(LinkAsia: May 11, 2012)
Sydnie Kohara:
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is continuing her Asian tour with a stop in India, but she's not getting much cooperation there. The United States is asking India not to buy oil from Iran. The oil embargo is to force Iran to halt its nuclear program, but Iran is the biggest supplier of oil to India. And as NHK reports, they're not likely to stop doing business together any time soon.

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NHK World NEWSLINE
Airdate: May 8, 2012

Reporter:
Hillary Clinton's visit to India comes less than two months before additional sanctions against Iran go into force. The United States has outlined new sanctions against Iran in response to Iran's nuclear program. But so far, India, which imports about 10 percent of its oil from Iran, has shown no intention of following Washington's lead. One factor at play is the importance of energy security seen by the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a crucial element of India's economic growth. Clinton emphasized that the US is ready to provide expert advice on how India can diversify its sources of oil. In line with its sanctions against Iran, Washington is hoping that India will agree to reduce imports from Iran.

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State:
We commend India for the steps its refineries are taking to reduce imports from Iran. There is no doubt that India and the United States are after the same goal.

Reporter:
While India is not prepared to join western sanctions, curbing oil imports from Iran would motivate the country to diversify its sources of oil leading to greater energy security.

S.M. Krishna, Indian Foreign Minister:
Given our growing demand, it is natural for us to try and diversify our sources of imports of oil and gas to meet the objective of energy security.

Reporter:
India is keen to avoid further economic slowdown caused by the European debt crisis. On the other hand, the United States wants to make sanctions against Iran as effective as possible. Clinton and Krishna are said to meet again in Washington in June. The search for a compromise over Iranian oil imports is likely to continue until just before the sanctions begin.

Sydnie Kohara:
Hillary Clinton held up Japan as the example for India to follow. Japan has successfully reduced its oil imports from Iran by about 20 percent.

 

(LinkAsia: January 27, 2012)

Yul Kwon:

The European Union is increasing the pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program. It’s joining the US and the UK in the latest round of sanctions, which includes an embargo on Iranian oil. Japanese broadcaster NHK has our top story.

 

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NHK World NEWSLINE

Airdate: January 23, 2012

 

Reporter:

The EU ministers made their decision at a meeting in Brussels. Their sanctions came in line with similar measures that were approved last month in the United States. The ministers agreed to freeze the assets of Iran’s central bank. They want to cut off the main source of revenue for the government. The EU is the second-largest importer of Iranian oil. It accounts for nearly 20 percent of the total. Sources close to the talks say the ministers are focusing on how Iran will react to the decision, including the possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is the only waterway to the open ocean for many areas around the Persian Gulf. NHK World’s Go Sawahata has just been there. He reports that it’s still busy, at least for now.

 

Go Sawahata (Reporter):

I reached the Strait of Hormuz by sailing up the coast of Oman. The Persian Gulf was busy with oil tankers from all over the world. Oman has military facilities near the Strait of Hormuz. Omani boats were on patrol. Iran conducted huge naval exercises in the area late last month. Iran has also just launched its latest missiles in a show of its military clout. The United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier in the area. Countries along the gulf have built up their military forces in case of tension with Iran. The United Arab Emirates signed a contract last month to buy the latest US missile interceptors. Saudi Arabia signed a deal to buy more F-15 fighters from the United States.

 

Theodore Karasik (Institute of Near East and Gulf Military Analysis):

They’re increasingly buying more arms, as well as their recent experience in Libya, has taught them how to use air power effectively. So this is a nice combination of attributes to face off against Iran.

 

Go Sawahata:

The big question is how Gulf States will export their oil if the Strait of Hormuz is closed. The UAE is building a pipeline to bypass the strait. But the pipeline won’t be finished for at least six months.

 

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan (UAE Foreign Minister):

I’ll do everything I can to keep oil production going.

 

Go Sawahata:

Ninety percent of Japan’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Japanese businesses are keeping a close eye on developments. This Japanese company is involved with production of oil in the UAE for export to Japan. Even if the Strait of Hormuz stays open, any more military tension will hit the company’s business.

 

Katsujiro Kida (Japan Oil Development):

Closure of the strait would create a situation beyond any company’s control. An accidental incident could trigger something that nobody wants to happen.

 

Go Sawahata:

Tension between the West and Iran over Iranian nuclear program is at a critical level. There are fears of a regional war. The fate of the central artery for global oil transport is at stake. 

 

An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in Tehran today after a motorcyclist attached a magnetic bomb to his car. Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was a chemistry expert and director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. Varying opinions are quickly emerging over who is to blame for the attack. Iran blames the US and Israel for the attack. "Does anyone doubt that some combination of the two nations completely obsessed with Iran's nuclear program...are responsible?" asks Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com. Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations, however, is of a different opinion. He asks, "But is it in US national interest to bomb Iran to defend the principle of full cooperation with the IAEA? I would say no." 

 

Roshan's death comes amid mounting tension between the US and Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Earlier this week, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran had begun enriching uranium at 20 percent at the Fordow plant near the city of Qom. The plant is buried deep underground a military site and is said to be far more resistant to military strikes than existing plants. US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton responded to the news with a harsh tone."This step once again demonstrates the Iranian regime's blatant disregard for its responsibilities and that the country's growing isolation is self-inflicted," she said in a statement.

 

Since November 2011, the US and EU have taken significant steps to cut Iran out of the international financial network after IAEA published a report stating that Iran was involved in activities relevant to the development of nuclear weapons. Iran immediately slammed the report as politically motivated and a fabrication by the US. Tehran claims its uranium enrichment program is for nuclear research and peaceful energy purposes. "No one has a full sense of the Iranian production plan there," said one diplomat who has studied the few details released by Iran about the Fordow plant. "And I think that’s the point." Meanwhile, former US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolten, says the Iranians are "testing Western powers' resolve to stop their advance towards developing a bomb."

 

Iran's releationship with the West has steadily declined in recent weeks as the US enacted sanctions on Iran's central bank on January 1, and the EU is expected to impose an embargo on Iranian oil by the end of the month. Western sanctions seek to undercut the Iranian government by halting the country's largest source of revenue: oil sales. The Iranian Economic Minister, Shamseddin Hosseini, likened the sanctions to "an economic war." On December 27, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that if the West followed through with its threats, Tehran would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a 30-mile strategic waterway through which nearly one fourth of the world's oil passes every day. In the back-and-forth war of words, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta responded to the threat by saying that closing the strategic waterway would be a "red line" for the US.

 

Meanwhile, while Iran concluded a massive ten-day naval exercise last week stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden, some observers remain skeptical that US-Iran relations will escalate into a full-blown conflict. Iran analyst Michael Connel says the most likely outcome is "more bluster." Afshon Ostovar of Foreign Policy Magazine says that initiating a conflict with the US would be "a last-ditch, kamikaze act by the Iranians." However, he added, "as opportunities for compromise evaporate, and as relations continue to sour, the likelihood of war is steadily increasing."

(Euronews: 0724 PST, March 4, 2011) Anti-government rebels have fired a sustained barrage of mortar bombs and rockets at a military base protecting the eastern Libyan port of Ras Lanuf.

 

The rebels say they are determined to overrun the base on the outskirts of the major oil terminal port on the Mediterranean. Libyan army helicopters have machine-gunned the rebel positions. Anti-aircraft missiles have been fired in response.

 

 

(Euronews: 0130 PST, February 25, 2011) At least two major oil terminals in Libya have fallen into rebel hands, according to unconfirmed reports coming from the eastern city of Benghazi. It is thought that the anti-Gaddafi forces seized the ports on Thursday, although it is unclear if production at the terminals has been badly affected.

 

 

Gaddafi Clings On as Rebels Consolidate Gains

(Euronews: 0030 PST, February 25, 2011) Colonel Gaddafi's grip on Libya looks increasingly flimsy amid reports rebel militias are nearing the capital. In the country's second city Benghazi, which is all but free of government forces, there were jubilant scenes as protesters called for Gaddafi to go, despite another defiant speech by the Libyan leader on TV in which he blamed al-Qaeda for the uprising.

 

 

(Mosaic Video Alert: February 17, 2011) As Egyptians celebrated the achievement of the revolution's main goal, a new star emerged: the man who stood behind Omar Suleiman during his announcement of Hosni Mubarak's resignation. The "Man Behind Omar Suleiman" has become a media and online sensation in Egypt. But his true identity remains elusive and Egyptians are left wondering: who is the "Man Behind Omar Suleiman"? Lebanon's New TV comically explores the answer to this question.

 

(Al Jazeera English: 1315 PST, February 11, 2011) Egypt's Hosni Mubarak resigned as president and handed control to the military on Friday, after 30 years in power, bowing to a historic 18-day wave of pro-democracy demonstrations by hundreds of thousands. Mubarak, 82, had flown with his family from Cairo to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, a ruling party official said. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher takes a look at how the former military man rose to power, and how it all began to slip away.

 

 

Watch Al Jazeera English's live broadcast stream, online now.

 

(Channel 4 News: 1300 PST, February 11, 2011) Egyptian president Mubarak resigns amid jubilation in Cairo. Lindsey Hilsum reports.

 

 

Click here for important background information on the unrest in Egypt.