Iran invites Gulf states to tour nuclear power plant

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

Iran’s nuclear chief said Wednesday experts from Arab neighbors across the Gulf, concerned about the safety of Iran’s sole nuclear power plant, are welcome to visit the facility, IRNA reported.  “We are ready for the visit of nuclear experts of … Gulf countries to Bushehr nuclear power plant,” Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying when asked how Tehran would tackle their worries.  Gulf countries have often raised concern over Bushehr’s reliability and the risk of radioactive leaks in case of a major earthquake, as well as a possible military dimension to Iran’s nuclear drive.  “We… again express our readiness, for consultation between our country’s experts and the experts from Persian Gulf countries, so that they can hold scientific and technical talks on the Bushehr power plant’s safety issues,” Salehi said. The nuclear chief also suggested establishing a regional nuclear cooperation body so that “all these doubts will be addressed scientifically.”

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Russia-GCC forum to boost trade ties

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

The Russian Business Council (RBC) in the UAE will organize a Russia-GCC Business Forum from Feb. 11-12 in Dubai. The two-day event will focus on promoting trade relations between Russia and the GCC countries.
“This forum is a remarkable step toward the development of the already thriving business ties, which has led to signing a memorandum of investment worth $5 billion to establish partnerships in Russian infrastructure projects in 2013,” said RBC Chairman Igor Egorov[.]

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Shaikh Mohammed asks to end sanctions on Iran

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Sanctions on Iran should be lifted and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad should be ousted.  These were some of the observations made by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during a no-holds-barred interview with the BBC.  … He recounted a conversation with former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the subject: “I talked to Ahmadinejad and he said, ‘If I send a rocket to Israel, how many Palestinians will I kill! And then the US and Europe will destroy my cities. I’m not crazy to go for that. It’s a weapon of the past.’” Shaikh Mohammed said sanctions on Iran should be lifted now as there was an agreement to inspect the country’s nuclear sites.  Regarding the civil war in Syria, he said the UAE was not following countries like Qatar that were intervening because it was unclear whether some of the rebels were extremists.

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GCC to adopt unified policy on power, water consumption

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

Water and electricity officials from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states will meet in Kuwait on Tuesday to discuss linkage project, said an official source. The meeting is being organized by GCC’s electricity cooperation committee.  He said the committee will explore the possibility of implementing the joint legal and legislative rules to strengthen rationalyzing (sic) the consumption of water and electricity, in addition to discussing subscribers’ services in the Gulf.   The average daily consumption of water per individual in the Gulf states varies between 300 and 750 liters daily, which is the highest in the world.

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Bahrain suspends “national dialogue” with opposition

Source: Al-Akhbar English (Read full story)

The Bahraini government has suspended a national dialogue with opposition groups aimed at ending nearly three years of political deadlock in the US-allied country, raising the prospect of further instability.  The opposition has boycotted the talks for months over the arrest of some of their leaders including their top chief Ali Salman last month, with prospects for a solution on the horizon looking bleak.

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Gulf states focus on green energy

Source: Al-Monitor (Read full story)

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) announced that the success of the Gulf countries in achieving their current renewable energy goals could lead to creating 116,000 jobs yearly in the Middle East in this sector until 2030. IRENA pointed out that the Gulf countries have started executing renewable energy projects and setting long-term goals to encourage the spread and adoption of these projects. They have also taken tangible steps to diversify energy sources for economic and environmental reasons.  IRENA issued a report titled “Renewable Energy and Jobs” … [that] points out, “Renewable energy currently provides jobs for around 6 million people worldwide. It is also expected that doubling the share of renewable energy among the global energy sources could contribute to increasing this figure to more than 16 million in the next two decades.”

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Saudi Arabia, France make their move in Lebanon

Source: Al-Monitor (Read full story)

The Saudi decision to give $3 billion in aid to the Lebanese army to purchase French weapons and ammunition came as a surprise to both supporters and opponents of the move. The amount is the highest ever to the army, but the most alluring aspect of the initiative is not limited to the allocated sum. In fact, rarely has the Lebanese state received any donations. Rather, the bigger surprise is the emerging Saudi-French partnership, which constitutes a turning point in the Middle East. With the shrinking American role in the area, a void has opened that regional forces and terrorist organizations from everywhere are rushing to fill.

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Saudi-US ties ‘critical to cement political transitions in Mideast’

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held wide-ranging talks on Sunday with visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry, aiming to find common grounds over the US policy on the Israeli-Palestine conflict, Syria and Iran.   Kerry also met Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, said Johann Schmonsees, a spokesman of the US Embassy.  After holding talks, Kerry said strengthening the US-Saudi partnership was critical to Middle Eastern security and stability and cementing tentative political transitions around the region.   Kerry conveyed the greetings of US President Barack Obama to the king, who reciprocated.

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