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Showing posts from February 19, 2012

Unveiling nuclear tests at Iran’s Parchin complex - then what?

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Two rounds of negotiation in a month between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) led to nothing, because Iran who had announced the IAEA delegation had not planned to inspect nuclear facilities, were confronted whilst visiting the Parchin Military Complex at their request. Parchin, of course is not a new matter, In June 2004, the IAEA wanted Tehran to allow inspectors to see this military complex that lies 30 kilometres southeast of Tehran. This giant complex consists of several army research centres, where it develops and produces ammunition, missiles, and high explosives. Recently in November 2011, IAEA Chief Yukia Amano said during a report that he suspected that Parchin was the site where explosives relate to nuclear weapons being tested in recent years. Mr Amano reported that Iran built a large, cylindrical chamber at Parchin in 2000 that was designed to contain the force of up to 70 kg of high explosives. In 2004, rumours arose around this subject that Iran has

Iran and Europe in lose-lose game

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Iran banned crude oil supply to France and the UK on Sunday 5 months before the European Union's last oil embargo resolution over Iran comes into force. The EU foreign ministers agreed in January to ban oil imports from Iran starting July 1, while Iran said "no worry", and "we have our own crude customers". Banning crude selling to France and UK was imposed while the European Union Economic Advisor Mehrdad Emadi told Trend that France decreased oil import from Iran by 34 percent until January compared to 2011. According to the United States' Energy Information Administration, France and British's Iranian crude import in the first half of 2011 was about 49,000 and 11,000 barrels per day respectively. Iran's oil import to EU and Turkey amounted to 700,000 bpd in 2011, but this figure has fallen by 50,000 bpd now. Industry sources told Reuters on February 16 that Iran's top oil buyers in Europe were making substantial cuts in supply months in advan