Iran firing up first LNG project with EU.

Iran firing up first LNG project with EU. (IFN).

The National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGEC) is in talks with foreign firms to sell part of its shares in the country’s “frontrunner” LNG scheme which has lingered for years amid sanctions.

According to General Manager of marketing at NIGEC Mostafa Sharif, the company plans to sell at least 20% of its 49% shares in Iran LNG joint venture project to foreign companies.

Along with Iran Oil Pension Fund which holds the remaining 51%, NIGEC hopes to complete the project in just under three years, making the country’s first LNG exports ready for the market.

Iran LNG is a $3.3 billion project to produce 10.5 million tons of liquefied gas per year. It is 60% complete, according to officials, pending imports of new equipment and structures to bring it online.

With sanctions formally removed on Saturday, many of Iran’s oil and gas development projects are expected to gain pace as foreign companies are offering funds and technology in anticipation of big dividends.

Sharif, quoted by London-based Argus Media, said Iran Oil Pension Fund may also seek to sell some of it 51% stake in Iran LNG. Discussions with foreign oil companies could be concluded this year, he added.

German industrial gases group Linde has already offered to help Iran complete its LNG projects which also include LNG Pars and LNG Persian.

The three projects had been awarded to Royal Dutch Shell, Spain’s Repsol and France’s Total to produce 40 million metric tons of LNG a year for exports but the three companies abandoned them in 2011 when Iran came under sanctions.

Foreign companies are also weighing $800 million-$1 billion of investment in floating production of LNG from associated gas at offshore fields in the Persian Gulf, a senior energy official has said.

Last November, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Iran and Belgium were in talks for possible FLNG production off the Kharg Island. Hmmm.........EU parliamentarians haven't seen a single Human right worth keeping for a good profit. Read the full story here.

Video - Iran the ME China? Iran's nuclear issue, possible lifting of sanctions

The west needs Iran, Iran’s oil and gas reserves, Sidqi Shevket, head of Azeri Daily Website, told Trend on "This Week in Focus".

Shevket said that in terms of proven gas reserves, Iran is second in the world, while also fourth in terms of having proven oil reserves.

The EU is trying to build energy security and it means that they have to diversify their flows of energy resources, he said, adding that it is not about the replacement but about being added to the supply scheme.

"The EU does not want to cease buying gas from Russia, they just want to have many sources of energy sources,” he said.

The expert believes that by the end of June Iran and P5+1 group of countries will probably achieve the final agreement, as the fact that the sides reached the framework agreement is a very big step forward.

Another important factor, according to Shevket, was that both Barack Obama and Hassan Rohani have been moving forward, despite all the opposition from both conservative circles in Iran itself, and the US, despite what Israel has been saying.

“They have moved forward because that is in the interest of the West which is trying to solve some of the regional problems with the help of Iran,” said Shevket. “And it is in the interest of Iran itself from the economical point of view.”

He said that Iran has great economic potential, and during so many years under sanctions, this country proved that it can sustain its economy. And while not verything is as well as people of Iran might wished for, but the country has still been developing despite all the sanctions, all negative imaginary, Shevket believes.

So if the sanctions are removed, it is obvious that Iran is going to achieve very high level of economic development, he said.

“In my opinion, it is important to see that Iran might become a very attractive country for foreign investors as well,” said Shevket. “I am not speaking just about its oil and gas reserves.”

What is important, Shevket says, is that Iran is a pragmatic partner.

The recent nuclear negotiations between Iran and P5+1 group of countries proved that Iran has pragmatism as one of the characteristics which is inherent to the Tehran authorities, despite all the ideological differences that Iran might have with the West and vice versa, according to Shevket.

The agreement will be important mainly for those parts of the world where Iran has certain influences, he said. Then all other kinds of political and economy deals could be possible, according to Shevket.

Iran Not Afraid of Visits by UN Human Rights Rapporteur, we just don't want HIM.

Iran Not Afraid of Visits by UN Human Rights Rapporteur, we just don't want HIM. (fars).

Secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani said the country is not afraid of visits by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, but it has a problem with such a visit by Ahmed Shaheed due to various reasons.

"We are certainly not afraid of Ahmed Shaheed's presence in Iran," Larijani said, addressing a conference on human rights in Tehran on Sunday.

Larijani pointed to the six problems that Iran has with Ahmed Shaheed, and said,

"Our first problem is that they should explain why (the UN wants to send) a special rapporteur, what has happened in Iran that they have appointed a special rapporteur and why this rapporteur is needed for Iran and not for other countries."

The secretary of Iran's Human Rights Council referred to the second problem as Ahmed Shaheed's biasedness and his lack of impartiality as a UN rapporteur. "We do not want Shaheed to be our friend, we only say that he should not take political stances against Iran."

Larijani pointed to the third problem as the method of survey used by Shaheed, and said, "Whenever we ask about his method, he does not say a word."

Pointing to the fourth problem, he said Shaheed is fabricating documents against Iran.

Larijani referred to the fifth problem as supporting terrorism, and said, "Ahmed Shaheed calls terrorist suspects as advocates of human rights … while supporting terrorism is liable to international prosecution."

And, he said, the sixth problem with Ahmed Shaheed is that he has insulted Islam on numerous occasions.

Earlier this month, Larijani blasted Ahmed Shaheed for his support for the terrorist groups acting against Tehran, and said the UN rapporteur has turned into an actor providing service to the opposition media.

“Unfortunately, Ahmed Shaheed has become a media actor who acts for those media which air propaganda against the Islamic Republic, while this is against the approved protocols,” Larijani told FNA at the time.

“Ahmed Shaheed supports terrorism extensively,” he said, explaining that he has provided Iran with the name of four people claiming that they are due to be executed for their human rights activities.

“This is while these four individuals have been sentenced to death or other penalties for their membership in PJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan), they have killed people and their houses had turned into place for storing weapons,” Larijani said.

“It is a shame for the human rights rapporteur to label terrorists as human rights advocates,” he underlined.

PJAK, a militant Kurdish separatist group with bases in the mountainous regions of Northern Iraq, has been carrying out numerous attacks in Western Iran, Southern Turkey and the Northeastern parts of Syria where Kurdish populations live.

The separatist group has been fighting to establish an autonomous state, or possibly a new world country, in the area after separating Kurdish regions from Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria.

Iranian intelligence and security officials have repeatedly complained that Washington provides military support and logistical aids for such anti-Iran terrorist groups.

Also earlier this month, Larijani said that Tehran has banned visits by Ahmed Shaheed because he has only parroted the allegations made by Iran’s enemies, but Tehran will welcome independent rapporteurs if they prove no to be pursuing a biased attitude towards the Islamic Republic.

"Tehran is opposed to any visit by Ahmed Shaheed due to his invalid reports against the Islamic Republic," Larijani said.

Larijani, however, welcomed visit of the independent rapporteurs to Iran.

"Ahmed Shaheed has become a puppet at the hands of Iran's enemies to spread anti-Iranian accusations," he added.

UK says change in human rights in Iran under 'Moderate' Rouhani is unlikely

UK says change in human rights in Iran under 'Moderate' Rouhani is unlikely.(NCRI).

The British Foreign Office said in a report that there has been no sign of institutional change for minorities in Iran under Hassan Rouhani and change for the better is unlikely.

"There was no substantive improvement in the human rights situation in Iran between October and December 2013," the report said.

"There has been no sign of institutional change to improve the human rights situation, including for minority religious and ethnic groups, journalists and human rights defenders, prisoners and women."

The Iranian regime has carried out a total of 40 executions since the beginning of 2014, with at least 33 carried out in the past week alone, Amnesty International said on January 17, 2014.

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said:

“The spike in the number of executions carried out so far this month in Iran is alarming.

“The Iranian authorities’ attempts to change their international image are meaningless if at the same time executions continue to increase.

“The reality in Iran is that people are being ruthlessly sentenced to death after unfair trials, and this is unacceptable.”

Iran - Mullahs have ruled the country over past three decades by imposing discrimination, torture and aggression against women.

Iran - Mullahs have ruled the country over past three decades by imposing discrimination, torture and aggression against women.(NCRI).

Maryam Rajavi calls on women around the world to defend the rights and to provide security for women in Camp Liberty and all oppressed women in Iran

NCRI - On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, saluted all brave Iranian women who have stood up against one of the most violent dictatorial regimes in the world, all women political prisoners in Ali Khamenei’s prisons, and all women around the world who are struggling against all kinds of violence, cruelty, oppression, discrimination and inequality.

She said, “Today, we remember all the women around the world who during the past year became the victims of cruelty and inequality and suffered from all kinds of violence.”

Pointing out that “Oppression and violence against women is the basis for ruling and an essential leverage for this regime’s survival”, Rajavi said: “They have ruled the country over past three decades by imposing discrimination, torture and aggression against women. Torturing and execution of tens of thousands of struggling women and girls, including as young as 13 year old girls, pregnant women and elderly mothers is only part of this regime’s record. 

A so-called religious fatwa issued to justify raping women prisoners has been the guideline for judicial, intelligence and security organs and also the torturers of the mullahs’ antihuman and anti-Islam regime for the past three decade; an ignominious record of this regime’s crimes that is unprecedented in the contemporary history of mankind.”

“Systematic violence against women consists of numerous bans in various aspects including freedom to choose clothing, right to divorce, right to travel, right to employment and many other fundamental human rights.

However, when it comes to women’s right to fight for their country’s freedom, the ruling criminals resort to all types of crimes against women who dare to stand against this regime. Thousands of imprisoned women have been tortured, and PMOI women members and those struggling against this regime have lost their lives, and all the inhumane pressures imposed against the 1,000 women in Ashraf and Liberty, are all proofs of this fact,” said Maryam Rajavi.

Rajavi added, “In the latest attack against Ashraf on 1 September 2013, 52 PMOI members were killed, including six women, and six other women were taken hostage. They are currently in the custody of Iraqi forces and are facing the grave threat of being extradited to the criminal mullahs.”

She emphasized, “Today, efforts to save the lives of these hostages and supporting the security of the women in Liberty, have become a vital humanitarian duty and especially the responsibility of the equality movement.

Many of these pioneering women have been imprisoned in the regime’s dungeons for years; and most of them have three decades of resistance experience, making them valuable assets of the equality movement.”

Referring to the fact that the mullahs’ regime has the pivotal role in imposing violence against women and exporting misogynous viewpoints to the countries of the region, Maryam Rajavi described the struggle to change this regime as an important step in eliminating violence against women in the Middle East and the entire world. 

Rajavi went on to call on women across the globe to rise in defense of the rights and providing security for the women in Liberty, and also all the suppressed women in Iran.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.