IRAN: Good news and bad news in U.N. report on nuclear program

The latest International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran's nuclear program said the country had boosted its nuclear capacity and supply of enriched uranium about 25% to 30% since February. 

But Princeton University physicist R. Scott Kemp (right), who parsed the report on Friday, found some encouraging signs as well for those who hope that Iran won't develop nuclear weapons, as Tehran insists it won't.

Kemp, in an extensive e-mail to The Times, said the report showed Iran's steady progress in installing its centrifuges, but also said Iran is "suffering several performance problems" that suggest the uranium-enriching machines aren't quite up to snuff. 

"Iran is clearly aware of these problems, and is pursuing four new designs," which are  being tested in Iran's uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. 

"This information suggests that Iran is learning a lot about basic centrifuge design," he said. 

Enriched uranium can be used for fueling a nuclear power plant or, if much more highly refined, provide fissile material for a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its doing the former, while the West suspects it's planning to someday do the latter.

IRAN: Swiss leak word of secret U.S.-Iranian talks

For six years, groups of American and Iranian academics and others have been secretly traveling to Geneva and other European cities for closed-door brainstorming sessions on how to break through three decades of hostility between the two nations, a Swiss newspaper is reporting. 

According to a lengthy and detailed report in the French-language Swiss daily Le Temps, the informal series of meetings took place with the full knowledge of authorities in Washington and Tehran.

About 400 people have taken part in the discussions -- called the "Track II" process -- including experts and scholars from Europe, the Arab world and Israel. None of the participants would speak on the record about the meetings.

But Switzerland's foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, told reporters that her government was fully aware of the contacts, the last of which took place from March 6 to 8.

"The talks are on a purely informal level and the foreign ministry is not involved,"  she said, according to an English-language report on the website of Swiss public broadcasting.

IRAN: There will be oil, and lots of it

Iran is reporting huge new discoveries of oil that contain "billions" of barrels of reserves, state radio quoted the managing director of the country's National Oil Co. as saying today. 

Seyfollah Jashnsaz said Iran has discovered seven new oil fields in unspecified locations around the country. 

"Billions of barrels of oil will be added to the country's existing oil reserves," he said in comments broadcast on state radio.

According to Jashnsaz, just one of these oil fields has 9 billion barrels of oil. 

"Even if we make calculations based on the minimum 12% recovery rate," he said, "it means that 1 billion barrels of oil can be recovered from this field alone."

He added that further details of the find will be announced by the country's minister of oil in coming days.

IRAN: Despite sanctions, business as usual

A South Korean firm announced Sunday that it had completed construction of a $2.1-billion natural-gas processing plant in Iran, the latest sign that years of Western efforts to isolate Iran economically were not not having a huge effect.

South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction Co., the country's No. 2 builder, said Sunday it had finished the plant in Assaluyeh, in southern Iran, according to South Korea's official Yonhap news agency.

The company began construction of the plant in 2003. It will be able to produce 19 million tons of natural gas a year.

The announcement comes a day after Iran announced it had signed a $3.2-billion deal with China for exploitation of the gigantic South Pars natural-gas field in the Persian Gulf.

China's vote of confidence in the Iranian energy market came, coincidentally,  just shortly after Chinese leader Wen Jiabao voiced worry about the solvency of the United States.

BAHRAIN: Spat erupts with Iran over cleric's boast

A huge spat has broken out between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain over comments made by an Iranian cleric earlier this month claiming dominion over the island nation.

Ali Akbar Natiq Nuri, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed Bahrain was an integral part of Iran that was conceded by Iran's Shah Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi. Bahrain received its independence from the British in 1971, but had been ruled by Iran on and off over the last couple of millenniums. 

Bahrain made it crystal clear that it did not tolerate any statements undermining its sovereignty. In the last few days, Bahrain suspended talks over the importation of natural gas from the Islamic Republic and barred Iranian ships from reaching its shores, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, Iranians backtracked by reaffirming their full recognition of Bahraini sovereignty.

EGYPT: Court overturns ban on natural gas to Israel

The Highest Administrative Court has dealt a serious blow to the Egyptian opposition by overturning an earlier verdict banning the exportation of Egyptian natural gas to the state of Israel.

The court ruled Monday that the government acted within its jurisdiction when it decided to export surplus natural gas to Israel in 2005. The decision overturned an earlier verdict that found the executive branch needed approval of Parliament before it could provide Israel with 1.7-billion cubic meters of natural gas a year.

EGYPT: Court upholds ban on gas exportation to Israel

As public outrage soared over the Israeli attack on Gaza last week, Egypt’s administrative court upheld an earlier verdict banning the exportation of gas to Israel.

In response, the government filed an appeal that the court is expected to examine on Feb. 2. However, the court reportedly ordered that the ban be implemented immediately. Last year, the gas deal with Israel elicited much controversy among intellectuals and activists who decided to take the government to court.

The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs twice, but it is still to be seen whether the verdicts will be enforced. “Our government has a history of not executing court verdicts, but in this particular case it would be wise to change this attitude,” said lawyer Ibrahim Yousry, a former ambassador and one of the plaintiffs, as quoted in the Daily News Egypt.

“It is not in Egypt's political interest to continue exporting gas to Israel. There is a huge popular sentiment against it, and in light of what is currently happening in Gaza, this cannot go on," he added.

This new verdict resonated strongly with many Egyptians, who are following the events in Gaza with great interest and sympathy for Palestinian civilians killed in the fighting. Arab satellite channels air coverage, with pictures of slain Palestinians, on a daily basis. Although Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in the late 1970s, many Egyptians still object to full normalization of relations with the Jewish state.

“It is a good time to stop sending gas to Israel in reprisal for the savage attack on Gaza and in order to vent our outrage. Please stop exporting it so that God can bestow mercy upon you,” commented reader Abdullah Mohamed on the website of Al-Masry Al-Youm independent daily.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Gas pipelines. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency

LEBANON: Watts up with all the Christmas lights?

It may or may not be the most joyous on record, but this Christmas in Beirut is definitely the brightest in recent years.

The country has returned to calm after an agreement in May put an end to a spur of civil violence. Tourists and Lebanese expatriates are flooding the country. Officials claim that many would-be visitors couldn't make it for the holidays here because hotels and flights are fully booked.

Lebanon’s tourism ministry announced this month that the number of visitors will reach 1.3 million people in 2008, which is its most since 2004, a stable year that preceded difficult times marked by a string of political assassinations, a war with Israel and internal fights.   

Christmas is a special holiday in Lebanon, which boasts the largest  Christian population in the Middle East. Streets teem with scintillating decorations and sparkling Christmas trees.

But despite the general jovial mood, Christmas is also a reminder of the chronic conundrums of the country. To many, for instance, the spurt of decorative lights seems absurd in a country suffering from serious energy shortages.

EGYPT: OPEC considers production cuts, delays decision

Ministers from OPEC countries decided in Cairo on Saturday to delay until December a decision on cutting production to stem the fall of crude oil prices that have tumbled by more than 60% in recent months.

The meeting came as the global financial crisis and plummeting demand continued to suppress oil prices, which have dropped from nearly $150 a barrel in July to about $54 today. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the leading producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, was quoted by a Kuwaiti newspaper as saying that $75 a barrel was a "fair price."

But the decision to take measures to nudge prices up was postponed until an upcoming meeting in Algeria. OPEC President Chakib Khelil said the organization "agreed to take any additional action on the 17th of December to balance oil supply and demand and achieve market stability."

The concern among members of the energy cartel, which decreased production in October by 1.5 million barrels a day, illustrates the shifting fortunes and precipitous downturns jolting the beleaguered world economy. OPEC enjoyed record prices just a few months ago, only to have them evaporate as international markets spiraled downward, energy demand shrunk and leading economies, including the U.S. and members of the European Union, neared or officially entered recession.

The Saudis want to see prices rise by at least $20 a barrel. Saudi Oil Minister Ali Ibrahim Naimi told reporters that OPEC would "do what needs to be done" to bolster prices.

He added: "There is a good logic for $75 a barrel. You know why? Because I believe $75 is the price for the marginal producer. If the world needs supply from all sources, we need to protect the price for them. I think $75 is a fair price."

Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah bin Hamad Attiyah, told the Arab TV news channel Al Arabiya that sinking revenues would damage the oil industry's future, saying that if prices linger below $70 a barrel "investment would freeze, which would lead to a crisis in supply in the future."

The organization's less-stable economic members, particularly Nigeria, Venezuela and Iran, are worried that months of low prices will hurt their national budgets. There is also apprehension that some members may not comply with production quotas and will produce above the cuts. But decreasing world demand is likely to squeeze the cartel well into 2009.

OPEC President Khelil told reporters before the Cairo meeting that "some countries are unable to sell their crude. They can find no buyer. Crude should be taken off the market."

-- Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: Pumping oil in the Middle East. Credit: Reuters

EGYPT: Court wants Israel gas deal stopped

An Egyptian court has ordered a freeze in exporting the country's natural gas to Israel, stating that the 15-year deal with the Jewish state should be approved by parliament.

Earlier this year, the gas deal ignited a storm of fury after a prominent columnist wrote that Egypt sells natural gas to Israel at lower prices than that of the world market. This preferential treatment toward the Jewish state elicited a vocal campaign by  parliament members and activists to stop the deal.

In 2005, the government of President of Hosni Mubarak, without legislative approval, agreed to ship 1.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year to Israel. Although Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in the late 1970s, any form of cooperation with the Jewish state invites scrutiny and even controversy.

Nevertheless, it is doubtful the court’s decision will actually break the deal. The Egyptian government may appeal the verdict or just turn a deaf ear, as it has with many court verdicts that contradict its interests. The Israeli government downplayed the significance of the ruling, expecting no interruption in  the flow of gas.

"We are absolutely certain that the gas deal with Egypt will be respected along with the trade agreements," according to a statement by Israel's National Infrastructures Ministry. "The Infrastructure Ministry has not the slightest doubt that the Egyptian firm will respect the commercial agreements it reached with its Israeli customers."

-- Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Gas pipelines. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency