UK backs an Iran / Turkey gas deal
September 28, 2007 at 11:47 am
No country knows more about the difficulties of bridging the gap between the Middle East and Europe than Turkey. Lacking a substantial energy supply, the country relies heavily on foreign imports with often torturous negotiations beforehand. A measure of success has been achieved, however, as the latest deal will see a natural gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea area in Iran flowing into Europe through Turkey. The deal was struck in Ankara in July 2006 and will see Turkey pump vast amounts of money into three phases of Iran’s South Pars Project.
Iran has the second largest reserve of natural gas in the world after Russia but, due to the global political scepticism towards them, securing foreign investment is becoming increasingly troublesome. In 1999, the US imposed the Iran Sanctions Act, which states that any country investing over $20 million in Iran’s gas or oil will be subject to sanctions. There are increasing concerns that investment will lead to uranium enrichment in the country.
All of the scepticism hasn’t stopped the UK Energy Minster, Malcolm Wicks, from backing the deal struck between Turkey and Iran. Wicks claims to sympathise with Turkey’s need to meet energy demands, especially in their growing attempts to become part of the EU. Wicks goes on to say that the UK will be keen to invest in Turkey’s new found energy market. “We need to develop new ways in order to combine the diversified sources of Turkey, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan,” Wicks told a Turkish TV channel.
However, the US is certainly not adopting the same stand-point as Mr Wicks. US Embassy spokesperson Kathryn Shallow said: “The US is against all kinds of agreements reached with Iran. At this stage it would not be a wise step to cooperate with Iran in the energy sector as the Tehran administration carries out its nuclear activities against International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)]and UN resolutions.”
This news comes soon after the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavror warned that, if a war was waged on Iran from Western countries, then it would seriously disrupt the oil flow and cause thousands of refugees to flee to Russian soil through the no-border region in northern Iran near Azerbaijan. Fears continue to grow for the rest of the world in relation to Iran’s shielded nuclear defence programs. Recently, France has joined the voice of other nations calling for Iran to cease its uranium enrichments.
Industrial gas and oil trade, such as the new one between Turkey, paint Iran as being cooperative with the West. What must be considered is how much of this trade is to fund illegal weapons programmes or the possible building of a nuclear bomb? Is Iran only an ally when it concerns their vast fuel supplies?
