Iran reached agreements with Russia and Turkey on sharing know-how and investment in power plants inside the Persian Gulf country, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing Energy Minister Majid Namjou.
Power stations to be built with Turkish companies will allow the transfer of electricity to neighboring Turkey or to a third country, Namjou said, according to the IRNA report.
Iran and Russia agreed in separate talks earlier this month to jointly build power plants in Iran for export, Namjou said, without giving details of the projects.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at lnasseri@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net.
via Iran Agrees With Russia, Turkey to Build Power Plants, IRNA Says – Bloomberg.
TEHRAN (ISNA)-Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday deployment of NATO defense missile shield in Turkey is not a “proper decision.”
As to the deployment of NATO defense missile shield in Turkey, Salehi said, “It was not seriously offered by Turkey that much and has remained at the level of discussion only, in our viewpoint it is not a proper decision if it was going to be made. It needs a revision since there is no justification for it.”
“Regional countries have lived together for decades and for the time being recent popular developments in the region are moving towards more unity,” he told reporters on the sidelines of Islamic Awakening International Conference in Tehran.
As to Omani Foreign Minister’s mediation in the case of the two detained American nationals’release, Salehi said, “Many heads of states have mediated in the issue and we announced their mediation to the judiciary branch and relevant authorities and we hope the suggestion will be welcomed by Iranian judicial officials.”
TEHRAN (FNA)- Turkey has supplied 45% of its oil needs in July from Iran, a report said.
According to a report by the Turkish Energy Market Regulation Board (EPDK), Turkey imported 2.9 million tons of oil from 22 countries in July 2011, and the highest amount has been supplied from Iran.
Turkey imported 1.3 million tons of oil from Iran which was followed by Iraq with 340,869 tons. India ranked the third with 298,847 tons.
According to the report, Iran met 45%, Iraq met 12%, India met 10% and Italy met 8% of Turkey’s oil need in July.
Meanwhile, Turkey exported 531,281 tons of oil in July 2011, the report said.
Iran and Turkey are major energy partners. Iran exported a daily average of more than 30 million cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey in 2010, which increased around 7 percent in the first half of 2011.
According to the report of The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), Iran’s gas export to neighboring Turkey climbed by 50 percent in 2010 compared to the previous year, and by 100 percent in comparison with the 2008 figures.
Turkey does not have sizeable domestic gas production but it is an important natural gas transit country. Iran is Turkey’s second largest supplier of natural gas after Russia.
via Fars News Agency :: Almost Half of Turkey’s Oil Needs Supplied by Iran.
TEHRAN, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi on Saturday called on Turkey to explain its plan to deploy a NATO missile shield system in its territory, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
Salehi said the radar system which will be set up in Turkey has caused concerns in Iran and other neighboring countries, according to Mehr.
Iran does not think such a system is necessary, taking into consideration the current developments in the region, Salehi said, adding that Iran hopes that Turkey will provide necessary explanations on this issue.
Iran always seeks to solve its problems with the neighboring countries and to move in the direction of ensuring peace, security and stability in the region, the Iranian foreign minister said, ” We hope to continue the same path in the future.”
Salehi also expressed hopes that all the regional countries will narrow their differences and avoid providing any opportunity for their enemies who are seeking to sow discord among the regional nations.
According to earlier reports, a NATO warning radar system is going to be deployed in Turkey by the end of this year and it will be used to track missile launched from Iran.
via Iran asks Turkey to explain deployment of NATO missile shield system.
TEHRAN – The Iranian Ambassador to Turkey, Bahman Hosseinpour, has dismissed claims that Tehran and Ankara plan to launch a joint operation against PJAK (the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan) and the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers’ Party), ISNA reported on Saturday.
The terrorist groups of PJAK and PKK keep irritating Iran and Turkey, and therefore the two countries can launch “organized” operations against the groups, but organized operations do not mean joint operations, Hosseinpour told reporters after his recent meeting with Turkish Parliament speaker Cemil Cicek.
Enormous damages have been inflicted upon Iran and Turkey during their fights against the terrorists, and thus the two countries can cooperate (on this matter), he added.
Turkish media reported recently that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that Iran and Turkey may launch a joint operation against the PKK.
via ‘Iran, Turkey have no plan to launch joint operation against PJAK, PKK’ – Tehran Times.
Sherwan Hussein Mustafa and his brother speak about filing lawsuits against Turkey for the death of their entire family in an air strike.
Sherwan Hussein Mustafa had seven family members killed, including his mother and father, last month “in a massive raid by Turkish warplanes” against the hideouts of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) guerillas inside Iraqi Kurdistan Region territory. Mustafa told The Kurdish Globe he will do anything, “no matter how many years it takes”, to get justice for his family.
Mustafa was living in Britain when he received the news that almost his entire family had been killed by Turkish warplanes. He has since returned to Kurdistan Region, and says his only mission in life is “to bring those who are behind the killing of my family to justice.”
Mustafa’s family was working on the farm in the mountainous area of Qandil. As they heard Turkish warplanes bombing the Qandil Mountains, the family decided to leave the farm to go to their second house in Ranya city, near the Qandil Mountains. On the way to Ranya in their pickup truck, “Turkish warplanes targeted them and turned their bodies into many small pieces.” Their deaths created a furious anger across the Region and led to tens of demonstrations. A mass funeral was held for the family in Ranya.
A committee of lawyers, members of Parliament and civil society activists has formed to take the Iranian and Turkish violations of the Kurdistan Region to international courts. A well-known Kurdish lawyer and member of the committee, Abdulrahman Zebari, said the committee will investigate the killing of civilians by Iranian and Turkish bombardments and collect as much evidence as possible, with the aim of changing the case from “local crime to international crime”.
Zebari has seven years of experience in cases of genocide and crimes against humanity; he defended Kurdish people at the Iraqi Special Tribunal against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He said after collecting enough evidence, he will take the case to the United Sates, because according to the Status of Forces Agreement between Iraq and the U.S., it says there must be judicial cooperation between the two countries.
Zebari criticized the Iraqi government for not respecting its people or defending them. “Unfortunately, the cheapest thing in Iraq is the life of human being. The Iraqi people have lost faith in justice.” He added, “Now the biggest problem in Iraq is not about democracy; there is democracy in Iraq. The biggest problem is justice.”
Another lawyer, Fawzia Faqe, blamed the Kurdistan Regional Government for not taking concrete actions or using all cards available against the Turkish and Iranian violations. Shockingly, Turkey has not apologized for killing civilians and also denies it, Faqe noted.
“Look what Turkey has done to Israel after Israel refused to apologize to Turkey for killing eight Turkish citizens [for the May 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla incident],” she said. Kurdistan has a strong trade card in its hand and it should use it to punish Turkey and Iran, she added.
Immediately, after the killing of the seven civilians, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, denied that the families had been killed by Turkish warplanes. He said “the family was killed by a landmine.”
Mustafa was extremely angry and shocked at the Turkish foreign minister’s statement. He said the statement made him decide to dedicate his life to getting justice.
In the meantime, Zebari said the committee has a lot of evidence to prove the family was killed by Turkish planes. “We have 10 witnesses who saw when the missile hit the family’s vehicle. We have the remains of the missile that hit the vehicle and the way the vehicle was hit it also explains that it was hit by a missile, not a landmine.”
The committee believes in patience, even if it takes five to 10 years to get justice for the family
via KurdishGlobe- Kurdistan to file lawsuit against Turkey and Iran.
