Roundup: Iran Uses Energy "Weapon" to Improve TiesIran, the second largest oil producer of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is trying to enhance its position in world affairs and promote national economic development by improving ties with other countries through its abundant oil and gas resources.The Islamic country has decided to open its energy sector to countries friendly to Tehran to fight back US sanctions against Iran. The United States' hostile policy toward Iran has remained a major impediment to the country's economic growth. Over the past 10 days, Iranian leaders received Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, British Minister for the Cabinet Office Marjorie Mowlam and other high-ranking officials from Cuba, Ukraine, Austria, Cyprus, Turkey, Poland and Bahrain. These diplomatic activities obviously reflected Iran's desire to improve relations and cooperation with these countries, a major emphasis of Iran's foreign policy. Iran attached great importance to the cooperation with Italy, its largest European trade partner, especially in the energy sector. The two countries' bilateral trade volume stood at 2.75 billion U.S. dollars in the first 11 months of last year. Earlier, the two countries signed an energy deal on establishing Iran's first private power plant with Italian investment. The European Union (EU) and Russia are also very important to Iran as both played pivotal roles in world politics and economy. According to local press reports, a European oil, gas and petrochemical industries trade delegation organized by the EU- supported International Trade and Investment Missions will travel to Iran on March 10. The EU is ready to cooperate with Iran in the energy sector, particularly in the areas of electricity and gas exploration, according to Dariush Foroughi, director-general of the energy planning department of the Iranian Ministry of Energy. Russia has recently promised to help Iran build the first block of a nuclear power plant this year. Iran disclosed that Russia could earn up to 7 billion dollars in the next few years from the resumption of military cooperation with Tehran. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami reportedly will visit Moscow on March 12 for talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on how to share the oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea, said to contain the world's third largest oil and gas reserves after the Persian Gulf and Siberia. Differences remain among the five littoral nations, namely Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, on hammering out a legal framework for the management of the resources of the Caspian. Local press reported that Russia and Iran would sign a treaty on bilateral relations and the Caspian issue during Khatami's visit, which may help solve their problems. Iran's oil production accounts for 5 percent of the world's total. Its crude oil reserves make up about 9 percent of the world's total and its gas reserve is the second largest in the world after Russia. |
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