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Oil Minister: Iran Planning to Inaugurate Several Gas Projects in South Pars before Winter

bijan zangeneh
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh
 

 

Namdar Zanganeh said that the majority of the units related to the prioritized phases of South Pars, including phases 12, 15, 16, 17 and 18, will start production this year (started March 21), through which the country’s gas production will be increased by 100 million cubic meters per day.

The oil minister emphasized that all the aforesaid units must start production before winter.

The South Pars gas field, divided into 28 phases, is located in the Persian Gulf on the common border between Iran and Qatar. The field is estimated to hold 14 trillion cubic meters of gas as well as 18 billion barrels of condensates.

The field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which lie in Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, better known as the North Dome, are located in Qatar’s territorial waters.

 Fars news agency

Official : Iran, Germany to Hold Economic Confab

Karbasyan
Executive Director of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) Mehdi Karbasyan
 

 

Karbasyan said that Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh is slated to attend the event.

He further added that a 30-member delegation comprising high-ranking officials from industrial, mining and trade sectors led by Nematzadeh will take part in the upcoming conference.

Karbasyan added that IMIDRO will organize the one-day event in cooperation with Union of Germany and Middle East Economic Cooperation to attract investment from the German private sector and help promote mutual cooperation in the fields of industry, mining and trade.

He said that two deputies of the minister of Industry, Mines and Trade and managing director of Iran Industry and Mines Bank will also participate in the conference.

Some ten managers and owners of Iranian private sector industries will hold talks with their German counterparts involved in Middle East investments, he said.

Karbasyan is scheduled to deliver a lecture during the conference to explain the advantages of investment and capacities of the mining sector in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Germany is an important trade partner of Iran. Berlin has long been ignoring the US-led sanctions against Iran.

Iran and Germany have tried to expand their bilateral relations in recent years through reciprocal visits by the two countries’ officials.

Fars news agency

Iran, New Zealand Stress Peaceful Settlement of Syrian Crisis

Head of the Strategic Research Center of Iran's Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati
Head of the Strategic Research Center of Iran's Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati

In their meeting on Sunday, the two officials discussed the humanitarian situation in Syria and stressed the need to find a political solution to the crisis.

They both believed that Syrian people should be allowed to decide their own destiny through participation in the upcoming presidential election.

The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, when sporadic pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle-East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military support to Takfiri extremists.

Washington has remained indifferent to warnings by Russia and other world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.

European Parliament Lambasted for Meddling in Iran’s Internal Affairs

Seyed Baqer Hosseini
Seyed Baqer Hosseini, member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission
 

 

“What the Europeans take into consideration are based on their own policies and serve their own interests,” Seyed Baqer Hosseini, member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, told the Tasnim News Agency on Saturday.

His remarks came in response to a recent anti-Iran resolution adopted by the European Parliament.

On Thursday, April 3, the EP passed a resolution expressing grave concern over the human rights situation in Iran and the “continued, systemic violation of fundamental rights” in the country, and called on the members of the European Union to “mainstream human rights in all of its relations with Iran.”

It has also urged the European External Action Service (EEAS) to “undertake all preparatory work for the opening of a Union delegation in Tehran by the end of 2014”.

Elsewhere in his comments, Hosseini condemned the European body’s meddling stances on Iran, stressing that the Iranian nation is the only side that decides for itself.

He further called on the country’s administration to reject outright the European Parliament’s idea on establishing an office in Tehran, and explained, “The presence of the European Union (in Iran), according to the thought presented in its resolution, pursues nothing but to sow sedition.”

Tasnim news agency

 

Speaker: European Resolution on Iran Disgraceful

larijani
Iranian parliament speaker

Addressing a group of the Iranian parliamen’s staff here in Tehran on Saturday, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani slammed what he called a “disgraceful move” by the European Parliament (EP) to adopt a biased resolution on Iran.

On Thursday, April 3, the EP passed a resolution expressing grave concern over the human rights situation in Iran and the “continued, systemic violation of fundamental rights” in the country, and called on the members of the European Union to “mainstream human rights in all of its relations with Iran.”

The politically-tainted resolution has also claimed that the presidential elections in Iran in July 2013 “were not held according to the democratic standards valued by the EU.”

Blaming the European body for its short-sightedness, Larijani underlined that such behavior is a clear sign of the MEPs’ limited and flawed understanding of Iran’s internal affairs.

The speaker said those who have drafted the resolution might have been deceived by others, however, he criticized the Europeans for making such “wrong remarks” about the last year’s presidential elections, which he likened to a “political epic” by Iranians.

In relevant comments on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham deplored the biased resolution as “baseless, invalid and unacceptable.”

She also blamed the recent move, which she said aimed at damaging the relations between Iran and Europe, on a certain stratum of extremist MEPs, under the influence of the Zionist lobbies and opponents of the Islamic Republic.

4 Out of 5 Iranian Guards Kidnapped Handed Over to Iran’s Liaison Official: MP

sarbaz
5 kidnapped Iranian border guards

“The Iranian guards kidnapped border have been handed over to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s liaison in Pakistan, but they have not entered into the country yet,” Esmail Kowsari, member of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission told the Tasnim News Agency on Friday.

The lawmaker, however, made it clear that the released soldiers are 4, giving rise to speculations that one of the abductees has been killed by the notorious terrorist group.

On February 6, the so-called Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group kidnapped the five Iranian border guards in Jakigour region in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan and took them to Pakistan.

Ever since, Iran has made special diplomatic efforts to release the soldiers.

Spokeswoman Rejects Iran’s Alleged Interference in Yemen

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham

“These groundless accusations are occasionally raised, but the falseness of such claims quite clear to everyone,” Afkham told reporters at her weekly press briefing in Tehran on Tuesday.

She noted that such remarks are made despite the ongoing meddling and moves by some regional countries in Yemen contrary to the country’s interests and security.

The Iranian spokesperson pointed to relations between the two countries, and said, “The Islamic Republic has always supported unity, stability and integrity in Yemen.”

“We believe that the issues in Yemen can only be resolved through dialog and a political process in line with meeting the legitimate demands of the country’s people and with the cooperation and participation of all the country’s political groups, parties and currents without foreign interference,” she added.

In relevant remarks last year, a senior Iranian parliamentarian rejected enemies’ allegations about Iran’s espionage operations in some certain countries, particularly in Yemen, underlining that the country follows up transparent policies.

“Iran does not need to carry out espionage operations in any country in the region because the Islamic Republic pursues its policies clearly,” Rapporteur of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said.

Unlike the era of Cold War, when espionage was conducted by spies, nowadays there is no need for the physical presence of people in other countries due to technological advances in acquiring information Naqavi Hosseini added.

Farsnews Agency

IRGC Official Calls Iron Dome “Serious Threat” to Israel

Ramezan Sharif
Head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Public Relations Department General Ramezan Sharif said the recent blunder in Israel showed that Iron Dome is an inefficient and dangerous air defense missile system threatening its owners.

He reiterated that the Iron Dome is an inefficient and weak system, and said, “The recent test once again proved the dome’s weakness.”

In relevant remarks on Tuesday, a senior Iranian legislator underlined that the recent fiasco in Israel showed that Tel Aviv’s claims about its Iron Dome missile system are merely a military bluff to distract the attention of the regional countries from its weaknesses.

“The Zionist regime makes such comments in order to weaken its opponents and enemies, but Hezbollah forces have no fear of such bluster,” rapporteur of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said.

He underlined that the hollowness of the claims by Tel Aviv about its military might has been established for the region.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Iron Dome missile system “accidentally” fired interceptor rockets into the Red Sea resort city of Eilat in Southern Negev.

Eilat residents were panicked early on Tuesday morning following a series of explosions that also sent Israeli forces scrambling to find the source of the booms.

The Israeli army initially presumed that a rocket attack had occurred in the area.

Initial reports said three Grad rockets were fired at the resort town. They claimed two of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome while the third one exploded in an open area.

However, the army later claimed that the attacks were really a false alarm caused by an error at the Iron Dome site near the city.

An army spokesperson said the explosions were caused by two Iron Dome anti-missile projectiles accidentally fired at around 7:30 am local time (0530 GMT).

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the incident.

Israeli media reports said an airplane preparing to land in the city was also forced to circle during the false alarm until the incident was resolved.

Eilat, which sits just a few kilometers from the border with Egypt, is sporadically targeted by militants in the Sinai region.

The Iron Dome has been established with the financial support of the United States. In May, 2012, the US House of Representatives appropriated 947 million dollars to the Iron Dome, nicknamed “David’s Sling,” and a long-range Arrow missile program in Israel.

Farsnews agency

Senior MP: Iran to Look for Abductors’ Den in Pakistan

Hossein Sobhani Nia
TEHRAN (FNA)- Member of the Iranian Parliament's Presiding Board Hossein Sobhani-Nia cautioned that Iran is planning to target the hideouts of the militants who are holding Iranian border guards in their captivity in Pakistan

Sobhani-Nia underlined that such terrorist operations undermine the security of Iran’s border regions, and said, “I call on the Iranian officials to implement special initiatives to secure the release of the kidnapped border guards.”

On Thursday, Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli cautioned Islamabad to adopt a more responsible approach towards the safety of the five abducted Iranian border guards, one of whom was killed by Jeish Al-Adl terrorist group this week.

“Iran will draw on all of its capabilities along its borders with Pakistan if Islamabad does not adopt a responsible approach regarding the five Iranian border guards recently abducted by a Pakistan-based terrorist group,” Rahmani Fazli told reporters.

He reiterated that Iran will consider it as its right to use all its might to release the Iranian border guards.

The Iranian interior minister called on Pakistan to take more “measured and principled” action with respect to such issues and observe its legal obligations regarding its neighbors under international law.

On Monday night, the Iranian Interior Ministry confirmed the reports that Jeish al-Adl terrorist group has killed one of the five Iranian border guards.

“The local officials (in Pakistan) have confirmed the report on the martyrdom of one of the abducted Iranian border guards by Jeish al-Adl terrorist group,” Interior Ministry Spokesman Hossein Ali Amiri told FNA on Monday night.

He made the remarks after Jeish Al-Adl claimed on its tweeter page that it has killed Jamshid Danayeefar, one of the kidnapped border guards.

The execution of the border guard came as an Iranian official said on Sunday that efforts and consultations with the Pakistani officials still continue to secure the release of the border guards.

“Talks with national and local Pakistani officials have been held at different levels and they have made some promises,” Governor-General of Iran’s Southeastern Sistan and Balouchestan province Ali Awsat Hashemi told FNA.

He expressed the hope that the young border guards would be released to return to their families soon.

The five Iranian border guards were abducted in Jakigour region of Iran’s Sistan and Balouchestan Province on February 6 and taken to Pakistan.

Iran reliable energy source for Europe: Zarif

Javad Zarif
Javad Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Tehran can be a reliable supplier of energy resources for Spain and other European countries. Speaking during a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo in Tehran on Sunday, Zarif said that there are numerous capacities for cooperation between Iran and the European Union (EU) countries in the current political atmosphere and the potentials should be utilized.

The Iranian foreign minister talked of efforts to set the stage for energy trade with Europe, saying that the broadening of economic relations could benefit both sides. Highlighting that Tehran-Madrid relations are based on common interests, the top Iranian diplomat expressed hope that ties between the two countries would further expand in the future.

M.Javad Zarif
M.Javad Zarif

The two officials also discussed international developments and regional issues, particularly the crises in Syria and Ukraine. The Spanish foreign minister, for his part, expressed his country’s readiness to bolster cooperation with Iran. Iran and the P5+1 – Russia, China, France, the UK, the US and Germany – inked an interim deal on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 24, 2013.

The Geneva deal took effect on January 20. Under the accord, the six major world powers have undertaken to lift some of the sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during six months.

It was also agreed that no more sanctions would be imposed on Iran within the same timeframe. Many European countries, including France, Germany and the Italy, have shown interest to enhance their economic relations with Iran, a business powerhouse in the Middle East region, as sanctions imposed against Tehran are partially suspended.