Switzerland’s Elektrizitaets-Gesellschaft Laufenburg (EGL) signed a 25 year deal with the National Iranian Gas Export Company for the delivery of 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey declared here on Monday in a news conference with her Iranian counterpart Manuchehr Mottaki that the country is looking forward to have perennial supply of natural gas through Iran to diversify from its present suppliers. She further added that the pact is particularly aimed at reducing over-dependence of gas supplies from Russia. Motakki stated that the agreement would open a new chapter in the bilateral relations with Switzerland.
Incidentally, the US and Israel called the deal was setting a bad precedent for countries engaged in jingoistic activities. The US embassy said it believes the deal “violates the spirit of the sanctions” imposed on Iran by the U.N. Security Council in a bid to try to force Iran to give up its program of uranium enrichment and cooperate further with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The statement came close on heels with the IAEA Director General Mohamed El Baradei’s report on Feb. 22 which says that Tehran’s collaboration with the agency has led to resolve all the remaining issues.
However, Switzerland has independent stance on Iran and in fact, the Swiss Embassy in Tehran has been acting as an intermediary between Iran and the US, as the two countries have no diplomatic ties. Even-though the details of the deal were not disclosed, EGL is expecting the supply to be around 194 trillion cubic feet of gas annually from 2011 onwards. Switzerland gets its gas supplies from Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Russia and Algeria. Swiss Foreign Minister averred that the pact neither breached the UN nor the US sanctions, which prohibit any investment in Iran’s oil and gas sector worth more than $20 million.