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Monday, August 08 2005 @ 07:26 AM Central Daylight Time
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 French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy confirmed that the European Union (EU) proposed to make Iran a major oil supply route between Central Asia and Europe if it freezes its nuclear activities.
On Sunday, Blazy said in an interview to French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. “We are making proposals to Iran on energy, such as becoming major players in the transport of oil between Central Asia and Europe via Iran.”
There is, however, no such offer in the EU’s nuclear incentive package reflected to the media. The Tehran administration announced on August 5 that transportation of the Kazakhstan oil via Iran was included in the package.
If the offer eventuates, Iran would rival the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in the transportation of Central Asian oil to world markets. This situation may mostly affect the BTC that is expected to enliven the Turkish economy; however, Iran has refused the EU package Saturday offered by Britain, Germany and France by finding it “unacceptable”.
The Tehran administration will expectedly submit an official statement about the package’s refusal to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today.
The package offer sees a prospective transportation route via Iran for Kazakhstan oil, which is currently being transported to Europe via the Russian Novorossisk port on the Black Sea coast.
An alternate route for Central Asian oil transported to the world markets through the BTC pipeline, of which its construction has just been completed.
The first oil of the BTC that is expected to make a great contribution to the Turkish economy was pumped on May 25. The BTC was completed in about 11 years at a cost of $4 billion. The 1,774-kilometer long BTC pipeline expects to transport one million barrels of oil. The first oil will reach Ceyhan in about five months according to the US-backed project.
Iran: We refuse the offer
Iran announced on August 7 that they will resume nuclear activities to the point of no return. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi reiterated the refusal of the EU package after a thorough examination. The Union did not make any guarantees on any issue, it did not mentioned compensation on economic and security issues and did not deal with the issue of nuclear fuel, Asefi said.
European countries retaliated by threatening to implement sanctions against Iran if nuclear activities resumed. |
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