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Subscribe to RSSAs Western nations ratchet up sanctions against Iran in an effort to slow or stop its nuclear program, Reuters takes a look at how hard it will be for some oil companies — notably BP — to disentangle themselves from Tehran's business interests.
The case study is the Naftiran Intertrade Co., or NICO, an oil-trading firm owned by the Iranian government, which is engaged in major oil development projects with BP, Shell and Norway's Statoil.
NICO has been under U.S. financial sanctions since 2008, deemed an entity "owned or controlled by the Government of Iran." However, it remains an important source of foreign exchange for the National Iranian Oil Co., Reuters reports:
To get around the sanctions, NICO uses offshore financial havens and a web of asset and industrial holdings in the West. While it was based in Jersey, the firm operated through a "service company" based in Switzerland. But even there, in a country that has not yet signed up to the trade sanctions against Iran, the company's future could be in doubt.
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Get used to it folks...the money folks own the press or at least they can buy or manufacture "facts" to rape the Earth, Rob the middle class and poor, demonize public servants and make heroes out of the CON men who use owned legislators to get public monies to make them billionaires who do not have to play by the rules the rest of us do!
I wounder if this trading firm has any connection to the hedge funds that are using the speculation of oil futures to drive up their profits. What Lobbing firms are connected and who are our politicians connected to this scheme. Mr.SPEAKER And LEADER CANTOR now would be a good time to restore faith in the congress of the U.S.,by launching an investigation, NOW!!!! Don't worry about campaign funds you have other resources.Stop with the social re-engineering and do the work for all of the AMERICANS.
Iran is in a dilemma. On the one hand it wants to show the world all it’s got and put it at ease, while on the other hand it fears that such show 'n tell will give its enemies a roadmap to bomb it.Saddam Hussein faced a similar dilemma ten years ago. Though he wanted the world to know he had nothing to hide, he also wanted to bluff his archenemy Iran into believing Iraq still had WMD. Bluffing did not go well for Saddam, and it might not go well for Ahmadinejad.But since the price tag for ridding Saddam proved high, we ought to reflect what we are asking of Iran now. On the eve of a threatened attack, we are asking it to take us to the depths of its arsenal and show us all it's got. Such great expectations are a sign we have been talking to our friends too long and are in need of a broader perspective. Exactly when was the last time we asked Pakistan, India, China or Russia to show us their arsenal?“But those countries are not advocating the destruction of Israel.” True, but Israel is not a thorn on their side either. Surely, however, we can see beyond the hyperboles and figure out their underlying purpose. Or have we forgotten that not all Iranians are thrilled with Ahmadinejad?He sure hasn’t. Nor has he forgotten that that his countrymen hate Israel even more. So he tells them that Israel will be wiped from the face of the earth. Expectantly, this nonsense unites them against a common enemy. It even becomes a diversion from the misery and isolation brought on by his anachronistic regime. Quite clever work by Ahmadinejad -- and not a rial spent or a bullet fired. So why are we letting the crazy talk about destroying Israel get us all worked-up -- to the point of turning the world topsy-turvy again.Can we not plainly see the machinations of an unpopular regime trying to hold on to power?