Eye on Iran: Iranian Oil Minister Meets With BP, Total and Lukoil

Join UANI           Top Stories Dow Jones: "Iran's oil minister met BP PLC and Total SA on Wednesday, in a sign of renewed interest for the country's oil sector. International sanctions ban Western oil companies from entering Iran's oil fields. Earlier this week, Tehran failed to reach a final nuclear agreement with world powers, which could have eased such restrictions. Speaking to reporters, Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said he met representatives of BP PLC--the first such reported meeting with the British oil giant--and France's Total SA to discuss a possible entry in the country. Total, which was represented by new Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne, and BP have both previously said they won't work in Iran unless sanctions are lifted. Separately, Mr Zanganeh also met Vagit Alekperov, president of Russian oil giant Lukoil. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Alekperov said that 'as soon as sanctions [are] lifted, we are hoping [to] enter' the country. He also said Lukoil would like to participate in bidding round for new oil contracts which is due early next year, but which has been postponed several times." http://t.uani.com/1v1mnG6 Reuters: "Iran's supreme leader made clear on Thursday he backed extended nuclear talks with world powers, shoring up Tehran's negotiating team against attacks by his hardline acolytes for failing to secure a deal that could have meant major relief from sanctions. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also said that if the talks, extended on Monday for seven months beyond the Nov. 24 deadline, ultimately failed, 'the sky won't fall to the ground' and that the United States would be the biggest loser if that transpired. With the two sides having missed a deadline to overcome their differences for the second time this year, Iranians face the prospect of at least several more months of international sanctions that have hammered their standard of living. But Khamenei, the ultimate authority on all Iranian matters of state, said on his website: 'For the same reasons I wasn't against negotiations, I'm also not against the extension.' He added that Tehran's negotiators were 'hard-working and serious ... (They) justly and honestly stood against words of force and bullying of the other side, and unlike the other side, they did not change their words every day.' ... Khamenei also said the security of Israel, Tehran's arch-foe, would decline over time. 'Know that whether or not we reach a nuclear agreement, Israel becomes more insecure day by day,' he said, without elaborating." http://t.uani.com/1A0fepi WSJ: "As international talks on Iran were about to resume, the Obama administration early this month secretly presented an eight-page document to Tehran in a bid to demonstrate Washington's flexibility and offer an opening to end the protracted dispute over Iran's nuclear program. But a week later, the chairman of the Iranian parliament's nuclear committee went public with the Nov. 9 proposal, slamming it by saying the U.S. had brought the negotiations 'back to zero.' The potentially damaging leak by Ebrahim Karkhaneh, the chairman, marked a low point in what U.S. and European officials see as an ongoing, and possibly intensifying, effort by hard-line factions in Tehran to sabotage more than a year of international negotiations aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program... Opponents include some in the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, commanders of Iran's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and members of the Iranian parliament. These powerful actors have regularly questioned the usefulness of reaching a compromise with the West. But in worse cases, such as the leak by Mr. Karkhaneh on Nov. 16, they also have appeared to be purposefully distorting the positions and statements of the U.S. and its negotiating partners, officials believe." http://t.uani.com/1zDOzht     Nuclear Program & Negotiations Reuters: "The U.N. atomic agency will need more funds from member states to help pay for its monitoring of an extended interim nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, it said on Wednesday... Despite the missed deadline, Western officials said progress was made during the latest round of talks between Iran and the world powers in Vienna. A senior European diplomat said there was 'a clear commitment to capitalize on the momentum and get (a final agreement with Iran) done much earlier' than June 30. 'There was an absolute commitment to reach a deal but it was not enough to bridge the gaps,' the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'We will meet again in December. The format, place and level is yet to be decided.'" http://t.uani.com/1y8bvIH Sanctions Relief Reuters: "Asian imports of Iranian crude fell below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for a second time this year to a one-year low due to seasonal demand fluctuations, although the shipments were still up nearly a third from October last year... Some analysts, though, said the nearly 40 percent fall in oil prices since June and difficulty in raising exports to make up lost revenue may soon force Iran to a final agreement. 'Iran is likely to be the one to make concessions given finances are its top priority,' said an oil industry analyst who declined to be identified. 'Falling crude prices are likely to influence its diplomacy.' ... Imports by Iran's four biggest buyers, China, India, Japan and South Korea, have averaged 1.11 million bpd over January-October this year, mainly due to soaring imports from the first two after the partial easing of sanctions. The four buyers together took in 877,888 bpd of the Islamic republic's crude last month, down 19.1 percent from the month before, government and tanker-tracking data shows." http://t.uani.com/11BhjMD Reuters: "Essar Group, a $39 billion Indian conglomerate, is looking to tap frozen Iranian oil revenues to pay for its steel exports to Tehran, in a novel attempt to work around Western financial sanctions against the OPEC member state. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) proposed the payment mechanism in August, potentially opening a new way to release oil export proceeds tied up in India under Western sanctions linked to Tehran's disputed nuclear program. According to industry and government sources, and letters reviewed by Reuters, Essar has asked the Indian government to free it from paying its share of oil dues to Iran, and instead offset them against a $2.5 billion deal to supply steel plate to a NIOC affiliate... Supplying steel to Iran is 'prohibited', while dealing with NIOC 'is very likely to fall foul of European Union and U.S. sanctions legislation,' said Jonathan Moss, partner and head of marine and trade at law firm DWF in London... The Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 lists steel as a commodity subject to sanctions... India settles 45 percent of its oil trade with Iran in rupees, with the rest held back by the refiners who buy the oil. These unpaid funds are released as and when the West allows Iran access to them. Essar Oil buys oil from NIOC, while Essar Steel agreed in January to supply steel plate to Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Co (IGEDC), a NIOC affiliate. Deliveries of steel began in May, said a knowledgeable person at STC, adding that steel worth $100 million had been shipped so far. A source at the oil ministry valued the sales at $550 million. Ghadir Movahedzadeh, NIOC's financial director, proposed drawing on the 55 percent tranche of oil dues to pay for the steel deliveries in a letter to Essar Oil dated Aug. 26." http://t.uani.com/1zDOzht Bloomberg: "OAO Lukoil, the Russian oil producer with the most assets abroad, is positioning itself for a return to Iran when sanctions are lifted.  Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov met with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh in Vienna today. They discussed potential developments, including the Azar and Changuleh onshore deposits, according to a person familiar with the meeting, asking not be identified because the discussions are private. 'We're just studying' the situation, Alekperov said in Vienna after the meeting. 'We would like to return to those fields where we know the geology.' Russia's second-largest oil producer has expanded abroad as the government limited access to reserves at home. Lukoil discovered the Iranian fields in 2005, together with Statoil ASA, before writing off projects in Iran in 2010 following sanctions by the U.S. and its allies over the nation's nuclear research program. Lukoil is interested to return after sanctions have been removed, which 'depends on the politicians,' Alekperov said. 'The company worked in Iran for a pretty long while.'" http://t.uani.com/122ZdUO Sanctions Enforcement & Impact Bloomberg: "Total SA faces a trial in France on allegations it made illegal payments to an Iranian official for oil and gas contracts, according to prosecutors. The biggest French company by market value stands charged with 'corruption of foreign public officials,' a spokeswoman in the Paris prosecutors' office said, asking not to be named because of office policy. Two intermediaries will also be tried for alleged complicity, she said. A date has yet to be set. The decision to go to trial, by a French judge days before former Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie died in a plane crash last month, follows Total's agreement in May 2013 to pay $398 million to settle U.S. allegations. It also resolved related claims with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission... The prosecutor recommended on the day of the company's U.S. settlement that Total, de Margerie and two others stand trial. Total paid $60 million in bribes to an Iranian official from 1995 to 2004 to obtain rights in three oil and gas fields, including South Pars, according to a statement of facts in the deferred-prosecution agreement. Total admitted to the conduct described in the statement of facts, according to the agreement, which was signed by Peter Herbel, Total's general counsel." http://t.uani.com/1vt1XFO Human Rights IHR: "Three prisoners were hanged publicly in the cities of Mashhad and Joghatai today, reported the Iranian state media. According to the state run Iranian news agency Fars the prisoner who was hanged in Joghatai (a twon near Mashhad) was identified as 'M. Gh.' (20 year old), originally sentenced to death for murder (Qesas- retribution) and for immoral acts. The prisoner was later pardoned by the family of the murder victim, but he was executed for 'immoral acts'. The report added that 'M. Gh' has sent request of pardon for immoral acts but his request was not granted by the Province Commission. There are no further specifications of what 'immoral acts' the prisoner was sentenced to death for." http://t.uani.com/1zDUzqq RFE/RL: "Well-known Iranian human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh says she's determined to continue protesting a decision to ban her from practicing law. Sotoudeh started picketing outside the offices of the Iranian Bar Association in Tehran a month ago, holding signs reading 'right to work' and 'rights of dissenters,' after the association, reportedly under official pressure, banned her from working as a lawyer for three years. 'If my sentence is not overturned, I will keep protesting until the end of the three-year ban,' Sotoudeh told RFE/RL by telephone on November 26. She also said the independence of the Iranian Bar Association must be restored. Sotoudeh was released from jail last year after serving half of a six-year sentence on charges that included acting against Iran's national security and spreading propaganda against the establishment. Sotoudeh, the co-winner of the European Parliament's Sakharov human rights prize in 2012, said her peaceful protest had received the support of many activists and intellectuals in Iran. 'Every day from 9:30 a.m. until 12 p.m., I protest in front of the Bar Association. I've been joined by many political and social activists and also social figures,' she said. Sotoudeh added that some of those who have joined her picket have been pressured by the authorities and threatened with arrest." http://t.uani.com/1230T0t Opinion & Analysis Eric Schlosser in The Guardian: "Much has been written about the nuclear negotiations with Iran. While diplomacy has received a great deal of attention, one important question too often gets lost in the details: why Iran must not get the bomb. In my view, the answer is quite simple. An Iran armed with nuclear weapons would pose a grave threat not only to world peace but to the Iranian people... Given Iran's technical, political and leadership challenges, its pursuit of nuclear weapons seems an invitation to disaster. Moreover, Iran signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in 1970. Getting the bomb would violate that treaty, encourage other countries to violate it and discourage Israel from ever submitting nuclear facilities to international inspection. A nuclear arms race in the Middle East would endanger every country in the region; the effects of a nuclear detonation would spread without regard to national borders. And possessing nuclear weapons would make Iran the target of other nuclear states. Early next month, officials from 150 countries meet in Vienna to discuss the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and a treaty to ban them. The world was lucky in the 20th century to avoid a nuclear Armageddon. In the 21st century a new international consensus is emerging: nuclear weapons are only useful for killing or terrorising civilians. The number of weapons worldwide must be reduced with the goal of some day reaching zero. A new nuclear arms race, new states possessing nuclear weapons, and a breakdown of the nonproliferation regime are the antithesis of those goals. And that, among many other reasons, is why Iran must not get the bomb." http://t.uani.com/1FBpUxZ       Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.