Iran and China have signed an agreement to allow China to set up an oil rig in the Gulf, despite increasing international calls to enforce tougher sanctions against Iran.
In a $143-million deal between the Iranian North Drilling Company and China Petroleum Technology Development Corporation, the latter will be allowed to drill for oil in the Gulf.
"In recent months, with the China-U.S. bilateral problems, China is using Iran as a leverage against the U.S. and not complying with the Security Council in applying sanctions against Iran," Mehrdad Khonsari, Senior Research Consultant, Center for Arab and Iranian Studies in London, told the Media Line.
"The story is that in the field of oil, China has become a vital part of the Iranian oil sector, he added. "China has previously signed deals for oil exploration on land that was taken over from Japan, which backed out over Western pressure."
Source: Arab News, Saudi Arabia, March 8, 2010
