[Wall Street Journal Europe] Benjamin Weinthal - While the U.S. has ratcheted up its efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms, the Islamic Republic is reaping a windfall from European companies. The Austrian oil giant OMV is itching to implement a ?22 billion agreement signed in April 2007 to produce liquefied natural gas from Iran's South Pars gas field. Raiffeisen Zentralbank, Austria's third-largest bank, has absorbed the transactions of key European banks that shut down their operations in Iran. Paolo Scaroni, CEO of Italian energy corporation Eni SpA, says his firm will continue to fulfill its contractual obligations in Iran. Germany maintains a ?4 billion trade relationship with Iran, and is its most important European trade partner. All of this is taking place while Iran is moving at an astonishing pace to process high-grade uranium for its atomic bomb.
2009-02-05 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive