Armenian, Iranian Presidents To Hold Talks In Iran
7/4/2006
Cattlenetwork.com
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP)--Iran's disputed nuclear program and natural gas supplies will likely top the agenda when Armenian President Robert Kocharian meets his Iranian counterpart in Tehran Wednesday.
Pressure is mounting on Iran to respond positively to an international package of incentives aimed at defusing the standoff over its nuclear program. Western nations have threatened to reactivate efforts to seek punitive U.N. Security Council sanctions unless it suspends uranium enrichment and agrees to talks by July 12.
President Vladimir Putin Tuesday urged Iran to accept the package and China also pressed Iran to respond quickly to the package of incentives, which is meant to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program. A statement by Kocharian's press service made no mention of the issue.
Reached by telephone in Tehran, presidential spokesman Viktor Sogmonian refused to say whether the two leaders would be discussing the standoff. "Of course, all questions of international cooperation and regional issues will also be the focus of the talks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian told AP.
Also expected to be discussed will be the fate of Armenia's natural gas network - a key issue for the impoverished, landlocked, energy-deficient South Caucasus nation. Iran is building a pipeline to supply Armenia with badly needed natural gas, much of which now comes from Russia.
Earlier this spring, OAO Gazprom (GSPBEX.RS) announced a deal that would give the Russian state-controlled gas monopoly ownership rights to the Armenian segment of a planned pipeline; Armenian officials denied they were turning control of the pipeline over to Gazprom. Neighboring Iran and Armenia have close economic and political ties.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Cattlenetwork.com
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP)--Iran's disputed nuclear program and natural gas supplies will likely top the agenda when Armenian President Robert Kocharian meets his Iranian counterpart in Tehran Wednesday.
Pressure is mounting on Iran to respond positively to an international package of incentives aimed at defusing the standoff over its nuclear program. Western nations have threatened to reactivate efforts to seek punitive U.N. Security Council sanctions unless it suspends uranium enrichment and agrees to talks by July 12.
President Vladimir Putin Tuesday urged Iran to accept the package and China also pressed Iran to respond quickly to the package of incentives, which is meant to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program. A statement by Kocharian's press service made no mention of the issue.
Reached by telephone in Tehran, presidential spokesman Viktor Sogmonian refused to say whether the two leaders would be discussing the standoff. "Of course, all questions of international cooperation and regional issues will also be the focus of the talks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian told AP.
Also expected to be discussed will be the fate of Armenia's natural gas network - a key issue for the impoverished, landlocked, energy-deficient South Caucasus nation. Iran is building a pipeline to supply Armenia with badly needed natural gas, much of which now comes from Russia.
Earlier this spring, OAO Gazprom (GSPBEX.RS) announced a deal that would give the Russian state-controlled gas monopoly ownership rights to the Armenian segment of a planned pipeline; Armenian officials denied they were turning control of the pipeline over to Gazprom. Neighboring Iran and Armenia have close economic and political ties.
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 7:45 AM
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