Iran, Venezuela to form joint oil firm

Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noghrekar Shirazi



Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137326§ionid=351020102


A top Iranian oil official speaks of a fresh round of talks between Iran and Venezuela, saying the two sides have agreed to set up a joint oil shipping company.

Upcoming Tehran-Caracas talks will focus on the establishment of a joint oil shipping company as agreed in a memorandum of understanding the two countries signed last year, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noghrekar Shirazi told Mehr News Agency on Tuesday.

"We intend to purchase a few oil tankers to pave the way for the establishment of this shipping company", he underscored.

Iran's deputy oil minister said the joint venture will help boost mutual cooperation in upstream and downstream oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

The company will also export Venezuela's crude oil as well as oil products to Asian and European countries.

Meantime, another Iranian oil official said Iran currently has the largest fleet of oil tankers in the Middle East which is the fourth largest in the world.

Hassan Ahmadian said the Venezuelan National Oil Company and Iran's Petropars are in talks at the moment, discussing development of oil fields.

Meantime, Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noghrekar Shirazi also touched upon oil cooperation with Iran's neighbors.

"Negotiations are underway to draw a road map on oil and gas cooperation with regional countries" he said.

He highlighted Iran welcomes promotion of cooperation with regional nations, adding ground is now prepared for foreign investment as well as multilateral partnership in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

China to continue diplomacy over Iran

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122188§ionid=351020404


Amid US-led efforts for fresh sanctions against Tehran, China said Thursday that it would continue to work towards a "peaceful resolution" of the Iranian nuclear case.

"On the Iranian nuclear issue, China will continue to endeavor toward a peaceful resolution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

"We have always and will continue to push for a peaceful settlement of this issue," Qin said, adding that the standoff should be resolved by "diplomatic means".

Qin's remarks come as US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Wednesday that "China has agreed to sit down and begin serious negotiations" over imposing fresh sanctions against Iran.

The US, which accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, has been lobbying for more UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Tehran.

US-led calls have, however, received a chilly reception mainly from China, one of the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC, which insists that diplomacy can still work to solve the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran says any punitive measures against the country are legally baseless as Tehran's peaceful nuclear energy program is being fully monitored by UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA.

This comes as Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili is now in China to discuss with Chinese officials a range of issues, with Tehran's nuclear work high on the agenda.

Letters from Spanish children draw Israeli ire

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119765&sectionid=351020202


Tel Aviv is seriously angered by letters from Spanish children urging Israel to 'stop killing Palestinians' and has accused Madrid of favoring 'anti-Semitism' in schools.

Israel expressed 'distress' on Sunday after its embassy in Madrid was flooded with hundreds of letters from schoolchildren protesting Tel Aviv's conduct toward the Palestinians.

One letter directed at Israel's envoy in Madrid, Rafael Shotz, asked, "How many Palestinians have you murdered today?"

"Mr. Ambassador, you should think about not killing Palestinian children and the elderly. I don't know if it doesn't bother you, having to murder people. You should leave Palestine," read another.

Officials within Israel's Foreign Ministry said the handwriting appears typical of children six to nine years of age and criticized Spanish authorities for condoning activities by "anti-Semitic and anti-Israel individuals who gain permission to operate within schools."

The Israelis were, moreover, perplexed by the different sources of the profuse letters, saying that "it seems as though whoever was doing this was moving from school to school," Haaretz reported.

Despite an earlier decision to summon Spain's Ambassador to Israel Alvaro Iranzo, the Israeli Foreign Ministry opted instead to call the official by telephone on Sunday to complain about the issue.

"Israel is greatly distressed," Naor Gilon, foreign ministry deputy director for Europe, told Iranzo. However, the Spanish side argued that the letters were not part of any Spanish Education Ministry program, but the initiative by private citizens.

Israel has sealed all border crossings to Gaza Strip for years, in a move widely condemned as a collective punishment of Palestinians. The blockade, tightened since 2007, exerts a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the populated coastal enclave which is home to some 1.5 million Palestinians.

Turning a deaf ear to calls for easing the siege, Israel launched three weeks of relentless airstrikes and ground incursions into the Gaza Strip on the last days of 2008, leaving well over 1400 people — mainly women and children — killed.

Russia agrees to supply Mi-24 helicopters to Lebanon

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119618§ionid=351020203


Russian authorities have agreed to supply 10 Mi-24 advanced military helicopters to Lebanon instead of 10 MiG-29 fighter jets they had previously pledged to provide.

According to a report published by al-Nahar news website, the decision was taken after Lebanese President Michel Sleiman asked to receive the state of the art military choppers and the advanced missiles they carry in place of the Russian-made warplanes.

President Michel Sleiman returned Friday afternoon to Beirut concluding a 2-day official visit to Moscow, the first ever visit by a Lebanese head of state to Russia.

On Thursday, Sleiman met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and the two signed a memorandum on military cooperation.

The Russian move is seen as a slap to the United States over its longstanding military relationship with Lebanon. American officials had occasionally intervened in the past when other countries offered to supply weapons.

Lebanon's air force consists of only a few 1950s-era jets and a small number of Vietnam War-era helicopters. The MiG-29, often compared to the American F-16 fighter, is vastly more powerful than anything Washington was considering providing to Lebanon. The most recent Pentagon offer, in terms of air power, is a Cessna Caravan, a single-engine prop plane.