Author: Steven Sahiounie

The United States has weighed into a dispute between Cyprus and international companies led by Chevron over how to develop a giant offshore gas field, backing the US company’s plan to link it to neighboring Egypt, industry sources said on Friday. The Chevron-led consortium proposed connecting the Aphrodite gas field via a subsea pipeline and existing infrastructure to Egypt, where the gas can be sold in the domestic market or liquefied and shipped to Europe, which has largely been cut off from Russian supplies. Cypriot Energy Minister George Papanastasiou confirmed the government had rejected the latest plan, which omitted a previous proposal…

Private equity giant Blackstone Inc. is the latest addition to the S&P 500 Index, the first alternative asset manager to join the equity gauge. Airbnb Inc. is added as well. The New York-based Blackstone and Airbnb will replace Lincoln National Corp. and Newell Brands Inc. prior to the start of trading on September 18, S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a press release late Friday. Shares of Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, were up 4.1 percent in after hours trading while Airbnb’s rallied about 4 percent. Wall Street analysts had predicted that Blackstone would be added to the…

A spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran reveals that European countries are interested in obtaining heavy water from Tehran. Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), confirmed on Saturday that Iran’s heavy water ranks first in the world in terms of quality, Iranian media reported. In an interview, Kamalvandi revealed that European countries are interested in obtaining heavy water from Tehran, noting that Iran offers one liter of heavy water for $1,000. Discussing the nuclear industry’s impact on people’s lives, the Iranian official explained that it has an impact on power, agriculture, and radiopharmaceuticals, among others.…

The deals involve local companies with foreign partners, including China, Iran, and Turkey. Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has recently inked seven mining contracts valued at $6.5 billion, marking the most significant round of deals since they seized power two years ago. These contracts involve local companies with foreign partners, including China, Iran, and Turkey, and encompass the extraction and processing of resources such as iron ore, lead, zinc, and gold in four provinces: Herat, Ghor, Logar, and Takhar. Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund has stated that these contracts will generate thousands of jobs and improve the country’s economic situation. The Taliban government has been seeking…

Leonid Slutsky added that Ukrainian President and sponsors of his “terrorist regime have bent the word ‘peace’ itself to their bloody double standards” Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s “peace plan,” viewed in the West as the only possible option, is effectively a “formula of war,” says Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on international affairs and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). Previously, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said that the EU does not consider any other proposals on settlement of the conflict in Ukraine except for Vladimir Zelensky’s so-called peace plan. “Basically, this is all…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will deliver a speech at the annual high-level general debate of the UN General Assembly which will take place on September 19-26, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. “Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov will deliver a speech during the general political discussion of the General Assembly, which will be held from September 19-26, and will also take part in a number of bilateral meetings and multilateral events, including the UN Security Council, BRICS, CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] and the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.…

Since the beginning of the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi (August 2021), increasing investment opportunities in the oil industry’s projects has been prioritized as one of the key factors at the Ministry of Oil, Javad Owji said. He pointed out that the daily crude oil output volume reached from the previous 2.2 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) to over 3.1 million bpd, citing it as a source of pride for the Oil Ministry. Elsewhere in his remarks, Owji pointed to the investment made in the gas sector and added that the gas production volume has increased by 40…

New shipments of the controversial weapon may be announced as early as next week The US is set to become the second country after the UK to greenlight shipments of depleted-uranium shells to Ukraine, according to Reuters, despite concerns that they could have a dramatic negative effect on public health and the environment. The munitions are intended for US Abrams tanks, the first of which are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks, the agency reported. According to several unnamed US officials and a document cited by Reuters on Saturday, the depleted uranium shells will be part of the next multi-million-dollar arms donation…

According to the report, teh value of trade exchanges between the two countries reached $3.25 billion from January to July, showing a 21 percent decline compared to the same period of last year. Iran and Turkey exchanged $3.846 billion worth of products from January to July 2022. The report put Turkey’s export of products to Iran from January to July 2023 at $1.663 billion, registering a two percent decline compared to last year’s corresponding period. Turkey exported over $1.701 billion worth of products to Iran from January to July 2022. Turkey imported $1.362 billion worth of products from Iran in the…

Mohammad Mokhber arrived in southwestern province of Khuzestan to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the construction operation of the Shalamcheh-Basra Railway. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia’ al-Sudani will also attend the event. Mokhber termed the Shalamcheh-Basra Railway as a strategic project for Iran and Iraq that can bring about a major change in the West Asia region, FARS news agency reported. In addition to connecting the railways of the two countries, the Shalamcheh-Basra railroad acts as complementary to the international transport routes, Mokhber emphasized. All regional and extra-regional countries need two North-South and East-West transport corridors, he said, adding that this project…