Informed Comment

Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion

Juan Cole is President of the Global Americana Institute

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Russia, China, Satisfied with 10/1/09 Talks

The US plan to place further sanctions on Iran for its nuclear energy research program may founder at the United Nations Security Council because of the reluctance of Russia and China to see the sanctions ratcheted up.

Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed cautious optimism on Friday on the Iran issue: He said, "The agreements reached inspire cautious optimism. The most important thing now is to make sure these agreements are fully and timely met . . ."

Russia Today reports on Iran's agreement to send over two tons of low enriched uranium to Russia for enrichment for Iran's medical isotope reactor.



Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry also hailed the progress made in Thursday's talks in Geneva.

China imports 15% of its petroleum from Iran, and China is now the world's second biggest oil importer after the United States. The Chinese are opposed to placing any further sanctions on Iran


End/ (Not Continued)

6 Comments:

At 6:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank God for Russia and China. The world is fed-up with the non-stop propagandizing from US/Israel. Maybe sanity will pervail.

 
At 9:20 AM, Blogger daniel said...

Obama needs to stress that the approval of nuclear power is for the sake of the Iranian people to avoid boosting the credibility of the recently reappointed administration.

 
At 2:43 PM, Blogger MonsieurGonzo said...

ref : “China imports 15% of its petroleum from Iran... To view the entire region of the Middle East and all its diverse peoples, religions, domestic dynamics and foreign relations, etc. as "having to do with petroleum," through this singular, oily lens ad nauseum ~ or as e.g., Pepe Escobar so obsessively writes: Pipelinistan, it's a gas gas gas! is, imho the essence of tunnel vision. The conceit implicit of this rhetorical FRAME, that "without the presence of extraction politics (centering here on petroleum products) there would be nothing of value" to be found in the peoples and cultures of the Middle East and South Asia is at best simplistic, if not altogether insulting.

The New Great Game is a term used to describe the conceptualization of modern geopolitics in Central Eurasia as a competition between regional and great powers for "influence, power, hegemony and profits in Central Asia and the Transcaucasus". It is a reference to "The Great Game", the political rivalry between the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia during the 19th century. Many authors and analysts view this new "game" as centering around regional petroleum politics. Now, instead of competing for actual control over a geographic area, "pipelines, tanker routes, petroleum consortiums, and contracts are the ‘prizes’ of the new Great Game". The term has become prevalent throughout the literature about the region, appearing in book titles, academic journals, news articles and government reports...

 
At 10:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

2nd Day of Protests at Sharif University

Iranian students at Sharif university yesterday, singing the unofficial Iranian national anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hM-GY3Y2OE&feature=player_embedded
Authorities in Iran Arrest 18 Students

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/world/asia/03iran.html?_r=1

 
At 1:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting Admission:

Revolutionary Guards Chief: Elections Protests Biggest Threat To Islamic System

http://www.payvand.com/news/09/oct/1024.html

 
At 1:32 AM, Blogger PH said...

So,what's your take on this :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6256173/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-revealed-to-have-Jewish-past.html

Is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a Jew ?

 

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