Kommersant: Pressure on Iran counterproductive, says Russia’s envoy

The United States is expected to re-impose part of its sanctions on Iran (to cover the automotive sector and gold trade) in early August, but the toughest unilateral restrictive measures (in the energy and banking sectors) will follow in November. However, these moves will not affect ties between Moscow and Tehran, Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan assured Kommersant.

"Our trade and economic relations are developing quite dynamically. We have a number of large-scale projects, including the second and third stages of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, the construction of four power units of the Sirik Thermal Power Plant and electrification of a railway stretch between Garmsar and Ince Burun. Despite threats from the US, today I see no obstacles for implementing these projects," he said.

When asked to comment on Tehran’s role in resolving the Syrian conflict, Dzhagaryan recalled that Iran’s military presence in Syria is legitimate. "Just like the Russian military, the Iranians are there at the invitation of the legitimate Syrian government and are participating in the operation to eradicate terrorists. Naturally, we are concerned about a possible military standoff between Iranian and Israeli forces in Syria and are doing the best we can to prevent that," he emphasized.

The ambassador added that Iran is not a country one could exert pressure on. "This is a big state pursuing an independent foreign policy. It is only possible to work with the Iranians through persuasion, whereas pressure is counterproductive," he stressed.

According to the Russian envoy, the Iranian authorities are doing their utmost to prevent the country’s isolation and any further negative trends in the national economy. "We are ready to provide assistance to Iran in that matter. For us Iran is a friendly country. We interact in a wide range of areas. Moreover, in some of them, for example, in ending the war in Syria and launching a full-fledged political settlement process, Iran is a key partner for us," the envoy emphasized.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: US THAAD system in South Korea to target Russian, Chinese missiles

The Pentagon will upgrade its THAAD missile defense system deployed to South Korea to increase the radar’s range. As a result, the Americans want to get an opportunity to shoot down Russian and Chinese missiles in addition to North Korean ones.

The extended-range THAAD project has been discussed for several years now, Vasily Kashin, senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Far Eastern Studies, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "The system can get new capabilities due to a new missile and will play a more destabilizing role. First of all, it may be capable of intercepting intercontinental ballistic missiles in the final stretch of their trajectory. If deployed to South Korea and Japan, it will pose a more serious threat to Chinese medium-range ballistic missiles," he explained.

The expert recalled that China and South Korea agreed in late 2017 that Seoul would not allow the deployment of new US missile defense systems on its soil. "The Americans may take advantage of the moment saying they are upgrading the system. I believe, however, that this will trigger a new full-fledged crisis in relations with China. South Korea is unlikely to resort to this move," he said.

However, the deployment of such a system to Japan and US overseas territories continues to be a possibility, which means a serious threat, primarily for China, Kashin noted.

He added that the THAAD interceptor units would not pose such a threat to Russia, because Russian missiles are advanced and there are more of them. "However, China has been investing more in research and development in this field, and the gap between China, on the one hand, and Russia and the US on the other is being narrowed," the expert concluded.

 

Kommersant: US uranium producers press Washington for import quotas

Washington may set a quota that would limit uranium imports and assure domestic producers provide about 25% of the nation's supply. Local companies who have lost their market due to imports of cheap uranium from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have initiated the proposed move, Kommersant writes.

Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy, the two remaining US uranium-producing companies, submitted a petition in January to the US Commerce Department arguing that US imports of subsidized uranium from foreign state-owned companies threaten to undermine American national security. They also claimed that Moscow uses control over its energy resources as an economic and political tool, pointing to Russia’s cutoff of gas supplies to Ukraine in 2009 and 2014.

Meanwhile, a source in the TENEX company (uranium exporter, part of the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation) said the primary objective of that petition is to "protect US producers of natural uranium, which is not supplied from Russia to the US." The company said it saw no immediate threat to its interests.

According to Atominfo.ru head Alexander Uvarov, the introduction of quotas by Washington is quite feasible, since dependence on uranium imports is a security risk. Kommersant’s industry sources noted that quotas in the US would result in growing domestic prices and create difficulties for US nuclear power plants.

 

Vedomosti: Novatek delivers first two LNG batches to China

Two gas carriers operated by Russia’s Novatek natural gas production company loaded with liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant have arrived in China. The third tanker is due to arrive by the end of July. This is the first time in the history of the Northern Sea Route when tankers travelled along the eastern course towards the Bering Strait without an icebreaker escort, Vedomosti quotes a spokesman for Novatek as saying.

"All three tankers are meant for Asian customers, including CNPC," the spokesman said without providing more details.

Yamal LNG is Novatek’s first liquefaction plant in Russia’s Arctic region with a design capacity of 17.5 mln tonnes of LNG per year. The Russian company’s partners are French Total (20%) and China’s CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation - 20%) and the Silk Road Fund (9.9%).

CNPC has a 20-year contract with Yamal LNG for the supply of 3 mln tonnes of LNG per year. It is linked to energy prices in Japan, according to Frank Konertz, Head of LNG Analytics at S&P Global Platts. Based on this formula, the LNG price in July can reach about $10.5-10.9/MBTU, said Ekaterina Kolbikova of Vygon Consulting. The cost of gas supplies from Yamal to China, taking into account the cost of production and transportation, is just $6.1/MBTU while transporting it along the Northern Sea Route six months a year. Thus, the net income of Yamal LNG from supplies for each LNG carrier with a capacity of 77,000 tonnes can amount to about $16 mln.

 

Izvestia: Russian arrested in Greece says US seeking his extradition

Washington is pursuing the extradition of Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik arrested in Greece at the United States’ request acting through France. Vinnik whom the US authorities accuse of cyber fraud has told Izvestia that American and French interests in this case coincide.

"France says, ‘America believes you are involved in the activities of the BTC-e exchange, we want to interrogate you.’ There is no criminal case. In actual fact, they want to extradite me to the US. Apparently, the US failed [to agree on the extradition]. Therefore, they decided, if they cannot settle the issue directly with Greece, they need to try another option. The US is seeking my extradition through France. It is simpler to extradite an individual to a European country, such as France, than to a non-European one," he said.

According to Vinnik, the reason why his case was examined so quickly when it came to his extradition to France, was pressure from the US. "I believe there were some instructions from the Americans to consider my case as soon as possible. Probably, that’s precisely what is going to happen. Otherwise, how can one explain all that? People usually wait for a long time in a local prison after the prosecutor pronounces the indictment. The first hearing is held a year later, on the average. In my case, when it came to France’s charges, the whole procedure took about a week and a half. Even with the Americans everything lasted two and a half months," he stressed.

When asked about his incarceration conditions, Vinnik pointed out that there are no interpreters there who could translate professionally from Greek to Russian and vice versa. "There is not a single person who knows the specific terms that I state during court hearings. So, even the judges cannot fully understand the core of the matter and decide on what penalty should be imposed," he emphasized.

 

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