'Mr. Lonely' - Iran nuclear deal leaves Pyongyang out in the cold

'Mr. Lonely' - Iran nuclear deal leaves Pyongyang out in the cold. (AN).

Tuesday’s landmark deal over Iran’s nuclear programme signed in Vienna by Iran and the 5+1 group in has left North Korea as the last odd man out.

In view of this, many analysts believe that after the United States took steps to normalise relations with Iran and Cuba -- two of its three long-time foes, conditions have become more conducive for Washington to pay more attention to North Korea’s nuclear issues.

In “light of this trend, the Iran deal could play a positive role in terms of adding pressure for North Korea’s denuclearization,” said Park Myung-lim, a political scientist at Yonsei University.

What is more, for Park, Kim could use the nuclear card “to address all of its internal and external issues, including domestic instability, isolation, poor economy and the normalization of ties with the U.S. and South Korea, and so forth”.

Other experts believe however, that Iran will monopolise Washington’s attention. For instance, Chang Yong-seok, a senior analyst at Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, expressed doubts over the speculation that after the deal with Iran, the United States could pay more attention to Pyongyang.

“I am rather cautious about whether the U.S. would move in the near future to address the North Korean issue, as there would be many follow-up measures to do to implement the Iran deal including its talks with the Congress,” he said. And the US Congress will ultimately have to vote on the deal.

All analysts also agree that Iran and North Korea are very different.

Iran is still a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. North Korea, which entered the NPT regime in 1985, broke away from the treaty in 1993, re-joined later and withdrew from it again in 2003.

Tehran has argued that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, including medical use, whilst Pyongyang describes itself as a nuclear-armed state in its constitution and has openly adopted a policy of simultaneously pursuing the development of nuclear arms.

Iran has not conducted any major nuclear tests. By contrast, the North carried out nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013, arguing that it has already entered the technical phase “to miniaturize and diversify its nuclear bombs.”

Another difference between the two is that economic sanctions for the oil-rich Islamic Republic are critical for its trade, whilst the impact of the sanctions on the North are much weaker, as its economy is largely disconnected from the international system. Hmmmm......I'm sure the Obama 'admin' has already a 'deal' in mind for Mr. lonely.

Why Putin protects North Korea from the West.

Why Putin protects North Korea from the West. (RBTH).

Russia benefits by developing a special relationship with North Korea, because it would give her a trump card in bargaining with the United States, and the ability to demand concessions from Washington in other areas of foreign policy.

When asked about the situation surrounding the resumption of six-party negotiations related to the North Korean nuclear program, Special Envoy Grigory Logvinov told RIA Novosti that Moscow would not permit any “conspiracies” against Pyongyang. “The statements about increased pressure and duress are counterproductive, and cannot lead to anything positive,” Loginov said.

In May, high-ranking diplomats from the U.S., Japan and South Korea held a meeting in Seoul where they agreed to increase pressure and sanctions against North Korea in order to bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.

Going by Logvinov’s statements, it is fair to assume that Russian diplomats believe that steps to strengthen mutual trust and “reduce the level of military activity” would be a better option than increased pressure and sanctions.

Now, there is a situation where Moscow can double or even triple its resources to stimulate the North Korean talks. “Intensifying the negotiating process about the North Korean program is extremely important to Russia,” says Gevorg Mirzayan, a researcher at the Institute of USA and Canada.

Mirzayan believes that Moscow wants to use the negotiating process to strengthen its position in the region, especially in terms of relations with South Korea and Japan. “Without close relations with these countries, it is strategically disadvantageous for the Kremlin's ‘Turn East,’ policy, which can become overly dependent on China.”

Russia has the opportunity to play the role of ‘honest broker.’  Moscow could help the adversaries overcome their mistrust.

“Gaddafi surrendered his nuclear program. Well, where is Gaddafi,” Konstantin Asmolov asks rhetorically.

Moscow can address Pyongynag’s concerns by providing security guarantees to North Korea (as it did with Iran), as well as provide storage for North Korean nuclear material.

In Pyongyang, there seems to be agreement for Moscow to be more actively involved in the negotiation process. “Kim Jong-un, like his father, attaches great importance to relations with Russia,” says Asmolov. Read the full story here.

Iran looks into 5-6 routes to deliver gas to Europe after sanctions are lifted.

Iran looks into 5-6 routes to deliver gas to Europe after sanctions are lifted - gas company NIGC. (RT)

Tehran is considering several gas delivery routes to Europe after Western sanctions on the country are lifted.

“Iran is considering several routes to deliver gas to Europe, possibly around five or six routes,” (Read Turkey)Azizollah Ramezani, head of the National Iranian Gas Company’s liaison office told RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday.

According to the official, the routes could go via Turkey, the Black Sea, Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea.

“But these routes need to be studied according to norms, and [we need to] study the economic cost efficiency to choose the best route. The study has started because research may be carried out at any time regardless of sanctions, but this depends on the client: Europe. Europe is expecting sanctions to be lifted and then they will start negotiations, and after that they can sign an agreement with Iran,” Ramezani said.

The Iranian official said the country may use the Turkish Stream gas pipeline currently being developed by Russia, although this has not yet been discussed.

“This is possible. There haven’t been any negotiations on this yet, but it could be a good idea to begin talks because this point, where the Russian pipeline and the Turkish pipeline go to Europe, may also be a point where Iranian gas pipelines may be reached by Europe,” Ramezani said, speaking on the sidelines of a gas congress in Paris. Hmmmm....As i said before EU parliamentarians would sell their whole family for cheap gas, Human rights....never heard of, now you know why Erdogan can do whatevah he wants.

Iran signs monetary agreements with three new 'AXIS' countries.

Iran signs monetary agreements with three new 'AXIS' countries. (ISNA).

IRAN - Deputy Head of Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Gholamali Kamyab said the country has concluded bilateral monetary agreements with Iraq, Turkey and Russia.

His remarks came after a delegation from the Central Bank of Iran visited Russia three months ago to finalize a monetary agreement between Tehran and Moscow. The two sides managed to reach an agreement on several fields.

Concluding the deals, the trading would be done by local currencies of these countries instead of euro and dollar.

The Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) is a multilateral currency swap arrangement among the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong), Japan, and South Korea. It draws from a foreign exchange reserves pool worth US$120 billion and was launched on 24 March 2010. That pool has been expanded to $240 billion in 2012.

The initiative began as a series of bilateral swap arrangements after the ASEAN Plus Three countries met on 6 May 2000 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank.

After 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, member countries started this initiative to manage regional short-term liquidity problems and to facilitate the work of other international financial arrangements and organizations like International Monetary fund. Hmmmm....anyone believing 'Sometimes NATO ally' 'Islamist' Turkey can be relied on needs a thorough medical.