February 21-2014
. . . ambassador
Russia could build a second reactor at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant and send it trucks and railroad tracks in a barter deal for Iranian oil, the Iranian ambassador to Moscow said in remarks published Monday.
Russia could also supply Iran with mini-refineries and other goods to pay for the oil, ambassador Mehdi Sanaei told the daily Kommersant.
Reuters first revealed last month that a barter deal was being negotiated. Russia has remained mute. The United States has said it has told Russia it is strongly opposed to any such deal, saying it would undermine nuclear talks by talking the pressure off the Islamic Republic.
Andrei Balitsky of the Russian Center for Policy Studies said Moscow was probably preparing the ground for a deal that would go ahead only if Iran and the Big Six reached a comprehensive nuclear deal. “Russia does not want to be late to the party once the Iranian sanctions are lifted,” he told Agence France Presse. “But there is little sense for Russia to act before a comprehensive [nuclear] agreement is struck. Russia has expended too much effort to make such a comprehensive deal possible for it to undermine it now.”
Sanaei confirmed Russia and Iran were discussing supplies of “a few hundred thousand barrels per day.” Reuters last month said 500,000 barrels a day was at the heart of the discussion.
“Iran could use some of the proceeds [to pay for] the construction by Russia companies of a second unit at the nuclear power plant in Bushehr,” he said.
Sanaei said it was possible the oil deal, and a broad memorandum on economic cooperation, could be signed before August. Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev is to visit Iran in April for talks on trade.
Asked what Russia could supply in exchange for the oil, Sanaei said the sides were discussing a number of possibilities including the construction of small oil refineries, Russian investment in gasfields and supplies of electricity.
In addition to the possibility of Russia building a second reactor at Bushehr, he said Tehran was interested in supplies of heavy trucks or their assembly in Iran, and other items.
“Iran is interested in buying a huge amount of railroad tracks from Russia, as well as Russian involvement in the electrification of its railways. We are also interested in Russian grain.”
Wendy Sherman, the US under secretary of state handling the nuclear talks, said earlier this month she believed the oil-for-goods swap would not go ahead in the near future after the United States warned both sides it would make reaching a nuclear agreement “more difficult if not impossible.”
Sanaei dismissed the US concerns and said Russia should do the same, warning that European nations have sent business delegations to Iran and that Moscow risked losing lucrative opportunities if it failed to act fast.
“Our Russian friends, who have stood by us at difficult moments, should have advantages on the Iranian market…. But Russian companies must hurry to get into their niche in our market and not hesitate out of fear of Western sanctions,” he said.
The White House last month expressed “serious concern” over the reported discussions because they could potentially boost Iran’s oil exports by 50 percent.
Moscow media have been speculating that the deal would see Russia re-export the oil to China.