[Debate] Iran Helps Syria Defy Oil Embargo

Fri May 18 15:08:18 BST 2012

Happy to be on the same side finally!

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 10:02 AM, Neville Adams <nada01 at claranet.co.uk> wrote:
> I'm actually agreeing with you.
> 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 10:00:32
> 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'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/>
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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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/>
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-- 
Yoshie Furuhashi
<http://mrzine.org/>