Iran Looks to China for Oil Development

Online, November 9, 2010 (Newswire.com) - TEHRAN, (UPI) -- Iran is discussing expansions at the Azadegan oil field in the south of the country with Chinese delegates, a deputy oil minister said in Tehran.

Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr, Iran's deputy oil minister, said operations were continuing at the southern oil field as Iranian authorities discuss Chinese involvement in the project, the semiofficial Mehr News Agency reports.

"The development of the oil field has not stopped despite the discussions (for its expansion)," he added.

U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton complained in September that Chinese energy companies are aiding Iran in its nuclear program by dealing in its energy sector.

The United States and European Union in July passed sanctions on Iran that target foreign entities doing business in certain aspects of the Iranian energy sector. Their unilateral moves followed a decision by the U.N. Security Council to enact new sanctions that punish Iran for its controversial nuclear program.

The bipartisan letter said Chinese companies are supplying Iran with refined petroleum products since the U.S. sanctions were signed into law in July.

Azadegan, straddling the Iraq border, is the largest onshore oil field in Iran.