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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Tukey, Iran sign natural gas accord |
| 2008-11-22 |
| Ankara and Tehran signed an accord strengthening agreements on developing Iran's gas fields and transporting Iranian gas to Europe. With the agreement, Turkey secures the operation rights for three offshore gas fields in Iran's South Pars region, off the southern gulf port of Assaluyeh. Under the accord, Turkey will produce some 46 million cubic meters of gas per day and may use half of that amount itself. It is estimated that Turkey will spend $12 billion on developing the project, which envisages the joint construction of a 1,850-kilometer (1,200-mile) pipeline from Assaluyeh to the Bazargan border area with Turkey in northwestern Iran (Hurriyet Daily News, November 20). When asked to comment on the accord, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the Iranian Government liked to sign such agreements but they did not really came to anything (www.state.gov, November 19). It seems that Turkey's natural gas accord with Iran is a sort of "mehter march" policy, which requires two steps forward and one step back until the final destination is reached. In contrast to McCormack's view, the agreement between the two countries reflects strategic thinking on Turkey's part before taking such controversial steps. The Iranian side was applying pressure on Turkey to sign the recent accord. In June Ahmed Noorani, Iran's economic and trade attaché in the Iranian Embassy in Ankara, said, "Iran is ready to sign the natural gas contract but Turkey wants to work on details." Noorani further urged Turkey to sign the contract; "because the South Pars gas drilling site has been given to Turkey without competitive bidding [although] several problems have occurred on the Iranian side. We are expecting to sign the final agreement" (See EDM, June 24). In October the Iran Daily reported that "Iran and Turkey have resolved problems on a planned investment in the South Pars gas field and they may sign a production accord as early as November" (Iran Daily, October 26). The question is, would Turkey jeopardize its relations with the United States by bowing to Iranian pressure to initiate such project? If not, why then is Turkey maneuvering to sign these accords with Iran? It is in the interest of Turkey to build a pipeline from Iran to Europe, but Turkish policy-makers know that the U.S is opposed to such a project and Ankara would not want to put its relations with the United States at risk for the Iranian gas pipeline. The Turkish motivation for signing the accords might have two aims. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #2 Outside influence? Fascinating. I recall Turkey being the target of U.S. State Department's machinations to sabotage the effort. Specifically that they were asking for large amounts of additional aid as an "incentive", when it actually that the aid was being negotiated separately and un-related to the 4th Infantry's entrance. |
| Posted by: Milton Fandango 2008-11-22 21:22 |
| #1 Well, Turkey bowed to outside pressure to prevent the 4ID from going through to Iraq. Why not cut a deal with Iran? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-11-22 14:49 |