Iran, Oman Discuss Nuclear Talks

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani (ONA)
Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani (ONA)
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Iran, Oman Discuss Nuclear Talks

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani (ONA)
Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani (ONA)

Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi discussed with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani the latest developments on the nuclear agreement known as the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" (JCPOA).

The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement carried out by the state-run Agency (ISNA), saying Bagheri-Kani held consultations with Busaidi on regional and bilateral developments and follow-up on the agreements signed during the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Muscat.

According to Oman News Agency (ONA), the two sides reviewed relations of cooperation between Oman and Iran.

They also discussed several regional and international matters of common interest, particularly the developments regarding the return to the nuclear deal, ONA reported.

The meeting stressed the importance of this deal in maintaining regional security and stability.

This is Bagheri-Kani's second foreign visit within a week, after his unannounced trip to Moscow, in the first diplomatic move after the failure of the latest rounds of talks in Doha.

Earlier, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian and the Secretary-General of Iran's National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, on the nuclear negotiations.

Abdollahian said Iran is making no demands outside the parameters of its 2015 nuclear deal, asserting: "We have no requirement which goes beyond the nuclear agreement -- contrary to certain claims by the US party in the media."

He noted that the recent talks in Doha focused on the issue of guarantees, stating: "During the recent talks in Doha, one of the main questions we focused on was an effective guarantee from Washington assuring us of economic advantages linked to the agreement."

Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Abbaszadeh criticized the Iranian Foreign Ministry for the lack of results in the Doha talks.

Abbaszadeh, the spokesman of the parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, downplayed Abdollahian's statement about Tehran's "positive" assessment of the last round, noting that the US special envoy to Iran, Rob Malley, described it as a "waste of time."

"We could have worked better in Doha," said the lawmaker, adding: "We did not enter into the Doha talks with a calculated plan and a road map."

"The reason is that our foreign diplomacy apparatus does not have a well-prepared road map in this regard," said Abbaszadeh.



Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund to Exclude Six Israeli Companies Linked to West Bank, Gaza 

A Norwegian flag flutters over a building in Oslo, Norway May 31, 2017. (Reuters)
A Norwegian flag flutters over a building in Oslo, Norway May 31, 2017. (Reuters)
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Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund to Exclude Six Israeli Companies Linked to West Bank, Gaza 

A Norwegian flag flutters over a building in Oslo, Norway May 31, 2017. (Reuters)
A Norwegian flag flutters over a building in Oslo, Norway May 31, 2017. (Reuters)

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Monday it had decided to exclude another six companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio, following an ethics review of its Israeli investments. 

The $2 trillion wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude but said these would be made public, along with specific reasons for each company, once the divestments were completed. 

One possibility could be that among them are Israel's five largest banks, which have been under review by the fund's ethical watchdog. 

The latest exclusions bring to 23 the number of Israeli companies the fund has been divesting from since June 30. That number may rise. 

"More companies could be excluded," Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. 

Currently the fund holds stakes in 38 Israeli companies, totaling 19 billion crowns ($1.9 billion) in investments, down from 61 companies totaling 23 billion crowns, as of June 30, the fund's operator, Norges Bank Investment Management, said in a letter dated Monday. 

REVIEW 

The latest announcement follows an urgent review launched this month after reports that the fund had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets. 

The reports spurred a fresh debate about the fund's investments in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories ahead of elections on Sept. 8, with some parties calling for the fund to divest from all Israeli companies, a step the government has ruled out. 

Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

"This debate helps sharpen our practices," said Stoltenberg. 

Critics say only a complete withdrawal from investing in Israeli companies would protect the fund against possible ethical breaches. 

Stoltenberg said that, from now on, the ethics watchdog and NBIM would have more frequent and faster exchanges of information between them to identify problematic companies quicker. 

Ethical exclusions from the fund are based on recommendations from the fund's watchdog, though NBIM can also divest from companies if it assesses that a company can pose too much of a risk to the fund, whether the risk is ethical or not. 

"With more exchanges of information between the Council on Ethics and Norges Bank, it is possible that there could be more divestments of that kind in future," said Stoltenberg. 

Last Monday, the fund announced it was terminating contracts with all three of its external asset managers who handled some of its Israeli investments.