Iran benefiting from Ukraine-Russia Gas Dispute

sorry I could not find a better place to post this. most of iran-related issues are posted under War on Terrorism, anyway. Long Post

well, u might have asked urself how could possibly iran benefit from russia-ukraine gas dispute? I start with the response from Kiev after Gazprom cut gas exports to Ukraine.

Kiev said that it is being punished for its attempts to become more independent from Moscow and accused Russia of resorting to "blackmail" in order to undermine the country's economy.

1.
Iran is no exception. Iran is just an economical partner of russia. As iran becomes more self-sufficient in various fields, less dependent they become on russia. afterall, russians broketheir word with Ukranian gas pricing, and decided to raise the prices by over 400%.

in a word, Russians cannot be trusted. the deal is off, there is no bloody way, iranians could shift the most important part of the nuke cycle to russia, something they could afford to do at home, and leave the supply of fuel for their nuclear reactors on corrupt leaders of Russia. They could simply put a halt to the program, with iranians in desperate need for nuke fuel.

not to mention, Russians have yet to complete the Bushehr nuclear reactor.The plant has also seen several dates for its completion. It was expected to come on-stream in 2005, some two years from an earlier target of 2003. Then we heared it is going to be fueled some time in March 06 and now according to russian official, it will come online no earlier than october 2006.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 -

LONDON, November 23 - A senior Russian official said that Moscow would not ship nuclear fuel to the Bushehr plant it is building for Iran before the facility's scheduled completion by mid-2006, IRNA reported.

The senior official from the Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Power, Alexander Shmygin, told reporters that it would be 'very hard' to keep the transferred nuclear fuel under Persian Gulf's climatic condition.

It was not immediately clear whether Tehran had ever requested an earlier transfer of nuclear fuel.

Tehran and Moscow have set out a time-frame for the delivery of nuclear fuel under an agreement signed in February, but the dates have not been made public, IRNA noted.

The Bushehr plant, built under a one-billion-dollar deal, has also seen several dates for its completion pushed back.

The Islamic Republic announced in August that the 1,000-megawatt plant would be operational in October 2006, a year behind schedule.

The plant was expected to come on-stream in 2005, some two years from an earlier target of 2003.

2.
On the other hand, as tensions grow over russia-ukraine gas deal, it has created a golden opportunity for Iranians to underline the importance of Iranian gas exports to Europe, a project which will be halted if iranians are referred to UNSC, and economical sanctions are imposed.

Tehran, Dec 31 - Austrian Economy Minister Martin Bartenstein has underlined the importance of Iranian gas exports to Europe.

"Rising tensions between Moscow and Kiev over prices of Russian gas exports are all the reason one needs to believe Austria's efforts to take Iranian gas to Europe via pipeline are a step in the right direction," the Austrian economy chief told a news conference in Vienna on Friday.

Construction of the pipeline which passes through Turkey and Austria is expected to get underway in 2008.

The project is likely to be completed by 2011.

Do you think the ball is back in Europe's half? I really like to see enrichment taking place in Europe, USA, if not in Iran?

Do NOT try to convince me that Iran has nukes and is prepared to use it against other countries. just call me blind-minded, ignorant, etc. Iranian military doctrine is based on Islamic thoughts, and according to Quran, any muslim country should show off the might of its miltary to scare the enemy away. That's why they have a military parade a few times a year.

if iranians indeed had a nuke, then they would have had a test by now, being at the top of cheney's list of troubled spots. (the list probably looks something like this: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela, Qatar, Russia)

In the same "World without Zionism" conference, Ahmadinejad repeatedly said that the land of palestine has to be returned to its owners, and Israel should be wiped off the map. simple logic, you cannot both nuke a piece of land, (glass it, make it a parking lot, whatever or make it useless for the rest of our lifetime) and at the same time, return the land to its owners. not to mention, there will be no more palestinians left to return back home. I mean, I just don't get it, why should iranians do such a thing? hey: the current president of iran appears to be the most educated of any of his predecessors. he has a PHD in civil engineering.

Well, u might be calling me an agent of the iranian regime or something, well let me assure u that I have fled iran some 8 years ago and I care less about the iranian government but when it comes to something Iranian scientists have been able to achieve, I cannot agree more with the government stance on this particular issue.

I hope there is a peaceful solution to this, but If US/Israeil go ahead with a preemptive strike on Iranians nuke facilities, they are just messing with the wrong people a the wrong time.


RESPECT

[edit on 3-1-2006 by proprog]