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In tonight’s program we will look at Iran’s revenues from its oil and gas resources over the many years, and how they have been spent or wasted.
Also we will find out why the British Royal Marines have helped seize an Iranian supertanker, which has escalated the tensions between the UK and Tehran.
The Us-Iran tension has taken a new turn and an article by former deputy managing director of Iran’s national broadcasting organisation, Dr. Kambiz Mahbobi in Washington-based newspapers has looked at the causes of this tension.
At the end of the program we will review the latest news of human rights violations in Iran.
Our guests to discuss these issues tonight are oil markets expert Sohrab Sobhani and mining engineerAbbas Tabatabaie.
Sohrab Sobhani:
According to the US and European media, the oil tanker’s final destination has been Syria to deliver more than 2 million barrels of oil to the Assad regime. It could have been in line with the economic help that the Iranian regime provides for the government of Assad as it faces shortage of energy resources.
Tehran is intent on keeping the Assad regime in power and this delivery should be seen in that context.
Abbas Tabatabaie:
Sadly with the increase in thedimension of the sanctions, Iran’s government bodies responsible for organising and managing the economic and banking systems of the country have been badly affected and middlemen and the Mafia-type interest groupings linked to the regime’s rulers have taken over them to bypass the sanctions.
They have set up their illicittrading links with certain foreign-based dealers and companies and as a result there is no official line of monitoring Iran’s revenue from its oil and gas sources.
The case of the oil tanker seized by the British marines is one clear example of this, as nobody really knows how it ended in this situation and what happens to the 2 million barrels of its oil that belongs to the Iranian people.
In the 1980s and after the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, Iran’s oil was being sold at an under price rate through an Israeli pipeline for 15 years and even during the Clinton administration many of the sanctions on Iran were being overlooked and members of the Revolutionary Guards and regime lined centres were allowed to trade with US, European and Asian countries while our people became poorer by the day.
