Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Kurdish Ruling Parties Involved In Oil Smuggling To Iran?

France’s Le Figaro was the latest paper to travel to Kurdistan to interview truck drivers taking oil and refined products into Iran. One said that an official from one of the ruling parties owned the company he worked for. A member of the Change opposition group accused the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of the same thing in a report by National Public Radio recently as well. If true, it would be no surprise as the KDP and PUK are known for having their fingers in most major enterprises in Kurdistan. It would also go to show that the shipment of petroleum and related products to Iran is intimately involved with the Kurdish authorities, not private businesses making their own independent deals with Tehran, as the Kurdistan Regional Government claims.

SOURCES

AK News, “Le Figaro: Kurdistan continues oil “smuggling,”” 8/15/10

Cocks, Tim, “ANALYSIS-Graft main worry for investors in Iraq Kurdistan,” Reuters, 9/25/09

McEvers, Kelly, “Flow Of Oil From Iraq To Iran Raises Concerns,” NPR, 8/13/10

Raghavan, Sudarsan, “Iraq’s Kurds Find Prosperity Breeds Distrust,” Washington Post, 3/21/09

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