MEOG: Iran looks for alternatives

In MEOG this week we look at Iran’s moves to deal with Venezuela and Saudi Arabia as nuclear deals wither.

As the chances of resuscitating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) appear to grow slimmer by the day, Tehran is courting alternative political ties as a means to bring economic opportunity.

This week, Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji travelled to Venezuela to visit oil facilities and sign energy co-operation deals, while Iraq’s Prime Minister said that Tehran and long-time foe Saudi Arabia are working towards an understanding. After arriving in Caracas over the weekend, Owji was given a tour of state oil firm PdVSA’s Paraguana refinery in the west of Venezuela and met with the company’s president, Asdrubal Chavez, ahead of signing oil sector collaboration deals.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was quoted by the country’s Al-Sabah newspaper as saying that Tehran and Riyadh are working towards a mutual understanding on improving bilateral relations.

“The brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic are dealing with the dialogue file with high responsibility and the requirements of the current situation in the region, and we are confident that the understanding will soon be reached, God willing,” al-Kadhimi said.

He added: “There is a real and wide breakthrough in the relations between all the countries of the region, supported by a firm conviction and sound intentions that the future of the region depends on starting to view it as a system of converging and not intersecting interests and this system cannot devote itself to economic construction and catch up with global development without solving its problems and zeroing out its crises.”