Source Article
Not sure if this has been discussed before, but I could not find any other mention of it.
From Article:
TEHRAN, January 14 (RIA Novosti) - The National Iranian Oil Company and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed on Wednesday a $1.76
billion contract on developing Iran's North Azadegan oil field, local media reported.
These types of stories always catch my interest as it serves to highlight the true danger of pursuing war with Iran. I know there are many here who do
not believe that Russia or China will assist Iran in the event of a war. However this story serves to highlight the amount of investment China has in
developing relations with Iran.
The contract's overall price for the first and second stages expected to be implemented over a period of 12 to 17 years is likely to reach about $4
billion, the Iranian media said.
So this deal is set to grow as well. Iranian business represents a great deal of money to the Chinese government, and Iran has a brighter economic
future than the US appears to at the moment. A situation China seems aware of...
China dumping dollar?
Also noted in the first article is a previous deal reached by the two nations... man that is a lot of oil China is getting access to, makes me worry
about the direction of current events.
This is the second large deal Iran has signed with China in the oil sector in recent years. In December 2007, Iran's Petroleum Ministry and Chinese
oil company Sinopec signed a $2 billion contract to develop the Yadavaran oil deposit, which holds 18.3 billion barrels in proven reserves.
Seems I am not the only noticing China's growing levels of investment and influence in the region. Check this out...
Israeli Deputy PM Heads to China
From Article:
Israel on Tuesday said Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon will lead a high-level delegation next week to China, the most prominent holdout against
tough sanctions on Iran.
I personally believe that Israel understands the amount of interest China has in Iran and is trying to stave off possible retaliation in the event of
a strike(This is of course conjecture on my part, but it seems logical).
More from the above article...
On Saturday, Ambassador to the US Michael Oren revealed that as part of Jerusalem's ongoing efforts to scuttle the Iranian nuclear weapons program,
an Israeli delegation will be sent to Beijing. “We are not too late,” Oren said in an interview with Channel 10.
“We are in the thick of the process, both on the security and international fronts. Soon, an Israeli delegation will travel to China, but the big
question is whether the Chinese will take part in this battle over sanctions.”
Now here is where I think things become more complicated. Russia's assistance to Iran to seems(to me) to be in the form military and bureaucratic
aid. However China is beginning to do a good deal of business with Iran, and I don't think with will go along with any sanctions that reduce Iran's
ability to do business with them.
What do you guys think, is Israel trying to persuade China to step aside? Also what do think of China's interest in Iran in context of the current
conflict?