[Debate] Iran Helps Syria Defy Oil Embargo

Fri May 18 15:00:32 BST 2012

I'm not the one saying the Greeks should go back to pre-industrial life.

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 9:56 AM, Neville Adams <nada01 at claranet.co.uk> wrote:
> Performative contradictions - they do cuque on one's good intentions.
> Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Yoshie Furuhashi <critical.montages at gmail.com>
> Sender: debate-list-bounces at fahamu.org
> Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 09:42:59
> To: Debate is a listserve that attempts to promote information and analyses of interest to the independent left in South and Southern Africa<debate-list at fahamu.org>
> Reply-To: Debate is a listserve that attempts to promote information and
>        analyses of interest to the independent left in South and
>        Southern Africa <debate-list at fahamu.org>
> Subject: Re: [Debate] Iran Helps Syria Defy Oil Embargo
>
> I bet your computer wasn't made and shipped with solar energy, nor is
> your ISP operating with it.
>
> On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 9:41 AM, Anandi Sharan <sharan.anandi at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I am using solar energy on the roof. I agree these days it is hugely
>> expensive for most people and when the withering away of capitalism
>> happens I will spend even more than just only half my time on
>> vegetables and trees as I do now.  Thanks for taking the issue
>> seriously.
>>
>> On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 7:08 PM, Yoshie Furuhashi
>> <critical.montages at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Do you realize you need fossile fuels for you to be using a computer
>>> and posting a message recommending a life of austerity?
>>>
>>> On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 9:30 AM, Anandi Sharan <sharan.anandi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> A mind set of affluence by desiring little will allow OECD country
>>>> citizens to get the right mindset to get to net zero GHGs as soon as
>>>> possible. Your 'Greek-oil-patriotism' to get Greece more oil on the
>>>> other hand perpetuates fossil-fuel based definitions of  "energy
>>>> security" which probably even Iran and Syria are desperate to get out
>>>> of in terms of sustainable social democracy models. Your form of
>>>> global oil politics provides no answers at all to the real the
>>>> problem, which is not that Greece does not have oil or will not be
>>>> able to buy it with Drachma. The problem is that the expectations -
>>>> not the hopes! of OECD citizens are unsustainable. For example, ( I
>>>> apologise for assuming you are a citizen from an OECD country - if you
>>>> are not please correct me) you should think about the feeling of
>>>> personally taking pride in practicing an austere lifestyle at least in
>>>> terms of greenhouse gases - until your work or the work of a community
>>>> you could participate in -  gradually builds up sequestration capacity
>>>> based on food, forests, grasslands and clean oceans, and the austerity
>>>> gives way to affluence by desiring little and the stewardship of the
>>>> land allows the spirit and practice of sustainability to take root. If
>>>> you were thinking about Drachma-oil as a kind of "transition to solar
>>>> energy" I think it is a little misguided, because a) solar energy is
>>>> only feasible within a framework of sustainability i.e. trajectory
>>>> towards net zero GHGs and thus involves austerity too and b) provided
>>>> you are not too obsessesed with travel and transport - which are the
>>>> really really energy intensive activities today - the best form of
>>>> solar energy conversion in any case is biomass.
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 6:44 PM, Yoshie Furuhashi
>>>> <critical.montages at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> You mean you want to tell the Greeks: "Liberate Yourself from Your
>>>>> Masters So You Can Practice Harsher Austerity Than What They Impose on
>>>>> You"?
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 9:09 AM, Anandi Sharan <sharan.anandi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Yoshie: How about instead "in the event of Grexit Greeks should look
>>>>>> to reducing their national GHGs to below the sequestration capacity of
>>>>>> their forests". I think the Left really needs to buck up in terms of
>>>>>> their "climate ambition". You are hiding behind the neo-imperialist
>>>>>> 'ambition' (which if you remember is 450 ppm!!! (UP from todays's 390
>>>>>> ppm) of your capitalists masters, dear.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 6:28 PM, Yoshie Furuhashi
>>>>>> <critical.montages at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> In all likelihood, economically, imperialists are damaging Greece
>>>>>>> worse than Syria!  BTW, in the event of Grexit, unlikely as it may be
>>>>>>> for now, the Greeks should look into whether they can't make Iran and
>>>>>>> Syria their BFF, trading Greek shipping services for Iranian and
>>>>>>> Syrian oil.  They'll want cheaper oil if they become independent (cf.
>>>>>>> IEA's "2009 Energy Balance for Greece":
>>>>>>> <http://www.iea.org/stats/balancetable.asp?COUNTRY_CODE=GR>).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> <http://on.ft.com/KkTY1c>
>>>>>>> Last updated: May 18, 2012 9:37 am
>>>>>>> Iran helps Syria defy oil embargo
>>>>>>> By Lina Saigol in London
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> An oil tanker belonging to Iran’s state-owned shipping line has been
>>>>>>> switching flags and using multiple companies to transport crude from
>>>>>>> Syria to Iran, illustrating how Tehran is helping to sidestep
>>>>>>> international efforts to choke the finances of Bashar al-Assad, Syrian
>>>>>>> president.
>>>>>>> Documents obtained by the Financial Times show the vessel, operated by
>>>>>>> the Islamic Republic International Shipping Lines, sailed from Syria
>>>>>>> to the Gulf of Oman and then Iran, using different flags and changing
>>>>>>> owners.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Syria is reeling from the effect of sanctions introduced by the US,
>>>>>>> the EU and some Arab states over the past year. Analysts estimate the
>>>>>>> economy has contracted by between 2 and 10 per cent, and the Syrian
>>>>>>> pound has declined in value by a third.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Oil sanctions imposed by the EU, which bought 95 per cent of Syria’s
>>>>>>> oil exports, have hit the country particularly hard. The sector
>>>>>>> accounted for 20 per cent of gross domestic product before the
>>>>>>> uprising began.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Iran and Syria have long been allies and Tehran, which faces a range
>>>>>>> of international sanctions over its nuclear programme, has been
>>>>>>> accused by the US of assisting the Syrian regime in its crackdown
>>>>>>> against 14-month uprising.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Evidence of co-operation between the two countries comes as industry
>>>>>>> experts note a marked increase in the use of so-called ‘flags of
>>>>>>> convenience’ fluttering on Iranian-owned oil tankers.
>>>>>>> International maritime laws require vessels to be flagged, showing the
>>>>>>> country to which they are registered. For a small fee, however,
>>>>>>> vessels can register with another country, such as Bolivia, Liberia
>>>>>>> and the Marshall Islands where analysts say registration standards are
>>>>>>> less stringent.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> “The Iranian tanker fleet is becoming increasingly hard to track,”
>>>>>>> said Hugh Griffiths, head of the countering illicit tracking unit at
>>>>>>> the Stockholm International Peace research institute. “As a result,
>>>>>>> Iranian-owned oil tankers are migrating to less regulated flags to
>>>>>>> continue doing business – whether it is shipping oil on behalf of the
>>>>>>> Assad regime in Syria, or transporting Iranian crude,” Mr Griffiths
>>>>>>> added.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The recent voyage of the MT Tour, a tanker in part owned by IRISL –
>>>>>>> which is itself subject to international sanctions – offers a glimpse
>>>>>>> of how this works.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The Tour’s movements were tracked by the FT through a combination of
>>>>>>> shipping records, company registries and sources monitoring the
>>>>>>> vessel.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Over the weekend of March 23, the Tour arrived at the Syrian port of
>>>>>>> Tartus. At the time, the vessel was flying the flag of Malta.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Transport Malta, the manager of the country’s maritime registry,
>>>>>>> withdrew the Tour’s registration over concerns about its status on
>>>>>>> March 24.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> “After the necessary verifications with the owners of the tanker Tour
>>>>>>> and other ships, it was decided that such ships’ registration
>>>>>>> certificates would be suspended immediately and they will be struck
>>>>>>> off the Maltese merchant shipping register within a month,” Malta’s
>>>>>>> shipping registry said in a statement.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On March 25, the Tour arrived in the Syrian port of Banias, where it
>>>>>>> picked up a shipment of Syrian light crude oil blend.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Two days later, the Tour switched to a Bolivian flag, according to the
>>>>>>> Bolivian maritime registry. It also changed its owner. Its had been
>>>>>>> registered to ISIM Tour, a Maltese company belonging to ISI Maritime,
>>>>>>> also registered in Malta. ISI Maritime is owned by Irano-Hind Shipping
>>>>>>> Company, a joint venture of IRISL and the Shipping Corporation of
>>>>>>> India.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> By the 27th, the Tour’s registered owner had changed to Auris Marine
>>>>>>> Company – a company registered in the Marshall Islands, which is not
>>>>>>> subject to EU sanctions. Auris Marine was annulled just hours later,
>>>>>>> according to a person familiar with the situation. The Tour’s current
>>>>>>> ownership is unclear.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Shortly after, the Tour left Banias and headed south, passing through
>>>>>>> the Suez Canal. Between April 9 and 12, as it sailed through the Gulf
>>>>>>> of Aden, people familiar with its movements say the Tour switched off
>>>>>>> its tracking system.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Once it reached the Gulf of Oman on April 13, its tracking system was
>>>>>>> turned back on and it travelled up the Strait of Hormuz before
>>>>>>> dropping anchor near Larak Island, according to those persons. The
>>>>>>> island lies close to the middle of the Strait, close to the port city
>>>>>>> of Bandar Abbas.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Tracking data showed that on Thursday the Tour remained at anchor and
>>>>>>> appeared to be low in the water, suggesting it has not discharged the
>>>>>>> crude.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Bolivia’s maritime registry is now investigating a complaint that its
>>>>>>> ship registry has allowed Iranian-owned ships to fly under its flag
>>>>>>> after Avaaz, the campaigning organisation made a formal complaint.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> “We took contact with some maritime authorities and other financial
>>>>>>> entities,” Admiral Zoilo Roca Kikikunaga, general director of the
>>>>>>> registry, told the FT.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ricken Patel of Avaaz said: “Countries that provide flags of
>>>>>>> convenience, like landlocked Bolivia, need to stop renting out their
>>>>>>> names to those hiding from . . . regulation.”
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Law firms that specialise in maritime jurisdictions said gaps in EU,
>>>>>>> US and UN regulations lend countries who do not sign up to
>>>>>>> international sanctions opportunities to do business.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> “Iran is highly adept at moving quickly to avoid detection by
>>>>>>> government officials and private sector compliance teams but the lack
>>>>>>> of genuine multilateral measures make it much easier for Iran to
>>>>>>> sidestep sanctions,” said Chris Pickup, a lawyer at international law
>>>>>>> firm Freshfields.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Yoshie Furuhashi
>>>>>>> <http://mrzine.org/>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Debate-list mailing list
>>>>>>> Debate-list at fahamu.org
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Yoshie Furuhashi
>>>>> <http://mrzine.org/>
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>>> --
>>> Yoshie Furuhashi
>>> <http://mrzine.org/>
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> Yoshie Furuhashi
> <http://mrzine.org/>
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-- 
Yoshie Furuhashi
<http://mrzine.org/>