VOL. XLVI

No 27

07-July-2003

IRAN

Azadegan Talks Continue As Japan Sidesteps Tehran-Washington Stand-Off

A Japanese consortium led by Inpex continued negotiations with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) last week over a $2bn development of the Azadegan onshore oilfield, as the end of June talks deadline passed. There has been mounting pressure from Washington on the Japanese authorities to link the negotiations to Irans compliance with calls for stricter inspections of its nuclear program....