Page 8 - MEOG Week 32

MEOG PIPeLInes & transPort MEOG
Tensions rise over US/UK naval mission to escort tankers
GuLF
ANXIETIES that Iran may further interfere with shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz to exert pressure on the West over the US “eco- nomic attack” on its economy will not have eased following latest remarks from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on August 6 in which he talked about “a strait for a strait”.
Referring to events in July in which the UK seized an Iranian oil tanker o Gibraltar and Iran captured a British- agged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, Rouhani said on Iranian state televi- sion: “A strait for a strait. It can’t be that the Strait of Hormuz is free for you and the Strait of Gibral- tar is not free for us.”
e UK has now linked up with the US to form a naval mission charged with escorting vessels through the strait, either individually or in groups.
e move, also partly in response to clan- destine limpet mine attacks that have damaged half a dozen tankers in recent months, stoked concerns that the stando between Tehran and
Washington is intensifying and could eventually turn into a military confrontation. on this point, Rouhani repeated an old warning, in which he said: “Peace with Iran is the mother of all peace... [and war with Iran is the mother of all wars”.
Iran has repeatedly declined the US offer to enter talks on resolving di erences with no pre-conditions. But Rouhani said the Islamic Republic feels that if the US “really wants to talk, before anything else it should li all sanctions”.
Around 20% of the world’s oil tra c passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The US is subjecting Iran to a “maximum pressure” campaign led by swingeing sanctions aimed at strangling the Iranian economy, includ- ing by attempting to drive all of Iran’s lifeline oil exports o world markets. e aim is to force Tehran to the table to make big concessions on its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and support of militias in the Middle East who are variously enemies of Israel and Arab allies of the US including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.™
Proposed German Instex head backs out of running SPV
Iran
FoRMER German diplomat Bernd Erbel who was set to take over as Instex chief has been forced to pull out, Haaretz reported on August 9.
Erbel, a former ambassador to Tehran, dropped out following revelations in the Ger- man daily Bild of a recent YouTube interview in which the designated INSTEX president voiced sympathy for Iran along with criticism of Israel.
In the recorded video, he said that Israel was “more than ever an alien body” in the region.
Following the candid interview, the German Foreign Ministry said: “Mr Erbel has informed the foreign ministry that he will not be available for personal reasons.”
Erbel had been named as the head of Instex in June, a er several months of reports that Euro- pean countries although supportive of the Spe- cial Purpose Vehicle (SPV) were not interested to host the business.
e latest revelations are part of US e orts to stop Instex before it is o cially operational, according to some in Tehran including several government o cials.
In July, Russia indicated it might be willing to process trade with Iran through Instex, as part of e orts to shore up the ailing project.
Moscow’s involvement in the channel would mark a signi cant step forward in attempts by the EU and Russia to rescue the nuclear deal, now in danger of unravelling fast following the Trump administration’s unilateral abandonment of it in May last year.
“Russia is interested in close coordination with the European Union on Instex,” the Rus- sian foreign ministry told the Financial Times. “ e more countries and continents involved, the more e ective will the mechanism be as a whole.”™
FInanCe & InVestment
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 32 13•August•2019