Iran and Russia to facilitate Turkey and Syria in deescalating tension

After years of tensions, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Syria sat at the same table to discuss ways to deescalate tensions with help from Iran and Russia.

On Wednesday, Russia hosted an important quadrilateral meeting between Iran, Syria, Russia, and Turkey at the level of foreign ministers. The meeting was a giant step forward in terms of putting an end to differences between Turkey and Syria, which have been at loggerheads over the last decade. 

While some international issues have also been on the agenda, the Moscow meeting was primarily focused on the normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus. The diametrically opposed positions of Syria and Turkey since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011 seriously have damaged their relations. With the Syrian government regaining control of much of its lost territory, Turkey moved to patch up relations with Syria with mediation and facilitation by Iran and Russia.

In the Wednesday meeting, this featured high on the agenda. The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that the foreign ministers of the four countries held a substantive and frank discussion on issues related to resuming the interstate relations between Syria and Turkey in various aspects.

The Moscow meeting is another indication that Syria moving past crisis and war, a trend that prompted Turkey and many Arab states to restore ties with Damascus. Earlier this week, Syria was readmitted to the Arab League and Saudi Arabia reopened its diplomatic missions in Damascus. Currently, there are speculations that Syrian President Bashar Assad could take part in the upcoming summit of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia, which has already officially extended an invitation to Assad to participate in the summit. 

Turkey appears to be willing to keep up with this reconciliatory trend. In their meeting, the foreign ministers agreed to task the deputy foreign ministers to prepare a road map to advance the relations between Turkey and Syria in coordination with the work of the ministries of defense and special services of the four countries, according to the Russian statement. 

The statement added that the ministers noted a positive and constructive atmosphere of their exchange during the meeting and agreed to further maintain high-level contacts and technical talks in this quadripartite format in the upcoming period.

The Moscow meeting also provided a convivial atmosphere for the foreign ministers to hold bilateral meetings. The Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian held separate meetings with his Syria, Russian, and Turkish counterparts. 

In his meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, Amir Abdollahian congratulated him on Syria’s readmission to the Arab League and expressed Iran’s support for the Turkish-Syrian normalization. 

Amir Abdollahian described the Moscow meeting as a step forward in his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The Turkish foreign minister, for his part, pointed to Iran’s important role in facilitating the quadrilateral meeting. 

As things stand, Turkey and Syria are making strides in restoring their ties. The full resumption of ties, however, is hindered by the fact that Turkish troops are illegally present in Syrian territory, thus contravening the Arab country’s territorial integrity. This point was raised in Moscow. 

In his speech at the joint meeting, Amir Abdollahian underlined that any political resolution to the Syrian issues must ensure Syria’s sovereignty over its entire territory, according to IRNA. 

Amir Abdollahian suggested that deployment of Syrian troops at the border regions can alleviate security concerns of Turkey and other neighboring countries, prevent terrorist and separatist activities, and set the stage for the withdrawal of Turkish military forces from the common border areas.

“We believe that a strong and independent Syria can overcome terrorism, separatism, occupation of American forces, and theft of the country's national resources,” he noted.

Iran’s top diplomat also stressed the need for joint efforts by regional countries and the rest of the international community to reconstruct Syria and prepare the ground for Syrian refugees to return to their homeland.

“Of course, any political precondition and double standards on this issue not only will not help solve this humanitarian issue but will also add to its complexity,” he pointed out.

The Iranian foreign minister pointed out that the beginning of talks between Syria and Turkey will benefit the people of the two countries and the security of the region.

“We deeply believe that these two countries can put the past behind them and resolve the bilateral issues through dialogue and deepening cooperation based on good neighborliness,” Amir Abdollahian said.

He also noted that the meeting in Moscow would have a strong message of peace and sustainable security in the region and strengthening of good neighborliness between Turkey and Syria.

 

Pakistan-Iran to revive gas pipeline project

Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday agreed to explore new avenues of collaboration in the fields of aviation including direct flight, revival of gas pipeline project and expansion of trade between the two nations.

The understanding was reached during a meeting between Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar and visiting Chairman of the Commission of National Security and Foreign Policy of the Majlis of the Islamic Republic of Iran Vahid Jalalzadeh, who is leading a high-level delegation to Pakistan to discuss various measures to promote bilateral economic relations between the two countries.

An official announcement issued after the meeting said that both sides underlined the need to strengthen economic ties and emphasized the importance of increased connectivity.

Jalalzadeh proposed the initiation of direct flights between Iran and Pakistan to enhance travel and business opportunities.

Qamar acknowledged the significance of this proposal and expressed his support for establishing direct flights as a means to facilitate trade and promote people-to-people exchanges.

During the meeting, the discussions also touched upon the long-standing issue of the Pak-Iran Gas pipeline. Qamar stressed the importance of expediting the project, as it holds immense potential for energy cooperation between the two countries.

He pledged his commitment to resolve any obstacles and move forward with the pipeline, which would bring substantial benefits to both nations.

Recognizing the current trade volume of approximately US$2 billion as insufficient, Jalalzadeh urged the need to take solid steps to increase it to a multi-billion-dollar level. However, there is no official trade between the two countries owing to the non-availability of banking channels and restrictions.

Qamar emphasized the importance of opening new border markets and implementing a barter trade system to facilitate greater commercial exchange. These measures, he believed, would significantly boost trade volume.

Jalalzadeh also invited Qamar to visit Iran.

The inauguration of one of the six crossings at the Pasheen Border on May 18 by the prime minister of Pakistan and the president of Iran also came under discussion.

Saudi King invites Syrian President to attend Arab Summit

According to Saudi Gazette, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has invited Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to attend an Arab summit next week. Saudi Arabia will host the next Arab League Summit on May 19 in Jeddah.

Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Nayef Al-Sudairi delivered the invitation to President Al-Assad during a meeting in Damascus.

Ambassador Al-Sudairi conveyed the greetings of King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman to the Syrian president, and their wishes to the government and people of Syria to have security and stability.

The Syrian president conveyed his greetings and appreciation to King Salman and the Crown Prince and for the government and people of Saudi Arabia

On Sunday, the Arab League Ministerial Council decided that delegations of the Syrian government could resume participating in meetings of the organization at all levels.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia decided to resume the work of its diplomatic mission in Syria.

Saudi Arabia and Syria agreed on March 23 to resume diplomatic relations and open their embassies after a hiatus of more than a decade.

Contacts between Riyadh and Damascus had gathered momentum following a landmark agreement to re-establish ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Pakistan-IMF relations getting too complicated

The IMF program is in limbo, foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan are at the lowest level, economy is deteriorating fast and, worst of all, political violence is touching new highs. I have picked up these lines from a daily report of Chase Securities, one of Pakistan’s leading brokerage houses.  

If there is a relationship status of Pakistan and IMF right now, one would say “It’s Complicated”. Since the beginning of the Political turmoil and law and order situation after it, analysts believe that the hopes to get an IMF Program are low.

Politics had always remained volatile in the history of Pakistan and also during the previous IMF programs and reviews.

In 1993, President dismissed Prime Minister and dissolved assemblies after which, a legal battle began in courts resulting in restoration of Government by the Supreme Court and then elections were held in October 1993. One month before the elections and during the political turmoil, Pakistan signed an IMF program in September 1993.

In 1996, PPP Government was dismissed before completion of term and the brother of the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated leading to ethnic violence. Elections were held in early 1997 and Pakistan signed the IMF program same year.

In 2000, coup had happened and the then Prime Minister was imprisoned for life. Economy had crashed and reserves were less than USS1 billion leading the country to sign the IMF program same year.

IMF program is more to do with how the country plan to manage its economy, implement the reforms and achieve the program targets.

However, to do so, political stability is of high importance and it is still time we get the house in order before it’s too late.

 

US House committee to consider bill on pressuring OPEC

The House Judiciary Committee was set to consider a bill on Wednesday to pressure the OPEC oil production group to stop making output cuts that can result in higher fuel prices for US drivers.

The committee was expected to vote on No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) bill, which would change US antitrust law to revoke the sovereign immunity that has protected OPEC Plus members and their national oil companies from lawsuits over price collusion. OPEC Plus members include Saudi Arabia and Russia.

In March, a group of bipartisan senators introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

Analysts were skeptical that the NOPEC bill would pass Congress while oil prices were relatively low as the market fears a recession.

"House Judiciary Committee passage of NOPEC is more a biennial tradition than a sign of momentum," Rapidan Energy Group said in a note to clients. The committee has passed the bill in 2018, 2019 and 2021, Rapidan said.

The bill would have to pass the committees, both chambers of Congress and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law.

 

Dark fleet: Creeping anarchy in oceans

The fatal explosion that ripped through the tanker Pablo offshore Malaysia has focused attention on the dangers the ‘dark fleet’ raises for shipping safety, reports Seatrade Maritime News.

It ought to be a red light flashing - an alarm signal alerting both world shipping and its regulators that there is something with the potential to do serious harm to an essential industry already under scrutiny for its environmental record.

The gruesome wreckage of the Aframax Pablo, swinging to its anchor in the South China Sea, ought to be ringing alarm bells, wherever the ‘dark fleet’ of sanction-busting tankers is to be found.

This is the second, albeit far more serious accident (with its three missing crew and multiple injuries) in these busy waters.

Where is the will to stop any of this growing threat to other shipping, coastal states and the global liability and compensation regime?

One does not require a terribly long memory of a period in shipping’s recent history of a time when low maintenance became no maintenance, with fatal consequences. And there is no secret about the risks that are being run by the shadowy figures that have moved into the transport of cargo from Russia, Venezuela and Iran.

At the recent meeting of the IMO Legal Committee, a whole range of doubtful practices were detailed, ranging from the dangers of ship-to-ship transfers of oil in the high seas and other unsuitable locations, to the routine practices of operating with AIS transponders turned off, a fairly conclusive reason for having something to hide.

Even more important and worrying is the age and operational standards of the dark fleet, said to be between 300-600 ships, with overdue inspections, almost certain sub-standard maintenance, opaque ownership and extremely dubious insurance status.

What is particularly worrying is the speed with which this deterioration has arisen and its threat to a well-run system that gave reasonable confidence to the industry players and the regulatory regime.

Is there any will to stop this creeping anarchy, or is it all to be lost in tedious legal arguments about sovereignty and freedom of the seas?

Where is the robust, international and immediate response that will stop this becoming a far worse international scandal that will leach out into the rest of world shipping?

There are flag states, which could just about cope with the registration of time-expired tiny coasters, which now find to their delight they are responsible (one should use this word advisedly), for fleets of elderly VLCCs, hopefully providing them with a delightful uplift in fees.

There are ships which change their identities almost overnight, owned by brass-plate entities of dubious provenance that will disappear in the blink of an eye.

One doesn’t want to even consider the potential for serious criminality and money laundering in this exciting currency of elderly ships.

There are classification societies, “Responsible Organizations” with no technical competence and lucrative business for suppliers of seafarers to run these ships for one-off voyages, about which questions will not be welcomed.

Who will be picking up the pieces after these ships come to grief? Where is the traceability, who might conceivably be liable for the wreck removal, the pollution response, the compensation for the relatives of the dead and the injured.

One might suggest that it is just a phase caused by temporary circumstances like the war and the imposition of sanctions (which have always been problematic). But while it lasts, are innocent others just bound to suffer from the almost automatic evasion of liabilities after the inevitable accidents? Why pay into pollution funds when the evasive…..evade?

It is probably true that there are some parts of the world at more risk than others from the deterioration of the dark fleet over time.

International maritime lawyers might huff and puff but who could possibly blame coastal states from unilaterally banning these ships from their EEZs and if they have appropriate military means, subjecting ships which stray into their seas to proper inspections.

Innocent passage isn’t very innocent when it involves ships with thoroughly suspect credentials, so it should be perfectly legitimate to ask questions, prohibit anchoring or ship-ship transfers.

Do we just sit around and wait for further groundings, collisions, explosions and other calamities, possibly involving a great deal of split oil.

 

Iran and Pakistan stress expansion of trade between private sectors

Head of Tran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (TCCIMA) Masoud Khansari and Chief Executive of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Muhammad Zubair Motiwala expressed the need for the expansion of relations between the private sectors of the two countries in a meeting in Tehran.

The officials emphasized that the trade between the two countries should not be limited to the border trade in Quetta and must be directed to official channels between the private production and export companies of the two countries, the TCCIMA portal reported.

Speaking at the meeting, Motiwala announced the readiness of his organization for long-term and progressive interaction with TCCIMA in order to facilitate the commercial exchanges of the two sides’ economic enterprises.

He stressed the need for continuous exchange of business delegations with the aim of introducing the economic and market cooperation capacities of the two countries and identifying the goods and services needed by the markets of both sides.

According to the official, the chambers of commerce in the two countries can provide the basis for the expansion of interaction between the private sectors of the two countries.

Motiwala also considered the revision and modification of the tariffs on commodities traded between the two countries as necessary to increase the level of economic cooperation, and in this regard, he reminded that Pakistan is taking serious measures.

Khansari for his part, welcomed the ideas presented by the Pakistani side and emphasized the need for amending the tariffs on goods exchanged between Iran and Pakistan.

“A complete list of commodities needed by the markets of the two countries has been prepared by the Tehran Chamber of Commerce which has been compiled by the data provided by reliable companies,” Khansari said.

Stating that the main channel of trade between the two countries is border exchanges which are almost entirely carried out through the Quetta border, the TCCIMA head said, “In order to strengthen the economic relations between Iran and Pakistan, the trade of the two countries should move away from cross-border exchanges towards interaction between large industries and companies from both sides.

In this context, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and the country’s chambers of commerce should encourage the reputable and big industries and businessmen of Pakistan to have direct economic cooperation with the Iranian market.”

Lately, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mohammad-Ali Hosseini and Pakistani Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar discussed the ways for increasing trade between the two countries in a meeting in Islamabad.

Expressing their satisfaction that the trade between the two countries exceeded US$2 billion, the two sides emphasized the need to take more effective steps to strengthen economic cooperation and help expand trade relations.

During the meeting, the Pakistani minister said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with the friendly and brotherly country of Iran.

Appreciating the efforts of the Iranian ambassador during his diplomatic mission in Pakistan in order to strengthen the brotherly relations between the two neighboring countries, Senator Ishaq Dar praised the measures taken especially in the commercial and economic fields.

Expressing their satisfaction with the value of trade between Iran and Pakistan, which has exceeded two billion US dollars, the two sides emphasized the need to identify new ways to help increase trade and develop economic cooperation.

Emphasizing the country's economic outlook, Pakistan's finance minister expressed confidence that despite economic challenges, Pakistan is on the path of progress and development.

Iranian ambassador to Pakistan has appreciated the cooperation and support of the Pakistani government for the development of bilateral relations in various fields, and stated that the potential capacities of Iran and Pakistan are the main factor for the expansion of joint cooperation.

He added that bilateral trade between Iran and Pakistan has now reached US$2.4 billion, but it is not compatible with the good political and people relations of the two neighbors and more efforts should be made to support the business community of the two countries.

Back in January, Iran and Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate bilateral trade between the two countries.

The MOU was signed by Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Alireza Peyman-Pak and Muhammad Zubair Motiwala.

Based on the MOU, which was signed on the sidelines of Iran’s Exclusive Exhibition in Karachi, the parties pledged to exchange business information, support each other’s private sectors, and provide the conditions and context for the presence of their trade delegations in the other country.

It was also agreed that both sides would take all the necessary measures to facilitate holding exhibitions in the opposite country, whenever required.

Speaking in the signing ceremony, Peyman-Pak said that signing this MOU was indicative of the two sides’ determination for removing the obstacles in the way of bilateral trade and prepare the ground for the businesspersons of both sides to bolster cooperation.

He considered the holding of exclusive exhibitions, exchanging trade delegations and investment in joint production units as positive steps for knowing the capacities and needs of the two countries and expressed hope that such events would continue.

The TPO head further mentioned some obstacles and infrastructural problems that are hindering the two countries' mutual trade, including lack of banking relations, problems related to sea transportation and logistics, and tariff-related issues, saying that the Iranian government is willing to resolve such problems in collaboration with the Pakistani government.

Motiwala said that the signed MOU is regarded as a major step to enhance bilateral trade to reach the target of US$5 billion annually.