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TEHRAN (Iran News) –Iran says it believes in ‘integrated and joint’ extraction with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia from the disputed Arash gas field in the Persian Gulf, warning Tehran will start drilling in the field if Kuwait does so.

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Speaking to Tasnim News Agency, Mohammad Reza Sabzalipour said that severance of political ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia in 2016 minimized and even zeroed economic ties with Saudi Arabia and with some of its Arab allies and it made some economic activists mainly in Arab states stop reluctantly trade with Iranians.

He noted that in the past seven years there were great trade and economic opportunities which could happen between Iran and its neighboring Arab states but because of the lack of political and diplomatic ties they were mostly missed.

Sabzalipour then pointed to recent talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia which led to the resumption of ties, adding that efforts of the economic sectors of the two countries have also started to boost economic exchanges.

He added that in recent weeks the center had talks with some neighboring Arab states especially with Saudi Arabia which were positive. He reiterated that resumption of political ties with Saudi Arabia has opened the way for resumption of economic ties and currently Saudi and Kuwaiti businessmen have announced their readiness for investment in Iran.

Sabzalipour further said that economic activists of Saudi  Arabia and Kuwait currently have announced their readiness for investment in field of construction, tourism, building hotel and hoteliering, medical, building hospitals as well as insurance and banking and probably in the future new investors will enter more scenes and more diverse fields.

He admitted that the main concern of the foreign investors is the stability in the forex price for their long term planning and activities.

Sabzalipour further said that détente with the countries has great and important impact on the economic growth and broadening economic activities in the country as well as in resolving economic problems of the country.

He added that soon economic delegations will be exchanged between Iran and Saudi Arabia and with other countries in different fields and it is necessary for the ministries and related economic bodies and diplomacy apparatus to take advantage of this opportunity for attracting foreign investment through removing hurdles.

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On Thursday, the Iranian foreign minister had many meetings but only one drew the attention of observers: the meeting during which the new Kuwaiti ambassador to Iran, Badr Abdullah al-Munikh, submitted a copy of his credentials to Hossein Amir Abdollahian at the beginning of his tenure.

Al-Munaikh is the first Kuwaiti ambassador to Tehran after six years. He is considered one of the prominent diplomats in the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served in his country’s embassies in London and Pretoria. He also served as the deputy ambassador of Kuwait to the United Nations at the time when the tiny, oil-rich Arab country was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council between 2018-2019.

Kuwait downgraded its diplomatic relations with Iran in 2016 in solidarity with Saudi Arabia over the storming of the Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in the wake of the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Since then, Kuwait has not had an ambassador in Tehran.

But the ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Saudi Arabia, which started last year in April, seem to have motivated Kuwait and other fellow Arab countries to enhance ties with Iran. Kuwait is known for its moderate foreign policy toward Iran despite the fact that it often seeks to coordinate its Iran policy with Saudi Arabia. Kuwait seems to have gotten the green light from Saudi Arabia to dispatch an envoy to Iran.

Further reinforcing this extrapolation is concurrent with a decision by the UAE to dispatch an ambassador to Iran. A senior Emirati official said last month that the UAE was working to send an ambassador to Iran as it sought to rebuild ties with Tehran after years of tensions.

The Kuwaiti move comes amid Iranian-Saudi negotiations hosted by Iraq to restore ties with Tehran. After more than a year of painstaking and security-oriented talks, Iran and Saudi Arabia appear to be on the verge of making a breakthrough that could end years of diplomatic boycott.

In late July, Iran accepted an offer by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for Iraq to hold a public meeting of the Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers, an indication that the countries were moving the talks to the political level.

The Baghdad talks began in April 2021 and continued intermittently since then. After five rounds of talks, the Saudi crown prince sent a message via the Iraqi foreign minister requesting that Iraq host a meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia.

“Five meetings were held between Saudi Arabia and Iran on the security level,” Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, told Rudaw in July. “The Saudi crown prince asked us to host the meeting of the Saudi foreign minister with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the result of the Iran-Saudi talks in Baghdad was “encouraging.”

Since July nothing has taken place in the negotiations. But the return of the Kuwaiti ambassador to Iran could well indicate a Saudi tendency to patch up ties with Iran.

Arab media has said the sending of an ambassador to Iran by Kuwait is indicative of “a new orientation” by the Persian Gulf Arab states toward Iran.

The New Gulf news website has said upgrading Iran-Kuwait relations is part of this orientation.

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Hossein Amir Abdollahian also informed the people that Kuwait and the UAE will soon send ambassador to Tehran.

He said the UAE ambassador will resume his work in Iran soon, and Kuwait has also named its new ambassador to Tehran.

The foreign ministry has endorsed the two Arab ambassadors, he added.

In the beginning of the talk show, Amir Abdollahian referred to the expansion of Tehran’s economic interactions with the neighboring countries over the last 11 months, noting, “During the last ten months, the volume of trade between Iran and Iraq has increased from 12 billion to 16 billion dollars.”

Ebrahim Raisi officially began his work as president in August 2021.

Saudis asked us to make the negotiations public

Regarding the Tehran-Riyadh negotiations, Iran’s top diplomat said last week Tehran received a message from the Iraqi foreign minister suggesting that Saudi Arabia is ready to continue the talks with Iran at political level and publicly.

Previously, these negotiations were conducted at security level and in secrecy.

Noting that Iran is ready that its talks with Riyadh to enter political phase, he said, “We hope that these talks will eventually lead to the restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

The foreign minister also said that the slogan of the diplomatic apparatus is interaction with the East and the West.

Intermediaries told Iran Pompeo has spent $2 million on protection

Elsewhere in the show, the chief diplomat said that the European intermediaries have informed Iran that former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who was one of the perpetrators behind the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, has spent two million dollars on his protection so far.

“On the sidelines of negotiations to lift the sanctions, the intermediaries who transmit American messages told us that Pompeo alone has spent two million dollars on his protection because he is one of the agents who carried out the assassination of martyr Soleimani,” he stated.

He clarified that at a point in the recent negotiations, the American side sought to convey its concerns about the perpetrators of the assassination through the intermediaries, which was strongly rejected by Tehran and this case is being followed seriously by the Judiciary and the Foreign Ministry.

We hope Iran would enter SCO this September

Asked about the latest status of Iran regarding its full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the foreign minister expressed hope that in its September meeting, the SCO would review Iran’s application.

“We hope that in the September meeting of the organization, we will enter into the implementation and practical stages of using the benefits of Iran’s permanent membership in this organization,” Amir Abdollahian stated.

Similarly, on Iran’s membership process in BRICS +, he noted that Iran is one of the first countries that is going to become a member of BRICS +.

BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Private sector is leading in interaction with Africa

In the interview, the foreign minister also expressed his satisfaction with the level of interaction with the African continent, saying that in the last 10 and a half months, about 47 official delegations from Africa came to Iran and signed contracts in which the private sector was leading.

Nonetheless, he noted that the level of interaction with Africa is unsatisfactory.

“Actions taken to expand the interaction with Africa are necessary but not sufficient. Africa is an intact continent and has many capacities,” the chief diplomat stated.

We won’t take any deal on the table

Elsewhere in the talk show, the foreign minister faced a question on the latest developments surrounding the nuclear negotiations intended to remove sanctions, to which he responded that the foreign policy of the government in view of the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) is that the government should follow sustainable economic development program regardless of the JCPOA.

On the other hand, he remarked, the foreign ministry should use its optimum capacity for sustainable economic development to lift the sanctions and that Tehran must be present at the negotiation table, as this is a “negotiation campaign.”

More than 95 percent of the nuclear text is ready 

Amir Abdollahian continued, “We are now at a point where we have a ready text in front of us, and there is a consensus between the parties regarding more than 95 percent of its content, but there is still an important flaw in this text; and as we have stated many times, we must fully enjoy the economic benefits of this agreement.”

In this connection, Amir Abdollahian added, Tehran doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake twice.

“In order for Iran to enjoy the economic benefits of this agreement in full, the Americans must make commitments and (give) guarantees,” he reiterated, adding that Tehran is serious about reaching a “good, strong and stable” agreement.

“We do not want an agreement at any price…, we are looking for a good, stable and strong agreement,” Amir Abdollahian underlined.

He then pointed out that exchanging messages and consultations to reach an agreement is still underway, and the Americans have not yet assured Iran that Tehran can fully enjoy the economic benefits of the JCPOA.

“We are in the process of contacting and exchanging messages so that the indexes we want in this field are concretely and accurately put on paper so that we can then announce that we are securing a good agreement,” the chief diplomat said.

Water diplomacy seriously on the agenda 

In the last part of the interview, Amir Abdollahian pointed to the efforts of the diplomatic apparatus to solve the environmental crises, saying that unfortunately part of the environmental crises that the region is facing is due to the wars that have occurred in the region over last two or three decades and these wars have negatively affected the environment.

“Regarding this issue, Iran is trying to create peace, stability and sustainable security in the region and avoid war. The second part of it refers to the issue of water diplomacy and this is an issue that is on the agenda of the foreign ministry and the energy ministry,” he added.

The foreign minister announced about three weeks ago, he had a meeting with President Ebrahim Raisi during which he called all the relevant departments to bring any plan and action to the relevant institutions and implement them because the issue of water is a very important issue for the country.

Stating that a part of this issue also goes back to Helmand water, he clarified that he has talked about this issue three times in person and several times over the phone with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan’s interim governing body.

“The progress we have had is that the current officials of the Afghan governing body accept that Iran’s water rights from Helmand should be secured, but they say from a technical point of view, Kabul is also facing problems with rain and so on,” he elaborated.

Regarding Iran’s water rights from Aras and the need of the western provinces, the foreign minister said that about eight months ago, he agreed with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to form a joint water committee for the first time.

“A delegation from Iran went to Turkey and soon a delegation from Turkey will come to Iran,” he added.

Similarly, Amir Abdollahian pointed to the recent conversation between the presidents of Iran and Turkey and said, “Dr. Raisi emphasized this issue twice in his recent meeting with Mr. Erdogan and said that this is not an issue that we can easily ignore and we expect you not to reduce Iran’s water rights from the Aras River, and this is the right of the Iranian people and should be taken into consideration. We are also following this issue in different departments.”

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Speaking to ILNA, Faisal said comparing to the other Persian Gulf States, Kuwait has the most amount of imports and the volume of its imports is up to $40b while Iran’s share of it is very insignificant and the volume of Iran’s exports to Kuwait is around $400m annually.

On the trade between Iran and Kuwait, he said Iran’s trade with Kuwait is very slight and only those who have had trade with Kuwait from the past can do trade in Kuwait and it is impossible for the arrival of new Iranian tradesmen into the Kuwait market.

Faisal reiterated that Kuwait does not issue visas for the new tradesmen and the outbreak of COVID-19 also has worsened the condition and has had a negative impact on the bilateral trade.

He reiterated that Iran’s trade with Kuwait was low even in the pre-COVID-19 era and it has worsened after the outbreak. He further said that the bilateral trade of Iran and Kuwait was usually between $600m to $700m per year as the figure has declined to around $500m this year. Faisal noted that the bilateral trade between both states despite the proximity of southern Iranian ports to Kuwait should be more than the current amount and it needs active economic diplomacy, adding despite some talks with Kuwaiti officials, no progress has been seen yet.

Faisal also pointed to the important role of Iraq in the transit of goods between Iran and Kuwait, noting that Iraqis have not let it happen yet.

He also pointed to Iran’s exports to Kuwait, saying that Iran’s exports to Kuwait include construction materials, mineral materials, fertilizer, and a container shipping line that has been launched which let refrigerated goods be shipped to Kuwait, and in return, Iran has no imports from Kuwait.

On the presence of Israeli goods in the Kuwait market, Faisal said if all Arab states normalize ties with Israel, Kuwait will be the last one, and therefore, there are no Israeli goods in Kuwait.

Faisal went on to say that Kuwait market and shops miss Iranian goods as Iran’s share of Kuwait’s imports is very insignificant, reiterating that economic activists’ demands are to launch stronger economic diplomacy with Kuwait in order to boost trade with this country and the ground for the presence of new Iranian tradesmen in Kuwait market could be provided.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said that Iran will respond decisively to the assassination of the country’s prominent nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

“The sworn enemies of Islamic Iran must know that we will continue the path of this martyr and the path of martyrs will never stop,” said Major General Hossein Salami on Tuesday on the sidelines of the commemoration ceremony of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Stating that the enemy is focused on the strengths of the Iranians out of fear, he added, “To resort to criminal acts such as assassination means that we must train the likes of Martyr Fakhrizadeh.”

He emphasized that the path of this martyr will continue with more determination by his students, saying, “The enemies must await our reactions; we determine the time, place and quality of the response.”

Previously, IRGC Chief Commander in a message had highlighted, “The enemies of the Iranian nation, especially the commanders, perpetrators and supporters of this crime, should know that such crimes will not undermine the determination of the Iranians to continue this glorious and authoritarian path, and severe revenge and punishment of the perpetrators are on the agenda.”

Meanwhile yesterday, Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps stressed the revenge on perpetrators of the Iranian scientist assassination is definite.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi announced the progress of the investigation on the case of the assassination of Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, saying that the final results will be declared as soon as possible.

“We will definitely move forward in this case, and various relevant institutions from the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence are investigating this case around the clock,” he said.

Emphasizing on taking revenge on the perpetrators and commanders of the assassination of Martyr Fakhrizadeh, Fadavi said, “We will definitely act as soon as our response is sufficient and appropriate.”

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of the Research and Innovation Organization of the Ministry of Defense and a scientist in the country’s nuclear industry, was martyred on Friday (November 27th) in a terrorist attack around Tehran.

The assassination of the Iranian prominent nuclear and defense scientist followed many international reactions and many countries including Syria, Russia, Swiss, Venezuela, South Africa, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, and Afghanistan condemned it.

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According To Iran News, The value of Iran’s exports to its Arab trade partners in the region reached $8.565 billion in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-November 20), Farzad Piltan, the director-general of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)’s Office of Arabian and African Countries, said.

According to Piltan, the value of Iran’s total non-oil trade during the first five months of the current stood at $21.5 billion.

The mentioned trade partners include Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria, and Bahrain.

Among Iran’s top trade partners, Iraq was ranked the second export destination with about $5.3 billion worth of goods exported to the country, followed by UAE, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Other Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen (from the Persian Gulf region) and Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon (from West Asia) were not included in the list of the top 20 Iranian export destinations during the period under review, the official said.

Iran’s trade data also show that during the first eight months of the current year, about $13.377 billion worth of commodities were exported to 15 neighboring countries, of which about $8.57 billion were exported to the Arab neighbors.

Among the country’s neighbors, Iraq and the UAE were ranked first and second, followed by Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar which were ranked 9th, 10th, and 11th (after Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and Russia), and Bahrain which was ranked 14th (after Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan).

Iran’s top three non-oil export destinations during this period were China, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Saudi Arabia was still the last in the list of the neighboring trade partners with zero any trade exchange.

The total value of Iran’s non-oil trade during the first eight months of the current year reached $44.6 billion, according to Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Mehdi Mirashrafi.

In the mentioned eight months, Iran imported $23.1 billion worth of goods, while the exports stood at $21.5 billion.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – The first shipment of 60,500 tons of cement was exported to Kuwait from Iran’s Parsian city.

The governor of Hormozgan, Fereydoun Hemmati, announced the value of this export consignment as more than one million and 496,000 dollars and added: The export of cement from Parsian has been done to obtain currency in the conditions of sanctions and also to realize the non-oil economy.

Hemmati said: The consignment was exported by 2 vessels with a total tonnage of 33,500 tons.

A total of $31 million worth of non-oil commodities were reportedly exported from Iran to Kuwait during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (March 20-June 20), to register a 40% decline compared with the corresponding period of last year.

According to Director General of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran’s Arab-African Affairs Office Farzad Piltan, the decline in exports is due to the lack of direct contacts between Iranian and Kuwaiti business leaders, as well as obstacles to visa issuance for small-scale exchanges, IRNA reported.

Iran’s exports to Kuwait in the last fiscal year (ended March 19) stood at $180 million, indicating a 26.87% drop compared with the year before (March 2018-19).The outbreak of coronavirus should be blamed for the decline in trade.

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