The important role of nuclear energy in increasing the volume of trade between Russia and Iran (Article)
Umud Shokri
Although Russia has reduced Iranian oil sales to China in recent weeks by offering large discounts, energy relations between the two countries are expanding.
US and European sanctions have apparently brought Russia and Iran closer together, but competition between the two countries in the global energy market continues.
Last week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak visited Tehran to boost energy cooperation between the two countries.
Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals
According to Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji, the banking sector is one of the most important points of negotiations in both Moscow and Tehran, and during Novak's visit, good decisions were made to use national currencies in bilateral relations and financial transactions.
According to the high potential of the two countries, the current volume of trade in Tehran is not favorable.
According to the Iranian Oil Minister, the two countries are willing to increase trade to $ 40 billion, and in this regard, cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector can play an important role.
Economic Relations
Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji announces operation of part of Russia's $ 5 billion credit for energy, agriculture and transportation projects.
According to Owji, we also had good negotiations in the field of oil, gas and petrochemicals in Moscow, and good contracts and agreements were signed both in the upstream part of the oil industry and in the petrochemical sector and the export of technical and engineering services.
During Alexander Novak's visit, a memorandum of understanding was signed on the export of petrochemical products and catalyst technical know-how to Russia.
Regarding Iran-Russia relations, Masoud Khansari, head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, said that economic relations between the two countries have experienced many ups and downs throughout history, but analysts believe that the expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries has never been important in recent years.
The head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce added: "Reducing the role of the dollar in bilateral trade will lead to an unprecedented expansion of cooperation to the level of 10 billion dollars in the first stage and its expansion to the level of 25 billion dollars in the next stages.
The private sectors of the two countries, with the support of governments, will improve economic partnership
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stressed that his visit to Tehran on Wednesday (May 25th) between Iran and Russia plays a very important role in relations between the two countries. "Last year was a good opportunity to increase trade between Iran and Russia," he said.
As the volume of trade increased by 81% to $ 4 billion, in the first half of this year, trade between the two countries increased by 10%. Iran and Russia have many opportunities to cooperate in various fields, including energy.
The two countries have held several rounds of talks so far, and Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji also headed a delegation to Moscow in late December last year, and several important documents were signed for the development of oil and gas fields, oil refineries and technology transfer.
Nuclear energy cooperation
After Novak's visit to Tehran, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the National Iranian Petrochemical Company and the Russian Chemical Industries Union regarding the exchange of technical knowledge and knowledge-based cooperation in the field of petrochemical equipment.
"Iran-Russia relations are very good, especially on the nuclear issue," said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, on the sidelines of a joint meeting between Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in Tehran.
The development of Bushehr nuclear power plant is being discussed in phases 2 and 3.
We are negotiating with Russia. Last January, Kamalvandi, referring to Iran's plan to produce at least 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, said that Russia could play an important role in achieving this and producing 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power in Iran.
We expect that in the near future to implement new projects in Iran, the technical groups of Iran and Russia will start the necessary cooperation and exchange information.
Tehran and Moscow are in talks to build new units at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is part of the two sides' efforts to enhance strategic bilateral cooperation in the field of energy and nuclear technology.
It should be noted that the promotion and development of strategic cooperation between the two countries is one of the most important issues for Moscow and Tehran.
Damage to Iran's economy
In practice, however, the construction of the Bushehr power plant by the Russians with long delays has caused billions of dollars in damage to the Iranian economy. Alexander Novak's visit to Tehran can be seen as active energy diplomacy between Moscow and Tehran, but the situation of Giovolite seems to have brought Iran closer to Russia.
The sanctions will follow a similar policy, but no matter what the future holds for the Ukraine crisis, Moscow is reluctant to reduce its market share, and that increased energy cooperation is temporary.
Tehran should not expect to be able to provide the necessary financial resources and technology for oil and gas projects by increasing cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy.
Dr Umud Shokri, Author of "US Energy Diplomacy in the Caspian Sea Basin Changing Trends Since 2001", Foreign Policy&Energy Consultant.
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