Iran wants China to replace Japan as top oil importer: report
Posted: 07 November 2004 0338 hrs
BEIJING : Iran wants China to replace Japan as its biggest importer of oil and gas, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was reported as saying here.
"Japan is our number one energy importer due to historical reasons ... but we would like to give preference to exports to China," Zanganeh was quoted as saying the China Business Weekly magazine.
"From the supply side, we have no difficulties (in making China the top energy oil importer from Iran)," the minister added.
Iran and China last week signed a preliminary accord under which China will buy 10 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 25 years in a deal worth 100 billion dollars.
The memorandum of understanding also grants to Chinese oil giant Sinopec the right to exploit the Yadavaran oil field on a buy-back basis in cooperation with a major international oil company.
On Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in Tehran that Beijing opposed US efforts to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear programme.
"It would only make the issue more complicated and difficult to work out," Li said during a news conference.
The United States accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons under cover of its civilian atomic energy program and wants the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to take Iran before the UN Security Council when the IAEA meets in Vienna on November 25.
Russia’s secret moves against Iran at IAEA revealed
This is strange, yet it's from Iran, so....
-Am
VIENNA (MNA) -- A diplomat from a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) country on Monday disclosed Russia’s secret moves against Iran during the current meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors in Vienna.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency that while intense negotiations are continuing between the Iranian diplomatic delegation, the IAEA, and the European Union with the aim of reaching a deal on the modalities of Iran’s 20 research centrifuges, Russian officials have been in constant contact with IAEA officials, telling them that Iran’s nuclear activities for research and development should be within the scope of Iran’s suspension of certain nuclear activities.
He said that the diplomats in Vienna were surprised by these moves, since Russia claims to be a friend of Iran and is Iran’s nuclear partner.
However, unlike Russia, China threw its support behind the Paris Pact and played a positive role by supporting the position of NAM with the aim of reaching a conclusion, the diplomat said.
He stated that Russia encouraged U.S. and European diplomats to take action against the Islamic Republic while Iran was fiercely protesting a clause of the resolution about its nuclear program.
The diplomat also said that Russian diplomats attending the IAEA Board session had informed the U.S. delegation that they are opposed to the idea of allowing Iran to gain access to the complete nuclear fuel cycle.
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