University of Twente Student Theses
After the nuclear deal : research on the EU-Iran gas relationship in the post-sanctions era
Tel, Siyar (2017) After the nuclear deal : research on the EU-Iran gas relationship in the post-sanctions era.
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| Abstract: | From the Implementation Day of the JCPOA on, Iran is allowed to sell natural gas to the EU and the EU is allowed to buy and import natural gas from Iran. The EU wants to be less dependent on importing gas from Russia. After the Ukraine-Russia gas crisis of 2006, the EU started to really prioritize the diversification of its gas supplies. The European Commission put forward the Southern Gas Corridor initiative in 2008 after that the EU’s energy security concerns had appeared because of the first Russian-Ukrainian-European natural gas crisis in 2006. In the EU’s commission policy document of 2008, in which the Southern Gas Corridor Strategy was introduced, it was also mentioned that “Iran should represent a further significant supply source for the EU, when political conditions permit”. In the year 2008, the European Commission also mentioned that the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is important for the diversification of the EU’s energy supplies. The EU wants to increase its LNG imports and improve its LNG storage capacity in order to make the EU gas system more flexible and diverse. So, Russia has the capability and the power to significantly disrupt gas supplies to the majority of Central- and Eastern European EU member states and the EU wants to counter this relative power of Russia through connecting Iranian gas to the Southern Gas Corridor’s pipeline network. One of the other ways through which the EU wants to counter this relative power of Russia, is importing Iranian LNG. Through both its foreign policies on importing piped Iranian gas and Iranian LNG, the EU is seeking for relative gains and not for absolute gains. In accordance with its Resistance Economy doctrine, Iran will choose for pipeline routes that are the most economically and politically suitable and exporting piped gas to the EU via Turkey is not politically suitable for Iran, because Iran and Turkey are regional rivals. In accordance with its Resistance Economy doctrine, Iran wants to increase its LNG export capability because it is advantageous for Iran’s diversification of its gas export routes and destinations, and it gives Iran a strategic flexibility during a new possible era of sanctions in the future. Iran’s preference to export LNG to the EU and Iran’s preference to not export piped gas to the EU is in line with Iran’s Resistance Economy goal of having strategic flexibility during a new possible era of sanctions in the future. Through both its foreign policies on exporting piped gas to the EU and exporting LNG to the EU, Iran is seeking for relative gains, and not for absolute gains after the nuclear deal. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 89 political science |
| Programme: | European Studies MSc (69303) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/73744 |
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