Iran Boosting Gas Exports to Iraq

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An Iranian official said the exports of natural gas to Iraq are growing steadily and are expected to hit 40 million cubic meters a day in summer.

Managing director of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDC) Hassan Montazer Torbati told Tasnim that Iran’s gas exports to Iraq are constantly increasing and nearing a ceiling set on the contract between the two neighbors.

He noted that the exports will be rising as the hot season is looming with a surge in Iraq’s electricity consumption, adding that the daily export is expected to hit 40 million cubic meters.

Baghdad and Basra are the main export destinations of Iranian natural gas, the official added.

On a gas deal with Turkey, Montazer Torbati said Tehran and Ankara are planned to enter negotiations to extend the gas export contract during the last five years of the deal, adding that serious talks to renew the contract will kick off next year.

In June 2017, Iran started to export natural gas to Iraq after years of negotiations and settlement of financial problems.

Tehran and Baghdad had signed a deal on the exports of natural gas from the giant South Pars Gas Field in 2013.

Under the deal, the Iranian gas is delivered to Sadr, Baghdad and al-Mansouryah power plants in Iraq through a 270-kilometer pipeline.

Last month, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity said the Arab country’s gas imports from Iran are planned to rise by 13 percent by January 2020.

Source:http://www.iran-bn.com/2019/05/17/iran-boosting-gas-exports-to-iraq/

IAEA: Important for Iran to Implement JCPOA

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It is essential that Iran fully implements its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano told the Agency’s Board of Governors on Monday.

Mr Amano noted the announcement by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on 8 May that it had “issued an order to stop some of Iran’s measures” under the JCPOA.

“I am worried about increasing tensions over the Iranian nuclear issue,” he said. “As I have constantly emphasised, the nuclear-related commitments entered into by Iran under the JCPOA represent a significant gain for nuclear verification. I therefore hope that ways can be found to reduce current tensions through dialogue. It is essential that Iran fully implements its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA.”

Since January 2016, the IAEA has been verifying and monitoring Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA.

“The Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement. Evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran continue,” Mr Amano told the 35-member Board, which is holding its regular, quarterly session this week.

Technical cooperation

Mr Amano informed the Board about the Agency’s continued efforts to build and strengthen partnerships and to increase the visibility of the IAEA technical cooperation programme.

“We highlighted the contributions of nuclear science and technology to the Sustainable Development Goals at two important events – the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and the International Conference on Public–Private Partnerships for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he said.

Mr Amano reported on his recent visit to Cuba to attend the 35th anniversary of ARCAL, the Regional Cooperation Agreement for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean. “Working closely with the Agency, ARCAL has become an excellent example of south-south cooperation, with more advanced users of nuclear technology sharing their expertise with their neighbours.”

Mr Amano reminded the Board of the importance of maintaining Member States’ contributions to the technical cooperation programme at “a level that ensures the Agency can meet the growing demands for our services.”

Noting that cancer remains a key focus of the IAEA’s work, Mr Amano provided an overview of the Agency’s work in this area. Support to many developing countries has included establishing and strengthening radiotherapy and nuclear medicine services and training specialists, including radiation oncologists and medical physicists, he said.

Cancer will be the subject of the 2019 IAEA Scientific Forum in September.

Nuclear applications

Mr Amano informed the Board about the recent inauguration of a new linear accelerator facility at the IAEA’s Dosimetry Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, which has equipped the Agency to provide expanded dosimetry services and training to Member States. Read this article for more details on the opening of the facility.

Updating the Board on the IAEA’s efforts to modernize its nuclear applications laboratories, he said: “I am grateful that Member States made available the 3.75 million Euros that we requested to equip and bring the two new laboratory facilities into full operation. Work is on track for all new facilities to come into operation over the next 10 months.”

Mr Amano said that VETLAB, the Veterinary Laboratory Network established by the IAEA in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is working to help Mozambique to prepare for a possible outbreak of animal or zoonotic diseases after the country was hit by two major tropical cyclones this year, in which more than 300,000 farm animals were killed and another six million were put at risk.

Nuclear safety and security

Mr Amano said preparations were underway for the next IAEA Ministerial Conference on nuclear security in 2020. “I hope that the Ministerial Conference will consolidate the achievements of the Agency in nuclear security in the past decade and help to shape our approach in the coming years.”

Nuclear energy

Turning to nuclear energy, Mr Amano informed the Board that next month the IAEA will launch a new initiative to assess the status of current and planned decommissioning projects throughout the world. “The aim is to identify possible cooperation opportunities among Member States,” he said.

The IAEA International Conference on Climate Change and the role of Nuclear Power in October this year will highlight “the many ways in which nuclear technology can offer proven solutions to some of today’s most pressing climate-related challenges,” the Director General added.

Nuclear verification

Mr Amano informed the Board that, using open source information and satellite imagery, the IAEA continues to monitor the nuclear programme of North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). “We remain ready to play an essential role in verifying the DPRK’s nuclear programme if a political agreement is reached among countries concerned.”

Mr Amano called upon North Korea “to comply fully with its obligations under Security Council resolutions, to cooperate promptly with the Agency, and to resolve all outstanding issues, including those that have arisen during the absence of Agency inspectors from the country.”

Source:http://www.iran-bn.com/2019/06/11/iaea-important-for-iran-to-implement-jcpoa/

Dubai Airports ‘pleased’ with Huawei amid US blacklist

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Dubai Airports is “pleased” with its relationship with Huawei despite a US blacklisting over national security concerns, according to a Dubai Airports spokesperson.

Huawei provides IT and communications technology to over 50 airports and 15 airlines around the world, including Singapore’s Changi Airport Group and Dubai Airports.

The services also include video surveillance technology and cloud systems.

“Based on our evaluation of their capability as a supplier and their fulfilment of our criteria, Dubai Airports partnered with Huawei for a modular data centre project to boost reliability and operational reliance,” the spokesperson told Arabian Business.

The spokesperson added that “the facility was delivered on time and to specification and we have been pleased with the outcome and the professionalism of all parties involved.”

Earlier this week, Eman Liu, the president of Huawei’s global transportation unit, said the company’s aviation business has so far been untouched by the American blacklisting.

“Until now, there is no effect,” he said at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) conference in South Korea.

According to Liu, the company’s customers present at the event pledged to “keep cooperating” despite US pressure.

“Because this trust is not one day trust,” he added. “It’s a long-term trust for the past 15 years, even 30 years.”

Around the world, a number of countries have also blocked Huawei from working on their mobile network, and a number of prominent firms have stepped back from the company.

“We cannot change the situation right now because we are businessmen,” he said. “But we hope the United States can change their way.”

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/421749-dubai-airports-pleased-with-huawei-amid-us-blacklist

Business sentiment in UAE at near record high

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Business conditions in the UAE’s non-oil private sector economy have shown the greatest improvement since October 2014.

According to the Emirates NBD UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index, the indicator rose to 59.4 in May from 57.6 in April – a third successive monthly increase.

Stronger market demand, marketing activity and the start of new projects all reportedly contributed to the latest increase, with growth expected to continue over the coming year, while business optimism was only fractionally weaker than the previous month’s record high.

The rate of growth in new business in the sector also quickened at a near-record pace. As well as improving underlying demand, price discounting helped secure new orders. New export orders, meanwhile, rose at the fastest pace in the near ten-year survey history, with new business from Saudi Arabia and Oman mentioned.

Price discounting was reflected in an eighth consecutive monthly reduction in output prices as companies were able to lower charges due to muted cost inflation. While overall input prices rose only marginally in May, and at the slowest pace in nine months.

Increased purchasing activity
Higher new orders led companies to increase their purchasing activity, which rose at a survey-record pace. And positive expectations regarding future workloads encouraged stock building midway through the second quarter. Inventories of purchases rose to the greatest extent since March 2018.

However, while both new orders and business activity increased at substantial rates in May, this was not reflected in employment rats, which were “broadly unchanged” during the month, with staffing levels remaining stable.

Khatija Haque, Head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD, sounded a word of caution. She said: “While the rise in the headline PMI indicates faster GDP growth in the UAE’s non-oil private sector, the environment remains a challenging one for businesses.

“The strong rise in both output and new orders last month was on the back of continued price discounting by firms as well as stronger growth in export orders. Moreover, when the headline PMI was last at a similar level (in October 2014 and January 2015) the survey showed solid growth in private sector jobs, which is not the case this time.

“The employment index in May 2019 was only fractionally above the “no-change” level and wages were stagnant as well, so the sharp rise in the volume of business activity is not yet benefitting households.”

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/politics-economics/421750-business-sentiment-in-uae-at-near-record-high

New US sanctions on Iran target petrochemical industry

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The United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran that target the country’s petrochemical industry, including its largest petrochemical holding group, over Iran’s financial support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Treasury Department said on Friday.

Meanwhile, Iran also rejected the idea of having wider international talks about its nuclear and military ambitions.

Washington is pressuring Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programme, and for waging proxy wars in other Middle Eastern countries. The new measures follow a round of sanctions imposed last month that targeted Iran’s export revenues from industrial metals.

Tensions between the two countries worsened last month when the administration of US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group, bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East, citing intelligence about possible Iranian preparations to attack US forces or interests.

The Pentagon has also accused the IRGC of being directly responsible for May 12 attacks off the coast of the United Arab Emirates that damaged two Saudi tankers, an Emirati vessel and a Norwegian tanker.

Iran: We will only talk about the nuclear deal
Iran rejected French calls for wider international talks over its nuclear and military ambitions, saying on Friday it would only discuss its existing 2015 atomic pact with world powers, Iranian state television reported.

French President Emmanuel Macron had said a day earlier that Paris and Washington both wanted to stop Iran from getting nuclear arms – and that new talks should focus on curbing Iran’s ballistic missiles programme as well as other issues.

But Iran’s foreign ministry said it would not hold any discussions beyond the 2015 pact that Trump abandoned last year as he pressed for tougher restrictions.

“Under this circumstances, talking about issues beyond the deal … will lead to further mistrust among the remaining signatories of the deal,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement.

‘To deny funding’
Friday’s sanctions from the US target Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) for providing financial support for the economic arm of the IRGC, Iran’s elite military unit in charge of its ballistic missile and nuclear efforts.

The US Treasury also designated the holding group’s network of 39 subsidiary petrochemical companies and foreign-based sales agents. PGPIC and its subsidiaries hold 40 percent of Iran’s petrochemical production capacity and are responsible for 50 percent of Iran’s petrochemical exports, it said.

“By targeting this network we intend to deny funding to key elements of Iran’s petrochemical sector that provide support to the IRGC,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The US Treasury statement said Iran’s oil ministry last year awarded the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya – its economic development and engineering arm – 10 projects in oil and petrochemical industries worth $22bn, four times the official budget of the IRGC.

Trump last year pulled out of a 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for easing some sanctions, saying it did not go far enough.

The Trump administration has since taken several unprecedented steps to squeeze Iran, such as demanding the world halt all imports of Iranian oil and designating the IRGC as a “foreign terrorist organization”, which Iran has cast as an American provocation.

US law already punished US persons who deal with the IRGC with up to 20 years in prison because of the group’s designation under the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, a different sanctions programme.

Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/sanctions-iran-target-petrochemical-industry-190607172547291.html