WATCHING THE WORLD: Tension: the Iranian view

April 23, 2007
Iran’s First Vice-President Parviz Davudi last week said that his country would do its level best to prepare a proper ground free from tension for attraction of foreign investment in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries.

Iran’s First Vice-President Parviz Davudi last week said that his country would do its level best to prepare a proper ground free from tension for attraction of foreign investment in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries.

Davudi made the statement at the inaugural ceremony of the 12th oil, gas, and petrochemical exhibition in Tehran. Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh also attended the inaugural ceremony of the 5-day exhibition.

Reports said that 797 domestic and 510 foreign companies from 35 countries participated in the event. The Iranians were pleased to say the number of participants in the event increased by 15 foreign and 7 domestic companies from the previous round.

Growth observed

The exhibition was held in a total area of more than 37,000 sq m, of which some 8,720 and 28,500 sq m were allocated to foreign and domestic companies, respectively.

Growth was the watchword of the day, with the first vice-president purring that over the past 2 years considerable growth has been observed in Iran’s joint economic commission meetings with other countries. “The messages of Iranian officials, including that of the president, to various countries, shows reduction of tension and growing trend of cooperation in the field of investment in oil projects,” added Davudi.

That’s meant to be the good news coming out of an event whose main objectives included attracting foreign investments, introducing final products, increasing market share, studying marketing, identifying opportunities for joint ventures, and holding meetings with final consumers of products as well as current purchasers.

Unveiled threat

Under the gun of United Nations sanctions, of course, the Iranians need all of the friends they can muster. But the Iranians have a funny way of trying to reduce tension in their effort to attract more foreign investment. No one said a word about the country’s stepping away from its nuclear ambitions. Nor, for that matter, did anyone talk of negotiations with the UN Security Council.

To the contrary-and to the amazement of world observers-at the conference, the Iranian government actually refused to rule out the option of withholding supplies of oil as a weapon if the current standoff with the West over its nuclear program intensifies.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s policy is to supply energy as a responsibility. We are never seeking to cut the energy supplies to the world,” said Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh. “But, naturally, every country which is subject to danger or attack should use all its possibilities to defend itself, and this is every country’s right.” His comments came in response to a question over whether Iran would use oil as a “weapon” if the UN Security Council passed a third resolution imposing more sanctions against Tehran. The minister may think it entirely natural to threaten use of the oil weapon, but such a threat could not be considered assuring by potential investors.