Page 9 - MEOG Week 32 2021
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MEOG POLICY MEOG
Rouhani, Zanganeh sued for premature pipeline launch
IRAN
HASSAN Rouhani and Bijan Namdar Zan- ganeh, the former president and oil minister of Iran who left office last week to make way for the Raisi administration, are being sued by a parlia- mentary committee for the claimed premature inauguration of the Jask oil pipeline, Iran Inter- national reported on August 9.
Rouhani in July inaugurated the 1,000-kilo- metre oil pipeline that runs from Iran’s western oil-producing region to a new oil terminal in Jask on the Sea of Oman.
The aim of the large infrastructure project is to allow oil exports to avoid the Strait of Hor- muz chokepoint by loading shipments at a point south of the Persian Gulf.
“This is a strategic move and an important step for Iran. It will secure the continuation of our oil exports,” Rouhani said in a televised speech. “This new crude export terminal shows the fail- ure of Washington’s sanctions on Iran,” Rouhani added on July 22 during the pipeline’s opening, alluding to the US policy of using sanctions to try
to stop all Iranian oil exports from making it on to world markets.
The parliament, which like the new president Ebrahim Raisi is hardline, appears to be follow- ing up on previous threats to make moves that critics say are an attempt to discredit and dis- mantle Rouhani-era projects.
The parliamentary committee stated that Rouhani rushed to open the pipeline before Rai- si’s inauguration and “inflicted damage” on the pipeline; however, the committee was not able to describe what damage was apparently inflicted.
Hossein Mirzaee, a committee member, said that the case accusing Rouhani and Zanganeh of misconduct was sent to the judiciary. The judici- ary is now headed by Mohsen Ejei, a close con- fidant of Raisi.
Mirzaee added that the committee previously urged Rouhani to hold off on the launch of the pipeline until a later date.
That date would almost certainly have been pencilled in for after Raisi’s inauguration.
Iran gives assurances nuclear talks will restart in September
IRAN has given assurances that it is ready to resume the suspended Vienna talks to revive the nuclear deal as soon as early September, AFP and dpa reported on August 7, citing a senior EU offi- cial who spoke to Iranian officials.
The official reportedly said that the EU’s negotiator on the matter, Enrique Mora, while attending the swearing-in of new Iranian Pres- ident Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran last week, spoke with the Iranian official designated to lead the talks, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
The EU official said Amir-Abdollahian has been lined up to be the new foreign minister in Raisi’s cabinet, but the move has not yet been announced.
The Iranians said they want to get back to the
negotiating table “as soon as possible—not just for talks but to achieve an agreement. They want a success,” the EU official was quoted as saying.
The EU official also told the news agencies that it was not clear whether the nuclear talks would remain under the responsibility of the Iranian Foreign Ministry or be taken over by Iran’s National Security Council or another body.
The nuclear deal was signed by the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China, as well as Iran, in 2015 to provide an easing of sanctions against Tehran in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme. Former US president Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the deal in 2018 and imposed swingeing sanc- tions on the Iranians.
Week 32 11•August•2021 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P9
