Guardian Council's Position on Total Contract: 'We Will Review It if Parliament Gets Involved'

The spokesperson for the Guardian Council announced that if Parliament engages with the Total contract, it will be reviewed. Abbasali Kadkhodai, the spokesperson, stated on July 31, 'If Parliament enters the issue of the oil contract with Total for oversight and passes a resolution, the Guardian Council will address it.' He added in his press conference that 'the stages prior to ratification in Parliament are not related to the Guardian Council.' The French company Total signed a $4.8 billion contract to develop the offshore section of Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field on July 12. This contract has faced multiple reactions, including from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and conservative critics of the government. Three days after the contract was signed, Abdullah Abdollahi, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, criticized the contract, stating that domestic capabilities were overlooked. Conservatives and their affiliated media have referred to this contract as 'Total-Chai' or 'Crescent 2.' Alireza Zakani, a former conservative representative, deemed this contract 'a great betrayal of national interests,' while Ahmad Alamolhoda, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Razavi Khorasan, called it 'an exploitative and colonial move.' Meanwhile, Asghar Ebrahimi, deputy to Rostam Qasemi, the oil minister under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced plans to file a complaint against the Total contract with the judiciary, stating, 'The oil contract with Total is like a milking machine connected to the South Pars gas field, and subsequent milking machines are to be installed in Azadegan and other oil fields; if such actions are not stopped, a catastrophe will occur.' The harsh criticisms from conservatives and some appointees of Ayatollah Khamenei regarding the Total contract come despite Ali Akbar Mohammadi from the office of the Supreme Leader being present at the contract signing. The new oil contracts, known as IPC, are said by supportive experts to make foreign investment more attractive as they eliminate risks associated with foreign companies. Proponents of these contracts argue that despite old oil wells and shared fields with Qatar and Iraq, only massive foreign investment can allow Iran to extract its share from these fields. Following the opposition to the Total contract, a fast-track proposal to temporarily halt the contract, presented by several conservative representatives in Parliament, failed to pass and was removed from the agenda. However, on Saturday, July 31, Fereydoun Hassanvand, the head of the Energy Commission of Parliament, announced that the text of the Total contract would be reviewed this week under the responsibility of the head of the Energy Commission and with the presence of the head of the Research Center and relevant experts, and the results would be submitted to the Speaker of Parliament. The head of the Energy Commission stated, 'The Ministry of Oil has sent the text of the contract with Total to Parliament according to the law and has fulfilled its legal duty, and Parliament must also act according to its legal responsibilities in this regard.' In response to conservative opponents of the Total contract, Bijan Zangeneh, the Minister of Oil, cited the economic impacts of this contract on Iran's political-social equations as the main reason for opposition. Zangeneh stated, 'Political economy is what we are being beaten for today in the context of the Total contract; otherwise, no one is concerned about the confidentiality and secrecy of the document.' The Oil Minister of Rouhani's government emphasized, 'The impact of the economy on the social power structure is precisely this political economy. If we are under pressure today, it is due to the power structure of economic issues in the social framework.' Zangeneh explained the rationale behind awarding oil and gas contracts to foreign companies, stating that domestic contractors like Sadra (affiliated with the IRGC) received $1.8 billion from the Ministry of Oil but accomplished nothing and did not return the money. He noted that while foreign companies completed one phase of South Pars for $1 billion, Iranian contractors received $3.5 billion but have not yet finished it. The Iranian Oil Minister also stated that contracts made with these contractors in the previous government lack a conventional framework, and 'the contract price and amount' are not specified. Political struggles over oil and gas in Iran continue, while the disappearance of Ministry of Oil funds into the hands of oil brokers during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency remains an open case. Babak Zanjani has received a death sentence in this case, and the trial of his associates is still ongoing. However, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh claims that with Zanjani's execution, 'the black box' of this case will remain hidden.