"Behind the facade of humanitarian concern, familiar interests are at
stake. Three months ago, Iraq gave the greenlight for the signing of a framework agreement for construction of pipelines to transport natural gas from Iran's South Pars field - which it shares with Qatar - across Iraq, to Syria. The
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the pipelines was signed in July
last year - just as Syria's civil war was spreading to Damascus and
Aleppo - but the negotiations go back further to 2010.
The pipeline, which could be extended to Lebanon and Europe, would
potentially solidify Iran's position as a formidable global player. The Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline plan is a "direct slap in the face" to Qatar's plans for a countervailing pipeline
running from Qatar's North field, contiguous with Iran's South Pars
field, through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey, also with a
view to supply European markets. The difference is that the pipeline would bypass Russia ... Israel also has a direct interest in countering the Iran-brokered
pipeline. In 2003, just a month after the commencement of the Iraq War,
US and Israeli government sources told The Guardian of plans to "build a pipeline to siphon oil from newly conquered Iraq to Israel" bypassing Syria ... Syria's dash for gas has been spurred by its rapidly declining oil revenues, driven by the peak of its conventional oil production in 1996. Even before the war, the country's rate of oil production had plummeted by nearly half, from a peak of just under 610,000 barrels per day (bpd) to approximately 385,000 bpd in 2010. Since the war, production has dropped further still, once again by about half, as the rebels have taken control of key oil producing areas ... the conflict's future continues to be at the mercy of rival foreign
geopolitical interests in dominating the energy corridors of the Middle
East and North Africa. But whoever wins this New Great Game, the Syrian people will end up losing ... Syria's plight today may well offer a taste of things to come."
Zum Artikel von Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, erschienen im Guardian (13. Mai 2013) »
Zum Artikel von Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, erschienen im Guardian (13. Mai 2013) »
