Japan pledges loans to Iraq amid Iran squeeze

Loans totalling 42.5 billion yen have been pledged to Baghdad to aid the war-ravaged country.


Afp February 24, 2012

TOKYO: Japan is to offer $530 million in loans to Iraq, in part to help rebuild oil refineries, an official said Friday, as Tokyo seeks to diversify fuel supplies after the tightening of sanctions on Iran.

Loans totalling 42.5 billion yen have been pledged to Baghdad to aid the war-ravaged country with four infrastructure projects, including a refinery in the southern city of Basra and another in the northern city of Baiji, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

A hospital and telecommunications system will also benefit.

"The total value of the projects will amount to 160 billion yen and the main contractors will be Japanese companies," said the official in charge of Middle East issues.

The loans come as Washington continues to press Tokyo to decrease its dependence on Iranian oil, amid a growing Western-led sanctions campaign targeting Tehran's alleged nuclear weapons programme.

The United States is trying to ramp up pressure over the programme, which Tehran insists is peaceful, threatening to cut off financial institutions that deal with the country's central bank, which would squeeze Iran's vital oil export business.

Japan last month initially appeared willing to fall into line with US demands to reduce Iranian oil imports, only to backtrack and insist the issue needed further study.

Iranian crude now makes up around a tenth of resource-poor Japan's oil imports, while crude from Iraq accounts for about three percent.

Japan has eagerly sought to strengthen its ties with Iraq by offering reconstruction support in the aftermath of the conflict there. The world's third-largest economy relies heavily on the Middle East for its oil needs.

Tokyo has been forced to boost its imports of fossil fuels over the last 12 months to make up for the energy shortfall caused by the shuttering of all but two of the country's nuclear reactors in the wake of the crisis at Fukushima.

 

 

 

COMMENTS (4)

MarkH | 12 years ago | Reply

@kafantaris: Iran and Iraq agreed to showing it when they had a choice presented. If they want to stop, it goes to the option they didn't want that made them agree in the first place. When was the last time India, China or Russia acted like Iran? If ever? If you're putting sanctions on someone, it's not exactly a friendly mutually beneficial setup between friends. They're demands, not negotiations. A perceived enemy not meeting those demands gets the "or else." People don't care if Iran is worried about strategic implications. In fact, if they've gone as far as Iran in attracting negative attention, it's more like "show us you're not someone hostile or be treated like you are." There is no third choice. It doesn't matter if they like it.

kafantaris | 12 years ago | Reply

Iran faces a delicate issue. On the one hand it wants to show the world all it’s got and put it at ease, while on the other hand it fears that such show 'n tell will give its enemies a roadmap to bomb it. Saddam Hussein faced a similar dilemma ten years ago. Though he wanted the world to know he had nothing to hide, he also wanted to bluff his archenemy Iran into believing Iraq still had WMD. Bluffing did not go well for Saddam, and it might not go well for Ahmadinejad. But since the price tag for ridding Saddam proved high, maybe we ought to reflect what we are asking of Iran now. On the eve of a threatened attack, we are asking it to take us to the depths of its arsenal and show us all it's got. Such great expectations are a sign we have been talking to our friends too long and are in need of a broader perspective. Exactly when was the last time we asked Pakistan, India, China or Russia to show us their arsenal? “But those countries are not advocating the destruction of Israel.” True, but Israel is not a thorn on their side either. Surely, however, we can see beyond the hyperboles and figure out their underlying purpose. Or have we forgotten that not all Iranians are thrilled with Ahmadinejad? He sure hasn’t forgotten. Nor has he forgotten that that his countrymen hate Israel even more. So he tells them that Israel will be wiped from the face of the earth. Expectantly, this nonsense unites them against a common enemy. It is even a diversion from the misery and isolation brought on by his theocratic regime. Quite clever work by Ahmadinejad -- and not a rial spent or a bullet fired. So why are we letting the crazy talk about destroying Israel get us all worked-up -- to the point of turning the world topsy-turvy again. Can we not see the desperate attempts of an unpopular regime simply trying to hold on?

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ