The Presence of Gas Kings in Tehran

The Iran newspaper described the summit of gas-exporting countries in Tehran as "the dawn of a new era of cooperation among the world's gas producers." According to Hassan Rouhani, "This is the first summit after the approval of the JCPOA, and all countries are seeking closer ties with Iran. Although Iran's gas production has decreased due to economic sanctions, we are striving to increase our gas production to one billion cubic meters per day." The Sharq newspaper titled this summit as "The Presence of Gas Kings in Tehran," while the Etemad newspaper published a photo from the summit on its front page with the headline "Tehran International," stating: "The largest energy event in the world was held on Monday afternoon with the presence of nine presidents and high-ranking delegations from member countries, chaired by Hassan Rouhani, in the context of changing oil and gas prices in Tehran." The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, described Russian President Putin's visit to Iran as "Putin's gas-centric trip to Tehran," while the Vatan-e-Emruz newspaper, close to the Stability Front, highlighted in its front page titled "Directly to the Leader's House" that "The Russian President, in an unprecedented move and outside of diplomatic protocols, went directly from Mehrabad Airport to meet the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic." Hussein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader, also wrote in the Kayhan newspaper in an editorial titled "Beyond the Summit": "It was expected that participation in the mentioned summit, which requires an official reception, would be the priority of the Russian President's visit, but his unexpected and unprecedented action of skipping the official reception and immediately meeting with the Supreme Leader clearly conveyed the message that attending the gas-exporting countries' summit was not the main agenda of Putin's visit." The Bahar newspaper, in a note titled "Tehran at a Crossroads between Europe and Russia," wrote: "Current conditions necessitate that if we approach Europe, we can import technology and capture the European market. However, Russia seems to focus more on directing Iranian gas predominantly eastward rather than westward, as failing to do so would threaten Russia's monopoly on energy in Europe, while there is no competition for Russia in the east." The Etemad newspaper reported on the "rejection of the two-urgency bill for transparency in candidates' financial resources" in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, describing it as "the minority's brake against the presidential election bill." The Bahar newspaper also described the failure to vote for the "two-urgency" of this bill as "a cold reception from the parliament towards election transparency" and simultaneously wrote: "The election expense transparency bill is a serious test for the parliament. Anyone who becomes an election debtor must compensate during their term." The Arman newspaper reported on the possibility of a "four-faceted election" and named four currents: "reformists, moderate conservatives, the Stability Front, and moderates" as the four spectrums present in the upcoming elections. The Bahar newspaper also published a report about the future parliament elections, stating: "Mohammad Khatami remains the focal point for reformist unity." However, the Vatan-e-Emruz newspaper emphasized that "polarizing and fragmenting society" during the elections is "placing different segments of public opinion in opposition, transferring external agendas to the political and media environment of the country, and injecting extremism into normal political and social processes" and that "the groundwork for turning the elections into a source of instability and insecurity for the country is being laid, but reformists and some of their allies call it a program for clear electoral competition." The Jahan San'at newspaper reported on the "expectation for a 4,000-toman dollar" and wrote: "The Iranian economy faces a full-blown currency shock every ten years, which subsequently forces it to implement a currency unification policy, meaning raising the exchange rate to the average price of currency in the free market and trying to maintain the price within this range with slight fluctuations." This newspaper emphasized that "since 1991, this policy has been used twice," and wrote: "Currently, we are experiencing the third round of the currency unification policy, which estimates indicate will be implemented in 2016." The Qanoon newspaper reported with the headline "Resignation Over Potatoes" that "On Tuesday, a rare event occurred specific to the representatives of the ninth parliament in Baharestan, which was the resignation and sulking of one of the hardliners in parliament, namely Koochakzadeh." This newspaper also reported on a student meeting titled "Return to University" held on Tuesday at Tehran University, stating that students held this meeting "with two goals; first, to return to the word university free from any definition and application that others have defined for the university, and second, to demand the return of students and professors who have been deprived of studying and teaching for any reason during these years." The "gas-centric" meeting of Putin with Khamenei; "Directly to the Leader's House" The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, described the Russian President's visit to Iran as "Putin's gas-centric trip to Tehran," while the Vatan-e-Emruz newspaper highlighted in its front page titled "Directly to the Leader's House" that "The Russian President, on Monday afternoon, immediately after arriving at Mehrabad International Airport with his accompanying delegation, went to meet the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic." The Javan newspaper wrote: "Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, visited Iran once again after eight years, of course in a different context; Iran and the 1+5 have reached a nuclear agreement, and Tehran and Moscow have jointly entered an anti-terrorism battle in Syria. The Russian President brought three special gifts for Iran, each of which can send different signals to Iran; the beginning of the transfer process of the S-300 system to Iran, an order to reduce the ban on the export of nuclear equipment and technology, and most importantly, a gift for the Supreme Leader; a historical handwritten copy of the Quran." This newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, emphasized that Vladimir Putin "on the same day that the Russian newspaper Pravda published news about the possibility of Russia attacking Qatar and Saudi Arabia due to their involvement in the terrorist operation of the Russian plane crash, gifted a historical handwritten copy of the Quran to the Supreme Leader," and wrote: "Iran-Russia relations are experiencing a serious phase with Putin's visit to Tehran; a phase that started with Iran and Russia's cooperation in Syria and is now undergoing a new process with the beginning of the transfer of Russian S-300 components to Iran." The Javan newspaper, quoting the Kremlin spokesperson, stated that the meeting lasted more than 1.5 hours and that "the discussions were primarily focused on the regional crisis, especially Syria, and emphasized the unacceptability of foreign dictation." This newspaper also introduced the gas-exporting countries' summit in Tehran as "a legacy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government," writing: "Towards the end of the tenth government, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with his energy delegation, went to the second summit of gas-exporting countries in Moscow. In that meeting, the Iranian delegation requested that the next summit of leaders be held in Tehran to leave a significant legacy for the eleventh government. Although the statesmen, especially the Minister of Oil, have forgotten the past, it must be accepted that the grand gathering of the world's gas powers in Tehran is due to the insistence of statesmen who are no longer present." Vatan-e-Emruz also emphasized in its front page titled "Directly to the Leader's House" that "Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, immediately after arriving at Mehrabad International Airport, went to meet the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic with his accompanying delegation." This newspaper emphasized that "this is the first time a president of a country has directly gone from the airport to meet the Supreme Leader outside of diplomatic protocols," stating: "According to the usual custom, Putin should have met with his Iranian counterpart before visiting the Supreme Leader, but he began his one-day visit to Iran with a meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei." Vatan-e-Emruz emphasized that "the importance of this action, especially regarding a significant country like Russia that plays an important and strategic role in regional and global developments, is magnified." Hussein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader, wrote in the Kayhan newspaper in an editorial titled "Beyond the Summit": "The pretext for Putin's visit to Iran and the announced subject was participation in the summit of gas-exporting countries; therefore, it was expected that participation in the mentioned summit, which requires an official reception, would be the priority of the Russian President's visit, but his unexpected and unprecedented action of skipping the official reception and immediately meeting with the Supreme Leader clearly conveyed the message that attending the gas-exporting countries' summit was not the main agenda of Putin's visit." This newspaper referred to those whom they called "the contaminated internal current coordinated with Western media and some chain newspapers" and wrote: "The dissatisfaction accompanied by anger and panic of the mentioned contaminated current regarding the calculated and bilateral relations between Iran and Russia can be clearly seen, and the refrain of this current, which is simultaneously and in coordination repeated by their domestic media and the media of external enemies, is that Russia is unreliable and there is a possibility of it breaching agreements in bilateral relations, to which the response should be: Are the U.S. and other Western countries, for whom you are eagerly waiting and laying out red carpets, reliable?" "Tehran at a Crossroads between Europe and Russia" The Bahar newspaper, in a note titled "Tehran at a Crossroads between Europe and Russia," wrote: "Current conditions necessitate that if we approach Europe, we can import technology and capture the European market. However, Russia seems to focus more on directing Iranian gas predominantly eastward rather than westward, as failing to do so would threaten Russia's monopoly on energy in Europe, while there is no competition for Russia in the east." Bahram Ahmadian, who is referred to as an international affairs expert by the Bahar newspaper, wrote in this note: "The fact that Russia is currently present at the gas summit in Tehran and considers itself larger in gas exports and imports due to its vast gas reserves is because we have extensive potential gas reserves but not actual ones. Despite all the gas reserves we have, we do not have the equipment for importing or exporting natural gas energy, not even pipes for pipeline construction. Due to this lack of infrastructure, we only export gas to Armenia and export gas that we import from Turkmenistan to Turkey. Therefore, the pipeline for Iranian gas towards Pakistan and India is currently uncertain. Thus, Russia is alone in this arena and is the main player." The columnist of the Bahar newspaper noted Putin's visit to Tehran, stating: "Mr. Putin's visit to Tehran is a turning point after the Islamic Republic's success in nuclear negotiations with the 5+1 group," but simultaneously assessed the statements of officials from both sides regarding increasing economic exchanges as impractical, writing: "Russia has announced that it seeks exchanges between Tehran and Moscow up to $40 billion. This proposal, however, does not seem to be achievable as it will certainly face problems, given that Iran has not been able to export more than $300 million in goods. In fact, Iran lacks a market for its goods, especially in Europe. Iranian goods have stable markets in places like Afghanistan, where we export about $4 billion, or for Iraq, where we export $6 billion." This newspaper also questioned the import of technology from Russia, stating: "If some believe that Russia can import technology, we must say that this country is not a technology exporter. Russia even uses European planes in its aviation industry and domestic flight lines," but under the current conditions, it is a suitable opportunity "for Iran to capture new markets in Europe, especially in the energy sector, and in return, we can import technology. Just as during Khatami's presidency, Austria came to Tehran to buy gas and signed a memorandum worth $20 billion. This experience shows that Europe is inclined towards exchanges with Tehran." The Bahar newspaper, however, described closeness to Russia as facilitating exports to Central Asia, stating: "Russia has good political influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia, which can be a good market for energy exchange for Iran. Despite being close to Russia, Iran can not only capture Russian markets but can also access Central Asian markets through Moscow." In the area of political-security cooperation between Iran and Russia in the region, the Bahar newspaper wrote: "In Syria, despite the fact that Tehran and Moscow do not pursue common goals and only emphasize support for the lawful government, according to both the Russian and Iranian governments, we see that they pursue their specific objectives in alignment with each other. Therefore, both countries can support each other in the Middle East, whether in Iraq, Syria, or even Egypt. Thus, each can play a role somewhere, and that is why the two countries have come very close to each other. However, it should be noted that Iran is currently considered a regional power and consequently has gained more prestige and influence compared to the Russians in the Middle East, as evidenced during the nuclear negotiations that Iran is an accepted member and can have constructive cooperation, which has one consequence: the entry of technology from the West into the country.