According to a report by Oilprice, few people are aware that Iran is currently subjected to not one, but three different sets of sanctions imposed by the US, the United Nations and the European Union, the latter two over concerns about Iran's civilian nuclear energy program which both Washington and Israel allege masks a covert nuclear weapons program, a charge Iran steadfastly denies.
The first US economic sanctions against Iran were instituted in 1979 following the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy and its replacement by an Islamic Republic, while the first United Nations Security Council sanctions again Iran were implemented by Resolution 1737, voted in 23 December 2006. Earlier this year, European Union foreign ministers agreed to place sanctions on Iranian oil and oil products because of Iran's purported non-compliance with the UN Security Council resolutions which urges Iran to stop uranium enrichment - a right stipulated for all signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) - and the EU sanctions entered into force on 1 July, the report said.
The report noted that these restrictions are to impede Iranian oil and natural gas exports, the source of the majority of its foreign currency earnings. Iran maintains that by signing and ratifying the NPT, its Article IV permits its current nuclear activities.
But while the legislation has somehow shut off Iranian hydrocarbon exports, there is one sector of Iran's energy industry that is flourishing - electricity exports, Oilprice added.
And this trade, lucrative as it is, stymies Washington's efforts to squeeze Iran's economy because, in four out of five instances, the trade is with US allies, the report stressed.
According to the US government's Energy Information Administration, "Iran is a net exporter of electric power and currently exports electricity to neighboring states, including Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq, and Afghanistan."
Turkey, like the US, is a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, while former Soviet republic Armenia has been a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace affiliate program since 1994.
Five US "allies" are purchasing Iranian electricity, Oilprice said.
To give but one instance, Turkey and Iran agreed in August 2007 to jointly pursue an electricity designed to produce 6,000 megawatts, of which a percentage would be exported to Turkey's relatively isolated Eastern provinces adjacent to its 312-mile long frontier with Iran, the report said.
From 20 March 2012, the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year to 23 October, Iran exported 6,624 gigawatts of electricity to the quintet of neighboring countries, a 44 percent rise compared to the same period in 2011. On 27 October Deputy Energy Minister Mohammad Behzad announced in Tehran that Iran's electricity exports were worth $5 billion since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year, the report noted.
Behzad disclosed the data on the sidelines of the 12th International Electricity Exhibition (IEE) in Tehran. And among those nations attending were Italy, France, Germany and Turkey, all NATO members, along with representatives from China and South Korea, the report added.
Oilprice further said it expects to see more growth in Iran's electrical sector. According to Iranian Energy Ministry officials, Iran will become self-sufficient in manufacturing equipment and goods, which are used in the electrical power industry by the end of the current Iranian year, which finishes in March 2013.
Iran's rising electrical exports to its neighbors presents Washington policymakers hawkish on Iran with the unpleasant reality that the nations importing Iranian electricity are all involved to a lesser or greater degree with regional US military policies, said the report.
So, for the foreseeable future, Turkish lira, Armenian drams, Pakistani rupees, Iraqi dinars and Afghan Afghanis will continue to flow into Iran's treasury in return for reliable supplies of electricity, Oilprice added.
And more deals are on the way, as on 27 October Iran and India signed a Memorandum of Understanding that Iran would provide 4,000 megawatts of electricity exports to India via Pakistan, which as part of the agreement receive 2,000 additional megawatts for its role in facilitating the transfer, the report said.
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Publish Date: 6 November 2012 - 23:03
A well-known oil and energy news website underlined Iran's growing power exports and revenues despite the western sanctions imposed against the country's energy sector, saying that the growth stymies Washington's efforts to squeeze Iran's economy.