Oil majors collaborate with politicians and intelligence services to leak news that would boil investorsÕ speculation.

Iran has refused to follow Saudi Arabia in raising its crude production presumably to calm volatility in the international oil markets.
“We have some spare capacity in oil production. At the same time, we have to say that there is no need for more supplies to the market. If there is going to be any need in the market, we surely are going to contribute to that,“ Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said, adding that the present prices are neither good for producers nor buyers.
Iran’s stance did not come as a surprise as OPEC, that feed 40 percent of world oil supplies, has been steadfast in its refusal to raise output. Tehran is the organization’s second-largest exporter and has been blaming market speculators aiming to make a fast buck out of a weakening dollar for oil’s rally.

Blame Game
Big energy consumers would like to keep blaming producers that they are not pumping enough crude, thus keeping prices high. Producers, with the members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries at the center-stage, insist that there is enough oil in the market--independent market figures endorse this.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blamed the West for artificially raising crude oil prices. On a visit to Malaysia, he told a news conference Tuesday that the global production of oil is much more than consumption.
“So it is very clear that the market does not have a role in raising prices. There are others that are determining the price for the benefit of the few, very rich people of the world,“ he said.
According to Presstv, Democratic nominee Barack Obama has also said that harsh US rhetoric toward the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter has driven up the crude prices.
The Illinois senator urged the Bush administration to tone down the anti-Iran rhetoric in the hopes of seeing lower oil prices. “There are some geopolitical issues that affect the price of oil. So for us to ratchet down the rhetoric when it comes to Iran, for example, and engage in principled diplomacy, might calm the markets down,“ he noted.

Problem of Speculators
A long-term problem is refining capacity in consumer countries. Most refineries around the globe are working at 98 percent capacity, and even if producers pumped more oil, it might not find its way to end-consumers. For example, the largest world consumer of energy, USA, has not seen a new refinery built in the last quarter of a century.
Another reason might be an important factor in pushing up oil prices, along with other hard and soft commodities’ prices. That is speculation by investment funds targeting commodities’ futures away from turbulent financial markets.
That last reason, stressed by producers and some market analysts and denied by politicians in consumer countries, is opening the way for conspiracy theorists to easily explain sharp leaps in oil markets.
Some would argue that big oil majors collaborate with politicians and intelligence services to leak news that would boil investors’ speculation.
Media exchanges between Israel and Iran added more than $5 to the price of oil last week, and a slight provocation to Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez could trigger a threat to cut oil and thus stir the markets.

US-Made
It might be worth mentioning that oil prices in real terms--minus inflation and dollar depreciations--are not that higher than the boom of the early 1980s. Second, the fear of high energy prices dampening global economic prospects further could be a bit exaggerated, as up until now, the world is coping well with higher prices.
A possible recession has roots in the structural imbalances of the American economy, coupled with the subprime mortgage crisis and global credit crunch--all US-made.
Indeed, it is the market dynamics at work which should be allowed to self-correct without manipulation.

Melli Bank Plc on Tuesday began legal proceedings at London’s High Court against illegal sanctions imposed by the EU to freeze its accounts.
Acting for the bank incorporated under the British law, barrister Richard Gordon told the court that the sanctions should not apply to Melli Bank Plc and should be suspended pending a judgment by the European Court of First Instance.
The bank in London was strictly regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the UK’s financial watchdog, and legally and functionally distinct from its parent company, IRNA quoted Gordon as saying.
The legal challenge comes after the EU’s secretariat journal, documented the sanctions decision last month, claiming that Bank Melli had ’facilitated numerous purchases of sensitive materials for Iran’s nuclear and missile program’.
The decision to freeze the accounts of Bank Melli goes much further than the latest UN sanctions in March, which simply calls on member countries to ’exercise vigilance’ over the activities of Iranian financial institutions.
The barrister told the court that the London subsidiary, which adopted operational autonomy in 2002 after it was approved by the FSA as conforming to all UK accounting standards and disclosures, had never been specifically cited in any UN resolution.
The sanctions were disproportionate and amounted to a freezing of assets without evidence and without limit of time, which was an infringement of EU law, he said.

Recession in the housing market has led to rise in capital market indices, said managing director of Bank Keshavarzi Brokerage Firm.
Hossein Kharrazi attributed the rise in bourse index and the highest stock exchange trading to the adjustment of profit of shares of steel and mining companies, ISNA reported.
It is also due to the positive view of shareholders toward the capital market, he added.
The government’s economic plan is another factor contributing to the boom, the official underlined.
The plan to do away with subsidies particularly in the energy sector has driven stockholders to show greater interest in investing in steel and mining industries.
Criticizing the performance of minor shareholders and some of major and experienced shareholders in the capital market, he said the indices are influenced by the hasty measures of these groups.

The plan to establish Iranian Guilds Company has been completed, disclosed spokesman of State Guilds Council.
Qassem Nodeh Farahani told IRNA that the plan will be submitted to the Commerce Ministry for final approval.
The proposed company aims to create a healthy distribution network for goods and do away with intermediaries in the consumer market, the official explained.
The plan will become operational once the final approval of the ministry is obtained within three months, he assured.
Guilds Research Center has conducted feasibility studies and researches on the plan for a year by considering its problems, capabilities and requirements, Nodeh Farahani pointed out.
“Initially, about 20,000 shops, as part of the distribution network, will be launched nationwide. The number of units will eventually rise to 50,000.“
Over 360 unions for guild affairs will operate on behalf of Iranian Guilds Company in 30 provinces to supervise control and create distribution networks.
Once the giant distribution network goes on stream, the consumer market will witness stable prices, Nodeh Farahani concluded.

United States exports to Iran grew more than tenfold during President George Bush’s years in office. For instance, America sent more cigarettes to Iran, at least $158 million under Bush, than any other products.
Other surprising shipments to Iran during the Bush administration: fur clothing, sculptures, perfume and musical instruments. Top states shipping goods to Iran include California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of seven years of US government trade data.

Few people or companies asking US permission to trade with Iran are turned down by the Treasury Department.

Asked about the report, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said “Maybe that’s a way of killing them.“ “I meant that as a joke,“ McCain quickly explained.
Taking a more serious tone, McCain said, “I’d like to look into details of exports to Iran. This is the first time that I’ve heard about it.“
Despite increasingly tough rhetoric toward Iran, US trade in a range of goods survives on-again, off-again sanctions illegally imposed nearly three decades ago. The rules allow sales of agricultural commodities, medicine and other categories of goods. “Our sanctions are targeted against the government, not the people,“ claimed Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces the sanctions.
“The government tracks exports to Iran using details from shipping records, but in some cases it’s unclear whether anyone pays attention,“ he noted.
The US government seems uncoordinated on efforts to limit trade with Iran. The Securities and Exchange Commission sought to shine a light on companies active in Iran but stopped after business groups complained. The Treasury Department allowed some companies and individuals trading with Iran to escape punishment.
The fact that the United States sells anything to Iran is news to some.
“Until you just told me that about Iran I’m not sure I knew we did any business with Iran,“ said Fred Wetherington, a tobacco grower in Hahira, Ga., and chairman of Georgia’s tobacco commission. “I thought because of the situation between our two governments, I didn’t think we traded with them at all, so I certainly didn’t know they were getting any cigarettes.“
The US sent Iran $546 million in goods from 2001 through last year, government figures show. It exported roughly $146 million worth last year, compared with $8.3 million in 2001, Bush’s first year in office. Even adjusted for inflation, that is more than a tenfold increase.

List of Items
Top US exports to Iran over Bush’s years in office include corn, $68 million; chemical wood pulp, soda or sulphate, $64 million; soybeans, $43 million; medical equipment, $27 million; vitamins, $18 million; and vegetable seeds, $12 million, according to the AP’s analysis of government trade data compiled by the World Institute for Strategic Economic Research in Holyoke.
The value of cigarettes sold to Iran was more than twice that of the No. 2 category on the export list, vaccines, serums and blood products, $73 million.
Also getting Bush administration approval for export to Iran were at least $101,000 worth of clothes; $175,000 in sculptures; nearly $96,000 worth of cosmetics; $8,900 in perfume; $30,000 in musical instruments and parts; $21,000 in golf carts and/or snowmobiles; and $3,300 in fur clothing.
Few people or companies asking US permission to trade with Iran are turned down by the Treasury Department, the lead agency for licensing exports to sanctioned countries. During Bush’s terms, the office has received at least 4,523 license applications for Iran exports, issued at least 2,821 licenses and 213 license amendments and denied at least 178, Treasury Department data shows.
Neither the Treasury data nor trade data compiled by the Census Bureau identify exporters or specify what they shipped. Though some trade with Iran is legal, some businesses prefer that people not know about it.
The Bush administration’s record enforcing export laws is mixed. The Office of Foreign Assets Control let the statute of limitations expire in at least 25 cases involving trade with Iran.
The companies involved include Acterna Corp., American Export Lines, Parvizian Masterpieces, Protrade International Corp., Rex of New York, Shinhan Bank, Phoenix Biomedical Corp., World Cargo Alliance and World Fuel Services.

Photo by Ali Hassanpour

The First International Symposium on Furniture Trade and Interior Design opened in Tehran on Wednesday at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization’s International Conference Hall.
It aims to lay the grounds for further cooperation of domestic and foreign companies in the field.
Ali Ansari, head of Tehran Province Furniture Producers Guild said the event a first step towards modernization of Iranian furniture manufacturing industry, adding that it also will help enhance collaboration between private and public sectors.
With regard to Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution pertaining to the privatization of state-owned companies, he said, “If allowed to play a bigger role in the national economy, the private sector can easily develop and integrate with other sectors. Private enterprise has the money and drive, which makes it easier to succeed in this business.“
The industry was urged to abandon traditional methods and focus more on modern practices “as this can help increase production and pave the way for entering regional and international markets.“
Ansari pointed to the importance of setting up industrial townships for furniture and called on the officials to support domestic producers and curb furniture imports.
The country plans to annually attract 20 million tourists by 2020 and that the furniture industry can play a key role to this end, for instance, by making beautiful and modern furniture for hotels and inns or woodworks and artifacts that could be sold to tourists.
In conclusion, he called on the academic centers to offer courses on interior design and furniture industry.
Furniture companies and representatives from Turkey, Italy, England, Malaysia and Austria as well as Iranian experts and officials are attending the two-day event which ends Thursday.