Free Press
04-10-2008, 04:38 PM
Switzerland shrugs off Jewish group's ad condemning Iran deal
European Jewish Press
GENEVA (EJP)---Switzerland has rejected accusations on Tuesday by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that it could be financing terrorism after a Swiss company signed a 30 billion dollar deal to buy natural gas from Iran.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry reiterated that the purchase did not violate UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme or U.S. domestic law.
The American Jewish group, which is fighting anti-Semitism in the world, has taken out a full-page advertisement which appeared on Tuesday in major Swiss and international newspapers under the banner "Guess who is the world's newest financier of terrorism? SWITZERLAND".
The ad -- which ran in the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal - Europe and The New York Sun, the leading Swiss financial daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung and Geneva dailies Le Temps and Le Matin Bleu -- said the deal's "likely result" was pro-Iranian Hamas and Hezbollah "may get tens of thousands of additional missiles"
"The reproaches in this advertisement do not correspond to the facts," Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel said. ...............
http://www.ejpress.org/article/26070
Swiss-Iran gas deal under attack
....The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has targeted Switzerland for the deal, under which Iran will supply Europe 5.5 billion cubic metres of gas annually by 2012.
Advertisements
The ADL, whose aim is to “stop the defamation of the Jewish people,” criticised Switzerland through advertisements placed in well-known newspapers on Tuesday. These advertisements blamed Switzerland of supporting terrorism because the deal would strengthen Iran.
............An advertisement in the Wall Street Journal Europe claimed Switzerland was “bankrolling the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.” One in The International Herald Tribune called Switzerland “the world’s newest financier of terrorism.” Similar ads appeared in The New York Times and The New York Sun, apart from a few Swiss dailies.
Dismissing the campaign, the Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed on Wednesday that the government was not involved in the deal. The agreement did not violate law as it “is in full conformity with the existing U.N. sanctions against Iran,” as well as the Iran Sanctions Act of the U.S., he said.
Besides, at least 10 other countries were party to major energy deals with Iran, including Japan, France and Italy, he said.
.....Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, who was present at the signing ceremony, was criticised in the West for wearing a head scarf during her meetings with Iranian officials.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/11/stories/2008041154191800.htm
Switzerland shrugs off Jewish group's attack on Iran deal
GENEVA (AFP) — Switzerland shrugged off a renewed attack over a gas supply deal with Iran Wednesday, after a Jewish group took out full page ads in international and Swiss newspapers charging that the country is funding terror.
Industry leaders and the government reiterated that international laws and regulations were respected in the deal and that the allegations by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) "did not correspond to the facts".
Advertisements headed, "Guess who is the world's newest financier of terrorism? Switzerland," appeared in the International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times on Tuesday.
In Switzerland, the advertisements in newspapers Le Matin Bleu, Le Temps, and Neue Zuercher Zeitung charged: "When you finance a terrorist state, you finance terrorism."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jTje-0w774wQBPbJ7sPTyU8FmeqA
Swiss gov't official slams ADL ads
......."as the Swiss government pursues its own narrow economic interests, it is bankrolling the world's leading sponsor of terrorism," accused one of the ADL ads, published on Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal Europe, while another published in The International Herald Tribune bluntly called Switzerland "the world's newest financier of terrorism."
\Similar ads were published in Swiss papers Le Temps, Le Matin Bleu, and Neue Zurcher Zeitung, as well as in The New York Times and The New York Sun.
According to the ADL, the deal means that "the [Swiss] government is funding an Iranian regime that viciously abuses the human rights of million of its own citizens, especially women and minorities."
But in a conversation with the Post on Wednesday, a Swiss government official rejected the criticism outright.
"On what grounds does an NGO criticize a sovereign country like Switzerland for following its own long-term strategic rationale, which is in line with international considerations?" demanded Lars Kunchel, spokesperson for the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Bern.
"It is beyond the pale to accuse us of financing terrorism," he declared, adding that the accusations "are simply not true."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207649974654&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Meanwhile Israel is importing Iranian oil
Israel's Tehran connection
....... "Israel imports Iranian oil on a large scale even though contacts with Iran and purchasing of its products are officially boycotted by Israel. Israel gets around the boycott by having the oil delivered via Europe. A reliable Israeli energy newsletter, EnergiaNews, reported this last week [March 18] ...
"EnergiaNews got the information about the Iran trade from sources with ties to the management of Israeli Oil Refineries Ltd ... According to EnergiaNews the Iranian oil is liked in Israel because its quality is better than other crude oils.
"The report by EnergiaNews editor Moshe Shalev states that the Iranian oil reaches various European ports, mainly in Rotterdam. It is bought by Israelis and the necessary European bill of lading and insurance papers are supplied. Then it is transported to Haifa in Israel. The importer is the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Co (EAPC), which keeps its oil sources secret."
EAPC was established in 1968 as a joint Israeli-Iranian company to transport oil from Iran to Europe. After the fall of the Shah, Iran ceased to play an active role in its affairs and there are ongoing legal disputes between the two partners.
The Swiss report continued:
"It is not clear if the Iranian exporters know about Israeli purchases of their oil. At the other end, the Israeli buyers and governmental offices are well aware of where the high-grade oil comes from, although it is a blatant defiance of the boycott. The EnergiaNews article even made it through Israeli censorship, which asked only for some changes in the text. The fact that the report cleared the censors increases the credibility of the information. In the past, such reports were forbidden.
"When questioned by Sonntag, an energy expert of one of the leading Israeli papers confirmed the EnergiaNews report: Israel has been importing Iranian oil for many years. The expert stressed, however, that the purchases were made on the free market and not directly from Iran."
Sonntag quoted a spokesman for Oil Refineries Ltd as denying that his company imports and processes Iranian oil. However, Sonntag pointed to a report in Haaretz newspaper last October which said that an Israeli energy company called Paz would be refining Iranian oil and supplying it to the Palestinian Authority from the start of this year.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_silverstein/2008/04/israels_tehran_connection.html
European Jewish Press
GENEVA (EJP)---Switzerland has rejected accusations on Tuesday by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that it could be financing terrorism after a Swiss company signed a 30 billion dollar deal to buy natural gas from Iran.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry reiterated that the purchase did not violate UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme or U.S. domestic law.
The American Jewish group, which is fighting anti-Semitism in the world, has taken out a full-page advertisement which appeared on Tuesday in major Swiss and international newspapers under the banner "Guess who is the world's newest financier of terrorism? SWITZERLAND".
The ad -- which ran in the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal - Europe and The New York Sun, the leading Swiss financial daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung and Geneva dailies Le Temps and Le Matin Bleu -- said the deal's "likely result" was pro-Iranian Hamas and Hezbollah "may get tens of thousands of additional missiles"
"The reproaches in this advertisement do not correspond to the facts," Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman Lars Knuchel said. ...............
http://www.ejpress.org/article/26070
Swiss-Iran gas deal under attack
....The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has targeted Switzerland for the deal, under which Iran will supply Europe 5.5 billion cubic metres of gas annually by 2012.
Advertisements
The ADL, whose aim is to “stop the defamation of the Jewish people,” criticised Switzerland through advertisements placed in well-known newspapers on Tuesday. These advertisements blamed Switzerland of supporting terrorism because the deal would strengthen Iran.
............An advertisement in the Wall Street Journal Europe claimed Switzerland was “bankrolling the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.” One in The International Herald Tribune called Switzerland “the world’s newest financier of terrorism.” Similar ads appeared in The New York Times and The New York Sun, apart from a few Swiss dailies.
Dismissing the campaign, the Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed on Wednesday that the government was not involved in the deal. The agreement did not violate law as it “is in full conformity with the existing U.N. sanctions against Iran,” as well as the Iran Sanctions Act of the U.S., he said.
Besides, at least 10 other countries were party to major energy deals with Iran, including Japan, France and Italy, he said.
.....Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, who was present at the signing ceremony, was criticised in the West for wearing a head scarf during her meetings with Iranian officials.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/11/stories/2008041154191800.htm
Switzerland shrugs off Jewish group's attack on Iran deal
GENEVA (AFP) — Switzerland shrugged off a renewed attack over a gas supply deal with Iran Wednesday, after a Jewish group took out full page ads in international and Swiss newspapers charging that the country is funding terror.
Industry leaders and the government reiterated that international laws and regulations were respected in the deal and that the allegations by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) "did not correspond to the facts".
Advertisements headed, "Guess who is the world's newest financier of terrorism? Switzerland," appeared in the International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times on Tuesday.
In Switzerland, the advertisements in newspapers Le Matin Bleu, Le Temps, and Neue Zuercher Zeitung charged: "When you finance a terrorist state, you finance terrorism."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jTje-0w774wQBPbJ7sPTyU8FmeqA
Swiss gov't official slams ADL ads
......."as the Swiss government pursues its own narrow economic interests, it is bankrolling the world's leading sponsor of terrorism," accused one of the ADL ads, published on Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal Europe, while another published in The International Herald Tribune bluntly called Switzerland "the world's newest financier of terrorism."
\Similar ads were published in Swiss papers Le Temps, Le Matin Bleu, and Neue Zurcher Zeitung, as well as in The New York Times and The New York Sun.
According to the ADL, the deal means that "the [Swiss] government is funding an Iranian regime that viciously abuses the human rights of million of its own citizens, especially women and minorities."
But in a conversation with the Post on Wednesday, a Swiss government official rejected the criticism outright.
"On what grounds does an NGO criticize a sovereign country like Switzerland for following its own long-term strategic rationale, which is in line with international considerations?" demanded Lars Kunchel, spokesperson for the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Bern.
"It is beyond the pale to accuse us of financing terrorism," he declared, adding that the accusations "are simply not true."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207649974654&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Meanwhile Israel is importing Iranian oil
Israel's Tehran connection
....... "Israel imports Iranian oil on a large scale even though contacts with Iran and purchasing of its products are officially boycotted by Israel. Israel gets around the boycott by having the oil delivered via Europe. A reliable Israeli energy newsletter, EnergiaNews, reported this last week [March 18] ...
"EnergiaNews got the information about the Iran trade from sources with ties to the management of Israeli Oil Refineries Ltd ... According to EnergiaNews the Iranian oil is liked in Israel because its quality is better than other crude oils.
"The report by EnergiaNews editor Moshe Shalev states that the Iranian oil reaches various European ports, mainly in Rotterdam. It is bought by Israelis and the necessary European bill of lading and insurance papers are supplied. Then it is transported to Haifa in Israel. The importer is the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Co (EAPC), which keeps its oil sources secret."
EAPC was established in 1968 as a joint Israeli-Iranian company to transport oil from Iran to Europe. After the fall of the Shah, Iran ceased to play an active role in its affairs and there are ongoing legal disputes between the two partners.
The Swiss report continued:
"It is not clear if the Iranian exporters know about Israeli purchases of their oil. At the other end, the Israeli buyers and governmental offices are well aware of where the high-grade oil comes from, although it is a blatant defiance of the boycott. The EnergiaNews article even made it through Israeli censorship, which asked only for some changes in the text. The fact that the report cleared the censors increases the credibility of the information. In the past, such reports were forbidden.
"When questioned by Sonntag, an energy expert of one of the leading Israeli papers confirmed the EnergiaNews report: Israel has been importing Iranian oil for many years. The expert stressed, however, that the purchases were made on the free market and not directly from Iran."
Sonntag quoted a spokesman for Oil Refineries Ltd as denying that his company imports and processes Iranian oil. However, Sonntag pointed to a report in Haaretz newspaper last October which said that an Israeli energy company called Paz would be refining Iranian oil and supplying it to the Palestinian Authority from the start of this year.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_silverstein/2008/04/israels_tehran_connection.html