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Azerbaijan may pay too much for opposing Iran
Azerbaijan made the first move by sidelining the Iranian NIco company,
participant of Shah Deniz consortium from the planned pipeline
projects.
Baku is playing with fire, in the firm belief that the West will back
Ilham Aliyev if the latter openly confronts Iran, and may even turn a
blind eye to the lawlessness prevailing in Azerbaijan ` `the most
tolerant and democratic country of the region'. Azerbaijan has
recently declared itself the strategic partner of the U.S., with
certain encouragement by the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Baku
Richard Morningstar who mostly engages in advocating U.S. interests in
the Caspian region.
August 11, 2012
PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan made the first move by sidelining the
Iranian Naftiran Intertrade Co (NIco) company, participant of Shah
Deniz consortium from the planned pipeline projects, including the
Trans-Anatolia pipeline project. In its `U.S. Ally Azerbaijan to
Exclude Iran From Gas Pipeline to Europe' article, businesweek.com
quotes Vaqif Aliyev, head of State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan's investments
department as saying that Nico's participation in the Trans-Anatolia
pipeline or other pipelines is not being considered. Meanwhile,
Naftiran Intertrade holds 10 percent of Shah Deniz.
Azerbaijan is known to have supported U.S. forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan. In June 2012, Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an agreement
to build the 2,000 kilometer (1,240 mile) Trans-Anatolia pipeline, or
Tanap, which will deliver at least 10 billion cubic meters of Azeri
gas a year to the EU border through Turkey. The project is estimated
to cost $7 billion.
SOCAR plans to share its 80 percent of Tanap with Shah Deniz partners.
`In independent projects like this, the selection of shareholders and
their stakes are agreed upon mutually by the partners in accordance
with their strategies and interests,' Vaqif Aliyev said, without
elaborating on the reason for sidelining Iran.
Shah Deniz is estimated to contain 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas,
enough to supply demand in the European Union for about 20 years. BP
(operator - 25,5%), Statoil (25,5%), SOCAR (10%), LUKOIL (10%), NICO
(10%), Total (10%) и Turkiye Petrolleri AO (9%) are Shah Deniz
partners.
According to the "Country reports on Terrorism 2011" of the U.S.
Department of State, through the Weapons of Mass Destruction
Proliferation Prevention Program, the Azerbaijan government assumed
responsibility for the sustainment of seven radar stations along the
Caspian coast used by the Navy, Coast Guard, and State Border Service
to conduct maritime surveillance and detect smuggling threats. In
addition, the government of Azerbaijan completed the modernization of
its Central Reference Laboratory, a state-of-the-art biosafety
facility that will make joint research on potential bioterrorism
threats possible, the report says.
The paper also mentions that Azerbaijan actively opposed terrorist
organizations seeking to move people, money, and material through the
Caucasus. However, the thing is that deployment of U.S. radar stations
along the Caspian coast should be linked with the upcoming military
intervention against Iran. Therefore, build-up of control over Iran
from Azerbaijan's territory is a key factor of this military strategy.
For his part, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei summoned
top Iranian military chiefs for what he called `their last war
council', debka.com reports.
`We'll be at war within weeks,' he told the gathering, Debkafile's
exclusive Iranian and intelligence sources disclose.
Khamenei put before his war council a timeline of weeks for the coming
conflict ` September or October.
Azerbaijan goes for much risk by supporting the U.S. and opposing
Iran. Meanwhile, even Turkey, a far more serious political player with
larger military potential does not make similar moves against Iran;
yet it does not pull up Baku either. Maybe this shows Ankara's
decision to allow Azerbaijan independently get out of the mess it will
soon appear in, namely, respond to Iran's military attack. Baku is
Washington's ally, yet a temporary ally, indeed. Since U.S. went to
abandon Mubarak and its other faithful allies, Aliyev will certainly
share their fate.
Karine Ter-Sahakian
Azerbaijan made the first move by sidelining the Iranian NIco company,
participant of Shah Deniz consortium from the planned pipeline
projects.
Baku is playing with fire, in the firm belief that the West will back
Ilham Aliyev if the latter openly confronts Iran, and may even turn a
blind eye to the lawlessness prevailing in Azerbaijan ` `the most
tolerant and democratic country of the region'. Azerbaijan has
recently declared itself the strategic partner of the U.S., with
certain encouragement by the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Baku
Richard Morningstar who mostly engages in advocating U.S. interests in
the Caspian region.
August 11, 2012
PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan made the first move by sidelining the
Iranian Naftiran Intertrade Co (NIco) company, participant of Shah
Deniz consortium from the planned pipeline projects, including the
Trans-Anatolia pipeline project. In its `U.S. Ally Azerbaijan to
Exclude Iran From Gas Pipeline to Europe' article, businesweek.com
quotes Vaqif Aliyev, head of State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan's investments
department as saying that Nico's participation in the Trans-Anatolia
pipeline or other pipelines is not being considered. Meanwhile,
Naftiran Intertrade holds 10 percent of Shah Deniz.
Azerbaijan is known to have supported U.S. forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan. In June 2012, Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an agreement
to build the 2,000 kilometer (1,240 mile) Trans-Anatolia pipeline, or
Tanap, which will deliver at least 10 billion cubic meters of Azeri
gas a year to the EU border through Turkey. The project is estimated
to cost $7 billion.
SOCAR plans to share its 80 percent of Tanap with Shah Deniz partners.
`In independent projects like this, the selection of shareholders and
their stakes are agreed upon mutually by the partners in accordance
with their strategies and interests,' Vaqif Aliyev said, without
elaborating on the reason for sidelining Iran.
Shah Deniz is estimated to contain 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas,
enough to supply demand in the European Union for about 20 years. BP
(operator - 25,5%), Statoil (25,5%), SOCAR (10%), LUKOIL (10%), NICO
(10%), Total (10%) и Turkiye Petrolleri AO (9%) are Shah Deniz
partners.
According to the "Country reports on Terrorism 2011" of the U.S.
Department of State, through the Weapons of Mass Destruction
Proliferation Prevention Program, the Azerbaijan government assumed
responsibility for the sustainment of seven radar stations along the
Caspian coast used by the Navy, Coast Guard, and State Border Service
to conduct maritime surveillance and detect smuggling threats. In
addition, the government of Azerbaijan completed the modernization of
its Central Reference Laboratory, a state-of-the-art biosafety
facility that will make joint research on potential bioterrorism
threats possible, the report says.
The paper also mentions that Azerbaijan actively opposed terrorist
organizations seeking to move people, money, and material through the
Caucasus. However, the thing is that deployment of U.S. radar stations
along the Caspian coast should be linked with the upcoming military
intervention against Iran. Therefore, build-up of control over Iran
from Azerbaijan's territory is a key factor of this military strategy.
For his part, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei summoned
top Iranian military chiefs for what he called `their last war
council', debka.com reports.
`We'll be at war within weeks,' he told the gathering, Debkafile's
exclusive Iranian and intelligence sources disclose.
Khamenei put before his war council a timeline of weeks for the coming
conflict ` September or October.
Azerbaijan goes for much risk by supporting the U.S. and opposing
Iran. Meanwhile, even Turkey, a far more serious political player with
larger military potential does not make similar moves against Iran;
yet it does not pull up Baku either. Maybe this shows Ankara's
decision to allow Azerbaijan independently get out of the mess it will
soon appear in, namely, respond to Iran's military attack. Baku is
Washington's ally, yet a temporary ally, indeed. Since U.S. went to
abandon Mubarak and its other faithful allies, Aliyev will certainly
share their fate.
Karine Ter-Sahakian