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| Iraq |
| Iran offers help to Iraq. Really. |
| 2003-10-24 |
| Iran offered on Friday to help Iraqi reconstruction efforts by offering its former enemy an oil swap arrangement that could help Baghdad boost crude export revenues. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazzi also promised a credit facility of up to $300 million and offered cross-border electricity and gas supplies. "We stand ready to supply our electricity and gas to Iraq and to facilitate its oil exports through our oil terminals or enter into a swap arrangement that can amount to 350,000 barrels per day," Kharazzi said in the text of a speech he is due to deliver to a donors' conference on Iraq. "We have envisaged a comprehensive package of economic cooperation comprising development aid, investment, trade, tourism, project financing and so on," the text said. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #4 Once oil is flowing from Iraq through Iranian ports there is a certain amount of economic momentum that is established. To break momentum and send the flow through another route involves fighting economic inertia. This cost associated with this breaking economic momentum at a future date gives Iran leverage over Iraq. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-24 9:34:44 PM |
| #3 Gives them a "legal" foot in the door in IRAQ, one that isn't obviously a takeover move. They could have a presence to support the arrangements and avoid having to sneak their folks over the border. Number one on the Shia mullah's list has to be joining all Shia's together for protection, given the history with the Sunni's. The joining of Iran and southern IRAQ together as a Shi'ite nation has to be their Holy Grail (oops - obviously a bad metaphor.) |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2003-10-24 7:07:21 PM |
| #2 Probably Iran would like Iraqi oil exported from Iranian ports. Iran would get fees, jobs, prestige and best of all, would be able to make the accounting system incomprehensible and thus get more pricing freedom and be able to evade OPEC production limits. |
| Posted by: mhw 2003-10-24 5:20:28 PM |
| #1 One question: what's the angle? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-24 4:56:14 PM |