Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Moscow did make a statement regarding Iran and I can't reference it. I will look. Meanwhile Saakashvili is courting Tehran. Iran is setting itself up as a hub much to Bush’s chagrin and has a lot of pipeline proposals in the works.

Saakashvili realizing that Putin has Georgia’s energy sources under Moscow's control has gone to Iran thinking that Iran could be Georgia's very important economic partner in commerce, energy and transport sectors.

Saakashvivi has probably also guessed that the U.S. backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline will not be as lucrative for Georgia as planned.

A fierce struggle is unfolding for oil and gas exports from Kazakhstan, a land-locked Central Asian nation, which sits on the second biggest hydrocarbon reserves among the former Soviet states. Despite U.S. pressure, Kazakhstan may not give enough oil to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to make it commercially viable, as BTC transit tariffs are going to be twice as high as Russia's. Earlier this year, Kazakhstan's President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, said that he regarded Russia as a "priority transit route for Kazakh oil," while Russia has offered to expand its pipeline capacity to take the bulk of Kazakh oil exports.

#msg-3490222

-Am

Tbilisi-Tehran relations receive a boost
President visits ethnic Georgians, touts economic ties with Iran


Friday, July 9, 2004, #127 (0651)


By Sopho Gorgodze

Although events in Georgia appeared on the brink of serious conflict, President Mikheil Saakashvili nonetheless made the most of his state visit to Iran, hailing economic, cultural and political cooperation between the two not-so-distant neighbors.

With the invitation of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Saakashvili left for Tehran Tuesday evening accompanied by a high level delegation including the Minister of Energy Nika Gilauri, Minister of Education Kakha Lomaia and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Salome Zurabishvili.

As a sign of economic ties, the president also took a group of businessman and the Poti Port Head Jemal Inaishvili in his entourage.

On Wednesday Saakashvili was welcomed by the Iranian president in a special ceremony where the Georgian president also paid his respects at the grave of Ayatollah Khomeini who orchestrated the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran.

According to the scant reports coming from Tehran, the two presidents discussed closer economic and trade relations and laid an emphasis on cultural and historical ties. The members of the delegation discussed the cooperation in the energy sphere, education, and infrastructure with their colleagues.

At a joint press conference, President Khatami appreciated great efforts made to promote Tehran-Tbilisi cooperation but labeled it still "insufficient" compared to what he wants, Payvand's Iran News reported.

Mikheil Saakashvili emphasized that Tehran is one of Georgia's major economic partners and described Iran as important and influential country in the region. He said Georgia should regain the losses incurred to it by not cooperating with Iran.

"We understand how important it is for the well being of the Georgian people to utilize the potential gain of Iran-Georgia relations, therefore we plan to reimburse the losses of the last few years with energetic and swift steps," Saakashvili said on Wednesday.

Regarding Iran's détente policy, "President Khatami emphasized that the Islamic Republic is moving in line with the promotion of global peace and stability," according to Tehran Times.

During his visit President Saakashvili stressed that Georgian foreign policy priority - i.e., entering the European Union - will not hinder the development of Georgian-Iran cooperation. Saakashvili thinks that Iran could be Georgia's very important economic partner in commerce, energy and transport sectors.

On his part Iranian President said: "We respect the democratic aspiration of Georgian president, support your aspirations towards restoring the country's territorial integrity, because we believe stability and security of Caucasus region is very important… we will also welcome enhancing economic relations with Georgia."

Georgia's Minister of Energy reportedly discussed with his counterpart the possibility of introducing alternative natural gas and electricity resources from Iran. Minister Nika Gilauri mentioned it is not beyond the realm of possibility that from the January 2005 Georgia could receive high quality Iranian natural gas transited trough Azerbaijan.

"Rehabilitation works are needed to implement the gas import and create additional gas reserves for Georgia so that we are not dependent on a single country. Apart from this it will be possible to talk about electricity exchange," Gilauri told Georgian reporters.

Poti Port head Jemal Inaishvili touted cooperation in the field of transport: "Iran is interested in our transportation opportunities which means infrastructure and ports, as it is one of the profitable ways for them to go to the European market."

On Thursday, President Saakashvili met with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi. According to Prime News, Kharrazi pointed out that Iran has a positive experience resolving crises in Central Asia and Afghanistan and will play a constructive role in establishment of regional peace and stability and in fight against drug smuggling.

Later in the day, president traveled to the province of Fereidan to meet ethnic Georgians who had been living there for centuries. After invading Kakheti and Kartli in 1616 Shah Abbas I resettled more than one-hundred-thousand Georgians in the province of Iran - Fereidan.

Although converted to Islam, the Georgian descendents have retained much of the language and Georgian traditions. When Saakashvili arrived in the central town, men began chanting, "gaumarjos, gaumarjos, gaumarjos."

During the brief visit, the delegation distributed Georgian language books to residents. It also became a very emotional meeting for the president.

"I dreamed about coming here and I used to come here in my dreams," Saakashvili told the crowd.

He also thanked the Iranian government for creating good conditions for Georgians living in Fereidan. Despite contradicting reports, it appeared late Thursday evening that the president had decided not to cut his visit short in order to deal with the brewing situation in South Ossetia and was slated to return to Tbilisi on Friday.


http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/0651_july_9,2004/news_0651_3.htm