Can cope with zero Iran oil

PARIS, Oct 15, (Agencies): The United States still aims to cut Iran’s oil sales to zero and does not expect restored oil sanctions against Tehran to have a negative impact on a market that is well-supplied and balanced, a senior US official said on Monday.

US special envoy for Iran Brian Hook was talking to reporters after a visit to India, a major importer of Iranian oil, and talks with officials from France, Britain and Germany before the start of a new round of US sanctions on Nov 4 targeting Iran’s energy sector and financial transactions.

The three European countries have been trying to save the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and multiple global powers since US President Donald Trump announced in May that the United States would withdraw from the pact.

In a conference call from Luxembourg, where Hook was meeting European officials, he said Iran used oil revenue to support and fund terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, including in the proliferation of ballistic missiles.

The US goal is for countries to cut imports of Iranian oil to zero as quickly as possible, Hook said.

“We are working with countries that are reducing their imports to ensure that this happens,” he said.

Hook declined to answer questions on possible waivers on sanctions for countries that are reducing their imports or whether the United States would target the SWIFT international payments messaging system.

But he said Washington was confident that energy markets would remain stable.

“We are seeing a well-supplied and balanced oil market right now. We should focus on these fundamentals and not be distracted by the emotional and unbalanced claims coming from Tehran.”

Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has said its oil exports

cannot be halted because of high demand in the market.

“Stopping Iran’s oil export is impractical,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi told a weekly news conference on Monday. “Certainly, America will not achieve its goal ... our oil exports will continue.”

Iran pumped 3.45 million barrels per day in September, OPEC said last week, down 150,000 bpd from August. Production dropped below 2.7 million bpd under previous sanctions that were lifted following the 2015 nuclear deal.

Washington, meanwhile, plans to continue coordinating with oil producers and maintaining US supply.

“Our crude oil production increased by 1.65 million barrels in August compared to one year ago and that is expected to continue rising by as much as 1 million barrels a day within the next year,” Hook said.

Hook also said European efforts to create a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) for trade, including oil, with Tehran by November would struggle to gain traction.

“That vehicle sends the wrong message at the wrong time,” he said. “From what we’ve seen this SPV seems to want to create supply but we don’t see much demand for it when you look at well over 100 companies that have already made clear they are leaving.”

Several Iranian reformist newspapers on Monday published a rare joint editorial criticizing US sanctions against the country and asking “world journalists” to defend Iranian human rights.

The editorial was published in both Farsi and English on Monday in at least eight state-owned and pro-reform dailies. It said the US has “lied” about the purpose of sanctions, which target the needs of ordinary people and curtail access to medical supplies and equipment.

The joint editorial said that “trade restrictions, blockades, embargoes, freezing of assets and other economic sanctions are incompatible with the Charter of the United Nations.”

It called the US pullout from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran “an undiplomatic and immoral” policy. The agreement with world powers had established a protocol to limit Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Iran is negotiating with European trading partners to try and find a way to circumvent US sanctions and remain within the nuclear deal. The editorial is seen as part of efforts by Iranian reformists to address international public opinion ahead of the implementation of a new round of US sanctions targeting oil in early November.

Hard-liners opposed to rapprochement with the West were always skeptical of the nuclear deal, and have viewed the withdrawal as proof of their longstanding belief that the US cannot be trusted.

On Sunday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, tried to downplay the upcoming US sanctions targeting the country’s vital oil and gas sector.

Also on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Tehran received a US note confirming its withdrawal from a decadesold treaty affirming friendly relations between the two countries.

The Trump administration announced it would terminating the 1955 amity treaty earlier this month in response to a UN court order that the US lift sanctions on Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said withdrawing from the treaty was long overdue and followed Iran “groundlessly” bringing a complaint with the International Court of Justice challenging US sanctions on the basis that they were a violation of the pact.

The largely symbolic gesture highlighted deteriorating relations between Washington and Tehran.

Meanwhile, at an outreach centre in southern Tehran, teenagers are learning to be journalists, while upstairs their mothers are fine-tuning their sewing skills and rushing to fill an order for hospital uniforms.

The brand-new centre in the working-class neighbourhood of Shahr-e Rey caters to hundreds of struggling families and Afghan refugees.

It’s a relatively new approach for Iran, where social welfare has often been left to informal groups based around the bazaar and mosque or fallen to large-scale government-controlled organisations.

Today, privately-run charities are emerging, with managers, targets and buzzwords such as “empowerment” and “skills-training”, and funded by wealthy business people who have made fortunes in booming industries such as private healthcare.

This centre is run by the ILIA Foundation, created by social workers and members of the Nikan Hospital Group, who have partnered with UN refugee and health agencies to help around 1,000 families from deprived backgrounds.

For now these groups can only reach a small number of those in need but supporters say it is providing a model for future social work in Iran.

At one of the sewing machines is 27-year-old Somareh Ghazvani, a second-generation refugee – one of around 3 million Afghans who have fled decades of conflict across the border.

“It was a surprise to find this place. The conditions are much better than other places I have worked, so I’m very happy,” she said.

In the computer room, 16-year-old Masoumeh is working with InDesign and Photoshop as part of her summer classes in journalism.

“Our families have really counted on this centre. If we go to classes somewhere else, the fees are so high we can’t afford it,” she said.

One of the pioneers of the new approach to charity is the Imam Ali Popular Students Relief Society, which was recognised by the UN in 2010 and has built a network of 12,000 volunteers helping Iran’s poorest children.

A recent football tournament it organised for street kids was a reminder of Iran’s diversity, as Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds and many others were thrown together on the pitch in Tehran.

“The only choice for most of these kids in their neighbourhoods is violence, poverty and misery. We have tried to give them self-confidence through sports to improve their lives,” said Meysam Vahdei, head of sports for the foundation.

Ten-year-old Obeidollah had travelled since 3:00 a.m. from one of Iran’s poorest cities – Sarbaz in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province – and, inevitably, dreams of being the next Cristiano Ronaldo.