Get
nuclear option off the table By
Mahmood Khaghani
As a retired official with
very considerable high level international
experience in Iran's state oil company -
particularly in the Caspian area - I am bemused by
the counter-productivity of Western sanctions and
have long been an advocate of what I have termed
"energy diplomacy".
Since World War I, if
not before, the largely unspoken and unwritten
basis of Western foreign policy doctrine - firstly
that of the United Kingdom, and subsequently that
of the United States - has been energy security. It
should come as no surprise to find
that China may share the same
priority in terms of security of supply and that
Russia's pre-eminent policy focus as a producer is
the security of demand.
In pursuit of this
energy doctrine, in 1953 the US- and UK-sponsored
coup overthrew the democratically elected Iranian
government in order to secure lucrative Western
oil interests in the Middle East-Persian Gulf. The
Shah subsequently ruled Iran with an iron fist for
more than 25 years.
Thirty-three years on
from the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the US still
has not reconciled itself to the fact that Iran
does not wish to be subject to Western hegemony,
any more than does China or Russia, and there has
been a long and bitter conflict, which has now
escalated to ludicrous extremes.
Throughout the eight years of the Saddam
Hossein regime's war against Iran, despite the
bitter nature of political differences, the
Islamic Republic of Iran reliably supplied energy
to the West, and indeed oil was even supplied -
via intermediaries - to states that are
antagonists of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Similarly, for 40 years through the Cold War,
Russia reliably supplied gas to the West, and it
is only the coming of ruthless commercial
practices and disagreements between oligarchs that
has led to any brief interruption in supply.
Energy co-operation Iran has
long been conscious that oil and gas are finite
resources, and that there is a need for
sustainable production of energy in Iran once
reserves are exhausted. As in the West, Iran has -
beginning with the Shah - taken the view that
nuclear energy is necessary in this context, and
of course has acted upon this view by developing
the necessary facilities and expertise.
However, distrust between the West and
Iran has led to the current conflicts, and
counter-productive energy and financial sanctions.
But there is potentially an opening for a new
"energy diplomacy" approach to ending the current
impasse.
Events in Fukushima last March,
where a tsunami devastated a nuclear-power plant,
and subsequent changes in nuclear energy policy
not only in Japan but in countries like Germany
have not gone unnoticed in Iran. Moreover, the
fact that nuclear energy can only be funded by
states, and is nowhere economically viable in the
private sector, has not gone unnoticed in Iran
either, particularly at a time when the global
dollar-based financial system is on its last legs.
Leaving national security concerns to one
side to the politicians and diplomats, I believe
that through academic and commercial channels in
particular it may well be possible to open up a
new dialogue in respect of energy co-operation.
Western investment and technology transfer in
respect of renewable energy and - in particular -
carbon energy savings, may enable Iran to meet the
need for long-term energy security and
sustainability to the benefit of both
constituencies.
The role of the
EU European Union support of US sanctions
is proving extremely costly, and as we saw in
Greece - where Iran came to be virtually the only
supplier of energy on credit terms - the US is
essentially fighting an economic war to the last
drop of EU blood. As the euro crisis continues to
deepen - as it must with a currency without a
fiscal base - a new energy co-operation and energy
diplomacy initiative will undoubtedly become
attractive.
I do not believe that 21st
century problems can be resolved by 20th century
solutions, but - as the noted energy market
expert, Chris Cook, has pointed out in Asia Times
Online, and widely in the Economic Co-operation
Organisation (ECO) group of 10 nations in and
adjoining the Caspian - there are in fact
solutions available that pre-date the modern
financial system but which have been long
forgotten.
Energy co-operation has always
- until the current counter-productive conflicts -
transcended political differences. There is a
window of opportunity for constructive engagement
between Iran and the P5+1 (the United Nations
Security Council permanent members plus Germany)
in respect of energy co-operation and energy
economics.
If an increasing number of
nations can come to the conclusion - having built,
tested and operated facilities - that nuclear
energy makes no economic sense, then it is
entirely possible that upon mature reflection,
Iran may - without being forced - come to
precisely the same conclusion.
The current
regime of sanctions even prevents Iran from
training oil and gas engineers to conserve
existing resources, never mind acquiring renewable
energy and above all energy-saving technology that
could make nuclear energy redundant.
Such
sanctions are, quite frankly, even more
counter-productive than the sublimely dumb
sanctions which for years prevented Iran from
accessing Internet and mobile communications
technology.
I hope that common sense may
now break out at the next session of talks between
Iran and the P5+1 which may perhaps aim to take
politics out of energy by beginning a new era of
constructive energy co-operation between the West
and Iran.
Mahmood Khaghani, now
retired, had more than 33 years of service in
senior international positions in Iran's petroleum
industry. He held the position of the Director for
Energy, Minerals and Environment at the
Secretariat of the Economic Cooperation
Organization (ECO) during 1996-2000. He is a
graduate in energy engineering at Britain's Surrey
University and is a business development &
joint ventures adviser. Mr Khaghani has
participated and presented papers in many
international conferences and seminars.
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