, allowing them to buy gasoline above the quota, but at a higher price.
Iran introduced a gasoline rationing plan in late June in a bid to slash excessive domestic fuel consumption.
The country, which holds the world’s second largest oil and gas reserves, lacks adequate refining capacity and therefore has to spend large sums of money on importing gasoline.
Last week, chief executive of the US-based FACTS Global Energy, Fereidoun Fesharaki, predicted that Iran will join the ranks of countries exporting gasoline from 2012 as the country upgrades its refining capacity.

Production line for Renault Megane was launched in Pars Khodro Auto Manufacturing Plant in a ceremony on Monday attended by Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a number of Majlis deputies, head of Industrial Development and Renovation Organization Ahmad Qalehbani and the company’s directors.
Speaking at the ceremony, Rahim-Mashaei said presently global auto manufacturing companies are in tight competition with each other, noting that people spend a major portion of their lives in cars. “Automobiles play an important role in human life,“ he said.
Managing Director of Saipa Auto Manufacturing Company Mehrdad Bazrpash told the gathering that 8,000 Megane cars will be produced by March 2009, ISNA reported.