May 16-2014
Hardly a day passes that someone in the Oil Ministry doesn’t eagerly offer to sell natural gas to Europe, where officials want to cut their dependence on Russian gas, especially in the wake of the Ukraine confrontation.
But Iran’s very public eagerness cannot have gone unnoticed in Moscow, where some officials might just conclude it would be better for Moscow if the nuclear crunch with Iran were not settled and sanctions were not lifted from Iran’s back.
A number of analysts in Europe have been openly saying that the EU should start getting gas from the United States and Iran so Russia can no longer use its huge gas sales to the EU as a Damoclean sword hanging over Europe.
Some in Iran see a possible backlash from the Oil Ministry’s eagerness to sell to Europe. Hossain Shariatmadari, the editor of the hardline daily Kayhan, wrote last week that he was horrified by the Oil Ministry’s talk.
He said the proposal was “naive” and a betrayal of Iran’s ally, Russia.
“A hard and heavy crisis is threatening Europe,” Shariat-madari wrote. “There is not only no room for the slightest compassion, but to increase the scope and severity of the [Ukraine] crisis is desirable, just like attacking a professional assassin to prevent further bloodshed.”
Deputy Oil Minister Ali Majedi talked last week about different routes that could be used to move natural gas. He spoke only of pipelines. He did not mention using tankers to move liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe. That is probably because he realizes that Iran is many years away from having the liquefaction technology on a sufficient scale to get noticed in Europe.
There has also been some discussion in Iran that China might not be all that enthusiastic to see the nuclear issue resolved either. The European and American sanctions have created a boom market for Chinese products. But many Iranians say the Chinese are mostly dumping second-rate goods in Iran, where China’s reputation is poor. Many Iranians speak of the ability to switch back to European and Americans products after a nuclear settlement as a major benefit.
