Russia offers Iran help in oil industry

The sanctions were meant to be an additional means of punishing Iran for refusing to unwind its secretive nuclear program after the United States was able to persuade Russia and China to agree to limited new trade restrictions in a fourth UN Security Council resolution against Iran, passed in June. Australia, Canada, and Europe also decided to put additional measures against Iran in place.

While intended to discourage the type of investment the Russian minister talked of, the US sanctions law provides a presidential waiver for companies in nations otherwise seen as cooperating in discouraging Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

Iran, though a major exporter of crude oil, imports tens of thousands of gallons of gasoline daily to make up for its faltering refining capacity.

The US sanctions impose penalties on foreign entities that sell refined petroleum to Iran or aid Iran with its domestic refining capacity, a focus intended to exact a financial toll on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the hard-line group that oversees the country’s nuclear and missile programs and controls much of its oil industry.

President Dmitry A. Medvedev of Russia voiced opposition to adding any sanctions beyond those imposed by the United Nations, and the foreign ministry warned the United States against trying to punish Russian companies under the new unilateral sanctions.

Yesterday, Russia’s minister of fuel and energy took the most overt stance against the US sanctions so far, announcing the plans for closer cooperation between Russian and Iranian petroleum interests.

The Russian statement suggested a working group be formed to identify areas of deeper cooperation in the oil and petrochemical industries, proposing a study for a Russian-Iranian joint venture oil.