By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

 

Iran’s determined drive to diversify its trade and industrial ties is yielding dividends to the exasperation of the West, whose prime aim is to hold the Iranian in ransom.

For years, if not decades, the European countries, acting as agents of the US, have been deceiving the Islamic Republic and never fulfilling their commitments even after signing agreements.

The glaring examples is the politicization of Iran’s peaceful nuclear project, and the wild accusations of human rights violations when it is these countries which, along with the US, have spared no opportunity to commit crimes against humanity in the Islamic Republic, resulting in the death of multitudes of Iranians and economic setbacks.

Beginning with the 8-year war imposed through Saddam of Baghdad’s repressive Ba’th minority regime in the 1980s to the recent riots that claimed the life of hundreds of innocent people at the hands of the arsonists, the terrorists, the secessionists, the seditionists, the traitors, the blasphemers, and the thugs, the West has sadistically shed the blood of Iranian people. 

In between are the illegal economic sanctions and the killing of more than 17,000 Iranian citizens, including senior government officials, by hypocrites who enjoy safe haven in European countries.

This black, bleak, and bloody record of the West warrants Iran to have reliable trade and industrial partners, who neither freeze Iranian assets nor are involved in wars, coups, and riots against the Islamic Republic.

Recently, Iran, which is already a major trade partner of Russia, has entered into a 25-year cooperation agreement with China, which will invest some four hundred billion US dollars in the Islamic Republic.

Now, an equivalent deal with India is in the offing, and New Delhi under Washington’s pressures had stopped buying Iranian crude, is keen on resuming the oil imports. 

The Islamic Republic has reiterated its willingness to supply oil to India, and even assured New Delhi that it could help meet the country’s energy needs amid the volatility of the international market. 

State-run oil companies such as ONGC and Oil India are also jointly exploring oil and gas in Iran. Earlier, an Indian consortium had discovered the Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf.

In addition, both sides have agreed to continue cooperation in the development of the Shahid Behesti terminal of Chabahar port, as was evident during Iranian deputy foreign minister, Ali Baqeri Kani’s visit to New Delhi last November.

India great benefits from the north-south overland trade route via Iran that greatly shortens the distance and duration, and saves the cost of importing from Russia.

For Tehran, such deals would help develop a rebalance in trade ties with South Asia in view of the fact the Indian investors are eagerly eying the development of transport and energy ties with the Islamic Republic.

In short, consolidation of Iran’s trade and industrial ties with the leading economies of the region, such as Russia, China, and India, nullifies the plots of the West against the Islamic Republic.