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FBI: Iran targeting US energy and defense firms
FBI: Iran targeting US energy and defense firms.
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FBI: Iran targeting US energy and defense firms - Video
SPEAKING FREELY Iran poised on a slippery nuclear slope By Ismael Hossein-zadeh
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.
Soon after the Iran nuclear talks were extended for seven months beyond the November 22, 2014, deadline, President Hassan Rouhani sought to portray the inconclusive negotiations as a diplomatic victory for Iran and an indication that his team of negotiators had "stood their ground" in the face of excessive demands by the United States and its allies.
In reality, the extension meant that Iranian negotiators had failed
to achieve anything of substance (in terms of sanctions relief) in exchange for the significant unilateral concessions they had made a year earlier. To put it differently, it meant that the US and its allies refused to honor what they had promised Iran in return for its suspension and/or downgrading of its nuclear technology.
In the first round of negotiations on November 24, 2013, Iran agreed to significant concessions: to limit its enrichment of uranium from the level of 20% purity to below 5%; to render its existing stockpile of 20% fuel as unusable for further enrichment; to leave its heavy-water reactor in Arak unactivated; not to use its more advanced IR-M2 centrifuges for enrichment; and to allow extensive inspections of its nuclear industry/facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Negotiators had therefore agreed to more than freezing Iran's nuclear technology. More importantly, they had reversed and rolled back the significant scientific achievements and technological breakthroughs that had been made in recent years.
In return, the US and its allies had agreed that following the "confidence building" implementation of these commitments by Iran, economic sanctions against that country would be lifted.
A year later, and despite the fact that IAEA has consistently confirmed Iran's compliance with these commitments, major sanctions continue unabated. US Secretary of State John Kerry, at a press conference on November 22, boasted that undiminished sanctions have forced Iran to either reverse or freeze much of its nuclear program.
"Today," Kerry stated, "Iran has no 20%-enriched uranium. Zero. None. They have diluted and converted every ounce that they have ... Today, IAEA inspectors have daily access to Iran's enrichment activities and a far deeper understanding of Iran's program."
Source: Press TV
Iran will soon resume exports of petrochemical products to Europe, which have been banned under the US-led sanctions in recent years.
Iran's Petrochemical complex in Assaluyeh (file photo)
Iran's Jam Petrochemical Company announced Saturday that a consignment of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), measuring 2,000 tons with a total value of over USD 2 million, will be shipped to Belgium next week.
The company says the resumption of petrochemical exports to Europe coincides with the revival of a shipping route for similar exports to Turkey.
International clients - under a tight regime of US-led sanctions - were banned from buying petrochemicals from Iran over the past few years.
The ban was lifted last year following breakthroughs in nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers.
Iran has exported more than 7.8 million tons of petrochemicals worth more than USD 5.1 billion in the six months ending September 22.
Iran produced 40 million tons of petrochemicals in the last calendar year (ended March 20), with USD 9 billion worth of its products being exported.
The country, which is a major oil exporter, plans to increase its petrochemical exports to USD 12 billion this year.
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Iran to resume petchem exports to Europe
Syria and Iraq FMs in Tehran for anti-terrorism conference
The Syrian foreign minister Walid Mualem is in Tehran for conference on combating extremism, which will also be attended by his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari. The World Against Violence....
By: mit Korkmaz
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Syria and Iraq FMs in Tehran for anti-terrorism conference - Video
Iraq: Deadly mortar strike hits Karbala during Shia celebrations
Some 20 mortars were dropped on the inhabitants of Karbala in central Iraq, Thursday, killing at least one and wounding a reported 20. The attack comes as mi...
By: RuptlyTV
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Iraq: Deadly mortar strike hits Karbala during Shia celebrations - Video